November 2006 Archives
About Tom Brady's step-through past Brian Urlacher for a while. He just executed it during a New England touchdown drive that made it 17-10 with 8:22 left.
It was an 11-play, 73-yard drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown pass to Ben Watson. The drive was highlighted by two freelance plays by Brady. The first was a 40-yard completion to Watson on third-and-3. The second was an 11-yard scramble in which Brady locked up 1-on-1 with Urlacher and, for whatever reason, the linebacker didn't attack. Brady simply stutter-stepped around him. And when you're as slow as Brady, it's a profound stutter.
A pass interference call on Patriots corner Artrell Hawkins while defending Bernard Berrian netted the Bears 45 yards and put them in business at the New England 6. Next, corner Ellis Hobbs got called for defensive holding and then Cedric Benson scored.
The Hawkins interference call was a stretch. He'd turned his head back to the ball and extended his arm to find the receiver - a legal maneuver - but got called for the costly penalty
It's now 10-10
Rex Grossman's last two throws have hit the hands of Patriots corner Ellis Hobbs. Life was better and safer when he stayed away from him and threw at Asante Samuel. Might be a reasonable course of action heading forward.
FOXBORO - New England's up 10-3 at the break but the Bears have to feel like things coulda/woulda/shoulda been a lot different.
They had a successful field goal wiped out by penalty to be replaced by a blocked field goal. Two iffy pass defense plays by the Patriots on the same drive went uncalled (one in the end zone), on the next drive, they fumbled at the New England 7.
Of course, New England can play the same game since they were going in to score when Todd Johnson drilled Pats tight end Ben Watson at the end of the second New England drive and the ball popped out and was picked off by Charles Tillman.
Later, Pats rookie Laurence Maroney fumbled at the Bears 11.
Looking into the second half, the Pats have lost linebacker Junior Seau and tackle Ryan O'Callaghan while Chicago is possibly without safety Todd Johnson who was shaken up.
Patriots linebacker Junior Seau, who's been terrific for New England this season after being coaxed out of retirement, just left the field with his right arm in a compression cast. I'm not a doctor but it could be a hairline fracture of the ulna nerve with a side dish of nerve damage. Again, not an expert. We'll of course have to wait for the swelling to go down before he can go for an MRI but the prognosis is for him to return - maybe - during the playoffs.
Again, not an expert opinion. It might be a knee.
Rookie running back Laurence Maroney just popped over from the Bears 1 to make it 7-0 New England and cap a 92-yard drive.
This was the first drive of the game that didn't end with a turnover.
Ryan O'Callaghan, the Patriots right tackle, appeared to leave the field with a shoulder injury. Now in for him is second-year man Nick Kaczur.
Every time a coaches' challenge is announced, it's funny to hear the mumble that passes through the press box.
It's a collection of "Heclearlyhadposs...onhiswaydown..emptyhandrule...lookrightthere.nothisknee" mashup of know-it-alling.
Anyway, following up on the Pats turnover, Rex Grossman had gotten the Bears to the New England 7 before he dropped the football on the next play which is not what you're looking for.
So now the game is tied at 0 and the stupid turnover contest is also tied at 2.
Lance Briggs just stone-stopped Pats running back Laurence Maroney then - adding insult to ineffectiveness - took the ball out of his arms for the second forced turnover of the first quarter for Chicago, at the Bears 11. The Pats first turnover came at the Chicago 1.
That mantra just bounced off the walls of tenements and brownstones in and around Chicago as the Bears came away from a long drive with zippity doo-dah.
After the Tillman pick, Chicago ran 15 plays and moved to the Patriots 22. Twice there seemed to be assessable pass interference penalties against New England -- the second on Ellis Hobbs in the end zone -- but both went uncalled.
Then, after Bears kicker Robbie Gould made a 40-yard field goal that got wiped away by a false start, the Patriots blocked the second attempt
FOXBORO - We're four minutes in and so far Rex Grossman's been picked by Pats corner Asante Samuel and now Tom Brady's been picked by Charles Tillman.
The Brady interception was damaging since it was in the hands of tight end Ben Watson when safety Todd Johnson delivered a blow that sent the ball sailing into the air where Tillman came up with it to snuff out a Pats scoring chance.
1) Tom Brady will get the time from his offensive line to exploit the Cover-2 of the Bears (or Tampa 2 or Chicago 2 or whatever).
2) New England really needs this game to prove to itself that it still has the will to decalre its home field sacred (if plastic) turf by winning a game against a decent team at Gillette Stadium.
