Random Shots

Terrell Owens screaming at offensive coordinator Greg Knapp made me think of the Godfather line when Michael has to confront his brother after the Moe Green incident: "Fredo, you're my older brother and I love you, but don't ever take sides with anyone against the family again. Ever". Note to Owens, if Dennis Erickson arranges a fishing trip in a small boat on a secluded lake for you and Tony Siragusa, don't go...

Where in the world has Sterling Sharpe gone? I think I may have been wrong in my initial assessment that Michael Irvin isn't terrible.

Cubs and Red Sox in the post season? If I'm a Bengals or Lions fan, I have to like that.

I will not be surprised at all one day when I get to Heaven and God sounds just like NFL Film's John Facenda...

Here's how David Boston's week has been going: He made a statement to reporters Tuesday regarding his suspension as he apologized for letting his team down. He ignored followup questions from reporters and walked away from the podium to enter the back door of the Chargers' facility. The door was locked...

The new Soldier Field in Chicago has a sledding hill outside. That's pretty cool.

Minnesota QB Gus Frerotte was great on ESPN's Monday Countdown show. Wrapping up the interview, he said, "I appreciate you guys having me on. It's been a while". No disrespect meant to the Bengals, but I bet he's pretty happy throwing TDs to Randy Moss.

Speaking of Frerotte, his full name is Gustave Joseph Frerotte. Now that's a good name.

More on Terrell Owens: If I had Dennis Erickson's job, I'd have gone Schottenheimer on Owens and sat him down. For a while. Maybe a long while. I don't know why but I've always sort of thought of Erickson as Barry Switzer without the college success. That can't be good, can it?

ESPN's Chris Mortensen hit the nail on the head - Owens has become Leon in Budweiser's "True" commercials.

Here's another interesting thought to chew on. Terrell Owens yells at Knapp and he's labeled the world's biggest crybaby. Rich Gannon yells at Marc Trestman and Gannon is a "fierce competitor". That's as far as I'm going there.

One last thing, I thought Tom Jackson was going to smack Michael Irvin on the set when Irvin started talking about how you shouldn't yell at your quarterback or your head coach, but the offensive coordinator was fair game. And I don't care how old he is, I want no part of Tom Jackson...

Speaking of former Bronco linebackers, looks like Oakland's Bill Romanowski might be close to hanging it up. After 243 consecutive games, he was unable to play Sunday. He's apparently been playing with a concussion. I know he's strongly disliked by many but the hate heaped upon the guy by some fans is a little much for me.

Are Tim Brown and Jerry Rice still so fast that the Chargers corners had to give them a nine yard cushion on that last drive? Good grief.

I think I'm with Tom Jackson when talking about the new Soldier Field said, "I think they should have taken some of that 600 million dollars and spent it on the team..."

NFL Head Coaches repeat after me: Don't kick the ball to Dante Hall. It's really not that hard. Hall's had 7 TDs in his last 9 games. His average TD is 82 yards. That's sick.

I bet Jerry Jones is happy.

Sorry if this report is a little late. Couldn't pull myself away from ESPN's Playmakers Tuesday night... That's a joke.

Did you see Daunte Culpepper walking into the stadium before the game? Note to Daunte, Huggy Bear called and wants his jacket back...

Watching those old NFL Films of games back from the sixties, the only thing more striking than how slow the old guys were is the fact that more players and refs weren't killed with those goal posts in the endzones. That was insane.

Good quote from Charger running back LaDainian Tomlinson on David Boston's return: "I don't need an apology from him; just play football. I don't think David Boston is a concern for us. Getting a win is a real concern, to be honest. I kind of said, 'What's up, man? Nice to have you back.' That's about it."

Can the Rams issue some sort of injunction that would bar Mrs. Warner from talking to the media?

Must have been fun for golfer Ben Curtis to be an honorary captain and part of the coin toss: "I've always been a Cleveland Browns fan, so it was pretty cool," Curtis said. "When I was down there, I felt like a midget."

I try to be a fair guy and give credit where it's due. Monday Night Football's Lisa Guerrero was much better. Maybe it was the leather jacket.

Much hyped rookie Tony Hollings didn't dress for last week's game. Evidently, they don't allow one to show up on the injury report as suffering from "fumblitis". For rookies, that can be a serious injury. For rookies playing for the Texans' Dom Capers, it can be fatal.

Rush Limbaugh created quite the controversy suggesting that Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb was over rated and that the "media" had an interest in seeing black quarterbacks and coaches succeed. Everyone has an opinion on whether that was a smart thing to say or not. I won't attempt to go there. But for outrageous comments, his McNabb thing doesn't hold a candle to Limbaugh throwing out the nugget that Tampa Bay can be passed on all day long...

Most impactful coach of the year so far? I think it's George O'Leary, defensive coordinator of the Vikings. Suddenly, this becomes a very strong team with a defense. Their secondary has been a joke for quite some time. Minnesota looked good against a faltering Favre and then beat up on Detroit and Chicago. I didn't believe until last week when they shut down San Francisco but I'm on board now.

Fox's Tim Ryan said last week that Lamar Gordon had put up some "phat" numbers. He just shouldn't say things like that.

