Just when I thought I had everything squared away with CBS Sports, I find that I don’t have a press release from them on today’s edition of the NFL Today. However, the NFL did send me a release on quotage from NFL Gameday Morning from the NFL Network, so for that I’m grateful. And since this is the first time receiving a release from the NFL Network in regards to NFL Gameday Morning, I’ll put that show first today.
News and Sound Bites From Week 12 on
NFL GAMEDAY MORNING
SUNDAY SIT DOWN – Deion Sanders EXCLUSIVE with Cowboys WR Terrell Owens: NFL GameDay Final analyst Deion Sanders sat down with WR Terrell Owens to discuss his productivity within the Cowboys offense, his relationship with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and bringing a championship to Dallas. The following are excerpts from the interview, the entire transcript can be found at the bottom of this release:
“All I can say is that I’m doing what been asked of me. I’m running my routes. It’s not like I’m not open. There have been some injuries that have factored in at the quarterback position and a lot of miscues along the way.” – On his lack of productivity in the Cowboys offense
“He’s right. I don’t like it. The thing is, if (Jason) Garrett is smart enough to know what’s made me successful in all my years, he’ll go back to the offense and the type of formations and things that I did that was successful in San Francisco. Look what I did in Philly. The difference is, in Philly and San Francisco, I was very much involved in that offense. It was a West Coast offense where I was a priority. You can say I’m a priority in paper or in interviews, but if it’s not translating on the football field, it’s very obvious and very evident.” – On not being featured in the offense
“The championship, but at the same time, you can’t obtain that championship if I’m not involved in the offense.” – On what’s more important – his numbers or bringing a championship to Dallas
“Oh yeah, we’ll make the playoffs, I definitely feel that. If we remain healthy, we’ll make the playoffs. If there’s no setback at the quarterback position, we’ll make the playoffs.” – On the Cowboys playoff hopes
On Cowboys WR Terrell Owens:
“Although T.O. can get them so far, it takes 11 people out there, getting the job done collectively to win ball games.” – Faulk
“When is T.O. going to be happy? He goes 13-3 with the Cowboys, goes to the Super Bowl with the Eagles, catch 20 balls (per game) with San Francisco and it’s never enough.” – Sapp on Owens
“They’ve featured T.O., they’ve thrown him the ball, but the coverage has changed. We have to see T.O. make the adjustments and now get off the press. Teams are pressing him and rolling defenders over the top and it takes a route-runner to beat that type of coverage.” – Faulk on Owens
Quotes from NFL GameDay Morning:
“If you don’t have earth, the wind and fire don’t matter.” – Faulk on the importance of the health of Giants RB Brandon Jacobs to New York’s offense
“I think it’s pretty obvious. Fire the coach…Andy Reid is not going to bring a championship to Philadelphia.” – Sapp on Philadelphia Eagles
“If you’re going to beat Bill Belichick two times in the same year, you have to change your game plan. He hasn’t lost to the same team twice in the AFC East since his first year with New England.” – Faulk on Miami’s chances against New England
“He’s a monster, but he doesn’t dominate games.” – Sapp on Patriots DE Richard Seymour
“There’s no excuse. Since he’s been in this league, there have been two ties and the one in 2002 benefited his playoff run.” – Sapp on Eagles QB Donovan McNabb’s admission of not knowing there are ties in the NFL
“They don
’t run it a lot, but when they do, they do it effectively.” – Sapp on the Denver Broncos“(Jason Taylor) told me they benched them…The Washington Redskins have benched Jason Taylor.” – Sapp on his conversation with Jason Taylor and his role with the Washington Redskins
“It’s a real bad situation when a one of the great coaches in this league like Mike Holmgren ends his career like this.” – Sapp on Seattle’s down year in head coach Mike Holmgren’s final season
“Looking at the rest of the Titans schedule, I don’t see a loss.” – Sapp on the Tennessee Titans
“Ryan Grant has finally decided to show up.” – Faulk on Packers RB Ryan Grant
“Who wins, loses or ties?” – Spero Dedes asking for predictions for the Philadelphia-Baltimore game.
