Hi Folks,

Here's what happens when you sit an NFL Junkie down in front of multiple
big screens with Sunday Ticket and fresh batteries in the remote.

Chicago cornerback R.W. McQuarters apparently felt challenging Randy Moss
with trash talking and physical play after the whistle would be the best
way to contain the Minnesota wide receiver. He was wrong.

Judging from my email box, the "Barrel Man" in Denver has lots of fans. I
told you last week he was asked what he wore under the barrel and he
replied, "Boots". You gotta like that. Not long ago, a Denver radio
station asked fans to guess what he wore. One of the better answers was "a
tube sock".

Is there a less appreciated WR in the league than Hines Ward? He doesn't
draw a lot of attention to himself but while Moss and Owens have guys like
Culpepper and McNabb throwing to them, Ward consistently produces whether
it's Tommy Maddox or Ben Roethlisberger.

New Orleans' Ki-Jana Carter may be the least experienced 31 year old
running back veteran in the league.

Jacksonville's Ernest Wilford caught a pass that was not a touchdown. Yes,
that's news.

It's kind of cool to see players like LaDainian Tomlinson, Daunte
Culpepper, and Tiki Barber all wearing nice suits to their post game press
conferences. These guys seem to "get it" that they're not just
representing themselves, but their team and even their city.

Speaking of representing your team, Baltimore coach Brian Billick made an
equally strong impression at his post game press conference talking about
how he miscalculated the 2 point conversion: "I started in college as an
engineering major but as you can see, I'm too g** d*** stupid to add, so I
transferred to journalism."

The NFL Network chose to air the uncensored comments from Billick's press
conference, and also picked the line as their "Quote of the Day" on the
Monday edition of "The Point After". As expected, the Tuesday edition of
the show didn't have Billick's comments and featured a pep talk line from
his locker room talk as the "Quote of the Day". I'd say there's a producer
looking for work this morning.

I understand the football field isn't church. See the quotes by Mike Tice,
Randy Moss, and Howard Mudd below. But there's a difference between an on
field discussion that's caught by a mic'd up player as opposed to standing
on a podium with the Baltimore Ravens backdrop behind you addressing the
media.

Props to Dr. Pepper. The 20 ounce plastic bottles are actually 21 ounces
and called "Extra Point Dr. Pepper". The bottle is even semi football
shaped and has laces down the middle.

"Scissor Watch" is now in effect in Houston. QB David Carr has vowed to
not cut his hair until the Texans win two games in a row, something the
Texans franchise have never accomplished, either in preseason or the
regular season.

Good News: After coughing up the ball four times in the first two games,
Houston running back Domanick Davis didn't fumble once on Sunday.

Bad News: Davis only gained 12 yards on 10 rushing attempts. Maybe he
ought to start fumbling again.

Making a splash: Kansas City wide receiver Chris Horn was activated from
the practice squad for Sunday's game and collected his first career
reception and touchdown. He looked pretty excited.

I can't confirm this rumor to be true, but I hear pretty reliably that
Peyton Manning's performance Sunday caused Colts' offensive coordinator
Tom Moore to smile.

Seattle running back Shaun Alexander was on his way to a Jerome
Bettis-like game. At halftime, he'd scored two rushing touchdowns on 9
carries for 4 yards.

I know plenty of people hate him, but Randy Moss gets a bad rap. He's no
choir boy, but he's matured as a player and more importantly as a leader.
If you pay attention to what he actually does and says, you'll see him
coaching as much as Mike Tice does.

In the Philadelphia game, tackle Adam Haayer replaced the injured Mike
Rosenthal. It was just Haayer's 6th game in his 4 year career. He entered
the game and Moss got right in his face: "Gotta move your feet, baby.
Gotta earn your money tonight". Later on the sideline, Moss told him,
"What they're doing is keeping Jevon Kearse fresh for the passing downs to
get to you. Just hold your own and stone his a** and we'll move down the
field and tie this b**** up."

You don't always expect a WR to be aware of how the defensive line is
scheming. Moss also is a spark for the more reserved Daunte Culpepper.
Moss pushed him on the sideline: "Pick a side and go to it Daunte. You
hear me? Lead us Daunte! C'mon!" Not to mention, handing the touchdown
ball to the guy in the wheel chair is just a nice move.

