Eagles Are a Dream Team That Makes Fans Scream

A sense of dread is creeping over Philadelphia. It is flowing through the streets, covering all of the dried-up previous layers of dread.

This year’s dread is different. In the past, the Eagles have been failures, teases, doomed underdogs, strife-racked self-destructors and punchy palookas. But they have never been a laughingstock. They have never called attention to themselves so demandingly, only to pratfall so comically. The Eagles are 1-3, and they are so tragically flawed, so bumbling and inept at football basics, that they are easy prey for those who choose to mock the latest so-called Dream Team.

Philadelphia does disappointment and frustration well. It has no stomach for comeuppance.

The Dream Team label was applied by the backup quarterback Vince Young, his lone contribution to the Eagles so far. The Eagles have twice needed a backup quarterback to replace Michael Vick at the ends of games, but Young strained a hamstring in the preseason and vanished, leaving Mike Kafka to close out losses to the Falcons and the Giants. It only took two weeks to turn Kafkaesque into a sports cliché; the Eagles are so embarrassing that they even wear out literary references.

The Eagles’ problems started long before Young arrived this summer with his foot in his mouth. Andy Reid promoted the offensive line coach Juan Castillo to defensive coordinator before the lockout. Castillo’s previous experience on the defensive side of the ball had been at Kingsville High School in Texas, from 1986 to 1989.

Promoting Castillo was one of those decisions that was so inexplicable that it had to make hidden sense, like using a goose as a watchdog. Perhaps Castillo had a latent knack for defense that lay dormant for 21 years. Or maybe he was the perfect push-button coordinator to call vanilla schemes and let newcomers like Nnamdi Asomugha and Jason Babin do the things that made them All-Pros.

Unfortunately, Castillo had ideas. He and the new defensive line coach Jim Washburn installed a new Wide-9 defensive front, with splits between defenders so expansive that a Ford Excursion can drive through them, though Michael Turner or Frank Gore will do if you want to save gas. The scheme itself would be sound if the Eagles’ linebackers could shed blocks, but Casey Matthews, Brian Rolle, Moise Fokou and Jamar Chaney (two rookies, two former seventh-round picks) could seemingly get stopped by a garden gate with no latch. The Eagles have allowed 18 runs of 10 or more yards and give up 5.6 yards per carry, a number kept artificially low by the fact that running backs stop upon reaching the end zone.

As for Asomugha, one of the best man-to-man pass defenders of his generation, he can often be seen playing zone, watching receivers race past and wondering where, if not who, his safeties are.

Superstars like Asomugha were acquired to cover the gaping holes in the foundation of the Eagles’ roster. Unfortunately, the holes have swallowed the superstars. Reid has relied on too many rookies at key positions. Matthews has proven to be the Zeppo of the proud Matthews family. The first-round pick Danny Watkins admitted that he was “overwhelmed” by the N.F.L. experience and lost his preseason starting job at guard; the void was not really filled, Vick is just expected to sidestep it.

The sixth-round pick Jason Kelce won the starting center job, though he ran virtually unopposed. Kicker Alex Henery got into the disappointment act by missing two easy field goals against the 49ers.

Even the reliance on rookies at so many important up-the-middle positions cannot explain the lapses in fundamentals, judgment and sanity by the Eagles’ highly touted acquisitions. Receiver Steve Smith’s lone contribution so far has been a tipped pass that resulted in an interception, a play he perfected as a member of the Giants last season. Running back Ronnie Brown tried to throw a pass with three 49ers defenders draped over him at the goal line last week. Babin’s seven sacks are partially offset by his six penalties, though in fairness, Babin’s penalties are frequently declined because the offense gained so many yards after he jumped offside.

Incumbent Eagles have fared better, but only running back LeSean McCoy (446 total yards, 6 touchdowns) is completely blameless thus far. Reid rewarded him with nine carries last week.

Vick, of course, mixes many big plays into all of the chaos: he has completed 17 passes of 20 or more yards despite having to dodge an unblocked defender on nearly every play. His heroics have kept the team in games while adding to the impression that Eagles football is a chaotic hybrid of a playground pick-up game, a roller derby and Black Friday morning at a Wal-mart. The Eagles are honors students who did not study and are trying to wing the test. They are just brilliant enough for stylish failure.

