Weekend notes: attacking Brady

Tom Brady and the Pats had an average night at best against the Bengals on Thursday, but thinking about the results—and what is now on film for the rest of the league to watch—I would not be surprised to see opposing defenses attack Brady and company with pressure to start the regular season.

APShould teams pressure Brady to start the season?

In the past, pressuring a Tom Brady offense in New England was a major risk—unless you had the secondary to play blitz-man coverage in the backend. But, considering that Brady looked slightly tentative against Cincy in the pocket on Thursday, that might be the best option until this offense and Brady prove that they can handle four quarters of pressure.

But, what is the other option? Teams that sit back in Cover 2 usually are torn apart by Brady down the middle of the field and in the underneath passing game. The same can be said for teams that play Cover 4 or Cover 3. Zone coverage allows Brady to sit behind a decent offensive line and wait for routes to develop. And, with Randy Moss, Wes Welker and now Joey Galloway in the equation, playing zone coverage is a recipe for disaster. Sending pressure to a quarterback who missed basically the entire 2008 season might just be the best option.

The Pats open up with Buffalo—a Cover 2 football team. However, the Bills have the corners in Terrence McGee and Leodis McKelvin who have the ability to play press-man and off-man in blitz situations—plus a pretty developed zone blitz package. If I am the Bills, after watching the Pats-Bengals tape, I start game planning to bring pressure on opening night. It is their best option.

The Andre Smith and Michael Crabtree holdouts are detrimental to the development of each of these rookies, but what I think is being overlooked is the effect they are having on their respective football teams.

Smith was drafted to start—and protect franchise quarterback Carson Palmer. If we don’t believe that this is a serious knock to the Bengals then we are only kidding ourselves. Think about it, the Bengals are not the Steelers or the Giants. They are a team that drafted for immediate return—and Smith’s holdout has put an end to those hopes.

In San Fran we know that both Alex Smith and Shaun Hill—entrenched in a quarterback battle—would benefit from having a receiver like Crabtree make plays for them in practice and in the preseason games. Plus, the Niners aren’t necessarily stacked at the wide receiver position. If Crabtree is as good as advertised—which we can’t answer right now—he could have helped this football team score valuable points.

Yes, both of these rookies are hurting themselves, but more importantly, they are killing their football teams.

APFavre had a rough night in Minnesota.

Brett Favre was anything but special in his preseason debut last night at home against the Chiefs in his first action of the 2009 season, and I am wondering if anyone is really surprised?

Sure, the arm strength is still there as is his supposed passion to play, but even the best of players in this league need practice time. And throwing to wide-eyed high school kids in 7-on-7 drills in Mississippi isn’t going to get it done. Favre looked old last night.

In saying that, last night isn’t an option for us in the evaluation process of Favre. No QB, and that includes Peyton Manning, is going to walk into a game setting and produce big numbers without quality practice time. This will be a process for Favre and the Vikings, and all they can hope for is that there is enough time to prepare before the regular season starts. Because there are no excuses—when the games count.

The Broncos game against the Seahawks tonight is huge for Kyle Orton is terms of proving that he is without question the best option for the Broncos at the quarterback position, but it is also important for Orton’s credibility inside the locker room. We tend to forget that Orton has yet to prove to his teammates that he can lead this team to victories during the regular season, and another poor performance like last week will get those players in the Bronco locker room talking—and wondering if Orton has what it takes to get the job done. Proving yourself to your teammates is just as important as proving yourself to the coaching staff when you are the “new guy” in town.

Rookies tend to forget at times that they aren’t playing college ball when it comes to preseason action, but the league is quick to remind them. On Monday night, Carolina backup running back Mike Goodson—a rookie from Texas A&M—decided to go with  the “throat slash” to the Giants crowd, which was half empty because it was the second half of a preseason game. Sweet move.

Goodson’s reward? A letter from the league stating that he would now see $7,500 dollars subtracted from his paycheck. Now, rookies don’t have that type of money in the preseason, but if he is on the opening day roster the league will get that coin. I suffered the same fate as a rook in 2000 for the Rams when I hit Cowboys running back Chris Warren in the head about five yards out of bounds. My reward? A $5,000 dollar fine that came out of my first paycheck—and I almost vomited. Welcome to the NFL Mr. Goodson—where someone is always watching.

APCutler will face the New York pash rush tonight in Chicago.

I am very interested to watch the Bears tonight as they host the Giants in Chicago at Soldier Field. I wasn’t impressed with Jay Cutler last week in his Bears debut against Buffalo, and playing in front of a home crowd tonight—one that has enormous expectations for the QB—will be telling. Last week, Cutler reportedly threw WR Devin Hester under the bus for an interception (which he later tried to clear up), and the offense wasn’t anything special to watch.

Preseason or not, playing against the Giants defense is a good test and a good way to measure where you are as an offense at this point in the preseason. Cutler will see some pressure tonight, and it his job to deliver the football regardless of who is in his face. This is a game I want to watch.

Tonight’s game in Cleveland is huge for QB Derek Anderson. If he wants to start, he has to show Eric Mangini and the coaching staff that he has the tools and the ability to put together scoring drives and make something happen. We all tend to lean towards Brady Quinn when it comes to the quarterback battle for the Browns, but I still believe that a good showing from Anderson tonight keeps him in play for the starting job. For an offense that will struggle to score points all season, Anderson’s ability to throw the deep ball should come into play when making a decision on who to start.

Follow me on Twitter: MattBowen41

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