The Red Zone Lounge

Posts Tagged ‘AFC North’

The Cincinnati Bengals and former Dallas Cowboy Roy Williams, the free safety not the receiver, have agreed to terms to add to their rebuilding efforts.  Williams was released following the 2008 season by the Cowboys and will now join up with a familiar face.  Mike Zimmer, Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator, used to coach Williams while they were both in Dallas.  During that time, Williams had some of the best numbers of his career.

The terms of the deal aren’t yet known.  What is known is he will really add experience and talent to a struggling team looking for redemption.

The good news for the Philadelphia Eagles is their sensational runningback didn’t seriously injury his ankle in Sunday’s game.  The bad news is he will be day-to-day and is questionable for next week’s game.  The Eagles cannot afford to lose one of their star offensive players this early in the season, or at all for that matter.  They hope to have him ready to go for this weekend.

“I’m sure it’ll be a race to get him ready for Sunday,” coach Andy Reid. “We’ll see how he does. I think we can manage it.”

The injury came during the second quarter of their week 3 game against the steelers.  Westbrook hurdled a teammate while making a 2-yard run and landed on his ankle wrong.  He was able to walk to the locker room unassisted but left the stadium via crutches.  His MRI showed no torn ligaments, a sign that he could return very quickly.

Westbrook is a very potent part of this Eagles explosive offense.  Already this season he has made it in the endzone 5 times over 161 yards and 46 more from receptions.  In case Westbrook cannot play, the Eagles will subsitute with Correll Buckhalter, who took over against the Steelers and had a 20-yard touchdown catch and run, in which he hurdled over a defender to land in the endzone.

Lorenzo Booker, their other back, would see more time as well.  He is very elusive in the open field and could be a big problem for defenses while making due without Westbrook.

The Eagles play the Bears Sunday night.

When your team goes 0-3 on the season, some changes definitely need to be made, and fast.  The Cleveland Browns are that 0-3 team and head coach Romeo Crennel is threatening some changes.  The decisions have yet to be made, but a possible change at quarterback looms near.  Would the Browns really bench Derek Anderson?

Crennel would not commit to an answer but they did say they would have the backup, Brady Quinn, ready to go.  They will go over the situation very closely but it isn’t impossible that Quinn could start next week against the Cincinnati Bengals.

“I think we have to look at all positions,” said Crennel. “I think we’ll definitely try to get the other guy ready to go, and we’ll see how he progresses from there.”

This won’t be an easy decision.  Up until now, Anderson has been getting all the reps in practice.  Now, Quinn will get some of those reps but that doesn’t mean he is a for sure change.  The Browns believed Anderson was their best chance to win all throughout the Sunday’s game against the Ravens by not pulling him.  Anderson was 14/37 for 125 yards and a touchdown on Sunday but wasn’t enough to come out on top.  He has only completed 45.8 percent of his pass attempts this season.  They definitely need to change something, but is Brady Quinn the answer?

The Ravens fragile quarterback situation took another hit Wednesday, when Kyle Boller was moved to injured reserve.  He will be out for season with his sholder injury he suffered during the teams’ second preseason game against the Vikings.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh commented on his quarterback’s dilema.  “He has either one of two injuries, either the torn labrum or he’s got, I don’t know the mediacl term, but there’s a connection in the biceps to the shoulder that might be a problem.  The torn labrum has not responded to the medication, and the other injury is a season ender.  He’s done.”

Boller was drafted by the Ravens in the 2003 NFL Draft and is entering the sixth and final year of his contract, and is nervous as to whether or not the Ravens will resign him now they may have their new era behind Joe Flacco.  The Ravens have selected to start Flacco due to injuries to both Boller and Troy Smith.  With Boller out for season and Smith not fully healed, the Ravens signed veteran Todd Bouman to back up Flacco.

Flacco will show what he can do in the season opener this Sunday against Cincinnati, and hopefully will not crack under the pressure of starting in his rookie year.

Joe Flacco will get his rookie start in 2008.  The Baltimore Ravens have named Flacco the starting quarterback for the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday.  A major deciding factor in the weight being dropped on his shoulders is because he is the only Ravens’ quarterback that can carry the load at this point.

Troy Smith is still under the weather from infected tonsils and Kyle Boller the former likely starter, out with a sore shoulder that may need surgery.  Because of the struggles in the position on their depth chart, the Ravens have begun looking for help from veterans Chris Simms, Joey Harrington and Todd Bouman.

Flacco, the so called “quarterback of the future” for Baltimore, is now in the same shoes as Matt Ryan, both are rookies from the 2008 NFL Draft and are starting in their first season.  When a rookie, especially in the quarterback position, starts their first season in the NFL one of two things can happen.  Either you get an outcome of a 5 star field general such as Peyton Manning, or you can get someone who hasn’t really flourished and bounces around like a David Carr.

We will see what happens as week 1 of the regular season kicks off this weekend, and let’s hope they can pull off a victory for their struggling teams under rehabilitation from disappointing efforts last season.

Derek Anderson, standout quarterback for the up and coming Cleveland Browns, had to leave his teams second preseason game during the second quarter.  During that Monday Night Football game, Anderson was sacked by Giants superstar Osi Umenyiora.  He was able to walk off the field and went to get further examination in the team’s locker room.

Anderson was able to go 4 – 10 for 20 yards.  He was replaced by Brady Quinn.  Let’s hope for Cleveland’s sake, that Anderson can heal quickly if he does in fact have a concussion, or the hopes of the Browns of having the same run as last season if not better.

With their star running back, Willis McGahee, out for a few weeks after getting surgery of his knee, the Ravens have pulled in veteran fullback Lorenzo Neal.  Neal, four-time Pro Bowler, was released by the San Diego Chargers in February.  Neal will add some talent and experience to the Baltimore backfield.

Neal, 37, is hooking back up with offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, who was part of the explosive Chargers offense from ’03-’06.  During Neal’s 15 year career he has played for six other teams, and for 11 consecutive seasons he led 1,000-yard running backs.  He was added to the Ravens following the release of 2005 fifth-round draft pick Justin Green who was a fullback for Baltimore.

Having Neal in the backfield will allow Le’Ron McClain, current fullback, to play at tailback while McGahee is out in recovery.  McGahee’s surgery was earlier this week but is expected to miss the rest of the preseason.  Expect McClain to take the bulk of the load until he returns.

Charlie Batch, backup quarterback to Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers was injured during their preseason opener agains the Philadelphia Eagles.  His injury, a broken right collar bone, happened during a play, around the middle of the second quarter of that game. 

After running back Mewelde Moore did not take the hand off of that play, Batch scrambled off to the left six yards and lowered his shoulder as he was hit causing the injury.  He’s expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks and head coach Mike Tomlin has said they will replace him, probably as soon as Saturday with a veteran.  The Steelers won that game 16-10.

Pittsburgh Steelers Website

Cleveland Brown Website