Here's a look at the top storylines and big matchups from around the nation as we near kickoff on another Sunday of NFL football.
Here's a look at the top storylines and big matchups from around the nation as we near kickoff on another Sunday of NFL football:
The Big Buzz: An idea worth kicking around?
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is surrounded by Oakland Raiders fans in the Black Hole during the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
To kick or not to kick? That is (suddenly) the question that everyone is asking after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell revealed in a TIME magazine cover story that the league will consider a proposal that would eliminate kickoffs from the game entirely.
The proposal originated from Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano, who planted the seed with Goodell in the interest of player safety. The ex-Rutgers coach, of course, witnessed firsthand the tragic paralysis of former Scarlet Knights player Eric LeGrand during a kickoff return in 2010: (via Pro Football Talk)
"I understand traditionalists don’t agree, but there used to not be the forward pass too," Schiano said. "The game would be pretty boring without it. I am not saying it is right or wrong. I am just saying you got to be able to think outside and whatever is best for the players. At the end of the day, these guys are the ones that are putting it on the line. It is not the coaches. It is none of us. It is the players that bodies go; it is a violent game and that’s one of the things I love about it is the physical part of it. There are areas that are more susceptible to injury."
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Cribbs (16) runs the ball on a kickoff return against the Baltimore Ravens in the first half of an NFL football game in Cleveland. Cribbs doesn't like the possibility that the NFL will replace the kickoff. Commissioner Roger Goodell said this week that the league's competition committee will consider eliminating the kickoff in the offseason. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski, File)But many players, especially those who make their living returning kicks, aren't so keen on the idea. Cleveland Browns special teams standout Josh Cribbs blasted the proposal, saying the NFL "wouldn't even be a sport" if it watered down the game to such an extreme. (via Cleveland.com)
"Then they need to change football leagues or call it a different league if they do that," said Cribbs, who leads all NFL players with 11,777 yards in kick-return yards since entering the league in 2005. "It’ll change (the game) drastically. I couldn’t ever see that . . . Only play offense and defense, just like intramurals. Play indoors and put flags in our pants."
Some coaches, like Jim Schwartz of the Lions, seem resigned to the change if it will decrease player injuries: (via MLive.com)
"The league is constantly changing and I'm sure that if they decide to do something with (kickoffs) it will be for the best interest of player safety and the future of the game," Schwartz said.
And CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman writes that changing the kickoff rule is a no-brainer, no matter what the traditionalists say:
The NFL has survived terror attacks, wars, gambling scandals, Whitney Houston lip-synching. It will survive this.
And that change is coming. You can count on it.
Headlines
• Dallas defensive tackle Josh Brent was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter Saturday after an early-morning car accident that killed teammate Jerry Brown, a member of the Cowboys' practice squad. (via ESPNDallas.com)
• Police have released a video that shows Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher just hours before he killed his girlfriend and himself. (via FoxSports.com)
• Mark Sanchez will remain the Jets starting quarterback this week against Jacksonville, despite being benched in favor of backup Greg McElroy in last week's win over the Cardinals. (via NJ.com)
• Lions defensive end Willie Young will continue to play with a severely mangled finger, despite talk of "cutting it off." (via MLive.com)
• Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will start against the Houston Texans on Monday after he and supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen welcomed a baby girl into the world Wednesday. (via MassLive.com)
• The Arizona Cardinals have fined defensive tackle Darnell Dockett $200,000 for refusing to follow a coach's instructions and getting into an on-field confrontation with teammate Kerry Rhodes during last week's loss to the Jets. (via NFL.com)
• Eagles stars Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy are still struggling to clear concussion tests and return to the field. (via NJ.com)
Who they're picking
• SI.com senior writer Peter King takes the Bears over the Vikings, the Giants over the Saints, the Packers over the Lions, and the Patriots over the Texans.
• Five out of eight USA Today writers like the Redskins to top the Ravens, while the panelists unanimously foresee victories for the Steelers over the Chargers, the 49ers over the Dolphins, the Giants over the Saints, and the Seahawks over the Cardinals.
