Ivy Looks to Raise his Game

Cornerback Corey Ivy compiled five tackles, a sack and a strip and fumble recovery of Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald in the Ravens’ 26-23 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday.

And he still wasn’t entirely pleased.

“There were a few technical things that I’ve got to get corrected,” said Ivy, who filled in for an ailing Samari Rolle. “It just goes with getting more experience out there and playing with the first unit. If the opportunity presents itself, I can go out there and improve on the performance that I did last week.”

Full Story: Ivy looks to raise his game - [Baltimore Sun]

Credit for Bucs Secondary goes to Morris

Something is different.

You can see it in the locker room and on the practice field. The intensity is greater, the focus sharper.

You can see it on the field on game day. The hits are harder, the tackling crisper.

You can see it on the sideline. It’s not the players. It’s their coach.

A scrawny little guy who played safety and coached defensive backs at Hofstra University, no one thought much of Raheem Morris when he first came to Tampa Bay as a 25-year-old defensive quality-control coach in 2002.

Full Story: Bucs’ secondary gives Morris credit - [Winston-Salem Journal]

Related: Morris rescues the secondary - [TampaBays10.com]

Tomlin making Steelers’ owner look brilliant

Inside the Steelers’ locker room, after Sunday’s win against San Francisco, Mike Tomlin crossed paths with his boss, owner Dan Rooney. The two men looked at each other and smiled.

Why wouldn’t they? The Steelers are 3-0 for the first time since 1992, and clearly Rooney still knows how to pick head coaches. Only 34 when he was hired in January, Tomlin was not a safe choice. He had no head coaching experience — he got the job after one season as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator — and was coming to a veteran team used to doing things a certain way. But when Bill Cowher resigned after a successful 15-year run in Pittsburgh that included a Super Bowl victory, Rooney wanted the same attributes he had sought when he hired Cowher in 1992. Rooney wanted a young coach with energy. He wanted a coach who would be in Pittsburgh a long time. He wanted a coach who knew defense.

Full Story: Tomlin Making Steelers’ Owner Look Brilliant - [Sporting News]

Ivy Plays Key Role for Ravens

Corey Ivy could have asked for an easier assignment in his first start since 2005.

Replacing an ill Samari Rolle at cornerback for the Ravens today against the Arizona Cardinals, Ivy was responsible for helping cover the dangerous duo of Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald.

Both receivers did some damage, but Ivy recovered a fumble and the Ravens emerged with a 26-23 win.

Ivy suspected he might be getting some serious playing time after Rolle missed two practices with an unspecified illness.

“They came to me kind of late in the week and told me has was sick. So whenever your number is called, you try to uphold the tradition of the Ravens defense, go out there and play like a starter,” Ivy said. “They had confidence in me.”

Full Story: Reserves play key roles for Ravens - [Baltimore Sun]

Related: Ivy provides spark to Ravens secondary - [Baltimore Examiner]

Tomlin Voted Coach of the Week

Head coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers is the Motorola NFL Coach of the Week for games played Sept. 6-10.

Tomlin won his first career game as a head coach, leading the Steelers to a 34-7 road win over the Cleveland Browns. Tomlin became the first Steelers head coach to win his first game against the Browns and gave Pittsburgh the advantage in the all-time series against the Browns, 56-55, for the first time in club history. Under Tomlin’s leadership, the Steelers controlled the ball for 36:16, while limiting Cleveland to 221 yards (46 rushing) and recording six quarterback sacks.

Tomlin was selected as Motorola NFL Coach of the Week from among three finalists by voters on NFL.com. The other finalists were head coaches Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts and Norv Turner of the San Diego Chargers.

Curry Spices Up Raiders Offense

Fine, Randy Moss made the Raiders look bad with his monster-number debut in New England. Yes, Lions rookie Calvin Johnson did more than the Raiders’ No. 1 draft pick simply by showing up.

Hand it to Ronald Curry, though, for proving the Raiders have a big-play receiver to call their own.

