After a meeting earlier today Goodell decided Ben was behaving himself and felt he was doing his best to be a better person. As a result, Roethlisberger had his suspension trimmed down to 4 games. He’s now eligible to return to action Oct. 18th for a divisional matchup against the Browns.

In the meantime there’s been a lot of talk about who will start at quarterback while Roethlisberger is gone. The competition between Dennis Dixon and Byron Leftwich during the preseason really didn’t leave the Steelers with any kind of definitive idea of who would be starting week one.

But last night against Carolina Leftwich injured his left knee and initial reports have not been positive. So it seems that the Steelers may wind up having to start Dixon against the Falcons next Sunday.

Although most people seem to think that Leftwich would have started had he not gotten injured, and there is still a chance he could be okay come Sept. 12th, Dixon seems to fit the role a little better. The Steelers are going to have to go back to their old style while Ben isn’t around, which means a lot more running. Dixon isn’t as experienced a passer as Leftwich, but the dynamic he brings with his legs could be a better fit.

Technorati Tags: Ben Roethlisberger, byron leftwich, denis dixon, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers

While the division is still probably the weakest in football, there looks to be a changing of the guard.

The 49ers finally seem ready to take over the West, which for the past few years hasn’t taken much. Under the guidance of Mike Singletary,the 49ers defense has become one of the best in football. Aggressive and relentless, just like their coach used to be when he roamed the middle of the Bears dominant defense during the mid to late 80’s.

What makes this years 49ers team different is the other side of the ball. There finally seems to be some hope for offensive stability, which has been lacking in the bay area for quite some time. It seems that Alex Smith, who is entering his 6th year, is ready to lead the team. He’s got some weapons at his disposal in Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis and Frank Gore, and his offensive line seems to have finally found some unity.

Smith struggled in his first few seasons with the 49ers after being the drafted first overall in 2005. But at the end of last season he seemed to be coming into his own.

Something that really stands out though was his contract restructuring before the 2009 season. Smith was still cashing in on his ridiculous rookie contract. His desire to stay with the 49ers organization prompted him to renegotiate his contract, going from earning $24.6 million down to $8 million over his remaining two years. This is exactly the kind of culture Mike Singletary wanted to create in San Francisco, no more me first, but instead, team first.

With the Cardinals really not having a suitable predecessor to Kurt Warner it’s the perfect opportunity for the 49ers to overtake the division. I know there’s a bunch of Seahawk fans out there saying “Well what about us?”. But they need to be realistic about their teams expectations, something that they’ve never been able to do in the Pacific Northwest. This is going to be a statement year from the 49ers, the one that says “We’re back!”. If you don’t believe me tune into a few of their games this year, the team will speak for itself. And that’s just the way Singletary wants it.

Technorati Tags: Alex Smith, Mike Singletary, NFL, San Francisco 49ers

Cutler has definitely been the most successful of the 3 quarterbacks drafted in the first round. The other two, Young and Leinart, have yet to show the same kind of potential as Cutler. But has Cutler already peaked as a player? This year may tell a lot about what the future has in store for him.

The Bears were wise to bring in Mike Martz this offseason. What he was able to do offensively in St. Louis with Kurt Warner was nothing short of amazing. And the Bears are hoping that Martz can bring some of that magic to Chicago, with Cutler being the biggest benefactor. Warner and Cutler are two very different quarterbacks though, and not just talent wise.

Warner took to the teachings of Martz as good as any player could have. He fit into the system perfectly, his timing and accuracy were impeccable. The fact that Warner came out of the arena league supports the notion even more that he was very coachable. That’s probably why he was so successful with the Rams.

Cutler has been perceived by many, and at times has almost made it obvious, that he doesn’t take to coaching well. His body language on the sidelines and after plays tells a big story. He looks like he always has an excuse for mistakes he’s made, shaking his head as if he always knows what’s going on and giving the look that “Yea I know what I did wrong.”. This is an even bigger red flag because if he does always know what’s going and he keeps making the same mistakes he may not be able to fix them.

Cutler, up until this point, has been an improv gunslinger. His style doesn’t fit into a Mike Martz system that’s based on the two major strengths Warner had, timing and accuracy. In order to fit into the system Cutler has to change his game a little, he’s got to become coachable.

This is the biggest and best opportunity Cutler may get in his career and what he does with it will say a lot about him. If he has success with the Bears this year it will be because he took to the teachings of Mike Martz. If he comes out looking the way he has for the past 3 and a bit seasons he won’t have taken to the teachings of one of the best offensive minds the game has seen in a while. And if he doesn’t take to coaching this year, he may never take to it.

