NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Senior writer jclombardi profiles WR Jennings.

Packers receiver Jennings comings out of dark: When the Green Bay Packers spent the off-season tailoring their offense to highlight tight end Jermichael Finley, they didn’t think it would leave wide receiver Greg Jennings running routes on a bridge to nowhere. But if you compare Jennings’ first five games with his last seven – games in which Finley has not appeared – it’s as if he has emerged from a total eclipse. First five games: 14 catches for 183 yards (13.1 average) and three touchdowns. Last seven games: 43 catches for 761 yards (17.7) and eight touchdowns. It just so happens that the start of that seven-game tear – six catches for 133 yards and a touchdown against Miami – coincides with the first game Finley was not in the lineup due to a knee injury. Finley was eventually put on injured reserve and Jennings’ numbers immediately skyrocketed. Asked what’s been the reason for the sudden increase of catches, Jennings said: “Probably a little bit more eyeballing from the head guy over there, (No.) 12, trying to get the ball to me a little bit more.” ”I think Mike (McCarthy) had (made it so) Jermichael was not a tight end, he was a receiver and we can use him in a four-receiver set,” receiver Donald Driver said. “We didn’t have to add another receiver. Now that he’s gone, we’re able to move to Big Five and Big Four. All our guys stepped up.” Other factors have contributed to Jennings’ success. Driver’s thigh injury limited his output for a four-game stretch, although James Jones and Jordy Nelson picked up a great deal of that slack. Also, Jennings is just red-hot, much like an outside shooter in basketball. ”I think he’s in a groove,” receivers coach Jimmy Robinson said. “I think he’s gotten a lot of opportunities in the last few weeks and he’s seeing it well, catching it well. It’s all kind of clicking offensively. ”We’re protecting Aaron and he’s playing at a high level, taking care of the ball and making accurate throws. It’s all working better than it was earlier.”

Jennings shakes off sluggish start: But it was in that game against the Redskins that the Packers lost budding star tight end Finley to a season-ending knee injury. Suddenly, the focus of the passing game would have to shift back to Jennings, who has coming off consecutive seasons in which he led the Packers in receiving yards (1,113 in 2009 and 1,292 in 2008). What followed has been one of the most productive stretches of Jennings' five-year NFL career. In his last seven games, Jennings has caught 43 passes for 761 yards and eight touchdowns. That followed an opening five games in which he had just 14 catches for 183 yards and three touchdowns. Prorated over a 16-game period, his pace from the last seven games would equate to a season with 98 catches, 1,739 yards and 18 touchdowns. The yardage total would be just 109 yards shy of Jerry Rice's single-season NFL record. Those numbers wouldn't have been possible had Finley stayed healthy, and Jennings knows it. It's why he never thought the Pro Bowl was a possibility this season. It might be now. He's second in the NFC behind only Atlanta's Roddy White in receiving yardage and his 11 touchdowns rank second in the NFC, only one behind Detroit's Calvin Johnson, although his 57 catches ranks just 12th in the conference. In his last three games, Jennings has had 122 yards receiving against San Francisco, 119 at Atlanta and 152 at Minnesota. That resembles the three-game stretch he had in early 2008, when he had 167 yards at Detroit, 115 against Dallas and 109 at Tampa Bay. The loss of Finley, who was a major part of the passing game throughout the preseason and the first month of the regular season, helped shift the focus back to Jennings. On a free play because of an offsides infraction by the 49ers, Jennings went deep last Sunday and caught a 57-yard touchdown pass. “He's caught the ball extremely well," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "We've always been pleased since the day he got here with his route-running ability and his ability to break away from man-to-man coverage. We've seen a good bit of that during this stretch. He's made the plays that present themselves. The play-action and roll-out type of play that we threw to him (against the 49ers), that's a heck of a throw and an excellent route. Guys are on the same page. You don't see a whole lot of those.  So he's playing well."

