All right, Bears? Seahawks? You're next on stage. Have a song and dance number ready. Please don't call us, we'll call you.
It's warm and muggy tonight in Seattle? What, it's up to 78 out?
Verne Lundquist and Warren Moon are the Seattle announce team. Rough week for the Seahawks leading up to this game; they lost Bobby Engram due to injury and Matt Hasselbeck has been fighting back problems. That has made Charlie Frye Mike Holmgren's starter tonight, and he's expected to play most of the game.
Olindo Mare hits the opening kickoff 80 yards, the best way I can think of to keep the Devin Hesters of the world from killing you. Bears take the field with Rex Grossman at QB and Matt Forte at RB. Earl Bennett drops a pass on 2nd-6 - I think that's been a problem with him - and three Seattle blitzers get to Grossman for a big sack on 3rd down. Hill and Tatupu beat LT JOHN ST. CLAIR and Forte. 123-kick to start the game for Chicago.
Frye tees it up for Seattle at their 43. Julius Jones is the starting RB tonight and gains 4 off the left side. Courtney Taylor gets wide open down the far sideline; Frye misses him by inches. Great surge by Israel Idonije up the middle drops Frye on 3rd down before he can even figure out what's going on.
123-kick! 123-kick!
Bears from the 12. We had a first down on a nice Forte run, but Desmond Clarke's hold made the play and brings it back. 1-16 from the 6. Another draw to Forte gets 7 to the 13. Marcus Trufant fell trying to cover Devin Hester and gives up a 13-yard catch. FIRST DOWNNNNN!!!!! Grossman wings to Clark for 7. Clark was injured on the play, possibly a knee injury. Grossman throws it away on 2nd down; Seattle probably blew up a screen. Josh Wilson makes a terrific breakup of a deep pass on 3rd-and-3. Bennett has that otherwise. (Earl, not Drew) Maynard's punt hooks out of bounds at the Seattle 38.
On-field temperature right now is 86. And shut up, Al Gore. It hasn't been that hot here in St. Louis, IN AUGUST, for over a week. They're out to the 50 on a catch by Jones as Moon takes a veiled shot at Shaun Alexander's receiving skills. Jones gets the left corner for a 12-yard gain on 2nd down. Ball at the Bears 36. Idonije knocks down the first down pass - he's active early on - and Jones only gets a couple on the left side on 2nd down. Frye uses Seattle's first timeout. Jones got the first down on a draw, but Kevin Payne popped it loose, and when Ben Obamanu fell on it for Seattle, it wasn't a first down any more. Brandon Coutu hits what had to be a 46-47 yard FG to put Seattle ahead 3-0.
Mare pins Hester in the back of the end zone again to get a touchback on the kickoff. Very good crowd noise by the Seattle crowd for preseason as Forte gains 1. Grossman throws the second down pass away, though it appeared he had the TE open. Wilson, Julian Peterson and Leroy Hill all get to Grossman on a blitz and draw an intentional grounding penalty. Just lousy work by the Chicago offensive line, including Greg Olson blowing the block on Wilson and John Tait throwing a matador block at the charging Peterson. Maynard's punt is terrible, and even after a terrible backwards-running return by Justin Forsett, Seattle's still at midfield.
Frye hits Jordan Kent at the 25, but is then picked off at the 5 by Charles Tillman, who returns it to the Bears 33. Frye was looking for Kent again but Tillman cut off the route nicely.
Grossman hits Jason McKie in the flat for an initial first down this drive for Da Bears. Next play he's hit while he throws, by Darryl Tapp, and throws a dying seagull, and who better to pounce on a dying seagull than a Seahawk? Leroy Hill - there's that name again - picks Grossman off and returns the pick to the 5.
First and goal, let's see if Seattle can screw this up. Yep, false start. Draw to Leonard Weaver gains maybe 2. Alex Brown breaks up a screen pass. 3rd and goal. Frye has to throw away the third down pass, and the home crowd sounds restless. I'm about four hours away from the kickoff of tonight's Ravens-Rams game and hoping not to hear similar sentiments in the Ed tonight. Coutu goo joob from 36 to put the Hawks up 6-0.
That last scoring drive was four plays, minus-3 yards. VIVA PRESEASON!
Hester gets a returnable kick at the goal line but never makes it past the 10. He sure didn't look very fast there. There's also a Chicago penalty, so Grossman gets to start from the 7. Four-te. Four-te more, out of a run that should have been a loss. 3rd-2 from the 15 as the first quarter expires.
We come back late from commercial - how is that possible for a taped game? - and miss Grossman hitting Marty Booker for 13 and a 1st. Next play loses three, but Grossman hits Kellen Davis to get 11 of it back. Forte just barely converts the first down by cutting back after the pitch left. Without the cutback, Seattle would have been all over him and he would have lost a ton. Grossman hits Hester on a slant at midfield. Hester is slow to get up, in case you're wondering what that pooped-pants smell coming from the general direction of Lake Michigan was. Holding on the Bears makes it 2nd-and-20. Grossman fights back to third-and-five, then they throw a TWO-YARD OUT ROUTE to TE Olson. CHRIST. Warren Moon agrees with me. At least one team has figured out how to pin the opponent deep. Corey Graham downs Maynard's bouncing punt at the 4.
Seattle's ball, with most of the Great Northwest in front of them. Frye to Kent for 6. 13 to Kent again for the first down. Frye's drilled as he throws - Idonije again, for a wild sideline pitch. Maurice Morris now in at RB; his draw play gets nothing. 3rd down, big pressure by Ogunleye and Idonije AGAIN, despite a hold, forces a punt. Darrell McClover blocks it, it rolls into the end zone where Lance Laury bats it beyond Seattle's end line rather than chance giving up a TD. That gives us the unique score of Seattle 6, Chicago 2. Go White Sox!
Hester returns the free kick from the 15 to his 48. Man, he does not need a lot of space, and he can accelerate like nobody's business once he hits the seam. New backfield of Kyle Orton and (Not That One) Adrian Peterson for Chicago. 3rd and 7 at midfield, false start on Josh Beekman. Orton guns a sideline pass incomplete. 3 and out. Forsett breaks a couple of early tackles on the punt return, which gives him plenty of room to roam until Maynard can slow him down for a couple of other Bears at the Chicago 48. That's 40-plus yards on the return.
Draw to Morris for about 7, 5:40 left in the half. Another draw gets nixed up the middle. 3rd-3. Screen to Morris was briefly open but the Bears shut it down a yard short. Hawks go for it on 4th-and-1 and send big TJ Duckett up in there for the 1st. 1st-10 at the Chi 36. Frye play-actions to Morris for 13. Maybe a yard for Morris now on 1st down. After Chicago blows up a screen pass again, a face mask on Ray Willis moves Seattle back 15. Nathan Vasher just barely breaks up a pass to Kent in the end zone. Long FG attempt coming for Coutu after the 2:00 warning. He hits from 46 to put the Mariners, er, Seahawks, up 9-2. I guess Zambrano just isn't himself today. (P.S. - CUBS SUCK)
I must say, this game is moving along quite nicely.
Orton will get 1:50 to drive the Bears from his 27. DRAW to Peterson for 4. Quick pass to Brandon Lloyd for 5. Peterson gets the 1st at the 40 as the Bears call timeout at 1:02. Seattle's PA quite hilariously plays the Three Stooges theme during the opposition's timeout. Four to Lloyd out of bounds. Moon is complaining about Chicago's persistent use of the four-yard out. I think I like Warren Moon. Another first down pass to Lloyd, at the Seattle 44. Same thing to Lloyd AGAIN, at the 27. Very nice footwork. Orton chucks out of bounds with 0:40 left. Peterson takes a checkdown pass to the 22. Chicago uses their second timeout. Kelly Jennings breaks up a nice pass from Orton to Hester in the end zone. A Geovany Soto home run (CUBS SUCK) pulls Chicago within 9 to 5.
What a way to make a... oh, forget it.
Seattle seems likely to just run out the half with 0:14 left, and they do.
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Man is that blitzing Seattle defense murder. Leroy Hill was repeatedly in Chicago's backfield. Jordan Kent has stepped up for Seattle at a position where they desperately needed that. Frye hasn't looked totally bad, but I'd sure rather have Hasselbeck out there at 75% over Frye if I were them.
Grossman got no help from his offensive line, so you understand why he had a bad outing. Let's face it, it's an o-line with John St. Clair at LT, what do you expect? Idonije was the big player for Chicago in the first half.
Let's see if I can't push through the third quarter before I have to leave for Rams game 3.
Forsett continues to get some good lanes and brings the second-half kickoff out to the 35. Duckett rumbles for 10. David Kirtman gets a carry for about 4. Frye barely escapes trouble and hits Michael Bumpus for 15. Ball at the Chi 41. Forsett tries to spin out of trouble but takes a two-yard loss. Play action bomb for Kent broken up by Trumaine McBride as the Chicago secondary continues to have a super night. Not only do the Bears keep Seattle imperfect (0-for-8) on 3rd down, Jamar Williams picks off Frye and returns it to his 47. Frye simply must not have seen Williams, because he tossed it right to him, playing possum in front of the breaking TE.
New Bears QB is Mr. Caleb Hanie. Two carries by Garrett Wolfe get nowhere. Mark Bradley's well-covered by Omare Low on an incomplete long pass down the far sideline. Punt goes into the end zone, as Maynard stupidly overkicks it to get his woeful average up.
Seattle has it at their 20. Frye to John Carlson for 7 to beat a blitz. Ervin Baldwin swallows up Duckett for no gain. Frye's 3rd-and-2 pass is intended for Logan Payne but is too high and is nearly picked off.
123-kick! 123-kick!
Unsurprisingly, Reggie Hodges launches a poor punt, that, along with an illegal formation, sets Chicago up at their 43. Incomplete, run for no gain, Hanie escapes a huge sack after a high snap and gets out of bounds for a 1-yard gain.
123-kick! 123-kick! 123-kick!
Penalty forces a repunt after Chicago had originally pinned Seattle at their 3. Forsett has an exciting return across midfield nullified by a Carlson penalty. Seahawks are stuck at their 5. After Duckett's stuffed for no gain, Frye makes as dumb a play as you'll ever see. He dodges a sack in front of his goal post, rolls right through the end zone and is nearly brought down by (?) Nick Osborne, and then chucks a pass NOWHERE REMOTELY NEAR Duckett, and right to Graham, who at 6 yards, surely just made one of the shortest INT TD returns ever. 12-9, Chicago. The Seattle o-line did a terrible job handling a stunt and twist by Chicago's d-line, I think all three of the Bears linemen on that move got to Frye.
Bumpus returns the Chicago kickoff to the 26. On 2nd-7, Baldwin and Joe Clermond destroy Frye on the naked bootleg screen. God, that is a stupid fucking play. Circle route to Kirtland on 3rd-17 gets about 10. Punt, Seattle.
Chicago is in midseason form. They have one offensive score, a FG. The defense has scored nine points, on a safety and the INT return a minute ago. And now his name is Earl Bennett returns a punt 75 yards for a special teams TD. The first man down made a STUPID diving effort which Bennett dodged easily, Payne made a crushing block on the next man down and Bennett basically just had to cut it inside and sprint the rest of the way after that.
OH THOSE NFC WEST SPECIAL TEAMS.
19-9, Chicago.
Frye hits Jeb Putzier for a first down before Chicago starts swallowing up the Seattle run game again. Frye hits Payne for 8. 3rd-and-2 at the 43. Frye gets plenty of time and scrambles for 11. Sweep left to Forsett gets them a rare ground gain, 14 yards. A sweep right is just short a couple of plays later and Seattle has 3rd-and-1 from the Bear 23. Kirtland bangs up the middle for 4. Frye rolls away from pressure and scrambles up the right sideline for 14. 1st-goal, Seattle at the 5 as the third quarter ends.
And that puts me on Rams break for the foreseeable future. I'll try to wrap this one up sometime on Sunday.
Aaaaand we're back, with the 4th quarter from Seattle. Duckett pounds to the 3, then Frye has to chuck through the back of the end zone on second down. THROWING AGAIN on 3rd down, Frye throws a swing pass RIGHT OFF DUCKETT'S HANDS to set up a FG attempt. Coutu's good from 26 and our score is 19-12.
Oh great, we're set up for a tie. Penalty on the return starts Chicago at their 9. Garrett Wolfe is getting nowhere tonight. Josh Wilson kills a screen pass to Lousaka Polite. Wolfe gets a couple more on A DRAW. Bears punt.
Seattle starts at their 34. Frye hits Bumpus at midfield. Pass to Payne in the flat gets 8. Forsett gets a big hole off right tackle and breaks out for 20. We get a panoramic view of the Seattle cheerleaders... IN LONG PANTS. WTF??!?! Frye scrambles to the Bears 6 yard line. Duckett eventually punches it in to tie the game for Seattle. We're tied at 19. 7:24 left.
Another kick thru the end zone will start the Bears at their 20. Naked bootleg screen to Fontel Mines. NO GAIN. Then, GAAA! Hanie's lollipop for Mike Hass is intercepted on the sideline by Kevin Hobbs of Seattle. How many of those is that around the league this week, 5? 6?
Have I mentioned the Bears have FOUR YARDS of offense this half?
A big run by Owen Schmitt is followed by a nice 10-yard cutback TD run by Forsett. He even scores without his shoe! The Seahawks score their 17th point of the quarter and take a 26-19 lead.
Will the Bears, well, do ANYTHING here? 5:17 left, Hanie steps up and hits Kellen Davis for 35 yards into Seattle territory. RB is PJ Pope. Facemask on Seattle, and the Bears are suddenly running up and down the field. From the Hawks' 23, Pope gains 11 with a shifty run. David Hawthorne stops him for no gain the next play. 3rd-7 from the 9, 3:00 left, Hanie's pass misses everything like a Rick Ankiel fastball. 4th down. Another poor high pass from Hanie, but it is flagged down by Davis with one hand with a spectacular play in the end zone to tie the game. 26-all, 2:50 left.
I can't believe a game featuring the Chicago Bears offense is a nominee for Game of the Week.
Bumpus gets, well, bumpused, at the 18 on the kick return by Brandon Rideau. Forsett off right end for 14. Frye throws to Forsett over the middle for 7 more. HUGE hole on the draw for Duckett, who gets out across midfield for 12 more. Frye is DRILLED by McClover when he throws but gets it off to Trent Shelton for 5. Wow, they get away with a sweep left, as Forsett gets the corner for a 5 yard gain. 1:26 left at the Bear 40. False start. After a timeout (VIVA PRESEASON CLOCK MANAGEMENT), Frye barely avoids a sack with a throwaway. DRAW PLAY?!?!? loses one. 3rd-17, both teams let the clock run!?!?!? Another Bear blitz forces another clumsy Frye throwaway. 4th down.
Bears pour through the Seattle line like kids getting out for the last day of school and BLOCK THE PUNT. They take over the 30 and let the clock run down to set up Robbie Gould. 3 seconds left.
NATURALLY, THE KICK HOOKS AT THE LAST SECOND AND GOULD MISSES IT.
OVERTIME!
I am so zombified today I completely missed Lovie Smith's failure to go for 2 with 2:50 left. YOU DON'T TIE A GOD DAMN PRESEASON GAME WITH 2:50 LEFT! Win or lose by a point, this game should be OVER, and it's Lovie Smith's fault it isn't.
Just what I need, overtime. Seattle starts at the 13 after the inevitable penalty on the kickoff, but Justin Forsett busts loose for close to 40 yards across midfield. That play had a lot of pancakes posing as Bear linebackers. Great blocking by Seattle. 2nd-11, Payne breaks a tackle after the catch for 15. Forsett sweeps left for another huge gain, 14 yards down to the 22. More outstanding blocking by Seattle. Forsett has 135 yards. Put in the FG team NOW, Humgrum. No, make us wait for three running plays.
Here comes Coutu. Phew, he hits it to give Seattle the win, 29-26.
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Seattle needed a WR to step up with all the injuries they have at the position, and that man may be Jordan Kent. I like how Humgrum gave Charlie Frye all the snaps. He knows enough now to know that Frye is a major dropoff from Hasselbeck. Seattle's blitzing is going to be a bear; Leroy Hill's already making plays like he's playing against the Rams or something. Their special teams SUCK, tho not their kickers. Coutu's a very good bet to replace Josh Brown.
And that's why the Rams suck. They spent $14 MILLION on a kicker the Seahawks will likely replace with a 7th-round pick making league minimum.
I don't know where Israel Idonije came from, but he was a monster tonight for the Bears, who also got good plays from Darrell McClover and Corey Graham. Their offense, however, was and is wretched. Orton kept his lead on Grossman, mainly because the o-line in front of Grossman was AWFUL. If they can't run, they are DEAD, and that's going to be iffy behind that o-line.
That's 25 down, 40 to go, Colts-Falcons next.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Game 24: Vikings 23, Ravens 15
This may be the game that killed the 2008 Preseason Challenge. Whenever I tried to watch it, I kept falling asleep. It's not necessarily the fault of the game itself, but I Just. Kept. Falling. Asleep. Maybe it was all the purple and white. In any event, it ended up taking me three days to watch one stupid preseason game. So here we go.
Darius Reynaud returns the opening kickoff to the 30 for Minnesota, with Tarvaris Jackson at QB. Chester Taylor up the middle for 4. No AP again? Quick slant incomplete for Sidney Rice. Ravens put good pressure on even though the play was just a three-step drop. False start makes it 3rd-11, not where you want to be against Baltimore's D. Baltimore blitzes two LBs, which helps leave the middle of the field open for Tarvaris to sprint for a 13-yard gain. Taylor gets nothing on a swing pass and gets stuffed for a loss by Ray Lewis. 3rd-12: here comes the screen pass. No! The Vikings actually throw downfield and Jackson hits Visanthe Shiancoe for 19. Great call by the refs and great catch by Rice on the sideline for 13, just barely getting his toes in. Vikes are at the Baltimore 23. 2nd-6, Jackson way overthrows Shiancoe. 3rd-6 from the 23. Jackson finds Martin Nance all alone in the back of the end zone for the game's first TD. Also, Nance DID NOT CATCH THAT BALL. He got one foot down, and the next thing that came down was a hand that landed out of bounds. Then again, who am I to question the brilliant Jeff Triplette crew. 7-0, Minnesota.
Yamon Figurs returns the kickoff to the 27. Hey, Troy Smith is the Ravens' starter. Is that a promotion or a rotation gimmick? Play action to Adam Bergen on a quick out for 6. Starter Ray Rice cuts back into a big hole on the right side and gains 32. Vikes d-line really got pushed around there. 3rd-2 from the 16, bootleg run right for Smith gains 10. 1st-goal, Ben Leber stuffs Rice. 2nd-goal, Rice cuts a middle run back to the left and charges in for the TD. 7-7, Ravens.
Reynaud only makes it to the 23, flattened by Haruki Nakamura. His second tackle. Please don't call him a kamikaze player, OK? Just please don't. AP is in this series, but Jackson throws to Rice for 8. Great open field tackle of AP by Corey Ivy, who makes sure to let everybody know. AP gained 3 around left end but had the potential for a huge play. Peterson forces his way up the middle for 5. Jackson hits Bobby Wade at the 48 for another first down. Jackson's bomb is five yards beyond Martin Nance. Ivy slowed up the receiver. Jackson rolls right on 2nd down for 9. Jackson appears to be limping. Peterson gets 2 on 3rd-and-1. Vikings are driving the ball quite well. 12 or 13 to Wade on the sideline. Jackson's down on the ground now. They're checking out his right knee. That brings in Gus Frerotte, who hits Peterson on an underneath route for a gain all the way down to the 7. 1st-goal, Dawan Landry blitzed in and stuffs AP for a 1-yard loss. Frerotte tries a timing route to Rice, who makes a sweet acrobatic catch, similar to his earlier catch, getting the toes of both his feet in, and the brilliant official of the brilliant Jeff Triplette crew calls it no catch. Now, I don't think he was juggling the ball. Unless the ref saw something like that, it was their second TERRIBLE sideline call in a quarter. They tried to run Peterson on 3rd-and-goal but he only got down to the 4. I'll forgive Brad Childress for that call - you can try that when you have Adrian Peterson in your backfield. First quarter ends there, game tied at 7.
And the second quarter opens with Steven Hauschka chipping in a 21-yarder to put Minnesota ahead 10-7.
Figurs gets up to speed very quickly, finds the seam and is thisclose to popping this return all the way. He gets tripped up at the 35, though. Screen to Ray Rice gets 8. Rice bounces outside left for 11 more. LaRon McClain gains 3. Smith rolls left and has to eat it for a 1-yard loss. Ravens announcers tell us Smith missed a shot at Derrick Mason wide open down the sidelines for a likely TD. Jared Allen, classy guy, flirts with unnecessary roughness by dragging Smith down pretty far out of bounds, then trash talks him. 3rd-8. False start, CROTCHLICK. Hey, that's what his name sounds like. 3rd-13. Smith rolls right, throws too high up the sideline for Figurs, who gets WHACKED by Darren Sharper while reaching for a 1-handed grab. I have a feeling Figurs saw Sharper coming, or he would have tried with both hands. A case of alligator arm? The punt takes a wicked bounce backward, but Nakamura pounces on it in midair before it can do more damage. The Japanese kid is going to make the team. He is everywhere on special teams.
Gus gets on the bus at the Minnesota 23. Long toss to Wade up the sideline has no hope. Peterson gains 11 with absolutely no resistance. The Vikings pushed the Ravens' front out of the play. Taylor up the middle for 4. Quick out to Wade, who breaks a tackle and gains 11. AP gains 3 off the left side. From midfield, Frerotte has to dump an intended screen pass into the ground. 3rd-7. Pretty 33-yard bomb by Frerotte to Nance running a fly up the sideline. Nance really had his man beaten. Taylor powers down to the 5 with a couple of runs. Frerotte has to throw it away on 1st-goal. 2nd-goal, the intended receiver Shiancoe QUIT RUNNING HIS ROUTE. They're lucky that was just a second straight incomplete. 3rd-goal, pretty pass by Frerotte to Robert Ferguson on a corner route for a TD. Where was all this good play by Frerotte against Baltimore last year? Vikings lead 17-7.
Figurs barely makes the 23 with the ensuing kick return. Smith can't find a receiver and scrambles for 8. Pat Williams was injured on the play. Uh-oh. Took a shot to the knee from his own teammate. Appears to walk off ok, though. Offsides on Jared Allen gives Baltimore a first down, though Triplette announced it was still second down. One of the best referees out there, says the NFL. On second-and-6, Allen blows a sack badly and lets Smith free for a Michael Vick-like 18-yard scramble. Allen is totally getting karmic retribution for his earlier taunting. He goes right through the LT two plays later to sack Smith for a 12-yard loss, though. 3rd-and-21. Quick slant to Figurs gets about half the yards back, and Baltimore punts. Into the end zone.
With 2:32 left in the half, the new Viking backfield is Brooks Bollinger and Maurice Hicks, and their very first play, they immediately blow a handoff running into one another. And a holding penalty sends them back 10 anyway. Viva preseason! A long incompletion, a TE Jeff Dugan and a draw play that surprises no one send the Viking punt team in at the 2:00 warning.
Baltimore has the ball at their 40 with 1:35 to go in the half. Wow. Quick slant is well behind Mark Clayton and tipped to Darren Sharper for an INT. A positively terrible throw by Troy Smith. Smith also committed a low block on Sharper's return, which'll set the Vikings up at the Ravens 11. 1:26 left.
Hicks gets splattered by Jarrett Johnson, and all for nothing, because the Vikings held again. And Hicks loses ground on the next rush, with Bart Scott breaking in untouched. Vikings let the clock run, get down to the 15 and send the FG team in with 0:04 left. Hauschka du, and it's 20-7, Minnesota at halftime.
