The Fifth Down: Monday Matchup: Ravens at Jaguars

Ravens at Jaguars, 8:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN
Line: Ravens by 9?

You know a franchise is in sorry shape when even opponents are nostalgic about its past. Ray Lewis sounded almost misty-eyed last week when he talked about the glory days of the Ravens-Jaguars rivalry. The teams played twice a year from 1996 through 2001 in the old A.F.C. Central and had some memorable meetings, including a 6-3 game in 2000 that featured 10 sacks and only 374 yards of total offense. “You know, we did have some great rivalries with the Jaguars for many years — for many, many years,” Lewis said, pining for the days of Fred Taylor, Mark Brunell and Jimmy Smith.

?Baltimore and Jacksonville now meet every three years, and any “great Jaguars rivalries” have receded into the past. The Jaguars are on a five-game losing streak since their narrow 16-14 win over the Titans in the season opener, with the rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert completing 48.8 percent of his passes while opponents stack the line to stop the team’s one recognizable star, Maurice Jones-Drew. Lewis also had kind words for another figure from the past: Jaguars Coach Jack Del Rio, a former Ravens assistant. “Anytime you play a Jack Del Rio team, you have to know that they’re going to be ready to play,” he said. Even if you’re not certain who they are.

Pick: Ravens?
(Pick does not reflect betting line)

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The Fifth Down: On Revis and Sweetness

Two media-related items to chew on this morning:

1) Darrelle Revis’s interview with Mike Francesa of WFAN was cut short by a Jets public-relations staffer Friday afternoon.

Francesa teased Revis about a penalty he felt should have been called on him in the Jets-Miami game Monday night. Before Revis’s 100-yard interception return for a touchdown, he and Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall became entangled.  Francesa, who has had a contentious relationship with the Jets in recent years and who is no favorite of many Jets fans,  wanted Revis to admit that it was a penalty. Revis wanted no part of it. And the two became stuck on the subject.

Jared Winley, a Jets staffer, told Revis to hang up. Winley later apologized, saying in a statement: “In my judgment, given the tone of the interview, I should have asked Mike to move on to another topic, instead of instructing Darrelle to hang up the phone. That was an error on my part. I’ve called Mike’s producer and I apologized.”

You can listen to the full audio of the interview.

2) On the book front, Jeff Pearlman’s biography of Walter Payton has been praised for the depth of its reporting, and panned by many of Payton’s fans, particularly in Chicago,  who saw it as a hit job.

Michael Wilbon of ESPNChicago.com wrote last month:

The point isn’t to question Pearlman’s accuracy, but to question his purpose in writing the book. What’s the literary mission here? From what we’ve seen of the excerpts in Sports Illustrated, Payton’s big sins seem to be he allegedly took a lot of painkillers, and he cheated on his wife.

Pearlman took on his critics on his Web site recently, then explained why he has thin skin over the matter.

When you put X amount of work into a project, you breathe it, feel it, live it. It becomes your life. The thing consumes you. So for people to say, “Just a guy after the money” or “Lazy reporting” or … whatever. I just don’t know — on every occurrence — how to let that stuff go. Because, unless you’re made of iron, it stings. Hurts. Bruises.

Extra point Pearlman’s mission was to write the truth about Payton, wherever it led him. It’s hard to find fault with that. With Francesa vs. Revis, it’s hard to find a winner.

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The Fifth Down: Defending Mark Sanchez's Performance

3,663 yards, 24 TDs, 13 INTs, 56.1 completion percentage (296 comp., 528 attempts)

Is playing quarterback in the New York market the most difficult job in professional sports? Possibly. For starters, until a quarterback wins a championship, he is never good enough. Any quarterback who has ever played in New York already knows that.

And if a quarterback has won? Criticism is still never more than one bad game away. Just ask Eli Manning, Phil Simms or Joe Namath.

But let’s get back to Sanchez. If someone had told Jets fans at the beginning of this season that he would finish 2011 with the numbers listed above, would they have signed up for it? My guess is yes. Despite the fact that Sanchez absorbed a heavy beating during the first few games — his 14 sacks are tied for the 9th most in the N.F.L. — the mostly impressive numbers listed above represent the pace Sanchez is setting.

