Posted by Will Brinson

Were it not for the still-not-subsided rage in Washington over Donovan McNabb's new contract, there might have been a whole lot more noise made about Albert Haynesworth giving up on a play. In case you missed it ...



Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said he finally saw what happened about "3:30 in the morning when [he] watched film," which means he was probably totally thrilled with the outcome and the hustle from Haynesworth.

But he also said he doesn't totally blame Haynesworth.

"If he’s going to take a lot of heat, there are a lot of guys out there that are going to take a lot of heat for that play because the quarterback held the ball for about eight seconds," Haslett said. "We had coverage then we let it go and then plastered right at the end. I think he understands that we want to get him up and chase him."

Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, whose team has just been terrible on third down this year (and didn't convert a single one on Monday night), also spread the blame around.

"I think ['here we go again' on third down is] what people think," Shanahan said. "Each play is it's own play. You can't worry about the last play. As a whole, guys are doing well. We're not doing [well] at it but guys are doing well at times. It only takes one guy to break down a play and that's what [has happened] on third downs."

Shanny Jr. also pinned the coaching staff for the poor third down performance. Really, though, it doesn't matter who's to blame, because something needs to be fixed before Sunday if the 'Skins want to avoid another embarrassing beatdown and get booted from playoff contention.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

When the Redskins travel to Nashville this weekend to face the Titans, the experience for Washington/former Tennessee DT Albert Haynesworth will be slightly strange. After all, he was with the Titans for the first seven seasons of his career before signed a $100 million contract to play with the Redskins.

Considering his tenure in Washington hasn’t gone so smoothly, he sometimes sits outside, looks at the clouds and ponders what might have been if he had stayed in Tennessee.

(See, there he is on the right, looking sort of wistful in a Titans uniform.)

"Do they wish they still had me? Yeah," Haynesworth told reporters, including the Washington Post. "(Sometimes) I wish I was still back there, because I feel like I could still be dominant. I think people still think that I'm not playing as good as I can or whatever.

"But all of it ain't about the player. Sometimes it's the scheme a little bit. But here, you know, we're getting back to it. Like, they're letting me play. So you're seeing a lot more production out of me than you did last year and earlier this year."

Speaking of seeing more production out of Haynesworth, what about the GIF image we posted Tuesday when he was blocked to the turf and couldn’t be bothered to get back up again?

"Well, I got taken out by 'friendly fire,' " he said. "It was [defensive lineman] Vonnie Holliday. He ran into my leg. And then, I had like a horse, a charley horse, in my thigh. I knocked him back, and then I thought I heard the whistle, so I kind of like stayed there for a second and gathered myself.

"And then I look up and like, 'He's still got the ball.' And then I looked and he throws the ball for a touchdown. It was being taken out by my own teammate and then also thinking that whistle had already blown."

See, in Tennessee – the good old days – all he had to defend was his propensity to stomp on other people’s faces.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

In one of those moments that would be unbelievable if it weren’t so believable, Redskins DT Albert Haynesworth – who, to be fair, has begun to repair his image the past few weeks with solid play – was caught by the Monday Night Football cameras laying down on the job.

Literally, laying down on the job.

In this GIF, provided to the Internet world by Jon Bois of SB Nation, Haynesworth tries to get around Eagles G Todd Herremans in order to sack Michael Vick, but he fails. And he fails hard.

In the clip. Herremans brings Haynesworth to the ground, and as Herremens stands over him looking for somebody else to block, Haynesworth makes no effort to get back to his feet. Only after Herremens – and Vick, for that matter – has vacated the premises does Haynesworth find the strength to lift himself into a vertical state.

It, to say the least, does not make Haynesworth look real strong

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Here were my favorites in the minutes following the report that Redskins QB Donovan McNabb signed a five-year deal worth $77 million, with a $40 million guarantee. I like humor, by the way.

@greggrosenthal I can't wait to see the financial apology McNabb gets after the next time he's benched.

