Vikings' Greenway fined $21K; Cards kicker Feely docked for roughness

Chad Greenway, talking to officials during Sunday's game, says he's glad nobody was hurt. (Getty Images)

NEW YORK -- Linebackers Chad Greenway of the Minnesota Vikings and Brandon Spikes of the New England Patriots were fined $21,000 by the NFL on Friday for unnecessary roughness in games last weekend.

Greenway struck Lions receiver Calvin Johnson in the head and neck area in last Sunday's victory over Detroit. He apologized to Johnson afterward.

"I didn't mean any intent to hurt him or anything. I was just trying to play the game," Greenway said. "Once I saw he was in a vulnerable position I tried to pull off -- a little late obviously. Glad he wasn't hurt and I hope he's good."

Greenway said Johnson catches so many passes over the middle he just assumed that one would be caught and didn't realize it was dropped until he made the hit. Greenway pulled his hands back immediately after the hit.

"I was trying to show that I didn't finish the hit. I tried to pull off," he said. "Just something about being a defensive player in the NFL right now. That's what it's going to be. So you've got to expect it."

Spikes used an illegal blindside block during an interception return, hitting Bills tight end Scott Chandler, who left the game with a head injury. No penalty was called.

Chandler has been cleared to play this Sunday at San Francisco.

Buffalo defensive tackle Kyle Williams was fined $15,750 for roughing the passer, hitting Tom Brady below the knee area. Williams intends to appeal the fine, questioning what he did wrong when attempting to make a tackle while Brady still had the ball.

Also fined Friday were Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, Packers nose tackle B.J. Raji, Titans tackle Dave Stewart and Cardinals placekicker Jay Feely, all docked $7,875 for unnecessary roughness.

Jenkins grabbed Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers' facemask and also poked Rodgers in the right eye. Raji struck Saints long snapper Justin Drescher with his knee. Feely struck Miami's Jimmy Wilson late and in the back during a kickoff return.

Stewart was docked for striking an opponent in the head against Houston. Stewart was involved in three incidents, drawing personal fouls for a late takedown of defensive end J.J. Watt and for a hit on defensive end Tim Jamison during an interception return. Stewart also pulled the hair of linebacker Brooks Reed.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

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Power Rankings: Undefeated Texans, Falcons, Cards at the top of the heap

Sometimes I can be so stupid. Cue the jokes.

I mean it. When I played out the NFL season in June and July, I had the Arizona Cardinals winning the NFC West, which led my sanity to be questioned.

One problem: I changed my mind. In my season preview, I picked the San Francisco 49ers to win the division. After seeing the quarterback disaster play out in the preseason, I didn't think it was possible for Arizona to win it.

What I forgot was the reason why I made my initial pick of Arizona in the first place. Guys like Daryl Washington. Patrick Peterson. Calais Campbell and Sam Acho, young talented defensive players ready for big things.

What we're seeing now is that defense, loaded with talent, leading the Cardinals to a 3-0 record and first place in the division.

The Cardinals look like the 2011 49ers, a defensive team that will do just enough on offense to win games.

Only the Cardinals have Larry Fitzgerald. Even with so-so quarterback play, he is a difference maker.

Arizona is now third in our CBSSports.com Power Rankings, and don't expect the Cardinals to go anywhere anytime soon. Here's their schedule the next four weeks: Home against Miami, at St. Louis, home against Buffalo and then at Minnesota. That's not exactly tough.

They then play host to the 49ers on Oct. 29, which looks like it will be a huge Monday night game.

The Cardinals have the league's No. 1 scoring defense, 10th overall and are fourth in sacks per pass play. They have an aggressive front that comes after the quarterback, which is something Cardinals coordinator Ray Horton learned in his time with the Steelers.

Arizona does have to get better on offense to be a real factor. They are 31st in total offense and tied for 19th in scoring offense. That isn't good enough, although it might be good enough to win the division.

Why did I change my mind?

Man, I can be dumb sometimes.

Cue the jokes once again.

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Cards' Kolb still dealing with lingering concussion symptoms

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Kevin Kolb still has lingering concussion symptoms but the Arizona quarterback is resisting the idea that his injury-plagued first season with the Cardinals is over with one game to go.

Kolb says he didn't do much when his teammates practiced on Wednesday after a test he had a day earlier confirmed the symptoms.

"I had a full psych exam," he said. "It showed that I'm a little slow with reaction stuff and some processing stuff from my baseline that I had earlier in the year. It basically just validates what we have been saying as far as the symptoms."

The quarterback has not played since he took a knee to the head on Arizona's third offensive play against the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 11. Kolb missed four games earlier in the season with a right turf-toe injury.

He would not rule out returning for the season finale, rather than just calling it quits and regrouping for work in the offseason.

