History repeating itself...again
10/04/2001
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Tell me if this sounds familiar. Atlanta Falcons running back Jamal Anderson is out for the year with a torn ACL, Denver running back Terrell Davis is out with his own knee injury, and Jacksonville's Fred Taylor is on the sidelines with a leg injury. Ring a bell?
No, you haven't mysteriously been warped back to 1999, an NFL season that saw the previous year's two Super Bowl backs, Anderson and Davis, tear knee ligaments in the first four weeks of the schedule, while Taylor was limited to only 10 games with a nagging hamstring problem.
No, this is 2001, which apparently is the year of the Charger.
But it's the same old story for these three All-Pro backs, a trio of runners that combined for better than 5,000 rushing yards, 56 total touchdowns, a league MVP, a near Rookie of the Year award and a Super Bowl title in 1998.
And 982 yards, eight scores, two knee surgeries and a cranky hammy in 1999.
After being perhaps football's most productive runners three years ago, Davis, Anderson and Taylor just haven't been able to stay on the field and out of the trainer's room since. It all began, of course, in 1999, a year in which these three studs played in a total of 16 games. Anderson, who gained 1,846 yards and 14 touchdowns in Atlanta's Super Bowl season, tore a ligament in his right knee on a non-contact play in week two. Davis, one year after becoming only the fourth running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards, went down in week four with a torn ACL. Then there's Taylor, who rumbled for 1,223 yards and 14 touchdowns as a rookie in 1998, then gained a paltry 732 yards in an injury-shortened season a year later.
Each back had a distinctly different season last year. In fact, only Fred Taylor regained his 1998-form by running for nearly 1,400 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns even though he missed three more games with another minor leg injury. Anderson, meanwhile, cracked the 1,000-yard mark but only averaged 64 yards per game while adding six scores. As for Davis, a stress fracture and other various injuries limited the former MVP to only five games and 282 yards.
But 2001 seemed to mark the dawning of a new era -- perhaps a healthier one -- for these accomplished running backs. Davis and Anderson were two years removed from reconstructive knee surgery and Taylor, after some early struggles, wrapped up the 2000 campaign by running for at least 100 yards in nine of his last 10 games, including a 234-yard performance against the Steelers and another 181 yards against the Browns.
Instead, as we head into week four of the schedule, Davis is sitting out again with more knee problems and seems to be limping toward an early retirement with the Broncos now relying on Mike Anderson and Olandis Gary, two former 1,000-yard rushers themselves, in their backfield. Only three years removed from one of the most dominating performances ever turned in by an NFL back, TD's career has taken the same downhill plunge as the Spice Girls' and Arsenio Hall's.
Taylor went down with a severely pulled groin in week two and will probably miss another game or two of action. He's only 25, but just how effective can Taylor be -- and how patient will the Jags continue to be -- if he's consistently on the bench for a handful of games every year?
But the most devastating injury, of course, belongs to Anderson, who finally looked like his former self after gaining 286 yards rushing and receiving in the first two games of the season. Then, again on a non-contact play, Anderson tore up his knee in last week's match up against Arizona, sustaining another season-ending ACL injury on a play that didn't even count because the Cards were flagged for being offsides. This time he injured his other knee, but the prognosis is the same: more brutal rehab for another year.
Will Anderson ever be the same runner he was three years ago? Not a chance. Will he even be a starting NFL running back again? He said in a press conference this week that there's no doubt he'll be back again next season. But you've got to wonder. I mean, how easily can someone come back from two reconstructive knee surgeries in three years? Baltimore's Terry Allen did just that a few years ago, and although he's enjoyed moderate success, the four-time 1,000-yard rusher hasn't been the same runner since.
No matter what happens in the coming weeks, months and years for Taylor, Davis and Anderson, though, seeing these guys on the sidelines again reminds us of how quickly an NFL career can get stuffed at the goal line. It's a sight we've become all too familiar with, a sight the Falcons, Jaguars and Broncos are simply tired of seeing.
Here are a few more NFL observations after three weeks of action.
- Memo to all play-by-play guys: Could you please stop referring to Carolina QB Chris Weinke as "this kid." Yeah, he's a rookie but Weinke is 29 years old and he's got about as much hair as Homer Simpson. Oh, and please stop talking about how "slim" Green Bay nose tackle Gilbert Brown is. True, after ballooning up to more than 400 pounds a couple years ago and being cut by the Packers, Browns has dropped a lot of weight, but this guy still topples the scales at 335 pounds. Much better, yes, but we're not exactly talking Calista Flockhart here. Hell, he's probably still heavier than
three Calista Flockharts. And a Courtney Cox....
- The Denver Broncos have to drive fantasy footballers nuts. Terrell Davis goes down, so Mike Anderson should be the main man, right? Nope. Since the injury, Anderson and Olandis Gary own nearly identical stats: Gary has 106 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries in two games, and Anderson has run the ball 31 times for 92 yards since Davis went down. Oh, and Ed McCaffery's replacement? Eddie Kennison, who a couple weeks ago, with fantasy owners thinking Kennison would be good for 1,000 yards and a handful of scores with Brian Griese throwing him the ball, was a hot waiver-wire pickup. Think again. Kennison's stats since McCaffery broke his leg: three catches for 13 yards, including a one-catch, one-yard performance in Denver's loss to Baltimore last weekend. So who owns Griese's affection with McCaffery out? Rod Smith has 19 catches for 245 yards and a touchdown in two games, while Denver's two primary tight ends, Desmond Clark and Dwayne Carswell, have 12 receptions for 139 yards and a score.