I like Mike Martz. I really do. And I'm not one to second guess coaches as
I think it's one of the toughest jobs in all of sports. I'm fine with the
squib kick at the end. It was a percentage play and armchair quarterbacks
across the country would be squalling if Michael Lewis had broken a return
on a normal kick. Out of the 11 kick returns Lewis has fielded so far this
year, he's already returned 2 of them for over 40 yards. As a point of
reference, Kansas City's Dante Hall has just 1 return of 40+ yards in 9
attempts. But I what I do have a tough time with is how you only rush the
ball 15 times against the 31st ranked rush defense.

Add Saints cornerback Fakhir Brown to the Footballguys All Name List.

Be careful what you wish for: Green Bay's defensive coordinator Bob Slowik
stated that the Packers were going to shut down the run and take their
chances with Peyton Manning in the passing game. Looking back, I'm not
sure that was the best game plan.

If you watched the Colts offense, you might have noticed how badly
offensive tackle Tarik Glenn struggled. He was called for three holding
penalties and it could have been a lot more. You can bet that opposing
coaches will take note.

ESPN's Stuart Scott did have a funny line on Monday Countdown. While the
camera showed Dallas owner Jerry Jones talking to Washington's Danny
Snyder, Scott said, "What do owners talk about? 'How many billion you
got?'"

Jacksonville is 3-0. They've scored 35 points over three games. Green Bay
scored 31 points Sunday and lost.

Packers' wide receiver Antonio Chatman bent his pinkie finger in a way I'm
pretty sure fingers aren't supposed to bend.

With Mark Brunell in the game Monday night, who would have thought the
best left handed pass of the evening would be thrown by Cowboy fullback
Richie Anderson?

So much for injured players taking a light workload in the game. Both
Edgerrin James and Priest Holmes were iffy during the week. James ran the
ball 21 times and Holmes rushed 32 times. File that one away.

Colts PK Mike Vanderjagt never worked this hard for 1 point in his life:

Vanderjagt made the extra point after the first score of the game, only to
have it called back on a penalty.  Vanderjagt then re-kicked 15 yards
further back, and missed wide left.  However, LCB Michael Hawthorn made
contact with the kicker for another 5 yard penalty.  Vanderjagt then made
the extra point on the third attempt.

How bad has it been for Tampa Bay? The Buccaneers scored their first
offensive touchdown of the season on a pass to WR Tim Brown with 10:45 to
go in the 4th quarter. It was cool to see Brown catch his 100th TD in
Oakland though.

You had to like former Raider coach Jon Gruden wearing all black for his
return to Oakland.

New Orleans running back Aaron Stecker was clearly upset at the lack of
respect he was given prior to the game. "Hey, I'm a running back. It's not
like they pulled me out of the front office and said 'Deuce is out, do you
know how to play some running back?' " He looked pretty good to me with
106 yards including a 42 yard TD run. After the run he was pumped on the
sideline slapping hands and shouting "They said I can't run the rock! They
said I can't run the rock!"

If you're not sold on Tennessee's Chris Brown yet, you're just not paying
attention. That was a solid Jacksonville defense Sunday.

Here's a shocking line: "NYG RB Ron Dayne - Inactive"

You might believe the Bill Parcells talk about the Joe Gibbs matchup just
being "another game". But I bet you're smarter than that.

Ravens coach Brian Billick had this to say about Deion Sanders and his
injured hamstring: "When you're 50 years old, you're going to be listed as
questionable every week. At that age, questionable is pretty good."

I find the Chicago and Oakland situations very interesting. Virtually
everyone would agree that Rich Gannon was a better quarterback than Rex
Grossman. Gannon and Grossman both are out. They're mourning the loss of
their season in Chicago. And Raider fans are excited. Maybe teams like the
Cowboys, Raiders and Giants are smarter than people think signing these
veteran QBs.

There was a Redskin fan in the crowd carrying a sign that read:  "We came
from Wyoming to watch Gibbs win" Poor guy.

Washington wore the white jerseys at home Monday night forcing the Cowboys
to wear their rarely used blue uniforms. I've always thought that was
smart for Dallas. Wearing white at home, they almost always get to wear
their home jersey on the road as most teams use their dark jerseys for
home. But of course the flip side is that when Dallas is at home, they
allow the visiting team to wear what is normally their home jersey. Does
it make any difference? I've no idea. But it's fun to talk about.

