TYLER THIGPEN TRADED, FREENEY OUT & THE PANTHERS ARE DONE
The Kansas City Chiefs traded backup quarterback Tyler Thigpen to the Miami Dolphins today. The Chiefs received the standard "undisclosed draft pick". Ahhh, more secrecy from One Arrowhead Drive. I make it a fifth rounder. He will move into the backup role behind Chad Henne. Chad Pennington's injured shoulder elevated Henne into the starter's role. Rookie Pat White was supposed to be featured in the Dolphins' Wildcat offense, but RB Ronnie Brown has been taking most of the direct snaps in the Wildcat. The Dolphins are the team that brought this hybrid college/pro offense to the NFL last season & are easily the best at running it. Thigpen's athletic ability should fit into the Dolphins' more wide open offensive schemes. He was buried on the Chiefs' depth chart with little chance of ever playing again. Thigpen threw 18 touchdowns last season along with 12 interceptions.
Twitter claimed it's first NFL victim. Jets wide receiver David Clowney was deactivated for Sunday's game with Tennessee for comments he made on his Twitter account. Clowney, who caught Mark Sanchez's first NFL touchdown pass, complained on Twitter about his playing time & the number of passes thrown his way. Ryan told Clowney on Saturday he wouldn't be in uniform Sunday because of the comments & Ryan's directive about discussing team policy & strategy on any social network. There will be a few more of these before guys understand the teams mean business.
After a frightening accident Monday afternoon, USC running back Stafon Johnson, will miss the rest of the season. Johnson was lifting weights during a conditioning period, while doing a bench press, Johnson had a 315-pound bar slip out of his hand, landing directly on his throat. Spotters pulled the bar off of Johnson almost immediately, but the damage was done. A tracheotomy was performed by EMS personnel to allow Johnson to breathe. He was rushed to a hospital where he underwent 7 hours of surgery to repair the damage to his trachea & esophagus. He is listed in critical condition but is expected to recover fully. Johnson scored 5 touchdowns on 47 carries this season & shared time with Joe McKnight at tailback for the Trojans.
The Dallas Cowboys are holding their collective breath as they await the results of running back Felix Jones' MRI. At the end of a 40-yard run in last night win over Carolina, Jones landed awkwardly injuring his knee. He didn't return to the game. Jones missed much of his rookie season last year due to injury & with RB Marion Barber already out with a quad injury, the 'Boys backfield is pretty thin depth-wise.
Colt All-Pro defensive end Dwight Freeney will miss 2-3 games with a quad injury he sustained Sunday night against the Cardinals. Freeney said he heard something pop in his leg, but an MRI showed nothing torn, so no surgery will be required to get him back into the lineup. Freeney & safety Bob Sanders are the Colts best defenders, now both are out with injuries.
Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris is showing his age. The 32-year old rookie head coach blew off some steam in his Monday news conference & tho his targets probably warranted being thrown under the bus, it still showed he's still learning on the job. Unfortunately his tactics may backfire in his own locker room. He questioned Kellen Winslow's heart on a 3rd down reception in the 1st quarter when Winslow came up 1-yard short of the 1st down marker. He was very definitive later speaking of a dropped interception by cornerback Aquib Talib saying "he dropped it, plain & simple, we can't have that, he has to focus on the team & make that play". Morris has had his share of run-ins with both players since becoming the head coach, last spring he said Winslow "is way too up & down with his emotions, it affects his concentration & his performance". Talib has been in two scrapes since Morris took over, during a scuffle in a practice, Talib swung his helmet wildly, hitting a teammate in the face & causing an 8-stitch gash. He was arrested in August for roughing up a cab driver, coupled with his less-than-squeaky-clean reputation he had at Kansas, he is a handful. I wonder if calling these guys out in public is the way to handle the problem.
Stick a fork in the Carolina Panthers, they're done. Jake Delhomme has become a turnover machine, WR Steve Smith freelanced on a route last night that cost them an interception that was run back for a touchdown, but it's their run defense that is the stake thru their heart. When Maake Kemoeatu went down in training camp, they lost their run-stuffing defensive tackle. Kemoeatu ate up space, occupied two blockers & had a nonstop motor that stoked their defensive fire. They didn't have a replacement & thru 3 games it is killing them. The Cowboys ran for 212 yards last night & the Panthers have surrendered 548 yards in 3 games. Run the ball, eat the clock, keep the Panther offense off the field & when they do get on the field, they feel the pressure to score right now. This creates a lot of mistakes, like interceptions & receivers freelancing their routes. They franchised DE Julius Peppers, paying him $16 million & he hasn't done a thing. Kemoeatu was the key, he had to be double-teamed on every snap which helped Peppers. The Cowboys did a great job of frustrating both Peppers & Steve Smith. Neither had any impact in this game. They have a bye week, then might get back on the right track with the easiest part of their schedule. But in December, Carolina finishes their season with a trip to New England, Minnesota, at the Giants & New Orleans. They're not going anywhere, as I said in my NFC prediction blog before the season started, the loss of Kemoeatu was huge. It's proving to be fatal for the Panthers.
