2 - Number of weeks ago that California (5-3) was ranked second in the nation. Three straight losses have dropped them out of all of the polls. They were No. 21 in the BCS before Saturday’s loss to No. 4 Arizona State (8-0), 31-20. Next up for Cal: Washington State (3-5), who upset UCLA (5-3), 27-7.
20 – Number of 100-yard rushing games by Rutgers’ Ray Rice, setting a school record for most 100-yard games. Rice had 30 carries for 142 yards in the Scarlet Knights’ (5-3) 31-3 loss to No. 7 West Virginia (7-1). The junior back has 5 100-yard games this year, and the team has four games remaining. Next up: at No. 13 Connecticut (7-1).
100 – Number of receptions for Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree, setting an NCAA freshman record for receptions in a season with 12 on the day for 131 yards and a touchdown. He also set the Big 12 season record with 18 touchdowns and already set the NCAA freshman record for receiving yards (1,451) and touchdowns this season. The Red Raiders (6-3) lost to Colorado (5-4), 31-26, and have three games remaining. Next up for Texas Tech: at Baylor (3-6).
Upset of the Day: #14 Kentucky (6-3) 14 – 31 Mississippi St (5-4)
The Wildcats turned the ball over six times, all in the second half, to doom themselves in this SEC matchup. Andre’ Woodson, who is second in the nation behind only Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell with 28 touchdown passes, threw three picks, as Kentucky suffered back-to-back losses. Next up for Kentucky: at Vanderbilt (5-3) on 11/10. Scare of the Day: #9 Kansas (8-0) 19 – 11 Texas A&M (6-3)
Senior fullback Brandon McAnderson had a career day, with 21 carries for 183 yards and 2 scores to lead the Jayhawks to their first 8-0 start since 1909. Kansas went for and failed a 2-point conversion early in the fourth quarter that could have come back to bite them had the Aggies scored a touchdown at the end of the game. Next up for Kansas: Nebraska (4-5). Surprise of the Day: Div. III Trinity 28 – 24 Millsaps
Down 24-22 with 2 seconds left in the game and the ball on their own 39, Trinity does the unthinkable. 15 laterals and 61 seconds later, Trinity goes in untouched for the game-winning score. Well-planned and great coaching is what I say. But in all seriousness, that takes some coordination and athleticism to execute that. But enough from me. See it to believe it.
The separation between Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees is official after what Hank Steinbrenner, chief of the club’s baseball operations, had to say about the star third baseman walking away from their lucrative contract extension offer.
“It’s clear he didn’t want to be a Yankee. He doesn’t understand the privilege of being a Yankee on a team where the owners are willing to pay $200 million to put a winning product on the field. I don’t want anybody on my team that doesn’t want to be a Yankee. We wanted him to stay a Yankee. We wanted to let him know how much we wanted him. The bottom line is … do we really want anybody that really doesn’t want to be a Yankee? How the heck can you do that? Compare him with Jeter. Jeter, since he was a little kid, all he ever wanted to do was play shortstop for the Yankees. That’s what we want.”
Who does George’s son think he is? Mark Cuban? This outspoken fellow is letting his mind be heard, but c’mon, can you really compare anyone to Derek Jeter? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have enough people on your roster to play baseball. And I’m sure A-Rod sees the privileges in being yelled at on any given night even though he puts up monster numbers for the team. Where’s the treatment there? Whatever the case, let the rift begin between the likely AL MVP and the club that fell short in the postseason for the seventh consecutive year.
On Monday morning, the Yankees have offered Joe Girardi their vacant managerial position, which he is expected to accept. He beats out the favored Don Mattingly, who will not return as the team’s bench coach or the coaching staff, and Tony Pena for the job. The 2006 NL Manager of the Year’s contract is expected to be for three-years, $6 million, which is obviously far less than Joe Torre’s one-year, $5 million offer he declined.
Good luck righting that ship, Joe. You’re going to be really busy in your first offseason with the Yankees, starting with replacing the big bat of Alex Rodriguez.
So much for the New York Yankees set on making Alex Rodriguez the richest man in baseball. Rodriguez opted out of his 10-year, $252 million contract Sunday, likely ending his career with New York. The Yankees have made it clear that they will not attempt to re-sign A-Rod if he opts out of his contract and attempted to lure him with a 5-year extension worth a reported $150 million a day earlier. He will forfeit the remaining 3 years and guaranteed $72 million to become a free agent.