Through the Jets’ first six games, Sanchez has already thrown for 1,372 yards, with 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

And don’t forget the 3-3 Jets have already played games at New England, where the Patriots have won 20 consecutive regular-season home games, and at Baltimore, which is 22-5 since John Harbaugh became coach in 2008.

Let’s take a closer look.

Want to talk about Sanchez’s 9 touchdown passes so far? If so, you should know that it ranks tied for eight in the N.F.L., with Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, Philadelphia’s Michael Vick and Tennessee’s Matt Hasselbeck. Eighth out of 32 teams? If you do the math, that ranks in the top quarter of the league.

And want to talk of Sanchez’s 5 interceptions in 198 attempts? According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, Sanchez’s interception percentage of 2.5 ranks 12th in the N.F.L. And of the 12 quarterbacks who have more pass attempts, only four — Detroit’s Matthew Stafford, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Chicago’s Jay Cutler and Cleveland’s Colt McCoy — have thrown fewer than Sanchez’s five interceptions.

In another key statistic, Sanchez is tied for 11th (with Roethlisberger) with 20 completions of 20 or more yards.

Sanchez’s biggest and most notable problems have come early in games. The Jets haven’t had a first down in the first quarter since their game at Oakland in Week 3, which was also when they scored their last first-quarter touchdown.

That needs to change for the Jets to continue to win games.

But Sanchez’s performance has been better than he is being given credit for.

Are you ready to talk some football? Join the discussion on this and other topics with George Bretherton and Bret Leuthner tonight from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Click here to listen in or call us at 609-910-0687.

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The Fifth Down: Week 7 in Fantasy Football: Favorable and Unfavorable Matchups

The Sablich Brothers give their take on the 10 toughest start/sit choices of the week, according to FantasyPros.com, and allow readers to make their own picks.

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The Fifth Down: Brandon Marshall's Monday Night Promise

Dolphins (0-4) at Jets (2-3), 8:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN

Just in time for the Halloween costume season, Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall vowed to “play like a monster” on Monday. He plans to make the most of what he thinks will be a brief appearance.

“I don’t know if it’s throwing a football 15 yards in the bleachers, or getting a 15-yarder, or punting the ball and getting thrown out of the game,” he said Thursday. “I’ll probably get kicked out after the second quarter.”

He said the threat of a $50,000 fine would not change his mind. At least Marshall sounds pumped up. Miami may be the flattest, most listless team in the league. The Dolphins are winless without style, their mediocre offense lacks star power, and their defense is almost incapable of producing sacks (six) or interceptions (two).

If they become any more nondescript, they will become the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Florida is not big enough for two such teams. Marshall versus His Own Impulses makes a fine undercard for Jets versus Themselves, the compelling main event Monday night.

With the backup quarterback Matt Moore under center for the rest of the season and Marshall talking like a man who hopes to clock out at 10 p.m., the Dolphins are no match for the Jets. But the fractious Jets do not need an adversary, and while Marshall’s rant was less-than-professional, he has one up on Santonio Holmes: he did not drag any teammates into it. Pick: Jets

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The Fifth Down: Week 6 Quick Hits: Harbaugh Overshadows His Team

A quick and analytical tour of Sunday’s games:

49ers 25, Lions 19

Jim Harbaugh has a habit of overshadowing his big wins with postgame run-ins. His tiff with Pete Carroll will soon take a backseat on YouTube to his scuffle with Jim Schwartz.

Too bad, too. It’s Harbaugh’s team that deserves to be talked about. The Niners are 5-1 after becoming the first Pacific Time Zone club since the ’96 Niners to win three-straight in the Eastern time zone. The 49ers play great defense, run between the tackles and put a ceiling on their quarterback’s opportunities for mistakes by relying on a heavy dose of underneath passes. It’s a formula that many great high school teams use, which is fitting given that San Francisco plays in the N.F.C. West.

