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Nothing's For sure League
Click here to submit a question to Sports Illustrated's Peter King. I was trying to decide the other day, once and for all, whether the over-the-top parity in the league right now is a good thing or a bad thing. And I recalled two stories from my NFL training camp visits last summer. The first comes from Georgetown College, site of Bengals camp, when I asked tight end Marco Battaglia how he could possibly get fired up the night before coming to training camp, knowing that his team was surely headed for another pathetic season. "I never think that way,'' he told me. "I go into every season thinking we've got a legitimate chance. I have to.'' I walked away thinking: Poor sap. And then there was my hour with James Jackson, the rookie runner for Cleveland, who told me he was certain the Browns were on the way to turning things around, that new coach Butch Davis was talking about winning now, not a couple of years down the road. And somewhere in there, I zoned out. I walked away thinking: Poor young sap. In the days after those camp visits, I was in Baltimore and Denver and came away very impressed. Here were two teams I thought would meet for the conference title. Let's do some quick math with the standings: Cleveinnati: 7-5. Denvimore: 6-6. And what's wrong with that? Are the games still fun to watch? Except for the occasional Eagles-Giants snoozer, most definitely. The up-and-down cycles aren't as long in either direction, which is good, in this free-agent era. Twenty-eight teams every year have a good chance to make the playoffs. Maybe 31, this year. What's wrong with that? Last week, if I'm not mistaken, 11 underdogs won games. In the end, there's hope every week for every team, and that's what sports should be all about. Now for your questions: You came to Tampa and I missed you? I could have staked out the Starbucks on
Westshore or shown you our new one on South Howard. By the way, I sit in the
third row behind the visiting team and the Steelers were the classiest team that
has visited in some time. My question: When you say
it is time for the Bucs to blow the
whole thing up and start over, does that start with Tony Dungy? He has got to be
one of the best people in the NFL, but I don't know if his style will ever take
Tampa Bay to the next
level.
I share your fears about the most decent man to coach an NFL team since I've been covering the game. But if Dungy can't get his team deep into the playoffs this year, he's in legitimate trouble. At some point, with that talent, you've got to get this club to the Super Bowl. It's that simple. I was near the Pittsburgh bench for the last three minutes, and you're right. The Steelers were exultant, and the crowd was good. Excellent atmosphere for a big ballgame. As an avid Bears fan, I think it's about time to come out of hibernation.
Watching the Bears defense is giving the offense incentive to score a few
points. How far can this team go now that it has a great running attack with
Anthony Thomas, who will only get better with each game. Also, doesn't it appear
GM Jerry Angelo won't be able to replace Dick Jauron with a coach of his
liking?
Farokh, I saw the Bears dismantle a hot Atlanta team three weeks ago, and I really like how Chicago plays defensively. And I like Jim Miller -to- Marty Booker. And, like you, I think Angelo probably would have liked to get his own guy in there (my guess was Nick Saban) after the season. But now, without a question, Jauron is three or four weeks away from sealing his fate as the team's coach of the future. He's done a great job building a speed defense that loves to play physical old Bears football. And don't you love Mike Brown? What a safety. He might be the second coming of Dave Duerson. Cute comment about the Grudens
shopping for Notre Dame stuff, but as a Raiders fan I have a serious question.
It seems to me that Al Davis hired a very young, mostly anonymous coach
whose name I never heard mentioned for any other jobs that year. Gruden has
obviously been given a fair share of juice to make personnel decisions (letting
Chester McGlockton go, Rich Gannon for Jeff George, bringing in Jerry Rice,
etc.). He has been supplied with good depth, which they have needed this year,
and he's doing an outstanding job. So why does everyone want to make it sound
like Gruden was hijacked by the evil Al Davis and needs to "escape" to
Notre Dame, Ohio State, etc? Do football writers really hate Al Davis enough to
try to drive a wedge between him and his
coach?
Steve, I'm not sure I'm making it sound like Gruden is trying to escape some evil empire. I'm simply trying to say that where there's smoke, there's fire. And we haven't heard the last of this story. No one that I know of is trying to drive a wedge between Davis and Gruden. I'm not. I'm trying to report what I think -- that Gruden will have some interest in Notre Dame if the job is ever proposed to him and if he can get out of his Raiders deal. Amen to your comments about the Waffle House (we don't have them in Wisconsin, but I have relatives in the Atlanta area). Winston Churchill said the test of a chef is whether or not he can make a good soup, but there ought to be points also for anyone who can make a good, reasonably priced conventional American breakfast. I do have the science fiction gene, but I've never been able to sit
through an X Files episode, either. Shows like that are more about
paranoia than the paranormal: that kind of insecurity has been overtaken by
events, and just isn't interesting any more. Since I'll never get through
without a football question, do you have any thoughts about the Packers'
meltdown on Sunday? I still can't believe they ran Ahman Green on consecutive
plays only once, and didn't seem to have prepared for the Vikings' blitz at all.
