Colts LB Rob Morris is not having a good statistical season. His tackle numbers are down considerably, especially compared to his 2001 and 2002 seasons. But in Thursday's 41-9 win over the Lions, Morris had 7-0 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble…

DE Eric Ogbogu has been for the most part just a journeyman in his 7-year NFL career, but on Thanksgiving the Cowboys DE had the best game of his career. Ogbogu finished with 3.5 sacks plus 3-1 tackles in the Cowboys 21-7 win over the Bears…

Although the Bears offense stunk and their defense is waiting on the return of MLB Brian Urlacher, CB R.W. McQuarters made a big impact. McQuarters had 6-1 tackles and two interceptions. He returned one of his interceptions for a touchdown. It was the only time the Bears scored the entire game…

Chargers LB Donnie Edwards played well in Sunday's 34-31 win over Kansas City with 7-3 tackles. His biggest contribution, however, was his interception in the fourth quarter that led to the game-winning field goal…

Edwards is not having quite the same year he did in 2003 when he had 161 total tackles, but his numbers have still been impressive and he shows up for every game. Sunday was Edwards' 100th consecutive start…

Edwards played for the Chiefs for the first six years of his career before he was traded to San Diego. Edwards was the heart and soul for the once-feared Chiefs defense. He led the team in tackles four years in a row. The Chiefs defense went from being feared to mocked. You think they miss Edwards?…

Charger's CB Sammy Davis fractured his right leg in the second quarter and is feared out for the season. Drayton Florence replaced Davis. Davis has been somewhat of a disappointment anyway…

Titan's LB and star Keith Bullock led the team in tackles in Sunday's 31-21 loss to Houston, with 12-2 tackles while adding a sack, but it was a rookie that stood out…

Randy Starks, a rookie DT for Tennessee, is still only 20 years old, but he's making veteran plays. He had 4-0 tackles Sunday, but more importantly he had two sacks, defended a pass and blocked a field goal…

Another impressive rookie has been LB Landon Johnson for the Bengals. In Sunday's 58-48 shoot-out win over Cleveland, Johnson played well again with 4-4 tackles. The 6'2" 227lb LB has terrific speed, but he's also very smart. He actually graduated from Purdue before his senior season began…

Bengal CB Tory James intercepted another pass Sunday and has seven for the year and six in the last seven games. He leads the league…

Last week I wrote in this article that Peppers was having a nice year, despite the problems in Carolina on both sides of the ball. Well, on Sunday, in Carolina's 21-7 win over Tampa Bay, Peppers had another big game. This time he had 1-3 tackles and another sack, giving him nine for the year and seventh in the last four games. But it was Peppers' interception that was especially newsworthy…

For the first time in Peppers NFL career, he scored a touchdown. With the game tied at 7 in the third quarter, Peppers intercepted a Brian Griese pass and returned it 47 yards for the score. The outcome was a little better than earlier this year when Peppers returned a pass in Denver for almost 100 yards before literally tripping over his own feet at the three-yard line. Peppers blamed it on the mile-high altitude…

Pittsburgh linebackers Joey Porter, James Farrior and Clark Haggans combined for five sacks in their 16-7 win over the Redskins. They also added 11-4 tackles as a group…

Steeler corner Deshea Townsend is having a Pro-Bowl season. He had 3-1 tackles and an interception Sunday. That makes four interceptions on the year to go with four sacks…

Skins LB Marcus Washington had 9-1 tackles and a pair of sacks. He also saved a touchdown when he chased down Antwaan Randle El on a punt return…

The Giants defensive ends can't seem to catch a break. First, they lost Michael Strahan and Keith Washington to season-ending injuries. Chuck Wiley, who was just signed three weeks ago, tore ligaments in the second quarter Sunday and was placed on IR. They also officially lost Lorenzo Bromell, who was recently reactivated after offseason knee surgery. With his knee continuing to swell, it seems likely that Bromell will also be placed on IR…

