It was Bill Parcells who asked his Dallas Cowboys last season: “Who scares you?”
It was his observation that no team in the NFC struck fear in anybody’s heart, so his young Cowboys might as well believe in themselves. Indeed, the NFL is full of teams unable to qualify for “Fear Factor.” Even the champion New England Patriots inspire more wonder than awe.
After the first wave of free agency and the draft, have the Bears added anybody who scares anybody else? The answer is no, not compared with teams in the NFC North or most teams on their schedule.
If you are a cornerback would you rather face Marty Booker and Justin Gage on opening day, or the Lions’ young wide receivers, Charles Rogers and Roy Williams?
If you are a linebacker, would you rather chase Thomas Jones or the Packers’ Ahman Green? Green isn’t new, of course. Unhappily for the Bears, neither is he old.
If you are a defensive coordinator in the division, say Detroit’s Dick Jauron, would you rather scheme against the combination of Booker, Gage, Jones and Rex Grossman, or against the Vikings’ arsenal of Randy Moss, Marcus Robinson, Michael Bennett and Daunte Culpepper?
The Bears’ schedule continues:
Week 4, they face the Eagles, who have added Terrell Owens to catch passes and Jevon Kearse to chase passers.
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Week 5 it’s the Washington Redskins. Resuscitated coach Joe Gibbs is scary enough, but he also hired Clinton Portis to run and drafted Sean Taylor to stop the run.
Week 6 it’s Tampa Bay. The Bucs have turned over most of their team, adding speedy running back Charlie Garner, receiver Joey Galloway and linebacker Ian Gold. They drafted another receiver among a great class, Michael Clayton.
Week 7 it’s the San Francisco 49ers. They subtracted more than they added, but they also beat the Bears 49-7 last year.
Week 8, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning will be greener than Grossman, but they also have the best pass rusher, Michael Strahan, plus offensive weapons Tiki Barber, Amani Toomer and Jeremy Shockey.
Weeks 9 and 10, the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts feature quarterbacks Steve McNair and Peyton Manning. Neither team added anything in free agency or the first round of the draft, partly because they didn’t need much.
Not until Thanksgiving Day does it look like Bears coach Lovie Smith can go into Dallas and ask his team: “Does anybody scare you?”
If new Dallas receiver Keyshawn Johnson is still playing by then, Bears cornerback Charles Tillman won’t quake in his cleats. Neither will any of Parcells’ players.
Tale of two drafts: There is more than one way to draft a quarterback. Last year the Bears had the fourth pick in the first round and traded down to get Rex Grossman as well as defensive end Michael Haynes. They didn’t consider trading up to No. 1 with Cincinnati to land quarterback Carson Palmer, partly because they didn’t want to give up this year’s first-round choice.
The Giants had the fourth pick but ended up with the first when they dealt quarterback Philip Rivers to San Diego for Eli Manning. The Giants gave up next year’s first- and fifth-round picks plus this year’s third-round choice.
It will be interesting to compare the careers of Grossman, Palmer, Manning and Rivers.
What a rush: Carolina coach John Fox, on the importance of the pass rush: “We’re a passing league. The best pass defense in the world is the pass rush. Whether it’s on the perimeter or up the middle, any way you can create that steady push that disrupts the quarterback is great. A lot of people have the misconception that it has to be sacks, sacks, sacks. It’s really not sacks. It’s pressure and disrupting the quarterback. It’s very critical that you have at least one guy inside to create that penetration up the middle.”
That’s exactly what Lovie Smith hopes he has in either Tommie Harris or Tank Johnson or both. Smith’s predraft quote about defensive tackles is considered more of a challenge than a warning: “You look at the history of big guys you pick. You’re taking a chance. Most of them really don’t turn out.”
Smith believes it’s too easy to double-team tackles, so it’s critical to get pressure off the edge. If quarterbacks get rid of the ball faster to avoid sacks, that’s OK too, Fox said.
“They’re always getting rid of the ball quicker,” Fox said. “But defensively, quicker is good. It means they’re not throwing the ball as far.”
No gamble: One of the reasons the Packers passed up Ohio State cornerback Chris Gamble and took Arkansas’ Ahmad Carroll was Gamble’s low score of nine on the controversial Wonderlic test. Carroll scored a 17.
Depending on who interprets, the reading comprehension test can predict learning ability. There are 50 questions, and if a football prospect gets 20 or more right, everybody is happy. A score in the 30s is outstanding (Eli Manning scored 39, Bears pick Craig Krenzel 38) and a score in the 40s is off the charts. Iowa defensive tackle Jared Clauss scored 45 and was drafted in the seventh round by Tennessee; Bears picks Harris and Johnson scored 11 and 16, respectively.
“I just didn’t have enough time to finish it,” said Gamble, who was drafted by Carolina at No. 28, three spots behind Green Bay. “I’m smart, I know I’m smart. I just want to go out there and play smart and let everyone know that I am. At the combine I did it, and it was like, 12 minutes. I thought we had to answer everything, and we didn’t. . . . I think it means [a lot], but on the field . . . you just have to play football.”
Panthers GM Marty Hurney: “There’s a lot of different reasons why guys can have certain test scores. . . . We investigated thoroughly and came to the conclusion [Gamble] doesn’t have a problem learning on the field.”
If Gamble had run as fast a time in the 40-yard dash as Carroll or others, it easily would have trumped his test score. The Packers had Carroll rated ahead of South Carolina’s Dunta Robinson, who went to Houston at No. 10, and behind Virginia Tech’s DeAngelo Hall, taken by Atlanta at No. 8.
Hall, Robinson and Gamble all are bigger than Carroll.
“This guy played bigger,” Packers GM-coach Mike Sherman said of Carroll. “Hall’s a special player because of his return skills, but he’s the same speed.”
Atlanta coach Jim Mora said Hall “has what we term `athletic arrogance.’ That means he doesn’t believe that anybody on the football field can beat him.”