The Eagles are trying to bounce back from their disastrous start. “The Dream Team thing is over,” Vick said Wednesday, a tacit admission that perhaps the team bought into it in the first place. Watkins is back in the starting lineup, though he did not so much rise to the role as watch it fall to him. Reid and Castillo have adopted linebacker juggling as a hobby. The game Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, marked as an easy win in August, is being called a desperation game.

Eagles fans, meanwhile, are calling for Reid to be fired, but because they started doing that in earnest in about 2005 it has lost its value even as a therapeutic mantra. Fans treated the whole Dream Team concept with icy distrust in the first place. Free-agent spending sprees? That is what the Redskins do. Preseason crowing? That is for the Cowboys. The Eagles are supposed to sit tight through the off-season, enter the year with the same coaches running the same systems, cross their fingers and win through a mix of perseverance, heady play and luck. Like the Giants.

When they do not do that, the dreadful feelings return.

And the Phillies are not helping.

2011 Philadelphia Eagles Season Preview

Andy Benoit is previewing all 32 N.F.L. teams. He completes the N.F.C. East today. He previously previewed the Cowboys, the Giants and the Redskins.

Apparently, the Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and General Manager Howie Roseman weren’t kidding when they said back in June that their club would make a major splash in free agency. The  infusion of defensive talent after the lockout was on a scale perhaps never before seen in one N.F.L. off-season.

Before landing the prize of the ’11 free-agent class (former Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha), the Eagles signed the ex-Titans defensive end Jason Babin (12½ sacks in ’10) and the Packers star defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins. They also traded for the Cardinals rising star cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

As if this weren’t enough, there was the ensuing enrichment of an offense that ranked third in scoring and second in yards last season. Brought in were ex-Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown, ex-Broncos right tackle Ryan Harris, ex-Packers tight end Donald Lee, the former Giants receiver Steve Smith and the first-round-drafted guard Danny Watkins. And, perhaps more crucial than all those moves was the hiring of “retired” Colts offensive line coach Howard Mudd.

Of all these transactions, the Rodgers-Cromartie trade best symbolizes the gamble this so-called Dream Team is making in 2011. In that deal, Philly acquired an additional second-round pick in 2012, giving them double-digit draft picks heading into next year. Thanks to shrewd contract language and crafty accounting from salary cap maestro Roseman and team president Joe Banner, there was more than enough cap room to sign Asomugha and maintain a healthy financial outlook for the future. Keeping one eye down the road has made this a playoff organization 9 of the past 11 years.

But the Rodgers-Cromartie trade obviously came at a price. By making Kevin Kolb one of the 10 regular contributors from last year’s squad to be let go, the Eagles have effectively put all of their eggs in the Michael Vick basket. This is the only true gamble for Lurie, Roseman, Reid and Banner in 2011. And it may be  the biggest any of them has ever made.

Offense

The magnitude of the Vick Gamble has nothing to do with Michael Vick’s off-field history and image. That was a separate gamble made two years ago when the organization signed him fresh out of prison. This gamble is much more complex because it’s multifaceted and tied directly to what happens on the field.

Let’s deal with the obvious first: It was a gamble to trade a proven backup like Kolb when you have a starting quarterback who’s subjected to as much wear-and-tear as the run-happy Vick. He missed four games early last season with a rib injury and battled various ailments down the stretch.

The acquisition of  quarterback Vince Young provides an important cushion because it gives the Eagles a backup with serious starting experience and a playing style that is similar to Vick’s. But unlike Kolb, the 28-year-old Young may not be a potential long-term starter. Young doesn’t have great arm strength or throwing mechanics, and didn’t show the mental fortitude to lead a franchise in Tennessee. He can run, but not in a mismatch-creating fashion like Vick.

This means the Eagles are banking on Vick long-term. But being 31 years old and heavily dependent on athleticism, how many quality years does he have left? Two? Three? Can you imagine him rushing for 676 yards and 9 touchdowns as a 35-year-old? Steve Young was an effective scrambler in his late 30s, but he also had less wear and tear, having become a starter much later in his career than Vick.

This could be one reason the Eagles opted in February to give Vick the franchise tag in ’11 rather than a long-term contract. A more likely reason, however, was the uncertainty of the collective bargaining agreement and technical language from Vick’s previous contract. Still, what if the Eagles are quietly harboring at least a few doubts about whether Vick is really the superstar he appeared to be last season?

