Dave’s Football Blog

If it seems like Billick’s bastards are relishing their underdog role these days, it’s because there’s no other role for them to play anymore.

They’re an even bigger dog now with the news that Alan Ricard, a former Pro Bowl alternate at fullback, is done for the year with chronic calf problems — as opposed to chronic smoke problems, which only affect anyone standing around Ricky Williams or Randy Moss. Ricard was the chief blocker for running backs Chester Taylor and the struggling Jamal Lewis. Ricard’s absence is one reason Lewis has been struggling so much.

Of course, shutting down Baltimore’s running game means you put pressure on Anthony Wright to win the game. That seems to be working well for NFC North teams, who are 2-0 against the Ravens. (Reminder: nobody in the NFC North is over .500 yet.) Bill Cowher may be taking the Ravens seriously on Monday night, but I doubt anybody outside of that Pittsburgh locker room is.

Fanball is reporting that Patriots linebacker Tedy Brushi, who suffered a mild stroke back in February, has been activated and will play Sunday night against Buffalo.

This game is in Foxborough, so you have to believe the cheers will be long and loud when he steps out onto the field. The Bills, meanwhile, probably wish that linebacker Takeo Spikes could make a similarly uplifting comeback Sunday night, but he’s still out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon.

Good luck out there, Tedy. None of us want to write any “if only…” tales next week.

Time for a little good old-fashioned rumor-mongering…

Murmurs are springing forth from Raleigh, NC (a/k/a my backyard) that Norm Chow, the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, is at the top of the wish list for the head coaching job at North Carolina State, where Chuck Amato is about to get axed for putting together a team that emulates the Baltimore Ravens in Detroit every single week.

Source of the rumor is here, though a direct link is impossible because the blogger seems to have the web design skills of the average MySpace user. Just search the page for “Norm” or something.

This rumors comes just days after reports emerged that Notre Dame head coach (and the mensch Bill Belichek wishes were still in Massachusetts) Charlie Weis has a really cheap buyout clause, which would let him return to the NFL the moment things go south in South Bend. Mort reports that this won’t happen after one year, but if the Touchdown Jesus crew wants to keep Weis around, they may need to suck up to him a lot more.

As for the Chow-to-NC State rumor, it would be gold for the school and garbage for the Titans, but I doubt NC State has the football pedigree that someone like Chow would want for his first head coaching position. ACC Football may be on the rise, thanks to the likes of Virginia Tech and Miami and Boston College (boo!) signing on, but there’s no glam at NC State, even when Alex Trebek rolls into town. I’d say take a full shaker of salt on this one.

By the way, did anybody notice how much camera time Señor Mexico got on ESPN just for standing on the sidelines watching his little brother do some actual defense-reading? Could this network possibly give that man a bigger hummer?

Pete Prisco:

The Steelers have to be a bit concerned with right tackle Max Starks. He isn’t playing well. When the Steelers let Oliver Ross go to Arizona in free-agency, the Steelers felt they could just plug in Starks. The knock on him, however, was that he was soft. So far, that label is proving true. Starks has struggled some the past two games. Reggie Hayward of the Jaguars whipped him two weeks ago and Robert Geathers got the better of him last week for the Bengals. The Steelers need to have a strong right tackle because they run the ball so much, and most teams are right-handed when they run it.

Expect the Ravens defense to focus on the right side of the line on Monday night. Given the state of the Ravens’ D, though, expect them to give Pittsburgh a lot of first downs with penalties.

Does it really matter who starts at QB for the San Francisco 49ers right now?

#1 pick Alex Smith is out with strained knee ligaments, in part because the line in front of him couldn’t stop the Redskins’ defense from getting into the backfield. A few more starts like that, and Smith will be getting a phone call from David Carr to start a support group for QBs playing behind garbage linemen.

So Ken Dorsey gets the nod. Tim Rattay would get the nod, but the 49ers traded him to Tampa Bay. This begs the question — if Dorsey gets hurt (a distinct possibility behind that O-line) and Smith cannot play, who quarterbacks the 49ers then?

I try not to wish ill on anyone, but part of me really wants to see the looks on the faces of Joe Montana and Steve Young when the 49ers are forced to go single wing and direct-snap the ball to Kevan Barlow to get the offense moving…

…check out Saintsdoggle, a blog focusing on the Saints’ potential relocation from New Orleans to either San Antonio or Los Angeles.

According to this AP article, this describes some of the New Orleans reaction:

“A taped-up refrigerator with rotting contents was left on a sidewalk. On it was a message scribbled in spray paint: ‘Do not open. Benson inside.’ Down the block, another abandoned refrigerator courtesy of Hurricane Katrina carried this comment: ‘Saints lie to their fans.’”

Not to be overlooked, creative LSU students have dubbed San Antonio “Satantonio” in flyers making their way around campus. Those same flyers have a sketch of Benson with devilish horns.

It goes without saying that Tommy Boy has done himself no favors under the spotlight. The same article above notes that “Benson said in a written statement last Friday he has not decided on the Saints’ future home. When reporters at his suburban home asked him what he had to say to the team’s New Orleans fan base, he told the visitors to get off his property.”

Which pretty much says it all.

If anyone reading this blog down in Baton Rouge can hook me up with a pic of those Satantonio fliers circulating around the LSU campus, post a comment here.

Carolina Panthers defensive stalwarts Julius Peppers and Dan Morgan are nursing injuries that they insist will not keep them out of action on Sunday. Peppers has a broken hand in a cast, and Morgan is muddling through with a dislocated shoulder.

Worst thing about Peppers’ injury? He can’t play Madden. Maybe some can hook him up with a pre-release Nintendo Revolution…

AP is now reporting that Baltimore Ravens LB Ray Lewis and CB Ed Reed will not play this Monday night. Smells like concession to me…

Anyone think Brett Favre is regretting his decision to return for one more year?

Not only did the Green Bay Packers have no defense at the start of the season, but now all of the Pack’s offensive weapons are dropping like acorns on the cars in the parking lot outside. (Kids, don’t park under trees in October.)

Latest to drop? Ahman Green. He’s done for the year with a ruptured right thigh tendon. So he’ll be in street clothes with Javon Walker, Najeh Davenport, Robert Ferguson and Terrence Murphy.

Favre will now be handing the ball off to Tony Fisher and ReShard Lee, who will be running into a line that doesn’t know how to block for them. Favre will also be throwing to Donald Driver, Antonio Chatman and Jamal Jones, although I suspect those guys will still drop fewer passes than the wideouts in Seattle — or Atlanta, if you take into account drops per attempt averages…

Mike Martz wants a divorce.

If the Rams had moved to Vegas instead of St. Louis, that divorce would be much easier. On the other hand, given the predilections inside the St. Louis front office, it might have become another gruesomely kinky episode of CSI…