2013 Offseason Update, Week 18

Jake Locker is entering his third season in the NFL, viewed by most as
the most important year in a young quarterback's development.
Photo credit to USA Today.

As of yesterday, we are now eight weeks away from the 2013 Hall of Fame Game in Canton, featuring the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys.

Jake Locker Entering Important Season

Last week I talked a little about the AFC East, focusing on the Dolphins and Patriots. The AFC South appears pre-determined with the Texans leading the way, the Colts close behind and the Titans and Jaguars bringing up the rear.

But the Titans have an opportunity to surprise some people and it starts with Jake Locker, who is entering his third season, typically and important one in the development of an NFL quarterback.

Locker showed great potential at times last season and now needs to become more consistent. High draft picks are expected to break through in their third seasons, and those who don’t tend to flame out soon after. Locker has some solid targets, especially with Delanie Walker coming from San Francisco. If Kenny Britt can stay healthy and out of trouble, Locker has the opportunity to lift Tennessee to the number two spot in the division.

JaMarcus Russell Bears Workout

Russell’s NFL comeback attempt landed him in Chicago on Friday. His accuracy was reportedly erratic at times, but he gained positive reviews overall. The Bears also worked out Trent Edwards and Jordan Palmer, so it doesn’t seem likely that they will sign JaMarcus, but his workout could land him some other opportunities around the NFL, and will certainly boost his standing among CFL teams if it comes to that.

Donté Stallworth

Back in March, Stallworth and his girlfriend were in a hot-air balloon that hit some power lines. Both were shaken up and sustained some injuries, but both recovered and Donté was cleared to resume his NFL career in May.

A few days ago, the Redskins invited Stallworth to participate in their veteran minicamp next week. If they end up signing him, it would be his second stint in Washington after playing in 11 games for them in 2011.

Stallworth suffered an injury last year after playing in just one game for the New England Patriots, but in that game he scored on a 63-yard touchdown pass. So, if healthy, he can bring some explosiveness to an offense that already has plenty of it in Washington.

If I am missing anything important, or if you just want to hear my thoughts on any other offseason news from the past week, feel free to contact me via my Twitter account, @cpuffnfl.

Monday Night Football Afterword: Titans vs Jets

Chris Johnson hand-wrote the names of all the Sandy Hook
victims and had a 94-yard TD run, a franchise record, in them.
Photo credit to Yahoo! Sports.

For once, I actually find myself offering some defense to Mark Sanchez after a 14-10 loss to Tennessee in which he threw four interceptions.

Tim Tebow was given a possession to run for the first time all season. It came in the middle of the second quarter, the play calling on the drive was bad, and it just was not the time to do something like that. Mark Sanchez came back in and was completely out of rhythm, which is what happens when you come out in the middle of the game.

Later interceptions seemed to be more a product of frustration, but it all comes back to poor coaching decisions by the Jets.

Chris Johnson hit a home run with a 94-yard touchdown run in the second quarter as he has quietly rushed for over 1,100 yards with two games left in the season.

The Jets, meanwhile, were eliminated from playoff contention with their narrow loss in the Music City. After the game, Rex Ryan said he was not ready at the time to say who would be the starting quarterback next week or the week after. I think it needs to be Mark Sanchez. I don’t like him, I don’t believe in him, but he’s the quarterback until they make a decisive move for someone more able, whether it’s in the draft or free agency. So unless they actually think Tim Tebow could be their full-time starter in 2013, he should not be starting the rest of the way this year.

Jake Locker was less of a factor than I thought he would be in last night’s game. He threw for less than 150 yards and no scores, but he did run the ball several times for nearly 50 yards and a touchdown to compliment Johnson’s 122 yards and a touchdown of his own.

Sunday Football Afterword: Week 3 Early Games

Christian Ponder threw two touchdowns and ran for another
as he led his Vikings to a huge upset over San Francisco.

The Redskins hosted the Bengals in their home opener yesterday, so of course a lot of my attention was focused on that game. There was, however, too much madness going around the league to ignore it all completely.

As those of you who paid close attention know, I only correctly predicted two of the nine 1:00 games played on Sunday. I correctly predicted the Redskins game and the Bills game. The other seven didn’t go so well.

