When I am faced with a formidable decision my wife Beverly will usually ask me, “What does your gut tell you?” So with that in mind. here are my gut reactions to some of the goings on around the NFL.
Old Back Up QBs:
Three weeks ago the Steelers were set at quarterback with Big Ben. Byron Leftwich and the ageless Charlie Batch were just waiting in the wings. But Leftwich hadn’t had a start in three seasons and the last time Batch was hot Motown was still cranking out hits for your CD player!
This past Sunday I watched Eli Manning get back in stride against the Packers, but my gut told me if his backup David Carr has to play at some point, we will see a lot of that bitter beer face on Tom Coughlin.
Kickers:
It seems to me slumping kickers are a lot like slumping family members. You don’t want to kick your 30-year-old son out of the house, but hey. at some point you might have to put your foot down. Green Bay’s Mason Crosby has been a good kicker for five years and awful for this one season, during which he’s just 12 of 20. Papa Mike McCarthy can growl and frown, but my gut tells me he won’t throw him out in the cold before season’s end.
Return of the Runners:
My gut tells me, and the standings confirm, that every first-place team has a go-to runner or two!
New England: Stevan Ridley. Even with all that passing, he still has 939 yards
Baltimore: Ray Rice. 4th and 29. Need I say more?
Houston: Arian Foster. The end zone bow is a classic.
Denver: What you talkin’ bout Willis! After McGahee’s injury, Knowshon Moreno is getting another chance. Think he’ll be fired up Sunday if his Dawgs win on Saturday?
New York Giants: With Ahmad Bradshaw and Andre Brown tearing it up, first-round pick David Wilson was third string. He’ll need to step up now that Brown’s down with a broken leg.
Chicago: Matt Forte’s nursing an ankle injury, but next man up Michael Bush has shown he’s a capable fill-in
Atlanta: Turner’s still a bruiser though his numbers are down.
San Francisco: The quarterback back-and-forth gets the headlines, while Frank Gore does the heavy lifting.
Hitting
My gut tells me defensive players don’t know who, what, where, when or how to hit any more.
I understand the stance of the NFL what with concussions and lawsuits. But what is a tackler to do? The game is so fast, that even with guys trying to lower their targets, helmet-to-helmet happens. And hitting the ground isn’t much better. We’re lucky the rock-hard Astroturf fields are a thing of the past, but even those grass and FieldTurf surfaces will become hard as the temps fall in December.
When a defender tries taking down a 5’9” 220-pound runner with 4.4 speed at the level of those 30” thighs, guess who ends up with a headache? My gut tells me players don’t try to injure other players, they’re just trying to survive in a game that will always be brutal.
— James Lofton
Pro Football Hall of Famer James Lofton is the analyst for Westwood One’s coverage of Sunday Night Football. This week James and Dave Sims will be in Dallas the Cowboys host the Philadelphia Eagles. Coverage begins at 7:30 PM Eastern on Sunday.
