Undeservingly Unemployed

While Scott Pianowski and I have trashed Mike Martz periodically in the Breakfast Table, we've both acknowledged he's a brilliant offensive mind. Not only is he not getting head coaching interviews, but he's been frozen out of even the multitude of offensive coordinator jobs that have opened up. Perhaps the rumors that he'll land in Miami are true. In that case, kudos to Nick Saban.

The glass is more than half full with Martz, even as a head coach. His teams have been successful. He's had league-leading offenses as a coordinator and head coach. He's developed three QBs (if you include Trent Green) that no one thought anything of prior to him getting his hands on them. What's more valuable in an NFL coach than the ability to turn lowly regarded prospects into bona fide franchise QBs (heck, even an MVP winner in Warner)?

And what about how Martz lost his job? There were no rumors that he was about to be fired or even on the hot seat. He gets the heart infection and gets sidelined for three months and then he's canned? That's cold.

And having Martz around is fun. He screws up the protection and timeouts and the challenges, but he thinks outside of the box in good ways, too. A head coach could reign him in where necessary, keep the QB upright more than occassionally and limit the injury risk and watch the yards and points pile up on the scoreboard.

Martz should have landed in Houston, which is about to commit $30 million of guaranteed money to Reggie Bush. Do you know who Pete Carroll and Norm Chow called when they wanted to figure out how to deploy Reggie Bush? That's right, Mike Martz. So they put Bush on the Marshall (Faulk) Plan. Houston was foolish not to do the same thing, assuming the Bush rumors are correct.

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The NFL's Polamalu Apology

When I was a kid, the wiseguys in Paterson used to say, "Always be generous when it doesn't cost you anything." I thought about that when the NFL threw Pete Morelli under the bus for his overturn of the Polamalu interception in the Colts-Steelers game. Pittsburgh won the game, so saying Steel City suffered from a bad call didn't cost the NFL a damn thing. If the Cots had won, the NFL would have twisted itself up in knots justifying the call, like they did the Tuck Play.

If the NFL wants to stop this nonsense they have to quit writing incoherent rules. When the Redskins beat the Bucs just a week before, Edell Shepherd was ruled to not have caught a pass despite securing the ball, getting his foot down in the endzone after being contacted by a defender and then losing the ball after he hit the ground. After the game was over, NFL Head of Officials Mike Pereira told Bucs officials that no rule was on the books that corresponded to the refs lengthy interpretation. But there was no further comment on that from the NFL and Pereira defended the ruling as absolute rather than interpretive on his weekly appearance on the NFL Network.

After the Polamalu overturn, Pereira was incoherent in trying to explain why the Shepherd catch was no catch but the Polamalu incompletion (as ruled) was actually a pick. Here's what he said: "The definition of a catch -- or in this case an interception -- states that in the process of making a catch a player must maintain possession of the ball after he contacts the ground."

The ref clearly followed the Shepherd play and rationalized that Polamalu was falling to the ground and lost the ball while still on the ground. If that's the rule for Shepherd than it must be the same for Polamalu, right? But no, "after hitting the ground" apparently means "the instant he hits the ground" (although Shepherd already had a foot and knee on the ground, but never mind). What if you make a catch and slide five yards on a wet field and then drop the ball? Catch? Incomplete? How long is "after"?

Pereira continued: "The initial call on the field was that Troy Polamalu intercepted the pass because he maintained possession of the ball after hitting the ground. The replay showed that Polamalu had rolled over and was rising to his feet when the ball came loose."

While he may have been rising to his feet, he was still, technically, down.

Here's a suggestion: A catch occurs when a WR has possession of the ball as he hits the ground. Pretty simple, right?

Again, all this crap started with the Tuck Play. Everyone who watched foot knows that's a fumble, but the NFL could never tarnish a playoff win (and, ultimately, a Super Bowl Championship). Pereira says Morelli should have used "common sense." But the NFL threw common sense out of the rule book with the Tuck Play. Remember, Brady had BOTH HANDS ON THE BALL when Woodson knocked the ball loose. Yet the NFL agreed with the ref that Brady was legally in the act of passing prior to contact. As Gruden's dad said at the time: "I've never seen a QB throw a pass with two hands."

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After Further Review

I've decided to hold off on other Week 19 observations until the Breakfast Table. Got to keep that as fresh as possible.

