Archive for the ‘St Louis’ Category

Torry Holt’s return from knee surgery

Tuesday, June 26th, 2007

An interesting quote came out yesterday from PFW’s random quotes feature.

Rams WR Torry Holt, quoted on StLouisRams.com on taking this offseason to heal after knee surgery: “My first eight years in the league, I have been doing a lot of off-the-field stuff, trying to dibble and dabble in some broadcasting things and dibble and dabble in some different business stuff like that, trying to build my brand. This year has really given me an opportunity to step back and really refocus on the game of football. I’m excited about that. I’m enjoying the break because I haven’t really done anything. I’m just really trying to refocus on what’s important and that’s football and trying to help this football team win some more championships.”

Holt has surgery early this year to work on a problem with his knee that he had been dealing with since 2005.

For over a full year, Holt tried to play through it and strengthen the knee through rehab and training. But that proved to be not enough, and surgery was needed.

“That last game it had gotten to the point where it was aggravating me pretty good. But I was toughing it out. At the end of that game, I said, ‘I’ve got to go in and have something done.’ ”

Holt had a down year last season, catching only 93 passes for 1188 yards and 10 TDs. He did end his NFL record of six straight seasons with 1300+ receiving yards.

The Rams have more options in the passing game this year, with Drew Bennett and Randy McMichael now in the mix. But Issac Bruce will be 35 this fall, and teams are going to be focusing on Steven Jackson more this season.

Steven Jackson wants to break Faulk’s yardage record

Friday, June 15th, 2007

Rams running back Steven Jackson wants to break the single season yards from scrimmage mark set by his former teammate Marshall Faulk back in 1999.

The record is currently set at 2,529 yards from scrimmage. Jackson earned 2,334 last season under then first year coach Scott Linehan.

Jackson is entering his 4th NFL season, and his success last season was not a surprise to many. As I wrote in last season’s Rams’ offensive coordinator preview, Jackson needed only to manage his career 4.4 ypc average to have a very successful season. He did exactly that.

The Rams have learned quickly how to best use Jackson’s talents. But my problem with his recent proclamation to break the single-season yardage record is that as versatile as he is - especially for a back his size - I just don’t think he’s that versatile.

For one, he runs way to big and too upright to be expected to stay healthy over a full season. Last year was his first 300+ carry effort and usually backs who see an exponentially increased workload (like Jackson has over his first three NFL seasons) tend to break down a bit. Add in that general factor with Jackson’s overall, upright running style, and I consider SJ a serious injury concern this season.

But even if he can stay healthy for another 400+ touches this season, while Coach Linehan has been very good at getting Jackson to do what he does well, teams are bound to realize that when #39 is in the backfield, he’s not much of a threat to break long runs wide.

Jackson is not a very patient, hole selecting runner. He’s a fantastic guy to blast up the middle, because he approaches the whole quickly and with a great deal of momentum. When asked to run wide or even inside behind a pulling guard, Jackson just doesn’t have yet the makeup to be an effective runner. And defenses will certainly be aware of that as he enters his second season as the Rams’ full time running back.

2006 | Week 4 - St. Louis Rams

Friday, October 6th, 2006

41-34 vs DET

Of course, the week after I wrote that these Rams were for real, they laid an giant egg in week 2. But they’ve bounced back, are 3-1 a quarter into the season, and are looking at the opportunity to take the NFC West.

One comment I overheard during the week 4 broadcast is that Scott Linehan worked with his offense a bit to change some of his terminology back to what the Rams’ players were used to under Mike Martz. The offense now looks like its back on track.

Steven Jackson continues to impress. He’s a great runner up the middle, but struggles when asked to run off tackle. He usually breaks his run too far outside. I think that may be a reason why the Rams brought in Stephen Davis. He’s a more patient and experience behind blockers.

Targets:
Free resource at Football Die Hards.
They have many helpers.

2006 | Week 2 - St. Louis Rams

Thursday, September 21st, 2006

13-20 at SF

Targets stats only this week.

CATCHES / TARGETS:
Holt - 5/13
Bruce- 5/6
Curtis - 3/6
Klopfenstein - 2/3
Jackson - 2/3
McDonald - 1/1
Davis - 1/1
Hedgecock - 0/1

2006 | Week 1 - St. Louis Rams

Sunday, September 17th, 2006

18-10 vs DEN

Look out. This team is about to make a big and immediate impact. The offense is balanced, and unpredictable enough to finally be the nightmare for defenses that we’ve been expecting.