UPDATE: An amazing stretch for Jennings (ESPN)–Jennings success–First, Packers coach Mike McCarthy is getting as many receivers on the field as possible — to flood the zone, so to speak. The Packers lead the NFL in five-receiver sets, and they’ve used three receivers on 423 of their 732 plays this season, the eighth-highest total in the league, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Second, Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. suggests the Packers have excelled at “attacking different levels” — intentionally varying how far downfield they throw in order to keep defenses off balance. Indeed, according to ESPN research, Rodgers has achieved a nice balance on the types of routes he’s targeted. Finally, Williamson and I agree, some credit should go to the individual skill sets of Jennings and Rodgers. The 57-yard touchdown Jennings caught Sunday against 49ers, for example, was the result of a perfectly-placed ball from Rodgers and elite ball skills from Jennings. 

UPDATE: After early season wake up call, Jennings masters big plays–Attitude plays a major role as well. At 5-foot-11, 198 pounds, Jennings is the only player among the players ranked among the top 10 in receiving yards who is listed under 6 feet. So how does Jennings make up for the fact he’s not among the most physically imposing receivers in the league? “I carry a lot of (swagger),” Jennings said. “Seriously, I don’t say much about my individual ability but I know what I’m capable of doing. When I’m out there on the field, I don’t feel like I can be covered by any defensive player. That’s just the mind-set you have to have when you’re out there. It’s not about talking about it. It’s more so about being about it and letting your actions speak for you.” Lately, Jennings has done that in the form of big plays.

There’s not much drama about the Cardinals this season, sitting at 3-9 about the only storyline left is who starts at QB this Sunday when the team hosts the Broncos.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt still hasn’t made his mind up about who is going to start, as the decision seems between inept Derek Anderson and rookie John Skelton.

Anderson though missed another practice Thursday because he had not been cleared to participate after a concussion sidelined him late in Sunday's 19-6 loss to St. Louis.

So it seems the decision is Skelton, or the team can go with a total curveball and start newly signed Richard Bartel, who the team inked this week after he was Daunte Culpepper's backup for Sacramento of the UFL.

Whisenhunt said Skelton, a 6-foot-6 fifth-round draft pick out of Fordham, "is making progress."

"He's putting a lot of time in," the coach said. "I'll tell you what, he's here morning, noon and night. The hard part is taking it from the learning aspect and executing it on the field, but he's working hard at it."

Skelton made his NFL debut in the fourth quarter against the Rams. Whisenhunt said Anderson "definitely still is in the mix" to be in the lineup Sunday.

The Steelers won their biggest game of the season last Sunday night with a 13-10 win in Baltimore over the Ravens. Now they come home for three in a row, starting with the all but dead Cincy Bungles, who have lost 9 in a row after starting the year 2-1. The Bengals can’t be overlooked though, as they played the Saints tough a week ago, falling in the final minute after a dumb 4th down penalty. With that, here are this weeks keys and predictions for the Sunday battle with the Bengals.

1. Make the Bengals One-Dimensional - Cedric Benson in both games last season had a high per carry average, but the Steelers did a good job in the first game, holding him to 54 yards on 18 carries, 3 yards per carry. His longest carry was 8 yards. If the Steelers can do that again, it gives them more of a shot to get to Carson Palmer and hopefully will force some mistakes and easy turnovers.

2. Stay Grounded – There’s no doubt this could be a game that could be overlooked with the Jets coming in next week and the Bengals 2-10, but make no mistake about it, the Bengals cannot be disregarded. They played the Saints to a four-point loss and six-point losses each to the Colts, Steelers and 7-points to Atlanta. Last time they played the Steelers dominated the first three quarters, only to have to hold on in the end. Let’s hope they play it like the Raiders game, putting it away by the third quarter.

3. Help Out Ben – It may seem harmless and funny, but the Steelers starting QB has a broken nose, and the run game needs to give him a lift to not put the entire offense on his shoulders for this one. Roethlisberger is 9-4 as a starter against the Bengals, throwing for 163 yards and one touchdown in the MNF victory November 8th. He is just 3-3 at home against Cincinnati, including last season's 18-12 loss. Let’s see Rashard Mendenhall have a big day, giving Ben a chance to not have to risk further injury with both his foot and face.

