Seahawks face challenge in Brandon Jacobs
RENTON, Wash. -- Lofa Tatupu was trying to remember the game plan from two years ago when the Seattle Seahawks last faced the New York Giants.
Tiki Barber? Now working in television. Jeremy Shockey? Playing in New Orleans. Plaxico Burress? A suspended spectator this week.
"I can't believe all of them are gone," Tatupu said, while noting Burress will be back in a week. "It's almost tougher. You don't know which way they're going to go."
Enter burly Giants running back Brandon Jacobs.
Seattle's run defense has held its own, slowing down San Francisco's Frank Gore and St. Louis' Steven Jackson. Now comes the Seahawks' biggest challenge -- the 6-foot-4, 264-pound bulldozer that is Jacobs, the Giants' leading rusher.
"It's a lot of mass coming downhill," Tatupu said.
Seattle's defense has rebounded nicely, slowing down some marquee backs since the season opener at Buffalo when Marshawn Lynch averaged more than four yards per carry.
Gore, who put together a pair of huge games against the Seahawks two seasons ago, was limited to just 61 yards on 19 carries. The problem for Seattle was J.T. O'Sullivan throwing for 321 yards in the 49ers' 33-30 overtime win.
Then, before the bye week, came Seattle's best performance. Jackson was held to just 66 yards on 23 carries, his longest gain a mere eight yards. Much of that was due to Seattle's Leroy Hill, who finished with 11 tackles that day.
The key for the Seahawks was keeping the offensive linemen from getting to the linebackers and allowing Tatupu, Hill and Julian Peterson to plug holes and make stops. Now comes a Giants' offensive line that both Tatupu and Hill note is very good at pushing the defensive line off and getting to the linebackers in a hurry.
"It's going to take good (defensive) line play and (the linebackers) coming downhill, using our hands and coming off blocks," Hill said. "Instead of meeting backs in the hole, we're going to meet (offensive) linemen and have to get to the backs."
The importance of Jacobs was amplified when Giants' coach Tom Coughlin announced that Burress would be suspended for Sunday's game, taking away Eli Manning's favorite target. But Jacobs came up big last year in games where Burress was mostly a non-factor. Three times when Burress was held to three catches or less, Jacobs came through with 100-yard rushing performances.
"You would say you just expect them to pound the ball, but when you've got a quarterback like Eli that's playing the way Eli is now you don't want to take the ball out of his hands too much unless Jacobs is really going good," Tatupu said. "I expect a good balance of run and pass and just see what way they feel like going the first couple of series."
While Jacobs will be the one carrying the load for the Giants, Seattle's defense must also be aware of Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw, both of whom will spell Jacobs when he needs a break.
"We've got a task ahead of us," Tatupu said. "It's not going to be easy."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Holt tries to put distractions aside
ST. LOUIS -- With "madness" swirling at Rams Park, receiver Torry Holt is trying to put aside the turbulence after the team's 0-3 start.
Holt and other players were shocked this week when coach Scott Linehan benched quarterback Marc Bulger and made 38-year-old Trent Green the starter. In another move, Linehan cut veteran cornerback Fakir Brown.
Holt says his focus is on trying to beat undefeated Buffalo (3-0). The Rams host the Bills on Sunday. But he and teammates are still getting over Bulger's demotion.
"I was shocked, man, I was really shocked," Holt said. "I went up to Marc immediately and apologized to him as a receiver and for our receiver group and the offense for not making enough plays to give him an opportunity to stay on the football field with us."
Running back Steven Jackson declined to discuss the issue Friday. But on his local radio show Thursday night, Jackson said he didn't like the decision to bench Bulger, and said others in the locker room agreed with him.
Linehan said he will meet with Jackson to discuss those comments before Sunday's game.
"I haven't talked to him about it but I will," Linehan said. "No comment on it. Again, we're in this together and we're trying to find solutions to what has not been a good start to the season with our record. To sit here and not make some decisions, which are hard decisions for a head coach, I would not be doing my job. I will take at some point soon time talk to Steven about it. I have no comment further."
Bulger has not spoken to reporters since the decision. Jackson said on the radio program that Bulger doesn't want to play for Linehan. The coach said he does not believe that is the case.
"He's never given me any indication. I know he's disappointed with my decision," Linehan said. "He's practiced well this week and worked hard."
