FanHouse Jamal Williams

Jamal Williams is no Matt Hasselbeck. Five years ago, the Seahawks took the Packers to overtime and after Seattle won the coin toss, Hasselbeck announced, "We want the ball, and we're going to score." A few minutes later, he threw a pick-six, game over.

Last night, Chargers nose tackle Jamal Williams stood at midfield as Ron Winters explained the nuances of overtime (no ties!). Indianapolis, eschewing the theory that tails never fails, lost the toss, which was followed by Williams very matter-of-factly stating "game over" (around the 0:23 mark above). Darren Sproles instills that sort of confidence in his teammates, apparently.

Williams' impressive prognosticatory powers aside, the game wasn't without controversy. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning may or may not have been reading the Chargers defensive signals, and then there was the phantom defensive holding call that kept San Diego's fateful overtime drive alive. Video, courtesy of TSB, after the jump (around the 7:20 mark).

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: Bear in mind, I'm a tremendous Philip Rivers fan. So despite the hilarity of Ape's Marmalard skits, I don't laugh (much). And the fact that everyone focuses on Rivers poor throws amuses me some, since Norv Turner consistently put him in horrible situations for most of the season. I won't mention that he has the stones to go toe-to-toe with Tom Brady sans ACL. Anyway, two years ago he was prepared to take his game to the next level and somehow regressed in 2007. Won't happen this season, providing his coach is smart. Crap. Heat Index: 8

Running Back: Am I allowed to give a heat index of 11? Because, like Nigel's amps, LaDanian Tomlinson is a little bit louder/better than anyone else. The loss of Michael Turner hurts a little, but the poor man's lightning-thunder backup combo of Darren Sproles and Jacob Hester is going to be a pretty devastating change of pace factor for opposing defenses. Heat Index: 11

Wide Receiver: Vincent Jackson was supposed to rise up and become a legit number one last year. Whoops. Fortunately, Chris Chambers and his potentially record breaking low catch rate (based on target % anyway) are in town now. Craig Davis will blossom decently this year and Malcolm Floyd is a pretty nasty, athletic freak, red zone target type. Oh yes, and Antonio Gates counts here too, so there's that. Heat Index: 9

For all the talk of Tom Brady and Randy Moss and Wes Welker and Rodney Harrison and Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates and Shawne Merriman, the single most important individual matchup when the Chargers take on the Patriots in Sunday's AFC Championship will be Patriots center Dan Koppen against Chargers nose tackle Jamal Williams.

Koppen and Williams will be teammates in three weeks at the Pro Bowl, but on Sunday, Koppen will need to move Williams if the Patriots are going to have any success running up the middle, and he'll need to at least stalemate Williams to keep Brady from having pressure in his face.

That won't be easy, as Williams is listed at 348 pounds and almost certainly weighs significantly more than that, while Koppen is listed at a mere 296. But Koppen probably has the best technique of any center in the NFL, and I think he's going to get the better of their individual matchup, which is a big part of the reason I think the Patriots are going to win the game.

To get you ready for Week 16, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is your Broncos/Chargers preview.

2007 Records:

Denver Broncos: 6-8 (2nd in AFC West)
San Diego Chargers: 9-5 (AFC West Champions)

Last Week:

Texans 31, Broncos 13
Chargers 51, Lions 14

When the Broncos have the ball: The Broncos still rank eighth in the league in rushing yards, a shocking figure given how iffy their production on the ground has been this season. Injuries to Travis Henry and Tom Nalen are the biggest reason their ground game has flagged and this doesn't appear to be the week to bet on a big comeback. Whether Henry or Selvin Young gets the bulk of the carries, the center of the Bronco line will have to find a way to deal with big Jamal Williams and that might be too tall an order. If they can't get the ground game working early, the Broncos will be leaving Jay Cutler with an awful lot to do. He throws well on the run, a good thing since the Chargers have resumed playing aggressive, blitzing defense, but he also forces too many throws. Against a team that's picked off 10 balls in the last three weeks that's suicidal.

