All throughout our great land this week, panic buttons are being pounded by desperate fists.
Many a brow is dripping with nervous perspiration in Pittsburgh, St. Louis, New York and Washington, among other cities. The preseason favorite Steelers, Rams, Jets and Redskins are now the talk of their towns, although it's expressing complete disappointment rather than post-victory boasts.
Rather than focus on one team and its plight, let's take a look at the early-season failures of these four and how they can install a quick fix. Is there hope? Sure -- but there's reason to panic.
Pittsburgh Steelers
QB Kordell Stewart has been a question mark every year. If he plays well, they win; if not, they lose. But when was the last time the Steelers defense was such an enigma?
Kordell Stewart isn't the biggest problem in Pittsburgh -- the defense is.
Pittsburgh's defense has annually been a strong point despite a revolving door of personnel, coaches and coordinators. To see them struggle in such grand fashion is one of the biggest surprises of the year.
"That's a big problem with us," said Pro Bowl running back Jerome Bettis when asked about the team's defensive struggles. "With a 3-4, once you spread us out, you take our best pass rushers, our linebackers, and turn them into defensive backs. That's definitely not what we want to do. We need to come up with new schemes to get those guys rushing the quarterback and still be able to defend."
So what should the Steelers do?
Switch to a 4-3 scheme on most passing downs and various other first- and second-down snaps. Why? Depending upon personnel, this could ensure that Pittsburgh's best pass rushers can do what they do best -- play Kill the Quarterback.
In the 3-4, the Steelers are often faced with dropping Pro Bowl pass-rushing linebackers Jason Gildon and Joey Porter. If they switch to a 4-3, they can move Porter and Gildon up to defensive end and move Aaron Smith inside and take another defensive lineman off the field. Not a bad pass rush. This hardly means they would eliminate the zone blitz, because either outside rusher can still drop back into coverage on some calls.
Another problem that has been largely overlooked is the loss of LB Earl Holmes via free agency. Holmes' slot was essentially filled by signing former Jet James Farrior. When Holmes roamed as the nickelback, it allowed Porter to rush the passer. But now with Holmes in Cleveland, the team has had trouble in the nickel packages.
St. Louis Rams
The Rams' turf acrobatics might not be dead yet, but they certainly are stale. With every inept Rams showing, another "Are the Rams dead?" column pops up. Add this to the list, albeit with a different slant. Rather than analyze from viewing game films, we spoke with several Bucs players, asking them to break down where the St. Louis juggernaut has lost much of its bite.
The answers stem from not one culprit but four: 1) offensive game plan; 2) QB Kurt Warner; 3) departure of LB London Fletcher; and 4) the same old concern at right tackle.
"It's not a bad game plan at all, but it's the same thing we planned against three years ago," said one Bucs player. "They really don't do anything differently now than they did back in 1999. We're game-planning for the exact same thing."
While the rest of the league spent endless hours and countless days devising defensive plans to stop their multiple options, the Rams have not made viable, proactive changes to stay one step ahead.
Warner has also not been as sharp as he was the past three years. While his thumb has gotten the majority of attention, Warner's overall game is suffering.
"He used to keep you guessing, but the only guy he looks to now is Tory Holt," said a Bucs defensive starter. "He hardly ever looks at (Isaac) Bruce. That's a 1,000-yard receiver who isn't nearly as involved.
"There has to be something wrong with Kurt because he threw some of the worst passes the other night that I have ever seen from him."
The final offensive problem is one exposed last year by Giants defensive end Michael Strahan. The Rams' right tackle rotation of the past year has produced no solution. Monday night, the Bucs moved their best pass rusher, Simeon Rice, to left end to capitalize on this matchup. Even when the Rams are able to assist starter John St. Clair, the offense suffers.
"When the Rams want to help defend against somebody like me, they have to keep somebody else in," said Strahan. "Even if I don't get a sack, it still takes a player like Marshall Faulk out of that play because he has to stay in and block me. Or a tight end has to stay in, and that takes that player out of the passing game."
One of the biggest differences from last year's team is the subtraction of MLB London Fletcher, a move that has hardly been addressed as a huge loss. Fletcher was allowed to leave via free agency, replaced by former Buc Jamie Duncan, who has already been benched.
