RYAN VS. RYAN, STAFFORD DONE, HAWKINS OUT, EATING GRASS RELIEVES STRESS, MORE ON CAM & GABBERT BRISTLES
This Sunday it'll be a Ryan family reunion as the New York Jets play the Cleveland Browns in Ohio. The Ryan twins will face off, Rex, head coach of the Jets & Rob, the Browns' defensive coordinator. Raised by infamous defensive wizard, Buddy Ryan, the pair has a long-standing rivalry that once blew up in college as they beat the tar out of each other while at Southwest Oklahoma State. A dorm room argument spilled out into the hall & then outside onto the dorm's front lawn. When campus police arrived, they found both brothers bloodied with torn clothing, Rex had a broken nose & multiple lacerations, Rob, a broken ankle, nose & numerous bruises. Rob's Cleveland defense has proven to be a real challenge for opponents during this brutal part of their schedule. Atlanta, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, New England & now the Jets, as tough a run as you'll see in the NFL this season. The underpowered Browns are 2-2 so far against these powerhouse opponents. Rex's Jets have been wildly unpredictable, getting shutout at home by Green Bay, also losing at home to Baltimore. They've had offensive problems, but more surprising is their defensive inconsistencies. The Browns have played hard for Ryan & head coach Eric Mangini, don't be surprised if Rob notches a win over Rex come Sunday.
Sadly it appears Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford is once again out for the season with a shoulder injury. The Lions look like a team right on the verge of being serious playoff contenders but without Stafford, that won't happen. When he's healthy, Stafford is the real deal, he sees the entire field, can make every throw & is an excellent leader in the huddle. But without him, Detroit is just an also-ran. A preliminary MRI this morning showed a Grade 3 separation of his throwing shoulder. If this is verified by a second test, he's through for the season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers looked great jumping out to a 27-7 lead last night. They ran the ball effectively, Ben Roethlisberger was on target, Jeff Reed kicked a pair of field goals & they burned Cincy on am Antwan Randle-El fake reverse touchdown pass to Mike Wallace. But as they entered the 4th quarter, the wheels fell off, first they had lost 2 offensive linemen in the third quarter & the run game stalled & the pass protection wasn't there. They lost three players to concussions, Emanuel Sanders lost a fumble & Big Ben threw a pick putting the Bengals right back into the game. Carson Palmer & T.O. got hot connecting for one score & receiving a gift on a phantom pass interference penalty. There was another B.S. call when Steeler NT Casey Hampton was flagged for roughing the passer & then Reed missed a field goal that would have put the game out of reach. The Steelers were in danger of blowing a 20-point 4th quarter lead for the first time in franchise history. A last gasp pass to Jordan Shipley was broken up at the 5-yardline preserving the 27-21 victory. The Bengals are essentially done, too far behind both Baltimore & Pittsburgh in the division & too many teams to climb over to realistically have a wildcard shot.
Green Bay safety Nick Collins was fined yesterday for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Cowboy WR Roy Williams. The fine of $50K was deserved, it was obviously intentional.
Ndamakong Suh & Wes Welker were pressed into service as placekickers Sunday. Suh missed his P.A.T., Suh hit the upright on his attempt. The Lions will be without placekicker Jason Hanson for about 3-weeks & signed veteran Dave Rayner today. The Pats will lose the services of Stephen Gostkowski for a similar amount of time with a quad injury & they signed another vet kicker, Shayne Graham, today.
I forgot to mention two of the strangest things I saw on Saturday. One was Kansas State's gameplan in their win over Texas. The Wildcats threw only 4 passes in the entire game, completing 2 for just nine yards. Collin Klein, starting in place of season-long starter Carson Coffman, ran for 127-yards on 25 carries. RB Daniel Thomas carried 18 times for 107 yards, both scored twice. The victory was made possible by 5 interceptions thrown by Longhorn QB Garrett Gilbert, the Cats had great field position running their advantage to 39-0 before Texas finally scored in the 4th quarter.
The other bizarre item came from a likely source, LSU head coach Les Miles. Late in the 4th quarter, with the game on the line, Miles was spotted by television cameras bending over grabbing blades of grass & then putting them in his mouth. Don't ask, I have no earthly idea.
The 35-point 4th quarter comeback by the Kansas Jayhawks sealed Colorado coach Dan Hawkins' fate. The university announced yesterday he would no longer head the football program heading into their debut season in the PAC-10. With or without Saturday's collapse, Hawkins wasn't coming back to coach the Buffs, but the embarrassment in Lawrence just sped up the announcement. He helped build the current Boise State program before turning it over to Chris Peterson & leaving for Colorado. Things never really got off the ground in Boulder, 4 losing records in 5 season with only one bowl appearance.
Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt, suffered a broken arm last Thursday night against Virginia Tech & will be lost for the remainder of the season. Nesbitt is the best non-Nebraska option quarterback I've seen in 20-years, a sad way to end his college career.
We're now in the 10th week of the college season & the Big East Conference is still without a bowl-eligible team or one that is ranked in the top-25, which is pathetic. This lame ass conference has an automatic BCS Bowl bid while TCU & Boise State are inside looking out. The ACC isn't much better, with only Virginia Tech ranked in the top-25. Virginia Tech was beaten by Boise State in week one, but they're perfect in league play. They'll end up with a huge BCS payday as the ACC also receives an automatic bid. All of the TUC?Boise naysayers should quit griping about them & turn their wrath toward the Big East & ACC automatic bids.
Blaine Gabbert came out defiant in his Monday news conference. He said he'd heard many of the assembled media wanted him pulled in Saturday's loss to Texas Tech. He said the team backed him & don't pay attention to the media. His attitude was somewhat amazing considering how poorly he played. I didn't think Gary Pinkel should have pulled Gabbert, but I think he's going to be on a short leash this Saturday morning against Kansas State.
Another item from Saturday. How does Greg Robinson keep getting defensive coordinator jobs? His Michigan D gave up 65-points & 561-total yards in the 3-overtime win, 67-65. In regulation, the Wolverines surrendered 45-points & 486-total yards. His defense is constantly out of position, they tackle poorly & are gashed over & over again for big gainers. This game marked the 5th time in 9 games his defense has given up 35-points or more. He is starting a lot of underclassmen, but their fundamentals are awful & that reflects on the coach. Robinson was run out of Syracuse after a short stint at Texas. His was canned by a tearful Dick Vermeil in Kansas City a year later than he should have been. I just fail to see the "genius" in this guy's defenses.
I told you last night a reliable source had told Thayer Evans of FOXSports Auburn's Cam Newton was close to being thrown out of Florida for academic cheating & the theft of a $1,700 laptop computer. Tigers coach Gene Chizek got emotional about the report saying Newton was completely eligible, both athletically & academically at Auburn. He alleged a leak at Florida was the source of the report that was intended to smear the current Heisman leader. Shortly after Chizek spoke, Florida coach Urban Meyer stated emphatically neither he or anyone on his staff leaked anything about Newton's history while in the Gator program. That's not to say the source wasn't a Gator player or a student who knew of the alleged academic violations & the computer theft. The reason you should believe these allegations is that no one denies them. Not Newton, Chizek or Meyer. I've got the feeling all of this happened, but the records were supposed to remain sealed & someone spilled the beans in an attempt to cause Newton to lose Heisman votes or to rattle his focus down the stretch as the Tigers try to make the BCS title game. As long as he has stayed clean at Auburn & is squeaky clean academically, leave the kid alone, hopefully he's turned his life around, smearing him doesn't do anyone any good.
You can stop emailing me, I know you need your Office Pool Picks by Thursday morning. It will be that way from here on out & they'll be posted right here no later than Wednesday overnight & Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving.
Sadly it appears Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford is once again out for the season with a shoulder injury. The Lions look like a team right on the verge of being serious playoff contenders but without Stafford, that won't happen. When he's healthy, Stafford is the real deal, he sees the entire field, can make every throw & is an excellent leader in the huddle. But without him, Detroit is just an also-ran. A preliminary MRI this morning showed a Grade 3 separation of his throwing shoulder. If this is verified by a second test, he's through for the season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers looked great jumping out to a 27-7 lead last night. They ran the ball effectively, Ben Roethlisberger was on target, Jeff Reed kicked a pair of field goals & they burned Cincy on am Antwan Randle-El fake reverse touchdown pass to Mike Wallace. But as they entered the 4th quarter, the wheels fell off, first they had lost 2 offensive linemen in the third quarter & the run game stalled & the pass protection wasn't there. They lost three players to concussions, Emanuel Sanders lost a fumble & Big Ben threw a pick putting the Bengals right back into the game. Carson Palmer & T.O. got hot connecting for one score & receiving a gift on a phantom pass interference penalty. There was another B.S. call when Steeler NT Casey Hampton was flagged for roughing the passer & then Reed missed a field goal that would have put the game out of reach. The Steelers were in danger of blowing a 20-point 4th quarter lead for the first time in franchise history. A last gasp pass to Jordan Shipley was broken up at the 5-yardline preserving the 27-21 victory. The Bengals are essentially done, too far behind both Baltimore & Pittsburgh in the division & too many teams to climb over to realistically have a wildcard shot.
Green Bay safety Nick Collins was fined yesterday for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Cowboy WR Roy Williams. The fine of $50K was deserved, it was obviously intentional.
