INDIANAPOLIS – Bill Belichick risked everything on one play Sunday night. It cost him a victory, and it may wind up costing him a trip back to Indianapolis for a rematch with Peyton Manning later this season.
After the New England coach failed on a stunning gamble deep in his own territory, Manning threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne with 13 seconds left that rallied the unbeaten Colts to a 35-34 win over the Patriots.
"It's a bummer," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said.
Needing a first down to seal the game, Belichick decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 from his own 28 with 2:08 to go. The Patriots called their second timeout of the drive, leaving them with none, to set up the play: A short pass from Brady to Kevin Faulk, something the 2007 NFL MVP had repeatedly used to burn Indy's young, depleted pass defense all night.
Not this time.
Faulk made a juggling catch but safety Melvin Bullitt, who replaced Bob Sanders in the lineup, came straight up the field and drove the Patriots running back into the ground a half-yard short of the marker.
"We tried to win the game on that play," Belichick explained. "I thought we could make the yard. We had a good play, we completed it. I don't know how we couldn't get a yard."
man, that game lastnight between the Colts and Patriots was awesome! well, besides the fact that the Colts managed to come back and win the game in the last minute or so... still made for a great game to watch... i still can't believe that Belichick went for it on 4th down at their own 30 yard line -- that was some serious balls right there... i still can't believe the ruling on the field, since it was a completed pass and he was obviously beyond the 30 yard line after the catch... some weird bullshit call about not counting his forward progress? eh?
after that, the Patriots should've just let the Colts score... saving some time on the clock, especially with no timeouts left, and let Brady try to get back down the field to fire off a fieldgoal to win the game... *shakes head*
p.s. Tennessee Titans Owner Bud Adams so excited with win over Buffalo today that he flipped the bird at the Bills. Twice.
today's game is akin to Fight Club, in that if you're a broncos fan it's simply something you almost don't want to talk about... i'm still in shocked disbelief kind of funk at the moment.
DENVER, Colorado (Reuters) – Ben Roethlisberger's three second-half touchdown passes and a stingy defense helped the Pittsburgh Steelers ease to a 28-10 victory over the Denver Broncos on Monday.
The Steelers returned to action after a bye week and limited the Broncos to just 27 rushing yards in winning a fifth consecutive game, as the Super Bowl champions continue to look more like the team that powered to the NFL title in February.
"Anyone who watches us play knows that we don't blink no matter what happens. There is always more football to be played," Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall told reporters after his team continued its resurgence from a 1-2 start to the year.
The victory moved Pittsburgh (6-2) into a tie with the Cincinnati Bengals at the top of the AFC North and in position to challenge for a third straight division title.
Roethlisberger hooked up with Hines Ward for a three-yard touchdown pass with 9:09 left in the third quarter to give his team a 14-10 lead and finished off the Broncos with a 25-yard effort to Mike Wallace with seven minutes remaining.
Mendenhall helped the Steelers control the game with 155 yards rushing on 22 carries as Roethlisberger put a seal on the victory with a second three-yard scoring pass to Ward with a little over a minute left in the fourth quarter.
Denver (6-2) lost for the second time in a row after starting the season with six successive wins.
i'm one sad polish panda today... watching the game lastnight was almost painfoo -- it was like a complete repeat of last weeks game against the Ravens, man. *sigh*
still not sure what the hell is going on with my team, but they really haven't been playing like we all know they can... and i'm not making any excuse here, but g'damn the "officiating" lastnight really sucked -- not blowing the damn whistle on that forward pass? the ref saying "interception" on a fucking punt return? jesus.
with the Chargers pulling out a win yesterday against the Giants, which really sucked to see, they'll be only one game behind us in our division if we lose tonight... it's going to be a rough one, that's for sure, and if my Broncos play like they did last week against the Ravens, then we're toast... so here's to hoping they studies up this week, pulled their shit back together, and come out on the field ready tonight.
either way, should be a fun game to watch!
p.s. so who do you think will win tonight?
NEW YORK – The New York Yankees bolted from the dugout even before the last grounder was scooped up. After waiting nine years for championship No. 27, no one would dare hold them back.
