Posted by Will Brinson



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• Ben Roethlisberger will do his best Hannibal Lecter impersonation (or perhaps you prefer Richard Harrow from "Boardwalk Empire"?) as next week he'll be wearing a clear plastic shield to cover his face and surgically repaired broken nose, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. People do this all the time in the NBA and it takes a little while to get used to seeing it, but I'm guess Ben's gonna look all kinds of creepy underneath a football helmet.

• Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald's buddy "Hacker" went to his first game in Gillette Stadium Monday. He sat next to Danny Woodhead's family. If you only look at one picture of stereotypical Pats fans today, this should be it.

• Jeff Legwold of the Denver Post doesn't anticipate Eric Studesville giving Tim Tebow any run during the waning weeks of a lost season for the Broncos. 

• Adam Gretz of Steelers Lounge puts the Troy Polamalu sack on Joe Flacco (it was kind of big in the context of Sunday night's game) to the old screenshot/freezeframe test, because someone dared to insult the importance of Polamalu in that particular play.

• Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal pens an open letter from the New York Giants to the neighboring Jets. 

• Excellent piece by Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network on the similarities between Josh McDaniels in Denver and Bill Belichick in Cleveland, and how the Broncos (as they've admitted) might not have actually been prepared for "change" they way they appeared to be with McDaniels hiring. Also: sometimes it's good to fail, because you learn lessons.

• Such a cool story from Jenny Vrentas of the New Jersey Star-Ledger about Keith Fitzhugh and how he'd rather conduct trains than play for the Jets. Can't say I blame him, considering how TERRIBLE THEY ARE DID YOU SEE THEM LOSE TO THE PATS? (/over-reactionary sarcasm)

• Jerry Richardson wrote a letter to all Carolina Panthers PSL holders taking "full responsibility" for the ugly season in Charlotte, explaining how the organization hopes to rebound, and how the CBA uncertainty affects everyone.

• The Packers are bringing new video boards to Lambeau. So if you haven't made that historical trip yet, you better get hopping.

• Tom Brady is back in "99 Overall-ville" on Madden. What more proof do you need that he's your 2010 MVP???

Posted by Will Brinson

On Wednesday, the Florida Gators announced that Urban Meyer stepped down as head coach of the Florida Gators. Needless to say, his tenure there was spectacular -- two national titles and an unbelievable run with Tim Tebow under center.

Which brings us to the NFL side of things, since the Denver Broncos, the team that happens to have Tebow under contract, are currently seeking a full-time coach who can restore their franchise to glory after they canned Josh McDaniels on Monday.

This is obviously pure speculation, because there are tons of reasons it wouldn't make sense. Namely, college coaches typically fail in the NFL. Additionally, Meyer, for all of his success in the college ranks, has no experience in the NFL, which certainly plays against the notion that the Broncos would want to hire a coach with experience reviving a program.

On the other hand, having Tebow on the roster makes for an unpleasant scenario for most coaches -- it seems pretty likely that other executives would have used that 25th overall pick in 2010 differently. Meyer, presumably, would have no problem convincing himself that he could help Tebow succeed at the next level (even if logic says that Tebow can't be a great NFL quarterback).

Next, take a look at the success the Broncos have had this year, which has come only offensively: it's primarily based on McDaniels system allowing Kyle Orton and a rag-tag-but-talented group of wide receivers to succeed. Meyer could easily believe that his own system could achieve the same success.

Would Meyer demand personnel control in Denver? Likely not, given this would be his first run in the NFL as a head coach, and that could be one of the sticking points for Denver going forward, because of McDaniels' inability to properly manage personnel.

There's no obvious John Elway/Pat Bowlen/Joe Ellis connection here, so the speculation for putting Urban Meyer as the new head coach of the Denver Broncos revolves entirely around the fact that less than 48 hours after Tim Tebow's boss was fired, Meyer suddenly (and quite unexpectedly) resigned from his post at Florida.

This was his second resignation, so it's as if it wasn't some sort of possibility of him leaving the Gators. And -- as my college colleague Adam Jacobi wrote -- if Meyer's in bad shape health-wise (again) it seems pretty unlikely that he would leave for an NFL job.