Arizona had the ball for 17 1/2 of the 60 minutes of play Sunday.

Jeff Fisher and Bill Cowher had nearly matching shirts for the game Sunday. They did not look like twins though.

Sales of Rolaids are up in Washington. The Redskins have had four consecutive games decided by 3 points or less.

I don't really "get" the Lays commercial with the girl talking non stop about her football knowledge. Am I supposed to like her? If so, I'd say the ad agency missed the mark on that one.

Somebody in New England please get Tom Brady to mess his hair up a little and take a new photo http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/187741

Looking forward to week 5 as there are lots of interesting "homecoming" type games. Seattle at Green Bay, Detroit at San Francisco, Arizona at Dallas and Indianapolis at Tampa Bay. That should be fun.

No way am I backing Terrell Owens, but some of the Minnesota - San Francisco debacle does fall on the coaching staff. When you're put in the position of 49er Rashad Holman covering Randy Moss one on one, that is just asking for trouble.

Jeff Garcia posted a QB rating of 15.1 for the first half. Gus Frerotte posted a 155.2 rating for the first half. That's got to be some sort of record for one QB to post a rating ten times better than his opponent.

Jason Hanson's missed extra point ended a streak of 119. There ought to be some sort of designator there when it's a bad snap.

Between Troy Aikman and Cris Collinsworth, there's almost always one or two good barbs thrown. Aikman won this week's matchup as they were covering the Viking game while Gus Frerotte put on a passing clinic. Aikman said to Collinsworth, "And Frerotte couldn't start for your Bengals..." Nice.

Sorry, can't get off Terrell Owens here. Owens said something in his post game comments (where according to Chris Mortensen, he disregarded the team's request that he not speak to the media) about how nobody could question how hard he played. I guess he figures nobody was watching him short arm that long pass down the right sideline later in the game. Yes, the contest was over and the game was out of reach. But don't make comments like that when the whole world watches you do something different.

The 49ers have not been shut out since the Jimmy Carter administration. Good grief.

First it was Travis Henry, now Stacey Mack. Note to coaches, running backs are usually best at running at catching the ball. Throwing? Not so much.

The featured picture on the Jets official website sort of sums things up http://www.newyorkjets.com/index2new.php Not a lot of smiles.

Brett Favre has more career passing yardage against just Chicago than 12 of the starting QBs in the league have in their career against all the teams.

I was surprised at the number of people who said they would have kicked the field goal in Houston and tied the game. I've seen way too many overtime games decided with a coin flip where your offense never sees the field. This was a no brainer to me. Watching the game, I think commentator Steve Tasker would have kicked it on first down. No way. With a young team like that, the message Capers would have sent his team would have been devastating. "Thanks fellas, but we don't have enough faith in you to punch it in from the 18 inch line." I'm sick of coaches playing not to lose and that's exactly what a field goal would have been there.

Speaking of the Houston game, good thing Jim Fassel isn't coaching the Texans. He'd have kicked the field goal to tie when it was 2nd and 2 with 20 seconds left...

I've been saying for a long time that I wonder how much of a competitor Aaron Brooks is. Anyone else bothered by him yucking it up and laughing on the sidelines while his team was being destroyed? I believe I'd almost take a Terrell Owens tirade over a guy that can laugh while his team is having its head handed to them.

Titans Strong Safety Tank Williams has his entire name on his jersey. (thanks to rookie Todd Williams) I guess if you're going to have your whole name, might as well make it a good one.

Atlanta's Michael Vick reportedly has found a new treatment that's doing wonders for his rehabilitation. It's called Active Release Therapy and is very popular among some trainers. Daunte Culpepper's found some extremely effective treatment as well. It's called Gus Frerotte.

Fox's Joe Buck made this comment Sunday, "Did you guys see that baseball score scroll by or am I the only one that cares?". I think you're pretty much the only one, Joe... (that'll certainly fill my mailbox there)

If the Vikings keep this up, they'll need to recruit Louis Armstrong for the job of blowing that battle horn thing they have.

As if it wasn't enough the Redskins used those throwback uniforms last year with the Florida Seminole helmets, now Steve Spurrier's best player is former FSU wide receiver, Laveranues Coles. I doubt he's complaining though.

Is there a cheesier logo in the league than the Raven's "family crest" thing they use at midfield?

Chicago's Anthony Thomas finished with 110 yards on just 13 carries. If you counted the 60 yard TD run that was called back, it would have been even scarier...

Houston fans are very enthusiastic and that's cool. But you could tell it'd been a while since they've had football in town. As the Texans were about to score and win the game, the crowd was deafening. David Carr had to ask them to bring it down so his players could hear the snap.

Is it just me or is Carolina's Jake Delhomme looking almost too confident? It looked like he winked at the camera a couple of times just for fun. Is it a bad thing that I noticed that?...

Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock says the reason the Raiders are struggling is they just don't care. "Jerry's going bald but he won't accept it. He's wearing some sort of cornrow dreadlock combination that makes him look like a balding chia pet. If Jerry's teammates cared about him... Lincoln Kennedy would wrap Jerry in a headlock while Charlie Garner chopped that mess off Jerry's dome".