Steven Jackson was a force. And what he did in this game was against a solid run defense. I wrote this preseason that he was a lock to be a top 10 running back. Now I think he’s going to finish the season as a top 3 back.

The Rams’ offense was rusty, and this game should have been about 31-7 at the half. So when you look at the final score of 18-10, it doesn’t really speak to how big of a blowout this could have been for the Rams. They had a number of timing pass plays that they were way off on. It just looked like rust. They’ll work it out, and then they’ll be poised for a huge year.

Also of note is how well the Rams defense played under coordinator Jim Haslett. Will Witherspoon was absolutely dominant against the run and defending the pass. He was definitely playing at a higher level than I’ve ever seen him play at and he can keep up that intensity, he can carry this defense a long way. Look out for the 2006 Rams.

Targets/Catches:
Holt - 7/15
Bruce - 5/10
Fisher - 2/2
Jackson - 4/5
McDonald - 0/1
Looker - 0/1
Curtis - 0/2

2006 Offensive Coordinator / Fantasy Football Preview - St. Louis Rams

Sunday, July 30th, 2006

INDEX

Scott Linehan - Head Coach, 1st season with STL
Gregg Olson - Offensive Coordinator, 1st season with STL

Scott Linehan’s official Rams’ bio leads with two paragraphs that best describe what he helped do with the Miami Dolphins’ offense last season.

Under Linehan, the Dolphins went from 29th in the NFL in total offense in 2004 to 14th in 2005, which includes going from 31st in rushing to 12th. The Dolphins’ finished the season with six consecutive victories, improving their scoring from 16.2 points per game in the first 10 games, to 26.0 during the season-ending streak.

In 2005, the Dolphins’ offense had 26 plays of 25 or more yards, including seven pass plays of more than 50 yards, which tied for the NFL lead. The Miami offensive line also blocked for the running game to average 4.3 yards per carry, good for fourth in the AFC and eighth in the NFL. The line also allowed only 26 sacks, which tied for the fourth-lowest total in the NFL.

In fact, the Rams did such a great job at writing Linehan’s bio, there’s really no need for me to go back and provide stats to show just how good of an offensive coordinator he was. Okay, one more quote:

Linehan’s first NFL season was 2002, as he directed the Vikings to become the second-ranked offense in the NFL, leading the league in rushing. Prior to his arrival in Minnesota, the Vikings scored 290 points in 2001. With Linehan, the Vikings scored 390 in 2002, 416 in 2003, and 405 in 2004.

So that’s Scott Linehan. Who’s Gregg Olson? During the last two seasons, he was the quarterbacks coach for the Detroit Lions. That may sound a little oxymoronic, but the Rams’ official site again did their research: “Under Olson’s tutelage in Detroit, Joey Harrington had his two best seasons in terms of completion percentage, touchdown-to-interception ratio, and passer rating of his career.” Olson was also the QB coach in San Francisco in 2001 when the 49ers went 12-4 and Jeff Garcia went to the pro bowl. Olson has worked with Linehan before, from 1994-96 at Idaho.

If Linehan brings the same kind of offense to St Louis that he brought to Minnesota and Miami (and there’s no reason to suspect he won’t), the team will be just balanced enough to favor what they do best. The Rams will still have a vertical, down the field attack this season, but the long awaited arrival of ‘balance’ should finally check in. Linehan knows the value of the run. In his four seasons as an OC, his offenses have run the ball 444 times (last year), 387 times (2004), 493 (2003), and 473 times (2002). Ranked among all NFL teams, those numbers turn into 17th, 28th, 7th, and 8th. It should be noted that the low numbers during the 2004 season took place when the Vikings lost just about every running back they had to injury at some point and the team admittedly got too pass happy. I think Linehan learned a lot during that 8-8 season and he won’t again fall victim to the Mike Martz illness.

Aside from speculating about run/pass ratios, there is talk coming out of St. Louis camp that the offense the Rams will run this season will be more simplifed (but not simple), more player friendly, and more quarterback friendly. Martz was well known for his distaste for audibles, but Marc Bulger will have more flexibility this season. His numbers will climb back up to 2004 levels (4000 yards, 20 TDs).

With Marshall Faulk out, Steven Jackson will be a top 10 running back if he can stay healthy enough to play in at least 13 games.

Jackson, who had arthroscopic knee surgery after his final season at Oregon State and following his rookie year with the Rams, said, “First time in three years I actually had an offseason. I feel pretty good now.”