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First half thumbs up if your last name is Rice, Minnesota's Sidney or Baltimore's Ray. For Minnesota, also a good half for Darren Sharper and Jared Allen, even a decent half for Frerotte, of all people. Nakamura looked like the only other Ravens standout to me. Him and Corey Ivy. Troy Smith had his foot in the door for the starting QB job but stubbed his toe instead, reading the field poorly and throwing inaccurately. Joe Flacco's actually still in this race if he does anything at all in the second half. Of course, we'll probably have to watch Boller, too. Not a wealth of riches at QB in Baltimore, no matter how you slice it.
Ray Rice only makes it to the 20 with the kick return to open the 2nd half. Yes, it's Boller at QB for Baltimore. 7 for Rice off right tackle, but a chop block the next play sends them backwards. Imagine this: a draw play and a short pass fail to get the required yardage. Baltimore punts it away.
Vikings start on the Ravens' 48. Bollinger throws a TERRIBLE screen pass, about a mile over Braden Jones' head, but he hits Nance for 18 yards over the middle the next play. They drive down to the 12 before Nakamura breaks up a 3rd-and-6 pass. Punter/holder Chris Kluwe bobbles away a high snap on the FG attempt and it stays 20-7.
Ravens from their 24 after the botched FG attempt. Umpire Jim Quirk gets in the way of a pass route on first down, and Mike Mayock scouts him like he's a player. Nice job reading the route, steps up, not afraid to mix it up even though he's 74 years old. Hilarious. Ravens three-and-out.
Starting from the Minnesota 36, Bollinger leads the Vikes all the way to Baltimore's 30 before a long drive bogs down. Nothing fancy this drive. In particular, Bollinger hitting well on third down to keep drives alive. Hauschka bombs it in from 48 to extend Minnesota's lead to 23-7.
Baltimore brings a deep Hauschka kickoff out only to the 15. Rufus Alexander roughs Boller and quickly puts the Ravens out on their 40. Short completion to Ernie Wheelwright gives Baltimore a first down at midfield as the 3rd quarter ends.
Boller gets the Ravens another first down and then gets DESTROYED by Letroy Guion on a vicious hit that would have put Marc Bulger out till 2019. 2nd-19. Two incompletions force a punt. Into the end zone. You can bet we'll see Flacco next possession; Boller really got drilled on that hit.
John David Booty is the new QB for Minnesota and takes two plays to get his booty kicked. Derrick Martin jumps a sideline route, picks off Booty (Yar!) and makes the short return for a TD. Baltimore then annoyingly goes for 2 so they have the possibility of TYING A PRESEASON GAME, and they make it. 23-15, Vikings.
Penalty on the return starts Minnesota at their 20 again. Hicks breaks a couple of tackles for 9, but a Reynaud OPI takes them back to 3rd-and-11, and a Raven jailbreak blitz drops Booty for -9 more. Sack officially by Zbikowski, who's gotten after the QB a couple of times this half. Vikings punt.
And not very far, as the Ravens take over just outside the Minnesota 40. Joe Flacco is in, and he's almost immediately victimized by an INT, a very athletic play by Brandon Sumrall, a one-handed catch.
The Ravens blitz again when Minnesota takes over again, and they drop Booty for another sack. 2nd-18. Albert Young gets a big hole on the left side for 13. The Vikings run again on 3rd-and-5, though, perhaps afraid to put Booty to any more tests tonight, and come up short. Sumrall EXPLODES into Zbikowski on the punt return with a highlight reel stop.
About 8:00 left in the game; Flacco assumes control at the Raven 15. Otis Grigsby sacks/strips Flacco on 2nd down, but Joe hits Wheelwright over the middle for a 1st the next play. Then he's getting sacked again, by Martail Burnett. Mayock's not kidding that Flacco's holding the ball too long in the pocket. Ravens wind up punting.
Jaymar Johnson makes a good punt return out to the 35. 4:51 left. Young gets a convoy around left tackle and churns out a 21-yard gain. A defensive hold on Anwar Phillips keeps the drive alive in Baltimore territory. From there, Minnesota pounds away on Baltimore's timeouts and the clock. They'll punt from the Raven 38 with 2:00 left.
Well, they didn't put this one in the end zone, but I can't say I'm real thrilled with Kluwe's 22-yard punt here, either. Flacco will lead the Ravens, or try to, from the 16. He drives them across midfield, then gets lucky when his 2nd INT comes off the board due to a face mask penalty. They make it to the Viking 16 with :05 left, when Flacco WAY overthrows his receiver in the corner of the end zone to end the game in a Vikings 23-15 win.
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Baltimore's got a real mess at QB. Nobody played well tonight, and Smith in particular appeared to blow his chance. Where the Ravens were impressive tonight was their depth at safety, where Nakamura and Zbikowski made plenty of plays. Nakamura is a special teams standout, while Zbikowski did his damage as a blitzer. Good game by Corey Ivy, who should still be a Ram, as well. Ray Rice appears to have a bright future at RB and might even be their Opening Day starter.
Big night on defense for Minnesota, with Sharper and Allen making plays in the first half and guys like Guion, Grigsby and Sumrall making plays in the second half. Erin Henderson also stood out with some plays. They need to tighten up their run defense, and Pat Williams is really an MVP for them there. His health is a situation that merits staying on top of. Sidney Rice appears to be emerging as the #2 to Berrian.
I'm a little surprised, though I probably shouldn't be, that neither team's rookie QB, Flacco or Booty, looks anywhere close to being able to start.
24 down, 41 to go. I'll go with Chicago-Seattle next.
Darius Reynaud returns the opening kickoff to the 30 for Minnesota, with Tarvaris Jackson at QB. Chester Taylor up the middle for 4. No AP again? Quick slant incomplete for Sidney Rice. Ravens put good pressure on even though the play was just a three-step drop. False start makes it 3rd-11, not where you want to be against Baltimore's D. Baltimore blitzes two LBs, which helps leave the middle of the field open for Tarvaris to sprint for a 13-yard gain. Taylor gets nothing on a swing pass and gets stuffed for a loss by Ray Lewis. 3rd-12: here comes the screen pass. No! The Vikings actually throw downfield and Jackson hits Visanthe Shiancoe for 19. Great call by the refs and great catch by Rice on the sideline for 13, just barely getting his toes in. Vikes are at the Baltimore 23. 2nd-6, Jackson way overthrows Shiancoe. 3rd-6 from the 23. Jackson finds Martin Nance all alone in the back of the end zone for the game's first TD. Also, Nance DID NOT CATCH THAT BALL. He got one foot down, and the next thing that came down was a hand that landed out of bounds. Then again, who am I to question the brilliant Jeff Triplette crew. 7-0, Minnesota.
Yamon Figurs returns the kickoff to the 27. Hey, Troy Smith is the Ravens' starter. Is that a promotion or a rotation gimmick? Play action to Adam Bergen on a quick out for 6. Starter Ray Rice cuts back into a big hole on the right side and gains 32. Vikes d-line really got pushed around there. 3rd-2 from the 16, bootleg run right for Smith gains 10. 1st-goal, Ben Leber stuffs Rice. 2nd-goal, Rice cuts a middle run back to the left and charges in for the TD. 7-7, Ravens.
Reynaud only makes it to the 23, flattened by Haruki Nakamura. His second tackle. Please don't call him a kamikaze player, OK? Just please don't. AP is in this series, but Jackson throws to Rice for 8. Great open field tackle of AP by Corey Ivy, who makes sure to let everybody know. AP gained 3 around left end but had the potential for a huge play. Peterson forces his way up the middle for 5. Jackson hits Bobby Wade at the 48 for another first down. Jackson's bomb is five yards beyond Martin Nance. Ivy slowed up the receiver. Jackson rolls right on 2nd down for 9. Jackson appears to be limping. Peterson gets 2 on 3rd-and-1. Vikings are driving the ball quite well. 12 or 13 to Wade on the sideline. Jackson's down on the ground now. They're checking out his right knee. That brings in Gus Frerotte, who hits Peterson on an underneath route for a gain all the way down to the 7. 1st-goal, Dawan Landry blitzed in and stuffs AP for a 1-yard loss. Frerotte tries a timing route to Rice, who makes a sweet acrobatic catch, similar to his earlier catch, getting the toes of both his feet in, and the brilliant official of the brilliant Jeff Triplette crew calls it no catch. Now, I don't think he was juggling the ball. Unless the ref saw something like that, it was their second TERRIBLE sideline call in a quarter. They tried to run Peterson on 3rd-and-goal but he only got down to the 4. I'll forgive Brad Childress for that call - you can try that when you have Adrian Peterson in your backfield. First quarter ends there, game tied at 7.
And the second quarter opens with Steven Hauschka chipping in a 21-yarder to put Minnesota ahead 10-7.
Figurs gets up to speed very quickly, finds the seam and is thisclose to popping this return all the way. He gets tripped up at the 35, though. Screen to Ray Rice gets 8. Rice bounces outside left for 11 more. LaRon McClain gains 3. Smith rolls left and has to eat it for a 1-yard loss. Ravens announcers tell us Smith missed a shot at Derrick Mason wide open down the sidelines for a likely TD. Jared Allen, classy guy, flirts with unnecessary roughness by dragging Smith down pretty far out of bounds, then trash talks him. 3rd-8. False start, CROTCHLICK. Hey, that's what his name sounds like. 3rd-13. Smith rolls right, throws too high up the sideline for Figurs, who gets WHACKED by Darren Sharper while reaching for a 1-handed grab. I have a feeling Figurs saw Sharper coming, or he would have tried with both hands. A case of alligator arm? The punt takes a wicked bounce backward, but Nakamura pounces on it in midair before it can do more damage. The Japanese kid is going to make the team. He is everywhere on special teams.
Gus gets on the bus at the Minnesota 23. Long toss to Wade up the sideline has no hope. Peterson gains 11 with absolutely no resistance. The Vikings pushed the Ravens' front out of the play. Taylor up the middle for 4. Quick out to Wade, who breaks a tackle and gains 11. AP gains 3 off the left side. From midfield, Frerotte has to dump an intended screen pass into the ground. 3rd-7. Pretty 33-yard bomb by Frerotte to Nance running a fly up the sideline. Nance really had his man beaten. Taylor powers down to the 5 with a couple of runs. Frerotte has to throw it away on 1st-goal. 2nd-goal, the intended receiver Shiancoe QUIT RUNNING HIS ROUTE. They're lucky that was just a second straight incomplete. 3rd-goal, pretty pass by Frerotte to Robert Ferguson on a corner route for a TD. Where was all this good play by Frerotte against Baltimore last year? Vikings lead 17-7.
Figurs barely makes the 23 with the ensuing kick return. Smith can't find a receiver and scrambles for 8. Pat Williams was injured on the play. Uh-oh. Took a shot to the knee from his own teammate. Appears to walk off ok, though. Offsides on Jared Allen gives Baltimore a first down, though Triplette announced it was still second down. One of the best referees out there, says the NFL. On second-and-6, Allen blows a sack badly and lets Smith free for a Michael Vick-like 18-yard scramble. Allen is totally getting karmic retribution for his earlier taunting. He goes right through the LT two plays later to sack Smith for a 12-yard loss, though. 3rd-and-21. Quick slant to Figurs gets about half the yards back, and Baltimore punts. Into the end zone.
With 2:32 left in the half, the new Viking backfield is Brooks Bollinger and Maurice Hicks, and their very first play, they immediately blow a handoff running into one another. And a holding penalty sends them back 10 anyway. Viva preseason! A long incompletion, a TE Jeff Dugan and a draw play that surprises no one send the Viking punt team in at the 2:00 warning.
Baltimore has the ball at their 40 with 1:35 to go in the half. Wow. Quick slant is well behind Mark Clayton and tipped to Darren Sharper for an INT. A positively terrible throw by Troy Smith. Smith also committed a low block on Sharper's return, which'll set the Vikings up at the Ravens 11. 1:26 left.
Hicks gets splattered by Jarrett Johnson, and all for nothing, because the Vikings held again. And Hicks loses ground on the next rush, with Bart Scott breaking in untouched. Vikings let the clock run, get down to the 15 and send the FG team in with 0:04 left. Hauschka du, and it's 20-7, Minnesota at halftime.
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First half thumbs up if your last name is Rice, Minnesota's Sidney or Baltimore's Ray. For Minnesota, also a good half for Darren Sharper and Jared Allen, even a decent half for Frerotte, of all people. Nakamura looked like the only other Ravens standout to me. Him and Corey Ivy. Troy Smith had his foot in the door for the starting QB job but stubbed his toe instead, reading the field poorly and throwing inaccurately. Joe Flacco's actually still in this race if he does anything at all in the second half. Of course, we'll probably have to watch Boller, too. Not a wealth of riches at QB in Baltimore, no matter how you slice it.
Ray Rice only makes it to the 20 with the kick return to open the 2nd half. Yes, it's Boller at QB for Baltimore. 7 for Rice off right tackle, but a chop block the next play sends them backwards. Imagine this: a draw play and a short pass fail to get the required yardage. Baltimore punts it away.
Vikings start on the Ravens' 48. Bollinger throws a TERRIBLE screen pass, about a mile over Braden Jones' head, but he hits Nance for 18 yards over the middle the next play. They drive down to the 12 before Nakamura breaks up a 3rd-and-6 pass. Punter/holder Chris Kluwe bobbles away a high snap on the FG attempt and it stays 20-7.
Ravens from their 24 after the botched FG attempt. Umpire Jim Quirk gets in the way of a pass route on first down, and Mike Mayock scouts him like he's a player. Nice job reading the route, steps up, not afraid to mix it up even though he's 74 years old. Hilarious. Ravens three-and-out.
Starting from the Minnesota 36, Bollinger leads the Vikes all the way to Baltimore's 30 before a long drive bogs down. Nothing fancy this drive. In particular, Bollinger hitting well on third down to keep drives alive. Hauschka bombs it in from 48 to extend Minnesota's lead to 23-7.
Baltimore brings a deep Hauschka kickoff out only to the 15. Rufus Alexander roughs Boller and quickly puts the Ravens out on their 40. Short completion to Ernie Wheelwright gives Baltimore a first down at midfield as the 3rd quarter ends.
Boller gets the Ravens another first down and then gets DESTROYED by Letroy Guion on a vicious hit that would have put Marc Bulger out till 2019. 2nd-19. Two incompletions force a punt. Into the end zone. You can bet we'll see Flacco next possession; Boller really got drilled on that hit.
John David Booty is the new QB for Minnesota and takes two plays to get his booty kicked. Derrick Martin jumps a sideline route, picks off Booty (Yar!) and makes the short return for a TD. Baltimore then annoyingly goes for 2 so they have the possibility of TYING A PRESEASON GAME, and they make it. 23-15, Vikings.
Penalty on the return starts Minnesota at their 20 again. Hicks breaks a couple of tackles for 9, but a Reynaud OPI takes them back to 3rd-and-11, and a Raven jailbreak blitz drops Booty for -9 more. Sack officially by Zbikowski, who's gotten after the QB a couple of times this half. Vikings punt.
And not very far, as the Ravens take over just outside the Minnesota 40. Joe Flacco is in, and he's almost immediately victimized by an INT, a very athletic play by Brandon Sumrall, a one-handed catch.
The Ravens blitz again when Minnesota takes over again, and they drop Booty for another sack. 2nd-18. Albert Young gets a big hole on the left side for 13. The Vikings run again on 3rd-and-5, though, perhaps afraid to put Booty to any more tests tonight, and come up short. Sumrall EXPLODES into Zbikowski on the punt return with a highlight reel stop.
About 8:00 left in the game; Flacco assumes control at the Raven 15. Otis Grigsby sacks/strips Flacco on 2nd down, but Joe hits Wheelwright over the middle for a 1st the next play. Then he's getting sacked again, by Martail Burnett. Mayock's not kidding that Flacco's holding the ball too long in the pocket. Ravens wind up punting.
Jaymar Johnson makes a good punt return out to the 35. 4:51 left. Young gets a convoy around left tackle and churns out a 21-yard gain. A defensive hold on Anwar Phillips keeps the drive alive in Baltimore territory. From there, Minnesota pounds away on Baltimore's timeouts and the clock. They'll punt from the Raven 38 with 2:00 left.
Well, they didn't put this one in the end zone, but I can't say I'm real thrilled with Kluwe's 22-yard punt here, either. Flacco will lead the Ravens, or try to, from the 16. He drives them across midfield, then gets lucky when his 2nd INT comes off the board due to a face mask penalty. They make it to the Viking 16 with :05 left, when Flacco WAY overthrows his receiver in the corner of the end zone to end the game in a Vikings 23-15 win.
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Baltimore's got a real mess at QB. Nobody played well tonight, and Smith in particular appeared to blow his chance. Where the Ravens were impressive tonight was their depth at safety, where Nakamura and Zbikowski made plenty of plays. Nakamura is a special teams standout, while Zbikowski did his damage as a blitzer. Good game by Corey Ivy, who should still be a Ram, as well. Ray Rice appears to have a bright future at RB and might even be their Opening Day starter.
Big night on defense for Minnesota, with Sharper and Allen making plays in the first half and guys like Guion, Grigsby and Sumrall making plays in the second half. Erin Henderson also stood out with some plays. They need to tighten up their run defense, and Pat Williams is really an MVP for them there. His health is a situation that merits staying on top of. Sidney Rice appears to be emerging as the #2 to Berrian.
I'm a little surprised, though I probably shouldn't be, that neither team's rookie QB, Flacco or Booty, looks anywhere close to being able to start.
24 down, 41 to go. I'll go with Chicago-Seattle next.
Game 23: Redskins 13, Jets 10
All right, now to the most eagerly anticipated game of Week 2, Redskins at Jets. Like everyone else out there, I'm certainly itching to see if Brett can repeat past glory in the Meadowlands tonight.
Of course, I'm talking about Brett Ratliff. Who did you think I was talking about?
Redskins kick off, touchback, Jets start at their 20. Here comes BFF. Rifle pass to Jerricho Cotchery for 11. London Fletcher slows Leon Washington behind the line to get swarmed for a 5-yard loss. 9 to TE Chris Baker. 3rd-6. Plenty of time for BFF, but Leon Washington's route IS RUN SHORT OF THE NEEDED YARDAGE. Mangenius decides to go for it on 4th and inches just inside the 41. Thomas Jones pops through for 3. Long count, Jones up the middle for 4. Looked like at least two Jets flinched without a call. 2nd down, Leon Washington COMPLETELY IGNORES his blitz pickup responsibility and Marcus Washington runs right around him to sack BFF for a ten-yard loss. BFF wings one in the flat out of Jones' reach. Jets will punt.
I already know at least once in this post I'll call the Jets the Packers instead. So be on the lookout.
Redskins at their 30. No Clinton Portis, just Ladell Betts tonight. He gains just one, then Jason Campbell throws high off his receiver's hands, nearly picked off on the rebound by Kerry Rhodes. Campbell's pressured into a poor checkdown pass on 3rd down. 3-and-out.
Leon Washington returns the punt 12 yards to his 40, then the Jets get 15 more because Devin Thomas ran out of bounds for the Redskins. Huh, didn't know you got 15 for that, but the Jets will take off from the Washington 45. 6 for Leon, who's certainly hard to bring down for such a little guy. Maybe 1 for Leon on 2nd down. BFF is barely getting these plays off before the clock runs out - does it have to do with him being the new guy? He hits Cotchery for 19 on an out route at the Redskin 20. End around to former Mizzou QB Brad Smith for 12 down to the 8. The Jet announcers literally scream about BFF selling the play with one of his classic, stupid pass fakes. Um, no. On the wide angle, as soon as BFF makes the fake, you see EVERY Redskin player correctly break in the direction of the run. Leon gets inside the 5. 2nd-goal, rookie TE Dustin Keller find a hole in the zone, Rocky McIntosh doesn't slide coverage over, and BFF hits Keller for the easy TD. 7-0, Jets.
Devin Thomas can't get going before Wallace Wright flashes in and trips him up at the 19. Skins will have to block kickoffs better than that. 12 to Donald Sellers. Kris Jenkins stuffs Betts for 2. Plenty of time for Campbell, who hits Santana Moss on the sideline for 13. They beat a blitz with a flare pass to Cooley for 7. BTW, when profiled, Kris Jenkins reveals his favorite meal is "food", and what he likes to do to relax is "sleep". Betts, who Ian Eagle calls "Bettis", very patiently hits a hole on the left side and breaks away for 16. 3-yard run gets the Skins inside the Jet 30. 2nd down, Campbell's sideline bomb for Moss is way overthrown. 3rd-7. DPI on David Barrett sets the Skins up at the 19. Campbell passing again, way too deep again. Good rush by Bryan Thomas, who eats up NOT AN OFFENSIVE LINEMAN Mike Sellers, and flushes Campbell out. Campbell hits Moss on the sideline and we get to see one official COMPLETELY BLOW the new forceout rule. The Jets hit Moss and kept him from getting his feet in, that's an incompletion, though a second official has to come from the back side to actually get the call right. Jeez. Draw on 3rd-and-10 unbelievably gets the first down. Vernon Gholston got pinched in and Betts juked Rhodes. Eric Barton dumps Rock Cartwright for -4 on a screen. Timeout by the Redskins when the quarter ends in 30 seconds anyway. Betts gains about three and appeared to catch a foot in the supposedly injury-saving FieldTurf. He was clutching his right knee but appears to walk off OK. End of the first quarter, Jets 7, Redskins 0.
Redskins have 3rd-and-goal from the 12. Barrett appears to break up a SHORT pass for Moss, 4th down. Shaun Suisham hits from 30 to make it 7-3.
Jets are pinned back at their 9 after a hold on the kick return. Don't know if Kellen Clemens got booed for replacing BFF. Incomplete on the sideline for Cotchery. Demetric Evans bats down the 2nd down pass. Clemens guns a first-down pass to Bubba Franks but he drops it. 3-and-out.
Byron Westbrook brings the punt back to the Jet 47. 2 for Cartwright, taken down by Gholston. New Redskin QB is Todd Collins. He hits Sellers for a couple. Vernon Gholston's favorite meal is "meat". Barton drills Maurice Mann to break up the 3rd down pass. Skins have to punt.
Jets are at their 22. Musa Smith will get no gain on 1st down if he's lucky. Clemens gets tripped pulling away from center and loses 3. Right now he's Bizarro Favre. Lorenzo Alexander becomes the second Redskin in just a few minutes to bat down a Clemens pass. Clemens' 2nd straight 3-and-out. He's 0-4 passing.
Westbrook muffs the punt, perhaps hearing Brad Smith coming. Smith drills him but Matteral Richardson recovers the loose ball. Bomb by Collins well covered by Dwight Lowery. 2nd-10 from the Skins 30. Cartwright gets stopped on 2nd down, but no wonder - there were 12 Jets on the field. 2nd-5. Naked bootleg screen to Mann for 6 and a 1st. Cartwright has a big hole but gets thrown down by Kareem Brown before he can hit it. Cartwright again, for a couple again. 3rd-5. Billy McMullen runs A THREE YARD ROUTE. 4th down.
Touchback will start the Jets from their 20. Clemens rolls out and hits 17 at the 48.
Apparently Eagles and Greg Buttle tried to interview Joe Namath during last week's game but Joe's audio never worked. Must have happened in the first half of the game while we had the Cleveland audio on. Anyway, they're happy to announce Broadway Joe's on the phone for another interview. Ian Eagles tells Joe he's never sounded better. On TV, we still can't hear Namath. Eagles and Buttle proceed to conduct a hilarious, and distinctly one-sided, interview. Two Redskins smear Clemens for a sack and fumble but a Jet lineman recovers. Clemens YET AGAIN trips backing out of center and loses a couple more. My God, is he drunk? Looks like Keller drops the 3rd down pass, and all of Jet Nation has to be wishing they'd kept Pennington and dumped Clemens, who looks positively USELESS. Punt dies at the 11.
