Other Articles in this Category
Most Viewed Stories
Most Commented Stories
Most Recommended Stories
Save & Share this Article
NFL Capsules - NFC: Who needs Burress and Toomer? Giants like new duo
Comments 0 | Recommend 0EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — There were all those concerns about the New York Giants receivers coming into this season.
No Plaxico Burress. No Amani Toomer. No one to catch passes from Eli Manning.
As they say in New Jersey, fuhgeddaboudit.
Two games into the season, the Giants have not only found some receivers, Steve Smith and Mario Manningham are among the league leaders through Sunday's games.
Smith and Manningham each had 10 catches, including 22-yard touchdown receptions, in the Giants' 33-31 victory over Dallas on Sunday.
Smith's 16 catches is tied with New England's Randy Moss for the league-high in receptions and his 214 receiving yards leads the league. Manningham's 13 catches are fifth in the NFC and ninth in the league.
"That is why we worked so hard in the offseason," said Smith, the third-year pro who led the Giants in receptions last season. "That is why everybody was here in the offseason workouts in the spring and we had some good days and some tough days in training camp and the preseason. We are just glad it's coming together now."
Neither Smith nor Manningham provides the deep threat that Burress gave the team for four seasons, but they are sure-handed and they benefit from the way opposing defenses are stacking the line of scrimmage to prevent the Giants (2-0) from running.
It's almost daring Manning to throw the ball and he has.
"We understand that is going to happen when you lose two great receivers and we have such a good running game," Smith said in a conference call on Monday. "We led the league in rushing last year. They are going to load the box and give us opportunities on the outside to make plays. That is what we are excited about."
While Smith's performance was somewhat expected, Manningham has been somewhat of a surprise. The second-round draft choice suffered a quad injury in training camp last year and appeared in eight games, catching four passes.
While Manningham didn't produce much, Coughlin said he showed a lot on the scout team, playing the role of each opponent's top receiver.
"We saw some things that excited us and it continued to develop into the offseason and then the spring, summer and certainly there has been some things we're very pleased to see," Coughlin said "I don't know how much surprised. He was drafted in a high position and we had a pretty solid feel for his ability."
Gil Brandt, the former head of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys for their first 29 years, said the Giants stole Manningham in the draft.
Manningham posted terrific numbers in his three seasons at Michigan, catching 137 passes for 2,310 yards and 27 touchdowns. However, he also admitted in a letter to NFL executive that he had failed two drug tests while at school. That came on the heels of an arrest a year ago after police found a prescription pain killer and a controlled substance in a car in which he was riding with two other men.
"Manningham, had he not had those problems prior to the draft, would have been a top 20 pick," Brandt said Monday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "The guy has great skills, so it doesn't surprise me to see what took place with him."
Brandt said that over the past 10 years, there have been 300 receivers taken in the draft and only about 10 have caught 50 passes in a season.
"One thing that makes receivers good is that Manning has very good accuracy," Brandt said. "I think when you have someone who can get the ball to them where they can catch it, like Manning does, it makes the receivers look good."
Smith and Manningham are not speedsters but they are quick. Manningham has shown an elusiveness that leads to yards after his catches. Smith is more like Toomer, a very polished route runner who can make a defensive back look silly, which he did last night on his touchdown catch.
Smith and Manningham aren't the only ones who have stepped up. First-round draft pick Hakeem Nicks was showing a lot of potential late in training camp and in the season opener before sustaining a foot injury that will probably sideline him for a couple more weeks.
Domenik Hixon, who was starting alongside Smith, sprained a knee against Dallas and his status was uncertain on Monday.
However, Derek Hagan made a catch on the Giants drive that was capped by a game-winning field goal by Lawrence Tynes as time expired.
Brandt also is high on Ramses Barden, the third-round draft pick out of Cal Poly. He has not played.
"He has a lot of learn," Brandt said. "You could see it at the Senior Bowl. He improved from Day 1 to Day 5 by leaps and bounds."
Coughlin does not expect future opponents to change because the Giants receivers are making plays. He said teams want to bring a safety closer to the line of scrimmage to slow down the running game.
"People play their game the way they have prepared themselves throughout training camp," Coughlin said. "They do have the ability to adjust, yet they play in principle the same way."
Eagles' sloppiness hurt more than McNabb's absence
PHILADELPHIA — DeSean Jackson fielded a punt at the 2 and ran it back 31 yards.
Good play? No way.
Punt returners are taught to let the ball bounce into the end zone for a touchback whenever they're standing inside the 5-yard line. Jackson's return was negated by two penalties and the ball was brought back to the 3.
The mental miscue was one of many blunders the Philadelphia Eagles committed in a 48-22 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. The Eagles were awful on special teams, the defense couldn't stop Drew Brees and the Saints' prolific passing attack, and quarterback Kevin Kolb threw three interceptions.
Even if Donovan McNabb wasn't sidelined with a broken rib, the Eagles (1-1) would've had a difficult time against the Saints with such a sloppy performance.
"I've gotta make sure I take care of the execution and the discipline it takes to win a game in the National Football League," coach Andy Reid said Monday. "It's tough to beat a good football team like the Saints with the field position that we put ourselves in, with the penalties and the turnovers. I will address this with the team. We will figure out the problems."