Schefter’s News Reports:
- Thanksgiving kicks off hunting season, the time of year when heads coaches are put on the clock. Since 1990, there’s been on average 6 ½ head coaching changes per year and it always seems to be 13 changes every two years. The fact that there were only four last season means there could be in the vicinity of nine this season. Three have already occurred – St. Louis, Oakland and San Francisco and plenty more will come, including a couple of surprises. Two things now seem certain. Number one, A.J. Smith dismissed any notion that Chargers head coach Norv Turner could be fired and president Dean Spanos backed him up. Number two, the annual ‘where and when will Bill Cowher return’ rumor started this week with Cleveland. The Browns can poke around all they want, but I’m told Cowher doesn’t plan on coaching in 2009. He could always change his mind, but as of right now, he’s content with his television work and family time and is in no rush to jump back in.
- Matt Hasselbeck could find himself in an interesting situation at the end of the season. Hasselbeck’s biggest supporter, head coach Mike Holmgren, is leaving the team next season and the dynamics of the team will be different. Plus, next season is the last season of Hasselbeck’s contract. It carries a $9.5 million salary-cap number next season. If Seattle traded or cut Hasselbeck, he would count $3.2 million against their salary cap but, more important, he also would free up $6.3 million worth of salary-cap space. The problem is which quarterback would fill it? The Seahawks don’t have an QB-in-waiting the way Philadelphia does.
- There are those around the league who believe one reason Minnesota and Chicago did not aggressively pursue an established quarterback last off-season was because they might have the chance to land Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb this off-season. If the Eagles were to trade McNabb, they would knock $9.2 million off their books, which is a big salary cap savings. Head coach Andy Reid has a zero percent chance of walking away, so if the move is made there it will come from the Eagles and if they make a move, it will be because they feel they have a home run-hitter candidate. If they do decide to make a move, keep an eye on the New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who spent the 1999-2006 seasons with the Eagles.
- Few teams are better at stock-piling depth and identifying talent than the New York Giants. New York is loaded at running back, wide receiver, offensive line, defensive line and defensive back. But one of the first positions it accumulated talent at in this Super-Bowl era is quarterback. Within a six-week span in 2004, the three quarterbacks on the Giants roster were Eli Manning, Kerry Collins and Kurt Warner. Collins and Warner are, in many circles, two of the leading contenders for this season’s NFL MVP award and Manning won last season’s Super Bowl MVP. New York traded for Manning during the April 2004 draft. Days later, on April 29, the Giants released Collins, who had led New York to its previous NFC Championship. Then on June 3, 2004, the Giants signed Warner. Now Manning is leading the Giants into Arizona today to face Warner’s Cardinals. And isn’t it both interesting and fitting that Kurt Warner’s last start at quarterback for the New York Giants came Nov. 14, 2004 – in Arizona.
Full Transcript of Deion Sanders’ Interview with Cowboys WR Terrell Owens:
Deion Sanders: This is T.O. I’m sitting down with, right?
Terrell Owens: It’s me.
Sanders: This isn’t the same dude that’s been held below 40 receiving yards for the fifth straight game.
Owens: Oh, I’m definitely the same guy.
Sanders: Then what the problem?
Owens: All I can say is that I’m doing what been asked of me. I’m running my routes. It’s not like I’m not open. There have been some injuries that have factored in at the quarterback position and a lot of miscues along the way.
Sanders: Good things happen when they get you the ball, so I’m wondering as a coach, as an offense, as a fan, why don’t you receive the ball? Are you in the game plan; is it that difficult to have you featured?
Owens: I don’t think it’s difficult at all to have me featured.
Sanders: Have you gone in and written a note to Jason (Garrett)…that said ‘to whom it may concern?’
Owens: If that’s the case, then we’re going to have to change the whole offense. We’re going to have to changed the whole dynamics of the offense. If I get on this interview and say, ‘I need the ball more, we need to do this and that,’ then the heat is going to be on me. So I’ve just been quiet.
