CHARLIE WEIS HAS SURGERY, WOLFPACK RANKED 1ST TIME SINCE '48, YELLOW FLAGS FLY ON MNF & A LEGEND PASSES AWAY
Chiefs' offensive coordinator Charlie Weis underwent gall bladder surgery on Monday morning. He was diagnosed with an infected gall bladder on Friday but refused surgery because "he knew he was coaching on Sunday" according to Weis' agent Bob LaMonte. Since the Chiefs are on their bye week, Weis isn't expected to miss any significant time before their game in Indianapolis a week from Sunday.
I just heard a lengthy discussion on ESPN's Mike & Mike in the Morning between Greeny, Golic & Merrill Hodge regarding the viability of the Chiefs down the road as a playoff contender. Hodge said the strength of Kansas City is their coordinators, they put the available personnel in the best position to succeed, which is hard to argue with. He said watching the game Sunday, the way the Chiefs' misdirection ran the 49er pursuit off & then threw the ball to Charles or McCluster, their speed guys, on the backside with room to run, was brilliant. He believes "at 3-0, the Chiefs are in it for the long run, definitely a playoff contender."
The NFL's week 3 is in the books & we're left with just three undefeated teams, Pittsburgh, Chicago & Kansas City. Frankly all three were long shots to be undefeated at this point. The Steelers were strapped with a 4-game suspension to their starting quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger & have played 3 different quarterbacks in his spot in their three wins. Playing three playoff contenders in those 4 weeks, Atlanta, Tennessee & Baltimore, it was generally thought a 2-2 record would have been very good. They play the Ravens this Sunday, if they can win, Pittsburgh is the front runner in the AFC North. The Bears beat Dallas & Green Bay in back-to-back weeks, the two teams most considered to challenge New Orleans for NFC supremacy. Chicago plays at the Meadowlands Sunday, against a desperate Giants' squad, win that game & they could run their record to 7-0 with Carolina, Seattle & Washington before their bye week. This is a huge game for the Bears, they outplayed Dallas, but last night, they were the recipients of 18 Green Bay penalties, winning a game they probably shouldn't have. Kansas City also beat two teams considered to be playoff contenders, San Diego & San Francisco, while winning a road game without scoring an offensive touchdown. Are they a playoff contender? Looking at their remaining schedule, games with Jacksonville(1-2), Buffalo(0-3), Oakland twice(1-2), Denver twice(1-2), Arizona(2-1), Seattle(2-1) & St. Louis, they can be in the playoff conversation. If they beat Indy, Houston, Tennessee or San Diego again, their chances multiply. The major difference I see in these three undefeated teams is the quarterbacks. In a quarterback-driven league, would you rather have Ben Rothlisberger, Jay Cutler or Matt Cassel? Taking it a step further, would you rather have the Steeler defense or Kansas City's? Both the Bears & Chiefs could realistically be a year away, but if they keep winning, who knows? There's quite a difference in these three undefeated teams, but they'll be interesting to watch as the season progresses.
The Nevada Wolfpack made the Associated Press college football Top-25 poll, just barely at #25. It marked the first time the Wolfpack has been ranked in any poll since 1948, 62-years, pretty amazing. Nevada travels south from their Reno home to Las Vegas to play the hapless Rebels. They're a 20 1/2 point road favorite.
Should Oklahoma's Bob Stoops be concerned his Sooners rank 97th nationally in total defense? This crew might be just what Mack Brown's underachieving Longhorns need to see. They meet Saturday in the Red River Shootout.
The Green Bay Packers set a franchise record last night with 18 penalties, it was gross. I'd have to say just about everyone of them was justified. The Pack also committed two turnovers. One of those, a fumble by WR James Jones, was caused by Jones carrying the ball in his indie hand, allowing Brian Urlacher to knock the ball out & the Bears to recover. This turnover & a pass interference penalty set the table for Chicago's winning field goal with :04 seconds left.
Packers' coach Mike McCarthy compounded the problem the fumble caused by blowing one of his three timeouts to challenge the play. It was obvious the ball was recovered in bounds. If Green Bay had that timeout, they would've had about :45 seconds after the ensuing kickoff instead of :04.
The Bears' offensive line will determine just how far this team goes. They just don't protect QB Jay Cutler & they are really challenged to run the ball consistently. The tackle play is sub-par & that's being nice. If Mike Tice can't bring up the level of play, this line will be what holds the Bears back from making the post season.
The Packers led the league in penalties last year, so what do they do in a big divisional game on MNF against their arch enemy? Let their opponent steal a game from them by not playing smart or disciplined. Green Bay has superior talent on both sides of the ball, but penalties, questionable coaching decisions & poor punt & kick coverage will cost this team a game from time to time. Last night was one of those times.
A true American Football League legend passed away yesterday. George Blanda, 83, died after a brief illness. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981, Blanda played for Chicago & Baltimore before moving to the Houston Oilers in the upstart AFL in 1960. He won AFL Championships with the Oilers in 1960, 1961 & in '67 with the Oakland Raiders. It was with Oakland in the late 60's & into the mid-70's Blanda became a legend. Playing as a 48-year old kicker, Blanda was one of the last straight-on placekickers. He threw 236 touchdowns as a quarterback & kicked 943 PAT's(an NFL record). Blanda's 1970 season was his most famous when he kicked the winning or tying field goal with no time left in two games or because of injury, entered the game as a quarterback, a 43-year old quarterback, throwing the winning touchdown in four other games. This 6-game streak was one for the ages, one as a Kansas City fan I absolutely hated. he kicked a 48-yard field goal in Kansas City to tie the game 17-17 after the biggest football brawl I ever saw touched off by a late hit by Oakland's Ben Davidson on Chiefs' QB Len Dawson. Blanda & his wife of 60-years, Betty, split their retirement life between homes in Chicago & outside Palm Springs California.
