Belichick meets Martz again on Pats' trip
SAN FRANCISCO -- Frank Gore has spent every NFL postseason of his career at home, so the 49ers running back has logged ample time in front of the television appreciating what Bill Belichick can do with a defense.
Gore has long admired the New England Patriots and Belichick, the architect of the decade's dominant franchise. He'll finally get his first chance to go against a Belichick defense Sunday, yet the man Gore calls "a coaching genius" doesn't scare him the way he might have done last year.
"We've got a genius, too: coach Martz, man," said Gore, the NFL's leader with 525 yards from scrimmage in just four games under Mike Martz's tutelage. "I love him. I like this offense a whole lot. It's all about taking care of the small things. (Martz and Belichick) went at it before. They'll go at it again."
Two of the NFL's most respected schemers will knock heads again in the Patriots' first trip to Candlestick Park in Belichick's nine-year tenure. Martz and Belichick have been on divergent coaching roads since Feb. 3, 2002, when the Patriots stunned Martz's heavily favored St. Louis Rams for their first Super Bowl victory.
But Martz, who was fired twice in two calendar years by St. Louis and Detroit, seems to be in the early stages of creating another powerful offense in San Francisco as head coach Mike Nolan's coordinator. If he's successful, another head coaching job surely will follow -- and a win over the suddenly vulnerable Patriots (2-1) would be a seminal achievement in that process.
That won't be easy against Belichick, who hasn't lost in his last five games following bye weeks. The Patriots haven't lost back-to-back games since early November 2006, and they haven't lost any game in October since 2005, winning 10 straight.
"There's no way to tell, with two weeks to prepare, what they might do," Nolan said. "The base stuff will be the same, but there will be some wrinkles in there, so you try to anticipate where he might go. ... Both he and Mike, when they go against each other, will try to figure out some little wrinkles to show one another."
Given their mutual admiration, Martz and Belichick realize they can't do much to fool each other at this point. The Patriots will even be waiting for direct snaps to Gore after the Miami Dolphins' success with that gambit two weeks ago in their stunning win over New England.
"I don't see a lot of changes fundamentally in his system," Belichick said of Martz. "It's well-coordinated, and everything meshes together. He knows who his playmakers are and he tries to utilize them, whether it was in Detroit, St. Louis or now in San Francisco. Frank Gore is a different runner than Marshall Faulk was, so the emphasis is a little different.
"Who to get the ball to, and the frequency of calling certain plays based on their personnel, I think that's what he does well. But it's still his offense."
The Patriots' first trip to San Francisco since 1995 should have been the long-awaited hometown debut of Tom Brady, who grew up maybe 20 minutes from Candlestick Park in San Mateo, just down the peninsula. Brady was sitting in the stands with a 49ers foam finger on his 4-year-old hand at the January 1982 NFC championship game, when Dwight Clark made the catch that propelled the Niners' nascent dynasty into its first Super Bowl.
With Brady out for the season with a knee injury, girlfriend Gisele Bundchen canceled her order for a luxury suite at Candlestick. Matt Cassel probably won't need nearly as many seats for friends and supermodels at his first start in his native California, but Brady's backup believes the bye week came at a perfect time to shake the Pats' hangover from their humiliating home loss to the Dolphins.
"You go back over it, and you see little things here and there, whether it be positioning on a ball, or how you throw a certain route," Cassel said. "The bye week was a good week to go in and re-evaluate where we were as a team."
The Patriots will stay in California after the game, bunking in the South Bay and practicing at San Jose State before next week's game at San Diego.
It'll be a long week if New England can't finish off the 49ers (2-2), whose struggling defense will be tested by Cassel and Randy Moss, who has few fans left in the Bay Area after his atrocious two-year stint with the Oakland Raiders.
San Francisco's revival stalled last week in a 31-17 loss at New Orleans. Quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan, who became friends with Cassel during a four-week stint on Belichick's practice squad in 2006, was sacked six times to bring his season total to 19, a weakness sure to be exploited by the Pats' defense.
With Martz in charge and Gore putting together his finest season, the 49ers are no longer pushovers -- and the Patriots don't strike fear in unfamiliar opponents the way they did recently.
