Bill Cowher talks return to coaching, tattoos

Before the 2012 NFL season began, it was a safe bet that Bill Cowher would be one of the first names mentioned for most any prominent head coaching vacancy. Yet by the time Black Monday rolled around and seven teams had openings, Cowher suddenly seemed like an afterthought.

How’d that happen?

Perhaps, as some have suggested, Cowher is looking for more money and more power than teams are willing to give. Or maybe he’s just not ready.

“No, no, no,” was Cowher’s response Tuesday when asked if he planned to seek any of the jobs sill out there. The occasion was a CBS press event touting the network’s blanket coverage of Super Bowl XLVII, so the former Steelers coach turned CBS Sports analyst used that as an opportunity to plug his current employer.

“We have the Super Bowl this year,” he said. “All the coaches want to get to the Super Bowl, I already know I’m going to be there.”

Assuming Cowher waits another year to get serious about a return to the sidelines, that would be seven years away from the coaching business. Not a problem, said the 55-year-old Cowher, who coached the Steelers from 1992-2006 and got them to two Super Bowls, winning one.

“I think it’s a non-issue,” he said. “I did it for 27 years. You don’t just forget it overnight. The one thing about this job is that it’s been really good because it allows me to study the game, do features on the game. I watch tape. It’s not like you’re out of it. I know how the game is changing.”

Cowher’s hard-nosed style must come to terms with the changes that have taken place regarding player safety and limits on hitting, but he’s prepared for that.

“Some of the hits that are now illegal are hits I was showing the night before the game. But that’s the way the game is evolving. You just have to teach the right thing.”

Cowher doesn’t think the changes will make it too difficult for him to get back into coaching, though he admits it won’t be easy.

“It would be a challenge,” Cowher said “But that’s probably why I’d get back in – because of the challenge.”

Cowher’s name was mentioned often in New York before the Jets hired Rex Ryan in 2009. With Ryan firmly on the hot seat in 2013, don’t be surprised to see his name come up again. And given the hubbub over Ryan’s Mark Sanchez tattoo last week, someone asked Cowher if he’d ever consider getting a Ben Roethlisberger tattoo.

“I’ll tell you what,” he said, tongue in cheek, “at least he won me a Super Bowl.”

NFL Week 1 fantasy: 10 things you need to know

Congratulations to those of you who had Tony Romo or Kevin Ogletree or DeMarco Murray in your fantasy lineups this week. For the rest of you, here are some news and notes to get you going before you finalize your Week 1 fantasy lineup:

1. BUSTIN’ OUT

Congrats to NFL.com fantasy analyst Matt Smith. We thought he was crazy for including the likes of Maurice Jones-Drew and Victor Cruz on his preseason list of potential fantasy busts. But after a summer-long holdout, few people expect to see MJD make a big impact early on. And while Cruz caught 6 passes for 58 yards for the Giants in their Wednesday night loss to the Dallas Cowboys, he also had an alarming number of dropped passes.

Maybe Smith is onto something, which is why you have to keep an eye on the most surprising player on his list of predicted busts: Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton. Can last year’s all-world rookie possibly fall flat this week in Tampa?

2. WAIT, WHAT?

We’re all for making lineup decisions based heavily upon the defenses our players are facing from week to week. But let’s not get carried away. It seems like that’s what Derek Lofland of Fantasy Football Maniax has done. His “Start of the Week” is a rookie RB making his NFL debut for a team that went 4-12 last season. Sure, Doug Martin is facing a Carolina Panthers team that was bad against the run last week, but really?

And wait, there’s more… High among his “other players to start” is Tennessee Titans QB Jake Locker, a player with all of 66 career passing attempts under his belt. Sure the Titans are facing a New England Patriots defense that was terrible against the pass last season, but Locker isn’t even owned in 55 percent of NFL.com fantasy leagues. Expecting a big fantasy day from Locker may be a stretch.

3. BIG BEN’S BABY WATCH

Big Ben is going to be a Big Daddy soon. That’s right, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and his wife are due to have their first child this fall. Roethlisberger hasn’t divulged the date – but he has adamantly stated that he will not miss the birth of his child, even if it means missing a football game. That’s admirable. It’s also a potential nightmare if Big Ben is your starting QB. So here’s what you do: After Roethlisberger lights it up in a Sunday night shootout this week with Peyton Manning in Denver, trade him immediately. Get whatever you can for him, and pick up Jake Locker... or someone else.