Holt said he's relieved to have a game to play after a tumultuous week.
"It gives us a platform to escape all this madness," he said. "You can get away from everything that's going on and actually go out and play a game that we've always loved to play since we were youngsters."
For all the distractions, Linehan loosened up this week's practices. The amount of plays were cut in half, Holt said.
"Coach did a good job of lightening things up for us and keeping us fresh to allow us to go out on Sunday and play at a Max Q level for four quarters," Holt said.
Linehan said, "I think it's a very focused team going into this game, very determined, and maybe I'm crazy, but very confident."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Peterson limited in practice, game-time decision
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Star running back Adrian Peterson returned to practice Friday with the Minnesota Vikings, but he was limited in his work and remained questionable for Sunday's game because of a hamstring injury.
Coach Brad Childress said he would wait until shortly before the game against Carolina to decide whether Peterson, who leads the NFL with 263 yards rushing, will participate. He'll be treating the muscle extensively over the next two days.
If Peterson can't go, Chester Taylor -- a 1,200-yard rusher in 2006 -- will take his place in the backfield. Either way, Taylor could assume a larger role against the Panthers. He has been returning kickoffs, too, and is sixth in the league with a 28.5-yard average.
Minnesota's 0-2 start has created some urgency to this week, and benching quarterback Tarvaris Jackson for veteran Gus Frerotte had some desperate overtones. Childress, though, has to be even more careful about pushing Peterson too hard for the sake of a quick fix.
Peterson, who missed 2½ games due to a sprained knee in 2007, said he plans to play but must convince the trainers and coaches he's not risking aggravation -- and developing a problem that lingers for weeks -- by not being at full strength.
"Sometimes you have to protect the player from himself and err on the side of caution, and sometimes you feel good about what you've seen," the coach said of last season's Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Childress said the Vikings are in a "good frame of mind" despite the uncertainty surrounding Peterson's status and the change in quarterback this week. He suggested lineup changes can yield an atmosphere of rallying around a player, rather than erode the rest of the team's confidence.
Wide receiver Sidney Rice was also limited in Friday's practice and is questionable for Sunday. He sprained his right knee last week.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
From DE to LB to part-time DB for Cowboys' Ellis
IRVING, Texas -- Having successfully made the conversion from defensive end to linebacker, Greg Ellis is now learning the finer points of yet another position: defensive back.
Seriously.
At 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, Ellis is not a conventional cover guy. And, in his 11th season, he's the first to admit he is a little old to be learning new tricks.
But when Dallas Cowboys coaches were deciding how to handle Kellen Winslow in the opener, they turned to him. The results were so good that Ellis might do it again Monday night against Philadelphia's L.J. Smith.
"Can you imagine me out there at corner?" Ellis said earlier this week, still bewildered even after playing in the secondary in Dallas' 28-10 victory over Cleveland. "It's like, `You look kind of funny out there.' That's how it felt, too -- funny. But it was for the team and I think it helped us get accomplished what we wanted to accomplish.
"When you look at Winslow, he didn't have that big day. Was (I) the reason he didn't have it? I don't know. But that's the technique the coaches chose to use and he didn't get off and have three touchdowns and 150 yards receiving, so it was a good move."
Winslow was limited to five catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. Ellis wasn't always on him -- for instance, not on the 2-yard TD -- but he did a good enough job when he was.
Ellis' main duty was to jam Winslow in the first 5 yards, where it's legal to hit him. That was the easy part for Ellis, who had a career-best 12½ sacks last season and has 69 in his career.
The strange part was sticking with Winslow after those 5 yards.
Ellis had no idea what to do. So, he started from scratch, asking the secondary coaches for tips and leaning on teammates, including newcomer Adam "Pacman" Jones. He also followed the advice he usually gives young pass rushers to pick someone they want to emulate, then watch all the film they can find. Ellis dug so deep into the video vault that he ended up studying "guys I didn't even know."
"They might be rookies, but they know a lot more about covering than I know," he said.
Ellis was mostly worried about chasing Winslow if he got free. So he focused on the proper techniques for jamming and rerouting a receiver, but also asked about the best way to try keeping up should he get beaten.
Ellis was still cramming during pregame warmups. He called over injured cornerback Terence Newman and said, "It looks like we're going through with this thing. Give me some last-minute pointers."
Newman pretended like he was a receiver and put Ellis to the test.
