Thanks to the fine people at CBS Sports, I finally have the quotage from the NFL Today and because of that, The NFL Today goes first in this post.
NEWS, NOTES & QUOTES FROM CBS SPORTS’ “THE NFL TODAY” WITH JAMES BROWN, DAN MARINO, SHANNON SHARPE, BILL COWHER AND BOOMER ESIASON FOR WEEK 11 ON NOVMEBER 16
QUICK HITS
(On New York Jets winning the AFC East and QB Brett Favre)
DAN MARINO: When I look at the Jets, they played well. They won that game the other night. Also, they have three winnable games at home and they go to the West Coast and play San Francisco and Seattle. I think with a guy like Brett Favre, even though they lost to Oakland earlier in the year, they can win those games. I think they will get to 10-6, maybe11-5.
SHANNON SHARPE: How often can you say Brett Favre, during the course of a game, is not going to put the ball in harm’s way at least once? Do we expect Brett Favre over the next 6-7 weeks to play that flawless like he did Thursday night? I don’t believe he can.
(On whether Dallas will make the playoffs)
BILL COWHER: Right now, I think Dallas has to go 6-1 in these last seven games and I don’t see them doing it. I think they’ve dug themselves too big of a hole. I think they’re going to make a great run in the second half but they’ve got too little margin of error.
(On who was responsible for San Francisco’s loss Monday night against Arizona)
COWHER: It’s the responsibility of the head coach to take control of the situation at the end of the game.
(On Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger throwing eight interceptions and one TD during the last three games)
BOOMER ESIASON: (To Bill Cowher) You made all the excuses. You are getting soft and I’m really surprised at you. Hold players accountable. He played with all the same guys in the beginning of the year that he’s playing with right now. Somebody has got to go over to Ben Roethlisberger and say, listen, we understand you’re a great player. We also know that you won the Super Bowl but you’ve got to stop throwing interceptions. We have the best defense in football. We can run the football. Don’t give the other team a short field.
? “INSIDE THE GAME” WITH CHARLEY CASSERLY
(On possible suspensions of players for using diuretics)
CASSERLY: On Tuesday, the New Orleans Saints have three players, Will Smith, Charles Grant and Deuce McAllister, who will have their hearings in the NFL. On Thursday, the two Minnesota defensive tackles, Pat Williams and Kevin Williams will have their hearing. On Friday, Grady Jackson will have his hearing. The league is going to want to get this all wound up before we get to December. Why? Because they will want the suspensions, if they’re going to have to be done, done before the end of the regular season. There are four games. They don’t want it going into the off-season. Minnesota, they’ve got the most to lose, two starting defensive tackles on the line for four-game suspensions.
(On future of Derek Anderson in Cleveland)
CASSERLY: I think his future is tied to how well Brady Quinn plays. If Brady Quinn plays well the rest of this season I would look for the Browns to try to trade Anderson in the off-season. If Quinn struggles, I would expect them to bring Anderson back and have the two young guys compete for the position.
(On Carolina’s Julius Peppers)
CASSSERLY: He’s going to be a free agent at the end of this year, the Panthers told me he came into camp with the best condition of his career, he wants a new contract, if they can’t get him signed before the start of free agency they will franchise him, the number – over $17 million for one year, guaranteed.
Next, we’ll go to ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown.
“SUNDAY NFL COUNTOWN” NEWS AND NOTES – November 16, 2008Jets or Patriots: Who did you learn more about from Thursday's game?
Cris Carter: "I would have to go with New England ... You are talking about a football team that lost their quarterback. They lost their No. 1 tailback in Laurence Maroney. They lost their secondary leader in (Rodney) Harrison. When you can overcome all that and play competitive football and every week have a chance to win the game, it says a lot about (Bill) Belichick and what he's done with that organization, and (Matt) Cassel as a quarterback."
