Another Browns quarterback bites the dust
CLEVELAND: It's a tough job being a quarterback in Cleveland.
Just ask expected one-time saviors Tim Couch, Trent Dilfer and Jeff Garcia.
With four games left in this season to forget, Browns fans can add the team's top two quarterbacks - youngster Brady Quinn and veteran Derek Anderson - to the pile of potential signal callers that for one reason or another, just haven't been able to get the job done in this blue-collar town.
A finger injury that will probably require surgery did Quinn in last week against Houston.
And when Anderson went down with a potential season-ending knee injury late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 10-6 loss to Indianapolis, that left the game in the hands of little-used third-stringer Ken Dorsey.
Dorsey threw three passes in his 2008 debut, all of which fell incomplete. His final, a Hail Mary deep into traffic downfield, was intercepted by Colts defensive back Antoine Bethea to seal the Browns' fourth loss in their last five games.
With Anderson limping around with what he described as at least ''a strained MCL'' that will be evaluated further today, it sounds as if the Browns are prepared to let Dorsey play out the string.
When asked whether Dorsey would start at Tennessee on Sunday, embattled Browns coach Romeo Crennel said simply: ''Looks like it.''
With that ringing endorsement in mind, here's a thought: Why not let return-man extraordinaire Joshua Cribbs get a shot at quarterback?
He was a dual threat passer/runner who rewrote the record book at Kent State University before signing with the Browns as a free agent in 2005. The Browns have looked to take advantage of his athleticism on offense with his patented ''Flash'' package.
Despite the team's emergency plans quickly becoming more of a reality each week, Cribbs said he didn't expect his preparation this week to change significantly.
''I'll just probably take a few more snaps just in case as an emergency precaution,'' he said. ''But [my life] won't change much.''
Sure, Cribbs is undersized for a quarterback at 6-foot-1. But he's already proven naysayers wrong by making it in the NFL and being voted to the Pro Bowl last season in just his third year.
Perhaps more importantly, Cribbs' leadership has increased as he's become one of the team's go-to voices. And unlike some of the Browns' former high-profile quarterbacks, Cribbs gets Cleveland and its passionate fans.
''It's a tough job being a quarterback in Cleveland,'' Cribbs said. ''You count how many quarterbacks we had come through here in the past 10 years. Derek's a great quarterback and we rallied behind him. Anybody who's at the helm, we trusted to get the job done. It's unfortunate things happen. But we're professionals and we have to pick up where we left off and keep on going.''
But Cribbs doesn't have much of a chance to affect the game in his current role, where he handles the ball only a handful of times, mostly on kick returns. Still, it was the Browns' lack of offense that was on his mind most after Sunday's loss.
''It's something we're going to hop on coming up this week,'' Cribbs said. ''We have to score points. When your defense holds a great powerhouse and future hall of fame quarterback to three points, you gotta put up numbers.''
When asked about the possibility of turning to Cribbs to run the offense, Anderson was surprised by such a notion.
''I don't think we're going to bring anybody else in,'' he said. ''We're not putting Josh in. You guys [must be] on crack, smoking crack. [Just] because we're playing bad doesn't mean we're going to put a receiver at quarterback.''
But at this point in the season, why not? Even Crennel admitted the team would ''have to talk about it and try to make some determination.''
At this point, what do the Browns have to lose? Even Dorsey realizes when it comes to Cleveland and football, anything can happen. Asked whether he expected to have to fight off Cribbs for some playing time, he said with a grin: ''Oh, man, it's going to be interesting.''
(c)2008 The Akron Beacon Journal
Bears make things look easy in 27-3 victory over Rams
ST. LOUIS -- Adewale Ogunleye lined up wide left, looped backward and stormed up the middle to sack Marc Bulger for an 8-yard loss and knock the Rams' quarterback out of the game on his first series.
When did the Bears add that exotic defensive wrinkle?
"We've been running it all year," Ogunleye said after Chicago's 27-3 win Sunday. "All year. I think we run it too much. But it worked today."