Agent Scott Boras said the decision was based on the uncertainty of Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte returning to the Yankees. It also comes before the Yankees decided on their new manager to replace the recently resigned Joe Torre, which can come as early as Monday if the Boston Red Sox sweep the Colorado Rockies tonight.
It has yet to be seen which teams are willing to jump on Rodriguez, 32, as his market price of about $30 million a year makes many teams unable to purchase the soon-to-be AL MVP, but let the rumors begin on where the best hitter in baseball will play next year. And look for the Yankees to get a whole new face lift on opening day, as all of these uncertain players will slowly disband in the offseason.
On the next episode of the Yankees saga, catch who New York will make their new manager for the 2008 season.
Sunday Morning: Indianapolis (6-0) over Carolina (4-2) – Think 43-year-old Vinny Testaverde can knock off the undefeated Colts? Not likely. Cleveland (3-3) over St. Louis (0-7) – Derek Anderson will have no trouble putting points on the board against a team that will finally have all of its star players back in the starting lineup and looking for its first win. NY Giants (5-2) over Miami (0-7) – In the first regular season game outside of North America in NFL history, the Giants should have their way against the winless Fins. Philadelphia (2-4) over Minnesota (2-4) – The Vikings hung with the Cowboys for much of the game last week, but Tarvaris Jackson keeps the offense from moving the ball. Fortunately, a broken finger for Jackson takes him out of the game, as Kelly Holcomb has shown he’s more than able to help Minnesota’s offense. (Let me just add that Donovan McNabb’s comments a while back about black quarterbacks being treated more harshly takes a huge hit in credibility with a quarterback by the name of Tarvaris Jackson. In four games played this season, Jackson has a 45.9 completion percentage and has a season-high of 166 yards passing. He has a 48.7 QB rating, good for last in the league and the team ranks 30th in passing yards per game. I can go on and on with the numbers, but my point is that Jackson has never received any threat to losing his starting job when it’s more than clear, he does not deserve it. Without Adrian Peterson, Minnesota would be 0-6, as he single-handedly ran wild for those two victories. Keep Jackson on the pine!) Pittsburgh (4-2) over Cincinnati (2-4) – The Steelers were forced to play catch-up the entire second half in their loss to Denver last week but should control the game against a Bengals team that just managed to squeak out a victory against the lowly Jets. Chicago (3-4) over Detroit (4-2) – Don’t look now but Brian Griese is playing like Chicago’s offensive savior, as his play thus far will never allow him to give up his starting job. He’s finally got the Bears putting points on the board, and it’s up to their banged up defense to stop the Lions’ potent passing game and to redeem their Week 4 loss at Detroit in a 37-27 thriller. Tennessee (4-2) over Oakland (2-4) – This will be the first game in which this year’s number one overall draft pick, JaMarcus Russell, will suit up as the third string and one step closer to the end of the short era of Daunte Culpepper as the Raiders’ starting quarterback. Oh yeah, Vince Young’s back and should return to his winning ways.
Sunday Afternoon: Buffalo (2-4) over NY Jets (1-6) – It looks like Chad Pennington is safe from Kellen Clemens taking his job, but the story of the week has been the loss of star linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the season, which should only make things tougher for the Jets on both sides of the ball. Tampa Bay (4-3) over Jacksonville (4-2) – With efficient David Garrard out for about a month with a severely sprained ankle, I see Quinn Gray turning the ball over several times today to a tough Bucs ‘D’ and an inoperable offense in the coming weeks. San Diego (3-3) over Houston (3-4) – After practicing all week in Arizona due to the SoCal wildfires, the Chargers will get to try to continue their streak in Qualcomm Stadium (who knows how many will show up?), reeling off of two impressive wins to suddenly turn around what looked to be a disappointing season. New Orleans (2-4) over San Francisco (2-4) – The Saints are another team trying to ride the momentum off a 2-game winning streak heading into San Francisco, who will be happy to get Alex Smith back after Trent Dilfer led them to three embarrassing losses. New England (7-0) over Washington (4-2) – 5-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Richard Seymour returns for the first time this season to strengthen what is already a solid Patriots ‘D’ and team. Another game, another 16.5-point spread for which the Patriots seemingly cover with ease.
Monday Night: Denver (3-3) over Green Bay (5-1) – It seems like forever ago that Green Bay was among the top of the league as an undefeated team (just 3 weeks ago). Off a bye week, they head to Denver, who upset Pittsburgh there last Monday on a game-winning field goal as time expired.
The New York Yankees might have been sent home early, but they’ve probably been the busiest and most talked about club not in the World Series. Let’s take a quick recap of the moves going on in the Yankees ballclub:
Owner George Steinbrenner cedes full control to his two sons, Hal and Hank.
