DOLPHINS REALLY STINK UP THE PLACE, JETS GET 3 BACK, INJURY NEWS & COLTS LOSE ANOTHER SAFETY
New England did something last night that had never been done in the 90-year history of the National Football League. They scored touchdown on a kickoff return, blocked field goal return & an interception return. The Patriot special teams also blocked a punt that resulted in a 12-yard touchdown run by BenJarvis Green-Ellis. It was the worst overall breakdown of special teams I had ever seen. Oh, I've seen 2 kickoffs run back in the same game or two field goal attempts blocked in the same game, but never such a total breakdown. It cost Miami special teams coach John Bonamego his job, the Dolphins announced this morning. I doubt he made it out the locker room door last night without being handed his pink slip. The Dolphins out gained the Pats 400-265 but as I've told you before, close games are often decided by 3-4 plays. Kickoff return TD, blocked punt, blocked field goal TD & interception return TD. Those four plays resulted in four touchdowns. Patriot safety Patrick Chung blocked the punt, blocked the field goal & returned an interception for a touchdown, quite a night to be sure. The Miami defense played pretty well, Randy Moss was shut out, they only gave up 13 points. The game was 7-6 Miami at half but after Brandon Tate ran back the second half kickoff 103-yards, the game was over. Miami QB Chad Henne, despite Ron Jaworski's lavish praise, was awful, throwing three interceptions. The Dolphins are essentially out of the AFC East race now, having lost 2 division games at home already. I know two of you needed Miami to win so you could claim your office pool pots. Sorry, no way to handicap what happened last night, we were in the running for a half.
The 3-1 Jets get three key players back this week for their Monday night game with the Minnesota Vikings. Darrelle Revis & Calvin Pace return to the New York defense from the injury list. WR Santonio Holmes is coming off a 4-game suspension for pot smokin'. This only makes a very tough team even tougher.
The Seattle Seahawks traded a 4th round pick in 2011 & a conditional pick in 2012 to Buffalo for RB Marshawn Lynch. It had been speculated the Packers would make a move to get Lynch after Ryan Grant went down for the season opening day. Lynch has been a knucklehead from time to time in college & with the Bills, so his behavior will be under a microscope. Pete Carroll's taking a chance, but Lynch has plenty of tread left on the tires & could be a great acquisition.
Michael Vick has already been ruled out for Sunday's game with San Francisco. He said this morning he will probably miss another week as well. No word on running back LeSean McCoy & his broken rib.
Washington's Clinton Portis suffered a groin injury & the running back said today he wouldn't play this Sunday vs. Green Bay. Cincinnati WR Jordan Shipley sustained a concussion from a hit in Sunday's game with Cleveland. Brown safety T.J. Ward cracked Shipley upside the head with a forearm, look for a fine to come Ward's way this week. Super Bowl hero Tracey Porter will miss 3-4 weeks with a partially torn MCL. The Saints cornerback returned a Peyton Manning interception for the decisive score in January's Super Bowl.
Carolina wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett was already on very thin ice with coach John Fox. Then on Sunday he failed to catch two passes in the Panthers' last series in New Orleans. The Panthers were trying to overcome a 16-14 Saints lead when Jarrett failed to make two plays. This morning at about 2 AM, Jarrett was arrested for a DUI. Game, set, match, he'll become an ex-Panther very shortly IMO.
Just how much longer can Penn State live in the dark ages? This team is so completely lame offensively, they haven't scored a touchdown in either game against ranked opponents this season. I know their 14th place ranking was totally bogus before the season even began. JoePa is definitely a legend, he's won 399 games, all at Penn State but there comes a time to move on & that time was about 5-years ago. I have no idea how this team can recruit players to be a part of this ridiculous offense. This program will continue to suffer if major changes aren't made very soon.
The Colts are an 8-point favorite over the Chiefs this Sunday. Other notable lines include the Jets laying four against Minnesota on Monday night & Houston favored by 3 against the visiting Giants. In college matchups, Nebraska is giving K-State 12 on Thursday night in Manhattan. Seems like a lot doesn't it? How does Georgia spot Tennessee 12? Mizzou is also a 12-point favorite over Colorado & in the battle for bragging rites in Michigan, the Wolverines are a 4 1/2 point favorite vs. Michigan State. That game to be played in the Big House at Ann Arbor.
