Of all teams…the Jets?

Early reports said the New York Jets had offered Steelers G Alan Faneca Four years, $32 million and $23 million guaranteed. The P-G’s Ed Bouchette wrote that Faneca will likely sign an offer by Saturday night, but not necessarily the deal he was offered by the Jets. Steelers beat writer Dale Lolley reported the Jets offer on his blog and on Steel City Insider.

Tom Rock from Newsday Magazine writes that he spoke to Faneca’s agent, Rick Smith, who said the signing is “false.”  All sides seem to confirm a deal was offered, and considering that offer would make Faneca the highest paid offensive lineman in the game, it’s likely he and Smith are merely spinning the Jets offer over to other suitors - sources say the 49ers and the Rams were involved - to see if he can’t get a better deal.

But if it is the Jets, do we begin throwing around the “hypocrite” label?

Financially, the Jets offer makes sense for Faneca. Even kind of crazy. But what’s really crazy here is the amount of energy Faneca spent in calling out the Steelers organization for not treating him fairly, and his decision, barely 15 hours into the free agency period, to choose the team that has arguably the worst reputation for dealing with its players in the league.

Before training camp in May, Faneca said:

“I’ve been asking since February to trade me, to let me go,” Faneca said. “I’ve done my piece. I’ve done my time. I’ve done everything I can for this organization. I’ve lived and breathed Steeler football for nine years and gave them everything I’ve had and helped them win a Super Bowl. In my mind, I’ve earned the right to be treated fairly.”

We don’t have to look very far to see how the Jets treat their guards.

Former Jets LG Pete Kendall- the guy Faneca is obstensibly replacing -  re-negotiated his contract in 2006, helping the Jets free up some salary cap space. He demanded a $1 million raise before the 2007 season, and the team refused to give it to him. A bitter battle ensued between Kendall and the Jets over the alleged deal.

According to Kendall, the Jets promised to re-negotiate his contract in 2007 if he performed well in 2006. Whether the Jets reneged on that promise, or they weren’t interested in renegotiating in the first place, they traded Kendall to Washington for a fifth-round pick in this April’s draft.

Once is an occurence. Twice is a trend.

Here’s Kendall’s former teammate, Laveranues Coles, accusing the Jets of the exact same thing Kendall did.

According to Coles, the team was happy with his effort, and were appreciative of all the non-statbook factors he contributed. But that’s not enough, apparently.

Said Coles to the Newark Star-Ledger:  

“I played hurt,” he said. “I ran clear-out routes for Jerricho (Cotchery). They praised me for my toughness and not worrying about my numbers. They tell me that I’m an unselfish player. I do everything they ask me to do and then when it comes to business, they tell me my production is down. That’s not right.”

 (nod to PFT on the Coles story)

The Jets are allegedly in the habit of lying to their players, and getting them to accept less money and less of a role on the team under the agreement the team would take care of them after that season. Two veteran players in two seasons have accused the Jets of those kinds of deals.

And Faneca accused the Steelers of being underhanded?

Clearly, Faneca cared little about what was fair and what was right. He wanted what was his, and nothing more.

In the end, the Steelers will remain relatively stain-free after Faneca’s tirade, but let’s stay tuned. Considering the Jets traded two picks to Carolina for DT Kris Jenkins (and gave him five years, $35 million, $20 guaranteed), it’ll be interesting to see Faneca’s reaction when they come to him in two years asking, “Hey Alan, ya think we could re-work your contract? We’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) accused the New England Patriots franchise of illegally filming the Steelers in four games, including both AFC Championship games, according to Ed Bouchette. The Patriots won both games.

Specter has been accused of going after the Patriots because of their victor over Philadelphia - his hometown - in Super Bowl XXXIX. He met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for an hour on Wednesday, a meeting from which Specter derived the opinion that Goodell “has a fair-sized stone wall erected.”

Bouchette got a hold of former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, the coach of the team during all four games against New England in which the alleged filming took place. His quote probably summarizes the matter better than anyone is willing to say:

“Is it an advantage to steal signals? Yes. Did it determine the outcome of the game? No.”

Steelers fans are understandably going to be upset about this. They have every reason to be. But like Coach Cowher said, they may have done it, but they didn’t win because of it.

It goes deeper than just four games, though. The NFL is a multi-billion dollar industry, and it has an antitrust exemption, so spare the “they have better things to do” bit.

