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I think the first move Jim Haslett made is the right one: bringing Marc Bulger back and allowing him to run the offense. But he needs to challenge the rest of the team. Michael Lombardi

Bookmark and Share Print This Send This October 01, 2008, 03:09 PM EST
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1.     I am not going to dignify Al Davis' comments by offering remarks on everything that he said.  I will, however, say this: there was never any tampering between the Patriots and Randy Moss.  Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and I are friends going back to our Cleveland days and we talk football all the time — like two people in the NFL who love football would normally do.  Between everyone lying and everyone tampering there seemed to be a wide sweep to Davis' accusations yesterday. 

2.     Pete Carroll might have said it best.... "I couldn't really be more disappointed for the game of football.  I thought today was really a dark moment," Carroll said.  "To go to that level...hurts football, the NFL, and coaching.  It wasn't necessary at all.  "The owner gets to do what he wants.  He made his choice, and there's nothing wrong with that.  I don't fault anything there.  But just the manner of all the finger pointing and the name calling.  It was not informed, and it seemed out of touch.  I thought it was unfortunate that it came down like that."

3.     One final thought on the matter.  My cell phone was on fire yesterday with many former and current Hotel members in complete disbelief with what they were seeing on TV.  Yes, even people in that building were amazed.

4.     My sources in Green Bay tell me that Aaron Rodgers should be able to throw well enough.  He is more in a pain monitoring mode than anything else.  He may not have thrown very much, but everyone including Rodgers is confident in his ability to play.  If he cannot go, there is no doubt that Matt Flynn or Brian Brohm will struggle in the game.  There are not enough reps in practice to get them prepared. 

5.     I spent the day with The Showtime “Inside the NFL” Crew: James Brown, Warren Sapp, Phil Simms, and Chris Collinsworth.  They are all informative and insightful about the Raider situation, and they have a very compelling story on former Packer Tony Mandarich.  This is a must view show tonight.

6.     Atlanta defensive end Jamaal Anderson looks very slow off the ball, hesitant and non-physical.  He does not gain ground with his first step and will not be able to make plays if he does not improve.  Based on the tapes I have watched, he looks bad.

7.     I hear the Giants would love to find another big defensive tackle for their defensive line rotation, and have called the Raiders about the availability of Terrell Sands.  The Raiders were not interested in trading Sands. 

8.     The first order of business for new Raider coach Tom Cable will be to find a passing game and some different protections that will help them explore the passing game.  I am hearing Cable’s first message to the staff was that they have to find a way to play the fourth quarter like they do the first.  Limiting some of the defensive calls might be in the future plans.

9.     I think the first move Jim Haslett made is the right one: bringing Marc Bulger back and allowing him to run the offense.  He still needs to challenge the rest of the team.  Fear does the work of reason and he needs to instill some fear into a few players that they might be losing their jobs.  Keeping things as is will not help the Rams.  "I see most of them staying pat," Haslett said. "I see us trying to do things a little bit better in all areas.  I think we have some pretty good backups, I don't want to say backups, guys that can play.”

10.   Even though Brian Westbrook returned to practice on a limited basis, I always feel that unless a running back is healthy, it will be too hard in the game for him to make a play.  He may have done some stuff in practice today, but I think he is still a week away from being his old self.

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Tyson Lamp
Oct 01, 2008
03:36 PM

Mike,

What game are you looking forward to watching the most this week?

What new coach, Haslett or Cable, is in a better position to win some games this season?

Thanks again...

Andy Dufresne
Oct 01, 2008
03:41 PM

Al Davis has finally shown the world that he is not fit to run that team anymore. Not unlike Lane Kiffin yesterday, I too was embarrased for Al Davis while watching him set up a defense strategy for not paying Lane on the remainder of his contract. Hey Al, the next time you write your head coach a letter instead of simply calling him, dont Fed-Ex it, (that costs $$ and we all know you just wasted the $150 million from the NY investors on 3 very average players in Hall-Walker-Kelly) rather, just hand it off to one of your bumbling henchmen and have them walk it to him.

Nikos
Oct 01, 2008
04:43 PM

Mike,
As a Patriot fan and BB fan I'm glad you were so definitive about the "tampering" allegations by Al Davis. Correct me If I'm wrong but didn't the Raiders give permission to Randy and his agent to seek a trade weeks prior to the NFL Draft that year?