The Eagles and Saints were tied at 10 with under two minutes left in the first half when Jackson backed up to catch Thomas Morstead's punt. The speedy wide receiver had an 85-yard punt return for a score in last week's 38-10 win at Carolina. He's a legitimate threat to go all the way every time he touches the ball. But Jackson should've let the ball go to allow the Eagles to start at the 20 in this case.
After two penalties nullified the nifty run, Philadelphia went three-and-out and had to punt from its end zone. The Saints got the ball at their 46 with 1:20 left in the quarter and Brees needed just two plays to put them ahead 17-10.
Jackson defended his decision to make the return.
"I knew where I was," he said. "It was a great return. Unfortunately, a couple of guys on the team were called for a penalty."
Special teams coach Ted Daisher disagreed.
"He should have let that ball go," Daisher said. "It was then complicated with our decision to put our hands in the back. We have to get that cleaned up."
Daisher's unit had a lot of problems. The Eagles committed five penalties on special teams and had one costly turnover. Punter Sav Rocca also had a tough day, though his net average on five punts was 41.6 yards.
Jackson's gaffe set up New Orleans' go-ahead score. Kick returner Ellis Hobbs fumbled the second-half kickoff, leading to another Saints' touchdown.
"We have all the talent in the world, but you can kill yourself on the mental aspect, the penalties and mental errors," Hobbs said. "Even if they are not penalties, it's not blocking the right guy, getting to the right holes, whatever it is. You have to do anything to get there. This is a game of inches. What you see out there is a bunch of inches, just adding up."
The mistakes kept piling on after Hobbs got stripped. On Philadelphia's ensuing possession, Kolb made a poor decision to throw to a well-covered Jackson running on a simple sideline pattern. Scott Shanle made the easy pick and the Saints again got excellent field position at the Eagles 24. They scored a TD off that turnover and turned the game into a rout.
"We were fine in the locker room at halftime," Kolb said. "Everybody was positive and then we had the early score there and we need to come back and answer and I threw the ball right in coverage. I saw the guy and just made a bad throw, a bad decision and I've got to cut those turnovers out. I know better than that and I will do it."
A defense that dominated the Panthers and Jake Delhomme in the opener may have been the biggest culprit in the loss. They allowed the Saints to rack up 421 yards, only sacked Brees twice and gave him plenty of time to throw.
"We are the team that we had last week," safety Quintin Mikell said. "This week is a game where you've got to watch the film, learn from it and move on. That's just not what we do around here. We were playing on our heels and we weren't playing aggressive and we can't do that against a good team. They're a good team and they came out and made a lot of good plays but I feel like we're a good team and we just didn't play our best game."
-- Rob Maaddi
Zorn defends play-calling in Redskins' TD-free win
ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Redskins had first-and-goal at the 7.
First down: Clinton Portis for no gain.
Second down: Portis for 2 yards.
Third down: The Redskins line up with only one receiver, far to the left. At the 5-yard line? Something must be up.
There was. Coach Jim Zorn called an option pass, with Portis tossing one to tight end Chris Cooley on the right side. The St. Louis Rams weren't fooled at all. With no receiver to watch in that part of the field, the defense had Cooley covered. The pass was incomplete. The fans booed loudly. They kept booing even as the field goal was kicked, giving the Redskins the lead.
Zorn spent Monday dissecting the repeated red zone meltdowns that made Sunday's 9-7 win a less-than-fulfilling victory. He cited plenty of things that went wrong — dropped passes, failed blocks and more — but he remains satisfied with his decisions as a play-caller.
"I am," Zorn said. "I mean, if I could see it now — every play that was going to fail before it failed — I'm with you, I wouldn't call it. But I felt very confident. Because we work on it. We have to execute it."
Eighteen games into the Zorn era, the Redskins have yet to score 30 points. They've yet to win a game by more than eight points, even though they've played some of the worst teams in the league. Through two games this season, the offense has scored one touchdown.
"All you can do is scratch your head," receiver Santana Moss said. "I mean, yeah, it's true, we have the talent. You're sitting there saying, 'Man, we should be doing this, we should be doing that.' But 'should be' ain't good enough, you know what I mean?"
The Redskins narrowly avoided an embarrassing loss against the Rams — thanks to the defense — but they'll be on the brink again if Zorn's offense can't get rolling next week against the Detroit Lions, losers of 19 in a row.
"If we had lost that game, it would have been totally different. It would have been ugly," defensive end Phillip Daniels said. "So let's be happy with the win and not let frustrations get in the way. Hopefully we can get better as a team and we can start putting points on the board."
The Redskins marched inside the 10-yard line four times against the Rams, resulting in three field goals and a failed fourth-and-1 run. Certainly the feeling would have been different if Devin Thomas (first drive) or Mike Sellers (second drive) had caught certain touchdown passes at the goal line, but they were curious targets: Thomas is the No. 4 receiver and hasn't caught a pass all year, and Sellers is a fullback who rarely gets the ball thrown his way.
Then there was the Portis-to-Cooley halfback option. Zorn said the play was in the game plan, that it had merit because he had been running Portis wide earlier in the game, and that Portis has thrown touchdown passes before. The coach said the problem was that his players failed to sell the run.
"When we came off the line of scrimmage, we came off backing up," Zorn said. "The safety felt this was going to be a pass."
Asked about other plays throughout the game, Zorn cited failures of execution rather than problems with the plays he called. He did offer one caveat.
"I'm going to go back and study it more," he said. "And I'm going to be hard on myself as well, and we'll see what happens."
