Over the past 3 games, Roethlisberger has beed 2006-bad. However, it’s the lack of a run game that is killing that team.

Since rolling over Houston Week 1, the Steelers have rushed for less than 100 yards 5 times; in 4 of those, for less than 70; in 1 of those for 30.

Worthless.

Yesterday, they called 44 passes vs. 24 RB rush attempts. At the GL, they were unable to root out a 265# DT. If you can’t run on Indy, you can’t run on anyone.

Mike,

I could not agree with you more about my beloved Packers. Their lines are atrocious right now. This offseason needs to focus on a rebuilding of both lines, but I think the offensive line should be a priority.

Not just the run game, but Ben is also not keeping up with his homework on the defenses being thrown at him. You can tell by the lag time between the snap and checkdown. He doesn’t look like he anticipates.

I was really pleased that Herm went for the 2 point conversion. The season’s already dead and buried for the Chiefs, so what did they have to lose? Miss the conversion and they increase their chances of getting a top pick in the draft next year. Score it, and they get a confidence boosting upset win. It was well worth the gamble in the circumstances.

someone please convince me that the Bills are not screwed - please

Completely agree on the first Eagles challenge. Both Al Michaels and Madden had it wrong when they indicated that Reid “had” to challenge. How many times have we seen the proverbial “hail mary” challenge succeed. Pretty much never. In my mind, there seems to a meme going around the league (or at least the broadcast booth) that certain plays “must” be challenged.

WHAT? The Raiders can’t give up their only Pro-Bowl player! We are living in the day of “Redistribution of Wealth”, so why should the worst team in the League give up it’s best player? The League should be punishing the other teams to give up their best owner and give us the best GM. Share the wealth, Mike, not take it away.

Oh wait, sharing the wealth and taking away the wealth is the same thing…..nevermind.

Michael–

Re: Item 17.

The Packers had the same offensive line last year. Arguably Favre made the line better with faster reads, quicker releases, audibling and a willigness to thread the ball into tight spots.

Coach Mike McCarthy said in August as he kicked Favre out of the Packer’s facility that Favre didn’t have “the right mindset” to play for the Packers in 2008.

Should we look at McCarthy’s mindset? Of course we should.

–The Packers lead the league in penalties this year. That is all on McCarthy.

–The Packers give up something close to 200 rushing yards per game, putting them near the bottom of the league. That is all on McCarthy.

–McCarthy’s replay challenge of the Peterson TD yesterday was a glaring coaching error.

–His play calling on the last drive yesterday was atrocious. He did not even try to move the ball into high percentage FG makeability territory.

–He consistently does not have his team ready to play in tough games. Every week he talks about “correcting” errors which are then repeated the following week.

Look for the Bears to come into Lambeau Field next Sunday like a pack of wild dogs and beat the Packers at home. The McCarthy/TedHeads will then be jumping ship like rats.

It’s nice to see Andy Reid being called on the carpet. How many more years does he get to survive off of having gone to (and lost in)one Super Bowl? Jim Fassel had alot less rope in New York before being canned.

Mike,
Do you think Jim Harbaugh would be a good fit as head coach of the Chiefs. if not who????

Mike

What is wrong with Jake Delhomme? I can’t recall ever seeing a QB play as bad as Delhomme did yesterday, let alone play that bad and have his team win 17-6 …

Mike, do teams have one guy dedicated to telling the coaches when/when not to challenge a play? And if they don’t why not? It’s so freaking obvious that I sit on my couch and want to pick up my cell phone and call Andy Reid!!!

You criticize the PI call in the last minutes of the game yet say nothing of the non review of BOwe and the mugging in the endzone on the 2 pt attempt? Really? Wow! I bet you thought TG did really have offensive PI on Barber last week as well. Get real, at least be fair about it.

“I know Williams is not tearing it up in Cleveland, but he would have played better for the Packers.”

Okay…

“Not tearing it up”? The man has a half a sack and 23 tackles through nine games. You can get a rookie to put up that kind of production. …oh wait, that’s exactly what we did.

“He would have played better for the Packers”. No, he would’ve played better if it were a contract year.

Patspsycho:

That’s a fair point. Ben is rarely the more cerebral QB on the field. Part of that may be his early success; it’s easier to change what’s not working than what is. Or, you know, did. Asking Roethlisberger to operate a timing/under pass attack is like asking a race horse to pull a dump truck. However, with no run game and with only their #3 WR able to get deep and little to no pass pro, under is about it.

Otherwise:

Saw some of the PHIL/Giants game, not all. In limited views, seems to me the decider was the Giants run blocking. Reid is infamous for his challenges, and general game mismanagement but here he was trying to bail out a team whose D had been shoved all ’round the field. Tough to win that way.

While I’m not a TT or MM hater but rather a Packer fan I think Big John brings up some valid points about their offense this year. Same O-line members but whose younger members should be better but are not. Tell me there isn’t some correlation with Favre’s abilities in reading the defenses from his 16 years of experience and his physical ability to release the ball quickly not to mention his instincts as to when to get rid of it. Not to say Favre always made the right decisions but Rogers looks like he’s scared to make a mistake which can only be the fault of the coaching. No player will ever reach is potential if he plays scared. If anything the loss of Favre and his leadership appears more and more to be casting a light on the performance of McCarthy and so far that light isn’t so bright..