Yes, Vick has developed better pocket passing skills in Marty Mornhinweg’s West Coast-style offense than he ever exhibited in Atlanta. But because he still has a lot of bad habits in the pocket – such as stepping up into pressure, eyeing the pass-rush or abandoning the play by scrambling unnecessarily – Vick leaves a lot of plays on the field. It’s jut rarely noticed because he does it in such exciting fashion.

The addition of offensive line coach Howard Mudd could go a long way toward correcting this. Last season, under O-line coach Juan Castillo, Eagles blockers had to  choose one of five or six techniques  based on the situation. The mental burden made for difficult cohesion. Mudd, one of the best teachers in the game, will have his linemen do less thinking, more reacting.

This simplicity is a big reason first-round rookie right guard Danny Watkins can start immediately. And why sixth-round rookie Jason Kelce can challenge ’09 starting center Jamaal Jackson (returning from last year’s triceps injury) and ’10 starter Mike McGlynn for the center job. And why ex-Bronco Ryan Harris, a solid right tackle before missing 13 games over the past two seasons in Denver, can step in ahead of incumbent Winston Justice should the up-and-down Justice not fully recover from off-season knee surgery. It’s also why unrefined backup tackle King Dunlap could challenge for playing time (Mudd loves the 6-8, 310-pounder’s natural ability) and why left tackle Jason Peters can be expected to make his fifth straight Pro Bowl, and why left guard Todd Herremans can recapture his formidable run-blocking.

It’s tough when linemen don’t know where their quarterback will be, however. Vick’s nature makes the offense built almost solely on big plays. Normally, that doesn’t work. But normally, an offense doesn’t have a lethal running quarterback, two wideouts with 4.3 speed (DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin) and a running back that can make any defender whiff in space (LeSean McCoy).

People generally think that an offense built on speed is one predicated on the skill players  running by defenders. That’s part of it (Jackson has 18 catches of 40-plus yards over the last two years; Jeremy Maclin registered a 30-plus-yard catch in six games last season). But more than that, speed forces a defense to be overly cautious. Defensive linemen rush Vick with less vigor for fear that he’ll escape the pocket. Linebackers drift more toward the flat for fear that LeSean McCoy will get upfield. Obviously, cornerbacks play off the wideouts for fear that they’ll get burned over the top, while safeties are less inclined to drop down in the box (which is one reason the Eagles led the league with 73 runs of 10-plus yards last season.)

The threat posed by speed is what makes Philadelphia click. It creates enormous space for screen passes (McCoy led the Eagles with 78 receptions in ’10) and hitch routes on the outside. Vick does not often look for underneath options like tight end Brent Celek and slot receiver Jason Avant, but those passes are consistently there if he wants them.

Take away the speed on the outside and this becomes a completely different offense. It’s vital the Eagles have a happy Jackson (he staged a brief holdout in search of a long-term deal) and a healthy Maclin (the third-year pro battled an unspecified illness during the off-season and training camp).

If Maclin is out, the free-agent pickups Johnnie Lee Higgins or Sinorice Moss, because they posses decent wheels, may get a shot ahead of last year’s intriguing fifth-round rookie, Riley Cooper. And then Steve Smith could take over in the second half of the season, after recovering further from his knee operation. But more likely, Reid and Mornhinweg would wind up giving more carries to McCoy and newcomer Ronnie Brown – which isn’t terrible but certainly not the key ingredient in a Super Bowl recipe.

Defense

It’s a new defense in 2011. Three new starters along the front line, two new starters at linebacker and, barring a trade of cornerback Asante Samuel, three new starters in the five-man secondary (which is the predominant defensive package the Eagles will use this season). Also new is the system – or at least elements of it. Gone is Sean McDermott and some of the pressure-heavy schemes of predecessor Jim Johnson. In place is probably an even more traditional 4-3 installed by first-time defensive coordinator Juan Castillo. Castillo is one of a select few of coaches to move from the offensive side of the ball to defensive coordinator. (Most recent to do it is Mike Nolan, who in 2002 went from wide receivers coach to defensive coordinator in Baltimore. But Nolan had defensive coaching experience at previous N.F.L. stops; Castillo hasn’t coached defense since 1989 at Texas A&M.)

