The AFC
The Buddy Nix
Brian Galliford of Buffalo Rumblings: “Buffalo Bills wide receiver David Nelson started off the 2011 season on fire ... Against Oakland and in the first half against New England, Nelson was virtually unstoppable, hauling in 16 receptions for 167 yards and a game-winning touchdown. That's a very stellar six-quarter stat line. Nelson has played six quarters since then, as well - the second half of the New England game, as well as yesterday's game against Cincinnati. In those six quarters, Nelson has two receptions for 18 yards.”
The Jeff Ireland
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk: “Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene advises that [Tony Sparano’s] press conference was canceled due to the “timing and logistics” of the team’s return from San Diego. Greene said that, after Sunday’s post-game press conference, Sparano told Greene that the coach wouldn’t have anything new to say on Monday, because he wouldn’t have had a chance to review the film or to update the status of quarterback Chad Henne.”
The Jonathan Kraft
Matt Kawahara of The Boston Globe: “[Wes Welker] continued his torrid start this season. Last week, he had 16 catches for a team-record 217 yards against Buffalo. With 40 receptions for 616 yards through four games, he is on pace for 160 catches and more than 2,400 yards.”
The Mike Tannenbaum
Gang Green Nation: “There are two factors that determine the success of the run game. One is the running back. The other is run blocking. When the run game struggles, it is easy to say both at fault. I really do not think that is the case with the Jets, though.”
The Ozzie Newsome
Bruce Raffel of Baltimore Beatdown: “According to Bodog.com, the Baltimore Ravens are the fifth best choice to win Super Bowl XLVI. At 12-1 odds, the Ravens only trail co-favorites, the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots, both listed at 9-2 odds to win it all. Next comes the New Orleans Saints at 9-1, followed by the San Diego Chargers at 11-1.”
The Mike Brown
Ryan Harper of Cincy Jungle: “The Bengals have looked like a team trying to prove themselves. A team that is attempting to demonstrate that they shouldn't be disregarded due to their lack of experience. Up to this point the defense has looked relatively stellar, while the offense has looked adequate. The offense has had one glaring hole that always has a spotlight beaming down on it. And that's when it comes to third-down situations.”
The Tom Heckert
Chris Pokorny of Dawgs By Nature: “What exactly does [Pat] Shurmur need to stop? He certainly can't stop what the media appears to fabricate at times. All things considered, this has been a good start to the season for Cleveland. Instead of focusing on the positives, we are hearing about "trouble" involving running back Peyton Hillis.”
The Kevin Colbert
John Stephens of Behind The Steel Curtain: “After coming off a career year, many Steelers fans were giddy to see Rashard Mendenhall improve upon those numbers. In 2010, he ran for 1273 yards on 324 rushes for an average of 3.9 per pop. Most impressive was his staggering 13 touchdowns. In the preseason, I recall several people gushing about how much faster and tougher Rashard looked. Certainly, this season would be another good one, right?”
The Rick Smith
Battle Red Blog: “As always, a victory by the Houston Texans leads to a Monday morning acknowledgement of the unsung or forgotten man who played a significant role in the recent victory.”
The Chris Polian
Nate Dunlevy of 18 to 88: “We all went to school last night to re-learn the same lessons from last week. The Colts need a quarterback. For reasons I can't fathom, Indy fans mostly seem up in arms about the defense today. The same defense that was on the field at a nearly a 2:1 clip and played it's wounded guts out is generating the bulk of the complaints.”
The Gene Smith
Alfie Crow of Big Cat Country: “I've brought up how much Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Clint Session has played, given the contract he received in free agency. He was in and out of the game often as usual on Sunday, but I think one play showed why he's pulled so much on passing downs. Saints tight end Jimmy Graham caught a 59-yard pass late in the fourth quarter, where he just blew past Session down the sideline.”
The Mike Reinfeldt
Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean: “Matt Hasselbeck showed a sense of humor when asked about his 5-yard scramble for a first down against the Browns. “I got 5, and maybe if I was trying I maybe could have gotten 5 1/2 or 6,” he said with a smile.”
The Brian Xanders
Troy Hufford of Mile High Report: “Finally, we have some news that Broncos fans can rally around. The NFL has approved the Broncos request to wear orange jerseys at home, beginning in 2012. Can you imagine if the NFL rejected the request?”
The Scott Pioli
Patrick Allen of Arrowhead Addict: “During the first quarter of Sunday’s game I thought the Kansas City Chiefs offense was doomed. Matt Cassel had been playing just as poorly as he had the first two weeks of the season, the running game was sputtering and the Chiefs seemed destined to lose.”
The Al Davis
Ailene Voision of The Sacramento Bee: “When a team plays the way the Raiders did Sunday against the New England Patriots – see all of the above – the best thing to do is tuck the game away, get out of the building and get on with the season.”
