PACK LOSES ANOTHER STARTER, SPURRIER TAKES A SHOT, CHUNG GETS HOSED & CHIEFS ON "OTL"
The 2010 season is just 4 games old & already the Green Bay Packers have lost their 3rd starter for the season. Inside linebacker Nick Barnett has lead the Pack in tackles two of the past three seasons. Not this year, a wrist injury will shelves the former Oregon State Beavers for the remainder of the season. RB Ryan Grant was lost in week one with a knee injury, safety Morgan Burnett tore his ACL in week three. With the Packers decision to not pursue Bills RB Marshawn Lynch, the Packers have now taken some serious hits. They were my NFC Super Bowl pick, but one more serious injury & I might change my opinion by mid-season.
Redskins RB Clinton Portis will miss 4-6 weeks with a groin injury sustained in their game last Sunday with Philadelphia. Look for second-year man Ryan Torain to get the bulk of the carries in Portis' absence.
A lot of talk has ensued from yesterday's trade of Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings. Several players reported Moss got into a shouting match with Patriots' quarterback coach Bill O'Brien at halftime. Moss wasn't the target of any Tom Brady 2nd half passes. Then on the plane ride home, Moss was silent, refusing to talk to any teammates, reporters, coaches, even Bill Belichick, when he came back to talk to Moss. Randy did the Patriots a favor, they weren't going to resign him after the season. They got a 3rd round pick for him, giving New England two firsts, two seconds, two thirds & two fourths in next April's draft. This is typical New England maneuvering, no one does it better. Belichick knew Moss was a messy distraction in his last year at Minnesota & then later at Oakland, after all that's how the Pats got him for just a 4th round pick, the Raiders just wanted him gone. Belichick got a receiver who scored 50 touchdowns in 52 games & then traded him for more than what they paid for him, once again typical Patriot maneuvering. Moss, by the way will play in 17 regular season games because of the way Minnesota's & New England's bye week fell. Minnesota had theirs' last week & the patriots are on their bye this week. Moss will also be the first in my memory to play in consecutive Monday Night games. The Vikes play at the Jets Monday & on Halloween, Minnesota travels to New England.
Todd Collins will start at quarterback for the Chicago Bears in their game in Carolina this Sunday. Jay Cutler has not been cleared to play after the concussion he sustained in Sunday's game with the New York Giants. Cutler was sacked 9 times before giving way to Collins, who didn't last long after suffering a stinger in his neck. He has however been cleared to play & the 38-year old former Bill, former Chief, former Redskin will be forced to take snaps behind the Bear's porous offensive line.
The league's worst run defense just got a little worse when it was announced Raider defensive tackle John Henderson had a stress fracture in his foot & will be lost for 4-6 weeks. The Raiders.....oy.
Saints cornerback Tracey Porter's knee injury isn't as bad as originally thought. He has a meniscus tear of his right knee which will require arthroscopic surgery. he should be back in 3-4 weeks.
Tyson Jackson has returned to full practice & will most likely start on Sunday in the Chiefs' game in Indianapolis.
Fans of the Buffalo Bills will experience their first local TV blackout since 2006 this Sunday when the Jacksonville Jaguars come to Western New York.
South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, never, ever at a loss for words, took a nice shot at one particularly fortunate coach. He said in yesterday's new conference "in the SEC, you win, you're smart, however if you lose, you're a dummy." Spurrier added "of course, sometimes you can win & still be a dummy. We've learned that recently too." He was referring to LSU's Les Miles Houdini-like escape, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory only to have it returned wrapped in pretty paper with a big bow. Miles, the worst clock manager I personally have ever watched, once again got lucky after Tennessee was flagged for too many men on the field & was given a 2nd chance, which the 12th ranked Bayou Bengals cashed, defeating the Vols 16-14.
Were Cheech & Chong in Waco Texas last night? Nope it was Baylor sophomore receivers Josh Gordon & Willie Jefferson, who were charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. This MENSA duo was found in their car at 2 AM, soundly sleeping while sitting in the drive-thru lane of an on-campus Taco Bell. Sadly, that brings back a few memories, only in my day, there were no drive thru's, you had to stumble inside to the counter to satisfy your late night munchie craving. My old buddy Mike R. & I ate at a Taco Bell, six days a week for over one calender year. I swear that's true. it was free too, all we had to do was take this one counter girl to a ZZ Top concert. Not hard to figure out why we both had heart bypass surgery with those eating habits huh? Today is Mike's birthday by the way, Happy Birthday brother.
From Chong to Chung. Jacksonville kicker Josh Scobee won the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his 59-yard field goal to upset the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Really???? New England's Patrick Chung blocked a punt that was recovered at the Miami 12-yardline & later blocked a field goal attempt that was returned for a touchdown. A 59-field goal is amazing but how often does one guy block two different kicks? How about not in the last ten years? Chung also intercepted a pass & returned it for a touchdown. What's a guy gotta do for a little recognition?
This afternoon ESPN's Outside the Lines focused on the Chiefs as the NFL's only undefeated team at 3-0. It was a pretty fair piece, pointing to the new coordinators Charlie Weis & Romeo Crennell. Kendall Gammon was on live from Kansas City & he spoke of the revival of interest in Chiefs' football. Then all of the media pundits predicted there wouldn't be any undefeated teams after Sunday. After the break they had Mercury Morris on to discuss the Dolphins perfect season in 1972. Morris repeatedly referred to the "suhtistics" compiled by his Dolphin team. It's really hard to take his argument seriously when he can't even pronounce the word correctly. On NFL LIVE, the trio of Trey Wingo, Teddy Bruschi & Mark Schlereth basically gave the Chiefs no chance to win on Sunday.
