So, prior to the start of the show, we go through our picks.
Last week, Ahmaud was all set to take Denver in our pick segment.
Changed his mind, took Kansas City, the Chiefs lost, the Broncos won, Ahmaud was out of luck.
Tell the entire story. You two got together,
and Chris told me that John Elway broke his arm in the warm-ups.
No, it was John Steinway, that backup tackle that got hurt.
Don't take pit.
Mr. Gullible, that's unbelievable.
They don't want me to win, so they do this every week.
But I'm taking Denver today.
For now, we start with Seattle at Miami.
With no Dan Marino, Craig Erickson starts over Bernie Kosar today.
Seattle is making quarterback news as well, amid reports that Jeff George
might be headed to Seattle in a trade for Rick Meyer.
But today, it'll be John Freeze under center for the Seahawks.
For more on all the quarterback machinations, we go to Marv Albert and Sam Weisch in Miami.
I know you like that word, machinations, Marv.
It is well thought out. Thank you, Greg, and at this hour,
yes, John Freeze, the starting quarterback for the Seahawks.
Rick Meyer is the backup, and as you indicated,
could be headed in a trade for Jeff George, could be headed to Atlanta.
Where does all stand?
Well, we asked that of Seattle head coach Dennis Erickson.
Well, there's been some distractions. There's no question about it.
But until something happens one way or the other, we just really can't comment on it.
And basically, that's where it's at right now.
Well, obviously, Dennis, Sam, not looking to say very much on this subject.
And it appears that the Jeff George-Rick Meyer trade is all up to Jeff George
as to whether he does accept the deal to go to Seattle.
Well, you know, he looks like a coach who's just worn out with the whole thing,
not only the slow start, but now the trade.
And his immediate task is to win this ballgame today.
And in doing so, Rick Meyer will be the number two quarterback.
But if he's injured, here are the consequences.
They only have two healthy quarterbacks at that point.
They're $420,000 under the cap. They're not going to go get a new one.
And probably no George trade.
They still have to win today, even with all these distractions hanging over their head.
And for the Dolphins with Dan Marino still sidelined by injury,
the starting quarterback will be Craig Erickson, a five-year veteran of the NFL.
He's played for Tampa Bay. He's played for Indianapolis.
And for Craig, it is his first appearance as a Dolphin.
I got to go out there and just be the quarterback.
I know what I can do. I'm going to have to make some plays.
But then again, I think I got to avoid the bad ones,
avoid the turnovers, and keep us out of if Seattle's going to come up and blitz us a little bit
and run eight-man front, we're going to have to throw the football to win.
And I'm prepared to do that.
Well, anytime you have a new quarterback in the ballgame,
you're going to be concerned about ball security.
And you're going to be concerned that it might be a play breakdown.
They're going to have a busted assignment.
We throw an interception, have a fumble, get a sack.
And so we want to avoid the negative plays.
But by the same token, I think with Craig, he gives you an opportunity for the big play.
Well, Sam, Craig Erickson was your starting quarterback for two seasons in Tampa Bay,
had his ups and downs with a so-so team that you keep telling me was extremely well-coached.
Well, you've done your homework there, Mark.
But I've described Craig Erickson as a Bob Greasy kind of a quarterback.
Good, not a great arm, will win with a good football team,
probably can't carry a mediocre football team.
But Jimmy Johnson moves quick.
This is Craig's first impression and an important one.
In the category of statistics that the Dolphins would like to dismiss, the Dolphins
are 0-7 in the last seven games that Dan Marino has not started.
Back to Greg.
All right, Mark, Sam, thank you very much.
That number seven pops up in a positive way for the Dolphins.
They're a perfect 7-0 following a bye week.
But let's go back to the Rick Myers situation.
Is this all Myers fault in Seattle?
No, I don't think so.
I think when they started dismantling the offensive line up there,
let me just read a couple of names of guys who are still very good players in the league
right now that Seattle got rid of.
Andy Heck, Ray Roberts, Ray Donaldson, Derek Brills.
Now they have Howard Ballard out there on two bad knees, a couple of free agents.
Rick Meyer really never had the chance.
And I also question the scheme under Dennis Erickson.
Anytime you put yourself in a situation where you're going to leave a Reggie White
virtually unblocked on occasion, and at the very least, all they ever did in this game,
they didn't double team him.
They left Howard Ballard one-on-one against him.
No other team in the league does that.
I know he likes that three wide receiver set.
But you can't get your quarterback killed either.
Yeah, Mike?
Just one comment.
I talked to Mike Hogan, the coach of the Green Bay Packers this week,
and we talked about Rick Meyer.
And he told me when Meyer came out, he would have been his choice over Bledsoe.
I felt the same way.
What's happened to the guy since his rookie year?
He's gone downhill.
I think the system has a lot to do.
I think this guy needs direction, guidance, and confidence right now.
OK, and talking about question marks at quarterback,
Jimmy Johnson rolls the dice with Craig Erickson today.
And Craig Erickson was under a lot of pressure when he got that $2 million
contract with the Colts last year.
He never handled it.
The pressure got to him, I believe.
We'll see if he can handle the pressure today.
All right, let's go over to Ahmaud.
All right, Greg?