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Steelers vs. Colts

More on the game later after I fully digest it. But I can't believe that Roethlisberger made that tackle. I can't believe that Harper basically ran right into him. I don't care how deeply his wife dug in the shiv last night, his knee had to be sound enough for him to outrace Roethlisberger down the sideline. Remember, there were no receivers on the field to chase him down. If he goes right there, no one catches him.

As for the instant replay reversal of the Polamalu interception, it was the right call. Maybe it's a bad rule, but the refs had no choice. It's like the tuck play a few years ago in the snow with Brady. Remember, this came into play last week in the Washington-Tampa Bay game to negate what would have been a game-tying TD catch in the final minutes. To understand it, I'll simplify as best I can. When you catch the ball on your way to the ground, you have to maintain possession the entire time you are on the ground. There's nothing about rolling around once or twice or 30 times even. Polamalu clearly knocked the ball out of his hands with one knee while the other knee was still on the ground after his catch. So, by rule, it must be ruled an incompletion. I understand fans not knowing it and even the announcers. But when you go back to the studio 40 minutes later and no one has bothered to investitgate and still classifies it as a bad call, it bothers me.

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Marvin Lewis Responds

Here's what Lewis said about the alleged altercation with Johnson today in the Cincy papers. Also, the altercation was rumored to be with the team's WR coach, not Lewis:

"Chad's a very integral part of what we do," Lewis said. "There was no physical altercation. Chad was upset. He wanted to help us win the football game. He was frustrated. It happens all the time.

"When you lose a good player (such as Palmer), we needed people to step up and make plays. Chad wanted to do that. But Chad's not going to get in a fight with somebody. There are not two sets of rules. If Chad had hit somebody, he wouldn't have played in the second half."

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Pats-Broncos

You can definitely say the Patriots deserved a better fate on Saturday night, as they outplayed Denver through the heart of the game. But New England was long overdue for having a game where things went bad: bad calls, bad turnovers, bad breaks on inconclusive replays, a missed field goal and even a little bad luck. This happens to every team. It happened to Montana and the Niners, who I saw lose 49-3 one playoff afternoon. It happened to that great Steelers team in Oakland one year when they got thumped by 20 points in the championship game.

Brady didn't play badly. He did force some throws and was off target on some others that were makeable. But he was under a lot of pressure all night with those aggressive Denver blitzes. The throw that Champ Bailey picked off was a terrible decision and that really was the game right there. New England was set to at least cut the deficit to one point, but Brady just didn't want to settle for another field goal and forced the issue.

Did Denver show enough to make anyone think they can go into Indy and beat the Colts? No. If they try that blitzing stuff against Manning, they're dead. And Jake Plummer was disappointing, quite frankly, and will have to play markedly better under much more difficult conditions on the road in a disruptively loud dome.

Before signing off until tomorrow, I have to note the story on the pre-game show where Boomer Esiason, who would know, said that the rumors that Chad Johsnon threw punches at Marvin Lewis at halftime last week in the loss to Pittsburgh are true. Wow. That's explosive stuff. If Boomer has good info (and why would he volunteer that on national TV if he didn't), Johnson has to go because there's really no turning back from that.

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Redskins-Seahawks

First off, how on earth does Shannon Sharpe get a job as a studio host? The man can't speak English. The funny thing is, his brother Sterling is very articulate, though sometimes too in love with his own voice.

"I agree withchoo." "I agree withchoo." Stop. Please.

On to Seattle, where that was the biggest front-running crowd I've ever seen. Rev it up early. Then, sit on your hands when it's, gulp, 3-0 Washington. That's all it takes to get Seattle to stop making noise? Some 12th man you guys are.

Seattle gets the cover or the push, depending on when you bet. The line had moved to 10 in some place before kickoff. I don't really know if Washington was the right side, however. They had the edge in turnovers and knocked Alexander out (to the delight of everyone who saved him in universe leagues). Clinton Portis didn't look healthy and Brunell was unable to establish any offensive consistency. But neither, really, did Hasselbeck and the Seahawks. Seattle should be able to get by this sub-par offensive effort by rationlizing that they lost their main weapon. While I think Seattle would trounce the Bears, Carolina could give them major problems.

We'll be back with more during the Pats-Broncos game.

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Why Players Sometimes Lose It

Getting ready to write the previews. David Ferris will join us again, on Redskins at Seahawks.

Scott Pianowski did a nice job spreading the blame away from Kitna for Sunday's loss by Cincy. Of course, he's correct in noting those other breakdowns. But I'm not buying into Kitna's first-half stats, especially that QB rating (a very flawed stat, as Scott would agree). Bottom line on Kitna's first half: 5.5 yards per attempt. That's far below the acceptable threshold.

