Phil Simms

The Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger was listed as limited in Wednesday's practice, which was interpreted as a boost in the arm for the Steelers who have dropped two straight games without their franchise quarterback. But a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review described Roethlisberger's workout as very brief, his light throwing ending even before some of his teammates reached the practice field. Does this mean that Pittsburgh will err on the side of caution and shelve Roethlisberger for at least another week to give his dislocated ribs and sprained right throwing shoulder more time to heal?

CBS Super Bowl broadcasters Jim Nantz and Phil Simms say they see a lot more than just Ray Lewis when they look at the Baltimore Ravens. And come Sunday, the conversation they do have about Lewis in the biggest broadcast booth in popular culture is going to be primarily about his play on the field and inspirational power in the locker room - not what happened in Atlanta. "I would just say, Ravens?" Nantz said Tuesday when asked for his sense of the team's image during a teleconference.

CBS Super Bowl broadcasters Jim Nantz and Phil Simms say they see a lot more than just Ray Lewis when they look at the Baltimore Ravens. And come Sunday, the conversation they do have about Lewis in the biggest broadcast booth in popular culture is going to be primarily about his play on the field and inspirational power in the locker room - not what happened in Atlanta. "I would just say, Ravens?" Nantz said Tuesday when asked for his sense of the team's image during a teleconference.

The Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger was listed as limited in Wednesday's practice, which was interpreted as a boost in the arm for the Steelers who have dropped two straight games without their franchise quarterback. But a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review described Roethlisberger's workout as very brief, his light throwing ending even before some of his teammates reached the practice field. Does this mean that Pittsburgh will err on the side of caution and shelve Roethlisberger for at least another week to give his dislocated ribs and sprained right throwing shoulder more time to heal?

As appealing as it might be to vent my own frustration and play to the rage of tens of thousands of Ravens fans by ripping the TV coverage of Baltimore's agonizing 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots, facts are facts. And the fact of the matter is that CBS Sports did an outstanding job of telecasting Sunday's AFC championship game. The producer and director used their cameras to make viewers feel as if they were not only in the stadium, but almost on the field in Foxboro at certain points Sunday.

NEW YORK -- If New York Giants owner Wellington Mara is to be believed -- and the tone of his remarks yesterday suggested he should be -- then Phil Simms will not be traded this season to San Diego or any other team that finds itself in desperate need of a quick-fix quarterback.Mara stormed into the press room at FDU-Madison in the afternoon and shot down rumors that Simms could be sent to the Chargers, who lost starter John Friesz to a knee injury in an exhibition game last Saturday night.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- This was the first full day of Jef Hostetler's reign as the New York Giants' starting quarterback. And everyone seemed to have an opinion as to whether Hostetler or Phil Simms should have been chosen for the job.There were opinions, or at least a vote of appreciation, from the 1,400 people who packed the ballroom of the New York Hilton yesterday for the annual Kickoff Luncheon honoring the Giants. There were opinions from JoAnne Handley's family and co-workers. There were opinions from the many people who telephoned the Giants' offices here.

Ray Handley, the coach who identifies himself as a rookie, made his move. He went to Jeff Hostetler and said, "You're my quarterback.""And I shook his hand," the rookie coach said.Then he went to Phil Simms, the noble Giant through the battering of the bad years and the buttering of the good years, and said, "I've made the decision. I'm going to start Jeff. You know, as I've indicated what your role is on the team, how valuable I consider you."It was as gentle, diplomatic, considerate, politic and tactful as a feeling man could make it. And so the Phil Simms Era ended, and the Bill Parcells Era, too. And the Ray Handley Era began: The kings are dead; long live the kings.

East Rutherford, N.J.--For the Washington Redskins, playing the New York Giants is pro football's version of playing blackjack against the house.Giants coach Bill Parcells can count on his dealer, quarterback Phil Simms, to put between 17 and 27 points on the board.After all, Simms has helped produce between 17 and 27 points -- no more, no less -- the past 11 games he's played against the Redskins the past six seasons -- a remarkable feat of consistency.Parcells, who likes to play a safe, conservative game, counts on that being enough for his defense.

As Phil Simms was deciding whether to become Buddy Ryan's latest experiment on offense last night, the agent for the former New York Giants quarterback intimated his client may not be through shopping even if the Arizona Cardinals' deal falls through.Simms was seeking a guaranteed, two-year deal that his agent, David Fishof, now says would be worth more than $4 million from Ryan's Arizona team. It is a deal requiring a fair amount of salary-cap finagling by Arizona to pull off and the only deal Simms said yesterday he would be interested in pursuing.

