NFL News And Notes: Week 3

For 13 of his 14 NFL seasons, Jim Breech was a steady kicker for the Cincinnati Bengals. He kicked for the Bengals in both their Super Bowl appearances, and made 243 of his 340 career field goal attempts. In five of his Bengal seasons, he also helped out with the punting duties. Breech was more consistent than he was anything else, and when you can hold down a placekicking job with the same team for 13 straight seasons, it speaks well of you in a generally thankless NFL job. Breech booms one out of the end zone for a touchback.

It's too bad that between Joey Porter and Chad Johnson, one of them had to win.

Jeremy Shockey did what many protÃ©gÃ©s of Tom Coughlin would also have loved to do. He called out the kommandant.

No, you shouldn't do that to your coach. But Coughlin, beloved as he was by Bill Parcells when he was his assistant with the Giants, has to ease up one of these days. Mutinies do happen, and not just to Captain Queeg.

The last thing anyone in Tampa is thinking about right now is 0-3. Get well soon, Chris Simms.

Stop worrying about Tom Brady. He's fine. Just tell those run blockers to do better so that Brady can throw to someone.

So here we are, complimenting the Buffalo Bills, then they go and make negative NFL history.

J.P. Losman threw over 300 yards, and Willis McGahee rushed for over 150 yards. And they lost. That was an NFL first.

Geek of the week: Tony Kornheiser went a bit overboard with all the commentary on the plight of New Orleans. More football talk was needed, not all this sappy stuff on the rebuilding of New Orleans which got old quick.

That said, bravo to the Big Easy for getting that place back up and running as quick as they did.

And even though Kornheiser was hired to talk football, he does not speak incorrectly. There are a lot of people in that region whom might rather see their home rebuilt than the Superdome. The shots of Ward 9 are simply chilling.

And what of the poor Atlanta Falcons? That team reeks character. They took a beating everyone wanted them to take and came out of it pure professionals. See you in the playoffs, Falcons.

There is one person who absolutely must come up big this Sunday. He's the one who threw his pads and shirt into the crowd when he last played there for the home team.

Whatever ails you, Mr. Dillon, get over it and gouge your old mates on Sunday.

And shut that PBS crowd up.

There were four meetings of 0-2 versus 0-2 on Sunday. For those who won, relief. For those who lost, despair.

Those who lost also might not want to hear Parcells' "You are what your record says you are!" speech right now.

How patient will Cleveland be with Romeo Crennel? No coach ever gets all the patience he needs.

Talk to me when Seattle gets 42 points because of Deion Branch, not in spite of him.

Back to school: It's sometimes tough to tell if USC is that good or the rest of the Pac-10 is that bad.

Honk if you saw Tedy and Heidi Bruschi on the cover of Sunday's Parade magazine.

No. I don't buy it. Jake Plummer is not that good a quarterback. He's well coached. That's it.

You wish he would shut up, but there is no better leaping wide receiver in the NFL than Steve Smith.

Sorry, Jacksonville, but one of these days you need to learn to beat the Colts before you start getting Super Bowl pings.

How ironic is it that once upon a time, Bob Kraft wanted his team to be like the 49ers organization. Today, John York presides over a lousy franchise by the Bay, and everyone in the NFL wants to be like Kraft and the Patriots.

The Patriots are heading to China next year. There is no more appropriate usage of this newly timeworn sentence: "And I care why???"

How's Mario Williams doing? Still no sacks for him, still no wins for his team. He plays on a defense where he's the only one you have likely heard of. Meanwhile, David Carr has been sacked ten times in three games.

Saints fans deserve to celebrate, but booing Morten Andersen is a little bit off base. He is a stopgap replacement for the ineffective Michael Koenen, nothing more.

Da Bears are finally figuring out how to win tough games. Behind on the road late in the game to a division rival is a good way to learn.

Remember him: Local boy didn't quite make good. With the fifth pick in the 1969 draft, the Bengals took one of their own hometowners, quarterback Greg Cook. He was from Chillicothe, Ohio and played his college ball at the University of Cincinnati, a school known more for its basketball than anything else. In his only full AFL season, Cook played in 11 of 14 games that year. He completed 53.8 percent of his passes for 1,854 yards, 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His passer rating that year was 88.3. According to Wikipedia, he was drafted "on the strength of Bengals coach and founder Paul Brown being impressed by Cook's performance in the Bearcats' come-from-behind victory against Miami of Ohio, which was Bo Schembechler's last game before he left to coach at the University of Michigan." But Cook tore up his rotator cuff during that 1969 season, effectively ending his brief NFL career.

So, did Terrell Owens try and take his own life, or didn't he?

One of three things happened. Yes, he did. No, this instead was a cry for help. No, he just concocted another way to keep his name in the headlines and garner the attention he craves.

Right now, the smart betting would be on the latter. He went to the hospital, he was fine, he had his press conference, he worked out with his team. Everything's okay.

This is why you despise this guy. You actually have to feel sorry for Parcells because he has to deal with this. When you aspire to work for Jerry Jones, you have to look a few years down the road before you tell him okay.

That said, if either of the first two things are true, then let him by golly get the help he needs. Especially if he really and truly did try and end his life.