You know I don't follow baseball much but did Pedro Martinez really say,
"What can I do but tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy right now?"
Can you imagine Brian Urlacher saying, "What can I do but call the Vikings
my daddy right now?"

With the volume of email I received over my Byron Leftwich / Gary Coleman
line last week, I'm surprised Coleman isn't the governor of California. I
mistakenly said Coleman was on the show "What's Happening!!" When of
course, I meant, Diff'rent Strokes. Although I did have a few Fred Berry
fans that think Leftwich looks like Fred "Rerun" Stubbs.

We'll have a good chance to test the "#2 QB to #3 WR Theory" this week.
I've zero hard data to support this idea but it always seems to me that
whenever a new quarterback is thrust into the starting role, they seem to
look for the #3 wide receiver. Presumably, as they're more familiar
throwing to them in practice working with the 2nd team offense. In
Oakland, that would mean keep an eye on Ronald Curry. Of course, you
probably should be watching Curry no matter who's under center.

Colts wide receiver Brandon Stokley had a great game but it should have
been better. He dropped a sure TD.

How bad are things for Miami? They're in danger of having more punts (21)
than points scored (23). That's scary.

C'mon admit it. You expected to see Eli Manning by now. Kurt Warner seems
to be settling in nicely though. "Put it on my shoulders, I'm ready to
lead and it looks like they're ready to follow."

I looked up "beleaguered" in the dictionary. Here's what I found:
adjective. To be worried or distressed. See 49er coach Dennis Erickson.

The San Francisco head coach described the Seattle loss as an "a**
kicking" and said "they were lucky to finish the game". I think I'd agree
with him.

The majority of the players on the 49er roster were not even alive the
last time San Francisco was shut out.

Only in Cleveland: On third down, the Browns completed a pass to Andre
Davis just short of the first down. Cleveland decided to challenge the
spot and they're successful. Instead of being 4th and a foot on the replay
the referee discovers Davis did not get both feet in and it became 4th and
five.

I love Mike Holmgren. After the game he asked if he worried about his team
becoming too confident. He smiled and said, "I have a unique ability to
bring them down to earth".

I'm calling foul on the Monday Night Football halftime "Sacked" feature
where Rams wide receiver Torry Holt was "tricked" with a fake photo shoot.
No way in the world that Holt puts on the ballerina tutu in front of the
camera.

Green Bay WR Javon Walker and Kansas City QB Trent Green were great
examples Sunday of how Fantasy Football success doesn't always equal real
world NFL success.

Overheard at the Chicago sports bar: "If Jonathon Quinn is the answer, I'm
not sure I want to know the question".

ESPN's Tom Jackson spared no words in describing life as an NFL running
back: You're a FUMBLER until you stop FUMBLING the football.

Atlanta coach Jim Mora said, one day his WRs will "explode" with 10 or 15
catches. That just sounds funny to me.

Along those lines, I love the new Nike commercial with Vick and the
amusement park ride. I think it's somewhat significant however, that
there's no passing involved in the Mike Vick ride.

Bill Cowher looks happier with his quarterback than I've seen him in
years. He looks like he's having fun.

I'm with Sports Illustrated's Peter King on not understanding the fuss
over Jerry Rice's consecutive games with a catch record. Big deal. Are you
telling me he could have had 1 reception for 3 yards and everything would
have been great? That makes no sense. I'm glad they didn't throw a "mercy"
pass over to him. While I'm on it (and I know this is blasphemous), I've
always thought the same thing of Cal Ripken's record. The guy was an
incredible player. But I'm supposed to think his career would have been
diminished by one iota if he'd missed a couple of games with an injury?
Count me out.

Arizona coach Dennis Green didn't pull any punches describing how bad
quarterback Josh McCown was Sunday. "I took Josh out because you can only
have so many bad plays in one game."

Like everyone else, Colts coach Tony Dungy was impressed with Brett Favre.
"I haven't seen Brett in 3 years and I can't say I miss him."

I was talking to my ten year old son about the possibility of life on
other planets. We talked about what kind of life might exist and what they
might think of us. Later that day, I wondered if they could see our
television. And our NFL games. And most importantly, our commercials. I
decided if they could see the commercials on our NFL broadcasts they'd
probably deduce humans were a bunch of beer drinking males with erectile
dysfunction who spent most of their time stranded on islands. That can't
be good, can it?