The Indianapolis Colts had already lost all-pro safety Bob Sanders to a torn biceps muscle & now they've lost his backup, Melvin Bullitt, to the same type of injury. How long Bullitt will be sidelined is not yet known, but he will miss this Sunday's game with Kansas City. Bullitt's injury will promote former Chief DaJuan Morgan into a starting role. Unless Morgan has undergone some sort of transformation, he still isn't an NFL-quality safety. This could be a real chink in the Colt defense Charlie Weis can exploit. I'm still worried about Eric Berry & his tendency to bite on play action passes & then run after receivers after they've gotten behind him. Peyton Manning is as good at this as any quarterback that's ever played the game at this level.
The 3-1 Jets get three key players back this week for their Monday night game with the Minnesota Vikings. Darrelle Revis & Calvin Pace return to the New York defense from the injury list. WR Santonio Holmes is coming off a 4-game suspension for pot smokin'. This only makes a very tough team even tougher.
The Seattle Seahawks traded a 4th round pick in 2011 & a conditional pick in 2012 to Buffalo for RB Marshawn Lynch. It had been speculated the Packers would make a move to get Lynch after Ryan Grant went down for the season opening day. Lynch has been a knucklehead from time to time in college & with the Bills, so his behavior will be under a microscope. Pete Carroll's taking a chance, but Lynch has plenty of tread left on the tires & could be a great acquisition.
Michael Vick has already been ruled out for Sunday's game with San Francisco. He said this morning he will probably miss another week as well. No word on running back LeSean McCoy & his broken rib.
Washington's Clinton Portis suffered a groin injury & the running back said today he wouldn't play this Sunday vs. Green Bay. Cincinnati WR Jordan Shipley sustained a concussion from a hit in Sunday's game with Cleveland. Brown safety T.J. Ward cracked Shipley upside the head with a forearm, look for a fine to come Ward's way this week. Super Bowl hero Tracey Porter will miss 3-4 weeks with a partially torn MCL. The Saints cornerback returned a Peyton Manning interception for the decisive score in January's Super Bowl.
Carolina wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett was already on very thin ice with coach John Fox. Then on Sunday he failed to catch two passes in the Panthers' last series in New Orleans. The Panthers were trying to overcome a 16-14 Saints lead when Jarrett failed to make two plays. This morning at about 2 AM, Jarrett was arrested for a DUI. Game, set, match, he'll become an ex-Panther very shortly IMO.
Just how much longer can Penn State live in the dark ages? This team is so completely lame offensively, they haven't scored a touchdown in either game against ranked opponents this season. I know their 14th place ranking was totally bogus before the season even began. JoePa is definitely a legend, he's won 399 games, all at Penn State but there comes a time to move on & that time was about 5-years ago. I have no idea how this team can recruit players to be a part of this ridiculous offense. This program will continue to suffer if major changes aren't made very soon.
The Colts are an 8-point favorite over the Chiefs this Sunday. Other notable lines include the Jets laying four against Minnesota on Monday night & Houston favored by 3 against the visiting Giants. In college matchups, Nebraska is giving K-State 12 on Thursday night in Manhattan. Seems like a lot doesn't it? How does Georgia spot Tennessee 12? Mizzou is also a 12-point favorite over Colorado & in the battle for bragging rites in Michigan, the Wolverines are a 4 1/2 point favorite vs. Michigan State. That game to be played in the Big House at Ann Arbor.
The Indianapolis Colts had already lost all-pro safety Bob Sanders to a torn biceps muscle & now they've lost his backup, Melvin Bullitt, to the same type of injury. How long Bullitt will be sidelined is not yet known, but he will miss this Sunday's game with Kansas City. Bullitt's injury will promote former Chief DaJuan Morgan into a starting role. Unless Morgan has undergone some sort of transformation, he still isn't an NFL-quality safety. This could be a real chink in the Colt defense Charlie Weis can exploit. I'm still worried about Eric Berry & his tendency to bite on play action passes & then run after receivers after they've gotten behind him. Peyton Manning is as good at this as any quarterback that's ever played the game at this level.
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