Week 3 Recap: McNabb backs up his words. (Can he do the same against Eli?) I’m sold on Jeff Garcia leading the Bucs to the playoffs. Are the Chargers (and Saints) just bad or are the Packers that good?
Week 4 Picks:
Sunday Morning: Green Bay (3-0) over Minnesota (1-2) – I still don’t believe the Packers are as good as their record indicates. They’ll pull this one out, and I’m expecting a Bears spanking next week as well to silence the non-believers. Miami (0-3) over Oakland (1-2) – Joey Porter guaranteed a win so I got to go with the Dolphins this week. NY Jets (1-2) over Buffalo (0-3) Houston (2-1) over Atlanta (0-3) -Ex-Falcon Matt Schaub should win in an air-out over Joey Harrington. Detroit (2-1) over Chicago (1-2) – No immediate savior in Brian Griese this week. Baltimore (2-1) over Cleveland (1-2) – The Ravens have had trouble closing out games but should win this one against the Browns. Dallas (3-0) over St. Louis (0-3) – The Rams with no offense is like Ron Jeremy with no penis. Dallas more than covers the 13-point spread.
Sunday Afternoon: Tampa Bay (2-1) over Carolina (2-1) – The ever-so efficient Jeff Garcia will show David Carr a thing or two. Seattle (2-1) over San Francisco (2-1) San Diego (1-2) over Kansas City (1-2) – The Chargers should be able to have their way with the Chiefs, as their 11.5-point spread indicates. Pittsburgh (3-0) over Arizona (1-2) Indianapolis (3-0) over Denver (2-1)
Sunday Night: Philadelphia (1-2) over NY Giants (1-2) – McNabb should exploit the Giants ‘D’ while Eli Manning still looked sloppy in their win over the Redskins last week.
Monday Night: New England (3-0) over Cincinnati (1-2) – The Bengals’ defense, or lack of one, will be their downfall, as they won’t be able to catch up to the Patriots on either side of the ball.
9 – Number of teams in the Top 25 that lost this week, including 8 upsets and half of the Top 10.
75 – Number of points scored by Texas Tech (4-1), most by a Division I-A school this week. Graham Harrell threw for 338 yards and 5 touchdowns and Michael Crabtree had 145 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns in the Red Raiders’ 75-7 romp over Northwestern State. The two lead the nation in the following categories by a ridiculous margin. To show you how video game-like their statistics are, the junior quarterback had his first game under 400 yards passing this season. He leads the nation with 2,301 passing yards, 24 TD’s and just 2 INT’s. Crabtree, a freshman, leads the nation with 60 receptions, 920 yards and 14 touchdowns. Move over, Colt Brennan. These two seem poised to make every game a long one for opposing defenses this season.
5 – The number of years since a team lost its No. 1 ranking after a victory. The last time it happened was in 2002 when top-ranked Miami beat Rutgers, 42-17 and No. 2 Oklahoma beat No. 13 Colorado 27-11.
Upset of the Day: #3 Oklahoma (4-1) 24 – 27 Colorado (3-2)
More like which team didn’t get upset, but we’ll go with the highest-ranked team that did. Oklahoma, which hadn’t scored under 50 points in a game all season, somehow allowed Colorado to score the last 20 points of the game, including the game-winning 45-yard field goal as time expired. Scare of the Day: #1 USC (4-0) 27 – 24 Washington (2-3)
USC let the Huskies hang around all game with their 3 turnovers and season-high 16 penalties for 161 yards to lose their No. 1 ranking to LSU, who had an impressive second-half for a 34-9 victory over Tulane. Surprise of the Day: Notre Dame (0-5) 19 – 33 Purdue (5-0)
Not really a surprise result of this game in particular, but The Fighting Irish are still winless and continue their worst start in school history. Next three weeks: at UCLA (4-1), (7) Boston College, (2) USC.
U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo got thrown off the team by coach Greg Ryan after she lashed out in an interview after the U.S. was embarrassed in a 4-0 semifinal loss to Brazil and with Solo on the bench.
Ryan replaced Solo, who had three shutouts in a row and had not given up a goal in nearly 300 minutes of play, for the smaller Briana Scurry to face a quick Brazil team.
