On Monday, I emailed the NFL head office to try and find an answer to the question as to why exactly that Ben Roethsliberger fumble was not ruled Miami’s ball in the Steelers win over the Dolphins. David Coleman, the Director of Officiating in the NFL got back to me with the league’s official explanation; take it for what it is.
"Mr. Lang – when a touchdown is scored, as it was in this case, the play is over and there is no recovery of a fumble that takes place after the score. When the play is reviewed by instant replay, and the touchdown is reversed, there must be clear video evidence of a fumble recovery to award it either to the team that fumbled or to the opponent. Otherwise, the ball is spotted where the fumble took place and the next down is played."
Now, that won’t make Tony Sparano, the Dolphins or any of their fans feel any better; but at least the league has explained the actions of referee Gene Steratore.
Star of the week
You know who had a great game Sunday? None other than Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth. I have more on Mr. Haynesworth later on. The star of the week in the NFL was sitting on the bench when the Titans played the Eagles.
Titans receiver Kenny Britt was involved in a bar room fight Friday, and as a result, coach Jeff Fisher benched him during the first quarter. No worries, because even though he didn’t get into the game until the second quarter, Britt still had a career game against the Eagles. Britt ended up with seven catches for 225 yards and three touchdowns.
Stiff of the week
The fact that Jay Cutler threw four interceptions in a single game isn’t a big surprise to anyone who has seen him play the last few years. But even by Jay Cutler standards, throwing four interceptions to the same guy, DeAngelo Hall, goes beyond the pale. On the bright side, the Bears offensive line “only” allowed Cutler to be sacked four times and hit another nine times. I think Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz should share the stiff of the week award. Martz is a so-called “offensive genius”. The Bears are ranked dead last in third down conversions, 15 for 84. Cutler deserves some blame, the Bears offensive line deserves a lot of blame but the most blame has to be heaped on the shoulders of Martz.
Teams on the rise
The Titans are beginning to look like a team that could make some noise in the AFC; the key word there being “could”. Before we take a look at the Titans and some of their tough games looming on the horizon; we should look at how they arrived at this point in the first place. All NFL fans will remember how the Titans started the 2009 season by going 0-6. Since owner Bud Adams told Jeff Fisher to bench Kerry Collins and start Vince Young, the Titans have gone 13-4. This year, Fisher has been forced to use both Young and Collins because of injuries and hasn’t really missed a beat. The Titans have won three straight and four of their last five games. While the Titans still love to run the ball with Chris Johnson, they are not afraid take their shots down the field. Next week, the Titans take on the Chargers on the road then will have their mid-season break. After the bye week, the Titans will play, in order, the Dolphins on the road, the Redskins and then the Texans on the road. That is the brutal stretch of their schedule that will tell us what this Titans team is truly capable of.
What were they thinking?
After another brutal performance, Jay Cutler had some very bizarre things to say after the game. Reporters asked Cutler that after his first two interceptions to Hall, did he consider not throwing in his direction; “No, not at all. I’ve played against him before and there’s no reason to shy away from him. It’s hard for me to say that throwing four picks to a guy, but if we had to play him tomorrow, we’d go at him every time if we could.” In his 22 games as a member of the Bears, Cutler has now thrown 33 interceptions. In the same game, London Fletcher stripped the ball out of Cutler’s hands at the goal line. With the Redskins taking over on their own one yard line, replays showed that Cutler might have actually broken the plane of the goal line when stretching out his arm. So why in the world would Lovie Smith not challenge the call? Bears fans really can’t be in a good mood these days with what is going on.
The race for No. 1
A new team has emerged at the quarter pole that might be a contender for the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL draft; the San Francisco 49ers. Especially after the way they blew it against the previously winless Carolina Panthers. The Bills stunned everyone when they racked up over 500 yards of offence in their overtime loss to the Ravens. That kind of performance leads you to believe that Bills could end up winning one or two games this year. Meanwhile the 49ers are in London with no idea whether or not quarterback Alex Smith will be able to play because of an injury to his left shoulder. If Smith can’t go, David Carr will get the start. The way this season is going, Mike Singletary won't be around by the time the 49ers are on the clock at the 2011 draft.
