LEONARD
09-14-2006, 11:42 AM
I didn't write these...
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Vince Young was the 3rd QB selected with the third overall pick since 1996. The other two were Akili Smith and Joey Harrington. I'm just sayin'....
Another draft thought. What exactly am I supposed to learn from a video of USC's Winston Justice pancaking a 200 pound guy from Fresno State that'll be working for IBM next summer?
I love the Sunday and Monday Night intros where the players say their name and college. Some do the goofy THE Ohio State University. Some like Lavar Arrington try to be cute with "The School Of Hard Knocks". Giants DE Osi Umenyiora just says "Nigeria". Gotta like that.
Somebody tell the ESPN guys it's ok to lose their hair. Chris Berman is still doing the comb-over and that patch of Velcro on top of Mike Tirico's forehead isn't good for anyone. Especially in high definition. I see a nice partnering opportunity with Gillette there.
How badly did the Panthers' offense struggle without Steve Smith? They entered the fourth quarter without posting a first down.
If you look up "owned" in the dictionary (or "o\/\/ned" for you guys in the know), you'll see a picture of Marty Schottenheimer coaching against the Raiders. He's 26-7 against the Silver and Black after Monday's shellacking. That's the best of any active coach against any one team.
From the How To Win Friends and Influence People department: Last week, disgruntled wide receiver Jerry Porter thought he might make a point when he reportedly decided to park in Al Davis' personal parking spot. Monday night, Porter was reported (and disputed) to be laughing it up on the sidelines as his QB was repeatedly sacked. Some are even saying he was cheering for San Diego. That is not gold, Jerry....
If I had a dollar for every talking head that's suggested Brett Favre needs to take a seat for the good of the team I'd be rich by now. Understand this. Brett Favre is the starter as long as he wants to start. What benefit the team might derive from finding out what they have in Aaron Rodgers is not worth the disastrous consequences they'd face from a public relations front if they benched a first ballot Hall Of Famer in Favre. Get over it as it's a non issue.
But you still have to think Brett Favre wonders what he got himself into. The Packers had several of Favre's teammates from the 1996 Super Bowl team at the game with Robert Brooks, LeRoy Butler, Mark Chmura, Santana Dotson, Antonio Freeman, Andre Rison and Frank Winters all on the sidelines. By the second half, they had all retreated to a luxury box....
Speaking of Hall Of Famers, wouldn't you expect Joe Gibbs to be better than 0-6 opening on Monday Nights? I would.
Can someone tell me why we're not doing the Monday Night Double Header every single week? That was fantastic. Us East Coast fanatics got two games. My West Coast brethren finally got to see a game without having to skip out of work (or got to see two if they did manage to skip out...) It just makes too much sense. Can't we do this every week?
Watching the St. Louis - Denver game, I couldn't help but think of Happy Gilmore after he learned to putt. The Rams learned how to play deeeeee-fense. Uh-ohhhhhhhhhhh. Former head coach and current defensive coordinator Jim Haslett is back in his element.
For the last six years, Raiders offensive coordinator Tom Walsh had been the innkeeper at the Hansen Guest Ranch in Swan Valley, Idaho. I wonder if he's feeling a little Brett Favreish this morning....
Forbes magazine recently ranked Milwaukee Wisconsin as the "Most Drunken City" in America. http://www.forbes.com/2006/08/22/nightlife-cities-drunk_cx_de_nightlife06_0822intro.html Is Green Bay down the road really the best place for new Packer wide receiver Koren Robinson? I'm just asking....
You probably know that Robinson was recently arrested for driving under the influence. He's had a history of struggles there. The Vikings quickly cut Robinson after the incident and seemed pretty proud of themselves for taking what they seemed to think was the moral high ground. It did seem a little odd watching coach Brad Childress address the media Monday night with the official Coors Light press conference backdrop hanging behind him.... Pick a lane, Zygi. And pay Brad Johnson while you're at it.
The Good News: It was all a bad dream. The Texans did in fact manage to acquire the Heisman Trophy winning running back they desired.
The Bad news: It's Ron Dayne.
ESPN reported that the league suspended recently retired John Welbourn for violating the league's substance abuse program. Isn't that sort of like firing the guy that quit two months ago?