In her interview, Solo said, “It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that. There’s no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves…You have to live in the present. And you can’t live by big names. You can’t live in the past.” [In reference to Scurry's presence when the U.S. last won the World Cup in 1999 and beat Brazil in the 2004 Olympics.]
The U.S. was unbeaten in 51 straight games before Thursday’s loss, but Sunil Gulati, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, did not say if Ryan would coach the team at next year’s Beijing Olympics, with Ryan’s contract up at the end of the year.
The U.S. beat Norway, 4-1, in the semifinal game while Germany shut out Brazil, 2-0, in the championship game. Looks like it didn’t matter who was in the goal for the U.S. on Sunday although, all this talk of Brazil being such a great team is giving too much credit, as they were shut out by Germany. Ryan made the wrong decision and was embarrassed at it and sadly, he doesn’t regret what he did.
I agree with the decision that Solo should have been kicked off the team for her remarks, as she would have just been a distraction to her teammates, but the problem is that she shouldn’t have needed to make those remarks had the coach made the right decision in the first place. Solo should have been at the goal for the U.S. in the game against Brazil, reeling off of three straight shutouts. I just don’t see enough justification in making adjustments at the goal based on an opposing team over an extremely hot hand in Solo.
I agree with Solo that she should be able to speak her mind because she got benched for doing absolutely nothing wrong, and the coach just cost the team an opportunity to play in the championships. Ryan should not head the U.S. team at next year’s Olympics and hopefully, Solo can return to the team soon to head the goalkeep for the United States Women.
Philadelphia Flyers’ Steve Downie was suspended for 20 games for his hit on Ottawa’s Dean McAmmond on Tuesday. Moments after Downie was driven face first into the glass, Downie left his feet for a flying check to the face of McAmmond. The Senators’ center was taken off on a stretcher, with his head hitting the boards as well. Downie was given a match penalty during the game and the fourth-longest suspension in NHL history.
On Saturday, Downie was assigned to the AHL to begin the season. However, Downie will need to physically sit in the NHL games for the suspension to be credited, which the Flyers plan on bringing him up in days when the AHL team is off.
Steven Jackson (RB) St. Louis – Out at least one week, probably several, with a tear of his groin. Rookie Brian Leonard is going to fill the big shoes this week for the Rams, finishing Sunday’s game with 4 carries on 21 yards. He’s worthy of a fantasy pickup despite the Rams’ 0-3 start, Marc Bulger playing with two broken ribs and 60% of the starting offensive line missing. Rudi Johnson (RB) Cincinnati – Johnson will miss Monday Night Football against the New England Patriots with a strained hamstring. Kenny Watson can make for a good fill-in back for the week, as he’ll get at least 20 touches against a tough NE defense. Deuce McAllister (RB) New Orleans – McAllister is out for the year with a torn left ACL in Monday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans. That means Reggie Bush’s fantasy value should only increase with the loss of the Saints’ two-back tandem. Bush scored twice from 1-yard out with Deuce knocked out of the game so the rushing touchdowns should pour in as well. Josh McCown (QB) Oakland – Hopefully, McCown wasn’t on anyone’s roster, but the injury here opens the door for Daunte Culpepper’s starting debut for the Raiders. And what timing, as he’ll face the Miami Dolphins, the team who released him just a couple of months ago. McCown’s out for several weeks with a broken big toe so watch Daunte’s performance this week to see if he’s fantasy-worthy again. Vernand Morency (RB) Green Bay – Morency will make his season debut, coming from a knee injury that’s kept him out all year, for Green Bay. The undefeated Packers have been absolutely abysmal with the run, averaging a league-worst 57.0 YPG. Morency, who was the projected starter ahead of Ahman Green before Green got traded to the Houston Texans, should jump in and get a number of carries quickly, as Brandon Jackson is out and DeShawn Wynn is expected to remain the backup. Don’t expect much from this first game, though, as the Vikings have not given up a 100-yard rushing game yet. Hines Ward (WR) Pittsburgh – The tough Ward will miss Sunday’s game against Arizona with a sprained knee. Nate Washington will replace Ward and can make for a decent third receiver this week if one of your regular starters are on bye. Javon Walker (WR) Denver – Despite Walker claiming he will play on Sunday, reports don’t look good about his knee. The Broncos’ main receiver has had a solid start to the season, but look for a replacement this week, as Brandon Stokley looks to start and make a good bye starter.