3) The Bears aren't going to be in a position to deal with a defense as potent as New England's and Rex Grossman will be reduced to a quivering pile of jell-o with a face mask and a hand towel.
FOXBORO - Reasons the Bears will win...
1) The Patriots wideouts have shown time and again they struggle getting quick separation from corners. Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher are decent ones who play up in your grill. Combining their physicality with their pass rush, Tom Brady's in for a day of tough throws.
2) This game could come down to special teams play and the Bears have made a ton of big plays in the return game this season. Coincidentally, the Pats have allowed some long returns. Now New England's normal punter, Josh Miller, is on IR and Ken Walter, a former nondescript booter, is back to do the punting.
3) New England has lost three games at home this year, all against decent teams Chicago fits that description.
FOXBORO, Mass - We're about 15 minutes away from what should be the day's best game.
And I hope so because I've been looking forward to actually cover a game since they started playing 'em on Thursday.
Inactive for the Patriots today are Rodney Harrison, Chad Scott and Eugene Wilson, all DBs. For the Bears, corner Dante Wesley, linebacker Darrell McColver and defensive tackle Antonio Garay will all sit.
I don't know why yet--maybe they've informed you on TV, but we in the press box are oblivious--but Chinedum Ndukwe, one of the Irish' leading tacklers all season, hasn't played in the 2nd half. He's standing on the sideline right now, talking to John Carlson.
To the commenter who asked how come everyone is slipping: the grass is a little slick out there, yes, but I also think overwhelming speed can have that effect on players.
ND just made a big stop on 3rd-and-1.
By the way, I'm wondering how many Michigan fans are pointing out that the Wolverines were up 34-14 at the half on the Irish in South Bend, as opposed to SC being up 21-10 at home.
ND currently has 3rd-and-2 at SC 7. It's got to be 2-down territory.
First play: Darius just shy of first down. ND has to go for it on 4th.
Second: Hand off to Aldridge, who BARELY gets first down. In fact, USC is challenging the spot on the field.
ND wins challenge, USC loses its 2nd timeout of the half. Will that matter later? Probably not, but we'll see.
Just before the last play of the half, I skirted from my seat and made some nice cutbacks in order to beat my counterparts to the men's bathrooms. There are only two urinals here (things they don't teach you in journalism school...which is why I never went...which may be painfully obvious to you) so I used my 2-minute drill skills and was in there first. By the time I zipped up, a fellow scribe, at least five or six deep in line, spotted me and simply said, "That's a pro move right there."
Okay, so it's 21-10 at the half and there's nobody here who thinks that the Irish have more talent or speed or size than the Trojans. But that's no surprise. Considering how inconsistently the Irish offense has looked, Notre Dame is lucky to be down 11.
Quinn, for example, is 8 of 23 for 109 yards. Part of that is USC's fantastic secondary, led by safeties Kevin Ellison and Taylor Mays. Quinn wisely has tucked it and ran--he's got a great burst of initial speed, though he's prone to tire after the first 50 yards, as we saw--four separate times, which is why he's ND's leading rusher with 79 yards.
Notre Dame followers should take heart: the passing game cannot look much worse.
The second half holds great interest besides the obvious reason. USC is a devastating second half team, usually. On the other hand, Notre Dame has survived the inital onslaught, has adjusted to SoCal's speed, and is gaining confidence as the game goes along. If I had to choose which pattern will hold, though, it's USC's 2nd half dominance.
A few things that I'll be curious to see in the 2nd half:
1. Will Weis--who on the game's 2nd offensive series used Konrad Reuland, James Aldridge and Chase Anastasio at various points-- give Travis Thomas a few carries in the wake of Darius Walker's ineffectiveness since getting injured after his fumble?
2. The Irish basically had three turnovers, if you include the punt block, in the 2nd quarter but only converted 7 points out of it. The Irish will need their defense to keep making the big plays.
3. Quinn's feet have been Notre Dame's most potent weapon thus far. Weis will need to get McKnight and Samardzija more involved in the 2nd half.
I know, I know. Genius insights.
USC is doing a halftime promo for Wells Fargo where, if a student can kick a 50-yard field goal he wins $10,000. Way to go out on a limb, Wells Fargo. And for that they get signage. I'm not a bank, but I'm happy to put up 20G if Carl Gioia kicks a 50-yard field goal tonight.
From my buddy Billy: "Has Clausen changed his mind yet?"
From my college pal Ferris:
"Our secondary sucks!
Couldn't "Mr. New England" have put #83 into the secondary for this game?
McKnight looks like "McMoss" with that attitude out there.
Oh....and Montana's wife is hot."