Coach Joe Torre resigns after being offered a 1-year contract worth $5 million with incentives totaling $3 million, which would still make him the highest-paid manager in baseball, saying he was insulted by the offer. (He hasn’t won a World Series since 2000.)
On Monday, the Yankees expect to decide who their new manager will be, as the three candidates are bench coach Don Mattingly, former coach and broadcaster Joe Girardi and first-base coach Tony Pena. Mattingly, Torre’s right-hand man, is favored to be his successor and the decision can be made public on Tuesday, when the World Series has an off-day and if Commissioner Bud Selig grants permission for a club to make a public announcement, which can be denied to avoid upstaging baseball’s top show.
Third baseman Alex Rodriguez has been reportedly offered an additional 5-year, $150 million contract, on top of his current contract, which has 3 years and $81 million left. The $30 million a year average would break the annual average record set by teammate Roger Clemens, who made a prorated $28 million to pitch for four months this season. A-Rod, 32, has 10 days after the end of the World Series to decide if he wants to opt out of the remaining three years of his contract and become a free agent.
Game 3 of the World Series is tonight at 5p PST on FOX, with the Boston Red Sox taking a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Colorado Rockies. Boston’s highly-prized foreign product, Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-12, 4.40 ERA), can redeem his mediocre season with a win tonight against Josh Fogg (10-9, 4.94 ERA), as the series heads to Coors Field for the next three games.
Quote of the Day: On manager Terry Francona’s decision to sit first basemen Kevin Youkilis for David Ortiz for Game 3, Youkilis replied, “It’s really not a big deal, to tell you the truth. We have wars going on over in the Middle East, and people are wondering if Kevin Youkilis is going to play first base?”
Youkilis was the only everyday first baseman in the league this year to have a 1.000 fielding percentage, as he is poised to win his first Gold Glove in just his second full season. Meanwhile, Ortiz has played just 27 games at first base in the last three years. You know Francona’s going to be thinking twice about this decision if it turns out to be costly.
Priest Holmes returned to the field for the first time since suffering a severe neck injury in 2005, which many thought would put an end to the career of Kansas City’s career leader in rushing yards and touchdowns. He was expected to play against Oakland as the third string but ended up with the most carries behind Larry Johnson, finishing the game with 4 carries on 9 yards and 1 reception for a loss of 6 yards.
Tennessee 38 – 36 Houston
Texans quarterback Matt Schaub goes down with an injury so leave it to backupSage Rosenfels to engineer an incredible fourth quarter comeback that fell just short because of Rob Bironas‘ NFL-record 8th field goal of the game as time expired. Rosenfels threw for 290 yards and 4 TDs and 3 INTs to give Houston the lead in the final minute, 36-35, after the Titans led 32-7 to begin the fourth quarter. Kerry Collins, who played the whole game in place of the injured Vince Young, moved the Titans down quickly and set up Bironas’ 29-yard winner, as he kicked a perfect 8 for 8 today, including a long of 52.
New Orleans 22 – 16 Atlanta
Joey Harrington was a tad bitter to lose his starting job this week to Byron Leftwich. I have an itchy feeling he was praying for Leftwich to go down and that’s exactly what happened, as Harrington took over for the rest of the game for the injured Leftwich in the third quarter. He didn’t commit any turnovers but was only able to muster a field goal during his play. It is currently unknown how long Leftwich will be out, who suffered a high ankle sprain as he was tackled.
NY Giants 33 – 15 San Francisco
The Giants ‘D’ traumatized the opposing team’s offense yet again to reel off their fifth straight win. They forced four turnovers on Trent Dilfer, sacked him six times and recovered one of his fumbles for a 75-yard return, courtesy of Osi Umenyiora, who made the sack as well and also recovered another fumble. The Giants’ defensive end all but assured himself of a Pro Bowl selection when he sacked Donovan McNabb six times and forced two fumbles a couple of weeks back, and he now has 8 sacks and 3 forced fumbles on the year to go with that fumble return for a touchdown. Meanwhile, Amani Toomer became the franchise leader in touchdown receptions with 49, passing Kyle Rote on the all-time list with a first quarter strike from Eli Manning.
New England 49 – 28 Miami
Tom Brady threw for a career high and team-record six more touchdowns, five in the first half, to give him 27 through seven games. Peyton Manning had 22 through seven games in his record-setting 2004 season, when he threw for 49 TD passes. Brady is on pace for 61. Only two teams in NFL history have scored more than the Patriots through seven games, who have put up 279, led by the 2000 Rams, who put up 296 points. That’s an average of 40 points/game! The streaking Giants get the 0-7 Dolphins next week.