It’s very difficult to understand why Goodell had the tapes destroyed after he imposed a $500,000 fine on Patriots coach Bill Belichick, and a $250,000 fine on the Patriots franchise…difficult, assuming you don’t want to consider the simple concept of damage control. It’s easy to assume that, while top to bottom fans don’t like Coach Belichick, the NFL takes a fairly significant hit from a public relations perspective if Spygate turns into more than what was originally discovered. Every team will go right down with Belichick if evidence is revealed that he and his Patriot buddies were doing this for a substantial amount of time. From Goodell’s perspective, he issued a sizeable fine (big enough so those who thought it should have been more would easily be labeled Patriots Haters) and now, simply wants the issue to go away. Specter shouting to the hilltops about this (and currying votes along the way, certainly a nice ancillary benefit) won’t change Goodell’s intentions: to stop the public bleeding and lock this down before it grows into more than just a conspiracy theory.

Still, Specter is carrying the Matt Walsh bluff high above his head. If the former Patriots employee who alleges he has substantial evidence against the Patriots and the league is more than just a bitter ex-employee, and really does have dirt to dish, Goodell would be the wrong man for the job if he didn’t take the brunt of the assault in public, like he did on Wednesday, and do whatever he could to silence Walsh - if not flat-out discredit him.

Don’t believe me? Ok…

Bouchette mentions in his article that Specter confirmed, through Walsh’s laywer, that an NFL security “guy” named Dick Farley is investigating Walsh. Goodell said the league considers Spygate finished, so why would they send one of their own out to investigate the key member of the whole scandal? Let’s look over the facts again:

1. The NFL confirmed in September that the Patriots had been caught filming signals from on the Jets sideline during a game.

2. The fine was issued a week later.

3. The tapes were suspiciously destroyed very soon after the fine was levied.

4. A former Patriots employee, video director Matt Walsh, comes out, saying he has evidence the Patriots had been filming for several years, including a filming of the Rams in a closed walk-through before the Super Bowl.  

5. Months later, the NFL conveniently states it knew the Patriots had been filming in a similar manner since 2000.

6. Walsh’s lawyer gives the name of an NFL security guard (Dick Farley) who is investigating Walsh despite the fact Goodell has said Spygate is a dead issue, and the league is not following up on it.

As our own Coach Tomlin said, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Specter’s discussion with Goodell has clearly fanned that flame, and now that he’s grabbed the full attention of two of the most passionate fan bases in the NFL - Pittsburgh and Philadelphia - this isn’t going away any time soon.

Jamison Hensley and Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun are reporting that Brian Billick, the only the second head coach the Baltimore Ravens ever had, has been fired, not even a month after sources indicated Billick was told he would be back next season.

The Sun quoted Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti:

“I just changed my mind. I can’t explain it to you. It’s the toughest decision I’ve had to make.”

The immediate thought is that Billick simply lost control of the locker room. He was seen trading taunts with Patriots SS Rodney Harrison in a loss to New England earlier this season, and was openly criticized by members of his own team after another loss.

The Ravens endured a nine-game losing streak in 2007, the longest in franchise history. They broke it in Week 17 after a 27-21 win over Pittsburgh - their arch rival.

Injuries largely destroyed the Ravens, at times, going with as many as 12 starters missing at least a game. They ran through all three quarterbacks on their roster - Steve McNair, Kyle Boller and Troy Smith - and didn’t have either CB Samari Rolle or Chris McAlister in at the same time all year.

Currently, the Atlanta Falcons are in the market for a head coach, and while Billick was the first on the post-season chopping block, others are certainly going to be right behind him.

Some league and media sources have indicated that Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron could be out of work after a disastrous 1-15 season in Miami. The Dolphins brought in Bill Parcells, and made him responsible of player personnel, including coaches. His G.M. in Dallas, Jeff Ireland, is linked as the potential hire in replacement of Randy Mueller, the Dolphins G.M. who was fired today.

Almondo Salguero of the Miami Herald reported this morning that Parcells has his eye on Cowboys assistant head coach Tony Sparano, but not confirming that Cameron will get the axe.

This means the Parcells-charged Dolphins will have to play possum through the playoffs. They can only interview Sparano during the Cowboy’s bye week - and could not hire him - therefore likely not fire Cameron - until after Dallas’s season is over. As the top seed in the NFC, this may not be until after Super Bowl XLII on February 3.

Billick to Atlanta?

Parcells had turned Falcons owner Arthur Blank down for the G.M. job there because Blank did not want to give up control. Given the recent back-stabbing from certain convict QB, it’s hard to blame him.

Billick did not have overall control in Baltimore (Ozzie Newsome does, and he’s done a remarkable job overall), but even without that, Billick might be a good choice for Blank. Given their poor season, and general malaise from their fans, bringing a Super Bowl-winning coach would give them instant credibility. However, Billick largely inherited the Ravens’ defense from the prior regime, and won a Super Bowl with that. While his teams were competitive, he never quite got another Ravens team into elite status.

