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Daily Six-Pack: NFL Preseason Saturday

August 15, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

Six games highlight Saturday’s preseason action in the NFL. Below are six things to keep an eye on tonight in the NFL.

1. It’s the start of a new era in Detroit.
Word out of Lions camp is that rookie Matthew Stafford is way ahead of the curve when it comes to first-year quarterbacks. Even though Detroit would love to see veteran Daunte Culpepper take the majority of the snaps behind a brutal offensive line this season, it appears that Stafford has made quite the impression and it may be hard for the Lions to keep him on the sidelines. Today when the Lions host the Falcons in both teams’ preseason opener, Detroit isn’t going to overact to Stafford’s performance either way. If he goes out and throws two interceptions in two series, they’ll shrug it off as a learning experience. If he throws two touchdowns on his first two pass attempts, the team will chalk it up to preseason luck and hope the live game experience will be valuable in his development. The point is that it’s only preseason and chances are, his performance won’t be an indication either way of how well he’ll fair in Detroit. The key is that the Lions can officially put their disastrous 2008 season behind them today, and Stafford represents the future.

2. Cutler makes his Bears’ debut.
You’ll be hard pressed to find a Chicagoan who isn’t thinking playoffs (or even Super Bowl) after the Bears acquired quarterback Jay Cutler from the Broncos this offseason. You’ll have to excuse Chicago fans for their budding enthusiasm because, you see, they’ve been waiting a long time for a quarterback of Cutler’s ilk to pass through their great city. Sure, the Bears still don’t have the greatest set of receivers and there are still question marks surrounding the offensive line, even after the offseason addition of Orlando Pace. But none of that will matter once Cutler lines up under center tonight against the Bills and riffles his first completion, because the Bears finally have their quarterback.

NFL

Atlanta Falcons Brady Quinn Braylon Edwards Buffalo Bills Chicago Bears Cleveland Browns Daily Six-Pack NFL Derek Anderson Detroit Lions Eric Mangini Jay Cutler Matt Hasselbeck Matthew Stafford Orlando Pace San Diego Chargers Seattle Seahawks Shaun Rodgers

Saturday MMA Review: 8/15

August 15, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

– At last weekend’s UFC 101 show, Anderson Silva got his balls back with a stunning knockout of Forrest Griffin and BJ Penn taught Kenny Florian a very painful lesson.

– Brian Bowles scored the upset of the year with his shocking first-round KO of WEC bantamweight ruler Miguel Torres. Unfortunately, Bowles got paid peanuts for the win, and broke his hand in the process.

– Inspired by Nick Diaz’s marijuana-related screwjob of Strikeforce, we counted down the 10 most cursed MMA events of all time.

– The UFC has recently been stockpiling crusty old-timers, including Vladimir Matyushenko and Phil Baroni. Can a “Veterans” season of The Ultimate Fighter be far behind?

– We took a look at some classic MMA moments, crudely recreated in MS Paint.

– Notorious MMA steroid abuser Josh Barnett sold his last shred of dignity in a freaky pro-wrestling bout in Japan.

– Hit up CagePotato.com starting tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET for our liveblog of “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg.” Get familiar with the card by reading our interview with Cris Cyborg, some last-minute betting advice, as well as our always provocative “Ben vs. Ben” debate.

Mixed Martial Arts

Anderson Silva B.J. Penn Brian Bowles Carano vs. Cyborg Forrest Griffin Josh Barnett Kenny Florian Miguel Torres MMA MMA rumors Nick Diaz Phil Baroni Strikeforce UFC UFC rumors Vladimir Matyushenko

MLB Power Rankings—Top 5 and Bottom 5

August 15, 2009 / Mike Farley

It’s getting down to pennant race times and there are some incredibly tight races and a lot of teams that are at least in contention. Here we’ll take a look at who we think the Top 5 teams are right now and who the Bottom 5 are as well.

Top 5

1. New York Yankees (73-43)—Not only did the Yankees sweep the rival Red Sox last weekend and make quite a statement, they’ve won 10 of 11 and are 22-6 (.786) since the all-star break. That is just scorching.

2. Los Angeles Angels (68-45)—You have to feel for the surging Rangers and even the Mariners, because neither one is going to catch this fundamentally sound team. If Mike Scioscia isn’t the best manager in baseball, he’s surely the most underrated.

3. St. Louis Cardinals (65-52)—The Cards grabbed Matt Holliday before anyone else could and he’s batting .493 with a slugging percentage of .813 in his first 75 at-bats with St. Louis. Pujols/Holliday has got to be the most fearsome 3-4 tandem in baseball.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers (69-47)—The Dodgers hung on without Manny for a few months, and then cooled off when he returned. They’ve lost 7 of 11 but still lead their division by 5 games and are 32-14 against NL West opponents.