Me: Notre Dame whiffed big time by failing to capitalize on those two interceptions. And they're all at fault:
McKnight, though he made a great catch on the game's opening play, has dropped two slant patterns.
Quinn has missed on two potential TD passes on 4th down (to McKnight, on the game's opening drive, and to Samardzija on the recent 4th down.
A few other thoughts:
Jeff Samardzija may be an All-American, but he needs to catch more than quick screen outs in big games.
Every time Southern Cal hands off the ball, I bet Charlie Weis breathes easier.
The really impressive thing about Southern Cal's performance thus far is that the Trojans are beating a senior-laden Notre Dame team with mostly freshmen and sophomores. Of the Trojan impact starters, only outside linebacker Dallas Sartz and wide receiver Steve Smith are seniors.
Brady Quinn was nearly sacked on 3rd down and scrambled for 60 yards, the longest run of his career. The Irish, who have done one thing right this game--convert 3rd downs--were looking at 3rd and 8 when Quinn raced down the center of the field, and then toward the left sideline before being caught from behind by Terrell Thomas.
Steve Quinn just blocked a USC punt.... Quinn tosses to Marcus Freeman, TOUCHDOWN Irish.
21-10. Maybe, just maybe, this is a little like the bout in Rocky. Apollo Creed nearly KO'd Balboa in the opening round, but the Stallion survived the initial onslaught, took it 15 rounds...and lost. But at least he made it a close fight.
Thus far John David Booty is the better of the number 10's, but it's early. Booty looked scarily accurate on that opening drive.
Anyone else notice that ND wasn't as fortunate on its 4th-and-9 on its opening drive as the Trojans were on theirs in the closing drive last year?
New wrinkles thus far for ND:
1. Zbikowski returning kickoffs
2. Travis Thomas was in the backfield on the 4th down play
3. Cornerback Leo Ferrine was in on the first play
Desmond Reed just returned Price's punt 45 yards. ND is in trouble.
Alan Abrahamson just said, "They should just go for it right down the middle right now" and seconds later Booty play-action passed to Steve Smith who caught it inches short of the goal line between the hash marks.
Booty just threw his second touchdown pass to Dwayne Jarrett, a 6-yarder.
SC is doing what the experts predicted: shredding the Irish secondary. If Booty gets that kind of time tonight, it's only going to get uglier. The Irish just don't have anyone who can stick with Jarrett.
Wonder how Charlie Weis, a Jersey native, feels about Jarrett, another Garden Stater, inflicting this damage.
Wow. How cool is this setting? Honestly, I'm lucky to be here. There's just so much energy inside this place. Cancel the Mausoleum riff.
Anyway, I went down to the field from about 3:30 to 4:30 local time. Only spotted two celebs, but one of them was a monster: James Caan. That's the old dude on "Vegas" if you're younger, and Sonny Corleone to the rest of us. Also, David James Elliott from J.A.G.
In the not-famous-but-I-stand-out-anyway division is James, a 27 year-old former Notre Dame studenjt now residing in Hollywood with his brother. James is decked out in Notre Dame gear from head to toe, but he's sitting in the USC student section I alluded to in the previous post. I told him that he's my new favorite masochist.
"Thanks," he said.
When I asked him if he was packing heat or just a fatalist, he smiled. "I have the utmost confidence in the USC security force," he said.
But why sit there, in the midst of the most aggressive (and hostile) USC fan section, just begging for abuse? "I got student tickets," said James, "but there was no way I was going to this game without wearing my Notre Dame gear."
So here's the first email I received when I turned on my 'puter upon arriving here at the L.A. Coliseum this afternoon. It's from my dark and twisty friend Billy:
I feel like the spaced out kid in Almost Famous who says to the Cameron Crowe character outside the hotel in Manhattan, "It's happening. It's all happening."
--Arkansas loses.
--West Virginia loses again, completely exposing that conference. (I almost wrote "Big Least" but I'd like to think I'm a tiny bit better than that)
--Florida wins, but looks terrible.
In my pea-brain we've got our other semi-final game tonight.
And then we'll have a couple weeks of either:
USC: "You had your chance"
Michigan: "You lost to freakin' Oregon State"
or
Notre Dame: "You had your chance"
Michigan: "Shutup, we killed you guys"
Really, though, isn't this fun? It happens every autumn. In late October you hear the critics talking about how we need a playoff because all of the unbeaten teams and someone's going to be left out. Check out the number of unbeaten or one-loss teams as of October 21st (and the number of losses they now have):
UNBEATEN
Ohio State...........0
Michigan..............1
USC.....................1
West Virginia ......2
Louisville .............1
Boise State..........0*
Rutgers................1
One-Loss
Texas......................3
Tennessee..............3
Auburn....................2
Florida......................1
Notre Dame..............1
Cal............................3
Clemson...................4
Georgia Tech...........2*
Arkansas.................2
Oregon.....................5
Nebraska..................3
Wisconsin................1
Boston College.........3
Texas A&M...............3
Wake Forest..............2*
games in progress at the moment.