Prediction – Just like in the first game, the Steelers have to impose their will on the Bengals, not giving them thoughts of coming to Heinz and scoring the upset. They need to run the ball, pressure Palmer, and protect the ball in what could be some bad weather. There’s no doubt that if the Bengals are in the game late, it will be considered a letdown. I can’t see Mike Tomlin allowing this team to rest after last weeks huge win. Pittsburgh 31 Cincinnati 14

Here are the inactive lists for tonight’s Indianapolis Colts-Tennessee Titans game.

Indianapolis: RB Joseph Addai, RB Mike Hart, WR Austin Collie, G Jacques McClendon, DT Ricardo Matthews, LB Clint Session, CB Kelvin Hayden

Tennessee: QB Rusty Smith (3rd QB), WR Lavelle Hawkins, T Troy Kropog, DE Dave Ball, DT Sen’Derrick Marks, LB David Thornton, CB Ryan Mouton, S Robert Johnson

The drama of the Brett Favre-Jenn Sterger saga continued today as Phil Reese, the public relations manager for Sterger, spoke on the Dan Patrick Show, and says that Sterger has no plans to sue the league IF they suspend Favre and clear her name over the incidents when she was with the Jets a few years back.

The following is from Patrick’s Blog about the appearance of Resse on the show today:

– Reese wants the NFL to act immediately. Dan asked if the NFL suspended Favre, would Sterger drop the whole thing. “If the commissioner suspends Favre and puts a program in place to prevent it from happening again … 100 percent, Jenn would not pursue any litigation against Favre, against the Jets, against the NFL. Nothing. All she wants to do is clear her name. This is not about money,” Reese said.

– Reese said that he talked to Brett Favre’s agent Bus Cook just before the story broke on Deadspin. “He asked me is there a specific figure that you had in mind to make this go away,” Reese said.

Reese said that he told Cook that there was nothing they could do. The information was coming out anyway.

– Reese is frustrated by the pace of the NFL’s investigation.

“I don’t know what’s taking so long here,” Reese said. “We have done everything to assist the investigation. We have gone above and beyond. We’ve been told the league is going to do the right thing.”

– Dan asked if Sterger complained to the Jets when this was going on. “No, she did not complain to the organization,” Reese said. Reese said she confided to people in the industry and they advised her if she went to the Jets, she would lose her job.

The Cowboys are banged up at a few positions and this week took some steps to solidify some depth in those areas. The Cowboys signed two linebackers and a defensive end yesterday in the hopes of having some bodies in practice at the very least, and get some special teams time out of one at the very most.

The Cowboys signed Kenwin Cummings off the Jets' practice squad. Cummings has played in 3 games this season for the Jets not recording a statistic. Cummings comes from a 3/4 defense which gives him a leg up when learning the Cowboys system. With Bradie James, Keith Brooking, and Sean Lee all smarting from injuries this week, Cummings could bring some experience to the position as a back up. With Dez Bryant being moved to injured reserve, a roster spot opened up and the Cowboys used it to bring in Cummings.

The Boys also signed LB Kelvin Smith to the practice squad. Smith has played in a total of 7 games throughout his career register a single tackle. He has had stops in Carolina and Miami since 2007.

Not only are the Boys hurting in the linebacker position but they were unhappy with their depth along the defensive line. They brought in Clifton Geathers who was cut by Seattle earlier in the week. Geathers, who has already had four stints with different teams, is in his rookie year. Geathers played in only one game with Miami earlier in the season. To make room for Geathers the Cowboys waived DE Jeremy Clark.

None of these moves are going to make a huge difference on Sunday against the Eagles, but the Cowboys like to "churn the bottom" as Parcells used to say.

Though the Indianapolis Colts have been struggling for the past few weeks, they need to get back on track against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday night. Peyton Manning has thrown eleven interceptions and wasn’t his old self, but the Colts are still in the playoff-race as they trail one game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars with a 6-6 record. If Indianapolis wins this game and beats Jacksonville at home a week later, they lead the division, actually. But it starts out against Tennessee, and that’s where Manning has to get back on track.

