NFL News

There are many topics to discuss in the NFL. There have been many firings so teams are trying to line up candidates for interviews. Players' futures with teams will need to be decided.

Lets start with Rex Ryan and his desires to be a head coach. After the Ravens defense pummeled an average offense, Ryan felt the need to announce to the world that he is ready to become coach. Here is what he had to say:

"The numbers say I've done a decent job," Ryan said. "If a team wants to stop somebody, all you have to do is look at my track record. If we don't get them stopped in the first year, it will probably be the first time we don't get them stopped in my career, going back through college, whatever. . . . I'll get my time, and whoever gets me will get a guy who is a real football coach and not a pretender."

Wow! Ryan is feeling a little frisky. Yes, we get it. You are a good defensive coordinator as is Leslie Frazier but you don't hear him running his mouth. Even though the Vikings were bounced out of the playoffs by the Eagles, you still haven't heard him talking about his desires to coach. Rex Ryan is a really good defensive coordinator. Lets give him props for that. However, why talk about your coaching during your team's playoff run? You can sell yourself as much as you want after the season is over. I guess he couldn't wait that long. If he does leave for the Broncos, Jets, or Browns, the Ravens will probably promote from within, or maybe John Harbaugh has someone in mind as his replacement. Hey Rex, focus on Tennessee!

Bob Stoops can be ruled as a possible head coach for the Denver Broncos. The Broncos have many candidates at their list such as Steve Spagnuolo, Raheem Morris, Josh McDaniels, Jason Garrett, Rick Dennison, Leslie Frazier, and Jim Schwartz. Out of that list, I like Steve Spagnuolo, Leslie Frazier, and Jim Schwartz as candidates. Maybe Josh McDaniels. As for the rest, I don't think they're ready. It looks as though the Broncos want a defensive minded individual as their head coach.

The New England Patriots are planning to franchise tag Matt Cassell. I can understand the sense of security that Matt Cassell brings given the injury of Tom Brady. I can understand idea of franchising Cassell will keep him away from the Jets and possibly the 49ers and Vikings. They'll probably trade him after franchising him. The Vikings seem like a good match, I think. The Patriots probably won't make a trade the Jets for obvious reasons. Things are clouded for the 49ers at the QB position with Alex Smith, Shaun Hill, and JT O'Sullivan. I think the Vikings and Patriots can come up with a match.

Marvin Harrison is mum on his future with the Colts. He didn't have a good season. The future Hall of Famer hasn't been the same since injury his knee a few years ago. When the reporters asked him about his future, he chose not to comment. I think he'll return, but retirement isn't out of the question. The Colts need to get another receiver to compliment Reggie Wayne. Wayne isn't getting any younger either. Hakeem Nicks would be a nice fit for the Colts.

Looks like Bill Parcells is returning to Miami next year. Well, H. Wayne Huizenga thinks Parcells is returning after having a conversation with him.

Brad Childress has been noncommittal about Tavaris Jackson's future. Tavaris Jackson has the support of two of his teammates:

"I think he had [a] resilient season," tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said. "I feel like that's our man."

Said wide receiver Bernard Berrian: "You start where you left off. You can't just throw a guy out. He finished very strong. He took the benching well, showed a lot of character, came back and had some really great games. That just shows the coaching staff and the rest of the players that we have faith in Tarvaris."

Matt Birk and Gus Ferrotte are pondering their futures.

Yuck, the Jets have contacted Brian Billick. Why in the world would you want Brian Billick to be your head coach? Do you want to hear him give one of his famous post game speeches to the media? The Jets should pass on this candidate. Avoid him like the plague.

Eagles Blitzed Their Way into Next Round

Going into the game, I thought the Vikings had a chance, if they kept Tavaris Jackson upright, if they were successful running the football with Adrian Peterson, and if they won the field position battle. Those are a lot of ifs for a football team that had home-field advantage in the game. Well, none of those ifs went their way.

Jim Johnson decided to blitz Tavaris Jackson every chance he got. He had to have sent the kitchen sink along with the toilet and the garage. When Jim Johnson blitz, he always sent more players than the Vikings can block. His pressure forced two turnovers, one of which was an interception returned for a touchdown by Asante Samuel. The Eagles didn't have many sacks, but they collapsed the pocket nearly everytime Jackson dropped back to pass. The Eagles didn't give up the big plays with exception of the Adrian Peterson touchdown run. They played tight man-to-man defense and kept everything in front of them. Their tackling was crisp too. The players really earned their paychecks in this game.

Offensively, the Eagles struggled a bit when trying to score. However, whenever the offense was given bad field position such as starting inside their own 10 yard line, they were able to move out to their own 40 yard line and better. Gaining that many yards allowed them to change the field position in their favor. Yes, they eventually punted on many of those occasions but field position was always in their advantage in the end. Donovan McNabb converted many third-and-longs to keep drives alive. The offense did come up big in the fourth quarter. After the defense made the Vikings go three and out, Andy Reid called a screen play for Brian Westbrook. The screen play resulted in a 71 yard touchdown by Westbrook. Westbrook set up his blocking really well on the play faking cutting back inside to breaking the run outside. He made a one or two would-be tacklers miss on his way to a game-clinching touchdown.

The Vikings defense played well throughout the game until that aforementioned play happened in the fourth quarter. They held their own with Jared Allen having a big game against Tra Thomas. Jared Allen had two sacks and a forced fumble. They stopped the Eagles running game, even though the Eagles didn't have much of a running game to begin with. Westbrook's touchdown was crushing blow for the Vikings. Even though the Vikings played throughout the game, they did a poor job of stopping the Eagles from changing the field position advantage. The Vikings punt team pinned the Eagles numerous times deep in their own territory. The Eagles would change the field position each time by getting to at least their own 40 yard line or better. The Vikings simply couldn't stop the Eagles on third down. McNabb complete many 3rd and 10's to keep drives alive. The Vikings did a poor job in that aspect of the game.

Offensively, the Vikings playcalling was terrible, Tavaris Jackson didn't look great, and the execution was terrible. Brad Childress didn't keep the Eagles defense guessing. There weren't many screen plays called if any, or any designed swing passes to the running backs out of the back field. Childress's gameplan was terrible. Tavaris Jackson's accuracy came up lame again. He found his rhythm one time in this game and that was in the second quarter. For rest of the game, he was just plain bad. Now, having an offensive line and running backs whiff on their blocking priorities doesn't help either. Matt Birks errant shotgun snap which result in a fumble recovery by the Eagles didn't help either. The Vikings just had a bad game all-around offensively.

Many experts and fans say the Vikings should go out and get a veteran quarterback to unseat Jackson. What is a veteran quarterback going to do? He can't throw the football off his arse, can he? That veteran quarterback can't throw accurately when he has his own offensive linemen being pushed back into his face. Success starts upfront. The Vikings need to start pass blocking better and Brad Childress needs to draw up a better gameplan.

The Eagles faced their nemesis in the Giants. Each team won a game on their opponent's home turf. The Eagles will be going back to Giants Stadium looking for another win in New York. The Eagles have all of the momentum while the Giants hold home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Can the Giants still be effective on offense without Plaxico Burress in the passing game? Its going to be a tough game for both teams and I look forward to watching it.