Tom Mantzouranis Posts

Every week, NFL FanHouse hits the lowlights from Sunday's action, looking at those players who did the most to move their head coaches that much closer to returning to the Bed and Breakfast business.

This is where the divide between fantasy and reality becomes apparent.

For fantasy owners who had him in their lineups, Roy Williams, who posted five catches for 105 yards and a touchdown -- his best game of the season and his best yardage day since Nov. 18, 2007 -- was probably a factor in a winning performance.

But for the Cowboys, Williams was a primary factor in a momentum-killing 17-7 loss to the struggling Packers.

Every week, NFL FanHouse hits the lowlights from Sunday's action, looking at those players who did the most to move their head coaches that much closer to returning to the Bed and Breakfast business.

My colleague Tom Herrera sometimes talks about this generation of hyper-knowledgeable NFL fans, thanks to the proliferation of fantasy football and better exposure to all 32 teams. And yet there are still large amounts of people who underestimate, outside of your obvious game-changing and/or explosive plays, the impact of special teams on the final score.

So it goes.

For the second straight week, our focus is on a Florida team pulling out a win in which special teams made a large impact. Sometimes that impact was obvious, sometimes it wasn't. Yet it was a constant presence in one of the most embarrassing losses of the season, one which might have broken the camel's back in Green Bay.

As anyone who struggled to get the new health care legislation passed over the weekend can attest, it's hard to make systemic changes. The momentum of history carries us along, forcing the boldest and most tenacious of us to aggressively fight the tide in the name of progress.

It may not be nearly on par with lowering the unemployment rate or giving our education system a breath of fresh air, but in the world of this lovely escape we call hockey, few in recent history have had as big of an impact in these terms as Lou Lamoriello. It's entirely appropriate that he's being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday night as a "Builder," because he built a dynasty out of a doormat as well as a hockey nation out of a nation with just a curious interest in the sport.

But when I think of what makes Lou Lamoriello great, I don't think about what he's done. I think about the character and personality that drove all that success.

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Every week, NFL FanHouse hits the lowlights from Sunday's action, looking at those players who did the most to move their head coaches that much closer to returning to the Bed and Breakfast business.

The Jets entered Week 8 allowing 20.4 yards per return. The Dolphins entered Week 8 gaining a hair over 22 yards per return. It seemed we were set for an unremarkable day of kickoffs.

And then Ted Ginn, Jr. happened.

Every week, NFL FanHouse hits the lowlights from Sunday's action, looking at those players who did the most to move their head coaches that much closer to returning to the Bed and Breakfast business.

In light of their recent faux pas, it'd be easy to make JaMarcus Russell or Larry Johnson the Coach Killer of the week. After getting benched in a loss to the Jets, Russell explained that he wasn't Oakland's problem, proving that he's as aware of himself as he is of a blitz. Or how to line up for the first play of the game, despite practicing it all week.

Larry Johnson, well, we know that story by now. Johnson added insult to ineffectiveness in the wake of the Chiefs' 37-7 loss to the Chargers, making life harder on a first-year coach trying to retain any shred of credibility with a terrible roster.

But Russell is not an NFL-capable player, and Johnson is a headcase. They haven't fooled us into believing otherwise. Jake Delhomme, however, had us all believing he was an NFL quarterback. A gambler, sure, but one who came through more often than not. ... D'oh.

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We are one step closer to some semblance of finality surrounding the Phoenix Coyotes, after owner Jerry Moyes (pictured right) agreed to sell the franchise to the NHL. The agreement was announced in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Monday, but still must be approved by Judge Redfield T. Baum. Attorneys say the deal is for $128 million.

With no money to cover the franchise's expenses, and the inability to sell to Jim Balsillie after the court nixed that idea, selling the franchise to the league was Moyes' only realistic answer. They'll take control of the day-to-day operations of the franchise while looking to find an independent owner. Of course, after the way this has played out, any prospective owners who would move the team out of Arizona need not apply.

Avalanche forward Darcy Tucker was immobilized and taken away on a stretcher after he was checked into the boards by Carolina forward Tuomo Ruutu.

The hit came just over five minutes into the second period in Friday night's game in Colorado. Tucker had turned away from Ruutu to play the puck, and Ruutu drove Tucker into the glass from behind. The game was tied 2-2 at the time.

Video of the hit after the jump.

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Every week, NFL FanHouse hits the lowlights from Sunday's action, looking at those players who did the most to move their head coaches that much closer to returning to the Bed and Breakfast business.

This has nothing to do with the 26-0 shutout the Packers laid on the Lions last Sunday.

Typically, this space is reserved for a player or players whose performance on a given week made his coach's week miserable or job status shaky. But we're going a little bit bigger picture this week.

In this instance, it was the Lions' brass playing the role of coach killer on a coach manning sidelines over 500 miles south.

Every week, NFL FanHouse hits the lowlights from Sunday's action, looking at those players who did the most to move their head coaches that much closer to returning to the Bed and Breakfast business.

Derek Anderson is by no means Tom Brady. Matter of fact, as far as quarterbacking skills go, he's probably just a notch above Kyle Brady. And when you lead your unit in posting such a pitiful day -- six points, 193 yards, 3.3 yards per play, 22 net passing yards on a 2-for-17 performance -- you're at least partially to blame.

That being said, in the Browns' 6-3 win over the Bills, Anderson got by with no help from his friends. He sang out a tune, and his pass-catchers stood up and walked out on him.

Every week, NFL FanHouse hits the lowlights from Sunday's action, looking at those players who did the most to move their head coaches that much closer to returning to the Bed and Breakfast business.

Sometimes, picking one player for the week's Coach Killer is tough. When you've got Tony Romo's decision-making, JaMarcus Russell's ineptitude, Mark Clayton's stone hands and the entire St. Louis Rams' existence to choose from, you wish the bounty of bad could be spread across multiple weeks so you can hit them all. Alas, we can't.

There has been no shortage of criticism lobbed at those people thus far this week (including at FanHouse). It seemed easy to pick on them more. While there's been some heat in the general direction of this week's subject of Coach Killers, tucked away in the trenches you're obscured a bit more from the national media. Until now, that is.