"We're looking forward to the challenge and seeing where we stand," 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis said. "It's great to test yourself against the best."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Pennington takes his place in Dolphins offense
DAVIE, Fla. -- A running back took direct snaps to help the Miami Dolphins grab headlines and their first win in the Bill Parcells era.
Somewhat lost in the frenzy surrounding Miami's unorthodox formation, called "Wildcat," was an impressive performance by their quarterback, Chad Pennington, who posted the most accurate numbers of his nine-year NFL career.
Pennington went 17-for-20 for 226 yards in Miami's 38-13 win over New England last Sunday. His 85 percent completion mark was a new personal single-game high, and was the second-best completion percentage in the team's history.
"It is a great feeling," Pennington said of Miami's offensive performance. "It's the best feeling you can have as an offensive football player. It really is because you just feel like whatever's called, good things are going to happen. To have that feeling, it doesn't get any better than that."
Pennington was sharp against New England, but much of the offense came when he didn't touch the ball. The Dolphins tried the direct snap to Ronnie Brown six times, getting five runs for 100 yards and three touchdowns and a halfback option pass to Anthony Fasano for a 19-yard touchdown.
"I just thought this would be a good opportunity right now to throw something out there that I knew the players would put their arms around," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "I knew they'd be fired up to get into this thing a little bit. It would create some angles for us, without a doubt within our interior. It would create space based on what I've seen in what we had studied on film and from that standpoint there that was really what we tried to do."
Pennington was touted as an upgrade at quarterback when he signed as a free agent Aug. 8 after being released by the New York Jets. But two games into this season, he and the Dolphins were still waiting for a win.
In the Dolphins 31-10 loss at Arizona on Sept. 14, Pennington was the Dolphins' second-best quarterback. Rookie Chad Henne came off the bench in the fourth quarter to direct their lone touchdown drive. In their season opener, Pennington had 251 yards passing and two touchdowns against his former team, but he threw an interception in the end zone with 5 seconds left to seal the Jets' 20-14 win.
"Offensive football is all about confidence; it's about confidence and communication," Pennington said. "Especially when you have a young team, instilling that confidence and being able to see the benefit of your hard work, to see the results, that's huge. I think what our guys have done a great job of is not losing confidence after our first two games."
If the Dolphins did have a confidence problem during their first two games this season, it was for good reason. Miami is coming off a depressing 1-15 season and had lost 20 of its previous 21 contests going into the game against New England. The Dolphins are off this week, which means the team's next chance to showcase their new formation and new quarterback is against San Diego on Oct. 5.
"The feeling that we had after Sunday as opposed to the feeling that we had after two weeks ago Sunday, it's polar opposites," cornerback Andre Goodman said. "Joyful and misery -- it's a big difference."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Coaches looking to special teams for an edge
NEW ORLEANS -- From the day Reggie Bush joined the New Orleans Saints as a rookie, the flashy, versatile and blazing running back never stopped lobbying to return punts, no matter how big his workload became on offense.
"It's tough to run back punt returns, especially in this league, and to run back kickoff returns, (but) if you have somebody who's really good at it and who's really elusive, it just gives them another chance to make a play," Bush said. "It gives you a chance to get the ball in space and, obviously, when you have a playmaker in that type of situation, you always like your chances."
With all the fair catches on punts and touchbacks on kickoffs, special teams plays seem anticlimactic at times. But certainly not in Week 2 in this young NFL season, when Bush returned a punt 55 yards for a score; San Diego's Darren Sproles ran back a kickoff 103 yards; and two other punts were blocked and recovered for touchdowns, by Chicago and Tennessee.
It was a reminder of how spectacular special teams could be for those who excel at them, and how troubling it could be for those who don't. NFL coaches nearly always have placed heavy emphasis on a phase of the game that isn't always recognized by the fans -- except when something, well, special happens.
Teams are more inclined these days to ask both offensive and defensive starters to help out on special teams. At the same time, they use draft picks on and hold precious roster spots for specialists such as long snappers who may never otherwise get in the game.
