Week Seven Morning Aftermath: Steelers 27, Vikings 17
Posted by Mike Florio on October 26, 2009 8:01 AM ET
For reasons neither known nor apparent, the NFL smoothed out what typically is a Sunday afternoon schedule with too many early games and two few late ones.The problem, of course, is that the six games that started at 1:00 p.m. ET (with the other five beginning at at 4:05 p.m. or 4:15 p.m. ET) featured four snoozers, one blowout that became a close game, and one compelling, playoff-atmosphere, Heinz Field-record crowd, perfect October football afternoon battle between the defending NFL champs and a team that has loaded the cannon (but for Darren Sharper) in the hopes of finally getting back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years -- and winning it for the first time in 44.
The 10-point victory margin matched the same difference from the day these two franchises met nearly 35 years ago in New Orleans. And while the Vikings' offense was a lot more effective on Sunday than it was when the team's only points came from a blocked punt and a failed conversion, there was a similar sense of inevitability throughout most of the afternoon.
No matter what the Vikings did, they wouldn't win the game.
But they sure as hell tried.
The game started sluggishly, with two strong defenses forcing an exchange of punts in a field-position battle that the Vikings eventually lost, thanks to a couple of shanks from Chris Kluwe. Still, the damage wasn't serious, with the Steelers leading 3-0 after the first quarter.
And then the Vikings' offense woke up, putting together a methodical 13-play drive that gave Minnesota what would be its only lead, 7-3.
After trading punts again, the Steelers got the ball on their own nine, with 1:39 to play in the half. And the Minnesota defense played like it was the fourth quarter, allowing the Steelers to move down the field and score a touchdown that game them a 10-7 lead at the half.
Pittsburgh seemed to be poised to put the thing out of reach on the first drive after intermission, with a couple of personal fouls from the purple people putting the Steelers inside the 10 in little over three minutes.
Somewhat amazingly, the Vikings' defense stiffened, holding the Steelers to three points and keeping the score to a manageable margin, 13-7.
Minnesota responded, with a gutsy call on fourth and one from the Pittsburgh 35 turning into a 34-yard catch-and-run to Brett Favre's new favorite target, Sidney Rice, giving the Vikings first and goal at the one. But after one run and two failed pass attempts, the coach known as "Chilly" got cold feet, opting for a field goal instead of going for the lead. 13-10.
After two more punts, the Steelers cobbled together another good drive, one that seemed to be destined to finally extend the margin to the final outcome of Super Bowl IX. But Rashard Mendenhall fumbled inside the five, on the second play of the fourth quarter.
After the game, coach Mike Tomlin said that Mendenhall got "a little careless," but Tomlin added that Mendenhall's spot as the starter isn't in jeopardy -- even though at one point late in the game Mewelde Moore was getting the reps.
After the fumble, the Vikings embarked on an epic 18-play drive, fueled by a remarkable toe-tapping sideline catch from Rice on third down and nearly 20. The official looking right at the play called it incomplete, and he was overturned via replay.
Then, the Vikings seemed to take the lead on a 10-yard pass from Favre to, fittingly, Rice. But a phantom tripping call on tight end Jeff Dugan wiped the score off the board.
And it was a horrible call, the kind of call that reinforces the suspicions of those who think that the league wants to see the Steelers win.
"I didn't like it because Jeff Dugan is sitting there with a knot on his thigh on a tripping penalty," coach Brad Childress said, explaining that Dugan (as the video clearly indicated) was merely executing a cut block.
Two plays later, defensive end Brett Keisel applied a cut block to Favre's arm while he was setting up to throw, and linebacker LaMarr Woodley turned in a slow-motion version of James Harrison's touchdown run from Super Bowl XLIII.
The 10-point lead finally had been achieved. And with less than seven minutes to play, this one was over.
Enter Percy Harvin.
The rookie with a bad shoulder that probably got a little worse worse thanks to a jarring hit earlier in the game from safety Ryan Clark, which prompted Brett Favre to run down the field like the mom that jumped into the pool during the volleyball game in Meet The Parents, went 88 yards for a touchdown. The play featured a lame tackle attempt from Jeff "Beer Muscles" Reed and Jeff Dugan's revenge. (As we observed at the time, Twitter style, it probably does make sense when playing the Steelers to block the officials, too.)
Then the Vikings defense played like it wasn't the fourth quarter and the Vikings got the ball back and embarked on another memorable drive that ultimately would be remembered for a very different reason.