“It’s pretty simple. All we have to do is look at what we do at this time of year,” Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell said. “We have to be able to string four together in order to get that done. I don’t think there’s anything more plain than that.”

Surprisingly, it’s still possible for the Titans to make the playoffs, as they can win the rest of the games for the season, but they need some teams lose for the next four weeks. The Titans started out strong, leading the AFC South with a 5-2 record, but with the problems between Vince Young and Jeff Fisher and more helped to the five-game losing-streak, and that is still counting.

“We can’t lick our wounds for too long,” defensive tackle Jovan Haye said after Sunday’s 17-6 loss to Jacksonville. “We’ve got the Colts on Thursday. Five-game losing streak. The only way to stop the bleeding is to win the game.”

Manning has played great against the Titans in his last three, with five touchdowns and only one interception. The main key for a win is to not commit turnovers and for the defense to make them to give the ball to the offense. But it is going to be hard, with Kelvin Hayden out and Jerraud Powers. Bob Sanders was also recently placed on injured-reserve yesterday.

To help the lack of run-support and to improve the passing game, Indianapolis gave Dominic Rhodes a third shot with the Colts. He has played great for the franchise and will really help out with the injuries to Joseph Addai, Mike Hart, and Donald Brown.

The Titans are good at getting interceptions, tied for eighth in the league with 15 of them. Manning needs to be careful against this secondary.

“I don’t make any excuses,” said Manning, who also has passed for eight touchdowns in the last three games. “I’m continuing to throw, I’ll keep throwing. I hope I throw it to our guys.”

Manning has to pass all the time, as the offensive line shows no support whatsoever. Addai has been gone since mid-October, and he’ll most likely be back for the most important game of the regular season, which are against the Jags. Manning could be going on to throw the most pass-attempts in NFL history for a regular season.

“Obviously, we have to throw to move the ball right now,” Manning said. “I think we know that right now. When we do move it, that’s how we’re doing it.”

But Rhodes will definitely help out. The big keys to winning are just two: don’t turnover the ball on offense and shut down Chris Johnson. With that, the Colts can win. I think they will as they advance to 7-6, and a showdown between the Jags will come up next week, as Indianapolis hosts them with full-confidence.

Season Records:

Cardinals: 3-9, 4th in NFC West, Last Week: L vs. St. Louis, 19-6

Broncos: 3-9, 4th in AFC West, Last Week: L @ Kansas City, 10-6

Gametime:

Sunday, December 12, 4:15 p.m. EST., University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ

Two Franchises nearing the End of Two Nightmare Seasons:

The Cardinals continue their dissapointing season by hosting the Denver Broncos, who are dealing with their own issues. Denver’s former head coach, Josh McDaniels, was fired on Monday. Like Arizona, the Broncos are in the midst of the team’s worst slide in quite a while. McDaniels left Denver with a total 11-17 record and a bevy of off-field complications, including a number of trades that didn’t quite work out for the Broncos such as letting Petyon Hillis ship off for Cleveland. Oh yeah, then there’s the whole Spygate II videotaping scandal. McDaniels was replaced on an interim basis by running backs coach Eric Studesville. It’s reported that Studesville will have his chance to stay on full-time.

While Arizona won’t be making a change at head coach, there have of course been other personnel moves in anticipation of this week’s game. Obviously, Max Hall has been placed on injury reserve due to a left shoulder injury he suffered while relieving Derek Anderson last week against the Rams. In his place, the Cardinals signed Richard Bartel, 27, who served as Daunte Culpepper’s backup for the Mountain Lions of the UFL. Bartel spent the pre-season with the Washington Redskins, but was among the final cuts made before the regular season started. Bartel’s history includes playing for Southern Methodist University in 2003 before transferring to Tarleton State University for his final two seasons where he completed 161 of 276 passes for 2,033 yards with 16 TDs and 5 INTs. He has never appeared in an NFL game, yet.