I’m watching Dick Jauron’s press conference on ESPNNews right now and it’s obvious that he’s feeling the pressure of the Bills’ recent slump. Was the Tuna wrong when he said you are what your record says you are concerning Buffalo? They were 5-1, but now they’re a shell of their former selves and as a Broncos fan, I know midseason is a terrible time to have a slump. Speaking of the Broncos, the game against the Falcons is important as they need to hold off the Chargers as much as they can. The Vikings are not sound in special teams which enabled the Pack to hang around. When looking at the stats, there’s really no way the Packers should have been in that game. New Orleans is a disappointment, at least when the Broncos amass 500+ yards in a game they win. There is no excuse for being that prolific offensively and finding a way to lose games.

The runner always makes the blocker right. A quick thinker at QB will get the ball out and make his line look better.

Two safeties? I laughed so hard watching that.

Don’t get dis-Gus-ted in Viking country. It’s a team game, he’ll come around to that realization if he wants to make it to the conference Championship.

This isn’t about thinking about “ohhhh, we will reach the playoffs!”

It’s about establishing a level of play good enough to win in the playoffs, right now. Getting there is something pro bowlers can brag about, there’s a bigger team goal in mind, we could talk about this topic All Day(tm).

Petersen was my first overall pick in the FF league, which overvalues passing in comparison to rushing, but I’ve got the MVP looking like an MVP right now. Even though they have other good runners to share reps with, Adrian still rules in the realm of rushing yardage.

My FF passer was one all the experts said was done, too old. Jet Favre was there in the middle rounds and I anticipated as much chatting with league members before the draft. Wish I could make wins translate to FF points, because the stats aren’t always there for him, the wins are there, the confidence in his fellow players is there.

Favre sure helps Mr.Jones and the Jets offense, you can’t tell me Brett isn’t MVP worthy this season. Their defensive front seven is one dimensional. Outside the great young CB’s plays, and some solid support players in the defensive backfield that compliment him, the team is mostly about being run stoppers. That’s okay though, it means they can use balance and other teams can’t, the weather will soon favor their defensive play style much more as well.

I got in halfway through the first quarter of the late game and the Giants already had done a hostile takeover of the scoreboard. Seventeen points right out of the starting gate? Had the Eagles not gone flag less most of the game it would have been a lot uglier. The Giants controlled the game but didn’t always control the ball, helps when the Eagles are knocking around down footballs and trying to make the time for huddles into rugby scrums. The refs did nothing to control such behavior either. That’s a lot of money out there that you’re letting get roughed in extracurricular activities.

Lito is their no 3 corner? That’s entirely done for.

The Giants are an abundance of riches, their main problem is a good amount of irrational exuberance. What has peaked such confidence, the surplus of talent and skill. Eli ends up rushing some reps, he tries to get the ball to everyone, but at times you’ve got to make stars into stars and get them the ball where they play best. That means a high pass to Plaxico on the back line, not a bullet pass to the ankles with a rookie on him. That means power runners stay on their feet to finish runs like they own the tackler, because that is what Brandon brings when he runs best. Bradshaw was timing an appearance and got a bit anxious with the ball on a kickoff so they seemed to decide upon staying with Ward, and the man he was supposed to spell as the change of pace fumbled in his stead. Much of it seemed to be that the Eagles DC guru Johnson tried to key what each good player did best and limit their ability to adjust with pressure and stunts over those player keys.
The Eagles were still on the lifeline in the game, move over, Dallas. The Giants will need to finish things better, like they started the game.

That’s okay, you know how much the Giants rep this stuff that these anomalies will not be a trend, just a blip on the market. They are the major index of the NFL as defending champs and will continue to set the standard in their Division and Conference.

The Giants must have their DC signed long term and assume he will be Coughlin’s successor in the future. That’s who every GM better be looking at.
I’d aim for defensive teams first in small market towns, the skill guys have not made for good faith cap adjustments in the future with such items. The Saints were looking to move a WR going into the year, for instance. Defenders who play to any level usually can get you better compensation. Skill positions accelerate beyond what teams playing “to the cap” are usually willing to pay.

Thus the market usually bides time and waits you out, knowing your pocketbook is the final arbiter, and that the free agency ranks will free some of what you give up on his arrival elsewhere, at a cheaper price.

A friend has a good idea for a future head coach, a former player, the Carolina DB coach Mark Carrier. He is a details oriented type and could take a good promotion to DC/asst HC any time now. He merits serious consideration, in addition to Tampa’s DB coach.

Build the defense up first, along with an offensive line. Those are the areas a small market team could justify compensation on a level matching most offers.

The Giants look really really good. I could not BELIEVE that Andy Reid ran it twice in the last possession situation. I was a long time Reid defender (and I think he got a lot out of some pretty low talent Eagles teams), but maybe it is time for them to move on.