FOXSports.com senior NFL writer Alex Marvez weighs in with NFL news and notes every Monday. Here are some final thoughts on New England’s 24-20 victory over Indianapolis.
So when can we do this again?
Not only did Sunday’s New England-Indianapolis game live up to the pre-game hype, you were left wanting more. The rematch should come in the AFC Championship game.
If it does, here are some things that will be different:
Peyton Manning should have a full complement of targets. Colts coach Tony Dungy said Friday that wide receiver Marvin Harrison (knee) would play if this were the postseason. Dungy was clearly thinking long-term when Harrison was declared inactive.
The in-game loss of rookie wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez (thumb) further crippled Indianapolis’ receiver corps. After rolling up 187 first-half yards, running back Joseph Addai was limited to 49 in the final two quarters. The Patriots also kept wide receiver Reggie Wayne (five catches for 62 yards) in check and took away tight end Dallas Clark (2-15) with frequent use of an extra defensive back. On Indianapolis’ final possession, two of Manning’s three passes were intended for wide receiver Aaron Moorehead and tight end Bryan Fletcher. Neither of those players would be targeted during such a critical time if Harrison and Gonzalez were healthy.
The Patriots will find a way to get outside linebacker Adalius Thomas more involved. New England didn’t give Thomas a five-year, $32 million contract to serve as a situational player. Yet that’s exactly what happened Sunday, as one of the Patriots’ best pass-rushers was barely used. The company line is that New England’s use of a four-man defensive front in its nickel package limited Thomas’ snaps. Conspiracy theorists will believe Thomas ran afoul of Bill Belichick by spending Friday night partying with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Belichick will show some class. Ok, maybe not. Belichick’s anti-social behavior during post-game handshakes is taking on a life of its own. This time, Belichick gave Dungy a half-hearted handshake before quickly walking off while the Colts coach was trying to tell him something. This might have been Belichick’s way of expressing that he wasn’t happy Dungy gave his two cents on the Spygate scandal. Or maybe Belichick was upset New England didn’t have a chance to run up the score.
Inside the Colts locker room, it was clear Dungy had stressed this wasn’t the postseason and Indianapolis (7-1) still has half a season remaining before the playoffs begin.
"Nobody’s perfect," Colts cornerback Marlin Jackson said. "We’ve just got to learn from this. We’ve got a lot of games left and would like to meet them again."
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady also tried to keep the victory and New England’s perfect start in perspective.
"I can pick about 20 plays out there where we had weaknesses," Brady said. "The thing is we’re 9-0 and it really doesn’t matter. What matters is in January. I think this was a great step in preparation for games down the road."
FOXSports.com senior NFL writer Alex Marvez weighs in with NFL news and notes every Monday. Here are some final tidbits stemming from the league’s first international regular-season game Sunday in London.
They’re successful businessmen in pigskin and pizza respectively, but Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Papa John’s President/CEO Nigel Travis share the same belief of how football’s popularity can grow in the United Kingdom.
And it isn’t necessarily through the NFL.
"Arena football could be the way," said the British-born Travis, who now lives in Louisville, Ky. "You need the right product and it takes a long time to do anything, but I think it would build over time."
Like Travis, Jones touted the merits of that gridiron hybrid while attending a global sports economics conference in London preceding Sunday’s New York Giants-Miami Dolphins game. Jones owns the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League.
Said Jones: "There are fewer players. There are much less economics involved. You can play in indoor arenas. But you can still get some of the skills of football [like] blocking, tackling and throwing."
Now entering its 20th season, the AFL is still trying to grow beyond being a niche entity in the U.S. The same can be said of the NFL in the United Kingdom. An AFL expansion into Great Britain – which, along with markets in Mexico and Canada, is being discussed internally – could find a receptive audience, especially in the NFL’s offseason. It also would further football’s grass-roots movement in England.
“It’s conceivable that the AFL could be the world's only trans-Atlantic league within the next five years,” an AFL spokesman said.
