National Football League

Bad acting will have big consequences

Published Sep. 22, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Every week, the experts of "FOX NFL Sunday" reveal their observations and opinions as they prepare for football's top-rated pregame telecast — seen each Sunday at noon ET/9 a.m. PT. We'll share some of the highlights from Curt, Terry, Howie, Jimmy and Michael grabbed from their weekly conference call with insider John Czarnecki.

This week, Czar probes the "FOX NFL Sunday" crew on faking injuries, pinball-like passing stats and the hard-to-figure Baltimore Ravens.

Czar: How many of you actually experienced players faking injuries during a NFL game during your careers?

Howie Long: I’ve heard of those things happening.

Terry Bradshaw: Well, I know the Steelers never did it when I played. But I do know that teams would ask players to fake injuries in preseason games in order to put them on injured reserve. Bum Phillips told my brother that he wanted him to pull a hamstring. So, he went out there and he forgot because he was all excited about playing well, had a good drive going, and he looked over at Bum and he was screaming at him. So, he got into the huddle and just fell down. Kind of like those two players with the Giants Monday night.

Jimmy Johnson: In the old days, maybe three decades ago or more, that was a way of stashing players. That’s what the Redskins did. That’s how they built up such a great reserve of talent. It was known throughout the league. I can remember when I was with Dallas I got into it with Al Davis on a backup quarterback. The guy wasn’t on the Raiders’ roster, but he still wouldn’t take a job with me and the Cowboys. The Redskins, though, were the best at stockpiling players on injured reserve.

HL: I think it will be interesting moving forward on this and how players handle it. Coaches are going to have to be careful about what they say to a player or the players in a team setting. I mean, all the commissioner is going to need is one player to confess he was told to fake an injury. They are saying now they could potentially take away draft picks.

JJ: And with free agency the way it is, there is so much player movement it will be very hard to keep any secrets. I know when I coached I might have a couple players who were supposed to be hurt and occasionally I would practice them but never allowed the media to see them on the field. A few minutes before the media was allowed into practice, I would wave at them to get off the field and go in and take a shower. All the other players got a kick out of that. Before the days of player movement, you could pretty much keep all of this stuff in-house. But now players move around so much, a couple of them might turn in their former teams. Just like with what Eric Mangini did to Bill Belichick over Spygate. It’s the same type of deal.

TB: I think the most important thing that came out of the league office was the possibility of taking away draft choices. That’s one thing that will hit home real fast.

HL: Like Jimmy was saying, a player on the Rams who used to play under Perry Fewell said that he coached it. And Sam Bradford, who is as straight-laced and honest as you get, said that two or three Giants said 'Somebody go down. Somebody go down.' The one thing that Terry, Jimmy, Michael and I can recognize is bad acting. And that was bad.

Czar: Passing yards are up and six quarterbacks are on pace to break Dan Marino’s single-season record. Why is that?

TB: With all these spread formations, teams don’t have enough quality defensive backs to deal with three- and four-receiver sets. It also means that there are a lot of bad defenses out there, too. Just look at what the Jets and Eagles did to try to get more than two good cornerbacks this offseason. There are some teams that don’t have two; a couple may have only one healthy cornerback who is really good. What is making it worse on defenses is when teams have a really good tight end and spread him out, too. Defensive coordinators simply haven’t caught up to the offenses right now. I don’t think the passing yards will go down. I love the note that in 1977 there were only four 300-yard passing games the entire season. Last Sunday we had 10 300-yard games or better.

HL: It’s like the 4,000-yard passing season has become the old 3,000-yard season, which used to be the standard.

TB: You’ve heard me say it, but in the early '70s if you passed for 150 yards, you couldn’t sleep all night because you couldn’t wait to read the papers and find out how great you were.

Czar: What’s the deal with Baltimore? They stomp the Steelers and then lose to the Titans.

JJ: Pittsburgh had a lot to do with it the first week because they turned the ball over seven times. What I’m saying is that the Ravens aren’t as good as they showed against Pittsburgh because the Steelers hurt themselves, self-destructing.

HL: Plus, the Titans are a bad matchup for Baltimore because its secondary is hurting right now. Also, Tennessee has a really good offensive line and if you can block Baltimore, there are plays to be made. Matt Hasselbeck is obviously a smart quarterback and he knows where to go with the ball. The general rule is that you want to play either Baltimore or Pittsburgh the week after they play each other.

Czar: Does anybody believe 2-0 Buffalo has a shot at home against New England?

TB: Absolutely, they do.

HL: If they can keep pounding the ball like they have been.

JJ: New England is so good on offense. The problem is you have to keep on a scoring pace with Tom Brady and that’s hard to do right now. The Patriots still don’t have a great pass rush.

Czar: Speaking of Pittsburgh, they play the Colts this week minus Peyton Manning.

JJ: I tweeted a month ago that the Colts made a $4 million mistake signing Kerry Collins. They should have gone with Curtis Painter. I think Collins is done as a quarterback. Painter would have been a better option than Collins. At least, he knew the offense.

HL: Jimmy is right. And Painter played well at the end of the preseason.

Czar: What are your feelings on the NFC title rematch, Packers at Bears?

JJ: I think the Bears, playing at home, have a chance in this game.

TB: I would think that the Bears will be looking at what Carolina did to that Green Bay defense last Sunday.

JJ: Green Bay still hasn’t put it together on defense yet. I do believe they will get better as the season moves on. But they are still a little shaky.

HL: Plus, they just lost their Pro Bowl safety in Nick Collins.

JJ: If you pull out my clip about Mike Martz, it will say that Jay Cutler’s touchdowns and completions and sacks will all go up. He’s been taking a beating, 11 sacks already in two games after 52 last season.

TB: Before I study the game tapes from last week, I think I will have to go with Green Bay in this game.

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