The offensive love-fest currently saturating the National Football League is exhausting defensive coordinators.
Offenses are more complex, quicker and explosive. Not everyone's struggling to adapt, though. Here are the top five defensive coordinators who are finding early answers: 1. Gregg Williams (Saints), 2. Mike Nolan (Broncos), 3. Mike Zimmer (Bengals), 4. Larry Coyer (Colts), 5. Bill Sheridan (Giants).
Nolan has overhauled a shoddy Denver bunch, turning it into the league's best in scoring defense (5.3 points allowed per game). Zimmer has excelled at getting the Bengals defense to adjust on the fly. Coyer brings 45 years of coaching experience to a veteran group, and has tweaked it just enough to make the Colts No. 3 in scoring defense (15 points allowed per game). And Sheridan is filling the loss of Steve Spagnuolo (now the St. Louis Rams head coach) by being analytical, detailed, low-profile and flexible.
But I am most impressed with what Williams is doing in New Orleans -- the mandate, the fit, the style and the complement to the Saints' high-tech, league-leading offense.
In any case, Stafford and Sanchez will start Sunday in New Orleans and Houston as the NFL season finally gets under way after what seems like an eternal offseason.
There are other QB story lines the first week (although folks often forget there are 21 other guys on the field).
Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.
Though 2006 was arguably the best season in New Orleans Saints history, the campaign was only the beginning of this streak of NFL competitive relevance in the Crescent City. Despite steps backwards in 2007 and 2008, the team has quietly been adding front-end talent and admirable depth since that NFC Championship appearance against the Bears. Now, as Drew Brees put it, "...we're at this stage in our careers where this is kind of our prime. ... So this is our window of opportunity. This is our chance to walk together forever, to go down in history together." After over 40 years and just two playoff wins, is this the year the Saints finally break through?
With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.
Meet the... League's highest scoring, most powerful offense. Who cares if they don't make the playoffs. As fantasy owners we couldn't care less if the Saints are 0-16 or 16-0. We want lots of positive yardage plays and lots of touchdowns. And those are things the Saints offer in droves. Drew Brees has replaced Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as the most prolific fantasy quarterback and head coach Sean Payton keeps the Saints high-powered offense burning away. Last season the team threw the ball 62% of the time. Don't expect that to change too much in 2009.
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 some burning questions in the NFC South and offer a ridiculously early prediction of how the division will finish.
The draft has become one of the biggest events of the year for NFL fans. Maybe because everybody's a winner on draft day, or maybe because hope springs eternal and all that. Whatever the reason, we're fully trying to horn in on the action. Hence our first FanHouse mock draft of the '09 offseason. And we'd like to stress "mock."
Sacrificing a paycheck in order to bring another high profile player to a team is one of the truly selfless things that an athlete can do. Really, the willingness to make only a few million dollars instead of many millions of dollars is an act that often goes unnoticed. But you almost never hear of it from a coaching perspective.
When Nolan took the job in Denver, the talk turned to former Redskins and Jaguars coordinator Gregg Williams. He ended up going to New Orleans, leaving McCarthy to what was presumably his third choice for a coordinator.
The third choice for McCarthy is a veteran coach with a ton of credibility around the NFL. Former Carolina and Houston head coach Dom Capers, a very successful defensive coach, is going to take over the Packers' defense.
Last week, we mentioned a report that former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan was on the verge of becoming the Green Bay Packers' new defensive coordinator.
That report appears to have been premature, as Nolan is headed instead to Denver to run the Broncos' defense under new head coach Josh McDaniels.
With Nolan apparently out of the picture, the Packers now have to move in a different direction.
The 2008 season has been a forgettable one for the Jaguars. They made it to the AFC Divisional round a year ago, and with virtually everybody returning, expectations were high four months ago. A run on injuries, a no-show defense and plenty of bad luck has a lot to do with the 5-10 situation they currently find themselves.
Although nothing's been decided, during the Jags' last home game on Dec. 18, Peterson used the occasion to send the media his well wishes. Seriously.
... [T]he middle linebacker made it a point to thank the writers for the stories they've written about him in his six years with the Jaguars.
"I appreciate that," Peterson said. "I've got a scrapbook at home with all the great stories. No matter what they [Jaguars] do or what the future has for me, they can't take away those great memories."
And maybe one day, Terrell Owens and Ed Werder will bury their hatches, mend their fences and hug it out, too.
The offensive love-fest currently saturating the National Football League is exhausting defensive coordinators.
Training camps have wrapped up, the 
With 
Sacrificing a paycheck in order to bring another high profile player to a team is one of the truly selfless things that an athlete can do. Really, the willingness to make only a few million dollars instead of many millions of dollars is an act that often goes unnoticed. But you almost never hear of it from a coaching perspective.
Perhaps it took longer than expected for 
Last week, we mentioned a report that former San Francisco head coach 
The 2008 season has been a forgettable one for the Jaguars. They made it to the AFC Divisional round a year ago, and with virtually everybody returning, expectations were high four months ago. A run on injuries, a no-show defense and plenty of bad luck has a lot to do with the 5-10 situation they currently find themselves. 
