Sunday, September 21, 2003

by Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Speculation has begun in Arizona that the Cardinals are good candidates for an 0-16 season.

No team has lost 16 games in a season. Carolina was the most recent to go 1-15 in 2001. The 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost every game, but they only had to play 14.

The Cardinals have allowed a league-high 80 points and scored just 24. They've lost nine turnovers and have no takeaways. Among the threats to their attempts to set the dubious NFL record is a game against the Chicago Bears.

Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis said he's not concerned about his players' state of mind.

"They are frustrated, they're mad, they're embarrassed. Because in this league, it's a very close-knit group of players and coaches, and nobody wants to look like we looked, and nobody wants the score to look like the score looked."

Stop the presses!

Atlanta coach Dan Reeves needs one victory to become only the seventh NFL coach with 200, but the local newspaper didn't do him any favors when he failed to get it last Sunday.

The Falcons bought an ad in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution congratulating Reeves on win No. 200 that was to run Monday only, obviously, if the Falcons beat Washington. The Falcons lost and the ad ran anyway.

Oops. The paper apologized the next day.

When Reeves gets his next victory, he will join Don Shula, George Halas, Tom Landry, Curly Lambeau, Paul Brown and Chuck Noll in the elite 200 group. Reeves also will be the only one in the group who has not coached an NFL champion.

One and done

Tampa Bay has an opportunity to prove it is the equal of last season, when it never lost two games in a row.

"That's a point that's been brought up," safety Dwight Smith said. "We don't try to lose any game, so losing back to back is really big."

That's opposed to, say, Arizona, which does try to lose any game?

Low-flying Falcon

Not only did the Falcons give up a first-round draft choice for wide receiver Peerless Price, they gave him a $37.5 million contract. He has four catches for 58 yards in two games. The Buffalo Bills have a no-return policy, not even on Bills merchandise.

"I want the ball. That's all I want," Price said.

High-flying Redskin

Unlike Price, Laveranues Coles is off to a good start with his new team. Coles, a free agent who received a $13 million signing bonus from the Redskins when they signed him from the Jets, has 20 receptions for 298 yards and two touchdowns.

"You're expected to do big things when you're given a big payday," he said.

Here come the cheeseheads

Cheeseheads will pack Arizona's Sun Devil Stadium today when the Packers visit, one reason the crowd will swell to an expected 55,000 -- twice the fans who saw the Cardinals lose their home opener last week to Seattle, 38-0. The place holds 73,014.

Sign of the times

And you think gasoline prices have risen sharply:

The Cowboys made defensive tackle Russell Maryland the first pick in the 1991 draft and paid him $6.3 million over four years with a $3.6 million signing bonus.

The Bengals made quarterback Carson Palmer the first pick in this year's draft and gave him $40 million on a seven-year deal with a $10 million signing bonus.

Washington's good fortune

The Washington Redskins aren't 2-0 for nothing. They faced quarterback Vinny Testaverde in their opener against the Jets instead of injured Chad Pennington, and a week ago got Doug Johnson instead of injured Michael Vick of the Falcons.

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