Jackson comes into the season with a career 4.4 yards per carry average. He only had 20 or more carries in a game 3 times last season (all Rams wins) and averaged 5.5 ypc in those three games. In two other games, he carried the ball 19 times and had only 3.2 and 3.5 ypc in those contests, so the key to success isn’t just the amount of carries, but instead the consistency. In Miami last year, both Williams and Brown averaged 4.4 ypc, so that seems to be a pretty accurate prediction for Jackson this season. Give him 320 attempts and you get 1400 yards and at least 10 TDs. Just make sure you get Tony Fisher too.

Linehan is used to having a featured receiver in his offense, so Torry Holt’s numbers shouldn’t fall off too much with the change in systems. Issac Bruce is nearing the end of the line and this article certainly makes it sound like he’s role this season is more mentor than playmaker. Kevin Curtis, Shaun McDonald, and Dane Looker are all good receivers, so I expect Holt to catch around the 100 balls he’s used to catching, and Curtis, Bruce, McDonald to each be in the 40-50 catch range.

The Rams also drafted a couple of tight ends who will make an impact on the field, but probably not on the fantasy football scene just yet.

One other important note that will make this offense better is the addition of a few free agents on the defensive side of the ball. St Louis signed DT La’Roi Glover, LB Will Witherspoon, and defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. Their improvement from 30th last season will result in a more balanced attack as well.

Thursday Football

Thursday, October 27th, 2005

I’ve got something to say here, so just two games for now.
Maybe more later.

New Orleans Saints:
Below, under the stats, I put an asterik next to Ernie Conwell. The stats say he didn’t have a catch, but that’s because both he and the Saints were absolutely screwed by the NFL’s so-called replay policy.

Dear Socrates:

“I think that football doesn’t need instant replay. It’s better off without it.”

“How can you say that? Think about how silly it would be that a game may be decided by a wrong call and in this age of technology and instant everything, we can’t use a tv monitor to get the play right.”

“Okay, agreed. So tell me why it is then, that every play isn’t reviewable.
Why are plays ‘blown dead’? Why do we need ‘challenges’ under your arguement? “

The above story is a dramatization of this:
-The current use of NFL replay is horrible. Refs purposely let plays go on so that they can be reviewed, but if there isn’t enough evidence to overturn, the plays stays the same, despite what that ref may have originally thought. And that only can happen if a team has and chooses to use a challenge.
The NFL has the best referees in the world.
Why don’t they use them.

Make every play a reviewable play. Let refs call the game as they see it.
Make every play a reviewable play.

Oh, and the Saints aren’t playing bad football. They were rolling over the Rams in this game for the first quarter. But they’re not playing good football either, or else they would have continued to blow out St Louis.
TARGETS(catches):
Stallworth- 11(4)
Hakim- 9(6)
Stecker- 7(3)
Henderson-6(2)
Smith- 3(2)
Conwell- 2(0)*
Hilton- 1(0)
Karney- 1(1)


St. Louis Rams:
If the Saints had any luck at all, it would still be bad luck (or however that saying goes). St Louis trailed this game 7-17 in the fourth quarter, but they could have easily been down by 20 instead of 10. To their credit, the Rams never moved from their game plan, and they steadily pulled their way back into contention. But don’t let the final score fool you, this was a game that the Rams could have very easily lost (see above rant).

St. Louis might have injuries at key positions all over the field, but their offensive line did a real good job in this game allowing Jamie Martin operate the offense.

Jeff Wilkins missed a 48 yard field goal in the first quarter. It was right down the middle, and about five yards short. He must have had the wind in his face or something.
TARGETS(catches):
McDonald- 8(2)
Faulk- 6(5)
Curtis- 5(4)
Looker- 3(3)
Jackson- 3(2)
Manumaleuna- 1(1)
Thompson- 1(1)




---

Pittsburgh Steelers
What can you say. These guys tell you what they are going to do and most of the time, they do it. Run. Stop the run, pressure the quarterback. The recipe on how to beat them is there, but many can’t or don’t use it. Oh, and look at how many players caught a pass from Ben.
TARGETS(catches):
Miller- 6(4)
Ward- 4(3)
Wilson- 3(0)
Randel El- 2(0)

Cincinnati Bengals
If you’d ask Charlie Weis how to beat the Steelers defense, he’d probably say stretch the field with 4 and 5 wideouts, and throw short passes. And why did Cincinnati struggle to move the ball in this game? They ran mostly 2 and 3 wide sets and fell victim to what Pittsburgh does best. If you only give them three guys to cover, they’ll blitz you from all sides and still be able to play a safe cover 2- under man.