The Ravens won one playoff game after their title - in 2001 - but were routed by the Steelers in the Divisional round of the playoffs that year, and have not won a post-season game since.

Given the amount of time Billick has been around the league, he’s probably best-served with a year off, and the opportunity to be a little more choosey. The Falcons job will not be easily filled, given the mess former coach Bobby Petrino left when he took off for the University of Arkansas in Week 14.

ProFootballTalk is sticking with a rumor that Broncos coach Mike Shanahan had been sniffing around the Falcons job. While it isn’t likely, the thought of Shanahan getting axed in Denver, along with Billick and former Steelers coach Bill Cowher all being out of a job would likely entice owners to throw some cash around. Between those three, they’ve won four Super Bowls since 1998.

The Steelers put five players on the AFC Pro Bowl roster, QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB Willie Parker, OG Alan Faneca, LB James Harrison and SS Troy Polamalu.

It is Roethlisberger and Harrison’s first trip to Honolulu. Parker has gone in back-to-back years, Polamalu makes his third trip and Faneca has been named to the team seven times.

Roethlisberger is fourth in the NFL in passer rating at 100.3, and is third in the NFL in touchdown passes with 29.

Parker leads the NFL in rushing yards with 1,317.

Harrison has 8.5 sacks, which is sixth among NFL linebackers, and has forced seven fumbles.

Faneca is the anchor of one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL. Polamalu has missed four games, but his recognition as being one of the top defensive players in the league is apparent. When healthy, Polamalu has been an individual wrecking machine. He had 10 tackles in Sunday’s loss against Jacksonville, and is the heart of one of the best defenses in the league.

2007 AFC Pro Bowl roster

2007 NFC Pro Bowl roster

Check out Die Hard Steel’s AFC and NFC Pro Bowl teams.

Why wait for Tuesday? I’ll give you the AFC Pro Bowl team right now. This is done objectively, and objectivity is showing how top-heavy the AFC truly is. And it’s not just the Pats, even though they do have five representatives; Cleveland (???) does as well. San Diego has six. Which Steelers are going? (Note: Stats are through Week 14, Pro Bowl voting ended after Week 13)

Offense 

Quarterback:

Tom Brady, New England Patriots - Put simply, he’s having the best season of any player in NFL history. He’ll destroy Manning’s single-season TD record, probably take Marino’s single-season yardage record (5,084), too.

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers - He’s going to break Terry Bradshaw’s club record 28 TD passes this year, and he has been a stable force in an up-and-down year for Pittsburgh’s offense. Abandoning the run inside the red zone, Roethlisberger has hit several Steelers receivers for touchdowns, and could have pushed for a 110 rating this year, if not for some pretty bad field conditions around the middle of the season.

Peyton Manning, Indianpolis Colts - Despite a bizarre six interception game against San Diego, Manning is his usual dominating self. On pace for a 35 TD season, and a high-90 passer rating, he is leading the Colts to a likely No. 2 seed in the playoffs.

Running backs:

LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers - LDT got off to a slow start, but has rebounded nicely, leading his team back to the top of the AFC West. The reigning league MVP leads the AFC is touchdowns, and is second in rushing yards with 1, 195.

Joseph Addai, Indianapolis Colts - Addai has been a strong constant in Indianapolis, providing a dominating dimension as a runner and a receiver, helping the Colts be one of the best offensive teams in the game.

Willis McGahee, Baltimore Ravens - Considering McGahee was running behind an offensive line that was either too old or too young, the fact he’s still likely going to break 1,250 yards and 12 touchdowns says a lot about the Ravens free agent pick-up. He had to deal with a stacked box due to the broken down Steve McNair and the ever-ineffective Kyle Boller, but McGahee was still able to turn out a good season in terms of yards per game, touchdowns and average.

Fullback:

Lorenzo Neal, San Diego Chargers - “Lo-Daddy” will miss the last four games due to a broken leg, but even before that, he was blowing up linebackers with the same ferocity he always did. Still the premier blocking back in the NFL.  

Offensive Tackles:

Joe Thomas, Cleveland Browns - Easily the best rookie taken in the top five of this year’s draft, Thomas started right away, and over the first half of the season, was already playing at a higher level than half the tackles in the game. By Week 15, he is probably better than all of them.

Marcus McNeill, San Diego Chargers - Paved the way for much of Tomlinson’s soon-to-be 1,400 yards, and stayed consistent when the team started off horribly. On a line that gave up nine sacks in its first three games, McNeill locked down the rest of the way, not allowing a sack from his side over the vast majority of the season.

