I attended the ESPN Monday Night Football telecast of the game between the Oakland Raiders at the San Diego Chargers. The only thing more horrible than the performance of Raiders offense was the racist young blonde man sitting next to me in Section 239, Row 6, Seat 11, and who had an issue that I was even sitting next to him, placing his knee in my space several times until I asked him to stop. I could have had him ejected from the Oakland Coliseum, and someone should have done the same for Oakland Raiders Offensive Coordinator Tom Walsh.
All of the problems I pointed to weeks earlier were there in full view once again for all to see. The Raiders were clobbered 27 to nothing and at home.
The result was nine -- count them -- nine sacks and the first shut-out of the Oakland Raiders at home since 1982.
People will rag on Robert Gallery, but it's not his fault at all. It's the offensive coaching staff -- the 1960s and 1970s offense with its "retreat" pass blocking techniques just doesn't work at all.
T.O. played well, but he can't play defense for the Cowboys. Jacksonville was clearly the better team on this day.
Jags rally to ruin Owens' Dallas debut
NFL.com wire reports
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Sept. 10, 2006) -- Terrell Owens gave the Dallas Cowboys almost everything they wanted in the season opener: big plays, a touchdown and no surly behavior.
Byron Leftwich threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score, Fred Taylor had 115 combined yards and the Jacksonville Jaguars spoiled Owens' much-anticipated Dallas debut with a 24-17 win Sunday.
"I was hoping he wouldn't even score a touchdown," said Taylor, who also had a 3-yard TD run with 3:13 to play.
Owens made his presence felt early and late. It was just too early to hurt the Jaguars and too late to help the Cowboys.
He finished with six receptions for 80 yards and a score, but the Jaguars held him without a catch through much of the second half. Still, Owens keyed all three of Dallas' scoring drives, including a 21-yard TD reception with 1:54 to play that cut the lead the 24-17.
Jacksonville recovered the onside kick and was forced to punt. The Cowboys got the ball back with 51 seconds to play, but Drew Bledsoe 's third-down pass was intercepted by linebacker Mike Peterson.
Byron Leftwich keyed the Jags' comeback, passing for one TD and running for another. It was Bledsoe's third interception of the game and gave the Jaguars their ninth opening-day win in 12 seasons.
"Too many mistakes," Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said. "We had our chances. We just couldn't get it all together there."
Dallas missed several chances, most of them early.
They scored on their first two possessions -- a touchdown and a field goal -- and were looking to make it 17-0 in the second quarter. But Bledsoe overthrew Owens, who was wide open near the goal line.
The Jaguars kicked a field goal on the ensuing possession. Then, instead of running out the clock after a holding penalty with less than two minutes to play in the first half, Bledsoe tried to throw downfield and was picked off for the first time.
Four plays later, Leftwich found Reggie Williams in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown that tied the game. Williams appeared to push Anthony Henry's head down before the ball arrived, but officials didn't throw a flag.
"Once we let them hang around, we started making mistakes and that's the story of the game," said Bledsoe, who 16-of-33 for 246 yards and was sacked twice.
Dallas had several other key miscues:
- Owens had a 25-yard reception negated in the third quarter by an offensive pass interference penalty on tight end Anthony Fasano.
- Jason Witten had a 10-yard TD catch nullified by offensive pass interference late in the third quarter. He pushed Rashean Mathis just before the ball arrived.
- Shaun Suisham, subbing for injured place-kicker Mike Vanderjagt, missed a 36-yard field goal two plays after Witten's penalty. The kick bounced off the right upright.
"I don't like coming in and starting with a loss, but by no means are we down on ourselves," said Owens, who said all the right things following his debut.
Owens was the catalyst for all three scores.
He had two catches on Dallas' opening touchdown drive and helped set up a field goal on the team's second possession. He ran a simple slant pattern on Dallas' first play from scrimmage, beat Mathis and gained 13 yards. He jumped up, slapped Bledsoe's hand and returned to the huddle with a big smile.
On the next possession, Owens drew extra coverage that allowed Jones to run wide open down the sideline for a 39-yard reception, setting up Suisham's 32-yard field goal.
"I thought he got us started pretty well early," Parcells said. "Made a big catch there at the end and gave us another chance. That's about it. It's disappointing. It really is."
Owens, benched by Philadelphia for the final nine games last season after griping about his contract and bickering publicly with quarterback Donovan McNabb, was released in March and signed with Dallas four days later. He missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury, but vowed to be ready for the opener.
And he was, as the game started to look like it would become the T.O. Show. But the Jaguars adjusted and held Owens to just two catches in the second half while putting constant pressure on Bledsoe, who threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter.
"He was not about to run out there on my Jaguar," defensive tackle John Henderson said, referring to Owens' famed pose on the Dallas star when he played with San Francisco.
Renetto posted this video, which I made a response to below:
Renetto:
Me:
The point is that online advertising is a huge industry that's influnced online video, infusing it with a new source of revenue and encouraging players large and small to make entertainment that will draw large numbers of viewers and thus ad revenue.
Whatever former Rocketboom host Amanda Congdon's doing now, her blog doesn't reveal the details. But from this photo, it's obvious she's resurfaced in front of someone's camera, somewhere. We'll stay tuned.
I expected the Dolphins to win this game; I must admit I underestimated the Steelers ability to win with Charlie Batch. But he made the throws to win; here's one of them.
Steelers excel in fourth, beat Fins 28-17
NFL.com wire reports
PITTSBURGH (Sept. 7, 2006) -- Miami coach Nick Saban had the red challenge flag in his hand, hitched it forward and back, and couldn't seem to let it go in time. Maybe the Dolphins should flag their own coach for a costly delay.
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Heath Miller chugged his way down the sideline on an 87-yard touchdown pass play midway through the fourth quarter, fill-in QB Charlie Batch 's third scoring pass of the game, and the Super Bowl champions beat the Dolphins 28-17 in the NFL's first game of the season.
"It seemed like it took me forever to get there," Miller said.
For good reason.
Video highlights
Charlie Batch threw three TD passes to lead the Steelers to a 28-17 victory over the Dolphins. 56k | 300k
Postgame press conference 56k | 300k
Miller's score shouldn't have stood -- TV replays clearly showed his foot out of bounds between the 1 and 2-yard lines. However, Saban hesitated to throw his flag, which fell to the turf sight unseen as referee Walt Coleman watched the extra point kick. That meant the Steelers didn't have to try to get the ball into the end zone from short yardage.
Asked if he got in, Miller said, laughing, "Touchdown. Yeah."
Saban apparently thought he could throw the challenge flag at any time before Jeff Reed kicked the extra point, but no official saw him -- and thus, no replay. And no Dolphins upset, either, even though the Steelers didn't look particularly sharp in their first game that counted since the Super Bowl -- despite Willie Parker 's 115 yards rushing, Miller's 101 yards receiving and Batch's first three-TD game since Nov. 18, 2001, with Detroit.
"They said they didn't see it," Saban said. "Whose fault is that?"
Saban explained that assistant coaches in the press box first had to watch the replay before notifying him whether to challenge.
"We can't challenge something until we see it," he said. "When we saw it, I threw the flag. It was well before the kicker kicked it. The official said he didn't see it, and when he said he didn't see it, there was nothing he could do. That shouldn't happen."
Miami, down 21-17 at the time, had a chance to come back. But new quarterback Daunte Culpepper was intercepted on consecutive series, with linebacker Joey Porter scoring on a 42-yard return with about three minutes left.
"We knew we had put them in a situation where they had to pass the ball. I had my chance to make the play and I made it," Porter said.