But I have to acknowledge that Scott was right in saying that Taylor must have spit. The question now becomes, why?

I have to thank Pianow for this insight, courtesy of his very generous Christimas gift to me, "Blink," by Malcom Gladwell. Near the end of the book, Gladwell writes about the Amadou Diallo shooting. How could the cops have shown such poor judgment by blasting a man 41 times for merely reaching for his wallet in a dark alley? Recognizing this is a very politcally charged way to get into something as inconsequential as a player expectorating, I'll nonethesless soldier on....

There's a point where arousal improves performance: the range when our heart beats between 115 and 145 times per minute. That's about 60-75% of the maximum heart rate for people the age of the average athlete. This type of arousal is typically a good thing for an athlete because it narrows the senses and allows him to focus on the threat in front of him (a onrushing lineman trying to block you, for example, or, if you're a QB, a blitzing linebacker). When aroused to this degree, we lose our ability to hear (that's why so many athletes talk about blocking out all crowd noise when they're "in the zone"; it's not discipline that does it but the natural biological consequence of this optimum level of arousal). In place of nonessential sensory loss such as hearing, athletes gain extreme visual clarity and, as they often note, the feeling that time is slowing down just for them.

However, when their heart goes beyond 145 beats per minute, the body and the senses start to break down completely. They lose complex motor skills. As they approach 175 BPM, cognitive processing is lost. The mammalian mid-brain "hijacks" the human forebrain. So trying to rationalize with an angry athlete at this state of arousal is, according to one expert, like trying to argue with your dog. They lose vision and judgment and become hyper-aggressive.

Research such as this has led many police departments to ban high-speed chases. Most of the major riots have happened as a result of what police officers do to suspects after chasing and catching them. With their hearts pumping like crazy, they lose all perspective and reason. A former LAPD officer referenced the old saying, "A dog in the hunt doesn't stop to scratch its fleas." Taylor, in that moment on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium, was over-aroused to such a degree that he became a dog in the hunt.

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Defending Jon Kitna

Yeah, I'm that Kitna apologist. Here's my take on the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game Sunday, and why it's not all No. 3's fault. - scott pianowski

Cincinnati didn't lose solely because Carson Palmer got hurt. Oh sure, their chances went down significantly when the injury occurred - Palmer is a superstar, Jon Kitna is a journeyman. But people want to post-script this game as a blowout decided by that play, and that's just not the truth. It annoys me how this game is being reported after the fact.

Kitna played pretty well in the first half (14-20-109, 99.8 rating), helping Cincinnati grab a 17-14 lead at halftime. The Bengals twice led by 10 points (10-0, 17-7). It looked like anyone's game.

Cincinnati started with the ball in the third quarter and moved right down the field, marching to the Pittsburgh 15 before the drive stalled. Here's where it gets fuzzy.

- A botched snap turned a chip-shot field goal into a non-attempt for the Bengals. The Steelers even gained 19 yards on the play. This all happened with five minutes gone by in the quarter.

- Pittsburgh put together a nine-play, 66-yard TD drive. Bettis scores with 5:17 to go in the quarter.

- Cincinnati had an ugly 3-and-out, with two sacks sandwiched around a short completion. Kitna looked bad here, I won't argue the point.

- Three plays into the next series, Pittsburgh struck with the wonderfully-timed gadget play, Randle El to Roethlisberger to Wilson. Perhaps time for it, flawless execution, and wham, bam, the Steelers lead by 11. The Bengals and their fans had already overcome one huge emotional blow (Palmer's injury), but they weren't getting off the mat again. Game Over.

Let's add it all up: over a span of 8:29, the Bengals had severe breakdowns in all three phases - offense, defense, special teams. Pittsburgh, to its credit, played very well in this segment. The Bengals should have been up six early in the quarter, and 8:29 later, they're down 11 and all but sunk. I can't blame Kitna for all this - it was truly a team collapse. And credit the Steelers, they made the plays.

Kitna never got the ship righted after that, and that didn't surprise me at all. He's a guy that needs to be surrounded by a running game and a balanced offense. He can't win a game on his own, especially against a defense that (a) can rush the passer like crazy, and (b) had no reason to respect the ground game anymore. The Steelers had their way with the Bengal offense the rest of the day, which was to be expected.

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The Lost Weekend

What a stinker of a playoff weekend. And it really hurts when that happens because the sands are almost all they way through the hourglass on the season.