I like Phillip Rivers as much as the next guy. But I'm telling you right now that Charlie Whitehurst as your #2 QB is a bad idea.
Last Wednesday, Redskins tackle Jon Jansen made waves on Bob Costas' HBO program when he said "maybe 15, 20 percent" of NFL players use performance-enhancing drugs and that their use is "on the rise now" because of human growth hormone treatments that are undetectable by the NFL's testing method. Said Jansen, "You know guys that are doing it. You know that they're cheating and you know that they're trying to get by with something."
Thursday, he had a slightly different opinion: "What I meant by it was that it was a small number of players. Being a football player, I'm not real good at math. When you do the numbers, it sounds like a bigger percentage than it really is. I meant it was a small percentage of guys."
Why couldn't he just be honest and say "Commissioner Goodell says what I meant by it was that it was a small number of players. Mr. Goodell says that with me being a football player, I'm not real good at math. When Commissioner Goodell did the numbers, it sounds like a bigger percentage than it really is. After I talked to the commissioner, I meant it was a small percentage of guys."
John Madden had a great description of Willie Parker – "He was a kid that was never 'it' in tag".
Tiki Barber described the normal look on Eli Manning's face: "It's kind of a blank, searching, the world is coming to an end face. But it works."
Pittsburgh TE Heath Miller broke the Thursday night game open with an 87 yard TD. Miller is 6' 5" and 256. Dolphin cornerback Will Allen at 5' 10" and 196 should be ashamed of himself as Miller nearly outran him down the field.
Speaking of the Thursday night game, does any sport kick off their season as well as the NFL? I think not.
Oakland QB Aaron Brooks dropped back to pass 21 times. He managed 14 passing attempts and was sacked 7 times. In other words, Brooks took a sack once for every three times he dropped back. Ouch.
Daunte Culpepper gave us another example of why it's sometimes dangerous to flaunt a signature "move". Steeler linebacker Joey Porter sacked Culpepper, then "got his roll on" before giving his own signature move with the boot.
Tennessee's Vince Young saw some action Sunday as a change of pace QB from Kerry Collins. "He doesn't quite have the speed that I've got," Collins joked. "Maybe they can relax a little bit more when he goes in about the threat of a runner in the quarterback position. Probably be a change-up for them."
Brett Favre wasn't pulling any punches Monday after being shut out for the first time in 16 years: "Maybe we just ain't very good."
I like Deion Branch just like the next guy. But with all the fuss being made over the guy, wouldn't you think he'd have at least one 1,000 yard season or one season where he scored more than 5 TDs?
I'm not sure I understand Herman Edwards. Tuesday he said of the Chiefs offense, "If the people went to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play, that's the same offense they watched for the last five years." Al Saunders and Dick Vermeil leave and Herman Edwards is telling me they're running the exact same offense?
Note to Mike Irvin, Pee Wee Herman called and wants his tie back.
I still don't understand what's so hard about deciding to challenge a play. Millions of people saw Pittsburgh TE Heath Miller go out of bounds on the long TD. Why did it take so long for the Dolphins to tell Nick Saban to challenge the call? If I owned an NFL team, I'd have five guys that were glued to the monitor all holding a cell phone ready to speed dial my designated "Grab the red flag out of the coach's pocket and tackle the referee" guy standing next to the head coach. It just doesn't seem that hard.
And while I'm at it, I'd hire a guy that does nothing but tell the coach when to call a timeout. Clock management isn't nearly as hard as some of these guys make it out to be. For instance, the Giants called their last timeout with 2:43 left. That meant all the Colts had to do was use three seconds on the next play and now the timeout was completely wasted. Had they not called the timeout, Indianapolis would have run one more play before the two minute warning. Instead they burned the timeout and Indy ran ... you got it - one more play before the two minute warning.
Chiefs president Carl Peterson thinks the hit on his QB Trent Green was late and vicious. "In my opinion, I think it was a late hit. I think it was obviously a very vicious hit," Peterson said, "one that unfortunately Trent Green and the Kansas City Chiefs are paying a price for." He might want to give his tight end a call as Tony Gonzalez was all over the media Tuesday saying he didn't think the hit was dirty.
Is it a bad sign for Raider fans that Tony Mandarich was spotted Tuesday sporting a Robert Gallery jersey?...