"That's not the way this league works," he said. "That's not the way a competitor works. I've gone through all the film, still trying to get my mind in it. You never know when you can help out. That's very important for us to go 8-8. That's a big thing in our locker room. We felt that we had a great thing going this last half of the season and we want to continue that for next year."

But wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald hinted that Kolb might be better off waiting until next season to return to the brutal game action.

"I think he'll be OK," Fitzgerald said. "It's just at this point we're not playing for a playoff position. Why take the risk of doing any further damage? Get a whole offseason in and get him back ready and pick it up for next year."

Kolb was the starter for Philadelphia in the season opener a year ago. A concussion knocked him out of that game and Michael Vick replaced him. This concussion is different, Kolb said.

"The lingering symptoms are the biggest kicker," he said. "That is something I didn't deal with last time. I felt like once I got to that Friday or Saturday of the next week I felt pretty good. Obviously this one seems to linger a little bit further. Not ideal, but you roll with the punches."

Kolb said he has "talked to a number of veteran quarterbacks that went through" concussions.

"One thing I've collected is that every one of them is different with every single player. My first one was a lot different than this one was," he said. "You can't anticipate it, and I think this is a thing where you have to be smart, especially in our situation. No one wants to be out there worse than I do. I'm not happy about it, but it's something I have to deal with."

John Skelton is 4-2 as a starter in Kolb's absence, 5-2 counting the 49ers game. The Cardinals wrap up their season at home Sunday against Seattle.

Coach KIen Whisenhunt said he understands Kolb's reluctance to say he's done for the year.

"I think that, in order to play at this level, you have to have a competitive fire that burns in you to some degree," Whisenhunt said. "Maybe there are some guys that are just talented enough that it doesn't matter. For the most part, I think that everybody wants to play and that's important."

Whisenhunt said the injuries that have plagued Kolb are simply the nature of the game.

"I think that we all know that, especially at that position, the chances of guys getting through a whole season without an injury doesn't happen that much," Whisenhunt said. "It doesn't really matter how I feel about it. That's the way it is."

The coach said he doesn't believe concussions will be a long-term problem for Kolb.

"I don't think you can say that," Whisenhunt said. "I don't think there are any kinds of studies or anything that says that's the case. I personally haven't thought along those lines. I don't know that we have and I don't think there is any information that would be the case."

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Bengals survive Cards rally to stay in playoff hunt

CBSSports.com wire reports
Dec. 24, 2011

CINCINNATI -- The stadium was only two-thirds full again. The Cardinals were on another one of their incredible comebacks, threatening to derail the Cincinnati Bengals surprising playoff surge.

A pair of tangled up feet made the difference.

The Bengals moved one win away from the playoffs Saturday, holding on for a 23-16 victory over Arizona that secured only their third winning record in the past 21 years.

Cincinnati (9-6) can clinch the final AFC wild card berth by beating Baltimore at Paul Brown Stadium next Sunday. The Bengals moved a game ahead of the Jets, who fell to 8-7 with a 29-14 loss to the Giants on Saturday.

"It's been a big year for me and for this team," rookie quarterback Andy Dalton said. "It's something we believed we had a chance to do. We weren't getting much credit from outside. We'll find out next week."

Dalton threw two more touchdown passes, becoming only the fourth rookie to have 20 in a season, and Cincinnati got a break when the NFL's top comeback team tripped itself up in the closing minutes.

Wide-open receiver Early Doucet tripped at the goal line and went down, letting a fourth-down pass fall incomplete with 1:12 left. The Cardinals (7-8) got the ball one more time, but the clock ran out after a completion.

A few minutes later, the Jets' loss put the Bengals in position to reach the playoffs. New York would have won the tiebreaker if both teams won out.

"We started this quite a while ago -- seems like just yesterday," coach Marvin Lewis said. "But now we're right where we want to be at the end."

Their rookie quarterback put them in position.

Dalton threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Gresham and a 19-yarder to Jerome Simpson, who did a somersault over a defender and landed on both feet in the end zone.

Dalton joined Peyton Manning (26), Charlie Conerly (22) and Dan Marino (20) as the only NFL rookies to throw 20 touchdown passes.

D With slim playoff chances on the line, the Cards offense was brutal for three quarters. QB John Skelton threw three INTs, was sacked five times and completed fewer than half of his passes. RB Beanie Wells (53 yards) was held in check. The Cards tried to rally with 16 fourth-quarter points, but it was too little, too late. The defense was on the field far too long, gave up 165 rushing yards and enough big plays to help the Bengals open an insurmountable lead.
B- Cincinnati's first three quarters were so good, they overshadowed a near-epic meltdown in the final quarter vs. the Cardinals. In a must-win scenario, however, the final result was all that mattered. The Bengals must find a way to play with the lead, but at least for one more week, those plays will matter in the playoff chase.

