Well, that didn't last long! Not saying that the New York Jets acted and celebrated like they won their second Super Bowl in team history but after a pre-season that saw them score 1 offensive touchdown they were absolutely giddy slamming the Buffalo Bills in their home opener. They were brought back to reality quickly when they traveled to Pittsburgh to face a Steelers team that had a chip on their shoulders for a couple of reasons: First, they lost to a quarterback (Peyton Manning) who hadn't played a down in the previous year. Second, the last time they stepped on Heinz Field, they saw Tim Tebow throw the game-winning touchdown in overtime to end their season.
From the start, it appeared the Jets picked up right where they left off in their demolishing of the Bills. They spotted the Steelers a 3-0 lead then saw QB Mark Sanchez march them down 80 yards for a 7-3 lead. Pittsburgh responded with another field goal and from that point on, it was all downhill for Gang Green.
The offense that moved so fluidly on their first possession (Mark Sanchez completed 4 of 5 passes for 80 yards and 1 touchdown) sputtered the rest of the game. Defensively, they could not come up with the big stops when they needed them. Pittsburgh was 8 of 15 on third down conversions. Of the eight completions, the Steelers had to go at least eight yards.
Now for the second time in this early season, the Jets have to face another division rival in the Miami Dolphins, this time on the road. The Fish are coming off an impressive win over the Raiders. The Jets are shaking their heads trying to figure out how they could look so good against the Bills and so bad against the Steelers. Another shaky Sanchez performance and you know the name that the fans will be screaming for...
Lost in the second half offensive explosion when the Giants came back in their game against Tampa Bay was the performance by backup running back Andre Brown. He was forced into action after starter Ahmad Bradshaw left the game in the second quarter with a neck injury. Brown finished with 71 yards on 13 carries and 1 touchdown. When the Giants faced Carolina Thursday night, they did so without Bradshaw, David Diehl, Dominic Hixon, and Hakeem Nicks...
Of all the teams to start 2-0, none is more surprising than the Arizona Cardinals. They went into New England to face a Patriots team that had not lost a home opener since 2002. The Cardinals did give the Pats a chance to steal a win after Arizona running back Vince Wilfolk fumbled with 1:01 left in the game. Two Patriots penalties, the first a 30-yard Danny Woodhead touchdown run called back as tight end Ron Gronkowski was caught holding and the second, Gronkowski is called for a false start, moved the ball back to the Cardinals 24-yard line. The normally reliable field goal kicker Stephen Gostkowski pushed the attempt wide left. The number of fans who got bumped from their suicide pool is still being counted...
Houston, San Diego, Philadelphia (both of the Eagles wins were by 1 point), Atlanta and San Francisco are the other undefeated teams heading into week 3...Dallas, Washington, Baltimore, Denver, Chicago, Detroit, and Minnesota were brought back to reality in their week 2 losses...New Orleans is one of six teams that are 0-2 after losing to Carolina. The other five, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Oakland are just plain bad...Finally, not much was made after week 1 about the job the replacement refs did. It was quite different after week 2 when the mistakes were glaring. From shaky pass interference calls, non-holding calls to simply failing to spot the ball correctly on the yard line, it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. Still, the powers that be, namely Commissioner Roger Goodell is intent on squeezing the referee's union. You have the best players on the planet being officiated by division 3 refs. One ref was removed prior to the Saints/Panthers game as he posted pictures of himself wearing Saints gear and claiming his allegiance to the team. The NFL, claiming they are doing everything they can to protect the players, are putting them at severe risk with 3rd tier referees.
New York, NY - And then there were three! If Week Three is any indication of the kind of football year it will be, both betters and bookies are going to be in for a long, expensive year.
Let's start with the three teams that remained undefeated: Once again, the Arizona Cardinals shocked everyone when they stomped the visiting Philadelphia Eagles 27-6 getting off to their best start in 38 years. The Eagles entered the game with the best offense after two games, even though both games were won by a total of two points. Arizona forced two Michael Vick fumbles, one returned for a 93-yard touchdown by James Sanders. The Cardinals pressured Vick all game, sacking him five times as he misfired on 20 of 37 pass attempts. Cards QB Kevin Kolb, once a member of the Eagles, passed for 222 yards on 17 of 24 attempts and two touchdowns. The Cardinals have now won their last seven home games. They have only done that one other time in team history. They host the Miami Dolphins Sunday. Philadelphia will play its first division game of the year when it hosts the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants...
