WEEKEND QUICK HITS
I watched 10 of the 12 NFL games played on Sunday, just couldn't bring myself to view the Detroit-Buffalo game, altho I did watch the Lions' final drive & 2-point attempt to tie the game. The Houston-Jacksonville game held nothing for me either but I did see the unbelievable ending when a Houston defensive back tipped David Garrard's Hail mary pass right into the hands of Jaguar receiver Mike Thomas who caught it & lunged into the endzone winning the game with no time left. But watching 10-games was enough. I saw a lot of sloppy play, too many penalties, some serious injuries & a few exciting finishes. Here's a sample of what I observed.
In Miami, the game between Tennessee & the Dolphins was more of a war of attrition on the quarterback depth charts for both teams. Tony Sparano decided Wednesday to bench Chad Henne in favor of Chad Pennington. On the first play from scrimmage, Pennington fell against one of his linemen dislocating his shoulder. he will miss the remainder of the season. One play, that's all Sparano got out of Pennington. He brought Henne in from the bench & he later went down in a heap, the initial diagnosis was a dislocated kneecap. He will most likely miss the remainder of the season. Sparano went to the Wildcat formation with Ronnie Brown taking the snaps. Then in the 4th quarter, he brought in Tyler Thigpen & he'll be the starter from now on. Word out of Dolphin headquarters Sunday night was they'll bring in 3 quarterbacks, including JaMarcus Russell, to fill up the depth chart. Not to be outdone, Tennessee started Kerry Collins in place of the injured Vince Young. Just before half, Collins suffered some sort of a lower leg injury & Young was pressed into service.Their Pro Bowl left tackle, Jake Long was also injured & will require an MRI on his shoulder to determine the severity of the injury. The Dolphins prevailed, but at what cost?
Another thought regarding the Dolphins, high-dollar free agent wide receiver Brandon Marshall is back to his diva ways. It took three quarters for him to catch his first pass & when it finally happened, he fired the ball over the Miami bench instead of handing it to an official. The result? A delay of game penalty. What a guy. He's caught nearly 60 passes but only one for a touchdown & he's not happy. let's see how happy he is with Tyler Thigpen as his QB the rest of the season.
Carson Palmer isn't right, he's become a turnover machine. His three interceptions & two lost fumbles by Cedric Benson & Jermaine Gresham helped an out-of-sync Indianapolis score enough to win 23-17. Peyton manning wasn't too sparkling either, he failed to throw a TD pass for the first time in a very long time. But the turnovers made the difference, one pick was returned for a touchdown while another was brought back inside the 10-yardline. Palmer appears to have a shoulder ailment of some sort, he just isn't throwing the ball like we're used to seeing. The Bengals lost their kicker, Mike Nugent, who blew out his knee trying to cover an onside kickoff.
There should be no illusions, Brett Favre is finished. He brought them back in Favre-like fashion last week against the Cardinals, but in Chicago, he was awful. Threw three interceptions & lost a fumble. Percy Harvin was injured & with Bernard Berrian & Sydney Rice sitting the game out with injuries, the Viking offense was toothless. The Bears weren't much better, but with the gifts Favre gave them, they managed to win 27-13.
You know what I like about Tampa Bay? They beat the teams they're supposed to beat. They thumped Carolina 31-16 & I think with their schedule, they might win 9 games, which is quite a step up from last season's win total of three.
The overtime contest between the Jets & Browns was a dandy. Colt McCoy led a last-minute drive to tie the game in regulation & did so without his best receiver Josh Cribbs. McCoy threw a touchdown to Mohammed Massaquoi with just 44-seconds remaining. Cribbs suffered four dislocated toes. never heard of that injury, but I'm guessing it would be very painful. I've been hard on Jets' QB Mark Sanchez but in this game, his ability to stay upright in the pocket & keep the play alive until a receiver broke free was amazing. He was the difference for New York in their 26-20 win.
Arizona is a shell of the team that made the playoffs last season, they'll lose 10 games in 2010. Absolutely awful quarterback play week after week, they can't run the ball & the offensive line is a sieve. Seattle doesn't impress me & they won at Arizona by 18 points. If Kansas City doesn't beat giant knots on this lame Cardinal squad, I'd say they're done as well.