Down 23-0 heading into the fourth quarter, the NFL's best comeback team nearly pulled off its most improbable one yet. Arizona took advantage of Cedric Benson's two fumbles, getting a pair of touchdown passes by John Skelton and Jay Feely's field goal with 3:16 left.

The Cardinals then had their chance to pull even. The Bengals ran an all-out blitz on fourth down from the Cincinnati 17-yard line, and Doucet wound up uncovered at the goal line. Skelton lofted the ball into the end zone, but Doucet tripped and fell.

"It was a blitz and nobody was there," Doucet said. "It was one of those deals where I hadn't hooked it up and my feet got tangled. It's a play I should've made. It was my fault. That's a play I normally make."

The Cardinals had their four-game winning streak snapped and were eliminated from playoff contention.

Cincinnati's defense dominated the first three quarters. Arizona didn't cross midfield until Skelton completed a pass with 13:25 to go, but piled up 208 yards in the final quarter.

Skelton started for the second consecutive week in place of Kevin Kolb, who hasn't fully recovered from a concussion. Skelton was 23 of 44 for 297 yards with three interceptions and five sacks that helped the Bengals get the 23-0 lead.

It could have been worse. Mike Nugent, the NFL's most accurate kicker, missed field goals of 35 and 48 yards in the first half.

Arizona has rallied from fourth-quarter deficits six times this season, one shy of the NFL record. The Cardinals have won three games in overtime, tying the league record.

They couldn't do it one more time.

"Yeah, we're a second-half team," Skelton said. "That's how it has been all year. But in the end, it was too little, too late."

Dalton was 18 of 31 for 154 yards and two touchdowns on a sunny, 39-degree afternoon in front of only 41,273 fans. The Bengals have sold out only one of their seven home games, when the Steelers brought thousands of fans.

Dalton's second touchdown pass had a highlight finish.

Simpson got open for a catch-and-run to the goal line. With Daryl Washington between him and the end zone, Simpson jumped and twirled past the linebacker, landing on both feet in the end zone and raising both arms like a triumphant gymnast.

"One of the key parts for me was I stuck the landing," Simpson said. "I stuck the landing like a gymnast. That was probably one of the most surprising of all the plays in my career. It was pretty awesome, I thought."

For most of the game, the Cardinals couldn't do anything right. Rookie cornerback Patrick Peterson picked off a Dalton pass in the third quarter, but the interception was nullified by Arizona's second roughing-the-passer penalty of the game.

Worse, Peterson hurt his left hamstring on the play, pulling up on the return. The first-round pick left the game and didn't return. He wore a protective boot after the game.

"He's got a strain, it's not a tear," coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "We're fortunate that it doesn't appear to anything long term."

Notes

Beanie Wells became the first Cardinal to run for 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns in a season. After the game, the Bengals made a buy-one, get-one-free offer to season ticket holders, trying to fill the stadium for the final game. A.J. Green, playing with a strained right shoulder, had two catches for 25 yards. He passed Cris Collinsworth's club record for a rookie with 1,013 yards on the season.

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Cards' concerns on offense go deeper than quarterback

With the NFL lockout affording ample time, the Cardinals' quarterback search has become a disturbingly detailed Arizona obsession. As fans and journalists dissect each of Kevin Kolb's 319 career attempts, the significance of Kyle Orton's fourth-quarter passer rating, Carson Palmer's remaining resolve, Matt Hasselbeck's remaining cartilage, and Marc Bulger's inner fire, it's easy to overlook Arizona's other offensive woes.

"Any time you go 5-11 and have the 31st-rated offense, it's obvious you didn't perform well enough as a group," Cards offensive coordinator Mike Miller said. "The quarterbacks certainly had a hand in that performance last season, but that doesn't take the blame off the other positions."

Arizona's quarterbacks were sacked 50 times in 2010 -- tied for the NFL's second-highest total -- while the running game gained a league-low 86.8 yards per game.

With Derek Anderson's inaccuracy, Max Hall's inadequacies and John Skelton's inexperience, opposing defenses knew there was little threat of an Arizona passing attack. That made game-planning the impotent Cards easy.

But the offensive line also struggled to incorporate new starters Alan Faneca (left guard) and Brandon Keith (right tackle) while moving Deuce Lutui from left guard to right guard and Levi Brown from right tackle to left tackle.

The rushing game was hampered by Beanie Wells' early season knee surgery and Tim Hightower's fumbling and unexpected blocking issues.

The prevailing belief is that, with a competent quarterback, many of these problems will dissipate. Kurt Warner masked a lot of the Cards' deficiencies in a two-year run from 2008-2009.

But Arizona has a new offensive coordinator, potential holes to fill on the offensive line and an overcrowded backfield. With the valuable reps normally gained from OTAs now lost, and the free-agent period likely to be short and frenzied, there is warranted concern.

"Angst? Every club has that this year," Miller said. "You always want to have free agency before the draft and then get your work in, but unfortunately that's not the way it went this year."