The best way to beat that is to declare off the line of scrimmage 4 or 5 wide and make them put a man on each of them. It’s something Indianapolis hasn’t been able to do to New England, and it’s something Cincinnati didn’t do to Pittsburgh.

The IND/NE comparisons don’t stop there for me. This Steelers/Bengals matchup is very similar in so many ways. Cincinnati reminds me a lot of the 2002 or 2003 Colts and I’m afraid they may have just as hard of a time beating the Steelers as the Colts do the Pats.

And as many expected, the Bengals defense had a hard time stopping the Steelers’ run game. They are too undisciplined, and too inexperienced to do what they need to do.

Chris Henry, you have to catch that first touchdown throw. You just have to. The Bengals scored their first and only touchdown of the game with a minute and fifty seven seconds left in the fourth quarter. I said last Thursday that the Steelers would have been my best bet for the week if I knew on Thursday (when we submit our picks) Ben Burger was playing. He did, and it really was that easy for the Steelers.
TARGETS(catches):
TJ- 11(7)
CJ- 8(4)
Perry- 5(5)
RJohnson- 4(2)
Henry- 3(0)
Washington- 2(1)
Kelly- 2(2)
JJohnson- 1(0)

Saturday Football

Saturday, October 22nd, 2005

Filling out the rest of week six, below. I’m borrowing today’s NCAA picks from a fellow named Keg. He’s doing much better than my 23-30 this season. And if he finishes 0-4 today, I’ll kindly apologize for passing on my curse to him and I’ll pledge never do it again.



New York Jets TARGETS(catches): McCareins- 11(5) Coles- 7(4) Martin- 2(2) Chrebet- 1(1) Baker- 1(0) Dreesen- 1(0) Buffalo Bills: TARGETS(catches): Moulds- 9(7) Evans- 6(3) McGahee- 4(3) Campbell- 3(2) Reed- 1(1) Smith- 1(1) Peters- 1(1)

St Louis Rams: TARGETS(catches): Holt- 8(6) Jackson- 6(5) Curtis- 5(3) Faulk- 4(4) Looker- 2(2) Manumaluena- 2(1) Cleeland- (2) Indianapolis Colts: TARGETS(catches): Wayne- 10(7) Harrison- 7(4) Stokely- 5(4) Clark- 4(3) James- 4(3) Rhodes- 2(1)

New England Patriots: TARGETS(catches): Givens- 13(7) Branch- 12(7) Pass- 7(6) Dwight- 5(1) Watson- 4(1) Johnson- 1(0) Zereoue- 1(1) Graham- ??? Denver Broncos: TARGETS(catches): Smith- 7(6) Lelie- 4(3) Putzier- 4(3) Bell- 4(3) Johnson- 2(1) Adams- 1(0) Alexander- 1(1)

Wednesday Football

Wednesday, October 5th, 2005

A friend of the Beach, DVR, pointed me to a couple of places that offer free target stats (one and two). Thanks for that.

STL- The Rams came out throwing and never stopped. Of the 10 carries Steven Jackson did get, most were designed draws or delays, He was used, however, inside the red zone a total of 4 times and giving him 11 on the season. The Giants defense played a lot of the game with their corners 10 yards off the line and St Louis threw a lot of quick stops and slants to take advantage. New York’s secondary has a lot of injuries and they seemed resigned to give those plays to the Rams. So yes, Marc Bulger threw 62 times but in Martz’s partial defense, the Giants were really giving him 4 free yards through the air on most downs.

St Louis has the kind of offense where they are vulnerable against opposing defenses who can provide pressure on the quarterback by just rushing their front four linemen. And the Giants did a good job in this game of doing just that.

At half time, the Rams had 234 yards on offense and not a single one was gained on the ground (after accounting for yards lost by sacks). And while both the final score and the pace of the game were dominated by the Giants, St Louis really could have made this a game. Right before the half and down by 10, the Rams missed a 48 field goal. After the break, St Louis took the kickoff and drove 13 plays down to the six yard line before running some ridiculous reverse. Right there are 10 points they could have tied this game up with.

So despite throwing 62 times and only rushing 15, St Louis held the ball for 32:04 (compared to NYG’s 27:56). Yet it seemed that the more they threw, the more the Giants defense got comfortable defending against St Louis. All three of Bulger’s INTs came in the second half.

