Posts tagged ScottLinehan at FanHouse

Sources have informed Pro Football Central that the Cincinnati Bengals are nearing toward a decision that could result in head coach Marvin Lewis being fired by the end of the week. The source also states that owner Mike Brown is also deciding upon whether to name assistant head coach Paul Alexander or defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer as the interim head coach.

Wednesday morning an anonymous tip came to a local sports-talk station saying the Rams had released cornerback Fakhir Brown. The caller knew what he was talking about. The following morning, the same voice called at about the same time and said Linehan was trying to release or trade wide receiver Torry Holt because the two despise each other.

Normally, you scoff when crazy things like this are heard, but when this dysfunctional situation is analyzed, the realization hits you that anything is possible.

On the Notre Dame halftime show on NBC this afternoon SI's Peter King reported that if the Rams lose to the Bills on Sunday that Scott Linehan is expected to be given his "walking papers" as King put it.

"You know I was shocked, I was really shocked," Holt said. "First and foremost, I went up to Marc and I immediately apologized to him as a receiver and for our receiving group and for our offense for not making enough plays to give him an opportunity to stay on the football field with us as we move forward in the fourth week."

Holt declined to comment on whether he thought Linehan had made the right decision in benching Bulger.

"I'll keep those thoughts to myself and just go ahead and move forward with what we have," Holt said. "Trent is the quarterback for Sunday, and we have (Leonard Little) back, so let's talk about some of the positives."

(O)utspoken running back Steven Jackson took care of that Thursday night on his "Rolling the Dice" radio show on KLOU (103.3 FM). Jackson said benching Bulger was the "wrong decision."

"He's our general," said Jackson, who then pointed out that you don't pay someone "$60-something million" and then sit him on the bench.

When asked by the radio show's host, Malcolm Briggs, if there were other Rams players who were against the benching, Jackson paused and replied, "I'm not the only one who feels this way."

There are six NFL teams that have yet to win a game this season. All are sitting at 0-3 (except the 0-2 Houston Texans). Some of these teams entered the season with high expectations but are falling flat. Others are just fulfilling their destiny.

Two of the teams (Bengals and Browns) face off this Sunday.

Here is a quick look at the winless teams (I'm omitting the Texas due to the fact they've not had a home game and having to deal with Hurricane Ike).

Kansas City Chiefs

Why they are here: They've been trotting out no-names at quarterback, they have the second-worst run defense in the NFL and they can't pressure the quarterback (just two sacks). They were spanked at home by the Oakland Raiders.

Why they could turn it around: Well, they get the Raiders again! Uh, wait, that didn't go too well when they met earlier. They need Larry Johnson to have a gigantic season and all those draft picks over-performing to just knock out a few wins. Control the ball with LJ, keep the other team from getting their offense on the field and hope Dwayne Bowe can make some plays down the field.

Outlook: Herm Edwards says, "you play to win the game." Too bad Herm won't be around when Kansas City finally does win some games. The Chiefs have the look of the worst team in the NFL but they do have some nice young talent to build upon. The odd thing is that KC may have had the biggest impact in the league when Tom Brady was hurt in a game against the Chiefs.

"It is the job of the head coach, Scott Linehan, to figure out how to motivate and give some urgency to this team," Rosenbloom told the Post-Dispatch on Monday. "I believe in these players and I believe in this coach."

"Obviously, the game of football is about winning," Rosenbloom said. "The level of play is not acceptable to me or anybody in the organization."

"Things will get better, and if they don't, changes will be made."