"We have to take the approach in our return game as an opportunity to change field position and create an advantage with a guy like Reggie Bush," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "It just seems as if this year, some of the young players that have come out have done a good a job on special teams. When you look at Felix Jones for Dallas or the receiver from Cal (DeSean Jackson) with Philadelphia, or you look at (Eddie) Royal, who's helping Denver, there are a lot of talented young returners right now that are making an impact, and it forces you to play well on special teams or else you could really end up being on the bad end of a play."
Cleveland coach Romeo Crennel began his NFL career as a special teams coach. When the Browns won 10 games last season, much of the credit went to their ability to cover and return punts and kickoffs.
"Special teams are the last frontier in the NFL," Cleveland kicker Phil Dawson said. "Coaches know you just can't go out there and dominate with your offense or defense anymore. You have to win two of three phases in a game, which is why they've put such a premium on special teams play. Look around the league and you'll see there are plenty of teams using starters on special teams."
The Browns' Joshua Cribbs made the Pro Bowl as a return specialist after taking back two kickoffs for TDs and one punt for a TD. Dawson has been one of league's steadiest kickers for years. Long snapper Ryan Pontbriand also made the Pro Bowl last year. When Butch Davis drafted him in the fifth round in 2003, people laughed. Not anymore.
Browns punter Dave Zastudil had five punts for 265 yards for a 53-yard gross average and 52.8-yard net average in last Sunday night's game against Pittsburgh, both career bests. It was an extraordinary performance when factoring in 60 mph wind gusts stemming from the remnants of Hurricane Ike. Although the Steelers won 10-6, special teams play was what kept Cleveland close throughout.
"Because the talent is so even, you're trying to find the edge," Pontbriand said. "A lot of times you can win the game with special teams ... so that's why there's so much more of an emphasis now."
Tennessee's score on a blocked punt against Cincinnati was perhaps fittingly set up several plays earlier by an exceptional punt. Craig Hentrich's 70-yard boot with the wind at his back went out of bounds at the Bengals 2-yard line. Unable to move the ball, Cincinnati had to punt from the 1. Tennessee left its defense on the field and starting linebacker Keith Bulluck blocked Kyle Larson's kick in the end zone, then picked up the ball for the TD.
Back in suburban New Orleans, Saints long snapper Kevin Houser didn't seem at all surprised as he reflected on last weekend's rash of big special teams plays.
"One guy on a punt return will get a little complacent and start thinking about coverage, as opposed to protection, and that's when you see the blocked punts," Houser said. "Then you've got great players around the league like Reggie and (Chicago's) Devin Hester and it can be lights out within two or three steps. A lot of times it takes one or two blocks or one man to miss an assignment and it's over."
Talk about making a career in special teams. Houser, who jokingly refers to himself as an upside-down quarterback, has done little else but deliver long snaps on punts and place kicks since he was selected by New Orleans out of Ohio State in the seventh round of the 2000 draft.
He has played in 130 consecutive games for the Saints, so coaches clearly recognize the importance of such a player. Fans may be a little slower to catch on.
While punt and kick returners tend to be noticed when they've done well, long-snappers are noticed only when they mess up, Houser said.
"Doing your job, day in and day out, you don't really get recognized and in fact, it's great, because so far I can walk around the grocery store and I don't really get recognized," he said. "So the less people know me, the happier I am, the happier my wife is."
Yet, the way specials teams are figuring into the outcomes of games, it may not be long before a reliable long-snapper like Houser becomes a household name.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Harris eager to face Bears a year after trade
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Chris Harris was in the middle of a routine training-camp practice last August when Bears coach Lovie Smith came up to him with jarring news: Chicago had traded him to the Carolina Panthers.
At first, the safety was stunned as a golf cart arrived to whisk him away. Then he got angry after learning the Bears had only gotten a fifth-round draft pick in return. Finally, he became determined to show the Bears made a bad decision.
A year later, after leading the NFL in forced fumbles, signing a lucrative contract extension and becoming a leader of Carolina's defense, Harris believes he's made his point as he prepares to face his former team Sunday for the first time.
