Here's to the glory days, Matt.
- Suddenly, Matt Leinart isn’t that good. And suddenly, Derek Anderson–the same Derek Anderson who has thrown 18 interceptions and 12 touchdowns over the past two years–is good, or at least good enough. What started as the usual Adam Schefter special Wednesday morning has now developed into the Leinart countdown, with the former pride of USC reportedly being shopped amongst the Giants, Raiders, and Bills.
- There’s simple analysis, and then there’s Jon Gruden‘s analysis. Gruden became the 53rd prominent NFL media voice to chime in on Leinart-Gate.
- And what about Leinart’s rumoured destinations? Money and Leinart’s contract could be a problem for the Giants, a trade to the Raiders wouldn’t be shocking, but it would be a waste of time, and the Bills are already using the “E’ word (erroneous) in reference to Schefter’s report.
- Jahvid Best has ridiculous speed. He showed it repeatedly at Cal, and he’s showed it repeatedly so far with the Lions, especially on a 51-yard run last week against the Browns. Best has shown his game-breaking speed so much that the Lions may have to think long and hard this weekend about keeping Kevin Smith around.
- What was once a bitter family feud between Albert Haynesworth and Mike Shanahan is now at the level of your average sibling squabble. Haynesworth will be one of the few starters playing in Washington’s preseason finale.
- But despite the bridges slowly being mended by Haynesworth in Washington, there’s still a chance he could be benched or even deactivated for Week 1 of the regular season.
- I’m not sure what’s more troubling: the fact that Jason Heyward-Bey greets anyone who logs onto the Raiders’ website, or that the Raiders are once again calling Schefter a liar on said website. In the epic Schefter vs. Al Davis and the crazy Raiders (coincidentally that’s also the name of my band) battle, I believe Schefter holds the upper hand.
- Nothing says opening weekend quite like Chad Ochocinco with a rifle.
- We’ve rounded the bend past the one-month mark and into Day 30 of the Darrelle Revis holdout. There’s good news on the Calvin Pace front, but he’s still going to miss the Jets’ opener. And now Revis’ replacement Antonio Cromartie is icing his hip. I’m quite confident in my decision to not take the Jets defence in my fantasy draft Monday night.
The Wayback Playback
When Leinart’s demise in Arizona started last week, Gagnon honoured the occasion with a picture gallery showing some of his greatest NFL moments. Digging up an all-time classic, here’s Dennis Green going bonkers after the Cardinals’ putrid defence ruined one of the few effective performances of Leinart’s NFL career:
