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Week 6: Extra Points....and Opinions
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
By Tovash Hatcher
Ok boys and girls, the NFL actually was a little competitive on Sunday and Monday night. Now that's the NFL that I'm used to!! Games came down to final kicks, quarterbacks struggled, superstars flourished, and coaches were their usual selves. Being a football fan, week 6 was even a little too unpredictable for yours truly. "That is why they play the game" I guess.
Show of hands of how many of you stayed up to watch the Monday night game pairing the Cardinals against the best team in the NFL Chicago Bears. Back in 2004, the New York Yankees had the Boston Red Sox down 3 games to none. Believe it on not, the Sox came back to capture the series 4 games to 3 and ultimately win the World Series. In 1995 Reggie Miller single-handedly shot the Pacers right back into a seemingly Knicks' win by hitting two 3 pointers with less than 8 seconds remaining in a game. If you are a fan of the game, there's no way you could have turned the game off when the Arizona Cardinals had a 20-0 lead on the Bears, right? If you went to bed early figuring that the game was over try not to be shocked the rest of this report. Despite 6 Rex Grossman turnovers (4 INTs, 2 fumbles), the Bears and that nasty defense was able to steal the game that felt like the Super Bowl to the Cardinals. Rookie Matt Leinart was very impressive on the big stage by going 24/42 with 232 yards and 2 TDs. The Cardinals got nothing from RB Edgerrin James who carried the ball 36 times for only 55 yards. Credit that to the Bears defense. James is on the wrong side of the record books with that performance. That many carries and only producing that few amount of yards resulted in James setting an NFL record. Late in the 4th quarter the Bears ran a punt back for a touchdown and captured the lead at the same time at 24-23. With just under 5 minutes remaining, Matt Leinart was able to get the Cardinals into field goal position. With 49 tics to go, the sure-footed Neil Rackers came out to put a bandage on the Cardinals' wounds and try to salvage a win for the Cards. The kick hooked wide left and the Bears pull off an amazing comeback win on Monday Night Football. Cardinals head coach Dennis Green was livid after the game saying that they knew how the Bears were going to come out ready for that game. And that was the watered down version.
Picture the movie King Kong. The locals capture a cute blonde, tie her up, and placed her at the top of a cliff where she is donning a white dress that's probably not her size and by the way, it's a little dirty at the bottom. Did I mention shoes? Well, she didn't have any on. All of a sudden, a rumbling comes from deep in the woods. A huge ape appears out of nowhere and snatches up the young woman and disappears into the woods. The Dallas Cowboys played the role of King Kong Sunday afternoon against the Houston Texans. Coming off a tough loss in that hornet's nest know as Lincoln Financial in Philadelphia, the Cowboys got a chance to get some good home cooking in Texas Stadium. The Houston Texans owed a 1-0 series lead against Dallas and were looking to go up 2-0. And let me go on record to say that the Texans are nowhere near being a good football team. They faced a Cowboy team that was a little angry. The first half wasn't an indication on how the Cowboys dominated this team. In fact, I yawned all the way thru it. The Texans added a late field goal and headed to the locker room with a 6-3 lead. Boos echoed from the crowd in Texas Stadium as the fans did not enjoy watching such a lack-luster 1st half performance. I guess Mr. Parcells had a few words with the team because I saw a different Dallas Cowboys team in the 2nd half. The boys put up 31 consecutive points and did it in an impressive fashion. Terrell Owens, a constant media magnet, was constantly in the end-zone on Sunday. Owens grabbed 3 TD passes including 2 from Drew Bledsoe and one from backup QB Tony Romo. That kept the Cowboy faithful on their feet. Owens also made a play on one of the touchdown passes by adjusting to a ball that was caught in between two Texans defenders. He then followed the score up by doing a TO-type touchdown celebration. Bledsoe played a mistake free game by throwing 17-28 for 168 yards and 2 TDs. Cowboys RB Julius Jones also had himself another good game as well by gaining 106 yards on the ground. Everyone knew that the Cowboys had to come out and win this game in blowout fashion. Did anybody order a sacrificial lamb with fries and a drink? The Cowboys devour the Texans 34-6.
Let's take a poll question real quick: Did the Eagles have a chance against the red hot New Orleans Saints in the Superdome? While sitting at home on my couch eating hamburger helper, I had the clicker in hand keeping an eye on the Eagles/Saints match-up. I'll be the first to say that the Los Angeles Clippers of the NFL used to be a cute little football success story. NOW, THE SAINTS PUT FEAR INTO THE REST OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE. At 5-1 New Orleans is a real contender in this league. They have what it takes to win at just about every position on the field. The wide receiving core, led by veteran Joe Horn is solid. Rookie WR Marques Colston is having himself a magical season so far as well. And who can forget about Reggie Bush and his presence on the field? The Saints will be a playoff discussion this year, trust me. On Sunday they were able to finish off a game where the Eagles and their great offense made a comeback. McNabb was able to quickly carve up the Saints defense by throwing 2 TD strikes and tying the game up at 17-17. Philadelphia then went ahead 24-17 early in the 4th quarter on a Reggie Brown TD run. However, the Saints showed a ton of maturity by not panicking and scoring on a Joe Horn reception. They knotted the score up at 24-24. With time winding down in the 4th quarter the Saints trotted out John Carney to attempt a 31-yard field goal. The time expired as the kick sailed thru the uprights for a HUGE 27-24 New Orleans Saints victory.
As the season gets older, the games just keep getting better. I'm already counting down the days to Sunday. Enjoy the rest of the week.
I'm Tovash Hatcher
5:14 PM
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