And you thought Tom Brady was back. He was back alright. On his back. The host New York Jets forced Brady to hurry 15 passes and knocked him down five times, ringing up the stunner of Week 2, when they took down their mighty eastern rival, New England, 16‒9, in a key early-season division matchup.
You wouldn’t have guessed the Jets’ success by the start. On New York’s first offensive play from scrimmage, rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez was sacked for a seven-yard loss, fumbling on top of it, though guard Alan Faneca managed to recover it way back at the Jets’ 3. After the punt, the Patriots took over at the New York 49, but, just like their first series, could do nothing, going three and out. It turned out to be a microcosm of the afternoon. The Jets never let up on Brady, who, needing only a touchdown to tie in the fourth quarter, went a dismal 3-for-11 on the Patriots’ final two series. In between, New York made enough big plays—primarily Sanchez’s passes to Jerricho Cotchery and Chansi Stuckey—to post a touchdown and three Jay Feely field goals. For the first time since the 2006 season, New England failed to score an offensive touchdown. Looks like new Jets head coach Rex Ryan has given Bill Belichick something to chew on.
In rainy Chicago, where the Bears knocked off defending world champion Pittsburgh 17‒14, it was abundantly clear that the Steelers have no one to replace All-World strong safety Troy Polamalu. On a key fourth-quarter 29-yard pass play to Bears tight end Greg Olsen and again on the game-tying touchdown to wide receiver Johnny Knox, completions went over Polamalu’s replacement, Tyrone Carter. Still, it wasn’t the lack of defensed passes that beat Pittsburgh but rather their own usually reliable kicker, Jeff Reed, who uncharacteristically missed two makeable fourth-quarter field goals. New Bears QB Jay Cutler showed Chicagoans they’ll have lots to cheer about over the long season ahead, with his pinhole accuracy in crucial situations, including going 4-for-4 in the final game-winning drive that culminated in Robbie Gould’s 44-yard field goal.
ANGLING FOR THE CORNER: Who would have guessed last year’s top regular-season team in the AFC, Tennessee, starting out 0-2…Another Wk. 2 shocker: Cincinnati’s 31‒24 win over Green Bay. Bengals QB Carson Palmer spread the wealth among his three wideouts, each of whom scored a touchdown to support Cedric Benson’s 141 yards rushing…In San Diego, Baltimore’s tough guy in the middle, Ray Lewis, came up with the big defensive play all day, including stopping the Chargers’ Darren Sproles for a five-yard loss on fourth-and-2 at the Baltimore 15, as the Ravens won a big one on the road, 31‒26…the Giants waited until the final second to ruin Jerry Jones' new stadium unveiling in Dallas with a 37-yd. field goal.
Alan Ross is the author of 32 books, including Away from the Ball: The NFL’s Off-the-Field Heroes. E-mail him at:alanross_sports@yahoo.com© Sport
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Steelers claim titanic NFL season opener
You would have thought it was the Super Bowl instead of the first game of the season. The NFL and NBC collaborated to give the 2009 NFL season kickoff a production that rivaled the spectacular opening of last year’s Beijing Olympics. What fans least expected was that the game rivaled any opener in memory for thrills and level of execution.
Before he left with a sprained left knee in the first half, Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu put on one of the all-time jaw-dropping displays of how to play the strong safety position, stuffing the opposing Tennessee Titans’ running backs behind the line of scrimmage and headhunting Titans receivers on pass routes. But the Steelers’ defensive warrior wasn’t alone with his elevated level of play. Both sides showed uncanny crispness, unusual so early in the season.
The game had the look of an old-school defensive battle, borne out by the scoreboard that showed a scoreless tie till nearly halftime. Both teams scored just before the half to make it 7‒7, and that’s the way it stood through three quarters too. Stars were many: Roethlisberger, Ward, Miller, Polamalu, Harrison for the steel town; Collins, Johnson, Gage, and the rookie Britt making plays for Tennessee—again, all with the mature execution one wouldn’t expect to see until midseason or beyond. The only glitch was two improbable field goal misses by the Titans’ normally automatic Rob Baronis. As events turned out, the miscues, which included a blocked attempt, would make the difference in the outcome.
With 12 minutes remaining, Tennessee’s Baronis finally connected on a three, making it 10‒7 Tennessee. Roethlisberger stepped up, sliding from tackles and using his incredible pump fake to freeze Titans defenders on a drive that would stall from a delay-of-game penalty. But Pittsburgh converted the three, and with just under three minutes to go it was tied again, 10‒all. Tennessee could do nothing and punted. With just 1:01 left, the Steelers appeared to have salted the game away, when Big Ben hit Hines Ward for 30 yards down to the Tennessee 4. But Titans safety Michael Griffin stripped the ball from the receiver. Overtime!