Sanders: And we’ve been waiting. The media has been waiting, thinking, ‘he’s going to blow any minute.’ Coach Mariucci has said to me, ‘I know that he doesn’t like that,’ but you’ve been humble.
Owens: He’s right. I don’t like it. The thing is, if (Jason) Garrett is smart enough to know what’s made me successful in all my years, he’ll go back to the offense and the type of formations and things that I did that was successful in San Francisco. Look what I did in Philly. The difference is, in Philly and San Francisco, I was very much involved in that offense. It was a West Coast offense where I was a priority. You can say I’m a priority in paper or in interviews, but if it’s not translating on the football field, it’s very obvious and very evident.
I think there are some things we’ve done in the last game to move me around and get me open, but again, it’s not like I can’t play.
Sanders: So you haven’t lost a step, you’re just as physical and just as fast?
Owens: Definitely.
Sanders: 6-4 isn’t good enough for the Dallas Cowboys. For a lot of teams, that’s fine, but not for the Dallas Cowboys.
Owens: When I came here, I came with the idea and notion that we had a chance to win a championship. Coming to the city of Dallas, I want to bring a sixth Super Bowl championship to the city of Dallas. For me to have the numbers that I have and not being involved is discouraging and frustrating.
Sanders: So which is more important – the numbers or the championship?
Owens: The championship, but at the same time, you can’t obtain that championship if I’m not involved in the offense.
Sanders: So what you’re saying is that if you had the numbers, the championship is going to come?
Owens: It’s going to come and I think a lot of people see that. When I get my hands on the ball, things happen. I can’t throw it and catch it. I can only do one thing. In talking to my coach Ray Sherman, he knows that I’m frustrated.
I think everyone knows my play-making ability. It’s not that I can’t play, it’s the system in which I’m in that’s not allowing me to do the things I can do.
Sanders: But it’s the same system as last year that allowed you to have one of your best seasons.
Owens: But to say that, you have to understand that teams have game-planned (for) us all summer. What we hit them with last year…
Sanders: …You can’t hit them with (this year). So they didn’t the right coming last year, but this year…
Owens: Right, exactly. These defensive coaches have studied all summer. They see how we beat them. Now, we’re not getting those same routes. So now, we have to go back to the drawing table and do things differently.
Sanders: Will you guys make the playoffs?
Owens: Oh yeah, we’ll make the playoffs, I definitely feel that. If we remain healthy, we’ll make the playoffs. If there’s no setback at the quarterback position, we’ll make the playoffs.
T.O. It’s all about him and not the team. Me. Me. Me. Jerk.
Next, it’s the always dependable Fox Sports with quotage from Fox NFL Sunday.
FOX NFL SUNDAY NOTES – 11/23/08
Eagles QB Donovan McNabb received heavy criticism this week following his admission that he didn’t know that regular season games could end in ties. FOX NFL SUNDAY analysts Jimmy Johnson, Michael Strahan, Howie Long and Terry Bradshaw weighed in:
Jimmy Johnson: “A premier, 10-year quarterback has to know that. He has to have a sense of urgency. He should’ve known the rule.”
Michael Strahan: “He should’ve known the rules and there were times where he didn’t show the sense of urgency. That’s not all on the player. If the coach sees those things, Andy Reid needs to get him on the sidelines and tell him, ‘Donovan, you know we have to get the ball down the field in this possession. We have to score. If we don’t, this game is going to end in a tie which is going to hurt us.’ The coach needs to let the player know.”
Terry Bradshaw: “You cannot play quarterback in this league and not know that we have one overtime. I can’t forgive that as a quarterback.”
Analyst Howie Long has a suggestion to eliminate ties: “If the teams tie at the end of overtime, they should go to the college rule in the sixth quarter. It would be pretty entertaining.”