A play that seemed to turn the sense of inevitability toward the Vikings came from Minnesota's 45, with a short pass from Favre to Adrian Peterson and a crushing blow delivered by Peterson against cornerback William Gay en route to a 26-yard gain that put the Vikings in position to at least force a tie -- and possibly to win in regulation.
A play later, the Vikings were inside the Steelers' 20, thanks to a seven-yard gain from Chester Taylor on a short pass.
But on the next play, with 1:15 on a rolling clock, Taylor let a short screen pass slip through his hands. Linebacker Keyaron Fox caught the ball, and embarked on another slo-mo saunter all the way to the end zone.
Finally, it was over. Pittsburgh 27, Minnesota 17.
So in a game where a suddenly shaky Vikings defense held up their end of the bargain (except in the last 99 seconds of the first half), it was the offense that moved the ball but, ultimately, handed 14 points to the Steelers in the fourth quarter.
For the Vikings, the 6-1 record is still impressive, especially with the Giants and Falcons losing on Sunday. But with a trip to Lambeau for a game against the two-loss Packers on the horizon, the hammerlock that the Minnesotans previously had on the NFC North suddenly is in jeopardy.
The Steelers have a full 15 days until their next game, a Monday nighter at Mile High. And it's followed by a visit from the surprisingly 5-2 Bengals. So while the defending champs should be happy with their move to 5-2 (especially after starting out 1-2), there's still a lot of work to be done in order to get back to the top of the conference -- and they can't rely every week on two 75-plus-yard defensive touchdowns in the last half of the fourth quarter.
Harbaugh: "Cowboys are everything that's wrong with the NFL"
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on November 6, 2009 12:59 PM ET
Ravens coach John Harbaugh experienced the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry for nine years as a member of the Eagles staff. And he came up with some strong opinions on the differences between the Andy Reid era Eagles and the Jerry Jones-led Cowboys.ESPN's Matt Mosley points out a timely excerpt from a new book on the Eagles by Reuben Frank and Mark Eckel. Harbaugh was asked why the Eagles have had so much more success than the Cowboys over the last decade.
"Why is that? Because what Andy Reid and his program stand for the opposite of what the Cowboys stand for. The Cowboys are a star system. It's all about building around individuals first and collecting talent, collecting great players," Harbaugh said.
"Andy has always been about building a team. And over the long haul, it's a team sport, and one of the greatest examples of that is what's happened with the Eagles and the Cowboys over the last 10 years. The Cowboys stand for everything that's wrong with the NFL."
Ouch.
The quote might be bulletin board material even though Harbaugh has moved on to the Ravens -- where he delivered a devastating loss to Dallas in the final game at Texas Stadium.
Baltimore doesn't face Dallas again this year, so Harbaugh's words probably won't have staying power. Still, it's safe to say he won't be interviewing with Jerry Jones if he's ever looking for a job again.
Week Ten Morning Aftermath: Packers 17, Cowboys 7
Posted by Mike Florio on November 16, 2009 11:58 AM ET
Backed into a corner, the Packers kept the Cowboys from winning for only the second time ever at Lambeau Field.The outcome, while sufficiently satisfying in the short term to get the locals to forget about lay-an-egg-gate, hardly solves all of the problems that the Packers are facing. "Baby Swiss" still gave up four sacks (41 for the year). Charley Casserly of CBS did a great job during The NFL Today of demonstrating that quarterback Aaron Rodgers is responsible for a lot of those due to his failure to get rid of the ball quickly or to throw it away; either way, these constant negative plays (and opportunities for turnovers and injuries) could ultimately kill the team's season.
But it was the defense that came up huge against the Cowboys. Cornerback Charles Woodson had eight tackles, a sack, an interception, and two forced fumbles -- with rookie Clay Matthews recovering both of them. (One created a stir due to the application of an obscure, but sensible, exception to the replay rules.)
Dallas quarterback Tony Romo looked ordinary again, with a couple of turnovers and the only points coming from a garbage-time touchdown that avoided a shutout.
The loss, which hurts even more given the broken leg suffered by tackle Marc Colombo, drops the Cowboys to 6-3 and forces them to fatten up against the Redskins and Raiders before embarking on a three-game stretch that will go a long way toward determining whether the 'Boys will get a shot to win their first playoff game since 1996: at Giants, vs. Chargers, at Saints.
