Lessons we learned from the Titans' 20-17 win over the Texans on Monday night at Reliant Stadium ...
My weekly look at key matchups and storylines to watch in one game at each time slot. (All times Eastern).
A few seconds of exuberant finger-flipping cost Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams a quarter of a million dollars Monday.
Watching the slowly unfolding debacle that is the end of the Jim Zorn era in Washington, with the Redskins floundering head coach being stripped of his authority, his dignity and maybe a good bit of his sanity in this painfully incremental termination, one damning question keeps coming to mind:
My weekly look at key matchups and storylines to watch in one game at each time slot. (All times Eastern).
The 2008 Detroit Lions set a high standard for low standards. They were the first 0-16 team in NFL history, an achievement that merited an upside-down banner and a parade down a street full of banana peels.
Football Insiders: Check out Stewart Mandel's College Football Overtime.
NEW ORLEANS -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we take stock of Week 4 while simultaneously watching the Jets-Saints big-stage duel of undefeateds in a raucous and sold-out Superdome ...
The sky is falling in Tennessee, they're on suicide watch in Pittsburgh and dogs and cats are living together in Buffalo.
PITTSBURGH -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight from the taut Titans-Steelers NFL Kickoff opener Thursday night at the Big Ketchup Bottle ...
Lessons we learned from the Titans' 20-17 win over the Texans on Monday night at Reliant Stadium ...
My weekly look at key matchups and storylines to watch in one game at each time slot. (All times Eastern).
A few seconds of exuberant finger-flipping cost Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams a quarter of a million dollars Monday.
Watching the slowly unfolding debacle that is the end of the Jim Zorn era in Washington, with the Redskins floundering head coach being stripped of his authority, his dignity and maybe a good bit of his sanity in this painfully incremental termination, one damning question keeps coming to mind:
My weekly look at key matchups and storylines to watch in one game at each time slot. (All times Eastern).
The 2008 Detroit Lions set a high standard for low standards. They were the first 0-16 team in NFL history, an achievement that merited an upside-down banner and a parade down a street full of banana peels.
Football Insiders: Check out Stewart Mandel's College Football Overtime.
NEW ORLEANS -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we take stock of Week 4 while simultaneously watching the Jets-Saints big-stage duel of undefeateds in a raucous and sold-out Superdome ...
The sky is falling in Tennessee, they're on suicide watch in Pittsburgh and dogs and cats are living together in Buffalo.
PITTSBURGH -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight from the taut Titans-Steelers NFL Kickoff opener Thursday night at the Big Ketchup Bottle ...
PITTSBURGH -- While the NFL's 2009 story starts here tonight, for one of the teams involved in the league's single-spotlight kickoff game, it's more of a harsh reminder of what it didn't finish last season.
Giving a draft grade for each team the day after the draft is a fruitless exercise. It takes a minimum of three years before a draft can be revisited and evaluated to determine how productive a team was with its selections. With that caveat, here's my reaction to every team's picks, grouped in categories as opposed to the standard letter grade.
The 2009 season officially began Friday at 12:01 a.m. when free agency opened. What follows is a rundown of the 25 best available free agents. This list was compiled through a series of conversations with scouts and through game-tape evaluations.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth has decided to test the free agent market, according to various media reports.
The Deuce is on the loose again, but not in that rumbling-into-secondary sort of way we've come to know it over the course of Deuce McAllister's eight-year stay in New Orleans. The Saints all-time leading rusher and touchdown-maker woke up Wednesday an ex-Saint for the first time in his NFL career, after being released Tuesday in a salary cap move that wasn't as surprising as it was saddening.
The buzz of a second consecutive spectacular Super Bowl has begun to die down, and the last of the head coaching vacancies has been filled, so it's time to fully turn our attention to an NFL offseason that is upon us. Here are a dozen burning questions that serve to preview the many issues to come:
For my money there's no better weekend on the NFL calendar than the Saturday and Sunday quadruple-header of divisional-round play, when the four top seeds play host to the four first-round winners for the right to move on to next week's conference championships. It usually makes for the best football of the entire season, as the higher seeds and the notion of home-field advantage get tested by the teams that already have a playoff win under their belts.