All the Terrell Owens haters can shut up for at least this week. On the rushing TD that Julius Jones scored, Owens was lined up on the far side of the field from the play. Yet Owens was one of the first guys congratulating Jones after running across the field. He then turned around and congratulated Bledsoe and then center Andre Gurode. After the game, he was repeatedly baited by the press asking him how frustrating it must have been to be so wide open late in the game when Bledsoe didn't throw it to him. He was outstanding in the game and after the game. Let's see if he can keep it up.
Green Bay punter Jon Ryan had an interesting start to his NFL career. He faked a punt and threw a nice 16 yard completion to Noah Herron for the first down.
Interesting note from the Arizona – San Francisco game. The Cardinals have had one winning season since 49er QB Alex Smith was born. Yikes.
More on Arizona. With 5:51 left in the first quarter, the Cardinals had scored half as many rushing TDs as they did all of last season.
The Monday Night booth is already pretty crowded with Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser. Did we really need a fourth guy in Jamie Foxx for most of the second quarter?
During a preseason game in Carolina, the geniuses at Fox Sports decided it would be fun to play a prank on one of the Panthers fans. They announced they'd be giving away a car to one lucky person and a white Porsche was mentioned. Greg "Catman" Good of Winston-Salem was selected. Mr. Good counsels troubled kids during the work week and occupies his front-row end-zone seat at every home game. You've probably seen him on TV as he's a big guy always wearing the wild flaming blue wig. Fox's Tony Siragusa made a big deal of the presentation on live TV and delivered the punch line that the car was actually a tiny toy car.
Fox caved to the public uproar and quickly backpedaled into giving Mr. Good a real truck. Fox Sports Chairman and CEO David Hill promised such a prank wouldn't happen again. "We've had extensive conversation with all of the Fox announcers involved, and they've agreed that what they'll do from now on is talk about football," Hill said. "They will leave the comedy to the comedians." I think we all know what "extensive conversations" is code word for....
By now you've seen the video of Dolphins' coach Nick Saban sheepishly tossing the challenge flag on the field while the Steelers kicked the extra point after Heath Miller's score. Because the officials did not see the challenge, the play stood. Said Saban after the game, "They said they didn't see it. Whose fault is that?" Ummm, Coach, that would be "you".
I love the "Ray Lewis is back!" talk. Gee, ya think?
So much for home field advantage. Road teams were 11-5 this week.
How hard is it for Texans fans to watch Reggie Bush run, catch, and field punts while Mario Williams is getting stood up at the line?
Lions wide receiver Roy Williams had this gem after the Seattle – Detroit game. "It was stupid how close we came to putting 40 points on the board." The Lions scored a total of two field goals Sunday.
Jon Gruden didn't make any excuses for him team's dismal showing Sunday. "We work extremely hard. To go out there and get defeated soundly at home is enough to make me sick. I've got a lot of respect for these fans that pay good money to come in here and watch their Buccaneers. And to send them home like we did yesterday is something that makes me sick and humiliated." As a fan, you have to like that attitude. Although that kind of apology has a pretty short shelf life. Bucs fans don't want to hear that again anytime soon.
I've been trying to think of something more stupid than the NCAA College Football Coaches Poll and I've got nothing. Which is fairly significant as I know a lot of stupid things.
The last time Damon Huard took an NFL snap, Gunther Cunningham was the head coach in Kansas City and Priest Holmes was still a Baltimore Raven. Yikes.
I don't hear nearly as many folks calling for Jets QB Kellen Clemens this morning. Chad Pennington led his team and looked good doing it. Most importantly, he threw a TD to BlackEyedJoe.com All Name Team WR Jericho Cotchery.
You think Denny Green is committed to Edgerrin James? After losing two yards on a carry from the 49er 5 yard line, the Cardinals started their next series at the San Francisco 5 yard line after recovering a fumble. Here's how it went:
James left tackle to SF 1 for 4 yards
James up the middle to SF 1 for no gain
James up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
The Patriots have filed a grievance against the Jets charging that New York tampered with the Deion Branch deal. That should make things interesting as the Patriots head to the Meadowlands this Sunday facing their former defensive coordinator, and now Jets head coach Eric Mangini.
The coaches can say all they want but if I'm Jake Plummer or Drew Bledsoe, I'm holding off a bit on remodeling the kitchen. Both these guys could be looking for real estate agents soon....