• Eleven members of ESPN.com's 12-person panel expect the Browns to beat the Chiefs, 10 back the Bengals in their matchup with the Cowboys, nine go with the Bears over the Vikings, and eight predict a Patriots win over the Texans on Monday Night Football.
• Yahoo! Sports experts agree that the Buccaneers will beat the Eagles, the Steelers will handle the Chargers, and the Jaguars will take care of the Jets.
• CBSSports.com senior writer Pete Prisco takes the Bills over the Rams, the Jaguars over the Jets, the Vikings over the Bears, and the Redskins to top the Ravens.
What they're saying
New York Jets quarterbacks, from left, Greg McElroy, Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow watch from the sidelines during the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati. Jets coach Rex Ryan gathered his three quarterbacks Wednesday morning and told them he had made up his mind. It will be Sanchez and not McElroy orTebow on Sunday when the Jets take on the Jaguars in Jacksonville.(AP Photo/Tom Uhlman, File)• Newark Star-Ledger columnist Steve Politi writes that suddenly risk-averse coach Rex Ryan's decision to stick with Mark Sanchez as the Jets' starting quarterback is all about the hefty contract extension that the team gave Sanchez in the offseason: (via NJ.com)
He insisted the money had “absolutely zero” to do with the decision. But when a fourth-year starter already has 18 turnovers in 12 games — and five in the last two alone — what else can it be? The Jets declared that Sanchez was their franchise quarterback when they gave him that extension, and Wednesday Ryan dutifully stuck with that script the way any good company man would.
• Carolina defensive end Greg Hardy tells the Charlotte Observer that he's focused on doing all he can to disrupt Atlanta's plans for clinching home-field advantage when the Panthers and the Falcons tangle this weekend:
“I'm trying to mess up their whole playoff experience. I want them to go home sick in the stomach, mad about life, a couple depression issues, all types of things,” Hardy said. “It's going to be a long day from my point of view. I'm coming.”
• An anonymous Detroit Lions player called out some of his teammates, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh in particular, for not playing team football: (via MLive.com)
"Yeah, we're loaded," the player said, exhaling after Detroit (4-8) lost its fourth consecutive game and third by four points or less. "But we have a couple of guys who don't understand what it takes to win. Just making a couple of plays and thinking that makes you great ... sometimes you want to just shake some of these guys and say, 'Don't you get it?'"
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick walks off the field in the first half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys in Philadelphia. Vick, Matt Cassel and Kevin Kolb signed contracts totaling $225 million. They're 35-48 since inking those lucrative deals and none are assured a starting spot in 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Perez, File)• Quarterback Michael Vick looks like he may have played his last game as a member of the Eagles, but one NFL general manager tells ESPN.com's Ashley Fox that the oft-injured QB shouldn't have a hard time finding a new home:
"If I were a GM just starting and wasn't going to have a shot at a quarterback, or [a GM] on the tail end trying to keep my ass alive, Michael Vick would be on my team and taking starting snaps. In this league, you have to eke out wins. You can eke out wins with him, even if you had to put him in spots where he had to run and do things. There are too many people who recognize his ability, his athleticism and what he can do."
• It appears there is no love lost between Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas and former teammate Peyton Hillis, who will return to Cleveland this week as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. After Thomas blasted Hillis for being a "toxic" presence in the Browns locker room, Hillis responded by comparing Thomas to a "crazy ex-girlfriend": (via Cleveland.com)
“It’s been over a year,” Hillis told Kansas City reporters. “Get over it. I guess when you get paid over $100 million by one team, it’s kind of easy to point the finger at other guys and try to hate on them for trying to get another contract.”
• Dolphins defensive tackle Tony McDaniel tells the Palm Beach Post that he felt disrespected by the Patriots after New England repeatedly called the same running play during its 16-play, game-clinching drive in the fourth quarter of last week's 23-16 win over Miami:
“It really (ticked) me off,” he said. “It was disrespectful to us to run the same play over and over and be successful.
“Normally when somebody’s driving down the field you just think, ‘Well, they just had a good run there,’ but you run the same play over and over, as a competitor that (ticks) me off.”
Well, Tony, as a defender there's actually something you can do about that. It's called stopping them. Maybe give that a try next time.