The Bears did little different Sunday, but whether they did it better or their opponent did it worse -- St. Louis (2-9) has been outscored by an NFL-worst 197 points -- everything looked new as Chicago snapped a two-game losing streak. Consider:
- The Bears had five sacks, matching their total for the previous five games.
- The Bears intercepted backup Trent Green a season-high four times.
- Chicago's defense gave up a season-low 14 yards rushing.
- Matt Forte ran for a career-high 132 yards on 20 carries, including touchdowns of 13 and 47 yards to help the Bears to a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
And the Bears (6-5) made it all look easy, starting with Danieal Manning's game-opening 50-yard kickoff return, as they kept pace with the Vikings to set up a showdown for first place in the NFC North next Sunday night in Minnesota.
"This was a basic offense that we were playing again," Rams cornerback Ron Bartell said, "just line up in the I formation and run the ball down your throat."
Like the Bears have done all year. Only better. The Bears finished 201 yards rushing, more than they've had in any game in three years and more than in their last two losses combined.
"We had basic runs in there to pound the ball up the middle and get yardage," Forte said.
The result was anything but basic as the line blew out huge holes in the Rams' defensive front.
"Matt makes them look huge," center Olin Kreutz said. "He takes advantage of them and he hits the hole hard. We know if we do our job, he's going to do his."
As good as Forte was - and he was most of Chicago's offense on a day when Kyle Orton had only 139 yards passing on 29 attempts - it was the defense that starred Sunday.
After getting burned for 200 yards rushing and another 200-plus passing in last week's 37-3 debacle in Green Bay, Chicago's defense slammed St. Louis. It wasn't enough to stop the Rams for no gain; the Bears pushed them backward. Six of the Rams' first eight plays lost yardage.
Ogunleye and Tommie Harris combined for four sacks. They had 4 1/2 in Chicago's first 10 games.
"I guess you guys will get off our backs a little about sacks," said defensive end Alex Brown, who had his first sack in six games.
The Bears were even better against the run, holding the Rams to zero yards through three quarters.
"We talked about having fun, but in order to do that, you have to make plays," coach Lovie Smith said. "For the defensive line, you need to get sacks. For the rest of the defense, we need to stop the run and get takeaways."
The Bears did all of that. Lance Briggs intercepted two passes, and Brian Urlacher and Charles Tillman one each. That means happy days are here again in Chicago. At least for one week. Crushing the Rams served as a football sorbet, erasing the taste from losses to the Titans and Packers.
"Mentally, we needed this," Ogunleye said. "I tell people to stay away from what people say, but people don't do it. Teammates like to read the newspapers and watch TV and what's said about them. When it's negative, it can be a bad effect. The only way to wash that out of our minds is to dominate and prove to yourself you can do it.
"We won in dominating fashion, but we've still got Green Bay in the back of our heads. And we know what that did to us. We can use that as fuel for Minnesota. With these two games combined, we know that if we play our A game, we'll play well. If we don't, we'll get smashed."
Copyright (c) 2008 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved.
Bad Call Costs Steelers Fans $32 Million
Update: See the "official" live SportsCenter response below. If you were one of the NFL fans waiting in the fading late afternoon light for the San Diego Chargers to be put out of their misery yesterday, you may have seen a rather unusual ending to the game at Heinz Field. With his team already ahead by one, Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu intercepted a pathetic attempt at a miracle play and scored an exclamation point touchdown as time expired. Even though the clock read zero and there was no other possible outcome to the game than a Steelers victory, the referees kept everyone on the field for several minutes to launch an automatic review of the play, called a phantom penalty that did not happen—officials admitted after the game that the call was incorrect—and took the touchdown off the scoreboard. Not a huge deal, until you remember that the Steelers were five-point favorites and reversal meant that they went from not covering the spread to covering and back again thanks to a shady replay review on an otherwise pointless play.
Hey ... that's why they call it gambling, right? But when you look a little closer at the situation from Vegas' perspective, there does seem to be an unpleasant odor in the air.
"An estimated 100 million dollars was wagered worldwide on the Pittsburgh/San Diego game, according to RJ Bell of Pregame.com. Approximately 66% of that money was on the Steelers; with only 34% on the Chargers.