I also think the much-maligned Bill Schroeder is a bigger part of the Packers'
offense than a lot of people believe. And, over the course of the season this
team will pay a price for having failed to add talent through the draft. But
those are my thoughts; what are
yours?
There is nothing like three cheese eggs, hash browns, raisin toast and a large water for breakfast. And science fiction ... God bless you. I just don't get it. You have to give the Packers a mulligan for Sunday. They hate the Metrodome, and Favre's never played very well there, and they have a timing offense that has to go on the silent snap count all the time, and Schroeder is an Ed McCaffery- like threat that I never would underestimate, and yes, they must use Ahman Green against a bad run defense like that more. Good observations. Peter, I know that you are a huge Mike Martz fan, but for you to not mention
his classless move (onside kick against the Jets with the game well out of
reach) is offensive. I cannot wait until tough times eventually hit the Rams and
the tables are turned. Martz confirmed my belief that he is an egotistical jerk
who inherited a good team. What is your true feeling on the
play?
I don't comment on every controversial play every week, first of all. I also think onside-kicking with a 24-point second-half lead was bush. The truest thing about Martz is what he's told me about his own competitive personality: Sometimes, when he gets in games, he goes overboard and his competitive jones gets the better of him. I don't know for a fact, but my feeling is that this time it got the better of him, and if he had it to do over again, he would not do it. One thing to remember is that if Martz, "the egotistical jerk," was not hired by the Rams three years ago, they would not have gotten to the Super Bowl and won it, because they never would have opened up the offense the way they did. How are the rest of the Vikings impacted when Randy Moss takes plays off? I
would assume if he ran his route that the other team may think his number was
called, thus giving Daunte Culpepper more
options.
Steve, you are the smartest man on the Vikings planet. That's what I've been saying for two years. Peter -- nice Monday Morning QB
column this week. Here's your question: Who was the better running back, Jerome
Bettis, Earl Campbell or Franco Harris? You have to factor in both clutch
performances and longevity as well as brute strength and
shiftiness.
How's Tallmadge? Passed through there a couple of times while at Ohio University downstate. Nice place. Campbell is one of the three toughest backs to tackle in history. (1. Jim Brown; 2. Earl Campbell; 3. Christian Okoye. ) Franco is one of the most consistent backs ever. But for my money, I'd take Bettis. He has the best feet of a big back ever, and you can write him down for 1,200 every year, and he is as fast as many safeties. That combination makes him the best big back ever, in my opinion. I have two questions. First, Stephen Davis ran for 99 yards against the
Panthers last Sunday, and the Redskins won the game. Why doesn't Marty
Schottenheimer do this all the time, instead of letting Tony Banks screw it up
for them? Second, you said there may be a QB controversy in New England. Drew
Bledsoe is the best QB in the AFC not named Peyton Manning. If the Patriots had
rallied around him the way they've rallied around Tom Brady, couldn't Bledsoe do
the same things Brady does, or perhaps even
more?
The Redskins have stayed away from Davis more this year than in the past not because Schottenheimer dislikes him. But for the first three games, they were behind big early. Don't fret. Davis will get his 1,200 Bledsoe is not the second-best quarterback in the AFC. The numbers say he's a mediocre player over the last three years. Gannon and Brian Griese have been better over the past couple of years than Bledsoe on the basis of performance. I don't know what "rallying around the quarterback'' means. If that means throwing 131 passes without an interception and winning three of four starts, which Brady has done, then Brady obviously has rallied the team. How can Mike Holmgren even keep a straight face and proclaim Matt Hasselbeck
the starter as soon as he is healthy? Now that the Mariners are out of the ALCS,
Seattle fans might wake up and notice that Holmgren is trying out for a role in
the revised One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest.