Meanwhile, his players had other concerns. Right guard Randy Thomas is out for the season with a torn right triceps, and there's no obvious top candidate to take his spot. There's also the proverbial echo from Sunday's boos from the home fans, who haven't seen their team win a division title in 10 years.
"I think it is an accumulation of frustration of how we have performed," middle linebacker London Fletcher said. "I don't think it's just yesterday's game. They've gotten frustrated with the performance."
-- Joseph White
Good Jake back, Peppers disappoints for Panthers
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jake Delhomme, move over. Julius Peppers has taken your spot as scapegoat for Carolina's dismal start.
While Delhomme recovered from a two-game, 11-turnover stretch to throw for over 300 yards on Sunday in Atlanta, the defense reverted to its late-season form of 2008 to keep the Panthers winless.
There was no pass rush, poor run defense, shoddy tackling — and another nearly invisible performance by this season's highest-paid NFL player.
A day after Carolina's 28-20 defeat, the defense had such a long film session Monday that players said there was a "halftime" break. Then Peppers — who managed two tackles and no sacks against the Falcons — left the stadium without speaking to reporters.
With a $16.7 million salary, that amounts to more than $500,000 per tackle. Through two games Peppers has one of Carolina's two sacks and the defending NFC South champions are stuck at the bottom of the division.
"I understand the criticism, not just of Julius, but our team," coach John Fox said. "As I said last week when everybody wanted to blame Jake to this week when everybody wants to blame Julius, I don't think that's the answer."
With his giant franchise-tag salary and coming off an offseason where he did everything he could to leave town, the Panthers knew Peppers would be under intense scrutiny this season.
So far, not so good.
The four-time Pro Bowl pick's sack in the season-opening 38-10 loss to Philadelphia came after the game was out of hand. The lone time he was seen near Atlanta's Matt Ryan Sunday came on an incompletion in the fourth quarter, just before Carolina's last-ditch drive ended with Delhomme throwing an interception on fourth down.
But that was Delhomme's only pick a week after throwing four and losing a fumble. Delhomme completed 25 of 41 passes for 308 yards and a touchdown. DeAngelo Williams added 79 yards rushing and a TD.
The offense did its part. The defense faltered. And now Carolina is 0-2 with a Monday night game at Dallas up next.
"We just need to get it down," injured safety Chris Harris said of new coordinator Ron Meeks' Cover-2 system. "We need to get as close to perfect with it as we possibly can — and soon — before it's too late."
Harris, who has missed the first two games with a sore knee, was optimistic he could return for the Dallas game. But Carolina has more injury headaches.
Defensive tackle Louis Leonard broke his left ankle on the final defensive play Sunday. He's out for several weeks, if not the season. Leonard, who has the only other Carolina sack this season, was acquired from Cleveland on Sept. 1 for a late-round 2010 draft pick to make up for Maake Kemoeatu's season-ending torn Achilles' tendon.
"There's no question that injuries have been problematic," Fox said. "They were through preseason and they've continued into the regular season. It happens to different teams at different times."
But Peppers is healthy, and the same problems that plagued Carolina when it allowed 30 or more points in five of the final seven games last season were on display at the Georgia Dome.
Ryan wasn't sacked and threw 13 straight completions at one point. The secondary's soft zone coverage gave receivers a cushion as Ryan was 21 of 27 for 220 yards and three touchdowns. Michael Turner added 105 yards rushing and another TD.
It's not the results the Panthers can accept when they're paying Peppers about 14 percent of the salary cap. But as he was a week earlier with Delhomme, Fox was in full-defense mode Monday.
"He draws some attention. They've got chips. There are protection sets to him quite a bit," Fox said of Peppers. "John Abraham is a pretty good player, and I'm not sure how many sacks he had. The difference was their team won."
Left tackle Jordan Gross did hold Abraham without a sack, part of the much improved play by the offensive line that helped Delhomme regain his poise. But it wasn't enough to overcome a pedestrian performance by Carolina's career sacks leader.
"He executed well enough for us to be in position to win," Fox insisted. "The reality is we didn't, but I don't know that it is Julius' fault."
-- Mike Cranston
Saints trying to stay grounded after stellar start
METAIRIE, La. — At this rate, Drew Brees could throw for 72 touchdowns this season, a seemingly preposterous total that would obliterate the record 50 TD tosses Tom Brady threw in 2007.
The New Orleans Saints quarterback would rather steer clear of such talk, turning his focus to team goals.
"How about 16 wins?" Brees said Monday.
That would be another long-shot, though not impossible, as Brady and the New England Patriots proved two seasons ago.
Certainly, the Saints have won their first two games impressively, scoring 93 points in the process. Their 45-27 season-opening win at home against the rebuilding Detroit Lions turned out to be but a prelude to an even more lopsided 48-22 road victory at Philadelphia.
After throwing for 358 yards against Detroit and 311 against the Eagles, Brees is on pace to throw for 5,352 yards this season, which would easily eclipse Dan Marino's 1984 record of 5,084 yards.
Brees could have a tough time sustaining his early pace, but he's already claimed a couple NFL marks this season.
He set a new record for yards passing by a quarterback in his first 50 games with a team. After his 50th game with New Orleans on Sunday, Brees had 14,579 yards passing as a Saint. The old NFL record belonged to Kurt Warner, who had 13,864 yards passing in his first 50 games with St. Louis.