In other words, things have a way of settling every year by the time you've christened your Turkey Trot T-shirt with salsa stains. What is never taken into consideration enough is that come November, the air gets thinner for the schools in the national title hunt. And so a team such as West Virginia has to realize that it will make South Florida's season to upset the Mountaineers in Morgantown, which is exactly what they did.
The other aspect: let the ENTIRE regular season play out before you start moaning about the inherent unfairness of the BCS system. Because as it stands now, there are three schools with a legitimate shot at meeting Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, and there's still one week left to play. Believe it or not, in college football they really do settle things on the field.
L.A. MAUSOLEUM UPDATE
It's 3:11 p.m and the only players on the field thus far are four Notre Dame special teams players (Carl Gioia, Geoff Price, Bobby Renkes and Ryan Burkhart). They've been on the field for seven minutes. Traveler, USC's equine mascot, was out here about 45 minutes ago getting in some light trotting. Hank Goldberg has installed him as a 2:1 favorite to win at Santa Anita tomorrow.
Clear, beautiful skies above. A light breeze is blowing. From our press box vantage on the stadium's southern side, you can see the HOLLYWOOD sign...and I believe with my high-powered binocs I just spotted Ryan Phillippe at the gates of Reese Witherspoon's home begging her to forgive him.
One very cool thing USC does is allow a special student spirit section into the Mausoleum half an hour before anyone else. They occupy two entire lower sections behind the Trojan bench between the goal line and the 30. Right now they're boosin lustily as Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija and a few other Irish players loosen up near the east end zone.
3:18 p.m. The entire USC squad enters the Mausoleum from the northeast corner in their scarlet sweasts. Pete Carroll, looking spiffy in a gray suit, leads them. Now the entire team is assmebled in a circle at midfield around the SC ("Simpson Casualties"?) logo.
3:20 p.m. The SC students have broken into a "Go Play Baseball!" chant directed at Samardzija. A little more creative than Michigan State's "F___ You, Irish!" pregame cheer.
Okay, that was uncalled for. Unsportsmanlike, NBC blogger, loss of wireless service for five minutes.
FRIDAY'S ACTION
How much fun to watch was Friday's Texas-Texas A&M contest (unless if you were Colt McCoy's mom)?
A few observations on that one:
1. A&M QB Stephen McGee, who never slides at the end of a run, may have a short shelf-life, but he's everything that's right about college football.
2. ABC's Brad Nessler had a pretty good line about 280-pound Aggie running back Javorskie Lane: "Javorskie Lane is more like HOV lane."
3. So, if you were paying attention, A&M had an O-lineman named (Yemi) BAbalola and Texas had a linebacker named (Rashad) Bobino. I think Nessler missed a huge comedy opportunity by not doing sone one-on-one analysis there: "Babalola blocks Bobino!"
4. If you were following and, unlike me, devoting entirely too much time to sports and not enough to family the past few days, you noticed that Stacey Dales-not-Shuman was the sideline reporter for the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night as well as the s.r. at the A&M-Texas game on Friday. She's fast becoming the platinum-blonde Erin Andrews.
Okay, it's 3:31. I'm going to make my way as close as I can get to the field (armed with disposable camera) to see what celeb photos I can snap (totally transparent excuse for Song Girl ogling, I know).
Be back soon.
He went 25 for 39 for 216 yards with a touchdown and a pick. Respectable numbers, one would think. But, as is so often the case with passing stats, they don't tell the story of what reportedly was Jake Plummer's final start this season for the Broncos.
The Broncos lost to Kansas City, 19-10 tonight and Plummer gave enough evidence - coupled with his ongoing string of ineffectiveness - to make Mike Shanahan's move to Jay Cutler make sense. Amid the avalanche of checkdown throws Plummer made that had no prayer of gaining significant yards (but counted as completions!) came two plays in particular help make the point.
On a third-and-8 from the KC 12 with Denver trailing 10-0 late in the first half, the Broncos set up a wide receiver screen to the right to Rod Smith. But Plummer took his eyes off the shotgun snap, had it hit him in the belly then - with an awkward grip - flung a quacker out to Smith who (to his discredit) dropped it.