I was very hopeful that the Bengals-Steelers would salvage something. But that ended on the Bengals second play, when Carson Palmer tore his ACL and most likely his MCL and PCL and whatever other CLs are in there. At a minimum, that's a 10-month recovery, which keeps him out until mid-season 2006. What a disaster for Cincy, which again seems cursed. Wide receiver Chris Henry, who caught the 66-yarder from Palmer, also sustained a serious knee injury on the play.

Scott Pianowski felt that Jon Kitna would perform well. I've always been bearish on him. In fact, one of the reasons I left the USA Today Sports Weekly gig is because at the end of 2003, they changed my little blurb in the Tip Sheet where I said that Kitna turned into Kitna down the stretch of that season (shocker) and would be replaced by Palmer in 2004. I was told the beat guy for them said that would never happen given Kitna's overall numbers. Oops.

I never bought that Kitna, a veteran player, was transformed in anyway by that good stretch in 2003. He's a mistake-prone journeyman. And, unfortunately, he was a mistake waiting to happen yesterday, too. At least he won't be a Jet next year, as had been rumored.

So we lose Palmer in the playoffs (I still firmly believe that the Bengals would have won a high-scoring game with him at the controls). We lose the Patriots at the Colts (Denver and Shanahan match up too well against New England and Belichick, always have).And there's a good chance that the remaining three games in the AFC will all be blowouts. What's our hope in the NFC? Maybe Seattle gets tested by the Redskins (doubtful with Portis suffering from a bad shoulder). The Bears and Panthers should be a decent, albeit it low-scoring game. Root for the Panthers to beat the Bears because that's the one team that could really push Seattle.

More to come on the site this week, of course.

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The Dead Zone

Sometimes, it sucks being right. Now, not only did the first game blow, but there's 45 minutes to kill between games.

Let's see what's on these 700 channels....

"World's Strongest Man Competition" on ESPN Classic. Some steriod case walking around a circle moving moving a crate of boulders with some watch dial-like tripod contraption. Screw him. I'll kick his ass. The winner walked around for 84 meters by the way. Is this really classic programming? Was the 2001 competition one for the ages?

Giants press conference on the NFL Network. "We didn't play well," says Coughlin. Then, he spins the season as all warm and happy. Thanks for nothing, Tom, before, during and after the game.

"$100 K Chicken Challenge" on Food Network. They're announcing the winner. Some decent looking chick from Indiana with some kebob-like thing. "Mahogany Broiled Chicken with smokey lime sweet potatoes." I think it was the cleavage she showed while preparing the dish.

"100 Sexiest Celebrities" on E. Colin Ferrell. Punk.

"Megastructures" on National Geographic. World's largest plane, the Airbus. Didn't Howard Hughes do this 60 years ago or was Scorcese pulling our leg?

"Sex Change" on Discovery Health. That's what they should do with the losers of these playoff games, just so we're sure the players leave it all on the field.

"The Sphinx Unmasked," already saw it with my daughter.

"The 160 Pound Tumor" is something I could get into. But it's not the girl that was on My Yahoo! page for about three weeks over the holidays. This one, you can't even see. Sorry, I need the freak factor to stick with something like this. Okay, they just showed someone with a 200-pound tumor and it is freak city. So, we'll give this a couple of minutes.... OH ... MY ... GOD!! She looks totally normal from the chest up and then like something Stan Winston created from the waist down. That was worthwhile after all.

Animal Planet has those slobs that contest eat and call themselves athletes (except for the Asian people, who know that being fat stops the stomach from expanding enough). The Shrew is the No. 1 eater on the planet, by the way. It eats 24 hours a day because it's so small that it loses heat incredibly fast and most keep consuming calories around the clock.

"Mars Rocks" about the Mars Rover mission. Saw it. Mars is one of the lesser interesting things about the universe. It would be like probing your next door neighbor just because he's next door. It is more interesting than the moon, which is only interesting in how it was formed (a massive meteor hit earth and sent a chunk of the planet into space; all part of God's intelligent design).

"The Fabulous Life Celebrity Wives." Nicholas Cage chartered a helicopter, whisked his latest bride away to the Grand Canyon and got her home before 11 p.m. (she was 19 with a curfew; she was also a sushi waitress). Before knowing this, I sort of liked Nicholas Cage.

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Liked it but had to defend it to the wife, who hates every movie told out of sequence.

