Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.
Studs
Kurt Warner, QB Arizona (22-32, 261 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs) -- Last week, Warner had five interceptions, looks his age, didn't appear to be comfortable with a receiving core most would quarterbacks in the league would die for. This week, in a much-needed victory over the Chicago Bears, Warner flipped the switching, tossing five touchdowns to tie his career high and put his Cardinals back in the driver's seat of the NFC West.
In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the Steelers, Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the Yankees have all won titles in their respective sports. Cinderella is yesterday's news. The teams that win these days are the teams that always win, and if you think that's boring, well, tough. You can kiss one of Derek Jeter's five World Series rings.
So with that in mind, we need to be really careful about overlooking the Dallas Cowboys.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you ever hear about the Cowboys is what's wrong with them. Terrell Owens was a pain. Roy Williams is a loudmouth, too, and isn't good enough to replace T.O. Tony Romo's too concerned with his golf game and his high-wattage love life to ever attain his potential. The new stadium is ridiculous...
Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.
Studs
Carson Palmer, QB Cincinnati (20-24, 233 yards, 5 TDs) -- There was an interesting moment during "Hard Knocks" on HBO this year when Palmer was giving his center, Kyle Cook, a little bit of grief about the smell that Carson had on his hand after taking snaps. It was essentially boys being boys, but Palmer played it well and had some fun at the expense of Cook.
Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.
Studs
Tom Brady, QB New England (29 of 34, 380 yards, 6 TDs) -- People were questioning his knee this season. He seemed jittery in the pocket, made throws he didn't used to make, and wasn't leading the Patriots like he had during those three Super Bowl years and undefeated regular season in 2008.
CINCINNATI -- If Cedric Benson were going to make this climb from the NFL scrap heap to the top of the rushing list, it only makes sense that he'd do it here, among the well-known collection of misfits and ne'er-do-wells that league observers and HBO subscribers know as the Bengals.
This is in many ways the perfect spot for someone like Benson, who was unwelcome in Chicago before he even arrived and who drank himself out of town without ever delivering on the promise that comes with being the No. 4 pick in the draft. Here by the muddy banks of the Ohio River, in the shadow of the creaky Roebling Bridge, a team that's had only two winning seasons in the past two decades is happy to make Benson feel at home.
It's July, the slowest month of the year for the NFL, and it's driving you nuts. You need a fix. A hit. Anything NFL to pull you through the dog days. FanHouse is here to help with an in-depth look at each division that should have you plenty prepared for training camp. We're calling it the Summer Scramble. Today we look at some burning questions in the NFC North and offer a ridiculously early prediction for how the teams in the Black-and-Blue Division will finish.
It's July, the slowest month of the year for the NFL, and it's driving you nuts. You need a fix. A hit. Anything NFL to pull you through the dog days. FanHouse is here to help with an in-depth look at each division that should have you plenty prepared for training camp. We're calling it the Summer Scramble, and today we look at the NFC North's looming position battles.
If the NFL's owners and players can't negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement by March, then 2010 season will be played without a salary cap. This is not a desirable eventuality for either side, though there are certainly some individuals on each side who might have reason to think it is. Bears tight end Desmond Clark, who apparently has his own internet radio show, recently outlined the reason he thinks it'd be a bad idea.
Clark's comments (excerpt after the jump) raise an interesting issue, but it's not one the players' union can be very happy about him raising. Because by raising it, Clark is playing right into the hands of the NFL and its owners as they attempt to employ a divide-and-conquer strategy against the players in the upcoming CBA negotiations.
NEW YORK -- The whole thing, start to finish, from pick No. 1 to pick No. 256 (minus the 10-hour break overnight Saturday), took 15 hours and 15 minutes. The NFL Draft is a complex, sprawling monster of an event that defies instant synthesis even as it demands it.
But demand it does, and so here we are, in the hours after South Carolina kicker Ryan Succop was crowned "Mr. Irrelevant" (in a bizarre pageant that found NFL employees boogieing on front of the stage to Donna Summer's "Last Dance"), trying to make it all make sense.
All of a sudden, there is another big-name free agent on the market. According to an ESPN report, the Dallas Cowboys released Terrell Owens late on Wednesday night, meaning that the moody receiver will soon be searching for a new home (or, I suppose, retiring).
There are plenty of teams -- including at least one in Dallas' own division -- that need help at the wide receiver spot, but at what point do all of T.O.'s shenanigans catch up with him and prevent him from finding a franchise willing to gamble on his ability? Chances are, not just yet. So then the question becomes: whose uniform will Owens be wearing when the 2009 season begins? There are 10 (OK, technically 11) possibilities after the jump.
Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.
In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the 
Each week in the 
Each week in the 
CINCINNATI -- If 
If the NFL's owners and players can't negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement by March, then 2010 season will be played without a salary cap. This is not a desirable eventuality for either side, though there are certainly some individuals on each side who might have reason to think it is. Bears tight end 
NEW YORK -- The whole thing, start to finish, from pick No. 1 to pick No. 256 (minus the 10-hour break overnight Saturday), took 15 hours and 15 minutes. The NFL Draft is a complex, sprawling monster of an event that defies instant synthesis even as it
All of a sudden, there is another big-name free agent on the market. According to an ESPN report, 
