THE HOT SEAT
Packing it in
Who: Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman
When: Monday night at Carolina
Why: The Packers are evoking the Lambeau Field ghosts of Dan Devine and Lynn Dickey. This is not what the Packers need at 0-3: The bright lights of “Monday Night Football.” The nation is going to get to see Sherman’s team unravel in what has to be his final season. With each passing lost weekend, it appears this will be Brett Favre’s final season. Count on Sherman’s firing after five years to accompany Favre’s retirement. Sherman already was stripped of his general manager duties this year. Going in the tank in Favre’s final year is blasphemy in Titletown, and Sherman will rightly be the fall guy. He’s responsible for this mess. He’s responsible for making the Packers uncompetitive and irrelevant. The NFC North is the weakest division in football. At 1-2, Minnesota, full of holes and question marks, appears to be the class of the division. It is a winnable division, but the defending champion Packers simply don’t have enough to compete. Ultimately, Sherman’s head will roll because of it.
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ROOKIE WATCH
“Cadillac” running hot
Who: Tampa Bay running back Carnell “Cadillac” Williams.
When: Today against visiting Detroit.
Why: Williams, the most dynamic rookie in the NFL, has made Tampa Bay a contender again. The elusive runner from Auburn may allow coach Jon Gruden to keep his keys to the offensive guru lounge. After winning the Super Bowl in the 2002 season, Gruden has struggled to find an offensive identity. He found it when Williams fell to the No. 5 overall pick in the April draft. Taken after fellow Auburn running back Ronnie Brown went No. 2 to Miami and Texas’ Cedric Benson went No. 4 to Chicago, Williams has been a star in Tampa Bay. He became the first NFL rookie to rush for at least 100 yards in his first three games and has a rookie-record 434 yards after three games. As a result, the Buccaneers are 3-0 and looking Super again.
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AT ISSUE
Big pain, big gain
What: The toughness of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Background: Last Sunday, the Eagles won a game they should have lost in a 23-20 victory over Oakland. In a season in which there has been too much off-the-field drama, the efforts of quarterback Donovan McNabb and place-kicker David Akers, yes, the kicker, likely will act as a galvanizing force. McNabb played through groin and sternum injuries that made it difficult for him to even hand off the ball. And Akers won the game with a field goal in the final seconds after severely aggravating a hamstring injury on the opening kickoff.
Williamson’s take: The efforts by those two players will bring this team closer. Even though Terrell Owens still is a threat to be a distraction, the efforts in the victory over the Raiders show what this team is really about. Remember, Owens played hurt in the Super Bowl last season. He’s no stranger to gut checks. Maybe the performances of McNabb and Akers will be a reminder to T.O. that this team has what it takes to win. It was the kind of victory that changes seasons, and the Eagles needed that type of wake-up call.