But the timing of the moves are begging for some speculation as to whether or not Meyer could succumb to the lure of coaching Tebow again.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Brad Childress' departure from the Minnesota Vikings organization certainly doesn't mean that Wednesdays aren't FavreDays still -- and so it's now Leslie Frazier handling the press conference questions of reporters while every network in the world livestreams his answers regardless of what else in the world is happening.

Frazier, who's immensely more enjoyable to listen to for 20 minutes than Chilly, said that there hasn't been a decision made on whether Brett Favre will start Sunday. In fact, he said that a decision probably won't come until Sunday, as the Vikings try to figure out if No. 4 can play. He also said that Favre won't start just to keep his streak alive.

"No, I don't think we approach it that way," Frazier said. "Either he can go or he can't go. And when he goes in there, we're of the expectation that he can play for four quarters. That would be the plan. So we wouldn't go into it, get a start, get a couple reps and get out, no."

So, even though Favre hasn't thrown a ball this week and even though he can't lift his arm very far and even though the Vikings offense went ballistic on the Bills once Tavaris Jackson entered the game on Sunday, Favre still gives Minnesota the "best chance to win." Presumably.

But does he?

The upside of Tavaris is that he's extremely mobile, he has a cannon arm and he's absolutely fresh right now. The downside of Tavaris is that he's inexperienced and he frequently makes terrible, inexcusable mistakes.

This differentiates him from Favre in that, um, he's not experienced. Oh, and that he won't be publicly upset if he can't start his 299th consecutive game.

That is to say, if the Vikings were playing to win, they would start Tavaris over Favre. And, actually, if they're playing to make sure that Favre doesn't get literally killed on Sunday, they'll start Tavaris -- the Giants pass rush isn't just formidable, it's terrifying, and they're going to get their hands on the Vikings quarterback, whoever it is.

If it's someone who's mobile instead of someone who's got unbelievable genes and an Iron Man body gripping his extremities by strings -- not to mention a busted foot and/or feet and/or ankles -- they'll stand a better chance of succeeding against a scary defense.

Look, some of Tavaris' success on Sunday came from two things: having Adrian Peterson and having Sidney Rice. Because they played the Bills, Peterson was able to soften up the defense and make Jackson's job easier. And because Rice is as stud, some of the throws Jackson made went from jump-balls to big gains.

But, hey, that's not so different from Favre being under center anyway.

****
So, this Cardinals quarterback situation is just a total nightmare isn't it? It's terrible for the fans and it's probably worse for Ken Wisenhunt, who absolutely knows that there's nothing he can do in order to improve his team's chances of winning over the next couple of weeks -- either he starts raw rookie John Skelton, or he keeps throwing Derek Anderson to the wolves.

There's a sound argument to be made from the perspective of "Skelton CAN'T be worse than Anderson -- just play him!" But there's also a sound argument to be made for the other side, as well. Because, you know, if you start Skelton and he gets hurt or stinks the joint up, you're wasting money on Anderson on the bench and getting the same result, with the possibility of hurting Skelton's development long term.

In hindsight, the team shouldn't have been so cheap that they weren't willing to pay Marc Bulger as well (we learned recently that Whiz and the Cards wanted to go after Bulger but didn't want to wait for the Rams to release him) and, instead, ended up with two rookies backing up their de facto starter in Anderson.

The moral of the story? You should always sneak into Kurt Warner's and do your best God voice to convince him to rejoin the team regardless of how morally corrupt that is make sure you have reasonably viable options at quarterback.

****
The notion of a "starting running back" is a little outdated in this two-back world we live in, but it still prominently exists. Look no further than the Giants situation where Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs have flopped several times as the "starter." Jacobs, who regained the role recently, will continue to start "at this point," according to Tom Coughlin.

The bottom line is that Coughlin's going to keep going with the hot hand, he's going to pound both of these guys with his wide receiver corps banged up, and he'll use the "starter" thing as motivation for both Bradshaw and Jacobs.

And that, right there, is something that deserves a ton of praise -- Coughlin hasn't been scared to make change and motivate these guys in 2010, and that's why the Giants, instead of continually skidding after losses to Philadelphia and Dallas, are tied with the Eagles for the NFC East lead.