Jones has an even larger view of arena football’s potential future.
"I’m involved with an arena team for one reason and one reason only," he said. "I thought that it had a chance to be an Olympic event."
Sure that sounds far-fetched. But 10 years ago, who could have imagined the NFL playing a regular-season game overseas?
Don’t be surprised if the NFL returns to London next year with San Francisco as one of the participants. Like the Dan Marino-led Dolphins, the 49ers are popular because the league began airing on British television in the mid-1980s during Joe Montana’s heyday. Sky Sports even aired Sunday’s San Francisco-New Orleans game following the Giants’ 13-10 victory.
Should the NFL again cross the pond, one area that must be addressed is Wembley Stadium’s field condition. The turf, which is groomed for soccer, came up in divots during Sunday’s rain and helped lead to a sloppy game.
"The footing contributed to the inability to make plays on either side," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Monday. "It’s too bad."
The potential of an NFL expansion franchise in London was bandied about last week, but Jones doesn’t buy it.
"I see no sentiment for expanded franchises in the NFL. None," Jones said. "We aren’t even considering it for Los Angeles. I don’t see that. But as you look down the road and some of the possibilities, playing a regular-season game -- a meaningful game toward getting to the Super Bowl -- I think that’s the way we’re doing it to create interest from time to time."
Playing in London helped a Scotsman. Coughlin said he is sticking with Scottish-born kicker Lawrence Tynes, who connected on one of two field goals and an extra point Sunday. Tynes entered on the hot seat, but Coughlin isn’t inclined to make a change after New York’s 6-2 start.
Attending NFL games in the U.S. gets pricier each year, but they’re still a bargain compared to Sunday’s contest at Wembley. Besides individual tickets priced between $90 and $180, concessions included $10 cheeseburgers, $14 fish-and-chips and large sodas for $5.80. For the average fan, that doesn’t leave much left to purchase $7 pints of ale.
FOXSports.com senior NFL writer Alex Marvez weighs in with NFL news and notes every Monday
FOX Sports announcer Matt Vasgersian gushed Sunday about New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress thriving despite a lingering ankle injury.
“No practice, no problem,” Vasgersian said at least twice during New York’s 33-15 victory.
That concept is a major problem for Bengals coach Marvin Lewis.
T.J. Houshmandzadeh is the NFL’s second-leading receiver (51 catches) and has scored in every game. But Lewis believes Houshmandzadeh would be even more productive if he hadn’t missed extensive practice time earlier this season because of a knee injury.
Lewis pointed to Houshmandzadeh posting a season-high 145 receiving yards October 14 against Kansas City following his first complete week of practice.
“I know players think, ‘As long as I’m good to go Sunday,’” Lewis told me before Sunday’s 38-31 victory over the New York Jets. “But it doesn’t happen that way.
“That’s what I told (Houshmandzadeh): ‘You think because your knee is sore that you’ve got to take every Wednesday off. At the end of the season, you’re going to look back and say, ‘Gosh, I was that close. Maybe if I had been out there on a Wednesday and practiced a certain route, we would have gotten that one ironed out. Maybe the quarterback and the coaches would have felt good about it and the play would have been called more often.’’”
Such candid comments provide insight on the give-and-take between injured players and coaches. Ailing players are often pressured onto the field by coaches who have learned not to feel others’ pain. Some of the NFL’s best wide receivers like Burress, Terrell Owens and Randy Moss also have thrived despite often being on a limited practice schedule.
Yet Lewis’ frustration was understandable after Cincinnati’s 1-4 start. Coaches face challenges formulating game plans without knowing whether an injured player will be available or their projected level of effectiveness. The Bengals also have suffered an inordinate number of injuries. Lewis said only one of the 35 players deactivated for Cincinnati’s first five games was a healthy scratch.
Lewis wonders if outside influences -- presumably agents -- are prompting ####ed-up players to hold back.
