The Kansas City Chiefs don’t seem to understand the concept of the old sports adage, “Act like you’ve been there before.” Then again, when you haven’t held a lead in regulation through your first eight games, it’s tough to know where “there” is. The Chiefs, who are clearly not used to success, went a bit overboard in Monday night’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, breaking out choreographed celebrations to mark various accomplishments. One wonders how good they’d be if they spent that time working on plays. Perhaps the most embarrassing incident happened halfway through the third quarter, when Steelers quarterback Byron Leftwich appeared to fumble the ball on a pass attempt, and Kansas City linebacker Justin Houston returned the allegedly fumbled football for a defensive touchdown. After reviewing the play, referee Carl Cheffers decreed that Leftwich had actually thrown an incomplete pass. However, the penalty given to the Chiefs for their group celebration in the end zone would stand. It turned a Pittsburgh forth down into a Pittsburgh first down, and added 15 yards to the Steelers’ drive. Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel, who had to threaten his entire team with benchings last week because the turnover ratio was so out of hand, was back at it in response to this recent lack of fundamentals. This time, Crennel had to crack down on dancing … like some sort of modern-day Reverend Shaw Moore . Question was, where did all this ridiculousness come from? “I have no idea,” Crennel told Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star on Tuesday.. “It was a surprise to me to see some of those celebrations, per se. The rules are explicit about no celebrating, particularly group celebrations. You cannot have those. Our guys, they know the rules and they should not have done it. I will talk to my players about that, and I don’t expect it to happen again.” Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe could have been penalized on an apparent touchdown reception earlier in the third quarter, when he held the ball out in a clear taunting gesture as he was going into the end zone. Fortunately for Bowe, we guess, left tackle Branden Albert was flagged for holding, and the touchdown was negated. The call against Albert was ticky-tack at best and wouldn’t have held up under close scrutiny, but that’s beside the point. This is a team that was 1-7 at the time, acting like they were on the right side of a Super Bowl blowout. Just who the heck do these guys think they are?
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Romeo Crennel would really like the Chiefs to stop dancing on the field (Shutdown Corner)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Panthers announced they’ve signed free agent guard Jeremy Bridges to serve as a stop-gap for their struggling offensive line.
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Panthers sign Bridges to help struggling O-line (The Associated Press)
Tim Tebow’s teammates don’t think he’s the answer to the Jets’ struggles.
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Jets teammates don’t think Tebow’s the solution (The SportsXchange)
By Rich Kurtzman The Denver Broncos are definite contenders. Any casual observer might believe Peyton Manning is due most credit, but they would be wrong. While Manning has proven to be an elite QB—bringing the Broncos back three times and leading the league in passer rating—he can be given only partial credit for Denver’s success. The men that matter most are the linemen. Yes, those big boys that have the unglamorous job of getting down and dirty in the trenches—jabbing, jumping and jawing away—they’re responsible for Denver’s lead in the AFC West. As they say, whoever controls the line of scrimmage, controls the game—the Broncos are proving that true. (Credit, Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
1. Houston Texans (8-1) Last week: 3 With the Atlanta Falcons losing to the New Orleans Saints in Week 10, the Texans deserve the top spot after going into windy and rainy Soldier Field and coming away with a “W”. The Texans defense, which ranks second in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric through ten weeks, turned the tables on the Chicago Bears by creating four turnovers and did just enough on offense for a 13-6 win outside their climate-controlled home stadium. 2. Atlanta Falcons (8-1) Last week: 1 A run at perfection would have been nice, but there’s no shame in losing on the road to a Saints team that is heating up entering the second half of the season. The Falcons still have the top record in the NFC, are in complete control of the NFC South, and can now go through the next seven weeks without having to deal with the pressures of remaining undefeated. 3. Chicago Bears (7-2) Last week: 2 Between the offense’s performance on Sunday and the uncertainty of Jay Cutler’s concussion, there was some temptation to drop the Bears down even further on the list. Rod Marinelli’s defense warrants a Top 3 ranking. 4. Denver Broncos (6-3) Last week: 8 According to Football Outsiders, the Broncos are back in the top spot in team DVOA following their 36-14 win over the Carolina Panthers. The Broncos have won four straight games and are 6-0 when scoring 30+ points. Fun fact: With 271 points scored through nine games, the Broncos are just 38 points behind the 309 they scored during the 2011 regular season.
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Week 11 Power Rankings: Texans grab the top spot (Shutdown Corner)
Defensive prospects are dominating the top of the draft board, and defensive linemen in particular are standing out at this point. Defensive linemen…
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2013 NFL draft – Deep DT class could benefit five teams in particular
The Panthers announced they’ve signed free agent guard Jeremy Bridges to serve as a stop-gap for their struggling offensive line.
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Carolina Panthers sign Jeremy Bridges to help struggling O-line
Peyton Manning or Adrian Peterson? Who is more deserving of the NFL comeback player of the year award (and perhaps MVP)? NFC North blogger Kevin Seif…
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Manning-Peterson Twitter debate
DENVER — Talk about a blast from the past. With a nod to the halcyon days of the Blake Street Bombers, the Rockies on Tuesday hired former slugger Dante Bichette as their new hitting coach.
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Bichette hired as Rockies’ hitting instructor
ENGLEWOOD — When the calendar makes the turn from October to November, the leaves fall, the clocks fall back and the Broncos have followed suit in recent years.
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Broncos try to avoid late slide