4. CLASH OF THE TIGHT ENDS

We know, we know… Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham have forever changed the way we view tight ends in fantasy. These guys averaged 95 receptions, 1,318 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, and they became fantasy darlings. If you’ve got Gronk or Graham on your team, bully for you. If not, don’t sweat it… The NFL is a copycat league; expect more action for all TEs. With that in mind, it’s worth taking a look each week at the fantasy points against. Based on how tight ends fared against defenses last season, here are four with favorable matchups this week:

Dustin Keller vs. Bills

Vernon Davis vs. Packers

Kyle Rudolph vs. Jaguars

Antonio Gates vs. Raiders

5. YO GABBERT, GABBERT!

Poor Blaine Gabbert. After a miserable rookie season, the Jaguars QB is only owned in 1.3 percent of NFL.com fantasy leagues – that’s lower than Christian Ponder! But what if Gabbert is ready to take a step up this season? What if he can form a bond with first-round pick WR Justin Blackmon? And what if the Jaguars’ Week 1 opponent were the Vikings, who allowed the most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks last season? Yeah, what if…

6. REACH FOR MEACHEM?

Lance Moore or Robert Meachem? Who would you start this week if you had to choose between these two? According to a head-to-head analysis from Fantasypros.com, 18 of 26 fantast experts have Meachem ranked higher in Week 1 projections. Overall, the average of the 26 experts had Meachem projected as the 37^th-best WR this week, with Moore at 41.

But get this: NFL.com’s weekly projections – which are compiled by EA Sports – have Meachem as the No. 9 WR this week. They say he’ll have 80 yards and a TD against the Raiders Monday night. That’s the kind of “out there” prediction we’ll be very interested to follow.

7. DECEPTIVE STAT OF THE WEEK

Overheard on the sidelines at my son’s pee-wee football practice this week: “I know the Browns suck, but they had the No. 2 pass defense in the NFL last year. Bad matchup for Michael Vick this week.”

Uh, no. The reason Cleveland gave up the second-fewest passing yards last season was because they ranked 30^th in run defense. Nobody had to pass on the Browns because they were too busy running all over them. That’s good news for Eagles RB LeSean McCoy this week, but rest assured Vick will get his points. Don’t be surprised if Philly’s first offensive call is a play-action, 80-yard TD pass to Desean Jackson or Jeremy Maclin.

8. FLYING FALCONS

A look at the final Fantasy Points Against stats from last season shows the Chiefs allowed the fourth fewest passing yards per game. Don’t let that scare you off if you own any offensive players from the Atlanta Falcons, the Chiefs’ Week 1 opponent. QB Matt Ryan and WRs Roddy White and Julio Jones are weekly must-starts regardless, but their value increases this week against a K.C. defense that is without its star pass-rusher Tamba Hali, who’s out this week serving a one-game suspension. Hali had 12 sacks last season, and without his pressure on the QB, expect Ryan to compete for top Week 1 fantasy honors.

9. LINE DANCE

As bad as the New York Jets’ offensive line looked in preseason, our friends at Footballguys.com still have them ranked as the second-best o-line in the NFL. Hard to believe they can just flip a switch and suddenly become the ground-and-pound attack Rex Ryan dreams about, but who knows? The Jets face a strong defensive line in Week 1 when they host the Buffalo Bills, so we’ll find out in a hurry if Footballguys.com knows something we don’t.

10. WE LOVE MONDAY

The coolest thing about Week 1 in the NFL? There are TWO games on Monday night! There is nothing in fantasy more exciting than when your weekly matchup comes down to the Monday night game. With four teams playing this Monday – Bengals at Ravens and Chargers at Raiders – that’s double the chances your fantasy battle will go down to the wire this week. Think about it… it’s entirely possible you can field a lineup that includes Philip Rivers, Ray Rice, Darren McFadden, A.J. Green, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Antonio Gates, Sebastian Janikowski and the Ravens defense. Know what that means? You could go into Monday night trailing your opponent 100-0, and you’d still be favored to win. So set your lineup accordingly, plant yourself in front of the TV and – as T.O. would say – get your popcorn ready!

FootballNation.com is your home for NFL Draft coverage

By Craig Ellenport

With the 2012 NFL Draft set to kick off Thursday, here are some recent draft-related items I wrote this week for FootballNation.com:

* The biggest linebacker busts in NFL history -- I actually felt bad including Quentin Coryatt and Brian Bosworth on this list because neither would have been considered had it not been for major injuries. That's right, Bosworth had an excuse. Meanwhile, I was tickled to see Big Ten bully Ohio State land four players on this list.

* The 10 best draft picks in Jets history -- It would have been much more fun to write about the biggest busts in Jets history, but there are some good picks here. FYI, with all the scrutiny prospects face these days, do you think a wide receiver who is blind in one eye would ever be a second-round draft pick? That was the case with Wesley Walker, who turned out just fine.

* The 10 best draft picks in Giants history -- LT and Simms have to be at the top of the list. No questions asked. After that, the order could easily have been jumbled. I had no problem putting Jason Pierre-Paul on this list after just two seasons. In this day and age, where winning now is the mantra, GM Jerry Reese was gutsy enough to use the 15th overall pick on a guy everyone said was a project. And JPP  showed return on investment sooner than anyone expected.

By the way, for more outstanding draft coverage, check out all the good stuff from FootballNation.com.

NFL schedule: Piecing together a Thursday night puzzle

By Craig Ellenport

After six years with a half-season of Thursday night games, the NFL awarded its own network a full slate of Thursday games for the first time this year – and it created a giant headache for the folks at 345 Park Avenue charged with creating that schedule. As one of the league’s schedule-makers put it, “They took a really hard problem and made it exponentially harder.”

