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Does Anyone Want To Win This Division?

There's no surer sign that the NL Central is an abysmal division than the fact that the team playing the best in the stretch run is the fifth-place Pirates. They won their third game in four nights against a contender for the division crown in a 9-0 laugher over the Brewers. The loss knocked the Brew Crew back into a tie with the Cubs for first place and while their chances of ultimately winning the thing weren't dealt too horrible a blow it's hard to get too excited about a team that gets four-hit by Tony Armas, Franquelis Osoria and Romulo Sanchez. The Brewers lack of success in Pittsburgh isn't a new thing. They've lost 41 of 60 games at PNC Park since it opened in 2001 and have lost four of five to the Buccos this season. If two teams with .510 winning percentages tied for a division lead isn't illustrative enough the Pirates, 64-80 after last night's win, are less than 10 games out of first in September. Someone has to win this thing but the word winner has never been more loosely defined.

• The Cubs and Cardinals had to make up a game on  Monday afternoon and the one-day respite from the road did the Cubbies well. They pounded Joel Piniero for eight hits and six runs en route to a 12-3 win that pushed them back to the top of their town dump. Aramis Ramirez did the heavy lifting offensively with a pair of home runs and Ted Lilly cruised to his 15th win thanks to all of the run support. The Cubs are off to Houston for three before resuming their rivalry with the Cardinals this weekend in St. Louis.
• Is Scott Kazmir the best pitcher on a terrible team or is he a tease who will never put together a truly great season? There's a vote for the fprmer after the diminuitive lefty shut down the Red Sox 1-0 on Monday. He struck out 10 over seven innings and shaved a half-game off Boston's East lead. There's also a vote for the latter. David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were both MIA for the Sox who batted Bobby Kielty fifth.
• Note to Central teams, this is how you close out a division. The Diamondbacks won their sixth straight game on Monday night to extend their division lead to three and a half games over San Diego. Jeff Salazar played Kirk Gibson, shrugging off a sprained ankle to hit a three-run, game-winning ninth inning homer that beat the Giants 5-3 in San Francisco.
• Note to Central teams, if you aren't going to win anything please lose spectacularly. The Mariners lost their 14th game in 16 tries and lost it by allowing two grand slams to Oakland in a 9-3 loss. It's the second time the A's have pulled off that feat in 106 years as a professional baseball outfit making Monday's loss a memorable one in the neverending onslaught of misery for the Pacific Northwest.

(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Monday Night Madness

It wasn't just the first week for the teams of the NFL. It was also the first time the referees were working this season and like the players they are sure to get better as they work themselves into form. That's small consolation for Brian Billick and the Baltimore Ravens this morning after a truly awful call cost them a late tying touchdown in Cincinnati and helped contribute to a 27-20 loss. Todd Heap got called for offensive pass interferance in the end zone on a fourth down catch in the end zone to negate the score and for the life of me I can't figure out what he did wrong. Bengals safety Dexter Jackson was holding his jersey, which is defensive PI for those scoring at home, and Heap ran through the hold, made the catch and got his feet down in time before turning to see the flag. The Ravens got another chance when the same official made a holding call on the Bengals on the next play and there's no excusing some poor play-calling from Baltimore on their next three plays. Kyle Boller, in for the injured Steve McNair, was called on to throw twice and his second pass was tipped and intercepted by a diving Michael Myers to secure the Bengals victory. It was the sixth turnover for Baltimore, it wasn't just a bad call that stood in the way of their win, and a great escape for the Bengals. They beat up on a good defense and won a divisional game and regardless of how you get there that's a nice start for the season.

• A less enjoyable game capped the first weekend of NFL action. The 49ers outlasted the Cardinals 20-17 in a sloppy game marked by two disappointing quarterbacks. Alex Smith misfired all night and was 9-for-21 before leading a winning drive in the fourth quarter. He went 6-for-10 on the drive and also scrambled for 25 yards on a key fourth down play to set up Arnaz Battle for an end around and the win. Matt Leinart didn't have any late heroics to bail out a miserable performance. He was picked off on his first and last throws of the night and finished with just 102 yards throwing. The Cardinals went away from Edgerrin James after an effective first half and suffered for it because Leinart couldn't hit anything but the shortest of passes.