The stories of this game (game, not postgame) were defensive end Justin Smith’s 2011 breakout performance (he’s a fantastic player who had been, by his standards, somewhat quiet this season), Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman’s brilliant coverage on tight end Brandon Pettigrew, Michael Crabtree’s sticky hands (77 yards on nine receptions, seemingly all of them being either third-down conversions or tight-rope jobs near the sideline) and Frank Gore’s 47- and 55-yard runs on wham plays off right guard, with tight end Delanie Walker blocking down off motion against Ndamukong Suh. The Niners these days are riding their stars and game-planning shrewdly. Perhaps there will be many more Harbaugh celebrations during the postgame handshake.

Falcons 31, Panthers 17

We’ve been tracking the Atlanta Falcons’ search for an identity all season. With Julio Jones (hamstring) out of the lineup, they found their old one, feeding Michael Turner the ball 27 times and getting 139 yards in return. Turner, like Chicago’s Matt Forte two weeks ago, feasted on off-tackle runs against Carolina’s Jon Beason-less front seven. According to ESPN, Turner ran outside 13 times for 105. He broke tackles with regularity and got stronger by the quarter.

Jones is a fantastic talent, but as we’ve been saying all season, the Falcons need to take a hard look at how much they’re incorporating their prized rookie into the offense. This remains a run-oriented team.

Bengals 27, Colts 17

Last season the Bengals looked as if they would head into their bye with a 3-2 record. But with 25 seconds left in their Week 5 contest against the Bucs, Carson Palmer threw an atrocious pick-six to Sabby Piscitelli, costing the Bengals the game and their positive outlook on the rest of the season.

In Palmer’s place is the rookie Andy Dalton, who completed 25 of 32 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown against the hapless (i.e. Manningless) Colts. Dalton’s Bengals are 4-2 heading into their bye. They’re still yet to be truly challenged, aside from a stellar Week 4 win against the Bills, but as they say, You can only beat who’s on your schedule.

Most encouraging for the Bengals is the steady success of their rookie quarterback. Dalton continues to be poised and accurate when his pocket is clean, and he’s benefiting from the friendly play-calls – such as play-action, rollouts and underneath throws on early downs – of the first-year offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. He’s also developing good chemistry with No. 4 overall pick A.J. Green (who seems to be the real deal).

Packers 24, Rams 3

The Packers have won 12 straight dating  to last season and are 6-0 for the first time since 1965. (Full disclosure: this opening line was actually written before Sunday’s game against the Rams.)

Things have gotten bad in St. Louis, if for no other reason than things have gotten good in San Francisco, making it no longer easy to climb out of the basement of football’s worst division. Steve Spagnuolo deactivated the team’s prized offensive and defensive free-agent pickups, wideout Mike Sims-Walker and linebacker Ben Leber. Sims-Walker was struggling to get open; Leber had been playing too laterally against the run. Spagnuolo denied that these moves were made to shake things up. Then he shook things up by saying, “We just put out the guys out there that we thought would help us win the game.”

Giants 27, Bills 24

With Brandon Jacobs out for a second straight week, Ahmad Bradshaw had an opportunity to punch in three one-yard touchdown runs against the Bills. Bradshaw finished with 104 yards on 26 carries.

Perhaps more interesting is the running back situation for the Bills. Fred Jackson racked up 121 yards on 16 carries (80 of those yards coming on one play), but backup and 2010 first-round pick C.J. Spiller got no carries. Spiller did catch five balls for 39 yards. This seemingly verifies the reports from after Roscoe Parrish’s injury a few weeks ago that the Bills are inclined to make Spiller a regular at wide receiver.

Steelers 17, Jaguars 13

The box score says this was a low-scoring, defensive slugfest highlighted by Rashard Mendenhall’s 146 yards rushing. It was. But don’t think this means we’ll see the return of black-and-blue Steeler football. A major component of Pittsburgh’s gameplan was attacking the Jacksonville safeties deep with Mike Wallace. Wallace, maybe the most dangerous big-play receiver in the game, finished with two catches: a 28-yard score early in the second quarter and a 48-yarder two possessions later. Wallace is now the first player since Terrell Owens in ’04 to have a 40-yard reception in five straight games. Make no mistake: these Steelers are still a pass-first club.

