NFL Week 10 Rapid Recap
-Tied at 17 going into the fourth quarter, Tennessee scored 24 answered on a Chris Johnson TD (he had 132 yards and two scores) and two interception returns as the Titans (3-6) blitzed the Bills (3-6) 41-17 for their third straight win despite two TD grabs from Lee Evans.
-Without their top two corners, the Saints had a see-saw road battle against the Rams, but it was New Orleans getting a Robert Meachem TD with 12:17 left that ended up being the game winner as the Saints stayed undefeated by holding off a late St. Louis rally 28-23 despite a pair of TD grabs from Donnie Avery.
-Tampa Bay once again looked greatly improved and got a Caddy Williams TD with 1:14 left in the fourth for the lead. But it was the Dolphins coming up big on a late drive, getting a 25 yard FG from Dan Carpenter as time expired as Miami (4-5) edged out the Buccanneers (1-8) 25-23.
-The Lions were down seven against the Vikings after three quarters but pulled away late as Brett Favre threw for 344 yards and Adrian Peterson had 133 yards and two scores as Minnesota (8-1) downed Detroit (1-8) 27-10.
-Thomas Jones scored a TD with just over five minutes left, but David Garrard led the Jaguars down the field and Maurice Jones-Drew drained the clock by taking a knee at the one yard line just as he was about to score (he rushed for 123 yards and a TD) and Josh Scobee kicked the game winning 21 yard field goal as time expired to give Jacksonville (5-4) a 24-22 win over the Jets (4-5).
-Cincinnati’s Bernard Scott scored the game’s only TD on a kick return with 4:26 left in the first quarter as it was all field goals from that point on. The Bengals (7-2) played amazing defense and held Pittsburgh to 226 yards of total offense in an 18-12 win on the road for the first sweep of the Steelers (6-3) since 1998.
-With Kyle Orton out of the game with an ankle injury for Denver at halftime and Clinton Portis not playing for Washington, it was Redskins understudy Ladell Betts rushing for 114 yards and a TD as the ‘Skins (3-6) also got a TD pass from punter Hunter Smith to defeat the slumping Broncos (6-3) 27-17 despite two long distance TD connections early from Orton to Brandon Marshall.
-Steve Smith caught two TD passes from Jake Delhomme and Jonathan Stewart ran for two TD’s as Carolina (4-5) defeated Atlanta (5-4) 28-19 after Michael Turner left the game with what may be a serious ankle injury after he rushed for 111 yards.
-Larry who? New Chiefs starter Jamaal Charles ran for 103 yards and the game’s only TD in the third quarter as Kansas City beat Oakland 16-10 after the Raiders QB’s did their best to ruin Michael Bush’s 119 yards rushing with 9/24 passing from JaMarcus Russell and two Bruce Gradkowski interceptions.
-The Green Bay (5-4) defense dominated Dallas and their offense was able to control the ball for 35 minutes, sacking Tony Romo five times and forcing three turnovers in a 17-7 win over the Cowboys (6-3).
-Kurt Warner threw for 340 yards and two TD’s and Beanie Wells ran for two TD’s as Arizona (6-3) picked off Matt Hasselbeck twice to take control of the NFC West with a 31-20 win over Seattle(3-6).
-It was a tale of two running backs in San Diego. LaDanian Tomlinson got news that his wife was finally pregnant and ran for two TD’s while Brian Westbrook got his second concussion in under a month as Donovan McNabb’s 450 yards passing were not enough as San Diego (6-3) is now tied with Denver for the AFC West lead after a 31-23 win over Philadelphia (5-4).
-After controlling the vast majority of the game and leading 24-7 in the second quarter, Bill Belichik decided to go for the win on fourth down up by six deep in their own territory and missed it by inches, leading to Peyton Manning’s game-winning TD pass to Reggie Wayne with 16 seconds left as the Colts (9-0) remained undefeated with a stunning 35-34 comeback win over New England (6-3).
Sunday Hot Stove
7pm Eastern
-The Twins are trying to convince Orlando Cabrera to come back and play 2B along with new SS JJ Hardy, says Phil Rogers. The Yankees are more likely to resign Johnny Damon than Hideki Matsui.
4:50pm Eastern
-Jamey Wright and Mark Hendrickson could be on the Pirates’ radar but not Will Ohman, says the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Pirates expect to keep their payroll down, but one player they could sign is OF Rick Ankiel in addition to 30-year-old Japanese righty reliever Ryota Igarashi.
-The Mets are not likely to offer Jeff Francouer a contract extension, says Newsday.
-Atlanta is interested in 36-year-old righty reliever Hidetaka Kawagoe, says NPB Tracker.
-The Rays have signed reliever RJ Swindle to a minor league contract.
9:55am Eastern
-Last night on Twitter, former Reds and Nationals GM Jim Bowden said that a Yankees-Tigers matchup right now is better for Detroit CF Curtis Granderson unless the Cubs add top 3B prospect Josh Vitters. That means talks are probably still going on with New York, Chicago and probably the Angels as well, who were reportedly shopping Juan Rivera to make room in a seprate deal.
-In his Hardball column, Joel Sherman wonders if taking on Magglio Ordonez’s salary would reduce the asking price for Granderson. He interestingly noted that the combined 2009 salaries of Ordonez and Granderson ($23.6 million) were less than the combined 2009 salaries of Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui ($26 million). The Reds have indicated they would basically give away high paid veterans Francisco Cordero, Bronson Arroyo and Willy Taveras but 2B Brandon Phillips would come with a high price for penny pinching Cincinnati. Sherman threw out the possibility of a trade bringing Arroyo and Taveras along with Phillips to the Mets for Luis Castillo and a couple of strong prospects like Ruben Tejada or Brad Holt. On the subject of Mets GM Omar Minaya: “Rival executives and agents described a man not fully in charge of baseball operations regardless of what Mets ownership says. One NL official said that lag time between discussing business with Minaya and the time it took him to respond suggested he had to run the information through a committee.” It’s believed that they won’t spend big on Jason Bay or Matt Holliday.
Jason Brand’s Fearless Five For Week 10
1) The Colts will win over New England today and remain unbeaten until they lose to the Jets, their only regular season loss.
2) The Patriots will also lose badly to the Saints after their Indianapolis loss.
3) The San Diego Chargers will fall to Philadelphia today and miss the playoffs this season.
4) The Dallas Cowboys will defeat Green Bay today and reach the NFC Championship Game.
5) The Tennessee Titans will win seven games this year.
NFL Week 10 Picks & Announcers
Winners
Tennessee, New Orleans, Miami, Minnesota, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Denver, Atlanta, Kansas City, Arizona, San Diego, Dallas, New England.
Announcers (thanks to Awful Announcing)
Fox 1pm
Atlanta Falcons @ Carolina Panthers – Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa
Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings- Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan
Tampa Bay Bucs @ Miami Dolphins- Ron Pitts, John Lynch
New Orleans Saints @ St. Louis Rams- Chris Rose, Trent Green
CBS 1pm
Cincinnati Bengals @ Pittsburgh Steelers-Jim Nantz, Phil Simms
Denver Broncos @ Washington Redskins- Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf
Jacksonville Jaguars @ NY Jets- Dick Enberg, Dan Fouts
Buffalo Bills @ Tennessee Titans- Ian Eagle, Rich Gannon
Fox 4pm
Dallas Cowboys @ Green Bay Packers- Joe Buck, Troy Aikman
Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals- Dick Stockton, Charles Davis
Philadelphia Eagles @ San Diego Chargers- Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick
CBS 4pm
Kansas City Chiefs @ Oakland Raiders- Gus Johnson, Steve Tasker