With Issac Bruce out, Dane Looker saw plenty of action as the fourth WR and played well. It was hard to tell if Kevin Curtis was the #2 WR out there or if it was Shaun McDonald. Most likely, they alternated. TARGETS(catches): Holt- 14(7), McDonald- 13(9), Looker- 11(8) ,Curtis- 7(6), Jackson- 8(5), Faulk- 5(3), Williams- 1(1), Hedgecock- 1(0), Robinson- 1(0).

NYG- I was very interested to see how Burress picked up his 10 catches and after watching the game, I was impressed. Burress was used on all kinds of patterns. He’s not just been someone Eli Manning can rely on, Burress has been a playmaker. Adam Archuleta misplayed the ball on Burress’ first touchdown, but it was Plaxico’s size that allowed him to shield off the Rams’ safety. Burress only made one catch in the second half. He was thrown to 6 times, catching one pass, having another called back on offensive interference, and then drawing defensive interference on another play. While it looked like the Rams were making an effort to contain Burress a little better in the second half, he still was made a few plays that didn’t show up in the box score. This was the second straight shootout the Giants have been in. If they ever get this defense sorted out, New York is going to make some big time noise.

Amani Toomer took in a red zone score, and Jeremy Shockey beat Archuleta in single coverage for his 31 yard TD. Burress picked up 4 RZ looks, but Barber was the team leader with 8. TARGETS(catches): Burress- 17(10), Shockey 10(4), Barber- 4(2), Toomer- 3(3), Shiancoe- 1

—
BUF- The Bills came out and put together a decent enough touchdown drive to start the game. They went 75 yards on 10 plays. McGahee ran well and Losman did his best Michael Vick impression and the Bills were up 7-0. For the rest of the game, Buffalo gained a total of 101 yards. Losman continues to look terrible. He’s showed little rhythm in making his reads, missing throws everywhere, and he runs running out of the pocket at the first sign of pressure- and sometimes even when there is no pressure.

Losman’s first INT was another case of him having just absolutely zero feel for his deep throws. Like I mentioned last week, J.P. just sort of wings it out there hoping his guy runs under it. It didn’t help that Buffalo faced third and long all game. After that opening drive, the Saints defense would put 8 in the box on first down, play base on second, and then blitz on third. McGahee had just 50 yards after the first drive, and the Saints just let Losman do the rest.

Still, down by just three, Ryan Lindell missed a 45 yard field goal with less than two minutes left in the half. The Saints took the ball and kicked a field goal on their own. And with just seconds remaining, Terrance McGee returned the kickoff 82 exciting yards all the way to the four yard line just before tripped and fell with time expired.

Kelly Holcomb came in a couple of minutes into the 4th quarter but it didn’t do anything to help the Bills. I don’t think there should be a QB controversy here. Losman hasn’t shown much, and Buffalo needs to find out if this guy is their future. Their defense is soft without Pat Williams and now Takeo Spikes and their season is over. So they might as well find out what they have with Losman. TARGETS(catches): Moulds- 6(2), Evans- 3(2), Smith- 3(0), McGahee -3(2), Shelton- 2(0), Reed- 1(1), Williams- 1(1), Campbell- 1(0), Neufield- 1(0)

NO- Aaron Brooks played a real smart game against Buffalo. He ran with the ball when it helped the team, and stayed in the pocket at times when he needed to. The Saints had zero turnovers, and Brooks was in control of the offense for the entire game. Donte Stallworth had a big game, but I don’t think he can be the team’s #1 guy for the long run. Stallworth is a perimeter guy and while he did catch a couple of balls over the middle, he was wide open for both against spread out zone coverage. Duece McAllister looked much better than he did last week, carrying the ball 27 times. He also got 9 red zone chances.

