To wrap up the early Sunday NFL pregame quotage, we provide Fox NFL Sunday right now. Check it out.
FOX NFL SUNDAY NOTES – 11/6/11
Johnson to Colts: Take Luck and Trade Manning in a Heartbeat
Glazer Reports on P. Manning’s Prognosis and How the Colts Plan to Handle Roster Bonus
Strahan: Packers Will Soon Have to Deal with ‘Perfect Season’ Pressure
Bradshaw: Jason Garrett is Not My Kind of Head Coach
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Analyst Jimmy Johnson on what the Colts should do if they end up with the first pick in the draft and take Andrew Luck: “It will take Andrew Luck four years to make what Peyton Manning makes in one year. If Indy gets Luck, they should trade Manning in a heartbeat if they can find a taker for a 36-year-old with a bad neck.”
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Analysts Michael Strahan, Jimmy Johnson, Terry Bradshaw & Howie Long evaluate Cowboys’ Jason Garrett through his first 15 games as head coach. Garrett’s record is 8-7.
Strahan: “I think he still is the right coach for them but he’s shown he’s still a young coach.”
Johnson: “He needs to become a head coach. He calls the offensive plays. It might be time to think about hiring an offensive coordinator to call the plays next year so Garrett can be the head coach.”
Bradshaw: “He’s not my kind of guy to be a head coach. That’s not the kind of coach I want. I know he’s smart. A lot of folks are smart but I like a guy that gets in your face. A guy that fires people up like Jimmy Johnson and Chuck Knoll used to do.”
Long added: “He can’t allow the ebb and flow of the media impact the way he calls plays on offense.”
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Analyst Michael Strahan on the additional pressure Green Bay will have to contend with besides just being the defending champions: “Mike McCarthy has kept the Green Bay Packers on the path to a Super Bowl repeat but now they’re going to have to deal with double the pressure. People are going to say, ‘what about the Packers having a perfect season?’ It’s something that the Patriots experienced four years ago.”
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FOX NFL SUNDAY insider Jay Glazer reported on the latest in Colts QB Peyton Manning’s recovery: “Peyton Manning has some strength recovery in his pectoral muscle. However, he still needs his trapezius and his triceps nerves to regenerate. One neurosurgeon I talked to said, ‘there is nobody on the planet that could tell you how fast this is going to progress. They can say he could be back three or four weeks but they don’t know. Until it progresses to the point where he gets strength, he can’t do anything.’ The other big issue is the Colts owe him a $28 million roster bonus in March. One neurosurgeon told me that the Colts would take an independent surgeon to test Manning’s strength. If there is a lot of strength, they’ll pay him. If not, they may have to move on.”
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Analyst Michael Strahan thinks the Patriots are in danger of losing their 20-game home winning streak when they face one of the NFL elite quarterbacks, Eli Manning: “The Patriots have won 20 in a row at home but I think that streak is in jeopardy today against the Giants. The Patriots have the worst pass defense in the league and are going against the elite Eli Manning. And yes, I said elite because his passer rating is only behind Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.”
Following Jimmy Johnson’s one-on-one interview with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, Bradshaw reacted: “If Belichick ever does leave the sideline, you would never want him to leave the NFL. He’d make a heck of a general manager.”
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Co-host Terry Bradshaw advises the Cowboys to open up the field and utilize their big playmakers more: “Take a page out of what the Eagles did to you the other night. Run crossing routes. Take Jason Witten out of the equation and get him deep down the field. You’ve got Dez Bryant and Miles Austin who combined have half the catches as your tight end. Get Bryant and Austin, who are big playmakers involved in your offense and stop relying so heavily on Witten.”
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Analyst Jimmy Johnson gives credit to Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid for turning his team around: “Philadelphia’s ‘dream team’ was a disaster. They beat the Cowboys last week and now they are the team to beat in the NFC East. Credit goes to Andy Reid because of the way he’s straightened this team out.”
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Analyst Howie Long believes the New Orleans Saints need to win today to stay in control of the NFC South: “The Saints face a must win today. A loss here could result in a changing of the guard in the NFC South.”
Analyst Michael Strahan says the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are poised to win the NFC South: “The Buccaneers have won three out of the last four and they are confident. I think the Buccaneers are primed to win the division. Josh Freeman is where he needs to be and right now the Saints don’t know who they are.”
Analyst Jimmy Johnson on the affect that Sean Payton not being on the sidelines has had on the Saints the last two games: “It’s like they are in the 6th grade and they have a substitute teacher. Now how are they going to act? That’s exactly the way the New Orleans Saints are. You have the teacher up in the press box. They need their leader on the sidelines.”
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Analyst Howie Long says the biggest surprise for him this season is how young QBs have performed despite the lockout during the offseason: “We thought without mini-camps and OTAs (organized team activities), young quarterbacks would struggle. Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, and Christian Ponder are all playing well. That’s the biggest surprise to me.”
And we’ll finish the Sunday NFL pregame press releases for now with the preview of tonight’s Football Night in America interviews.
