Of all the things that came out of the ugly loss on Sunday by the Ravens, it’s that they have some issues that need to be fixed. Ravens coach John Harbaugh was pretty blunt with how everything should be looked at after the Texans beat them down. And as DT Haloti Ngata told me about the defense, “Right now, we’re at the bottom.“ They’ve lost LB Ray Lewis, they’ve lost CB Lardarius Webb, Ed Reed has a torn labrum, and Ngata pointed out, “Today I was… I wasn’t 100 percent.” Duh. And so, Baltimore looked like the worst 5-2 team you can imagine. And yet… they are still in prime position. With the bye coming up, with some top-notch coaches, […]

We arrived in Houston last night for the Packers-Texans game, expecting to see a showcase of one of the NFL’s heavyweights. We did. Except, it wasn’t the Texans. QB Aaron Rodgers put on a show, a six touchdown masterpiece in a 42-24 beat-down of the Texans. All those offensive struggles, the inaccuracy from Rodgers, the up-and-down play? Not last night. Instead, it was the Texans shooting themselves in the foot. As for Rodgers, he put the team on his back. And, as I learned in the Packers locker room, it’s exactly what he told his team would happen. He wanted to be a leader, and he led. “It was time for our offense to make a statement,” center Jeff Saturday told […]

The Cowboys pulled out an ugly win yesterday over the Bucs, the kind of gritty, hard-fought battle that allows you to learn about yourself. For sure, they learned about their quarterback, though it’s something they already knew. Tony Romo is a tough dude. Yesterday, he was the symbol of toughness, rising again and again despite being brutalized by the Bucs defense. He was sacked and belted, hit helmet-to-helmet and flung to the ground. He kept getting up and was perfect in the fourth quarter despite all that. Teammates were impressed, and they took notice. “Some quarterbacks who take hits like that don’t want to go back,” Cowboys WR Dez Bryant said. “Not him.” The Cowboys fed off their quarterback. The […]