On Monday,Whisenhunt addressed what he’s learned from this season and whether he still agrees with his decision to part ways with Matt Leinart. Here’s what he had to say:

That's the thing to talk about now (but) when we made the decision at the time, we did what we felt was best for our team and best for our future going forward. Obviously it is easy to second-guess now because it hasn't worked out the way any of us had hoped or thought it was going to. I can't go back and say now you would do anything differently because the dynamic is different now (compared to) then when we were making the decisions.

The decision to make now is whether to go with Bartel or Skelton. According to the Cardinals’ official website, the starting job for Sunday will be determined based on an open competition between rookie John Skelton and Bartel. Derek Anderson hasn’t passed his concussion tests so he is a non factor this week. When asked if Bartel is honestly in the mix to start, Ken Whisenhunt replied, “I think he has to be. Even if John is the guy, he could go one play and get hurt and (Bartel) would be in there playing.”

Although Whisenhunt doesn’t want to second guess anything, that’s all that Cardinals fans can really do as we take on the Broncos with a 3-9 record in the worst division in the NFL. With no shot at the playoffs, the Cardinals are simply treading water at this point.

Last Week: 13-3
Season: 114-75

Thursday:

Indianapolis at Tennessee – Peyton Manning is in one of those funks. The Colts have no run game, are banged up all over the place, and can’t find a rhythm on either side of the ball. The Titans are on their last leg, losing at home last week scoring 6 points and two weeks ago getting shut out. Two desperate teams ready to start the week out. Here’s thinking the Colts have one more bullet left in their gun. Indianapolis 23 Tennessee 10

Sunday:

Tampa Bay at Washington – Last week the Bucs showed they could hang with one of the best in the league with the Falcons, but in the end, they just couldn’t finish. This week they take on a distracted Redskins team that is again filled with off the field issues. Albert Haynesworth won’t play, not that it matters, but the Redskins are falling on hard times, and while Donovan McNabb and the offense is fading fast, the defense will probably keep them in it for about a half till the Bucs impose their will. Tampa Bay 27 Washington 14

Cleveland at Buffalo - Ugh. The Bills were showing some signs of life till last week when they were crushed in Minnesota. The Browns are 5-7, but played a snoozer in Miami, winning 13-10. The Browns are playing well on both sides of the ball, and finally it looks like Eric Mangini is on the verge of making sure he sticks around for 2011. The Browns can’t afford a slip up, and will find a way to win again – ugly. Cleveland 17 Buffalo 14

New York Giants at Minnesota – Don’t believe the hype, Brett Favre will play. Not that it matters, as the Vikings seemed to have more life with Tarvaris Jackson last week in their win over the Bills. They just seemed to have a better tempo, while Favre’s age seems to show. The Giants will rush Favre all day, and look for the pass rush to do enough to get a win and stay tied for first with the Eagles. New York Giants 21 Minnesota 13

Green Bay at Detroit - Drew Stanton kept the Lions in the game last week vs the Bears, and he’ll get a shot this week against another tough NFC North team, the Pack. Charles Woodson likely won’t play, meaning that Stanton should have some success throwing. As for Aaron Rodgers, he will pick on the Lions pass defense all day, meaning it should be somewhat of a shootout in Motown, but Rodgers is too good to lose this one. Green Bay 34 Detroit 24

Oakland at Jacksonville -Can the Jags actually pull off the upset of rising from the dead to win the AFC South? It seems like it, as they are playing the best ball of the division. Now it’s the Raiders in town, a team that last week came out of nowhere to beat the Chargers on the road. Look for Oakland to give David Garrard and the Jags all they can handle, but in the end, Maurice Jones-Drew will do enough against the Raiders run D to get it done again for Jacksonville. Jacksonville 20 Oakland 17