Brees' nine touchdown passes so far tied the mark for TD tosses in the first two games of a season. Charley Johnson set record with the St. Louis Cardinals back in 1965.
"I'm having fun, but it's only two games," Brees said. "It only gets tougher. The more you win, the more success you have, the more you have to battle. ... You kind of have to make sure you stay humble and stay hungry."
Head coach Sean Payton also stressed the importance of soberly assessing the mistakes the Saints have made in the past couple weeks.
"There are a lot of things, watching the tape, that really concern you and I think our players will see it," Payton said.
From Sunday's game alone, Payton harped on DeSean Jackson's 71-yard touchdown catch, Brees' interception on a tipped pass, several blocking breakdowns by the offensive line and a 63-yard kickoff return by the Eagles' Ellis Hobbs.
"The idea that you just won and everything is all rosy is really not true," Payton said. "There are a lot of things that it's important coming off that game to make the corrections."
At the same time, Payton's prowess as an offensive strategist only seems to be growing. Now beginning his fourth season as a head coach, he's already had league-leading offenses twice, in 2006 and 2008. The down year was 2007, when the Saints ranked fourth.
Payton has been pleased with the versatility and balance his offense has shown so far. With the help of some bruising runs by the resurgent Mike Bell, the Saints rushed 157 yards against Detroit and 133 yards at Philadelphia.
Brees has connected with a range of receivers. After Jeremy Shockey had two touchdowns in Week 1, Marques Colston had a pair in Week 2. Even fullback Heath Evans had touchdown catches in each game.
"We just have the ability to spread it around to a lot of different guys and you never know who's game it's going to be," Brees said. "Last week it was Shockey scoring two touchdowns. This week in Philly it was Marques and next week it will probably be somebody else."
Payton said he also likes the fact that the defense under new coordinator Gregg Williams has produced six turnovers in two games, creating even more scoring chances for his high-powered offense. The Saints are plus-three in turnovers so far, with six interceptions — three by safety Darren Sharper, two by linebacker Scott Shanle — and a fumble recovery during kickoff coverage.
The Saints haven't been to the playoffs since 2006, which was Payton's and Brees' first season in New Orleans with a rebuilding team that made a surprising run to the NFC Championship game. That team opened 3-0. This is the most promising start the Saints have had since.
"It's different than '06 though, because in '06 we were just trying to find our identity there for a while," Brees recalled. "As I watched this team come together this offseason, you just got the feeling that we got something here. We've got a window of opportunity here, so let's take advantage of it."
NOTES: Payton said injuries to Lance Moore (hamstring) and Mike (sprained right knee) appear to be minor. In Bell's case, Payton said, "It's a lot less severe than maybe we anticipated. I don't know what that does for his status this week."
-- Brett Martel
Shoddy defense big part of Bucs' 0-2 start
TAMPA, Fla. — Disappointed but not discouraged, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are trying to keep an 0-2 start under Raheem Morris in perspective.
"It's two games," the first-year coach said Monday. "If you come in here and expect to win all 16, then you're fooling yourself. This is a young football team. The bottom line is we've got to get better and better every week."
How much the Bucs progressed between 13-point losses to Dallas and Buffalo is debatable.
A struggling defense yielded 900 yards in two games to rank 31st among 32 teams, the Bucs were penalized 13 times for 112 yards during Sunday's 33-20 loss to the Bills, and an offense that rushed for 174 yards the previous week only had 19 rushing attempts against Buffalo.
By the coaching staff's count, Tampa Bay missed 24 tackles Sunday. Meanwhile, Byron Leftwich threw a pair of costly interceptions — one returned 76 yards for a touchdown and the other setting up a Buffalo field goal — and the defense allowed 218 yards rushing, including a career-best 163 yards by Fred Jackson.
"We've got to go back to the drawing board," defensive end Stylez G. White said, adding the poor start has little to do with players adjusting to a new system installed by defensive coordinator Jim Bates.
"We've got to stop the run," White added, "to put ourselves in better situations."
A stout defense was Tampa Bay's strongest ally under previous coaches Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden, however the unit has been a shell of its old self during a six-game losing streak that began with the Bucs going 0-4 after a 9-3 start to miss last season's playoffs.
After yielding 462 yards in a 34-21 loss to the Cowboys, the defense gave up 438 yards against the Bills.
Tampa Bay gave up 400 yards in a game three times all of 2008, once in overtime.
"When you don't tackle well, it doesn't matter what you run, you're not going to play well," linebacker Barrett Ruud said.
"I don't think it's we're not fundamentally sound. I think we haven't played fundamentally sound, and I am surprised by that. We should be playing better than we are. I can't put a finger on it right now, but I think it's more of a mind-set than anything. We've just got to take it upon ourselves to tackle better and block better. That's going to win us games."
Morris singled out end Gaines Adams as one of the players who's going to have to play better if the team is going to be successful.
The fourth pick in the 2007 draft has not emerged as the dominant pass rusher the Bucs envisioned him becoming after a stellar college career at Clemson. He had 12 1-2 sacks over the last two years, and doesn't have any this season.
"He's judged on whether he touches the quarterback or not, and right now he's not getting it done. There's no excuses. There's no explanations," said Morris, who also called out Adams on the first day of training camp, saying the third-year pro would be viewed as a bust if he didn't have double-digit sacks in 2009.
Asked what Adams needed to work on to increase his effectiveness, Morris focused on effort.