8 - The number of Top 25 teams that lost this week, marking yet another typical Saturday to a wild season of college football.
3 - The number of consecutive weeks the No. 2 team in the AP Poll has lost, most recently South Florida being upset by Rutgers, 30-27.
0 – The number of touchdowns caught by Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree in the Red Raiders’ 41-10 loss to Missouri, keeping him at 17 for the season. He finished the game with 10 receptions for 76 yards, leading the nation in receptions, yards, receiving TD’s and scoring.
Upset of the Day: #2 South Florida (6-1) 27 – 30 Rutgers (5-2)
Ray Rice didn’t find the endzone, but he put in enough work for Rutgers to overcome three turnovers to pull off the upset. The junior back had 181 yards on 39 carries, as South Florida dropped to No. 10. Next up for South Florida: at No. 23 Connecticut. Scare of the Day: #1 Ohio State (8-0) 24 – 17 Michigan State (5-3)
The Buckeyes had a 24-0 lead in the second half but didn’t secure the win until the final minute, when they converted a third down play to run out the clock. Chris Wells had 31 carries for 221 yards and a score to keep the Buckeyes on top for at least another week. Next up for Ohio State: at No. 25 Penn State. Surprise of the Day: #14 USC (6-1) 38 – 0 Notre Dame (1-7)
So much for Charlie Weis making the move to start Evan Sharpley at quarterback. Sharpley had a poor game, throwing for just 117 yards and an interception while Mark Sanchez, making just his second career start, threw for 235 yards and 4 touchdowns to hand the Fighting Irish their worst defeat in the history of their rivalry. Next up for the Trojans: at No. 5 Oregon.
Week 6 Recap: The New Orleans Saints pick up their first win of the season in Week 6…MVP LaDainian Tomlinson blows up for 198 rushing yards and 4 scores. Rookie Adrian Peterson is even better with 20 carries on 224 yards and 3 TD’s…Tom Brady is on pace to break Peyton Manning’s single-season record of TD passes (49) with 21 through 6 games.
Week 7 Picks:
Sunday Morning: Tennessee (3-2) over Houston (3-3) – I bet y’all forgot about Vince Young and this year’s Madden curse. A quad injury keeps him out of this game, but Kerry Collins should have just enough in him to lead the Titans to victory. Baltimore (4-2) over Buffalo (1-4) – The Ravens ‘D’ is looking solid again and with the absences of Chris McAlister and possibly Ray Lewis in this game, the Bills shouldn’t be able to get more than a couple of scores. Tampa Bay (4-2) over Detroit (3-2) – Calvin Johnson will be back for this contest, but Jeff Garcia should kickstart the Bucs’ offense for a squeaker. Washington (3-2) over Arizona (3-3) – With Tim Rattay running the helm, the Cardinals should be out of funk all game against a good Redskins ‘D’. NY Giants (4-2) over San Francisco (2-3) New Orleans (1-4) over Atlanta (1-5) – Looking at the records, this battle in the South looks like a skunk’s game but the Saints should put on an impressive showing, as they have slowly been looking more like the Saints we knew last year. New England (6-0) over Miami (0-6) – After the Pats put up 48 points against the Cowboys last week, I actually heard an ESPN commentator give the most diabolical laugh after stating that the Dolphins would be their next opponent. What a dick, but sadly the 16.5-point spread on this game will be easily covered, as Brady will throw for a handful of more touchdowns.
Sunday Afternoon: Dallas (5-1) over Minnesota (2-3) – Calvin who? Adrian Peterson is undoubtedly the Rookie of the Year going forward with a ridiculous game against the Bears last week. He leads the NFL with 607 rushing yards, averaging 6.3 YPC. As explosive as he is, someone explain to me why you would put your top back to return kickoffs. Maybe to add another dimension to his versatility, I don’t know. On the other side of the field is another exciting running back to watch for in this game by the name of Marion Barber III. Last week against New England, he put on the most impressive 2-yard run I’ve ever seen, avoiding a safety and breaking no less than six tackles:
Kansas City (3-3) over Oakland (2-3) – Daunte Culpepper was just harassed all game by the Chargers last week, getting sacked six times and turning the ball over three times. New tight end career TD record-holder Tony Gonzalez and Larry Johnson should both find paydirt this week. Priest Holmes, anyone? Cincinnati (1-4) over NY Jets (1-5) – Jets’ coach Eric Mangini has officially put Chad Pennington on a short leash for this game, possibly marking an end to what was a short time as the face of the Jets’ franchise. Meanwhile, as has been said all week by ESPN, if the Bengals don’t win this week, they are truly going nowhere. Chicago (2-4) over Philadelphia (2-3) – As much as both are having a bad season so far this year, I never want to count out New Orleans and Chicago every week. The Bears must do a better job against Brian Westbrook than they did against Adrian Peterson last week, who beat them single-handedly, to win this one. Seattle (3-3) over St. Louis (0-6) – I’m sure the Seahawks are glad to face the winless Rams this week after two disappointing losses in a row. The Rams dearly miss their star players, as Gus Frerotte had six turnovers and Brian Leonard had 18 rushing yards last week.