"We have talent equal to or better than anything out there.'' - Jets Owner, Woody Johnson. With all due respect, Mr. Johnson, I think the quote should read, "We HAD talent equal to or better than anything out there.'' Between an injury to Pennington and Free Agency, the reality is that the Jets just don't have the players.

I had a hard time getting my mind to accept that it was Richie Anderson wearing a Cowboys uniform rushing the ball in Giants Stadium...

I got on to Chris Myers for being a sideline reporter last week. He does an outstanding job though. That may be a demotion for him but he's excellent.

I don't get nearly as much "what are you smoking to think Jake Plummer is anything other than a washed up, never was, no talent quarterback" email as I used to. Don't worry, there's no shortage of mail. I got plenty over having Jeff Garcia highly ranked last week...

I love the baseball playoffs. Seriously. It means we're just about done with those football games where they try to put 2nd base where God intended the 50 yard line to go...

Surely someone makes shoes for kickers that don't look like ballet slippers, don't they? C'mon.

Rich Gannon looks like he may have found that fountain of youth and turned back the clock. The only problem is he went too far and turned it back to 1997...

Folks, Steve McNair completed 15 of his 16 passes. I'll take a 94% completion rate any day. Not bad for a guy who was shaking hands with his left hand on Saturday.

Congrats to Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis on the win. Lewis seems to me like a guy that will savor the win for about 15 seconds...

Does Terry Bradshaw have enough hair left for James Brown to call him the "Blonde Bomber". I'm just asking.

Good sportsmanship on the Raiders at the end of regulation Sunday. As time was ticking down, San Diego tried to spike the ball and stop the clock with 1 second left so they could try the field goal to win. They didn't make it but it was no fault of Oakland's. The Raiders moved to the line almost as quickly as the Chargers did when it would have been very easy for them to take their time. I thought that was kind of cool.

Joe's innovation of the future: Heart rate monitors for players with the data visible on your TV. I bet some of those kickers are off the charts before a big field goal. Even better would be to see the coach's blood pressure. Andy Reid would scare you.

The Rams have to be pleased with Lamar Gordon.

Did it sound weird for any of you old timers to hear "The Cardinals at St. Louis"?

I don't understand the fixation with ice on the set of ESPN's Prime Time.

Hard Luck Awards. Last year, I called these the Corey Dillon Awards as it seemed like he just couldn't catch a break. Let's give it a week or two and we'll see who earns the honor this year. I also list the guy(s) that did score in parenthesis so you can see if you lucked out. Always good ammunition for rubbing it in. Not that we'd ever advocate that...

MIN QB G. Frerotte 19 yard TD to WR R. Moss nullified by penalty (Frerotte to Burleson TD)
CIN QB J. Kitna 2 yard pass to WR P. Warrick to the 3 (Kitna to Johnson TD)
CIN FB J. Johnson rush for no gain to the 1 (Kitna to Kelly TD)
CLE QB T. Couch 59 yard TD to WR K. Johnson nullified by penalty (Couch to White TD)
TEN RB E. George rush for no gain to the 1 (McNair to Kinney TD)
BAL RB J. Lewis 1 yard TD nullified by penalty
BAL QB K. Boller 5 yard rush to the 1 and fumbled
BAL TE T. Heap recovers Boller's fumble for TD but nullified by penalty (Stover FG)
BAL RB C. Taylor 1 yard rush to the 2 (Lewis TD)
KC QB T. Green 15 yard pass to WR J. Dunn to the 3
KC RB P. Holmes 2 yard rush to the 1 (Green to Gonzalez TD)
DEN RB M. Anderson 4 yard rush to the 1
DEN RB M. Anderson rush for no gain to the 1 (Plummer to Sharpe TD)
CHI RB A. Thomas 60 yard TD nullified by penalty (Edinger FG)
CHI QB K. Stewart 18 yard pass to WR M. Booker to the 1 (Stewart TD)
HOU RB D. Davis rush for no gain to the 1 (Carr TD)
BUF RB J. Burns minus 2 yard rush from the 1 to the 3 (Bledsoe to Shaw TD)
BUF QB D. Bledsoe 7 yard pass to TE D. Moore to the 1 (Bledsoe TD)
OAK RB T. Wheatley 3 yard rush to the 2 (Gannon to Jolley TD)
SD RB L. Tomlinson 8 yard rush to the 3 (Neal TD)
CAR QB J. Delhomme 12 yard pass to WR S. Smith to the 1 (Davis TD)
CAR QB J. Delhomme 15 yard pass to WR M. Muhammad to the 1 (Delhomme to Proehl TD)

And for all you guys facing teams with Quincy Carter or Antonio Bryant: 13 yard pass from Carter to Bryant ruled incomplete. Play challenged and reversed for a TD.

Sometimes it's better to just not know

That'll do it for today, Folks. Here's to Football.

Joe

Joe Bryant is an owner of www.footballguys.com You can usually find him on Sunday afternoon staring at the Sunday Ticket broadcast muttering "this is so cool..."