According to this link from 4/30/2007 the Patriots and every other NFL team for that matter received permession to try and work out a deal w/Randy weeks prior to the deal being consumated, see link: http://archive.profootballtalk.com/4-23-07through4-30-07.htm

Kevin
Oct 01, 2008
05:03 PM

Mike-

Great stuff as always. Don't mean to
be a smarta$$, but is there any team
in the league who wouldn't like to add
a big DT to their rotation...?

Btw, hearing any inside scoop on the
truth about the severity (or lack
thereof) of Palmer's elbow situation ?

banjo
Oct 01, 2008
06:12 PM

what's wrong with al Davis?

BigJohn
Oct 01, 2008
06:14 PM

"If he [Rodgers] cannot go, there is no doubt that Matt Flynn or Brian Brohm will struggle in the game. There are not enough reps in practice to get them prepared."

And therein lies one reason, among others, that Ted Thompson is not even a competent general manager, much less a good one.

mike in md
Oct 01, 2008
06:34 PM

Mike - about what Kevin was saying about the DT, was the price offered not high enough for Terrell Sands? I've never heard of him, is he young/older & how good is he?

My Niners & as Kevin said ANY team could always use another good DT, just not enough supply. What else is new?

Mr.Murder
Oct 01, 2008
06:46 PM

Westbrook should not be hurried back.

The man is MVP material for what he means to them.

As for the Sandman(wish to hell they'd play Metallica when he gets a sack in Oakland) Terdell is someone Al was laughed at for signing big money. He had off field loss to deal with last year, rough overall team situations, and he wasn't in full health.

He's proving he was worth the money, the Giants know talent when they see it. The team has some pices in place.

Haslett was on Al Davis' final list the year he ended up getting Gruden. So was Bill B.

Bringing coach Carrol into it is tough. Al once coached at USC. In addition to coaching with Lane, Carrol is also a student of the game and the school he coaches at.

People should not have put Al in that kind of situation. Yes he has put himself in the situation, no it should not have been made to play out that way.

Coach Cable is smash mouth. He understands that passing is about protection above all else. He will find ways for the players to make plays, it all starts up front.

David
Oct 01, 2008
07:56 PM

Mike,

I cannot believe teams thought Moss "couldn't run" anymore.

Al Davis is nuts. Common sense tells you Moss has always had Hall of Fame talent. 6'4" receivers with 4.3 speed and an amazing vertical leap do not grow on trees. Not to mention his previous success.

I think teams were waiting to see if Davis would drop Moss the way the Eagles dropped T.O.

Furthermore, his attitude scared most teams away from trading for Moss because they didn't want to assume his contract without knowing if he would play for them.

Jason
Oct 01, 2008
08:45 PM

Rumor has it that Bills DT John McCargo was on the trade block during the preseason. The 2006 first round pick has been pretty inconsistent and is currently the 4th DT for the Bills. The only problem in trading him away would be the Bills have no depth after him if the top 3 DT's saw an injury.

I'd imagine the only teams willing to trade players right now are the ones who's season is already kaput. Teams like Detroit, Cincy, Cleveland, Oakland, KC, St. Louis and maybe even the overrated Vikings.

MikeG
Oct 01, 2008
11:25 PM

**Mr.Murder** question for ya....Give me some thoughts on Michael Huff. Everytime I see a TD highlight against the Raiders, the dude is chasing or getting ran over. When the 2006 draft came, he was the consensus #1 safety and my Bills picked Donte Whitner with the next pick (8 overall) which made everyone in Buffalo mad because he was a bit unknown and all the pundits ripped the pick but here we are, Whitner is playing at a high level and as far as I can tell Huff has made about 4 plays in 3 years...Thanks man

Jon
Oct 02, 2008
06:40 AM

MikeG,
Huff's first 3 years were spent playing strong safety where he wasn't able quite show off his athletisism. With the addition of Gibril Wilson he moved to Free Safety this year and is still adjusting to the new position. He's made some play, but yes he's been in bad position on a few too. Time will tell, in my opinion it's still too early to call him a "bust", but he needs to make the adjustment quickly to help that defense. He has the talent, he just needs to get his head into it.

Micheal, you've talked about the Raiders lack of a "pro passing game" before. Was that due to Kiffin's scheme and play calling? I would say it was Kiffin over-protecting Russell because of a lack of confidence in him. Or is it their lack of talent at wide receiver? Your thoughts?

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