To recap what we discovered yesterday: In 2005, someone took a photo of the head of San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman and pasted it onto the body of Chargers defensive lineman Jamal Williams, and used that combined photo as the "official" NFL head shot of Merriman. The original photo of Williams is above to the left, and the combined photo of Merriman's head and Williams' body is above to the right.

It's unlikely that anyone ever would have noticed, except that Merriman later tested positive for steroids, and when you test positive for steroids, people start looking for changes in your body size.

We now know that the photo above to the right isn't actually Merriman's body, but we still don't know who doctored the photo. But one organization wants to find out: Getty Images, which has distributed the photo. A Getty Images spokeswoman told me via e-mail:

The curse of the Madden Cover has been well-documented over time. In fact, it was implied over the weekend that the jinx had struck Titans quarterback Vince Young, who appeared on the cover of the game this year. What's gone overlooked however, is that there is more than one version of the game. The North County Times notes that Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo was unveiled as the cover athlete of the Spanish translated version of Madden '08.

Castillo's fellow lineman, Jamal Williams, has already had his knees scoped. One has to wonder if Castillo won't be joining Williams in the training room before long. I'm actually curious as to why athletes even agree to appear on the cover of the game after all that's happened. So Luis Castillo on Madden '08 in Espanol? I'm guessing Tony Gonzalez wisely passed on the opportunity burden.

With the Chargers entering their bye week, two time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jamal Williams decided to get his knees scoped on Monday. According to head coach Norv Turner, the Chargers are optimistic to have Williams back in week eight:

The Chargers have their bye this weekend, and "with a little luck," Williams will be able to play when the Chargers host Houston on Oct. 28, coach Norv Turner said.

"Based on what our doctors said, it would have been hard for him to keep going," Turner said a day after the Chargers beat the archrival Oakland Raiders for the eighth straight time, 28-14 behind LaDainian Tomlinson's four touchdowns. "That's why we've rested him the last couple of weeks. We hoped we could get to this point; we did. I think this is really going to help him be ready to play at the same level he's been playing, over the next 10 weeks."

Seems like the bye couldn't have come at a better time for Williams and San Diego. Though Jamal is a great run-stopper and vital part of the San Diego 3-4 defense, it might not be the worst thing for them if he had to miss the game against Houston to recover. Long term they'll need him down the stretch, and Houston has focused on the passing game rather than the rushing game. Moreover, it will be tough for San Diego to stop teams like the Steelers, Jags, and Colts, who are all running the ball well, without a healthy Williams.

NFL FanHouse just wrapped up its 30 Players to Watch series, and last (but not least) on that list was Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork. Head coach Bill Belichick described him as "the most complete guy that I have coached at that position."

But this isn't the consensus league-wide. Most everyone agrees that Wilfork's in the top-3 nose tackles conversations, but opinions vary on who is No. 1. For instance, if you're Ted Cottrell, San Diego's new defensive coordinator, you're a big Jamal Williams fan.

"Jamal Williams is the best nose tackle I've ever coached," said Cottrell, who worked with Ted Washington in Buffalo and Pat Williams in New York (Jets). "This guy is better than them. He's never getting pushed back. All those guys were pretty stout run defenders. Jamal has a little bit of pass rush in him. He gets up the field so much. He's not one of these guys who gets caught. This guy has that little added thing where his feet keep moving. You never see him get pushed back. He's always changing the line of scrimmage. He's a dominant player."

And it's hard to argue with Cottrell. Of course, if you're Dick LeBeau, Pittsburgh's defensive coordinator, you might be partial to Casey Hampton, who also answers to "Big Snack" and "Hampburglar." Wilfork, Williams and Hampton are the NFL's best nose tackles, and I'm hard-pressed to think who's a distant fourth.

One of the super swell things about the internets is that guys who play traditionally unheralded positions can occasionally get a little pub. And I'm more than happy to point out that three dudes who weight a combined 998 pounds have been overlooked because they don't throw, run or catch. They just hit people.