Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 710 of 1503)

      Patriots have issues; Jets have new life under Ryan

      September 20, 2009 /

      Pundits warned after the Patriots barely beat the Bills on Monday night that it’s ignorant to come to conclusions after Week 1.

      Well, it’s only Week 2 and I’ve already come to this conclusion: Bill Belichick’s team has issues. They’re still 1-1 after their 16-9 loss to the Jets on Sunday, but New England is a Leodis McKelvin kneel-down away from being 0-2 right now.

      New England’s pass protection might be at the forefront of the Pats’ problems. The offensive line struggled to control the penetration that New York was able to generate throughout the game and the Pats were also unable to pick up a crucial 3rd and 1 at their own 38-yard line trailing 16-9. That’s a telltale sign that the horses up front for the Patriots aren’t getting the job done.

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      NFL

      So far, the Rams’ offense is pathetic under Shurmur

      September 20, 2009 /

      Remember the days when the “mad scientist” Mike Martz called the plays in St. Louis and the Rams scored at will against opponents? Well, they’re light years from resembling that offense again.

      When Steve Spagnuolo was hired in January to be the Rams’ next head coach, he appointed former Eagles’ QB coach Pat Shurmur to run his offense. And if the first two games of the ’09 season are any indication of how St. Louis will fair offensively this season, then this team will be lucky to average 10 points a game this year.

      I realize it’s early, but the Rams’ offense already looks pathetic. A week after being shut out in Seattle, St. Louis mustered only a touchdown in a 9-7 loss to the Redskins on Sunday.

      The Rams had a golden opportunity to move the chains through the air against a Washington team that inactivated cornerbacks Fred Smoot and Kevin Barnes before the game and therefore, the Skins only had four active cornerbacks. Washington was sold out to stop Steven Jackson in the running game and despite facing a passive Washington defensive backfield, Marc Bulger threw for only 123 yards and a 4.4 YPA average. That’s brutal – rookies post those kinds of numbers in their first games.

      Granted, neither Shurmur nor Bulger can do anything about receiver Donnie Avery fumbling in the red zone, and they couldn’t help that center Jason Brown and left tackle Jason Smith left the game at various times with injuries. Plus, it always takes players two to three years to learn the West Coast Offense.

      But the bottom line is that the Rams have seven points in eight quarters and that’s just not going to cut it, especially for a team that expected to play harder under Spagnuolo.

      NFL

      NFL Week 2 Snapshot Previews

      September 20, 2009 /

      Here are quick-hit previews for all of Sunday afternoon’s action in Week 2. Be sure to check out my picks and predictions for this week as well.

      Patriots at Jets, 1PM ET
      Thanks to Rex Ryan and Kerry Rhodes boastfully stating that they won’t be afraid of the Patriots this year (or ever), this has become one of the more intriguing Week 2 matchups. Under Ryan’s guidance, the Jets now play an aggressive, attacking style of defense. If New York’s front seven can generate consistent pressure on Tom Brady, the Jets have a good enough secondary to at least contain Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Without Jerod Mayo (out with an injury) and Richard Seymour (out like yesterday’s news), Bill Belichick’s defense suddenly looks human. Is there an upset brewing in East Rutherford?

      Saints at Eagles, 1PM ET
      The general consensus is that without Donovan McNabb (out with a rib injury), the Eagles don’t stand a chance Sunday against the offensive juggernaut that is the Saints. But don’t forget that Philly’s defense is a tad more talented than Detroit’s (NO’s opponent last Sunday) and that the Eagles are a tough team to beat at home. While Kevin Kolb certainly doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in the Philly faithful, New Orleans allowed rookie Matthew Stafford and the Lions to put up 27 points on them last week, so maybe Kolb (who will be protected by an excellent line and be aided by the Eagles’ solid running game) won’t have to win the game on his own. Nobody should expect the Saints to roll into Lincoln Financial Field today and put up 45 points again like they did last week.

