Month: November 2009

From ESPN.com:

TALLAHASSEE — Legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who built one of college football’s greatest dynasties in 34 seasons with the Seminoles, plans to announce his retirement Tuesday morning, sources close to the situation told ESPN.com.

Bowden, whose 388 career victories trail only Penn State’s Joe Paterno as college football’s winningest coach, met with FSU president TK Wetherell and athletic director Randy Spetman on Monday morning. According to sources, Bowden was given two options: return to FSU in 2010 as an ambassador to the program, in which he would have little input in the day-to-day operations of the program, or retire after the Seminoles’ upcoming bowl game.

Sources told ESPN.com that offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, who was named Bowden’s eventual successor near the end of the 2007 season, has agreed to contract terms to replace Bowden after this season. The school’s booster organization would have owed Fisher $5 million if he didn’t replace Bowden by January 2011.

Bowden, 80, led FSU to national championships in 1993 and ’99 and 14 consecutive top-five finishes in the Associated Press top 25 poll from 1987 to 2000. But the Seminoles finished 6-6 after last week’s 37-10 loss at No. 1 Florida, which was the third time in four seasons that FSU lost six games.

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LAKE FOREST, Ill.—Bears coach Lovie Smith wasn’t thrilled with the remarks linebacker Brian Urlacher made publicly about his struggling team over the weekend, but the coach acknowledged there isn’t a lot he can do about it.

Urlacher was critical of the Bears’ identity in remarks to Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports, and also seemed to take some shots at running back Matt Forte while he watched the team get dismantled 36-10 by the Minnesota Vikings.

“Look, I love Jay (Cutler), and I understand he’s a great player who can take us a long way, and I still have faith in him,” Urlacher said. “But I hate the way our identity has changed. We used to establish the run and wear teams down and try not to make mistakes, and we’d rely on our defense to keep us in the game and make big plays to put us in position to win. Kyle Orton might not be the flashiest quarterback, but the guy is a winner, and that formula worked for us. I hate to say it, but that’s the truth.”

As far as the Bears’ last-ranked rushing offense, he seemed to point his commentary at the play selection of offensive coordinator Ron Turner and Forte, the second-year back who has struggled.

“Now we’re gonna run that (expletive)!” Urlacher said of a run play in the fourth quarter. Earlier, discussing a botched screen pass, he said, “You know why that doesn’t work? We don’t make anyone (expletive) miss. I guess I just don’t realize what great tacklers these (opposing defenders) are. They’re amazing.”

Those are not words that are going to go over well in Halas Hall. Remember, ex-Bear Bobby Wade said on the eve of training camp that Urlacher had called Cutler a word that rhymes with wussy, one that we don’t condone at the National Football Post. So does that make these remarks a coincidence?

“I think right now at this stage, everyone is frustrated with where we are and everybody will speak their mind,’’ Smith said. “Brian Urlacher is a team guy, like all of our players are, and they will voice their opinion. I would like all comments to be positive toward what we’re doing but guys have a chance to voice their opinion. I can’t do a whole lot about that, I just know that brian is a team player. He’s behind everything that we’re doing.”

Teammates were not sure what to make of the most recent hullabaloo.

“The identity of losing we’re not happy with,” said Olin Kreutz. “If that’s what he means.”

Yeah. Something like that.

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When the New York Giants announced that linebacker Antonio Pierce would be sidelined indefinitely with a bulging disc in his neck, they meant until next season, at least.

Pierce was placed on season-ending injured reserve today, the result of what he thought was a stinger suffered more than a month ago in a home loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Pierce had an MRI on Nov. 22 that revealed the true nature of the injury, and he sought a second opinion from Dr. Robert Watkins in California, according to Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger.

There is no scheduled surgery for Pierce at this point, although that has not been ruled out. Next year will be the final year of his contract and now things are up in the air for the 31-year-old. Chase Blackburn is expected to replace him the rest of the season, but Garafolo pointed out that Jonathan Goff could see some action in the near future.

This much is known, the Giants’ defense has been a shell of itself without Pierce.

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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez was limited during the team’s light practice Monday with a sore left knee, but should play against the Buffalo Bills in Toronto on Thursday.

Coach Rex Ryan said Sanchez had some soreness in the knee after he tweaked it in the Jets’ 17-6 win over Carolina on Sunday. Sanchez downplayed it, saying he woke up Monday and the knee was fine, showing no concern that it might hamper him.

“It felt really good,” Sanchez said. “The training staff looked at it this morning, stretched me out and we went through the walkthrough, pretty seamless. It feels fine. We’ll see how it goes as the week goes on and make sure we take it slow and be smart about it.”