@skjensen Filed under, Huh?: RT @MrMichael_Smith: Filed to ESPN: #Redskins and McNabb have agreed to 5year extension, worth 78 million, 40 guaranteed. 

@daverichard I think the McNabb extension is a fair deal. I also think Brett Favre should play in 2011 and Theismann is a tremendous announcer. #SARCASM

@JimmyTraina Was away from computer for 5 min & now I see Tweets about McNabb getting 5-yr, $78 mil extension. Did you all plan an elaborate joke on me?

@sportspickle Redskins just signed McNabb to a 5-year, $78 million deal. I guess Rex Grossman will be getting close to $200 million.

@bruce_arthur So if Donovan McNabb was in shape, he would have gotten a kajillion dollars, right? #dansnyderdecisions

@dombonvissuto In NFL year where Favre's penis made headlines and Randy Moss has played for 3 teams, McNabb news may be most surprising.

@BradBiggs Now, if they could just use Albert's $40 mil guaranteed to pay McNabb's $40 mil guaranteed ....

@CaptainObvious Seriously, I'm as surprised by the McNabb contract as y'all are. I thought for sure Dan Snyder would try to sign Favre after this season.

@darrenrovell Been covering sports biz for a decade. Can't remember being more surprised over a contract than I was for McNabb's today

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Today will be a packed day for you. Naturally, you’ve got a full slate of NFL games to watch – either on TV or in the stadium of your choice – and then there’s going to be the few hours you need to recover from your team winning (beer!) or from your team losing (beer mixed with tears!). Then, you’ve got to take the kids trick-or-treating, because, lest you forget, it’s Halloween.

With that in mind, we’ve come up with the top-10 best costumes the NFL could make use of this year. Most would require a sense of humor from the individual player, but if that player DID dress up in what we’re suggesting, they would automatically be included in our Awesome Hall of Fame.

There were quite a few costumes we left off, because they simply weren’t good enough (or were too obvious). One of which was Terrell Owens/Chad Ochocinco as Batman/Robin. We’ve been there, done that. We also had a Wizard of Oz theme working with Albert Haynesworth as the tin man, Norv Turner as the scarecrow, Bryant McKinnie as the lion, and referee Gene Steratore (the official who had to make the replay calls on the Calvin Johnson non-TD catch and the Ben Roethlisberger non-TD fumble) as the actual Wizard (pay no attention to that man behind (or, in this case, underneath) that curtain!)

10. Joe Flacco = The Situation. This is the reason we had this idea in the first place. The other day we told you about Flacco dressing up like the Jersey Shore’s biggest star (complete with faux-hawk, racing stripes and the state map of New Jersey shaved into the back of his head). Yes, Flacco, at face value, doesn’t seem to have much in common with The Situation. But he was the impetus for our idea, so we include him.

9. Tom Brady = Justin Bieber. Obviously, the hair. And yes, this story has been a bit played-out, but we can’t get over the fact that Bieber tried to call out Brady in his terrible bit of freestyling on that ridiculous video. It makes me sad.

8. Jared Allen = Samson. You know, the biblical character. The guy who had so much strength because of the length of his hair, and then cut it all off because of that damn Delilah (that’s the basic framework of the story, right? It’s been a long time since I was in Sunday school). Well, Allen – who’s recorded only one sack in six games this year – has been invisible for most of the season after cutting off his mullet, because of, sigh, a woman (now his wife).

7. Brett Favre = Bill Clinton. The only prop he needs is a cigar.

6. Brett Favre = Verizon cell phone guy. Actually, this one wasn’t my joke, but I think it’s funnier than the Bill Clinton gag. Yet, IF Favre went as the Verizon guy with a pair of the No Fly Wranglers made famous by SNL, he might shoot to No. 1 on this list.

5. Ben Roethlisberger = a stop sign. First of all, Roethlisberger has the solid width to support an octagonal sign. Second of all, Roethlisberger would do well to heed the sign’s message the next time he’s out at a bar or a golf course or anywhere where there are females present. Roethlisberger would get even bigger props if he could pair the sign with a motorcycle helmet (safety first!). 