Matt Light, New England Patriots - The best lineman on a unit that is stronger than the sum of its parts. Brady has been sacked twice from Light’s side in over 450 passing attempts through Week 14. Much of Brady’s historic season can be attributed to not having to worry about his blindside.

Offensive guards:

Eric Steinbach, Cleveland Browns - made a nice transition from Cincinnati to Cleveland, and along with Thomas, helped the flat-lining Jamal Lewis to a productive season, and one of the best offenses in the game.

Alan Faneca, Pittsburgh Steelers - Contract or not, he’s the best lineman on one of the league’s best rushing attacks. Big Nasty is about as reliable as they come, the Steelers sure will miss him next year.

Vince Manuwai, Jacksonville Jaguars - He’s a great combination of savvy and nasty, Manuwai was a huge reason RB Fred Taylor just missed the Pro Bowl despite losing linemate Chris Naeoli for most of this season. 

Center:

Jeff Saturday, Indianapolis Colts - Poised to stay at a high level for a long time. Saturday is the driving force behind one of the most consistently outstanding units in the game. Even with the loss of LT Tarik Glenn, the Colts kept Manning clean.

Wide Receivers:

Randy Moss, New England Patriots - By the end of the year, he will have shattered Jerry Rice’s reception TDs in a season, and could break the 100-catch, 1,700 yard plateau to go with his 20+ touchdowns. Probably the greatest season for a WR in history.

Braylon Edwards, Cleveland Browns - Too bad Moss is re-writing the history books, or you’d hear more about Edwards. Averaging an obscene 17 yards a catch, Edwards is going to break a few single-season receiving records of his own in Cleveland. He’s going to be one of the best players in the game for a very long time.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Cincinnati Bengals - Housh has been QB Carson Palmer’s only consistent offensive weapon this year. He’s leads the NFL in receptions, and is top five among AFC WRs in touchdowns and yards.

Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis Colts - Wayne hasn’t had the luxury of future Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison on the other side of center for most of the year, but he has responded with another great season. He’s top five in the AFC in receptions, average and touchdowns.

Tight Ends:

Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers - Not exactly shocking, but perhaps a little quieter than in the past. Gates still averages 10+ TDs each season, and is never south of 70 catches. His blocking is still above average for his position, and is without question the best TE in the game.

Kellen Winslow II, Cleveland Browns - Soldier has taken a strong step toward Gates this year, coming up with several huge catches for the upstart Browns (even one that should have won them the game in Week 13). Still young, he looks to make this team several more times.

Defense

Defensive/Nose tackles:

Casey Hampton, Pittsburgh Steelers - “Snacks” is the anchor for the AFC’s best rush defense. It starts and ends with him. While he was flanked by underrated DE Aaron Smith for most of the year (Smith’s last game was Week 14, he is out for the rest of the year), Hampton destroys the middle of the offensive line, forcing the back into the open arms of the swarming LB unit.

Albert Haynesworth, Tennessee Titans - He’s not stomping on anyone’s face this year, and he’s been a destructive force in the middle for a stout Titans run defense. He leads defensive tackles with six sacks, and even has five passes defensed.

Defensive ends:

Mario Williams, Houston Texans - While this isn’t about jumping on the “see, I TOLD you they should have taken him over Reggie Bush” bandwagon like every other media type, the fact is Williams was finally played at one position (right DE) all season, and after his foot healed, he’s become largely unstoppable, leading the AFC with 13.5 sacks.

Kyle Vanden Bosch, Tennessee Titans - Teammed with a resurgent Haynesworth, Vanden Bosch has been an all-around stud. His nine sacks show he can get to the passer, but he’s just as effective in the run game, unlike many defensive ends.

Jared Allen, Kansas City Chiefs - an out-of-nowhere story in KC, Allen is strong and savvy. He’s behind Williams for sacks in the AFC with 11.5, but has forced two fumbles as well, and is probably most effective in just doing whatever he has to; he has nine passed blocked at the line of scrimmage.

Inside/middle linebackers:

James Farrior, Pittsburgh Steelers - Quietly having an outstanding season, but in Farrior’s best year as a pro - 2004 - it was more his playmaking skills that got attention. Now, not only is he playing coverage very well, he’s keying a dominant Steelers run defense.

Gary Brackett, Indianapolis Colts - He’s playing the middle of Dungy’s Tampa 2 as well as anyone; outstanding in run support as well as handling coverage assignments at a high level. He’s got four interceptions (leads LBs) and six passes defensed. And he’s doing it without DT Anthony McFarland and DE Dwight Freeney.

Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens - The vaunted Ravens defense may not be quite what it was, but that’s not on Lewis. He’s still among the league leaders in tackles, and had defended nine passes.