Arizona stunned everyone on draft day when it selected Virginia Tech running back Ryan Williams with its second-round selection (38th overall), giving the Cards four backs who should demand significant reps in Williams, Wells, Hightower and LaRod Stephens-Howling.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt insisted the move was not intended as a wake-up call for Wells or Hightower. The Cards wanted to add playmakers to a team woefully short in that area, and Williams was too highly rated on Arizona's draft board to pass.

"Can you ever be overstocked at a position in this league?" Whisenhunt asked. "We used all four backs last year. There were times when we only had one available to us. We had three guys that were nicked up."

The Cards did use four backs last season, but Jason Wright came in mostly for pass protection and blocking, carrying the ball only six times while catching eight passes. In Wells, Hightower and Williams, the Cards have three backs who can carry a heavy load while Stephens-Howling gives them a third-down or change-of-pace back.

It's possible the Cards will keep all four players in the short term while they sort out their strengths. Whisenhunt loves competition at every position. But it's hard to envision all four remaining for the long run.

Hightower led the team in rushing last season with 736 yards (4.8 per carry), but his 10 fumbles over the past two seasons are tied for the second most in the NFL over that span. He's a prime candidate for release because he has never been viewed as a starting NFL back and his rookie contract has expired (the Cards made him a tender offer before the lockout began).

Perhaps more telling is the fact that Williams' arrival comes only two years after the Cards spent a first-round pick on Wells. If Wells had lived up to his potential, that would not have happened.

"I just look at it as more competition," Wells said. "We didn't have success in the run game last season. I'm not sure it was all due to the running back position, but I understand why they did this."

Despite an ankle injury on the first day of 2009 training camp, Wells had a productive rookie season, gaining 793 yards with seven touchdowns and a 4.5-yard average. But he had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus and remove loose cartilage from his right knee after the team's final 2010 preseason game. The surgery was compounded by an allergic reaction to a medical injection in that knee in November.

Wells numbers dropped to 397 yards, 3.4 per carry and two touchdowns as he tried to overcome the knee issues.

"It got better late in the season, but it never felt 100 percent," he said.

Of the Cards' four backs, Wells is the most expensive, having signed a five-year contract worth $11.8 million in 2009, including $6.3 million guaranteed (the fifth year is a team option). Wells says he's not concerned by the drafting of Williams. But he also acknowledged that 2011 is important for his value -- in Arizona or elsewhere.

"I want to prove that I'm one of the elite running backs in this league," he said. "First and foremost, I want to play in Arizona because they drafted me and believed in me. But you have to keep your options open. If this does mean the end of my time in Arizona, then so be it. I'm going to continue to play football, and I know I'll have a chance to do that somewhere."

Wells isn't the only Cardinal who could be moving on. Depending on the new free-agency rules, Lutui, a five-year veteran, could become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Since Faneca retired last month, the possibility exists that the Cards will have two new starting guards to protect whichever quarterback they land this offseason.

"It's definitely not ideal," said center Lyle Sendlein, who also has an expired contract as he enters his fifth NFL season, but is likely to re-sign. "Continuity is important to any offensive line. It's up to us to come together no matter who's on the field, but it would be nice not to have so much change for a second straight year."

Lutui is still miffed about a contract holdout in 2010 training camp that netted him nothing.

"I got the same $1.73 million tender offer in the mail after the season," he said. "I was like, 'Man, you've got to be kidding. What does this mean?' It got me mad all over again."

Lutui believes he is a core member of the team that went to the Super Bowl, so he doesn't understand why the team hasn't extended his contract. If he does become a free agent, he will almost certainly go to the highest bidder. And he is well aware that Faneca's retirement puts the Cards in a tenuous spot.

"I'm loving my options right now," he said. "I'm looking to cash in on my experience in this business. If it happens here, the Cardinals know they'll get my best effort and I'll be a great teammate. But if it happens that I'm a free agent, it doesn't matter where I go. It's my turn."

The Cards did not draft any offensive linemen, leaving veteran Rex Hadnot as the current replacement for Faneca with guard/tackle Jeremy Bridges as insurance if Lutui leaves.

Whisenhunt and general manager Rod Graves have promised to be aggressive once the free-agency period opens, but remaking the offensive line for a second successive season would seem to be an ill-conceived plan with a new quarterback under center.

"We're going to have an opportunity to address the other areas," Whisenhunt said. "We've put a lot of time in to prepare for that, and we're ready to go."

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3 Black Baseball Mini Album for NFL MLB NHL NBA Cards

The BCW Mini Album is constructed of the same design and high quality materials as our other binders.

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3 Black Baseball Mini Album for NFL MLB NHL NBA Cards

The BCW Mini Album is constructed of the same design and high quality materials as our other binders.

Price:

Click here to buy from Amazon