October 18, 2009

ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown Notes and Quotes – Week 6

ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown host Chris Berman and analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson and Keyshawn Johnson previewed today’s NFL action. Some excerpts:

On the NFL having so many “bad teams” …

Ditka:  “You can’t win a derby with a donkey. … You have a lot of people evaluating talent in the National Football League who don’t know how to evaluate talent.”

Johnson:  “There’s new people in place and some of those teams were left with some bad talent.”

Carter:  “Lazy players who don’t love the game (are) crippling organizations.”

Jackson:  “It’s a quarterback-driven league. When you start seeing really bad teams, that’s the position to focus on.”

Berman:  “When you blow a couple of first and second round picks over a three and four-year span, you’re in a hole. … You’ve got to do a good job with draft picks.”

On Patriots quarterback Tom Brady …

Carter:  “Is Tom Brady the same quarterback? He looks the same but the results – they’re not the same.”

Jackson:  “There’s now 2-3 plays per game where you just don’t see the same guy. … This is going to be somewhere down the road before they are and he is the same guy.”

Johnson:  “He looks the same to me. … But at the same time, when you look at Josh McDaniels being gone from the offense, that’s something Tom Brady needs to get used to – somebody different callings plays, setting things up differently, when you’re hearing different voices in your ear … Plus, Randy Moss’s been banged up a little bit, Wes Welker’s been banged up a bit. It’s a long season.”

On Giants quarterback Eli Manning …

Jackson: “I used to think he was disinterested in football -- turns out he’s unflappable.”

On Saints quarterback Drew Brees …

Carter: “I believe Drew Brees is special. I believe he will win a Super Bowl in New Orleans one day.”

On the Washington Redskins’ struggles …

Carter: “The No. 1 issue they have right now is with their players. … If you love Jim Zorn the way you say you do, you better play better ‘cause he won’t be around long.”

Berman: “Maybe the Skins need Maine senator Olympia Snow to break their offensive log jam.”    

On the Baltimore Ravens’ recent struggles …

Carter: “The problem with the Ravens is they’ve changed their team philosophy. When they decided to turn their offense over to second year Joe Flacco, they decided to throw the ball. Last year they led the National Football League as far as rush attempts. This year, averaging 38 attempts a game … their defense is on the field 10 more plays.”

Johnson: “The wide receiving corps as a whole – nothing against Derrick Mason, he’s had a terrific career – but as a whole, the wide receiving tandem does not have a closer. You need a closer to be able to be a passing team that finish out games when you throw the football down the field.”    

Ditka: “Right now their aggressiveness is getting the best of them.”

On the Steelers and their need to establish the running game …

Ditka:  “This is an in-your face football team. They need to pound the rock. They’ve got to run the football, and if they don’t do that, they are going to have problems. I love this football team but they got away from their physical nature.”

Jackson:  “This team for 40 years – run the ball, be successful, finish the game, get on the bus, go home.”

Carter:  “When they decided to give Ben Roethlisberger that $100 million, they decided to say, ‘We are going to be a different football team. Our defense is going to be great and we are going to win the game late with our quarterback.’”

From the weekly Ditka’s Doghouse segment, on Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell … 

Ditka:  “If you are the quarterback and you’re the leader, you’ve got to be the guy up front, not the guy following. … You’ve got the support of the owner, but until you wake up and start playing football the way you’re capable of playing football, become a leader, JaMarcus, you’re going in the doghouse.”

Following Rachel Nichols feature on Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who estimates he has paid $200,000 for all the shoes he’s purchased for his personal collection through the years …

Berman: “I don’t think Imelda Marcos ever carried the ball as well as Adrian Peterson, but that’s quite a shoe collection.”

From Ed Werder feature on Saints linebacker Darren Sharper, who has 10 career interception returns for touchdowns and keeps notes on the quarterbacks he faces …

Sharper (who had four interceptions – incl. two returned for touchdowns -- in his career against Eli Manning entering Sunday’s game against the Giants): “The story of me and Eli goes back a long way. He was a quarterback in high school, and he had to be 17 or 18. But I knew he was Peyton’s brother, so I said this might be a guy I see later down the road so I started to do a little scouting back then, watching his mannerisms and seeing what he likes to do when he throws the football. Just so happens it’s worked out well for me. I started my scouting on Eli when he was in high school. Not too many guys can say that.”

Sunday Headlines:

NFL Insider Adam Schefter: “The NFL owners meetings were this past week, and, before the season began, Roger Goodell said he expected 2010 to be an uncapped year. The men (who) were at the meeting this week came out with even stronger feelings, and now it looks like an uncapped year in 2010 is inevitable. We’ve heard no signs that it’s going to be anything but an uncapped year.”

Schefter, on this week’s NFL trading deadline: “The player that’s most likely to be dealt by Tuesday – Roscoe Parrish. Not a big name but … if the Bills can get a fourth round pick, maybe a third round pick, Roscoe Parrish is gone.”

The Countdown crew celebrated Ditka’s 70th birthday with Chris Mortensen and Schefter wheeling out a cake in his honor at the end of the show.

Ditka (to his fellow analysts as he blew out the candles):  “You know what I wished for? I wished you were as smart as me.”

Also, Grammy award-winning artist Justin Timberlake appeared in “The Mayne Event,” Countdown’s weekly tongue-in-cheek feature from Kenny Mayne, touting a faux instructional video for NFL rookies on how they could dominate their rookie talent shows. The segment included members of the Green Bay Packers, including rookie offensive lineman T.J. Lang.

For more information, visit ESPN’s NFL media kit here.

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