Cincinnati at Pittsburgh – What a difference a year makes. The Bengals were 6-0 in the division last year, but this year are in a serious funk, losing their last 9 after starting out 2-1. They play a beat up Steelers team coming off a huge 13-10 win in Baltimore that looks like it will wrap up the division. The Steelers will be without TE Heath Miller and OL Flozell Adams, but it shouldn’t stop the black and gold from running on the Bengals, and for Ben Roethlisberger to do enough to get the Steelers to 10-3. Pittsburgh 31 Cincinnati 14

Atlanta at Carolina - There’s not much these days that seem to be stopping the Falcons, as they are playing very good football, as shown last week with the comeback win over the Bucs. This week should be a cakewalk over a Panthers team that started strong vs the Hawks, but like they have done a couple times this awful year, they made way too many mistakes, and paid for it. Look for the Falcons to have a lot of smiles by the time the fourth quarter starts. Atlanta 31 Carolina 10

Seattle at San Francisco – The 49′ers still actually have a shot in the division, but they have to win here over the Hawks, or they are cooked. They are going back to Alex Smith, as Troy Smith didn’t do enough to keep the starting job. Seattle is 6-6, and is tied with the Rams for first in the very average NFC West. Pete Carroll has shown signs of getting his team to play well at home, but they are 2-4 on the road, and the Niners have one more shot to right the ship. With Alex Smith back in, they find a way late to win it. San Francisco 21 Seattle 17

St.Louis at New Orleans – St.Louis is riding high after a big win in Arizona last week, but won’t find it so easy this week vs Drew Brees and the Saints. New Orleans hung in and eventually pulled out a tough win in Cincy last week, winning with less than a minute left. Look for the Saints to have way too much firepower for the Rams, who if they are going to win need to keep this game in the last teens or early 20’s. Won’t happen. New Orleans 34 St.Louis 20

New England at Chicago – A great game between two teams that have visions of a Super Bowl XX rematch in early February. The Pats put the Jets in a stranglehold Monday night, crushing them 45-3. As for the Bears, they had a tough time, but overcame a tough Lions team to pull out a win. The Pats always seem to get up for tough games on the road, more so late in the year. Hard to see them having a letdown, even after a Monday night game in which they played near perfect. New England 28 Chicago 27

Denver at Arizona – About the only storyline in this stinker is if the Broncos will come out for their new coach after Josh McDaniels was canned on Monday. The Cards are in a funk after another home loss last week, and while the Broncos are 3-9, here’s thinking they come out and play a little inspired against a team that has dropped seven in a row. Denver 20 Arizona 13

Miami at New York Jets - Who could have seen that one coming for the Jets Monday night vs the Pats? They were beaten as badly as any team has been beaten this year, and now they have to rally and come out vs a Dolphins team that plays better on the road than at home. Last week they lost to the Browns at home, and now they have to travel to the hornets nest that is the new Meadowlands. The Jets have to get back on track, and can’t afford to let last week linger. New York Jets 23 Miami 21

Kansas City at San Diego – Matt Cassel not playing in this one changes the dynamics for the Chiefs, who have a two game lead with four games left in the division. The Chargers are not a happy crew after losing to the Raiders, and they will come out and take it out on Brodie Croyle and the Chiefs this week, getting that two game lead down to one with three weeks left. San Diego 27 Kansas City 7

Philadelphia at Dallas – Can the Cowboys stay hot another week? They are 3-1 under Jason Garrett, and should have been 4-0 if it were not a Roy Williams fumble. Now they play the Eagles, a team that seems to have found its future with Mike Vick running the show at QB. The Eagles need to win to stay tied for first with the Giants, but playing the Cowboys, who have visions of keeping Garrett around, will again find a way to pull it out late. Dallas 30 Philadelphia 27

Monday Night:

Baltimore at Houston – Last week the Ravens had the Steelers on the ropes, but couldn’t finish, and now find themselves needing to keep winning to get a wild card spot. They play a Texans team that has been up and down all season, and come in 5-7, 3-3 at home. The Texans still have weapons on offense, but the Ravens are not a happy crew after losing to the Steelers at home. Baltimore will find a way to win it, as their defense will make enough plays to stop Matt Schaub and company. Baltimore 24 Houston 17