Eagles 20, Redskins 13

Rex Grossman completed nine passes to the Redskins and four passes to the Eagles. He reacted to phantom pocket pressure all afternoon, ultimately taking his jitteriness and poor accuracy to the bench in the fourth quarter. Cue Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors.

Three of Grossman’s interceptions wound up in the hands of Kurt Coleman, Philadelphia’s backup safety, who started in place of injured Jarrad Page. Don’t be surprised if Coleman keeps the starting job. He’s not a consistently dynamic player, but Page has been a major liability against the run this season. Run defense was not an issue for the Eagles this week. They held the Redskins to 42 yards on the ground (150 less than Philly’s offense generated).

Raiders 24, Browns 17

The Raiders honored Al Davis’s memory  in their first home game since his death. Team greats were on the field at halftime and  John Madden lighted a caldron in the Coliseum that will allow fans to remember Davis. Then the Silver and Black went out and finished the deal against the Browns.

The victory moved Oakland to 4-2. It may have been a Pyrrhic victory, though, as quarterback Jason Campbell left with a broken collarbone. He’s reportedly expected to miss the season. Kyle Boller, in relief, was not as impressive as his solid 8-for-14, 101-yard stat line suggests. In fact, those who witnessed Kevin Boss’s fake field goal touchdown reception might even argue for punter/holder Shane Lechler to get snaps under center.

Ravens 29, Texans 14

The Texans are now 0-2 without Andre Johnson. His absence is reflected  in the team’s stagnating rushing numbers: 70 yards on 25 carries against the Raiders, 93 yards on 25 carries against the Ravens. Running lanes tend to narrow when defenses don’t fear your receivers over the top.

As for the Ravens, expect most Tuesday power polls to have them as the top team in the A.F.C. Their defense remains nasty, and their offense is somehow producing with a quarterback barely completing 50 percent of his passes.

Patriots 20, Cowboys 16

A surprisingly low-scoring game was headlined by the stellar performance of both defenses. The Patriots may have set a template for attacking Rob Ryan’s defense. The key is tempo. The Patriots moved the ball with relative ease when they went hurry-up in the second half. Ryan’s men did not have time to communicate or mill about and disguise looks before the snap. They played reaction football, and were damaged by a few solid ground gains early in the fourth quarter and a patented Tom Brady dink-and-dunk game-winning drive late in the fourth.

Part of the reason the Patriots can make defenses hesitant is their two tight ends. Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski are  potent run-blockers (Gronkowski especially) who are also capable of beating cornerbacks (Hernandez especially). There’s no defensive personnel package that can adequately match up to them.

Bucs 26, Saints 20

Just in case you thought head coaching wasn’t important…

The Saints lost play-caller and decision-maker Sean Payton to a broken leg in the second half (Payton actually called most of the first-half action with his leg in a temporary brace and elevated on the bench). In the fourth quarter, trailing, 26-20, with over 3:00 to play and two timeouts remaining, the Saints faced a fourth-and-two at the Bucs’ 4-yard line. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt chose to go for it. Drew Brees wound up scrambling to his right under pressure, failed to see a wide-open Robert Meachem to his left and threw an interception in the end zone. A failed running play would have at least kept the Bucs backed up near the goal line.

Bears 39, Vikings 10

Here’s a question to ponder and debate with friends: what are the five most exciting plays in your  football lifetime? Not single plays, but types of plays. Example: my football lifetime began in 1994 (I was 8; that’s when I started really following the N.F.L. closely). The five most exciting types of plays for me (in no particular order): Devin Hester returning a punt/kick; Randy Moss going long; Michael Vick scrambling/buying time; Deion Sanders returning a pick; and Barry Sanders running.

This discussion changes based on when one’s football lifetime began, but Hester has to be involved in plenty of them, no?