Last year's march through the playoffs to the Super Bowl title by the New York Giants showed how critical line play can be in the postseason. The Giants bruised and battered every team in their way on both sides of the ball, culminating in the devastating performance by their defensive line against Tom Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. In a league seemingly forever trending towards high-flying aerial attacks, the Giants proved the bully in the schoolyard can still win the fight.
Breaking down Sunday's Pittsburgh Steelers at Tennessee Titans game (1 p.m., Eastern, CBS) ...
As the Cardinals and Titans close in on playoff berths, they are in the remarkably similar situation of being led into January by their former backup quarterbacks, who happen to be playing in the final year of their contracts.
NASHVILLE -- Five things we learned from the Jets 34-13 dismantling of the previously undefeated Titans (Recap | Box Score) at LP Field on Sunday.....
The Tennessee Titans are short-handed at cornerback heading into Sunday's game with the New York Jets.
Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco will forever be bound as the only quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft, but their stellar play as rookies will also be noted in the history books. They have led their respective franchises to six wins apiece in their first nine starts and are proving to be the franchise cornerstones league observers envisioned when they were selected in April.
If they're paying attention, the other 31 NFL teams realize that 9-0 and "Uh-oh'' are now the operative words when it comes to describing the Tennessee Titans.
Breaking down Sunday's Tennessee Titans at Chicago Bears game (1 p.m., Eastern, CBS) ...
After watching the Titans roll to a surprising 8-0 start, it's impossible to ignore the tremendous coaching job being done by Jeff Fisher and his staff. The 15-year veteran has his team atop the AFC South with a four-game lead, sitting in great position to secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Look at Sunday's big winners and tell me what they have in common.
You have bombarded me with questions about the seemingly unfair way (and I'm sure Mike Smith, Rich McKay and Arthur Blank would not include the words "seemingly'' there) the Atlanta-Philadelphia game ended, and so I've scrapped plans to write about the new Dallas stadium 'til next week. Instead, let's examine the play, and the game situation, that I can guarantee you will be reviewed after the season by the National Football League. I'll start with one of the most cogent letters, from John Hyman, of Chicago:
IRVING, Texas -- Did you see Mike Singletary looking like Mike Ditka?
Tennessee's defense reminds us of a titan of antiquity, a pigskin Colossus of Rhodes that lords over the entrance to the end zone like no team in modern history.
NASHVILLE -- As the Tennessee Titans headed for their bye week, a sentiment softly worked its way around their practice facility. Keith Bulluck said it at a defensive meeting. Albert Haynesworth said it at his locker.
Five weeks of the NFL's regular season are in the books and we're down to just two undefeated teams: The 5-0 Titans in the AFC and the 4-0 Giants in the NFC.
NEW YORK -- A really interesting Sunday. What do you want to hear about first? The origins of the Wildcat play, which has carried the woebegone Dolphins to wins over the two AFC Championship Game teams from last year? The future of Kerry Collins, who, in a month, has gone from a washed-up backup to one of the NFL's 20 most important players? The incredible case of Matty Ice? Plaxico Burress' future with the Giants?
Five things we learned from Tennessee's un-artistic 13-10 Week 5 defeat of Baltimore on Sunday ...
I don't like the way the line has been abused this season. Overlays have triumphed, which is why you see so many of the handicappers' records in your paper above .500. The consensus of writers' panels always leans to the favorite. I said it after the first week, and then again after the second and the third: Look out for the dog. There is a great week of upsets coming. And so they did last week -- for the first half. Then things settled down.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'' -- Spanish philosopher/poet/novelist George Santayana, 1906
They are afterthoughts, second options, bailouts. Vikings quarterback Gus Frerotte is 37, a veteran of 15 NFL seasons and six clubs, one of them twice. Kerry Collins of the Titans is 35, and his resume includes five teams and 14 seasons. They started the year as comfortable old back-ups, but all of a sudden, when things started crumbling around them, they were rushed into action. Oh yes, they are both unbeaten, but that will end Sunday when they face each other.
