Dave’s Football Blog

Rams head coach Mike Martz talked to St. Louis Post Dispatch writer Jim Thomas about his feud with Kyle Turley. You can read the whole thing here.

Best part of the article? The Martz quote on the last line…

“I’d like to have him back if he can play,” Martz said.

Of course, you would, Mike. After all, he only threatened to kill you, right? No biggie.

AP is reporting that Minnesota Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper, CB Antoine Winfield and TE Jermaine Wiggins have all been sent home from practice with flu-like systems.

Funny, it’s usually the choke bug that hits that team this time of year…

That’s the question that Darin Gantt of the Rock Hill Herald asks in this article. Personally, I’m trying not to think about that. I’m just hoping that the residents of Green Bay get all that snow shoveled, because North Carolinians and snow don’t get along so well.

Maybe they could use those Whovels I saw on Engadget earlier this week…

Think Ben Roethlisberger is popular? So does Reebox, who announced yesterday that Big Ben’s replica jersey was the top-selling jersey this season, beating out Michael Vick and Terrell Owens for the top spot.

Kyle Turley was on the list. Maybe that’s why he was so angry…

Steelers head coach Bill Cowher said yesterday that RB Jerome Bettis will not play on Sunday and will rest his injured ankle for the playoffs instead. Bettis needs 59 yards to get to 1,000 on the season, but he told reporters that the record doesn’t mean as much to him as a Super Bowl ring.

Duce Staley will see some action on Sunday, but expect to see lots of Verron Haynes and Willie Parker instead. If those two gain a lot of yardage, we’ll know the truth about the the Bills defense.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, whose rolodex would fetch millions for charity on eBay, is reporting that St. Louis Rams head coach Mike Martz filed a report with NFL security regarding an apparent death threat from Rams OT Kyle Turley.

Yeah, that’s just what the team needs to inspire them the week before the most important game of the season — a death threat on the coach. From a player.

What makes it worse is that the suddenly tight-lipped Martz filed the report with NFL Security. They could have kept this quiet if that report didn’t exist. Now there’s written proof that a troglodyte lineman with a history of belligerence told the coach that he was going to kill him. It’s out there now, and the media mavens must be licking their chops at this one.

And you know Mike Martz must have been scared. If Kyle Turley approached you with murder in his eyes, bowel control would not be a high priority. What exactly did Martz say to Turley to invite this wrath?

Then again, it’s Kyle Turley. What does Martz really need to say?

“You missed a few blocks today, Kyle.”

“…Okay.”

Maybe the Jets coming to town is getting to Turley. He always seems to get in a helmet-throwing mood around that team. You would think that someone would tell him that taking it out on the head coach is a bad idea. How many teams have ever lived that down? How many teams have ever allowed it to happen? How many coaches would be frightened enough file the league equivalent of a police report? Bill Cowher would have punched Turley in the mouth and forced the rest of the team to separate them in the locker room.

Turley has been on injured reserve all season. He wants to return for next season. Yeah, that’ll happen now. The Rams will be happy to have him back after he threatened to kill Mike Martz. This man’s story isn’t going to end well, and it really shouldn’t entertain me this much…

Those tools at AP filed this report:

The Saints have a lot on the line this weekend and they face a team that has a history of marring New Orleans’ dreams.

It was also the Panthers who delivered the final blows to the careers of Jim Haslett’s two predecessors — Jim Mora and Mike Ditka. Both bowed out as Saints coaches after bitter losses at Carolina. Mora resigned the day after a 19-7 loss there in 1996. Saints owner Tom Benson fired Ditka four days after an embarrassing 45-13 loss at Charlotte in the 1999 season finale.

Yes, it’s just like the old Roman Empire. Saints didn’t do too well against Panthers in those gladiatorial arenas, either…

So the Buffalo Bills have the 5th best rushing defense in the NFL, allowing an average of only 96.5 yards per game. They rank 4th in yards allowed per carry (3.6) and 5th in total yards allowed. (1447) They have also allowed only 6 rushing touchdowns, tied for second in the league with the Steelers.

But how good is the Bills rushing defense really?

Right now, Buffalo is on a six game winning streak. During that streak, they have defeated St. Louis, Seattle, Miami, Cleveland, Cincinnati and San Francisco. Those teams have a combined record of 31-59, and only two of them have quality running backs that get regular use.

How did those running backs do, you ask? Well, the Seahawks’ Shawn Alexander didn’t do so hot, gaining only 39 yards on 13 carries. The Bengals’ Rudi Johnson, however, gained 130 yards on 23 carries. If Carson Palmer had been healthy for that game, the Bills might not have gotten such an easy victory.

Also, let’s consider how the Bills did against other good running teams:

1.) Corey Dillon (NE) vs. Bills: 45 carries, 230 yards, 1 TD
2.) Curtis Martin (NYJ) vs. Bills: 41 carries, 144 yards
3.) Chester Taylor (BAL) vs. Bills: 21 carries, 89 yards

That first one jumps out at you, doesn’t it? Dillion is a big bruising running back in the mold of… oh, I don’t know… Jerome Bettis, maybe? In two games against Buffalo, Dillon averaged 5.1 yards per carry. The Bills lost both games.

The Bills also lost to Baltimore in a game in which the Ravens’ backup running back had a good day. They did hold Curtis Martin under 100 yards in two games, but they only won one of them, and that was the one in which Chad Pennington went out with a shoulder injury.

Meanwhile, Buffalo’s opponent this weekend, the Pittsburgh Steelers, are second only to Atlanta in total rushing yards and rushing yards per game. With Ben Roethlisberger out of the lineup, you know in advance that the Steelers are going to spend a lot of time running it down your throat.

That’s what they did to the Baltimore Ravens. Prior to the second Steelers-Ravens game, Baltimore allowed only 100 yds/game rushing and a mere 3.4 yards per carry. The Steelers gained 183 yards on 42 carries against the Ravens. That’s an average of 4.3 yards per carry. Steelers running backs gained 5.08 yards per carry, and their longest run was only 14 yards.

By the way, did I mention that Pittsburgh is tied with or outpacing the Bills in every statistical category associated with run defense? Did I also mention that Willis McGahee, good as he is, isn’t quite 100% yet?

If the Bills can stop the Steelers running game or run against the Steelers’ defense, you can call them playoff ready. Until then, I’m not sold yet.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger will sit out Sunday’s game against the Bills. Tommy Maddox will get the snaps in practice and the start in Buffalo. In other news, water is wet, and the Browns suck…

More importantly, the paper is also reporting that the rib injury is not serious, and Big Ben will start Pittsburgh’s playoff opener. In the meantime, Tommy will attempt to prove that 2002 was no fluke. I’m still rooting for him…

No word yet on Duce Staley and his chronically sore hamstring, but I suspect Jerome Bettis, Verron Haynes and/or Willie Parker will get the majority of the carries on Sunday.

From the AP report:

NFL great Reggie White may have died because of a respiratory disease combined with other health problems, a preliminary autopsy report said Monday.

White had the disease, known as sarcoidosis, for several years, family spokesman Keith Johnson said Sunday. He described it as a respiratory ailment that affected his sleep.