Cartwright bounces outside right for 5. The TV crew FINALLY turns Namath's audio on. Cartwright bursts through the middle of the Jet line and is GONE. About a 75-yard run. Jets appeared to blitz the linebackers on each edge, and it looks like a couple of the DBs got caught farther upfield than they should have been. Plus Cartwright broke a tackle at the LOS. Skins at the Jets 11. Terrific play action gives Collins all day but he completely misses connections with McMullen at the front pylon. McMullen pushed off anyway, 10-yard penalty. Sellers gets 3. Quick break here to say what a good job Eagles is doing this game, and Ray Bentley did last game, in telling us down, distance and yardage of the last play. They make a game very easy to follow, unlike other crews that yammer about whatever they want and basically ignore the game.
Collins gets drilled by Marcus Murrell while he throws for an incompletion. Murrell beat Chad Rinehart on the play. 3rd-17 from the 19. Collins has to leave the game, and Derek Devine is the replacement. Ahead of Colt Brennan? My call would have been better. Devine locked in on the TE at the goal line, tried to throw to him into double coverage, then got the ball picked off by James Ihedigbo, who read his eyes. He returns the INT out to the 21.
After Jesse Chatman runs for a first down, a brutal drop by David Clowney. That's at least three passes Clemens' receivers have dropped. Make it four as Chatman drops one over the middle at the 2:00 warning. I'll have to cut Clemens some slack. Clowney catches a short pass for 8. Redskins call timeout prior to the Jet punt.
The Redskins called a defensive timeout so they could handoff????? And they false start the next play to top it off. 2nd-11 from the 25. Collins hits Todd Yoder for 13 and a first. Collins to Cartwright for 8. Everything's been up the middle. Skins use their last timeout with 0:25 to go. Drop by McMullen at the 20. 0:20 left. Fred Davis gets brought down in bounds at the 40, and the Skins lollygag up to the line and let the half run out. 7-3, Jets, at halftime.
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Of course BFF's the big story here, but the Jets have to worry they've got a guy behind him struggling to throw the ball over the defensive line, or drop back without falling down. Wow. Another very impressive player is Marcus Murrell, and also Ihedigbo, who made some plays in the Cleveland game, too. Except for the big Cartwright run, which they wasted, no offensive highlights for Washington in the first half. Campbell was not as good as he'd been the last two games. Defense stuffed the run well, which still appears to be a problem for the Jets again this year. Clowney and McMullen had better do a better job holding on to the ball for their respective teams.
Thomas returns to the Redskin 30. Collins to Fred Davis for 11. Marcus Mason takes over at RB. 13 to McMullen before Mason hits off right tackle for 19. Ran by Gholston. Redskins are at the Jets 23. Kenwin Cummings halts a STUPID FUCKING SCREEN on 3rd-and-6 from the 19 to force a FG. Suisham makes it a 7-6 game with a 36-yard FG.
Ahmad Carroll makes a big kick return out to midfield. Chatman gets stuffed on first down, then fights and dives for 5 on 2nd down. False start makes it 3rd-10. Chatman runs through about four terrible tackles on a draw play and takes it for 11 and a first. Shitty tackling like the Redskins did on that play is what encourages coaches to call all these fucking stupid draw plays on 3rd and long. Clemens hits Clowney, I think for about 15, for another first down. Clowney's injured on the play. 2nd-17 after a hold. Richardson tackles Paul Raymond on the 26 with a belly-to-belly suplex. Mike Nugent gets cat scratch fever and blows the 43-yard attempt, leaving us at 7-6.
Great diving effort by Thomas on the sideline but it's incomplete. 2nd-10 from the 33. Mason sweeps left for 5. Maurice Mann gets about 15 out of a short underneath route. First down, Skins, in Jet territory. Nothing for Mason. 2nd down, Bryan Mattison sacks Devine, who had plenty of time. 3rd-17. Sideline pass to Mann is nowhere close to the first. Redskins punt.
Jets from their 18 with Brett Ratliff behind center. BEAUTIFUL 24-yard pass to Keller to start the drive. Misses Wallace Wright on the sideline under some pressure. On 3rd-and-1 at midfield, Ryan Boschetti buries Musa Smith for a big loss, forcing a Jet punt, but that'll have to wait until the 4th quarter starts. Still 7-6, Jets.
Redskins are at their 14 and Colt Brennan will get to QB the 4th quarter. On 3rd-and-4, MAURICE MANN RUNS HIS ROUTE TWO YARDS SHORT. Not that that drive me NUTS or anything. Punter!
Lowery returns a 59-yard blast to the Jet 33. Ratliff waits, waits, waits, then SPEARS one to Jason Pociask at the 50. Man I love how this kid plays. He drills one to Wright on the sideline for 18. It's just, the Jets absolutely have a find here. After a false start, Hamilton stuffs a stupid fucking naked bootleg screen to Jehuu Caulcrick. 2nd-15. Let Ratliff wing it! He snaps one to Marcus Henry between two defenders for 12. I swear to Pete Rozelle we have another Kurt Warner on our hands here. So we get an incomplete pass on 3rd down to bring in the FG unit. Nugent strokes the 43-yarder this time, from the opposite hashmark, on his right this time, to push the Jets' lead to 10-6.
Westbrook's kick return comes out to the 28. Brennan to Jason Goode, who dropped a pass earlier, for 6. 2nd-4. Holding, make it 2nd-12. Jets stuff a Mason run. 3rd-9 from the 29. Brennan tries to roll away from blitzing LB Cody Spencer but can't, taking a big loss instead.
Jets take off from their 30. Caulcrick gets 6 off a swing pass. Middle run for Musa Smith gains squat. Has he gained a yard tonight? Marcus Henry makes a nice snag for 13 out to the Jet 49. Chatman gains a couple with 4:30 left in the game. Ratliff avoids a sack with a superb pump fake and scrambles forward for 3. About 7 to Pociask for another 1st at the Redskin 39. 3:00 left. Boschetti stuffs Chatman in the backfield. Boschetti has been very active. Redskins call timeout at 2:33. 3rd-7, a delayed blitz forces Ratliff to throw it away. Too far for a FG? 52 yards? The Jets fail to pin the punt at the 1. Brown had both feet on the goal line.
Redskins have just over 2:00 to travel 80 yards. Brennan to McMullen for 37, so they're already in Jet territory with 1:55 left. Nice throw by Brennan. Draw to Mason for 10. Dwight Lowery blitzes in and Spencer gets the sack of Brennan. They lost 4. 2nd-14 from the 33, the Jets bring 3 blitzers, Brennan dumps over the middle for Goode, Ihedigbo makes a TERRIBLE play, I think he was trying for the ball but came nowhere close, leaving the entire middle of the field open for Goode to run for a 33-yard TD. #1, the Jets shouldn't have blitzed; #2, Ihedigbo should have been looking for the tackle, not the INT. F'ed up play by the Jets coaches and players. Washington now leads, 13-10, 1:14 left.
1st down Jets at their 24. 1:02 left. 5 to Chatman. From the 29, Ratliff dumps off to Pociask, who Vernon Fox tries to drop with a forearm shiver instead of a textbook tackle, and rumbles off for a huge 31-yard gain. Draw play? Chatman spins twice and breaks a couple of tackles for a 17-yard gain. Jets are at the Redskins' 23. Ratliff to Henry for 8, using their first timeout with 0:22 left. Ratliff hits Henry inside the 5 for a first-and-goal with 0:15 left. Cedrick Holt rides David Ball out of the end zone sideline with 0:09 left. You know what, I really like the forceout rule. Ratliff has Raymond WIDE OPEN in the end zone, throws it a little behind him, AND HE DROPS IT. 3rd-goal with 5 seconds left. Jets use their final TO to prevent a delay of game. Glad to see Mangenius avoiding the FG.
NOW HE'S SENDING OUT THE FIELD GOAL UNIT?!?!?!?! ROT IN HELL, MANGENIUS! NO PLAYING FOR TIES IN PRESEASON!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! SERVES MANGENIUS RIGHT! Nugent appears to mishit the ball, and instead of making a 23-yard chippie every kicker should be able to make in his sleep, he DOINKS it off the left upright, which prevents the tie.
SERVES MANGENIUS RIGHT FOR NOT GOING FOR THE WIN IN PRESEASON. ASS.
Redskins win 13-10, and the Jets have a problem at placekicker, where Nugent BLEW two very makeable kicks tonight.
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Ratliff still looks awesome for the Jets. Mike Nugent, not so much. Jeff Wilkins may be getting a call. Why not? By the way, THIS IS WHY YOU NEVER DRAFT A KICKER. They spent a second-round pick on a guy who gags on 23-yarders? Boschetti looks like the main player to emerge from this game for Washington, a game they didn't deserve to win.
23 down, 42 to go. I am not certain where I'm going next. Possibly Vikings-Ravens, which is next on my TiVo queue, or Lions-Bengals, which I think is next in my DVD queue.
Either I'm a sick SOB, or this is starting to get fun.
Of course, I'm talking about Brett Ratliff. Who did you think I was talking about?
Redskins kick off, touchback, Jets start at their 20. Here comes BFF. Rifle pass to Jerricho Cotchery for 11. London Fletcher slows Leon Washington behind the line to get swarmed for a 5-yard loss. 9 to TE Chris Baker. 3rd-6. Plenty of time for BFF, but Leon Washington's route IS RUN SHORT OF THE NEEDED YARDAGE. Mangenius decides to go for it on 4th and inches just inside the 41. Thomas Jones pops through for 3. Long count, Jones up the middle for 4. Looked like at least two Jets flinched without a call. 2nd down, Leon Washington COMPLETELY IGNORES his blitz pickup responsibility and Marcus Washington runs right around him to sack BFF for a ten-yard loss. BFF wings one in the flat out of Jones' reach. Jets will punt.
I already know at least once in this post I'll call the Jets the Packers instead. So be on the lookout.
Redskins at their 30. No Clinton Portis, just Ladell Betts tonight. He gains just one, then Jason Campbell throws high off his receiver's hands, nearly picked off on the rebound by Kerry Rhodes. Campbell's pressured into a poor checkdown pass on 3rd down. 3-and-out.
Leon Washington returns the punt 12 yards to his 40, then the Jets get 15 more because Devin Thomas ran out of bounds for the Redskins. Huh, didn't know you got 15 for that, but the Jets will take off from the Washington 45. 6 for Leon, who's certainly hard to bring down for such a little guy. Maybe 1 for Leon on 2nd down. BFF is barely getting these plays off before the clock runs out - does it have to do with him being the new guy? He hits Cotchery for 19 on an out route at the Redskin 20. End around to former Mizzou QB Brad Smith for 12 down to the 8. The Jet announcers literally scream about BFF selling the play with one of his classic, stupid pass fakes. Um, no. On the wide angle, as soon as BFF makes the fake, you see EVERY Redskin player correctly break in the direction of the run. Leon gets inside the 5. 2nd-goal, rookie TE Dustin Keller find a hole in the zone, Rocky McIntosh doesn't slide coverage over, and BFF hits Keller for the easy TD. 7-0, Jets.
Devin Thomas can't get going before Wallace Wright flashes in and trips him up at the 19. Skins will have to block kickoffs better than that. 12 to Donald Sellers. Kris Jenkins stuffs Betts for 2. Plenty of time for Campbell, who hits Santana Moss on the sideline for 13. They beat a blitz with a flare pass to Cooley for 7. BTW, when profiled, Kris Jenkins reveals his favorite meal is "food", and what he likes to do to relax is "sleep". Betts, who Ian Eagle calls "Bettis", very patiently hits a hole on the left side and breaks away for 16. 3-yard run gets the Skins inside the Jet 30. 2nd down, Campbell's sideline bomb for Moss is way overthrown. 3rd-7. DPI on David Barrett sets the Skins up at the 19. Campbell passing again, way too deep again. Good rush by Bryan Thomas, who eats up NOT AN OFFENSIVE LINEMAN Mike Sellers, and flushes Campbell out. Campbell hits Moss on the sideline and we get to see one official COMPLETELY BLOW the new forceout rule. The Jets hit Moss and kept him from getting his feet in, that's an incompletion, though a second official has to come from the back side to actually get the call right. Jeez. Draw on 3rd-and-10 unbelievably gets the first down. Vernon Gholston got pinched in and Betts juked Rhodes. Eric Barton dumps Rock Cartwright for -4 on a screen. Timeout by the Redskins when the quarter ends in 30 seconds anyway. Betts gains about three and appeared to catch a foot in the supposedly injury-saving FieldTurf. He was clutching his right knee but appears to walk off OK. End of the first quarter, Jets 7, Redskins 0.
Redskins have 3rd-and-goal from the 12. Barrett appears to break up a SHORT pass for Moss, 4th down. Shaun Suisham hits from 30 to make it 7-3.
Jets are pinned back at their 9 after a hold on the kick return. Don't know if Kellen Clemens got booed for replacing BFF. Incomplete on the sideline for Cotchery. Demetric Evans bats down the 2nd down pass. Clemens guns a first-down pass to Bubba Franks but he drops it. 3-and-out.
Byron Westbrook brings the punt back to the Jet 47. 2 for Cartwright, taken down by Gholston. New Redskin QB is Todd Collins. He hits Sellers for a couple. Vernon Gholston's favorite meal is "meat". Barton drills Maurice Mann to break up the 3rd down pass. Skins have to punt.
Jets are at their 22. Musa Smith will get no gain on 1st down if he's lucky. Clemens gets tripped pulling away from center and loses 3. Right now he's Bizarro Favre. Lorenzo Alexander becomes the second Redskin in just a few minutes to bat down a Clemens pass. Clemens' 2nd straight 3-and-out. He's 0-4 passing.
Westbrook muffs the punt, perhaps hearing Brad Smith coming. Smith drills him but Matteral Richardson recovers the loose ball. Bomb by Collins well covered by Dwight Lowery. 2nd-10 from the Skins 30. Cartwright gets stopped on 2nd down, but no wonder - there were 12 Jets on the field. 2nd-5. Naked bootleg screen to Mann for 6 and a 1st. Cartwright has a big hole but gets thrown down by Kareem Brown before he can hit it. Cartwright again, for a couple again. 3rd-5. Billy McMullen runs A THREE YARD ROUTE. 4th down.
Touchback will start the Jets from their 20. Clemens rolls out and hits 17 at the 48.
Apparently Eagles and Greg Buttle tried to interview Joe Namath during last week's game but Joe's audio never worked. Must have happened in the first half of the game while we had the Cleveland audio on. Anyway, they're happy to announce Broadway Joe's on the phone for another interview. Ian Eagles tells Joe he's never sounded better. On TV, we still can't hear Namath. Eagles and Buttle proceed to conduct a hilarious, and distinctly one-sided, interview. Two Redskins smear Clemens for a sack and fumble but a Jet lineman recovers. Clemens YET AGAIN trips backing out of center and loses a couple more. My God, is he drunk? Looks like Keller drops the 3rd down pass, and all of Jet Nation has to be wishing they'd kept Pennington and dumped Clemens, who looks positively USELESS. Punt dies at the 11.
Cartwright bounces outside right for 5. The TV crew FINALLY turns Namath's audio on. Cartwright bursts through the middle of the Jet line and is GONE. About a 75-yard run. Jets appeared to blitz the linebackers on each edge, and it looks like a couple of the DBs got caught farther upfield than they should have been. Plus Cartwright broke a tackle at the LOS. Skins at the Jets 11. Terrific play action gives Collins all day but he completely misses connections with McMullen at the front pylon. McMullen pushed off anyway, 10-yard penalty. Sellers gets 3. Quick break here to say what a good job Eagles is doing this game, and Ray Bentley did last game, in telling us down, distance and yardage of the last play. They make a game very easy to follow, unlike other crews that yammer about whatever they want and basically ignore the game.
Collins gets drilled by Marcus Murrell while he throws for an incompletion. Murrell beat Chad Rinehart on the play. 3rd-17 from the 19. Collins has to leave the game, and Derek Devine is the replacement. Ahead of Colt Brennan? My call would have been better. Devine locked in on the TE at the goal line, tried to throw to him into double coverage, then got the ball picked off by James Ihedigbo, who read his eyes. He returns the INT out to the 21.
After Jesse Chatman runs for a first down, a brutal drop by David Clowney. That's at least three passes Clemens' receivers have dropped. Make it four as Chatman drops one over the middle at the 2:00 warning. I'll have to cut Clemens some slack. Clowney catches a short pass for 8. Redskins call timeout prior to the Jet punt.
The Redskins called a defensive timeout so they could handoff????? And they false start the next play to top it off. 2nd-11 from the 25. Collins hits Todd Yoder for 13 and a first. Collins to Cartwright for 8. Everything's been up the middle. Skins use their last timeout with 0:25 to go. Drop by McMullen at the 20. 0:20 left. Fred Davis gets brought down in bounds at the 40, and the Skins lollygag up to the line and let the half run out. 7-3, Jets, at halftime.
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Of course BFF's the big story here, but the Jets have to worry they've got a guy behind him struggling to throw the ball over the defensive line, or drop back without falling down. Wow. Another very impressive player is Marcus Murrell, and also Ihedigbo, who made some plays in the Cleveland game, too. Except for the big Cartwright run, which they wasted, no offensive highlights for Washington in the first half. Campbell was not as good as he'd been the last two games. Defense stuffed the run well, which still appears to be a problem for the Jets again this year. Clowney and McMullen had better do a better job holding on to the ball for their respective teams.
Thomas returns to the Redskin 30. Collins to Fred Davis for 11. Marcus Mason takes over at RB. 13 to McMullen before Mason hits off right tackle for 19. Ran by Gholston. Redskins are at the Jets 23. Kenwin Cummings halts a STUPID FUCKING SCREEN on 3rd-and-6 from the 19 to force a FG. Suisham makes it a 7-6 game with a 36-yard FG.
Ahmad Carroll makes a big kick return out to midfield. Chatman gets stuffed on first down, then fights and dives for 5 on 2nd down. False start makes it 3rd-10. Chatman runs through about four terrible tackles on a draw play and takes it for 11 and a first. Shitty tackling like the Redskins did on that play is what encourages coaches to call all these fucking stupid draw plays on 3rd and long. Clemens hits Clowney, I think for about 15, for another first down. Clowney's injured on the play. 2nd-17 after a hold. Richardson tackles Paul Raymond on the 26 with a belly-to-belly suplex. Mike Nugent gets cat scratch fever and blows the 43-yard attempt, leaving us at 7-6.
Great diving effort by Thomas on the sideline but it's incomplete. 2nd-10 from the 33. Mason sweeps left for 5. Maurice Mann gets about 15 out of a short underneath route. First down, Skins, in Jet territory. Nothing for Mason. 2nd down, Bryan Mattison sacks Devine, who had plenty of time. 3rd-17. Sideline pass to Mann is nowhere close to the first. Redskins punt.
Jets from their 18 with Brett Ratliff behind center. BEAUTIFUL 24-yard pass to Keller to start the drive. Misses Wallace Wright on the sideline under some pressure. On 3rd-and-1 at midfield, Ryan Boschetti buries Musa Smith for a big loss, forcing a Jet punt, but that'll have to wait until the 4th quarter starts. Still 7-6, Jets.
Redskins are at their 14 and Colt Brennan will get to QB the 4th quarter. On 3rd-and-4, MAURICE MANN RUNS HIS ROUTE TWO YARDS SHORT. Not that that drive me NUTS or anything. Punter!
Lowery returns a 59-yard blast to the Jet 33. Ratliff waits, waits, waits, then SPEARS one to Jason Pociask at the 50. Man I love how this kid plays. He drills one to Wright on the sideline for 18. It's just, the Jets absolutely have a find here. After a false start, Hamilton stuffs a stupid fucking naked bootleg screen to Jehuu Caulcrick. 2nd-15. Let Ratliff wing it! He snaps one to Marcus Henry between two defenders for 12. I swear to Pete Rozelle we have another Kurt Warner on our hands here. So we get an incomplete pass on 3rd down to bring in the FG unit. Nugent strokes the 43-yarder this time, from the opposite hashmark, on his right this time, to push the Jets' lead to 10-6.
Westbrook's kick return comes out to the 28. Brennan to Jason Goode, who dropped a pass earlier, for 6. 2nd-4. Holding, make it 2nd-12. Jets stuff a Mason run. 3rd-9 from the 29. Brennan tries to roll away from blitzing LB Cody Spencer but can't, taking a big loss instead.
Jets take off from their 30. Caulcrick gets 6 off a swing pass. Middle run for Musa Smith gains squat. Has he gained a yard tonight? Marcus Henry makes a nice snag for 13 out to the Jet 49. Chatman gains a couple with 4:30 left in the game. Ratliff avoids a sack with a superb pump fake and scrambles forward for 3. About 7 to Pociask for another 1st at the Redskin 39. 3:00 left. Boschetti stuffs Chatman in the backfield. Boschetti has been very active. Redskins call timeout at 2:33. 3rd-7, a delayed blitz forces Ratliff to throw it away. Too far for a FG? 52 yards? The Jets fail to pin the punt at the 1. Brown had both feet on the goal line.
Redskins have just over 2:00 to travel 80 yards. Brennan to McMullen for 37, so they're already in Jet territory with 1:55 left. Nice throw by Brennan. Draw to Mason for 10. Dwight Lowery blitzes in and Spencer gets the sack of Brennan. They lost 4. 2nd-14 from the 33, the Jets bring 3 blitzers, Brennan dumps over the middle for Goode, Ihedigbo makes a TERRIBLE play, I think he was trying for the ball but came nowhere close, leaving the entire middle of the field open for Goode to run for a 33-yard TD. #1, the Jets shouldn't have blitzed; #2, Ihedigbo should have been looking for the tackle, not the INT. F'ed up play by the Jets coaches and players. Washington now leads, 13-10, 1:14 left.
1st down Jets at their 24. 1:02 left. 5 to Chatman. From the 29, Ratliff dumps off to Pociask, who Vernon Fox tries to drop with a forearm shiver instead of a textbook tackle, and rumbles off for a huge 31-yard gain. Draw play? Chatman spins twice and breaks a couple of tackles for a 17-yard gain. Jets are at the Redskins' 23. Ratliff to Henry for 8, using their first timeout with 0:22 left. Ratliff hits Henry inside the 5 for a first-and-goal with 0:15 left. Cedrick Holt rides David Ball out of the end zone sideline with 0:09 left. You know what, I really like the forceout rule. Ratliff has Raymond WIDE OPEN in the end zone, throws it a little behind him, AND HE DROPS IT. 3rd-goal with 5 seconds left. Jets use their final TO to prevent a delay of game. Glad to see Mangenius avoiding the FG.
NOW HE'S SENDING OUT THE FIELD GOAL UNIT?!?!?!?! ROT IN HELL, MANGENIUS! NO PLAYING FOR TIES IN PRESEASON!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! SERVES MANGENIUS RIGHT! Nugent appears to mishit the ball, and instead of making a 23-yard chippie every kicker should be able to make in his sleep, he DOINKS it off the left upright, which prevents the tie.
SERVES MANGENIUS RIGHT FOR NOT GOING FOR THE WIN IN PRESEASON. ASS.
Redskins win 13-10, and the Jets have a problem at placekicker, where Nugent BLEW two very makeable kicks tonight.
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Ratliff still looks awesome for the Jets. Mike Nugent, not so much. Jeff Wilkins may be getting a call. Why not? By the way, THIS IS WHY YOU NEVER DRAFT A KICKER. They spent a second-round pick on a guy who gags on 23-yarders? Boschetti looks like the main player to emerge from this game for Washington, a game they didn't deserve to win.
23 down, 42 to go. I am not certain where I'm going next. Possibly Vikings-Ravens, which is next on my TiVo queue, or Lions-Bengals, which I think is next in my DVD queue.
Either I'm a sick SOB, or this is starting to get fun.
Game 22: Bills 24, Steelers 21
You see, we Americans dump off the work we won't do to foreigners. Work like crop-picking, janitorial services, landscaping... and watching preseason football games.
From the Rogers Centre, nee Skydome, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, eh? - we've got the Bills vs. the Steelers, in what we'll call the 2008 NAFTA Bowl.
