Nobody should be overly surprised that Al Davis has tabbed Tom Cable as the Raiders’ next coach. Cable has a background that is consistent with Davis’ choices.

For those who want to watch Al Davis conduct the press conference in which he has fired Lane Kiffin, there is a simple way to do it.

Tune in to NFL.com. It will stream the Raiders presser live at 5 ET.

The Bengals signed free agent RB Cedric Benson and placed RB DeDe Dorsey on the reserve/injured list, the team announced Tuesday.

Some things are so good they can’t be made up. This is one.

In the most ironic and fun factoid of the week, new Raiders head coach Tom Cable was a teammate and protected quarterback Scott Linehan at the University of Idaho in the 1980s.

Raiders offensive line coach Tom Cable has been chosen as the successor to Lane Kiffin, Oakland’s new head coach. The 43-year-old Cable is the Atlanta Falcons former offensive line coach.

The NFL never has experienced a week like this one before. This marks the first time since at least 1970 — and quite possibly a whole lot longer — that two head coaches have been fired before the fifth game of the season.

NFL.com senior writer Steve Wyche reports that new Rams coach Jim Haslett told reporters following Tuesday’s practice that Marc Bulger will be the team’s starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

So much for anyone’s theory that Lane Kiffin might survive. The Raiders have done what many expected they would do all along — they fired Kiffin. The team will hold a 5 p.m. ET press conference.

Now before anyone goes and has Lane Kiffin fired today, consider this.

There is a school of thought in the Raiders building that owner Al Davis will be keeping Kiffin and will use the press conference today to criticize the media for rumor mongering.

The Oakland Raiders will hold a “significant” news conference this afternoon, which currently is scheduled for 2 p.m. PT. Raiders owner Al Davis will be attending and speaking.

Heinz Field was littered with the remains of broken running backs on Monday night.

The Steelers were already down Willie Parker heading into their game against Baltimore, so losing Rashard Mendenhall for the season puts a serious dent into their backfield depth. The rookie fractured his left shoulder during the overtime win and was placed on injured reserve.

Let me say at the outset that what happened to Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier is horrifying, sickening, completely discouraging. My thoughts and prayers are with him. Nobody should ever have to endure what he is enduring now.

The Steelers beat the Ravens in overtime, but the victory proved costly. Coach Mike Tomlin said in his postgame press conference that guard Kendall Simmons and running back Rashard Mendenhall will be placed on injured reserve.

Ravens RB Willis McGahee missed most of the second half against Pittsburgh with a chest injury.

Amazingly, the Jets have carried only three running backs on their roster for the season’s first four games.

But that is about to change. The NFL reinstated running back Jesse Chatman, who was suspended the first four games of the season.