- Speaking of fantasy football, raise your hand
if you were burned by Chiefs running back Priest Holmes. See that
goofy-looking guy waving both his hands in the air? That's me. I cut Holmes
in two different leagues last week after he piled up a whopping 51 yards on
15 carries in two games. Of course, a couple days later in Washington
against the NFL's lone minor league team, the Redskins, Holmes rumbled for
147 yards and two touchdowns and added 78 receiving yards and another score.
Nice Marshall Faulk impersonation.
- I'm betting Emmitt Smith, who's had to face
the Bucs, Chargers and Eagles in the first three weeks of the season, is
about the only person who's jacked up about the Monday night match up on
October 15 between the Redskins and Cowboys. Check that, Dave Campo has to
be looking forward to his first win of the 2001 season, too.
- Here's a stat for you: Through three games --
all Buffalo losses -- Eric Moulds, the Bills receiver who had 94 catches for
more than 1,300 yards last season, has fewer receiving yards than Barry
Bonds has homers, 63 to 70. Meanwhile, Buffalo's leading receiver is RB
Larry Centers, and Rob Johnson has a 63.2 QB rating, a number that places
him 25th in the NFL behind such prolific passers as Jake Plummer, Jay
Fiedler, Jon Kitna, Chris Weinke and Jim Miller. Incidentally, Doug Flutie's
88.5 rating is the 10th best in football... . Bring on Alex Van Pelt!
- Many thanks go to the morons who decided to
give us in Cleveland the powerhouse battle between Buffalo and Pittsburgh on
CBS last Sunday instead of, say, Baltimore at Denver. Or even (I can't
believe I'm going to say this) Cincinnati at San Diego.
- Quick, what do Michael Vick...um, make that Mike
Vick, Leonard Davis, Gerard Warren and Justin Smith have in common? They
were all chosen ahead of San Diego rookie LaDainian Tomlinson is this year's
draft. Sure, Vick, Davis, Warren and Smith may turn into special players,
but Tomlinson looks like the real deal, leading the AFC with 310 yards and
five rushing touchdowns through three weeks of action. In a couple years,
you'll begin to see those four names as answers to draft trivia questions.
- Just how good are the Rams? Consider these
numbers:
- In their two wins over the Titans and Raiders, the Miami Dolphins scored 49 points and allowed 38; in their loss to the Rams last weekend, Miami scored 10 and allowed 42.
- The Rams piled 441 total yards on the Miami defense, only 90 yards less than the Dolphins had allowed in the two games against Tennessee and Oakland combined.
- Kurt Warner threw for 328 yards and four touchdowns in the Rams win; Rich Gannon, Neil O'Donnell and Steve McNair combined for 353 yards and two touchdowns in the previous two games.
- Here's the kicker... the Dolphins had 307
total yards against Tennessee and 359 against the Raiders, two of the
better defenses last year (Tennessee was the NFL's top-ranked defense in
2000); against the Rams, last year's 23rd-ranked defense, the Dolphins
were only able to muster 253 total yards. Mike Martz and defensive
coordinator Lovie Smith have these guys primed for an impressive title
run.
- I give it another two weeks before Mike
Holmgren goes postal at a Seahawks practice or during a game.
- In one miserable game against Cleveland,
Detroit's Ty Detmer threw seven interceptions. Three weeks into the season,
the Indianapolis Colts are the only team in football with at least seven
team picks, aside from the Lions, of course. Meanwhile, only the Jets have
yet to throw an interception while the Eagles, Raiders, Saints and Falcons
have only one.
- I love Donovan McNabb, but every time the
Eagles play on TV do we have to hear about how Philly fans booed him during
the 1999 draft because they wanted Ricky Williams with the second pick? We
get it: they're dumb.
- Guess who's last in the NFL with only two
sacks... . Time's up. The Buccaneers. And while it's true they've only played
two games thus far, the Saints have already gotten to the quarterback 10
times in their two games.
- Here's another one for you. San Francisco's
Jason Baker has punted the ball 12 times this year for 412 yards. Do the
math... that's a measly 34.3 yards/punt, the worst average in football.
Conversely, 49ers rookie kicker Jose Cortez has hit all nine of his field
goal attempts, including a 51-yarder against the Rams, and is leading the
NFL in scoring.
- I think it's time we finally make a change regarding the NFL's Thanksgiving tradition. I mean, how many people really want to watch the Lions and Cowboys play football after eating a big meal? I'd rather watch my grandfather fight off tryptophan-induced nap-jerk at the dinner table for a couple hours than watch the Cowboys stumble through a 45-0 loss to the Broncos at home.
In the Bullz-Eye
The Tennessee Titans. With two opening losses to the Dolphins and Jaguars, the Titans are staring an 0-3 record in the face as they travel to Baltimore this Sunday for a fantastic AFC Central match up. Tennessee, on a bye last week, had an extra seven days to regroup following their disappointing start, and you can bet Titans coach Jeff Fisher has these guys ready to play. But the Ravens are riding high coming off an impressive 20-13 win in Denver last week. Should be a great game.