"Last year when he started off the season, his whole thing was he just played harder than everybody he was playing against," the coach said.
"Right now, I just don't see that. I don't see that same fire. I don't see him playing at the same speed and how hard he played last year. We've got to get that back from him. If we don't, it's going to be a long season for Gaines and us."
Leftwich was 26-of-50 for 296 yards and two touchdowns passing against Buffalo, however Morris was not happy the Bucs were forced to throw so often after falling behind 17-0 in the opening quarter.
"We're the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That's not how we want to play football. ... To only have 19 rushes is not our winning formula," the coach said, noting that eliminating costly mistakes will give them a shot at having a more balanced attack.
"I don't know if you expect growing pains. But any time you're playing with a really young, talented bunch of guys that's got to figure their way out, their job is to just get better and better every week."
--Fred Goodall
Spagnuolo: Team progressing but no moral wins
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Rams scored their first points and got their first sack of the season against the Washington Redskins.
They're still waiting for their first victory.
The Rams head into the home opener against the Green Bay Packers having lost 12 consecutive games after falling 9-7 to the Redskins.
"Nobody in the locker room is really in the mood to try to find a light in the loss," said offensive lineman Adam Goldberg, who'll likely start in place of Jason Smith (sprained left knee) this week. "It's time to just tighten things up, do what we need to do, and go out and get a W."
New coach Steve Spagnuolo said he was "disappointed but not discouraged" and warned players each week won't necessarily bring improvements.
"Be careful not to think just because it was 28-0 a week ago and this week it was a two-point deficit that it's automatic," Spagnuolo said. "It doesn't happen that way. Every week is a new week, and we've got a new challenge this week with Green Bay."
Still, Spagnuolo cited several positive developments from the loss.
The offense had three drives that lasted 10 or more plays and was 6 for 12 on third down after going 2 for 12 in the opener, and quarterback Marc Bulger hit Laurent Robinson for a 2-yard touchdown pass on a fade route that put St. Louis ahead 7-6 late in the second quarter. The running game also got into gear with Steven Jackson gaining 104 yards on 17 carries.
The scrappy defense allowed just three field goals, and James Hall just missed dropping Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell for a safety on the sack early in the fourth quarter.
But wide receiver Donnie Avery's lost fumble at the Washington 5 early in the fourth quarter cost the Rams dearly.
And St. Louis clearly has adopted a defensive mentality.
Spagnuolo played it safe and sat on a 7-6 lead at the end of the first half, even though the Rams were at their 30 with 1:12 to go and three timeouts remaining. He declined to second-guess that decision.
"I thought we were playing well, we had some good momentum," Spagnuolo said. "I played it pretty close to the vest. I think I'd do the same thing."
St. Louis had 3rd-and-2 at the Washington 41 with 9:25 to play trailing 9-7. Instead of handing it twice to the 235-pound Jackson running behind the upgraded offensive line, Bulger threw incomplete over the middle to Robinson on third down. The Rams then lined up in a fake punt formation on fourth down that failed to confuse the Redskins into jumping offsides.
After a 5-yard delay of game call, Donnie Jones punted it into the end zone. The Rams got one more chance, starting at their own 4 with 1:55 to go, and went four-and-out.
Spagnuolo said he considered going for it but felt good about how the defense was playing. With Jones' ability to pin down the Redskins, he thought the Rams could get the ball back and put Josh Brown in position for a go-ahead field goal.
"What you don't want to have happen is don't make the first down and then the momentum swings," Spagnuolo said. "We played the field position game in a two-point game."
-- R.B. Fallstrom
Singletary not satisfied with 2-0
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Mike Singletary is the toughest of critics, never one for handing out too much praise to his San Francisco 49ers — even at 2-0, with wins over two teams considered the NFC West contenders.
"We've been 2-0 before," Singletary said. "We haven't been 3-0 since I've been here. That's the next step."
Getting there would mean a road victory over Brett Favre and fellow unbeaten Minnesota this week.
San Francisco certainly appears headed up — the only direction the Niners can go on the heels of a franchise-worst six straight losing seasons — in Singletary's first full year in charge.
"We can't rely on being 2-0. We've got to move on," tight end Vernon Davis said Monday. "It's a great feeling, but it's not the end."
The 49ers won at reigning NFC champion Arizona in Week 1, then topped Seattle in commanding fashion 23-10 on Sunday to give San Francisco the early hold on first place in the NFC West.
Yet Singletary still finds plenty of flaws, and is doing all he can to keep his club humble. All signs point to the grueling training camp this team endured being a boost so far.
"It kind of validates what we've been through, all the work we put in, all the work until now," linebacker Takeo Spikes said. "We still feel like we left stuff out there. We always shoot for perfection."
Frank Gore was pretty close to perfect Sunday. He ran for 207 yards, five off his career best set in 2006 also against the Seahawks, with touchdown runs of 79 and 80 yards. He didn't even play after the first drive of the fourth quarter because of a sprained right ankle, an injury that isn't expected to limit him this week.
"I'll be good," Gore said Monday, noting he expects to practice Wednesday.
Even Singletary allowed himself to appreciate Gore's special outing despite all the other things he's doing in the midst of game day. Gore's big afternoon meant the offensive line was doing a better job.