"I just looked at his footwork and gave him a run-through of what we do as cornerbacks," Newman said. "He had his feet wide. I just told him to know your feet and shuffle rather than just lunge and try to get him. ... I think he did pretty good, especially for me telling him (what to do) 45 minutes before the game started and he's going out and trying to do it."
Ellis was a defensive end the first eight years of his career, and a very good one. Then Bill Parcells switched the defense to a 3-4 and moved Ellis to linebacker.
Fearing he was being forced out, Ellis begged to be released or traded. Dallas wasn't about to do so and he wound up playing well until tearing his left Achilles' tendon.
Then came the 2007 draft and the Cowboys spent their top pick on an outside linebacker. Ellis' fears returned, only heightened because he was a year older and now considered damaged goods. Once again, Dallas kept him and he wound up having a great season, getting voted NFL Comeback Player of the Year and earning his first Pro Bowl trip.
Ellis began dabbling in coverage when he moved to linebacker, but it was pretty much picking up people in his vicinity or charging at running backs in the flat.
He did more coverage work in training camp this season than he did the previous two. He didn't think much of it, though, until the Wednesday before the opener, when coaches revealed the game plan.
"I was like, `Are you sure?" he said. "They were like, `He's yours. Stay with him."
Ellis didn't put up a fuss. Quite the opposite. He's finally realized that being called versatile is a lot better than being called a malcontent.
"You've got to embrace it or you've got to go," Ellis said. "I'm going to try to embrace it, enhance it, master it if I can."
And, best of all, joke about it.
"I'm going to change my number to look more like a cornerback," he said. "That 98 is not cornerback material."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
New Redskins present new problems for NY Giants
Despite having played Washington at least twice a year since 1970, the Super Bowl champion New York Giants are going to be playing somewhat of a guessing game against the Redskins in the kickoff game to the NFL season.
It's one of the advantages that Jim Zorn brings to the Redskins as their new coach.
Zorn installed the West Coast offense, hired two new coordinators and has been so vanilla in the preseason that the Giants are going to have be very flexible in the nationally televised game Thursday night at Giants Stadium.
"We haven't gone out to try and reinvent ourselves and all of a sudden come up with a magic potion," Zorn said. "We've been trying to work hard and prepare ourselves so we can battle."
The Giants aren't totally in the dark.
Zorn has been a quarterbacks' coach for 10 seasons with Detroit and Seattle, so New York has an idea what he likes to use. The West Coast offense isn't new either, but Zorn will have his own wrinkles.
"They didn't show all their cards in the preseason," Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce said. "They showed a little bit, but they are working on other things and probably game planning against us a little, just like we've been doing against them.
"After the first 15 plays we'll know what their game plan is and what their state of mind is," he added.
Zorn has kept the majority of running plays that Joe Gibbs had in his playbook, but he also has offered quarterback Jason Campbell more options.
"Before it was, This is what we are going to do no matter what they do. They have to stop us," Redskins halfback Clinton Portis said in describing Gibbs' offense.
More often than not, defenses stopped the Redskins, Portis said.
"We didn't have audibles before," Portis added. "Right now if we are in a bad play, we can get out of that play. Jason has the opportunity to put up the audibles and change things around and get us points. So I think everybody is just excited."
Offensively, the Giants might not have as much trouble against the Redskins defense. Greg Blache has replaced his old boss, Gregg Williams, as the Redskins' defensive coordinator. He is running a similar system that might be more player friendly.
Giants guard Chris Snee noted that Blache was the Redskins’ defensive line coach last season, so the technique that the Washington linemen use is not going to change.
"When you look at your personnel and your one-on-one matchups, that's what you use to base your tape study, so that won't be very different," Snee said.
The Giants offense also is a veteran unit.
Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning will lead the same 11 players on offense who took the field against the Patriots in February in the stunning 17-14 win. The one change this season is receiver Plaxico Burress, who had the winning reception in the title game, is healthy and looking to build on a career-best 12 touchdown receptions.
"The good thing is they are conscientious, our guys, they work hard, they are attentive," Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said. "They can solve most problems. It certainly is an uncomfortable position for me to be in because you just don't know what they are going to do."
The coaching change won't be the only reason the Giants are wary.
New York had to rally in the second half to win the first game in Washington, and then did little against the Redskins in a 22-10 loss in East Rutherford in December-the third of four straight losses at Giants Stadium to end the regular season.