Outside Linebackers:

Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots - He’s been the key to the Patriots defense this season. He has 9.5 sacks, and five forced fumbles, making their historic offense able to bury the opposition.

Shawne Merriman, San Diego Chargers - Merriman has ditched that ridiculous celebration dance of his (the one where he looked like he was having a seizure while firing a machine gun in the air), but his production hasn’t really tailed off as much as it would seem. He leads AFC LBs with 11.5 sacks, and has forced two fumbles.

Thomas Howard, Oakland Raiders - Right along with Vrabel, Howard is Mr. Everything in Oakland. He leads AFC LBs with five interceptions, and has nine passes defensed, along with 79 tackles.

James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers - He hits the ball carrier, he drops the ball. That sums up the man they call Silverback. He leads the NFL with seven forced fumbles, and is among the top AFC OLBs in tackles.

Cornerbacks:

Antonio Cromartie, San Diego Chargers - After single-handedly destroying Colts QB Peyton Manning’s stats for the season (three interceptions), he leads the NFL with nine picks - three times, he’s had multiple interceptions in a game - and is second with 16 passes defensed. He also has a 103-yard touchdown return to his credit.

Asante Samuel, New England Patriots - He’s tied with Cromartie with 16 passes defensed, and is second among NFL corners with six interceptions. He’s a big-play corner, and the Patriots are going to miss him next season.

Champ Bailey, Denver Broncos - Champ is still king when it comes to the cornerback position. Despite giving up one big play against Green Bay, Bailey still leads AFC corners in tackles, and has 14 passes defensed. His presence alone makes him worthy for a trip to Hawaii.

Free Safeties:

Ed Reed, Baltimore Ravens - The new Best Player on the Ravens Defense, Reed is as much a ball-hawk as any other player in the game. Teams barely even throw the ball down the middle of the field anymore on him, and he still has six interceptions.

Sean Jones, Cleveland Browns - Basically a no-name player, Jones leads free safeties in tackles, and quietly has five interceptions on the season. A consistent player, he has a bright future in Cleveland.

Strong Safeties:

Sammie Knight, Jacksonville Jaguars - The veteran is having a fantastic all-around season for the Jags, leading his position in tackles, and has four interceptions and 10 passes defensed as well.

Kerry Rhodes, New York Jets - The Little Man is finally getting big respect. He’s performed very well all season for a bad Jets team, his stats still don’t lie. He’s second in the AFC among all safeties with five interceptions, and has forced two fumbles on a young defense that will be very good in another season or two. 

Special Teams 

Kicker:

Jeff Reed, Pittsburgh Steelers - “Guaranteed” Reed has missed two field goals this year - one, a ridiculous 65-yarder in Denver, the other, a 41-yarder in six inches of mud in Pittsburgh. Other than that, he’s been as stable as it gets for the Steelers. He leads the AFC in field goal percentage, and is top five in points scored.

Punter:

Shane Lechler, Oakland Raiders - Lechler deflates the ball with each kick, and while he doesn’t beat out San Diego’s Mike Scifres or Pittsburgh’s Dan Sepulveda by much, his 49 yard average and 42 net make him just that much better.

Return man:

Josh Cribbs, Cleveland Browns - Cribbs beats out Jets RB Leon Washington for the spot off the strength of a 200+ yard game against Pittsburgh in Week 10. Cribbs leads the AFC with a 31.8 yard average on kick returns, and has two touchdowns this year to his credit.

Neal Coolong is the author of Die Hard Steel for Sports Cartel, and is a contributor to Steel City Insider and Real Football 365.

The NFL announced Wednesday that Steelers LB James Harrison was selected as the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in Pittsburgh’s 38-7 win against Baltimore on Monday.

Harrison finished with 3.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception. His 6.5 sacks this season ranks fourth in the AFC. He anchored a team defensive effort that held the Ravens to 104 total yards.

QB Ben Roethlisberger was nominated for the Offensive Player of the Week in Week 9 after he completed 13 of 16 passes for five touchdowns and 209 yards. Patriots WR Randy Moss won it, as he pulled in nine catches for 145 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots 24-20 win over Indianapolis.

Steelers CB Ike Taylor won the award for his efforts in Week 5 against Seattle.

Guess what? People are mad at Bill Belichick. Why? Well, let’s just say he’s made a few interesting decisions lately. Some say he’s justified. Some say he’s a jerk. Coolong says he’s an evil genius…and he’s doing it on purpose.

Imagine your buddy just got back in town after six months with the Peace Corps in Uganda. He did not have Internet access and has not watched one second of television.

S/he asks you, “hey, what’s up with the NFL this year?”