One of our other early games is New England and Baltimore.
Both teams are 2 and 2.
And one of the subplots is Bill Belichick, the former head coach of Cleveland,
who was fired before the team moved to Baltimore.
He's now the Patriots defensive coordinator.
For a game report, we go to Beasley Reese in Baltimore.
Thanks a lot, Ahmaud.
This is a big game for these teams, but New England head coach Bill Parcells
made a special issue of how important it is for his team
because he's got some tough opponents coming up.
The Redskins, Colts, Bills, and Dolphins, a combined record of 14 and 3.
Now, the key for the Patriots once again is the player, their quarterback,
Drew Bledsoe, and he's playing pretty good.
Spreading the ball around, he completed his first eight passes last week.
But you know Bill Parcells, and he wants to run the ball.
He's got Curtis Martin, and in the last three games,
Martin has averaged over 90 yards a game.
So off to another pretty good season.
Now, Ahmaud, you mentioned that the assistant head coach actually
for this team is Bill Belichick.
And when I spoke to Raven's wide receiver, Michael Jackson,
he said that they are talking more about Bill Belichick
and what he's going to say about them than the New England players.
And Jackson is a man to watch.
The last four meetings with New England, Jackson burned the Patriots
for 391 yards and three touchdowns.
Now, Ahmaud, we got a big football game coming up,
but these fans are baseball fans right now.
Still excited about their Orioles set to face the Yankees in the ALCS.
Ahmaud, back to you.
All right, B, well, you know the good folks in Cleveland
can't be too happy with Baltimore right now.
First, they lose their football team,
and then they lose to Baltimore in the baseball playoffs.
What's next, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame movie?
That's probably the next thing.
Here we go.
I'll tell you what's important, though, right now for Bill Parcells
and the Patriots is to win a game on the road.
They haven't done that very well,
and this is a point he's trying to get across to his football team.
We have got to win on the road.
They've got to beat Baltimore.
The schedule is going to get a lot tougher after this,
and if they can't beat Baltimore, can't beat nobody.
Chris, what about this Belichick subplot?
Well, Bill Belichick knows Vinny Testaverde awfully well,
and he knows that you don't beat him
the way the Patriots have tried in the past
by sitting back into zones.
The Pittsburgh Steelers always come after Vinny.
They drive him crazy.
He throws a lot of interceptions.
I think that's what you're going to see out of Belichick and the Patriots today.
Belichick got to be giggling.
I mean, he's going back down there.
You've got to walk up to this guy backwards.
They're paying him, what, $500,000?
Modell, the people of Maryland, thank you.
They're pitching in.
All right.
Later in the show, Jonathan Silverman, NBC's single guy,
will reveal the winning symbols in the NFL and NBC game day sweepstakes.
Right now, a look at the rest of the show.
Still ahead.
Neil O'Donnell talks about going from a Super Bowl contender
to the winless New York Jets.
We'll hear from the NFL's leading rusher,
Terrell Davis of the 4-1 Denver Broncos.
And Bruce Smith makes his feelings known on his value to the Buffalo Bills.
The NFL on NBC continues after these messages.
Last January, Super Bowl 30 brought together
Neil O'Donnell of the Pittsburgh Steelers
and Larry Brown of the Dallas Cowboys.
Both O'Donnell and Brown went the free agent route this offseason,
and neither looks like he'll be returning to the Super Bowl anytime soon.
About 15 minutes from now, O'Donnell's new team,
the 0-5 New York Jets, host Brown's new team,
the 1-4 Oakland Raiders.
Not exactly two teams jockeying for playoff position.
With more on two of the NFL's most disappointing teams,
we go to Randy Cross.
Randy Cross is a former New York Jets player,
and he's a former New York Jets player.
Disappointing teams, we go to Randy Cross at the Meadowlands.
Well, thanks, Iman.
You know, the Jets are a weak and wounded team,
and for them to beat the Raiders today,
they need that running game that Sunday night was so good
to really come to the forefront.
The offensive line is doing a lot better job,
and Adrian Morrell right here is really starting to get it together
out of the backfield.
329 on the season, 118 last week.
If they get the running game,
that means they can do what the Bears did last week,
and that's hang around and hang around.
And if you do against the Raiders, honestly,
they're going to make the mistakes.
The mistakes they make, they get penalties,
and they turn the ball over.
They're leading the league,
and all these negative stats you see right here,
and the bottom line is, hey, this is a game the Raiders should win.
If they don't beat the Jets today here,
I think Mike White's out as a coach,
and if I'm Al Davis, I cancel the charter,
make them all walk home,
because their season's over in Oakland if they lose to the Jets.
Back to you.
Very strong statements, Randy.
The past two seasons, Neil O'Donnell has gone
to the AFC Championship game with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Just eight months ago,
the Steelers played a very competitive Super Bowl
against the Cowboys.
But now, Neil O'Donnell is the quarterback
of the only winless team in the AFC.
O'Donnell spoke with Marv Albert.
Neil, have you ever been in a situation like this before?
No.
Any regrets about signing with the Jets?
I can't, no.
I don't have any regrets.
I really don't.
I made a decision.
I'm a grown man, and I'm just going to go with it.
Considering the fact that you're a rookie,
how do you feel about signing with the Jets?