      Rams at Redskins, 1PM ET
      It would be nice to see Jim Zorn take the training wheels off his offense and let quarterback Jason Campbell throw the ball downfield more. If Zorn doesn’t trust Campbell to throw the ball vertically against the defensively challenged Rams, then he’ll trust him in any situation. As soon as Zorn establishes the run with Clinton Portis, he should allow Campbell to challenge St. Louis’s suspect secondary and take shots down field. The over/under on sacks for Albert Haynesworth in this game has been set at 24. And the over/under on Marc Bulger flashing that hapless expression after he makes a mistake is 70.

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      NFL

      Texas exacts revenge on Tech

      September 19, 2009 /

      Texas has been waiting almost a year to get the taste of losing to Texas Tech out of its mouth and it did just that on Saturday night as the Longhorns defeated the Red Raiders 34-24.

      This wasn’t a very clean game by the No. 2 team in the nation, as Heisman candidate Colt McCoy threw two interceptions and the Texas defense was shredded by Tech quarterback Taylor Potts, who passed for 420 yards and three touchdowns. But the Longhorns did just enough to stay ahead of the Raiders for the entire game and managed to exact revenge on their in-state rivals.

      The Longhorn defense also did a nice job giving Potts multiple looks in order to confuse him on several series throughout the game. Texas was also incredibly aggressive, although that allowed Potts to complete some crossing routes that helped moved the chains.

      Offensively for the Longhorns, receiver Jordan Shipley had big night, hauling in 11 passes for 75 yards and returning a punt 38 yards for a touchdown to give Texas its first score. The Longhorn offense essentially took what Tech gave them and didn’t try to force the action outside of when McCoy found Dan Buckner down the seams for a 25-yard completion that set up a Cody Johnson 1-yard touchdown run.

      Considering Texas was an 18.5-point favorite coming into this game, one would have thought that the Longhorns would take it to Tech more than they did. But on a day where Florida only beat Lane Kiffin’s Volunteers by 10 points and USC lost to Washington, I guess Texas’s sound, yet rather unsatisfying 10-point win over Tech is pretty much par for the course.

      Mack Brown’s program will host UTEP and Colorado over its next two games before its big matchup with Oklahoma on October 17.

      College Football

      Shocker: USC loses to an inferior opponent

      September 19, 2009 /

      To use a tried, true and albeit, tired phrase, there are three things we can count on in life: Death, taxes and Pete Carroll’s USC Trojans will be knocked off by an inferior opponent at some point during the season.

      In 2006, the Oregon State Beavers were the unranked team to knock off USC. In 2007, it was Jim Harbaugh’s Stanford Tree Logos. Last year, it was Oregon State again who provided the upset and on Saturday, it was Steve Sarkisian’s Washington Huskies (a team that didn’t win a game last year, mind you) that shocked the college football world by beating USC 16-13 in Seattle.

      For the second year in a row, USC beat Ohio State and then lost to its very next opponent. The Trojans jumped out to a 10-0 lead against the Huskies, but Washington answered with 10 of their own before halftime before eventually pulling the upset off thanks to Erik Folk’s game-winning 22-yard field goal with only three seconds remaining.

      The Trojans were playing without starting freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, who sat out the entire week of practice with an injured shoulder. Redshirt sophomore Aaron Corp made his first career start and while he wasn’t bad (he completed 13 of 22 passes for 110 yards and a pick), he couldn’t come up with the big play throughout the game. Joe McKnight rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries as USC racked up 250 rushing yards, but the Trojans lost two fumbles and when you combine those with Corp’s second half interception, turnovers killed Carroll’s team today.

      But let’s give credit where credit is due. Sarkisian has completely turned around the mindset of the Washington program and now has the Huskies believing that they can win on any given Saturday. Junior quarterback Jake Locker is a fine player and can make things happen with both his arm and his legs.

      Sarkisian has made Washington relevant again, while Carroll is left scratching his head for the fourth year in a row. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Carroll sticks with Corp or goes with former Arkansas transfer Mitch Mustain assuming Barkley can’t go next week against Washington State.

      USC has never been more primed for the taking in the Pac-10. The big matchup in the conference will be October 3 when the Trojans travel to Berkley to face Cal.

      College Football

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