Projo Pats Blog

Tony Sparano says he is trying not to panic about the Miami Dolphins' 0-2 start, which included a horrid loss last week to the Arizona Cardinals. Of course, if you're Sparano, why panic? Coaching your first season on a team that was 1-15 last year, with your buddy Bill Parcells calling the shots in the front office, and with absolutely no one expecting you to do very much this year, especially beating the Patriots on Sunday at Gillette Stadium. So why give up on the washed-up Ricky Williams now, when he can continue taking carries and ultimately wear and tear away from the talented Ronnie Brown? Why take Chad Pennington out now and risk ruining Chad Henne (I guy I don't really love, but Miami is high on)? And by the way, do you think Pennington will still be the NFL's all-time leader in completion percentage once he's done working a season with this team?

Seven years ago, as everyone knows, Tom Brady made his NFL debut with a victory over the Colts. The next week, he faced the Miami Dolphins and lost in a game that was ugly for the Patriots. Cassel may have performed exactly as Brady did in his first NFL start, but the similarities end there. Contrary to what some delusional New Englanders are now actually believing, Cassel is not the next Brady. But I'm just as confident about saying this: there's no way the Dolphins are going to beat Cassel in his second start, like that other Miami team did to Brady. This week, in fact, seems the perfect opportunity for Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels to let Cassel open it up and see what he can do, because he won't be facing a very good defense.

That might be news to Miami's Joey Porter, who did what he does best -- make a fool of himself -- in all but guaranteeing that his Dolphins will win this week with Cassel calling the signals on the Patriots side. The Miami Herald said that Porter's comments about the Patriots not being the same without Tom Brady weren't that outlandish ... but wait, Porter also said getting a win against the Pats "shouldn't be that hard." Huh? This is a franchise that has gone 1-20 over its last 21 regular-season contests, a period when New England has gone 21-0. I like those odds.

Back to the panic theme. Another guy who is not doing it is Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, who was talking about going with third-string quarterback Tyler Thigpen almost immediately after Brodie Croyle was hurt in the season opener at Foxboro. Damon Huard, who left Sunday's game against Oakland but is not on the injury report for this weekend (kcchiefs.com) against the Falcons, seemingly had no chance to keep the starting job, even though there would seem to be no doubt that Huard gives you more of a chance to win than the unknown, untested Thigpen. It seems that the Chiefs have bypassed panic altogether and simply thrown in the towel, at Week 2. Of course, when you enter a season with 15 rookies on your 53-man roster, all people are really hoping for is signs of life as the season goes on.

Bottom line is, there are a lot of bad-looking teams in the NFL right now. The Patriots saw one of them in the first week (and they came close to losing, but no one faults them for that now), and they will see possibly an even worse team next week. Some of them aren't making a pretense right now of putting a competitive team out on the field. Elsewhere, though, an 0-2 record is a warning sign that things are getting out of control, and it is time to do something -- anything.

You can take Seattle, where the 0-2 Seahawks have brought back Koren Robinson, the wide receiver they once dumped because of his alcohol problems, and plan to use him in their starting lineup this week. Mike Holmgren, who was thinking Super Bowl entering his final season of coaching the Seahawks, has to be looking at some grim possibilities given his team's 0-2 start and rash of injuries.

Panic seemed to hit Vikings coach Brad Childress slowly, gradually, after his team blew a 15-0 advantage (which would have been more like 27-0 if the team had anything resembling a passing game) and lost to the Colts. First Childress said he was sticking with Tarvaris Jackson, then a couple of days later he was hedging, and yesterday he was going with Gus Frerotte. So the Vikings, a team that in all other respects is among the most talented in the NFL, have passed the baton from a quarterback who was never qualified to be a starter to another one who has hung around the league for 15 years, and whose claim to fame will always be injuring himself by head-butting a padded wall in an ill-conceived touchdown celebration.

In any case, Childress' decision lit a fire with the person who least needed a fire lit: star running back Adrian Peterson. Here's Peterson's reaction to Childress' announcement that Jackson was being benched, according to profootballtalk,com: "In the meeting today coach announced it, it was shocking. I looked at it as not only the quarterback position, the running back position; it was a lot of things, having better protection up front. As a collective group, as an offense, there was a lot we could have done better to get in the end zone and to improve our progress on the field."

HAPPY RETURNS: On the same day that the Colts announced the loss of safety Bob Sanders for a month and a half, they hinted at the possible returns of tight end Dallas Clark and (more surprisingly) center Jeff Saturday. Tony Dungy indicated that he expects both Clark and Saturday to play against the Jaguars on Sunday, meaning that while the Colts' defense is likely to suffer in Sanders' absence, the offense could markedly improve.

SEE? HE'S FINE: The Steelers had Ben Roethlisberger practice at full tilt yesterday, cooling speculation that his status is in doubt for Sunday's game at Philadelphia. Still, Mike Tomlin's denial that Roethlisberger has a separated shoulder seems to have done nothing to change people's minds about that subject. (Rotoworld)

OCHO CINCO LOSING HIS SWAGGER: When Chad Johnson says he isn't playing with any confidence, you know there are some serious problems in Cincinnati. (NFL.com)

THE SHOW MUST GO ON: Devin Hester expects to be returning kicks for the Bears against Tampa Bay this weekend, despite the fluke rib injury he suffered against the Panthers last week. (Chicago Sun Times)

RESTED AND READY: For the second week in a row, the Packers are holding Charles Woodson out of practice all week, but expect him to start at cornerback against the Cowboys next week. (Dallas Morning News) Woodson followed the same routine last week, and he was huge in the Packers' victory at Detroit.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Jets coach Eric Mangini looks at Chansi Stuckey (who caught New York's lone touchdown against the Patriots last week) and he sees a young Deion Branch. The Jets also announced yesterday that they were going with Reggie Hodges, the NFL's only black punter, to take over for the released Ben Graham. (Newark Star-Ledger)

RAVENS COMMITTEE: Willis McGahee is healthy now, but Baltimore still plans on having him share carries with alliterative Rutgers rookie rusher Ray Rice. (Baltimore Sun)

NOT READY FOR CHANGE: Jonathan Stewart may have had his coming out party last week, but he still hasn't supplanted DeAngelo Williams as the starting running back for Carolina.

WOUNDED RUSHING STARS: LaDainian Tomlinson sat out yesterday's Chargers practice with a lingering toe injury, though he says he "should be able to play" on Monday night against the Jets. Meanwhile, Darren McFadden of the Raiders was also held out of practice and spotted wearing a protective walking boot. McFadden, like Tomlinson, has a toe injury. (Oakland Tribune)

BACK AMONG FRIENDS: Facing charges of driving under the influence and speeding, Lawyer Milloy returned to the Falcons and said he still wants to be a leader to his young teammates. (projo.com)

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