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Marshall-less plan Defending champs will rely on backfield-by-committee
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King spoke with CNN NFL Preview anchor Bob Lorenz and reporter Mark Morgan on Sunday about Week 11: Mark Morgan: Peter, the Rams' offense is explosive, but how will they fill that void Sunday left by Marshall Faulk's absence? Peter King: I talked to Rams head coach Mike Martz on Saturday night and one of the things he told me is that he will start Justin Watson at the running back position but very early in the game he'll bring in Trung Canidate and then he is going to go with the hot hand. Now, what's going to happen for the whole game? Well, I think Canidate is going to touch the ball more than Watson is because Canidate is more of a Marshall Faulk-type back. Now, speaking of Faulk, I also talked to him Saturday night at the Rams hotel and he said, "I don't know when I am going to be ready, I might be ready this week but you can't tell because I still have swelling in the knee. Hopefully I can get out this week and really start to run." But right now the St. Louis Rams are not counting on Faulk in the big Monday night game against the Redskins. Morgan: Jason Sehorn returns Sunday for the Giants, but can the Giants' defense do enough to slow down this Rams offense? King: Mark, that's where I think the Giants are in trouble in this game. They are going to have severe match-up problems on this field even on grass, which has been an unstable turf field this year. The Giants will have match-up problems in the secondary against the speed of the Rams' wide receivers, and I think particularly susceptible is Dave Thomas, who is one of the slowest corners in the NFL. I think that's what the Rams will try to do against the Giants. Bob Lorenz: Bobby Ross stepped down this week as head coach of the Detroit Lions and, Peter, you've talked about the unconditional respect that Bobby Ross receives in this league and he is one of the guys you think deserves that so what do you think about this, do you think he quit on his team? King: I talked to [San Diego linebacker] Junior Seau on Monday night and he said that Ross was one of the guys he most admired that he ever met in football and I totally agree with Seau. It will be a shame if Bobby Ross goes down as a quitter, I don't think that should happen. Ross looked at his team and said I am not getting to these guys anymore and felt he had to step away and let someone else try to get to them. Of all the guys I have covered in football in my 16 years this guy is among the top handful of guys who I really admire the most. Now, as far as Gary Moeller goes, it's interesting, I think, that Moeller has been looking very hard for a head-coaching job in the NFL. In fact, two days before he got the Lions job he was studying Cincinnati Bengals' game tape because he hoped to get that job in the off-season, if he didn't get the Lions job. Lorenz: As we know, Gary Moeller replaced Bobby Ross as the Lions' head coach this week and also got a contract through the 2002 season, so why is the league so upset? King: If the league isn't visibly upset, they are hiding it very well. Moeller is the third interim coach hired this year and it also the third white coach hired this year. The NFL, in fact, is very worried that the level of hires by NFL owners now is too lily-white. There has only been one head coach since [Tampa Bay's] Tony Dungy was hired five years ago -- one head coach, Ray Rhodes, who was hired and who is African-American. The league has to do something about this now. Lorenz: Peter, you've kept us abreast of re-alignment and like it or not it's coming, what's the latest? King: There will be a big re-alignment meeting in Denver on Tuesday after the Monday night game in which all of the western owners of NFL teams are going to meet. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue is going to chair this meeting and basically say we do not want to give any team financial remuneration for moving divisions or moving conferences; he is going to try get agreement on that. And one thing the league would like to do is have revenue sharing for all visiting teams. So, if a team leaves a lucrative division -- if Arizona leaves the Giants, Washington and Dallas and moves to a less lucrative division -- on the road because road teams get 40 percent at the gate, then they won't be disadvantaged. Look for those two things to happen this week. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL and appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN's NFL Preview.
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