I don't have any regrets.
I really don't.
I made a decision.
I'm a grown man, and I'm just going to go with it.
Considering the tough loss last week in the 0-5 start,
what is the mindset of this team?
It's been frustrating.
It has been.
I never thought after the first month of the season
we'd be 0-5.
I knew it wouldn't be very easy, but I don't think right now
I don't feel like guys are throwing the talent.
Well, for all the money the Jets spent,
certainly better things were expected.
At this stage, the playoffs are only
a mathematical possibility.
What do you hope to achieve the rest of the way?
See, when I came here, my goals were totally different.
They really were compared to when I was in Pittsburgh.
It's a, I'm looking at it as, you know, right now
we're trying to win our first game.
Neil O'Donnell, local boy, makes good, right?
Madison.
Madison, New Jersey.
Now, in your high school yearbook,
and we check these things out very carefully,
under your photo it says, Neil O'Donnell dislikes
losing.
I'm a poor sport.
I hate losing.
I never, you know, I take it home with me.
I get frustrated with it.
I've never been around, you know,
a period of losing this much.
But you can't get down on yourself.
You can't get down on the team.
You can't be negative because I think there's so much of that
around here, outside of here as it is,
that, you know, if that's not going to help the problem.
When you signed with the Jets, you pointed out
winning is based on a mindset.
Is that mindset an attitude at this point?
Is that missing here?
No, it's, I hope not.
But, you know, early on we start off,
I just hope that people stay with it and stay into it.
Definitely winning is a mindset.
Neil, in most cases, the history of a franchise
has no relevance to the present.
But this franchise has been associated
with losing for so long.
Is this era more of the same old Jets?
See, it's all new to me.
This is my, I've only been here two months,
including training camp.
So, you know, I haven't been around long enough to,
you know, see that.
Final seconds tick away to a chorus of boos
and the chant of same old Jets.
You hear so much about the same old Jets
and the losing that's been happening here.
But, you know, coming here, I knew that,
but I didn't want to hear about it.
I wanted to try to change that.
And, you know, hopefully in time we can do that.
Neil, choosing his words very carefully,
he's in a tough spot because he says
he wants to change the mindset of losing,
but the only way you do that is winning,
and they have not done that.
Exactly.
If he's saying winning is a mindset,
losing is a mindset,
you have to have confidence to win.
Which comes first, winning or confidence?
You have to have confidence to win,
but then you have to win to have confidence.
This football team does not have confidence
in what they're doing.
I think it reverts back to a lot of things
in the way the organization is doing things
and the way they're being coached right now.
I don't think they have a lot of confidence
in the coaching staff.
What about these two teams all together, Mike,
the Raiders and the Jets?
The Jets, a lot of expectations
at the beginning of the season,
they spent a lot of money,
they just haven't done it.
The Raiders, you never count them out
because you always figure
they're going to put something on the field.
I count them out, one, two, they're out.
I mean, they're finished, in my opinion.
This football team has no direction.
I mean, they're the most undisciplined,
you watched them last week,
the most undisciplined football team I've seen.
They lost the football game
basically because they tried to intimidate the Bears.
They lead the league in penalties.
A hostage is the lowest rated quarterback
in the fourth quarter of the football game.
He has no TDs, he has four interceptions.
Now, he's one of their key players.
If he's not getting it done in the fourth quarter,
who is going to get it done?
Well, I guess for New York,
the only O'Donnell causing any excitement is Rosie.
Greg?
All right, Ahmad, thanks.
We've talked a little bit about Jeff George
for Rick Meyer Trade
that Atlanta and Seattle have been discussing.
With more on that and other news and notes,
we go to Will McDonough in Baltimore.
Will, Greg, thanks very much.
Let's start with a story about Jeff George.
Is he or isn't he?
Right now, I understand he does not want to go to Seattle
to complete the trade for Rick Meyer.
His thinking is that if he stays where he is
and becomes a free agent without accepting the trade,
when the trading deadline goes by,
Atlanta will have to get rid of him.
And then he can pick and choose where he wants to go next year.
Stay tuned, that one probably won't finish off
until Tuesday when the deadline goes by.
Let's talk about Rick Meyer.
Now, here's a guy with Seattle who was coming out
in the draft three years ago.
The San Francisco 49ers offered Steve Young
to the New England Patriots who had first picked
to make the deal so they could get Meyer.
Patriots said no.
Two days before the draft,
they offered their entire draft to New England
and New England said no.
So Meyer goes out to Seattle, great promise.
What has happened to him?
Why hasn't he performed the way people thought he would?
Well, I was talking to a defensive coordinator
with very respect in the league
who played against him recently.
He said he is the second coming of Randall Cunningham.
He's a great arm, he's a great athlete,
but he's not a good passer.
When he gets back to pass,
he looks at the receiver all the way.
And when that primary receiver isn't open,
he starts to run.
Let's talk about another quarterback.
You know, when Rodney Pete went down injured
last Monday night, people in Philadelphia thought
maybe Randall Cunningham is coming back.
No way.
I know that Ray Rhodes didn't want Randall Cunningham back
because last year,
the week before the playoff game against the Cowboys,
Randall Cunningham left the team to assist his wife
in the birth of a child,
but then returned late, according to Coach Ray Rhodes.