Starting this Sunday, Candlestick Park officially will be called Monster
Park. Other companies bid for the naming rights including Organic Inc, and
Virgin USA.  Can you believe we missed out on Virgin Park? I don't make
this stuff up.

With Dallas opening the game with an empty backfield and Eddie George on
the sideline, George ended an 8 year streak where he started every game.

Here's some feedback I received on the Upgrade / Downgrade feature we do:
"I'm assuming you kept Peerless Price off the downgrades because he can't
go any lower?  He sucks.
That's what you should put - WR Peerless Price(WR) - just sucks."

Minnesota coach Mike Tice was mic'd on the sidelines and had this advice
for Daunte Culpepper as the Vikings tried to put away the Bears:  "Blow
this f***** open."

Offensive Line coach for Indianapolis Howard Mudd spelled it out pretty
clearly for his guys on the sideline before the Green Bay game: "I don't
care if it's a 3rd stringer. I don't care if it's Mike Sherman. You knock
his a** off."

Washington's Clinton Portis gave ESPN's Alex Flannigan a tour of his
house. Portis has a huge aquarium in the headboard of his bed. Said
Portis, I was thinking one day, "You know what would be cool? If I had a
fish tank over my head."

I've always said that.

Washington loses a close game in the last few seconds on Monday Night
Football pushing them to 1-2. Less than 24 hours later, ESPN's Dan Patrick
is teasing the intro for SportsCenter with "Confusion in Washington; has
the game passed Joe Gibbs by?" Give me a friggin' break.

Note to the NFL: For the players that want to wear the Pat Tillman "40"
decals on their helmet, let them.

Funniest line from last week: Randy Moss shouts in disbelief:  "I'm one on
one with Brian Dawkins!"

ESPN's Suzy Kolber kept her distance walking by the Raider Fans at the
Black Hole. She had the look on her face like Jodie Foster going into jail
to see Hannibal Lector.

You saw athleticism defined Sunday night with Warren Sapp chasing down
Charlie Garner from behind.

Maybe its because they were winning more last season but I like the 2003
Bengals uniforms a lot better.

I'm glad it was the Steelers who played Miami in the mud. That just seems
like a Steeler game. "The weather in the first half was not conducive to
doing anything," coach Bill Cowher said. "We couldn't even hold the ball.
Both teams couldn't throw it. But that's the kind of football I love."
Third-string Steelers RB Verron Haynes ran for 34 yards. "He was the best
mudder," said Cowher.

Jerry Rice sprung Ronald Curry with a great downfield block Sunday. Sure
doesn't look like a guy pouting over not catching a pass last week.

Detroit reserve CB Rod Babers broke his collarbone. First Charles Rogers,
now Babers? What is it with collarbones in Detroit?

Brett Favre was asked what he thought about Manning and , joked: "You mean
aside from throwing four touchdowns in the first quarter? I thought he was
'average'."

Favre and Manning had 5 touchdowns between them in the first 11 minutes.
If they could have maintained that pace, they would have scored 175
points.

Hard Luck Awards

CHI RB Jones 10 yard run to the 5 (Edinger FG)
CHI QB Grossman 32 yard pass to WR Gage to the 1 (Jones TD)
MIN QB Culpepper 4 yard rush to the 3 (Culpepper to Moss TD)
MIN RB Smith 3 yard rush to the 1 (Culpepper TD)
DEN RB Griffin 1 yard rush to the 4
DEN RB Griffin -1 yard rush to the 5 (Elam FG)
SD QB Brees 17 yard pass to WR Parker to the 1
SD RB Tomlinson rush for no gain from the 1 (Brees TD)
KC RB Holmes 2 yard rush to the 3
KC RB Holmes -2 yard rush to the 5 (Green to Dunn TD)
SEA QB Hasselbeck 11 yard pass to RB Alexander to the 1 (Alexander TD)
SEA QB Hasselbeck 5 yard pass to TE Stevens to the 3 (Hasselbeck to
Alexander TD)
SEA RB Alexander 5 yard rush to the 1 (Hasselbeck to Mili TD)
PHI QB McNabb 4 yard pass to WR Owens to the 5 (McNabb TD)
PHI RB Westbrook 23 yard rush to the 1 (McNabb to TE Bartrum TD)
IND RB Rhodes rush for no gain from the 1 (James TD)
OAK RB Zereoue rush for no gain from the 3 (Wheatley TD)
STL QB Bulger 10 yard pass to WR Bruce to the 3 (Faulk TD)
NYG RB Barber 5 yard rush to the 1 (Warner TD)
CLE RB Green 49 yard TD nullified by holding penalty (Dawson FG)
CLE QB Garcia 5 yard pass to WR Northcutt to the 3 (Garcia to Morgan TD)

Sometimes it's better to just not know.

