National Football League

Around the NFL for Week 7

Published Oct. 22, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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Speaking of Timmons, his exceptional range and ability to drop deep into the secondary has promulgated a change in the longtime manner in which the Steelers align in their "sub" or third-down packages. For years, particularly under former head coach Bill Cowher, the Steelers' standard third-down package was "dime" coverage. The defense featured two down linemen with the outside linebackers lined up as rush ends in front of inside linebacker James Farrior and six defensive backs. But the development of linebacker Lawrence Timmons, who often played on third down during his first two seasons in the NFL, has prompted Pittsburgh to use more conventional "nickel" coverage on third down. Timmons frequently stays on the field with Farrior now and provides the Steelers two intermediate-range defenders in the middle of the field. Timmons had an interception last week, and the pick late in the game came largely because of a deflection by nickel safety Ryan Mundy. But it should also be noted that Timmons was dropped off 15 yards into coverage on the play. "He can run up the field with a lot of people," noted safety Ryan Clark.

Head cases

As Paul Domowitch of The Philadelphia Daily News pointed out, when the Eagles travel to Tennessee on Sunday, it will match two coaches who have been with their teams seemingly forever and have never won Super Bowl titles. Jeff Fisher is in his 17th season overall with the Titans — the 16th full year, having replaced Jack Pardee 10 games into the 1994 campaign — and does not have a ring. Andy Reid is in Year 12th season with the Eagles. Both men, of course, have been to one Super Bowl each, Fisher in Super Bowl XXXIV and Reid in Super Bowl XXXIX, without a win. The longest a coach was with one franchise before winning a Super Bowl was Bill Cowher (14 seasons in Pittsburgh).

Branching out

Much was appropriately made of wide receiver Deion Branch's performance for the New England Patriots last week. In his return to the Pats, after four-plus seasons in Seattle following his 2006 trade there, Branch caught nine passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. Somewhat overlooked, however, in the sterling outing by Branch were two items: First, second-year wide receiver Brandon Tate, the man who was supposed to replace Randy Moss as the Patriots' deep-ball threat, had zero catches. Tate did have a 22-yard run on a reverse, but was targeted only four times by Tom Brady, so apparently wasn't open very much. Second, slot receiver Wes Welker — who benefitted from the vertical threat Moss presented, even though he has broadly hinted his former teammate didn't always compete at the highest level — averaged only 7.6 yards per catch.

That's not terribly alarming for a slot guy, a receiver who makes his money moving the chains, but it's not exactly what Welker put up while playing with Moss on his flank. In 44 games starting with Moss, since the two arrived in 2007, Welker averaged 10.6 yards per catch. Of Brady's 27 completions in the overtime victory against Baltimore, the nine to Branch were the only one to a true outside wide receiver. Branch was targeted a dozen times and Welker on 11 occasions. Brady last week chafed some when there were suggestions that the Pats might become a "dink and dunk" passing game with Moss' departure. But until Tate starts producing, Brady might have to complete a lot of short and intermediate stuff to Branch, Welker and tight end Aaron Hernandez.

Mad Mike

Funny thing, but before the season, the rhetoric in Chicago centered on whether the Bears' young and relatively unproven wide receivers could assimilate new offensive coordinator Mike Martz's passing-game blueprint. Or whether quarterback Jay Cutler, who threw a league-high 26 interceptions in 2009, could be effective in the offense. There wasn't a lot of discussion then about the offensive line. Maybe there should have been. Not that the line is culpable, of course, for all the sacks Chicago has permitted, but the ever-changing unit has been deplorable.