"I think I've already proved them wrong," Harris said. "I was a little bitter when it happened, of course. I'm pretty sure most people would be."
Harris now is happy the trade happened. The 6-foot, hard-hitting strong safety quickly became a starter with Carolina after an uncertain role in Chicago's deep secondary. Putting the ball-hawking skills he learned under Smith to use, Harris led the league and set a franchise record with eight forced fumbles in 2007.
Despite missing most of the preseason with a groin injury, Harris ripped the ball away from San Diego tight end Antonio Gates in Sunday's season-opener -- ending Gates' streak of 339 touches without a fumble -- and teammate Chris Gamble returned it 31 yards for a touchdown in the Panthers' upset win.
"That's a thing Chris really does well," coach John Fox said. "He practices it in practice and it carries over into the game. It was a fine, fine play that resulted in a big play for us."
After Harris' productive 2007 that included ranking second on the team with a career-high 102 tackles, the Panthers rewarded him with a four-year contract extension worth $13.3 million. Not bad for a guy discarded for a fifth-round pick.
"I have been waiting to play them," Harris said of Sunday's matchup. "I wish we could have played them last year. I'm ready to play. I've talked to some guys out there, so it will be a fun game."
Harris had become a key member of the Bears after being a little-known sixth-round pick from Louisiana-Monroe in 2005. He started as a rookie and forced a fumble by Panthers running back DeShaun Foster in Carolina's playoff victory. He bounced from free to strong safety in 2006 and intercepted Peyton Manning on Indianapolis' first series in the Super Bowl.
But Harris got caught in a numbers game in training camp last year after the Bears acquired Adam Archuleta and got Mike Brown back from injury. Carolina, meanwhile, was desperate for safety help following injuries and Mike Minter's impending retirement.
The trade has since turned into a one-sided deal, but Smith sidestepped a question this week on whether he regretted making the move.
"It turned out well for Chris," Smith said. "Chris is a lifetime friend. It's good for him that it turned out well. He did an awful lot for us. He helped us get to the Super Bowl."
On Sunday, Smith will have to contend with Harris' knack for turnovers. Harris said it was something Smith drove home on a daily basis in practice by charting the number of times players tried to strip the ball.
"I guess it's who wants it more," Harris said. "A lot of guys aren't conscious of it. They just tackle to tackle. I don't tackle just to tackle. I go in looking to rip the ball out."
And he'll certainly be looking to do that Sunday against a team he still holds a grudge against.
"He's very fired up this week," safety Charles Godfrey said. "You see it out there at practice, he's real fired up. He's ready for this game."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Bills' LB Crowell out, having knee surgery
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Bills starting linebacker Angelo Crowell will miss Buffalo's season opener against Seattle on Sunday, and is out indefinitely after having surgery on his left knee Thursday.
Coach Dick Jauron announced the news after Crowell missed practice, saying Crowell's decision to have arthroscopic surgery came as a surprise. Jauron said it was too early to tell how much time Crowell would miss.
Jauron said the surgery is related to a nagging injury that kept Crowell in and out of practice during training camp and forced him to miss two preseason games last month.
Yet Jauron said he didn't anticipate the injury was so severe Crowell would require surgery. The decision was made after Crowell consulted with team doctors Thursday, a day after he practiced with the team.
"It came pretty much out of the blue. It was certainly nothing that we saw coming," he said. "It's not as we would've planned it or would have liked it certainly, but it's the way it is, so we'll just keep working. We'll go forward and be optimistic and be confident."
The Bills' 2003 third-round draft pick, Crowell was entering his fourth season as a starter and was part of a revamped linebacker group that was rounded out by veteran free-agent addition Kawika Mitchell and Paul Posluszny, who missed all but three games of his rookie season with a broken forearm.
Backup Keith Ellison will start in Crowell's place on the strong side. Ellison, Buffalo's 2006 sixth-round draft pick, has proven to be a capable backup in his first two seasons.
Posluszny was held out of practice as a precaution on Thursday after he twisted his ankle a day earlier. Jauron said Posluszny's ankle was still sore, but he is expected to play.