Andy Benoit is an N.F.L. analyst for CBSSports.com and founder of NFLTouchdown.com. He can be reached at andy.benoit@NFLTouchdown.com or @Andy_Benoit.

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The Fifth Down: For 'Monday Night' Introduction, How About the Haka?

All good blog threads must go to die, but here’s a Fifth Down final word (we think) on Hank Williams Jr.

Many readers responded with suggestions about what could replace the opening theme of “Monday Night Football.”

Chris FitzGerald of Lafayette, Calif., wrote:
“Here’s how I’d like to see MNF introduce the games: The Haka; this clip is New Zealand vs. Tonga.”

Great stuff. The N.F.L. has no equivalent. Well, we do have  Ray Lewis (below), maybe the one person on earth who could out-intimidate an entire team’s Haka.

Extra point Australia and New Zealand are meeting in a Rugby World Cup semifinal this weekend. Whom should we be rooting for?
(In that Haka clip, do I detect a little Three Stooges at the 32-second mark?)

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The Fifth Down: Hank Williams Offers a Rebuttal in Song

October 12

Are the Buffalo Bills really that good? Are the Indianapolis Colts really that bad? Judy Battista, the N.F.L. reporter for The Times, will answer readers' questions this week.

October 12

If Tim Tebow does well, the Broncos will prosper, and that's good news for all. For Denver management, failure would also have its benefits.

October 12

The Giants' defense seemed unprepared for Seattle's up-tempo, quick-striking passing attack, leading to perhaps the biggest upset of the week.

October 11

Hank Williams Jr. posted a song on YouTube criticizing ESPN for dismissing him from "Monday Night Football."

October 11

Arizona will be the site of the Super Bowl in 2015.

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The Fifth Down: Goodell, Union to Meet with Congress on H.G.H. Testing

October 14

The New York Times N.F.L. reporter assesses Tim Tebow, Alex Smith, the Jets, Steelers and Eagles.

October 14

The Hamburglar, Alan Rickman and Gregg Allman all make an appearance this week.

October 13

Roger Goodell and union representatives will meet with a House committee to discuss implementing a drug-testing program.

October 13

Another suggested recipe from Times readers for football tailgating parties.

October 13

Fred Jackson and Ahmad Bradshaw are in line for big fantasy days in Week 6 when the Buffalo Bills and Giants meet on Sunday.

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The Fifth Down: It's Tebow Time, and John Fox Can't Lose

Judy Battista on Tim Tebow Time:

Broncos Coach John Fox bowed to the inevitable, naming Tim Tebow his starting quarterback over Kyle Orton. Because the Broncos have a bye Sunday, Tebow has two weeks to prepare for his first start. It will come in Florida, where he became an object of fan obsession; the Broncos play the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 23. The Dolphins had previously scheduled for that day a celebration of the Florida Gators team that Tebow led to the national title in the 2008 season.

The switch to Tebow should delight Broncos fans, who have clamored for him — some have paid thousands of dollars for billboards imploring Fox to start him — but it puts the Broncos’ new coaching staff and front office in an odd spot. During the lockout, they were prepared to turn the team over to Tebow and trade Orton, with the Dolphins the most likely destination.

Woody Paige of The Denver Post said Tebow’s success would hinge on his coaches:

As we sat at a picnic table at Dove Valley, Fox emphatically stated that he — not John Elway and not Pat Bowlen — made the decision to promote Tebow to No. 1, “just as I did Sunday,” when the coach changed his quarterbacks at halftime. “It was a gut reaction,” Fox said.

Extra point It seems doubtful that Fox relied purely on gut instinct. This decision is too important for the franchise. In a way, though, Fox is in a no-lose situation. If Tebow succeeds, the Broncos will prosper, and that’s good news for all. If Tebow fails, that will release some of the pressure that has been building for Fox and Denver management. Fox can say: See, I gave the kid a shot. Fox will no doubt give him a fair shot. He wants to win. But if Tebow falls on his face, do you suppose Fox will not be as disappointed as he professes?

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