Funniest quote of the week: "Not to make excuses, but these Eastern road games are tough for a West Coast team.''
-- Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck. I love it when people say "not to make excuses" and then give you an excuse two seconds later. Suck it up and play.
Hard Luck Awards
MIA QB Culpepper 13 yard pass to RB Brown to the 2 (Brown TD)
Anyone playing against PIT QB Batch or TE Miller as their 87 yard TD should have been challenged and overturned
PHI QB McNabb 37 yard pass to WR Stallworth to the 5 (McNabb to Brown TD)
CLE QB Frye 74 yard TD pass to WR Edwards nullified by penalty
ATL RB Dunn 3 yard rush to the 1
ATL RB Dunn rush for no gain from the 1 (Vick to Crumpler TD)
NYJ QB Pennington 2 yard TD pass to WR Cotchery nullified by penalty
TEN QB Collins 9 yard pass to WR Bennett to the 3 (Henry TD)
BAL RB Anderson 4 yard rush to the 4 (McNair to Wilcox TD)
DEN QB Plummer 19 yard pass to TE Alexander to the 1 (Mike Bell TD)
DAL QB Bledsoe 10 yard TD pass to TE Witten nullified by penalty
JAX QB Leftwich incomplete pass from the 3 to WR Wilford
JAX QB Leftwich incomplete pass from the 3 to WR Williams (Leftwich TD)
ARZ QB Warner 39 yard pass to WR Johnson to the 5
ARZ RB James rush for minus 2 yards from the 5 (Warner to Walters TD)
SF QB Smith 52 yard TD pass to WR Bryant nullified by penalty
IND QB Manning 8 yard pass to WR Wayne to the 2
IND RB Addai rush for no gain from the 2 (Manning to Clark TD)
IND QB Manning 20 yard pass to WR Harrison to the 1 (Rhodes TD)
SD QB Rivers 8 yard pass to TE Manumaleuna to the 1 (Tomlinson TD)
SD RB Tomlinson 3 yard rush to the 4 (Rivers to Gates TD)
SD RB Neal 4 yard rush to the 5 (Turner TD)
Sometimes it's better to just not know...
----------------
Vince Young was the 3rd QB selected with the third overall pick since 1996. The other two were Akili Smith and Joey Harrington. I'm just sayin'....
Another draft thought. What exactly am I supposed to learn from a video of USC's Winston Justice pancaking a 200 pound guy from Fresno State that'll be working for IBM next summer?
I love the Sunday and Monday Night intros where the players say their name and college. Some do the goofy THE Ohio State University. Some like Lavar Arrington try to be cute with "The School Of Hard Knocks". Giants DE Osi Umenyiora just says "Nigeria". Gotta like that.
Somebody tell the ESPN guys it's ok to lose their hair. Chris Berman is still doing the comb-over and that patch of Velcro on top of Mike Tirico's forehead isn't good for anyone. Especially in high definition. I see a nice partnering opportunity with Gillette there.
How badly did the Panthers' offense struggle without Steve Smith? They entered the fourth quarter without posting a first down.
If you look up "owned" in the dictionary (or "o\/\/ned" for you guys in the know), you'll see a picture of Marty Schottenheimer coaching against the Raiders. He's 26-7 against the Silver and Black after Monday's shellacking. That's the best of any active coach against any one team.
From the How To Win Friends and Influence People department: Last week, disgruntled wide receiver Jerry Porter thought he might make a point when he reportedly decided to park in Al Davis' personal parking spot. Monday night, Porter was reported (and disputed) to be laughing it up on the sidelines as his QB was repeatedly sacked. Some are even saying he was cheering for San Diego. That is not gold, Jerry....
If I had a dollar for every talking head that's suggested Brett Favre needs to take a seat for the good of the team I'd be rich by now. Understand this. Brett Favre is the starter as long as he wants to start. What benefit the team might derive from finding out what they have in Aaron Rodgers is not worth the disastrous consequences they'd face from a public relations front if they benched a first ballot Hall Of Famer in Favre. Get over it as it's a non issue.
But you still have to think Brett Favre wonders what he got himself into. The Packers had several of Favre's teammates from the 1996 Super Bowl team at the game with Robert Brooks, LeRoy Butler, Mark Chmura, Santana Dotson, Antonio Freeman, Andre Rison and Frank Winters all on the sidelines. By the second half, they had all retreated to a luxury box....