"It feels better than I remember it, man," captain Derek Jeter said. "It's been a long time."
Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive title — the most in all of sports.
Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the Yankees are baseball's best again.
Matsui, the Series MVP, powered a quick rout of old foe Pedro Martinez. And when Mariano Rivera got the final out, it was ecstasy in the Bronx for George Steinbrenner's go-for-broke bunch.
What a way for Alex Rodriguez and Co. to christen their $1.5 billion ballpark: One season, one World Series crown — the team's first since winning three straight from 1998-2000.
"The Yankees won. The world is right again," team president Randy Levine said.
heard the bad news on the radio this morning on my commute into work, and my first thought ran along the lines of "son of a bitch! those fucking whorebags..."
i don't even like baseball, but i can't stand the g'damn yankees.
NEW ORLEANS – The Saints are still perfect, despite an imperfect performance, and now need one more win to set the record for best start in franchise history.
Drew Brees had 308 yards passing, Pierre Thomas scored two touchdowns and Jabari Greer returned an interception for a score to help the Saints improve to 7-0 with a 35-27 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. Only the 1991 Saints began a season with as many wins and no Saints team has started 8-0.
"We did a lot of things well and yet we did a lot of things that made it close at the end," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I'm excited to win though. I'm excited to win this game and get to 7-0. It was an important game against a division team and I'm proud of our players. They fought."
man, what a helluva game! i haven't seen any saints games so far this season, but have only read about them and seen the highlights... but g'damn they look good, and even though the falcons lost, they really did play damn well.
...and though i'm not much of a baseball fan, it looks like the Phillies are still in the race.
PHILADELPHIA – By the ninth inning, Phillies fans were preparing for the worst. The New York Yankees were at it again, chipping away at a dwindling lead and threatening to take away the Phils' World Series title right there at Citizens Bank Park. Desperate to hang on, somehow Chase Utley and the Phillies did. Derek Jeter grounded into a double play, Mark Teixeira struck out, and Philadelphia staved off the Yankees and elimination with an 8-6 win in Game 5 on Monday night.
Now comes the hard part: winning twice at Yankee Stadium.
i'm not big on the yankees, so here's to hoping the phillies take it. heh.
BALTIMORE – The Denver Broncos went from unbeaten to overmatched during a 60-minute beatdown by the Baltimore Ravens.
Rookie Lardarius Webb returned the second-half kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, and Baltimore ended a three-game losing streak with a surprisingly easy 30-7 victory Sunday.
It was Denver's first loss under rookie head coach Josh McDaniels. The Broncos (6-1) came in with the NFL's top-ranked defense, a plus-7 turnover differential and one of the league's best kick returners in Eddie Royal. Denver had also outscored the opposition 76-10 after halftime.
The Ravens, however, dominated every facet of the game.
"We didn't play our best ball, but they're a pretty good team and they beat us pretty good today on all sides of the ball," Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton said.
"We didn't really do a whole lot."
Baltimore (4-3) limited Denver to 200 yards, scored off the game's lone turnover, won the special teams fight and outscored the Broncos 24-7 in the second half.
Denver started the day as one of three unbeaten teams in the NFL and was trying to go 7-0 for the first time since 1998. Baltimore needed a win to avoid falling under .500 and dropping two games behind Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in the AFC North.
In a duel between an undefeated team and a desperate one, the Ravens prevailed.
it's been a day since the game, and i'm still shaking my head a little over watching my broncos lose to the ravens... it's a tough team to beat, especially when they're at home, but we knew that going into it... anywho, the sting of the loss is mostly gone, and hopefully they'll rebound and kick some ass -- looking at our game schedule, i figure we can still go around 11-5 this season and still get into the playoffs, which will still be pretty great to see.
so all is not lost, the season's not over... and i'm still optimisitic.
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – Denver's perfect start to the season continued with a 34-23 win over the San Diego Chargers on Monday, but rookie coach Josh McDaniels insists his unbeaten Broncos can get even better.
Eddie Royal returned a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns as Denver joined Minnesota as the NFL's only 6-0 teams. The win extended the Broncos' lead over San Diego (2-3) in the AFC West.
