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| | | | | | | |  Tuesday, November 14, 2000
Melissa Stark Q & A
By Melissa Stark
Special to MondayNightFootball.com
A lot of people want to talk to Monday Night Football's Melissa Stark. A few of you got the chance on Tuesday, courtesy of MondayNightFootball.com.
|  | | Keyshawn Johnson had a fumble and a key drop in Monday night's loss to the Vikings. |
The MNF sideline reporter recently answered user questions on a variety of topics, including the up-for-grabs AFC East, the undefeated Rams and her golf game.
Can either the 5-0 Rams or Vikings go undefeated this year?
James Conway, Owego, N.Y.
Stark: First of all, one of them definitely won't go undefeated because they play each other Dec. 10.
I don't think the Rams can go 16-0 simply because of their defense. Obviously, their offense is unbelievable, averaging 43.4 points per game (dropping 57 on San Diego in their last one), which is on pace to break the 1998 Vikings' NFL scoring record of 556 points (34.8 points per game). But the St. Louis defense is not playing up to last season's form. Now, a part of that is that opposing offenses have to come out firing to keep up with the St. Louis offense. Pretty soon, however, somebody is going to expose that weakness. The Dec. 18 Monday night game against Tampa Bay could be one of the one.
Like we talked about last week, Minnesota's Daunte Culpepper has a variety of weapons in wide receivers Randy Moss, Cris Carter and running back Robert Smith. The thing about Minnesota is they have not dominated teams this year -- by that I mean blowing out teams convincingly by two touchdowns or more. Obviously, St. Louis can outscore them, too. Detroit can beat them on Nov. 30 as well.
Also, every single game in the NFL is competitive. This season has been rife with upsets. Last week alone, New England upset Indianapolis in Foxboro and the New York Jets lost to Pittsburgh. So no, I don't think any team can stay perfect this year.
Did you see any traces of bitterness by Keyshawn Johnson on the sideline last night? He's wasn't even the go-to guy in this Tampa Bay offense.
Shawn Rider, Jacksonville, Fla.
Stark: I don't know if it's bitterness, I think it's frustration on Keyshawn's part. That's just the kind of guy he is -- he just has to keep talking and then back it up with his play. Unfortunately, they are losing, and it's affecting everyone on that offense, especially Johnson. They have a new offensive coordinator in Les Steckles, and even Dungy is just getting acquainted with him. Throw in the fact that Keyshawn was double-covered a lot of the game on Monday night and you have one frustrated receiver.
On the sidelines I noticed Keyshawn talking to Shaun King and trying to explain what type of passes to throw him. He wanted an over-the-shoulder pass, and King tried that during the game. Keyshawn has just talked the talk so much, he is feeling the pressure. On the second-to-last play of the game, he had that long reception and then just got crushed and lost it. Down the stretch, a guy like Keyshawn who makes that much money has to grab those.
At this point, is the AFC East the toughest division in football?
Ryan Johnston, Indianapolis, Ind.
Stark: No question. It was the best division last year as well. So let's break this division down, one-by-one:
No. 1: Miami (5-1): The Dolphins defense has carried them so far, obviously. Jay Fiedler is really an unproven guy so far at quarterback. Minnesota and St. Louis have shown us you have to have offense to win games. I see them falling off a bit.
New York Jets (4-1): The Pittsburgh loss last week was a real head-scratcher. Until then, they were winning the close ones with Curtis Martin running well and the defense playing as well as Miami's. But falling to Pittsburgh at home? I don't see them at the top of the division at season's end either, although they are going to have some exciting games the rest of the way.
Indianapolis (3-2): Indy belongs higher up, despite their loss to New England last week. I thought their other loss, Oakland at home, was one of the most surprising of the NFL season. This team really bombarded Jacksonville on Monday Night Football. I expect the Colts to have a better second half.
Buffalo (2-3): I still haven't figured this team out yet. I don't think anybody has.
New England (2-4): This is the craziest team in the NFL -- they just beat Denver at Mile High two weeks ago and upset a hot Indianapolis team at home on Sunday. The rest of the AFC East has taken notice.
You may get a lot of questions about Dennis and Al, but I want to know about Dan Fouts. What's he been like to work with?
Jen Cupper, Athens, Ga.
Stark: Let's put it this way: Our producer, Don Ohlmeyer, always asks him first about his opinion on what he's looking for during the game. I know Dan talks to all of the coordinators and travels to see each team practice. He has some great ideas in our meetings.
He's also fun to have around. Dan has a dry sense of humor that kind of catches you off-guard. I started noticing that because we had all those rehearsals during the summer before the preseason. That's something I don't think anyone of us on the Monday Night Football crew really knew going into the season. Dan is a great person. He is supportive of everyone in the group and does his homework.
Melissa, how's your golf game?
Ted Quinn, Juneau, Alaska
Stark: Good question (laughs)! I don't have too much time to play golf these days, given my Monday Night Football schedule and the fact that I live in New York City. However, I did just come back from golf school in Hawaii last May. It was just awesome -- I played on the course where Tiger Woods won the Mercedes Championship last year, the Plantation Course in Maui. I think that improved my game a bit. I shoot mid to low 90s and I have played for about three years. I started because I have such weird hours in this business. When I lived up in Connecticut working with ESPN, I had off Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I had nothing to do, and my co-workers, all guys, played golf. So I went out and bought a set of clubs and played with them.
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Eric Dickerson caught up with Daunte Culpepper after Monday's victory over the Bucs.
ESPN's Andrea Kremer talks with coach Dennis Green of the 5-0 Vikings.