And when he did get in the game that Sunday,
didn't know what he was supposed to do.
Now, let's take a look at a hit in the game
last Monday night when Darren Woodson of the Cowboys
hits Ty Detmer of the Eagles head to head.
This is not legal,
and the league is looking at this play now
to see if they're gonna find Woodson.
However, what happened was,
Detmer, after this, couldn't remember the plays,
which is why late in the game,
the Eagles, instead of going for a first down and fourth and one,
tried a field goal, which was blocked.
The Super Bowl Committee of the National Football League
will recommend a Super Bowl for Miami in the year 1999
and Tampa Bay, year 2000,
back-to-back Super Bowls for Florida.
Also, Finance Committee will recommend that Wayne Heisinger
can continue to own the Miami Dolphins,
change their cross-ownership policy,
and also that Paul Allen of the Portland Trailblazers
can purchase the Seattle Seahawks.
Back to you, Greg.
All right, Will, thank you.
Let's go back to this Jeff George situation.
Now, you have mentioned in private conversations,
you think that Jeff George and the Philadelphia Eagles
would be a good fit in light of the Rodney Pete injury.
If George wasn't able to play for two other coaches
in two different cities,
how is he gonna play for a disciplinarian like Ray Rhodes?
Because you look at who he played for in the past,
and that's June Jones and Ted Marchup-Rhoda,
and those are player coaches, soft coaches,
friendly coaches, whatever you want to say,
and you can say anything about Ray Rhodes,
but he is none of those.
He would have been in there pounding on Jeff George's head,
but maybe more than that,
because the players respect Ray Rhodes so much,
Ray wouldn't even have to worry about it.
The Philadelphia Eagles as a team
would have taken care of Jeff George.
Meanwhile, Jeff George is really in charge
of this situation, isn't he?
He is, and if he becomes a free agent,
if they can't work some kind of a deal,
he becomes a free agent,
I think you're gonna see a lot of teams come in the mix,
maybe Chicago, maybe even the Miami Dolphins
before it's all said and done.
All right, Chris, when we come back,
we'll take a look at the big game in Buffalo later today
between the Bills and the Colts.
First, we'll step aside for these words
from your local station.
Welcome back, everyone.
Let's get to some of the other games in the NFL today.
Beginning with Minnesota at Carolina,
both teams fell from the undefeated ranks last week,
which means both could come out very hungry.
The question is, without Biaka Batuka,
can Carolina run at the Minnesota defense
the way the Giants did last week?
No, no, would be the answer to that question,
because they've got too many changes
in that offensive line.
They've made three changes up front,
so they won't be able to run to football today,
plus that Minnesota defensive line
is going to be downright nasty,
one of the best pass rushes in all of football,
I think a very long day today for Kerry Collins.
Just when I think the Vikings are gonna do something,
they're letting me down.
Anyway, let's turn to San Francisco at St. Louis.
Steve Young is still howled by a bad groin,
and Elvis Gerbeck had back spasms this week,
a game time decision,
and they seem to have a problem out there,
a quarterback problem, Mike.
Well, they have a problem,
but it's not gonna affect them today.
No matter which one starts, they'll beat St. Louis.
St. Louis has got a lot of problems, in my opinion.
They don't know what they wanna do.
They got a good young quarterback in Tony Banks,
but the rest of the team isn't functioning the way they thought.
They thought they'd have a much better defense
than they have right now.
The defense has not been playing good,
and they're really, overall,
they seem to be going in the wrong direction to me.
Houston is at Cincinnati,
and the Oilers are two and two,
the Bengals are one and three,
and the important thing here for the Oilers,
who we believe are basically a good football team,
it's important they don't let the Pittsburgh Steelers
get too far away from in the AFC Central.
And it's also important for them to get refocused
after all that fighting and everything
that went on, all the fines
that happened last week in Pittsburgh,
but the good news for Houston today
is they get Anthony Cook back,
and they have been terrible rushing the passer,
obviously, against Jeff Blake.
You gotta get some heat on him,
but Anthony Cook is probably their best guy
as far as getting pressure.
He's back today, should really help.
And aren't we expecting the Bengals to at least
get some sort of a turnaround going sometime soon?
We're expecting them to,
but I don't think they can make up their mind
what they're doing.
I mean, they're changing running backs,
they have not been consistent at all,
they're putting too much pressure on Jeff
to throw the football down the field.
They were successful last year,
but they're not doing it well this year.
They've gotta get back to doing basic things,
run the football, play good defense,
and try to stay in his football game.
I don't think they're gonna stay in it.
And you know, the other thing is Jeff Blake
really has not proven yet
that he can complete the high percentage pass underneath.
Great going down the field,
just haven't seen him do it underneath yet.
All right, Atlanta is at Detroit,
and the Falcons with or without Jeff George are 0 and 4.
I guess that's a good scheduling move by the Lions, Blake.
The Lions have beaten the Bears,
the only team they've beaten with wins.
They have two wins, the Bears have two wins.
The other team that they beat them is Tampa Bay,
which is 0 and 5.
So you know, who's to say what the Lions are really?
They look like a good football team on paper,
but you know, I don't see them,
I don't trust Mitchell,
I'm sorry, I don't care.