5. Philadelphia Phillies (65-48)—Suddenly with Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez, and Jimmy Rollins finally finding his stroke, the defending champs are poised to make another run deep into October and possibly November.

Bottom 5

1. Washington Nationals (41-75)—They recently won eight in a row but still trail the Phillies by 25.5 games and the fourth place Mets by 13.5. So yeah, they’re still the worst team in baseball.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates (46-69)—The Pirates actually looked half decent early in the season, but they did what they always do in July—made a whole bunch of trades and pretty much surrendered the season as well as the next three seasons, as they’ve lost 11 of their last 13 games.

3. Kansas City Royals (45-70)—Remember the Royals were 14-12 and everyone started talking about this team being decent for the first time in two-plus decades? We remember, but then they remembered that they were the Royals.

4. Baltimore Orioles (48-67)—This team has some great young players like Adam Jones and Matt Wieters and Nick Markakis, but playing in that division is almost unfair.

5. Cleveland Indians (49-66)—Once again, the Indians have disappointed and started selling off players. Cliff Lee, like CC Sabathia last year, is the reigning AL Cy Young winner, and the Tribe also dumped popular catcher Victor Martinez and infielder Ryan Garko. Next year sure has a familiar ring on Lake Erie.

Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, MLB

Adam Jones Albert Pujols Baltimore Orioles baseball Boston Red Sox CC Sabathia Cleveland Indians Cliff Lee Jimmy Rollins Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball Manny Ramirez Matt Holliday Matt Wieters Mike Scioscia MLB New York Mets New York Yankees Nick Markakis Pedro Martinez Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates Seattle Mariners St. Louis Cardinals Texas Rangers Washington Nationals

Marshall found not guilty, won’t be suspended

August 14, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

According to the Denver Post, Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall has been found not guilty in his misdemeanor battery case and won’t be suspended for this upcoming season (or at least not stemming from this situation).

Next up for Marshall: Recovering from hip surgery. He has been out the past two weeks with a leg injury. But first things first. A guilty verdict on battery most certainly potentially would have put Marshall in front of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for further discipline. Not now. Once Marshall is able, and once Marshall is willing _ (another question, perhaps?) _ he will be free to become the Broncos’ top receiver again.

This wasn’t the first time that Marshall has found himself in trouble with the law, but hopefully for his sake (and the Broncos’), it’s the last. If he were found guilty, he likely would have faced stiff punishment from the league.

Even though Marshall was found not guilty, neither the Broncos nor another team will want to hand him a multimillion-dollar deal (he becomes a free agent at the end of the season) knowing that he has had legal problems in the past. So it would behoove him to focus on his rehab and not cause another stink about his contract situation.

It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Marshall vents any more about his contract and/or how he wants to be traded.

NFL

Brandon Marshall Brandon Marshall not guilty Brandon Marshall rumors Brandon Marshall suspension Broncos rumors Denver Broncos

Daily Six-Pack: NFL Preseason Friday

August 14, 2009 / Anthony Stalter

NFL preseason action continues tonight with four games on the schedule. Below are six quick-hit thoughts and things to watch for during tonight’s slate of games.

1. Are the reports true about Palmer?
All indications from Bengals camp is that Carson Palmer is in the best shape of his career after missing virtually the entire 2008 season with a right elbow injury. Palmer is expected to get 12-15 snaps tonight when the Bengals travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints. Just as the Patriots were hoping for a strong showing from Tom Brady last night (he threw for 100 yards and 2 TDs, by the way), Cincinnati is hoping that Palmer flashes the arm strength that once made him the top overall pick. Another thing to keep an eye on is how the young Cincinnati offensive line looks in protecting Palmer. The Bengals have a physical unit in Andrew Whitworth, Anthony Collins, Kyle Cook, Nate Livings and Bobbie Williams, but they’re an inexperienced unit on a whole and Cincy would love to see some cohesion from the group tonight.

2. The starting quarterback battle for the Vikings begins tonight.
Head coach Brad Childress reported that Sage Rosenfels will get the start Friday night against the Colts, which isn’t a huge surprise considering Tarvaris Jackson missed some time in camp with a sprained knee. Still, Rosenfels getting the starting nod tonight may be an indication that he’s pulled ahead in the race for the Vikes’ starting quarterback job. Rosenfels doesn’t have a high ceiling in terms of potential, but he’s steady and could be a good game manager for a Minnesota team that is expected to keep the ball on the ground a lot with Adrian Peterson. While Jackson will certainly get his opportunity to start in preseason, a strong first impression tonight would go a long way for Rosenfels.