Tom Jackson: "When you look at the Jets, who only won four games last year, I learned a little bit about them as well. We talked about whether they were going to be able to run the football. 39 times for a 149 yards, they did something that some of them taught they couldn't do. What they've done is, taken a lesson from the other New York team down the street. 'We are going to be a pound-it-out football team, especially in November, December and give Brett Favre a c hance to be Brett Favre and be successful playing quarterback for the Jets."
Keyshawn Johnson: "I learned a lot about both teams. The New York Jets, a couple weeks ago, I was ready to start handing out pink slips ... I learned a lot about them as a team, watching them play together. This quarterback, I don't need to say anything about him. But the other quarterback on the other side (Patriots), this game is starting to slow down for him, Chris (Carter), in a fast way. He's no more a high school quarterback."
Keyshawn Johnson: "He (Matt Cassel) went straight from high school to the pros, ala (NBA's) Kevin Garnett"
Mike Ditka: "In the end, I think these teams are going to be there anyways ... I learned that old dogs can learn new tricks and new dogs can learn old tricks. When I say (Brett) Favre, he's the old dog, I think he's understanding, I hate the word, manage the game, but he's playing within the system. You take the other kid, not only can he throw, he proved that he has great vision down the field and he made some great moves running the football. So, he's learning the game."
Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco: What are the keys to success for the two rookie quarterbacks?
Tom Jackson: "The poise. The ability to lead. Maturity beyond their years. I'm a little bit more impressed with Matt Ryan than (Joe) Flacco, just because the task for Matt Ryan was a little bit larger when he went down to Atlanta. But the coaches get it - Mike Smith and John Harbaugh. Here's what I mean by that: No. 1 running team in football, the Giants, No. 2 - Atlanta, No. 3 - the Baltimore Ravens. My theme for the day - run the football, support your quarterback, then they are going to have success. That's been the key for Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco."
Cris Carter: "The key to being a successful player in the National Football League, let alone the quarterback position, you need structure and you need a system. The thing I'm most impressed about ... are the offensive coordinators - Cam Cameron in Baltimore, former head coach, knows how to deal with quarterbacks, and Mike Mularkey in Atlanta. If you guys think that these two former head coaches, who will be great on their next job, who didn't get a fair shot their first time around, didn't have influence on these young quarterbacks being successful, you are really missing it."
Mike Ditka: "The reason these guys are good football players is, they are getting a chance to play. People have confidence in them. And they are putting them in the right positions."
Keyshawn Johnson: "These two young quarterbacks are going to help a lot of quarterbacks coming up next year and the years down the line, because this is a copycat league ... These quarterbacks have taken over their teams. They have them in contention here. Coaches see that."
Chris Berman: "You know what jumps off the page with both of these guys to me - leadership ... Talking to John Harbaugh, coach of the Ravens, he said that Cam Cameron told him that 'he has put more in, in eight weeks with Flacco, than he's ever put in eight weeks with anyone else.' That's saying something. 'And that Flacco has the skin of an Armadillo ... stuff just rolls off.'"
Team more likely to win the NFC North: Bears or Packers?
Mike Ditka: "I say the Bears right now ... Right now, they control their own destiny. They know what they've got to do. They can run the ball. People want pick on their offense. There's nothing the matter with their offense. They are pretty effective. Their problem is in the secondary. They can't cover anybody right now. Not only that, they're not pressuring the quarterback ..."
Keyshawn Johnson: "I don't like the Chicago Bears, I don't trust them at all. When you talk about the fellow at the quarterback position, you got a banged up Kyle Orton, and if you have to turn to Rex Grossman at anytime, as a Chicago player, that confidence goes down into the tank."
Cris Carter: "It is easy not to trust the teams because both teams have changed their identity over the course of the year. Of course Green Bay, we know what they did with Aaron Rodgers, changing from Brett Favre. But in Chicago, in changing to Kyle Orton and going from a running team, defensive oriented team to a passing team, I am amazed at the Chicago Bears and the amount of confidence they play with Kyle Orton at quarterback. I think they are the clear favorites in the NFC North."
