NFL Week 8 Rapid Recap
-Baltimore’s defense held the Broncos (6-1) to 200 yards of offense and got solid days from Joe Flacco and Ray Rice to dump Denver 30-7 for its first loss of the season against the Ravens (4-3) who snapped a three game losing streak.
-After the Texans benched starting RB Steve Slaton, the seldom-used Ryan Moats rushed 23 times for 126 yards and scored three TD’s to help offset a bad day from Matt Schaub as the Texans (5-3) downed Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Bills (3-5) 31-10 as Buffalo scored their only TD on a Terrell Owens run in the first.
-Derek Anderson went 6/17 for 76 yards and the Browns (1-6) turned the ball over five times as Matt Forte ran for 90 yards and two scores in a 30-6 win for 4-3 Chicago.
-Tony Romo threw for 256 yards and three TD’s without an interception as Dallas (5-2) held the ball for just under 35 minutes in a 38-17 victory over 2-5 Seattle.
-The Rams scored their first TD on a fake field goal pass towards the end of the first half and 25 of Steven Jackson’s 149 yards came on their second TD with 1:38 to play as the Rams (1-7) get their first win in 18 tries after their 17-10 win over the 1-6 Lions.
-Peyton Manning may have thrown for 347 yards, but it was Joseph Addai’s 22 yard TD pass to Reggie Wayne at the start of the fourth quarter that won it for the Colts (7-0) over the feisty 49ers (3-4) who got 91 yards and a score from Frank Gore and another TD for Vernon Davis.
-Ted Ginn Jr was benched from his WR spot before the game but returned two third quarter kickoffs for TD’s of 100 and 101 yards as Miami (3-4) also got a TD on a Jason Taylor fumble return and thwarted a late New York rally in the Dolphins’ 30-25 win over the 4-4 Jets to sweep the season series.
-Donovan McNabb threw three TD’s in the first half as the Eagles (5-2) led 30-7 at halftime over the Giants (5-3) and never looked back in a 30-17 win over a struggling New York team that has lost three straight to drop to third place in the NFC East.
-Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew (8-177-2) had TD runs of 79 and 80 yards to tie the game at 13, but TD runs of 52 and 89 yards for Titans RB Chris Johnson (24-228-2) gave Tennessee (1-7) their first win behind an economical Vince Young 30-13 over the 3-4 Jaguars.
-Oakland (2-6) put up a good fight but LaDanian Tomlinson rushed for two scores and Vince Jackson had 103 yards and a TD as the Chargers (4-3) held off the Raiders 24-16 at Qualcomm.
-DeAngelo Williams rushed for 158 yards, Jonathan Stewart scored two TD’s, Steve Smith had the first TD for a Panthers receiver this season and Kurt Warner threw five interceptions as Carolina (3-4) put Arizona (4-3) through a 34-21 nightmare in Glendale.
-Brett Favre threw for 244 yards and four TD’s in his return to Lambeau Field and Adrian Peterson rushed for 97 yards as Minnesota (7-1) completed a season sweep of the Packers (4-3) with an impressive 38-26 win over Green Bay.
NFL Three For The Road With Jason Brand
1) Special teams, which is usually a strong point taken for granted by Jets fans was what killed them today. Two returns for touchdowns were too much to come back from.
2) It was just an all-around bad game for the Giants in Philadelphia. They have a lot of talent, they just need to just trust their coaches and practice hard. The Eagles are good depending on what week you play them. They have the talent to be a legit contender but let’s see if they have the psyche.
3) Brett Favre didn’t let the boo’s or emotions get to him, keeping his mind on the final goal of getting a W. His four TD’s in their big win over the Packers show that he’s still got it even at such an advanced age for the 7-1 Vikings.
Inside The NBA- Sunday
-How far can the Wizards go this season in what seems to be a loaded top of the Eastern Conference? I think they can even make the east finals, and are showing just how much they can do over the first three games even without Antawn Jamison in the lineup. Gilbert Arenas, who according to basketball’s social network expert Peter Casey supposedly is “in the best shape of his life” (as he told SprungOnSports) averaged 27 points and six assists per game over the first three, including 32 and seven in a win over New Jersey on Saturday night.
Washington has a new coach in Flip Saunders who knows how to guide winning teams, and they now have a very deep roster that boasts a second unit that can hang with the best. They acquired Mike Miller and Randy Foye in the trade with Minnesota that ended up being for Ricky Rubio and 23-year-old C Andray Blatche has been nothing short of a revelation thus far. He’s averaging 21 points and six rebounds so far and scored 30 against the Nets and had a really strong performance in their opening night win over Dallas.
With Jamison coming back in a few weeks to team with Arenas’ other sidekick Caron Butler, the sky could be the limit for the Wizards. But ESPN analyst and Around The Horn panelist J.A. Adande still has his doubts about Washington stacking up against the conference’s elite.
“I know they’ve matched up well with Boston in the past, but I don’t see them beating the Celts in a 7-game series.” Adande said. “Can’t see them getting Orlando or Cleveland either.”
The pressure is all on Arenas to come through, and everyone knows that the window of opportunity for this team is closing with every passing moment in this 2009/2010 season.
-Sacramento rookie Omri Casspi, Israel’s first ever NBA first round pick, is certainly eliciting a whole lot of pride from the country, as well as Israelis and Jews living in the United States. After the 6-9 21-year-old scored 15 points in 19 minutes in the Kings’ opening game loss to Oklahoma City, he made a lot of people proud including ESPN’s Marc Stein, who said that an Israeli’s emergence onto the league scene has been a ”L-O-N-G time coming”. Israel, and especially their top club Maccabi Tel Aviv, which Casspi played for, has long been a force in international basketball with Maccabi’s powerful presence in the Euroleague. For a country like Israel that has such a strong love and passion for the game of basketball, having one of their own finally make it at the highest level has to leave a sweet taste in everyone’s mouths.
-Minnesota rookie Jonny Flynn has looked quite impressive over his first two games and Kings rookie Tyreke Evans put 22 points on Chris Paul on Friday night, but there’s no more impressive rookie so far than Milwaukee PG Brandon Jennings. Thrusted into the starting lineup immediately by coach Scott Skiles (who many thought would have quite a contentious relationship with the 20 year old), the controversial 10th overall pick who spurned going to college at Arizona to play a season overseas at Lottomatica Roma has been nothing short of brilliant over his first two games.
In friday’s opening night loss to Philadelphia, Jennings played 34 minutes and went 7-16 from the field and scored 17 points to go with nine rebounds and nine assists, barely falling short of a triple-double in his first NBA game! The next night against Detroit, in the second of a back-to-back which never happens in Europe or high school or AAU, Jennings responded with a 9-15 shooting night in 32 minutes to score 24 points in a victory over Detroit.
A team like the Knicks, who could desperately use a PG with Chris Duhon and Nate Robinson entering the final year of their contracts, passed up on Jennings for a big-man project in Jordan Hill who has barely been on the court in New York’s first three games, all losses. The Knicks can use as many impact players as they can get if they want to attract the big names next summer and once again dropped the ball with Jennings. For Milwaukee, in dire need of a star player, seemingly hit the jackpot with Jennings.