Twitter claimed it's first NFL victim. Jets wide receiver David Clowney was deactivated for Sunday's game with Tennessee for comments he made on his Twitter account. Clowney, who caught Mark Sanchez's first NFL touchdown pass, complained on Twitter about his playing time & the number of passes thrown his way. Ryan told Clowney on Saturday he wouldn't be in uniform Sunday because of the comments & Ryan's directive about discussing team policy & strategy on any social network. There will be a few more of these before guys understand the teams mean business.
After a frightening accident Monday afternoon, USC running back Stafon Johnson, will miss the rest of the season. Johnson was lifting weights during a conditioning period, while doing a bench press, Johnson had a 315-pound bar slip out of his hand, landing directly on his throat. Spotters pulled the bar off of Johnson almost immediately, but the damage was done. A tracheotomy was performed by EMS personnel to allow Johnson to breathe. He was rushed to a hospital where he underwent 7 hours of surgery to repair the damage to his trachea & esophagus. He is listed in critical condition but is expected to recover fully. Johnson scored 5 touchdowns on 47 carries this season & shared time with Joe McKnight at tailback for the Trojans.
The Dallas Cowboys are holding their collective breath as they await the results of running back Felix Jones' MRI. At the end of a 40-yard run in last night win over Carolina, Jones landed awkwardly injuring his knee. He didn't return to the game. Jones missed much of his rookie season last year due to injury & with RB Marion Barber already out with a quad injury, the 'Boys backfield is pretty thin depth-wise.
Colt All-Pro defensive end Dwight Freeney will miss 2-3 games with a quad injury he sustained Sunday night against the Cardinals. Freeney said he heard something pop in his leg, but an MRI showed nothing torn, so no surgery will be required to get him back into the lineup. Freeney & safety Bob Sanders are the Colts best defenders, now both are out with injuries.
Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris is showing his age. The 32-year old rookie head coach blew off some steam in his Monday news conference & tho his targets probably warranted being thrown under the bus, it still showed he's still learning on the job. Unfortunately his tactics may backfire in his own locker room. He questioned Kellen Winslow's heart on a 3rd down reception in the 1st quarter when Winslow came up 1-yard short of the 1st down marker. He was very definitive later speaking of a dropped interception by cornerback Aquib Talib saying "he dropped it, plain & simple, we can't have that, he has to focus on the team & make that play". Morris has had his share of run-ins with both players since becoming the head coach, last spring he said Winslow "is way too up & down with his emotions, it affects his concentration & his performance". Talib has been in two scrapes since Morris took over, during a scuffle in a practice, Talib swung his helmet wildly, hitting a teammate in the face & causing an 8-stitch gash. He was arrested in August for roughing up a cab driver, coupled with his less-than-squeaky-clean reputation he had at Kansas, he is a handful. I wonder if calling these guys out in public is the way to handle the problem.
Stick a fork in the Carolina Panthers, they're done. Jake Delhomme has become a turnover machine, WR Steve Smith freelanced on a route last night that cost them an interception that was run back for a touchdown, but it's their run defense that is the stake thru their heart. When Maake Kemoeatu went down in training camp, they lost their run-stuffing defensive tackle. Kemoeatu ate up space, occupied two blockers & had a nonstop motor that stoked their defensive fire. They didn't have a replacement & thru 3 games it is killing them. The Cowboys ran for 212 yards last night & the Panthers have surrendered 548 yards in 3 games. Run the ball, eat the clock, keep the Panther offense off the field & when they do get on the field, they feel the pressure to score right now. This creates a lot of mistakes, like interceptions & receivers freelancing their routes. They franchised DE Julius Peppers, paying him $16 million & he hasn't done a thing. Kemoeatu was the key, he had to be double-teamed on every snap which helped Peppers. The Cowboys did a great job of frustrating both Peppers & Steve Smith. Neither had any impact in this game. They have a bye week, then might get back on the right track with the easiest part of their schedule. But in December, Carolina finishes their season with a trip to New England, Minnesota, at the Giants & New Orleans. They're not going anywhere, as I said in my NFC prediction blog before the season started, the loss of Kemoeatu was huge. It's proving to be fatal for the Panthers.
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