Technorati Tags: Chicago Bears, Jay Cutler, Mike Martz, NFL

Revis has decided to sit out training camp and try and get himself a new contract. If he is, in fact, the best defensive player in the league then he does deserve to get paid. And the important thing to remember here is that the coach of the team he plays for made these claims, so from the viewpoint of Revis the Jets should put their money where their mouth is.

I’m sure behind closed doors the Jets brass cringed every time Ryan opened his mouth and poured out as many superlatives as he knows when he was referring to Revis. If Ryan was aware of the impact of what he was saying he probably wouldn’t have said it, but he didn’t. He proceeded to give Revis all the leverage he needed to hold the Jets ransom. Really, can you blame Revis? If your employer told everyone who was willing to listen that you were the best employee would you not want to be paid like the best employee?

Things have slowly changed in the past few weeks in New York though. No longer is Ryan singing the praises of the best corner in the game. Now he’s starting to get frustrated. His demeanor has changed in his press conferences, and it’s clear he’s starting to realize the mistake he made. He’s gone as far as saying he wants to get the whole team and Revis to sit down and get a deal hammered out. Then he finally came to the realization that maybe the contract talks should just be between the team and Revis. What a novel idea.

The problem is that the damage has been done. The Jets are going to be forced to pay Revis what he wants, how could they not? What this really brings to light is how delicate of a business football really is. Coaches not only have to be able to manage a team, they also have to manage the media. They have to understand that what they say can be used against them. Having pompous loudmouths as coaches may be entertaining, but from a business standpoint it drives the owners and general managers nuts.

This move by Ryan may not only cost the Jets a huge contract right now, but it amy also put them in a hard position in the future to manage their roster and salary cap. They have players like Nick Mangold and David Harris, who they have to worry about resigning by next year. Then there’s Mark Sanchez, who is potentially the next big contract they’ll have to worry about. When you start adding this up the Jets have a small window of opportunity to take advantage of. Not only do they have to make the right moves now, they have to make sure the moves they do make now allow them to make the right moves years from now. This may wind up being a very hard lesson for the Jets and Rex Ryan to learn from.

Technorati Tags: Darrelle Revis, New York Jets, NFL, Rex Ryan

To be honest, it would be nice if the biggest ego in sports bowed out. However I won’t believe it until I watch the Vikings play the Saints in the season opener and he’s not out there. Even then I don’t know if I’d believe he wouldn’t hold another press conference to tell the world he’s not sure if he’s not sure he’ll ever play football again.

Quite frankly I’m getting sick of Brett Favre. He had an excellent year last year there’s no doubt about it. I even think it was the best year he’s ever had. But I mean c’mon pal, quit stringing everyone along. You have zero credibility when it comes to what you say about whether you’ll retire or play another year. He can have 30 press conferences from now until the season opener and I’ll still have my doubts.

Here’s the biggest problem I have with this whole situation. Brett Favre has had several press conferences where he let’s the word out so the whole sports media world is hanging off what he’s going to say. And you can bet he knows this. Yet he still plays into it like there’s nothing else in this world going on that’s bigger than whether he’s done playing football or not. Not since the days of Rick Henderson have I seen someone feed there ego this much. And even Ricky Henderson would tell you that Ricky Hendersons ego isn’t that big.

Now he’s going to have another press conference to announce his retirement, maybe, and nobody is going to believe him. Anyone familiar with the story of the boy who cried wolf? So why have a press conference? Because Brett Favre can’t handle not having his name flashed on ESPN and the NFL Network and every front page of every sports section of every newspaper in North America.

So here we are, having to put up with another Brett Favre press conference, even though nobody will believe a word that comes out of his mouth. But like good NFL fans we will appease him and go along with him and spend the next few weeks talking about how great he was and watching all the highlights of his career on tv. Then, when the time is right. Favre will swoop down and tell all the Vikings fans to fear not, for he will play one more year even though he doesn’t think his ankle can handle it, covering his ass just in case he has a shithouse year. And I thought wrestling was the male version of a soap opera.

Technorati Tags: Brad Childress, Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings, retiring

Shanahan labelled the test as “very minimal” and that most of his players could do it “in their sleep”. Haynesworth is proving to be the exception. However Shanahan is confident that Albert will pass it sooner or later.

“I don’t want to put a guy out there before he’s ready, before I know he’s in shape,” Shanahan said. “I know it’s the best thing for him. He may not know that at this time, but I can guarantee you, the big linemen that I’ve been with, the guys that are in the trenches, they still need to be in shape.”

This isn’t the kind of shape you’d expect a guy who is in the second year of his $100 million contract to be in. If you’re the Redskins and you pay a guy that kind of money you expect him to do everything in his power to be able to contribute to the team to the best of his ability. The last thing you want is an out of shape player who just signed a $21 million roster bonus to be dragging his ass through cone drills.