Speaking of Hall Of Famers, wouldn't you expect Joe Gibbs to be better than 0-6 opening on Monday Nights? I would.
Can someone tell me why we're not doing the Monday Night Double Header every single week? That was fantastic. Us East Coast fanatics got two games. My West Coast brethren finally got to see a game without having to skip out of work (or got to see two if they did manage to skip out...) It just makes too much sense. Can't we do this every week?
Watching the St. Louis - Denver game, I couldn't help but think of Happy Gilmore after he learned to putt. The Rams learned how to play deeeeee-fense. Uh-ohhhhhhhhhhh. Former head coach and current defensive coordinator Jim Haslett is back in his element.
For the last six years, Raiders offensive coordinator Tom Walsh had been the innkeeper at the Hansen Guest Ranch in Swan Valley, Idaho. I wonder if he's feeling a little Brett Favreish this morning....
Forbes magazine recently ranked Milwaukee Wisconsin as the "Most Drunken City" in America. http://www.forbes.com/2006/08/22/nightlife-cities-drunk_cx_de_nightlife06_0822intro.html Is Green Bay down the road really the best place for new Packer wide receiver Koren Robinson? I'm just asking....
You probably know that Robinson was recently arrested for driving under the influence. He's had a history of struggles there. The Vikings quickly cut Robinson after the incident and seemed pretty proud of themselves for taking what they seemed to think was the moral high ground. It did seem a little odd watching coach Brad Childress address the media Monday night with the official Coors Light press conference backdrop hanging behind him.... Pick a lane, Zygi. And pay Brad Johnson while you're at it.
The Good News: It was all a bad dream. The Texans did in fact manage to acquire the Heisman Trophy winning running back they desired.
The Bad news: It's Ron Dayne.
ESPN reported that the league suspended recently retired John Welbourn for violating the league's substance abuse program. Isn't that sort of like firing the guy that quit two months ago?
I like Phillip Rivers as much as the next guy. But I'm telling you right now that Charlie Whitehurst as your #2 QB is a bad idea.
Last Wednesday, Redskins tackle Jon Jansen made waves on Bob Costas' HBO program when he said "maybe 15, 20 percent" of NFL players use performance-enhancing drugs and that their use is "on the rise now" because of human growth hormone treatments that are undetectable by the NFL's testing method. Said Jansen, "You know guys that are doing it. You know that they're cheating and you know that they're trying to get by with something."
Thursday, he had a slightly different opinion: "What I meant by it was that it was a small number of players. Being a football player, I'm not real good at math. When you do the numbers, it sounds like a bigger percentage than it really is. I meant it was a small percentage of guys."
Why couldn't he just be honest and say "Commissioner Goodell says what I meant by it was that it was a small number of players. Mr. Goodell says that with me being a football player, I'm not real good at math. When Commissioner Goodell did the numbers, it sounds like a bigger percentage than it really is. After I talked to the commissioner, I meant it was a small percentage of guys."
John Madden had a great description of Willie Parker – "He was a kid that was never 'it' in tag".
Tiki Barber described the normal look on Eli Manning's face: "It's kind of a blank, searching, the world is coming to an end face. But it works."
Pittsburgh TE Heath Miller broke the Thursday night game open with an 87 yard TD. Miller is 6' 5" and 256. Dolphin cornerback Will Allen at 5' 10" and 196 should be ashamed of himself as Miller nearly outran him down the field.
Speaking of the Thursday night game, does any sport kick off their season as well as the NFL? I think not.
Oakland QB Aaron Brooks dropped back to pass 21 times. He managed 14 passing attempts and was sacked 7 times. In other words, Brooks took a sack once for every three times he dropped back. Ouch.
Daunte Culpepper gave us another example of why it's sometimes dangerous to flaunt a signature "move". Steeler linebacker Joey Porter sacked Culpepper, then "got his roll on" before giving his own signature move with the boot.
Tennessee's Vince Young saw some action Sunday as a change of pace QB from Kerry Collins. "He doesn't quite have the speed that I've got," Collins joked. "Maybe they can relax a little bit more when he goes in about the threat of a runner in the quarterback position. Probably be a change-up for them."