And the Cowboys had better hope they find a way to win a division that they now lead by only one game over the Eagles and the Giants; if Dallas ends up in the scrum for wild-card positioning, that loss to the Packers gives Green Bay the edge in the event the two teams are tied in the final standings.
Steelers fan says he was poisoned, blinded by Bears fans
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on November 18, 2009 2:36 PM ET
Steelers fan Zack Heddinger says he was blinded at a Chicago bar by Bears fans after some trash talking gone awry.Heddinger was in the Windy City for the Steelers 17-14 loss to Chicago in Week Two.
"Basically, I guess, my buddies had gotten into an altercation and they offered a drink as a peacemaker from what I understand," Heddinger said.
That's where things get weird.
According to ABC4 in Pittsburgh, Heddinger passed out and his heart stopped four times after he was rushed to a local hospital. Initially, doctors just thought he was drunk. But they quickly suspected something else was up.
Police are now investigating the incident, and the local bar, Kitty O'Shea's, is fully cooperating. Doctors now believe his drink could have been spiked with toxic grain alcohol.
Heddinger says he can't remember what happened that day, but hasn't been able to see since. He's taking oxygen treatments to recover his part of his eyesight, but doctors aren't very hopeful.
"I don't think they tried to kill me. I think they tried to hurt me, but the killing came pretty close," said Heddinger.
Announcement expected "soon" for Childress deal
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on November 18, 2009 3:53 PM ET
With the second half of the season officially underway, the coaching carousel is less two months away from spinning wildly again.Vikings coach Brad Childress is one coach that doesn't have to worry about his job status anymore. A long-anticipated contract extension is reportedly coming "soon" according to Clark Judge of CBS Sports. Sources tell Judge there are no major obstacles left to a deal and an announcement is expected.
Childress is expected to double his current $2 million salary after extension talks that lost some momentum around the team's bye week, but has reportedly picked up lately.
We can't help but think of Jon Gruden's comments on Monday Night Football when he said that Brett Favre creates jobs for coaches that work with him.
In Childress' case, Favre is allowing Childress to get a big second contract to keep his job.
Aaron Rodgers gets his own street
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on October 30, 2009 12:11 PM ET
The mayor of Green Bay will not allow one of his streets to called "Minnesota Avenue" during this important week.Mayor Jim Schmitt announced Thursday that the street was renamed Aaron Rodgers Drive -- until Monday. Rodgers will autograph the sign after the week, then auction it off for charity.
The Green Bay Press-Gazette has a run-down of other Vikings-Packers related measures. The city apparently encouraged residents to wear flip-flops to work today to mock Brett Favre's indecisiveness. (Good to see important government work being done.)
Since this post is short on, you know, useful information, here's one football related nugget: Ahman Green believes he'll be active Sunday for the first time signing re-joining the Packers. Green could help on third downs and short-yardage situations, which the Packers struggled in even in their blowout win over Cleveland last week.
Firing of Lambeau Field worker could grease skids for McCarthy
Posted by Mike Florio on November 13, 2009 10:15 AM ET
During the offseason, a game day employee at Lincoln Financial Field lost his job after badmouthing the Eagles on his Facebook page. Despite the fact that Dan Leone had no defense to the reality that he foolishly posted for the world to see a message including the "F" word and calling the team "retarted" for allowing safety Brian Dawkins to sign with a new team, the move created a flood of local sympathy for the fired employee.More recently, the Packers abruptly fired a 22-year member of the Lambeau Field maintenance crew, but not for using bad language or calling anyone "retarted" or saying anything in any forum that anyone other than coach Mike McCarthy would hear.
According to Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wood saw McCarthy at Lambeau Field on the Thursday before the pressure-packed visit from Brett Favre and the Vikings, on November 1.
Wood says that he yelled to McCarthy, "Hey coach, let's get the boys ready to kick some butt this weekend."
The next day, Wood showed up for work. Nothing was said to him.
On the day of the game, Wood learned that he had been fired. He was told that McCarthy heard him say, "Don't lay an egg."
Um, where do we start?
First, if McCarthy was sufficiently worried in the three days before the biggest game at Lambeau Field since the Ice Bowl about some guy telling him not to "lay an egg" that it caused McCarthy to find out who said it and to have the guy fired, then maybe McCarthy wasn't as focused on getting himself and the team ready for the game as he should have been.
Second, the fact that McCarthy would have Wood fired shows that the coach's thick flesh is covered by ridiculously thin skin.