Ndamakong Suh & Wes Welker were pressed into service as placekickers Sunday. Suh missed his P.A.T., Suh hit the upright on his attempt. The Lions will be without placekicker Jason Hanson for about 3-weeks & signed veteran Dave Rayner today. The Pats will lose the services of Stephen Gostkowski for a similar amount of time with a quad injury & they signed another vet kicker, Shayne Graham, today.
I forgot to mention two of the strangest things I saw on Saturday. One was Kansas State's gameplan in their win over Texas. The Wildcats threw only 4 passes in the entire game, completing 2 for just nine yards. Collin Klein, starting in place of season-long starter Carson Coffman, ran for 127-yards on 25 carries. RB Daniel Thomas carried 18 times for 107 yards, both scored twice. The victory was made possible by 5 interceptions thrown by Longhorn QB Garrett Gilbert, the Cats had great field position running their advantage to 39-0 before Texas finally scored in the 4th quarter.
The other bizarre item came from a likely source, LSU head coach Les Miles. Late in the 4th quarter, with the game on the line, Miles was spotted by television cameras bending over grabbing blades of grass & then putting them in his mouth. Don't ask, I have no earthly idea.
The 35-point 4th quarter comeback by the Kansas Jayhawks sealed Colorado coach Dan Hawkins' fate. The university announced yesterday he would no longer head the football program heading into their debut season in the PAC-10. With or without Saturday's collapse, Hawkins wasn't coming back to coach the Buffs, but the embarrassment in Lawrence just sped up the announcement. He helped build the current Boise State program before turning it over to Chris Peterson & leaving for Colorado. Things never really got off the ground in Boulder, 4 losing records in 5 season with only one bowl appearance.
Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt, suffered a broken arm last Thursday night against Virginia Tech & will be lost for the remainder of the season. Nesbitt is the best non-Nebraska option quarterback I've seen in 20-years, a sad way to end his college career.
We're now in the 10th week of the college season & the Big East Conference is still without a bowl-eligible team or one that is ranked in the top-25, which is pathetic. This lame ass conference has an automatic BCS Bowl bid while TCU & Boise State are inside looking out. The ACC isn't much better, with only Virginia Tech ranked in the top-25. Virginia Tech was beaten by Boise State in week one, but they're perfect in league play. They'll end up with a huge BCS payday as the ACC also receives an automatic bid. All of the TUC?Boise naysayers should quit griping about them & turn their wrath toward the Big East & ACC automatic bids.
Blaine Gabbert came out defiant in his Monday news conference. He said he'd heard many of the assembled media wanted him pulled in Saturday's loss to Texas Tech. He said the team backed him & don't pay attention to the media. His attitude was somewhat amazing considering how poorly he played. I didn't think Gary Pinkel should have pulled Gabbert, but I think he's going to be on a short leash this Saturday morning against Kansas State.
Another item from Saturday. How does Greg Robinson keep getting defensive coordinator jobs? His Michigan D gave up 65-points & 561-total yards in the 3-overtime win, 67-65. In regulation, the Wolverines surrendered 45-points & 486-total yards. His defense is constantly out of position, they tackle poorly & are gashed over & over again for big gainers. This game marked the 5th time in 9 games his defense has given up 35-points or more. He is starting a lot of underclassmen, but their fundamentals are awful & that reflects on the coach. Robinson was run out of Syracuse after a short stint at Texas. His was canned by a tearful Dick Vermeil in Kansas City a year later than he should have been. I just fail to see the "genius" in this guy's defenses.
I told you last night a reliable source had told Thayer Evans of FOXSports Auburn's Cam Newton was close to being thrown out of Florida for academic cheating & the theft of a $1,700 laptop computer. Tigers coach Gene Chizek got emotional about the report saying Newton was completely eligible, both athletically & academically at Auburn. He alleged a leak at Florida was the source of the report that was intended to smear the current Heisman leader. Shortly after Chizek spoke, Florida coach Urban Meyer stated emphatically neither he or anyone on his staff leaked anything about Newton's history while in the Gator program. That's not to say the source wasn't a Gator player or a student who knew of the alleged academic violations & the computer theft. The reason you should believe these allegations is that no one denies them. Not Newton, Chizek or Meyer. I've got the feeling all of this happened, but the records were supposed to remain sealed & someone spilled the beans in an attempt to cause Newton to lose Heisman votes or to rattle his focus down the stretch as the Tigers try to make the BCS title game. As long as he has stayed clean at Auburn & is squeaky clean academically, leave the kid alone, hopefully he's turned his life around, smearing him doesn't do anyone any good.
You can stop emailing me, I know you need your Office Pool Picks by Thursday morning. It will be that way from here on out & they'll be posted right here no later than Wednesday overnight & Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving.
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