A good home crowd really helped here too. The Bills picked up multiple penalties aided on by the noise. With 11:14 left in a 7-13 game, the Saints defense stopped Buffalo on third and 1 and again on fourth and 1 at midfield. But with 5 minutes left in the 4th when the Saints had a chance to put the game away, they had to settle instead for a 20 yard field goal. The New Orleans defense played well and with McAllister had his best runs of the game on the team’s last drive. TARGETS(catches): Stallworth- 11(8), Henderson- 3(1), Conwell- 3(1), McAllister- 3(2), Karney- 1(1), Smith- 1(1), Hall- 1(1)

—
MIN- Not much to say here. Minnesota did the same thing last week but this time they were playing a much better defense. When you look at these numbers, consider that the first catch made by a WR came almost five minutes into the second half. The Vikings have a bye this week. Troy Williamson has 7 catches and 2 TDs over the last two games. TARGETS(catches): Taylor- 8(5), Moore- 8(6), Williamson- 5(4), Robinson- 4(1), Wiggins- 3(3), Kleinsasser- 2(2), Bennett- 2(2)

ATL- Up 7-0, with third down and 9 to go from the Vikings’ 25 yard line, the Falcons ran Dunn on a shotgun draw. Dunn took the exchange but then fumbled as he stiffed armed past a lineman. He had so much room around him, however, that he was able to calmly gather the football and run just enough of the nine yards he needed to get the first down. And that pretty much summed up the rest of the game Atlanta had against the Vikings. The Falcons just showed up, ran their offense and went home with a victory. This game looked like the equivalent of a starting pitcher throwing a complete game by just throwing his fastaball the entire time.

I’m sure Vick would have played more had this game been a real contest. Also, Dunn’s 36 yard touchdown run was just sick. The Vikings brought a blitz on first down into the right side of the Falcons’ offense (and the wrong side if you’re playing against Michael Vick). The play had Dunn running to the left, so already he had three Vikings beaten. He got into the second level easily and then undressed Corey Chavous with a double move 10 yards away from the line of scrimmage. Good down field blocking by his receivers allowed Dunn enough room to just squeeze into the end zone. TARGETS(catches): Crumpler- 8(3), Finneran- 5(3), White- 4(2), Jenkins- 1(1), Griffith- 1(0), Dunn- 1(1), Blakely- 1(1)

Saturday Football II

Saturday, October 1st, 2005

ATL- This was a sloppy game for the Falcons but they had a good game plan and did what good teams do. Brian Finneran stepped up with a huge game (relative to Atlanta receivers). He finished with 4 catches on 7 targets and made some key grabs along the way to keep drives alive. Alge Crumpler also had 7 targets, but he pulled in only 3 for 35 yards. Michael Jenkins is the #1 wideout though. He went 4 for 5 with a score. For most of the game, however, the Falcons’d ground game gashed a suddenly soft Bills defensive front. This week the Falcons host Minnesota.

BUF- The Bills opened this game with back to back deep throws down the left side; one to Eric Moulds and the other to Lee Evans. J.P. Losman wasn’t even close on either of his throws. After seeing the Bills play three games now, I don’t know what the Buffalo brass thought they had with Losman, but the second year QB is running plays that don’t really seem to be suitable to his talents. He plays a lot like Michael Vick, but with less touch than Vick on the deeper throws, and should probably be learning how to get the ball out of his hands sooner.

The Falcons spent a lot of this game with only 7 men in the box, in order to protect their banged up secondary. So Buffalo was able to run the ball a little better than one would normally expect. At the end of the third quarter, the Bills had 129 yards rushing and just 44 passing. Yet they trailed just 16-17.

The pass patterns for the Bills this year has been consistent. Moulds has gone 7-7-8 in targets. Evans, 5-5-5. And Josh Reed, 4-7-3. With the offense unable to move the ball through the air, and now with Takeo Spikes out for the year, things are certainly not looking up in upstate New York.

—
OAK- The Raiders aren’t really playing bad football, they just can’t come up with any plays when they need then. They played NE tight for three quarters, were 10 yards away from beating KC, and then last week Oakland stayed with Philly all the way up to the final play. Oakland has not, however, run the ball well yet this year. And against the Eagles, they picked up just 21 yards rushing (and just 2 of their 18 first downs via the ground). Courtney Anderson score 2 TDs in week one, got zero targets last week, and then picked up 5 catches on 9 passes for 100 yards. With all these perimeter types, Anderson’s chances should continue to come. And without Ronald Curry, Jerry Porter saw a lot of throws. But he picked up just 5 catches on 11 targets. Randy Moss had 7 more targets. Tied for second on team in targets for the season is Lamont Jordan, who had 9 against the Eagles giving him 27 on the year.

PHI- The Eagles’pass blocking has been tremendous this year and they’re going to need that to continue with Donovan McNabb dealing with an abdominal tear. Greg Lewis is doing well as the team’s #2. He caught 6 passes on 9 targets for 70 yards against the Raiders. T.O. went 9 for 14, and Westbrook went 6 for 11. L.J. Smith continues to produce, catching 5 of 8. In the red zone, TO got 5 looks, Westbrook had 3, Lewis and Smith each had one. The Eagles front seven dominated the Raiders’ offensive line, and that bodes well for them with KC on the schedule next.

