Ravens rally past Eagles for 20-10 win
NFL.com wire reports
BALTIMORE (Aug. 17, 2006) -- Standing in a corner of the Philadelphia Eagles locker room, Correll Buckhalter flashed a wide smile as he spoke excitedly about playing in the NFL again.
"Everything in the past is in the past," he said, referring to knee injuries that forced him to miss three of the past four seasons. "It's a new beginning for me."
Playing for the first time this preseason, Buckhalter ran 48 yards with a shovel pass from Donovan McNabb to set up the Eagles' lone touchdown in a 20-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night.
The final score didn't spoil the fun for Buckhalter, who has not played in the regular season since 2003. He is vying to be the backup to Brian Westbrook, who missed the game with a leg injury.
"It feels great to be back. I feel very blessed," Buckhalter said. "I put a lot of hard work into this, and practice makes perfect. I stayed calm throughout the process before getting on the field, and that helped me. I made no mental errors and followed my assignments."
Especially on his catch-and-go from McNabb. Buckhalter eased past the several blitzing linemen, then worked his way downfield before being tackled on the 1. He enjoyed less success carrying the football, however, gaining eight yards on five tries.
"I thought he did some good things," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "It was good to get him in there, and he had the long screen play. I thought after that he was a little bit tired. We'll do a little more with him next week."
Buckhalter's spectacular play accounted for nearly half of McNabb's 97 yards through the air on 6-of-10 passing, all in the first half.
Down 10-3 at halftime, the Ravens got a 43-yard touchdown run from Musa Smith to pull even. Matt Stover kicked a 30-yard field goal later in the third quarter to give Baltimore (1-1) its first lead, and Kyle Boller threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Devard Darling with 13:34 left.
Ravens quarterback Steve McNair, who ran for a touchdown in his only series last week, couldn't get Baltimore into the end zone in 30 minutes of play. He went 14-for-18 for 148 yards and no interceptions.
Steve McNair looked good but managed just three first-half points.
"We did a good job from the 20 to the 20, but we've got to finish now," McNair said.
Darling finished with five catches for 121 yards, including a 42-yarder. He's seeking to earn a job as Baltimore's third wide receiver, and this performance didn't hurt his chances.
"Those are the kind of plays we've been waiting to see Devard make," Ravens coach Brian Billick said.
Working with a no-huddle offense, the Eagles (1-2) scored on their opening drive after Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle was called for pass interference on the first play from scrimmage. Six plays after the 35-yard penalty, David Akers kicked a 43-yard field goal.
After Baltimore punted, the Eagles benefited from another penalty during an 80-yard drive that produced a touchdown and a 10-0 lead.
On third down at the Philadelphia 22, McNabb threw an incomplete pass. But Ravens linebacker Bart Scott was called for illegal contact away from the play, and McNabb completed a 21-yard pass to L.J. Smith before connecting with Buckhalter.
Buckhalter gave credit to the offensive line, but the play wouldn't have worked if he didn't show the speed and footwork that characterized his play three years ago.
"For him to come back and bounce back this strong," McNabb said, "we cheer for him. He can gain some confidence from this and be able to move on."
After Buckhalter was stopped at the 1, McNabb threw a touchdown pass to Reno Mahe.
The Ravens answered with a 15-play drive that consumed more than nine minutes and produced a 30-yard field goal by Stover.
Late in the half, Baltimore moved to the Philadelphia 23 before Jevon Kearse hit McNair in the pocket, forcing a fumble that was recovered by safety Brian Dawkins. Ray Lewis then forced Mahe to fumble at the Philadelphia 42.
The Ravens moved to the 17 with 18 seconds to go, then inexplicably ran on a third-down play without any timeouts left. The clock ran out before they could try a field goal.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
"Security Moms" Are A Figment Of The Republican Imagination
I saw this howler of an article on Washingtonpost.com that "Security Moms" -- married women with kids -- were leaving the GOP in droves according to polls.
Well, I've got news: they were never there.
There's this really annoying tendency to pare down anyone who voted for George Bush in 2000 and 2004 as a solid support of him and the GOP. Well, no. First, you've only got two real choices for President -- the Greens and Independents (flaky by the name) have not advanced a really viable candidate. So it's either one guy or the other.
George Bush voters just liked him better than Al Gore and even more so that John Kerry.
Let us remember it was Joh Kerry who made the crack about marrying up to his wife, not George W. I was at a Bay Area Democrats event attended mostly by white women between 21 and 60 -- about 30 percent with kids -- and all let out a collective groan when Kerry made that slip of the tongue. I could see votes slipping away right them.
The Security Moms just plain don't like George W any more. I mean they voted for him but that never translated into support. Let's not forget that as long as the GOP remains white male dominant in its policies -- like abortion -- it will never ever capture the vote of every married woman with kids and this fact will remain as more and more women enter the workforce and take on traditional male roles. The GOP's demise -- or change -- can be seen in demographics.
Then signal is clear: welcome to the 21st Century GOP -- deal with it!
Matt Leinart To Start In Second Quarter Of Pats Game This Weekend
Never been to an NFL game? Matt? Wow!
Newly signed Leinart to play 2nd quarter
NFL.com wire reports
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Aug. 16, 2006) -- Matt Leinart finally gets to see his first NFL game against the New England Patriots -- from under center.
The Arizona Cardinals plan to play Leinart at least a quarter, Cardinals coach Dennis Green said.
"He'll go in the second, and then John Navarre will go in the third,"
Kurt Warner and the Cardinals first team will play the first quarter. Then the rookie from Southern California, who ended a two-week holdout by signing a six-year contract late Aug. 14, will attend a pro game for the first time.
"I've never been to an NFL game," Leinart said, "and my first game I'm going to be playing in. It's pretty cool."
He has taken extensive reps with the second team since arriving at the training camp, which ends Aug. 17 at Northern Arizona University.
"I was a little surprised," Leinart said of his early work in practice. "They were throwing me in there almost every time it seemed like. But it was good. I thought I threw the ball pretty well."
Green said that while Leinart has not been around to work on the entire Arizona offense, he arrived in time to focus on the game plan for New England.
"There are a lot of things we have done that won't be a part of the game this week," Green said. "The things that are going to be part of the game this week Matt Leinart will have a very good knowledge of, so I think he'll go out and play well."
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