Week 4 Primer

Game of the Week – Ravens (2-1) vs. Steelers (3-0):

The Ravens and Steelers renew their bloody rivalry at Heinz Field on Sunday with a lot on the line.

Though it’s early in the season, every division game in the AFC North is crucial. Baltimore already has a loss within the division to Cincinnati, and losing this week would all but assure that their only hope for a playoff berth would be to win the wild card.

For Pittsburgh, it’s the final game of Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension, and the team is still out to prove that they can win without their two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback.

Charlie Batch will get the start at quarterback after an impressive performance against Tampa Bay in Dennis Dixon’s absence.

Baltimore has only one major injury concern, and that is the status of running back Ray Rice. Rice suffered a knee contusion against the Browns last week and is listed as questionable. Coach John Harbaugh sounds confident Rice will play, however.

That’s enough talk about offense. As always, this game will come down to defense. The Steelers defense is back to the tough, hard-nosed style that helped get defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau into the Hall of Fame.

Much of Pittsburgh’s success can be attributed to the return of free safety Troy Polamalu, who started just three games last year due to injury. Polamalu is proving once again that he is the most valuable defensive player in the league. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco will have to keep his eyes on No.43 at all times, or he’ll pay the price.

Talk of Baltimore’s defense starts and ends with middle linebacker Ray Lewis. The 15-year veteran is better than ever, and he seems to be playing with a big chip on his shoulder this season. When he plays well, it’s tough to score on the Ravens.

The game kicks off at 1 p.m. EST and will be televised by CBS. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms are on the call.

Upset alert – Broncos (1-2) vs. Titans (2-1):

Denver quarterback Kyle Orton has quietly had a fantastic start to the season, compiling the second-most passing yards (1,078) of anyone in the league.

Orton is working with a highly underrated receiving corps, and the Broncos as a whole are much better than their record suggests.

Broncos’ running back Knowshon Moreno will miss his second straight game with a hamstring injury. Correll Buckhalter and Laurence Maroney will share the carries in his absence.

The Titans are coming off an impressive 29-10 win over the Giants and may be feeling a little too comfortable heading into this home contest with Denver.

Defenses have been stuffing the box against Tennessee running back Chris Johnson, meaning it will be up to Vince Young and the passing game to lead the Titans to a victory.

And speaking of defenses, the Titans gave up 471 total yards against the Giants last week.

The game can be seen at 1 p.m. on CBS. Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots are on the call.

Blowout potential – Panthers (0-3) vs. Saints (3-0):

The Stains have to be fuming after losing at home to division-rival Atlanta in overtime last week. Moreover, New Orleans offense has yet to explode like it did a year ago, which must be frustrating coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees.

There’s no better way to take out your frustrations than to face Carolina, which managed to make Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman look like a Pro Bowler in Week 2.

The Panthers are a complete mess, and coach John Fox can’t do anything about it. Rookie Jimmy Clausen is the team’s starting quarterback, and he struggled mightily against the Bengals last week.

While Brees does have a minor knee injury, it isn’t even significant enough to land him on the injury report.

FOX will air the game at 1 p.m. Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa will be on the call.

Quick Slants –

Redskins (1-2) vs. Eagles (2-1):

Donovan McNabb makes his return to Philadelphia in one of the most intriguing games of the season. How Eagles fans respond to McNabb will certainly generate a lot of headlines.

On the other side, Eagles quarterback Michael Vick is arguably playing the best football of his career. He could have a big day against Washington’s weak secondary.

The game kicks off at 4:15 p.m. on FOX. On the call are Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver.

Jets (2-1) vs. Bills (0-3):

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has been on fire of late, throwing six touchdowns and no interceptions in the last weeks.

Buffalo has many weaknesses, but rookie running back C.J. Spiller isn’t one of them. He had two touchdowns (one receiving, one kick return) against the Patriots last week.

The game airs at 1 p.m. on CBS with Greg Gumbel and Dan Diedorf on the call.

Coughlin is on the Hot Seat

Tom Coughlin led the New York Giants to a Super Bowl win just three years ago. Fans of Big Blue don’t want to hear that.

Coughlin, now in eighth season as head coach of the Giants, finds himself on the hot seat for a number of reasons. Chief among them, the Giants haven’t been quite the same since that memorable 2007 season, which ended with the Giants pulling off a remarkable victory over the New England Patriots in February, 2008.

It’s not as if the Giants have been terrible the last three seasons, but it has appeared at times that Coughlin has lost control of his team.

Take last year, for instance. The Giants got off to a 6-0 start and looked poised to make another deep run in the playoffs. But the team completely fell of the wagon, ending the season with a record of 8-8 and no trip to the postseason. Giants’ co-owner John Mara was not pleased, and reportedly blew a gasket after the season. While the fall wasn’t enough to get Coughlin fired, it did count as a strike against him.

Assuming there was already a strike against him considering some of the struggles his team suffered before winning the Super Bowl; Coughlin is down to his last strike. 

What’s taking place now is the final act of Coughlin’s tenure. 

The Giants are sitting at 1-2 after the first three weeks, a disappointing record considering the expectations heading into the season. And the two losses haven’t been pretty. Losing to Indianapolis 38-14 in Manning Bowl II wasn’t terribly surprising, but it would have been nice if the Giants had at least showed up for the contest. The Colts destroyed the Giants in every phase, and the game was virtually over after the first quarter.

Then there was last Sunday’s debacle against the Tennessee Titans. There have been many awful and embarrassing performances from the Giants during Coughlin’s tenure, but this one had to be one of the worst. It wouldn’t appear that way when looking at the box score.

Big Blue dominated in virtually every statistical category, gaining 471 yards to Tennessee’s 271, racking up 26 first downs to Tennessee’s 17, and winning the time of possession battle 31:38-28:22. And yet the Titans won the game 29-10. That’s because the Giants turned the ball over three times, one of which came on Manning’s horrific left-handed toss in the end zone, and committed 11 penalties. And of those 11 penalties, five were personal fouls.

Smart, disciplined football teams don’t commit five personal foul penalties in one game. Coughlin has always prided his teams on being the opposite of what the Giants were on Sunday.  

Now, it’s not all Coughlin’s fault. Part of the reason stupid penalties are being committed is due to the fact that the Giants don’t have a single player willing to step up and become the true leader of this team.

Everyone has always assumed Justin Tuck was the one, but he isn’t the vocal presence that the Giants have needed the last two seasons. And that goes back to the downfall this team has experienced since winning the Super Bowl. Michael Strahan was leading the way in 2007, and it’s laughable to think that he would have let everything that’s happened take place when he was around.

This team is in desperate need of someone to step up and say, “We’re not going to do this anymore.” Instead, the Giants are stuck with players who don’t have the leadership skills to say anything useful. It would be nice if Eli decided to say something, but he’s never been a vocal presence and probably never will be.

The Giants look like a team with no direction, and Coughlin looks like a coach who doesn’t have a clue what to say to his team.

With Bill Cowher stating that he would be willing to come back to coaching if he found the “right situation” and Jerome Bettis saying Cowher “covets” the Giants job, Coughlin isn’t going to last much longer if things stay the same.

Maybe a change would be good for all parties. Anything would be better for the Giants at this point.