Umpire Mike Winters has been suspended for the remainder of the regular season for allegedly using a profanity at Milton Bradley. Bradley had claimed he was baited by Winters to lead to his ejection in Sunday’s game before tearing his ACL in a bizarre moment.
I’m sure whether the commissioner’s office decides to give out the real reason for the suspension or not is kind of trivial now, as they made it clear to punish Winters for his unacceptable actions.
In a totally unrelated matter, I play in an adult softball league every Tuesday night. Well, last night the game before mine had a pretty awesome incident that occurred. In the last inning, a batter exchanged some words with a player in the opposing team’s dugout. I thought nothing of it. Then, after the batter got on with a base hit, he takes the time to call time out at first base, then started walking over to the dugout like he was ready to hug it out with the guy, who takes the route of trying to laugh off the situation.
At that moment, the umpire ejected the player sitting in the dugout and watched him leave. Not satisfied that he could see the player lingering around in the area, he said exactly, “I want you out of my sight! I mean it! Damnit!” Poor old guy probably nearly had a heart attack. The runner on first starts clapping like a mental patient and is still running his mouth when the umpire has some left in him to yell out a “You shutup!”
The game ends with the runner stranded and his team with a tough one-run loss. The runner quickly takes his shirt off on the field–in a co-ed league, mind you–and heads towards the parking lot. Apparently, the ejected player was waiting for him to create a nice scene.
Police showed up courtesy of good umpire (Winters = bad umpire). We didn’t have none of that cheesy ballpark security, who can’t chase down a streaking fan to save their lives.
We had to forfeit our game because we didn’t have enough girls, but we still wanted to play. But the damn umpire wouldn’t officiate a game that didn’t count so he left. God, I hate him. He’s the worst umpire ever.
Griese To Start Sunday:
I swear Lovie Smith should’ve been suspended for not making a move on Rex Grossman sooner. After Grossman threw three picks for a shellacking by the Cowboys dropped them to 1-2, Smith has announced on Wednesday that Brian Griese will start next Sunday at Detroit. Seriously, if Smith even plays Grossman for one more down at any point in the season, he needs to get fired for his deliberate and obvious harm towards the team.
Through three games this season, Grossman has just 1 touchdown, six interceptions (only Drew Brees has more with 7) and a 45.2 passer rating (only Tarvaris Jackson is worse with a 40.0). Down with the T-Rex!
Fantasy Advice: No gold hidden in any offensive player on this team, from Griese to Grossman to all of their receivers, Chicago D is all that’s fantasy-worthy here.
Oklahoma State Coach in Press Conference:
After Oklahoma State won in a wild shootout, 49-45, over Texas Tech, OSU coach Mike Gundy had other issues to address in his postgame press conference. He publicly attacked newspaper columnist Jenni Carlson about an article which stated possible reasons why quarterback Bobby Reid lost his starting job.
I won’t say more other than his address is pretty money: ESPN video
NHL Preseason:
And last but not least, NHL preseason looks to be in full force, heading into the last week before the regular season begins September 29. Monday saw the first time the New York Islanders and New York Rangers met after Chris Simon’s stick-swinging attack on Ryan Hollweg landed him a 25-game suspension on March 8. And you better believe the two were ready to throw down in a game that didn’t even count (You just have to admire when the goalies go at it, too. And I mean everyone.)
Milton Bradley ends Mike Cameron’s season, then his own, in a set of bizarre plays in Sunday’s game between the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies.
In the seventh inning, Cameron, a three-time Gold Glove centerfielder, made a sliding attempt to catch Garrett Atkins’ inside-the-park home run, then had Bradley step on his right hand as he tried to jump over him to avoid a collision. Cameron has a partially torn ligament in his right thumb and is not sure if he will be ready for the playoffs, if the Padres make it.
In the eighth inning, Bradley tore his right ACL when his own manager spun him to the ground to keep him from going after first base umpire, Mike Winters, after he was ejected. I feel like we might hear Winters’ name in the future, as people are noticing that umpires are baiting players resulting in quick ejections in the recent weeks. Bradley said Winters told the home plate umpire in Bradley’s previous at-bat, when he struck out, that Bradley flipped his bat at the home plate umpire. When Bradley reached first base in the eighth, the unavoidable confrontation ensued and Bradley is now looking at a recovery time of six months.
