Woodley doesn’t see impact of losing Harrison

Published: October 20th, 2011 | Tags: LaMarr Woodley, Around the League, James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers

LaMarr Woodley rarely disappoints during his appearances on NFL Network. Whether it’s taking a shot at Joe Flacco, sharing his innermost thoughts on Carson Palmer or questioning his own ranking on NFL Network’s “The Top 100: Players of 2011?, the Steelers linebacker leaves an impression, one way or the other.

This time around, though, Woodley’s critique — perhaps inadvertently — was directed at teammate James Harrison.

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The Pittsburgh defense has been dogged through the early weeks of the season for not being what most expected — as in fast, physical and big on forcing turnovers. That the Steelers are playing without Harrison, who’s on the shelf with a broken eye socket, would seem to be a major loss for the suddenly less-than-imposing defense.

Right, LaMarr?

“It hasn’t really affected us at all,” Woodley said of Harrison’s absence. “We put Lawrence Timmons at outside linebacker, moved Larry Foote at inside linebacker, guys that have started in those positions before. Timmons is definitely coming around; he’s doing a great job of rushing off the edge and doing a great job in the run game. From week to week, Timmons is starting to improve and when guys go down, you just expect other guys to come in and make plays. He’s been doing that.”

Sure, Woodley was propping up the play of Timmons. But one can’t help but wonder if Woodley also was delivering a message.

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Tough doesn’t necessarily mean clutch with Romo

Published: October 3rd, 2011 | Tags: Around the League, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Tony Romo

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Tough? We’ll give Cowboys QB Tony Romo that much. He proved, by playing through broken ribs and a punctured lung the previous two weeks, that he’s one tough SOB.

Clutch? Well, let’s not confuse tough for clutch. There’s a difference.

By throwing three second-half interceptions Sunday allowing the Lions to complete a 24-point comeback win, Romo proved once again that there’s still room for improvement in the clutch department. There’s something to be said for triggering the biggest collapse in the Cowboys’ illustrious history.

“The worst thing about him is, as I think of the quarterbacks I’ve played with, Brees and Brady, they all have short-term memories,” Heath Evans said Monday on “Around the League.” “They could make a mistake, and they would correct it the next time out. We saw back-to-back pick-sixes, and then we see the pick at the end of the game … You just can’t continue to do these things. You’ve got to let that stuff get out of your mind.”

Evans is pretty spot on. Dwelling on his mistakes has always been one of Romo’s biggest downfalls. The result: For every performance like the one in Week 2 against the 49ers, it feels like Romo delivers 10 times as many that are similar to Sunday against the Lions. So where does that leave Romo as a leader?

As NFL.com’s Steve Wyche put it, strap in, buy low and sell high.

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Brady: MVP award ‘doesn’t make a lot of sense’

Published: December 27th, 2010 | Tags: Tom Brady, Michael Vick, NFL MVP

It has become clear over the last several weeks that the NFL MVP race turned into a two-man sprint. Tom Brady and Michael Vick.

There’s an argument that Brady cemented the award with his performance in Week 16, setting an NFL record with 319 consecutive passes without an interception. But that could have been argued three weeks ago. And Vick, deservedly so, also has his supporters. Because of their performances each week, this conversation seems to sway toward the player who most recently took the field. So maybe minds will change again Tuesday night.

While we found out last week who Vick would vote for, Brady was asked for his take during his weekly radio appearance Monday.

“My feeling, as always, is the most valuable player award in a team sport, to me that doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Brady told WEEI Radio. “I can understand you have a most valuable golfer or something like that. Michael Vick is a great player, and he’s the best player for that team. He fits what they do well. Peyton Manning fits what his team does well.

“Unfortunately, it’s really a quarterback award, not a lot of other great  players get that recognition, which they probably should. There are so many great players in the league. You know, I guess it’s something they have to do. The only award I ever cared about is a Super Bowl ring.”

Without making a complete distinction off one simple question, it’s telling the way Brady formulates answers about his personal achievements. The mark of a leader has been aptly described as one who deflects praise and accepts criticism. That’s what we see repeatedly from Brady.

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Choice: Fallout over autograph doesn’t make sense

Judging by the comments from NFL Nation following Tashard Choice’s autograph request of Michael Vick, the whole thing is NOT A BIG DEAL. That hasn’t exactly been the case in Dallas, where on Wednesday we found Choice defending himself and his competitiveness to a group of reporters.

Here’s the money quote from Choice:

“Am I more competitive if I would have tried to fight him after the game? What would you have said then? That we would have won the game? … OK, that’s what I’m saying. Sixty minutes from the beginning to the end, that’s all you play in a football game. When the game is over, it’s over. We bury loses. Like I’ve told people … there’s no fan, no coach, no person in the media who cares more about a game, winning or losing, that I’m playing in. I play. And I give everything I’ve got for 60 minutes. That’s it.”

Choice did have an interesting response when asked if players view games as life-or-death as some fans appear to. Cowboys fans, take note:

“It’s different how they take it,” Choice said. ”People hate the Eagles. We build up hate during the week. But we still know, period, those are our brothers on the other side when the game is over. We compete as hard as we can, try to win. I wouldn’t even be in the NFL if I didn’t compete. It’s crazy. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Somebody to come across that way, and you’re not even in the NFL, how are you even going to say that? It’s crazy.”

The whole story took on a bizarre twist, from the initial reaction to Choice apologizing on Twitter to saying the media blowup ruined the surprise for his 3-year-old nephew. Which, incidentally, makes one wonder how much said nephew is paying attention to the sports media … anyways, hopefully we won’t have to dedicate much more space on the issue, which seems to closely resemble a non-issue.

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