The Ronnie Lott award
After everyone heaped scorn on Albert Haynesworth during training camp for his lack of conditioning, it is time to heap praise on the Redskins defensive lineman for the way he played against the Bears. Haynesworth, all 335 pounds of him, launched his massive body over the Bears offensive line to stuff Jay Cutler allowing linebacker London Fletcher to strip the ball and recover the fumble. Coach Mike Shanahan said that was one of the biggest reasons they were able to beat the Bears. "Obviously the difference in the game any time you make a play like that inside the one yard line", said the coach. Haynesworth had missed two games because of the sad passing of his half brother and returned to the Redskins lineup like a man on a mission. There has never been any doubt what Haynesworth is capable of when he’s motivated. If Haynesworth can keep playing like he did against the Bears, Shanahan will quickly become his biggest fan.
The big injury of the week
The most serious injury of the week was suffered by an official standing on the sideline. Saints wide receiver Courtney Roby was running downfield covering a punt when he was pushed out of bounds. Since he was running at full speed, Roby was out of control and flattened Al Nastasi who was holding one of the chains on the sideline. They had to take him off the field on a stretcher because of a possible neck and head injury. The biggest football injury was suffered by Tony Romo in the Monday night game. Romo had just released that ball when he was hit by Michael Boley. Romo was out of the game with a broken left collar bone. The early diagnosis is that Romo will be out of action from anywhere from six to eight weeks. That means the 1-5 Cowboys will now need to rely on John Kitna to lead them out of the darkness. For those of you keeping score at home, Romo was the fifth quarterback the Giants defence has knocked out of action this year.
The unsung hero award
The unsung hero award goes out to Cleveland Browns linebacker David Bowens. If the name sounds familiar, it should, Bowens broke into the NFL way back in 1999 with the Broncos and he has survived to play 158 games. Throughout all of that time, Bowens went into Sunday’s game against the Saints with two career interceptions. In what was a statement game for an up-and-coming Browns team, Bowens had two picks against Drew Brees and returned both of them for touchdowns.
A very humble Bowens put it all into perspective after the game: "You don’t dream of games like that, you don’t ever think anything is going to happen like that". I am quite sure when Brees and Sean Payton devised their game plan for the Browns, David Bowens names wasn’t at the top of their list of players to watch out for. As much as the win made Eric Mangini happy, the fact that Bowens was one of the stars of the game made the Browns coach even happier: "I love David Bowens and I love what he brings to the table".
Rookie to keep an eye on
There is a rookie in the AFC who is quietly having a very solid season. As a matter of fact, there is only one safety in the NFL with more tackles than this rookie. While most NFL fans are aware of what Redskins safety LaRon Landry has done this year, how many of them know that Browns rookie safety TJ Ward has 60 tackles in seven games? Drafted in the second round out of Oregon, Ward has made a seamless transition to the NFL and is playing a key role in Rob Ryan’s Browns defence. Along with rookie cornerback Joe Haden, Ward is a big reason why the Browns defence is allowing fewer points per game than the Colts, Chargers and Giants.
Funniest moment of the week
The funniest moment of Week 7 took place during Saturday Night Live. You have to check out the amazing way they made fun of Brett Favre in this fictional Wrangler Jeans commercial they put together.
The hot cheerleader award
I have long been critical of Norv Turner and the job he has done (or failed to do) in San Diego. However, I will never, ever be critical of the Chargers cheerleaders..
What to watch in Week 8
After what happened to the Broncos last week against the Raiders, there are whispers that the players might have quit on Josh McDaniels. The Raiders scored a franchise record 59 points as the Broncos were completely embarrassed at home. During their current three-game losing streak, the Broncos have allowed teams to run for a staggering 690 yards. Coming up, the Broncos will take on the reeling 49ers team in London, England. By the way, the Broncos are now 4-13 since starting the 2009 season 6-0. ,br> In what should be a great scene for Halloween costumes, the Saints are hosting the Steelers in the Sunday night game. Meanwhile, coming off of the bye week, the Jets will host the Packers. Another interesting game will see Chris Johnson and the Titans take on the Chargers in San Diego Finally, there is the intriguing showdown where Randy Moss and the Vikings take on Tom Brady and the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Brett Favre suffered a stress fracture in his ankle during the Vikings loss to the Packers and is being listed as day-to-day.