What the hell happened in the Dallas-Giants' game? I know they had two power outages that halted the game in the third quarter, but where were the Giants that have looked like the best team in the NFC lately? And where did this effort from Dallas come from? The Giants had two touchdowns called back by penalty, Eli Manning threw 2 interceptions, one run back 101-yards for a score. Dallas broke big play after big play winning 33-20 in Jason Garrett's debut as the Cowboys interim coach.
St. Louis took San Francisco right to the end, but couldn't win their first road game of the season. Ram rookie QB Sam Bradford led his team to a game tying field goal with no time remaining. This young man seems to improve weekly. Frank Gore & Steven Jackson ran for tough yardage but in the end, it was all about the kickers, the Niners prevailing 23-20. I need to mention the vast improvement of St Louis DE Chris Long. Howie's son had been somewhat of a disappointment until this season when new coach Steve Spagnola, a defensive specialist, turned this kid around. He's quite a force now, making his dad very proud.
When was the last time the Pittsburgh Steelers ave up 39 points at home? Anybody? The Patriots shellacked Pittsburgh Sunday night & honestly, but even with a 10-3 halftime score, I never thought the Steelers were in the game. The loss of 3 offensive lineman was devastating enough but when Hines Ward was knocked cuckoo in the 2nd quarter, it looked pretty grim for the home team. Tom Brady tore them up, throwing for 350-yards & three scores. The Pats sacked Ben Rothlesberger 5 times & hit him another 6. He was constantly flushed from the pocket, forced to throw on the run. I thought before the season, the AFC Central would be the toughest division in the league. Now it looks like Baltimore's defense is backsliding, Pittsburgh has real O-line problems, the Browns are competitive, but not playoff-worthy yet & the Bengals, last year's division champs, are terrible. New England just might be the AFC team to beat, we'll see.
Iowa State's quarterback for the past three seasons, Austin Arnaud, suffered a torn ACL in Saturday's loss at Colorado & the senior's football career at Ames is over. The Cyclones need a win to become bowl eligible but they'll face the Mizzou Tigers in their last chance to win their 6th game.
Three starting players from Southern Miss were shot early Sunday morning outside a Hattiesburg club. Police report a fight inside spilled out into the parking lot & someone began firing. All three players are still hospitalized, but are now in stable condition. No arrests have been made in the shooting.
Boise State lost linebacker Byron Hout for the remainder of the season after he broke his foot & it will require surgery. Hout is the guy who incurred the sucker punch from Oregon's Legarrette Blount after Boise State humbled the Ducks to open the 2009 season.
In Miami, the game between Tennessee & the Dolphins was more of a war of attrition on the quarterback depth charts for both teams. Tony Sparano decided Wednesday to bench Chad Henne in favor of Chad Pennington. On the first play from scrimmage, Pennington fell against one of his linemen dislocating his shoulder. he will miss the remainder of the season. One play, that's all Sparano got out of Pennington. He brought Henne in from the bench & he later went down in a heap, the initial diagnosis was a dislocated kneecap. He will most likely miss the remainder of the season. Sparano went to the Wildcat formation with Ronnie Brown taking the snaps. Then in the 4th quarter, he brought in Tyler Thigpen & he'll be the starter from now on. Word out of Dolphin headquarters Sunday night was they'll bring in 3 quarterbacks, including JaMarcus Russell, to fill up the depth chart. Not to be outdone, Tennessee started Kerry Collins in place of the injured Vince Young. Just before half, Collins suffered some sort of a lower leg injury & Young was pressed into service.Their Pro Bowl left tackle, Jake Long was also injured & will require an MRI on his shoulder to determine the severity of the injury. The Dolphins prevailed, but at what cost?
Another thought regarding the Dolphins, high-dollar free agent wide receiver Brandon Marshall is back to his diva ways. It took three quarters for him to catch his first pass & when it finally happened, he fired the ball over the Miami bench instead of handing it to an official. The result? A delay of game penalty. What a guy. He's caught nearly 60 passes but only one for a touchdown & he's not happy. let's see how happy he is with Tyler Thigpen as his QB the rest of the season.