Reserve defensive lineman Spencer Johnson practiced on a limited basis because of a sore back.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
L.T. returns to practice for Chargers while Rivers sits out again
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The San Diego Chargers are slowly getting back their injured players ahead of the AFC championship game Sunday against the undefeated New England Patriots.
Although quarterback Philip Rivers sat out for the second straight day with a sprained right knee, two-time NFL rushing champion LaDainian Tomlinson returned to practice Thursday after sitting out Wednesday to rest his hyperextended left knee.
"I think we're making progress," coach Norv Turner said. "L.T. was able to practice and we had some guys moving around. I think we'll get a couple more guys practicing tomorrow."
Tomlinson and Rivers were hurt in Sunday's 28-24 upset win over Indianapolis.
Turner said Tomlinson looked good.
Rivers "was wanting to go out and throw some and take some drops today," but the team's trainer didn't think it was appropriate," Turner said. "So we'll see where it is tomorrow."
Also sitting out were tight end Antonio Gates (toe) and defensive tackle Jamal Williams (ankle).
Outside linebacker Shawne Merriman was limited again due to an illness.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Forget speculation: 13-3 record enough for Jones to know Phillips coming back
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, your job is safe. So says owner Jerry Jones.
While there really shouldn't be any question about Phillips' job status after a 13-3 record in his first season that earned Dallas the NFC's top seed, there has been some speculation Phillips has to win a playoff game to ensure his return.
"There's nothing that can happen in the playoffs that could change my thinking about him being the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys," Jones said Thursday. "And I don't know how you could have a question as to whether or not he's coaching or not for the Cowboys in the future."
So there won't be a coaching change, not even to keep offensive coordinator Jason Garrett from leaving to be a head coach somewhere else next season.
Garrett, hired last winter by Jones before Phillips became the new coach, last week interviewed for head coaching vacancies in Atlanta and Baltimore. Many view the former Cowboys backup quarterback who has been an NFL assistant coach only three seasons as the eventual successor to Phillips.
While Jones doesn't want to lose Garrett now, he won't get rid of Phillips for the purpose of creating an opening to promote the young coach, no matter what happens Sunday against the New York Giants.
"We all know how I feel about Jason Garrett, and that's no secret," Jones said. "I don't want to let him go, but there's things that I don't have control over."
Phillips said this week he wasn't concerned about all the speculation.
"My record stands for itself, that's all I can say. I mean, we're 13-3, we're No. 1 in the NFC, we're playing a playoff game which I think we'll win," Phillips said. "I don't have any control over anything except how I coach."
Phillips was fired after three seasons in Buffalo with a 29-19 record and two playoff losses. He lost his job in Denver with a 16-16 record and a playoff loss in two years.
"There really should be no question here. It's been just 10 months since Wade took this job, and look what has happened," Jones said. "With a double handful of Pro Bowlers (an NFL record 12) and 13 wins, I don't need to see any more, frankly, as far as validating that decision" to hire Phillips.
Garrett isn't the only Cowboys coach getting attention elsewhere.
Assistant head coach Tony Sparano is considered the front-runner to become head coach in Miami, where former Dallas coach Bill Parcells is the new executive vice president of football operations and former Cowboys scout Jeff Ireland is now general manager.
Sparano also interviewed for the vacancies in Baltimore and Atlanta.
Jones said the pursuit of Garrett and Sparano by other teams "isn't taking away from what we're doing to prepare to play for the New York Giants at all."
During a nearly 45-minute talk with reporters in advance of the Cowboys' first home playoff game in nine years, Jones said he was confident about what would happen Sunday.
"I feel good about us playing good football, really good football," he said.
It has been 11 years since the Cowboys last won in the playoffs, and that came a year after the last of their three Super Bowl titles in a span of four seasons.
And, no, Jones doesn't have any concerns about Tony Romo's focus after the quarterback's well-documented trip to Mexico last weekend with Jessica Simpson and a few teammates.
"I have no qualms, I have no concern about Tony's social life and about his relationship," Jones said. "I've had a lot of players in 19 years that I've had concerns in those areas, so I'm not a novice in this area. I don't have any with Tony."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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