The Houston Texans joined the 3-0 club the hard way going on the road sending Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos to its second straight loss 31-25. The Texans QB Matt Schaub threw four touchdowns and Arian Foster ran for 105 yards on 25 carries. As a franchise, Houston has never begun a year winning its first three games. Up next, the Texans host the Tennessee Titans. Speaking of the Titans, the team came away with the craziest win of the weekend over the Detroit Lions in overtime 44-41...
To finish off the victorious trifecta we travel west to find the Atlanta Falcons visiting the San Diego Chargers. Both teams came into the game undefeated but the Falcons rode the arm of QB Matt (Matty Ice) who threw three touchdowns to three different receivers connecting on 30 of 40 passes for 275 yards. Atlanta comes home to host Carolina while San Diego looks to regroup as it travels to Kansas City...The same Chiefs team that kept New Orleans out of the win column despite falling behind 24-6 with little more than six minutes to go in the third quarter. From that point on, KC did not give up another point and did not allow a Drew Brees (20-36, 240 yards) pass completion in all of the fourth quarter or overtime in their 27-24 win...The Saints joined the Cleveland Browns (they may not win a game this season) as the only winless team when they hosted the Buffalo Bills. The ugliest game of the weekend was as exciting as watching paint dry especially after Buffalo lost its leading rusher in CJ Spiller. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns, including a 32-yard screen pass that Spiller turned into a touchdown. Soon after, Spiller would get tackled after a first-quarter run, landing on his shoulder ending his day. He is not expected to play next Sunday when they face division rival New England...The Patriots may well be playing without head coach Bill Belichick who made contact with a referee at the conclusion of its 31-30 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. After a game-winning 27-yard field goal by Ravens Justin Tucker that just cleared the right goal post, Belichick attempted to get the attention of a ref. The "Hoodie" tugged at the ref who continued to run off the field. Belichick also questioned calls during the game. Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith was playing with a heavy heart a day after his 19-year-old brother Tevin Jones died in a motorcycle accident the day before. Smith caught 2 touchdown passes. The Ravens have a short week as they host those lowly Browns...Looking like the most dominant team coming into week three, the San Francisco 49ers visited the Minnesota Vikings. Another week and another suicide pool upset. The Vikings saw QB Christian Ponder run for one touchdown and throw for two more in their 24-13 victory. The 9ers were coming off impressive victories over Green Bay and Detroit but could not get anything going consistently on offense or defense. San Fran now has to travel cross country to face a New York Jets team coming off the second ugliest game of the weekend. When the Jets face the Miami Dolphins, games are usually entertaining coming down to the last possession that determines the outcome. Not Sunday in South Florida. The Jets did come away with a win in overtime (the third OT game of the day) but not after both teams did everything they could to give the game away. Dropped touchdown passes, shaky running, pass defense and costly penalties plagued both squads. Making matter worse for Gang Green was losing Darrelle Revis for the rest of the year with a torn ACL in his left knee. The Jets defense is clearly not the same without Revis in the lineup. That was evident after he came out of the home opener win against Buffalo and in the loss against the Steelers the following week due to a concussion. New York may be 2-0 (2-1 overall) in its division but the schedule starting next week is brutal...The other New York team, the Football Giants could not have had a better-extended break after routing the Panthers last Thursday night. Big Blue was without four offensive starters (David Diehl, Ahmad Bradshaw, Hakeem Nicks, and Dominic Hixon) but the defense suffocated Carolina's Cam Newton all night while the offensive back-ups led by Eli Manning stepped up big in the 36-7 scorching. Newton, who is just as dangerous with his legs as he is with his arm, only ran for six yards on six attempts. Cam was picked off three times while Manning (27-35 288 yards) had all day to find his receivers. Andre Brown ran for 113 yards on 20 carries and two TDs. Ramses Barden hauled in nine passes for 138 yards and one touchdown. The health of the four and whether or not they will be available against Philadelphia has not been determined yet...The Raiders and