Larry Brown Sports » Football

Justin Fargas Takes Underlying Swipe at JaMarcus Russell’s Lack of Passion?

Larry Brown — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:02:59 +0000

It took 10 weeks before the Raiders finally decided it was time to bench JaMarcus Russell in favor of a new quarterback. If you saw last week’s game against the Chiefs, you’ll know it doesn’t matter who’s throwing passes for Oakland because the receivers can’t catch them anyways. Regardless, the Raiders have decided to go with Bruce Gradkowski as their starter on Sunday either as an attempt to jump-start their offense or light a fire under JaMarcus’ ass, or both. When asked about what Gradkowski offers the team, running back Justin Fargas seemed to take a subtle shot at Russell when describing Gradkowski’s strong points:

“A passion for the game. A love for the game that he shows in the way he plays, the way he calls plays. The way he works on details of plays with players, in between. He’s just uh, I think that’s the main thing I’m seeing with him. It’s just, he’s a get-after-it type of guy.”

“You want to make a play for your quarterback but when he shows that type of passion for the game, obviously guys are going to feed off it and try to give him that same effort.”

If you read between the lines of the comments it’s easy to see that he’s talking about something the players want to do for Bruce that they weren’t inspired to do by their previous quarterback. That’s constantly been a knock against Russell — he’s just not motivated and driven to succeed, that he lacks the passion to be great. While Fargas’ comment doesn’t excuse the receivers from dropping half of Russell’s passes last week, it’s undeniable that JaMarcus isn’t getting the most out of his teammates. Now if we’re talking about Darrius Heyward-Bey, the guy’s equal opportunity; he’ll drop a Gradkowski pass the same way he would a JaMarcus toss.

Anquan Boldin: Cardinals Are Better than Last Year’s Team but Miss Todd Haley

Larry Brown — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:53:11 +0000

Count me as one of the people who thought the Cardinals were going to have a dropoff following last year’s Super Bowl run. To begin with, since ‘01, only one team has made it back to the playoffs after losing the Super Bowl the previous year. Making matters worse is that the Cardinals lost both their offensive and defensive coordinators, and there were concerns about Kurt Warner’s health following his offseason hip surgery. Despite starting the year 1-2 however, Arizona’s been on a roll winning 5 of 6 to seize first place of the NFC West at 6-3. Considering last year’s team went 9-7 in the regular season before getting hot in the playoffs, it’s not too surprising to hear Anquan Boldin tell the 2 Live Stews on Sporting News Radio that this year’s team is better than last year’s squad:

“We’re a better team than we were last year and offensively we’re a lot more balanced than we were last year. I think we’re running the ball effectively in the regular season — something that we did in the postseason but we didn’t really do in the regular season last year. I think that’s going to help us in the long run.”

While that comment wasn’t too surprising given the way the team has been playing, it was a mild surprise to hear Boldin admit that the team does miss former offensive coordinator Todd Haley who has moved on to become the head coach at Kansas City:

“To be honest with you, Todd [Haley] was a big contributor to our offense last year. I’d be lying if I said we didn’t miss him but that’s the NFL and guys are going to leave. Coaches are going to leave, players are going to go to different teams, and that’s just the way it is in the NFL. guys just have to pick up the slack and I think that’s what we’re doing.”

While many people trashed Boldin for being a bad locker room guy and getting into fights with Todd Haley last year, it’s good to know that he still looks at things objectively and gives credit where it’s due. Haley was an extremely creative play caller who really helped the team out with his gameplans and usage of flea flickers (especially in the playoffs). The supposed dislike of Haley on behalf of Boldin obviously doesn’t keep him from seeing the facts and I appreciate that. Boldin also said that the Cardinals already spread the ball around enough and don’t really need the wildcat offense too often and that he isn’t happy with the way Bobby Bowden’s being pushed out at his alma mater, Florida State. Who knows, maybe the Chiefs will end up pursuing Boldin when his Arizona contract runs out.

Brady Quinn’s Cheap Shot Knocks Terrell Suggs Out for Weeks with a Knee Injury

Larry Brown — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:07:40 +0000

Quarterbacks have been taking a lot of heat recently for going low with their blocks on running plays or interceptions, with good reason. Brett Favre was called out for chop blocking Eugene Wilson of the Texans earlier in the season on a reverse, Trent Green was lambasted for taking out Travis Johnson’s knees two years ago, and Mark Sanchez had to apologize for his dirty play last month following an interception. This week it’s Browns quarterback Brady Quinn getting called out for a dirty play. Following his second interception, he was semi-trying to make a tackle and dove into linebacker Terrell Suggs’ knees. The hit caused what’s being termed a “strained knee” for Suggs, and reports are saying he’ll miss several weeks of action. Here’s a video of the Brady Quinn cheap shot on Terrell Suggs, just skip ahead to the 1:50 mark to see the block:

While the play was not in the proper ethics of the game at least it helped Cleveland make a stop. Count Ray Lewis as one person who was livid with the cheap shot:

“Heck yeah it was a cheap shot. When you’re running down and you’re looking at the quarterback going at somebody’s knees who doesn’t even have the ball. I want to see if he gets the same fine I got or even higher. Now this man is out four or five weeks because of some baloney like that.”