****


There's been some clamoring for Tim Tebow in Denver. After all, Josh McDaniels is gone and let's see what we've got, people! Unleash the Tebow!!! (Sorry, got excited there for a second.) This is silly.

Eric Studesville needs to win and he needs to win quickly and he needs to do it in a fashion that shows he can win next year as well (with Kyle Orton and his motley crue of wideouts), if he hopes to have a shot at the Broncos gig in 2011. It seems unlikely that he gets that job anyway, but not less likely than Tebow blossoming into a starting NFL quarterback over the next three weeks. So: upside is you have a guy who's not as good as Orton (yet). Downside: Studesville kills any chance of being a candidate in Denver and simultaneously sinks Tebow's trade value even further for next year.

****
Pants on Fire! (You see, because we examine hot seats)

John Fox: He's gone. His house, according to people I talked to recently, has been on the market for months. The only question is whether or not Frazier and Jason Garrett in Dallas can lose their jobs in the next three weeks to present attractive openings for a new gig.

Mike Singletary: MUnless the Niners rip off a miracle run, he's toast. And he clearly knows that. Why else would he make the flip-flopping of Troy Smith and Alex Smith "week-to-week"?

Jeff Fisher: Seems kind of crazy, but at this point, if you're Fisher, why would you stay? Your crazy old boss clearly prefers a guy like Vince Young to you (the guy who's been there, winning, for 17 years!) and walking out now, even with the Titans struggling mightily, would mean an easy opportunity to land another head coaching job.

Norv Turner: Once upon about two weeks ago, Turner might have had a shot at running the table and making an argument for COY award. Instead, the Chargers came out completely flat against Oakland, at home, as 13.5-point favorites. If the same thing happens (only with a 7.5 line) against KC, Norv better watch out.

Marvin Lewis: He's hanging out in John Fox's billiards room, obviously.

Gary Kubiak: Primetime struggles against Baltimore (at home, on Monday night) could make things awkward for Kubes. Fortunately, that Denver job's open, so he could potentially "leave" Houston for a "homecoming" and just work something out with Texans ownership where they don't fire him. (And then hire Fisher! The drama! The hatred! DO IT!)

Tony Sparano: There are so many coaches getting canned or sitting squarely on the heater that Sparano gets overlooked, but following up a blowout of Oakland with a terrible loss to Cleveland means he has to beat Buffalo and Detroit at home to close out the season at 8-8, as the Fins travel to the Jets and the Pats as well in the next four weeks. Losing one of those has the makings of a canning.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

The Broncos held a news conference this afternoon to welcome interim coach Eric Studesville – the running backs coach under Josh McDaniels – and the biggest mistake the Denver management admitted was that for the past two years the organization burdened McDaniels with too much responsibility.

Though the Broncos allowed former coach Mike Shanahan and McDaniels to have plenty of say in player personnel decisions, chief operating officer Joe Ellis said he didn’t envision the next coaching getting that much power.

“We probably burdened Josh with too much responsibility,” Ellis said.

Even with all that had gone wrong in McDaniels’ tenure – the video-taping incident, the ghastly personnel decisions, the terrible record – owner Pat Bowlen wasn’t sure if the team should let go of McDaniels.

While general manager Brian Xanders is still with the team, there’s the thought Broncos legend John Elway – who’s already a business consultant with the organization – might be interested in helping out on the football side of things.

“He’s expressed an interest,” Ellis said.

As for Studesville, he said he was nervous to take the interim job, and he didn’t accept right away. He needed a little time to think about it, because, in his words, he didn’t want to take the decision lightly.

“Opportunities like this don’t come along every day,” he said.

As for Tim Tebow – who I wrote about earlier today – Studesville said he will continue to evaluate the rookie QB but that, for now, Kyle Orton will remain the team’s quarterback.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Now that former Broncos coach Josh McDaniels is out of Denver, what will become of QB Tim Tebow? After all, trading up to select Tebow in the first round of last year's Draft was one of the moves that probably got McDaniels fired in the first place, and it’s pretty clear that most of the coaches in the league don’t have the time or inclination to see if Tebow could become a legit full-time NFL player.

According to Yahoo! Sports’ Jason Cole, Tebow could be making his way out Denver’s door pretty soon, as well.

