AFTER WATCHING 38 GAMES OVER THE WEEKEND, WHAT DID I LEARN?
Did I really watch 38 games over the 4-day weekend? Yes, sadly I did but I refused to watch the Monday Night game, I do have some standards. Here is some of what I missed in the previous weekend posts:
As I watched Peyton Manning get battered last night by the Charger defense my bud Al Michaels mentioned right guard Mike Pollack had been replaced in the starting lineup by backup tackle Jeffrey Lickenbach. He was regularly being run over, around & thru by Antonio Garay. How bad could Pollack have been? For that matter, how bad could Ryan Lilja have been? The Colts dumped him after last season, pointing the finger at both guards for their lack of a consistent running game. Lilja is now starting at right guard for Kansas City, the Chiefs lead the league in rushing, is it possible Jim Caldwell & Colt GM Bill Polian were wrong? It appears they were.
The Chargers were so glad to see WR Vincent Jackson return for their stretch run. But after holding out for 4 months, finally signing his tender offer & then serving a 3-game suspension for his 2nd DUI, Jackson lasted all of 20-minutes last night before going down with injury. He hurt his calf & then admitted he had already injured his other leg last week preparing for his return & favoring that injury might have created the one he sustained last night. Norv Turner said Jackson would be out for at least two weeks which means he will miss the Chiefs a week from Sunday.
Did Todd Haley's snub of Josh McDaniels have anything to do with the Broncos recent video taping of a Forty-Niner run thru in London? Was the word out in the coaching community? McDaniels' attempt at throwing the Patriot coaching staff under the bus regarding a similar violation has caused a lot of tight-lipped silence amongst league coaches. The post-game nastiness was a week after McDaniels reported the violation to the league. I'm just sayin'.
I mentioned last night Chiefs' running back Jamaal Charles had gone over the 1,000-yard mark with his 173-yard performance yesterday. He trails only Arian Foster of the Texans. How effective has Charles been? His 6.3 yards-per-carry-average is more than a yard better than Foster's 5.1, which is nearly a half a yard better than everybody else. The last running back to average over 6-yards per carry was Barry Sanders in 1997. The remaining defenses on the schedule include Denver(ranked 31st vs the run), San Diego(3rd), St. Louis(13th), Tennessee(17th) & Oakland(29th). Charles could finish with 1,500 yards on less than 250-carries, which is spectacular production.
Danario Alexander returned to the Rams lineup Sunday & led the team with 4 receptions for 95-yards. He just missed a touchdown by about 6". I hope he can stay healthy because the Rams need receivers to aid rookie QB Sam Bradford. The former Mizzou all-Big-12 performer has suffered thru 4 separate operations on his left knee. Hang in there Danario.
Ben Rothlisberger had an MRI on his foot & it's just a sprain. The Steelers will need all hands on deck for next Sunday's game in Baltimore for the division lead. Another key player in this matchup, Raven tackle Michael Oher, suffered a knee sprain yesterday. Coach John Harbaugh reports Oher will be fine by next Sunday night. Minnesota's Adrian Peterson has an ankle sprain, his availability for Sunday's game with Buffalo is not known at this time. Rookie Toby Gerhart filled in well yesterday after Peterson went down in the first half.
K-State's all-Big-12 running back, Daniel Thomas, had a career night Saturday when he packed the pigskin 36 times for 269-yards & 2 touchdowns in the Wildcats' win over North Texas, 49-41. For a guy who has only been a running back for 2+ years, he produces but has a lot to learn about playing the position at the next level.
OU's DeMarco Murray injured his knee in Saturday night's "Bedlam" game with Oklahoma State. Coach Bob Stoops said Murray's availability for the Big-12 Championship game Saturday night is unknown at this time. By the way, did you catch the play from this game I called "one of the top 3 defensive plays I've ever seen?" ESPN showed it maybe 20-times today.