Third, at a time when the locals already are clamoring for Jon Gruden or Mike Holmgren or Mike Shanahan or any Mike not named McCarthy to be coaching the team in 2010, this is the kind of thing that can strike a chord with the people who made the Packers what they are.
McCarthy isn't one of them. He's a Pittsburgh guy. A transplant. A carpetbagger. Sure, he spent one season a decade ago in Green Bay as an assistant coach, but he's not a native son.
And here's the most obvious question the native sons and daughters will be asking: Why not meet with the guy and hear his side of the story? Maybe Wood is telling the truth. Maybe McCarthy, his blood pressure likely sky high as his plan to nudge Favre into retirement was about to explode once and for all, didn't accurately hear what Wood said.
Really, why would a 22-year employee be stupid enough to disrespect the head coach of the team to his face? Plenty of folks write stupid things on web sites and blogs. But most of us adopt some semblance of common sense and civility when dealing with other people directly.
So look for the storm clouds to continue to gather around McCarthy.
And look for him to hear things on Sunday at Lambeau Field far more profane and pointed than "don't lay an egg."
Favre: "It was awesome to be a part of it"
Posted by Michael David Smith on November 1, 2009 8:14 PM ET
After leading the Minnesota Vikings to victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, Brett Favre said he would put the win high up on his list of the most satisfying games he has played at the stadium."It ranks high," Favre said at his post-game press conference. "Where on that list? I don't know. I was part of some pretty good games here as a Packer. But this is pretty high up on the list. ... It was pretty awesome to be a part of it."
Favre was asked about the way he was loudly booed by the Green Bay fans who once revered him, and he did his best to shrug it off, saying he can be proud of his time in Green Bay even if the fans of Green Bay don't have warm feelings for him anymore.
"It was about what I expected," Favre said. "It was probably worse every time I took the field ... but I considered it a good thing. It's better than saying nothing, I guess. I know what I did here. You can ask the teammates I played with here. ... I would venture to think all the guys I played with would speak positively about the way I carried myself. ... Although I wasn't expecting a standing ovation, I know what I've done and what I stand for."
Favre said he felt strange riding the visiting team's bus into the stadium and looking at the fans who were there to greet the bus.
"I saw a mixture of everything," Favre said. "Cheers, a couple fingers."
But ultimately, no matter how many fans booed him or gave him the finger, Favre said he felt great playing in Green Bay again, even playing for the opposing team.
"I know how special these fans are," Favre said. "I think deep down inside I know how they feel. Packer fans cheer for Packers first. I know that. I hope that everyone in the stadium watching tonight said, 'That joker's on the other side, but he does play the way he's always played, with his passion and love of the game.' As long as I play, that's not going to change."
As he walked away from the podium at the conclusion of his press conference, Favre grinned and said, "It was pretty fun."
Week Nine Morning Aftermath: Buccaneers 38, Packers 28
Posted by Mike Florio on November 9, 2009 10:02 AM ET
After the Packers lost at home eight days ago to the gray-stubbled face of the franchise who had committed the ultimate indignity by donning a purple helmet with horns, we wondered what it would take to make the Cheeseheads put the indignity behind them.Now we know.
Indeed, there's nothing like a completely humiliating loss to one of the worst teams in the league to serve as the rancid sorbet for the moldy Fontinella that Favre crammed down the locals' throats.
As the previously 0-7 Buccaneers managed to stay in the game early without generating much offense (thanks to a long interception return that created a very short field and a blocked punt that resulted in a 31-yard touchdown from Ronde Barber), it appeared that the Packers eventually would pull away.
But the most dangerous approach to playing a pathetic team is allowing said pathetic team to believe that it's in the game beyond the first quarter or two of play.
That's previously what the Packers did. With only a 21-17 lead at intermission, the Bucs were foolish enough to think that they had a chance to win.
And they were dumb enough to still believe it after a scoreless third quarter.
Even more amazingly, the Bucs thought that they could still pull it off even after the Packers pushed the score to 28-17.
Idiots.
But then it happened. An 83-yard kick return from Clifton Smith set the table for rookie Josh Freeman to fire his second touchdown pass of the day, cutting the lead to five with more than 11 minutes to play.
So the Packers probably felt like the Vikings did a week earlier, with a game that supposedly was in the bag suddenly up for grabs. The difference? The Vikes held off the Pack -- the Pack couldn't hold off the Bucs.
