Jean Fugett: Around the NFL

Jean Fugett: Around the NFL

By Jean Fugett; thanks to Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

WalterFootball.com is proud to partner with former Redskins and Cowboys tight end Jean Fugett, Jr. Esq. Fugett grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended Amherst College. He was the last pick of the 13th round in the 1972 NFL Draft. Fugett made the Cowboys as a backup to future Hall of Famer Mike Ditka. Fugett eventually became a starter for Tom Landry’s Cowboys and started in Super Bowl X. He made the Pro Bowl in 1977.

As a free agent, Fugett went from being the lowest-paid starting tight end to the highest-paid with the Washington Redskins. While playing for legendary Redskins coach George Allen, Fugett attended law school at George Washington University at night.

During and after his playing days, Fugett worked with CBS, the Washington Post and other media. He went on to serve as Director and Vice-Chair of the McCall Pattern Company Management Committee, founded a Baltimore law firm and partnered with Fanfone in Europe. After the death of his brother Reginald F. Lewis in 1993, Fugett took over TLC Beatrice International Foods, the largest black-owned and black-managed business in the world at the time. Fugett has served on committees with the NFL Players Association and on the Leadership Council for the American Diabetes Association Maryland Chapter.

WalterFootball.com would like to thank Redskins president Bruce Allen and senior vice president/executive producer of media Larry Michael for connecting us to Fugett. Now, let’s let Jean take over.

Offensive Player of the Week: Todd Gurley, RB, St. Louis Rams

Defensive Player of the Week: Aaron Lynch, LB, San Francisco 49ers

Goats of the Week: Stephen Ross, owner, Miami Dolphins and Jason Myers, K, Jacksonville Jaguars

Coach of the Week: Kyle Shanahan, Atlanta Falcons

Well. we’ve hit the one-quarter mark with one fourth of the season done. Is that long enough to see some trends? Another question I get asked is are all the undefeated teams legit? Denver is certainly legit. Cincinnati, they are legit. New England, Green Bay? No question about it. Carolina and Atlanta, are they for real? Last year, seven or eight wins was enough to win the NFC South division. This year, it certainly will take more than that. We knew Carolina would be good, building on last season; but we were not really expecting 4-0. Cam Newton really may have a Superman cape in his locker, the way he has been playing! Carolina coaching deserves a lot of credit also. You must credit for the way the defense has played considering they’re without Greg Hardy and have had Luke Kuechly miss a lot of time. The Atlanta Falcons are the surprise story so far this year. Who expected the Falcons to win the way they did last week? Now, with a running game and a good coachable quarterback, all kinds of good things can happen. Julio Jones could be emerging as perhaps the best receiver in the NFL. Maybe Atlanta might be more real than Carolina considering Atlanta has a player like Jones and a better running game. Two areas where the Panthers aren’t as strong. Elimination List Chicago Bears Detroit Lions New Orleans Saints Baltimore Ravens Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Former Redskin and Cowboy tight end Jean Fugett was a Pro Bowler in 1977 and a starter in Super Bowl X.

AFC

Some think Cincinnati is a fluke, but to me, the way Andy Dalton is playing, it reminds me of Andy Dalton back at TCU putting up points and winning games very efficiently. That Bengal team is so complete, and Marvin Lewis does such a good job; it amazes me that people overlook the success because it has been regular-season only. Maybe this is their year to advance in the NFL playoffs. The Browns and Ravens play this week and already, both are eliminated. The Ravens will try to win two in a row. Baltimore cannot win without Forsett running the ball well, and he was the difference last week, running to a victory. Teams that can run the ball win.

Giving Chuck Pagano credit for being able to win with a quarterback and kicker that are both over 40 may be a back-handed compliment. There isn’t any guarantee that Andrew Luck will play on Thursday; all the talk about injuries again. Is the left shoulder separated or not?

