It's time for football. Instead of coeds and keggers though, today's football players will be getting paid. That is as long as they can stay on the roster.
There are six NFL preseason games on the docket for Saturday, and a lot of questions to answer and position battles to watch over.
If you watched Sunday night's game between Tampa Bay and Seattle, you might agree it was the most lopsided ten point game in the history of ten point games. At any point did you have the feeling Seattle was going to find a way to get itself back into the game? I mean, sure, they were close here and there, and just needed a break or two to make it an entirely different game, but the Seahawks couldn't get out of their own way offensively.
In the end, the Buccaneers won it 20-10, though it felt like so much more.
First, it's important to point out the Seahawks registered only seven first downs, and had only one in the first half -- which came on the games opening possession. Seneca Wallace, getting the start for Seattle, was bad. Very bad. He finished 12 of 23 for 73 yards and an interception, while struggling to complete four and five yard passes. Of course, it didn't help that Gaines Adams spent much of the evening running around the Seattle backfield causing all sorts of chaos.
Before some garbage-time yards at the end of the game, Wallace was in danger of having a higher passer rating than his total passing yards. As a team, the Seahawks were out-gained 402-176. Seriously, 176 yards of total offense. They had 170 on kickoff returns, including 140 from Josh Wilson.
Entering Sunday's game at Raymond James Stadium, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers had not thrown an interception in 158 pass attempts. He ended up throwing three on just 27 passes in the Packers' 30-21 loss to Tampa Bay.
Though, to be fair, the first pick wasn't his fault, as it was a perfect pass to running back Brandon Jackson, who just happened to allow the ball to bounce off the numbers on his jersey into the waiting hands of Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks.
Rodgers did throw a pair of touchdowns to Greg Jennings, but left the game briefly following the second touchdown due to a shoulder injury. The pass was a perfect strike, splitting the Buccaneers secondary and hitting Jennings in stride as he walked into the end zone untouched. After the pass, however, Rodgers walked off the field with his right arm hanging off his body.
Apparently, Jared Allen and his mullet are not long for Kansas City. The Chiefs franchised Allen, the NFL's sack leader last season, presumably with the intentions of signing the fifth-year pro to a long-term deal. Well, I would be presuming wrong, at least according to FOXSports.com's Jay Glazer.
Evidently, re-upping with the Chiefs "would be a problem as the team is looking to stockpile draft picks." Not sure how one precludes the other, but head coach Herm Edwards has made it clear that the team is rebuilding. Getting rid of one your best players to save a few bucks certainly highlights that strategy, I think.
It's a situation that works out best for both sides," Allen told FOXSports.com. "I can go to a team that is competing for a championship right now. The Chiefs can get valuable draft picks to rebuild with."
The early frontrunners are the Vikings and the Bucs. Minnesota is looking for a defensive end because former first-round pick Kenechi Udeze was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this off-season. And Tampa Bay would love to bookend last year's first-round pick, Gaines Adams, with Allen.
However this plays out in the coming days, Arrowhead Pride has it right: "If they was any doubt about the Chiefs going into full re-building mode, this should put that to rest." Double true.
Welcome to another successful installment of Five Questions with an Enemy Blogger, where each week, via email, I will be exchanging hot questions and [sometimes] answers with a rival blogger about their team and the upcoming matchup.
This week I sat down with Jamie Kiefer of Atop the Crow's Nest, a Most Valuable Network column that covers the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Dan Benton: "Although he was a little shaky last week, Jeff Garcia has played very good football this year. Has he been everything Bucs fans had hoped for, or do they still miss Chris Simms?"
Jamie Kiefer: "Jeff Garcia has been basically everything the Bucs fans had hoped for. You can't go wrong with a guy who had zero interceptions in the first seven weeks of the season. Chris Simms appeared to be the franchise quarterback, but due to a shaky beginning of the season last year, and his injury, he hasn't really had the chance to prove himself. I feel bad for him with all that he's been through, but I can't ignore what Garcia has done for the Bucs. The first seven weeks he had a passer rating over 100. If Garcia sticks around for the next few years, Chris Simms will be a distant memory."
The first two defensive linemen off the board in this year's NFL draft were Clemson's Gaines Adams, chosen fourth overall by Tampa Bay, and Arkansas' Jamaal Anderson, chosen eighth overall by Atlanta.
Through four weeks of the season, neither of these two defensive ends has a sack. That might make them the early candidates to be labeled the two biggest disappointments of the 2006 NFL draft (it's far too early to judge Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell), especially considering that the third defensive lineman off the board, Amobi Okoye of the Texans, looks like an absolute stud.
These are young guys with lots of time left to prove themselves. But for how much money Top 10 picks make, it's hard to have too much patience with them. If Adams and Anderson go much longer without a sack, the dreaded b-word may come into play.
Gaines Adams is another one of the "Pot Smoking Three," the three top prospects who admitted in their combine interviews that they had used marijuana. It sure seems like NFL teams don't care, given that he and Calvin Johnson are already off the board. Maybe we should call them the "Honest Three," given how likely it is that the three guys who admitted smoking pot are actually the only three who have done it.