"You may not see me laughing or anything like that, but I enjoy every bit of it because when he's running like that, something good up front is happening," Singletary said. "Obviously, it was a great day. It really was. It's a tribute to our offensive line. It's a tribute to Frank seeing the holes and hitting them. It's a tribute to our outside guys and our receivers doing a great job blocking. Everybody is doing their job in order for those things to happen."
After Sunday's win, Singletary told his players to celebrate that night because Monday it was right back to work in preparation for a tough Vikings team.
Now, the last thing San Francisco can afford after this encouraging start is a repeat of 2007, Mike Nolan's third season as coach.
The Niners opened with back-to-back wins, at home against Arizona on Monday Night Football and then a narrow 17-16 victory at St. Louis, sparking talk that the team was on the rise. Then San Francisco absolutely plummeted, as in an eight-game losing streak that turned a once-promising season into a 5-11 debacle.
Nolan survived but was eventually fired last Oct. 20 following a 2-5 start.
"I don't really want to compare to 2-0 now and 2-0 (two years ago)," Singletary said. "This team, we're just going to continue to work, and we're going to continue to get better. And, we'll stay together. Whatever comes out of that, I think the end result will be good."
Even some of Singletary's players are starting to talk like he does regarding this early success, having bought in months ago to the intense coach's system and no-nonsense style.
"This league is about constant improvement," said quarterback Shaun Hill, who improved to 6-0 at Candlestick Park. "If we go out and play like we have the first two weeks, it's not going to be good. 2-0, that's the start we're looking for, but by no means does that mean we're finished We've got a long way to go and a good opponent coming up this week."
The 49ers aren't surprising themselves. The players have said all along they have the talent to turn this franchise around.
"We may be new to America, but to us, we expect it," Spikes said.
-- Janie McCauley
Warner goes from over-the-hill to almost perfect
TEMPE, Ariz — One week ago, Kurt Warner was over the hill, a graybeard quarterback finally showing his age.
Seven days later, he was nearly perfect. It's just another comeback for a man who has personified resilience in professional football.
No quarterback in NFL history has been more on the mark than the 38-year-old Warner was in Arizona's 31-17 victory at Jacksonville. He completed 24 of 26 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns.
"That's the most accurate you've seen any quarterback," Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin said. "He set a record yesterday, but it's not out of his character."
Accuracy, Boldin said, always has been Warner's trademark.
The 92.3 completion percentage broke the record, for a minimum 20 passes attempted, of 91.3 set by Vinny Testaverde (21 of 23) for Cleveland against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 26, 1993.
Sitting at his locker on Monday, Warner was almost apologetic.
"It almost feels like I stole the record a little bit because I really didn't have to do a whole lot other than just kind of throw it to the open guy," he said. "It was kind of easy."
Still, it's a record Warner will covet.
"I've kind of always prided myself on being an accurate guy," he said, "and it's been one of my strengths throughout my career, so to have that record, yeah, it's definitely cool."
Warner has a career completion percentage of 65.5 percent, second only to Chad Pennington's 66 percent. Peyton Manning, whose Indianapolis Colts play at Arizona on Sunday night, ranks third at 64.5 percent.
Warner ranks third in career passer rating at 93.8, behind Steve Young (96.8) and Manning (94.7). His passer rating against the Jaguars was a staggering 131.2.
"I think we've all seen Kurt enough to know there's some days when he's especially sharp," coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "Yesterday, it appears, was one of those days."
Nine receivers caught passes, led by Boldin's nine receptions for 69 yards.
"It just happened," Warner said. "We knew what they (the Jaguars) were doing, we had a good bead on that, and knew what to do with the football early, put it in your playmakers' hands and that usually means good things for us."
Warner completed his first 15, tying a franchise record, and was 18 of 19 at halftime.
He called it "one of those games where everything seemed to work in my favor."
"Anquan makes a one-handed catch, a couple of plays where I had to throw the ball away there happened to be penalties," he said. "Guys making plays, the coach calling good plays, there was so much involved in that."
The Jaguars were intent on stopping the deep pass, so the Cardinals carved up the defense with the short- and mid-range game. Warner's longest completions were a pair of 22-yarders, one to Larry Fitzgerald for a touchdown.
Arizona benefited from the return of Steve Breaston, who missed the season-opening 20-16 loss with a bruised kneecap. He had five catches for 83 yards.
The Cardinals also got a vastly improved performance from the offensive line.
"They answered the challenge," Whisenhunt said. "We got on them hard last week and it was a tough week of practice for those guys, but they stepped up."
Running back Tim Hightower said the entire team shares in Warner's record.
"It's a tribute to everybody — the O-line, the running backs, everybody," Hightower said. "It's a tribute to his hard work but it's a collective effort."
Arizona built a 31-3 lead and was up 31-10 when Warner left after three quarters. He had taken a hit on his right shoulder early in the game, then another in the third quarter after rookie Beanie Wells' second fumble.
Warner mentioned the sore shoulder to Whisenhunt on the sideline.
"I told him 'I can go. It's not like I can't play or anything like that,'" Warner said. "'It's just that if we've got it in hand where you feel comfortable, I'd rather not take any extra hits on it.'"
Warner, who said he will be fine this week, even warmed up again late in the game when Jacksonville threatened to cut the lead to seven.
"It was just in case," Whisenhunt said.
Now Warner will hear the praise again. Even after it has happened so many times, he marvels at how quickly he can fall from grace, then rise again.
"I've been benched by different teams, I've been booed at different stadiums," Warner said. "It happens. You just keep fighting and you do what you do. I think I'm a pretty good quarterback and, at the end of the day, I'm going to continue to resurface and we'll be all right."