The Padres have dropped to a tie with the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL wild card lead with six games remaining after losing four in a row after Monday’s loss to the San Francisco Giants.
But boy, you want to talk about injury-prone? The Padres’ left fielder has played just 61 games this year and just came off the disabled list less than a week ago. He has averaged under 99 games a season in his 7-year career and has played in more than 101 games in a season just once. Because when you blow your knee out when your own manager tries to give you a hug, you know you’re injury-prone.
420 – Number of TD passes by Brett Favre in his career, tying Dan Marino on the all-time list. Next week, Favre will break another of Marino’s records – most pass attempts in a career. Favre’s interception-free and exceptional day helped the Packers improve to a surprising 3-0 start.
Week 3 SD W 31-24 28 – 45 369 yards 3 TD 0 INT 110.3 RAT
The Packers head to Minnesota (1-2) Week 4.
To give you an idea of how long Favre’s been in the game, he’s never had a season where he threw for 40 touchdowns. It’s all about durability, as the Southern Miss alum only missed one game in 15+ consecutive years in the league. He came back for another year, despite tying for a career-low with 18 touchdown passes last year.
By projecting these career season averages, Favre is expected to break the career passing yards record, which he trails Marino by 3,000, on the last game of the regular season. That would be a fitting way to go out of the game, I’ll say.
205 – Number of receiving yards in the first half by the Philadelphia Eagles’ Kevin Curtis on nine catches. The record for most receiving yards in a half is held by Steve Largent, who had 224 in a 1987 game. Curtis surpassed his previous career high in the first quarter, which was 105 yards set in 2005, with 132 yards on six catches. Curtis scored his 3rd touchdown of the game early in the second quarter to put the Eagles up 35-7 and cap a TD in each of their first 5 drives. Curtis finished the game with 11 catches for 221 yards in a 56-21 romp over the Detroit Lions with scores from 68, 12 and 43 yards.
4 – Number of teams Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson has coached in the Top 25. At 4-0, the #23 Sun Devils join Washington State, Miami and Oregon State as Erickson’s coached ranked teams. Only Lou Holtz has coached more ranked schools with 5.
646 – Number of passing yards by Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell in a 49-45 loss to Oklahoma State, fourth highest in major college history. Who holds the record for most passing yards in a single game? (Answer below.)
0 - Number of times #1 USC had to punt in Saturday’s 47-14 victory over Washington State. Playing a flawless game, the Trojans (3-0) scored 6 touchdowns, 2 field goals and had two interceptions in their 10 drives. The Trojans rushed for a season-low 207 yards in their latest win.
Upset of the Day: #10 Penn State (3-1) 9 – 14 Michigan (2-2)
Yes, the Wolverines have lost their first 2 games of the season but have suddenly turned things around and can win their next 6 games handily until they meet up with (9) Wisconsin and (8) Ohio State to wrap up the season. Scare of the Day: #4 Florida (4-0) 30 – 24 Mississippi (1-3)
Tim Tebow had to do it all against Ole Miss, rushing for a school-record for quarterbacks with 166 yards and two touchdowns and passing for two more. Tebow might run away with the Heisman at this point, but he’s going to need some help from his teammates real soon, as the Gators face four ranked teams in the next six weeks. Surprise of the Day: Notre Dame (0-4) 14 – 31 Michigan State (4-0)
Notre Dame is 0-4 for the first time in the school’s 119-year history, and things could get a lot uglier in the coming weeks. They face two tough schools at Purdue and at UCLA in the next two weeks before coming back home to meet up with (12) Boston College and (1) USC. The Fighting Irish at 0-8? You better believe it.
Answer: In 1990, Houston’s David Klingler threw for 716 yards against Arizona State.
lashed out in an interview after the U.S. was embarrassed in a 4-0 semifinal loss to Brazil and with Solo on the bench.
on nine catches. The record for most receiving yards in a half is held by Steve Largent, who had 224 in a 1987 game. Curtis surpassed his previous career high in the first quarter, which was 105 yards set in 2005, with 132 yards on six catches. Curtis scored his 3rd touchdown of the game early in the second quarter to put the Eagles up 35-7 and cap a TD in each of their first 5 drives. Curtis finished the game with 11 catches for 221 yards in a 56-21 romp over the Detroit Lions with scores from 68, 12 and 43 yards.