Porter was so excited, he ran to the sideline and kissed coach Bill Cowher on the cheek -- the Steelers' first known sideline smooch since Cowher planted one on Kordell Stewart during a 1997 comeback victory in Baltimore.
The Dolphins, trying to build off the momentum of their six consecutive victories to end last season, never led until Ronnie Brown scored on a 5-yard run to make it 17-14 in the third quarter. Marty Booker, sidelined with what appeared to be a concussion in the first half, came back to make a 50-yard catch of Culpepper's pass, aided by safety Tyrone Carter's slip, to set up the score.
Charlie Batch fit in just fine, filling in for an injured 'Big Ben.' "We were definitely in the driver's seat. We needed to stay focused and finish the ballgame out," said safety Renaldo Hill.
Culpepper was mostly effective in his first start for the Dolphins, until his late-game mistakes. He also was intercepted by Troy Polamalu immediately after Miller's catch put the Steelers up. Culpepper finished 18 for 37 for 262 yards.
"In this league, you can't turn the ball over in the fourth quarter," Culpepper said. "I'm better than that. We're better than that."
The Steelers also overcame a costly mistake when Batch fumbled Jeff Hartings' snap at the Miami 1 and Will Allen recovered, keeping the Dolphins in the lead temporarily.
For the first 2 1/2 quarters, the Steelers looked much like they did in the Super Bowl seven months ago -- without Ben Roethlisberger, of course. The quarterback made an unexpectedly fast recovery from a June motorcycle crash, only to need an emergency appendectomy on Sept. 3 that kept him out of his fifth game in two seasons.
"I walked in here Sunday and had no idea I would be the starter," Batch said. "But I always tell myself, 'When you go in there, don't be the guy who takes a step back, keep things going offensively without changing the game plan.' And I think I was able to do that."
Just like in that 21-10 win over Seattle in the Super Bowl, there was a Hines Ward touchdown catch, a long Parker run and a favorable call from an official, helping the Steelers go up 14-7.
Ward, who sat out the preseason with a sore hamstring, caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Batch late in the first half. Parker used his speed to get loose on a 32-yard run to the Dolphins 35, and cornerback Andre Goodman drew a 23-yard pass interference call on Cedrick Wilson. Goodman started because of Travis Daniels' ankle injury.
Batch, making his first season-opening start since 2001 with Detroit, looked rusty for two drives, only to settle in and throw a 27-yard scoring pass to Nate Washington to finish off a 75-yard drive early in the second period. It was the first regular-season catch for Washington, a 2005 free agent from Tiffin University whose only other career reception came in the AFC title game.
Batch was 15 for 25 for 209 yards.
Miami couldn't get a running game going until the second half -- at one point, Brown had 11 yards on nine carries -- but tied it the game at 7 when Wes Welker's 47-yard punt return set up Brown's 2-yard run.
The Steelers unveiled their five Super Bowl championship banners during a pregame show highlighted by fireworks and an in-stadium concert, but the mood in Heinz Field wasn't entirely celebratory.
A moment of silence was held minutes before the opening kickoff for the late Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor, who was buried earlier in the day. O'Connor died in office last week of brain cancer. His son, Corey, was introduced to the crowd.
This was a nasty blow and there was no flag on the play. I can't believe it, but I saw it.
Chiefs' Green taken off field on stretcher NFL.com wire reports KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Sept. 10, 2006) -- Kansas City quarterback Trent Green was taken from the field by stretcher after laying motionless following a brutal hit by Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Green, who had started 80 straight games, went into a feet-first hook slide when Geathers charged in and appeared to hit Green's head with his shoulder. Green's neck snapped back hard into the turf and he lay motionless for a few moments. He then was taken off on a stretcher, with an attendant holding his hands under Green's helmet.
As you may know, there's a lot of opinions expressed about the revelation that Lonelygirl15's not "real." Well, I've got a different take on the matter. I think what Creative Artist Agency -- the alledged producers of Lonelygirl15 -- has done is a model for other vloggers.