Carson Palmer isn't right, he's become a turnover machine. His three interceptions & two lost fumbles by Cedric Benson & Jermaine Gresham helped an out-of-sync Indianapolis score enough to win 23-17. Peyton manning wasn't too sparkling either, he failed to throw a TD pass for the first time in a very long time. But the turnovers made the difference, one pick was returned for a touchdown while another was brought back inside the 10-yardline. Palmer appears to have a shoulder ailment of some sort, he just isn't throwing the ball like we're used to seeing. The Bengals lost their kicker, Mike Nugent, who blew out his knee trying to cover an onside kickoff.
There should be no illusions, Brett Favre is finished. He brought them back in Favre-like fashion last week against the Cardinals, but in Chicago, he was awful. Threw three interceptions & lost a fumble. Percy Harvin was injured & with Bernard Berrian & Sydney Rice sitting the game out with injuries, the Viking offense was toothless. The Bears weren't much better, but with the gifts Favre gave them, they managed to win 27-13.
You know what I like about Tampa Bay? They beat the teams they're supposed to beat. They thumped Carolina 31-16 & I think with their schedule, they might win 9 games, which is quite a step up from last season's win total of three.
The overtime contest between the Jets & Browns was a dandy. Colt McCoy led a last-minute drive to tie the game in regulation & did so without his best receiver Josh Cribbs. McCoy threw a touchdown to Mohammed Massaquoi with just 44-seconds remaining. Cribbs suffered four dislocated toes. never heard of that injury, but I'm guessing it would be very painful. I've been hard on Jets' QB Mark Sanchez but in this game, his ability to stay upright in the pocket & keep the play alive until a receiver broke free was amazing. He was the difference for New York in their 26-20 win.
Arizona is a shell of the team that made the playoffs last season, they'll lose 10 games in 2010. Absolutely awful quarterback play week after week, they can't run the ball & the offensive line is a sieve. Seattle doesn't impress me & they won at Arizona by 18 points. If Kansas City doesn't beat giant knots on this lame Cardinal squad, I'd say they're done as well.
What the hell happened in the Dallas-Giants' game? I know they had two power outages that halted the game in the third quarter, but where were the Giants that have looked like the best team in the NFC lately? And where did this effort from Dallas come from? The Giants had two touchdowns called back by penalty, Eli Manning threw 2 interceptions, one run back 101-yards for a score. Dallas broke big play after big play winning 33-20 in Jason Garrett's debut as the Cowboys interim coach.
St. Louis took San Francisco right to the end, but couldn't win their first road game of the season. Ram rookie QB Sam Bradford led his team to a game tying field goal with no time remaining. This young man seems to improve weekly. Frank Gore & Steven Jackson ran for tough yardage but in the end, it was all about the kickers, the Niners prevailing 23-20. I need to mention the vast improvement of St Louis DE Chris Long. Howie's son had been somewhat of a disappointment until this season when new coach Steve Spagnola, a defensive specialist, turned this kid around. He's quite a force now, making his dad very proud.
When was the last time the Pittsburgh Steelers ave up 39 points at home? Anybody? The Patriots shellacked Pittsburgh Sunday night & honestly, but even with a 10-3 halftime score, I never thought the Steelers were in the game. The loss of 3 offensive lineman was devastating enough but when Hines Ward was knocked cuckoo in the 2nd quarter, it looked pretty grim for the home team. Tom Brady tore them up, throwing for 350-yards & three scores. The Pats sacked Ben Rothlesberger 5 times & hit him another 6. He was constantly flushed from the pocket, forced to throw on the run. I thought before the season, the AFC Central would be the toughest division in the league. Now it looks like Baltimore's defense is backsliding, Pittsburgh has real O-line problems, the Browns are competitive, but not playoff-worthy yet & the Bengals, last year's division champs, are terrible. New England just might be the AFC team to beat, we'll see.
Iowa State's quarterback for the past three seasons, Austin Arnaud, suffered a torn ACL in Saturday's loss at Colorado & the senior's football career at Ames is over. The Cyclones need a win to become bowl eligible but they'll face the Mizzou Tigers in their last chance to win their 6th game.
Three starting players from Southern Miss were shot early Sunday morning outside a Hattiesburg club. Police report a fight inside spilled out into the parking lot & someone began firing. All three players are still hospitalized, but are now in stable condition. No arrests have been made in the shooting.
Boise State lost linebacker Byron Hout for the remainder of the season after he broke his foot & it will require surgery. Hout is the guy who incurred the sucker punch from Oregon's Legarrette Blount after Boise State humbled the Ducks to open the 2009 season.
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