The only disappointment of the entire game came next: the coin flip that preceded overtime. Not that Pittsburgh won the toss, but that each team did not get the chance to touch the ball. That’s one of those archaic NFL rules that still finds a way to insidiously sabotage game outcomes, and I for one am no fan of it. It seems a slap in the face to the majesty of the game, especially one as hard-fought and evenly matched as this one, to have the outcome settled by something as fickle as a coin toss. Really, it’s an insult to the game. Let ’em both have at least one crack on offense, then let it become sudden death.
ANGLING FOR THE CORNER: It was fitting that the same combination that produced the last touchdown of 2008 should make the first one of 2009. Super Bowl XLIII heroes Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes hooked up on a 34-yard TD pass with a minute and a half to go in the first half to tally the league’s first points of 2009…New Orleans’ Drew Brees tossed six TD passes, but then, it was against the Detroit Lions. FOX Sports reported incorrectly that it was the first time the feat had been accomplished in an opener since 1950. No one threw for six scores in any of the league’s opening games that year…Adrian Peterson rushed for 180 rushing yards and three TDs to help make Brett Favre’s debut with Minnesota a smooth one. But then, it was against Cleveland.
Alan Ross is the author of 32 books, including Away from the Ball: The NFL’s Off-the-Field Heroes. E-mail him at:alanross_sports@yahoo.com© Sportland 2009
Before he left with a sprained left knee in the first half, Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu put on one of the all-time jaw-dropping displays of how to play the strong safety position, stuffing the opposing Tennessee Titans’ running backs behind the line of scrimmage and headhunting Titans receivers on pass routes. But the Steelers’ defensive warrior wasn’t alone with his elevated level of play. Both sides showed uncanny crispness, unusual so early in the season.
The game had the look of an old-school defensive battle, borne out by the scoreboard that showed a scoreless tie till nearly halftime. Both teams scored just before the half to make it 7‒7, and that’s the way it stood through three quarters too. Stars were many: Roethlisberger, Ward, Miller, Polamalu, Harrison for the steel town; Collins, Johnson, Gage, and the rookie Britt making plays for Tennessee—again, all with the mature execution one wouldn’t expect to see until midseason or beyond. The only glitch was two improbable field goal misses by the Titans’ normally automatic Rob Baronis. As events turned out, the miscues, which included a blocked attempt, would make the difference in the outcome.
With 12 minutes remaining, Tennessee’s Baronis finally connected on a three, making it 10‒7 Tennessee. Roethlisberger stepped up, sliding from tackles and using his incredible pump fake to freeze Titans defenders on a drive that would stall from a delay-of-game penalty. But Pittsburgh converted the three, and with just under three minutes to go it was tied again, 10‒all. Tennessee could do nothing and punted. With just 1:01 left, the Steelers appeared to have salted the game away, when Big Ben hit Hines Ward for 30 yards down to the Tennessee 4. But Titans safety Michael Griffin stripped the ball from the receiver. Overtime!
The only disappointment of the entire game came next: the coin flip that preceded overtime. Not that Pittsburgh won the toss, but that each team did not get the chance to touch the ball. That’s one of those archaic NFL rules that still finds a way to insidiously sabotage game outcomes, and I for one am no fan of it. It seems a slap in the face to the majesty of the game, especially one as hard-fought and evenly matched as this one, to have the outcome settled by something as fickle as a coin toss. Really, it’s an insult to the game. Let ’em both have at least one crack on offense, then let it become sudden death.
ANGLING FOR THE CORNER: It was fitting that the same combination that produced the last touchdown of 2008 should make the first one of 2009. Super Bowl XLIII heroes Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes hooked up on a 34-yard TD pass with a minute and a half to go in the first half to tally the league’s first points of 2009…New Orleans’ Drew Brees tossed six TD passes, but then, it was against the Detroit Lions. FOX Sports reported incorrectly that it was the first time the feat had been accomplished in an opener since 1950. No one threw for six scores in any of the league’s opening games that year…Adrian Peterson rushed for 180 rushing yards and three TDs to help make Brett Favre’s debut with Minnesota a smooth one. But then, it was against Cleveland.