The Dean Spanos
John Gennaro of Bolts From The Blue: “A certain local morning sports radio show cracked wise this morning about A.J. Smith being real good at drafting 3rd rounders, but not so great with those 1st rounders. I'm thinking today wasn't the best time for them to be making that joke. Not with Ryan Mathews, Philip Rivers and Larry English playing maybe the most important parts to a Chargers victory yesterday.”
The NFC
The Stephen Jones
Rainer Sabin of The Dallas Morning News: “On the decisive play of Dallas' 34-30 loss to Detroit on Sunday, Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman was left alone to defend the Lions' top playmaker, receiver Calvin Johnson. A strategic mistake, right? Not according to the Cowboys, who wanted to get the ball back as quickly as possible even if it meant that they conceded the go-ahead touchdown.”
The Jerry Reese
Kristie Ackert of The New York Daily News: “Tom Coughlin is done talking about the Victor Cruz fumble/not-a-fumble play in Sunday's comeback win over the Cardinals. After going over tape, which he said was fun, Coughlin, not surprisingly, agreed with the call on the field.”
The Howie Roseman
Bleeding Green Nation: “This one has to go down as one of the worst regular season losses in the Andy Reid era. The 49ers, who brought the worst offense in the NFL into this game, scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter as the Eagles choked away their third straight fourth quarter lead and dropped to 1-3 on the season. It's easily the ugliest loss in an already ugly season.”
The Bruce Allen
Parks Smith of Hogs Haven: “Many fans want to label a certain player as a "starter" or "backup", but is that really needed in regards to running backs in today's NFL? I say no. The days of the NFL feature back and guys pounding the ball twenty plus times a game are gone. Will we still have great running backs?”
The Jerry Angelo
Sean Jensen of The Chicago Sun-Times: “I can guarantee this: a Bears coach won't make the same mistake Rob Ryan did last week. The bold and brash Cowboys defensive coordinator -- brother of New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan -- proclaimed that Calvin Johnson would be the third-best receiver in Dallas.”
The Martin Mayhew
Justin Rogers of MLive.com: “After a second consecutive come-from-behind victory, the 4-0 Detroit Lions return home this week to host the Chicago Bears. The game will mark the first time in a decade that the Lions have appeared on Monday Night Football.”
The Mark Murphy
Acme Packing Company: “Both Aaron Rodgers and Charles Woodson not only helped defeat the Broncos, but they established some records for the Green Bay Packers.”
The Mark Wilf
Christopher Gates of Daily Norseman: “Once again, the offense was awful, and though they tried to drive late at the end of the game, quarterback Donovan McNabb was awful on the last few snaps. Starting on first and ten from the Kansas City 41-yard line with two minutes left in the game, McNabb had consecutive passes knocked down by defensive linemen, the first by Kelly Gregg and the second by Tyson Jackson.”
The Thomas Dimitroff
The Falcoholic: “Will Julio Jones set an NFL rookie record for receiving? Not very likely, although, he does have a shot at second place. After four games, Julio is averaging 85.5 yards/game. If he continues at that current place, that will give him 1,368 yards.”
The Marty Hurney
Cat Scratch Reader: “Hearing the Panthers might be interested in LB Aaron Curry, but Philadelphia and Green could also be potential landing spots.”
The Mickey Loomis
Nakia Hogan of The Times-Picayune: “The New Orleans Saints and Mercedes-Benz announced Monday that they have reached a 10-year naming rights agreement that will turn the 36-year-old Louisiana Superdome into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.”
The Mark Dominik
Stephen Holder of The St. Petersburg Times: “The Bucs’ defensive line was at it again Monday night. In what is becoming something of a trend, the Bucs repeatedly pressured Colts QB Curtis Painter – making his first start – registering four sacks and leaving Painter, at times, exasperated. The pressure began from the outset, when DE Michael Bennett, on the Colts’ second series, leaped over a running back’s block and decked Painter.”
The Rod Graves
Revenge Of The Birds: “Three loses and 8 points, that so far is the story of our season. Despite how angry, sad, or jaded you feel right now there is some hope for this team. While 1-3 isn't pretty, it could easily be the other way around.”
The Billy Devaney
Bryan Burwell of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “On Sunday afternoon the half-empty Edward Jones Dome echoed with the disgruntled voices of a frustrated fan base whose only weapons are boos and sarcasm. While they spent most of the day booing the mistake-riddled performance in this 17-10 loss to the visiting Washington Redskins, the defining moment of the game and this 0-4 season was the rousing sarcastic ovation for the proper execution of ... a fair catch.”
The Trent Baalke
Eric Branch of The San Francisco Chronicle: “49ers running back Frank Gore says the team has a “new” quarterback in Alex Smith.”
The John Schneider
Rob Staton of Field Gulls: “A lot of people want to tell you that the 2012 quarterback class is going to be one for the ages. Don't believe the hype.”
