Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 699 of 1503)

      Nice game, T.J. Houshmandzadeh

      September 27, 2009 /

      You got to love when an athlete talks trash leading up to a game and does next to nothing to back it up.

      Take Seattle wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh for example.

      In the week leading up to the Seahawks’ game with the Bears on Sunday, Houshmandzadeh said that he would win 95 percent of his matchups against Chicago’s secondary. He also proclaimed that he would make Bears’ GM Jerry Angelo regret not signing him when he was a free agent this offseason.

      But when the dust settled on Sunday, Housh was targeted nine times, caught just four passes for 35 yards and also had a fumble that led to a Bears’ touchdown.

      Nice game, Housh. My guess is that Jerry Angelo won’t get much sleep tonight.

      Thanks to Jay Cutler’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Devin Hester with 1:52 remaining, the Bears escaped Seattle with a 25-19 victory. Chicago was far from perfect, but Cutler was outstanding, completing 21 of 27 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns.

      Honestly, it was a little surprising that the Bears needed a last-minute touchdown to beat a depleted Seahawks team playing without starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. But wins in the NFL don’t come cheap, especially in Seattle where the Seahawks always play tough.

      At the end of the day, the Bears are 2-1 and Cutler has rebounded nicely following his ugly performance in Green Bay. With the Vikings and Packers also winning today, this was a nice victory for Da Bears.

      NFL

      Steelers continue to have issues as Bengals pull off upset

      September 27, 2009 /

      Let this sink in for a second: The defending champions are 1-2.

      The Steelers were a 4th and 10 stop away from being 2-1 when they were up 20-15 with only 36 seconds remaining in Cincinnati on Sunday. But Bengals’ QB Carson Palmer avoided a sack and found Brian Leonard on an 11-yard completion to set Cincinnati up with a 1st and 4 from the Pittsburgh 4-yard line. Two plays later, Palmer found Andre Caldwell on a four-yard touchdown pass to put the Bengals up for good 23-20.

      The theme continues for the Steelers. While they were able to rush for 102 yards, they only managed 3.6 YPC and essentially weren’t that effective. When they were leading 20-9 late in the third quarter, they couldn’t put Cincinnati away because they couldn’t milk the clock.

      Pittsburgh won a Super Bowl last year despite the lack of a running game, but teams can’t consistently win when they can’t run the football. Some are going to look at the stat sheet and think that the Steelers were effective on the ground because they rushed for over 100 yards. But that simply wasn’t the case and it shows because the Bengals were able to score two fourth quarter touchdowns to earn the victory.

      Willie Parker had a decent game, but when it was time for the Steelers to grind out the clock in the second half, he was much less effective. That caused Pittsburgh’s defense to be on the field too long in the fourth and Cincinnati capitalized.

      But let’s give credit where credit is due – the Bengals’ deserved the victory. They came up with a huge play in the third quarter when a miscommunication between Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes led to a Jonathan Joseph 31-yard interception return for a touchdown. They hung around and hung around, waited for its moment to seize a win and then did so.

      What’s amazing is that the Bengals could be 3-0 if it weren’t for Brandon Stokley’s fluke touchdown reception in Week 1. What’s even more amazing is that Cincinnati could be 3-0 and would have wins over the Packers (in Green Bay no less) and the Steelers.

      There’s something about this Bengals team. They have an underrated defense, a healthy Palmer, a rejuvenated Cedric Benson and are finally playing inspired under Marvin Lewis.

      NFL

      Vikings win thriller to stay undefeated; Gore hurt

      September 27, 2009 /

      It’s amazing how unsung heroes emerge every week in the NFL.

      For the Vikings, the unsung hero in their 27-24 win over the 49ers was receiver Greg Lewis (yes, the same Greg Lewis that never developed in Philadelphia), who made an unbelievable catch on a 32-yard pass from Brett Favre with two seconds remaining to propel Minnesota to victory.

      Things looked bleak for the Vikes, who had relinquished several leads throughout the game and who appeared destined for a loss trailing 24-20 with only 1:29 left in the fourth. But Favre led Minnesota to the 49ers’ 32-yard line and with only 12 seconds remaining, zipped a pass to Lewis to earn an improbable win.

      For the Niners, things went from bad to worse when it was discovered that running back Frank Gore would probably miss at least the next two weeks with a high ankle sprain. He rushed just one time for four yards against Minnesota before leaving the game.

      The good news for San Fran is that although the Vikings took away the Niners’ running game, Shaun Hill was able to make plays threw the air. Vernon Davis had a big day, hauling in seven passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns as San Fran beat Minnesota’s Cover 2 defense by attacking the middle of the field.

      The bad news for San Fran is that it blew the final play. Why were they in a normal defense when the game was on the line and Minnesota had to go 40 yards to score a touchdown to win? The 49ers should have had more defenders back to protect the only play that could hurt them and shouldn’t have allowed Lewis to sneak behind their coverage.

      But Mike Singletary and the Niners will learn from the loss and move on. This is still a solid team and should be competitive all season.

      NFL

      Is the end near for Bulger in St. Louis?

      September 27, 2009 /

      The Packers got a free win on Sunday compliments of the Rams, or better known as the worst team in the NFL.

      But that’s not really a shock. The Packers should have won, they did – end of story.

      The question I have surrounding this game is whether or not Marc Bulger should remain the Rams’ starting quarterback after suffering a right shoulder injury in the first quarter of the Packers’ 36-17 win. Kyle Boller replaced Bulger and threw for 164 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

      While Boller’s performance was hardly earth shattering, he moved the offense more efficiently than Bulger did the past two games and might have earned the right to start next week. (Even if Bulger’s shoulder is healthy enough for him to play.)

      Since signing a six-year, $65 million contract extension in 2007, Bulger has been highly ineffective. While he deserves an opportunity to learn the team’s new offense under coordinator Pat Shurmur, the bottom line is that St. Louis had just seven points in two games under Bulger, while Boller came off the bench and managed to throw for two touchdown passes.

      I realize that no matter who starts for the Rams, this is still going to be a bad football team. But considering Bulger was supposed to be St. Louis’s quarterback for at least another 3-4 years, it’s interesting that he might have played himself out of a job since signing his big extension.

      Steve Spagnuolo’s squad is 0-3 to start the season and a change might be in order. Usually the quarterback is the first person to lose his job when the head coach wants to mix things up. Will Bulger soon be replaced?

      NFL

      The Jets are the class of the AFC East; stick a fork in the Titans

      September 27, 2009 /

      Remember when the Titans started last season 10-0 and amassed the league’s best record? Well that’s nothing but a distant memory because the 2009 version of the Titans is done.

      That statement might be overblown given that it’s only Week 3 of the season, but after their 24-17 loss to the Jets on Sunday, it’s clear that this isn’t the same Tennessee team that was among the NFL’s best last season.

      Look, I realize that the Titans started 0-6 in 2006 and still made the playoffs. And I also realize that had rookie corner Ryan Mouton not fumbled twice on kick returns today (both resulting in scores by the Jets), Tennessee might be 1-2 and fighting its way back into contention.

      But there’s just something missing on this Titans team and it’s not only Albert Haynesworth. Kerry Collins has lost a lot of that veteran magic that he had last year, the secondary is an absolute mess and while Chris Johnson is a superb player, this team is still lacking offensive playmakers in the passing game.

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      NFL

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