What do you mention first, the Patriots are 7-0, looking to go undefeated, or the soap opera unfolding behind their team?

If you don’t say the latter, you’re lying.

The Patriots have provided the most compelling sports drama since O.J.’s joyride. We have not been this hooked on forming opinions on a team since the White House Cowboys back in 1995.

Here’s a different slant. Put your Propaganda Hats on, cuz I’m just spit-ballin’ here. Spy/VideoGate was all completely orchestrated. It was planned. He did it on purpose.

Belichick wanted to get caught filming Mangini’s signals. He was daring the league to do something about it. He’s a three-time Super Bowl champion coach, and widely considered the best in the business. What could they possibly do to him? More importantly, how much could he gain from getting caught?

He wanted to get busted and fined in an effort to unify his team, because, as nice as it might be, the Fan Favorite angle doesn’t motivate teams. the “Us. vs. The World” angle does.

Stand together for something, or fall divided for nothing.

How could the Patriots possibly achieve the underdog complex with the talent they brought in? It’s very simple, make everyone hate you so much that all you ever read or hear about the team is negative.

Previously Belichick had been accused to having staff members film signals from the coaching box or crow’s nests. He had been warned about this before, and every coach in the league knew he was doing it.

It’s not like Belichick put a guy underneath a pulled up piece of SportTurf with binoculars and camoflage. He put a guy directly on the Jets sidelines. He might as well have worn a flashing sign. It’s a tad excessive, no? I refuse to believe Belichick honestly didn’t think he was allowed to do that, and did not think he wouldn’t get caught. There’s a method to his voyeurism.

The line of divide in SpyGate comes down to Patriots Supporters saying it doesn’t provide them with much of an advantage, and Anti-Patriots Fans say cheating is cheating, regardless of what he gained from it. At first glance, both sides are probably right.

What he gained, however, is exactly what’s compelling about this, and it has nothing to do with what was on that camera. It has provided an already sickeningly talented team with a reason to want to completely decimate the opposition.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell went after the max fine on Belichick and took a draft pick away from the team not so much because what he did was clearly illegal, but because the nerve and audacity of what he did was beyond anything the league had seen up to that point.

Plain and simple, Belichick wanted to get caught, because he wanted the negative attention. He wanted someone in authority to challenge their rule over the league the majority of the past six seasons.

The backlash of that was exactly what Belichick wanted: Everyone hates the Patriots. That is how you motivate a team that’s already won three championships to want to win a fourth.

Look at it this way: The Patriots lose a first-round draft pick. They’ve traded away as many first round picks as they’ve used the last few years anyway. This says nothing of the fact Moss only has a one-year deal. He’s going to want something of a raise in the off-season, considering he’s having the greatest year of any WR in history. They’re going to have to dig into the couch cusions for the cash to keep him. First round picks cost money. There’s no rookie salary cap, or cash pool. It’s all under the same structure, so I bet they aren’t even really batting an eyelash at losing what’s likely to be the 32nd pick in the draft. It’s more money to keep Moss.

Oh yeah, the Pats have 2-4 San Francisco’s first round pick. They finish in the top five along with the teams who are currently slated to finish there, get ready to hear Goodell choke through the words “with the fifth pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots select…Darren McFadden, running back, University of Arkansas.”

Besides, ask the Vikings what happens when you let Moss go, thinking you can replace him in the draft. Troy Williamson didn’t even have a catch against the Eagles on Sunday.

Belichick is still primed to coach the first undefeated team in a 16 game season. He’s got his team actually thinking, despite the insane amount of talent they have on the roster, they are the underdogs.

Turning into Darth Belichick and creating the Empire is the logical move for them. If turning from Hero to Face is what this team needed to get the ruthless swagger needed to go undefeated, then it was the right move. I’m not suggesting this team isn’t good enough to win without mind games, but anything worth doing is worth doing right.

Or wrong, depending on your perspective. Belichick is an Evil Genius, he’s going to win like one.

Look at their last two games. The Patriots have come under fire for what could be seen as unsportsmanlike score-running against Miami and Washington. Folks in Boston will say it’s nothing more than the coach requiring his players to do their job; score points.

Against Washington, the Patriots faced a 4th and 2 situation deep in Washington’s territory when the game was completely out of question. Seems to the reasonable-minded person that kicking a field goal would satisfy that “score points” job description. Belichick not only went for it, but he called Brady’s number, If it was in the first quarter, would any coach go for it? No, he would kick it, so it’s not at all defensible to suggest they are paid to score points.

He was making a statement. And he knows that statement will merit an enormous amount of animosity against him and against his teams. He’s reinforcing the belief he instilled in his team by getting the media to hate them even more.