Before we wrap this one, I wanted to throw a couple more of the Blackeyed
Joe fake stories your way. We did some of these right before the season
started and I had lots of people ask about more. Here are a few - you let
me know if you want me to keep them going.

Send them to your buddies if you like. Tell them you got them from
www.blackeyedjoe.com (click the link to see what they'll see)

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

1. Vermeil's Tears Troubling to Chiefs
2. Bush Declares Florida a "Disaster Area" - Calls For Federal Aid
3. Rams Cut Landeta
4. Brooks Didn't Hit Gannon?
5. NFL Officially Recognizes Chiefs "Twelfth Man"

/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/

1. Vermeil's Tears Troubling to Chiefs

Clipped from the KANSAS CITY STAR

With the Kansas City Chiefs off to an 0-3 start, the team is searching for
answers to why a Super Bowl contender has been reduced to a winless record
and struggling to stay alive in a division they should be running away
with.

And they think they may have found the answer. Dick Vermeil. Or more
specifically, Dick Vermeil's repeated crying bouts.

Grumbling has been heard that the team is unhappy with Vermeil's chokeups
during interviews, practices and games. "It's a bit disconcerting,"
Quarterback Trent Green admitted. "I bought lunch for the guys once, and
Dick was there, and all of a sudden he's bawling his eyes out, saying how
gracious and kind I am and how he loves me like a son. And I'm like,
whatever, it's just a burger."

Defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, attempting to install a more
aggressive style of defense, feels stymied by Vermeil's tears. "You try
and give these guys a killer instinct, get them all riled up to take
someone's head off, and then Dick walks over and he's weeping like a baby,
telling everyone how proud he is of them, how much he loves them. I'm
screaming at them to be more physically intimidating and he's calling for
a group hug. It's like THE GILMORE GIRLS with shoulder pads."

Linebacker Shawn Barber explains how Vermeil's emotional outbursts have
adversely effected his play. "I'd be all set to lay into a quarterback and
knock him out of his shoes, when a little voice inside my head that
sounded just like Dick would say "Why are you going to hit this nice young
man? What has he ever done to you? Maybe you should give him a hug
instead. "And for a second I hesitate, I'm actually considering giving him
a hug, and by that time the guy's tossed a 40 yard touchdown."

Even All-Pro Tight End Tony Gonzalez acknowledged he hasn't been immune to
the outpouring of sentiment. "Trent would toss a pass to Johnnie Morton,
and I'd start crying in the huddle, asking Trent why he didn't throw to
me. I was open! I mean, is it something personal? Something I said?"

Chiefs management was unavailable for comment, but one insider admitted
the team may ask Vermeil to tone back his emotional side and try to be
less "girlish. "Another option is to send Vermeil to a one-week seminar on
How To Be Heartless, hosted by Buddy Ryan. If they can toughen up the
coach, then the team might just follow.

When told of the team's concerns, Vermeil burst into tears.

[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]

BY: GMAN8343

We'll keep you posted on any further developments. If Vermeil does put a
lid on his crying bouts, then the entire team may take a nice bump up in
value.

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2. Bush Declares Florida a "Disaster Area" - Calls For Federal Aid

Clipped from Dan LeBatard, Miami Herald Link :
www.miamiherald.com/lebatard/nflnews340029.html

President George Bush visited Florida for the second time in the last
three weeks recently, to survey the damage caused by the recent landfall
of Hurricane Jeanne.  Hot on the heels of his visit to the Florida
Panhandle to look over the wreckage left behind by Hurricane Ivan, many
residents were expecting this trip to result in the President's
proclamation of the state as a "disaster area," and they were not
disappointed.

