Jerry Angelo is a former personnel director for the Bucs and former general manager of the Bears. Each week, Angelo answers your questions regarding the NFL. Send your questions to GarySheltonsports@gmail.com with "ask the expert'' in the subject line. The most interesting question will be selected.
I know they were missing Cam Newton, but the Panthers fell to 1-4 on Monday night. How does a team that was 15-1 last year fall so far?
I don’t think anyone can answer that with a degree of certainty. All I can say is that each year teams have to establish their identity.
They can’t base it off what they did in the previous year, whether good or bad. I know first hand, that if a team isn’t hungry and willing to make the
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needed sacrifices, they will not succeed. The real curse to winning, as the Panthers did last year, is complacency. The competition is too keen and the line so fine that you don’t know when you crossed it to the good or to the bad.
The 49ers are turning to quarterback Colin Kaepernick as quarterback this week. With all of the conversations about protests, about his weight and about his contract, can he be focused enough to play the Buffalo Bills?
What are his options? He is paid extremely well to play and perform at a high level. Whatever his circumstances, they are irrelevant to Sunday’s game.
That’s the beauty of sports, regardless of the going-ons off the field, the only thing that counts are the results of Sunday’s game. If he performs, the jeers will turn to cheers; if he doesn’t his past will haunt him like a Halloween ghost.
Jerry Jones said he’ll turn to Tony Romo as soon as he’s healthy. With Dak Prescott playing well, is that the right move?
It's absolutely the worst move he could make, but that’s why the Cowboys are one of the most dysfunctional teams in football. They have a penchant for doing the wrong thing.
Benching Prescott makes no sense for the present or the future. Tony Romo is at the end. Personally, I think he’s done. There is no future for him and it’s obvious Prescott is their future. Their future is now!
When you can’t see the obvious you have no chance and that’s the case with the Cowboys. Can you imagine when Romo throws his first interception or they lose with him? What do you think the fans and the media are going to say?
Bill Belichick passed Curley Lambeau on the win total last week. If you were going to make a Mount Rushmore for NFL coaches, who would the four coaches be?
That’s not an easy one, but for me, it would be:
Lombardi, Walsh, Halas, Landry. To me, they embodied what the game epitomized.
Who would be your NFL player of the Week after week five?
I’m going with Jacquizz Rodgers. For a guy to be picked up off the "street" and perform the way he did against the Panters on the road speaks volumes.
The Dolphins picked up Bene Benwikere, who gave up the bulk of the 300 yards receiving to Julio Jones. How many yards should we expect Antonio Brown of the Steelers to end up with this week?
600 yards!
Who is the worse free agent signing of the off-season? Brock Osweiler or Olivier Vernon?
Right now, I’d have to say it’s Vernon, because he showed the talent and he isn’t playing to his potential. In Osweiler's case, he was paid based on his position. He showed little in Denver to merit the contract he was given by Houston. Unfortunately he isn’t showing much more for the Texans.
The old saying, “Desperate people do desperate things”, applies to the Texans.
Ndamukong Suh is 36th in the league in sacks. Is he off to a slow start, or is he the latest player who made a mistake chasing the big money?
There was no mistake on Suh's part in taking the contract the Dolphins gave him. If anybody made a mistake it was the Fins!
Suh wasn’t known as a dominant pass rusher. He is a disruptive player who has to be accounted for on game day. The Dolphins are a poor team and when teams aren’t playing to their potential, most all their players will look like underachievers. Suh is no different.
The old saying: "To much is given, much is expected". Right now, any player wearing a Fin on his helmet is overpaid.
Michael Bennett was irate after Donald Trump made his crude remarks of 11 years ago were “locker room talk.” You’ve been in a thousand locker rooms. How crude and profane is it, really?
No better or worse than what you see or hear in any bar during “Happy Hour”. It’s harmless talk. Where guys can have a little fun without having to worry about being "politically correct."
Today’s best-ever category is the famed New York Giants, Who is their best-ever player?
a). Frank Gifford
b) Michael Strahan
c) Lawrence Taylor
d) Phil Simms
e) Sam Huff
LT hands down!
Jerry’s picks
Jaguars at Bears
Bad vs Bad, I’m going with the home team, but that may mean little, based on the enthusiasm the Bears will generate from their battered fans.
Panthers at Saints
The Panthers are going to start their run against the ‘Aints, who struggle to win at home. As they do on the road.
Cowboys at Packers
The Pack will have their way in this one. The Cowboys are better, but they’re not good.
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