Just like that, the Patriots have the necessary chip on their shoulders. Everyone is against them. “It’s Us vs. The World,” Beantown cries.

Every Super Bowl champion has had an overlying motivational factor. The champions all have that inferiority angle - no one expects them to win, they’re the underdog, we’re sick of Peyton Manning and his commercials, etc. It’s easy to point to that as the vehicle in which the team rode to the pinnacle of the league. The Steelers used the “Us vs. the World” mentality along with Jerome Bettis’ pending retirement as extra incentive to play harder.

United they stand, divided they follow the Bengals’ plan of failure.

Belichick’s team lost the past two seasons because they were the media darlings of the league; the dynasty. They’ve had targets on their back for so long, it would have taken an incredible amount of focus and passion to continuously take the direct shots from the best in the AFC and survive. They fell short against the Colts, mostly because the Colts - despite playing at home - had the underdog motivation. Their bullying rival Patriots did not have the edge in talent, and the Colts had the chip on their shoulder pads.

While Dungy took Lombardi home last year, Belichick pulled out all the stops to make sure his team was brainwashed into believing people actually didn’t expect them to win. He helped orchestrate a horribly one-sided trade for Moss, and created negative opinion by not commenting on Moss’s past. He acted as if they knew about his troubles, and weren’t completely secure in their decision just yet.

He helped fuel speculation by letting rumors about Moss even possibly getting cut during training camp linger and gain steam. He played possum about Moss’s hamstring injury until the timing was perfect to pull a complete 180 on the league.

Not only did he know full well his Patriots were going to kick the tar out of the Jets, but by putting his guy on the sideline with a camera, he made sure his team was the focal point of every angry NFL columnist and broadcaster alive. That negativity and hatred toward he and his franchise was then gift-wrapped and distributed to every player in that locker room.

By getting caught, the media fueled so much anti-Patriots sentiment, all Belichick has to do is coach to that animosity, and utter that one single guaranteed motivational phrase.

“It’s us against the world.”

Steelers rookie TE Matt Spaeth will be out Sunday’s game against San Francisco due to a quadriceps injury, the NFL media report confirmed. He is the team’s leading scorer not including K Jeff Reed, and had not practiced all week up to this point.  

Gerry Dulac of the P-G notes:

“(Spaeth) will be replaced in some short-yardage situations by tackle-eligible Max Starks. Jerame Tuman will move up as the second tight end behind Heath Miller.”

Spaeth, the team’s third round pick from the University of Minnesota, has two touchdown catches in his first two games. Both came from QB Ben Roethlisberger, and both were inside the 10-yard line.

The Steelers started their Week 2 game against Buffalo in a double-TE formation, giving Spaeth is first career start, opposite Miller.

Lawson out for year with torn ACL

49ers starting OLB Manny Lawson tore a ligament in his left knee, and will be out for the season.

Lawson was second on the team with 14 tackles, and also has one sack.

San Francisco travels to Pittsburgh for a showdown with the sixth-ranked offense in the NFL. Hannibal Navies and Parys Haralson are the top candidates to replace Lawson.

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

The 49ers have no one to approximate the range of skills the 6-foot-5, 247-pound Lawson brought to the defense. Nine-year veteran Hannibal Navies is listed next on the team’s depth chart but in terms of actually replacing Lawson, coach Mike Nolan will probably go with Parys Haralson or possibly Brandon Moore.

The 49ers are off to a 2-0 start, largely in part to the effectiveness of their 3-4 defense. Lawson has been a big part of that up to this point, after  San Francisco made him something of a surprise pick at 22 in the 2006 NFL Draft.

The Steelers climbed as high as third in a Power Rankings list this week. Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports has them 8th.

Dale Lolley: 3rd

The Steelers have outscored their first two opponents by a combined score of 60-10.

Pro Football Talk: 3rd

Bill Cowher?  Who in the hell is Bill Cowher?

Pete Prisco (CBS): 4th

At 2-0, they’ve dominated in both games. The offense is scoring, the defense is playing well and the Steelers are back as a Super contender.

Vic Carucci (NFL.com): 4th

So much for Mike Tomlin having a tough time filling those huge head-coaching shoes.

ESPN: 5th

The good news: The Steelers are 2-0 for just the second time this decade. The bad news: Those throwback uniforms they wore while beating the Bills. Throwbacks might work for the Chargers, but in Pittsburgh, just stick to the current classic.