However, the edict came in a rather unexpected fashion.  After touring the
West Palm Beach area, which was hit by both the recent storm and Hurricane
Frances, President Bush shocked people by declaring : "It's really not
that bad."  Many land owners were dismayed by this assessment, but help
was unknowingly in sight.  With time to kill, the President decided to
attend the Steelers/Dolphins tilt in Miami on Sunday evening.  After the
game, the President was seen leaving the stadium looking ill and prompting
the White House to issue a statement:

"We wish to assure the citizens of the United States that the President is
just fine.  He felt rather ill after witnessing the Miami Dolphins'
offense in person, but has since recovered.  The President was horrified
by the display he witnessed, stating that he 'hadn't seen anything so
shocking since that scene in The Godfather where that movie producer woke
up next to John Kerry's head.'  He feels the need to help, and help will
be forthcoming."

The President later announced that he would be donating $10 million
dollars in Federal aid to the Miami front office.  The President was
quoted as saying that the money could be used to "find someone to play
quarterback who is better than that scrub Feeley - like maybe, Don
Knotts."  He also mentioned that he "hadn't seen a more feeble ground
attack since the Republican Guard at Baghdad."  Bush then launched into a
tirade about Michael Moore, which contained the phrase "self-aggrandizing
bastard," but this didn't really seem pertinent to the matter at hand.

No word yet as to whether any money will be donated to the Tampa Bay area
to repair the damage done to their roster by injury and the holdout of
Keenan McCardell.

[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]

BY: Evilgrin72

This is obviously great news for Miami fans.  Unfortunately, it didn't
come without some disappointment, as Miami's first choice to sign at the
quarterback position, Dan Marino, apparently accepted an offer to rejoin
the team, then quit the next day.  It is, however, speculated that salary
cap relief is on the way for the Fish as well, as an arbitrator ruled that
Ricky Williams owes the team over $8 million due to the breach of his
contract.  Whether or not this has been paid yet is unknown, although
witnesses reported seeing a large 18-wheeler marked "Achmed's Hash House"
backing up to Pro Player Stadium just yesterday. Also unknown at this
juncture is how Senator Kerry will react in tomorrow's debate to the
obviously cheap "horse-face" crack the President hurled at him.  Stay
tuned.

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3. Rams Cut Landeta

In an effort to establish a more aggressive offensive scheme, Head Coach
Mike Martz of the St. Louis Rams released punter Sean Landeta on Tuesday.

When asked about his dismissal of the 20-year veteran, Martz shrugged his
shoulders and stated, "Why punt? If you don't punt, you get more
opportunities to score."

Martz also announced that he'll move RB Marshall Faulk to wide receiver.
"Everyone knows we ain't gonna run. So why bait it"

[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]

BY: lukiedookie

Clearly, a downgrade is in order for RB Marshall Faulk and the Rams D/ST
unit. However, it may be time to bump Bulger up your rankings a little
bit. More info to come!

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4. Brooks Didn't Hit Gannon?

Clipped From the St. Petersburg Times
www.sptimes.com/bucs/brooks/gannonhit.html

Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks feels badly for injured quarterback
Rich Gannon.  What he doesn't feel is responsible.

"I didn't hit the guy," insists Brooks.  "I never made contact with his
helmet."

When asked Monday how he felt about the hit that broke vertebrae in
Gannon's neck, Brooks was incredulous.  "I have no idea what you're
talking about," the linebacker replied, "Didn't you see...I whiffed on the
initial tackle.  I was able to make contact while he was down, but I never
hit his head.  He just went down."

Brooks told reporters that just as he was about to make the tackle on the
diving Gannon, a gust of wind came up and blew him slightly away from
Gannon, while a massive hand came darting down from the sky and struck
Gannon on the head. Brooks said he heard a booming voice say "This one's
for Jerry."

"I guess God didn't like the fact that he ended Rice's streak," Brooks
concluded.  Last week was the first time in 275 games that Raiders WR
Jerry Rice was held without a catch.  Gannon was the Raiders quarterback
throughout that game.

Replay appear to show Brooks clearly making contact with Gannon's helmet,
although certain camera angles seem to capture a slight blur on the screen
right before Gannon went down.

When asked about Brooks' version of the incident, Jerry Rice was evasive.
"It's too bad, what happened to Rich," the venerable receiver told
reporters. "He was out several games last year too, so I guess he's got a
streak of his own going now."