Quinn says cheap-shotting Suggs at the knees was not his intent and that he was going for Chris Carr who made the interception, only to have Suggs pop into the picture at the last second. Looking at the video, that makes sense because there would be no reason to dive for Suggs (and Carr was right behind Suggs anyhow). I’m guessing something around a $15,000 fine will be coming for Brady. With him not reaching his bonuses this year, he could use that money.

WTF Was Belichick Thinking? Worst Decision Ever

Larry Brown — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:31:53 +0000

Whereas the Maurice Jones-Drew decision to kneel at the 1 was questionable, there’s no debate about the Patriots’ decision to try for a first down on 4th and 2 and their 29 with two minutes left. It was simply a horrendous, stupid call. The end result for the game explains every reason why it was a brutal call. I can’t imagine anyone having watched that game not wondering what the bleep the Pats were thinking when they decided to go for it in that situation. The bad decisions, as glaring as that one was, doesn’t even end with that call.

Despite rolling up 31 points on Indy and being up by just 10 with under eight minutes left, the Pats went conservative and decided it was time to switch up the gameplan and start running it out. They got a blessing in an interception at the 31 of the Colts and instead of going for the jugular, they played it conservatively and settled for the field goal to go up 34-21 with 4 minutes left. I’m still wondering why they didn’t try for a touchdown especially given the way they had moved the ball all game. Lastly, when Joseph Addai broke loose on a run with 1:20 left, they should have done what the Jets did and let him walk into the end zone. The guy who thought he was making a “game saving” tackle wound up making a win-preventing stop. You telling me Brady couldn’t have set the team up for a field goal with 1:15 on the clock? I would have taken my odds with that compared the Colts chances of scoring from a yard out with four tries.

Awful, awful, awful decision by Belichick. I cannot believe how a guy can be that smart so much of the time can make such a poor choice at such a critical moment. Unbelievable.

Was Maurice Jones-Drew’s Decision to Kneel at the 1 the Right Move?

Larry Brown — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:03:39 +0000

Maurice Jones-Drew is getting a ton of praise for his awareness, selflessness, and foresight to kneel down at the 1 yard line in the final two minutes of the Jags/Jets game on Sunday. The Jags were down by a point, 22-21, with the clock at 1:48 and running, and they had the ball at the 10 yard line. The Jets decided to let Jones-Drew walk in for the touchdown so that they’d have a 1:30 or so left to try and score a touchdown to win it. Instead, MJD outfoxed them based on what his coaches instructed him to do:

From the moment Maurice went down I was saying it was the wrong move. Considering the Jaguars were losing at the time he did it, he was taking a big risk that they could wind up losing the game if something went wrong. When you make the decision what you have to weigh is the likelihood of the Jags botching the field goal with a bad hold, snap, or kick against Jacksonville’s chances of stopping the Jets from scoring a touchdown in 1:30. To me, there’s a greater chance of something going wrong with the game-winning field goal than the Jets going 80 yards or so in 1:30. Maurice is getting lauded for wearing his thinking cap and making the unselfish play but I thought it was the wrong move. Luckily it worked out for the 5-4 Jags but imagine how bad he would have looked for not taking the free points if something went wrong with the kick.

Bengals OL Bobbie Williams Loses Pants, Butt Hangs Out While Blocking

Larry Brown — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:20:59 +0000

They may say a lot of stuff about Bengals right guard Bobbie Williams, but they’ll never say the man quits on a play. Even when his pants are falling down and his butt is hanging out there for everybody to see. Check out this eye-popping moment from the Bengals/Steelers game that could easily be classified as a “wardrobe malfunction,” much like when Brian Westbrook was tackled by his jockstrap. Here’s the Bobbie Williams pants video:

No word on whether or not that play caused Williams to miss any action but maybe next time he’ll get some pants that come with a belt. Williams and company did a nice job only allowing Carson to be sacked twice by the vaunted Steelers D, so we’ll consider his pants to be a casualty of battle.

Chad Ochocinco Fans Mail Mustard to Steelers, Message to Ketchup

Larry Brown — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:31:54 +0000

There’s no doubt that Chad Ochocinco is back in the spotlight of the NFL, front and center just the way he likes it. Last week he mailed the Ravens a giftbasket full of deodorant and then the Bengals went out and won the game. Chad was also fined $20,000 for trying to slip a referee a $1 bill during a video review, created a new rule stating that defenses can’t single-cover him, and this week he wanted to send the Steelers a package of mustard. Coach Marvin Lewis put the kibosh on that plan but the mustard still made it to Pittsburgh anyway.

But that did not stop someone from greater Cincinnati, identified on the package’s return address as “Fans of Chad Ochocinco,” from mailing the Steelers a box of the yellow condiment, which arrived yesterday.

It was a result of Ochocinco’s midweek Twitter pledge to send the Steelers’ defensive backs mustard because they couldn’t “ketch up.” Heinz Field puns intended.

“Thanks, Chad,” cornerback Ike Taylor noted after peeking into the box on his way to practice.