"Every time we have played them it has always been a tight game," Manning said. "Last year, they jumped out to leads pretty early in the first half both times. We have to come out there and be smart with the ball, protect the ball and try to establish a running game. They are talented on their front four. They do a good job of getting a pass rush."
The Giants come into the season as somewhat overlooked defending champions.
A lot of people don't like their chances of repeating after the retirement of seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan; the season-ending knee injury to fellow Pro Bowl DE Osi Umenyiora; and the trade of former Pro Bowl tight end Jeremy Shockey to New Orleans.
Their current odds of repeating are 25-1, according to John Avello, director of race and sports operations at Wynn Las Vegas.
"There is not a lot of respect for this team out of the box," Avello, a New York native, Giants fan and oddsmaker for 21 years said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. "This is not your normal Super Bowl winner. Normally people are jacked up on the Super Bowl winner, looking at them to make another run, and that's not the feeling I am getting from the team and the customers that bet these games."
Most bettors wagering on whether the Giants will win more or less than nine games this season are taking the under, Avello said.
In addition to the Giants' personnel losses, many feel that everything aligned right for the team last season and that every club in the NFC East has improved, making their job that much more difficult, Avello said.
The last time a Super Bowl champion was this overlooked was Tampa Bay in 2003, he said. The Bucs went 7-9 and missed the playoffs.
"We love it, we love it," Pierce said with some deep sarcasm. "We ask for more. Honestly, it's not enough yet. Please add on."
Copyright 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Patriots defensive vets Junior Seau, Rodney Harrison face former Chargers team in AFC tilt
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- The last time Junior Seau played in an AFC championship game, his team was given little chance to beat the top seed.
In January 1995, the Steelers won their first playoff game in a rout, while the Chargers eked out a one-point victory that set up the matchup between those teams the following weekend.
"Sitting in my hotel room in Pittsburgh and hearing all the cheers and pep rallies that were going around and all the Super Bowl videos that were being taped, everything was against us," the Patriots linebacker said. "The yellow towels were flying around. It was definitely a time when we thought we were against the world."
But San Diego won 17-13 in Pittsburgh then went on to one of the toughest losses in Seau's 18-year career, a 49-26 rout by San Francisco in the Super Bowl.
Thirteen years later, the Chargers aren't given much of a chance against the perfect Patriots on Sunday, the day after Seau's 39th birthday.
But he knows expectations can fall short. Didn't the Patriots squander a 21-3 lead in last year's AFC title game and lose to Indianapolis, 38-34?
So Seau and safety Rodney Harrison, a rookie on that 1994 Chargers team, are working hard to avoid an upset that can stop New England's unbeaten season one game short of another Super Bowl appearance.
"I tell the young guys, 'Don't take anything for granted because at any point in time it can be over with, whether it's a season, whether it's a game, whether it's your career,"' the 35-year-old Harrison said Thursday. "I think I have a greater appreciation now that I'm older."
Seau sees many comparisons between this year's San Diego team and the one in 1994 -- the last two Chargers clubs to reach the AFC championship game.
"The major comparison is that they're confident," he said. "We look forward to moving on, growing every day to the day it comes we have to go out and perform."
Seau and Harrison will play against the Chargers as teammates for the first time in their long careers. Both missed last season's 24-21 upset playoff win at San Diego with injuries.
Sunday's game, then, should have some special emotions for them, especially since Seau is a native of San Diego.
Right?
"I try not to get too Oprah with it and know that it's just another game and know that I'm so happy for the city of San Diego, my hometown," he said, but "it's going to be a challenge of the game of football, nothing more."
Harrison, a fiery, hard-hitter like Seau, also prefers to show his emotions on the field.
"It's just special to be in the AFC Championship," Harrison said. "I don't know necessarily facing the Chargers makes it any more special."
The Patriots have spent the week building up the Chargers as the best team in the NFL since Thanksgiving. They were 5-5 before the holiday but 8-0 since then.
New England coach Bill Belichick likes to point out that his team has won fewer games in that stretch. But that's because they had a playoff bye and are 7-0 after Thanksgiving -- but 17-0 overall.
San Diego coach Norv Turner isn't surprised that Belichick fawned over the Chargers.
"Everyone knows that New England right now is playing the best football in the league and it's going to be a real challenge for us," Turner said.