Alan Ross is the author of 32 books, including Away from the Ball: The NFL’s Off-the-Field Heroes. E-mail him at:alanross_sports@yahoo.com© Sportland 2009
Chase field settled as Hamlin wins at home
Native Virginian Denny Hamlin finally got to take the checkered flag in his home state, but fans and spectators at the Chevy Rock ’n Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway Saturday night had their eyes riveted further back in the field.
That’s where Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, and Kyle Busch were battling to make the final spot in the 12-man Chase field that begins with a 10-race schedule next weekend in New Hampshire. But before the race was a quarter of the way through, Kenseth was complaining of no grip on either the front or rear of the 17 car, signaling the beginning of a slow fade to black. The race for the Chase then pared down to a two-man battle between Vickers and Busch. With the aid of the lap-to-lap adjustable standings graphic, viewers were treated to the escalating or diminishing fortunes of the two as they raced hard throughout the evening, Busch running as high as fourth late in the race, but with Vickers usually only a car or two behind.
With 62 laps to go, Vickers passed Busch but dropped behind the 18 car in the race off pit row with only 17 laps to go following the 10th and final caution. Vickers stayed close, finishing seventh to Busch’s fifth, which gave the Red Bull Racing ace enough pad (eight points) to claim the 12th and final spot in the Chase.
It had to be devastating for Busch: a series-tying four victories (with Mark Martin) over the course of the regular season but unable to squeeze into the Chase field. The incongruity of it all is that if Busch had eked into the Chase field, he would have been the co-No. 1 seed along with Martin, since the standings kicking off the start of the Chase are determined by bonus points awarded for victories during the regular season.
But it seems odd to hear a NASCAR driver just eliminated from going to the postseason say, “We’ll just have to do our best in the next 10 races and look forward to next year,” as Kenseth commented afterward. One wonders when enough people who think the way I do about the existing Chase format will be large enough in legion to get the attention of the attention-deficit-disorder administrators of NASCAR, who are clueless that there is something terribly wrong with their format; that 31 cars who have all just been eliminated from the postseason still show up for all 10 races of the postseason.
That’s where Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, and Kyle Busch were battling to make the final spot in the 12-man Chase field that begins with a 10-race schedule next weekend in New Hampshire. But before the race was a quarter of the way through, Kenseth was complaining of no grip on either the front or rear of the 17 car, signaling the beginning of a slow fade to black. The race for the Chase then pared down to a two-man battle between Vickers and Busch. With the aid of the lap-to-lap adjustable standings graphic, viewers were treated to the escalating or diminishing fortunes of the two as they raced hard throughout the evening, Busch running as high as fourth late in the race, but with Vickers usually only a car or two behind.
With 62 laps to go, Vickers passed Busch but dropped behind the 18 car in the race off pit row with only 17 laps to go following the 10th and final caution. Vickers stayed close, finishing seventh to Busch’s fifth, which gave the Red Bull Racing ace enough pad (eight points) to claim the 12th and final spot in the Chase.
It had to be devastating for Busch: a series-tying four victories (with Mark Martin) over the course of the regular season but unable to squeeze into the Chase field. The incongruity of it all is that if Busch had eked into the Chase field, he would have been the co-No. 1 seed along with Martin, since the standings kicking off the start of the Chase are determined by bonus points awarded for victories during the regular season.
But it seems odd to hear a NASCAR driver just eliminated from going to the postseason say, “We’ll just have to do our best in the next 10 races and look forward to next year,” as Kenseth commented afterward. One wonders when enough people who think the way I do about the existing Chase format will be large enough in legion to get the attention of the attention-deficit-disorder administrators of NASCAR, who are clueless that there is something terribly wrong with their format; that 31 cars who have all just been eliminated from the postseason still show up for all 10 races of the postseason.
Monday, September 7, 2009
QBs dominate outlook as 2009 season opens
The return of Michael Vick, Tom Brady, and Brett Favre. The trade of Jay Cutler. The promise and potential of first-round picks Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez. The battle in Cleveland: Quinn or Anderson?
The 2009 NFL preseason uncovered a cornucopia of interesting developments, from the multitude of quarterback stories to five teams that headed into the final preseason game unbeaten. But preseason, traditionally, has been a difficult standard to gauge regular-season performance by. To illustrate, the hapless-of-late Detroit Lions are 7-1 in preseason since 2007, but have lost 17 regular-season games over that same period.