There is still a little bit of talk that Adams and Johnson could be traded for each other in an Eli Manning-Philip Rivers type deal, but it's looking right now like these guys are staying put.
As Chris Mortensen noted on ESPN, Adams was an eight-man football player in high school. You've come a long way, Gaines.
The NFL draft will be wrapping up a week from now, and even though we're fewer than seven days out, absolutely nothing is certain. Last year at this time everybody thought Reggie Bush-to-Houston was a done deal ... until the Texans signed Mario Williams the night before the Big Day. Now, it's not even clear what the Raiders plan to do with the first-overall pick. But that doesn't mean we can't speculate.
In today's Detroit Free Press, Nicholas Cotsonika writes about the latest "hot name connected to the Detroit Lions," who hold the No. 2 selection: Clemson defensive end Gaines Adams. But there's a wrinkle: first, Detroit might be able to trade down and still take Adams, it's just not clear which teams would be willing partners (though I suspect the thought of landing Calvin Johnson will be enough for, say, the Buccaneers to make the move). Second, there is some question if Adams has the "football-character" head coach Rod Marinelli is looking for:
The question is what Marinelli has seen as he has scrutinized Adams and whether he thinks he, the coaching staff and some key players can make a star out of him.
"It's really going to be important for them, if Detroit does draft him, to have a guy that he buys into and has a relationship with," Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said. "I think if he buys into an old veteran or he buys into a position coach, that will suit him."
As an interesting side note, Adams played eight-man football in high school and scored 20 touchdowns as a wide receiver one season. So, basically, he's a two-way version of Mike Williams (who, it can be argued, is currently a no-way player).
Clemson defensive end Gaines Adams is one of the three top NFL draft prospects who has admitted to smoking pot. What does his college coach, Tommy Bowden, think?
"I hold him in the same esteem as President Clinton, so he's in good company," Bowden said. "If I would have to pick a guy off the team who hadn't tried it, it would be him. But I don't know if he inhaled or not."
The problem I have with evaluating that statement is, I don't know what esteem Bowden holds Clinton in: As far as Bowden is concerned, is it a compliment or an insult to say Adams is like Clinton? Bowden's father, Florida State coach Bobby, gives money to Republicans, but as far as I know Tommy is apolitical.
Seriously, Bowden is trying to minimize the importance of Adams admitting he smoked pot, and that's what just about everyone in the football world has done since this report surfaced. So if smoking pot is no big deal, why do football players get tested for marijuana?
Running back Kevin Jones started jogging Monday as part of his recovery from a severe injury to his left foot. He ran for 10-12 minutes on a treadmill and had no ill effects.
Those certainly qualify as baby steps ... but it's a start. It's still not clear if Jones will ever be at full strength, and his prognosis still ranges from "the start of [training] camp to missing all of the 2007 season." The uncertainty of his return should give you some indication how serious the injury is.
In the meantime, the Lions have done a good job of finding his replacement(s): the club traded for Tatum Bell and signed T.J. Duckett. Jones understands why the team made the moves but makes it clear that, "when I'm healthy, I will be the guy."
Detroit still could use some upgrades along the offensive line -- they acquired tackle George Foster as part of the Dre' Bly deal that brought Bell to town -- and while most mock drafts think Matt Millen won't take wideout Calvin Johnson, the team could draft defensive linemen Gaines Adams over offensive tackle Joe Thomas. Both players fill needs, so it's hard to fault either selection, but I suspect Bell, Duckett and Jones would vote for Thomas.
It's Saturday in August. 
If you watched Sunday night's game between Tampa Bay and Seattle, you might agree it was the most lopsided ten point game in the history of ten point games. At any point did you have the feeling Seattle was going to find a way to get itself back into the game? I mean, sure, they were close here and there, and just needed a break or two to make it an entirely different game, but the Seahawks couldn't get out of their own way offensively.
Apparently, Jared Allen and his mullet are not long for Kansas City. The Chiefs franchised Allen, the NFL's sack leader last season, presumably with the intentions of signing the fifth-year pro to a long-term deal. Well, I would be presuming wrong, at least according to FOXSports.com's Jay Glazer. 
Welcome to another successful installment of Five Questions with an Enemy Blogger, where each week, via email, I will be exchanging hot questions and [sometimes] answers with a rival blogger about their team and the upcoming matchup.
The first two defensive linemen off the board in this year's NFL draft were Clemson's Gaines Adams, chosen fourth overall by Tampa Bay, and Arkansas' Jamaal Anderson, chosen eighth overall by Atlanta. 
Gaines Adams is another one of the "Pot Smoking Three," the three top prospects who admitted in their combine interviews that they had used marijuana. It sure seems like NFL teams don't care, given that he and Calvin Johnson are already off the board. Maybe we should call them the "Honest Three," given how likely it is that the three guys who admitted smoking pot are actually the only three who have done it. 
When you're looking for any good news, I guess this will have to do: 