Whoever coordinates Philadelphia’s defense would have too many resources to fail. Nnamdi Asomugha is indeed a shutdown corner. He played only man-coverage in Oakland but has made clear that he’s also capable of operating in all forms of zone. Asomugha gives the Eagles coverage varieties they were missing with Asante Samuel as their top corner. Samuel is an elite playmaker, but his lack of physicality limits him to off-coverage technique. If he isn’t traded, he’ll most likely still start outside, with Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, a more athletic man-defender, assuming Joselio Hanson’s nickel role. It will be interesting to see if the Eagles choose Asomugha or Rodgers-Cromartie to cover the slot in nickel.

The plethora of cornerbacking talent does wonders for the young safeties. Free safety Nate Allen, a promising second-round pick a year ago, has a chance to blossom as a free-ranging playmaker – assuming he bounces back from tearing a patellar tendon (knee) last December. The even younger strong safety Jaiquawn Jarrett (a second-round pick this past April) will also have special freedoms. Expect Jarrett, a lively run defender at Temple, to have plenty of leeway for a rookie, as backups Jarrad Page and Kurt Coleman are both up-and-down players.

With three of the top 10 corners in pro football, the Eagles could theoretically blitz on every down and still be safe. But Castillo’s scheme emphasizes more of a classic four-man rush, which is why revered defensive line coach Jim Washburn was brought over from Tennessee. Washburn will have his old Pro Bowl defensive end from last season, Jason Babin, on the right side and tireless everydown star Trent Cole on the left. Both skim the edges with impeccable leverage and should relish getting snaps in the wide-aligning nine-techniques that Washburn employs as a means of ensuring one-on-one matchups.

Inside, Cullen Jenkins is one of the best pugilists in the game. He can get in the backfield or anchor against the run. His five-year contract amounts to a one-year trial period, perhaps because the team wants to see how he’ll translate from 3-4 defensive end back  to 4-3 defensive tackle. Or, perhaps it’s because the Eagles think that breakout undrafted defensive tackle Antonio Dixon will become the better long-term investment. With Mike Patterson’s recent health problems (he has a brain arteriovenous malformation –a tangle of blood vessels in the skull, which may require surgery), Dixon and Trevor Laws will have a chance at first- and second-down snaps. That is, if they can fend off new backups Derek Landri (a try-hard veteran who can be attacked on the ground but can also get penetration) and Anthony Hargrove (a once-in-a-while playmaker from the Saints). On third down, the Eagles can use former starting defensive ends Juqua Parker and Daryl Tapp inside next to Jenkins. Both can also be backside run-stoppers from the outside, if need be.

It’s an embarrassment of riches in the front and back four; the Eagles’ second-string defensive line and backfield are comparable to some teams’ first-string units. The hope is this can mask what’s expected to be a mediocre linebacking group.

It was assumed that fourth-round rookie Casey Matthews was drafted to star on special teams. Instead, he’s starting at middle linebacker. We know better than to bet against any member of the legendary Matthews family, but it’s hard to imagine a rookie filling the shoes of underrated Stewart Bradley. To do so, Matthews will have to be a thumper against the run and eat up significant ground in vertical pass coverage.

Bradley’s presumed replacement, Jamar Chaney, will now start on the weak side. The seventh-round pick from a year ago moves well against the run but doesn’t figure to work ahead of either strongside linebacker Moise Fokou or Akeem Jordan in the frequently used nickel package.

Special Teams

The David Akers era ended a year or two sooner than expected when Alex Henery was selected in the fourth round. The undrafted punter Chas Henry (who, unlike his fellow rookie kicker, knows how to properly spell his own last name) replaces Sav Rocca. In the return game, Jorrick Calvin will  handle kickoffs, and DeSean Jackson will watch terrified punters boot the ball out of bounds.

Bottom Line

On paper, yes, this is something of a Dream Team. The defense has too many talented players to fail. The offense, however, is one Vick/Maclin/Jackson injury away from having to be redefined, which is a bit unsettling (although the Steve Smith signing certainly helps). But most teams would be redefined if their quarterback or star receiver went down. Assuming everyone stays healthy, Philly’s Super Bowl fate will come down to the performance of its transformed quarterback.