The other messed up play was a third-and-5 from the Denver 41 when they were trailing 16-10 and absolutely needed a first down. Flushed, Plummer had tight end Steven Alexander open but threw short and wide, basically salting the game away since Larry Johnson was running like a diesel for Kansas City.
There were plenty of drops for Denver tonight - running back Damien Nash had a key one on Denver's second-to-last drive when he inexplicably kept his hands low while running a checkdown route and didn't get them up in time to make a catch - but Plummer played edgy. And he acted edgy, getting into it on at least two occasions with Shanahan on the sidelines.
Going forward, you have to wonder how helpful the palpably pissed-off Plummer is going to be for Cutler. It looks like a poisoned environment in Denver and the Broncos suddenly look like the most dysfunctional "good" team in the AFC. Their NFC kindred would be the Giants, of course.
This blog is hunkering down after a well-executed Thanksgiving, 2006.
This blog, its spouse and offspring got to Cape Cod (Massachusetts, USA, Earth) mildly behind schedule, ate, drank and was fairly merry while keeping an eye on on the early games. We timed it up nice, watching the first game and-a-half then bolting just before halftime of the Cowboys pummeling of Tampa Bay.
Now this blog is back at his desk after one-hour nap, rested and ready to deliver the goods with the Friday Blitz and have it done by the end of the night.
I'll be getting in-depth on Brian Urlacher's season-to-date for the Bears and the impact the Patriots expect him to have on what is easily the most anticipated game of the weekend at New England. We're staying home to cover that one at 4:15 p.m.
Quick impressions from the early games....
1) Miami's given itself a chance. Now at 5-6, they play nothing but AFC teams the rest of the way - Jacksonville, New England, Buffalo, the Jets and the Colts. The road games are at Buffalo and Indy and, with Indy in the finale, Miami may catch a break if the Colts aren't playing for any kind of playoff seeding.
2) The second touchdown pass from Tony Romo to Terry Glenn in the Dallas-Tampa game showed the kind of plays a team can install and be successful with when it has a quarterback as athletic as Romo. Taking the snap at the Tampa 2, Romo pivoted to his right and threw a flare/screen to Glenn that Glenn quickly turned into a score by burrowing in. The ball was hitting Glenn's hands at about the same time most quarterbacks would have been releasing it. He's just exceptionally quick with his feet and with such an economical throwing motion where the load-up to the throw is so short, the ball gets out accurately and in rhythm.
Terrific day (duh) for Romo with five touchdown passes.
Meanwhile, Kansas City is going to have to make some plays over the top of this Broncos defense. It's 3-0 right now halfway through the second quarter and Denver is loading up the box to stop Larry Johnson. But Trent Green looks very comfortable and now Johnson is finding running room.
Denver's ineptitude on offense is putting too much heat on the Broncos defense.
Two amusing anecdotes from the day on the Cape.
When Kelly Clarkson was singing the anthem for the first game, this blog's wife, Erica, was standing watching closely (she likes her American Idol alums). So this blog made eye contact and stood up, busting chops that she seemed to be standing for the anthem. Next thing I know, another person stands up. Then another. Hands start going over hearts and we had a strange little "This is our country" moment. Kinda funny.
Later, when Cowboy Jason Witten got run out of bounds and knocked into a Cowboys cheerleader, this blog commented, "Whoa, he ran into the cheerleader."
"Did he nail her?" asked this blog's father-in-law.
"I don't know about that," this blog replied. "But he ran into her when he went out of bounds."
So I caught the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" the other night and if you haven't seen it yet, get a move on (That's right, a guy from NBC's website is endorsing a CBS show.). It's in its second season and while the love story between the two main (read: good-looking) characters isn't all that, the writing is terrific, as is Neil Patrick--wait for it--Harris. Yeah, Doogie Howser.
The running gag on Monday night's episode was Barney ( Harris) and Marshall (Jason Segel) calling a "slap bet", which is so genius I cannot believe I've never heard of it before. Basically, if you lose the bet, the other guy gets to slap you across the face as hard as he wants. They even installed Lily (Alyson Hannigan) as Slap Bet Commissioner", to make rulings on disputes, and of course, it is a position of great power.
Conceits such as "slap bet" are the reason I'm high on HIMYM (yeah, I'm going ahead and acronymizing it; problem with that?). It's a lot closer to the New York City (or, I'm sure if you live in any big city in your 20s) Iifestyle I had in my 20s than "Friends" ever was. We never did "Slap bet", but there were similar such bets in the bullpen at Sports Illustrated while I was there. For example, we once bet J.B. Morris, a gregarious reporter who is now the college football editor at ESPN the Mag, that he couldn't eat an entire ball of party cheese (the kind that's layered with nuts) in half an hour. J.B. won the bet--and wished he hadn't.