Jacksonville was trailing Minnesota 20-16 with only a couple of minutes left in the game. Byron Leftwich had led the team on nearly a 60-yard drive into the redzone. On a third-down play came the defining moment of the game…

As Byron Leftwich went back to pass and scrambled right, rookie DE Kenechi Udeze swiped at his arm. As Jim Souhan of the Minnesota Star Tribune wrote, "The ball bounced like a large bratwurst falling off a grill, and Kevin Williams grabbed it like a man who had missed lunch." DT Kevin Williams then ran 77 yards for the score and back-breaker for Jacksonville…

Souhan went on, "Williams rumbled 77 yards, thighs chafing and lungs burning, for the touchdown. It might have been the 10 best minutes of his life, and it gave an observer time to produce these opinions, after disassembling and reassembling his watch and translating "War and Peace" into Yiddish"…

Williams added 2-1 tackles and his seventh sack of the year…

Former number one draft pick Viking DT Chris Hovan was deactivated for the first time in his career. I think I actually labeled him as a sleeper in a FBG article in the preseason. Looks like I not only was wrong, but he has become a huge bust…

As the DT discussion moves on, Atlanta Falcon DT Rod Coleman continues his large impact on the team defense. In Sunday's 24-21 win over the Saints, Coleman had 3-3 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. He now has eight sacks in only eight games played…

It looks like Jets LB Jonathan Vilma will be playing in the middle of their defense for a long, long time. With 5-3 tackles and an interception Sunday, Vilma has shown a nose for the ball and incredible field awareness. He has averaged nearly nine total tackles per game over the last five games…

My theme for the week seems to be DT's, which also happens to be one of the least concerns of most IDP owners, often for good reason in that DT's seem to all put up about the same numbers year to year. But the guys I've discussed above, like Rod Coleman, Kevin Williams and Randy Starks, can make a difference in FF…

Another DT I continue to really like is Darnell Dockett of the Arizona Cardinals. While he's not getting dominant tackle or sack numbers, he has the quickness and strength to be a longtime contributor to IDP owners, especially in the sack department. In Sunday's game, Dockett had 3-0 tackles and a sack. I predict Dockett becomes a ten-sack player by his third year at the latest…

With Dolphin LB Zach Thomas out with a hamstring injury, rookie Derrick Pope stepped in. Pope had 5-0 tackles and a sack in Sunday's 24-17 win over the 49ers. Thomas actually started the game but left early on. Pope capped off the game with a one-yard fumble return for a touchdown…

But the big numbers for the game belonged to Dolphin DE Jason Taylor. Taylor had 3-2 tackles, a forced fumble and three sacks…

Prior to Sunday, Taylor had had a disappointing season. Taylor has averaged over 13.5 sacks over the course of the last four seasons, but prior to Sunday Taylor had only 4.5 sacks…

LB Derek Smith had a nice game for San Francisco, which should come as a surprise to no one. Smith had 5-4 tackles and a sack. What should come as a surprise, however, is that Smith scored his first career touchdown after recovering a fumble and returning it 46-yards for the score…

Smith was escorted by what seemed to be a convoy of teammates as he went unscathed into the endzone…

Packers DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila had another sack in Sunday's 45-17 victory over the Rams. That makes four consecutive games in which Gbaja-Biamila has registered a sack. He now has seven and a half for the year…

After a torrid start, Packer LB Nick Barnett has simply not been very effective the last six weeks or so. Barnett had three double-digit tackles in the first five games, but has been unable to get more than six tackles in any of the last six. He still is having problems with play-action fakes and sometimes he overruns plays and loses track of assignments…

I actually labeled Barnett a bust in my preseason article, much to the disagreement from some of the more rabid readers. While he might not have been a bust in the classical terms, Barnett has certainly begun to worry some IDP owners and he has not been playing like a #1 LB…

Until next week…

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