Rapid Reactions Heading into Week Eight

By: Matt Harmon

Browns bench QB Brandon Weeden for Jason Campbell

• You know it is bad when Jason Campbell is taking the field over you. Weeden has been a complete disaster since re-taking the starting quarterback spot from local hero, Brian Hoyer. Hoyer brought life to a team that has been struggling for most of recent memory, but when Weeden came back in you could feel the air come out of this team. There have been whispers from the team that the defense, skill position players, and offensive line believe they are all playing well enough to be better than a 3-4 team; who does that leave? Weeden’s game film against the Packers last week was a complete mess and removing him from the field is clearly the right decision. However, Jason Campbell does not bring much hope. He plays the game far too slow, does not pull the trigger on down the field throw, and never plays up to a pretty nice physical skillset. Last we saw Campbell he was not good enough to carry the Bears in Jay Cutler’s absence, and we all know about his poor history in Washington, but there have been times in his career he has been a serviceable quarterback. Campbell comes in to an offense with some solid pieces and if he can be that serviceable quarterback from the past, he will be a big upgrade over Brandon Weeden. It is just very hard to see any of that happening, because Campbell is just the epitome of mediocre.
  

Rams QB Sam Bradford is out for the season with a torn ACL

• Bradford went down trying to run out of bounds during Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Panthers, and it was apparent right away it was a serious injury. While Bradford was uneven for most of this season, the Rams season dies with his departure simply due to the drop off to his backup. Backup, Kellen Clemens has never been a good quarterback in the league, and the Rams are just one of the many teams ill-prepared to sustain an injury to its starting quarterback. There really is not enough of a running game to lean on for the Rams, and their defense has been a disappointment thus far. The very vexing part of this injury to Bradford is how the Rams approach the quarterback position in the offseason. The rams really seem to believe very highly in Bradford’s potential to be an elite quarterback this season, but he has not really shown enough to earn that faith. With two picks potentially in the top half of the first round, theirs and the Redskins, the Rams could be in position to move up for a top quarterback prospect in the NFL Draft. This is a situation to watch. 

Bengals place CB Leon Hall on IR

• This injury has an extra layer of sadness because it is the exact same injury Hall was recovering from so well from last year. Hall is an underrated defensive player in this league and is arguably a top ten corner. He is unique because he can match up with big, number one wide receivers outside, and do battle with slot receivers inside with equal proficiency. He will be missed on the Bengals defense, but this team is pretty deep at cornerback. Veterans Terrance Newman and Adam Jones have been reborn under Mike Zimmer, and the Bengals still have high draft choices Dre Kirkpatrick and Brandon Ghee waiting in the wings. It is hard to lose one of your best players, especially at cornerback, but the Bengals are one of the few teams who are equipped to weather that storm.
  

Bears QB Jay Cutler will miss at least four weeks with a groin injury

• Jay Cutler was playing the best football his career, and has a case to be a top ten quarterback in the NFL. Cutler will be gone for a minimum of four weeks and even though the back up, Josh McCown played well in relief on Sunday, it is hard to see the Bears keeping pace in the competitive NFC without their starting signal caller. The Bears have wilted without Cutler in the past, and that was when they had a top ten-caliber defense; they are nowhere near that level anymore. 
  

Bears OLB Lance Briggs out four to six weeks with shoulder injury

• The Bears front seven could hardly stand to sustain another injury, much less to its very best player. The Bears had already lost defensive tackles Henry Melton and Nate Collins along with middle linebacker D.J. Williams, and the drop off in their run defense bore out the results of those losses. Briggs had taken over the defensive leader role from Brian Urlacher, and was responsible for relaying the calls and getting everyone lined up in the right spot on defense. The entire Bears defense will continue to spiral in his absence. 
  

Colts WR Reggie Wayne is out for the season with a torn ACL

• This loss is a very big blow to an offense that relies heavily on Reggie Wayne to be a reliable presence for Andrew Luck. The rest of the Colts pass catchers (T.Y. Hilton, Darius Heyward-Bey and Coby Fleener) are more of speed, big play options that have not consistently caught the football or been in the right place for Luck. You also have to worry that at age 34 if this injury could be career threatening for Wayne. He has refined his game and has defied his age to this point, but it is much harder for older players to come back from these sorts of injuries. 
  

Texans MLB Brian Cushing out for the season with a broken fibula and torn LCL

• The good news for Cushing is that this was not an injury to the same ACL he tore last year, but he will still miss a second straight season with a leg injury. The aggressive linebacker is the second best player on the Texans defense, after J.J. Watt, but he may be the most important. This defense completely fell off without Cushing last season, and the depth at linebacker is not better this season. The Texans season was already quickly slipping away and if their defensive prowess goes away with Cushing, things could only get worse. 
  

NFL suspends Redskins FS Brandon Meriweather for two games

• Brandon Meriweather has finally gone a step too far in his quest to constantly break the NFL’s helmet-to-helmet rules. Meriweather is a fool who has consistently not made any effort to change his game at any point during any of his NFL stops. It seems like we see an illegal hit from Brandon Meriweather at least once every week. As for how this effects the Redskins porous defense, no need to worry Skins fans, Meriweather is a bad player who should not be starting for you anyways. 
  

Buccaneers RB Doug Martin has a torn shoulder labrum and may miss the rest of the season

• The initial guessing on Twitter was that Doug Martin would likely miss the season with a torn shoulder labrum, but Greg Schiano seemed to throw water on that theory by saying that while he is doubtful for Thursday he is unsure when Martin will return to the team. It is hard to envision Martin playing for the Bucs again this season, and that is a massive loss for a team that has yet to win a game this season. Martin is a stabilizing force for the Bucs offense and its rookie quarterback, even if he has not put up big numbers this season. Teams have been stacking the box to stop Martin and that has left some passing lanes open for Mike Glennon. If teams back off the line of scrimmage and dedicate more players to coverage, things could get much harder for Glennon.
  

 Ravens trade LT Bryant McKinnie to the Dolphins for a conditional draft pick

• Yuck. The Dolphins tackles, Tyson Clabo and Jonathan Martin, have been absolutely abysmal this season, and the team is clearly desperate for help. That is the only reason a team would bring in a player with issues like McKinnie. It is unclear whether Clabo or Martin will get sent to the bench in response to this move, but my best guess would be Clabo. He is the older player who has fallen off a cliff performance wise, and maybe the team thinks that moving Martin back to right tackle will reignite his younger career. Either way, this move does very little to make Miami a better pass blocking team. 
  

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