NFL this week
The T.O. circus returns to Philly The traveling T.O. circus began a week earlier than expected after Terrell Owens took what was described as an accidental overdose of painkillers for his broken right hand.
T.O’s psyche and his hand seemed fine last week in Nashville, where he caught five passes for 88 yards as he and the Dallas Cowboys breezed by the Titans 45-14.
But it will be tougher this week in Philadelphia against the team that suspended him, then deactivated him last season following a series of squabbles with coach Andy Reid and verbal attacks on quarterback Donovan McNabb.
For Eagles fans, the “fun” started a week early, before Philadelphia’s 31-9 win over Green Bay on Monday night. One sign in the parking lot read: “Hope you feel better T.O., so we can hurt you.” Another said: “Get a refill. You’ll need those pills soon.”
T.O is sounding professional.
“We’re not going there to taste the cheesesteaks. We’re not going there to visit the crack in the Liberty Bell,” he said this week. “We’re going up there to try to win a ballgame.”
McNabb is also steering away from the sideshow.
“It’s a division game,” he said. “We need it. We look forward to the challenge. Anything else, I personally don’t care.”
He’s right. This is a critical game in the very competitive NFC East.
The Eagles (3-1) have beaten three teams with three wins among them and their only loss was in the division. They blew a 24-7 fourth-quarter lead to the Giants at home and lost in overtime. Dallas (2-1) has a home win over Washington and last week’s victory.
The Eagles are several levels above the dismal Titans. But injuries to Lito Sheppard and Rod Hood have forced them to use NFL Europe graduate Joselio Hanson and return man Dexter Wynn at cornerback. They could be exploited by Owens and Terry Glenn, who had two TD catches against the Titans.
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In other games Sunday, Buffalo is at Chicago; Detroit at Minnesota; St. Louis at Green Bay; Tennessee at Indianapolis; Miami at New England; Tampa Bay at New Orleans; Washington at the New York Giants; Cleveland at Carolina; Oakland at San Francisco; the New York Jets at Jacksonville; Kansas City at Arizona; and Pittsburgh at San Diego.
Baltimore is at Denver on Monday night.
Cincinnati, Seattle, Atlanta and Houston are off.
Buffalo (2-2) at Chicago (4-0)
This might be a trap game for the Bears, who are probably the best team in the league right now. They’ve always had a shutdown defense and Rex Grossman gives them a QB who can make plays.
But the Bills play defense, too and their coach is Dick Jauron, fired by the Bears after the 2003 season. That’s likely to motivate Buffalo, which might catch the Bears a bit down after the prime-time blowout over Seattle.
Lovie Smith is trying to defuse the letdown factor. “We really like the position we’re in right now but we have a long ways to go,” the Bears coach says.
Washington (2-2) at New York Giants (1-2)
Probably a must-win for the Giants, who are at Atlanta and at Dallas after this game. One of the underachievers in a turbulent locker room is LaVar Arrington, who may be motivated this week against the team he paid to leave.
Mark Brunell has come alive in the last two games for Washington, which lost 36-0 at the Meadowlands last season in a game five days after the death of Giants owner Wellington Mara. Rookie wide receiver Sinorice Moss of the Giants won’t be fit to face brother Santana because of a quadriceps injury.
Tennessee (0-4) at Indianapolis (4-0)
Despite their record, the Colts have struggled, especially against the run. They could have lost three of their four games, including last week’s 31-28 win over Jets, when they needed a late drive led by Peyton Manning for the winning TD.
The Titans, with rookie Vince Young breaking in at QB, should allow the Colts to work on their weaknesses. Albert Haynesworth, Tennessee’s best defensive lineman, stomped on the face of Dallas center Andre Gurode last week and was suspended by the league for five games.
Miami (1-3) at New England (3-1)
The Dolphins, considered an AFC East challenger to the Patriots, may be the NFL’s biggest disappointment, losing to previously winless Houston 17-15 last week in a game that included an ill-conceived option pass by Ronnie Brown for a tying 2-point conversion.
It’s hard to call any win by the Patriots surprising, but last week’s was: a 38-13 pasting of Cincinnati on the road.
Tampa Bay (0-3) at New Orleans (3-1)
The Bucs, a presumed contender at season’s start, won’t get any better with sixth-round rookie Bruce Gradkowski at QB in place of Chris Simms, out indefinitely after having his spleen removed. They have only 130 yards rushing in three games, and Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, last year’s offensive rookie of the year, is averaging just 2.5 yards a carry.
New York Jets (2-2) at Jacksonville (2-2)
Eric Mangini has made the Jets competitive. It may be no consolation to the players that they scared the Colts last week, but it has been duly noted around the NFL.
Jacksonville’s loss in Washington was strange – the Jaguars are not a team that should give up 36 points and 481 yards to anyone. “It’s not a trend we’re trying to start by any means,” defensive tackle Marcus Stroud said of the team that had conceded just 38 points in its first three games.
Kansas City (1-2) at Arizona (1-3)
Matt Leinart gets his first start for the Cardinals, whose high hopes have evaporated. Just as ex-Cards improve when they leave, stars falter when they get to the desert – Edgerrin James is averaging 3.1 yards a carry behind a dismal OL. It even applies to the coach: “I’ve won a lot of games in my career. The question is I haven’t won here,” says Dennis Green, who made the playoffs eight of his 10 seasons in Minnesota, but is 12-24 in Arizona.
St. Louis (3-1) at Green Bay (1-3)
The Rams could be 4-0 if they’d managed to beat the 49ers. But they’ve beaten weaklings and need this one because next week they start a five-game stretch that includes Seattle twice, San Diego, Kansas City and Carolina.
Brett Favre, who has started 245 straight games for Green Bay, expects to start despite suffering what might have been a slight concussion in the 31-9 loss in Philadelphia Monday night.
Cleveland (1-3) at Carolina (2-2)
This should be another step in the healing process for the Panthers, who started 0-2 but held off the Saints 21-18 last week to get back within a game of the lead in the NFC South.
Detroit (0-4) at Minnesota (2-2)
The Lions might be due here. Minnesota (19, 16, 16 and 12 points) doesn’t exactly light up the scoreboard, although it might find points against a team that’s surrendered 115 in four games.
Oakland (0-3) at San Francisco (1-3)
For Bay Area “bragging” rights?
Baltimore (4-0) at Denver (2-1) (Monday)
McNair has led the Ravens to two straight wins with late drives, something rare in the team’s 11-season, quarterback-challenged history. As alway, the real strength is a defense allowing a league-low 8.3 points a game.
“The Ravens don’t put up a lot of points, but he wins games,” Denver cornerback Champ Bailey says of McNair.
Denver is fortunate to have that kind of defense because Jake Plummer has started slowly, although he had two long TD passes to Javon Walker in the 17-7 win over New England that preceded its bye week.