"I don't think people realize how much of a difference he made for them," said another Bucs player (all the Bucs interviewed for this column requested anonymity). "He got in that hole and got after you. Then he'd get up and talk junk in your face. He brought attitude. The guy was a playmaker."
What can they do? The Rams still possess some of the best weapons in the league. However, they need to utilize them better. Put square pegs in the square holes that teams show them. Spread the ball out to Bruce and other receivers. When teams show three-man fronts and drop everyone else into coverage ... DON'T THROW THE BALL!
Mike Martz needs to get the ground game going, especially against the three-man fronts shown by the Broncos, Giants and Bucs. The run still sets up the pass.
New York Jets
The Jets teased themselves and their fans with a perfect preseason. Defensively, they appeared to be a work in progress as four new starters in the back seven needed weeks to mesh.
But when the games began to count, their offense petered. Where do their primary problems lie?
The Jets allowed one of the league's top assistants, offensive line coach Bill Muir, to hop on a jet plane and not come back. Now in Tampa, Muir is again working magic with one of the worst lines in the NFL in terms of personnel while the Jets are struggling mightily up front.
Muir's replacement, Doug Marrone, has clicked very well with his linemen, and this is certainly not a knock on Marrone. But he isn't Muir. Nobody is. When a team loses one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL, a dropoff must be expected. The problem is that nobody expected this.
The Dolphins showed the world Sunday how to defend against the Jets' vaunted five-receiver set. Whenever the Jets went empty backfield, the Fins blitzed and forced Vinny Testaverde to make a quick, short throw. The idea was to take away the deep pass and force Testaverde into making hasty decisions. The plan worked to perfection.
Like the Rams' Martz, Jets offensive coordinator Paul Hackett has not best utilized his weapons. The team recently signed Wayne Chrebet to a huge deal for a No. 2 wideout. He remains one of the most difficult receivers in the NFL to cover on third downs. But the way Hackett uses him, Chrebet will soon lose this distinction. Why not throw to the guy on his effective crossing and slant routes that made him the league's most famous Hofstra alum?
During the preseason, Jets Pro Bowl linebacker Mo Lewis seemed like he could see this coming. Lewis spoke of how all the new starters on defense needed to stop showing glimpses of their former schemes and mesh under one umbrella. It has not happened. While Donnie Abraham has been solid, showing flashes of his Pro Bowl form of two years ago, LB Sam Cowart, CB Aaron Beasley and SS Sam Garnes have not exactly lit the field on fire.
To their credit, last week they played for an extended period before gassing out after three quarters of offensive failure.
Washington Redskins
The only thing wrong with the Redskins offense was the preseason hype generated with the Steve Spurrier hiring. Last we checked, Spurrier wasn't lacing up the cleats. Check out his personnel, and the reasons for the struggles become somewhat evident.
The quarterback slot has been manned by two veteran castoffs and a rookie from college football juggernaut Tulane. Although Rod Gardner is a nice player, the Redskins receivers are far from the groups Spurrier had at Florida. Those Gators receivers were dominant compared to opponents. Kevin Lockett and Jacquez Green are not scaring anyone.
While their offensive line boasts one of the best young tackle tandems in the league, their interior is a struggle. Again, personnel lends to the problem.
The main problem? Spurrier believed his coaching ability would be able to make up for their lack of personnel. This is not college. This is not a part-time league. When all the PR is ignored and the smoke fades, the players on the field decide the victor.
"Football geniuses think they have to outsmart each other; that's the not the way the game is played," said one NFL personnel director. "It still comes down to blocking, tackling and execution. When you have a bunch of robots running around trying to think about what they are doing, how can they play football?
"That's what makes (Broncos coach Mike) Shanahan such a genius. Shanahan looks for matchups and then designs the game plan for those matchups. That's what makes Bill Belichick so great. He doesn't look to just run plays, he looks to attack. Spurrier runs plays. Martz runs plays. The good coaches look for matchups."
Defensively, there is little reason the Redskins should struggle, even with a pair of safeties who are not in the same category as the other starters on that side of the ball. Co-head coach and defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis has been lauded as a defensive genius.
Washington simply has too many defensive playmakers and too good a coach to continue its abysmal ways. Expect the 'Skins to rebound from the early crash.
Is it time to panic yet? You bet.
There is still hope for these four floundering franchises, but the panic button has rightfully been hit.