Sunday Night: Pittsburgh (4-1) over Denver (2-3) – The Broncos have the NFL’s worst run defense so what do you do? You run it down their throats all night. Coach Mike Tomlin told Ben Roethlisberger that he’d be throwing just about 20 passes in the game so look for a heavy dose of Willie Parker to allow him to reach his fifth 100-yard rushing day in 6 games this season.
Monday Night: Indianapolis (5-0) over Jacksonville (4-1) – The GOTW is appropriately showcased on MNF, as the Jaguars, who after an opening week loss to the Titans, have reeled off four straight wins. Last year, the Jags spanked the Colts, 44-17, on 375 rushing yards and holding Peyton Manning to 0 touchdown passes. Look for a game more similar to the first meeting the two had last season when the Colts won 21-14, as the game should go down to the wire.
This was supposed to be another year of USC dominance.The hype-machine was rolling in full force. And everyone believed it.
They had 10 returning starters on one of the top defenses in 2006; they had a preseason Heisman hopeful in fifth-year senior quarterback John David Booty, and possessed, at their disposal, as many Parade All-American running backs as most programs recruit in two decades.
That’s why pollsters, most of whom expected the Trojans to run the table and add another National Championship to their already full mantle, unanimously selected USC as the top team in the country before the season began.This embarrassment of riches, however, is also why their performance so far has been so shockingly atrocious.Aside from a blowout win against an overrated Nebraska squad, the Men of Troy have looked lackluster (against Idaho), beatable (see games against Washington and Arizona) and downright awful (Stanford).
This less than impressive run of games have prompted many to believe that USC’s time is over.Just like Miami and Florida State before them.
Hogwash.
There will be no fall of Troy—not as long as Coach Pete Carroll is running things.No. 13 Southern Cal (5-1, 3-1 Pac-10) is still the premier football program in the country.They might not look like it right now, but I pose you this question: what other team could sustain the deluge of injuries USC has endured?
None.
The list of sidelined players is astounding, with the most glaringly affect area being the offensive line.Two-time All-American Sam Baker, Matt Spanos, his backup freshman Kris O’Dowd, Chilo Rachal, Zack Heberer and backup Charles Brown have all missed time from various injuries.Ask anyone and they’ll tell you games are won in the trenches.The offensive line is the backbone of any team.And USC is essentially playing with third-stringers.Not necessarily conducive to winning, wouldn’t you say?
The linebacking corps and secondary have also been hit.Preseason All-American Brian Cushing (ankle) has been out since the first game, and most recently, fellow preseason All-American linebacker Rey Maualuga (hip) and safety Kevin Ellison (nose) have gone down and may miss this week’s game against Notre Dame.
Then there’s their stable of running backs.As it appears, they needed every single one of them seeing how they lost Stafon Johnson (foot), who emerged from the pack as their go-to back, and Parade All-American freshman Marc Tyler (leg), not to mention that C.J. Gable (abdominal), their second-best back, is gone for the season.
And let’s not forget about the pesky middle finger of John David Booty (though he was playing like crap before the injury anyways).
Those are some big names in some key positions.And considering the inventory of fallen players, I’m not too surprised with their performance so far.No team, with this level of injury, could possibly live up to the hype placed upon this particular USC team.
Granted, I will say that USC—even fully healthy—was vastly overrated in the preseason.Booty has been hideously bad, their talented group of receivers has shown their youth and thus far has been barren, and the hard-hitting defense has put nominal pressure on opposing quarterbacks and has forced even fewer turnovers. The early prognosticators were wrong; this is not the best defense Pete Carroll has ever had.