4. Wade Phillips = Bernie Lomax from “Weekend at Bernie’s.” At this point, Andrew McCarthy might as well be slapping flies off Phillips' forehead. Phillips obviously is still the head coach of the Cowboys, but the way the season has gone, he’s a dead coach walking. McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman don’t yet have to intertwine their shoelaces with Phillips’ to drag him out to the field, but if things get much worse for the Cowboys, we’re not far away from having a big boozed-out party at Phillips’ island getaway.

3. Jeff Fisher = CSI investigator. The Titans coach has become a private detective after his WR Kenny Britt was arrested last week at a club a couple days before Tennessee took the field against the Eagles (where he pounded Philadelphia single-handedly). Later, Fisher admitted he visited the Karma Lounge on a fact-finding mission to find out what had really happened with Britt. No word on whether he went inside wearing a trench coat and a top hat. Or whether David Caruso was with him.

2. Braylon Edwards = taxi driver. This might be a stretch for Edwards, considering it’s entirely possibly he’s never actually been INSIDE a cab before. Especially when he’s out for a night on the town and allegedly has had way too much to drink. Or, even better, Edwards could dress as a limo driver. Get the nice suit, the jaunty hat, maybe a scarf and (definitely) the driving gloves.

1. Antonio Cromartie = dandelion. Do you know why? Can you figure it out? Why would we compare the Jets cornerback to the flowering plant from the genus taraxacum? Think about what happens when you blow a fully-bloomed dandelion. The seeds scatter to the wind in an effort to reproduce and to make new dandelions. How does that relate to Cromartie? Well, if you haven’t figured it out by now, check the video below. Happy Halloween indeed.




For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Redskins DT/lightening rod Albert Haynesworth joined the Washington press corps this morning for a rare mid-week interview. He took questions, and he gave some insightful answers. The folks over at tbd.com were good enough to transcribe the whole thing.

Here are a couple of highlights from the presser.

- Apparently everything is cool between him and Redskins coach Mike Shanahan.

“Everything’s been fine. I just kinda laugh and talk to him about it. We laugh about all the stuff that you guys come up with and speculate because I don’t never really say anything, and he doesn’t never really say anything. So, it’s just funny the stuff that y’all come up with. Everything’s fine. We talk every other day or so.”

- He’s not surprised that he’s still not starting, even though earlier in the interview, he said he still thought he could be the most dominant defensive lineman ever.

“No, because I’m not good enough to play the 3-4. We’ve got a guy [Maake Kemoeatu] in front of me that can play the 3-4. Whatever helps the team. I do get to play the nickel and I play well in that, and that’s when you see me out there.

“I’d like to start and play like I used to, 35, 40 snaps a game. But, right now, I’m fine with it. Whatever to help the team. I go out there and make plays for them and it doesn’t really matter who starts the first play, because all it is, is the first play.”

- He doesn’t know if he’ll be back with the Redskins next season.

“I have no clue. Right now if I just keep playing, I’ll be somewhere.”

- He doesn’t plan to make this mid-week interview a regular occurrence.

“What is this, Week 8? I’ll see you guys Week 16.”

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Posted by Andy Benoit

Yet another story lost in the Favre hoopla Sunday night: the Vikings finished with 196 yards rushing that game.

Randy Moss had just three catches Sunday, which was three more than Donald Driver. Driver’s streak of 133-straight games with a reception is over. (For what it’s worth, Drive was playing with a bum quad.)

Carson Palmer lost Sunday, but we’re guessing that his fantasy owners won. Palmer’s final numbers: 36/50 for 412 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Jordan Shipley, in his first game back since suffering a concussion after T.J. Ward’s vicious and dirty hit, caught six passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.

John Abraham caused some problems for the Bengals. It wasn’t an utterly dominant performance, but Abraham recorded two sacks Sunday and consistently pushed the pocket.