Freeman engineered a 72-yard drive that ended with his third touchdown pass of the day, and that gave the Bucs their first lead of the afternoon.
Next, the heir to Favre showed that he's got a long way to go when it comes to working late-game magic, taking a sack to kill the first chance at a comeback and throwing a pick six to ice it.
Speaking of six, the Bucs managed that many sacks. As Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel points out, Baby Swiss has given up 37 of them in eight games, putting the Packers on pace to allow (excuse me while I whip this . . . calculator . . . out) 74 for the season.
"Well, it has to stop," coach Mike McCarthy said after the game. "You can't sit here and keep taking sacks. I'm sure you're tired of asking the question, and I'm tired of talking about it."
How tired is he of it? Already there are rumblings that offensive line coach James Campen could be fired soon, ten months after a January purge of most of the defensive coaching staff.
But dumping Campen could be too close to McCarthy for comfort, since McCarthy is supposedly an offensive genius. Indeed, dumping Campen could be a rest stop on the road to McCarthy being asked to hit the road.
Possibly with G.M. Ted Thompson taking a hike, too.
There's still plenty of football left to be played, and the Packers in theory could turn it around. But, let's face it, they lost to the Bucs. What will they do against the Cowboys or the Ravens or the Steelers or the Cardinals?
The good news? Maybe the early Thanksgiving Day game between the Packers and the Lions won't be a tryptophan-fueled snooze fest after all.
For the Bucs, it's not time to start plotting out the possible postseason tiebreakers. But at least it will quiet talk of coach Raheem Morris being one-and-done in his first head-coaching gig.
And the talk clearly was out there. Tight end Kellen Winslow indirectly acknowledged it after the game.
"We just wanted to win for these players and these coaches," Winslow said after the game, via JoeBucsFan.com. "Especially for Rah. We know he's under a lot of pressure. We're not letting him go nowhere." (Cue the commenters who'll explain that this technically means that the team plans to let the coach go somewhere.)
Meanwhile, "Rah" gushed about Freeman, who got his first career win in his first career start.
"That's why we brought him here to lead this franchise," Morris said, per the Tampa Tribune. "It reminded me of his first college start."
That's fine. But why didn't Freeman get the nod sooner? Though the Bucs might not have won many of those seven games they lost, if Freeman is capable of playing every week like he played in his debut, the Bucs might not have been competing for space at the bottom of the barrel with the likes of the Browns, Rams, Lions, and Chiefs.
Suggs' agent sounds off on Quinn, too
Posted by Mike Florio on November 17, 2009 10:07 PM ET
Shortly after Browns quarterback Brady Quinn dove at the knees of Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs after throwing a second-half interception on Monday night, we recognized that, despite Quinn's Notre Dame pedigree and clean-cut image, it was a cheap shot.After the game, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis went off on Quinn.
Now, Suggs' agent has joined the chorus.
"That cat should be fined as much as anybody is fined that hits the quarterback," Gary Wichard told Aaron Wilson of NFP. "That's ridiculous. I don't understand what he was trying to do. It was blatant. It's absolutely criminal. It's about as nasty as it gets.
"The guy had total control and went right for his knee. You can't call that an accident. It was premeditated. The quarterback zeroed in on Terrell's knee. That's absurd. The ball carrier was right in front of him. . . .
"Brady launched himself into a defenseless player. Terrell wasn't even thinking about being hit. He tackled Terrell when the guy that he threw the interception to was running up the field. That should have been the target, not Terrell."
The extent of Suggs' knee injury currently isn't known. He left Monday night's game, and he did not return.
"Going at someone's knee can really have a huge effect on what happens as far as a guy maybe being gone for the year. It's ridiculous. There was no reason to do that. . . .
"You're a quarterback, dude. You can't tackle, so don't take a shot at his knee. This isn't going to sit well with a lot of other defensive players. [Colts defensive end] Dwight Freeney is absolutely pissed off."
Wichard also represents Freeney. Wichard, however, represents no Browns players.
"This guy, Brady, is on the cover of Muscle & Fitness, so take [Suggs] on like you're supposed to take him on. It was an illegal play. Nobody is going to give Brady the benefit of the doubt."
Earlier this year, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez was fined $5,000 for unnecessarily diving at the knees of Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma. In that case, it probably should have been higher.In this case, it definitely should be higher.
What say you, PFT Planet? How much should Quinn be fined?