A lot of you did not like the format I tried, so it is back to bigger game reviews next week. Here are a look at the hot topics of this week as a bonus.
BENGALS WR CHRIS HENRY DEAD AT 26
Sadly, during my fantasy football draft in late August I was speaking with a fellow owner, and I named two players I said would die early by predictable circumstances. Chris Henry was one of them. Henry had been a problem child for commissioner Goodell since he entered the league. Facts are not clear yet, but it seems Henry jumped into the back of a truck his wife was driving in order to get away from him, fell out, suffered brain trauma, and died the next day. Sadly, Chris Henry will be remembered most from his arrests, suspensions, and now his untimely, but not surprising, death.
MIKE HOLGREN TO BECOME BROWN’S GM?
Careful Browns fans, this might not be as great as you think. Should the Big Walrus opt to coach, then Cleveland might just become competitive quickly. However, while the GM/Coach in Seattle, some of his draft picks and player moves were not top notch. He seemed to improve as a GM, but would not be called a top personnel man in the league. The good news is, if he is the GM and not coach, he will have far more time to focus on this job, and not worry about play on the field. If his first move is not firing “coach” Eric Mangini, then the franchise will continue to flounder.
Have things become so bad that this once great team considers one victory over Pittsburgh enough for the season?
MIKE SHANAHAN TO COACH IN WASHINGTON?
Once regarded as an offensive genius, Shanahan’s stock dropped during this year, when Josh McDaniels was able to bring his former team, the Broncos, back to life in 2009, after the team fell apart under Shanahan last season. Sometimes a coach is just in one place for too long, and players no longer respond properly to him. This might have been the case here; he also did not have John Elway and Terrell Davis either. Coaching in the nation’s capitol is no easy task, especially with a clueless buffoon of an owner trying to call all the shots. It will be interesting to see what Shanahan can do with less than top talent at his disposal.
COWBOYS COLLAPSING?
Yes. Simpleton coach Wade Phillips loves to blame everyone for the yearly breakdown of his team. Bill Clinton had just won his second term the last time the ‘Pokes won a playoff game, and it was the trio of Aikman-Irvin-Smith leading the charge. There is no accountability on this team, and yearly owner Jerry Jones is bamboozled into paying overrated players way too much money – RB Marion Barber, CB Terrance Newman, while letting quality players like DE Chris Canty walk. Until the owner decides to hire a true coach whom he cannot control, and not someone way past his prime like Bill Parcells, there will be no more Lombardi Trophies in Big D, but many empty seats in the megalith of a stadium.
WHERE DO THE PATS GO FROM HERE?
A lot of Pats fans seem to be in denial that the dynasty is over. One of these people, from time to time, seems to be their own head coach. New England is going the same way the Green Bay, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Dallas dynasties did, hanging on, but fading away as younger teams beat them down. Free agency is up in the air as for the seasons after 2010, and if revenue sharing is dismissed, then the Pats, who are a big money team, might be able to assemble another championship team using the formula they used before quite quickly. Right now though, everything is hazy…