Tom Brady's 50 touchdown passes and Randy Moss' 23 scoring catches are NFL single-season record. So are the 589 points the Patriots scored.
But the advanced age of their defense may be catching up. They allowed three scoring drives of at least 80 yards in last Saturday night's 31-20 playoff win over Jacksonville after giving up four touchdowns in a 38-35 win over the New York Giants in the regular-season finale.
The Chargers' defense is younger with a knack for creating turnovers. They led the NFL with 30 interceptions and 48 takeaways then added two interceptions and one fumble recovery in last Sunday's 28-24 playoff win at Indianapolis. All-Pro cornerback Antonio Cromartie's 10 interceptions led the league.
"It's remarkable the things we've done defensively," Turner said. "It seems like one guy tips (the ball) and it goes up in the air and one of our guys finds a way to get it."
The Patriots also have some pretty solid defensive players.
Seau had three interceptions and 3 1/2 sacks this season and Harrison ended Jacksonville's hopes with an interception with just under four minutes left. One more win, and the Patriots will have a shot at their fourth championship in seven years.
That's a long way from San Diego. Seau and Harrison left there after the 2002 season, when the Chargers lost their last four games to finish 8-8 and miss the playoffs for the seventh straight season.
"Whether you want to judge my play, whether you want to judge the morale or having the same people there lose and not making any strides forward," Seau said, "you have to look at that and say, `maybe it's time to change."
Harrison went straight to New England. Seau spent the next three seasons with Miami and is in his second with New England.
On Sunday, for the first time in 13 seasons, they'll play again as teammates in an AFC championship game.
"It's a lot of hype around this game and deservedly so, but, at the same time, it's a football game," Harrison said. "It doesn't matter what we've done in the past."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Alexander, 5 other Seahawks have operations; Kerney, Jones, Branch, Spencer next
KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) -- The end of the Seattle Seahawks' season was more painful than originally thought.
The team announced Thursday that Shaun Alexander had surgery this week to mend the left wrist the 2005 league MVP broke in Week 1. Five teammates also had procedures to repair injuries sustained during Seattle's run to its fourth consecutive NFC West title.
Defensive end Patrick Kerney and left tackle Walter Jones, both All-Pro players, plus leading receiver Deion Branch and starting center Chris Spencer are next up for surgery.
The Seahawks, who lost last weekend in the divisional playoffs at Green Bay, said that Kerney and Jones will have shoulder operations next week. Kerney showed no signs of shoulder problems while finishing second in the NFL with 14 1/2 sacks this season. Jones, who turns 34 on Saturday, had been selected to play in his seventh consecutive Pro Bowl next month. He took practice time off to rest throughout the season and is having his shoulder repaired for the second consecutive offseason.
Spencer will have shoulder surgery and reconstructive thumb surgery on Friday. Spencer, who just completed his first full season as the starter following the retirement of Robbie Tobeck, practiced the last few weeks of the season without snapping the ball much to preserve the thumb, but he did not miss a game.
Coach Mike Holmgren said earlier this week that Branch will have surgery "soon" to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Holmgren estimated Branch will miss at least nine months, meaning he likely will miss the 2008 season opener.
"While they can come back and play, sometimes it's longer than that before they're really going the way they can go," Holmgren said of Branch's injury, sustained away from the ball early in the loss to the Packers.
Dr. James Andrews will perform the procedure on the former Super Bowl MVP in Birmingham, Ala.
Alexander wore a cast and heard boos during his least productive season since he became the lead running back in 2001, but the Seahawks expect him to be fully healthy for next season. Alexander's last two seasons have been marred by a broken foot, the broken wrist and a sprained knee that caused him to miss three games in November.
"I think hurting his wrist this year really hurt him," Holmgren said. "Hearing some noises that usually are reserved for me, from the stands, may have affected him a little bit. He's human.
"He's got a couple years where he has gotten nicked up a little bit for the first time in his life. There's no reason to think he can't come back and be a very productive back next year."
Andrews performed arthroscopic knee surgery this week on backup offensive lineman Ray Willis. Also having procedures this week, all in Seattle: special-teams player Josh Scobey (broken left fibula), reserve offensive lineman Floyd Womack (right biceps), defensive lineman Baraka Atkins (left wrist) and linebacker Will Herring (arthroscopic surgery on his right knee).
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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