-- Bob Baum
Slow starts aren't slowing down unbeaten Vikings
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Brett Favre leads the NFL with a 77.1 completion percentage, and he hasn't thrown an interception yet.
Never mind the condition of Minnesota's first two opponents, or the potentially troubling trends the Vikings have shown while winning their first two games.
Favre has done, to date, precisely what this team wants from him.
"I think he's playing within the confines, if you will," coach Brad Childress said.
As for Favre's average of 5.5 yards per pass attempt, which is second from the bottom among the league's starting quarterbacks? The Vikings are expressing confidence those deep balls will come.
"The West Coast can in fact go up the field," Childress said Monday. "Yes, it has that capability."
This offense is predicated on piling up yards after the catch, so Favre's preference to spread around so many short tosses to his wide receivers, running backs and tight ends is right in line with the West Coast system philosophy.
Childress insisted it's not because of any weakness in the 39-year-old Favre's surgically repaired arm.
"I don't have one concern," the coach said. "I've seen him throw it long, throw it short. He does a good job in the strength area. He's strengthened all those muscles."
Nor is the lack of long passes, Childress said, a result of a lack of confidence in the offensive line's ability to keep the rush away from Favre and protect him from injury. The Vikings have given up seven sacks so far.
One of the reasons Favre hasn't yet completed any throws longer than 21 yards is his late arrival. He's still trying to find his rhythm with Bernard Berrian, Sidney Rice and the rest of the receivers: how they like to run their routes, and where to put the ball.
Another factor, though, is that going deep just hasn't been necessary.
The Vikings fumbled at midfield and then went three-and-out on their next three possessions while falling behind 10-0 to Detroit on Sunday, but they recovered quickly and dominated the third quarter on their way to a 27-13 victory. Their 34-20 win at Cleveland had a similar formula the week before.
Adrian Peterson is running at full steam, the obvious fulcrum of this offense. Rookie Percy Harvin has scored a touchdown in each game and shown a knack for muscling for the extra yard and making the tough catch in traffic. The defense, despite some uncharacteristic rushing yardage allowed to the Browns and the Lions, is forcing punts and tightening up when it counts.
Favre, though, has shown a veteran's poise and made the important completions at the right times. Unlike in years past with Tarvaris Jackson or whoever else was leading the offense, the Vikings have not had to come back from early turnovers and force their way up the field. They've been able to establish command of the pace of the game soon after halftime and let their defense, their clock-draining running and their short passing game do the work.
It's clear Favre already has made a difference with the way this team functions.
"He brings us to another level," Rice said.
First-half performance is an issue the Vikings will focus on this week in preparing to play San Francisco in their home opener.
"Coming out in the first quarter, first drive, first play, setting the tempo of the game," Rice said. "We kind of got away from it these last couple of games, and it looks like we're being a second-half team. That's not us. We can play a full four quarters."
The same applies to the defensive side.
"The first half this last game, they had a little bit more tempo than we did, but I felt like we came out with a good mindset so I don't think that's the issue," linebacker Ben Leber said. "We've just got to come out and recognize we've got to play a little harder than the other team."
Another side of these early-season developments for the Vikings is the heightened expectations that have come with the construction of this season's team, capped by Favre's arrival.
Last year, they squeaked by the Lions at home and were booed by fans who chanted for Childress to be fired. They won their division, but constantly felt the lack of public confidence in their quarterback situation and in their head coach.
Now, they've won consecutive road games — albeit against weaker teams — by two-touchdown margins and there are concerns raised that the Vikings haven't been dominant enough in doing it.
"I always find it interesting when you win and people are going to tell you how you should win," Childress said. "Anybody that doesn't get how hard it is to win a game in this league? It's a hard thing to do. It's hard. It's harder yet to go on the road and do it."
-- Dave Campbell
Lions' Schwartz sticking with QB Matthew Stafford
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — The Detroit Lions knew they would have to live with mistakes when they decided to start rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Well, they're living with them.
Stafford has thrown five interceptions — tying Carolina's Jake Delhomme for the most in the league — and only one touchdown in two games for the winless Lions.
The Lions decided to let the No. 1 pick in the draft learn on the field, instead of putting him on the sideline to watch veteran Daunte Culpepper play in his 11th season.
It hasn't worked out so far, but coach Jim Schwartz insists he's happy with Stafford.
"He's our quarterback," Schwartz said Monday. "We're pleased with him. He's going to be a very good quarterback in this league and we're going to win with him."
Detroit desperately hopes that happens sooner rather than later.
If the Lions (0-2) lose Sunday at home against Washington (1-1), their 20-game losing streak will be the second-longest in league history and they'll get unwanted attention as they approach Tampa Bay's NFL record 26-game skid from the 1976-77 seasons.
Detroit became the NFL's first 0-16 team last season and used the first pick overall to take Stafford instead of Mark Sanchez, who is starting for the undefeated the New York Jets.
"We went in the draft, we liked both quarterbacks, we thought Matt was the right player to lead this team," Schwartz said. "We still do and I think when it's all said and done, we're going to be very happy in that decision."
Stafford has shown some positive signs, throwing laser-like passes deep down the field. He also made bad plays, trying to force a pass to a receiver instead of throwing it out of bounds or simply not seeing a defender standing between him and a target.