Predicted Finish: 1st N.F.C. East

Andy Benoit is the founder of NFLTouchdown.com and covers the N.F.L. for CBSsports.com. He can be reached at andy.benoit@NFLtouchdown.com.

Leading Off: Two Sides of New York Football

It doesn’t take much deep thinking to divine the differences between New York’s two N.F.L. teams. One is a league stalwart, steered by a legendary football family, so buttoned down and traditional it refuses to employ cheerleaders. The other is the team of Broadway Joe, the all-you-can-eat bluster buffet that is Rex Ryan, a virtual halfway house of players with overflowing N.F.L rap sheets.

So was anyone really surprised when Mr. Lock-n-Load, Plaxico Burress, landed with the Jets instead of returning to the Giants?

O.K., so the weekend’s developments didn’t exactly fit into the knee-jerk analysis that the Giants were too goody-goody to sign their ex-con wide receiver. They did make him an offer. Mr. Law and Order, Coach Tom Coughlin, did try to get past the lingering bitterness of the havoc Burress wreaked on his 2009 team.

But it is absolutely in the Jets’ DNA to go bold. So when cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha kicked them right in the headlines by signing with the Eagles, you think they were going to out and sign who? Brandon Stokley? No, with Burress they had an opportunity to complete a matched set of loose cannons at receiver with Santonio Holmes, writes Rich Cimini on ESPN.com. Forget for a minute that Burress is 34 and just spent 20 months in prison instead of working on his post patterns, which as Steve Politi writes in The Star-Ledger of Newark means he is as big a question mark on the field as off it, the prime tabloid fodder for New York’s tabloid team.

And New York’s “Tabloids Make Us Squeamish” team spent its time extending Coughlin’s contract and talking its star defensive end, Osi Umenyiora, out of his off-season snit. It is, as Mike Vaccaro wrote in The Post, just the way the Giants go about things.

The team that really kicked its DNA into high gear was the Eagles. Signing Asomugha and other attention-grabbing free agents like Vince Young and Jason Babin as well as trading for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, the Eagles have started drawing comparisons to the Miami Heat, Ashley Fox writes on ESPN.com, even though they have so far mercifully spared us a prediction of seven Super Bowls. Asomugha is clearly no LeBron James, and as John Smallwood writes in The Philadelphia Daily News, might be as big an asset in the community as he is on a football field.

Also kicking around in the background was the news that the Colts had re-signed Peyton Manning,  and the fact that it was treated largely with shrugs says a lot about the Colts’ low-key DNA, writes Dan Wetzel on Yahoo.com. Mike Lopresti marvels in USA Today that Manning insisted on taking less money so the Colts could field a better team, while in Indianapolis what they really want to know is when he’s going to be able to play after off-season neck surgery.

A few mysteries in Miami might have been solved this weekend, but not because of a trade or a signing, but by an article by Omar Kelly of The Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel about Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall revealing his diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. It does help explain much of the disorder that has marked Marshall’s life and career.

The disorder plaguing the N.B.A. right now, however, is strictly self-inflicted. And it has the unintended side effect of a strange fixation on where Kobe Bryant might play if the league goes dark. Marc Spears reports on Yahoo.com that China may be an option trumping his current offer in Turkey.

Baseball has settled down, now that its trade deadline (of sorts) has passed and the flurry of activity had ended. Jeff Passan of Yahoo.com takes a look at how the Rangers ended up the big winner and the parade of losers is being led by the Yankees. More notable, perhaps, Ubaldo Jimenez is thrilled to be moving from Denver to Cleveland, writes Scott Miller on CBSSports.com, partly because he loves the weather. Really.

You might be reasonably certain the weather had nothing to do with Burress’s decision to sign with the Jets over the Giants, except that his new team’s forecast always includes a lot of wind and an 80 percent chance of chaos.

Follow Leading Off on Twitter: twitter.com/zinsernyt

N.F.L. Moves: Young Joins Eagles, Jets Vie for Asomugha

12:36 p.m. | Updated

Big signing news of the day, so far:

The Eagles, having shipped their backup quarterback, Kevin Kolb, to the Cardinals on Thursday, have reportedly decided his replacement will be Vince Young, who was released by the Titans on Thursday. The Eagles’ last quarterback reclamation project, Michael Vick, said he was thrilled the team was taking on Young as its next project.