"We're far from perfect, we know that, there's a lot of football still to be played," McDaniels told reporters.
"We want to win every week. We're going to prepare hard every week and we want to keep it going."
Royal returned a kickoff for 93 yards and a punt for 71 yards for touchdowns as the Broncos rallied from 20-17 down at the half. The receiver became the first Bronco, and 11th NFL player, to return a kickoff and punt for touchdowns in the same game.
With San Diego leading 3-0 in the first quarter, Royal took a kickoff at the seven-yard line, burst through a big hole around the 35, cut inside at midfield and raced down the sideline for his first score of the night.
In the second quarter, with the score tied at 10-10, Royal fielded Mike Scifres' punt and outraced everyone to the end zone to give Denver a 17-10 lead.
Tony Scheffler caught a 19-yard pass from Kyle Orton in the third quarter for Denver's first offensive touchdown of the game. That put Denver ahead 24-23 before a Matt Prater field goal and a five-yard touchdown catch by Brandon Stokley sealed the win. Scheffler caught six passes for 101 yards.
another awesome game lastnight, with the Broncos going into San Diego for a Monday Night Football showdown with our division rivals, the damn Chargers... i was actually more nervous about this game than lastweeks against the Patriots, since we've had quite a losing streak against these guys... hell, i couldn't remember offhand just how long it's been since we actually won in San Diego -- all i know is it's been awhile.
i know everybody has been busting the broncos on their throwback uniforms, but if they keep this up, i'd never take it off... including those damn socks!
Tom Brady finding his form could be bad news for the rest of the NFL. A few other quarterbacks were at their Sunday best, too. Brett Favre and Drew Brees helped their teams remain unbeaten. Ben Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner, who met in last season's Super Bowl, each won to put their teams into first-place ties. Brady threw six touchdown passes — including an NFL-record five in one quarter — and the Patriots sent the Titans plummeting to a new low in their winless season with a 59-0 win on a snowy day in Foxborough.
Brady threw five scoring passes in the second quarter and the Patriots built the biggest halftime lead in league history, 45-0. The six touchdown throws tied Brady's own Patriots record. And the 59-point victory margin matched the league's largest since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. The Los Angeles Rams beat the Atlanta Falcons by the same score in 1976.
"Every week we're learning something more about ourselves and what we can do," Brady said. "There's no doubt a game like this can give you a lot of confidence."
The Patriots (4-2) gained a club-record 619 yards, with Brady completing 29 of 34 passes for 380 yards and matching the number of scoring passes he totaled in his first five games. In 2007, he set an NFL record with 50 touchdown passes and was the league's MVP.
Sunday's performance was, by far, his best of an inconsistent comeback year after a knee injury ended his 2008 season in the opener.
i didn't see this game, but after seeing the highlights i was kind of stunned... talk about an epic ass whipping -- 0 - 59?!? wow, i actually felt pretty bad for the Titans... i mean, how in the hell do you come back after something like that? i'd be so thoroughly demoralized i wouldn't even want to leave the house, man.
p.s. Broncos v. Chargers tonight on ESPN... can't wait!
DENVER -- Kyle Orton is no John Elway, Josh McDaniels is no Bill Belichick and those mustard-yellow uniforms certainly don't have anyone thinking "Orange Crush."
But on a day that had as much to do with Denver's colorful history as its promising present, anything seemed possible.
Orton led a drive that might ring a bell for Broncos fans -- 98 yards in the fourth quarter to tie the game -- then Matt Prater kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime Sunday to lift Denver to a 20-17 victory over New England.
McDaniels got a win over his old boss, Belichick, and the Broncos improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1998, their last Super Bowl season.
"I lied," McDaniels said, when asked about his game-week assertion that this was just another game. "It was a little bit more special to me because I knew how hard it was to beat him."
His postgame reaction said it all. After a quick wave to Belichick near midfield, McDaniels ran to the corner of the stadium near where his family sits and pumped his fist repeatedly before sharing bear hugs with his players.
"This doesn't mean a whole lot unless you can share it with somebody," McDaniels said. "Sometimes, you're allowed to have fun. That's what I was doing."