Mewelde Moore returns a short kick only to the 22. Good directional kick coverage, which Bills special teams coach Bobby April never got to work here, by Buffalo. Naked bootleg screen on the opening play; Big Ben Roethlisberger avoids the DE and manages to make the play work for 7.
NOW, CAN I PLEASE GET ALL NFL OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS TO REMOVE THIS STUPID PLAY FROM THEIR PLAYBOOKS?
Continuing to embrace the Canadian nature of tonight's game, the introduction of the Steeler starting offense is sponsored by Tim Horton's. Willie Parker loses .94 meters. Big Ben hits Santonio Holmes on a square out for 13. Parker gets a couple off left tackle. Aaron Schobel nearly gets Ben on 2nd down, but he escapes and hits Hines Ward on the sideline at the Buffalo 35. Man that Roethlisberger is hard to bring down when he's not on a motorcycle. Quick hitch to Ward for 5. 4 for Parker gives us 3rd-and-1. Parker gets a couple but Justin Hartwig held. 3rd-11 from the Buffalo 37. Great pressure by Chris Kelsay for Buffalo forces a BRUTAL hold by Willie Colon and flushes Ben out of the pocket, where his on-the-run throw is picked off by Donte Whitner. Ben had a receiver, but Ko Simpson flashed in and deflected it to Whitner. People have been saying the Steelers have issues at the tackles; that sure showed up this drive.
Bills at their 33. Trent Edwards hits Lee Evans on a deep out for 23. Lynch runs a pattern upfield for and 8-yard catch, then runs a counter left for 7. 1st-down incomplete for the TE underneath. Edwards getting good protection. Lynch cuts back left for 11. Bills in the red zone. They try to beat a blitz with an inside handoff to Lynch but he gets just one. Quick pass to Evans makes it first and goal at the 8. Draw to Lynch for 2. I really hate Buffalo's current uniforms in all-blue. The throwbacks looked SO much better last week. Steelers got away with some holding in the end zone, it looked like. Edwards' pass falls harmlessly incomplete. 3rd-goal. Edwards hits Robert Royal between three Steelers in the back of the end zone for a TD. 7-0 Bills. Nice catch by Royal.
Two big things about that drive. Buffalo protected Edwards extremely well, and he looked damn confident in the pocket, played with a ton of poise and threw very accurately. I made fun of Trent Edwards last preseason, but right now, I'd give ya Marc Bulger for him.
Carey Davis returns the kick to Pittsburgh's 32. Starters still in. Parker off right tackle for 6. Quick pass up the seam to Matt Spaeth for 16 across midfield. Bubble screen to Parker for 4, then a run left for 1 leaves 3rd-and-5. False start, 3rd-and-10. Ben gets flushed out of the pocket and has to throw it away. Buffalo has a good defensive line; they're getting pressure on Ben just rushing 4. Don't see a lot of blitzing there. Steelers punt.
Bills start at their 10. Edwards holds the ball way too long this time and is sacked by James Harrison, beat LT Langston Walker. Lynch loses another nice run to a hold. 2nd-18 from the 2. Lynch gets about 5. Bills OL really controlling the LOS. Hey, the first quarter's already over. 7-0, Buffalo.
Steelers overload the left side and blitz, but Edwards escapes it and runs away with a 22 yard gain and a first down. Aw, Pittsburgh, how could ya do that on THIRD AND 12??? Fred Jackson now in for Lynch, gaining 3. Another blitz beater, quick pass to Roscoe Parrish, gains Buffalo 16 out to the 47. All the Steeler blitzers are getting picked up right now. 23 to Lee Evans. The Steeler blitz is not getting through fast enough. Jackson barely keeps his feet to gain 5 on a screen. Bad tackle by Ryan Clark. Should have lost 5. Jackson over the right side for 6. Buffalo's in the red zone again. Jackson over the right side again, for 6. Now Edwards dumps off to Jackson, but for no gain. 3rd and 4 from the Steeler 13. Edwards hits Royal at the 3, and he splits two defenders for the TD. Wow, I'm not drafting the Pittsburgh defense in FFL this year. 14-0, Buffalo.
Steelers take over from their 25. Ben remains in at QB. 24 to Ward on a seam route. Rashard Mendenhall in for Parker, no gain. 3rd-8 from midfield, false start. 3rd-13. First down to Moore off a simple circle route. How come nobody had him? From the 40, beautiful pass from Ben to the lethal deep man Holmes in the end zone for a 40-yard TD. Holmes burned (it's not your booty, it's) Youboty, and the safety George Wilson was late getting over. 14-7, 6:26 left in the half.
Leodis McKelvin gets shut down at the 18 on the kick return. JP Losman takes over at QB for Buffalo. Jackson gains 4 into the teeth of a blitz. No gain on 2nd down, and Losman's sacked on third down. Harrison whipped Demetrius Bell at LT to flush Losman into Brett Keisel. That's just a strong bull rush by Harrison. Punt, Buffalo.
Steelers open in good field position at their 43. The NFL welcomes back Byron Leftwich, and he GUNS one to Nate Washington for 25. Mendenhall gets a couple. Quick hitch to Washington goes for 6 yards. 3rd-2 from the Bills 24. Leftwich throws much too hard for the TE on a short underneath route. On 4th down, Jeff Reed YAKKS on a 41-yarder. Score remains 14-7.
Bills are at their 32 with 2:31 left in the half. Dwayne Wright gains 8 as Buffalo lets the clock run down to 2:00. Crappy play by Parrish in the flat, failing to get out of bounds with a short catch. Got a first down, though. Nick Eason bats down the Losman pass on 1st down. On 3rd-and-7, nobody seems real interested in using their timeouts. The clock runs all the way down to 0:38 before Buffalo TO's. Finally. Losman's dropped with authority by Lawrence Timmons for a sack to force a punt. Steelers have 6 seconds to do something from their 30. Leftwich gets sacked and loses the ball. Spencer Johnson stepped out of bounds attempting to recover it and Pittsburgh keeps the ball. Should have been a challenge there. Pittsburgh runs out the clock; we're 14-7, Buffalo at halftime. Steelers got very lucky that fumble recovery didn't go Buffalo's way.
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I'm very impressed with Buffalo's offensive and defensive lines. Pittsburgh pulled out lots of blitzes but didn't get good pass pressure and didn't stop the run well. Trent Edwards looked like he can deal as well as anybody if you keep his shirt clean. Paul Posluszny continues to be everywhere on D. I continue to have enthusiasm about Buffalo's future. Santonio Holmes continues to be a big playmaker for Pittsburgh, and while James Harrison was in at DE, he dominated.
Buffalo will start the 2nd half at their 30 after Leodis McKelvin's return. Losman hands off to Wright up the middle for 8. Wright gets 5 more as Buffalo's controlling the LOS again right off the bat. Couple of more touches for Wright sets up 3rd-and-2 at midfield. They run away from a blitz, and Wright gains 16 off left tackle. 6 to Felton Huggins on 1st down, but Buffalo can't get the rest in two runs. They kick on 4th-and-1, and Lindell hits from 43 to give them a 17-7 lead.
Willie Reid sets Pittsburgh up at the 35 with a good return. Gary Russell breaks tackles for a 6-yard gain. A couple for Mendenhall over the right side. Rashard's not getting much done tonight. Leftwich's 3rd-down pass is knocked down by Spencer Johnson, who has played well.
Matt Baker is Buffalo's new QB. They start from their 8, was there a penalty on the punt return? Naked bootleg screen to Jonathan Evans for 3. A Wright fumble knocks them back to the 5. That was a problem for him last week, too. 3rd-14. Draw to Bruce Hall comes up a few yards short. Did Wright get the hook?
Eddie Drummond brings the punt back to the 38. Mendenhall's swarmed for a 2-yard loss. Leftwich fires high and wild on 2nd down. Nice pass breakup by Bryan Scott on 3rd down. The punt bounces backward and Steve Johnson of the Bills lights up a big "CUT ME" sign over his head by idiotically letting it touch him. Pittsburgh recovers, and they're right back in business. Mendenhall spins out of trouble behind the LOS and bangs for 9 down to the 9. 2nd-and-1, Mendenhall finds out you can't roller skate in a Buffalo herd and loses 1. He gets the first on the next try, though. 1st-and-goal from the 8. Pittsburgh analyst points out Mendenhall continues to run too upright. He did that last week, too. But then Mendenhall busts off left tackle for the easy TD. Bills 17, Steelers 14, about 2:00 left in the third.
McKelvin hits a seam, leaves the kicker Ernster in the dust with a fake, and has as easy a kickoff return TD as you'll see. Another reason to be enthused about Buffalo's chances this year. He made a big return last week. A big reason you can tell McKelvin's for real is that he puts the fake on the kicker and finishes off the TD. How many times this summer have dummies let themselves get tackled by the kicker? Anyways, Buffalo's 10-point lead is back, 24-14.
Bills use a pop-up kick and stop Pittsburgh at the 22. Again, a play April never got to work in St. Louis. Steelers get a first down across the 33 to run out the 3rd quarter.
Limas Sweed opens the 4th quarter with a nasty drop. Reid has an even worse drop on 3rd down. Leftwich hit him right in the breadbasket. No gain for McKelvin after fielding the punt at his 19.
Xavier Omon in the game at RB for Buffalo. Holding on Steve Johnson tackling a blitzer. Omon for 1. Pointless screen pass and punt are imminent. OK, inside handoff.
Dennis Dixon is the Pittsburgh QB now. Short pass to Dallas Baker. 3rd-3 at midfield, 12 men in the huddle for Pittsburgh. 3rd-8. Dixon scrambles for 7, creating a 4th-and-1. They fake a sweep left and bootleg Dixon right. He goes up the sideline, gets a downfield block from Sweed, and sprints 46 yards for a TD. 24-21. Dixon can play this game tape for anybody with questions about the soundness of the knee he hurt last year. 4:31 left.
Gibran Hamdan will finish at QB for Buffalo. Drive starts at their 21. Only problem for Pittsburgh is that Omon's tearing off 9-10 yards a rush. They're at the Steeler 43 at the 2:00 warning. Steelers
burn through all their timeouts and have to stop Buffalo on 4th and 1 at their 38 to get the ball back. Hamdan can't draw them offsides and calls his own timeout. Not a clutch punt by Buffalo - guess where it lands.
Pittsburgh from their 20, 1:37 left, no timeouts. Youboty flashes in for a sack outside of RT Jeremy Parquet. Huge loss for Dixon. 2nd down, Dixon has to get rid of the ball. 3rd down from the 6, he finds Dallas Baker OVER THE MIDDLE FOR 25. What the F was Buffalo doing there? Incompletion stops the clock at 0:32. Dixon's 2nd down throw is behind Baker incomplete. Steelers pick up the blitz nicely but Dixon way overthrows Sweed. 4th and 10, 23 seconds left. ANOTHER clutch completion, to Baker for 20+. They get the clock stopped with a spike and are at the Buffalo 43 with six seconds left. Whoa, looked like Micah Rucker got his hands on the Hail Mary pass in the end zone, but it ends up knocked on the ground for the win for Buffalo. That was a flat out drop by Rucker. The Bills didn't really hit him or get a piece of the ball. He simply dropped it. The lady at the unemployment office will see you now.
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Pittsburgh had three sacks, but Buffalo was in control of the line of scrimmage most of the game. The Steelers especially look like they're in trouble at OT. That aside, nice games by Harrison, Holmes and Dixon. Tough game for Mendenhall, though. I still really like what the Bills have got going, and it looks like they made a super move drafting McKelvin, who looks like the next Devin Hester. Omon bounced back well from last week, fumble-prone Wright didn't.
Well, I was hoping to get more than one game in tonight, but I'll take what I can get.
This makes 22 down, 43 to go.
Up next: BFF's home debut against the Redskins.
From the Rogers Centre, nee Skydome, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, eh? - we've got the Bills vs. the Steelers, in what we'll call the 2008 NAFTA Bowl.
Mewelde Moore returns a short kick only to the 22. Good directional kick coverage, which Bills special teams coach Bobby April never got to work here, by Buffalo. Naked bootleg screen on the opening play; Big Ben Roethlisberger avoids the DE and manages to make the play work for 7.
NOW, CAN I PLEASE GET ALL NFL OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS TO REMOVE THIS STUPID PLAY FROM THEIR PLAYBOOKS?
Continuing to embrace the Canadian nature of tonight's game, the introduction of the Steeler starting offense is sponsored by Tim Horton's. Willie Parker loses .94 meters. Big Ben hits Santonio Holmes on a square out for 13. Parker gets a couple off left tackle. Aaron Schobel nearly gets Ben on 2nd down, but he escapes and hits Hines Ward on the sideline at the Buffalo 35. Man that Roethlisberger is hard to bring down when he's not on a motorcycle. Quick hitch to Ward for 5. 4 for Parker gives us 3rd-and-1. Parker gets a couple but Justin Hartwig held. 3rd-11 from the Buffalo 37. Great pressure by Chris Kelsay for Buffalo forces a BRUTAL hold by Willie Colon and flushes Ben out of the pocket, where his on-the-run throw is picked off by Donte Whitner. Ben had a receiver, but Ko Simpson flashed in and deflected it to Whitner. People have been saying the Steelers have issues at the tackles; that sure showed up this drive.
Bills at their 33. Trent Edwards hits Lee Evans on a deep out for 23. Lynch runs a pattern upfield for and 8-yard catch, then runs a counter left for 7. 1st-down incomplete for the TE underneath. Edwards getting good protection. Lynch cuts back left for 11. Bills in the red zone. They try to beat a blitz with an inside handoff to Lynch but he gets just one. Quick pass to Evans makes it first and goal at the 8. Draw to Lynch for 2. I really hate Buffalo's current uniforms in all-blue. The throwbacks looked SO much better last week. Steelers got away with some holding in the end zone, it looked like. Edwards' pass falls harmlessly incomplete. 3rd-goal. Edwards hits Robert Royal between three Steelers in the back of the end zone for a TD. 7-0 Bills. Nice catch by Royal.
Two big things about that drive. Buffalo protected Edwards extremely well, and he looked damn confident in the pocket, played with a ton of poise and threw very accurately. I made fun of Trent Edwards last preseason, but right now, I'd give ya Marc Bulger for him.
Carey Davis returns the kick to Pittsburgh's 32. Starters still in. Parker off right tackle for 6. Quick pass up the seam to Matt Spaeth for 16 across midfield. Bubble screen to Parker for 4, then a run left for 1 leaves 3rd-and-5. False start, 3rd-and-10. Ben gets flushed out of the pocket and has to throw it away. Buffalo has a good defensive line; they're getting pressure on Ben just rushing 4. Don't see a lot of blitzing there. Steelers punt.
Bills start at their 10. Edwards holds the ball way too long this time and is sacked by James Harrison, beat LT Langston Walker. Lynch loses another nice run to a hold. 2nd-18 from the 2. Lynch gets about 5. Bills OL really controlling the LOS. Hey, the first quarter's already over. 7-0, Buffalo.
Steelers overload the left side and blitz, but Edwards escapes it and runs away with a 22 yard gain and a first down. Aw, Pittsburgh, how could ya do that on THIRD AND 12??? Fred Jackson now in for Lynch, gaining 3. Another blitz beater, quick pass to Roscoe Parrish, gains Buffalo 16 out to the 47. All the Steeler blitzers are getting picked up right now. 23 to Lee Evans. The Steeler blitz is not getting through fast enough. Jackson barely keeps his feet to gain 5 on a screen. Bad tackle by Ryan Clark. Should have lost 5. Jackson over the right side for 6. Buffalo's in the red zone again. Jackson over the right side again, for 6. Now Edwards dumps off to Jackson, but for no gain. 3rd and 4 from the Steeler 13. Edwards hits Royal at the 3, and he splits two defenders for the TD. Wow, I'm not drafting the Pittsburgh defense in FFL this year. 14-0, Buffalo.
Steelers take over from their 25. Ben remains in at QB. 24 to Ward on a seam route. Rashard Mendenhall in for Parker, no gain. 3rd-8 from midfield, false start. 3rd-13. First down to Moore off a simple circle route. How come nobody had him? From the 40, beautiful pass from Ben to the lethal deep man Holmes in the end zone for a 40-yard TD. Holmes burned (it's not your booty, it's) Youboty, and the safety George Wilson was late getting over. 14-7, 6:26 left in the half.
Leodis McKelvin gets shut down at the 18 on the kick return. JP Losman takes over at QB for Buffalo. Jackson gains 4 into the teeth of a blitz. No gain on 2nd down, and Losman's sacked on third down. Harrison whipped Demetrius Bell at LT to flush Losman into Brett Keisel. That's just a strong bull rush by Harrison. Punt, Buffalo.
Steelers open in good field position at their 43. The NFL welcomes back Byron Leftwich, and he GUNS one to Nate Washington for 25. Mendenhall gets a couple. Quick hitch to Washington goes for 6 yards. 3rd-2 from the Bills 24. Leftwich throws much too hard for the TE on a short underneath route. On 4th down, Jeff Reed YAKKS on a 41-yarder. Score remains 14-7.
Bills are at their 32 with 2:31 left in the half. Dwayne Wright gains 8 as Buffalo lets the clock run down to 2:00. Crappy play by Parrish in the flat, failing to get out of bounds with a short catch. Got a first down, though. Nick Eason bats down the Losman pass on 1st down. On 3rd-and-7, nobody seems real interested in using their timeouts. The clock runs all the way down to 0:38 before Buffalo TO's. Finally. Losman's dropped with authority by Lawrence Timmons for a sack to force a punt. Steelers have 6 seconds to do something from their 30. Leftwich gets sacked and loses the ball. Spencer Johnson stepped out of bounds attempting to recover it and Pittsburgh keeps the ball. Should have been a challenge there. Pittsburgh runs out the clock; we're 14-7, Buffalo at halftime. Steelers got very lucky that fumble recovery didn't go Buffalo's way.
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I'm very impressed with Buffalo's offensive and defensive lines. Pittsburgh pulled out lots of blitzes but didn't get good pass pressure and didn't stop the run well. Trent Edwards looked like he can deal as well as anybody if you keep his shirt clean. Paul Posluszny continues to be everywhere on D. I continue to have enthusiasm about Buffalo's future. Santonio Holmes continues to be a big playmaker for Pittsburgh, and while James Harrison was in at DE, he dominated.
Buffalo will start the 2nd half at their 30 after Leodis McKelvin's return. Losman hands off to Wright up the middle for 8. Wright gets 5 more as Buffalo's controlling the LOS again right off the bat. Couple of more touches for Wright sets up 3rd-and-2 at midfield. They run away from a blitz, and Wright gains 16 off left tackle. 6 to Felton Huggins on 1st down, but Buffalo can't get the rest in two runs. They kick on 4th-and-1, and Lindell hits from 43 to give them a 17-7 lead.
Willie Reid sets Pittsburgh up at the 35 with a good return. Gary Russell breaks tackles for a 6-yard gain. A couple for Mendenhall over the right side. Rashard's not getting much done tonight. Leftwich's 3rd-down pass is knocked down by Spencer Johnson, who has played well.
Matt Baker is Buffalo's new QB. They start from their 8, was there a penalty on the punt return? Naked bootleg screen to Jonathan Evans for 3. A Wright fumble knocks them back to the 5. That was a problem for him last week, too. 3rd-14. Draw to Bruce Hall comes up a few yards short. Did Wright get the hook?
Eddie Drummond brings the punt back to the 38. Mendenhall's swarmed for a 2-yard loss. Leftwich fires high and wild on 2nd down. Nice pass breakup by Bryan Scott on 3rd down. The punt bounces backward and Steve Johnson of the Bills lights up a big "CUT ME" sign over his head by idiotically letting it touch him. Pittsburgh recovers, and they're right back in business. Mendenhall spins out of trouble behind the LOS and bangs for 9 down to the 9. 2nd-and-1, Mendenhall finds out you can't roller skate in a Buffalo herd and loses 1. He gets the first on the next try, though. 1st-and-goal from the 8. Pittsburgh analyst points out Mendenhall continues to run too upright. He did that last week, too. But then Mendenhall busts off left tackle for the easy TD. Bills 17, Steelers 14, about 2:00 left in the third.
McKelvin hits a seam, leaves the kicker Ernster in the dust with a fake, and has as easy a kickoff return TD as you'll see. Another reason to be enthused about Buffalo's chances this year. He made a big return last week. A big reason you can tell McKelvin's for real is that he puts the fake on the kicker and finishes off the TD. How many times this summer have dummies let themselves get tackled by the kicker? Anyways, Buffalo's 10-point lead is back, 24-14.
Bills use a pop-up kick and stop Pittsburgh at the 22. Again, a play April never got to work in St. Louis. Steelers get a first down across the 33 to run out the 3rd quarter.
Limas Sweed opens the 4th quarter with a nasty drop. Reid has an even worse drop on 3rd down. Leftwich hit him right in the breadbasket. No gain for McKelvin after fielding the punt at his 19.
Xavier Omon in the game at RB for Buffalo. Holding on Steve Johnson tackling a blitzer. Omon for 1. Pointless screen pass and punt are imminent. OK, inside handoff.
Dennis Dixon is the Pittsburgh QB now. Short pass to Dallas Baker. 3rd-3 at midfield, 12 men in the huddle for Pittsburgh. 3rd-8. Dixon scrambles for 7, creating a 4th-and-1. They fake a sweep left and bootleg Dixon right. He goes up the sideline, gets a downfield block from Sweed, and sprints 46 yards for a TD. 24-21. Dixon can play this game tape for anybody with questions about the soundness of the knee he hurt last year. 4:31 left.
Gibran Hamdan will finish at QB for Buffalo. Drive starts at their 21. Only problem for Pittsburgh is that Omon's tearing off 9-10 yards a rush. They're at the Steeler 43 at the 2:00 warning. Steelers
burn through all their timeouts and have to stop Buffalo on 4th and 1 at their 38 to get the ball back. Hamdan can't draw them offsides and calls his own timeout. Not a clutch punt by Buffalo - guess where it lands.
Pittsburgh from their 20, 1:37 left, no timeouts. Youboty flashes in for a sack outside of RT Jeremy Parquet. Huge loss for Dixon. 2nd down, Dixon has to get rid of the ball. 3rd down from the 6, he finds Dallas Baker OVER THE MIDDLE FOR 25. What the F was Buffalo doing there? Incompletion stops the clock at 0:32. Dixon's 2nd down throw is behind Baker incomplete. Steelers pick up the blitz nicely but Dixon way overthrows Sweed. 4th and 10, 23 seconds left. ANOTHER clutch completion, to Baker for 20+. They get the clock stopped with a spike and are at the Buffalo 43 with six seconds left. Whoa, looked like Micah Rucker got his hands on the Hail Mary pass in the end zone, but it ends up knocked on the ground for the win for Buffalo. That was a flat out drop by Rucker. The Bills didn't really hit him or get a piece of the ball. He simply dropped it. The lady at the unemployment office will see you now.
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Pittsburgh had three sacks, but Buffalo was in control of the line of scrimmage most of the game. The Steelers especially look like they're in trouble at OT. That aside, nice games by Harrison, Holmes and Dixon. Tough game for Mendenhall, though. I still really like what the Bills have got going, and it looks like they made a super move drafting McKelvin, who looks like the next Devin Hester. Omon bounced back well from last week, fumble-prone Wright didn't.
Well, I was hoping to get more than one game in tonight, but I'll take what I can get.
This makes 22 down, 43 to go.
Up next: BFF's home debut against the Redskins.
Game 21: Buccaneers 27, Patriots 10
Tonight's Patriots-Bucs game is coming to you LIVE on NFL Network. Broadcast team is Fran Charles, Marshall Marshall Marshall Faulk (Yay), and Sterling Sharpe (Ugh).
No Tom Brady tonight, as he has decided to torment fantasy football players everywhere by staying behind in New England with an ankle injury, I think. Same thing he was in the boot for prior to the Super Bowl? Matt Cassell to start.
No Jeff Garcia tonight, either.