"Envy." How could Jack Black and Ben Stiller go so wrong? (Actually, Ben Stiller makes one mediocre to bad movie after another.)

"Hellraiser: Bloodlines." The first one was okay, but the whole thing seemed very gay even before I knew Clive Barker was gay (not that there's anything wrong with that).

"Hamburger America." A documentary about variations of the classic sandwich. I could dig that. I love a great cheeseburger (I grind my meat myself so I can cook it medium rare without worrying about food poisoning). But it's over, so I'll have to Tivo it another time. And it's also 4:24. Not a bad way to kill some time.

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Panthers vs. Giants

It's halftime and we're going to see if my point about the repsective QBs in this game proves prescient. Again, I felt the Panthers would have two ways to win this game because Jake Delhomme is such a resilient player. If he had led an offense with three first downs at halftime and had a feeble 30 yards passing, I wouldn't count him out. He's proven he could bounce back from a poor half and catch fire under the most intense circumstances (the Super Bowl) and verus a superior defense and coaching staff (the 2003 New England Patriots). The Giants and Manning, however, needed to get off to a good start. Get something going before doubt set in. Maybe I'll be proven wrong. I hope so. Because the games thus far have been pretty dull, espeically from an offensive standpoint. But I believe Manning and the Giants are ready for the fork right now because their season is done.

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Mike and Dave

Here's an excerpt of a Saturday phone conversation between Mike and his cousin Dave Salfino (transcript courtesy of The Bush Administration):

Mike: So if I catch the Redskins, I'm done for the weekend. But if I lose, I'm looking at the Bengals tomorrow.

Dave: Why is that?

Mike: It's simple math. If you bet two games, what's the most likely thing to happen? 1-1. The least likely? 0-2 or 2-0. So, if you go 1-0, why go on in the face of that headwind? If you go 0-1, why not get the tailwind into probability with a second game?

Dave: 'It's simple math.' Is that what you tell Cath when you go 0-2? Here's some advice: try it on the credit card companies first.

Mike: It's not even gambling, really. It's all about probability.

Dave (singing): 'The Desert Inn has heart'... 'The Desert Inn has heart.' (Fans of Albert Brooks and 'Lost in America' need no explanation.)

Mike: Are you watching right now?

Dave: Yep.

Mike: This is the stupidest commercial ever. It's so stupid, I'm embarrassed for it. What were they thinking? 'We're going to have the Patriots draft, are you ready? Hold on to your ass otherwise you're going to laugh it right off, really. Okay. Ready? A Pepsi machine!! We're going to have the Pepsi machine wear a little jersey and practice at training camp and then catch a TD pass in its cute little soda mouth.' Hy-friggin-sterical.

Dave: That is stupid. But the worst commerical is the fat bastard singing the Dukes of Hazzard theme song along with his phone.

Mike: That song he sings is the Dukes of Hazzard theme song?

Dave: Well, I don't know if it is, but it should be. We do know it's his personal theme song. I'm like, 'Bro', you're fat and ugly. You don't have a theme song.'

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More Wild Card Musings

Pianow checking in with some New England-Jacksonville thoughts . . .

Mike was right. The Jags should have stuck with Garrard.

The Pats had reason to be concerned at halftime. But they totally dominated the third quarter, and showed their class in the process.

I can't watch a Jacksonville game without a slew of dropped passes.

Corey Dillon looked slow to me all night. Rosey Colvin is slowly getting back up to speed. I've never seen Richard Seymour play a poor game. For a so-called elite corner, Rashean Mathis sure gets beat a lot.

No one really talked much of this but I wonder if the Pats told Matt Cassel to throw the ball out of bounds on the game-ending 2-point try last week against Miami (the ball was air-mailed out of the corner of the end zone). I don't care what Pittsburgh does tomorrow, Jacksonville *was* the weakest draw in the AFC field.

Washington-Tampa Bay? The game was messy. The announcing was worse.

Keep reading below for Mike's extended take on Day 1 of the NFL Playoffs. - scott pianowski

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Wild Card Musings

Like Momento, we're working backwards here, so piece it all together as you go.

I like the story coming out of halftime of the Jags-Pats game where Del Rio accuses the Patriots of cutting out the communication system between the coaches and the QB on key downs. If it doesn't happen, it should. Well, I don't mean that it would be sportsmanlike, obviously, but if coaches are working 24-7 to satisfy their will to win, who doesn't think that they would resort to tinkering with the walkie talkies? If they had steriods for wins, how many NFL head coaches do you think would take them? I say about 32. Seriously, these guys don't talk to their wives and kids for nine months a year, you don't think their will to win would cause them to bend the rules? This is war, gentlemen.