He's got Herman Moore, he's got a great receiver,
got the best running back in football,
I just don't trust Mitchell.
Do you know how bad the Lions are gonna feel
that you don't trust Scott Mitchell?
Our NFL on NBC coverage continues.
This is the NFL on NBC.
The game of the day may very well be in Buffalo,
a four o'clock affair between the Colts and the Bills.
The last time the Colts were the NFL's only undefeated team
was in 1958.
With a report, we go to Bob Trumpy.
Thanks, Ahmad.
Jim Kelly is out.
On the sideline, the hamstring is not healed enough.
So again, the starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills,
Todd Collins.
The good news is he had an entire week of practice
with the first team.
His backup, Alex Van Pelt.
And the Bills only have two quarterbacks available.
We understand the emergency quarterback will be Jack Kemp.
Now for the Indianapolis Colts to continue their winning streak,
they must do one thing.
That's protect the quarterback.
Last year in two losses to the Bills,
one Bryce Pop had six, count them, six sacks in Indianapolis.
He had three.
One against Jim Harbaugh.
He had one against Paul Justin.
He got fined for this hit.
And he didn't discriminate.
He also got Craig Erickson.
Three sacks against three quarterbacks in the same game.
Gentlemen, for the Colts to continue winning,
they've got to somehow control Bryce Pop and Bruce Smith.
All right, thanks, Bob.
Now the amazing thing is the Colts are 10 and 12 in the AFC East,
but those two losses were by the Bills.
And the Bills seem to have their number.
The Colts have to do a couple of things,
and Bob hit it right on the button.
First thing, they've got to protect Harbaugh.
They can't get him sacked in the football game.
They've got to get Marshall Faulk involved in the game,
the running game and the passing game.
They've got to get him involved early.
The other thing they've got to do,
they've got to continue to play that team defense,
that swarming defense.
They have given up very few big plays this year,
and that's why they're winning.
But you know, the one thing that Indianapolis cannot do
is fall too much in love with Marshall Faulk running the football.
They've been running very well with Lamont Warren,
Zach Crockett back there.
And the other thing, those two guys are much bigger than Marshall Faulk,
so it gives them a little better pass protection
and extra body back there to help in that protection.
All right, Chris, with more on Buffalo, let's go over to Greg.
All right, gentlemen, thank you much.
You may recall that as this season was about to get underway,
Buffalo's all-pro defensive end, Bruce Smith,
threatened to walk out on the Bills
because of what he considered slow progress on a new contract.
Smith has had a terrific first month on the field,
but he was ready to vent some frustration.
Jim Gray was there to listen.
They turn around and give $5 million signing bonuses to players
and $2 and $3 million signing bonuses to players.
That doesn't make any sense to me.
Oh, yeah, I'm still pissed off about it.
There's no doubt about it.
And I think that that's one of the reasons
I've been having the type of season that I've had this year.
I've been able to go out and release my frustrations out
while I'm out there playing.
I think this year has definitely been a blessing to me
because of the fact that I've been treated so unfairly.
Why, Bruce, haven't they taken care of your contract
and why is it at the point it's now at?
Back in 1988, I became the highest paid defensive player in the league.
At that time, Reggie White's contract was up.
He, in turn, got basically the same contract that I got.
In 1992, his contract was up.
He went in and got this huge contract, $17.2 million.
I stayed and negotiated with Buffalo and got a contract for $13.6 million.
Now, I did that because I wanted to win a championship here in Buffalo.
Last year, they asked me to do them a favor, which was restructure my deal.
I restructured my contract.
I gave him $600,000 back.
With that in mind, they said that, oh, we really appreciate this.
You're really helping the team out.
You know, you're a team type player and we love you to death for it.
A couple of months later, after they said they were broke,
they came back and gave John Fiena $15 million over five years
and a $5 million signing bonus.
I was highly pissed.
Bruce isn't exactly mincing words, is he?
We will have lots more of that interview a bit later in the show.
But up next, we turn our attention to the Dallas Cowboys.
Coming off a big win last Monday night,
they are two and three entering the bye week and they have Michael Irvin back.
Plus, we'll talk about tomorrow night's big matchup in Kansas City
between the Chiefs and the Steelers.
And later, we'll hear from Terrell Davis,
the Denver Broncos' terrific second year running back who leads the NFL in Russia.
Super Bowl 30 was the last time we saw Michael Irvin on a football field.
In light of the Cowboys' two and three start,
Dallas is happy to get its star receiver back from its five-game suspension.
And I am glad to be back.
I am glad to do my all and give my all
to make sure we get back on the right track around here.
The Cowboys have a bye this week before hosting Arizona next week.
They won on the road at Philly last Monday in a very tough game that could...
Really, that game may have turned the season around.
Well, I tell you, this is a good football team.
And somebody asked me a couple weeks ago, you know, are they finished?
No, they're not finished. They could run the table from here on out.
With Irvin coming back, what it's going to do to him,
it's going to give him a chance to push the ball down the field with a passing game.
And I think it's going to make him a better running game, I really do.
And I'll tell you what, whether you like Michael Irvin or not,
he's a big part of that football team.
His teammates like him, they respect him.