The Redskins went down early as the Bengals kicked the game off with a long touchdown pass, and it wasn’t Andy Dalton who threw it; he was lined up as a receiver. Instead, the opening score was a 73-yard pass from Mohamad Sanu to A.J. Green. The Redskins tied it when Rob Jackson picked off Dalton in the end zone for a touchdown (yes, you read that correctly, nothing I can ever remember seeing before in my life).

The Bengals then scored 17 unanswered points, after which the Redskins returned the favor to tie the game at 24 in the third quarter. When Dalton threw touchdown passes on the next two Cincinnati drives, the lead was just too much for RGIII and the Redskins to come back from. Instead the Bengals won their second game of the season and they are in a tie for first in the AFC North while the Redskins are all alone in the cellar of the NFC East.

Bradford wasn’t terrible, but Danny Amendola didn’t come close to the success he had against the Redskins a week ago and the Rams were not able to make much of a game out of their contest in Chicago. Cutler was a little better than last week against Green Bay, but the key was a huge defensive effort from the Bears. That carried them to a 23-6 victory.

C.J. Spiller went down in the first quarter of the Bills game in Cleveland. He already had 58 total yards and a score when he left. Right now the report is that he should miss only a couple weeks and that he avoided anything to severe. Ryan Fitzpatrick finally had a good game after struggling much of last season. He threw three touchdown passes in the game. With the 24-14 loss, the Browns are now on a nine-game losing streak dating back to last season.

I really thought the Buccaneers had a legitimate shot at beating Dallas, and they did. But apparently Tampa Bay plays their hardest when the other team is in the victory formation. It’s like running a six-mile race but only running hard the last quarter mile. It isn’t going to win you games.

I am having a difficult time explaining what happened to the Colts. They led 14-3 at halftime; Andrew Luck was playing very well (both 1^st half touchdowns came from him). But their defense is clearly still suspect, and Jacksonville shut down the Indy offense in the second half. The Jaguars outscored the Colts 19-3 in the second half for a 22-17 victory. The winning score came on an 80-yard touchdown pass from Gabbert to Cecil Shorts III with less than a minute left to play.

In a bizarre finish, the Jets beat the Dolphins in overtime. Last year it took the first installment of Tebow Time for the Broncos to beat the Dolphins; this year all it took for Tebow’s new team was Joe Philbin. With a few minutes left in overtime, Nick Folk lined up for a field goal to win the game. Philbin called a timeout just before the snap, but the Dolphins blocked the field goal. The attempt to ice Folk backfired and he knocked the next one in to win the game.

The shocker of the week in a Sunday full of them was the Minnesota Vikings. Christian Ponder had a fantastic game. I think most of us knew he’s a talented young passer, but to lead this team to a victory over the 49ers seemed too much to ask. After the 24-13 victory, apparently it wasn’t. Nobody gave Minnesota much chance, considering they lost to Indianapolis last week and the 49ers had already beaten two much more formidable NFC North teams in Green Bay and Detroit.

In another wild finish, Kansas City kept their matchup against New Orleans close through the first half. In the third quarter it looked like the Saints were finally pulling away until a 91-yard touchdown run by Jamaal Charles. The fourth quarter saw four scored, all by the Chiefs, to tie the game up and send it to overtime where a 31-yard field goal by Ryan Succop, his sixth field goal of the game, won it and sent the Saints to 0-3.

The third overtime of the day came in Tennessee where a rehash of the Music City Miracle gave the Titans a 10-6 lead in the first quarter. Jake Locker completed 29 passes for 378 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. Chris Johnson still looks like he’s sleepwalking, but the Titans overcame it for their first win of the season. Tennessee scored five times on plays of over 60 yards, an NFL record! They had a punt return TD, a kick return TD, a fumble return TD, and two passing TDs from Locker, all over 60 yards. And it still went to overtime despite Matthew Stafford going down with an injury and Shaun Hill, the Maryland grad, taking over. The final was 44-41.

Be sure to check in later when my afterword on yesterday’s later games is published, and of course keep an eye on the status of this week’s The All-Sports Crew show where we will talk more about Week 3.