Got a little three-part quiz for you on this Thursday of Week 4: Now that the Patriots have had their NFL record 21-game regular-season winning streak snapped, which team has the longest active regular-season winning streak, at six games?
This season appears to be the year of the rookie running back based on what we've seen through the first two weeks of the season. Darren McFadden, Jonathan Stewart and Matt Forte have been as good as advertised, playing pivotal roles in anchoring their respective team's ground attack.
If at all possible, you don't want to start 0-2 in the NFL. It's not a death sentence, but since the playoffs expanded to 12 teams in 1990, only 19 teams have climbed out of an 0-2 hole to make the playoffs. That's 19 teams in 18 seasons of play, or about one per year.
Opening day is the most serious time for upsets. Everyone knows that because I just made it up myself. The only form chart is what's been scraped together from the results of the exhibition games. No one knows whether or not the hotshot rookies can really play, or if they've just been making their reputation against reserves.
SI.com has dispatched 10 writers to report on the 32 NFL training camps across the country. For the complete schedule of postcards, click here.
While the celebrated return of Jevon Kearse has received the majority of attention from Titans observers, it's the homecoming of Justin McCareins and Mike Heimerdinger that may have the biggest impact in Tennessee in 2008.
With no football to play for the first time in 18 years, former pro Ross Tucker is passing the time reading about his favorite sport. What follows are a few links to NFL-related articles he found and his take on them.
• Bobby Engram's walkout from the Seahawks minicamp is clearly over the veteran's displeasure with his current contract.
Five things we learned about teams during and after draft weekend ...
Steve McNair's retirement was hours old Thursday when I fielded the inevitable Hall of Fame question for the first time. Given that I was doing a radio show on a Nashville sports talk station, it was a logical query for someone from that part of the world -- where No. 9 made his NFL name -- to pose.
SI.com's Don Banks had a veteran AFC insider assess the Titans-Chargers matchup.
SI.com's Don Banks had a veteran AFC insider assess this weekend's games.
For a league that has always prided itself first and foremost on knowing how to make the savvy public relations move, the NFL's decision to allow both NBC and CBS to simulcast the NFL Network's broadcast of the New England-New York game was a master stroke.
1. EAST: Patriots (9-0). The countdown to perfection is on. They lead the league in scoring, and the remaining schedule is favorable. Still, coach Bill Belichick and his company men want us to believe his team is fallible. Scout's Take: "There are weaknesses. The running game is inconsistent, the defense has some age on it, and the linebackers are vulnerable in pass coverage. But bottom line, as long as Tom Brady stays healthy, I don't see them losing."
In its first five seasons of existence, the AFC South was the NFL's version of simple division. Any way you did the math, the bottom line always came out the same. It was the Indianapolis Colts, and then everyone else.
It's three weeks into the regular season, and already we hold these truths to be self-evident:
NEW ORLEANS -- Loved one of the questions to Sean Payton at his funeral-like press conference late Monday night. "Coach, after three losses like this, is it time to panic?'' someone asked.
Thoughts on Week 2 in the NFL, now that we're finally clear of all camera-related controversies ...
This story was originally published in the Jan. 31, 2000 issue of Sports Illustrated.
This story originally appeared in the Feb. 7, 2000 issue of Sports Illustrated.
When Tiki Barber left football for broadcasting this winter, every network went after him, and for good reason. The former Giants running back is telegenic, articulate and personable. Barber is even experienced -- he has his own Sirius radio show and is a regular guest on local and national television shows.
"I've got to be the Godfather today," Lions president Matt Millen said last Saturday morning, sitting in the living room of his town house in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn. He sounded full of hope and anticipation. In an hour Millen, a man who badly needed a good day, expected to be fielding calls from three or four clubs and hoped -- in a role reversal for Don Corleone -- that someone would make him an offer he couldn't refuse in exchange for the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft.