Brett Favre wasn't pulling any punches Monday after being shut out for the first time in 16 years: "Maybe we just ain't very good."
I like Deion Branch just like the next guy. But with all the fuss being made over the guy, wouldn't you think he'd have at least one 1,000 yard season or one season where he scored more than 5 TDs?
I'm not sure I understand Herman Edwards. Tuesday he said of the Chiefs offense, "If the people went to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play, that's the same offense they watched for the last five years." Al Saunders and Dick Vermeil leave and Herman Edwards is telling me they're running the exact same offense?
Note to Mike Irvin, Pee Wee Herman called and wants his tie back.
I still don't understand what's so hard about deciding to challenge a play. Millions of people saw Pittsburgh TE Heath Miller go out of bounds on the long TD. Why did it take so long for the Dolphins to tell Nick Saban to challenge the call? If I owned an NFL team, I'd have five guys that were glued to the monitor all holding a cell phone ready to speed dial my designated "Grab the red flag out of the coach's pocket and tackle the referee" guy standing next to the head coach. It just doesn't seem that hard.
And while I'm at it, I'd hire a guy that does nothing but tell the coach when to call a timeout. Clock management isn't nearly as hard as some of these guys make it out to be. For instance, the Giants called their last timeout with 2:43 left. That meant all the Colts had to do was use three seconds on the next play and now the timeout was completely wasted. Had they not called the timeout, Indianapolis would have run one more play before the two minute warning. Instead they burned the timeout and Indy ran ... you got it - one more play before the two minute warning.
Chiefs president Carl Peterson thinks the hit on his QB Trent Green was late and vicious. "In my opinion, I think it was a late hit. I think it was obviously a very vicious hit," Peterson said, "one that unfortunately Trent Green and the Kansas City Chiefs are paying a price for." He might want to give his tight end a call as Tony Gonzalez was all over the media Tuesday saying he didn't think the hit was dirty.
Is it a bad sign for Raider fans that Tony Mandarich was spotted Tuesday sporting a Robert Gallery jersey?...
All the Terrell Owens haters can shut up for at least this week. On the rushing TD that Julius Jones scored, Owens was lined up on the far side of the field from the play. Yet Owens was one of the first guys congratulating Jones after running across the field. He then turned around and congratulated Bledsoe and then center Andre Gurode. After the game, he was repeatedly baited by the press asking him how frustrating it must have been to be so wide open late in the game when Bledsoe didn't throw it to him. He was outstanding in the game and after the game. Let's see if he can keep it up.
Green Bay punter Jon Ryan had an interesting start to his NFL career. He faked a punt and threw a nice 16 yard completion to Noah Herron for the first down.
Interesting note from the Arizona – San Francisco game. The Cardinals have had one winning season since 49er QB Alex Smith was born. Yikes.
More on Arizona. With 5:51 left in the first quarter, the Cardinals had scored half as many rushing TDs as they did all of last season.
The Monday Night booth is already pretty crowded with Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser. Did we really need a fourth guy in Jamie Foxx for most of the second quarter?
During a preseason game in Carolina, the geniuses at Fox Sports decided it would be fun to play a prank on one of the Panthers fans. They announced they'd be giving away a car to one lucky person and a white Porsche was mentioned. Greg "Catman" Good of Winston-Salem was selected. Mr. Good counsels troubled kids during the work week and occupies his front-row end-zone seat at every home game. You've probably seen him on TV as he's a big guy always wearing the wild flaming blue wig. Fox's Tony Siragusa made a big deal of the presentation on live TV and delivered the punch line that the car was actually a tiny toy car.
Fox caved to the public uproar and quickly backpedaled into giving Mr. Good a real truck. Fox Sports Chairman and CEO David Hill promised such a prank wouldn't happen again. "We've had extensive conversation with all of the Fox announcers involved, and they've agreed that what they'll do from now on is talk about football," Hill said. "They will leave the comedy to the comedians." I think we all know what "extensive conversations" is code word for....
By now you've seen the video of Dolphins' coach Nick Saban sheepishly tossing the challenge flag on the field while the Steelers kicked the extra point after Heath Miller's score. Because the officials did not see the challenge, the play stood. Said Saban after the game, "They said they didn't see it. Whose fault is that?" Ummm, Coach, that would be "you".