Ryan said he thought Sanchez would be able to play against the Bills without any major limitations, despite the quick turnaround.

“I know he’s sore, so we’ll see how that goes,” he said. “It is a short week … but he finished the game. I thought he was still moving around pretty good, so hopefully he’ll be 100 percent when we play.”

Sanchez said he missed no snaps in Monday’s practice, but Ryan listed him as limited anyway.

“I think it’s appropriate to put him there because he did miss some time during the game,” Ryan said. “And, he does have some soreness there.”

Ryan also characterized the injury as a tweak without going into details.

“The tweak is good because nobody knows what that is, so tweak,” he said. “I think he tweaked his knee. There’s obviously no major damage, so that’s the first thing.”

With the Jets leading 14-3 Sunday, Sanchez scrambled to the sideline on first-and-10 from New York’s 46 when he was tackled by Richard Marshall after an 8-yard gain. He went down, grabbing at the leg and giving the Jets a scare. He missed the next four offensive plays before returning and finishing the victory.

“I thought it almost looked like it scared him and that’s why I was like, ‘Just breathe. You’ll be all right,” Ryan said. “We’re fortunate that that’s probably what it was more than anything.”

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner says he plans to see an opthalmologist about lingering post-concussion symptoms that kept him out of Sunday’s 20-17 loss at Tennessee.

Warner says he’s having hard-to-describe issues with his eyes, a condition he hoped would subside last week but never did. He says the Cardinals medical staff told him before Sunday’s game he shouldn’t play and he agreed.

The decision ended Warner’s string of 41 consecutive starts.

He sustained the concussion in the second quarter of Arizona’s 21-13 victory at St. Louis and didn’t play in the second half of that game.

What can the Houston Texans do to avoid the curse of the Colts? Building a large lead in the first half and then watching it disappear, as they did Sunday against the Colts, takes a toll on a team, on the coaching staff and, most of all, the fans.

Did anyone who watched the game actually think the Texans were going to win it? I know Matt “I love me some Texans” Bowen was not optimistic in spite of the big lead. Bowen, for all of his kind acts, is a tough guy, and he knows the Texans are not tough. That’s what made our bet so strange from my viewpoint — how could a tough guy not see that a team isn’t tough? We all make mistakes about teams (me with the Giants), so not seeing the Texans’ lack of toughness is understandable. But now it’s in full force for the world to see, and head coach Gary Kubiak has an enormous challenge getting his team back and believing in his ability as they travel to Jacksonville. Technically, they’re still alive in the playoff race, but we all know my fat butt is headed to Amsterdam to see Springsteen because the Texans have no chance to regroup. I’m already working on my sight-seeing itinerary while in Amsterdam.

Successful teams all have one thing in common: They get their personality from someone on the team, whether it’s the quarterback or a defensive leader. There is always a strong force in the locker room that is a talented player along with naturally talented leader. There is a sense of determination coming from the leader, and right now the Texans are void of this kind of player. Matt Schaub is a very good quarterback, but he doesn’t have the charisma or leadership skills to take over the team. He cannot command, but he can play effectively, which is fine. He’s very much like former Bucs</a> quarterback Vinnie Testaverde in terms of not being the leader of the team but a good player nonetheless. The Texans must draw their toughness from other sources, and that will be their challenge in the offseason because right now it’s not in their locker room.

The Saints changed their personality last offseason with their determination to run the ball and have a physical camp, and it has paid dividends. The Texans need to closely examine the Saints’ course of action and how they repaired their lack of toughness and follow suit. They have a great offensive system that can score points, but they must add an element of toughness because winning football requires tough-minded people — just like our man Matt Bowen.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON SUNDAY’S GAMES…

1. Houston forced the Colts into just six third downs all day. Six. Most teams get 12 per game, and yet the Colts had 28 first downs. Hard for a defense to get off the field if you can’t get into a third down.

2. The Colts are now three games up with five to play for home field advantage through the playoffs. Beating the Texas without Dwight Freeney was remarkable, but Robert Mathis picked up the slack, pressuring Schaub all day.

3. The 49ers entered the season only wanting to throw the ball sparingly, but that proved to be a bad plan. Yesterday, without a running game, they threw the ball well without turning it over. They had only one penalty for the day and were 50 percent on third downs. They let the Jags lose the game by committing two turnovers and missing two field goals.

4. Jay Cutler is not the only thing wrong with the Bears right now. They allowed the Vikings to have 83 plays and gain over 500 yards. The Bears are not good enough at many positions.

5. How come no one ever mentions Philip Rivers in the MVP race? What more can a player do to help his team win? He was great yesterday with his third 300-yard passing day of the season.