Brian Griese leads Tampa onto the field after the billionth touchback of the NFL preseason. Earnest Graham sees his first action of preseason, with two runs for nine yards before Antonio (D! U! I! A! B!) Bryant gets 16 off an end around. Third down at midfield, Griese hits Alex Smith (the TE, not the Whiner QB) for another first. 7 to Warrick Dunn to a big ovation at the New Sombrero. Dunn stutter-steps and spins for the first down. Tampa at the NE 33. 8 to Ike Hilliard along the sideline. No gain for Graham on 2nd and 2. Hilliard scoops up a low pass for 3 and a first down and should get 15 for taunting, but doesn't. From the 22, a little flare to Dunn for 2. He squirts through the middle for 8 and another 1st. Dunn takes a dumpoff from Griese at the 5 to set up 3rd and 3. Slant to Bryant is good for first-and-goal at the 1. Graham pushes his way into the endzone for an opening TD. Extremely impressive drive. 17 plays, 80 yards, 9 1/2 minutes. Griese went 8 for 8. 7-0, Bucs.
Ellis Hobbs returns Matt Bryant's kick to the 22. Maroney lurches up the middle for 5, then 3. Poor pass by Cassell is picked off, one-handed, by Barrett Ruud. Wow, this isn't a great start for the Invincibles. OK, it wasn't an interception (that was a terrible call, the ball clearly hit the ground), but it's still 4th-and-2, the Patriots still 3-and-outed, the Patriots are still punting.
Tampa's ball with 3:51 left in the quarter. Michael Bennett left for 4. Richard Seymour bats down the 2nd-down pass. Stupid smoke route to Hilliard comes up short. Fucking Tampa Bay. We can look forward to another 200 three-yard pass routes tonight. Tampa gives New England 15 by interfering with Chad Jackson fielding the punt.
Maroney pops for 10 off the left side. Tampa holds him to 1 yard the next two runs. On 3rd-and-9, they run the classic screen to Wes Welker - where's he been all game? - and he picks up 13 as the first quarter ends.
Welker's being unleashed now. Cassell hits him for 7. Draw to Sammy Morris for 1. 3rd-2, Cassell spends a timeout. Welker gets them another first down. Ryan Sims stuffs Maroney for a loss in the backfield. I'm getting deja vu. I just remembered writing about Sims being a former Patriot during last year's Challenge. Creepy. A penalty makes it 2nd-and-17, and Kevin Faulk fumbles the ball away on a draw, recovered by Jimmy Wilkerson.
Bennett's held up at the line of scrimmage but keeps pumping and breaks through for 13. Luke McCown is the new Buc signal-caller; he hits Bryant with a short pass, he breaks a tackle and sprints off to the Patriot 30. Bennett chugs for 7 more, then 2 up the middle to set up 3rd-and-1 at the NE 21. Bennett plunges for the first down at the 20. McCown scrambles left for 4. McCown got under pressure and dumped off to fullback Byron Storer for no gain. 3rd-6, McCown overthrows a receiver in the back of the end zone. Bryant hits the 34-yard FG with no trouble, and Tampa Bay's up 10-0.
7:16 till halftime, Patriots take over from their 22. Brady's injury is described as a "sore foot", not an ankle problem as I thought before. Maroney bobbles a pass away and sweeps left from a loss. Cassell has to run for his life from a Buc blitz on 3rd down and gains six. Three-and-out.
Penalty kills a nice punt return by rookie Dexter Jackson. From his 14, Bennett blasts up the middle for 24. Big block by Davin Joseph. McCown to Maurice Stovall to 17. Bennett has 7 more, to the Patriot 38. Kenneth Darby busts off left end behind a Michael Clayton block for 10. The Patriots look like the Rams. Safety valve screen to Darby gets 11 more. 2nd-10 at the NE 14 at the 2:00 warning. Bennett takes a dumpoff down to the 1. Play action at the goal line, and McCown hits Storer for an easy TD. Buccaneers lead 17-0.
Matthew Slater returns the kick to the 32. Cassell hits Randy Moss for the first time, for 10. Cassell gets drilled by Albert Mack on a scramble. 3rd and 2, Cassell hits Moss at the TB 38. Gain of 12. I have no idea how much time is left because the NFL Network graphic actually starts higher than the top of my TV screen. OK, there's 2 seconds left. Enough time for Gostkowski to stick a 53-yarder, JOSH BROWN. 17-3 Bucs at halftime.
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Do the Patriots just not care? Belichick must care a little, because he actually had Moss and Welker in there for a while, but the rest of the team looks awful. The offense is sloppy beyond belief and refuses to take care of the ball. And should Tampa Bay's offense be running through ANYBODY like this? Big statement by Brian Griese right off the bat for the Bucs. Michael Bennett continues to look like their best RB.
Slater returns the opening kickoff of the 2nd half to the 29. Then, it's PRESEASON SHENANIGANS! Wild snap by Dan Connelly surprises Cassell, he tries to knock it down but bats it right to Sabby Piscitelli of the Bucs, who picks up the gift-wrapped turnover and runs it in for the quick score. 24-3, Bucs.
I love how the NFL-N crew is trying to make the Patriots' play tonight an issue. They lost 31-0 at Jacksonville a couple of preseasons ago! Settle down!
Cassell and company follow that turnover TD with another brutal possession. Piscatelli drops Morris for a loss, Pollard drops a pass from Cassell, Heath Evans drops the third down pass. The Patriots are deep in the Apathy Zone; let's just hope their fans are, too.
Bucs start from their 22. I'm not going to get to finish this game before more NFLN games come on. If my TiVo doesn't eat any of these games, it'll be a shock. After Darby falls on his own fumble, McCown hits Clifton Smith for no gain on a swing pass. McCown appears to hit Ben Troupe for the first down the next play, but he's out of bounds. Bucs punt.
Patriots open up shop at their 28. New QB is Kevin O'Connell. First play, he rolls right, avoids a tackler, and throws an ignorant interception to Elbert Mack along the sideline. That pass had no chance whatsoever of being caught by a Patriot. Wow.
Chris Simms comes in for Tampa, taking over at the NE 30. He hits TE Paris Warren in the flat and he gets 9 and a first down in the red zone. He hits Daniel Fells over the middle short, and he bashes his way for 15 down to the 1. Darby tries to go outside on first and goal and loses 2. Shawn Crable again for the Patriots. Tampa mysteriously starts the next play at 11. I'd appreciate it if NFL-N would show us penalties. Smith gets them back down to the 6. Lucas drops a very catchable ball in the end zone. Ouch. 3rd-goal, Simms' pass is batted down at the line. Blecch. Bryant hits one of the chippiest of chips to put the Bucs up 27-3.
CJ Jones sets the Pats up at their 25. TWO STRAIGHT DROPS BY JONES ON SECOND AND THIRD DOWN. CJ JONES MAY BE THE WORST RECEIVER IN NFL HISTORY. Patriots punt.
Bucs are at midfield following Michael Spurlock's punt return, but Simms gets crushed by Steve Fefita for a 6-yard loss. Simms has to scramble for it on 3rd down but slides a few yards short. Back atcha, Pats.
Jones nearly lets the punt bounce off of him IN THE END ZONE while he's blocking a Buc away from downing the ball in play. Sammy Morris gets stuffed on 2nd-and-5 and the stupid short pass on third down IS SHORT, OF COURSE. It's amazing to see football being played this badly by people in Patriot uniforms.
Tampa at their 33, 2:02 left in the 3rd. Marshall Faulk catches Slater playing - safety? 3rd-and-5, Simms holds the ball FAR too long and gets smeared by three Patriots, including Crable, who strips the ball from him. Bucs recover to ensure this game's FOURTH CONSECUTIVE THREE-AND-OUT. As long as Simms held the ball there, I wonder what other internal organs he plans on donating.
Good punt return by Jones, 20+ yards out to the Patriots 43. OH MY GOD SEND THIS BALL TO THE HALL OF FAME, it's not only a FIRST DOWN, it's A CATCH BY CJ JONES. Good for 14 into Buc territory. New RB is BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Pats run on 3rd-3 and don't get it. They'll go for it, 4th-2 at the Buc 36. O'Connell scrambles for the first. Chad Jackson gets a 12-yard catch to move them inside the 20, then O'Connell and Jones make a nice connection on a slant pass at the 1-yard line. Heath Evans forges in with 10:20 left to make it 27-9. GO FOR TWO! GO FOR TWO! j/k Gostkowski adds the PAT to make it 27-10.
Bucs take over at their 30 with Josh Johnson at QB. A handoff goes nowhere. A Johnson scramble is interesting but goes nowhere. Vince Redd sacks Johnson for a huge loss on 3rd down. They got to him so fast he never got to scan the field. VIVA PRESEASON!
O'Connell and the Pats from their 36. Dumpoff is tipped by Marques Douglas, not like it's a PREDICTABLE play or anything. Poor pass for Pollard incomplete on 2nd down. On the run, he hits Ray Ventrone over the middle for 7, and NE's going for it again on 4th down, from their 43. 5-yard catch by Chad Jackson for the 1st. Buc blitz blows up a screen for an incompletion. Ventrone takes a big hit after a 4-yard catch. O'Connell can't connect with Jackson on 3rd down. Belichick's going for it again. 5:28 left at the Buc 46. O'Connell's pass is deflected at the line and falls incomplete.
Bless the Bucs for keeping the clock running here. Darby is finally breaking thru the Patriot line. He gets 12 in two rushes, then Johnson throws a 9-yard dart. Bucs are at the NE 30 at the 2:00 warning.
Bless both teams for keeping the clock running, though the endaround to Dexter Jackson at this point of the game is a little cheesy. It does get them a first down and lets Johnson kneel out the game, so it served its purpose. Bucs win, 27-10.
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That's two games now the Patriots have looked like the Rams did in Tennessee. If the Rams' preseason play were not improving, we'd all be beside ourselves. The Patriots, of course, are coming off an all-time great season, and I'm going to continue to assume they just don't care how they look in preseason. In fact, I know they don't care, because as of 8/28, the day I'm actually getting my game notes into the blog, CJ JONES, THE WORST NFL PLAYER EVER, IS STILL ON THE TEAM. I think I'd start O'Connell if Brady's really hurt. Lone bright spot was probably Shawn Crable. Brian Griese might be in the mix as Tampa's starting QB with the night he had here. Other players that stood out to me were Bennett offensively and Piscitelli defensively.
21 down, 44 to go, he wrote Pollyannishly.
Next up: Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo. The Canadian Clash. The Toronto Tilt. The Ontario - orgy?
No Tom Brady tonight, as he has decided to torment fantasy football players everywhere by staying behind in New England with an ankle injury, I think. Same thing he was in the boot for prior to the Super Bowl? Matt Cassell to start.
No Jeff Garcia tonight, either.
Brian Griese leads Tampa onto the field after the billionth touchback of the NFL preseason. Earnest Graham sees his first action of preseason, with two runs for nine yards before Antonio (D! U! I! A! B!) Bryant gets 16 off an end around. Third down at midfield, Griese hits Alex Smith (the TE, not the Whiner QB) for another first. 7 to Warrick Dunn to a big ovation at the New Sombrero. Dunn stutter-steps and spins for the first down. Tampa at the NE 33. 8 to Ike Hilliard along the sideline. No gain for Graham on 2nd and 2. Hilliard scoops up a low pass for 3 and a first down and should get 15 for taunting, but doesn't. From the 22, a little flare to Dunn for 2. He squirts through the middle for 8 and another 1st. Dunn takes a dumpoff from Griese at the 5 to set up 3rd and 3. Slant to Bryant is good for first-and-goal at the 1. Graham pushes his way into the endzone for an opening TD. Extremely impressive drive. 17 plays, 80 yards, 9 1/2 minutes. Griese went 8 for 8. 7-0, Bucs.
Ellis Hobbs returns Matt Bryant's kick to the 22. Maroney lurches up the middle for 5, then 3. Poor pass by Cassell is picked off, one-handed, by Barrett Ruud. Wow, this isn't a great start for the Invincibles. OK, it wasn't an interception (that was a terrible call, the ball clearly hit the ground), but it's still 4th-and-2, the Patriots still 3-and-outed, the Patriots are still punting.
Tampa's ball with 3:51 left in the quarter. Michael Bennett left for 4. Richard Seymour bats down the 2nd-down pass. Stupid smoke route to Hilliard comes up short. Fucking Tampa Bay. We can look forward to another 200 three-yard pass routes tonight. Tampa gives New England 15 by interfering with Chad Jackson fielding the punt.
Maroney pops for 10 off the left side. Tampa holds him to 1 yard the next two runs. On 3rd-and-9, they run the classic screen to Wes Welker - where's he been all game? - and he picks up 13 as the first quarter ends.
Welker's being unleashed now. Cassell hits him for 7. Draw to Sammy Morris for 1. 3rd-2, Cassell spends a timeout. Welker gets them another first down. Ryan Sims stuffs Maroney for a loss in the backfield. I'm getting deja vu. I just remembered writing about Sims being a former Patriot during last year's Challenge. Creepy. A penalty makes it 2nd-and-17, and Kevin Faulk fumbles the ball away on a draw, recovered by Jimmy Wilkerson.
Bennett's held up at the line of scrimmage but keeps pumping and breaks through for 13. Luke McCown is the new Buc signal-caller; he hits Bryant with a short pass, he breaks a tackle and sprints off to the Patriot 30. Bennett chugs for 7 more, then 2 up the middle to set up 3rd-and-1 at the NE 21. Bennett plunges for the first down at the 20. McCown scrambles left for 4. McCown got under pressure and dumped off to fullback Byron Storer for no gain. 3rd-6, McCown overthrows a receiver in the back of the end zone. Bryant hits the 34-yard FG with no trouble, and Tampa Bay's up 10-0.
7:16 till halftime, Patriots take over from their 22. Brady's injury is described as a "sore foot", not an ankle problem as I thought before. Maroney bobbles a pass away and sweeps left from a loss. Cassell has to run for his life from a Buc blitz on 3rd down and gains six. Three-and-out.
Penalty kills a nice punt return by rookie Dexter Jackson. From his 14, Bennett blasts up the middle for 24. Big block by Davin Joseph. McCown to Maurice Stovall to 17. Bennett has 7 more, to the Patriot 38. Kenneth Darby busts off left end behind a Michael Clayton block for 10. The Patriots look like the Rams. Safety valve screen to Darby gets 11 more. 2nd-10 at the NE 14 at the 2:00 warning. Bennett takes a dumpoff down to the 1. Play action at the goal line, and McCown hits Storer for an easy TD. Buccaneers lead 17-0.
Matthew Slater returns the kick to the 32. Cassell hits Randy Moss for the first time, for 10. Cassell gets drilled by Albert Mack on a scramble. 3rd and 2, Cassell hits Moss at the TB 38. Gain of 12. I have no idea how much time is left because the NFL Network graphic actually starts higher than the top of my TV screen. OK, there's 2 seconds left. Enough time for Gostkowski to stick a 53-yarder, JOSH BROWN. 17-3 Bucs at halftime.
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Do the Patriots just not care? Belichick must care a little, because he actually had Moss and Welker in there for a while, but the rest of the team looks awful. The offense is sloppy beyond belief and refuses to take care of the ball. And should Tampa Bay's offense be running through ANYBODY like this? Big statement by Brian Griese right off the bat for the Bucs. Michael Bennett continues to look like their best RB.
Slater returns the opening kickoff of the 2nd half to the 29. Then, it's PRESEASON SHENANIGANS! Wild snap by Dan Connelly surprises Cassell, he tries to knock it down but bats it right to Sabby Piscitelli of the Bucs, who picks up the gift-wrapped turnover and runs it in for the quick score. 24-3, Bucs.
I love how the NFL-N crew is trying to make the Patriots' play tonight an issue. They lost 31-0 at Jacksonville a couple of preseasons ago! Settle down!
Cassell and company follow that turnover TD with another brutal possession. Piscatelli drops Morris for a loss, Pollard drops a pass from Cassell, Heath Evans drops the third down pass. The Patriots are deep in the Apathy Zone; let's just hope their fans are, too.
Bucs start from their 22. I'm not going to get to finish this game before more NFLN games come on. If my TiVo doesn't eat any of these games, it'll be a shock. After Darby falls on his own fumble, McCown hits Clifton Smith for no gain on a swing pass. McCown appears to hit Ben Troupe for the first down the next play, but he's out of bounds. Bucs punt.
Patriots open up shop at their 28. New QB is Kevin O'Connell. First play, he rolls right, avoids a tackler, and throws an ignorant interception to Elbert Mack along the sideline. That pass had no chance whatsoever of being caught by a Patriot. Wow.
Chris Simms comes in for Tampa, taking over at the NE 30. He hits TE Paris Warren in the flat and he gets 9 and a first down in the red zone. He hits Daniel Fells over the middle short, and he bashes his way for 15 down to the 1. Darby tries to go outside on first and goal and loses 2. Shawn Crable again for the Patriots. Tampa mysteriously starts the next play at 11. I'd appreciate it if NFL-N would show us penalties. Smith gets them back down to the 6. Lucas drops a very catchable ball in the end zone. Ouch. 3rd-goal, Simms' pass is batted down at the line. Blecch. Bryant hits one of the chippiest of chips to put the Bucs up 27-3.
CJ Jones sets the Pats up at their 25. TWO STRAIGHT DROPS BY JONES ON SECOND AND THIRD DOWN. CJ JONES MAY BE THE WORST RECEIVER IN NFL HISTORY. Patriots punt.
Bucs are at midfield following Michael Spurlock's punt return, but Simms gets crushed by Steve Fefita for a 6-yard loss. Simms has to scramble for it on 3rd down but slides a few yards short. Back atcha, Pats.
Jones nearly lets the punt bounce off of him IN THE END ZONE while he's blocking a Buc away from downing the ball in play. Sammy Morris gets stuffed on 2nd-and-5 and the stupid short pass on third down IS SHORT, OF COURSE. It's amazing to see football being played this badly by people in Patriot uniforms.
Tampa at their 33, 2:02 left in the 3rd. Marshall Faulk catches Slater playing - safety? 3rd-and-5, Simms holds the ball FAR too long and gets smeared by three Patriots, including Crable, who strips the ball from him. Bucs recover to ensure this game's FOURTH CONSECUTIVE THREE-AND-OUT. As long as Simms held the ball there, I wonder what other internal organs he plans on donating.
Good punt return by Jones, 20+ yards out to the Patriots 43. OH MY GOD SEND THIS BALL TO THE HALL OF FAME, it's not only a FIRST DOWN, it's A CATCH BY CJ JONES. Good for 14 into Buc territory. New RB is BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Pats run on 3rd-3 and don't get it. They'll go for it, 4th-2 at the Buc 36. O'Connell scrambles for the first. Chad Jackson gets a 12-yard catch to move them inside the 20, then O'Connell and Jones make a nice connection on a slant pass at the 1-yard line. Heath Evans forges in with 10:20 left to make it 27-9. GO FOR TWO! GO FOR TWO! j/k Gostkowski adds the PAT to make it 27-10.
Bucs take over at their 30 with Josh Johnson at QB. A handoff goes nowhere. A Johnson scramble is interesting but goes nowhere. Vince Redd sacks Johnson for a huge loss on 3rd down. They got to him so fast he never got to scan the field. VIVA PRESEASON!
O'Connell and the Pats from their 36. Dumpoff is tipped by Marques Douglas, not like it's a PREDICTABLE play or anything. Poor pass for Pollard incomplete on 2nd down. On the run, he hits Ray Ventrone over the middle for 7, and NE's going for it again on 4th down, from their 43. 5-yard catch by Chad Jackson for the 1st. Buc blitz blows up a screen for an incompletion. Ventrone takes a big hit after a 4-yard catch. O'Connell can't connect with Jackson on 3rd down. Belichick's going for it again. 5:28 left at the Buc 46. O'Connell's pass is deflected at the line and falls incomplete.
Bless the Bucs for keeping the clock running here. Darby is finally breaking thru the Patriot line. He gets 12 in two rushes, then Johnson throws a 9-yard dart. Bucs are at the NE 30 at the 2:00 warning.
Bless both teams for keeping the clock running, though the endaround to Dexter Jackson at this point of the game is a little cheesy. It does get them a first down and lets Johnson kneel out the game, so it served its purpose. Bucs win, 27-10.
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That's two games now the Patriots have looked like the Rams did in Tennessee. If the Rams' preseason play were not improving, we'd all be beside ourselves. The Patriots, of course, are coming off an all-time great season, and I'm going to continue to assume they just don't care how they look in preseason. In fact, I know they don't care, because as of 8/28, the day I'm actually getting my game notes into the blog, CJ JONES, THE WORST NFL PLAYER EVER, IS STILL ON THE TEAM. I think I'd start O'Connell if Brady's really hurt. Lone bright spot was probably Shawn Crable. Brian Griese might be in the mix as Tampa's starting QB with the night he had here. Other players that stood out to me were Bennett offensively and Piscitelli defensively.
21 down, 44 to go, he wrote Pollyannishly.
Next up: Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo. The Canadian Clash. The Toronto Tilt. The Ontario - orgy?
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Game 20: Broncos 23, Cowboys 13
Up next is a rematch of my second-favorite Super Bowl, Super Bowl XII, from Denver.
Broncos start at their 35. Ed Hochuli calls holding on Denver rookie Ryan Clady. 1st-20. Play action from Jay Cutler to Brandon Marshall for 12. Composed play by Cutler, who finds Eddie Royal ALL ALONE down the sideline and gets plenty of air under the pass for a 35-yard completion. Mike Jenkins slipped and fell on the play; it's been raining in Denver. Selvin Young up the middle for 8. Juggling catch over the middle by Marshall for the first down. Zach Thomas stops a Cecil Sapp reception for 1 on first down and stuffs a Young run on second down at the Dallas 15. Cutler to Brandon Stokely over the middle leaves 4th and inches at the 6. Denver will go. Andre Hall gets all the way inside the 1. Bradie James couldn't hold Hall from scoring from the 1 on 1st-and-goal, and it's 7-0, Denver.
Isaiah Stanback sets Dallas up at their 32. Marion Barber runs for 2, Romo hits T.O. for 6. Sam Hurd snags a Romo highball for what should be a first down. Cowboys drew a personal foul after the play. Five more yards against Dallas for having too many men in the huddle. 1st-15 from the 25. Romo hits TO a couple of times to get that first down. Barber has a reception and a run for a first down into Denver territory. Two incompletions for TO put Dallas in a 4th-and-short situation, and they false start trying to draw Denver offsides, ultimately settling for a punt.
Denver sets up shop around their 10, but end up almost on their goal line after a number of penalties. After some fifteen minutes of getting pinned back by penalties, James commits a roughing penalty at the end of Young's third down run. Free fifteen yards, free first down. A very fast first quarter ends with Andre Hall bouncing off a Zach Thomas hit for a first down across the Bronco 40.
As the second quarter starts, Royal makes an impressive catch in traffic for 20-plus. He's been beating Anthony Henry pretty consistently. Cutler hits Marshall for another first down inside the 10. Hall fights his way down to the 3. Cutler rolls right and hits Marshall in the back corner of the end zone for a TD. Jenkins, who Marshall beat, doesn't look very happy with the official after the play. Doesn't change the score: 14-0. Denver.
Matt Prater's kickoff is deeper than a college seminar on symbolism in the works of Franz Kafka, and Dallas has to start at their 20. On 3rd-and-4, Romo scrambles and fires deep for Hurd, but too far, and Dallas is saddled with the one thing it did not need right now: a three-and-out.
Penalty on the punt return starts Denver at their 10. Cutler has had a solid pocket to throw from all night; he gets plenty of time on 3rd-and-2 to hit Nate Jackson for a first down. Dallas next extends the drive with a DPI, but James makes a nice play to break up the 3rd-and-5 pass to Hall to finally force a punt. We're already over halfway through the 2nd quarter.
Dallas starts at their 20. Brad Johnson enters at QB for Dallas. Endaround for Miles Austin gets nowhere. 3rd-13 after a tripping penalty on Felix Jones. Johnson overthrows Austin to usher out another three-and-out.
