Seven & Out – Week #8
By Michael – Louis Ingram, Associate Editor/Director of Scouting-Football Reporters Online/Black Athlete.com contributing Writer
PHILADELPHIA (FRO/BASN) Eight is never enough when it comes to the National Football League. It’s time once again to peruse the scandal sheets of statistics and present our take on the week’s activities.
Alright, new shooter comin’ out…
· Miami’s TED GINN had kick-return touchdowns of 101 and 100 yards in the third quarter of the Dolphins’ 30-25 win over the New York Jets. Ginn is the first player in NFL history with two touchdowns of 100 yards in the same game and is the eighth player in NFL history with two kick-return touchdowns in a game. Ginn also became the first player to record two KR-TDs in the same quarter since Green Bay’s TRAVIS WILLIAMS in 1967.
(Anytime you can get Travis “Roadrunner” Williams, in the mix, I can’t argue with that. Rex Ryan needs to shut the fuck up and remember that offense, defense and special teams get the job done; especially after you got house-called twice for triple-digit yard scores! Let’s also give Ginn credit for not sulking after losing his starting spot at wide receiver; a great example of a player knowing he has to “ante up” and come through for his teammates…)
· In Tennessee’s 30-13 win over Jacksonville, Titans running back CHRIS JOHNSON rushed for touchdowns of 52 and 89 yards (228 rushing yards total) and Jaguars running back MAURICE JONES-DREW rushed for touchdowns of 80 and 79 yards (177 rushing yards total). The game was the first in NFL history with four rushing touchdowns of at least 50 yards.
(While I am happy for Johnson & Jones-Drew, the league wasn’t going to go out of its way to showcase a duel between two Black QBs – unless it would be to point out their flaws. Vince Young is now 19-11 as a starter, but the mainstream media and the muthafuckin’ Mouse wants to pretend he never won a fucking game. If somehow Young goes say, 7-2 the rest of the way as a starter, what does that say to Titans’ fans and season ticket holders? It says, “you wuz robbed!”)
· Indianapolis quarterback PEYTON MANNING completed 31 of 48 passes for 347 yards in the Colts’ 18-14 win over San Francisco. Manning, who now has 4,026 completions in his career, reached the 4,000-completion mark in his 183rd career game, the fastest in NFL history. Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback DAN MARINO reached 4,000 completions in 193 games. Manning is one of only four players in NFL history to record 4,000 completions, joining current Vikings quarterback BRETT FAVRE (5,894) and Hall of Famers Marino (4,967) and JOHN ELWAY (4,123).
(Of all the reasons to like Peyton Manning, the one I appreciate most is that he is a throwback to the way the position was meant to be played. Manning is the best in the game today because he doesn’t play for fantasy geeks, and he doesn’t “manage” a game. You would think in an era where successful trends are supposedly copied, teams would want to emulate Manning’s approach and endeavor to have their QBs push to be students of the game, instead of button-pushing fantasy farts…)
· Philadelphia wide receiver DE SEAN JACKSON had a 54-yard touchdown reception in the Eagles’ 40-17 win over the New York Giants. Jackson became just the second player in NFL history with six touchdowns (four receiving, one rushing, one punt return) of at least 50 yards in his team’s first seven games of a season.
(Well, we had this talk last week! The kid can ball…)
Jackson joins Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver ELROY (CRAZYLEGS) HIRSCH, who had six touchdowns of at least 50 yards in 1951 with the Los Angeles Rams, as the only players to accomplish the feat.
(Actually, Mr. Jackson reminds me of another former Philadelphia Eagle receiver, Harold Jackson {who you could make a valid Hall of Fame argument for} good hands, better technique – and great speed.)
· San Diego running back LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON rushed for 56 yards in the Chargers’ 24-16 win against Oakland. Tomlinson, who now has 12,027 rushing yards in his career, reached the 12,000-yard mark in his 132nd game, the fourth-fastest in NFL history behind Pro Football Hall of Famers JIM BROWN (115 games), ERIC DICKERSON (118) and BARRY SANDERS (125). The NFL’s all-time leading rusher, EMMITT SMITH, accomplished the feat in 133 games and Hall of Famer WALTER PAYTON reached 12,000 yards in his 134th game.
(When you think of how much bullshit and disrespect Tomlinson has endured by A.J. Smith and the Chargers’ hierarchy, you have to wonder why he re-signed with them. The fourth fastest ever to 12,000 yards – and his punk-ass GM has the nerve to imply he’s soft.)
· Minnesota quarterback BRETT FAVRE passed for four touchdown passes in the Vikings’ 38-26 win over Green Bay. Favre threw at least four touchdown passes in a game for the 21st time in his career and tied Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO for the most such games in NFL history.
(As in the last Minny/GB matchup, Favre had a clean jersey, and it was target practice all day against the Packers’ secondary…)
Favre returned to Lambeau Field for the first time as a visiting player. During his 16-year career in Green Bay, Favre won 89 games at Lambeau. Favre is the first player since 1970 to win 90 games at a stadium as both a home and visiting player. Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback JOHN ELWAY won 95 games at Mile High Stadium – all as a Bronco – and is the only other quarterback since 1970 to win at least 90 games at one NFL venue.
(All that’s well and good – it’s that neutral site game in Florida that better be won if they wish to further embellish on the Legend of Favre...)
· Indianapolis rookie head coach JIM CALDWELL improved to 7-0 with an 18-14 win over San Francisco. Caldwell joined POTSY CLARK of the 1931 Portsmouth Spartans (8-0) as the only rookie head coaches in the past 80 years to start the season 7-0.
(Well, talk about happy days, why don’t you? Sounds like Caldwell knows the dice are coming his way! Obviously, the mainstream muckrakers won’t speak well of Caldwell until Indianapolis is the last team standing {undefeated, that is} or Ralph Mouth, Richie Cunningham and the Fonz become beat writers for the Colts!)
As always, gang – once the point is established, if you throw a seven – you crap out!
mike@footballreportersonline.com
