BALZER'S NFL BLOG

Balzer on NFL: McCoy playing well for Bucs

Howard Balzer

October 31, 2014 at 12:29 pm.

Gerald McCoy has played well for the Bucs. (Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports)

It’s hard enough to stay healthy playing NFL football enduring what happens in the normal course of a game. Truth to be known, it’s surprising there aren’t even more injuries considering the speed and power of the players, and the collisions there are on every play.

But imagine the frustration and, yes, embarrassment, when you go down for the season simply celebrating a good play. Of course, when that celebration comes with your team hopelessly behind in a game, it just might be a message that there are better times to show the world your enthusiasm.

So it was that Chicago Bears defensive end Lamarr Houston suffered a ruptured ACL against the Patriots late in the fourth quarter in Week 8 when he had a sack. The Patriots were winning 48-23 at the time, the play started with 3:24 remaining in the game, and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was on the field, not Tom Brady.

Cause for celebration, right?

For Houston, and the Bears’ defense, it has been a disappointing season. Houston left the Raiders for the Bears with a big-money deal, and didn’t have a sack all season. In addition, he got into it with some Twitter Terrorists a few weeks before when he was being ripped for not living up to his contract.

The obviously emotional Houston responded by saying fans that boo should “eat dirt.”

Bears general manager Phil Emery said of the injury, “Obviously Lamarr had built up some frustration from not having a sack yet. We were very pleased with his play against the run and he led our team in hits on the quarterback, but he hadn’t had a sack. Obviously that’s a big stat in the NFL. It’s awfully big for a free agent coming in.

“He got his first sack, he let out all of his frustrations and ultimately paid a price for it. We’re disappointed for him and in him. He knows he made an error. He’s come into all of our offices and apologized for his error but ultimately the team paid a price and at the end of the day Lamarr paid a bigger price; he lost the season. So enough said.”

Former Bears coach Mike Ditak, now with ESPN, is as old-school that anyone can be. Not surprisingly, he didn’t have many good words to say about Houston.

“You don’t celebrate, first of all,” Ditka said. “You play the game. The only time you celebrate is after the game — if you win. If you don’t, then don’t celebrate. You know, every time a guy makes a play, there has to be all kinds of gyrations and actions. It actually becomes embarrassing to the game. The game is bigger than the people playing it. These people don’t seem to understand that.”

The Real McCoy

In the run-up to the 2010 NFL draft, Ndamukong Suh was considered a transcendent player, one who was expected to be one of the great defensive tackles of all–time. Suh was selected second overall by the Detroit Lions, and while he has been very good, there is still a long way to go before he lives up to expectations.

Chosen right behind him was another excellent defensive tackle who didn’t have Suh’s supposed pedigree, but was also a great prospect. That player was Gerald McCoy, who recently signed a contract extension that will keep him with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for another seven years.

Suh, meanwhile, could end up a free agent in 2015 with his contract scheduled to void five days after the Super Bowl.

The Bucs haven’t won much in McCoy’s years so far, but he said he never considered letting his deal run out and eventually become a free agent.

The optimistic McCoy said at the press conference to announce the signing, “The best feeling in the world is going to be when we turn this thing around and to know you were part of it and you didn’t run from the challenge. You didn’t run from the fight. I don’t like fighting, but I love this fight. That’s going to be the greatest feeling in the world, to be able to hold that trophy in the air and know you went through all the hard times and you didn’t run from it, you stuck in there, you hung in there and you fought together as an organization and got back to exactly where these two sitting next to me (general manager Jason Licht and ehad coach Lovie Smith) have said we’ll be. I believe them, I trust them and we’re going to do it together and that’s why I signed that paper.”

The classy McCoy had some notable things to say about Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer in the days leading up to their game this past Sunday. McCoy said, “First I want to say how much respect I have for Brian Hoyer. What he represents on the field. I don’t know who he is or what type of guy he is off the field but he’s in a starting role for a reason. He rightfully earned that role for all the circus that was going on in Cleveland. He never wavered. He kept his mouth shut. He just performed. He’s the guy who should be starting and he’s led them the way he should. He’s an athletic guy, smart, can make all the throws and is a huge reason they are where they’re at.”

Finding Fault

There are many that revel in finding ways to criticize Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Lord knows, some of it is earned. And while many NFL owners never get close to the sideline during games, Jones has done it before and he will certainly do it again. He is also not the only owner that finds his way to the sideline from time to time.

You would have thought Jones committed a capital crime after being on the sideline late in his team’s Monday night game against Washington Oct. 27 in the wake of quarterback Tony Romo’s back injury.

In the days after the game, Jones said, “No. 1, I wanted to go down there and do what I could, look our guys in the eye, look at them, inspire them to overcome Romo not being out there and overcome what I thought was a critical time. First of all, I’ve been down there hundreds of ball games. Everyone that follows it has certainly seen it, either criticized it or whatever or lived with it. Secondly, if you look around this league, you’ll see owners … I noticed Bob McNair down there during the entire, almost first half when we played Houston. But you’ll see owners all the time on the sideline. I’m not going to say all the time, you’ll see certain owners down there a lot. But that’s from that standpoint. I know for a fact you see a lot of management people on the sideline.

“It’s just not an issue. I’ve always felt that seeing the attitude, seeing what’s going on, getting the pulse, looking at who’s into it, looking at how they’re into it, looking at how they’re reacting on the sideline, all of that is just part of understanding the team, getting to be a better decision-maker.”