Analyst Jimmy Johnson thinks the Philadelphia Eagles should make a change at quarterback:
“It’s time for a change with McNabb and (Andy) Reid should be back.”Analysts Michael Strahan, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson on Terrell Owens’ latest stunt in which he criticizes the Cowboys offensive scheme:
Michael Strahan: “I had just said that T.O. had shut up and was playing well and he didn’t criticize anybody and then he goes out and he does it.”
Howie Long: “T.O.’s been in the league for the past 13 years. What do the last 13 Super Bowl champions have in common? No T.O.”
Jimmy Johnson: “The only time we hear from T.O. is when he’s playing bad so we’re going to hear from him for a long time.”
Terry Bradshaw thinks the Bengals should clean house: “You have to clean this thing up and start over. You can’t have guys like Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson). You have to get rid of people like that. Enough of him.”
Howie Long is impressed with the Giants running game and their offensive line:
“To say they are committed to running the ball would be an understatement. People are talking about (Brandon) Jacobs being an MVP candidate. I think that offensive line is the MVP of that football team. They don’t have an Anthony Munoz or a Walter Jones on that line but they are probably the best group in football.”
Analyst Michael Strahan on the Panthers inconsistent passing game:
“When your explosive plays are your running plays that’s a problem. That’s what Carolina has now; their explosive plays are their running plays.”
Analyst Jimmy Johnson on Commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision to reinstate Pacman Jones:
“Everybody needs a 13th chance.”
Jay Glazer reports on the status of New Orleans Saints RB Reggie Bush for tomorrow night:
“Reggie Bush did not participate in today’s walkthrough and will be out tomorrow night.”
During FOX NFL SUNDAY’s ‘Fired Up’ segment, analyst Howie Long commented on the inconsistency of fines in the NFL: “Prior to the season, the NFL made it very clear to the players and coaches that the game must be played within the framework of the rules. Some have listened, some haven’t and some are confused, including myself. To date, through both suspensions and fines as high as $50,000, players are out of pocket for up to close to 2 million dollars. Now everyone agrees with the NFL’s goal in protecting defenseless players and the union signed off on the process, but to me some of these fines are excessive and the process of determining a players intent on what is or isn’t a cheap shot is too subjective. Let me give you an example, involving the same team but different quarterbacks in two different outcomes. Week 2, Matt Ryan throws an interception and Tampa Bay’s Albert Mack, who is playing in his first game, rocks Ryan with a helmet-to-helmet hit, the league office suspends him. Ok, fine. Now fast forward to last week, Tampa Bay vs. Minnesota, Jeff Garcia releases a pass and while looking down field takes three steps after releasing the ball and is de-cleated by Minnesota’s Ray Edwards. Garcia was clearly in a defenseless position, yet the league opts to fine Edwards $25,000 with no suspension, leaving Tampa Bay’s players and coaches scratching their heads. I’m not judging one or the other but how is one suspension worthy and the other not? The existing system frustrates players and coaches, a system that I’m sure the union will want to re-address down the road. Drawing the line in the sand in terms of protecting players is something everyone agrees with, but when that line is constantly moving, then the system as it stands in my opinion is flawed.”
Then we move onto ESPN and stuff from Sunday NFL Countdown.
ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown Notes and Quotes – Week 12
ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown host Chris Berman and analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson and Keyshawn Johnson previewed today’s NFL games. Some excerpts:
From Keyshawn Johnson’s sit-down interview w/ former Pittsburgh Steelers and current Miami Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter …
Porter (on the New England Patriots and the Spygate controversy of last season): “I got cheated … in both of them AFC championship games. … They’ve been videotaping for years. … That’s my dynasty. You know what I mean? I could be sitting up here with three rings. This is the way I look at it. I played three AFC Championships — won one, lost two. … To me, just like they want to put an asterisk on everything else, yeah, I don’t care what they say. They have an asterisk on them. … I’m taking that to the grave, man. I don’t care what nobody say.”Mike Ditka criticized the NFL during his “Ditka’s Doghouse” segment for continuing to have the Detroit Lions in one of the nationally-televised Thanksgiving Day games …Ditka: “I think the league is missing the point. We need to put two teams on every Thanksgiving who are competitive. We all stuff a turkey on Thanksgiving. That doesn’t mean you have to stuff that turkey down our throats.”On the resurgence of quarterback Kerry Collins with the Tennessee Titans …
Mike Ditka: “Kerry Collins is sitting on the scrap heap of the National Football League. They pulled him off. They recycled him. … He replaced the face of this organization, the No. 1 pick. This is his team. I like everything about him. This guy is the real deal.”On Philadelphia Eagles fans complaining about Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid …
Tom Jackson: “Lose your Pro Bowl quarterback five times, the face of the franchise. Find out how hard it is to get another one in there. Andy Reid … pretty darn good football coach, so get rid of him. Find out how hard it is to get another one. Philly fans tend to be a little bit harsh. You be harsher on the next guy when you find out how difficult this can be made to be.”Chris Berman: “No McNabb, no Reid. Be careful what you wish for Philadelphia. Don’t be stupid.”
On Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, who expressed his frustration with the team’s offense this week …Cris Carter: “No receiver can lead a team to the Super Bowl, and I know that (laughing).”On whether the Arizona Cardinals are for real …Tom Jackson: “You are what your record is, so yes they are for real. I think they have the best passing personnel in the game. … I don’t like the lack of a consistent running game. Defensively, I think their numbers are better than they really are.”Mike Ditka: “The main thing is Ken Whisenhunt has changed the culture there in Arizona, and it’s not business as usual.”
Finally, here’s quotage from NBC’s Football Night in America.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK 12 OF NBC’s “FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA”NEW YORK – Nov. 23, 2008 – Following are highlights from NBC's "Football Night in America" studio show, as host Bob Costas, co-host Cris Collinsworth, co-host Keith Olbermann, co-host Dan Patrick, analysts Tiki Barber and Jerome Bettis, and reporter Peter King of Sports Illustrated take a look at the day's top storylines in the NFL:
COLLINSWORTH ON BENCHING OF DONOVAN MCNABB: "Donovan learned last week the game could end in a tie, this week he learned the game could end at the half. The only thing worse than Donovan McNabb was his replacement and the decision by Andy Reid to replace him. You do not take a kid who has not practiced and put him in at halftime on the road against this Baltimore Ravens killer defense. The season ended today for the Philadelphia Eagles.
"Donovan McNabb is finished in Philly is what I believe."
COLLINSWORTH ON MATT CASSEL: "How about that Matt Cassel? Somebody needs to get that kid a supermodel because he looks like Tom Brady right now."
COLLINSWORTH ON KRIS JENKINS AND THE JETS: "Kris Jenkins is the frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year and quite possibly MVP of the entire league.
"The New York Jets are the best team in the AFC."
COLLINSWORTH ON POTENTIAL JETS-GIANTS SUPER BOWL: "I think those are the two best teams going right now."
ON WHICH TEAM IS SECOND BEST IN THE NFC BEHIND THE GIANTS:
BETTIS: "The Washington Redskins. When you get into the playoff season you have to run the football and defend the run. The Washington Redskins with Clinton Portis are one of the best teams at running the football and the defense is one of the top defenses."
BARBER: "The Atlanta Falcons have so many weapons but I don't know. I can't answer that question."
COLLINSWORTH: "This is so easy, it's the Dallas Cowboys."
COLLINSWORTH ON THE COWBOYS: "Dallas as a wildcard coming out is so dangerous. They have the most talent. If they get in there against the Giants, I think they're the only ones who have a chance."
COLLINSWORTH ON TERRELL OWENS: "T.O. was so T.O.-ish this week. He did everything but sit-ups in front of his house. He was in full form complaining about this offense and he exploded today."
COLLINSWORTH ON THE NFC NORTH: "Mediocrity abounds; Chicago, Minnesota and Green Bay all battling each other to see who gets to lose in the first round of the playoffs."
OLBERMANN ON POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCES OF LOSING COACHES: "Losing coach plus podium equals crazy."
And that’s it for tonight.