Tom Jackson: "I'm going to talk about Green Bay. Last year, those 10 games at the end of the year, when Ryan Grant was running for almost a thousand yards and scoring eight touchdowns, that's what their offense was founded on. 10 games this year, half as many yards, two touchdowns, Aaron Rodgers is not the problem. Running the football, my theme for the day, running the football is the problem."
Chris Berman: "The team we saw the first two weeks, Green Bay, and the team that played Tennessee, man-up and lost in overtime, if they play like that, they're the best team in the division."
Tony Romo's return: Will it turn around the 5-4 Cowboys?
Cris Carter: "Will it (Romo's return) change everything? I wish I knew that - maybe the Swami (Berman's prognosticating alter-ego) knows that. What it will do is, it will help them take away two blaring needs they have offensively. They cannot throw the ball deep. We know with Romo, that'll be back. Offensive line is having a hard time protecting the quarterback. Nothing is wrong with Romo's legs, he's going to be able to scramble and make more time. That is going to make Dallas a better team. Is that enough, I don't know."
Tom Jackson: "Can Romo play some pass defense for them? Is he going to be able to stop the run for them? Here's what he is - he's going to help. He's worth 10 points a game. When he was in the game, they never scored less than 24. Since he's left, they've never scored more than 14. So he's worth 10 points. What will 10 points do for them game in and game out?"
Keyshawn Johnson: "I think he helps them out a lot. I think they've been waiting for him to come back ... They've been saying, 'when we get our quarterback back, we'll be able to run the right routes, we'll be able to do a lot of things and we'll be able to put some points on the board.'"
Cris Carter: "It is going to be fairly easy to see this. What we really want to see with Dallas, forget all this nice talking, we want to see if Dallas has that fight in that dog. Like all the good teams do, this is it for Dallas, how would they fight?"
Chris Berman: "It's like in a golf match, you play with a partner who is really good and now he's back. Every now and then, he goes into the woods, where are you? ... Dallas has snap with him, do they have the toughness?"
To Fox NFL Sunday.
Jimmy Johnson on the importance of today’s Cowboys/Washington game to Dallas’ season: “This is such a big game for them. I really think it’s going to determine the outcome of their entire season. Tony Romo and Terrence Newman are back and if during the bye week they corrected the mistakes with the penalties and turnovers, they could win and get on a roll right into the playoffs. If they lose, I think psychologically it could be devastating. Some of their top players went to Mexico the Friday before the Giants game and Terrell Owens went on a book tour this week in New York. They’re not a mentally disciplined team. If they lose tonight, it’ll be devastating and I think they could mail it in after this week if they lose.”
Michael Strahan on the main focus of Dallas’ struggles being the loss of quarterback Tony Romo: “It’s not Romo. Romo doesn’t play defense. It’s just about heart and the heart’s not there. One player goes down and that determines winning or losing for the entire team? That’s sad.”
Terry Bradshaw added: “The only question with Romo tonight is simply will he try to do too much because everyone is saying ‘Tony’s back. everything is fine.’ Tony could be thinking ‘I’m back and I have got to deliver’ and as a quarterback, I know that’s dangerous.”
Terry Bradshaw on what kind of deals two veteran NFL quarterbacks having successful seasons should get at the end of the season. First, Kerry Collins currently at the helm of the 9-0 Tennessee Titans: “Give him a one-year deal for $8 or $9 million.”
Michael Strahan added: “What they pay Kerry Collins depends on what the status of Vince Young is when it’s time to sign.”
Terry Bradshaw on Arizona’s Kurt Warner: “Pay him. They are so far under the cap. Give him a two-year deal.”
Michael Strahan on whether the Packers made the right move in dealing Brett Favre in the wake of last week’s offensive explosion by the Favre-led Jets: “Green Bay made the right move. The reason the Jets are in first place is because they have a good defense. If Brett Favre were in Green Bay throwing the picks that he has thrown early this season for the Jets, with the depleted defense that the Green Bay Packers had early this season, they would be in the same situation. I think the Packers did what was best for them and it was the right move.”