If you didn't watch the Georgia Tech-Georgia game that's understandable, both teams fell way short of preseason predictions & barely became bowl eligible. As time was winding down & Georgia leading 35-34, it became apparent Tech wasn't going to get the ball back so the call came in from their bench "Let 'em score." That's precisely what Tech defenders did, on the next snap they stood perfectly still while Bulldog running back Waushaun Ealey ran straight up the middle 20-yards for a score. They kicked the extra point for an 8-point lead with 1:29 left in the game. Unfortunately, the strategy failed as Tech couldn't move the ball & gave it up on downs, but heh, they gave it a try.
What is wrong with Nebraska fans? Big-12 Commissioner Dan Beebe decided not to attend Friday's Colorado-Nebraska game to present the North Division Championship trophy. But after last week's loss to A&M, the Big-12 offices in Dallas received "over 2,000 vile, vulgar, obscene & threatening emails." Beebe said he got one warning him to stay away from the game "because if I see you anywhere, on the street or at the stadium, I promise I'm going to bust your head open." He had threats to his children as well. His children? What the hell is wrong with people in Nebraska? I'm glad this weekend will be their last official conference game, Big Red nation has some truly disturbed fans. You guys will be a big hit in the BIG TEN with your aluminum foil hats & "black helicopter paranoia.'
The final BCS rankings will be released next Sunday evening along with most of the bowl bids. If everything falls as predicted, some bowls of interest could look like this:
BCS Title game: Oregon vs. Auburn
Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. TCU
Fiesta Bowl: Big-12 champ vs. Big East champ or Stanford
Orange Bowl: ACC champ vs. Big East champ or Stanford
Sugar Bowl: Arkansas vs. Ohio State
Insight Bowl: Mizzou vs. Iowa or Michigan
It looks as tho the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University will join the Big East conference. It's clear they want access to an automatic BCS bowl bid, something they don't currently have in the Mountain West. People tell Boise State to join a more competitive conference so they will move into the Mountain West. Since that announcement, MWC members BYU, Utah & TCU have all fled. So now we'll get to hear the "join another conference" gripe all over again next year. Oy.
For you displaced Kansas Citians who just might care, Rockhurst won the State Class 6 championship Saturday night, beating Hazelwood Central 10-7. I watched the game & if not for all the redzone turnovers by the Hawklets, Rockhurst would have won by 3-4 scores. Also winning from the Kansas City area was Lee's Summit West, who won the Class 5 championship, handily whipping Webster Groves, 44-21.
As I watched Peyton Manning get battered last night by the Charger defense my bud Al Michaels mentioned right guard Mike Pollack had been replaced in the starting lineup by backup tackle Jeffrey Lickenbach. He was regularly being run over, around & thru by Antonio Garay. How bad could Pollack have been? For that matter, how bad could Ryan Lilja have been? The Colts dumped him after last season, pointing the finger at both guards for their lack of a consistent running game. Lilja is now starting at right guard for Kansas City, the Chiefs lead the league in rushing, is it possible Jim Caldwell & Colt GM Bill Polian were wrong? It appears they were.
The Chargers were so glad to see WR Vincent Jackson return for their stretch run. But after holding out for 4 months, finally signing his tender offer & then serving a 3-game suspension for his 2nd DUI, Jackson lasted all of 20-minutes last night before going down with injury. He hurt his calf & then admitted he had already injured his other leg last week preparing for his return & favoring that injury might have created the one he sustained last night. Norv Turner said Jackson would be out for at least two weeks which means he will miss the Chiefs a week from Sunday.
Did Todd Haley's snub of Josh McDaniels have anything to do with the Broncos recent video taping of a Forty-Niner run thru in London? Was the word out in the coaching community? McDaniels' attempt at throwing the Patriot coaching staff under the bus regarding a similar violation has caused a lot of tight-lipped silence amongst league coaches. The post-game nastiness was a week after McDaniels reported the violation to the league. I'm just sayin'.
I mentioned last night Chiefs' running back Jamaal Charles had gone over the 1,000-yard mark with his 173-yard performance yesterday. He trails only Arian Foster of the Texans. How effective has Charles been? His 6.3 yards-per-carry-average is more than a yard better than Foster's 5.1, which is nearly a half a yard better than everybody else. The last running back to average over 6-yards per carry was Barry Sanders in 1997. The remaining defenses on the schedule include Denver(ranked 31st vs the run), San Diego(3rd), St. Louis(13th), Tennessee(17th) & Oakland(29th). Charles could finish with 1,500 yards on less than 250-carries, which is spectacular production.
