motife
01-12-2008, 12:49 AM
First-year offensive coordinator Philbin earns solid marks
With head coach Mike McCarthy calling all of the Packers’ plays this season with tremendous success, it’s very easy to overlook the job that has been turned in by offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, who took over the coordinator duties this season after Jeff Jagodzinski left to become the head coach at Boston College. Team insiders couldn’t have been more impressed with Philbin, who they believe has a rather thankless job, working in McCarthy’s increasingly large shadow. Interestingly, our sources were quick to point out that Philbin’s ascension up the NFL coaching ladder directly parallels that of former Packers head coach Mike Sherman, who also became offensive coordinator after first coaching the O-line and TE positions. The well-spoken Philbin’s forte is teaching, and we hear the Packers’ players seem to respect his obvious intelligence, particularly backup QB and heir apparent Aaron Rodgers, which figures to bode well for both Philbin and the Packers’ future. Philbin is also considered greatly responsible for the dramatically improved play of TE Donald Lee, who was locked up long-term by the team down the regular-season stretch.
Bevell thinks offensive competition is a good thing
Vikings Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said the team has begun its outside personnel evaluations, identifying what positions it would like to target in free agency, and he imagines a situation where there is competition at several positions on offense. “I think you want competition at every position,” Bevell told PFW. “It makes everyone better. Look what it did with our run game with Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor.” Bevell thinks the team can add a healthy amount of depth, even at positions with some young players, including wideout and right tackle, and see one guy pushing the other to be better. “Obviously, you have to have the right guys, temperament-wise and personality-wise. (Peterson and Taylor) blended excellently together and they got along. But there’s great competition there and there’s no drop-off one way or another. And you would like to have that at all your positions, where a quarterback can push a quarterback, a wideout can push a wideout, and those types of things.”
Open competition expected at highest-profile skill positions
In case there were any doubts, a somber Bears GM Jerry Angelo made it very clear in his recent post-mortem to the local media of a very disappointing Bears season that there will be wide-open competition heading into training camp next summer at the high-profile QB and RB positions. At quarterback, the one virtual certainty is that Kyle Orton, who earned above-average marks as the team’s starting QB the last three games, will, at the very least, be the team’s No. 2 signalcaller next season after earning a legitimate shot at the starting job heading into camp. While it remains to be seen whether the Bears will re-sign free agent Rex Grossman — we hear there’s no way the team will offer him traditional starter’s money — if Grossman does indeed return, it seems very likely that backup Brian Griese, who is on the books for about $2.5 million in ’08, will be deemed expendable. At running back, team insiders believe the most likely game plan is that incumbent Cedric Benson will be challenged by a draft pick or a mid-tier free agent, as opposed to a high-profile Michael Turner-type free agent, whose signing would result in an inordinate sum of money being invested at the position.
Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren, discussing the significance of running the ball in the playoffs in order to be successful, as quoted on WTMJ-AM Milwaukee: "I think New England is proving the point. While they run the ball very well, (they) throw the ball 33 times in a row and still have these big wins and all that. No one's saying they have to run the ball in the playoffs. I haven't heard that. … There was always the belief that the weather you get, that we will get probably, can affect the passing game more than the running game. Yeah, we understand all this passing business, but when it comes down to December and January, you've got to be able to bang it around a little bit. I understand that. And there is some truth to that."
“I think Seattle is good enough to go to the Super Bowl. Everyone is healthy right now. They are not great at anything, but they are good at everything — offense, defense and special teams. No one has won more home games than the Seahawks the past three years, but no one really notices because they are up in the Northwest. They don’t have a lot of media coverage out there, so you just hear about how great they are now. It’s not like some of the major markets where you make one mistake and you’re riddled with bullet holes.”
“The Bears have no starting quarterback, no starting running back and a crusty offensive line, yet their head coach and general manager just came out after the season talking about how close they are to getting it turned around. They want to believe it was an aberration. They look like they are at least a couple years away to me. Why come out and build expectations and set yourself up for failure?”
Nose tackle has become anchor on Cowboys’ defense
A position of conjecture has turned into a position of strength for the Cowboys. In training camp, there were few concerns about NT Jason Ferguson — only that he was backed up by no one proven. Enter Jay Ratliff. After Ferguson’s season-ending torn biceps injury, Ratliff proved to be one of the biggest surprises on the entire defense, playing consistently well against the run and providing nice pressure in passing situations. One skill he has perfected — impressive, given that he's not massive (6-4, 298) for a 3-4 nose tackle — is splitting center-guard double-teams and knifing into the backfield. Even when Tank Johnson was added to the roster, Ratliff kept his starting position and continued to take the majority of the snaps until getting hurt in Week 16. Now, they form a very solid duo and one that could exploit the fact that the Giants likely will have backup C Grey Ruegamer playing in place of an injured Shaun O’Hara.