The undefeated teams were whittled down to three after preseason closed—Seattle from the NFC; Miami and Baltimore in the AFC—but only the two AFC teams appear to be serious contenders for high power rankings during the regular season. Baltimore presents the most intriguing possibility. A member of the tough AFC North division, the Ravens took league champion Pittsburgh to the limit last year, losing two regular-season contests and the AFC title game to the Steelers by a total of 16 points. But for a few plays, it could’ve been the Ravens in the Super Bowl against Arizona. The renewal of the Pittsburgh-Baltimore division battle will be a 2009 highlight.
Three teams went winless in the preseason: Carolina, Kansas City, and Arizona, with the most disturbing of these being the Cardinals. Last year’s Super Bowl finalist with the high-octane offense was shutout by Denver in its final tune-up. Only two teams in the NFC scored fewer points than the Cardinals in preseason, an ominous sign.
Among the quarterbacks generating headlines, the Cutler and Favre stories are likely to carry on well into the regular season. Favre’s continuing resurrection saga should give a true boost to the Vikings’ quest to down Green Bay and Chicago in the NFC North, a march that should see them go deep into the postseason. Vick gets his chance at redemption, though it’s evident he’s still rusty, and Brady’s return from injury, now including slight shoulder damage, will be watched closely. The highly touted rookies Stafford and Sanchez should start slowly, with Sanchez’s Jets giving him better operating room. In Cleveland, it probably won’t matter which QB starts. The Browns, after a basement-wallowing 4-12 campaign in ’08, have nowhere to go but up.
Super Bowl pick? Strictly for crystal-ball gazers, and we’re a long way out, but: Minnesota vs. Baltimore, with the Ravens taking home the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Alan Ross is the author of 32 books, including Away from the Ball: The NFL’s Off-the-Field Heroes. E-mail him at: alanross_sports@yahoo.com© Sportland 2009
The 2009 NFL preseason uncovered a cornucopia of interesting developments, from the multitude of quarterback stories to five teams that headed into the final preseason game unbeaten. But preseason, traditionally, has been a difficult standard to gauge regular-season performance by. To illustrate, the hapless-of-late Detroit Lions are 7-1 in preseason since 2007, but have lost 17 regular-season games over that same period.
The undefeated teams were whittled down to three after preseason closed—Seattle from the NFC; Miami and Baltimore in the AFC—but only the two AFC teams appear to be serious contenders for high power rankings during the regular season. Baltimore presents the most intriguing possibility. A member of the tough AFC North division, the Ravens took league champion Pittsburgh to the limit last year, losing two regular-season contests and the AFC title game to the Steelers by a total of 16 points. But for a few plays, it could’ve been the Ravens in the Super Bowl against Arizona. The renewal of the Pittsburgh-Baltimore division battle will be a 2009 highlight.
Three teams went winless in the preseason: Carolina, Kansas City, and Arizona, with the most disturbing of these being the Cardinals. Last year’s Super Bowl finalist with the high-octane offense was shutout by Denver in its final tune-up. Only two teams in the NFC scored fewer points than the Cardinals in preseason, an ominous sign.
Among the quarterbacks generating headlines, the Cutler and Favre stories are likely to carry on well into the regular season. Favre’s continuing resurrection saga should give a true boost to the Vikings’ quest to down Green Bay and Chicago in the NFC North, a march that should see them go deep into the postseason. Vick gets his chance at redemption, though it’s evident he’s still rusty, and Brady’s return from injury, now including slight shoulder damage, will be watched closely. The highly touted rookies Stafford and Sanchez should start slowly, with Sanchez’s Jets giving him better operating room. In Cleveland, it probably won’t matter which QB starts. The Browns, after a basement-wallowing 4-12 campaign in ’08, have nowhere to go but up.
Super Bowl pick? Strictly for crystal-ball gazers, and we’re a long way out, but: Minnesota vs. Baltimore, with the Ravens taking home the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Alan Ross is the author of 32 books, including Away from the Ball: The NFL’s Off-the-Field Heroes. E-mail him at: alanross_sports@yahoo.com© Sportland 2009
Tire wear raises Kahne at Atlanta
It was appropriate that on a weekend when labor was being celebrated nationwide, the stress-subjected tires that carry the Sprint Cup cars around the track should also labor.
As Kasey Kahne notched his second win of 2009 in the Pep Boys Auto 500 at notorious Atlanta Motor Speedway, drivers, crews, and race fans watched a wild slip ’n slide unfold around the high banks of the 1.5 quad-oval. The race, like so many Sprint Cup events, showed strong cars for various segments of the 500-miler. Early on, pole-sitter Martin Truex Jr. dominated. In their own turn, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin grabbed the top spot at various junctures during the first half of the 325-lapper, all looking solid enough to take a win.