—
TEN- The Titans are going to be trouble this year. Norm Chow is really doing some good things with this offense and Steve McNair has been sharp. Rookie Brandon Jones has played well, and against the Rams he caught 5 passes on 9 targets and a touchdown. Drew Bennett is still putting up good numbers too, he went 6 for 10. Erron Kinney is surprisingly getting more throws than Ben Troupe. In St Louis, Kinney picked up 7 catches on 7 targets while Troupe had just 3 balls go his way (but he does have two scores on the year).

STL- Issac Bruce missed the second half of this game, and ended up with just 1 target. Torry Holt led the team with 11, and Kevin Curtis stepped into Bruce’s role and picked up 5 catches on 5 passes for 56 yards and a score. Shaun McDonald, after getting 10 targets in week one, had just 2 last week and 1 against the Titans.

—
DAL- One of the few games I didn’t see from week three, the stats show that Drew Bledsoe is spreading the ball around well to Terry Glenn, KJ, Jason Witten, and Patrick Crayton. But in the red zone, Keyshaun was targeted 3 times against the Niners, and he has 6 RZ targets on the year. It’s also nice to see Julius Jones involved in the passing game. He had 5 targets in week three and has picked up 16 passes his way for the season.

SF- Arnaz Battle is still producing. 6 more catches for him on 9 targets and a score. With Eric Johnson out for the year, the tight end position is all but gone from the team’s passing offense. Only three balls have gone to a 49ers TE all year. Seeing the highlights of Bradon Lloyd scoring twice against Dallas proves that the Cowboys are still vulnerable to the small, quick receiver (Moss).

Wednesday Football

Thursday, September 22nd, 2005

Well, the football guys locked the door to the targets stats they left open last week. Here’s the NFC notes:

ARZ- The Cards really struggled against a Rams defense they should have performed better against. Arizona failed to score a touchdown on four different drives inside the 30. Kurt Warner, despite throwing for 327 yards, had a tough time finding targets when it mattered most. After getting 15 throws in week one, Larry Fitzgerald only got 5 against the Rams. Anquan Boldin led the team with 9 in week two, including three looks inside the red zone. Poor Bryan Johnson has just 4 catches on 18 targets through two weeks.

Marcel Shipp had a solid game, but he was underused with just 12 carries. He did catch five of the six passes thrown his way. With J.J. Arrington struggling (he’s not a good fit for this offense), I’ve expected Shipp to take over the running duties for the Cardinals.

And just on a side note, there’s not a better home field kicker in the NFL right now than Neil Rackers.

ATL- Rising star Michael Jenkins had another strong game, he led the Falcons with 6 targets. But inside the twenty, Vick looked to Brian Finneran three times. Since there’s a good chance that Matt Schaub is starting this weekend against Buffalo, I expect Finneran to have another good week- especially if he gets matched up against the 5′9 Terrance McGee near the goalline.

CHI- Mushin Muhammad is going to led the way as long as he’s healthy, and the former Panther got 9 passes thrown to him on Sunday. But inside the 20, with a rookie QB, the Bears are a running team. On the season, Thomas Jones has 6 redzone carries and Cedric Benson has 1, while Orton has thrown just three passes (all against the Redskins).

DAL- Jason Witten picked up 6 targets on Monday night after just getting one pass thrown his way in week one. Terry Glenn was the Cowboys’ leader against Washington, with 9 targets, 6 catches, 157 yards (long of 70) and a score.

DET- Joey Harrington is still staring down his receivers and against the Bears, he focused on Roy Williams 13 times. Kevin Johnson tied Charles Rogers for second on the team with 9, and it looks like Harrington has a lot of confidence in Johnson- leaving rookie Mike Williams with very little playing time. Detroit threw the ball way to much against Chicago. What success they had last year, they did by running Kevin Jones 25-30 times and not the 8 he got in Chicago.

GB- With Javon Walker out, Terrance Murphy picked up 6 targets. Donald Driver was the team leader for the second week in a row, this time with 8. Also for the second week in a row, Favre threw to his backs heavily, giving them 13 passes (17 last week). Favre has thrown 44 passes in each of the first two games of the season. It’s going to be a long year. The Packers host 2-0 Tampa Bay this week.