6. The Bengals learned something on their West Coast trip: When playing an inferior opponent, just protect the ball, be sound and don’t make mistakes. They managed the game against the Browns correctly, and although it might not have been pretty, it was effective.

7. Does anyone but Yahoo Dave think the Jets have a chance to make the playoffs? I’m just asking.

8. Jake Delhomme has the worst luck of any quarterback. Throwing the interception to Darrelle Revis was a one-in-a-million shot. For whatever reason, interceptions follow Delhomme around.

9. I admire how hard and physical the Redskins play, even though they’re playing for a lame-duck coach and have no playoff possibilities. They are not an easy team for any offense, and I fully expect them to upset either the Cowboys or the Giants. The Eagles, who beat the ‘Skins twice, are my favorite to win the NFC East.

10. I’ve seen enough of Michael Vick and the wildcat for the Eagles. But I have not seen enough of Jason Avant, a really good player with toughness to make those inside catches.

11. The Dolphins have lost too many players to be a playoff contender now. Once Ronnie Brown went down and then Jason Ferguson, they lost two core players. The Fins do not have enough skill on offense to compensate for losing Brown.

12. Tonight this should be a great game as the Patriots are going to have to prove they can win on the road and the Saints want to prove they’re the best team in the NFL. It will be a great chess match, but when you have two very smart coaches, these games normally come down to which team is playing with sound fundamentals and execution. Winning at this time of year requires not making mistakes and being sound — so don’t look for anything fancy from the Patriots. They’ll just do their jobs.

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For a detailed Patriots-Saints analysis, check out this article from Bleacher Report.

By BARRY WILNER, AP Football Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) Despite the New York Giants’ recent slump and his own mediocre performances, quarterback Eli Manning says a stress reaction in his right foot is not affecting his play.

Manning developed the injury while dealing with another problem on the bottom of his foot during a win Oct. 4 at Kansas City. The Giants were 4-0 after that victory, but are now 6-5 as Manning has struggled in recent weeks, even though his inflamed arch has healed.

On Monday, he said his latest health issue has not been a factor on the field.

“In the games it doesn’t bother me and I don’t think about it. This is not something I am overly concerned with,” Manning said. “It has been the same for probably the last three to four weeks, it’s nothing new. I can go out and practice and do all I need to do.”

Manning doesn’t believe he would eventually need surgery on his foot.

“It’s one of those things that time and rest is probably the biggest thing,” he said. “Having the weekend and the bye week and off week helped some. Time to rest it is helpful. It is not something I think will linger or bother me.”

Manning also said he has no pain when walking and there are no concerns that the stress reaction can lead to him being sidelined for any of the remaining five games.

“It is frustrating, kind of one thing leading to another. When you have to go to the training room and get treatment, it throws your schedule out of whack. It kind of pushes things back. I am a guy who doesn’t like to be in a training room. That’s been probably the biggest annoyance trying to deal with it.”

The Giants play Dallas (8-3), Philadelphia (7-4) and Washington (3-7) in the next three weeks and pretty much need a sweep of those games for any chance to the win the NFC East. They beat the Cowboys in Week 2, their most impressive victory of the year, and also won the season opener against Washington. New York lost to Philadelphia 40-17 a month ago in perhaps its worst game of the season.

Right now, the Eagles and Packers lead the wild-card race by one game over the Giants and Falcons. Atlanta has lost to New York, so the Giants have the edge there.

“There’s got to be a sense of urgency,” Manning said. "We don’t have time to kind of figure out and slowly become a better team and make strides. We’ve got to make a jump, a jump back to playing good football.

“Sometimes you will falter, and we have a lot. But we are still capable of beating teams and playing at a high level.”

Manning and defensive end Justin Tuck said the players have held a few meetings during the season, but not since they lost at Denver 26-6 on Thanksgiving night. Tuck noted such meetings are “valuable when it works. Obviously we didn’t (get results) because we lost a few games here.”

Manning recognizes that the message among teammates needs to be the same, meetings or not.

“Stick with each other,” he said. “We know we have lot of people doubting us now and there are probably reasons for them to. If we want to pull this out and make a run … it’s about the players coming together and trusting each other and going out there and doing it.”

From ESPN.com:

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan will not play in Sunday’s game against Philadelphia Eagles, coach Mike Smith said Monday afternoon.

Ryan experienced a turf toe injury early in Sunday’s victory against Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Smith said Ryan will spend this week rehabilitating the injury and would not offer a forecast beyond that.

Veteran Chris Redman, who stepped in for Ryan against the Buccaneers, is expected to get his first NFL start since 2007.

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