Hire this man. Jeff Diamond was NFL executive of the year with the Minnesota Vikings last season when the Vikings went 15-1. Pushed out as vice president of administration and team operations in a power struggle with coach Dennis Green, Diamond landed with the Tennessee Titans, where he is president and chief operating officer.
The Titans are 3-0. If they go 4-0 against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, it would be the first time in the 40 years of the franchise formerly known as the Houston Oilers.
Coincidence? Check this: Last year, rookie Randy Moss torched the league in Minnesota, setting reception records while the Vikings broke the league scoring record. In Tennessee, rookie receiver Kevin Dyson languished, famous only for getting drafted before Moss.
Dyson caught only 21 passes, two for touchdowns, last year. As soon as Diamond arrives in Tennessee, Dyson has 20 catches, two for touchdowns, in three games. Meanwhile, Moss has only nine catches, one for a touchdown.
There’s more: At this year’s draft, after the Vikings had traded backup quarterback Brad Johnson to Washington, there was considerable sentiment within the Vikings’ brain trust to select pass rusher Jevon Kearse. Instead, Green went with quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who is a fourth-stringer. Diamond was still in Minnesota at the time.
Guess who took Kearse? Titans coach Jeff Fisher couldn’t believe he was still available. So far, he leads the AFC with three sacks and caused a fumble against Jacksonville last week.
Diamond compared the Jacksonville win to the Vikings’ resounding victory last year in Green Bay.
“It was a statement game. Our confidence grew from there. I’m hoping the same kind of thing happens this year,” Diamond said.
Things have changed: Ten years ago, there were no black head coaches in the NFL, no black offensive coordinators or defensive coordinators, two black quarterbacks and one black referee. Last Sunday when the Packers and Vikings played in Green Bay, there were two black head coaches, two black offensive coordinators, one black defensive coordinator, one black starting quarterback and a black referee in the same game. And hardly anybody noticed. It is true, however, that the black quarterback (Randall Cunningham) and the black referee (Johnny Grier) are two of the three who were around 10 years ago.
Deion is back: The Dallas Cowboys were 8-3 with cornerback Deion Sanders last year. They were 2-3 without him. Sanders will return Sunday against Arizona after surgery for a toe injury that has sidelined him for nine months.
The last time Sanders was healthy, he helped the Cowboys to a 28-0 first-half lead over the Cardinals at Sun Devil Stadium on Nov. 15. In the second half of that game, Sanders limped off the field with an injured left big toe and the Cardinals rallied before falling 35-28.
The Cardinals threw for 448 yards that day, the most ever allowed by the Cowboys. Sanders played in only one game the rest of the regular season but was still hurting in the 20-7 playoff loss to the Cardinals at Texas Stadium. He underwent surgery on his toe in April.
With Sanders in the lineup, the Cowboys allowed only three teams to rush for more than 100 yards. Without him, their safeties had to stay back in pass coverage and four of their final five opponents ran for more than 100 yards. In their final six games, including the playoff loss, the Cowboys had only four sacks. They had 26 in the 10 games Sanders played.
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“He’s one of the most dominant players to play the game at any position,” Cardinals offensive coordinator Marc Trestman said. “He’s the best cover guy to ever play the game.”
Battle of the decade: The 2-0 Rams can shake their distinction of being the NFL’s losingest team in the decade with a victory Sunday in Cincinnati. The Rams are 47-99 in the ’90s for a .322 winning percentage. The Bengals are 48-99 for a .327 percentage. So the loser also becomes the first team to lose 100 games this decade.
Top 5–49ers (111-36, .760), Cowboys (95-51, .651), Chiefs (95-52, .646), Bills (94-53, .639), Steelers (89-58, .605).
Bottom 5–Rams (47-99, .322), Bengals (48-99, .372), Ravens (17-33-1, .343), Cardinals (53-94, .360), Colts (55-92, .374).
The Bears (68-79, .463) are tied with the Panthers (31-36).
Thierry benched: Cleveland has replaced ex-Bear John Thierry at strong-side linebacker with rookie Rahim Abdullah.
“He’s the team’s future,” Thierry said. “I can’t really knock what they’re doing. I knew it was a matter of time. I don’t think me playing better or worse will change the situation. But I’ll play my best football when I do get in there.”
Back it up: Oakland defensive tackle Darrell Russell found himself in jawing matches with Bears running back Curtis Enis on several occasions last week.
“If you’re out there running good, that’s one thing, but he wasn’t running good. He was trying to talk and keep us out of our game. I don’t respect anyone talking just to try and get people out of their game,” Russell said. “I just let him know in the second half I wanted him to run the ball. If he is so bad and likes to run people over, let’s see it. Well, he wasn’t running the ball and he wasn’t running it to my side. It looks like the Hummer ran out of gas.”
Enis compares his running style to the Humvee military vehicle.
Rickety Ricky: Saints rookie Ricky Williams, hobbled by ankle sprains and now a hyperextended elbow that will likely keep him out of Sunday’s game at Soldier Field, has gained 120 yards in 32 attempts for a 3.8-yard average and no touchdowns.
His well-publicized contract, based largely on incentives beyond his $8.84 million signing bonus and $175,000 salary, consists of 26 targets that could earn him $50,000 for each one reached, up to a cap of $500,000. Those incentives include rushing for an average of 4.5 yards per carry, 12 or more rushing touchdowns, 12 or more receiving touchdowns, scoring 76 points, gaining 1,601 yards in total offense and playing in 35 percent of the offensive plays.
49ers linebacker Ken Norton Jr. went after Williams two weeks ago after the rookie was penalized for a late hit.
“I got in his face, talked smack to him, and he’s still coming back. Very impressive. Strong guy. He’s going to be pretty good in this league,” Norton said. “He has his own style, strong, good feet, and you can’t rattle him too much. He’s listening to what you’re saying, but at the same time, he has a quiet confidence about him. You have to give him a lot of respect.”
Romo cop: Not everything is different about the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, now 0-3.
Linebacker Bill Romanowski has been fined $10,000 for a late hit to Tampa Bay quarterback Trent Dilfer last week. Romanowski received a $5,000 fine for a hit on Kansas City tight end Tony Gonzalez. On Sept. 19. During the 1997 season, he compiled $27,500 in fines–$20,000 for a helmet-to-helmet hit that broke the jaw of former Carolina quarterback Kerry Collins and a $7,500 fine for spitting on San Francisco wide receiver J.J. Stokes.