In six games, the Bears lead the NFL in net sacks allowed (27) and average sacks permitted per game (4.5). Cutler has been sacked 15 times in his past two starts. The Bears surrendered 35 sacks all of last season. "They were clueless," a Seattle defensive lineman told The Sports Xchange this week, after the Seahawks dumped Cutler six times in last Sunday's victory. "It was like chum in the water and the sharks were feeding." In hindsight, perhaps no one should be all that surprised. With the exception of 1999, when Martz was the St. Louis offensive coordinator and the Rams won Super Bowl XXXIV, his offenses traditionally give up a lot of sacks and the design essentially dictates that the quarterback gets hit a lot. In '99, the Rams allowed 33 sacks. Since then, in his nine seasons as a head coach or coordinator, Martz-designed offenses have permitted more than 40 sacks every season, an average of 48.7 sacks in that stretch. The average is 53.0 sacks in Martz's last five years as a head coach or coordinator. The average league-wide for 1999-2008 is just 36.3, and has never been higher in a season than 39.03 sacks. The Bears are especially susceptible to delayed blitzes out of the secondary — 3.5 of Seattle's six sacks were by safeties — and the tactic appears confusing to a young offensive line. Beyond six-time Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz, the unit is suspect.

Former first-round draft pick Chris Williams has been a bust and recently moved from left tackle to guard. New left tackle Frank Omiyale had started one career game before Chicago signed him as a free agent from Carolina in 2009. Right guard Edwin Williams had logged two starts before this season. Right tackle J'Marcus Webb is a rookie drafted in the seventh round. Guard Roberto Garza, usually a starter, has been laid up by a knee injury. That's not much for first-year line coach Mike Tice to work with.

The Bears have already started four different line combinations. At the current rate, the Bears will allow 72 sacks, far short of the NFL record of 104 by the 1986 Eagles, but way too many. Talk to any quarterback who has ever played for Martz, though, and he'll tell you that getting hit a lot is part of the tradeoff for his offensive genius.

A Boy named Suh

Not even to the halfway point of the season, it's awful early to begin thinking about the league individual awards. But those who have seen or played against Detroit tackle Ndamukong Suh seem to agree that the former Nebraska star is a viable candidate for defensive rookie of the year honors. The second player taken overall in the draft, Suh has been strong through six games, and he has 21 tackles and 4.5 sacks, and provided plenty of inside push. "Big, quick, strong ... you name it," said New York Giants guard Chris Snee after last week's game, in which Suh had three tackles and 0.5 sacks. Meanwhile, the other tackle chosen in the top three, Gerald McCoy (Oklahoma) of Tampa Bay, is playing well but doesn't have Suh's numbers. In five games, McCoy, who some scouts had even with or higher than Suh before the draft, has eight tackles and no sacks. McCoy has lined up a lot at defensive end in the Buccaneers' varied scheme.

Reinforcements

This marked the first week that teams with players on the league's physically unable to perform list could return to practice and, as of Thursday night, 14 of the PUP players were back on the field. As noted in this space a month ago, several clubs figure to get late-season boosts from returning players, and it now appears that several could be back before the midpoint of the year. This week alone, standout defensive backs such as safeties Ed Reed (Baltimore), Darren Sharper (New Orleans), and Atari Bigby (Green Bay) returned to practice, along with cornerback Al Harris (Packers). Not all of the PUP players are ready to be activated yet — the clubs have a three-week window to evaluate them — but several of them appear ready to contribute. There has been plenty of discussion in New Orleans about whether Sharper will regain his starting job when he comes back, but don't bet on it. The Saints, especially defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, are happy with the play of former first-round pick and onetime cornerback Malcolm Jenkins at free safety. The plan for now is for Sharper, who tied for the NFL lead in interceptions in 2009, and returned three for touchdowns, to play is some "sub" packages.

The last word

"A garbage man is going to stink after he gets off work, right? ... You play football, you have a damn chance to get hit in the head." -- Miami linebacker Channing Crowder, on the NFL's stance regarding helmet-to-helmet hits

Len Pasquarelli is a Senior NFL Writer for The Sports Xchange. He has covered the NFL for 33 years and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee. His NFL coverage earned recognition as the winner of the McCann Award for distinguished reporting in 2008.

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