Danario Alexander returned to the Rams lineup Sunday & led the team with 4 receptions for 95-yards. He just missed a touchdown by about 6". I hope he can stay healthy because the Rams need receivers to aid rookie QB Sam Bradford. The former Mizzou all-Big-12 performer has suffered thru 4 separate operations on his left knee. Hang in there Danario.
Ben Rothlisberger had an MRI on his foot & it's just a sprain. The Steelers will need all hands on deck for next Sunday's game in Baltimore for the division lead. Another key player in this matchup, Raven tackle Michael Oher, suffered a knee sprain yesterday. Coach John Harbaugh reports Oher will be fine by next Sunday night. Minnesota's Adrian Peterson has an ankle sprain, his availability for Sunday's game with Buffalo is not known at this time. Rookie Toby Gerhart filled in well yesterday after Peterson went down in the first half.
K-State's all-Big-12 running back, Daniel Thomas, had a career night Saturday when he packed the pigskin 36 times for 269-yards & 2 touchdowns in the Wildcats' win over North Texas, 49-41. For a guy who has only been a running back for 2+ years, he produces but has a lot to learn about playing the position at the next level.
OU's DeMarco Murray injured his knee in Saturday night's "Bedlam" game with Oklahoma State. Coach Bob Stoops said Murray's availability for the Big-12 Championship game Saturday night is unknown at this time. By the way, did you catch the play from this game I called "one of the top 3 defensive plays I've ever seen?" ESPN showed it maybe 20-times today.
If you didn't watch the Georgia Tech-Georgia game that's understandable, both teams fell way short of preseason predictions & barely became bowl eligible. As time was winding down & Georgia leading 35-34, it became apparent Tech wasn't going to get the ball back so the call came in from their bench "Let 'em score." That's precisely what Tech defenders did, on the next snap they stood perfectly still while Bulldog running back Waushaun Ealey ran straight up the middle 20-yards for a score. They kicked the extra point for an 8-point lead with 1:29 left in the game. Unfortunately, the strategy failed as Tech couldn't move the ball & gave it up on downs, but heh, they gave it a try.
What is wrong with Nebraska fans? Big-12 Commissioner Dan Beebe decided not to attend Friday's Colorado-Nebraska game to present the North Division Championship trophy. But after last week's loss to A&M, the Big-12 offices in Dallas received "over 2,000 vile, vulgar, obscene & threatening emails." Beebe said he got one warning him to stay away from the game "because if I see you anywhere, on the street or at the stadium, I promise I'm going to bust your head open." He had threats to his children as well. His children? What the hell is wrong with people in Nebraska? I'm glad this weekend will be their last official conference game, Big Red nation has some truly disturbed fans. You guys will be a big hit in the BIG TEN with your aluminum foil hats & "black helicopter paranoia.'
The final BCS rankings will be released next Sunday evening along with most of the bowl bids. If everything falls as predicted, some bowls of interest could look like this:
BCS Title game: Oregon vs. Auburn
Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. TCU
Fiesta Bowl: Big-12 champ vs. Big East champ or Stanford
Orange Bowl: ACC champ vs. Big East champ or Stanford
Sugar Bowl: Arkansas vs. Ohio State
Insight Bowl: Mizzou vs. Iowa or Michigan
It looks as tho the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University will join the Big East conference. It's clear they want access to an automatic BCS bowl bid, something they don't currently have in the Mountain West. People tell Boise State to join a more competitive conference so they will move into the Mountain West. Since that announcement, MWC members BYU, Utah & TCU have all fled. So now we'll get to hear the "join another conference" gripe all over again next year. Oy.
For you displaced Kansas Citians who just might care, Rockhurst won the State Class 6 championship Saturday night, beating Hazelwood Central 10-7. I watched the game & if not for all the redzone turnovers by the Hawklets, Rockhurst would have won by 3-4 scores. Also winning from the Kansas City area was Lee's Summit West, who won the Class 5 championship, handily whipping Webster Groves, 44-21.
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