“These guys want to do it right,” Lewis said. “But sometimes, they’ve to get over themselves or someone telling them, ‘You know what? Maybe if you’re a little sore, you can hold back a little bit on Wednesday and you’ll be better to go on Sunday.’”
Defeating the Jets couldn’t have come at a better time for Lewis, whose team might have unraveled with a loss.
Beforehand, Lewis spoke about a lack of emotional stability from some players with junior college backgrounds. That includes wide receiver Chad Johnson, who finally toned down his antics Sunday after coming under heavy scrutiny for what was perceived as selfish play (he’ll argue differently).
Lewis also said contract issues have surfaced among some veterans.
“The point we were harping on the whole off-season is you’ve got to let that go,” Lewis said. “You’ve got to play and let the other side of football take care of itself when the time comes. Don’t worry about what’s happening next door to you. There’s still a little of that that goes on.”
Under Lewis, Cincinnati is no longer an NFL laughingstock. But there is a lack of maturity a talented Bengals squad must fix to take the next step.
“They’ve never experienced it before where anybody cared,” Lewis said. “They were just scuffling to get to a spot. Now it’s, ‘Where am I in the big picture of NFL players?’”
Belichick's tricks
Spy-gate may be over (we think), but New England coach Bill Belichick is still trying other tactics for an edge over the opposition.
Even though he wasn’t going to play because o####roin injury, a source said Belichick had running back Lawrence Maroney dress for pre-game warm-ups prior to a 48-27 victory over Dallas. This was done to trick Cowboys coaches and players into thinking they might have to revamp their game plan. Maroney intentionally made several passes by the Dallas bench before leaving and changing to street clothes.
Public disservice
Some more off-beat shenanigans occurred during the Bengals-Jets game as public address announcements were being made while New York’s offense was using a sugar huddle. Under league rules, pre-snap announcements can only be made when an offensive team is formally huddled. Despite several warnings, the problem persisted until NFL executive Ray Anderson called in to end the announcements.
FOXSports.com senior NFL writer Alex Marvez weighs in with NFL news and notes every Monday
* Know why Joey Porter hasn’t made an impact with Miami?
He needs help from three others to beat a left tackle.
Porter’s disastrous 2007 season reached a new low Sunday. He was exposed as a thug by my FOX Sports colleague Jay Glazer, who unveiled a videotape showing Porter and his buddies jumping Cincinnati left tackle Levi Jones at a Las Vegas casino in March. Porter then floundered in a 41-31 loss to Cleveland, tallying a meager four tackles.
Porter ran his mouth beforehand by again picking on Browns tight end Kellen Winslow, who he slurred with a homosexual innuendo last season while playing for Pittsburgh. Winslow finished with five catches for 90 yards and asked reporters afterward, “Did he play today? I didn't see him.”
Before games against Dallas and Oakland, Porter called Cowboys running back Marion Barber “cocky” and guaranteed a win against the Raiders. Barber rushed for two touchdowns in a Cowboys rout, while Oakland cruised to a 35-17 victory. Porter made no impact plays in those games and hasn’t registered a sack in Miami’s 0-6 season.
Still, nothing was as humiliating as Glazer’s expose. Details of the Porter-Jones altercation were fuzzy because of a shoddy police investigation, as the two were reported to have fought in a valet parking area. Porter was fined $1,000 in May after pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery.
The NFL then fined Porter three game checks, which is the equivalent of roughly $141,000. But the punishment would probably have been more severe had the video footage surfaced earlier.
Having landed a five-year, $32 million contract with $20 million guaranteed, Porter is this season’s biggest free-agent bust (although Denver running back Travis Henry is a contender if suspended because of drug issues). Compounding the problem, Miami offered an Adalius Thomas-sized deal even though no other suitors were going to offer the same cash for a fading eight-year veteran.
The only positive from this: The season-finale between Miami and Cincinnati (1-4) now has additional meaning besides being a potential duel for the 2008 draft’s No. 1 pick.
