Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1456 of 1503)

Monday Night Football Recap: NY Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys

So much for the hyped-up NFC East clash. The Giants dominated in every phase of their 36-22 win over the Cowboys. However, New York likely lost starting line backer LaVar Arrington for the rest of the season with an Achilles tear.

Well, the official Tony Romo era has started in Dallas. What a scene too – Romo is announced as starter for the second half and on his first attempt, he’s picked off on a pass deflection that sets up a Giants touchdown. Welcome to the NFL, son. Romo would go on to throw three touchdown passes in the contest. Although one of them was to Giants’ defensive back Kevin Dockery, who returned the Romo gift 96 yards for New York’s final score of the night. Romo did connect with Terrell Owens on a touchdown pass. Although many across the nation could be heard laughing when T.O. was lit up by Antonio Pierce on a tackle in the first half and then when he dropped a fourth and two pass right in his gut while Dallas was trying to get back into the game.

I thought Eli Manning played pretty well and the touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress on the Giants first possession was a perfect throw. While Burress did go up and make a splendid catch, it helped that Cowboys safety Roy Williams was knocked to the ground by the back judge who couldn’t get out of his own way. And once again, Tiki Barber has another solid night (27 carries, 114 yards) only to give his touchdown chances to human bowling ball Brandon Jacobs. Jacobs, by the way, runs like a man possessed. He had two runs in which he carried Dallas tacklers for a good five yards before finally being brought down. New York can’t like the fact that it will have to say goodbye to Barber at the end of the season, but this kid Jacobs looks like the real deal.

Random Thoughts from Week 7 in the NFL

Random thoughts from the day that was…Week 7 in the NFL:

– Congratulations on that incredible 62-yard game winning field goal Matt Bryant. Double or nothing says that you can’t do it again though, bro.

Dennis Green should fire himself.

– Although he amended this in his latest column, SI.com’s Peter King wrote last week in a fantasy football column that he would rather play Frank Gifford over Larry Johnson (132 yards, two touchdowns) against the Chargers.

This is why sports columnist should stay out of fantasy football discussions if they have never played an ounce of fantasy football.

– Okay Colts, we’re listening again.

– Pittsburgh owner Dan Rooney after the referees called a false start penalty that cost the Steelers a chance at a game winning field goal in regulation on Sunday:

“These officials should be ashamed of themselves,” Steelers chairman Dan Rooney said. “That last call, you don’t call that kind of call.”

Uh, the officials should be ashamed of themselves for calling a false start penalty? Come on Mr. Rooney, after what happened at the Super Bowl last year, you shouldn’t criticize anything the officials do…ever.

– How unpredictable are the Kansas City Chiefs this year? One week after getting destroyed by the Steelers, KC bounces back and beats a darn good Chargers team on a last second field goal.

– The Chargers lost their best overall defensive player (LB Shawne Merriman out four weeks for a steroids suspension) and their sack leader (LB Shaun Phillips expected to miss six weeks with calf injury) all in one week. Ouch.

– Why does Hines Ward continually get overlooked as far as being called elite? Is it the way he always finds the back of the end zone for touchdowns or the way he relentlessness run blocks for his backs that turns people off?

Philadelphia might want to try getting a lead on somebody and holding on to it after two straight weeks of getting burned by last second field goals.

Michael Vick needs to take his performance against the Steelers (18 of 30 for 232 yards and four touchdowns) in stride. Nice game, now come back out and be consistent next week, Mikey.

– Is Carolina’s offense inconsistent or what?

– What a season so far for Chester Taylor. So many doubts about him and the Vikings coming into the season – so many of those doubts disappearing with Taylor and Minnesota now laughing its way to a nice 4-2 record.

– Here’s a fantasy nightmare for Chris Chambers-owners: Joey Harrington completed 33 passes in the Dolphins loss to the Packers on Sunday – only two of them were to Chambers.

– If Washington doesn’t name Jason Campbell its starter soon (like in the next two hours), the Redskins are telling the rest of the free world that they have no interest in their future.

– Finally! The Texans and David Carr aren’t wasting Andre Johnson’s talent anymore!

– The Madden Cover jinx and the NFC Champion jinx have come together to form some kind of mega curse on the Seattle Seahawks. Possibly lining up in the Seattle backfield for the next few weeks: Seneca Wallace and Maurice Morris.

Cleveland, give your fans something to cheer for or else everybody is going to stay at home and watch replays of Ohio State games from now on.

Merriman to be suspended for steroids

Sources around the NFL are reporting that San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman will be suspended four games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

ESPN.com’s Chris Mortensen is reporting that Merriman’s suspension is likely due to actual steroids and not a dietary supplement like some athletes get caught with.

Merriman’s positive test was “definitely for steroids … not one of those supplement deals,” said a source with knowledge of Merriman’s suspension. Both the initial A sample and backup B sample came back positive, Mortensen reported.