Another cool thing about HIMYM: the characters hang out in a bar, which is what single people in their twenties in big cities do. And they live a little recklessly, which we also did. I recall one freezing January night when my best friend at SI, Tim Crothers (who personality-wise is an exact clone, as opposed to an inexact clone, of Barney) and i were hanging out at McSorley's on the Lower East Side when Tim found $450 on the floor. The bar was jammed and we had no idea who dropped the cash, though Tim did make a somewhat decent effor to find the person who lost it.
Well, after ten minutes (or maybe it was one) we gave up. By now it was after midnight. So what did we do? We called as many friends as we could on a payphone (pre cellphone era) and vowed that we were not going home that night until we'd spent all of Tim's new-found riches on beverages. And--this is what's so great about your twenties--at least eight or ten friends came out and met us. That was one of the better nights I ever had in Manhattan, and it seems like the kind of thing you might see on HIMYM.
By now, you've seen Cowboys punt returner Terrence Newman get blasted during Sunday's win over the Colts. But the guy who ripped Newman as the ball arrived -- decleating him -- was Kelvin Hayden. If you watch the replay (if it's still out there) watch Hayden as he gets up. Looks like someone just hauled him out of the bathroom and directed him to the door after last call. He got it worse than Newman did.
Vishante Shiancoe and Tom Nalen, take a bow. You've brought ligament-endangering dirty play to the forefront in the past 24 hours.
On a running play during the first quarter of tonight's Jags-Giants game, Shiancoe -- a New York tight end -- just went low on Jacksonville safety Donovin Darius about 20 yards down the field, cutting the right knee of Darius without even bothering to give a pretense of going high.
Last night, Nalen - the Broncos center - dove at the knees of Chargers defensive lineman Igor Olshansky on a spike play. Rotten move.
It'll be interesting to now see what happens in the wake of these plays of boldfaced filthy play. If you're a defensive player, and you go at a quarterback (many of whom are as big as some of the linebackers coming to get them), and slide from his waist to his knees as he wriggles loose, you get flagged and sometimes fined.
Where's the protection for the relatively faceless defenders? Absent, generally. Well here's a gift-wrapped chance for the league to step forward and show the NFL's defensive players - linemen in particular - that their knees have some value too.
Hold it....
Dallas just stiffened on fourth-and-goal from their 8 with 3:00 left while holding a 21-14 lead. Now they have the ball back and just got a big run from Marion Barber and a personal foul face mask for a 35-yard play. The ball's at the 43.
If the Boys hold on here, they'll break Indy's perfect season,
The Colts are on the ropes. Dallas is now up 21-14 having scored on consecutive drives as Tony Romo's heated up significantly in the second half. He's 8 for 9 for 101 yards.
With just 37 seconds gone in the second half, Aaron Glenn broke up a pass intended for Marvin Harrison and linebacker Gary Burnett made the pick then got off the carpet and returned it 39 yards for the touchdown.
It's now 7-7 with a litle less than 29 minutes of football to be played.
Get this: the Colts just tried to squib a kickoff after scoring a TD with 16 seconds left. The front line of the Dallas return team knocked it down and recovered at the Dallas 44 with 8 seconds left in the half. Then Tony Romo got a 28-yard gain to Terrell Owens to give Dallas a crack at stealing three points before halftime with a 46-yard field goal.
He missed. And with that, he'd missed two field goals in the first half and was booed to kingdom come as he strode slowly to the locker room.
Well-designed play in which Peyton Manning pumped to an underneath receiver Aaron Moorehead running an out on the left side while Reggie Wayne went straight for the flag. The pump drew the coverage, leaving Wayne wide open for an easy 22-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left in the half.
A commercial featuring Mike Vanderjagt just ran on the stadium big screen. And the Cowboys fans booed the snot out of his image. On the sidelines, Vanderjagt merely smiled.
Cowboys tight end Dallas Clark was running a short slant on the goal line on third-and-goal when he got knocked down just as Peyton Manning threw. The pass wound up in the belly of Roy Williams who returned it to the Cowboys 6.
So there's still no score with 7:56 left in the half.
Former Colts kicker and current Cowboys kicker Mike Vanderjagt just pushed a 43-yard field goal attempt off the right upright. In case he was unclear on the result of the pla, Colts defender Raheem Brock walked over to tell him he missed it.