I think he's one of the leaders on this football team.
He's going to jack him up.
You think he can have that big of an impact, Chris?
I do, simply because I think the most important person
on the football field are the guys that can draw the double teams.
Whether you're talking about Reggie White on the defensive line,
Charles Haley on the Cowboys, who's also been out,
or Michael Irvin at the wide receiver position,
you're going to see the Cowboys running the football a lot better
because they can no longer play those eight-man fronts against the Cowboys.
All right, Chris, let's talk about a big game in the NFC Central today,
Green Bay at Chicago.
Packers are 4-1, the Bears 2-3.
For Chicago, a big challenge to slow down a Green Bay offense.
This might be the best team we've faced to this point.
I won't go so far as to say the best offense
because they've been in a position
where they've had so many turnovers so early
and been able to blow teams out that you just don't know
if they can take the ball and watch it downfield
with enough times during the course of the game to beat you.
So that's what we're going to try to find out.
I don't think Brian Cox has been paying much attention to the numbers.
The Bears are looking at a team
that has scored the most points in the National Football League.
14 of those points have been scored by the defense,
the rest by a high-powered offense,
and this is Bear Week in Green Bay.
You know how big that is.
It really is.
I think the one thing Brian Cox doesn't understand,
and a lot of the Bears don't understand,
this is the best rival in the NFL.
This is the oldest rival in the NFL.
And the one thing that Mike Holcomb is getting
across to his Packer players now,
they're starting to understand
what Green Bay playing Chicago means.
It's not only a division game,
it's the oldest rival in the NFL.
Green Bay understands the better in Chicago it is right now.
What do you think, Chris?
I don't know what Brian Cox is saying yet.
We've been watching the Green...
Give me a break, Brian Cox.
I mean, these guys have been going up and down the field
against everybody in the NFL,
and they are on pace right now
to create more turnovers on defense
than any team in NFL history.
Big reasons, Santana Dodson, Gilbert Brown,
finally healthy on that defensive line.
They're getting after quarterbacks.
And Brian, this is going to be a wake-up call for you today.
All right, the Monday night game is a very good AFC matchup.
The 3-1 Steelers visiting the 4-1 Chiefs.
Pittsburgh knows it's a tough assignment to win in Kansas City.
We have to be aggressive and go out there
and try to win every last one of these games.
And so, fortunately for us, they've been at home,
but now we've got to go into the Lions then
and play at the arrowhead.
So it's going to be a good game.
Kansas City has a very loud atmosphere,
and, you know, we won't have many check with me packages,
and we won't be able to audible that much.
So things we do call in the huddle,
we're going to have to pretty much stick to,
and hopefully we execute, and everyone's on the same page.
This is a good football game.
Do you mind if I use a cliche?
What are quarterbacks always talking about audible for?
Call to play, they're sitting here.
You don't have to audible everything.
You don't want to talk about audible.
I'm going to audible this, I'm going to audible that.
This is going to be a great football game.
But I tell you right now, you know, Pittsburgh,
there's two teams in the NFL right now that excite me,
and I'm going to say Pittsburgh's one of them, the other is Indy.
They look like two teams that are playing with a passion.
They understand what's going to happen,
where they're trying to get.
They're playing harder than anybody in the league,
and that's going to be a big advantage for Pittsburgh.
They're going to get after Kansas City.
I want to hear your cliche.
Well, I see, because obviously Mike didn't want to hear it at all.
I'm not even going to use it, though.
Listen, Kansas City, they got a great record, right?
But Pittsburgh has been where Kansas City wants to go,
and that's to the Super Bowl.
That's right.
This should have been the AFC championship game last year,
but for those little colts who got in the way.
Interesting today, though, for Mike Tomsak, or Monday night,
I should say, because he has been terrific in the first quarter.
Teams come up in that eight-man front,
and he's been able to complete those passes.
But this is his first game away from Three Rivers Stadium.
We'll see if he's as effective as a starter now.
Please tell us the cliche.
The cliche was that this game will separate the men from the boys.
When the goal gets tough, the tough get going.
All right.
NFL on NBC continues in just a moment.
Up next, he was the lowest-drafted running back
to ever run for 1,000 yards in a season.
Now he leads the NFL in rushing.
Terrell Davis of the Denver Broncos.
The NFL on NBC is brought to you by Napa Auto Parts stores.
We keep America running.
And by Selson Blue.
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Later today, the 207th consecutive sellout in Mile High Stadium.
We'll watch the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers.
A look at the AFC West standings with Denver, San Diego,
and Kansas City, all tied at 4-1.
We turn now to Paul McGuire and Phil Simms.
And Paul, the Chargers, Jr. Seau had a phenomenal game last week
in the win over Kansas City.
Amad, when you talk defense in San Diego, you say ow.
Junior say ow.
I'm going to tell you something.
This guy just comes to play.
Last week, he told us that he had the best game
that he has ever played in the National Football League.
He had 12 tackles.
Here's one of them on Marcus Allen.
But a lot of them were from behind the line of scrimmage.
He also had two interceptions.
This one here was just pure hustle.
That was the first one.
The second one is this one here that sets up the winning
field goal in the fourth quarter.
And he felt, well, while I'm here, I might as well go ahead
and sack the quarterback once.