"If the touchdown was properly upheld, Steelers bettors would have won about 32 million dollars instead of losing big. This admittedly incorrect call resulted in a 64 million dollar swing in favor of the bookies." [Emphasis added.]
Of course, in the fantasy world of NFL-related telecasts gambling does not exist, so this point will likely go mostly unchallenged on your TV screens this week. (Bob Costas did mention the betting line in passing on Sunday Night Football, but I did not see that. Anyone have a clip?) Plus, the reversal meant the first 11-10 final score in the entire history of the NFL. Surely that makes up for the two large you owe your bookie, right?
Bookies Win Millions, Bettors Lose on Bad Steelers Call [Pregame.com]
If the NFL Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It [Stock Lemon]
Point Spread Talk Taboo on Broadcasts; Nantz and Costas Avoid the “G”-word* [Scott's Shots]
UPDATE: So apparently this controversy is so great that ESPN pretty much has no choice but to at least acknowledge the impact this call had on the betting world. But very carefully. Listen as Hannah Storm and Josh Elliott play dumb in order to appease The Goodell. Come on, Josh!
deadspin.com
Cellar Dwellers: By the Numbers
The Buffalo Bills are one of two last-place teams with above-.500 records, but that's not easing the pain of fans of the 5-4 football team.
Their 0-3 division record puts the team in a very difficult position, as the Patriots, Jets and Dolphins are ahead of Buffalo in both overall and division marks. All three are 2-1 against the AFC East.
Buffalo's offense continues down a slippery slope, 21st in the league in points-scored-per-game (21.3) and 24th in yards-per-game (303.8). The rushing game is especially moribund, as their 90 yards-per-game is 28th.
(c)1997-2008 - BuffaloBillsInsider.com
College Cram Session: Week 10
For those who spent too much time at Hooters last night - with or without John Daly - here are some quick eye-openers to shake those Halloween hangovers.
-During Pete Carroll's tenure, USC is 21-6 ATS in November.
-UTEP's Mike Price is a dismal 18-45-1 ATS in November.
- Rain is expected to impact Washington State-Stanford, Oregon-Cal and Arizona State-Oregon State.
-According to the NCAA News, the new clock rules have cut an average of eight plays per game, but I'd be surprised if scoring is down significantly. If fact, judging by the large number of totals posted over 70 each week, I would dare to guess points are up this year. I'll look deeper into this next week.
Two I'm Playing
Last Week: 1-2. (Ugh. It was a lot worse than the score indicates.)
Season: 26-14-1
Kentucky at Mississippi State (-3)
Pick: Kentucky
For a banged-up team on the road in the SEC, oddsmakers gave the Wildcats a lot of respect by opening the line at only -1.5.
It jumped quickly to -3, after Kentucky announced it was switching quarterbacks.
I think it's going the wrong way.
Replacing inaccurate sophomore Mike Hartline with true freshman Randall Cobb is a blessing for the Wildcats' sluggish offense. Cobb is an extremely talented athlete, who was recruited heavily in the SEC and ACC. This kid can play.
He has been used mostly at wide receiver this season, although he has sparked the offense several times in spot time at quarterback.
I also like an angry and opportunistic Kentucky defense against a Mississippi State offense, which has improved, but is far from explosive.
Even without their top running back and top receiver, Kentucky is the more-talented team. The insertion of Cobb should jumpstart the offense, and the Wildcat defense should keep the Bulldogs right around their season average of 16.5 points a game.
Florida State at Georgia Tech (-2.5)
Pick: Florida State
Two months into the season, defenses now have a lot more film to study Paul Johnson's option attack and are finding ways to slow it down.
The Jackets are averaging less than four yards a carry in their last two games. Now, they must face Florida State's third-ranked defense and coordinator Mickey Andrews, who is no stranger to the option.
Georgia Tech's secondary is missing its only senior starter, cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels. His freshman replacement was burnt twice on touchdown passes in last week's loss to Virginia. Another key member of the Yellow Jackets' secondary Dominique Reese is questionable, although the feeling is he won't play.
The Seminoles opened as small favorites, but I'm hoping to get at least a field goal by kickoff.