Now the Colts are inside the Cowboys 20 after a 15-yard completion to Marvin Harrison, a 15-yard roughing the passer call and a 17-yard run by Joe Addai.
Dallas just ran a pump-and-go up the right sideline on first-and-10 from the Indy 31 that got picked off and really never came open. Bad idea by Dallas QB Tony Romo who should have checked off of Glenn.
To who, I'm not sure but when Romo went to the sidelines, Bill Parcells was waiting for Romo to gesture down the left sideline at a route he must have felt was a better option.
Indy's going three-and-out, though and the Cowboys will get the ball with about 30 seconds left in the half near midfield.
And Terrence Newman just got horizontalized while coming up to make the catch on an Indy punt.
It was a fumble and it's not looking like it's on a clip to be 35-31.
Jay Ratliff just had a strip-sack of Peyton Manning at the Cowboys 43. There's a challenge under way to determine if Manning's had was coming forward before Ratliff got there.
There's 4:14 left in the first quarter, it's 0-0.
Indy tight end Ben Utecht just got his organs rattled making a catch on second-and-16 for about 10 yards, getting wrapped up by Bradie James then finished off in the sternum by safety Roy Williams.
He had that gradual, "That hurt...ohh, that really hurt....I think I have to stay down..." rollover reactions to the collision.
To George Willis from Newsday in New York sitting to my left with Dallas facing third-and-10 at midfield.
"Let's see what they do with Freeney. Parcells was talking about teams double and triple-teaming him."
Dallas gave no help to Flozell Adams at left tackle and Freeney went right around him for a strip sack.
Two plays later, Bradie James forced a fumble on Marvin Harrison at midfield so no blood.
I'm saying the final here is 35-31, Dallas.
The Boys took two plays to move to midfield - a screen and a run by Julius Jones.
IRVING, TEXAS - Bob Sanders, Gary Brackett and Brandon Stokely are all down for the Colts.
I didn't know the Cowboys had cheerleaders!
Or is it moron on the early games?
I'm not buying on the Bengals. I know they pummelled the Saints today (they're up 31-10) but that just gets them to 5-5 and I've felt N.O. was a little fraudulent all year and poised for a face plant. The Saints, meanwhile, are going to be 5-4 and -- with Carolina handling St. Louis to move into a tie for first in the NFC South with N.O. and Atlanta dropping to 5-5 courtesy of the Ravens, I still like Dallas and Carolina to emerge as the NFC's best teams.
Ripping through the early games...
Philly is dead. It doesn't take a PhD to tell Donovan McNabb's going to be gone a while. Now they're getting their collective heads caved in by Tennessee and are going to drop to 5-5 after a 4-1 start.
It looks like the Chiefs are going to duck out of a huge embarrassment by scoring late to take a 16-13 lead over Oakland at home. If it stays that way, the race for the second AFC Wild Card spot looks like it will come down to the Jets, Jags and Chiefs with KC on the inside track. San Diego or Denver will almost certainly get the first Wild Card. Oh, and Trent Green is 9 for 16 for 102 yards in his return game. I still don't like the move to switch to him from Huard.
Pats running back Corey Dillon muffed a handoff from Tom Brady in the first quarter at Green Bay then appeared to start bitching on the sidelines at running backs coach Ivan Fears.
We'll see how long Dillon stays on ice with rookie running back Laurence Maroney getting a bundle of carries since Dillon's drop.
Dillon's going to do something stupid before the season's out.
With 14:48 left in the second, Donovan McNabb just threw on the run as he was going out of bounds and seemed to have blown out his right knee while planting/sliding on his way out of bounds.
He took a little brush from Tennessee's Kyle Vandenbosch but it didn't appear to impact the play.
The Eagles are 5-4 and trailing the Titans right now, 7-3. McNabb threw a horrendous first-quarter pick in the end zone.
IRVING, TEXAS - I've never been to Texas Stadium before. Three impressions:
I've never witnessed a quieter tailgate scene. Maybe I was just out there too early, walking through at around noon central for a 3 p.m. game. Maybe I was in the quiet zone. Maybe I made everyone uncomfortable.
Or maybe they're just damn quiet.
Second, the 34-year-old stadium is showing it's age. Can't touch its toes. Achy in the morning. A little doughy in the middle. Honestly, it's surprisingly rundown given the nice way it presents on the TV. The shell is rusty as hell when you look up in the rafters and the parking lots pretty chewed.
Three, it's still cool as hell to walk into a place you've spent hundreds of hours watching on television, a place you get a certain reflexive emotional reaction when you see it appear on your tube and experiencing it first hand letting your eyes fall real time on whatever you want.