Terry Bradshaw whether the Green Bay Packers would be better off this season with Favre than Aaron Rodgers: “There is no comparison. Give me the 39-year-old for one or two more years. He was only one game away from the Super Bowl last year and if not for the greatest year ever of a quarterback up in New England, he also would have won his fourth MVP. Aaron Rogers over Brett Favre, please! Coach McCarthy, you orchestrated Favre’s finest season last year with a deep group of good young wide receivers. You reined Brett in and utilized everyone’s talent around him. Truly a great coaching job. So, what changed in Green Bay? You still have a deep group of wide receivers, one of the leagues finest offensive lines. I’ll tell you what’s changed, your quarterback. If you had Favre right now you would easily be 7-2 or 8-1 and running away with division. You are 4-5 and last year you finished 13-3 and a game away from the Super Bowl. If you thought he was so bad why didn’t you let him just go wherever he wanted to go.”
NFL Insider Jay Glazer reported that Vikings Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen has been summoned to the league office for a Tuesday meeting to explain his play in attacking quarterbacks with the hopes of avoiding a suspension and/or yet another severe fine: “They want me to explain what I’m thinking when I’m trying to get after the quarterback,” said Allen. “Look, I will never, ever intentionally try to hurt anyone in this game. I have too much respect for it and for everyone on that field.”
Jimmy Johnson on who was responsible for the 49ers debacle last week: “They can complain about t
hese officials but the 49ers messed up. They were not prepared for time management down on the goal line. Mike Martz has never done time management well anyway but its not his responsibility. If he wants to know what yard line the ball is going to be on, is the headset dead going to the press box? I’m going to cut Mike Singletary a little bit of slack because he’s never done it before but time management is his job.”Howie Long comments on who superstar running back Adrian Peterson reminds him of: “The most physically gifted player that I saw or played against was Bo Jackson. That was 17 years ago, his career ended versus the Cincinnati Bengals in the playoffs. I’ve been waiting 17 years to say this, Adrian Peterson is close to Bo Jackson.”
And to top it all off, it’s NBC’s Football Night in America.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK 11 OF NBC’s “FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA”CRIS COLLINSWORTH ON THE DOLPHINS: "The Mariano Rivera of football. They keep closing games."
DAN PATRICK, IN HONOR OF NBC GREEN WEEK, ON WHAT HE DOES FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: "I've been recycling lines I used at ESPN."
CRIS COLLINSWORTH ON THE GIANTS: "The Giants are an absolute monster. The New York Giants, let's just tell it like it is, they are simply the best team in football right now."
PETER KING ON MATT CASSEL: "I believe they'll only keep him in 2009 if Tom Brady's rehab is not going well. He'll make $9 million a year somewhere next year."
PETER KING ON DONOVAN MCNABB: "I believe Andy Reid, if this team fails down the stretch, will give a shot to Kevin Kolb to see if he can be their quarterback of the future."
KEITH OLBERMANN ON MCNABB AND ANDY REID NOT KNOWING THE OVERTIME RULES: "Worse than the tie for itself for Philadelphia, afterwards their coach and their quarterback DID NOT KNOW WHAT A TIE WAS."
DAN PATRICK'S RESPONSE: "Did he think there was going to be a shootout?"
JEROME BETTIS ON MCNABB: "If he didn't know that it's a tie, there's a problem."
TIKI BARBER ON THE EAGLES PLAYCALLING: "They had 76 plays in this game, 17 went to Bryant Westbrook, the best player in my mind on that football team. They are not getting him the ball and they will not win until they do."
TIKI BARBER ON JAKE DELHOMME: "If he doesn't start putting up some big numbers in the passing game, they're not going to win the NFC South."
JEROME BETTIS ON WHO WILL WIN THE NFC NORTH WITH THREE TEAMS AT 5-5: "I think Green Bay wins the division. Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in that group, Ryan Grant makes that team two dimensional, they're able to run the ball, and the last part is their defense is playing as well as Minnesota's right now. They're the complete team in that division."
And that will do it for tonight. I’ll see you on Monday.
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