Cover Community Shout-out
So, as mentioned, my picks blew last week. But I did lead you to this great thread.
Props to Manifesto for compiling a list of consensus plays from the site's top handicappers. It reportedly helped Cashflow-Cowboy hit an $11,000 eight-game round robin with six-team parlays.
Here's this week's thread. Keep up the good work, gentlemen.
Copyright (c) 1995-2008 SportsDirect Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Championship game subject of betting investigation
The Football Association will enforce the legal requirement for bookmakers to assist in its match-fixing inquiries after launching a probe into allegations of a betting sting at Derby County's recent 2-1 win over Norwich City in the Championship.
Bookmakers noted unusual betting patterns during the match at Carrow Road on October 4. Punters in the far east are believed to have placed a flood of money during half-time, although industry observers report that the betting patterns indicated that the punters thought Norwich would win.
Bookmakers who are known to have offered their assistance to investigators and the two clubs involved say they have not yet been contacted by the FA but its chairman, David Triesman, said last night that the inquiry would be "thorough".
"It will be days before people begin to go through all the information that is needed to get a sense of what may or may not have happened so it is too early to talk about a timescale," said Lord Triesman. "My insistence is that it's thorough."
The Gambling Act makes provision for all sports governing bodies to demand the assistance of British-based bookmakers when investigating threats to their competitions' integrity. The FA will call on that legislation to widen its inquiries. But the investigation will be a stiff test of the FA's anti-corruption processes because the markets were made by betting operators in the far east. It is unclear whether Soho Square's links with the global gambling industry are as robust as those in the UK.
Derby's manager, Paul Jewell, insists his club have no case to answer. "We've not heard from the FA and we don't expect to either," he said. "If it needs investigating they'll investigate it but there's certainly nothing for us to hide.
"It's comical. I'd like to say I've been paid out so it doesn't really matter but it's something that as far as I'm aware is nonsense. It's just such a big surprise that Derby went down to 10 men and won a game."
Jewell made light of a situation he considered "laughable if [the allegation] wasn't so serious", self-deprecatingly alluding to his club's 51-week winless sequence. Since the win over Sheffield United in mid-September that ended that dismal run, his team have strung together five games without defeat. The win over Norwich a fortnight ago made it 12 points from a possible 18.
During that match Roy Carroll, Derby's goalkeeper, was sent off five minutes after half-time and Sammy Clingan converted the resulting penalty to equalise. But Derby secured the win five minutes from time, after a defensive mix-up involving Norwich's goalkeeper and centre-half allowed Nathan Ellington to score from close range.
The Norwich North MP, Ian Gibson, who attended the Championship match, initially drew attention to the FA's investigations by tabling a parliamentary question to the culture secretary demanding swift action in the inquiry.
However, even Gibson reflected that the circumstances of the game were not immediately considered anything other than the normal course of a football match. "No one who was there thought it suspicious," he said.
The Norwich chief executive, Neil Doncaster, said his club had yet to be contacted by the FA but he was not pleased with how the matter was raised. "It is certainly slightly disappointing that the MPs concerned have talked to the media before picking up the phone and talking to us."
Jewell was also not amused by the intervention of a parliamentarian. "MPs are having a tough time at the minute because the country's struggling," he said. "Maybe they're trying to deflect the blame."
guardian.co.uk (c) Guardian News and Media Limited 2008
Zorn's attitude has Redskins on a roll
ASHBURN, Va. -- Given a chance to brag, Jim Zorn was asked whether coaching has something to do with the startling early success of the Washington Redskins.
"Absolutely," Zorn said.
The room erupted in laughter, but Zorn was actually trying to give a serious answer.
"It's really true," he continued. "Coaching has something to do with it, but let me tell you this: In my assistant coaching career, I felt like we were about 30 percent of the success of what was going on on the field. That's a large percentage, if you think about it, because players are the ones who truly have to win. It's just their talent, and you get them in the right spot."
Then his voice trailed off a bit.
"I don't know about head coaching," he said.