Jacksonville got into the win column by beating the Steelers and Indianapolis respectfully. Oakland trailed by 10 (31-21) late in the third but shut out Pittsburgh the rest of the game. Seven touchdown passes were thrown (4 by Pittsburgh 3 by Oakland) while the Raiders Darren McFadden gained 113 on 18 carries and one touchdown in the 34-31 OT win. The Steelers get a bye next week while Oakland travels to Denver...The Jags turned back the Colts 22-17 as Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 177 yards on 25 carries and one touchdown. The Colts wasted a passing performance by Andrew Luck who threw for 313 yards and one touchdown. Like the Steelers, the Colts have a bye while the Jags host the Bengals...Dallas improves to 2-1 with an unimpressive win (16-10) in its home opener over Tampa Bay (1-2)...Same for the Bears (2-1) who dropped the Rams (1-2) 23-6 in a game that saw Chicago's Major Wright return an int 45 yards with the score 13-6 extending the lead...The Bears travel to Dallas next Monday night while the Rams host Seattle...Finally, those Seahawks and Packers finished off week three with a rock'em, sock'em affair Monday night that ended in the most bizarre fashion in recent NFL history. Packers QB Aaron Rogers was sacked seven times in the first half as Green Bay was kept off the scoreboard in the first half (7-0). The Packers returned the favor shutting out Seattle in the third quarter while taking the lead kicking two field goals and a touchdown to take a lead (12-6) until the very last possession. If the play that ended the game does not wake up the NFL hierarchy to end the ref lockout, nothing will. Seahawks QB Russell Wilson throws up a Hail-Mary pass in the direction of wide receiver Golden Tate. Just before Tate jumps up, he clearly pushes Sam Shield in the back (with both hands) driving him to the turf. Tate and Packers MD Jennings rise at the same time and it appeared that Jennings came up with the interception (the TV replays shows the ball pressed against Jennings' chest) but as they crash to the ground, Tate is awarded possession and the game-winning touchdown. The backlash, as a result of the game, will be talked about the rest year even when and if the dispute between the NFL and the referee union is resolved.
ANDREW ROSARIO: How soon did you start connecting with Peyton once you got into camp in the flow of the offense?
WES WELKER: I mean, pretty early on, we just kinda started working together right off the bat and stayed on top of things and talking through every scenario and being ready to go when the season started.
ANDREW ROSARIO: Was it difficult learning a new totally the offense?
WES WELKER: It is a little bit different. But, you know what, over time I became comfortable with it.
PEYTON MANNING: To form the timing that we have in just two years with guys like Decker and Thomas, it's a real credit to those guys for putting in the hard work. And, then Welker in just this first year, he and I have been on a cram session since April, talking after practice, working out routes because we can't get to the timing that he and Brady had that took 6 years of hard work together. But, Wes and I don't have six years left to play together so we really crammed this year same with Julius Thomas and then Adam Gage really helped me with learning the new offense. He met me halfway on some plays that I ran in my earlier offense. He said there's some new plays that I think you would like. I'll help you learn them. He and Mike McCoy last year really helped out a lot with that.
Andrew Rosario: You look great man; what are you doing these days with the Broncos?
SAM GARNES: I'm coaching the DB. I'm an assistant DBs coach. I'm trying to help lead them to a victory this weekend.
Andrew Rosario: So you got your hands filled because that Seattle offense is pretty potent with Russell Wilson and their wideouts, as well.
SAM GARNES: It's very, very potent, a lot of people, you hear those guys talk about they are under-rated. They are not under-rated to us. We watch the tape. They are explosive, talented, and they have a great quarterback leading them so.
Andrew Rosario: From an offensive standpoint, what do you do to try to offset what they want to do?
SAM GARNES: You just try to do the things you've been doing all year-long which is to do it better. That's all I could say you know.
Andrew Rosario: Now what do you miss most about the game?
SAM GARNES: One thing you miss is usually when you're playing you miss the camaraderie of being around your teammates. But, when you coach you get that, and physically I feel like I can't do it anymore so I don't miss playing so much. I enjoy watching the young guys grow and go out there and put together the game plan they go out there and execute that. I get a lot of joy out of that.