MIN- Daunte Culpepper showed me a side of him I haven’t seen in years, as he threw 5 interceptions to the Bengals. Most of those came late in the game, and after they got down 14-0 early, I can only describe Culpepper as being on Tilt. I don’t know if he’s frustrated with the playcalling, but I sure would be. Losing Randy Moss didn’t have to be a big deal if the Vikings took the off-season to refocus their strategy towards the current strengths of the roster. That seems to have not happened. It’s like they’re still running the same exact offensive system.

Up until the very end of the third quarter, Minnesota’s plays were as unimaginative as they were unproductive. There were few or no slants, hitches, screens, draws, and traps called. Instead, it looked like: run, go deep, go deep, punt. But then towards the fourth quarter, things started to open up. The Vikings started throwing those shorter slants and quick hitches. They mixed in a few runs on pass looks, and they looked to exploit the first 15 yards from scrimmage more than the second. At home against the Saints this week, I expect this offense to finally produce.

That said, I just don’t see how Michael Bennett can be this team’s starting running back. He doesn’t catch the ball exceptionally well. He doesn’t run with exceptional power. He doesn’t really do anything really well except run fast. Bennett did start the Bengals game with a couple of great runs on the edge, but then he fumbled going up the middle and then fumbled again a few minutes later twice and it was all over from there for him and for Minnesota.

And I don’t know if Mewelde Moore is the answer for this season either. The Vikings really need more of a playmaker at that position They need someone like Lamont Jordan. So keep an eye on Ciatrick Fason.

Travis Taylor took in 12 targets against the Bengals, and he caught 7 of them. With Minnesota down 27-0 at halftime, rookie Troy Williamson got some action in the second half. He took in 2 passes on 4 targets.

NO- For as long Aaron Brooks in the Saints’ QB, Joe Horn is as steady a target as they come. After getting 13 targets on Monday night, Horn has had one game since the start of 2004 with fewer than 7 passes thrown his way. I’m also impressed with Donte Stallworth this year. He pulled in 8 passes on 12 targets against the Giants. For the year, Donte has 12 catched on 17 throws. For the second straight week, Ernie Conwell had two red zone targets and he has 10 anywhere targets on the season. Conwell is a big part of this offense.

NYG- Eli seems to really enjoy throwing to the 6′5 Plaxico Burress. After giving him 11 passes in week one, Manning threw 10 more Burress’ way on Monday night. But Burress has just 10 catches on those 21 targets so far this season. Jeremy Shockey went 5 for 6 and is now 7 for 8 on the year.

PHI- After relying to much on TO and BW last week (29 of McNabb’s 45 passes), with a big lead the Eagles were able to spread it around against the 49ers. Greg Lewis was clearly the #2 WR on Sunday, getting 7 targets over the entire game. Rookie Reggie Brown picked up 3, all in the second half. TO had 7, but the team leader LJ Smith broke out with 9 catches on 9 targets, 119 yards and a touchdown. Smith is still the only viable TE on this team and this kind of game won’t be out of the ordinary for the tight end. The Eagles’ offensive line did a real nice job protecting McNabb in the face of a very good SF pass rush.

SEA- Bobby Engram is still going strong, with 8 more targets on Sunday. Darrell Jackson was the team leader with 11, but Jerramy Stevens was again well featured, with 5 targets.

SF- Not much doing for the 49ers against Philly, but Arnez Battle is indeed the best receiver on this team. With 6 targets last week and 7 more this past Sunday, Battle has 9 catches on the year for 103 yards. Alex Smith did come in and run three plays before going off for a punt.

STL- Marc Bulger only had to throw 29 times against the Cardinals. Holt and Bruce are still the top pair, with Holt getting 7 targets and Bruce 8. Kevin Curtis has an ankle injury, and he was limited against Arizona, but he still got 4 passes. The Rams should look to strike through the air this week, as they host the Titans.

TB- With an early lead at home, the Bucs didn’t have to throw much. Joey Galloway’s numbers fell hard, with just 2 targets. Michael Clayton got 8, however, and with the 7 he got in week one, he’s Griese’s top threat.

WAS- Of course Santana Moss caught the two big ones, but he also pulled in three other of the 7 total passes thrown his way against Dallas. David Patten got 5 targets, but the production just hasn’t been there so far. There were no trips to the red zone this week, but Robert Royal still got 4 passes thrown to him and Chris Cooley got 3.

AFC and Carolina tomorrow.