Denver is at their 32. Marcus Spears stuffs Young to create 3rd-and-12. Jay Ratliff follows by shutting down a screen to Young to get Dallas the three-and-out. Showing there is no justice in sports, thug/returner Pac-Man Jones returns the punt 24 yards to the 40. The idiot does get a delay of game penalty for spiking the ball afterward.
Dallas from their 34, 3:47 left. Johnson hits Stanback for 14. Elvis Dumervil gets Johnson from behind for a sack, possibly; he may have lost no yardage. Cowboys will have a 3rd-and-4 after the 2:00 warning. Johnson goes up top from the Denver 46, and Miles Austin makes a marvelous catch at the 9 yard line. First and goal. Johnson hits Hurd at the 5. TE drops a naked bootleg screen on 2nd-and-goal, but Austin puts Dallas on the board by beating Dominique Foxworth on a jump ball in the end zone. Denver's lead is cut to 14-7.
Denver at their 22, 1:32 left in the half. Cutler to Scheffler for 8. Young runs for the first as we enter the last minute of the half. Cutler hits Stokely on a slant out to the Dallas 45. 14 to Marshall, as Cutler gets the pass off a millisecond before getting sacked. Prater misses a 48-yard FG as the half expires.
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That was a lot different first half for Dallas than last week's. Their defense had trouble getting the Broncos off the field. Pass pressure was nil, making it a rough half on Mike Jenkins and Anthony Henry. Miles Austin was probably their first-half star, while Jay Cutler looked solid for the Broncos.
Prater blasts another kickoff too deep to be returnable, so Dallas starts out from their 20. Felix Jones breaks away with a small pass for his number, 28. Martellus Bennett bashes through some tacklers for another first down, at the Denver 40. Tashard Choice gets the corner turned with a short pass for 10. Nick Clemons finally slows the Cowboy posse down a little bit by dropping Choice for a loss. 3rd-14 from Denver's 31. Short pass to Tony Curtis does little more than set up the FG. Nick Folk's 42-yarder is good to make it a 14-10 game.
Patrick Ramsey assumes the reins for Denver. Pac-Man nearly intercepts passes on 2nd and 3rd down as karma continues to refuse to bite Jerry Jones in the ass.
Unless this was it. Choice blocked the punt, but the ball died at the punter Kern's feet, and he scooped it up and ran unmolested all the way to the Dallas 45. Ramsey is spared an INT on a brutally bad pass by a Dallas penalty. Dallas works it to 3rd-and-7 but leaves Cliff Russell all alone on the sideline and Ramsey throws him a bullet for 19 and a first down. Dallas holds the line there, though, with Marcus Smith tipping Ramsey's third down pass. Prater hits a chippie to re-extend Denver's lead, 17-10.
Richard Bartel takes over at QB for Dallas from their 20. They 3-and-out as Bartel is never really able to find an open receiver.
The Broncos' cheerleaders are wearing - jackets? WEAK.
Denver drove a little past midfield before they had to punt. Marcus Smith made another run stop for Dallas. Punt's downed at the 2.
Cowboy offense is still completely stymied behind Bartel and doesn't budge off the 2. Denver's set up nicely inside the Dallas 40 when the 4th quarter begins.
On 4th and 1, Ramsey play-actions and rolls right, while Keary Colbert really fools Courtney Brown downfield, for about a 30-yard catch inside the 5. Dallas CB Alan Ball looks completely overmatched out there. Big play by Orlando Scandrick at the 2 keeps Glen Martinez out of the end zone. Scandrick lands one of the hardest hits of the preseason. While Martinez is seeing stars and swirlies and chirping birds, Prater chips in from 19, making it 20-10, Denver.
Looks like there's still 12:00 of Richard Bartell-y goodness left, though. Dallas starts from its 20 yet again. Todd Lowber gets away with a pushoff and makes a nice catch of a 40-yard toss from Bartell. Bartell's third straight completion is to TE Rodney Hannah down to the 12. Jordan Beck flings Alonzo Coleman down for a big loss on a sweep right. 3rd and 9 from the 10, Wes Woodyard bats down a short pass for Hannah, and Dallas settles for a Folk FG and a 20-13 deficit.
Cliff Russell bobbles the kickoff in the endzone but Martinez scoops it up for a touchback. Ramsey goes long?!?!?? for Russell on the first play of this series but Evan Oglesby has him blanketed. RUN THE BALL, SHANAHAN! EAT THE CLOCK! Ramsey nearly makes a miracle throw on 3rd down, but Oglesby breaks up the attempt to Russell again. Denver punts.
Dallas at their own 23, 6:52 left. Bartell to Hannah again, on the sideline for 20. Keon Lattimore's chewing up yardage for Dallas and gets a couple of big runs down to the Denver 27. He's Ray Lewis' little brother? Bartell hits Danny Amontillado? Armadillo? Amigdala? down to the 15. 4th-and-5 at the 10, I'd think about kicking the FG - if I have all my timeouts. My decision looks really good when Bartell's intercepted by Denver DB Jack Williams when Lowber stops his route unexpectedly. 2:00 left for Denver to run out.
Dallas will use its timeouts to try to get the ball back. See, that's why I would have KICKED THE FIELD GOAL earlier! Denver gets a first down +15 for a helmet-to-helmet hit, which should do it for this one. That helps the Broncos get down to Dallas' 25, and Prater hits from there to put this one away, 23-13. Prater looks like a lot stronger kicker than he looked last week.
Dallas doesn't put much together at the end and time runs out on them. Denver wins 23-13.
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Final notes: Bad night for the Dallas secondary, except possibly Pac-Man. The Denver receivers beat them all night long. It's hard to find any Dallas highlights beyond Marcus Smith stopping the run. And Miles Austin emerging as a potential WR3. Then again, he got hurt. Denver held their high-powered offense pretty much in check. The Jay Cutler-Brandon Marshall combo was clicking well for the Broncos.
20 down, 45 to go.
Next game: Lord help me, a Tampa game, Bucs vs. Patriots.
Broncos start at their 35. Ed Hochuli calls holding on Denver rookie Ryan Clady. 1st-20. Play action from Jay Cutler to Brandon Marshall for 12. Composed play by Cutler, who finds Eddie Royal ALL ALONE down the sideline and gets plenty of air under the pass for a 35-yard completion. Mike Jenkins slipped and fell on the play; it's been raining in Denver. Selvin Young up the middle for 8. Juggling catch over the middle by Marshall for the first down. Zach Thomas stops a Cecil Sapp reception for 1 on first down and stuffs a Young run on second down at the Dallas 15. Cutler to Brandon Stokely over the middle leaves 4th and inches at the 6. Denver will go. Andre Hall gets all the way inside the 1. Bradie James couldn't hold Hall from scoring from the 1 on 1st-and-goal, and it's 7-0, Denver.
Isaiah Stanback sets Dallas up at their 32. Marion Barber runs for 2, Romo hits T.O. for 6. Sam Hurd snags a Romo highball for what should be a first down. Cowboys drew a personal foul after the play. Five more yards against Dallas for having too many men in the huddle. 1st-15 from the 25. Romo hits TO a couple of times to get that first down. Barber has a reception and a run for a first down into Denver territory. Two incompletions for TO put Dallas in a 4th-and-short situation, and they false start trying to draw Denver offsides, ultimately settling for a punt.
Denver sets up shop around their 10, but end up almost on their goal line after a number of penalties. After some fifteen minutes of getting pinned back by penalties, James commits a roughing penalty at the end of Young's third down run. Free fifteen yards, free first down. A very fast first quarter ends with Andre Hall bouncing off a Zach Thomas hit for a first down across the Bronco 40.
As the second quarter starts, Royal makes an impressive catch in traffic for 20-plus. He's been beating Anthony Henry pretty consistently. Cutler hits Marshall for another first down inside the 10. Hall fights his way down to the 3. Cutler rolls right and hits Marshall in the back corner of the end zone for a TD. Jenkins, who Marshall beat, doesn't look very happy with the official after the play. Doesn't change the score: 14-0. Denver.
Matt Prater's kickoff is deeper than a college seminar on symbolism in the works of Franz Kafka, and Dallas has to start at their 20. On 3rd-and-4, Romo scrambles and fires deep for Hurd, but too far, and Dallas is saddled with the one thing it did not need right now: a three-and-out.
Penalty on the punt return starts Denver at their 10. Cutler has had a solid pocket to throw from all night; he gets plenty of time on 3rd-and-2 to hit Nate Jackson for a first down. Dallas next extends the drive with a DPI, but James makes a nice play to break up the 3rd-and-5 pass to Hall to finally force a punt. We're already over halfway through the 2nd quarter.
Dallas starts at their 20. Brad Johnson enters at QB for Dallas. Endaround for Miles Austin gets nowhere. 3rd-13 after a tripping penalty on Felix Jones. Johnson overthrows Austin to usher out another three-and-out.
Denver is at their 32. Marcus Spears stuffs Young to create 3rd-and-12. Jay Ratliff follows by shutting down a screen to Young to get Dallas the three-and-out. Showing there is no justice in sports, thug/returner Pac-Man Jones returns the punt 24 yards to the 40. The idiot does get a delay of game penalty for spiking the ball afterward.
Dallas from their 34, 3:47 left. Johnson hits Stanback for 14. Elvis Dumervil gets Johnson from behind for a sack, possibly; he may have lost no yardage. Cowboys will have a 3rd-and-4 after the 2:00 warning. Johnson goes up top from the Denver 46, and Miles Austin makes a marvelous catch at the 9 yard line. First and goal. Johnson hits Hurd at the 5. TE drops a naked bootleg screen on 2nd-and-goal, but Austin puts Dallas on the board by beating Dominique Foxworth on a jump ball in the end zone. Denver's lead is cut to 14-7.
Denver at their 22, 1:32 left in the half. Cutler to Scheffler for 8. Young runs for the first as we enter the last minute of the half. Cutler hits Stokely on a slant out to the Dallas 45. 14 to Marshall, as Cutler gets the pass off a millisecond before getting sacked. Prater misses a 48-yard FG as the half expires.
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That was a lot different first half for Dallas than last week's. Their defense had trouble getting the Broncos off the field. Pass pressure was nil, making it a rough half on Mike Jenkins and Anthony Henry. Miles Austin was probably their first-half star, while Jay Cutler looked solid for the Broncos.
Prater blasts another kickoff too deep to be returnable, so Dallas starts out from their 20. Felix Jones breaks away with a small pass for his number, 28. Martellus Bennett bashes through some tacklers for another first down, at the Denver 40. Tashard Choice gets the corner turned with a short pass for 10. Nick Clemons finally slows the Cowboy posse down a little bit by dropping Choice for a loss. 3rd-14 from Denver's 31. Short pass to Tony Curtis does little more than set up the FG. Nick Folk's 42-yarder is good to make it a 14-10 game.
Patrick Ramsey assumes the reins for Denver. Pac-Man nearly intercepts passes on 2nd and 3rd down as karma continues to refuse to bite Jerry Jones in the ass.
Unless this was it. Choice blocked the punt, but the ball died at the punter Kern's feet, and he scooped it up and ran unmolested all the way to the Dallas 45. Ramsey is spared an INT on a brutally bad pass by a Dallas penalty. Dallas works it to 3rd-and-7 but leaves Cliff Russell all alone on the sideline and Ramsey throws him a bullet for 19 and a first down. Dallas holds the line there, though, with Marcus Smith tipping Ramsey's third down pass. Prater hits a chippie to re-extend Denver's lead, 17-10.
Richard Bartel takes over at QB for Dallas from their 20. They 3-and-out as Bartel is never really able to find an open receiver.
The Broncos' cheerleaders are wearing - jackets? WEAK.
Denver drove a little past midfield before they had to punt. Marcus Smith made another run stop for Dallas. Punt's downed at the 2.
Cowboy offense is still completely stymied behind Bartel and doesn't budge off the 2. Denver's set up nicely inside the Dallas 40 when the 4th quarter begins.
On 4th and 1, Ramsey play-actions and rolls right, while Keary Colbert really fools Courtney Brown downfield, for about a 30-yard catch inside the 5. Dallas CB Alan Ball looks completely overmatched out there. Big play by Orlando Scandrick at the 2 keeps Glen Martinez out of the end zone. Scandrick lands one of the hardest hits of the preseason. While Martinez is seeing stars and swirlies and chirping birds, Prater chips in from 19, making it 20-10, Denver.
Looks like there's still 12:00 of Richard Bartell-y goodness left, though. Dallas starts from its 20 yet again. Todd Lowber gets away with a pushoff and makes a nice catch of a 40-yard toss from Bartell. Bartell's third straight completion is to TE Rodney Hannah down to the 12. Jordan Beck flings Alonzo Coleman down for a big loss on a sweep right. 3rd and 9 from the 10, Wes Woodyard bats down a short pass for Hannah, and Dallas settles for a Folk FG and a 20-13 deficit.
Cliff Russell bobbles the kickoff in the endzone but Martinez scoops it up for a touchback. Ramsey goes long?!?!?? for Russell on the first play of this series but Evan Oglesby has him blanketed. RUN THE BALL, SHANAHAN! EAT THE CLOCK! Ramsey nearly makes a miracle throw on 3rd down, but Oglesby breaks up the attempt to Russell again. Denver punts.
Dallas at their own 23, 6:52 left. Bartell to Hannah again, on the sideline for 20. Keon Lattimore's chewing up yardage for Dallas and gets a couple of big runs down to the Denver 27. He's Ray Lewis' little brother? Bartell hits Danny Amontillado? Armadillo? Amigdala? down to the 15. 4th-and-5 at the 10, I'd think about kicking the FG - if I have all my timeouts. My decision looks really good when Bartell's intercepted by Denver DB Jack Williams when Lowber stops his route unexpectedly. 2:00 left for Denver to run out.
Dallas will use its timeouts to try to get the ball back. See, that's why I would have KICKED THE FIELD GOAL earlier! Denver gets a first down +15 for a helmet-to-helmet hit, which should do it for this one. That helps the Broncos get down to Dallas' 25, and Prater hits from there to put this one away, 23-13. Prater looks like a lot stronger kicker than he looked last week.
Dallas doesn't put much together at the end and time runs out on them. Denver wins 23-13.
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Final notes: Bad night for the Dallas secondary, except possibly Pac-Man. The Denver receivers beat them all night long. It's hard to find any Dallas highlights beyond Marcus Smith stopping the run. And Miles Austin emerging as a potential WR3. Then again, he got hurt. Denver held their high-powered offense pretty much in check. The Jay Cutler-Brandon Marshall combo was clicking well for the Broncos.
20 down, 45 to go.
Next game: Lord help me, a Tampa game, Bucs vs. Patriots.
Game 19: Whiners 34, Packers 6
OK, I'm not just watching Whiner games back-to-back, I'm watching TWO Whiner games at the same time! Starting Week 2 Packers-at-Whiners while I finish up Whiners-at-Raiders from Week 1.
A life? What's that?
Just rip my heart out and stomp on it. Isaac Bruce starting this game for the Whiners.
49ers return the opening kickoff out to the 18 with JT O'Sullivan starting. He misses Josh Morgan badly on a shallow cross. 2nd down pass is well behind Bruce, wearing #88, and it's 3rd-and-10 already. O'Sullivan hard counts the DE offside and hits Vernon Davis for 14 on the free play. Frank Gore off LT for 6, tackled by - Brandon Chillar. The blitz runs right by Gore on the draw play but he still only gets 2. 5-wide, empty backfield on 3rd-and-2. Davis runs a little flare, discards Chillar like a little bitch and gains 15 up the sideline and across midfield. O'Sullivan gets flushed and scrambles left for 7. 3rd-3, Bruce tries to run a stop-and-go but is held by Charles Woodson. No call made. Don't expect me to feel sorry for ya, Ike, you're a Whiner. 49ers punt. Mike Carey's crew is calling, or not calling, this game.
Aaron Rodgers opens in the shotgun, empty backfield and hits Donald Driver at the 15. Offside gives Green Bay a first down at the 20. Flare to Jordy Nelson for 8 leaves the Packers with 3rd-and-2. Whiners jump offside again; Donald Driver just misses about a 40-yard diving catch. 1st-10 at the Packers 32. Naked bootleg screen to Donald Lee gains 12 more. Manny Lawson gets a sack after Ray McDonald whips Chad Clifton with an inside move and flushes Rodgers into him. On 2nd-and-17, Rodgers has to scramble and throw it away. Third down, Rodgers has to throw it away again with a blitzing Shawntae Spencer in his face. Good shutdown defense by S.F.
49ers start from their 8, and Gore hits a small hole for a 12-yard gain. Woodson breaks up a sideline pass on first down, and a short pass to Delanie Walker gets squat on 2nd down. The SF announcer just called Brandon Chillar "one of the best in the business." Did he mistake him for AJ Hawk? 3rd down, good pressure forces an incomplete screen pass. SF punts.
Packers start from their 20 after a penalty on the punt return. San Fran's THIRD offside of the quarter gives GB 2nd-and-5. Nate Clements breaks up/interferes with a pass to Driver, and Walt Harris holds Driver to 4 on an underneath pattern, leading to a Packer punt.
Allen Rossum brings the *57* yard punt back to the SF 20. They'll start at the 8 thanks to a hold on the return. Gore for 4. Gore trips on 2nd down and gains maybe a yard. O'Sullivan throws a TERRIBLE third down pass, intended for Davis, except there's two players in front of him, including Woodson, who picks it off. Woodson fumbles but swats the loose ball out of bounds, putting GB in imminent scoring position. What a stupid fucking play by O'Sullivan. Please start him against the Rams, Martz.
That Mike Martz sure knows his QBs.
Things don't go much better for the Packers. Donald Lee flat out DROPS a pass wide open in the end zone, then Isaac Sapoaga gets San Fran's second sack of Rodgers. He has to throw away the third down pass. Quite a stand for the Whiners. Mason Crosby pops the scoreboard cherry with a short FG. 3-0, Green Bay, with just under 2:00 left in the 1st.
Crosby blasts the kickoff eight yards deep for a touchback. DeShaun Foster runs for 5, then no gain. O'Sullivan's immediately in trouble on the naked bootleg screen and fires an incompletion. 49ers punt. Wacky return includes a lateral from Will Blackmon to Atari 2600 Bigby just when the official is starting to wave the play dead. Offsetting penalties force a re-kick. VIVA PRESEASON! Blackmon returns the re-punt to the Packer 38. Brandon Jackson gains a couple as the first quarter runs out.
Jackson's stopped for a couple more as we come back. 3rd down, Rodgers has ALL DAY to throw but
never unloads, taking his third sack of the half courtesy of Justin Smith. Starting to look like Rodgers' good game last week had a lot more due to playing against Cincinnati than anything else.
Rossum fields the punt inside the 5 and returns it to the 13. DeShaun Foster is the new RB, gaining 7 on first down. He follows a convoy of blockers for 7 more. 8 more yards on 2 rushes brings us to 3rd-and-2 from the SF 35. O'Sullivan hits Morgan for 4. Foster dodges Brady Poppinga in the backfield to pick up 6. Endaround to Walker gains maybe 1. THERE's a Mike Martz play. And now Martz has to blow a timeout. I'm starting to feel at home here. The RT just false started? THIS REALLY IS a Mike Martz team! 3rd-and-8. ANOTHER TIMEOUT! IT'S LIKE MARTZ KNOWS I'M WATCHING! Frisco is denied the timeout because you can't call two in a row. So where's the flag? Doesn't matter; O'Sullivan makes a big 20 + completion to Jason Hill. Whiners now at the Packer 33. Packers blitz big on 3rd-3, hippie fullback Zak Keasey picks it up, and O'Sullivan hits Morgan on a corner route at the 4. Foster gains half the distance. 2nd down, the Packers stonewall Foster at the goal line, and he comes up well short on 3rd down. Frisco going for it on 4th and goal. Foster gets nothing in the end zone except the football when he reaches, but the rule says that's all you need, and SF takes the lead, 7-3.
Packers from their own 16. No gain on the 1st down pass to James Jones. Rodgers can't find anybody and gets swamped by Markus Curry for a big sack. Unbelievably, Green Bay gets it all back on a screen to Vernand Morency for a first. Morency gains 1 as the 2:00 warning hits. Spencer breaks up a pass to Driver on 2nd-and-9, and Rodgers' 3rd-down pass to Nelson is short and brings on the punting team.
Rossum is downed at the 28. 1:35 left. We'll see how O'Sullivan fares in the 2:00 offense. Hell, I'll be impressed if every pass he throws is to his own guys. Incomplete sideline overthrow on 1st down; quick slant to Dominique Ziegler for 13 on 2nd. O'Sullivan hangs Foster out to dry and he gets ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED by Patrick Lee. Hit of the preseason so far. O'Sullivan and his funky sidearmed, shot put motion find Morgan ALL ALONE downfield for a 59-yard TD. Morgan shook his defender at the line and the Packer safety Blackmon looked to be caught way out of position. 14-3, Whiners. 58 seconds left.
Tramond Williams shut down at the 15 on the kick return. Rodgers nearly gets picked off by Dashon Goldson but Mike Carey overrules the play on replay. About 5 to Driver on 2nd down, and the clock keeps running. GB appears to be throwing in the towel here. Rodgers scrambles out of bounds just short of the first down with :07 left. Rodgers finished the half 9-16-58. Green Bay, Wisconsin just went on Red Alert Favre. Rossum gets clotheslined by Jason Hunter on the punt return as the half ends.
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Truly rotten half for Aaron Rodgers. Going against the Bengal defense is one thing, the 49er defense is something else altogether. 49er secondary continues to look solid. No catches for Ike, but Josh Morgan's looking like one of the surprises of this year's draft. Especially if Mike Martz can find him anybody who can get him the ball. Sullivan looks awful again outside of that TD bomb.
We switch to Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon on the Green Bay broadcast. Green Bay had 46 total yards in the first half, much of it their 1's vs. San Francisco's 2's. Not good.
Jackson brings a short kickoff back to the Packer 28. Noah Herron in at RB, gains 6 on an inside handoff. Brian Brohm is the new QB. Brohm hits the TE, whose name I hear as "Joey Anus", for a first down. 2nd down from the GB 48, a terrible Brohm throw is picked off by Donald Strickland. And dropped. Viva preseason! Good sideline throw to Jake Allen, but he doesn't get both feet down, forcing a punt. Which goes into the end zone.
New 49er QB is Alex Smith. Thomas Clayton is still RB. He gains nothing on first down. Clayton gains 6 up the middle. Harlan may be the only announcer so far who has cared enough to tell the fans all of the 2nd-half Packer offensive and defensive starters. Smith hits Ziegler for 7 and a first. Smith's deep bomb for Morgan is underthrown and broken up by Jarrett Bush. 3 to Morgan. 3rd and 7. Smith gets plenty of time and hits Morgan again, beating Bush again, for 27 to the Packer 38. Quick hitch for Ziegler is a wacky wild pitch. 2nd-10. Smith barely dodges a sack and throws it away. 3rd down: Packers blitz big and blow up a screen; Smith finds his secondary receiver Ziegler, but not for enough to get a 1st down. That still gets Nedney close enough for a 49-yard FG attempt, which he hits. 17-3, San Francisco.
57-yard kick return by Jordy Nelson. He hit a seam and made a loop backward downfield to change directions. Exciting play. Packers start at the 49er 33. Holding on Green Bay screws that up immediately. The Preseason Holy Trinity - Short Pass, Drop, Failed Screen Pass - set Crosby up for a 49-yarder, which he hits. 17 to 6.
Kicker Ricky Schmitt saves a TD on the kickoff return by -blasting- Nelson out of bounds. How come everybody has forgotten the fine art of eluding the kicker on long returns?
Flo, the clerk from the Progressive Insurance commercials - would ya?
Apparent wormhole activity in the San Francisco area moves us ahead a possession. Green Bay has
the ball again, on their own 11, with 5:11 to go in the third. I'd bet we lost a S.F. 123-kick. The center snaps too early, and the Packers turn the ball over to San Fran at the GB 16. Um, shouldn't the center know the snap count for any given play?
