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Coaching changes give AFC edge
Posted: Monday November 15, 1999 07:26 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King talked to CNN/SI's Bob Lorenz on NFL Preview before the kickoff of Week 10: Bob Lorenz: We've got Peter King locked in Chicago and Peter give us your explanation of this shift in power from the NFC to the AFC. Peter King: You can't lose all the great coaches that the NFC has lost to the AFC and still be the dominant conference. You know Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson have taken their smash-mouth style over to the AFC and the two best passing coaches of their day, Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren, have gone from head coaching and coordinator jobs in the NFC to the AFC. I'll just say one other thing, the NFC and AFC have existed now, and this is the 30th year since the merger, the 30th season. This is the first time ever, this week, I believe, that the best five teams in football have all been in the AFC. BL: You know Peter, the Indianapolis Colts have already won as many games as the last two years combined. Is it any surprise that Peyton Manning has gotten so good so soon? PK: Well, I don't think it is that big of a surprise, although clearly there was a contest between Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning a year and a half ago. One of my favorite stories that I have ever done at Sports Illustrated happened before the draft last year when I was asked to compare Leaf and Manning. So what I did was I took thirty plays of Manning and Leaf on videotape and flew around the country to some of the top quarterback minds -- Sid Gillman, Bill Walsh, Mike Shanahan -- and showed them the tape and six guys. Then, I said, okay, tell me who you like better; it was 6-0 for Manning. So I think most people, although they love Leaf's raw talent, really like what Manning brought to the table as a quarterback. One other thing, I was in the Giants locker room on Friday and listened to John Fox their defensive coordinator talk about Manning and he says hey, maybe we ought to petition the league to play fourteen guys on defense against this guy on Sunday. That's how good a guy everybody around the league is thinking that Peyton Manning is right now. BL: This is going to be the first time in the nineties that the Cowboys are going to take the field without the big three, Aikman, Irvin and Smith. Peter, how long are they going to be without them? PK: Well, who would have thought midway through the season that Cleveland would have better skilled players on the field than Dallas. But what's happening in Dallas now. I think you are only going to see Emmitt Smith miss one game. Emmitt Smith is desperate to win one more rushing title and it is within view. He is going to try and play next Sunday with his broken hand casted and tightly wrapped. Now Michael Irvin, the second of the trio, Michael is telling people he really wants to play this year. He has talked to some people who have had the neck injury prognosis, and he is also figuring that by the end of the year he is going to get back in the games. He is telling people he is definitely going to play by the end of the year. Now, Troy Aikman, he's iffy. Some people in the organization want him to sit three weeks because of back-to- back concussions. Troy wants to play next week. He will get more exams Monday and Tuesday of this week. We should know Wednesday or Thursday whether Aikman misses another game. BL: Wide receiver Joey Galloway finally ended his 102-day holdout and finally reported to the Seattle Seahawks. Peter what's the story, are we going to see Galloway play today? PK: Barring a last-minute change of mind by Mike Holmgren, Joey Galloway will be active and play 20-25 plays as the third and fourth receiver. BL: San Francisco 49ers disappointed in Jeff Garcia's performance are turning to Steve Stenstrom today, their 4th starting quarterback in 17 games. Peter what are the 49ers options at quarterback for next season? PK: Well, Bob I think that all depends on who is going to be running the San Francisco draft room next year. If it is Steve Mariucci, I expect that Mariucci will try to go out and get a free agent, or trade for a quarterback, to try and hold the fort. Maybe somebody like Rob Johnson in Buffalo or somebody who he thinks can step in like Brad Johnson did in Washington this year and played pretty well. Now if Walsh is doing the drafting, I think he goes after Chad Pennington or Chris Redmond, the top two college quarterbacks. BL: And Peter the Niners had hoped that Lawrence Phillips was the answer at running back but now it is a question of if he'll ever put on a 49er uniform again'. PK: Well I think there is a really good chance that Lawrence Phillips gets fired by the 49ers when San Francisco returns from New Orleans. It is a long and sordid story Bob. It has its roots in September, when Phillips missed a blitz pick-up, got Steve Young hurt, gave him one of his two concussions this year, and so then the 49ers were really skeptical about playing him instead of Charlie Garner, who is a better blocker. Plus, Phillips has had a bad hamstring all year and in the last three or four weeks he has totally taken himself out of the team. He doesn't talk to anybody. He doesn't go to the trainer's room for treatment. Lawrence Phillips has become a non-person. And on the sidelines at practice on Friday, running backs coach Tom Rathman said to him, "Okay, Lawrence go in for Garner." Phillips said, "No, I'm not going in. You never play me in the game. I'm not going in." Rathman then exploded at Phillips, Steve Mariucci told him to get out. They suspended Phillips for the week. And I think this has a bad end for Lawrence Phillips, who can't afford a strike three but I think he gets fired on Tuesday. BL: Peter, last week Washington Redskins' owner Daniel Snyder told you the Redskins better make the playoffs or else, what is the latest on Washington Redskins' head coach Norv Turner? PK: Well, I think on Monday, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, upon some advise from friends and people he respects, wanted to get rid of Mike Nolan the defensive coordinator. That didn't happen. Norv stood up for his guy and said I don't want to make any coaching changes. Plus, Bill Arnsparger who would take his place is 73 years old and does not want the job. But I think this also is going to come to bad end for Turner and his staff. Unless they make the playoffs and not just make the playoffs but make it impressively. I think Daniel Snyder is going to clean house. BL: And finally, Rams linebacker Leonard Little returns today after serving an eight-game suspension for a drunk driving accident, which killed a woman. But many feel that Little's suspension should have been much tougher. PK: I think that people look at the NFL and say that Paul Harding got a year for gambling on the game, and Leonard Little gets eight weeks for killing somebody while drunk. I think the other thing about this story is that Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) will be outside the Trans World Dome protesting.
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