I've bitched about this for two years, the ACC & Big East Conferences get automatic BCS bowl bids for their conference champs. The Mountain West Conference & the WAC get no such automatic bids. This week's Associated Press poll tells the tale. Mountain West teams ranked in the top-25, three, WAC teams, 2. ACC teams ranked in the top-25, two, Big East teams ranked, none.
I'll have your office pools picks for the NFL later tonight after the Nebraska-Kansas State game.
Redskins RB Clinton Portis will miss 4-6 weeks with a groin injury sustained in their game last Sunday with Philadelphia. Look for second-year man Ryan Torain to get the bulk of the carries in Portis' absence.
A lot of talk has ensued from yesterday's trade of Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings. Several players reported Moss got into a shouting match with Patriots' quarterback coach Bill O'Brien at halftime. Moss wasn't the target of any Tom Brady 2nd half passes. Then on the plane ride home, Moss was silent, refusing to talk to any teammates, reporters, coaches, even Bill Belichick, when he came back to talk to Moss. Randy did the Patriots a favor, they weren't going to resign him after the season. They got a 3rd round pick for him, giving New England two firsts, two seconds, two thirds & two fourths in next April's draft. This is typical New England maneuvering, no one does it better. Belichick knew Moss was a messy distraction in his last year at Minnesota & then later at Oakland, after all that's how the Pats got him for just a 4th round pick, the Raiders just wanted him gone. Belichick got a receiver who scored 50 touchdowns in 52 games & then traded him for more than what they paid for him, once again typical Patriot maneuvering. Moss, by the way will play in 17 regular season games because of the way Minnesota's & New England's bye week fell. Minnesota had theirs' last week & the patriots are on their bye this week. Moss will also be the first in my memory to play in consecutive Monday Night games. The Vikes play at the Jets Monday & on Halloween, Minnesota travels to New England.
Todd Collins will start at quarterback for the Chicago Bears in their game in Carolina this Sunday. Jay Cutler has not been cleared to play after the concussion he sustained in Sunday's game with the New York Giants. Cutler was sacked 9 times before giving way to Collins, who didn't last long after suffering a stinger in his neck. He has however been cleared to play & the 38-year old former Bill, former Chief, former Redskin will be forced to take snaps behind the Bear's porous offensive line.
The league's worst run defense just got a little worse when it was announced Raider defensive tackle John Henderson had a stress fracture in his foot & will be lost for 4-6 weeks. The Raiders.....oy.
Saints cornerback Tracey Porter's knee injury isn't as bad as originally thought. He has a meniscus tear of his right knee which will require arthroscopic surgery. he should be back in 3-4 weeks.
Tyson Jackson has returned to full practice & will most likely start on Sunday in the Chiefs' game in Indianapolis.
Fans of the Buffalo Bills will experience their first local TV blackout since 2006 this Sunday when the Jacksonville Jaguars come to Western New York.
South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, never, ever at a loss for words, took a nice shot at one particularly fortunate coach. He said in yesterday's new conference "in the SEC, you win, you're smart, however if you lose, you're a dummy." Spurrier added "of course, sometimes you can win & still be a dummy. We've learned that recently too." He was referring to LSU's Les Miles Houdini-like escape, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory only to have it returned wrapped in pretty paper with a big bow. Miles, the worst clock manager I personally have ever watched, once again got lucky after Tennessee was flagged for too many men on the field & was given a 2nd chance, which the 12th ranked Bayou Bengals cashed, defeating the Vols 16-14.
Were Cheech & Chong in Waco Texas last night? Nope it was Baylor sophomore receivers Josh Gordon & Willie Jefferson, who were charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. This MENSA duo was found in their car at 2 AM, soundly sleeping while sitting in the drive-thru lane of an on-campus Taco Bell. Sadly, that brings back a few memories, only in my day, there were no drive thru's, you had to stumble inside to the counter to satisfy your late night munchie craving. My old buddy Mike R. & I ate at a Taco Bell, six days a week for over one calender year. I swear that's true. it was free too, all we had to do was take this one counter girl to a ZZ Top concert. Not hard to figure out why we both had heart bypass surgery with those eating habits huh? Today is Mike's birthday by the way, Happy Birthday brother.
From Chong to Chung. Jacksonville kicker Josh Scobee won the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his 59-yard field goal to upset the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Really???? New England's Patrick Chung blocked a punt that was recovered at the Miami 12-yardline & later blocked a field goal attempt that was returned for a touchdown. A 59-field goal is amazing but how often does one guy block two different kicks? How about not in the last ten years? Chung also intercepted a pass & returned it for a touchdown. What's a guy gotta do for a little recognition?
This afternoon ESPN's Outside the Lines focused on the Chiefs as the NFL's only undefeated team at 3-0. It was a pretty fair piece, pointing to the new coordinators Charlie Weis & Romeo Crennell. Kendall Gammon was on live from Kansas City & he spoke of the revival of interest in Chiefs' football. Then all of the media pundits predicted there wouldn't be any undefeated teams after Sunday. After the break they had Mercury Morris on to discuss the Dolphins perfect season in 1972. Morris repeatedly referred to the "suhtistics" compiled by his Dolphin team. It's really hard to take his argument seriously when he can't even pronounce the word correctly. On NFL LIVE, the trio of Trey Wingo, Teddy Bruschi & Mark Schlereth basically gave the Chiefs no chance to win on Sunday.
I've bitched about this for two years, the ACC & Big East Conferences get automatic BCS bowl bids for their conference champs. The Mountain West Conference & the WAC get no such automatic bids. This week's Associated Press poll tells the tale. Mountain West teams ranked in the top-25, three, WAC teams, 2. ACC teams ranked in the top-25, two, Big East teams ranked, none.
I'll have your office pools picks for the NFL later tonight after the Nebraska-Kansas State game.
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