In Sunday's loss to Minnesota, Stafford rolled right and threw the ball toward Calvin Johnson and linebacker Chad Greenway intercepted it.
"I saw Calvin bounce his route inside, and I didn't see the linebacker," Stafford said.
Greenway looked like he was the intended receiver on the other interception because Stafford's pass went right to the linebacker.
"I was trying to make a play and I forced something that wasn't there," Stafford explained.
The good news perhaps for Stafford and the Lions is some star QBs who played right away also got off to rough starts.
Peyton Manning had six interceptions and two TDs in his first two games for Indianapolis in 1998. A decade earlier, Dallas' Troy Aikman threw four interceptions and one TD in his first two games. In 1983, Denver's John Elway was picked off once and didn't throw for a score in his first two games.
Stafford's first — probably of many — TD passes to Johnson midway through the second quarter Sunday gave Detroit a 10-0 lead over the Vikings before getting outscored 27-3.
"It's not important how you start a football game, it is important how you finish it, and we didn't finish well," Stafford said. "We need to play 60 good minutes, not 30."
When the Lions announced Stafford would take the first snaps in Week 1 at New Orleans, they said it wasn't an internship or an experiment.
But how long can they stick with Stafford, when a seemingly viable option is on the sideline, if he keeps making mistakes?
"I'm not going to put ourselves past this week when it comes to that," Schwartz said. "I have a lot of confidence in Matt's ability, not only as a player, but his ability to lead this team and his ability to help us win.
"I think he's going to be our quarterback, he is our quarterback, and we're all going to be very happy with him as a quarterback," Schwartz added.
--Larry Lage
Clifton's return unclear, Pack plans without him
GREEN BAY, Wis. — As a first-year starter last season, Aaron Rodgers made playing all 16 games a significant goal — and he did, despite playing through a serious shoulder injury.
The way things are going now, it'll be even more impressive if he does it again.
The Green Bay Packers have a serious pass protection problem, giving up 10 sacks in their first two games and leaving Rodgers exposed to big hits even when he can get rid of the ball. Now veteran left tackle Chad Clifton has a sprained right ankle, and it isn't clear when he'll be back.
Rodgers didn't call out his linemen after getting sacked six times in Sunday's 31-24 home loss to Cincinnati. But he did take offensive players, himself included, to task for their practice habits.
"We're two weeks into the season now," Rodgers said. "We're 1-1 and it's time to grow up and be a pro and practice and play like it."
Packers coach Mike McCarthy has seen enough of linemen getting beat in basic one-on-one matchups, guys who generally knew who to block and just weren't able to do it. He said the resulting hard hits haven't affected his quarterback's play yet.
"I thought he hung in there again this week, like he did last week," McCarthy said. "But it's only natural, it's all about trust. Every player's got to trust the other player to do his job."
The coach did say Rodgers needs to get rid of the ball more quickly in some situations: "He had his share of mistakes, too."
McCarthy didn't have a timeline for the return of Clifton, who was injured on the Packers' first offensive play of the second half and had to be carted off. His availability for Sunday's game in St. Louis remains unclear.
"We're preparing to play without him," McCarthy said.
The Packers would likely go with the same plan they used after Clifton was injured Sunday: former starter Scott Wells comes off the bench to play center, Jason Spitz slides from center to left guard and left guard Daryn Colledge moves over to replace Clifton at left tackle.
Colledge didn't get much work in practice at left tackle and missed much of last week's practice with a foot injury of his own, making Sunday's second half a challenge.
"It was a lot tougher than it should've been — that's the facts," Colledge said. "I needed to play my technique. I had some very good drives; I did a good job on a couple. And then I had some complete meltdowns. That's just unacceptable."
Bengals defensive end Antwan Odom dominated Colledge, getting four of his five sacks in the second half. Odom said he was surprised the Packers didn't assign other players to help Colledge.
"I guess they believed in him and they thought he could block me one-on-one," Odom said.
McCarthy expressed confidence that Colledge can play significantly better if given a week to prepare as the starting left tackle.
"He just did not look comfortable out there," McCarthy said. "I thought he played well at left guard, he graded out well, but did not look comfortable at left tackle."
In all, it's another week of head-scratching for a first-string offense was nearly unstoppable in the preseason. Rodgers' late touchdown pass to Greg Jennings to beat Chicago in Week 1 covered up a host of offensive problems, and the Bengals exposed them.
Running back Ryan Grant said poor pass protection is the root of the problem.
"There should be a level of concern," Grant said. "We need to do a better job, from the back and from the line of protecting Aaron, make sure he doesn't get touched. That's the number one emphasis of our offense, plain and simple: Our quarterback doesn't get touched, and everything starts with that. We haven't gotten that done at any level."
Rodgers' teammates regretted that they couldn't get the job done.
"That's the guy we all depend on (to) take us to the Super Bowl," tight end Donald Lee said. "And when you're running routes or blocking and look back and see him getting off the ground, it's kind of hurtful."
On the injury front, McCarthy said safety Nick Collins has a clavicle sprain and safety Aaron Rouse sustained a neck stinger. Their injuries will be re-evaluated later in the week.
-- Chris Jenkins
See archived 'Sports' stories »
We want our site to be a place where people discuss and debate ideas that foster stronger communities. We built this for you. Please take care of it. Tolerate broad thinking, but take action against obscene or hateful material. Make it a credible and safe place worth preserving and sharing.
