Now to Fox NFL Sunday from Fox Sports as seen on the Fox Television Network.
FOX NFL SUNDAY NOTES – 12/29/13
Johnson: If Jay Cutler Doesn’t Play Well Today, Cut Him Loose
Glazer Reports Which Coaches Are Safe, Which Are Out and Who Is Likely to Replace Them
Bradshaw: Dallas Can “Rise Up” Today Against Philadelphia
Long & Strahan Tab Quinn as Defensive Player of the Year; Bradshaw Says Lacy Deserves Rookie of the Year Honors—————————————————————————
Analyst Jimmy Johnson says today is an important day for Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler against the Packers: “Jay Cutler is playing for his contract. This will determine how much money he’s going to make in the future. Personally, I think he throws too many interceptions, takes too many sacks. Now, he’s going to make those throws where you’re going to go, ‘Oohh,’ ‘Aahh.’ You know, he can make the throw, but he has too many mistakes, and I think that’s what’s going to determine the outcome of this game.”
Host Curt Menefee asked the analysts if the Bears should consider sitting Cutler for Josh McCown if the Bears struggle. Johnson replied: “I wouldn’t have him [Cutler] in the lineup as we start.”
Co-Host Terry Bradshaw agreed: “I agree with that. I would never have benched him [McCown]. I think McCown, even at 34, suits this offense better than Cutler.”
Johnson added: “If Jay Cutler does not play well in this game, cut him loose, go with McCown, and draft a quarterback.”
—————————————————————————
Analyst Howie Long said last week was an anomaly for the Bears, but they need to play well today and expect Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers to be at his best: “Last week was the perfect storm of bad. Chuck it in the trash, get ready to play for the division title at home – that’s the good news. The bad news – Aaron Rodgers is back. Forget the rust, expect his best. Expect offensively that you’re going to have to match him point for point. Clean up your protection, particularly versus the blitz. Allow your quarterback to make good decisions, get the ball out to the dynamic receivers on the outside. I believe last week was an anomaly, as do the Bears. Now all that’s left to do is go out and prove it and win a division title at home. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Analyst Michael Strahan agreed that Aaron Rodgers would be ready to go today: “I think after a series or two, Aaron Rodgers won’t even have any rust on him. He’ll look like he sprayed himself with WD-40.”
Bradshaw said he expects Rodgers to show some rust and said the Packers should feature running back Eddie Lacy: “One of the things people say is Aaron Rodgers isn’t going to be rusty – he is going to be rusty. He will have the injury on his mind. He’ll have to work his way through that. I do not expect him to be that sharp, especially early in the game, that’s why Eddie Lacy, even though he has a bad ankle, that’s the guy they should feature. I don’t expect Rodgers to be that effective early in this football game.”
—————————————————————————
FOX NFL Insider Jay Glazer reported which head coaches he expected to keep their jobs and which he expected to be out: “I don’t think ‘Black Monday’ will be as dark as years past, but there will be some changes starting with Leslie Frazier of the Minnesota Vikings. We told you last week that the window was slightly open, well that window has closed, and tomorrow morning ownership will meet with GM Rick Spielman. Leslie Frazer will be out.”
Glazer added that in addition to Frazier, the Lions’ Jim Schwartz and Redskins’ Mike Shanahan are out; the Cowboys’ Jason Garrett, Giants’ Tom Coughlin, Buccaneers’ Greg Schiano and Dolphins’ Joe Philbin are safe; and the Raiders’ Dennis Allen, Jets’ Rex Ryan and Titans’ Mike Munchak are in the “maybe” category.
—————————————————————————
Glazer also reported which coaching candidates are the most likely to become head coaches: “Everybody you’re going to see here is actually on a list from a decision maker that I’ve talked to – an owner, a general manager. Let’s start with one of the offensive guys – Adam Gase, he is Peyton Manning’s offensive coordinator, he may elect to stay there one extra year. As for defensive coaches, it’s time for Mike Zimmer to get his shot. For the wild cards, Ken Whisenhunt is expected to interview in Houston even though Bill O’Brien is expected to get that job.”
Glazer’s list:
Offensive coaches: Adam Gase, Jay Gruden, Greg Roman, Darrell Bevell
Defensive coaches: Mike Zimmer, Ray Horton, Dan Quinn, Mike Pettine
Wild Cards: Jack Del Rio, Ken Whisenhunt, Lovie Smith, Bill O’Brien
—————————————————————————
Bradshaw said he expects the Cowboys to rise up and win over Philadelphia: “I believe Jerry Jones is like the Ziegfeld Follies. He can sell and he can promote anything, and I’m promoting it this week. I do believe the old theory that any team any given Sunday – forget all the other things, all of the running games and everything – I believe that Dallas at home can rise up. And if they don’t, they go back to 8-8. What did they do last year? 8-8. What did they do the year before that? 8-8. And average is good, I guess.”
—————————————————————————
Strahan said he has not lost confidence in the Seattle Seahawks, especially if they retain home field advantage, and thinks the team’s loss to Arizona last week might be a blessing in disguise: “As long as they have home field advantage throughout the playoffs, I haven’t lost confidence. Even though last week they lost to Arizona, which is possibly the best team in the league that may not make the playoffs, I do think that could be a blessing in disguise because they had a security blanket of playing at home and feeling like they were invincible at home. I think losing now, instead of losing in the playoffs when you’re out completely, was a good thing for this team.”
—————————————————————————
Glazer reported what retiring Falcons’ tight end Tony Gonzalez was feeling before his final game as an NFL player: “I got off the phone with Tony Gonzalez about an hour and a half ago. Last night, he addressed the coaches and the players and said, ‘Football has made my wildest dreams come true and it can free you also, but you’ve got to be obsessed with winning.’ He said, ‘The best thing that happened for me is my second year I had a bad year. I completely changed my routine. After what happened with us this year, everybody, you’ve got to look inside yourself and change your routine.’ I asked if he cried a little bit and he said, ‘Yeah, I did.’”
—————————————————————————
Long and Strahan agreed that the Rams’ Robert Quinn is the Defensive Player of the Year. Strahan said: “As many sacks as he has on a team that obviously is not up in many games, and just to watch him play – remarkable, remarkable year by Robert Quinn.”
—————————————————————————
Bradshaw said that the Packers’ Eddie Lacy is his pick for Rookie of the Year: “I like Eddie Lacy up in Green Bay.”
Strahan added: “Eddie Lacy, you didn’t notice him until Aaron Rodgers went out, then all of a sudden here’s this guy running for six yards a clip.”
One more press release coming up before we end the early quotage.