With that, he gets the quarterback sacked
and the defensive player in the National Football League
last week.
Now, Phil, the question about Junior Seau is this.
Can he be controlled?
Well, there's a person on the other side of the field today
that can control him, and that's Mike Shanahan
of the Denver Broncos.
Back when he was the offensive coordinator
of the San Francisco 49ers, the Super Bowl 29,
look at Junior on defense.
His responsibility, cover Ricky Waters out of the backfield
if it's a play, a pass.
There's a run fake.
Junior comes up in the line.
Look where he's at there.
And look down the field.
Ricky Waters going untouched down the middle.
The results, an easy touchdown for the San Francisco 49ers.
Now, that's the old Junior Seau.
The new Junior Seau told us yesterday he's more disciplined.
We've seen that watching films of him.
He knows what he's doing in every play.
He sticks to it.
But also, the Chargers have given him some freedom,
let him roam around on a few defense
and try to make those plays.
And that's important because today, they're
going against the number one rushing attack
and the number one runner in Terrell Davis.
Greg?
All right, guys.
Thank you very much.
Bronco's second year running back Terrell Davis
leads the NFL in rushing that despite being only
a sixth round selection last year.
21 running backs were drafted ahead of him.
Last year, he was the lowest draft pick in NFL history
to rush for 1,000 yards as a rookie.
Amazingly, Davis has suffered most of his life
from migraine headaches.
You have to put your whole life on hold.
First of all, it comes on mind.
Come on with a vision problem.
I can't see.
It's almost like looking into a bright light
and then trying to focus on something immediately following.
Once the vision starts to come back, the headache comes on.
Anything sounds, lights, any type of noise
will make it hurt that much more.
And then it comes on by vomit, and then it's gone.
And then it's gone.
It's gone much more, and then it comes on by vomiting,
nauseated, just anything.
I start to feel numbness, and that happens.
It can go anywhere from four hours
to actually a couple of days.
Can playing football bring one on?
Can getting hit out there on the field cause one?
I think so, but I think the chances of that
are very minimal.
And that only happened to me two weeks ago,
or three weeks ago, it was Tampa Bay,
and it happened one time in high school,
a couple times in high school.
But most times, it's just for me working out,
just running around, and maybe just in a bright light.
If I'm going down the street, and a car comes by sometimes,
and a reflection of a bright light hits me in the eye,
that can cause me to have a migraine.
How far back do these go, Tarell?
I remember having one when I was seven years old.
I finished up playing a Pop Warner football game.
I was waiting for my mother to come.
I sat outside of a fence, and I was sitting there.
And then all of a sudden, I couldn't see.
And I got real scared, I panicked.
And at that time, I just thought I was going blind,
because I never had it before.
You contemplated suicide at one point?
When I was real, like I said, when I was seven or eight,
because I didn't understand if I really didn't understand it,
and I didn't understand why it was happening to me.
At the time, the pain was so unbearable,
that that was the only out that I could see,
was basically just not wanting to be alive.
Does it make you tentative to go out there,
wondering if maybe this is going to hit you
while you go about the business of playing the game?
No, no.
I mean, if it comes, it comes, like I said.
They come for me just sitting down,
looking at the TV set.
I mean, they don't really have a set time when they come.
So when I'm able to function, I go out there
and do the best I can without worrying about migrating.
Right now, Davis may be the best back in the national football
league, and that includes guys like Barry Sanders and Emmett
Smith.
The guys are phenomenal right now.
I mean, I don't think I'm an Emmett Smith or Barry Sanders
or Ricky Waters or anything like that.
I think, I mean, maybe the numbers say that right now,
but I don't think I'm the best right now.
I don't feel that way.
What's funny, people come to me to my 2,000 yards.
I'm like, get out of here.
How many people learn to rush for 2,000 yards?
I believe only two.
I don't even, you know, that's something I get.
I say, if Barry didn't get 200, 2,000 yards,
I'm not getting 2,000 yards.
Did you think that you could come in and contribute
to a team that made its living throwing the football?
No, no, no, I didn't.
I just thought that I'll get the ball, you know,
10 times a game as a token run, just to.
Get the block for John.
Right, you know what I'm saying?
Get the block.
And run out the backfield, catch a ball or two.
But in terms of running a ball this many times,
not in a million years did I ever dream
of doing something like that.
Terrell Davis, one of the more humble guys
around the National Football League.
The numbers say that he is the best running back
in football right now.
And this is a guy who, over the last four weeks, Chris,
has gained more yardage than he gained his entire senior year
in school.
But you know, this is how you make a franchise.
With guys like Terrell Davis in the sixth round,
he falls through the cracks, sort of overshadowed
by Eric Zier when he played at the University of Georgia.
A little bit like Curtis Martin with the New England Patriots.
You have to come up with those late round draft picks.
And Mike, they pulled it off here.
That was something.
Well, you've got to give a lot of credit
to the Denver Broncos scouting organization
to come through with this pick.
But I tell you what, this has got
to make Mike Shanahan tremendously happy.
It gives him the thread on the ground that he needs.
It takes a lot of pressure off the outweigh.
Outweigh's not having the greatest share passing the ball.
And it takes some pressure off of their offensive line.
