The 8-2 Bears remain a huge surprise but not the only one in the upside-down NFL.
The 8-2 San Francisco 49ers, 7-3 New York Jets, 6-4 Atlanta Falcons, 8-2 Pittsburgh Steelers, 6-4 Cleveland Browns and 6-5 New England Patriots join the Bears as coast-to-coast shocks.
Meanwhile, seven of last year’s 12 playoff teams are in danger of staying home this postseason–the 4-6 Indianapolis Colts, 4-6 Tennessee Titans, 6-5 Denver Broncos, 5-6 New York Giants, 4-6 Minnesota Vikings, 5-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 5-5 New Orleans Saints.
Why were the surprise teams so difficult to predict?
– The 49ers had no idea who was going to run the ball for them and were on the verge of cutting Garrison Hearst until he took a pay cut so the team could justify allowing him to rehabilitate a bad ankle. Now the 49ers have the second-leading running attack.
– The Jets had a new coach in Herman Edwards, an old quarterback in Vinny Testaverde, the 24th rushing game despite Curtis Martin and a minus-five in turnover ratio. Plus, they lost their opener to the Colts 45-24. Now they lead the league with a plus-22 turnover ratio and Martin leads the league in rushing.
– The Falcons won four games last year, were 30th in offense, 25th in defense and lost running back Jamal Anderson to injury in the third game. How they have stayed in the top 10 in rushing and won despite a shaky defense remains baffling.
– The Steelers still had Kordell Stewart at quarterback and he was operating with his fourth offensive coordinator. Who knew this would be the year he would figure it out? The league’s No. 1 defense and No. 1 running game helps, but who knew Jerome Bettis would be having his best year at age 29?
– The Browns are only in their third year. They had won five games the previous two and their best player, defensive end Courtney Brown, was going to miss the first half of the season. Now they lead the league with 25 interceptions.
– The Patriots lost their first two games and quarterback Drew Bledsoe. They had no running game and a castoff runner in Antowain Smith. Their top receiver, Terry Glenn, was suspended. They were going to have to play with a second-year sixth-round quarterback, Tom Brady, who threw four touchdown passes Sunday.
– The Bears had few proven playmakers, no established quarterback, no track record running the ball, only 20 takeaways all last season and a coach under intense pressure to win. Now they have two running backs and an offensive coordinator who runs, two quarterbacks who understand their roles, a defense full of playmakers and a coach who appears to feel no more or less pressure than he ever did.
From bottom to top and vice versa is a matter of only a few plays a game, making the prediction business more dangerous than ever.
Talk about it: A coach can fine, suspend, or release players for conduct detrimental to the team. Last week, Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid, at the behest of public relations coordinator Derek Boyko, also made three of his players in trouble talk to the media, forcing them into public accountability.
So far, this is in contrast to the Cleveland Browns, who suspended defensive tackle Gerard Warren, H-back Mike Sellers and cornerback Lamar Chapman (who was on injured reserve) for Sunday’s game against Cincinnati. The three have yet to talk to the media and a Browns spokeswoman said Monday she doesn’t know whether the players will be addressing the issue.
Eagles safety Terrence Carroll was released by Reid after last week’s game after being charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Running back Correll Buckhalter and cornerback Darrell Crutchfield, who were riding with Carroll when he was stopped, were suspended for the game along with Carroll.
Reid agreed with Boyko that the three players owed the public an explanation, so they were required to face the media as usual, consistent with terms of their player contracts.
Said Reid: “I don’t like these things to happen. In my eyes, I don’t look at them as minor issues.”
In Cleveland, Sellers and Chapman were arrested and each received a felony charge of drug abuse for possessing cocaine. Warren was arrested outside a Pittsburgh nightclub, where he attended a party thrown by Steelers receiver Plaxico Burress, and charged with a felony for having an unregistered handgun in his car. He showed papers that he owned the gun, but it was unregistered.
Bad to worse: Just when the 3-7 Jacksonville Jaguars thought they had seen the worst, it was learned star receiver Jimmy Smith tested positive for cocaine after police stopped him Nov. 11 on suspicion of drunken driving. Smith will not be prosecuted, but could face disciplinary action from the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Smith denied having taken cocaine, and said he was trying to figure out how the test could have returned positive.
Wounded Raven: Baltimore rookie running back Jason Brookins broke his right foot in Sunday’s game against Jacksonville and could be lost for the season. Moe Williams takes over as the starter.