I love the conspiracy stuff. A few years ago, the Giants were rumored to have intercepted the communication between Vikings coaches and Daunte Culpepper on their way to a completely unexpected 41-0 victory (the Vikings were favorites in that NFL championship game and had one of the highest scoring offenses ever). Going back, Al Davis was famous for sending spies to watch opponents practice and so badly got into the head of Jets coach Walt Michaels that Michaels went on a rant about it in front of the beat reporters that seemed right out of an Oliver Stone movie (well, at least it does in retrospect). Michaels also got the short end of the stick against the Dolphins in the 1982 AFC Championship game when Don Shula left the tarp off the field to slow down the Jets vastly superior team speed (Walker, McNeil, Lam Jones, Gastineau...). That caused Walt to go off on the deep end with the bottle and resulted in his sudden dismissal as Jets coach.

Redskins bettors: call it a weekend because you don't get luckier than that. Why push it?

That was the worst punt ever in a big situation. How do the Bucs come of that at midfield with over a minute left? Then, before I can finish typing, another pick by Simms off a deflection at the line. Game over.

That was a terrible job by Washington and Gibbs with 2:48 left and no timeouts for the Bucs. First and 10 at the 35 and you get a false start? Then first and 15 and you run Portis up the gut and the 40 second clock resets before 2:40 is left, so you have to run another play. Instead, you have to snap it to your running back in the shotgun (which the Redskins use) and let him run around for an extra couple of seconds before going down. Remember, they don't stop the clock after sacks anymore. That ended up giving the Bucs another 40 seconds of game clock.

Theismann says getting the delay of game isn't a big deal because they'll go for it on fourth down anyway? Stupid thing to say, even for him.

Yes, it was a great interception, but you cannot throw back across the middle of the field in that situation if you're Mark Brunell. Up a TD with three minutes and change left? Stay in bounds by sliding to keep the clock running and punt. No one cares that you did nothing all day if you win.

Very bush league play by Simms in taunting Carlos Rodgers when running out of bounds on a scramble. He followed that by missing a wide open Joey Galloway on the next play. His father was bush league, too. But the picture I have is him holding his head in horror whenever a receiver dropped a pass. I don't recall him taunting the opposition very often.

Mark Brunell and that Redskins offense look so bad today. Like I said in the preview, the Bucs defensive stat profile is good, not great. And that's against a pretty soft schedule (all those NFC South games and four more against the AFC East). Losing Clinton Portis to the stinger handicaps them, for sure. But Santana Moss should have been more involved.

I don't mind going for it on fourth down. Give Gregg William credit for blitzing; there was nothing there. I don't mind passing out of the goal-line formation. If you're going to run it down there, I like spreading out the defense with an empty backfield and doing the sneak. That's what the Pats call in those situations.

We need the Zapruder film to see if Sean Taylor spit, I guess. Because we can't see it on the replay. If it was a "say it don't spray it" spit, it doesn't count. To be jettisoned from a playoff game you need to toss a loogy in someone's face.

Chris Simms was praised for being 16-for-18 near the end of th first half. Great accuracy and play calling, we were told. Only all those completions went for 100 yards. Forget the poor 5.5 yards per attempt. Look at yards per completion. That's a joke even by today's dink and dunk standards.

The Bucs are down 14-0 and the Redskins have lost another CB (Walt Harris). There are eight men in the box on every conceivable run down to stop Cadillac Williams. But Theismann and the boys are saying the Bucs need to keep running. How about getting the ball to Joey Galloway? How many points down does Gruden need to be before he starts taking shots downfield on first down?

Do you realize how hard it is to figure out what to root for in a 32-team Playoff Fantasy Universe League? My strategy was to play all the guys I couldn't live without playing one time (taking the bird in the hand). So, Palmer and Chad Johnson had to be played. Ditto Roethlisberger and Ward. Yes, I think the Bengals are going to win, but Vegas must know something (although they were probably scared by the prospects of heavy Steelers action, which they obviously didn't get becaus the line didn't move since it opened). I also had to play Barber and Steve Smith. I thought Washington was going to win and Tampa's defense is tough, so I held off on Santana Moss and Portis. Hardly anyone played Roethlisberger and Willie Parker, but I think those guys are going to have big days and there's a good chance they won't survive until Week 19. 18 of 32 owners played Hines Ward this week.

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