Curry had 10 catches for 133 yards with a shutout-breaking 4-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter, doing all he could to avoid responsibility for Sunday’s 36-21 loss to the Lions at the Coliseum.

“He was wrecking havoc,” running back LaMont Jordan said.

Full Story: Curry spices up Oakland’s offense - [San Francisco Chronicle]

Tomlin Has Nothing to Prove Now

 Mike Tomlin understands his job. The owners at his favorite restaurants frequently remind him. So do the grocery store clerks, the airline representatives who put him on planes, the strangers he meets.

He isn’t just a football coach, he’s the coach of the Steelers. In Pittsburgh, where the fan base might be the most passionate and knowledgeable in the NFL, this isn’t a job comparable to that of mayor or county executive, it’s more visible. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County chief executive Dan Onorato only wish they got the TV exposure Tomlin does.

Tomlin learned that the opening day of training camp when, disdaining the shorts and straw hat that predecessor Bill Cowher wore, he put on a long black-sleeved shirt and long black pants on an 80-degree plus day. Kept them on most of camp, too.

Within hours, many in Pittsburgh were talking about this new man in black, how he was showing his players that the temperature, humidity and steamy conditions didn’t bother him, so how could they possibly bother them? Right there, he won over many of these fans.

Full Story: Steelers’ Tomlin has nothing to prove now  - [USA Today]

Related:

• Today is all that matters as Tomlin era begins - [Pittsburgh Post Gazette]
• Tomlin’s Steeler Debut a Winning One, Naturally - [Sports Network]

David: Game Not About Him

New Orleans Saints cornerback Jason David said the season opener at Indianapolis on Thursday night has enough intrigue without throwing in the storyline of him playing against his former team.

The most eagerly anticipated Saints season ever kicks off against the defending Super Bowl champions on national television in prime time.

“Any season opener you want to show everybody what you’ve got, especially being nationally televised you always want to have a great showing and show the world, ‘Hey this is the team that you’re going to see all season,’” said David, who played his first three seasons with the Colts before joining the Saints as a free agent during the offseason.

“It’s the season opener,” he said. “Everybody should be amped up, ready to go, but being that it’s the Thursday night game, the season opener, it’s on national television, it just makes it that much more exciting.”

Full Story: Ex-Colt David says game in Indianapolis not about him - [2theadvocate.com]

Related: David won’t admit to knowing Manning’s secrets - [USA Today]

Hearing from Coach Mike Tomlin

Throughout the 2007 season, Coach Mike Tomlin will answer questions exclusively for Steelers Digest and Steelers.com. The following is one of those sessions. For the complete interview, pick up the latest issue of Steelers Digest.

Q. What do you like about this team?
A. They love to compete. They love to play football. And they don’t care how their bodies feel, or what weather conditions they’re in, what kind of mood they’re in. When we roll the ball out there and they compete against one another, they love to compete. You watch guys after practice, and even as they’re getting a little extra conditioning in, they’re competing. That’s one of the things that jumped out at me about this football team, and that’s one of the things that’s most exciting.

Q. Is that a unique quality?
A. It is when it’s the vast majority of the guys. There’s a unique camaraderie here from that standpoint. You don’t get to compete at this level as an individual unless you’re competitive. These guys have fun competing against one another on a daily basis. It’s a close unit but at the same time they compete. I think that’s what makes it a little bit unique.

Full Story: Hearing from Coach Mike Tomlin - [Steelers.com]

Donald Lee & Bubba Franks at TE for the Pack

A year after the Green Bay Packers opened the season with four tight ends on their roster, they appear set to go with only two — at least for a while.

You won’t hear any complaints from Donald Lee and Bubba Franks, the two tight ends currently on the roster.

“We want all the reps, trust me,” Franks said on Sunday. “That’s not a burden. That just means we’re both in the game at the same time. You’ve got to play the whole game regardless. That’s not a problem. We’re in pretty good shape. We can handle it.”

Handing the number of snaps might not be the problem. The bigger concern should be what would happen if the Packers lost one or both tight ends to an injury during a game.

Full Story: Packers going with just Lee, Franks at tight end - [PackersNews.com]

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