I have said this 49 times in the last three weeks: Holmgren traded for a quarterback whom he thought was his quarterback of the future. That quarterback has played poorly so far. The question is, do you dump the guy after three or four games for a player whose upside has been very clearly defined as limited in two previous NFL stops? Or do you give Hasselbeck a legitimate chance -- as Holmgren gave Brett Favre, who struggled for a year and half atop the Packers -- with the likelihood that you'll be rewarded in the next couple of months? I'm not saying dump the season. Clearly, if Hasselbeck has two more clunkers I'd probably use Dilfer. But you've just got to give Hasselbeck time to work out of his funk. Peter, here's a "find the cloud in a blue sky" scenario. Say Boston
College routs Notre Dame this weekend. Normally, a B.C. alum would find great
joy in such a result. However, you mentioned in this week's MMQB that Tom
Coughlin may leave Jacksonville after the season. Might a B.C. win actually
lead to Notre Dame hiring Tom Coughlin? This would be the worst-case scenario
for B.C. fans, as the coach responsible for the classic 41-39 upset of
undefeated N.D. would become the Reincarnation of Frank Leahy in South Bend!
Please put my mind to ease Peter -- say it isn't
so!
This weekend's game has no bearing on Bob Davies' future. He'd have to win some big games to save his job, from what I hear. But I think there's a legitimate chance that Coughlin will be a candidate for this job come January. No question really ... just wanted to commend you on being what I consider to be a great father who relishes on his children. As a father of an 11-year-old football player, I can relate to the joy and enthusiasm you have when writing about your daughter's field hockey team. I am a footballholic and a lifetime Broncos fanatic, but my favorite thing on Monday morning (especially the last two weeks) is reading about Mary Beth's week on the field. In this day and age where parents are usually too busy to even remember they have a child, kudos to you for being there to share in your daughter's highs and lows. Great job! Oh -- as a side statement, if I can brag about my son for a moment. Perfect setting in Lewisville, Texas Saturday for a pee wee football game. The fourth-seeded LFA Mustangs (4-3-1) take on the top-seeded LFA Longhorns (7-1) on an 80 degree cloudless day. The Mustangs are led by 11-year-old Brandon Colquitt at running back, who was overjoyed to get lead-blocker Landon Baninster back from a nasty broken finger just in time for the playoffs. The Longhorns are lead by the three-headed monster of linebackers/running backs David Curley, Travis Dickson and (Brandon's best friend) Noah Ringenberger. Longhorns take an early 7-0 lead, but Brandon fights back to tie the score on the next possession with a 35-yard touchdown run. A long run by Andre Shannon sets up a 1-yard quarterback dive by Brandt Sadlowski to give the Mustangs a 13-7 lead at halftime. Noah Ringeneberger then carries the ball down to the 5-yard line on the second play of the second half, where he was dragged down by Brandon. Two plays later and David Curley scored his second touchdown of the day, making it 14-13 Longhorns. Brandon once again fights back on the very next possession, giving the Mustangs a 19-14 lead after a 50-yard run right up the middle of the Longhorns defense. Jump forward to the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-inches with five minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Andre blitzed in and stuck Noah for a 5-yard loss. On the very next play, Brandon scored the game winning touchdown, running 40 yards to make the score 27-14. Noah then had a 50-yard touchdown run with two minutes to go, making the score 27-20. But time ran out, and the Mustangs pulled off the upset of the day. Final tally: Brandon 170 yards rushing, three TD's. Noah: 166 yards rushing, one TD. I told the both of them that watching them go after one another was like watching the best heavyweight prize fight I had ever seen. It was a shame that one of them had to lose. Next up for the Mustangs, the 7-2 Nittany Lions, who Brandon played for last year. Sorry for rambling on, but I get as much enjoyment watching my son play as you
do watching Mary Beth play, and I just wanted to share the game with
you.
Love your commentary! I feel certain that, in 10 years, when Brandon and Noah both are rookies for Houston and Dallas, respectively, that I'll be interviewing them. Kudos to your excellent coverage of the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh!
You hit it right on the nose with the comments about sharing space with the Pitt
Panthers and the barista in Starbucks. On another note, is Mary Beth still
collecting dog food for the relief efforts? If so, let me know where to send it,
and I'll get a donation out that way
immediately.
There's something fun about the Steelers coming back strong, isn't there? I love visiting that town, with the spirit and affection people feel for that team. The dog food relief is over, for now. But thanks for asking. Everyone who contributed should know that the pups over in Canarsie, Brooklyn, are being fed because of your generosity. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL for the magazine
and appears each Sunday on CNN's NFL Preview. To send a question to his mailbag,
click here.
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