The Bears were just 2/10 on third down against the Redskins. That means they had three times as many turnovers as third down conversions.

Ryan Torain ripped off 125 yards on 21 carries. The Bears were playing without injured outside linebacker Lance Briggs (ankle).

Bears guard Chris Williams finally got off the snide, catching his first pass of the season for a gain of four yards. (Without seeing the play, the guess here is that the ball was either tipped, or Cutler was remarkably errant on an attempted smoke screen to DeAngelo Hall.)

Albert Haynesworth was a menace for most of the afternoon. He finished with a sack and two tackles for a loss.

The Titans won despite getting just 66 yards out of Chris Johnson’s 24 rushing attempts.

Jeremy Maclin was targeted 14 times but finished with just five catches for 42 yards.

The Chiefs gashed the Jaguars for 236 yards on the ground. At one point, Thomas Jones ripped off a 70-yard run and Jamaal Charles came in and punched in the goal-line score.

Dwayne Bowe scored two touchdowns for a second week in a row.

For the Jaguars, some guy named Courtney Greene started at safety and led the team with 12 tackles. (Because Greene started at safety, we’ll assume this means he’s about to be cut.)

It took Big Ben all of two games to get back into 300-yard passing form. Roethlisberger threw for 302 yards against the Dolphins.

The Steelers held Ronnie Brown to 14 yards on nine carries.

The official box score lists the Steelers have having four fumbles, with two lost and one recovered. That leaves one fumble unaccounted for. Does anyone, by chance, know what happened there?

Colt McCoy won his second start as a pro, but he contributed only 74 yards through the air in doing so.

Peyton Hillis rushed for 69 yards, which was enough by one yards to beat out punter Reggie Hodges to be the Browns’ leading rusher Sunday.

Saints safety Darren Sharper had two tackles in his first action of the season.

Scott Fujita returned to New Orleans and posted 11 tackles, a sack, two tackles for a loss, an interception and a pass deflection.

The Rams scored 17 points in the second quarter at Tampa but zero in the other three quarters.

LeGarrette Blount headlined the Bucs backfield with 11 carries for 72 yards. Cadillac Williams, who caught Josh Freeman’s winning touchdown pass, had just 12 yards on four carries.

Matt Moore was 28/41 for 308 yards, two touchdowns and an interception (which, granted, was an ugly one returned by Ray McDonald for six points). All in all, that’s a mountain-moving quarterbacking performance for the Panthers.

Steve Smith had four catches for 50 yards in his first game back from an ankle injury (which he tweaked in the third quarter, by the way), but it was David Gettis who wore the receiver hat for the Panthers. The sixth-round rookie had eight receptions, 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Joe Flacco was just 16/31 against the Bills, but he did throw three touchdowns and no interceptions. None of those TD’s went to T.J. Houshmandzadeh. The former Pro Bowler was targeted just twice and finished with no catches.

Steve Johnson and Lee Evans both went over 100 yards for the Bills.

Ray Lewis: 15 tackles, one sack, one huge fumble force and recovery.

Max Hall and Derek Anderson combined for 12/33 passing

The Cardinals lost four fumbles at Seattle.

The Raiders pretty much embarrassed the Broncos in every statistical way imaginable.

Four the Patriots 15 first downs Sunday were a result of a Chargers penalty.

San Diego rushed for a measly 38 yards on 19 attempts.

Journeyman Antwan Barnes posted two tackles for a loss and two sacks for the Chargers.


For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Posted by Will Brinson

Givin Em the Business (yes we were on hiatus, sorry, we're back now) recognizes all the people that annoyed us from the week that was in football. Feel free to provide nominations either in the comments or by yelling at us on Twitter (@CBSSportsNFL) .