It gives them a chance to run block instead of pass
block all the time.
And I think that makes a better football team.
And Terrell Davis has the good initials, TD.
We'll be back in just a moment.
Coming up, he was the NFL's Defensive Player
of the Month for September.
The all-pro lineman of the Buffalo Bills, Bruce Smith.
As we check back in on the scene in Miami,
it looks like the Seahawks have brought some of that rain
from the Northwest.
It'll be slippery for both John Fries and Craig Erickson.
Now, many of you will see the Seahawks and Dolphins
in the first half of our double header.
Our late game features either the AFC West matchup
in Denver, the Broncos and the Chargers,
or the AFC East game in Buffalo,
the Bills hosting Jim Harbaugh and the unbeaten Colts.
Craig?
All right, Ahmad, thanks.
Speaking of the Bills and the Colts,
that brings us back to Bruce Smith.
Earlier, you heard Smith tell Jim Gray about his unhappiness
with the Buffalo Bills.
Here's the rest of that conversation.
When it comes from Bruce, we laugh about it
because Bruce always has something to complain about.
This is not a complaint.
This is from the heart.
This goes deeper than a complaint.
This is a matter of pride, a matter of respect,
a matter of putting it on the line for your team,
for the front office, and in return,
not receiving the same thing.
With that being in mind, this past year,
Jim's contract was up.
And well, he had one more year left on his contract.
And it came to my presence that they
were going to redo his contract and put him
in the same type of situation as John Elway and Marino
and guys like that.
And I'm sitting back in my mind, and other people
coming to me, other coaches and people in the front office,
and saying, well, why are you stuck here
being the 20th or 21st player, highest paid defense
player in the league?
And they're going to put another player up
in the top one or two categories.
And nobody has done more for this organization
than you have, Bruce.
And I just got to thinking.
And I said, you're absolutely right.
Something needs to be done, and it has to be done right now.
Well, what do you plan, Bruce, to do about this?
You threatened to walk out.
You didn't do it.
So what do you plan to do?
What can you do to change this?
Well, at this point in time, and a little bit earlier
than this interview, I decided to put my trust
in the integrity of Mr. Wilson and this front office,
that this contractual situation will
be handled in a professional-like manner
and the way it should be taken care of as soon
and immediately after the season is over.
I'm not talking about two months down the line,
three months down the line.
But immediately following this season, I'm hoping
and I'm trusting that it's going to be taken care of.
Did Mr. Wilson tell you he would do that?
It will be reviewed.
He told you he would review it?
I won't say that, but it will be reviewed.
You're confident of that?
That's the only thing I can possibly do
is put my trust in it.
But do you trust them based on what's gone on in the past?
And it seems like there have been some broken promises
and certainly, it's a shattered feeling.
There have been some broken promises,
but I won't say that they've come from Mr. Wilson.
They might have come from the front office,
but they never came from Mr. Wilson.
And if you're not paid what you feel
you should be paid next year, will you not come back?
We've got a problem.
I mean, it's not a threat or anything,
but it's just something that we'll have to address
at that point in time.
But I think my career may be in jeopardy with the team.
The things Bruce Smith says you find it difficult to argue
with, it has the appearances the Buffalo Bills have lied
to him about their money situation,
and you have to pay a guy who delivers as constantly
as Bruce Smith has over the years.
I don't think there's any question.
I think the key word here is loyalty.
Who are you going to be loyal to?
I mean, this guy is one of the best players in the league.
He's proven it.
Now, if you're not going to pay him,
who the hell are you going to pay?
Are you going to pay the backup?
Are you going to pay the left tackle, the right tackle?
Pay this guy.
He deserves it.
I agree with everything you're saying,
and also the fact that he really made
Bryce Pop, the defensive player of the year in the AFC
last year with all those 17 and a half sacks.
My only question here is Bruce said
he's willing to wait until after the season
to talk about this situation.
Why bring it up now and create a distraction on this team?
There's no need.
He wanted me to know about it.
I didn't know that.
No, we all know about it.
We're back with our Picks of the Week right after this.
The Pick of the Week is brought to you
by Honda, vehicles designed to help simplify your life.
Will McDonough continued his perfect record
last week when Arizona won in overtime.
With this week's picks, here's Greg Gumpel.
I got to tell you, we aren't all real afraid about Will
right now, because we know that sooner or later,
somewhere down the road, he's going to be crazy
and pick somebody.
It proves picking football games is a fluke.
If Will's in the front, exactly.
All right, Will, Joe, and Ahmad are all taking Denver
over San Diego this week.
Ahmad didn't learn last week not to pick against the Chargers.
And so far, he hasn't changed his pick.
Chris likes the Raiders to keep the Jets winless.
Mike goes with New England over Baltimore.
I'll take Houston over Cincinnati tonight.
You want to defend your?
No, I'm going to take John Elway in that broke arm
over Camden City.
This just said, Elway just needs.
Would you like to change your pick again?
Denver, I'm staying with Denver, no matter what.
Still haven't heard about that smallpox vaccine outburst.
Stop it, stop it.
They're getting up on me.
All right, we'll see you at halftime.
The NFL and NBC continues right after.
These words from your local station.
We'll see you at halftime.