But preseason hype aside, this very team, when healthy, can compete with anyone in the country.They’re simply not as good as the USC of a few years ago.How could they be?Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart were once in a generation type players, and Norm Chow was an offensive genius too good for college football.That height of dominance will probably never be reached again.In hindsight, I think we were spoiled rotten by their awesome firepower and today, we unfairly judge every subsequent USC team by those lofty standards.
There probably won’t be another team like we saw in 2004, but as long as Pete Carroll is in town, La-La Land will always have top 5 recruiting classes, and thusly, will always be in the hunt for National Titles.
Call this 2007 Southern Cal squad overrated—I’ll partially agree with that.But don’t declare this dynasty dead just yet.
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I forgot one final reason why USC is not about to fall: true freshman Joe McKnight. Highly touted, last year’s number one recruit has drawn comparisons with none other than Reggie Bush. And last Saturday’s game against Arizona looked to be his coming out party. Today may be dim, but the future is bright in Troy.
Evander Holyfield lost in his bid Saturday night to join George Foreman as the oldest heavyweight titleholders at age 45. Holyfield lost by unanimous decision to WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov by scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111. Neither fighter was knocked down in a fairly uneventful fight that saw the Russian southpaw outmove Holyfield throughout the bout to deny him a fifth heavyweight title. The loss dropped Holyfield to 42-9 with 2 draws while Ibragimov stayed undefeated at 22-0 with 1 draw.
Holyfield had come out of an idle three years just over a year ago and had four convincing wins in ten months to set the stage for a shot at the belt. After the loss, Holyfield still is not looking to retire and seems he won’t until he reaches his goal of becoming heavyweight champion of the world again.
in baseball. Rodriguez opted out of his 10-year, $252 million contract Sunday, likely ending his career with New York. The Yankees have made it clear that they will not attempt to re-sign A-Rod if he opts out of his contract and attempted to lure him with a 5-year extension worth a reported $150 million a day earlier. He will forfeit the remaining 3 years and guaranteed $72 million to become a free agent.
injury in 2005, which many thought would put an end to the career of Kansas City’s career leader in rushing yards and touchdowns. He was expected to play against Oakland as the third string but ended up with the most carries behind Larry Johnson, finishing the game with 4 carries on 9 yards and 1 reception for a loss of 6 yards.
Sage Rosenfels to engineer an incredible fourth quarter comeback that fell just short because of Rob Bironas‘ NFL-record 8th field goal of the game as time expired. Rosenfels threw for 290 yards and 4 TDs and 3 INTs to give Houston the lead in the final minute, 36-35, after the Titans led 32-7 to begin the fourth quarter. Kerry Collins, who played the whole game in place of the injured Vince Young, moved the Titans down quickly and set up Bironas’ 29-yard winner, as he kicked a perfect 8 for 8 today, including a long of 52.
Leftwich. I have an itchy feeling he was praying for Leftwich to go down and that’s exactly what happened, as Harrington took over for the rest of the game for the injured Leftwich in the third quarter. He didn’t commit any turnovers but was only able to muster a field goal during his play. It is currently unknown how long Leftwich will be out, who suffered a high ankle sprain as he was tackled.
straight win. They forced four turnovers on Trent Dilfer, sacked him six times and recovered one of his fumbles for a 75-yard return, courtesy of Osi Umenyiora, who made the sack as well and also recovered another fumble. The Giants’ defensive end all but assured himself of a Pro Bowl selection when he sacked Donovan McNabb six times and forced two fumbles a couple of weeks back, and he now has 8 sacks and 3 forced fumbles on the year to go with that fumble return for a touchdown. Meanwhile, Amani Toomer became the franchise leader in touchdown receptions with 49, passing Kyle Rote on the all-time list with a first quarter strike from Eli Manning.
first half, to give him 27 through seven games. Peyton Manning had 22 through seven games in his record-setting 2004 season, when he threw for 49 TD passes. Brady is on pace for 61. Only two teams in NFL history have scored more than the Patriots through seven games, who have put up 279, led by the 2000 Rams, who put up 296 points. That’s an average of 40 points/game! The streaking Giants get the 0-7 Dolphins next week.
The linebacking corps and secondary have also been hit.
heavyweight titleholders at age 45. Holyfield lost by unanimous decision to WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov by scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111. Neither fighter was knocked down in a fairly uneventful fight that saw the Russian southpaw outmove Holyfield throughout the bout to deny him a fifth heavyweight title. The loss dropped Holyfield to 42-9 with 2 draws while Ibragimov stayed undefeated at 22-0 with 1 draw.