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Chargers have Rams' Martz scared
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King chatted with CNNSI's Bob Lorenz about the goings-on around the league on CNN's NFL Preview. Bob Lorenz: Nobody's been able to stop the Rams, so why is St. Louis coach Mike Martz so worried? Peter King: Martz told me Saturday that the Chargers defense scares him more than Tampa Bay's unit. He really respects the San Diego front seven. But I think there may be another factor. Thirteen months ago, Chargers safety Rodney Harrison rolled into the back of Trent Green's knee and put him out for the year. It's an injury Green is still coming to grips with, still recovering from. It paved the way for Kurt Warner's emergence. Being around the Rams for a couple of days, they definitely haven't forgotten that and I believe they may try and take a shot at Rodney Harrison. Harrison says, "Bring it on. I'm ready for any shot you can take." BL: The league this week ordered officials to put their foot down from here on out on the types of taunting acts we saw from 49ers receiver Terrell Owens last weekend. What are your thoughts on how San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci handled this? PK: I think Mariucci didn't do the right thing right away when he didn't say anything to Owens after the first time he went to midfield. That's where I fault Mariucci. But after that, I think Mariucci handled it exceedingly well, suspending the wideout a game. You have to stand up -- there's no place in football for that behavior. One thing that really bothers Mariucci now is that he called Owens, he wanted him to fly back to San Francisco, even though he was suspended, to be in the team picture the middle of this week. Owens said no, I'm not coming back. I think the breach between Mariucci and Owens is a very big one right now. BL: Dennis Green put the ball in Daunte Culpepper's hands in the offseason. It was a pretty bold move, a lot of people said it put his job on the line. Green gets the last laugh - the move worked out and he just got a three-year contract extension this week. PK: No question about that. Green deserved an extension. I was one of the guys who criticized him for passing on Jevon Kearse in the 1999 draft and taking Culpepper. It looks he made the right decision now. Here's another byproduct of this decision by owner Red McCombs to extend Green's deal: Randy Moss came out and said that might encourage him to stay in Minnesota, he really likes coach Green. You know Randy, you were never going to get out of Minnesota alive - they're going to put the franchise tag on you if they don't reach some kind of agreement. BL: What finally ended things for Bruce Coslet in Cincinnati? PK: Coslet was very worried, frankly, about his mental health. He wasn't treating people the right way around the Bengals and he had lost control of some elements of his team. Last week he tried to get Corey Dillon to return to the game at Baltimore; Dillon refused and went to sit on the bench. I think the key thing for Cincinnati now is to see if Dick LeBeau can give this team a little bit of heart. If he can't, look for the Bengals to go out and get an offensive mind somewhere in the NFL to try and resurrect Akili Smith. BL: Vinny Testaverde did lead the Jets to a fourth-quarter comeback last week but are there concerns that his struggles early in games could become problematic? PK: I think there are concerns deep within the Jets organization right now that Vinny may be suffering from some sort of Steve Sax-Chuck Knoblauch mental block in the first three quarters of games. His mechanics are way off and he's just not the quarterback he was in 1998. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and appears each Sunday on CNN's NFL Preview. Click here to send a question to his mailbag.
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