The AFC South is definitely up for grabs. The Jaguars did not beat the Colts, but they made their bettors happy. Blake Bortles is showing real improvement, too. Too bad he can’t play kicker as well, because missed field goals probably cost the Jaguars a win they could have had. Houston is talking about maybe changing quarterbacks again. The Texans can still make a run at the division, but they are very challenged to be consistently good with inconsistent quarterback play. The Titans are still a question mark led by a rookie quarterback.

Miami had a real disadvantage last week with a much longer plane ride than the Jets going to London. The Dolphins will take any excuse for the way they played. Fortunately the fans in London may not have known the difference. Miami has shown they don’t know what is going on … an organization that kept Joe Philbin as head coach after the bullygate scandal. The players knew he was “dead man walking.” Is Jim Harbaugh coming to Miami? They need to clean house in South Beach.



It was fun to see a game start at 9:30am and have the NFL play all day, but I still feel sorry that NFL players have to suffer that trip. Seeing Darrelle Revis come up with yet another big play for the Jets play at the end reminds us that teams win with big plays by great players. The Jets are a surprising 3-1, but the Patriots are still in control of that AFC East division. The Bills can play with anyone, but their offense will be up and down, especially with McCoy and Watkins hurt.

In the West, Oakland was almost 3-1, but lost to the Bears. Even at only 2-2, already the Raiders’ season is considered being a success. I think Derek Carr will continue to improve for Oakland, and I think Amari Cooper is going to be an excellent receiver. San Diego and Kansas City can beat anyone on any given Sunday, but for a variety of reasons, both teams will have difficulty going on winning streaks. I don’t see either one being able to do that at this time.



NFC

The NFC East is very interesting with the Cowboys, the Giants, and the Redskins all 2-2. Perhaps Chip Kelly needs to go back to school to learn how to run an NFL team. I don’t know why Jerry Jones signed Brandon Weeden to do anything more than carry the water bucket or the clipboard for the other quarterbacks. Dallas needs to get Matt Cassel in there, or it will be more of the same regardless of who they’re playing. The Redskins are creating some excitement in D.C. That was a great catch by Pierre Garcon, and it was a very courageous reception. It was a bad throw as far as the receiver is concerned, but all of D.C. is relieved to have a Redskins victory.

I think we could have the birth of another great speedy receiver in Stefon Diggs. Now I live in Maryland, and he’s from Maryland, played for Maryland in college, but even with all that, Stefon Diggs has been a great player going back to high school. To be teamed up with Mike Wallace on the other side, they might be the two fastest receivers in a group in the NFL. Every week Teddy Bridgewater looks better. Norv Turner is making a huge difference coaching up Bridgewater.

It also is worth mentioning that Kyle Shanahan has done a tremendous job with Atlanta. He is running a high-octane offense. The way he’s going, he could be the next head coach in Miami.

We talked about the leaders of the NFC South. Tampa Bay and New Orleans both lag at 1-3. The Saints were able to squeeze out a win, but they could easily be 0-4. They were fortunate to go against Brandon Weeden and get a victory over the hapless Cowboys. So the Bucs and Saints could be spoilers only because they are on the playoff elimination list only a quarter of the way through the season.

It was a surprise that Chicago won their game, but having a healthy Jay Cutler was a huge difference. Detroit almost won (or should have if officiated properly), but instead the play went against them, and now they are 0-4. If the officials had gotten that call right, the Lions would be 1-3. I think the NFL would prefer Seattle rather than Detroit in the playoff race. I’m not going to say the game was fixed. Kind of hard to fix it on the last play like that, but the conspiracy theory lovers will have a field day with that game ending.

Arizona came down to Earth last week, and St. Louis showed they will be a factor in that division. Todd Gurley was tremendous with 146 yards against the Cardinals. Seattle is up to 2-2 in striking distance. San Francisco might be mailing it in the rest of the season. We will see next week. Like Clay Matthews said, “[Kaepernick] ain’t Russell Wilson.”





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Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 8 Recap - 11/5
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 7 Recap - 10/29
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 5 Recap - 10/15
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 4 Recap - 10/8
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 3 Recap - 9/30
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 2 Recap - 9/23
Jean Fugett: Jean Fugett's Around the NFL Week 1 Recap - 9/16
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