In other news, the Denver Broncos have reportedly found someone to complement running back Knowshon Moreno by agreeing to a three-year, $7.5 million deal with Willis McGahee. Wide receiver Roy Williams, who was cut by the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, will be reunited with his former offensive coordinator Mike Martz in Chicago after reportedly agreeing to terms with the Bears.

Friday’s biggest looming mysteries:
These involve perhaps the most talented player still dangling in free-agency limbo, cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who is expected to choose between the Jets and the Cowboys, and the most talented player ever to shoot himself in the leg, receiver Plaxico Burress. Reportedly, the league has reinstated Burress, freeing him to sign on some available bottom line, and he is expected to sit down with Giants Coach Tom Coughlin Friday night to either hash out their differences or perhaps discuss the nutritional failings of jailhouse cuisine.

The Texans made some bold moves Thursday by signing cornerback Johnathan Joseph and safety Danieal Manning, and want to be even bolder by adding Asomugha. NFL Network is reporting that the Texans are now out of the running and the Cowboys are in, but the favorites are the Jets, who are trying to create a supertandem in their defensive backfield, writes Bucky Brooks on NFL.com, with Darrelle Revis.

There is still lingering debate over one of Thursday’s other big deals, the trade of quarterback Kolb from the Eagles to the Cardinals for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The consensus is that the Cardinals paid a steep price for Kolb, but had to go bold to fill their biggest need. But Clark Judge of CBSSports.com also warns that investing in discarded Eagles quarterbacks is not usually a good move.

Cutsville: As the Asomugha-Jets negotiations carry on, the team said goodbye to their three-time Pro Bowl quarterback and Mark Sanchez mentor, Mark Brunell, along with cornerback Will Billingsley and guard Marlon Davis.

Reverberations from Thursday’s big moves:

The Patriots joined the backyard party on Thursday and did one giant cannonball into the middle of the pool. They didn’t just shove Albert Haynesworth and his cartful of emotional baggage off the high board, they hurled Chad Ochocinco in there after him.

Yes, that was Thursday, and by the end of the day Friday the whole thing might explode into an “Animal House” toga party, but let’s just pause for a second to say, “Wow.”

Now, whether this move turns into an epic team chemistry chain reaction that leaves Patriots Coach Bill Belichick with a set of fried eyebrows, that will be the central mystery of the Patriots’ season. But it certainly got everyone’s attention, writes Greg A. Bedard in The Boston Globe. Belichick is clearly counting on his magical powers to reclaim wayward talent, writes Don Banks on SI.com, at least in the case of Haynesworth. With Ochocinco, it’s how to manage the cultural clash between the league’s most buttoned-down team and the Queen Mary of self-promoting showboats. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo.com urges Ochocinco to shut down his Twitter account and behave now, but that would be rather like asking Niagara Falls to act like a nice little waterfall.

To a lot of people right now — including Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com — Belichick looks like a genius. But, as Alex Marvez writes on Foxsports.com, by the end of the season he might be getting measured for a straitjacket with a hood.

N.F.L. Mayhem Central: Young Joins Eagles, Jets Vie for Asomugha

11:58 a.m. | Updated The hamster wheel that is the N.F.L. offseason is expected to hit warp speed today. Clearly, the poor hamster should have struck a better deal in the collective bargaining negotiations.

Big signing news of the day, so far:

The Eagles, having shipped backup quarterback Kevin Kolb to the Cardinals on Thursday, have reportedly decided his replacement will be Vince Young, who was released by the Titans on Thursday. Not surprisingly, the Eagles’ last quarterback reclamation project, Michael Vick, said he was thrilled the team was taking on Young as its next project and Eagles are clearly banking on Vick being a good influence on a player who

Reverberations from Thursday’s big moves:

The Patriots joined the backyard party on Thursday and did one giant cannonball into the middle of the pool. They didn’t just shove Albert Haynesworth and his cartful of emotional baggage off the high board, they hurled Chad Ochocinco in there after him.

Yes, that was Thursday, and by the end of the day Friday the whole thing might explode into an “Animal House” toga party, but let’s just pause for a second to say, “Wow.”