But at the race’s midpoint, Kevin Harvick, coming out of pit lane 16th following the race’s fifth yellow, stormed through the field to take the lead within 32 laps of the restart. He looked like a surefire candidate for Victory Lane, as did Kahne who had sparred successfully with Harvick in some tight racing little more than 100 laps out from the end, issuing a harbinger of what was to come: Kahne won three restarts and one race off pit row in the final 117 laps. The race’s ninth and final caution, with just 16 laps to go, undid Harvick. Kahne, slow off the restart, got a push from behind on the inside lane that catapulted him past Harvick and on to the checkered flag.
To the casual observer, the race was an on-going all skate. All night long, cars got loose, plowing sideways down the straightaway coming off the turn or screaming across the grass, as Sam Hornish Jr. managed to do twice. At the core, it seems the tire was again the X factor. Testing heavily and successfully at Atlanta this past spring, Goodyear didn’t seem to have an answer for night racing on a tough track. Supposedly there would be more grip in the tires for the fall race with its cooler temperatures. That didn’t stop six cars from either wrecking or spinning out due to tires going down, not to mention two cars that busted rear axles. Racing setups went askew, as tire changes left pit crews and drivers clueless as to what to expect next.
Testing was banned for all teams this past season in an effort to curb the sport’s rocketing expenses. But Goodyear, not subject to the teams ban, is free to test to their heart’s delight. Perhaps Goodyear and the CoT design team should have lunch some time. They have a lot to talk about.
As Kasey Kahne notched his second win of 2009 in the Pep Boys Auto 500 at notorious Atlanta Motor Speedway, drivers, crews, and race fans watched a wild slip ’n slide unfold around the high banks of the 1.5 quad-oval. The race, like so many Sprint Cup events, showed strong cars for various segments of the 500-miler. Early on, pole-sitter Martin Truex Jr. dominated. In their own turn, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin grabbed the top spot at various junctures during the first half of the 325-lapper, all looking solid enough to take a win.
But at the race’s midpoint, Kevin Harvick, coming out of pit lane 16th following the race’s fifth yellow, stormed through the field to take the lead within 32 laps of the restart. He looked like a surefire candidate for Victory Lane, as did Kahne who had sparred successfully with Harvick in some tight racing little more than 100 laps out from the end, issuing a harbinger of what was to come: Kahne won three restarts and one race off pit row in the final 117 laps. The race’s ninth and final caution, with just 16 laps to go, undid Harvick. Kahne, slow off the restart, got a push from behind on the inside lane that catapulted him past Harvick and on to the checkered flag.
To the casual observer, the race was an on-going all skate. All night long, cars got loose, plowing sideways down the straightaway coming off the turn or screaming across the grass, as Sam Hornish Jr. managed to do twice. At the core, it seems the tire was again the X factor. Testing heavily and successfully at Atlanta this past spring, Goodyear didn’t seem to have an answer for night racing on a tough track. Supposedly there would be more grip in the tires for the fall race with its cooler temperatures. That didn’t stop six cars from either wrecking or spinning out due to tires going down, not to mention two cars that busted rear axles. Racing setups went askew, as tire changes left pit crews and drivers clueless as to what to expect next.
Testing was banned for all teams this past season in an effort to curb the sport’s rocketing expenses. But Goodyear, not subject to the teams ban, is free to test to their heart’s delight. Perhaps Goodyear and the CoT design team should have lunch some time. They have a lot to talk about.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
A Connecticut radio station out of Hartford will interview Alan next Monday (Labor Day) at 4 p.m. EST (3 p.m. Central) about Alan’s latest book, Away from the Ball, a look at the NFL’s off-the-field heroes. Paul Pacelli conducts the half-hour interview live on the Dan Lovallo program.
The station website is www.talkofconnecticut.com. Check it out. Perhaps they stream audio. Four AM stations around the state carry the program: WDRC (AM 1360, Hartford); WMMW (AM 1470, Meridian); WWCO (AM 1240, Waterbury); and WSNG (AM 610, Torrington).
The station website is www.talkofconnecticut.com. Check it out. Perhaps they stream audio. Four AM stations around the state carry the program: WDRC (AM 1360, Hartford); WMMW (AM 1470, Meridian); WWCO (AM 1240, Waterbury); and WSNG (AM 610, Torrington).
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