* Another suspect Dolphins free-agent decision was allowing punter Donnie Jones to join St. Louis as a restricted free agent. Jones and San Francisco’s Andy Lee are tied for the NFL lead in gross average at 50.1 yards. Jones also has an impressive net average of 42.0.
In comparison, Miami rookie punter Brandon Fields has averages of 43.0 and 36.3.
“I just think it’s getting a fresh start and having some extra motivation being in a new place with a new staff,” said Jones, who clashed this off-season with Miami’s new kicking coach. “It’s a very good work environment and our special teams coach Al Roberts is a tremendous guy. He lets me go out and do my thing.”
* Dallas Cowboys executive Stephen Jones waited outside the locker room to congratulate New England owner Bob Kraft following the Patriots’ 48-27 victory.
“Y’all taught us a lesson,” Jones said.
A much less classy move came from another Jones. During a Sunday night pay-per-view wrestling match, suspended Tennessee cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones threw money into the ring to distract his team’s opponent. The move was meant to spoof Jones “making it rain” earlier this year at a Las Vegas strip club.
Considering a club manager was shot and paralyzed later that night after a blow-up with Jones’ entourage, how can anyone think this would be funny?
FOXSports.com senior NFL writer Alex Marvez weighs in with NFL news and notes every Monday
* The severe spine injury suffered by Buffalo tight end Kevin Everett in the season-opener greatly affected one of his teammates.
While not using it as an excuse for his early season struggles, outside linebacker Angelo Crowell said he needed time to block out the memory of Everett getting hurt making a special teams tackle.
"It really slowed me down," Crowell told FOXSports.com. "Linebackers have collisions all the time. What happened weighed on me mentally because I had never thought about those types of injuries. When you play linebacker, you can't think about those types of things."
Crowell returned to form with a team-high 11 tackles in last Sunday's 17-14 upset of the New York Jets. Crowell must play at the same high level Monday night for Buffalo's injury-plagued defense to have any shot at slowing down Dallas.
"Tony Romo is really the key," Crowell said. "We've got to get to the quarterback and rattle him. You can't give him time to throw because with his arm strength and accuracy, he'll pick you apart. As a whole on defense, we're going to have to do the small things right. We have to create turnovers and keep their offense off the field."
* Despite Sunday's 34-3 loss at Washington, Detroit left tackle Jeff Backus doesn't expect this year's team to tank like the 2004 Lions did after a 3-1 start. Such confidence stems from who is -- and isn't -- on Detroit's roster.
"We have a lot of high-character guys who know what to do and how to do it," Backus told FOXSports.com. "We're a different club than what we've been in the past even though we had a handful of big-name guys before. Maybe some of our guys are a little less talented but they give more effort and have more passion. That sometimes outweighs the extras."
Backus singled out wide receiver Mike Furrey as an example while taking a swipe at Charles Rogers and Mike Williams, two top 10 picks who never proved worthy of such lofty draft status. The undrafted Furrey played in two other football leagues (XFL and Arena) and even on defense before last year's 98-catch season.
"We've spent a couple high draft picks on guys who were all-world in college but didn't know how to translate that to the pro game," said Backus, a Lions first-round pick in 2001. "Sometimes you see it not just at wide receiver but with real talented guys where everything comes natural to them. They don't know how to work.
"It's not really their fault but they never had to push themselves to earn a spot. The guys we've got now, most of them never had a big name or were the most talented on their team. They've always had to fight and claw for what they've got."
* Replacing one drug-addled running back with another wouldn't make sense in Denver if Travis Henry is suspended for a positive marijuana test. But a Ricky Williams comeback would make sense in Tampa Bay, which needs depth after losing Cadillac Williams to a major knee injury.
A scenario that makes sense: Miami sends Williams' rights to the Bucs before the October 16 trading deadline. Compensation could be based on whether Williams is reinstated and how much he plays if given the green light to return by commissioner Roger Goodell.