From Cole:

What may be just as predictable is that Tebow’s career may be over before he gets a real chance. Or as one NFC general manager put it recently: “The thing that’s tricky [about firing McDaniels] is what happens with Tebow. This is a league where at least 75 percent of the coaches and personnel people are not Tebow-ites.”

Whomever (owner Pat) Bowlen turns to next as coach is likely to look at Tebow and say, “Thanks, but no thanks.” McDaniels’ unwillingness to turn to Tebow as this season unraveled will probably be viewed as an indictment on the first-round draft pick.

The bottom line is that Tebow is an acquired taste who needs a coach who believes in him and is willing to work on his throwing motion until it has completely changed. Even then, there are significant questions about Tebow’s accuracy.

Tebow has made the most of his time on the field this season. Running out of the Wildcat formation, Tebow has rushed for three touchdowns while throwing for another score. But he hasn’t played much, and the fact that McDaniels didn’t use him a whole lot when it was clear Denver’s season was over is telling.

If McDaniels didn’t believe in Tebow’s abilities, who else will (assuming, of course, Urban Meyer doesn’t somehow jump to the NFL)?

By the way, Air Force coach Troy Calhoun seems to have some momentum behind him as one of the leading candidates to take over the full-time Broncos job. Don't know if that's good news or bad news, but there it is.

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Posted by Will Brinson



The Denver Broncos announced Monday night that owner Pat Bowlen "has relieved" Josh McDaniels of his coaching duties.

This shocking news dropped via the Broncos official Twitter feed and is up on their website with a "details to come" message. This now means that Bowlen is currently paying two head coaches, neither of whom are actually coaching his football team.

McDaniels has a career head coaching record of 11-17, but is just 5-17 since a 6-0 start to the 2009 season. His decisions to trade Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall, as well as draft Tim Tebow, drew plenty of scrutiny, and eventually, it seems, he dug himself too deep a grave.

The McDaniels situation is particularly bizarre for a number of reasons, though.

"My decision to relieve Josh McDaniels as head coach was not taken lightly," Bowlen said in a statement released by the team. "I will always be appreciative of his passion, enthusiasm and hard work, and I thank him for his efforts. In the end, I was not satisfied with the results and the direction this team was headed. The decision to make a change was extremely difficult but one that needed to be made for this organization and our fans.

"Everyone, myself included, is accountable for our disappointing season and is now responsible for restoring the culture of winning that has been established by this franchise. Our entire organization is completely focused on returning to the level of prosperity that our fans expect and deserve from the Denver Broncos."

First of all, less than a week ago, Bowlen offered conflicting statements about McDaniels' future (his second straight vote of confidence!), stating that he wasn't making a change in an interview, and then issuing a "we are still evaluating" statement from the team.

Secondly, there's no one on the staff that fits the logical mold for an interim coach a la Jason Garrett or Leslie Frazier. Defensive coordinator Don Martindale was considered a candidate for the Raiders job prior to 2009, but ultimately didn't land the gig. Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy has done an arguably great job as a pro coach, turning Jake Delhomme and Kyle Orton into Pro-Bowl contenders.

Additionally, the Broncos' roster is, frankly, just a mess. While the guys on the team might work for McDaniels' purposes, it might not be the case for other high-profile candidates: Tebow is a project at best, Kyle Orton isn't the ideal quarterback for every situation, the team has been stripped of its big-name stars, and the assets acquired in those deals haven't panned out to substantial value for the long-term.

Perhaps the roster issues ultimately ended up being McDaniels' demise -- there was much speculation recently that if McD wasn't fired, he'd end up having to cede some personnel power to a new front-office figure. This is pure speculation, but Bowlen absolutely could have informed McDaniels that he was bringing in someone to help him run the personnel end, and McDaniels politely told him that he wasn't real interested in that, at which point Bowlen relieved him from his gig. (Again, pure speculation, but certainly a possibility.)

And finally, SpyGate Part Deux -- McDaniels was at the helm of the Broncos when the team was busted for videotaping a San Francisco walkthrough in London, and although the league and Broncos concluded that he did nothing wrong in the incident, outside of not reporting it sooner, the public embarrassment probably didn't sit well with Bowlen.