Another wild draft has come and gone, and now the big questions become, which of these players are worth taking in fantasy drafts and where should they go? There doesn't seem to be as many hotshot quarterbacks with the potential for a starting job right away, or top running backs with the opportunity to break through. However, there could be a few more receivers with the chance to be decent contributors early.
NEW YORK -- Musings, observations and the occasional insights from the two-day pick-fest still taking place in Radio City Music Hall:
The Detroit Lions
It's paralysis by analysis time in trying to discern exactly what's coming in this weekend's NFL Draft. But there are some things that simply make too much sense not to happen. Here are 10 moves that not only could happen, but we think should:
Five days from now, you'll all get to open your holiday gifts. I agree with what ex-Giants GM Ernie Accorsi says in Tim Layden's upcoming Sports Illustrated piece about draftmania. According to Accorsi, the draft is now the second-biggest day on the NFL calendar, next to Super Sunday. And from what I'm hearing on talk shows, what I read on draft sites, what I'm running into everywhere I go, Accorsi's right.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's new get-tough policy has gotten rave reviews, and rightly so. But there's get-tough, and then there's getting ridiculous. As in fining Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher $100,000 for wearing a non NFL-approved cap to Super Bowl media day, while sipping from a non NFL-approved bottle of water.
In mid-April everyone's trying to figure out who will go where in the NFL Draft? But let's not lose sight of the question that really matters: Who will be doing what come mid-October? After checking sources around the league, these are five names I expect to be writing plenty of good things about come the 2007 regular season:
You could make a strong argument that the high point of the history of professional sports in Memphis was when Andy Kaufman and Jerry "the King" Lawler staged a series of professional wrestling matches there in the 1980s that have become part of pop culture legend.
Musings, observations and the occasional insight in reaction to the release of the NFL's 2007 regular-season schedule ...
All you need is one look at the personal conduct policy that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell handed down on Tuesday to know that the man isn't playing around. Along with slapping a season-long suspension on Tennessee cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones and an eight-game punishment on Cincinnati wide receiver Chris Henry, Goodell sent a blaring message to the rest of the league's teams, coaches and players. That statement wasn't just about a first-year commissioner flexing his muscles. It was about a first-year commissioner doing some serious educating.
I didn't believe the NFL was on the verge of a major image problem until I watched a recent interview with Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones. Before that, I doubted a string of off-the-field issues could threaten the league's popularity. After it, I realized the fact that a discussion with a diminutive, dreadlocked, drama-prone football player could hold my attention for longer than 10 minutes had to say something about the state of the NFL. When problem children like Pacman can dominate the headlines this long, they eventually can taint an entire league.
Musings, observations, and the occasional insight in the wake of this week's rather uneventful NFL annual meeting in Arizona ...
There's nothing about Stingaree, an upscale lounge in the heart of San Diego's Gaslamp District, that should elicit memories of the 901 Club, a dingy hole in the wall bar next to USC's campus, but on this night it's hard not to have flashbacks.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- There will be sexier stories than commissioner Roger Goodell tweaking the player-conduct policy at the annual NFL meetings here this week. Like the announcement this afternoon of the first two prime-time games of 2007 on NBC, including Eli Manning opening his second straight season on the first Sunday night game of the year, this time against Dallas. (My, how Tony Romo's star continues to rise.) Like Ron Jaworski replacing Joe Theismann as Monday Night Football analyst.
For a few glorious minutes, it all played out so magically. Devin Hester took the opening kickoff 92 yards for the quickest score in Super Bowl history, Peyton Manning hung a third-down pass that was picked off by Chris Harris, and it all seemed to be slipping away for the favored Indianapolis Colts.
Things haven't exactly been going David Beckham's way since he signed his lucrative contract to join the Los Angeles Galaxy in January. First he suffered a serious knee injury that will sideline him until the end of April and possibly May and now he's having a difficult time finding a new home in Los Angeles. While many outlets had soccer's royal family all but moving into the former mansion of Meg Ryan in Bel-Air last week, the asking price for the seven-bedroom, six-bathroom house is apparently too high for the Beckhams.