49ers from the GB 16. Two Clayton runs up the middle get them down to the 8. Smith well overthrows wide open Jason Hill in the end zone. Should have been a TD. 49ers go for it on 4th and11 down. Jarrett Bush wrestles with Cameron Colvin the whole way into the end zone for a DPI. 1st-goal, Frisco at the one. Offsides, Green Bay. 1st-goal, Frisco at the one-half. Moran Norris plunges into the end zone and we have a blowout, 24-6, San Francisco. I would not have seen this coming in a hundred years the way these two teams played last week. Hell, I wouldn't have seen it coming after the way O'Sullivan played in the first half.
Packers at the 25 after Brandon Jackson's kick return. Herron pops off a 14-yarder through a big hole made by Darryn Colledge to get the Pack out to the 45. Brohm fires to Jake Allen for 10 and a first down across midfield as the third quarter FINALLY ends.
The Great Lumpkin in for the Packers at RB. Brohm throws a hideous deep pass incomplete. I think he threw it end over end. One of the ugliest-looking non-deflected passes I've ever seen. The Pack go for it on 4th-7 at the SF 39. Brohm hits Taj Smith, and he drops it. 49er ball.
VIVA PRESEASON!
Shaun Hill is the new 49er QB. On 3rd and 12, he hits Ziegler for 17, at the Packer 47. Mike McCarthy challenges the completion. Good, this game wasn't getting LONG ENOUGH yet. No dice from Carey, SF gets the play. Hill underthrows a long ball for Ziegler, who can't make the acrobatic catch. No matter - Green Bay gives them 15 the next play with a face mask penalty. End around to Jason Hill should have lost 5 but gains 15 after he breaks three tackles, down to the 15. Incomplete swing pass to the hippie fullback sets up 3rd and 6. Hill guns it to Colvin but Bush breaks it up. Schmitt gets the FG to put the 49ers in a 27-6 lead.
New Packer QB is Matt Flynn. The 7th-rounder is rumored to be on even footing with Brohm the 2nd-rounder. Here goes Nelson, for 58 yards! He gets run out of bounds by the kicker again! AAAGH! Flynn hits Johnny Quinn down to the 20. After that, they start moving backward - penalty, sack. 3rd-19 from the SF31, Colledge, who's been getting smoked all quarter, gets whipped by Tully Banta-Cain, who nails Flynn and forces a fumble the 49ers recover.
PLEASE RUN THE CLOCK OUT, MARTZ. Whiners three-and-out after a third-and-long screen pass comes up well short. EVEN MIKE MARTZ IS NOT IMMUNE TO THE INFECTION THAT CAUSES OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS TO RUN LAME PLAYS IN LONG-DISTANCE SITUATIONS IN PRESEASON.
Green Bay's pinned near their goal line after the punt. They also three-and-out and punt.
THRILLSVILLE. 3:30 left.
Allen Rossum hits a spin move, breaks two tackles, has two other Packers dive at his feet and miss, and scores a fairly easy 68-yard punt return TD. PAT good, San Francisco 34, Green Bay 6.
Good grief.
Lumpkin breaks off a 21-yard run, across midfield to the SF 40, as we reach the 2:00 warning from GOD. 4th-1 from the SF 31, Lumpkin gets the first down. 1:17 left. Swing pass to Joey Anus.
DOWN EIGHTEEN POINTS, GREEN BAY CALLS A TIMEOUT. ROT IN HELL, MIKE MCCARTHY. ROT IN HELL.
TE Evan Moore fumbles the ball away after a tough hit; he's injured; this game is in effect over with
0:22 left. Third fumble of the half.
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Quarterbacking was a disaster for both teams. Passer ratings tonight: Rodgers 64.1, Brohm 54.4, O'Sullivan 74.1, Alex Smith 58.3, Shaun Hill 52.9. Rodgers took too many sacks; O'Sullivan and Brohm made too many bad throws; Smith and Hill don't have good arms. It's impressive that Josh Morgan and Jordy Nelson have been able to emerge as receiving threats from this miasma of incompetent quarterbacking.
19 down, 46 to go, counting the Chargers-Rams game as the starter game for week 2.
A life? What's that?
Just rip my heart out and stomp on it. Isaac Bruce starting this game for the Whiners.
49ers return the opening kickoff out to the 18 with JT O'Sullivan starting. He misses Josh Morgan badly on a shallow cross. 2nd down pass is well behind Bruce, wearing #88, and it's 3rd-and-10 already. O'Sullivan hard counts the DE offside and hits Vernon Davis for 14 on the free play. Frank Gore off LT for 6, tackled by - Brandon Chillar. The blitz runs right by Gore on the draw play but he still only gets 2. 5-wide, empty backfield on 3rd-and-2. Davis runs a little flare, discards Chillar like a little bitch and gains 15 up the sideline and across midfield. O'Sullivan gets flushed and scrambles left for 7. 3rd-3, Bruce tries to run a stop-and-go but is held by Charles Woodson. No call made. Don't expect me to feel sorry for ya, Ike, you're a Whiner. 49ers punt. Mike Carey's crew is calling, or not calling, this game.
Aaron Rodgers opens in the shotgun, empty backfield and hits Donald Driver at the 15. Offside gives Green Bay a first down at the 20. Flare to Jordy Nelson for 8 leaves the Packers with 3rd-and-2. Whiners jump offside again; Donald Driver just misses about a 40-yard diving catch. 1st-10 at the Packers 32. Naked bootleg screen to Donald Lee gains 12 more. Manny Lawson gets a sack after Ray McDonald whips Chad Clifton with an inside move and flushes Rodgers into him. On 2nd-and-17, Rodgers has to scramble and throw it away. Third down, Rodgers has to throw it away again with a blitzing Shawntae Spencer in his face. Good shutdown defense by S.F.
49ers start from their 8, and Gore hits a small hole for a 12-yard gain. Woodson breaks up a sideline pass on first down, and a short pass to Delanie Walker gets squat on 2nd down. The SF announcer just called Brandon Chillar "one of the best in the business." Did he mistake him for AJ Hawk? 3rd down, good pressure forces an incomplete screen pass. SF punts.
Packers start from their 20 after a penalty on the punt return. San Fran's THIRD offside of the quarter gives GB 2nd-and-5. Nate Clements breaks up/interferes with a pass to Driver, and Walt Harris holds Driver to 4 on an underneath pattern, leading to a Packer punt.
Allen Rossum brings the *57* yard punt back to the SF 20. They'll start at the 8 thanks to a hold on the return. Gore for 4. Gore trips on 2nd down and gains maybe a yard. O'Sullivan throws a TERRIBLE third down pass, intended for Davis, except there's two players in front of him, including Woodson, who picks it off. Woodson fumbles but swats the loose ball out of bounds, putting GB in imminent scoring position. What a stupid fucking play by O'Sullivan. Please start him against the Rams, Martz.
That Mike Martz sure knows his QBs.
Things don't go much better for the Packers. Donald Lee flat out DROPS a pass wide open in the end zone, then Isaac Sapoaga gets San Fran's second sack of Rodgers. He has to throw away the third down pass. Quite a stand for the Whiners. Mason Crosby pops the scoreboard cherry with a short FG. 3-0, Green Bay, with just under 2:00 left in the 1st.
Crosby blasts the kickoff eight yards deep for a touchback. DeShaun Foster runs for 5, then no gain. O'Sullivan's immediately in trouble on the naked bootleg screen and fires an incompletion. 49ers punt. Wacky return includes a lateral from Will Blackmon to Atari 2600 Bigby just when the official is starting to wave the play dead. Offsetting penalties force a re-kick. VIVA PRESEASON! Blackmon returns the re-punt to the Packer 38. Brandon Jackson gains a couple as the first quarter runs out.
Jackson's stopped for a couple more as we come back. 3rd down, Rodgers has ALL DAY to throw but
never unloads, taking his third sack of the half courtesy of Justin Smith. Starting to look like Rodgers' good game last week had a lot more due to playing against Cincinnati than anything else.
Rossum fields the punt inside the 5 and returns it to the 13. DeShaun Foster is the new RB, gaining 7 on first down. He follows a convoy of blockers for 7 more. 8 more yards on 2 rushes brings us to 3rd-and-2 from the SF 35. O'Sullivan hits Morgan for 4. Foster dodges Brady Poppinga in the backfield to pick up 6. Endaround to Walker gains maybe 1. THERE's a Mike Martz play. And now Martz has to blow a timeout. I'm starting to feel at home here. The RT just false started? THIS REALLY IS a Mike Martz team! 3rd-and-8. ANOTHER TIMEOUT! IT'S LIKE MARTZ KNOWS I'M WATCHING! Frisco is denied the timeout because you can't call two in a row. So where's the flag? Doesn't matter; O'Sullivan makes a big 20 + completion to Jason Hill. Whiners now at the Packer 33. Packers blitz big on 3rd-3, hippie fullback Zak Keasey picks it up, and O'Sullivan hits Morgan on a corner route at the 4. Foster gains half the distance. 2nd down, the Packers stonewall Foster at the goal line, and he comes up well short on 3rd down. Frisco going for it on 4th and goal. Foster gets nothing in the end zone except the football when he reaches, but the rule says that's all you need, and SF takes the lead, 7-3.
Packers from their own 16. No gain on the 1st down pass to James Jones. Rodgers can't find anybody and gets swamped by Markus Curry for a big sack. Unbelievably, Green Bay gets it all back on a screen to Vernand Morency for a first. Morency gains 1 as the 2:00 warning hits. Spencer breaks up a pass to Driver on 2nd-and-9, and Rodgers' 3rd-down pass to Nelson is short and brings on the punting team.
Rossum is downed at the 28. 1:35 left. We'll see how O'Sullivan fares in the 2:00 offense. Hell, I'll be impressed if every pass he throws is to his own guys. Incomplete sideline overthrow on 1st down; quick slant to Dominique Ziegler for 13 on 2nd. O'Sullivan hangs Foster out to dry and he gets ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED by Patrick Lee. Hit of the preseason so far. O'Sullivan and his funky sidearmed, shot put motion find Morgan ALL ALONE downfield for a 59-yard TD. Morgan shook his defender at the line and the Packer safety Blackmon looked to be caught way out of position. 14-3, Whiners. 58 seconds left.
Tramond Williams shut down at the 15 on the kick return. Rodgers nearly gets picked off by Dashon Goldson but Mike Carey overrules the play on replay. About 5 to Driver on 2nd down, and the clock keeps running. GB appears to be throwing in the towel here. Rodgers scrambles out of bounds just short of the first down with :07 left. Rodgers finished the half 9-16-58. Green Bay, Wisconsin just went on Red Alert Favre. Rossum gets clotheslined by Jason Hunter on the punt return as the half ends.
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Truly rotten half for Aaron Rodgers. Going against the Bengal defense is one thing, the 49er defense is something else altogether. 49er secondary continues to look solid. No catches for Ike, but Josh Morgan's looking like one of the surprises of this year's draft. Especially if Mike Martz can find him anybody who can get him the ball. Sullivan looks awful again outside of that TD bomb.
We switch to Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon on the Green Bay broadcast. Green Bay had 46 total yards in the first half, much of it their 1's vs. San Francisco's 2's. Not good.
Jackson brings a short kickoff back to the Packer 28. Noah Herron in at RB, gains 6 on an inside handoff. Brian Brohm is the new QB. Brohm hits the TE, whose name I hear as "Joey Anus", for a first down. 2nd down from the GB 48, a terrible Brohm throw is picked off by Donald Strickland. And dropped. Viva preseason! Good sideline throw to Jake Allen, but he doesn't get both feet down, forcing a punt. Which goes into the end zone.
New 49er QB is Alex Smith. Thomas Clayton is still RB. He gains nothing on first down. Clayton gains 6 up the middle. Harlan may be the only announcer so far who has cared enough to tell the fans all of the 2nd-half Packer offensive and defensive starters. Smith hits Ziegler for 7 and a first. Smith's deep bomb for Morgan is underthrown and broken up by Jarrett Bush. 3 to Morgan. 3rd and 7. Smith gets plenty of time and hits Morgan again, beating Bush again, for 27 to the Packer 38. Quick hitch for Ziegler is a wacky wild pitch. 2nd-10. Smith barely dodges a sack and throws it away. 3rd down: Packers blitz big and blow up a screen; Smith finds his secondary receiver Ziegler, but not for enough to get a 1st down. That still gets Nedney close enough for a 49-yard FG attempt, which he hits. 17-3, San Francisco.
57-yard kick return by Jordy Nelson. He hit a seam and made a loop backward downfield to change directions. Exciting play. Packers start at the 49er 33. Holding on Green Bay screws that up immediately. The Preseason Holy Trinity - Short Pass, Drop, Failed Screen Pass - set Crosby up for a 49-yarder, which he hits. 17 to 6.
Kicker Ricky Schmitt saves a TD on the kickoff return by -blasting- Nelson out of bounds. How come everybody has forgotten the fine art of eluding the kicker on long returns?
Flo, the clerk from the Progressive Insurance commercials - would ya?
Apparent wormhole activity in the San Francisco area moves us ahead a possession. Green Bay has
the ball again, on their own 11, with 5:11 to go in the third. I'd bet we lost a S.F. 123-kick. The center snaps too early, and the Packers turn the ball over to San Fran at the GB 16. Um, shouldn't the center know the snap count for any given play?
49ers from the GB 16. Two Clayton runs up the middle get them down to the 8. Smith well overthrows wide open Jason Hill in the end zone. Should have been a TD. 49ers go for it on 4th and11 down. Jarrett Bush wrestles with Cameron Colvin the whole way into the end zone for a DPI. 1st-goal, Frisco at the one. Offsides, Green Bay. 1st-goal, Frisco at the one-half. Moran Norris plunges into the end zone and we have a blowout, 24-6, San Francisco. I would not have seen this coming in a hundred years the way these two teams played last week. Hell, I wouldn't have seen it coming after the way O'Sullivan played in the first half.
Packers at the 25 after Brandon Jackson's kick return. Herron pops off a 14-yarder through a big hole made by Darryn Colledge to get the Pack out to the 45. Brohm fires to Jake Allen for 10 and a first down across midfield as the third quarter FINALLY ends.
The Great Lumpkin in for the Packers at RB. Brohm throws a hideous deep pass incomplete. I think he threw it end over end. One of the ugliest-looking non-deflected passes I've ever seen. The Pack go for it on 4th-7 at the SF 39. Brohm hits Taj Smith, and he drops it. 49er ball.
VIVA PRESEASON!
Shaun Hill is the new 49er QB. On 3rd and 12, he hits Ziegler for 17, at the Packer 47. Mike McCarthy challenges the completion. Good, this game wasn't getting LONG ENOUGH yet. No dice from Carey, SF gets the play. Hill underthrows a long ball for Ziegler, who can't make the acrobatic catch. No matter - Green Bay gives them 15 the next play with a face mask penalty. End around to Jason Hill should have lost 5 but gains 15 after he breaks three tackles, down to the 15. Incomplete swing pass to the hippie fullback sets up 3rd and 6. Hill guns it to Colvin but Bush breaks it up. Schmitt gets the FG to put the 49ers in a 27-6 lead.
New Packer QB is Matt Flynn. The 7th-rounder is rumored to be on even footing with Brohm the 2nd-rounder. Here goes Nelson, for 58 yards! He gets run out of bounds by the kicker again! AAAGH! Flynn hits Johnny Quinn down to the 20. After that, they start moving backward - penalty, sack. 3rd-19 from the SF31, Colledge, who's been getting smoked all quarter, gets whipped by Tully Banta-Cain, who nails Flynn and forces a fumble the 49ers recover.
PLEASE RUN THE CLOCK OUT, MARTZ. Whiners three-and-out after a third-and-long screen pass comes up well short. EVEN MIKE MARTZ IS NOT IMMUNE TO THE INFECTION THAT CAUSES OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS TO RUN LAME PLAYS IN LONG-DISTANCE SITUATIONS IN PRESEASON.
Green Bay's pinned near their goal line after the punt. They also three-and-out and punt.
THRILLSVILLE. 3:30 left.
Allen Rossum hits a spin move, breaks two tackles, has two other Packers dive at his feet and miss, and scores a fairly easy 68-yard punt return TD. PAT good, San Francisco 34, Green Bay 6.
Good grief.
Lumpkin breaks off a 21-yard run, across midfield to the SF 40, as we reach the 2:00 warning from GOD. 4th-1 from the SF 31, Lumpkin gets the first down. 1:17 left. Swing pass to Joey Anus.
DOWN EIGHTEEN POINTS, GREEN BAY CALLS A TIMEOUT. ROT IN HELL, MIKE MCCARTHY. ROT IN HELL.
TE Evan Moore fumbles the ball away after a tough hit; he's injured; this game is in effect over with
0:22 left. Third fumble of the half.
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Quarterbacking was a disaster for both teams. Passer ratings tonight: Rodgers 64.1, Brohm 54.4, O'Sullivan 74.1, Alex Smith 58.3, Shaun Hill 52.9. Rodgers took too many sacks; O'Sullivan and Brohm made too many bad throws; Smith and Hill don't have good arms. It's impressive that Josh Morgan and Jordy Nelson have been able to emerge as receiving threats from this miasma of incompetent quarterbacking.
19 down, 46 to go, counting the Chargers-Rams game as the starter game for week 2.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Game 18: Rams 7, Chargers 6
With week 3 already underway here on Friday the 22nd, it's time for yours truly here to play some serious catchup. Including this game, I've seen 5 Week 2 matchups (Packers-Whiners, Cowboys-Broncos, Bills-Steelers, Redskins-Jets) and hope to get their blog entries up today. I also have seen half of two other games (don't ask) - Patriots-Bucs and Vikings-Ravens. So I've got 9 full games and two half-games from Week 2 to watch and blog. On to it:
RamView
Quick notes: There is very little to learn about the Chargers from this game. Leonard Little regularly abused RT Jeromey Clary, one of the few starters San Diego played on either side of the ball. Cletis Gordon was probably their defensive player of the game, 5 tackles and a pick. The Rams had a lot of their act together for scoring only seven points against another team's scrubs. Will Witherspoon and Little dominated on defense, the offensive line blocked well, and the running game even looked good. The big question around here is what the hell is wrong with Marc Bulger, who turned a putrid performance again this week and still has never led the starting offense to a preseason TD under Scott Linehan.
RamView
Quick notes: There is very little to learn about the Chargers from this game. Leonard Little regularly abused RT Jeromey Clary, one of the few starters San Diego played on either side of the ball. Cletis Gordon was probably their defensive player of the game, 5 tackles and a pick. The Rams had a lot of their act together for scoring only seven points against another team's scrubs. Will Witherspoon and Little dominated on defense, the offensive line blocked well, and the running game even looked good. The big question around here is what the hell is wrong with Marc Bulger, who turned a putrid performance again this week and still has never led the starting offense to a preseason TD under Scott Linehan.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Game 17: Raiders 18, Whiners 6
Just to show the suffering I am willing to go through for my craft, it looks like my first task today will be to watch two straight San Francisco Whiner preseason games. We'll start with the last game I have to watch from Week 1, Whiners at Raiders.
At the same time, I'm putting RamView up on the website and keeping an eye on the happenings on NFL Network, so they don't try to screw me over with a schedule change.
Greg Papa and Tom Flores will call the game for the Oakland side. The sideline reporter is John Tournour, who I refuse to identify by his juvenile radio sports jock nickname. People like me must demand formalities in some areas, lest we be presented some day with TV war correspondents going by names like "DJnewzHawk" or "huggybear69".
Allen Rossum returns the opening kickoff for SF to the 26. JT O'Sullivan starts at QB. Frank Gore powers through a tackle for 4. Isaac Bruce will not play for the Whiners. Wish that sentence would always be true. Kirk Morrison and Tommy Kelly shut down a Gore run up the middle on 3rd down to force a punt. Wait a minute. Isn't this Mike Martz's offense? Where was the reverse to the tight end?
Lousy punt by Andy Lee - only 33 yards. Raiders start at their 31 with JaMarcus Russell at QB. Walt Harris perfectly covers a bomb to Drew Carter, but it was just a free play, because the Whiners jumped offside. 1st-and-5, chaos in the Raider backfield forces Russell to call a timeout. I swear, one of the running backs was running around trying to tell the TE where to line up. Russell needs to take charge back there! Justin Fargas runs through Justin Smith off right tackle for an 11 yard gain.
Raiders face 3rd-and-10 at their 48 when Russell gets tripped up by Ray McDonald for a sack. He'd have run for a big gain had he kept his feet. Rossum returns the punt 13 yards to the Whiner 23.
DeShaun, not Shaun, Greg Papa, Foster, starts right and cuts back for 7. Quick slant to Josh Morgan for 8 and a 1st. Former Ram Robert Thomas bats down an attempted screen pass for the Raiders. O'Sullivan rolls out and has to scramble for 5 because his receiver, Morgan, ran his route right out of bounds. 3rd down brings much, much more wackiness. O'Sullivan steps up into the pocket, wheels and throws a BACKWARD pass jump-shot style to Foster. The Raiders are all over Foster, too, and force a punt, with O'Sullivan being damn lucky the result of that play wasn't a lot worse.
Raiders start from their 10; Fargas gains 3. Lob for Javon Walker is tipped away by Walt Harris, who already looks in regular season form. 3rd-7, quick slant to Johnny Lee Higgins is good for 10. Darren McFadden enters the game for the first time. He slashes up the middle for 4 out of a single-back set. About 3 more for McFadden off the right side. 3rd-3. McFadden's replaced by Fargas, who goes off the left side for 9 behind the unlikely blocking combo of Kwame Harris and Robert Gallery. 5 over the right side again for McFadden. Quick screen to Carter leaves Oakland 3rd and less than a yard at their 47. McFadden sweeps left for 5. Good double block by fullback Justin Griffith to seal the corner. Tully Banta-Cain draws a hold to force Oakland back 10. Draw to McFadden for 7. 4 for Fargas off the right side. Russell throws a crappy pass into the dirt in the general direction of a double-covered TE to force a punt. I hope that was an intentional throwaway, because nothing was right about that play.
Whiners from their 8. Foster gains 4. Draw to Foster is good for 12. Here's a surprise: Mike Martz's offense has to blow a timeout here, with 0:49 left in the quarter. O'Sullivan hits Morgan for 22 as the first quarter runs out.
Second quarter, Whiners have a first down at their 45. Well, Oakland is challenging the catch. The call stands, as replay shows a good juggling effort by Morgan. The next play brings much, much more wackiness. O'Sullivan has to step up, and he fires deep to the goal line, but his receiver cut off his route, meaning the pass is directly to Oakland DB Stanford Routt, who runs crossfield to the 5 and has the ball blasted out of his hand by Arnaz Battle. Joe Staley then idiotically TRIES TO PICK UP THE BALL AND RUN WITH IT. He's an o-lineman, so that's not going to happen. Terdell Sands is smarter and falls on it to give Oakland the ball at their 4.
New Raider QB is Andrew Walter. They bomb away on 3rd-and-3, and Walter's throw for Walker is overthrown.
Whiners take over at their 41. Whiners false start to lose 5, then Routt and Robert Thomas drop Foster behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 1. 2nd-16. The Oakland broadcast's down-and-distance graphic is routinely off by two yards, are the people in their production truck all drunk? O'Sullivan hits Morgan for 15, but that's followed by a false start on Vernon Davis. 3rd-6. Tom Flores calls the Whiners' offensive coordinator "Mike Marsh". On third down, about three Raiders get to O'Sullivan, who tries to scramble while doing a TERRIBLE job of taking care of the ball (maybe that reminds Martz of Kurt Warner?), and a fumble here is a fair accompli. Raiders take over at the SF 45.