Rank	Who	Why
1	Concussions	We like to blame aggressive players or equipment or rules, but you know who's really to blame? The stupid soft brain tissue that sits in all of our skulls. If it was tough, like a real man, then it wouldn't be so easily bruised and hurt and injured and we could just run around all acting like Bill Romanowski and slamming our heads into walls and punching ourselves. Dumb brain.
2	Brett Favre	Sure, he didn't release the alleged photos of his "Crocs" and he's doing his part to avoid answering questions (which, actually, is kind of irritating), but the fact that Favre has somehow managed to INCREASE the level of attention paid to him since the last time he stormed into Lambeau Field to stab Packers fans in the back with a Viking spear is just flat out amazing. Impressive, really, if it wasn't No. 4.
3	James Harrison	All due respect to a guy who's a great defender, but come on, bruh, no one's buying this retirement chatter. You get paid $51 million to play freaking football. If that means that a) you need to realize how lucky you are or b) just take it down a notch and not lead with your helmet on every single play, well, so be it -- there ain't anyone else out there willing to give you this kind of cheddar for this kind of work.
4	Brandon Meriweather	Hey, Brandon, remember that scene in Good Will Hunting when Robin Williams ends up screaming, "IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT! IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT, WILL!" to Matt Damon? Well, pretend like you're Matt Damon and this is Opposite Day, because THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! Alright, that might be a stretch, but if you hadn't gone headbutthunting at Todd Heap, there's a good chance we wouldn't have spent all week demanding that the NFL have some responsibility towards big hits. So thanks for nothing.
5	NFL Security	It's hard to define exactly how the NFL's investigation into Brett Favre's alleged sending of racy pictures should really progress. But it's not hard to determine that, because Jenn Sterger is the person who allegedly received pictures of Favre's "stuff" and A.J. Daulerio of Deadspin is the person who published pictures of the alleged "stuff," they should be interviewed. Certainly not before the pictures were released, but certainly before Day 25* of the Favre Croc Shot Watch. (*approximate)
6	Celebration Penalties	It'd be one thing if the NFL had solved the world's problems and completely eliminated the health issues surrounding football and then decided to attack the clear world-killing evils of excessive touchdown celebrations. But the league declared (three years ago) that players would be punished for big hits and instead decided to focus on tagging people for using cell phones in the end zone. To wit: last week, Miles Austin and Roy Williams got tagged for 15 more penalty yards because they used leapfrogs and Texas handsigns than Brandon Meriweather for acting like the Texas mascot on Todd Heap's head.
7	Jack Del Rio/ESPN	Now, this is about as alleged as anything that involves Brett Favre, but -- allegedly -- ESPN network people asked Jeff Fisher and Jack Del Rio to call timeouts during the Titans blowout of the Jaguars on Monday night. That would be swell and all except that a) it's so corporately creepy and b) it allowed Chris Johnson to break a 35-yard TD run that caused tons of fantasy owners to lose their week. HOW DARE YOU THINK THAT MILLIONS IN ADVERTISING MONEY IS WORTH MORE THAN ME WINNING A WEEK OF FAKE FOOTBALL, ESPN?
8	JaMarcus Russell	Even though his interview was a great get for Inside the NFL, it's still disappointing to see a guy like Russell be anything other than 100 percent humble in the face of what amounts to possibly the most disappointing career in NFL history. Not to mention his refusal to play anywhere other than the NFL robbed us all from millions of snarky "UFL weigh-in" jokes.
9	Trade Deadline	Not that anyone got too worked up about the whole deadline business -- after all, only Albert Haynesworth, Vincent Jackson and maybe Willis McGahee were candidates to get dealt -- but there needs to be something in place to make it spicier. The MLB and NBA deadlines are two of the most exciting days in their respective sports and, frankly, look at how much more popular they are than the NBA. But, no, no, seriously, can't we like give picks to people who make crazy trades at the deadline or something? We already had the most insane in-season trading year ever in 2010 and we could've used a little more action, if only to stop talking about Favre's shoes.
10	Vincent Jackson	Good to see you back, buddy! After all, you only totally hosed your teammates, your front office and anyone who drafted you in fantasy football. But, no, no with Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee getting hurt, you're probably not too excited about your bargaining position, right? Ugh.