Peter Scrager (FOX): 5th (plus a photo of Tomlin)

The Steelers absolutely dominated their opponents for the second straight week on Sunday. Wearing their throwback uniforms from the 1950’s for the home opener, Pittsburgh outgained Buffalo 421-223 in the 26-3 win. Kicker Jeff Reed nailed four field goals and running back Willie Parker put together his third consecutive 100-yard game (dating back to last season), as the Steelers manhandled the Bills on both sides of the ball from start to finish. The Mike Tomlin era starts off with a win in the home opener, just as the Bill Cowher era did in 1992 and the Chuck Noll era did in 1969.

Charles Robinson: 6th/Jason Cole (Yahoo) 8th

Steelers WR Hines Ward and his business associate, Kimberly Pitts, are being accused by a third associate, Nicholas Littieri, of removing money from the Locker Room Bar and Grille, according to the T-R.

Specifically, Lettieri leveled accusations in court documents that Pitts, her husband, Korry Pitts, and Ward failed to deposit cash receipts into the company accounts and have diverted the funds to their own personal bank accounts. Lettieri states that despite profits of more than $1 million and insurance money of $500,000, the company’s bank accounts totaled less than $19,000 as of last week.

The business’s lawyer, Thomas Castello, says the accusations are “baseless, ridiculous and unfounded.”

This might have teeth. Pro Football Talk is talking about it this morning now, too. More than likely, though, it’s not much of anything. Nothing anywhere else seems to corroborate the T-R’s story, and no one at all suggests, now, this is a serious problem for Ward.

We’ve all heard that before, though, so stay tuned.  

McNabb tells HBO “black QBs criticized more”

Eages QB Donovan McNabb told James Brown in a “Real Sports with Bryant Gumble” interview that black quarterbacks receive more criticism than white quarterbacks.

“There’s not that many African-American quarterbacks, so we have to do a little bit extra,” McNabb tells HBO. “Because the percentage of us playing this position, which people didn’t want us to play … is low, so we do a little extra.”

Apparently, McNabb thinks people owe him something. Outside of his ginormous paycheck, of course. He also says he “loves” Carson Palmer and Peyton Manning, but they don’t get as much criticism as “we” do.

Manning is a three-time league MVP, a Super Bowl champion and is widely regarded as the best QB in the game. Palmer threw for over 4,000 yards last season, and has a career rating of 92.4

In a completely unrelated story, ESPN’s Len Pasquarelli heaps mounds of praise on Redskins QB Jason Campbell after he defeated McNabb’s Eagles 20-12 Monday night. SI’s Don Banks writes a colorblind piece on the success Campbell is starting to have. And PFT lays into McNabb, as it rightfully should (scroll about a quarter of the way down the Rumor Mill, Florio doesn’t believe in permalinks for some reason). McNabb’s passer rating through two games is 68.8. It won’t be long until the Philly media start asking him if he’s still upset at the organization for drafting QB Kevin Kolb in the second round of this year’s draft.

Harrison to play on Sunday

Steelers OLB James Harrison was cleared to play Sunday against San Francisco. In case you missed it, Harrison was carted off the field on a stretcher on an 8-yard run by Bills RB Marshawn Lynch. Harrison collided with the backside of Steelers NT Casey Hampton, but later avoided paramedics and returned to the sidelines. He did not play for the rest of the game.

Sepulveda, Spaeth paying dividends

While it’s obvious to suggest now that rookies Dan Sepulveda and Matt Spaeth are both panning out pretty well as middle round selections of Mike Tomlin’s first draft, Adam Gretz puts Sepulveda’s achievements thus far in a great way: He’s punted seven times, none of the seven have been returned. Four of his seven punts have been downed inside the 10 yard line. That’s four more than Chris Gardocki landed there all last season, as Gretz mentions.

I’ll say it again, Pittsburgh has never had this kind of weapon on special teams, and through watching and learning the game from the Steelers, I never had any idea how much of an impact a good punter can make on the game.

Conversely, I’m amazed the Steelers were able to win in 2005 without a punter like the Sepulverizer.

Spaeth has two red-zone touchdowns in two games, but to be fair, he wasn’t the primary receiver on the second one. Clearly, the play was intended for veteran Jerame Tuman, who was blanketed on the play. Rest assured, Spaeth will be noticed on the goal line from this point on. But it certainly is tantilizing to think about the sort of offense at Ben Roethlisberger’s disposal when Spaeth’s blocking catches up with the NFL. Having two well-balanced, field-stretching TEs gives the Steelers the versatility to run or pass aggressively out of that formation. If that hurry-up offense is ever needed, they can mix it up with the two TEs, Ward, Santonio, Parker and Wilson shuffling in and out. Sounds very dangerous.

Former NFL player Dave Pear wishes he never played

Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports has a sobering column about Dave Pear, a former NFL player with a slew of health problems largely caused by his time in the league.

“The NFL destroys families,” Pear told Cole. ”I wish I had never played.”