[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]

BY: Mungo Burrows

This doesn't appear to have a lot of direct fantasy impact, but sometimes
the real story is just below the surface.  We are warning IDP owners to
keep a close eye on the QB situation in Green Bay.  If Brett Favre's
bruised hamstring is severe enough to end his consecutive starts streak,
we strongly recommend that you trade Colts DE Dwight Freeney immediately
before his value drops severely.  On the other hand, we feel owners of
Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselbeck, Darrell Jackson and Koren Robinson
should not be concerned that the Seahawks ended the 49ers streak of games
with a score.  The 49ers deserved to be shutout after the way they've run
their franchise lately, so divine retribution is unlikely.

/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/

5 NFL Officially Recognizes Chiefs "Twelfth Man"

>From the Kansas City Chiefs website
www.kcchiefs.com/news/2004/ourdefenseblows/twelfthman.htm

For years the raucous fans and deafening noise gave Kansas City Chiefs
defense an enormous advantage whenever playing at Arrowhead Stadium. The
National Football League announced Tuesday that the "Twelfth Man" will be
an official part of the game at Arrowhead Stadium, and at every stadium
where the Chiefs play in 2004.

League spokesman Larry Balue announced that for the remainder of the 2004
season, Kansas City will be allowed to have one extra player on the field
whenever they are on defense.  "The Chiefs defense is so pathetic," Balue
told reporters, "that the league felt it was necessary to give them some
help.  Many league rules have been put in place over the years to help
offenses and improve overall scoring, but honestly, there are drunken
sorority girls that are harder to score on than that defense. Something
had to be done."

Balue indicated that Kansas City will be allowed one extra defender on
nearly all plays where the opposing team snaps the ball, however, one
specific exception was identified, affecting punt coverage. "While a punt
represents a snap for the opposing team," Balue stated, "the Chiefs will
not be allowed to use the extra player when kick returner Dante Hall is on
the field.  That dude is just sick, and if we give him another blocker he
might score every time.  Then that whole MVP nonsense could get started
again, and nobody wants the league MVP to be some scrawny little return
guy."

Chiefs President Carl Peterson was pleased with the league decision. "For
years, the Twelfth Man made Arrowhead Stadium a place opposing offenses
feared to play," Peterson said.  "Even last year we were undefeated at
home in the regular season.  But lately teams have been looking forward to
playing us here.  When Carolina came in and their backup running back put
up over 170 yards on us after they laid that stinker the previous Monday
night, we had to do something.  We made the guy look like...well...Priest
Holmes. It was after that game that we officially petitioned the league
for help."

"This week Houston had a gimpy running back and their number two was out,"
Peterson continued, "and they still just zipped past us at the end of the
game.  After seeing that performance, Commissioner Tagliabue called me
Sunday night and said he would make something happen.   Now, with the
Twelfth Man an official part of our defense, maybe we can stop somebody
again, or at least slow them down.  We might even win a game."

The Chiefs coaching staff is already developing plans for how to use the
extra player in next week's game.  "We thought about adding an extra
linebacker to slow down the running game," Head Coach Dick Vermeil sobbed,
"but then we realized that none of our linebackers can actually tackle.
Gunther suggested that we add another defensive back.  If we can cut some
of those 40-plus yard plays down to 10 or 15 yarders we'll be in much
better shape."

[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]

BY: Mungo Burrows

Almost any player facing the Chiefs defense has been a must start. While
this move appears to change that, we think otherwise.  As Dick Vermeil
suggested, the Chiefs problems revolve around their inability to tackle,
and adding another body on the field will not change that fact. The Chiefs
didn't stop Domanick Davis, his bum ankle did.  Putting an extra man on
the field could actually lead to more confusion and missed tackles, so the
true shark should realize that even with this change, players facing the
Chiefs remain must starts.  While nobody needs to tell you to start Jamal
Lewis against KC this week, Ravens change of pace back Chester Taylor is
probably good for close to 100 yards and a possible touchdown as well,
making him a great option for anyone short handed at RB.

/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/

Ok, that'll do it folks. Thanks for playing along and I hope you have a
great week. Have fun.

Joe

*****************************
Joe Bryant
Owner - www.footballguys.com

As always, if you've got a Random Shot of your own, shoot me an email at
Bryant@footballguys.com

Thanks to Footballguys Bob Harris, Matt Edwards, Max Hunt, Greg Porzucek,
Utter Chaos, Hipple, and Tyler Chastain.