As part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the AFL, the Broncos came out in their 1960s yellow jerseys and vertically striped socks, then played better than they looked.
Orton threw for 330 yards and two scores. The defense held New England (3-2) scoreless in the second half.
Denver's game-tying, fourth-quarter drive certainly wasn't "The Drive" -- Elway's classic, 98-yard march that helped beat the Browns 23-20 back in the 1987 AFC title game -- but it will go down as one of the best in this franchise's history.
holy shit, i still can't fucking believe we won in overtime against the Patriots... i'm completely stunned, man.
....and no, i can't stop smiling. hahahaha
It's a good thing we have planes nowadays or else it would be a long horseback ride back to Texas for these Cowboys. I really don't know where to start except with what we've been talking about all season. Defense!
It was fitting that Champ Bailey knocked down a potential game tying pass from Tony Romo (at the 2 yard line) since they threw towards him 16 times during the game. Did the Cowboys not get the scouting report? Bailey showed why he is a Pro Bowl player and future Hall of Famer. The Champ is here! Why the Cowboys didn't run it on that play, I don't know. I can hear Jerry Jones grinding his teeth on the way to the airport.
This Broncos defense is so intense, sacking Romo 5 times (2 sacks from Dr. Doom), forcing a fumble, and coming up with an interception. The defense almost, almost made me forget about how bad our offense was playing and how many penalties we accumulated. Brian Dawkins continues to lead this defense into “Orange Crush” status. Today, he delivered the big hits at the right times, and got the team energized. The defense obviously kept the Broncos in it since Kyle Orton looked like he had a blindfold on in the first half. It's hard to believe he went 20-29 for 243 yards considering every time 3rd down rolled around, half the offense was already walking back to the bench. We went 2-10 on third down conversions, and 0-1 on a frustrating 4th down attempt. The penalties could have eaten us alive (10 penalties for 81 yards), but the Cowboys committed 7 of their own for 70 yards lost. Nonetheless, everything turned out okay!
The big play of the game came from our “delinquent receiver.” Brandon Marshall caught a 51 yard TD pass and made an outstanding effort to get himself into the endzone. I think it was the pink gloves! People were saying what a great practice he had on Friday, so hopefully that shows him that effort gets results.
man, i'm so excited right now i can practically not talk because i was freaking out and screaming like a drunk banshee at the screen those last few minutes of the game... talk about coming right down to the very last second.
holy... shit... i think i'm in shock right now.
DETROIT – Matthew Stafford held his head down on the bench for the final snap.
Dominic Raiola couldn't watch, either, fearing a 20th loss in a row and 100th setback of his nine-season career.
When Detroit's leaders looked up and saw Washington was out of time, they saw what they were hoping to see Sunday.
Lions 19, Redskins 14.
Believe it.
Finally.
"We not only got the monkey off our back, we got King Kong off our back," said Lions owner William Clay Ford. "I'm hoping that this gets us over that hump and gives us a winning attitude."
Detroit (1-2) hadn't won since Dec. 23, 2007 and its 19-game skid matched the second longest in NFL history. The Lions no longer have to hear about Tampa Bay's record 26-game losing streak.
Raiola blew kisses to the crowd of 40,896 that was the smallest at Ford Field and the fewest to watch a Lions home game in 20 years after time expired with Washington stalled at the Detroit 23.
"I've always watched, but I've never been in this situation before," Raiola said. "No team has been in this situation before. No one has gone 0-16 and then had to try to win a game the next year."
The one benefit of losing every game last season was it gave Detroit the No. 1 pick in the draft and it chose Stafford hoping he would be the franchise quarterback it has lacked for decades. The Lions have won one playoff game and had one Pro Bowl QB since winning the 1957 NFL title.
of all the teams in the NFL that the Lions could've beat to end their losing streak, it would be the Redskins... oh man, talk about bitter-sweet -- i was laughing my ass off, man.
was also damned happy it wasn't my Broncos, who actually won yesterday against the Raiders... i know, almost surprised me, too. *blink*
p.s. speaking of being surprised, that Bengals v. Steelers game was great! went down to the very last second... and the almighty Steelers lost. again.