What are the chances that “Fans of Chad Ochocinco” really was Chad? I’d say pretty fair (not to say he doesn’t have a huge following). Here’s the thing about Chad screwing around: as long as the team is winning, it’s fine, but once they start losing, that’s when his antics and become a “distraction.” That’s the double-standard the media has for him that I’ve never understood. What’s he doing differently? He’s still the same guy, win or lose so the media should treat him the same way. Now that he’s back to Pro Bowl form with 639 yards and 5 touchdowns, they love him. I just hope he has a relatively quiet game in a Bengals win Sunday because my opponent in the Coors Light Fantasy League has Ochocinco. I still think I’m in good shape with Randy Moss and Marques Colston to counter.

Jay Cutler Is a Heart Breaker

Larry Brown — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:14:24 +0000

Ever since seeing Jay Cutler preside over Denver’s implosion down the stretch last year, it was easy to conclude that Cutler’s a heart breaker in the mold of Brett Favre. While Cutler has immense talent and the ability to lead a team up and down the field, he no doubt has a propensity for turning the ball over. Anyone who watched Thursday night’s game against the 49ers, much less Sunday night’s season opener against the Packers, is aware of Cutler’s interception issues. In fact, Cutler has made Jake Delhomme look good by replacing him as the league’s interception leader. While a few of Cutler’s picks Thursday night could be blamed on someone else (Devin Hester for breaking off his route, the official for impeding his receiver’s pathway), there’s no doubt that Cutler is hurting his team with his errant throws.

Jay Cutler made the Pro Bowl last year and is beloved by fantasy owners and stat geeks because he racks up yardage totals, but I’m guessing most coaches will gladly replace a few hundred yards passing with less interceptions. It’s probably also the reason Josh McDaniels wanted to bring Matt Cassel to Denver over Jay Cutler — he likely saw issues with Jay and his whole gunslinger mentality. I’d even go so far as to say that the filter Cutler seems to lack when he makes appalling comments is the same filter that would prevent most quarterbacks from throwing into traffic the way he does. I wonder what the Chicago Sun-Times is saying now considering they determined Jay Cutler was worth $100 million after looking good in one preseason game! Real smart, guys.

Trashing Eric Mangini Is Trend of the Week for Players, Media

Larry Brown — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:54:07 +0000

One of the go-to topics for LBS is ripping on Eric Mangini. The guy thinks so highly of himself and his teams that it’s just laughable. Plus, when stories emerge such as ones where he fined a guy $1,701 for taking a water bottle from the hotel minibar, there’s no choice but to rip him. I’ve actually eased off this subject because it’s just so easy and because I think there comes a point where things get too excessive. In other words, people are kicking him while he’s down. For instance, just scrolling through Fark Sports and you’ll find three Mangini-crushing stories.

The first story is about Mangini playing dumb regarding Brady Quinn’s contract salary escalators. Mangini essentially claimed he didn’t know that Brady Quinn makes more money the more he plays. For Mangini to say he doesn’t know anything about that is absurd; he knows very well what’s at stake financially. The next story regards Jets first round pick from last year, linebacker Vernon Gholston. Since he’s been a bust, the NY Daily News went out of its way to say people in the organization blame the pick on Mangini. Finally, running back Jamal Lewis said Mangini wears them out in practice during the week and that’s why the team gets hammered on Sundays. This seems like a chicken/egg scenario, but since Mangini’s method is not working, I’d side with Lewis.

It’s so typical the way the media operates, piling on to a guy when his team is 1-7. Mangini is worthy of plenty of criticism but it seems like it’s deserved. The question is why people keep empowering him? As a Bengals fan, I hope Cleveland continues to believe he’ll be the guy to turn around the franchise. The only thing better would be if Baltimore or Pittsburgh hired him.

DeAngelo Hall Will Fight the Entire Falcons Team by Himself

Larry Brown — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:45:46 +0000

DeAngelo Hall has quite the history with the Falcons. He’s been in a few fights on the field, most notably one with Steve Smith that killed his team during the Bobby Petrino days, and he also had an issue with Terrell Owens. As if that weren’t enough, Hall also reportedly tried to fight one of his former Falcon teammates during halftime when he was a member of the Raiders. Now Hall’s a member of the Redskins and they were in Atlanta Sunday taking on the Falcons. I’m not sure what started it, but Hall tried to pick a fight with the Falcons. Let’s go to the videotape:

The most striking aspect of the video is that there were no Redskins who came to aid Hall. That tells me that they either don’t care for him, or that they’re so defeated and done with their season that they really don’t have much motivation. Either way it doesn’t look good for them. By the way, how did Hall walk out of that situation without being penalized or kicked out of the game?

UPDATE: Hall is accusing the Falcons coaches of poor conduct in the skirmish and he’s right; Mike Smith was out of line and should be fined for his behavior and the elbow he throw.

Larry Brown Sports » Football

Justin Fargas Takes Underlying Swipe at JaMarcus Russell’s Lack of Passion?

Anquan Boldin: Cardinals Are Better than Last Year’s Team but Miss Todd Haley

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