Lightning Bolt May Strike Any Time
A review of Week 10 in the NFL, and a reminder to Detroit Coach Bobby Ross, it’s judgment day once again.
After losing his first four games as coach of the Chargers in 1992, Ross took exception to a certain very talented writer’s suggestion that he “was in over his head” in professional football and demanded a closed-door meeting.
“God will be your judge,” finished Ross after yelling nonstop for several minutes.
“In the meantime, I will be yours,” replied the writer.
Ross left the room and promptly directed the Chargers to 11 wins in their next 12 games and a playoff berth, while the writer looked heavenward.
Ross eventually left San Diego after taking his team to a Super Bowl. The Vatican has yet to certify it a miracle, but it can’t just be written off to luck.
Ross landed in Detroit, had his team sitting 6-2 before Sunday’s game with 2-6 Arizona, but now once again looks like a bungling neophyte.
The Lions scored a touchdown to pull within four points of the Cardinals with a little more than five minutes to play Sunday at Tempe, Ariz., and Ross directed his team to go for two points. This is certifiable NFL dumb, but who’s willing to risk hell and damnation to say so?
The Lions failed to convert and later, when confronted with fourth down while parked in field goal range at the Arizona 11-yard line with just a minute to play, they had no choice but to go for the first down or touchdown, failing to achieve either and losing.
“I had thought it through,” said Ross, which is as ridiculous as doing it. “I thought that’s what I wanted to do. . . . It wasn’t a spontaneous decision.”
Hello, is anybody home? After being hurt on the play, Arizona linebacker Zack Walz was taken to the locker room, where he sought help from the team’s physician. “Why did they go for two?” asked Walz.
Ross, quizzed about the bonehead call, stormed out of the postgame news conference after yelling at reporters, “A lot of you people want to get down on this football team and you can do it. I don’t give a damn.”
No one is getting down on the football team--just the coach.
“He did what he too often does when he feels a situation is not to his liking,” wrote Terry Foster, a Detroit News columnist, and the next in line to be threatened with a thunderbolt. “[Ross] turned into Evil Bobby, yelling and screaming at others when he should have been looking in the mirror.”
If the Lions go on now to win the rest of their games and make the playoffs, it will only be because of divine intervention, which will be very unnerving for the very talented writer.
EVERY STIFF HAS HIS DAY
* Dallas quarterback Jason Garrett is 6-2 as a starter in the NFL. That’s 6-2 with two of those victories over the Packers.
“He beat us,” Packer defensive end Vonnie Holliday said. “Believe it or not.”
* The Browns, 43-0 losers to the Steelers with only two first downs to start the season, won in Pittsburgh, 16-15.
“I’m not going to say it’s the most embarrassing loss,” Pittsburgh linebacker Levon Kirkland said. “Because you never know what’s going to come up next.”
* Billy Joe Tolliver has two touchdowns rushing and New Orleans teammate Ricky Williams has none. How does the plucky Tolliver account for his running success? “Sheer speed,” he said.
* Jim Miller, making his first start since 1995, threw for 422 yards in the Bears’ loss to Minnesota.
“We have great confidence in Jim Miller,” said Chicago Coach Dick Jauron, who didn’t have enough confidence to play him until he had no choice, after injuries to Shane Matthews and Cade McNown.
* The Colts were 6-28 in their last 34 games before this season, and Coach Jim Mora was 6-21 in his last 27 games in command of both the Colts and Saints. But now Indianapolis looks like the NFL’s next showcase team, featuring Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James.
“That’s the joy of this sport, doing impossible things when no one expects you to do them,” said linebacker Cornelius Bennett, who lost four Super Bowls while with Buffalo.
* The shrimp hooked the Dolphins, although Mickey Rooney handing off to Antowain Smith could have beaten Miami the way Smith ran and the way the Bill defense performed. But credit Buffalo quarterback Doug Flutie with rising to his tiptoes twice this season to beat the Dolphins, providing Buffalo with an important tie-breaking advantage come the playoffs.
* The Cardinals ranked last in the league running the ball, but promoted Michael Pittman to starter. Pittman ran for 133 yards in 23 carries, once for 58 yards and a touchdown--the longest scoring run for Arizona in three years.
“I was so geeked up before the game, I almost passed out,” Pittman said.
WELL, NOT EVERY STIFF
* The 49ers have not scored a touchdown in their last 30 possessions, and have one in their last 48. The 49ers have not scored a touchdown in their last three games--a first for the franchise dating to when they joined the All-America Football Conference in 1946.
“I’m baffled,” 49er wide receiver Jerry Rice said.
* The Green Bay Packers have lost four of the last five, prompting General Manager Ron Wolf to stand on the sideline to observe the team for the first time since 1991.
* Washington Coach Norv Turner, operating with the understanding that his job is on the line, watched his No. 2-ranked offense turn the ball over six times, allowing Philadelphia to win.
“We beat ourselves,” said Washington wide receiver Albert Connell in offering a ringing endorsement of the work done by Turner.
LET THAT BE A LESSON, KIDS
San Francisco linebacker Winfred Tubbs, showing restraint, stood over a fallen Tolliver before taking a mighty blast on a late hit by New Orleans tackle Mike Halapin, which knocked Tubbs flat to the ground.
“Serves me right for standing over the pile,” Tubbs said.
“Next time I’ll spear the quarterback.”
THE VOICE OF REASON
On the way to the bench after another incomplete pass, Charger quarterback Jim Harbaugh made a U-turn and went after teammate and safety Michael Dumas, who apparently had said something unsettling to Harbaugh.
The two had to be restrained by linebacker Junior Seau, making a spectacle of themselves on TV.
At the same time, the Raiders reported, the Charger defenders were so frustrated and confused that they were yelling nasty things at their own coaches along the sideline.
“They were screaming at one another,” Raider guard Steve Wisniewski said.
“I heard a little friction,” Raider tackle Mo Collins said.
“They were yelling at the sideline, asking them what they were doing--and maybe not so nicely,” Oakland wide receiver Tim Brown said.
Suspended Charger quarterback Ryan Leaf could not be reached for comment, but undoubtedly, here’s what he would have told his teammates:
“Come on, let’s be grown up about this, fellas. Sure, you’re upset, but you have to control yourselves.”
No one would have expected to see signs of it happening so early, but the Chargers obviously miss his leadership.
AND FINALLY . . .
After the Chargers had lost their fourth game in succession, defensive lineman Norman Hand observed out loud, “I don’t know if we could beat a high school team right now.”
They would certainly go in as underdogs against Long Beach Poly.