For the record, this person wasn’t complaining – putting the schedule together is a rewarding challenge. He’s used to hearing complaints from owners about short weeks, long road trips and December games at Lambeau Field. It’s all a learning process, and – let’s face it – there’s no such thing as a bad NFL schedule.

So what makes it so difficult to schedule 13 games for NFL Network’s Thursday night package? Let’s take a look at some of the intricacies of the process…

For starters, the NFL adopted a policy that no team will be forced to play more than one “short week.” That means the six teams scheduled to play on Thanksgiving -- the Texans, Lions, Redskins, Cowboys, Patriots and Jets – are all out of the picture. And since this is the first year that NBC will be airing the Thanksgiving night game, that means arguably the best Thursday night matchup of the year – Patriots at Jets – is not on the NFL Network schedule.

That leaves 26 teams to fill 26 spots. And some pretty good teams playing on Thanksgiving that cannot be part of the NFLN package. In fact, it’s the first time since the network began its Thursday night package that the Cowboys are not on the slate.

Another new policy the league implemented after the Competition Committee weighed in: No TNF games in which a team has to travel more than one time zone. If that were in place last year, you wouldn’t have had Jets-Broncos, Eagles-Seahawks or the Harbaugh Bowl, 49ers-Ravens. (Note: This is not a hard-and-fast rule, and so there is one such game this season – Kansas City at San Diego.)

Between the short week and time zone limitations, it’s no wonder that none of the 12 games that NFL.com’s Elliot Harrison cited as the most intriguing matchups of 2012 are on the TNF schedule. Five are multiple time zone trips; six feature teams playing on Thanksgiving. The 12^th game is Green Bay at Chicago, which isn’t a TNF game – but Chicago at Green Bay is on the slate. Which should not be a big surprise given the limitations.

With so few choices to fill out 13 games, there’s really only one way to make them compelling: make them division games. Thus, nine of the 13 NFL Network TNF games are division games. (I heard Mike Mayock say this week that he “can’t wait” for the Cleveland-Baltimore game in Week 4. Okay, sure.)

A couple of other considerations when piecing this puzzle together:

* We’re not saying there aren’t some terrific TNF matchups. Bears-Packers, Giants-Panthers, Broncos-Raiders. Here’s what those games have in common: They are all scheduled for non-bye weeks. Why? Because if you’re going to pull those good matchups off the board for FOX and CBS, networks that are paying billions to air NFL games, then you at least want to give them a full complement of remaining games.

* Of the four non-divisional games, only one can really be considered a clunker: Buccaneers at Vikings in Week 8. Well, that one is going up against the World Series, so it’s essentially a sacrificial lamb.

Then again, would you be surprised if the least anticipated Thursday night NFL game outdrew a World Series game?

Quick thoughts on Tebow and the Jets

When Antonio Cromartie declared Tuesday that the New York Jets didn’t need Tim Tebow, it was a foregone conclusion that’s where America’s quarterback was headed. And now, the Jets must go all in on a ground-and-pound attack.

Forget for a moment the circus-like atmosphere that Mike Tannenbaum has created. Mark Sanchez won’t be able to throw an incomplete pass without hearing it from the Tebow-maniacs. But hey, who better to lead a three-ring circus than the ringmaster himself, Rex Ryan?

Here are some quick-hit thoughts about what to make of Tim Tebow in the Big Apple:

• The folks that run the Jets, Tannenbaum and Ryan, have been doing this long enough to know what they have brought on themselves. They cannot be so blind as to think Tebow is like any other quarterback they could have brought in to provide “competition” for the embattled Sanchez. Right? 

• Wildcat or no wildcat, new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano at least has some good experience mixing in a hybrid attack with a guy like Tebow. I assume Sparano was consulted on this trade before it was made, and I can see Sparano and Tebow working well together. 

• Now, what happens if Tebow does end up as the starting QB for the Jets? The Jets are only two years removed from reaching the AFC title game with a dominant rushing attack. They staggered to 22^nd in the league last season, averaging 105.8 yards per game, thanks to a number of reasons. First and foremost was that they lost their identity. With Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress, they suddenly thought they could air it out, and that was a colossal mistake. Of course, a weakened offensive line also had a lot to do with it, as did Shonn Greene taking a step back in his development. Can the presence of Tebow in the backfield help Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson? Sure. If the Jets can improve the line, then it’s possible the Jets can once again become a force on the ground with Tebow at the helm. Of course, the passing game will be almost nonexistent. 

• Which brings us to Ryan’s raison d’etre. Defense. The offense will be conservative this year no matter who is running the show. What the Jets need in order to win is for that defense to be a monster again. The only reason Tebow won as many games as he did in Denver last year was because the Broncos defense was stout. The Jets must field a top five defense in order to win. They did rank fifth in yards allowed last season, but 20^th in points allowed per game (nearly 23).

• What are the chances Sanchez rises to this challenge, becomes a true franchise quarterback and relegates Tebow to backup and change-of-pace Wildcat? Anything’s possible. But this is the least likely scenario.

Let the circus begin!