I love the "Ray Lewis is back!" talk. Gee, ya think?
So much for home field advantage. Road teams were 11-5 this week.
How hard is it for Texans fans to watch Reggie Bush run, catch, and field punts while Mario Williams is getting stood up at the line?
Lions wide receiver Roy Williams had this gem after the Seattle – Detroit game. "It was stupid how close we came to putting 40 points on the board." The Lions scored a total of two field goals Sunday.
Jon Gruden didn't make any excuses for him team's dismal showing Sunday. "We work extremely hard. To go out there and get defeated soundly at home is enough to make me sick. I've got a lot of respect for these fans that pay good money to come in here and watch their Buccaneers. And to send them home like we did yesterday is something that makes me sick and humiliated." As a fan, you have to like that attitude. Although that kind of apology has a pretty short shelf life. Bucs fans don't want to hear that again anytime soon.
I've been trying to think of something more stupid than the NCAA College Football Coaches Poll and I've got nothing. Which is fairly significant as I know a lot of stupid things.
The last time Damon Huard took an NFL snap, Gunther Cunningham was the head coach in Kansas City and Priest Holmes was still a Baltimore Raven. Yikes.
I don't hear nearly as many folks calling for Jets QB Kellen Clemens this morning. Chad Pennington led his team and looked good doing it. Most importantly, he threw a TD to BlackEyedJoe.com All Name Team WR Jericho Cotchery.
You think Denny Green is committed to Edgerrin James? After losing two yards on a carry from the 49er 5 yard line, the Cardinals started their next series at the San Francisco 5 yard line after recovering a fumble. Here's how it went:
James left tackle to SF 1 for 4 yards
James up the middle to SF 1 for no gain
James up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
The Patriots have filed a grievance against the Jets charging that New York tampered with the Deion Branch deal. That should make things interesting as the Patriots head to the Meadowlands this Sunday facing their former defensive coordinator, and now Jets head coach Eric Mangini.
The coaches can say all they want but if I'm Jake Plummer or Drew Bledsoe, I'm holding off a bit on remodeling the kitchen. Both these guys could be looking for real estate agents soon....
Funniest quote of the week: "Not to make excuses, but these Eastern road games are tough for a West Coast team.''
-- Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck. I love it when people say "not to make excuses" and then give you an excuse two seconds later. Suck it up and play.
Hard Luck Awards
MIA QB Culpepper 13 yard pass to RB Brown to the 2 (Brown TD)
Anyone playing against PIT QB Batch or TE Miller as their 87 yard TD should have been challenged and overturned
PHI QB McNabb 37 yard pass to WR Stallworth to the 5 (McNabb to Brown TD)
CLE QB Frye 74 yard TD pass to WR Edwards nullified by penalty
ATL RB Dunn 3 yard rush to the 1
ATL RB Dunn rush for no gain from the 1 (Vick to Crumpler TD)
NYJ QB Pennington 2 yard TD pass to WR Cotchery nullified by penalty
TEN QB Collins 9 yard pass to WR Bennett to the 3 (Henry TD)
BAL RB Anderson 4 yard rush to the 4 (McNair to Wilcox TD)
DEN QB Plummer 19 yard pass to TE Alexander to the 1 (Mike Bell TD)
DAL QB Bledsoe 10 yard TD pass to TE Witten nullified by penalty
JAX QB Leftwich incomplete pass from the 3 to WR Wilford
JAX QB Leftwich incomplete pass from the 3 to WR Williams (Leftwich TD)
ARZ QB Warner 39 yard pass to WR Johnson to the 5
ARZ RB James rush for minus 2 yards from the 5 (Warner to Walters TD)
SF QB Smith 52 yard TD pass to WR Bryant nullified by penalty
IND QB Manning 8 yard pass to WR Wayne to the 2
IND RB Addai rush for no gain from the 2 (Manning to Clark TD)
IND QB Manning 20 yard pass to WR Harrison to the 1 (Rhodes TD)
SD QB Rivers 8 yard pass to TE Manumaleuna to the 1 (Tomlinson TD)
SD RB Tomlinson 3 yard rush to the 4 (Rivers to Gates TD)
SD RB Neal 4 yard rush to the 5 (Turner TD)
Sometimes it's better to just not know...