FanHouse Giants

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.

You can snark all you want about his private jets, afternoons off, baggage handlers, personal chefs and open invitation to Steinbrenner family reunions; Roger Clemens is all about the team. Why else would the dude make a rare relief appearance -- his first in the regular season since 1984 -- during yesterday's loss to the Giants? Against Barry Bonds, no less? Because he cares.

Sensing the Yankees' pen stretched thin after Saturday night's 13-inning extravaganza, Clemens made himself available for relief work, according to Lisa Olson in today's Daily News.

Roger Clemens stuck his head into the visiting manager's office yesterday morning and told Joe Torre he had at least 50 pitches in him. Clemens was (and still is) meant to start Wednesday's game against the Orioles, but the Yankees had lost in 13 innings here one day earlier and barely made it out Colorado earlier in the week with their arms still attached. So Torre said, "Fine, I'll take 20."

So Clemens got the nod in the seventh to face Bonds. But what could have been a highlight clip for the ages -- I admit to wondering aloud if Roger would knock him on his ass -- turned out to be less riveting than a game of "Clue" at the local retirement home. Bonds walked on five pitches.

Anticlimactic, yes. But like Dante Hicks in Clerks, Clemens wasn't even supposed to be there, as his contract allows him to skip road trips on which he's not scheduled to start. That's dedication to the cause, my friends.

Remember Greg Anderson? Sure you do. He's Barry Bonds' personal trainer, the one who (allegedly) supplied Bonds with copious amounts of steroids, transforming Barry from "really good" to "insanely astronomically good."

Well, while Bonds is out in Arizona, coasting through spring training for the cool $15 million he's getting this season, Anderson is rotting in jail, still the subject of the government's attempts to put Bonds behind bars.

But Anderson won't talk. And in the story linked above, Mike Fish tried to find out why:

That raises the question: Why would Anderson put his family through this? Is it purely a distrust of the government? Or unwavering loyalty to the soon-to-be greatest home run hitter of this or any other generation? Or more? ...

Even Bonds' attorney acknowledges such loyalty shouldn't go unrewarded.

"For the years that Greg was training him -- and mind you, they would do training all spring, literally every day of the week, during home stands, off-season he would be training with him, and hours and hours of training -- and Barry would give him 15 grand a year for training," Rains says. "The year, I think it was '01 when he hit the 73, he gave him a bonus. I forget what it was, but he gave everybody on his team -- the publicists and everybody -- some additional money that year. When you think about it, he was paying Greg 15 grand a year to train. And I have to tell you I think that is a pitiful sum of money for spending as much time as Greg did with Barry.

Tiki Barber spoke on NFL Network Thursday from Hawaii, where he reiterated that the Pro Bowl will be the final time we see him in cleats (he said he's happy to go out as a teammate of his twin brother, Ronde) and that he is "one hundred percent" retired.

But that's old news. The most interesting things Barber had to say were about his former quarterback, Eli Manning, and his former coach, Tom Coughlin. When asked about Manning's future, he said he thought Manning would continue to develop as a quarterback, and that the promotion of Kevin Gilbride from the Giants' quarterbacks coach to the offensive coordinator will help him because Gilbride won't "coddle" Manning.

Talking about Coughlin, though, Barber sounded as if he wanted a little more coddling. After saying New York was a good place for Manning, he was asked whether it's also a good place for Coughlin. He answered,

"That's a different question. He's got to change a little bit in some of the things that he does, in how he approaches his players and how he motivates us. Times have changed. Players are different. They don't always respond to constant criticisms and negative reinforcements. And he started to come towards us a little bit, but I think he's still got to do more. He's still got to listen to us and not keep us in pads for the whole season long, and understand that when players -- especially veteran players -- give you input, it helps to listen."

That's a pretty damaging sentiment, that Coughlin still needs to learn to listen to his players. Listening to Barber, I couldn't help but think maybe he could have been talked out of retiring if a new coach had been brought in. Barber isn't the type of person to state things that baldly -- he goes or I go -- but I wonder if he said anything like that behind the scenes.

First off, how did the Colts win? I'm still a bit shocked. I'm not sure if the Colts are so good that they can play that badly and still win (if that makes sense) or if they just got lucky. The Colts gave up 196 yards on the ground on just 27 rush attempts from the Giants running game. That's right, 7.3 yards a carry. On the other hand, the Colts had 55 total rushing yards on 23 carries. Thats right, 2.4 yards a carry. That's pathetic.

To be fair, Joseph Addai looked solid on his seven carries. He averaged 3.7 yards a carry. He also had three receptions for 22 yards. He defiantly has potential. He is very quick to get to the outside. On the other hand, Dominic Rhodes looked awful.

So what needs to change?

• The Colts need Corey Simon back. I'm not sure if he is that important to the defensive line's run-stopping ability or if they are just that bad. If he is that important to it, why haven't the Colts been drafting run-stopping defensive linemen instead of our 10th 5'8"' defensive back?
• The offensive line collapsed on Peyton Manning more than I think most Colts fans would like to see. Manning did a great job of picking it up and stepping up in the pocket, but this needs to be fixed. This also killed the run game. John Madden used the word "penetration" 100 times, and he was right.
• The run game (see above)

And what looked positive?

• 3rd down conversions. On the first drive alone the Colts were 5-for-6 and finished 11-for-16.
• I ripped Terrence Wilkins and I apologize. He was great, averaging nearly 30 yards a return. Although his one punt return was for only 1 yard.
• The kick coverage was great also. A rarity in Indy.
  
• Manning was Manning. Marvin Harrison was Marvin Harrison. Reggie Wayne was Reggie Wayne.
• Adam Vinatieri gave me confidence that I've never felt in a Colts kicker. He nailed 4 out of 4 with no doubt.

The game was definitely full of week 1 mistakes, but a win is a win. At least the Colts play the Texans next. I think we'll see a much better Colts team this week.