Now, whether this move turns into an epic team chemistry chain reaction that leaves Patriots Coach Bill Belichick with a set of fried eyebrows, that will be the central mystery of the Patriots’ season. But it certainly got everyone’s attention, writes Greg A. Bedard in The Boston Globe. Belichick is clearly counting on his magical powers to reclaim wayward talent, writes Don Banks on SI.com, at least in the case of Haynesworth. With Ochocinco, it’s how to manage the cultural clash between the league’s most buttoned-down team and the Queen Mary of self-promoting showboats. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo.com urges Ochocinco to shut down his Twitter account and behave now, but that would be rather like asking Niagara Falls to act like a nice little waterfall.

To a lot of people right now — including Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com — Belichick looks like a genius. But, as Alex Marvez writes on Foxsports.com, by the end of the season, he might be getting measured for a straitjacket with a hood.

Friday’s biggest looming mysteries:
These involve perhaps the most talented player still dangling in free agency limbo, cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, and the most talented player every to shoot himself in the leg, receiver Plaxico Burress. Reportedly, the league has reinstated Burress, freeing him to sign on some available bottom line, and he is expected to sit down with Giants Coach Tom Coughlin Friday night to either hash out their differences or perhaps discuss the nutritional failings of jailhouse cuisine.

The Texans made some bold moves Thursday by signing cornerback Johnathan Joseph and safety Danieal Manning, and want to make it even bolder by adding Asomugha. NFL Network is reporting that the Texans are now out of the running and the Cowboys are in, but the favorite is the Jets, who are trying to create a supertandem in their defensive backfield, writes Bucky Brooks on NFL.com, with Darrelle Revis.

There is still lingering debate over one of Thursday’s other big deals, the trade of quarterback Kolb from the Eagles to the Cardinals for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The consensus is that the Cardinals paid a steep price for Kolb, but had to go bold to fill their biggest need. But Clark Judge of CBSSports.com also warns that investing in discarded Eagles quarterbacks is not usually a good move.

N.F.L. Mayhem Central: Patriots Go Big

So, the abbreviated N.F.L. off-season seemed rowdy enough for a few days, sort of like a backyard party with dozens of 7-year-old boys, when the Patriots came along Thursday and did one giant cannonball into the middle of the pool. They didn’t just shove Albert Haynesworth and his cartful of emotional baggage off the high board, they hurled Chad Ochocinco in there after him.

Yes, that was Thursday, and by the end of the day Friday the whole thing might explode into an “Animal House” toga party, but let’s just pause for a second to say, “Wow.”

Now, whether this move turns into an epic team chemistry chain reaction that leaves Patriots Coach Bill Belichick with a set of fried eyebrows, that will be the central mystery of the Patriots’ season. But it certainly got everyone’s attention, writes Greg A. Bedard in The Boston Globe. Belichick is clearly counting on his magical powers to reclaim wayward talent, writes Don Banks on SI.com, at least in the case of Haynesworth. With Ochocinco, it’s how to manage the cultural clash between the league’s most buttoned-down team and the Queen Mary of self-promoting showboats. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo.com urges Ochocinco to shut down his Twitter account and behave now, but that would be rather like asking Niagara Falls to act like a nice little waterfall.

To a lot of people right now — including Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com — Belichick looks like a genius. But, as Alex Marvez writes on Foxsports.com, by the end of the season, he might be getting measured for a straitjacket with a hood.

Friday’s biggest looming mysteries involve perhaps the most talented player still dangling in free agency limbo, cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, and the most talented player every to shoot himself in the leg, receiver Plaxico Burress. Reportedly, the league has reinstated Burress, freeing him to sign on some available bottom line, and he is expected to sit down with Giants Coach Tom Coughlin Friday night to either hash out their differences or perhaps discuss the nutritional failings of jailhouse cuisine.

The Texans made some bold moves Thursday by signing cornerback Johnathan Joseph and safety Danieal Manning, and want to make it even bolder by adding Asomugha. Their biggest competition appears to be the Jets, who are trying to create a supertandem in their defensive backfield, writes Bucky Brooks on NFL.com, with Darrelle Revis.

There is still lingering debate over one of Thursday’s other big deals, the trade of quarterback Kevin Kolb from the Eagles to the Cardinals for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The consensus is that the Cardinals paid a steep price for Kolb, but had to go bold to fill their biggest need. But Clark Judge of CBSSports.com also warns that investing in discarded Eagles quarterbacks is not usually a good move.