With head coach Mike McCarthy calling all of the Packers’ plays this season with tremendous success, it’s very easy to overlook the job that has been turned in by offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, who took over the coordinator duties this season after Jeff Jagodzinski left to become the head coach at Boston College. Team insiders couldn’t have been more impressed with Philbin, who they believe has a rather thankless job, working in McCarthy’s increasingly large shadow. Interestingly, our sources were quick to point out that Philbin’s ascension up the NFL coaching ladder directly parallels that of former Packers head coach Mike Sherman, who also became offensive coordinator after first coaching the O-line and TE positions. The well-spoken Philbin’s forte is teaching, and we hear the Packers’ players seem to respect his obvious intelligence, particularly backup QB and heir apparent Aaron Rodgers, which figures to bode well for both Philbin and the Packers’ future. Philbin is also considered greatly responsible for the dramatically improved play of TE Donald Lee, who was locked up long-term by the team down the regular-season stretch.
Bevell thinks offensive competition is a good thing
Vikings Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said the team has begun its outside personnel evaluations, identifying what positions it would like to target in free agency, and he imagines a situation where there is competition at several positions on offense. “I think you want competition at every position,” Bevell told PFW. “It makes everyone better. Look what it did with our run game with Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor.” Bevell thinks the team can add a healthy amount of depth, even at positions with some young players, including wideout and right tackle, and see one guy pushing the other to be better. “Obviously, you have to have the right guys, temperament-wise and personality-wise. (Peterson and Taylor) blended excellently together and they got along. But there’s great competition there and there’s no drop-off one way or another. And you would like to have that at all your positions, where a quarterback can push a quarterback, a wideout can push a wideout, and those types of things.”
Open competition expected at highest-profile skill positions
In case there were any doubts, a somber Bears GM Jerry Angelo made it very clear in his recent post-mortem to the local media of a very disappointing Bears season that there will be wide-open competition heading into training camp next summer at the high-profile QB and RB positions. At quarterback, the one virtual certainty is that Kyle Orton, who earned above-average marks as the team’s starting QB the last three games, will, at the very least, be the team’s No. 2 signalcaller next season after earning a legitimate shot at the starting job heading into camp. While it remains to be seen whether the Bears will re-sign free agent Rex Grossman — we hear there’s no way the team will offer him traditional starter’s money — if Grossman does indeed return, it seems very likely that backup Brian Griese, who is on the books for about $2.5 million in ’08, will be deemed expendable. At running back, team insiders believe the most likely game plan is that incumbent Cedric Benson will be challenged by a draft pick or a mid-tier free agent, as opposed to a high-profile Michael Turner-type free agent, whose signing would result in an inordinate sum of money being invested at the position.
Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren, discussing the significance of running the ball in the playoffs in order to be successful, as quoted on WTMJ-AM Milwaukee: "I think New England is proving the point. While they run the ball very well, (they) throw the ball 33 times in a row and still have these big wins and all that. No one's saying they have to run the ball in the playoffs. I haven't heard that. … There was always the belief that the weather you get, that we will get probably, can affect the passing game more than the running game. Yeah, we understand all this passing business, but when it comes down to December and January, you've got to be able to bang it around a little bit. I understand that. And there is some truth to that."
“I think Seattle is good enough to go to the Super Bowl. Everyone is healthy right now. They are not great at anything, but they are good at everything — offense, defense and special teams. No one has won more home games than the Seahawks the past three years, but no one really notices because they are up in the Northwest. They don’t have a lot of media coverage out there, so you just hear about how great they are now. It’s not like some of the major markets where you make one mistake and you’re riddled with bullet holes.”
“The Bears have no starting quarterback, no starting running back and a crusty offensive line, yet their head coach and general manager just came out after the season talking about how close they are to getting it turned around. They want to believe it was an aberration. They look like they are at least a couple years away to me. Why come out and build expectations and set yourself up for failure?”
Nose tackle has become anchor on Cowboys’ defense
A position of conjecture has turned into a position of strength for the Cowboys. In training camp, there were few concerns about NT Jason Ferguson — only that he was backed up by no one proven. Enter Jay Ratliff. After Ferguson’s season-ending torn biceps injury, Ratliff proved to be one of the biggest surprises on the entire defense, playing consistently well against the run and providing nice pressure in passing situations. One skill he has perfected — impressive, given that he's not massive (6-4, 298) for a 3-4 nose tackle — is splitting center-guard double-teams and knifing into the backfield. Even when Tank Johnson was added to the roster, Ratliff kept his starting position and continued to take the majority of the snaps until getting hurt in Week 16. Now, they form a very solid duo and one that could exploit the fact that the Giants likely will have backup C Grey Ruegamer playing in place of an injured Shaun O’Hara.