Six for McFadden up the middle, then he drives a pile left for 3. Michael Bush enters the game and pounds down to the Whiner 30. 5 more for McFadden. Now Bush blasts for 7 to the Whiner 18. Frisco's getting dominated on the LOS. Raiders keep running; 2 for McFadden. He tries to bounce the next run outside, but Shawntae Spencer flashes in and shuts him down. On 3rd and 10, Walter throws short to Bush, who comes up a couple of yards short. The Raiders go for it; Bush lollygags the called run right and unsuccessfully cuts it back up the middle. Oakland announcers say the Raiders didn't kick the FG because they don't have Sebastian Janikowski available tonight. Whiners ball.
Tournour the Brick-headed Idiot actually asks Gibril Wilson on the sidelines what it's like to go from the world champions to the Raiders, as if it's an improvement. Gawd, this organization has its ego, after going 4-12 last year. Somebody named Zak Keasey, who may or may not have merry pranksters but does have huge, nasty hippie dreadlocks hanging out of the back of his helmet, gains 4 for the Whiners. Alex Smith is the new QB. 3rd-and-6, he has to scramble for his life and throws one into the ground. Kalimba Edwards got an outstanding jump on that play.
Oh, those NFC West special teams. Johnny Lee Higgins catches a short punt at his 47. He cuts inside the lead gunner and leaves him stupidly grabbing air, gets a well-placed block from #49, (another player not listed on the team or league website) and runs past the punter Lee, the only other 49er who ever got remotely close, for a 53-yard TD, which he finishes off with a cartwheel and a back flip. 7-0, Oakland.
49ers will try to answer from their 37 with 3:19 left. Former Ram kick returner non-extraordinaire Chris Johnson breaks up a poor Smith pass well behind Jason Hill. Another former Ram - Jon Alston - blows what should have been an INT/TD on 2nd down. On both downs the Whiner o-line has let a Raider through to get in Smith's face. Smith moves the chains on 3rd down, hitting Battle for 25. From the Oakland 40, another terrible throw by Smith under pressure is incomplete. Flare to TE Delanie Walker gains 5. 3rd-and-5. They get the snap off right at the 2:00 warning, and it looks like Smith does a good job rolling away from trouble and finding Battle open downfield for 15. A personal foul on Sands should put Frisco on the 10.
My everlasting thanks to the Raiders Network for putting their graphic up every time they come back from commercial. Makes it very easy to know when to stop fast-forwarding. Make it the 13 for Frisco. 2 for Thomas Clayton on a sweep right. Smith dashes up in the pocket and throws a poor pass for Walker, but he catches it for 5, at the 5, with 0:30 left. The Whiners are just letting the clock run! Keasey is on the road to nowhere for no gain. That's 4th-and-1, and the Whiners send in Joe Nedney, who has no problem with the 21-yard FG to make this a 7-3 ballgame, which is how we go into halftime.
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In theory, marginal players make teams with their preseason play, so thumbs up to Oakland DB Stanford Routt and Whiner DB Shawntae Spencer for making a lot more plays than either ever would in a regular season game. It's also a time for young stars to shine: for Oakland, definitely McFadden; for the Whiners, probably WR Josh Morgan. Walt Harris looks ready for the regular season already. JT O'Sullivan, otoh, does NOT look ready for prime time.
Chris Johnson does NOT step out at the 1 on the opening kickoff of the 2nd half; he returns to the 24. Walter rolls left and hits Todd Watkins up the sideline for 20. They advance to the SF 30 mostly by running Bush up the middle. After a penalty, Bush shows surprising speed taking off for 26 with a screen pass down to the Whiner 14. Play action, Walter forces one into a crowd in the end zone and Keith Lewis knocks it down. Doesn't matter - Bush crashes in from the 5 to put Oakland ahead 13-3. WTF? Oakland goes for 2, and Walter hits Chaz Schilens for the conversion. Did they just want practice at that? And are you kidding? CHAZ?
Whiners from their 33. Smith hits Dominique "Zig" Ziegler with a long pass across midfield; Michael Waddell basically carjacks him, ripping the ball out and back for Oakland. Been nice working with you, Ziggy. Alex Smith is a completely different QB when there's no pressure on him.
Louis Rankin gets the Raiders across midfield with an 11 yard run but the Whiners break up a third-down pass after that.
New Whiner QB is Shaun Hill. They take over at their 37. Dorky-looking throw on a quick hitch works for 7. Clayton bounces a run outside for 12. Draw for Clayton is good for 5 inside the Raider 39. Three plays later, Clayton tries to one-hand a swing pass from Hill and doesn't come up with it. USE BOTH HANDS! The Whiners go for it on 4th and 3, Hill darts in and out of trouble then pukes up a STUPID FUCKING PASS deep downfield, well-underthrown for his receiver, and picked off by Hiram Eugene for Oakland, who's probably lucky he wasn't laughing so hard at that pass as to drop it.
That was the last play of the third quarter. Oakland from around their 17, with Marques Tuiasosopo behind center. Rankin EXPLODES through a gap at the LOS, beats an overpursuing LB and a flatfooted safety, and is GONE. Marcus Hudson brings him down after 72 yards with a horse collar tackle, which Peter Morelli rules was not a penalty because the runner broke it??? Pretty stupid rule, then. Raiders from the SF 10. Rankin gets a big hole and surges down to the 5. Rankin gets three more up the middle. 3rd-goal from the 2, Rankin gets stopped inside the 1. Raiders planned to go for it on 4th down but the split end Schilers flinched. 4th-goal from the 6. Aaron Elling hits the short FG to give us an 18-3 game. What happened to not trying FGs because Janikowski was out? Elling's a perfectly capable NFL placekicker.
Big kickoff return by Delanie Walker, of all people, out close to midfield. Shaun Hill, in at QB, throws a good sideline pass to Zig Zeigler, who can't keep his feet in bounds. 9 to Billy Bajema. Hill throws a wounded duck incomplete on 3rd-and-1. Looked like his arm was hit.
SF sideline reporter Kim Coyle asks Patrick Willis if she can crawl under his sideline coat/poncho, to which he says she's more than welcome. Bow-chicka-bow-bow.
Perhaps hearing that, the Raiders jump offside on 4th-and-1. Endaround to Hill for a big gain, about 15. 9 to Ziegler from Hill for another first down. SF's inside the 15. Jason Hill drops a wobbly pass in the corner of the end zone. Josh Shaw sacks Hill on 3rd down to force a FG attempt by Ricky Schmitt, who drills it to make it 18-6.
Rankin returns the kickoff to the 30 with 8:02 left. Marques Tuiasosopo is still hanging around and is in at QB for Oakland. Watkins takes a pass and gets whirligigged at the 48. Gain of 15. Marques scrambles for 4. Jay Moore has made a lot of plays here in the 2nd half, dropping Rankin for a loss here on a sweep right. 3rd-and-7 at midfield. Reggie Smith strips Schilens of the quick slant. Oakland's not punting, though. Well, they call timeout. 6:06 left. Smith then breaks up a low pass - that was Oakland's best play on 4th down? - to give the Niners the ball back at midfield. Idiotic decision and play-call by Oakland. PUNT!
Hill hits Cameron Coleman for 22 yards but a hold takes it back. That sounds like Joe Toledo's second hold of the half. Wait for it. Here it comes.
Holy Toledo.
GUFFAW!
SF announcer calls the 15-yard shovel pass to Clayton a "flea flicker". Hill hits Ziegler for 10 more. Two incompletions and a no-gainer, though, put the Whiners at 4th-and-10. Hill steps out of a big blitz, and not for the first time this series, Robert Ortiz has no idea what to do, and Hill ends up throwing it away into the deep corner of the end zone.
3:19 left, can this thing be over, already????? NO. FRISCO STARTS BURNING FUCKING TIMEOUTS. Marques keeps the ball on a bootleg and sprints off for 45 yards. Game, right? NO, FRISCO BURNS ITS FINAL TIMEOUT. DAMN YOU TO HELL, MIKE NOLAN. DAMN YOU TO HELL.
NOW THERE'S A FUCKING FLAG. SF STOPS THE CLOCK WITH A PENALTY.
Oakland at SF's 30. It'll be third-and-short at the 2:00 warning. OAKLAND IS THROWING, but Marques slips and is sacked by Jay Moore. WHAT A STUPID FUCKING CALL! KEEP RUNNING! NOW OAKLAND CALLS A MOTHER FUCKING TIMEOUT?!? IS THIS FUCKING ABOMINATION OF A GAME EVER GOING TO END?
ONE. OH. NINE. LEFT. Joe Echemandu bangs up the middle for 11 on 4th down, but that's not enough to keep the ball from going back to the Whiners with 60 ticks left.
Great. Frisco used all those timeouts so they'd get a chance to dump a bunch more short passes in bounds and over the middle. A SPIKE WITH ELEVEN SECONDS LEFT, DOWN 12 POINTS!!!! Greyson Gunnheim sacks Hill to END. THIS. FUCKING. GAME.
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You want to know something? Mike Martz didn't "make" Kurt Warner or Marc Bulger like they were talentless hacks before they came to the Rams. Warner had a successful run in Arena League and NFL-E. Bulger had a successful college career. Martz took QBs with talent and turned them into profoundly good NFL QBs.
I mention this because the operating theory in San Francisco seems to be that Martz makes top-notch QBs out of really crappy players, because that's all he's got to work with at QB out there. The Martz factor is negated when you have hacks like JT O'Sullivan and Shaun Hill running the system. Alex Smith is talented enough for Martz to turn around but he has to quit becoming a vegetable when under any pressure whatsoever.
If the Whiners are going to do anything this year, it'll be because of defense, where Walt Harris and Jay Moore made lots of plays tonight. Oakland could already be the #2 team in the AFC West with Russell and McFadden in their backfield.
And with that, Week 1 is over.
I survived.
17 down, 48 to go.
Next game: Saturday night from the Dome, Chargers at Rams.
At the same time, I'm putting RamView up on the website and keeping an eye on the happenings on NFL Network, so they don't try to screw me over with a schedule change.
Greg Papa and Tom Flores will call the game for the Oakland side. The sideline reporter is John Tournour, who I refuse to identify by his juvenile radio sports jock nickname. People like me must demand formalities in some areas, lest we be presented some day with TV war correspondents going by names like "DJnewzHawk" or "huggybear69".
Allen Rossum returns the opening kickoff for SF to the 26. JT O'Sullivan starts at QB. Frank Gore powers through a tackle for 4. Isaac Bruce will not play for the Whiners. Wish that sentence would always be true. Kirk Morrison and Tommy Kelly shut down a Gore run up the middle on 3rd down to force a punt. Wait a minute. Isn't this Mike Martz's offense? Where was the reverse to the tight end?
Lousy punt by Andy Lee - only 33 yards. Raiders start at their 31 with JaMarcus Russell at QB. Walt Harris perfectly covers a bomb to Drew Carter, but it was just a free play, because the Whiners jumped offside. 1st-and-5, chaos in the Raider backfield forces Russell to call a timeout. I swear, one of the running backs was running around trying to tell the TE where to line up. Russell needs to take charge back there! Justin Fargas runs through Justin Smith off right tackle for an 11 yard gain.
Raiders face 3rd-and-10 at their 48 when Russell gets tripped up by Ray McDonald for a sack. He'd have run for a big gain had he kept his feet. Rossum returns the punt 13 yards to the Whiner 23.
DeShaun, not Shaun, Greg Papa, Foster, starts right and cuts back for 7. Quick slant to Josh Morgan for 8 and a 1st. Former Ram Robert Thomas bats down an attempted screen pass for the Raiders. O'Sullivan rolls out and has to scramble for 5 because his receiver, Morgan, ran his route right out of bounds. 3rd down brings much, much more wackiness. O'Sullivan steps up into the pocket, wheels and throws a BACKWARD pass jump-shot style to Foster. The Raiders are all over Foster, too, and force a punt, with O'Sullivan being damn lucky the result of that play wasn't a lot worse.
Raiders start from their 10; Fargas gains 3. Lob for Javon Walker is tipped away by Walt Harris, who already looks in regular season form. 3rd-7, quick slant to Johnny Lee Higgins is good for 10. Darren McFadden enters the game for the first time. He slashes up the middle for 4 out of a single-back set. About 3 more for McFadden off the right side. 3rd-3. McFadden's replaced by Fargas, who goes off the left side for 9 behind the unlikely blocking combo of Kwame Harris and Robert Gallery. 5 over the right side again for McFadden. Quick screen to Carter leaves Oakland 3rd and less than a yard at their 47. McFadden sweeps left for 5. Good double block by fullback Justin Griffith to seal the corner. Tully Banta-Cain draws a hold to force Oakland back 10. Draw to McFadden for 7. 4 for Fargas off the right side. Russell throws a crappy pass into the dirt in the general direction of a double-covered TE to force a punt. I hope that was an intentional throwaway, because nothing was right about that play.
Whiners from their 8. Foster gains 4. Draw to Foster is good for 12. Here's a surprise: Mike Martz's offense has to blow a timeout here, with 0:49 left in the quarter. O'Sullivan hits Morgan for 22 as the first quarter runs out.
Second quarter, Whiners have a first down at their 45. Well, Oakland is challenging the catch. The call stands, as replay shows a good juggling effort by Morgan. The next play brings much, much more wackiness. O'Sullivan has to step up, and he fires deep to the goal line, but his receiver cut off his route, meaning the pass is directly to Oakland DB Stanford Routt, who runs crossfield to the 5 and has the ball blasted out of his hand by Arnaz Battle. Joe Staley then idiotically TRIES TO PICK UP THE BALL AND RUN WITH IT. He's an o-lineman, so that's not going to happen. Terdell Sands is smarter and falls on it to give Oakland the ball at their 4.
New Raider QB is Andrew Walter. They bomb away on 3rd-and-3, and Walter's throw for Walker is overthrown.
Whiners take over at their 41. Whiners false start to lose 5, then Routt and Robert Thomas drop Foster behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 1. 2nd-16. The Oakland broadcast's down-and-distance graphic is routinely off by two yards, are the people in their production truck all drunk? O'Sullivan hits Morgan for 15, but that's followed by a false start on Vernon Davis. 3rd-6. Tom Flores calls the Whiners' offensive coordinator "Mike Marsh". On third down, about three Raiders get to O'Sullivan, who tries to scramble while doing a TERRIBLE job of taking care of the ball (maybe that reminds Martz of Kurt Warner?), and a fumble here is a fair accompli. Raiders take over at the SF 45.
Six for McFadden up the middle, then he drives a pile left for 3. Michael Bush enters the game and pounds down to the Whiner 30. 5 more for McFadden. Now Bush blasts for 7 to the Whiner 18. Frisco's getting dominated on the LOS. Raiders keep running; 2 for McFadden. He tries to bounce the next run outside, but Shawntae Spencer flashes in and shuts him down. On 3rd and 10, Walter throws short to Bush, who comes up a couple of yards short. The Raiders go for it; Bush lollygags the called run right and unsuccessfully cuts it back up the middle. Oakland announcers say the Raiders didn't kick the FG because they don't have Sebastian Janikowski available tonight. Whiners ball.
Tournour the Brick-headed Idiot actually asks Gibril Wilson on the sidelines what it's like to go from the world champions to the Raiders, as if it's an improvement. Gawd, this organization has its ego, after going 4-12 last year. Somebody named Zak Keasey, who may or may not have merry pranksters but does have huge, nasty hippie dreadlocks hanging out of the back of his helmet, gains 4 for the Whiners. Alex Smith is the new QB. 3rd-and-6, he has to scramble for his life and throws one into the ground. Kalimba Edwards got an outstanding jump on that play.
Oh, those NFC West special teams. Johnny Lee Higgins catches a short punt at his 47. He cuts inside the lead gunner and leaves him stupidly grabbing air, gets a well-placed block from #49, (another player not listed on the team or league website) and runs past the punter Lee, the only other 49er who ever got remotely close, for a 53-yard TD, which he finishes off with a cartwheel and a back flip. 7-0, Oakland.
49ers will try to answer from their 37 with 3:19 left. Former Ram kick returner non-extraordinaire Chris Johnson breaks up a poor Smith pass well behind Jason Hill. Another former Ram - Jon Alston - blows what should have been an INT/TD on 2nd down. On both downs the Whiner o-line has let a Raider through to get in Smith's face. Smith moves the chains on 3rd down, hitting Battle for 25. From the Oakland 40, another terrible throw by Smith under pressure is incomplete. Flare to TE Delanie Walker gains 5. 3rd-and-5. They get the snap off right at the 2:00 warning, and it looks like Smith does a good job rolling away from trouble and finding Battle open downfield for 15. A personal foul on Sands should put Frisco on the 10.
My everlasting thanks to the Raiders Network for putting their graphic up every time they come back from commercial. Makes it very easy to know when to stop fast-forwarding. Make it the 13 for Frisco. 2 for Thomas Clayton on a sweep right. Smith dashes up in the pocket and throws a poor pass for Walker, but he catches it for 5, at the 5, with 0:30 left. The Whiners are just letting the clock run! Keasey is on the road to nowhere for no gain. That's 4th-and-1, and the Whiners send in Joe Nedney, who has no problem with the 21-yard FG to make this a 7-3 ballgame, which is how we go into halftime.
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In theory, marginal players make teams with their preseason play, so thumbs up to Oakland DB Stanford Routt and Whiner DB Shawntae Spencer for making a lot more plays than either ever would in a regular season game. It's also a time for young stars to shine: for Oakland, definitely McFadden; for the Whiners, probably WR Josh Morgan. Walt Harris looks ready for the regular season already. JT O'Sullivan, otoh, does NOT look ready for prime time.
Chris Johnson does NOT step out at the 1 on the opening kickoff of the 2nd half; he returns to the 24. Walter rolls left and hits Todd Watkins up the sideline for 20. They advance to the SF 30 mostly by running Bush up the middle. After a penalty, Bush shows surprising speed taking off for 26 with a screen pass down to the Whiner 14. Play action, Walter forces one into a crowd in the end zone and Keith Lewis knocks it down. Doesn't matter - Bush crashes in from the 5 to put Oakland ahead 13-3. WTF? Oakland goes for 2, and Walter hits Chaz Schilens for the conversion. Did they just want practice at that? And are you kidding? CHAZ?
Whiners from their 33. Smith hits Dominique "Zig" Ziegler with a long pass across midfield; Michael Waddell basically carjacks him, ripping the ball out and back for Oakland. Been nice working with you, Ziggy. Alex Smith is a completely different QB when there's no pressure on him.
Louis Rankin gets the Raiders across midfield with an 11 yard run but the Whiners break up a third-down pass after that.
New Whiner QB is Shaun Hill. They take over at their 37. Dorky-looking throw on a quick hitch works for 7. Clayton bounces a run outside for 12. Draw for Clayton is good for 5 inside the Raider 39. Three plays later, Clayton tries to one-hand a swing pass from Hill and doesn't come up with it. USE BOTH HANDS! The Whiners go for it on 4th and 3, Hill darts in and out of trouble then pukes up a STUPID FUCKING PASS deep downfield, well-underthrown for his receiver, and picked off by Hiram Eugene for Oakland, who's probably lucky he wasn't laughing so hard at that pass as to drop it.
That was the last play of the third quarter. Oakland from around their 17, with Marques Tuiasosopo behind center. Rankin EXPLODES through a gap at the LOS, beats an overpursuing LB and a flatfooted safety, and is GONE. Marcus Hudson brings him down after 72 yards with a horse collar tackle, which Peter Morelli rules was not a penalty because the runner broke it??? Pretty stupid rule, then. Raiders from the SF 10. Rankin gets a big hole and surges down to the 5. Rankin gets three more up the middle. 3rd-goal from the 2, Rankin gets stopped inside the 1. Raiders planned to go for it on 4th down but the split end Schilers flinched. 4th-goal from the 6. Aaron Elling hits the short FG to give us an 18-3 game. What happened to not trying FGs because Janikowski was out? Elling's a perfectly capable NFL placekicker.
Big kickoff return by Delanie Walker, of all people, out close to midfield. Shaun Hill, in at QB, throws a good sideline pass to Zig Zeigler, who can't keep his feet in bounds. 9 to Billy Bajema. Hill throws a wounded duck incomplete on 3rd-and-1. Looked like his arm was hit.
SF sideline reporter Kim Coyle asks Patrick Willis if she can crawl under his sideline coat/poncho, to which he says she's more than welcome. Bow-chicka-bow-bow.
Perhaps hearing that, the Raiders jump offside on 4th-and-1. Endaround to Hill for a big gain, about 15. 9 to Ziegler from Hill for another first down. SF's inside the 15. Jason Hill drops a wobbly pass in the corner of the end zone. Josh Shaw sacks Hill on 3rd down to force a FG attempt by Ricky Schmitt, who drills it to make it 18-6.
Rankin returns the kickoff to the 30 with 8:02 left. Marques Tuiasosopo is still hanging around and is in at QB for Oakland. Watkins takes a pass and gets whirligigged at the 48. Gain of 15. Marques scrambles for 4. Jay Moore has made a lot of plays here in the 2nd half, dropping Rankin for a loss here on a sweep right. 3rd-and-7 at midfield. Reggie Smith strips Schilens of the quick slant. Oakland's not punting, though. Well, they call timeout. 6:06 left. Smith then breaks up a low pass - that was Oakland's best play on 4th down? - to give the Niners the ball back at midfield. Idiotic decision and play-call by Oakland. PUNT!
Hill hits Cameron Coleman for 22 yards but a hold takes it back. That sounds like Joe Toledo's second hold of the half. Wait for it. Here it comes.
Holy Toledo.
GUFFAW!
SF announcer calls the 15-yard shovel pass to Clayton a "flea flicker". Hill hits Ziegler for 10 more. Two incompletions and a no-gainer, though, put the Whiners at 4th-and-10. Hill steps out of a big blitz, and not for the first time this series, Robert Ortiz has no idea what to do, and Hill ends up throwing it away into the deep corner of the end zone.
3:19 left, can this thing be over, already????? NO. FRISCO STARTS BURNING FUCKING TIMEOUTS. Marques keeps the ball on a bootleg and sprints off for 45 yards. Game, right? NO, FRISCO BURNS ITS FINAL TIMEOUT. DAMN YOU TO HELL, MIKE NOLAN. DAMN YOU TO HELL.
NOW THERE'S A FUCKING FLAG. SF STOPS THE CLOCK WITH A PENALTY.
Oakland at SF's 30. It'll be third-and-short at the 2:00 warning. OAKLAND IS THROWING, but Marques slips and is sacked by Jay Moore. WHAT A STUPID FUCKING CALL! KEEP RUNNING! NOW OAKLAND CALLS A MOTHER FUCKING TIMEOUT?!? IS THIS FUCKING ABOMINATION OF A GAME EVER GOING TO END?
ONE. OH. NINE. LEFT. Joe Echemandu bangs up the middle for 11 on 4th down, but that's not enough to keep the ball from going back to the Whiners with 60 ticks left.
Great. Frisco used all those timeouts so they'd get a chance to dump a bunch more short passes in bounds and over the middle. A SPIKE WITH ELEVEN SECONDS LEFT, DOWN 12 POINTS!!!! Greyson Gunnheim sacks Hill to END. THIS. FUCKING. GAME.
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You want to know something? Mike Martz didn't "make" Kurt Warner or Marc Bulger like they were talentless hacks before they came to the Rams. Warner had a successful run in Arena League and NFL-E. Bulger had a successful college career. Martz took QBs with talent and turned them into profoundly good NFL QBs.
I mention this because the operating theory in San Francisco seems to be that Martz makes top-notch QBs out of really crappy players, because that's all he's got to work with at QB out there. The Martz factor is negated when you have hacks like JT O'Sullivan and Shaun Hill running the system. Alex Smith is talented enough for Martz to turn around but he has to quit becoming a vegetable when under any pressure whatsoever.
If the Whiners are going to do anything this year, it'll be because of defense, where Walt Harris and Jay Moore made lots of plays tonight. Oakland could already be the #2 team in the AFC West with Russell and McFadden in their backfield.
And with that, Week 1 is over.
I survived.
17 down, 48 to go.
Next game: Saturday night from the Dome, Chargers at Rams.
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