I just heard a lengthy discussion on ESPN's Mike & Mike in the Morning between Greeny, Golic & Merrill Hodge regarding the viability of the Chiefs down the road as a playoff contender. Hodge said the strength of Kansas City is their coordinators, they put the available personnel in the best position to succeed, which is hard to argue with. He said watching the game Sunday, the way the Chiefs' misdirection ran the 49er pursuit off & then threw the ball to Charles or McCluster, their speed guys, on the backside with room to run, was brilliant. He believes "at 3-0, the Chiefs are in it for the long run, definitely a playoff contender."
The NFL's week 3 is in the books & we're left with just three undefeated teams, Pittsburgh, Chicago & Kansas City. Frankly all three were long shots to be undefeated at this point. The Steelers were strapped with a 4-game suspension to their starting quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger & have played 3 different quarterbacks in his spot in their three wins. Playing three playoff contenders in those 4 weeks, Atlanta, Tennessee & Baltimore, it was generally thought a 2-2 record would have been very good. They play the Ravens this Sunday, if they can win, Pittsburgh is the front runner in the AFC North. The Bears beat Dallas & Green Bay in back-to-back weeks, the two teams most considered to challenge New Orleans for NFC supremacy. Chicago plays at the Meadowlands Sunday, against a desperate Giants' squad, win that game & they could run their record to 7-0 with Carolina, Seattle & Washington before their bye week. This is a huge game for the Bears, they outplayed Dallas, but last night, they were the recipients of 18 Green Bay penalties, winning a game they probably shouldn't have. Kansas City also beat two teams considered to be playoff contenders, San Diego & San Francisco, while winning a road game without scoring an offensive touchdown. Are they a playoff contender? Looking at their remaining schedule, games with Jacksonville(1-2), Buffalo(0-3), Oakland twice(1-2), Denver twice(1-2), Arizona(2-1), Seattle(2-1) & St. Louis, they can be in the playoff conversation. If they beat Indy, Houston, Tennessee or San Diego again, their chances multiply. The major difference I see in these three undefeated teams is the quarterbacks. In a quarterback-driven league, would you rather have Ben Rothlisberger, Jay Cutler or Matt Cassel? Taking it a step further, would you rather have the Steeler defense or Kansas City's? Both the Bears & Chiefs could realistically be a year away, but if they keep winning, who knows? There's quite a difference in these three undefeated teams, but they'll be interesting to watch as the season progresses.
The Nevada Wolfpack made the Associated Press college football Top-25 poll, just barely at #25. It marked the first time the Wolfpack has been ranked in any poll since 1948, 62-years, pretty amazing. Nevada travels south from their Reno home to Las Vegas to play the hapless Rebels. They're a 20 1/2 point road favorite.
Should Oklahoma's Bob Stoops be concerned his Sooners rank 97th nationally in total defense? This crew might be just what Mack Brown's underachieving Longhorns need to see. They meet Saturday in the Red River Shootout.
The Green Bay Packers set a franchise record last night with 18 penalties, it was gross. I'd have to say just about everyone of them was justified. The Pack also committed two turnovers. One of those, a fumble by WR James Jones, was caused by Jones carrying the ball in his indie hand, allowing Brian Urlacher to knock the ball out & the Bears to recover. This turnover & a pass interference penalty set the table for Chicago's winning field goal with :04 seconds left.
Packers' coach Mike McCarthy compounded the problem the fumble caused by blowing one of his three timeouts to challenge the play. It was obvious the ball was recovered in bounds. If Green Bay had that timeout, they would've had about :45 seconds after the ensuing kickoff instead of :04.
The Bears' offensive line will determine just how far this team goes. They just don't protect QB Jay Cutler & they are really challenged to run the ball consistently. The tackle play is sub-par & that's being nice. If Mike Tice can't bring up the level of play, this line will be what holds the Bears back from making the post season.
The Packers led the league in penalties last year, so what do they do in a big divisional game on MNF against their arch enemy? Let their opponent steal a game from them by not playing smart or disciplined. Green Bay has superior talent on both sides of the ball, but penalties, questionable coaching decisions & poor punt & kick coverage will cost this team a game from time to time. Last night was one of those times.
A true American Football League legend passed away yesterday. George Blanda, 83, died after a brief illness. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981, Blanda played for Chicago & Baltimore before moving to the Houston Oilers in the upstart AFL in 1960. He won AFL Championships with the Oilers in 1960, 1961 & in '67 with the Oakland Raiders. It was with Oakland in the late 60's & into the mid-70's Blanda became a legend. Playing as a 48-year old kicker, Blanda was one of the last straight-on placekickers. He threw 236 touchdowns as a quarterback & kicked 943 PAT's(an NFL record). Blanda's 1970 season was his most famous when he kicked the winning or tying field goal with no time left in two games or because of injury, entered the game as a quarterback, a 43-year old quarterback, throwing the winning touchdown in four other games. This 6-game streak was one for the ages, one as a Kansas City fan I absolutely hated. he kicked a 48-yard field goal in Kansas City to tie the game 17-17 after the biggest football brawl I ever saw touched off by a late hit by Oakland's Ben Davidson on Chiefs' QB Len Dawson. Blanda & his wife of 60-years, Betty, split their retirement life between homes in Chicago & outside Palm Springs California.
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