Despite not having played since last fall in Canada, Williams has more upside than any other running back options the Bucs have explored. And considering Miami coach Cam Cameron has shown no signs that he wants Williams on his roster, the Dolphins would be getting something in return for a player likely to get released anyway.
* Speaking of headaches, Dolphins quarterback Trent Green's benching seemed imminent even before suffering another lights-out concussion Sunday against Houston. Green entered this weekend's games leading the NFL in interceptions and had clearly slipped from his heyday in Kansas City. Cleo Lemon (15-of-27 passing for 151 yards and one interception) was decent in relief but should look better when starting next Sunday at Cleveland.
* Is there anyone else who didn't envision Oakland leading the AFC West and New Orleans being winless five weeks into the season?
* Brett Favre's record-setting touchdown pass was this weekend's biggest story, but I have my doubts about Green Bay's long-term success without some semblance of a running game.
The Packers' leading rusher (Brandon Jackson) hasn't even gained 100 yards and Green Bay is throwing on 68 percent of its plays. The strategy has worked so far in a 4-0 start. But leaning too much on the passing game during the winter months -- especially with a quarterback who turns 38 on Oct. 10 -- is risky.
* The Raiders are located on the other side of the Bay, but Oakland's offensive line should be nicknamed the Cable Cars.
New position coach Tom Cable has worked wonders with most of the same talent that had struggled in previous seasons. That improvement was especially evident in Sunday's 35-16 road victory against Miami. Oakland rushed for 299 yards, including 179 by backup running back Justin "Bizarro Jerry" Fargas.
Left tackle Barry Sims also didn't get whipped again by defensive end Jason Taylor, who had six sacks in their previous two match-ups. Taylor never got to quarterback Daunte Culpepper, although Oakland only passed 12 times because of its strong ground attack.
* Culpepper's performance wasn't the only embarrassing reminder of the quarterback-related decisions Dolphins coach Cam Cameron and General Manager Randy Mueller made during the off-season.
Joey Harrington -- who, like Culpepper, was released without ever having the chance to practice under Cameron -- led Atlanta to victory over Houston and is faring well under difficult circumstances. Cameron also allowed quarterbacks coach Jason Garrett to leave for Dallas as offensive coordinator even though Miami had a vacancy at the same spot that still isn't filled. Garrett's unit is averaging an NFL-best 38.7 points a game.
* The two-quarterback rotation used by Arizona in a 21-14 upset of Pittsburgh wouldn't have been as productive without four key Steelers defenders on the sideline. The key absence was strong safety Troy Polamalu, who forced a fumble and caused confusion with his pre-snap movement until having to miss the second half with an abdominal strain.
Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner were a combined 9-of-19 passing for 114 yards when Polamalu was being deployed all over the field by defensive coordinator #### LeBeau. Without having to account for Polamalu, Arizona's quarterbacks completed 12 of 16 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. Plus, Warner and Leinart weren't sacked in the final two quarters after going down twice before halftime.
"You don't want to see anyone get hurt," Leinart said. "But it takes a lot of their defense because (Polamalu) is the main focus."
* After seeing first-hand that Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt's two-quarterback system can work for at least the short term, I wonder whether Rex Grossman's career could have been salvaged if Chicago offensive coordinator Ron Turner used a platoon system with Brian Griese.
Besides the fact Leinart and Warner genuinely like each other, Whisenhunt's juggling is proving successful because he has identified their strengths and weaknesses. While one of the NFL's best deep passers in 2006, Grossman has the tendency to make mistakes when facing heavy pressure. Griese doesn't rattle easy but lacks the same caliber arm strength.
Asked before Sunday's game why more coaches don't platoon quarterbacks, Whisenhunt said, "When you're the leader, maybe people feel like you get a feel for the guy who's in there or you don't want to compromise the chemistry. That's been the way it's been in football no matter what. Anything you would do to break out of that mold would make you different."
Alex Marvez is a Senior NFL Writer for FOXSports.com . He's covered the NFL for 13 seasons as a beat writer and is the president of the Pro Football Writers of America.
