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.
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.