Whether or not Haynesworth is a Redskin in the future is anyones guess. His trade value is as low as it could be and the Redskins would have to bite it if they shipped him to another team. But it’s definitely not out of the question.

Technorati Tags: Albert Haynesworth, Mike Shanahan, NFL, Washington Redskins

Anyone who follows Ochocinco on his Twitter account knows that he’s been clamoring for the Bengals to sign T.O. for quite a while now. Between the tweets of his bad luck in love and his clothes, Ocho has made it clear that he believes Owens and himself would give secondaries sleepless nights. There’s a chance that this could very well happen. There’s also a chance those two could give Marvin Lewis his fair share of sleepless nights as well.

Lost in the shuffle of all of this is Antonio Bryant. The Bengals signed him earlier in the offseason with thoughts of him lining up opposite of Chad. With T.O. now in town, Bryant sort of becomes the forgotten man. Who knows how he’ll react to this, but the Bengals seem to have a possible tinder box at the receiver position.

Of course, none of these guys will be worth a lick if Carson Palmer isn’t able to pick up his game form last year. Palmer had a rough year last year and the Bengals have to be hoping he’s able to regain his form from several years ago. I’d be willing to bet he’ll get back in the groove, but he’s got to do it quick. The collective patience of the receivers in Cincinnati is probably going to be pretty low. And if they all don’t get balls thrown their way, in copious amounts, Marvin Lewis and Carson Palmer better be ready to hear about it.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Bryant, Chad Ochocinco, Cincinnati Bengals, Marvin Lewis, NFL, T.O., Terrell Owens

A few months back Mike Vick decided to throw himself a party at a nightclub to celebrate his 30th birthday. The party was welcome to the public. Several minutes after Vick left the party, his former partner in his dog-fighting ring Quanis Phillips, was shot in the leg outside the party. An investigation ensued, obviously, as towhether Vick had anything to do with the shooting. As it turns out, he didn’t.

But you still have to shake your head at the sheer stupidity of Vick. Throwing yourself a public party where anyone can attend is one thing for the normal person, but not for a person in Vicks situation. One would think that trying to stay out of trouble and avoiding situations like the one he got himself into would be common sense. But I think Mike Vick has shown that he lacks a lot of common sense, which isn’t always that common.

This should be an interesting year for Vick, as well as the Eagles. With McNabb gone, Kevin Kolb will be taking the starting quarterback spot. But if Kolb fails to make anything happen, don’t be surprised to see Vick come in and replace him. Either way, I would expect to see a little more of Mike Vick on the playing field, if for any other reason, to try and increase any potential trade value he has.

Technorati Tags: Kevin Kolb, Mike Vick, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles

Ferguson was definitely a priority for the Jets, he’s becoming a dominant left tackle and with franchise quarterback Mark Sanchez looking to stick around for a while this was a good move. Now Ferguson is locked in and Sanchez has his blind side protected for the next 6 years.

Cornerback Darrelle Revis could learn a thing or two from his teammate. Revis made it clear earlier this offseason he wants a new deal. Not only that, he wants to be the highest paid corner in the league. Rex Ryan hasn’t helped matters any, he’s constantly telling everyone that Revis is the best corner in the league and that he’s the most important part of their defense. This only gives Revis more leverage for the contract he’s seeking.

It will be interesting to see how Revis and teammates Nick Mangold and David Harris respond to this. All three have made it clear they’re looking for new contracts. The Jets have been busy spending so far this offseason bringing in high profile free agents. They may have to shell out some more dough to keep their star core group of players happy.

Technorati Tags: D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Darrelle Revis, David Harris, New York Jets, Nick Mangold, Rex Ryan

With potentially more attention being paid to the Ravens passing game, Ray Rice may be the biggest benefactor. Last year Rice rushed for over 1300 yards at an average of 5.3 yards per carry. He also caught 78 passes for over 700 yards, averaging 9.0 yards per catch. Those numbers are nothing to scoff at, and they may improve this year.

It’s hard to imagine people overlooking Ray Rice, but even if he does get attention there’s no way he’ll get all of it. Where Rice could really do damage is on draw plays and screens. The Ravens passing game will be respected by defenses this year, and the more the second and third levels of the defense respect the passing game the more Rice could be a serious threat.

The Ravens have always been known for their defense, but this is starting to change. John Harbaugh is starting to really put his stamp on this team, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Flacco showed steady improvement in his first two seasons and looks to continue that improvement this year. The real centerpiece of this offense may wind up being Ray Rice. He’s a serious threat in the running game and he could turn out to be a reliable outlet for Flacco when things don’t look so good downfield. This could be the year Rice emerges as an elite all around running back in the mold of a Marshall Faulk.

Technorati Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Joe Flacco, John Harbaugh, Ray Rice