The NFL may soon hand down the kind of decision that could highlight Roger Goodell's brief reign as commissioner and put the spotlight squarely on his efforts to strengthen the league's personal conduct policy. Sources within the league office say the NFL is likely to set an example with its punishment of troubled Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman'' Jones, suspending him even before the legal process from a Las Vegas strip club brawl in February is complete. The suspension could wipe out his entire 2007 season.
The first two weeks of March has considerably changed the landscape of the league's running back position, with a flurry of moves and acquisitions dominating the headlines and sending players to new NFL addresses all over the map.
I've been to Nashville many times and always enjoy my visits to the city. Now, this isn't a travelogue piece, but my schedule brought me there over the weekend and I decided to spend my time as a diehard hockey fan. I took in two Predators games, multiple youth hockey games, and even went to the Preds' Friday optional skate at their practice rink.
Tennessee general manager Mike Reinfeldt sits in Nashville with $26.5 million in cap room not burning a hole in his pocket. Green Bay GM Ted Thompson does the same with $21.8 million to spend in northeast Wisconsin. And through the mayhem of the first 10 days of free agency, the two guys who run the football side of those teams -- coincidentally, former roommates with the Houston Oilers -- are gritting their teeth, watching money get spent foolishly in some cases, and waiting for the market to simmer down.
At least two winning lottery tickets were sold for the record $370 million Mega Millions jackpot: one in Georgia, the other in New Jersey.
1. The Patriots trade for Wes Welker -- Whether it's at slot receiver or in the return game, Welker is a pesky little play-making presence that gives the opposition fits. The Patriots gave up second- and seventh-round picks for him, but with two first-rounders this year, that lessens the blow to New England's first-day draft haul. As a bonus, the move also potentially weakens a division opponent, which is never a bad idea. Get ready to see Tom Brady throw a ton of those receiver screens that the Patriots love to Welker.
The St. Louis Rams signed free agent receiver Drew Bennett to a six-year, $30-million contract on Saturday, a clear sign that veteran Isaac Bruce is likely in his final season with the team.
Conventional wisdom as it currently exists regarding the top of this year's NFL Draft took its first hit Thursday when the Detroit Lions agreed to a trade that will send cornerback Dre' Bly to Denver in exchange for running back Tatum Bell, offensive tackle George Foster and a fifth-round pick.
Brooks, a former NFL wide receiver and cornerback, spent the last seven years as a scout for the Seahawks and Panthers.
Over the last several offseasons, one question has become more and more important to all 32 teams: Which free agents are legit and who are the ones who've just been fortunate to prosper in a system that maximizes their potential? I'd argue that, aside from money, it's probably the most important issue facing any general manager sifting through this year's free agent class.
Is it just me, or does free agency seem, well, not quite as free as it once was? At least in terms of headline names being dumped into the marketplace, sparking the kind of shopping sprees teams like Washington, Cleveland, Denver and others have gone on in recent years.
LAS VEGAS -- Placing a fat stack of $100 chips onto the blackjack table at the Mandalay Bay Casino early last Thursday morning, Drew Bennett smiled at Shirley, the silver-haired dealer with a severe game face, and posed a playful question.
The biggest question NFL teams struggle with exiting the combine? How much these top prospects, 21-year-old kids, are going to be changed by money. JaMarcus Russell, from working-class Mobile, Ala., has never had the kind of money he's about to get. Ditto Calvin Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Joe Thomas.
Musings, observations and the occasional insight as the NFL offseason continues to generate headlines on this Valentine's Day. ...
For the first time in seven years, the Vince Lombardi Trophy resides today in the nation's heartland, where the Indianapolis Colts call home. It took the Colts 23 years to bring a Super Bowl championship to their relocated home, but less than a week after their coronation, there are already 31 other NFL teams plotting to dethrone them.
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