It certainly didn't sit ell with fans, who began calling for his resignation shortly thereafter. In the end, McDaniels will be remembered for a tenure in Denver in which his star shone bright and loud (some might say "foolishly brash" even) early, but ultimately ended up burning out and fading quickly.

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Posted by Will Brinson



Got a link for the Hot Routes? Hit us up on Twitter (@CBSSportsNFL).

• The situations in Minnesota and Dallas seem pretty similar, right? Well, interestingly, Leslie Frazier is considered a 'players' coach' (like Wade Phillips) and perhaps he'll bring a less, ahem, confrontational style to the Vikings locker room. This seems interesting because Jason Garrett's found success so far by being heavy-handed in Dallas, and Frazier might do the opposite. Or, you know, just not being a bad game manager.

• The guys at Buffalo Rumblings made an Aaron Maybin "Inactive Wear" clothing line ad. It's hysterical and now it's being turned into a radio ad as well.

• Larry Fitzgerald recently discussed eating "cavier" versus "garbage" in reference to his current Cardinals team. Darren Urban of the Birds Blog says he didn't mean it in anger.

• Want a reason to watch Browns - Panthers on Sunday? There's the whole "Who's going to end up being the second-best quarterback in Sam Bradford's draft class?" debate.

• Don't love the NFL Network announcers? Wait until Saturday to watch the Bengals - Jets game replayed with tons of people mic'd up and no one in the booth talking.

• If you're one of those people who really, really wants to see more Tim Tebow, well, a) you're silly and b) you're gonna be unhappy all season.

• Greg Jennings, sir, it is your time to shine.

• Steph Stradley does a great job of becoming professionally unhinged about the Texans defense. Which is really, really bad.

• Can 10-6 win the AFC South? Big Cat Country thinks yes.

• The Phinsider breaks down the "fine mess" that is the Miami Dolphins.

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

This week, we asked:

Denver Broncos rookie and former Florida Gators QB Tim Tebow is writing an inspirational memoir. On a scale of 1-10 (1 = no chance, 10 = you'll be in line at midnight to buy it the day it  goes on sale), how likely are you to read it and why?

Like we feared, we had a number of people who just wouldn’t color inside the lines. Strangely, we had nobody vote for more than 10, but we had numerous responses that were less than zero. Like, way less than zero. The average, I’m afraid to report (hopefully, Tebow’s publisher isn’t reading) was a minus-21.2. Here were the best responses …

Via Twitter (@CBSSportsNFL )

@kantwistaye 1.. everyone knows his story anyway. You couldn't avoid the past 4 years.

@M_Haze91 like a 2 or a 3. I don't hate Tebow, but I wouldn't give a damn about his lifestory.

@M_Haze91 However, if the book were him exposing the dark secrets of paid recruitment at D1 schools, then it becomes a 10.

@nathanwhitaker (Tebow’s co-writer for the project) Thanks! RT @18to88: 9.5 for cowriter @nathanwhitaker RT @CBSSportsNFL: WEEKLY SOUNDOFF:Tim Tebow memoir. Scale of 1-10, how likely to read?

@realdealryan tebow's last chance for cash is a memoir at 23 before the future career backup can only milk jesus followers. Pass.

@PancakesPodcast -666... too easy?

Via Facebook (Facebook.com/CBSSports )

Blake Bollinger ‎1...I think I would rather read a memoir by Cecil Newton.

Steve Hassler Tebow for President!10

Matt Menard No chance I buy it but I will be in line making fun of those who are! That is technically the middle of this scale so I give it a 5.5

Eric Stuart ‎22 year old writing a memoir? The chances of me reading that garbage are the same as Helen Keller.

Bridgette Bordelon ‎(6) Keyword is Inspirational. It's meant to "inspire" a body to strive for more and to be a better person. Tebow's life was not great yet he did great things. That, at least, makes it worth the time to read!

Mark Seemiller Because of his faith, I'm sure his memoirs will include a testomial to that faith and will be more evangelical than it is sports centered. ... I would read it.

James 'Frady' Morley As a Gator fan and Christian I will be in line to read it for both reasons. As for those wanting to laugh at me for wanting to read it I say bring it on. That's the difference between you all and Tebow. He wants the best for all of you while you all wish the worst for him.

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