Zorn apparently hasn't been a head coach long enough to realize his own impact, but those around him sure do. Maybe the players should get 70 percent of the credit once the ball is snapped, but Zorn deserves a full 100 percent for the attitude adjustment that has the Redskins (4-1) on a four-game winning streak after back-to-back road wins over strong division rivals Dallas and Philadelphia.
"We've rocked and rolled," defensive coordinator Greg Blache said. "I don't know how you can question what he's done on and off the football field. He's got a team believing in themselves. He's got an offense that's moving and doing things well. I think the guy's done everything that could be asked of a head coach. You wouldn't ask anymore from a veteran head coach, let alone a first-year head coach."
In instilling a positive, attack, go-for-it philosophy, Zorn has put the second Joe Gibbs era firmly in the rear view mirror. Gibbs and Zorn are both Christians who don't swear, but that's about the only thing their personalities have in common. The Redskins are no longer a team that plays close to the vest.
Give Zorn a second-and-19, and he'll relish finding a way out of it. Give him a 14-0 first-quarter deficit -- as he had against the Eagles -- and he won't flinch. Make him look like an overwhelmed rookie in his first game -- as happened in the season-opening loss to the New York Giants -- and he won't retreat into a shell. He's the kind of man who would spot you love-40 in tennis, just to see if he can win the next five points to take the game.
No wonder receiver Santana Moss summed up the four-game winning streak this way: "We haven't been playing scared football."
"For what we went through with Coach Gibbs and knowing that we're going to miss him, there couldn't have been no better coach to come in than Coach Z," Moss said. "He's been perfect. He's played the game. He knows the game, and he talks to us as if he knows what we're going through, and he knows what he wants."
One of Zorn's favorite words is "medium" -- it's a takeoff on the familiar "don't get too high or too low" cliche -- but it's a concept that seems strange coming from a bouncing-up-and-down, heart-on-his-sleeve coach. When asked about the apparent contradiction this week, Zorn essentially explained "medium" comes into play when others might panic.
"It's second-and-19, but we still have a chance," Zorn said. "I think that's the acting medium -- because you can't flinch."
Of course, there are more tangible reasons for the Redskins' success, but even those are attributable to Zorn.
His offense doesn't have a turnover. His relationship with quarterback Jason Campbell -- crucial to the team's success -- persevered through the struggles of the preseason and that horrible Giants game. Zorn has found more running room for Clinton Portis, who is off to the best five-game start (514 yards) of his career. Moss already has a pair of 100-yard receiving games, and tight end Chris Cooley has one.
Zorn also knew enough to leave the defense in the hands of capable veteran Blache, and the special teams in the purview of longtime assistant Danny Smith.
The Redskins would love to say they cleverly planned all along to hire someone who would provide the perfect, fresh contrast to Gibbs, who mixed two playoff appearances with two poor seasons in his second stint in Washington. That, of course, wasn't the case. Zorn was the accidental hire, promoted to the job by owner Dan Snyder after a month of interviews with many other candidates who just didn't pan out.
Snyder gets credit, though, for spotting Zorn's potential. When Zorn speaks, he is engaging, upbeat and confident -- a surefire combination for winning over a millionaire owner in a job interview or a diverse roster of 53 athletes. And, unlike other star athletes who have struggled to make the move to coaching, Zorn feels his long path from undrafted castoff to Seattle Seahawks icon helps him identify with those in his charge.
"I always felt like I had to overachieve and just play relentless if I wanted to keep up with the good players," Zorn said. "I never looked at myself as one of these elite, top players. I felt like everything I was going to get, I had to earn. That's why I want my players, whether they're elite or not, I want them to fight to earn everything they can possibly get. That's the attitude I'm trying to bring to this team."
The Redskins can't get enough of that attitude. Twice, they've cemented victories with audacious fourth-down plays late in the fourth quarter. Several times the coach has called a play at the suggestion of a player who's spotted an opening somewhere on the field. Such goodwill allows him to get away with corny cheers such as the "Hip, hip, hooray!" that is quickly becoming the team's rallying cry.
"That's the coach just having fun, man," Portis said. "Sometimes you don't need the norm."
The norm? So far, at least, Zorn is anything but.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
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