As appealing as it might be to vent my own frustration and play to the rage of tens of thousands of Ravens fans by ripping the TV coverage of Baltimore's agonizing 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots, facts are facts. And the fact of the matter is that CBS Sports did an outstanding job of telecasting Sunday's AFC championship game. The producer and director used their cameras to make viewers feel as if they were not only in the stadium, but almost on the field in Foxboro at certain points Sunday.

Being a two-time Super Bowl champion, Phil Simms knows a thing or two about what it takes to win in January, and he thinks Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco did more than enough last Sunday. Simms, a former quarterback of the New York Giants who will provide color commentary during CBS's broadcast of Sunday's AFC championship game (Jim Nantz will handle play-by-play duties), said on a national conference call Tuesday that Flacco played "very well" in the 20-13 divisional round victory against the Houston Texans, even though his final stat line wasn't very impressive.

After suffering his share of criticism during the offseason, Joe Flacco is ready to prove himself on the field. But before he can do that, members of the media have one more month to share their opinions of the Ravens' fourth-year quarterback. And if perception is reality, then it seems things are looking up for Flacco. While a bevy of players and analysts bashed Flacco during the offseason, former NFL quarterback Phil Simms was one of the first to come out in Flacco's defense when he voiced his support for Flacco in May in an interview on 105.7 The Fan . On Tuesday, Simms reiterated that stance in a video on SI.com . “Joe Flacco has taken a lot of -- I guess you'd say -- heat down in Baltimore because they wonder if he's the man to lead them,” Simms said in the video.

TV call 'nice 'n' easy' What a pleasure to listen to Jim Nantz and Phil Simms telecasting a Ravens game after the past two weeks of Dick Enberg and Dan Fouts, and Brian Billick and Thom Brennaman. As Frank Sinatra put it in a 1960 LP, "Nice 'n' easy does it every time." Of course, Nantz and Simms only make it sound easy. After listening to all the misinformation and flat-out confusion at times from Enberg last week, you realize how much preparation goes into supplying the kind of smooth and steady stream of background information and context that Simms and Nantz offered throughout Sunday's victory over the Oakland Raiders.

TV call 'nice 'n' easy' What a pleasure to listen to Jim Nantz and Phil Simms telecasting a Ravens game after the past two weeks of Dick Enberg and Dan Fouts, and Brian Billick and Thom Brennaman. As Frank Sinatra put it in a 1960 LP, "Nice 'n' easy does it every time." Of course, Nantz and Simms only make it sound easy. After listening to all the misinformation and flat-out confusion at times from Enberg last week, you realize how much preparation goes into supplying the kind of smooth and steady stream of background information and context that Simms and Nantz offered throughout Sunday's victory over the Oakland Raiders.

It's a new year of sports media notes but, sorry, the same old writer: Ravens fans wouldn't mind if this were a preview as much as a replay: At 8 a.m. today, the NFL Network is running the CBS telecast of the Ravens' victory in Miami in October. * And maybe there is more good karma in ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown (11 a.m.). ESPN has scheduled interviews with Joe Flacco and members of the Ravens' defense - conducted by Trent Dilfer. So the Ravens' Super Bowl-winning quarterback will interview their current quarterback.

Viewers who tuned into yesterday's Ravens-New York Giants game lying in wait for Bob Trumpy or expecting NBC to explore ramifications of the move from Cleveland didn't get either.There have been, and will be, lots of words about the Team Formerly Known As The Cleveland Browns, but those words would have been wasted on a preseason game whose audience will be dramatically smaller than that of a regular-season contest in a few weeks.In other words, as the comedians say, why waste your A material on a B audience?

BOSTON -- Now that Bill Parcells is coach of the New England Patriots, can some of his former favorite sons with the Giants be far behind? As Parcells exited the hotel ballroom where his news conference was held yesterday, he was asked about free-agent-to-be Lawrence Taylor."

Only the best teams make it into the NFL playoffs. And so the same should be said of the announcing teams assigned by the three networks - CBS, Fox and NBC - carrying the postseason. Just as the clubs are seeded, here are the rankings of the six broadcaster pairings. (For any sideline reporter fans out there, you may think I'm slighting them. You would be right. No offense to the likes of Pam Oliver and Tony Siragusa, but telecasts generally sound better the longer we go without word from down on the field - the reports interrupt the flow and usually add little that couldn't be handled in the booth.

Mirage or miracle? The NFL wants to know but isn't sure. It normally takes Bill Parcells two years to reinvent a losing franchise into a playoff team. That's been his history in each of three previous coaching stops. But this year, Mr. Fix It seemingly is making the turn in record time. One month into his first season in Dallas, the Cowboys are 3-1 and leading the thorny NFC East. Parcells is doing it with a quarterback who was benched before midseason in 2002, a coaching staff that averaged a scant 5.7 years of NFL experience coming into the season, and an offense that ranked 30th and 29th the past two years.