NFL beyond Week 11

Mike Remmers, Vikings guard

Twitter was abuzz this week with a clip of Colts left guard Quentin Nelson screaming wildly as he pulled to his right as the lead blocker on a run play, lowered his helmet and pancaked Jaguars safety Barry Church with a helmet-to-helmet blast. As is usually the case with Twitter, two sides dug in to debate whether it was the greatest block ever or an example of the kind of helmet-to-helmet hit the NFL is trying to eliminate. We asked Vikings right guard Mike Remmers about the play. He had heard about it but had not seen it until it was shown to him after Wednesday's practice:

MC: What do you think?

MR: Sweet.

MC: Was it a legal block?

MR: Did they throw a flag?

MC: No.

MC: What about those who argue that penalties for lowering the helmet should go both ways?

MR: Linebackers, they don't care. They go downhill and hit people with their head. I know helmet-to-helmet hits are a big thing for receivers and guys like that who are one-on-one in the open field. But in the trenches, that stuff happens literally every play.

MC: How does a pancake block like that feel when you're watching the tape on Mondays?

MR: Awesome. When you're watching it in the O-line room, and your teammates are seeing it, it gets everyone riled up. Not the helmet-to-helmet part, but just knocking a guy on his back is pretty encouraging.

Josh Reynolds, Rams receiver

Marvin Lewis, Bengals coach and defensive coordinator

Lewis fired his new defensive coordinator, Teryl Austin, nine games into the season. The end came Monday, one day after a 51-14 home loss to the Saints dropped the Bengals to 5-4. Austin exited as the first defensive coordinator in NFL history to surrender 500 or more yards in three straight games. Lewis, a defensive coordinator before getting the Bengals job 16 seasons ago, named himself to replace Austin. Now, he heads to Baltimore, where he won a Super Bowl as a defensive coordinator during a six-year stint (1996-01). The Ravens have lost three straight and fell to Cincinnati 34-23 in Week 2.