I'm being facetious here--I'm hoping by now that's implied-- but maybe Charlie's abandoned Brady Quinn's Heisman campaign (Troy Smith was 11-15 in the 1st quarter) and getting an early start on Darius Walker's '07 Heisman movement.
Walker now has 134 yards rushing with 9:46 left in the 3rd quarter.
Our ND stringer, Ken Fowler, calculated that Quinn's 1st quarter passer rating (3 of 6, 1 int.) was 19.7. Since then, though, Quinn is 13-15 and has tossed three TD passes.
Army came into the game No. 3 nationally in kick returns and they move up to No. 2 after today. It's the one thing about their offense that is fun to watch.
My snitch in the stands tells me that the public address announcer is not giving updates on the Michigan-Ohio State contest. She's wondering if that's a directive from Charlie. Hey, if the fans are already here, they're the last ones you need to worry about. I mean, these people have already pledged their allegiance. Does someone think they'll hear the score and go, "What?!? Michigan's playing Ohio State today? TODAY!?! I had no idea. Let's bolt."
I'm like an ugly Jann Carl here today at ND. We've got various sports celebrities on hand whose limo drivers must have gotten lost on the way to Columbus. Former Indiana Pacer/Philly 76er George McGinnis is here, as is Detroit Tiger manager Jim Leyland. I kid you not. He's sitting right behind me here in the press box. And, no, he's not lighting up.
The press box snoring came to a halt a minute ago when someone said, "Michigan scored!"
So, if you're checking, Ohio State, with the nation's No. 1 scoring defense, allows 7.8 points per game. And the Wolverines scored in the first two minutes.
Jerry Palm just told me that he heard someone on ESPN say earlier this week that Michigan-Ohio State is the game of our lifetime. "Its the game of my daughter's lifetime," says Palm, "but she's eight months old."
A few moments ago the press box announcer informed us, "Gioia's extra point attempt was not blocked, it was just shanked."
Quinn just hit Rhema for an 8-yard TD pass. The line is giving him all afternoon to find his receivers.
By the way, in terms of personal achievements, as we head to the half:
Darius Walker is one yard shy of his second consecutive 1,000 yard season.
Samardzija has overtaken McKnight as ND's all-time leading receiver. Shark has 161 career catches, and Rhema has 159, I believe. Both have a TD catch.
It looks as if Charlie Weis sees something with his vertical passing game that he does not like. Since Quinn's interception, the Irish have either handed off to Walker or dumped short passes to him. On one pass attempt, Quinn looked Samardzija's way, but he was well covered. He threw underneath to Walker for a gain of 15.
I don't know how much the absence of John Carlson (he's standing on the sideline in a green 89 jersey, blue ski cap, and blue sweats) is hurting the Irish' attack, but Samardzija and McKnight have not been open at all thus far. This against the 89th rated pass efficiency defense in the nation. Then again, Army is 111th versus the run. Darius Walker could wind up having his best game (153 yards, twice, is the high thus far) of the season.
Back in 1977, when Dan Devine broke out the green jerseys for Notre Dame's game with Southern Cal, the fashion switch sounded like a good idea. But ever scince then, the Irish are like 0-for-forever wearing the green. I don't know why Charlie Weis tempted fate by having his players suit up in the green this afternoon.
I cannot recall all the times the Irish have donned green jerseys in the last 20 years or so, but I am fairly sure they have never won in them. In 1985 Gerry Faust had the Irish come out for the 2nd half against USC in green, but ND was already up by at least three touchdowns at the time. Since then? They lost at the Gator Bowl and at the Fiesta Bowl wearing green. In 2002, Ty Willingham's first season, the Irish were 8-0 when they went green for the Boston College game. They lost. Last season, the green jerseys were worn for the Southern Cal game. Great game, sure, but Notre Dame lost.
So that's at least 0-4 the last four times they've gone green.
So far, after nearly 14 minutes, Notre Dame is losing 3-0 and Brady Quinn's interception-free streak (226 passes) has been broken against a defense that entered the game with only three interceptions all year. Also, for the first time this season, Notre Dame did not receive the kickoff. I'm expecting an ebola outbreak on the ND sideline in the 2nd quarter. Or Tom-Kat to call off the wedding.
You can't blame the jerseys, of course, but you question the reasoning. Maybe Charlie wanted to stay in sync with '77, his senior year, when ND lost a game in September and rallied to win the national title. Maybe the seniors wanted to exorcise the green jersey curse. But, after warming up in the Navy blue jerseys, this just seemed like a bad idea. Senior day is enough of a distraction.