Merriman was honored with the Defensive Rookie Player of the Year award last season in which he posted 54 tackles, 10 sacks and two forced fumbles. That award will undoubtedly be questioned with this suspension.

However, in due time, fans of the NFL have proven that they are much more forgiving than Major League Baseball fans. Just look at Julius Peppers. Nobody remembers that he was suspended in 2002 for violating the league’s substance abuse policy too.

It’s a shame that Merriman cheated, but it’s a bigger shame that we as NFL fans will most likely forget and forgive him as soon as he is back to entertaining us on the gridiron.

Lies, lies, lies!

I don’t know about anybody else, but I for one, am sick and tired of being lied to by Major League Baseball players.

In the constant barrage of steroid stories that have engulfed the MLB over the past decade, why do these athletes continue to think that we as a general public are stupid? Barry Bonds thought it was flax seed oil he was taking and not steroids. Sammy Sosa all of a sudden can’t understand English when he was probed in court over his steroid involvement. And now Kenny Rogers “thought it was dirt” that magically wound up on his left hand (his pitching hand mind you) in Game 2 of the World Series. Come on Kenny, it wasn’t dirt. The Scores Report’s own David Mesker said it best in his recap of the game Sunday night: ‘dude’s got pin tar on his hand.’

Would someone please stand up and be a man after you get caught? Or better yet, don’t cheat! When reporters asked if home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez asked him to rub the “dirt” off of his hand after the first inning, Rogers responded by saying: “no, I noticed it and rubbed it off.” Yet, MLB umpire supervisor Steve Palermo said after the game that Marquez asked Rogers to wash off the “dirt”. So, which was it Kenny?

This is utter crap in a long line of bull from yet another MLB cheating situation. Granted, Rogers still pitched a great game after he wiped the crud of his hand and has now amassed 23 scoreless innings in the postseason. But since when did Kenny Rogers turn into Cy Young all of a sudden? ESPN has aired shots of the mysterious dirt being on Rogers’ hand in each of his previous two-playoff outings too.

Hmm, if that is dirt that keeps showing on only Rogers’ left hand – then that my friends, is one magic piece of dirt.

Weekend Wrap: Late action in the NFL

Here was your best late game in the NFL:

Colts 36, Redskins 22
Much like week six, the early games provided the most excitement, while the late games fizzled. This contest was close at halftime, but once Indy put 20 points on the scoreboard in the third quarter, the game went down hill quickly for Washington.

QB Peyton Manning continued his barrage on the rest of the league by throwing for 342 yards and four touchdowns. RB Joseph Addai made the most out of 11 carries – rushing for 85 yards (a nice 7.7 average per carry).

Most impressed with: Can you say enough great things about the Colts wide receivers? Every single week, the duo of Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne continue to play at such a high level. The duo caught a combined 14 catches for 195 yards and three touchdowns. That punt return by Antwaan Randle El for a touchdown in the second quarter was sweet too. The guy went untouched for 87 yards – pure speed.

Least impressed with: The Skins offense wasn’t the problem today (like most Sundays). But while it’s easy to look bad against Manning and co., where has Washington’s stout defense gone? Indy put up 452 total yards and rang up 342 threw the air.

Quick Shots:
The only way to describe the Broncos defense this season is suffocating. Denver allowed just 165 total yards in a 17-7 win over Cleveland and stuffed the Browns for only 34 yards rushing. The offense still looks a bit anemic, but RB Tatum Bell was able to rush for 115 yards (one touchdown) and WR Javon Walker had a nice day while hauling in nine catches for 107 yards. Denver would be undefeated right now if it weren’t for a terrible Jake Plummer performance in the opening game against St. Louis…Bad news in Seattle as QB Matt Hasselback was forced to leave the game after getting rolled up in the second half. Hasselback left the game with a sprain knee and his status is uncertain for next week. You have to give a lot of credit to the Vikings for going into a tough environment in Seattle and coming away with a huge 31-13 win. What a day by RB Chester Taylor. Taylor popped off a 95-yard touchdown run to basically seal the deal for Minnesota and finished the contest with 169 yards on the ground. QB Brad Johnson had a decent game too, as “Elbow Pads” threw for 171 yards and a nice 40-yard toss to Marcus Robinson in the second quarter…So, let me get this straight Denny Green. You throw your offensive coordinator under the bus and fire him one day after the collapse to Chicago last Monday night. Then you come out against a winless Oakland team and only put up nine points against the Raiders? Who’s fault is it now – the new o-coordinator? Congratulations are in order for Da Raiders in notching a 22-9 win and their first victory of the year. WR Randy Moss hauled in seven passes for 129 yards and a touchdown in the victory. Hmm, must have been a game he wanted to play in…

Don’t forget to check out my NFL Random Thoughts blog on Monday.

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