Andrew Rosario: What do you tell the younger guys who are experiencing something like this for the very first time?
SAM GARNES: I tell them I've been through this, it's something that you enjoy but it's not something you don't want to enjoy this two weeks after the Championship, you want to enjoy this for several months and beyond.
Andrew Rosario: What do you want to do after the Broncos? Any envision coming back to the Giants and Jets in any capacity?
SAM GARNES: Well you know I work for the Broncos and that's my focus right now, my focus is just winning the Super Bowl. I have a two-year contract I'm happy being with the Broncos.
Andrew Rosario: Last question, what's it going to take for your guys to come out on top at the end of the game?
SAM GARNES: Just have to have one more point than they do at the end of the game. But, really, you just got out there and execute and hopefully just play better than them.
Andrew Rosario: Well you look like you're in playing shape yourself you know that.
SAM GARNES: I appreciate that I work hard I probably lost a couple of pounds in the last couple of years. But, I feel great.
Andrew Rosario: Excellent, man, good luck it's been great seeing you.
SAM GARNES: Great seeing you as well.
In this episode, the What’s The 411Sports team of Keisha Wilson and Mike McDonald are talking about and asking lots of question about recent sports news and events.
Congratulations to the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016: Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, Sheryl Swoopes, John McClendon, Darell Garretson, Tom Izzo, Zelmo Beaty, Yao Ming, Jerry Reinsdorf, and Cumberland Posey.
Five members of the US women’s national soccer team including notable names like Hope Solo and Alex Morgan have filed a wage discrimination action against the US Soccer Federation. The action was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claiming that while the women’s team generated approximately $20 million more in revenue than the men’s team, the women were paid about 25% less than their male counterparts.
San Francisco 49er’s quarterback Colin Kaepernick met with John Elway, executive vice president of football operations and general manager of the Denver Broncos, signaling that Kaepernick could be headed to Denver. Would this be a good move for Colin Kaepernick?
After a 54-regular-home-game win streak, the bubble burst and Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors lost at home to the Boston Celtics 109-106 on Friday, April 1 (no April Fools joke).
NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament definitely put the “madness” in March Madness; at the buzzer, Villanova beat UNC 77-74.
Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin returns to lineup as the Clippers face the Washington Wizards at the Staples Center. It will be the first time that Griffin will play since Christmas after a tearing his quadriceps. His absence was further extended after a hand injury due to an altercation with the team’s assistant equipment manager which garnered a four-game suspension. And, Griffin’s quadriceps isn’t completely healed. Is this a good move for Griffin to play before complete healing?
Who on the current Brooklyn Nets team will be back next season? Both Keisha and Mike would like to see the return of Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. However, Keisha would also like to see newcomer Sean Kilpatrick in a Brooklyn Nets uniform next season.
The YES Network and Comcast are at war.
Can the New York Mets get back to the World Series, and do the New York Yankees have a chance to win the AL East?
New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey is on the bench for his childish behavior towards the New York sports media following the New York daily newspapers' reports on his urinary tract issues.
An Al-Jazeera report claims that Peyton Manning was supplied human growth hormone (HGH) after his neck surgery in 2011. Manning, along with other noteworthy athletes, were named in the report as having received the hormone from the Guyer Institute located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Former Guyer Institute employee Charlie Sly stated in the report that the hormone was repeatedly mailed to Manning’s home but addressed to his wife, Ashley Manning.
Photo: Peyton Manning and his wife, Ashley Manning
Peyton Manning vehemently denied the allegations of HGH use. A spokesperson for Peyton confirmed that Ashley was a patient at the clinic but did not offer further details as to the nature of her care. Peyton has also declined to provide further insight to his wife’s medical care.
Charlie Sly has since recanted his account insisting that he purposely fed false information to Liam Collins who was fitted with a hidden camera for the investigative report. Sly also confirmed that he was an employee at the Guyer Institute in 2013 and not in 2011 when Peyton Manning was a patient of the clinic. Al-Jazeera reporter Deborah Davies stands by the report and asserts that the report never claimed that Peyton Manning took the hormone.
Do you believe Peyton’s denial?