(AP Photo/Al Behrman)

A Silver Lining?

Those of us who are grasping at straws to explain why the Jets looked so awful against the Patriots at home yesterday get thrown a life preserver from Scout.com's Dan Leberfeld.   

According to a Meadowlands source, a member of the Patriots organization, with a credential issued by the team, was spotted by Jets security chief Steve Yarnell shooting near the New York bench.

And according to the stadium source, when questioned by Yarnell, the unnamed individual said that he was put up to it by the Patriots. The cameraman was reportedly accused by Yarnell of shooting the Jets' signals that were being sent by the coaches from the sidelines.

The source says that the NFL is being made aware of this accusation. If this is true, the Patriots could be subject to a serious punishment from the league office.

I don't know what to make of this. On the one hand if the Patriots were doing what's being accused they could pick up something that would help them prepare for such-and-such defensive set or so-and-so audible and would react to it quicker than they normal. They certainly played like they knew just what the Jets were going to do on each and every down. Especially in the second half when a 14-7 game became a full-on rout. You can't really put anything past the Hooded Casanova when it comes to besting his portly protege, either.

On the other hand several of the key plays of the game - the Hobbs kick return and the Moss touchdown come to mind - the Jets just got flat out beat on the field. There didn't appear to be the slightest bit of chicanery going on during those second-half plays nor would any defensive coordinator worth his salt need an Enigma machine to figure out what the Jets were doing on offense. For the record, though, when Eric Mangini orders the penne arrabiata at Nuovo Vesuvio the Jets are running the counter trap.   

Leberfeld doesn't say what the punishment would be if the Pats were found guilty of sign-stealing but short of the rematch being the football equivalent of an open book exam for the Jets what could the league do to make it right? I guess they could strip New England of draft picks or fine them but it wouldn't make up for anything that happened on Sunday. Whatever conclusions are drawn by Roger Goodell's goon squad this situation is sure to elevate hostilities between the two franchises.

The Hardest Thing I've Ever Had To Write

For anyone interested in self-flagellation, I made good on my bet with JD of the Six Pack Sports Report and wrote a glowing review of his Patriots this morning. You can head over to JD's fine site and read the hardest thing I've ever had to write or I can just summarize it for you right here - the Pats are really, really good and the other 15 clubs in the AFC are going to have an awfully hard time knocking them off their Super Bowl path. I probably didn't go as far as I could have in my praise for yesterday's performance. Everyone is talking about Moss and how his presence makes the Patriots such a dangerous offensive team. Lost in all that talk, true though it is, is how well their offensive line played yesterday. It will be hard to tell if it was a function of the Jets dismal defensive effort or if it was the cause of said dismal effort but I lean toward the latter. The Jets own offensive line woes, however, are nobody's fault but their own.

(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)   

Beginner's Luck

The biggest story in the first week of the NFL season is, without a doubt, the dominant performances thrown down by the Colts and Patriots. We haven't seen the Ravens yet but no other AFC team flashed the same balanced attack that last year's championship game participants did in blowing out the Saints and Jets. The poor performance of those Saints along with substandard outings from the Bears, Eagles and Cowboys defense makes you think that this whole season just might be a long run-up to the inevitable crowning of another champion from the AFC.

It may behoove the NFC to look to the future for an end to their inferiority. Two rookies had strong debuts that could help their teams drag themselves out of the cellar. Calvin Johnson made four catches for 70 yards and a touchdown in Detroit's 36-21 victory in Oakland and Adrian Peterson dazzled the Metrodome with a 60-yard catch-and-run for the only offensive touchdown in Minnesota's 24-3 win against the Falcons. Peterson also added 103 yards on the ground to move Chester Taylor into a reserve role earlier than expected. The Vikings also had a spectacular first outing by fourth-rounder Brian Robison. He sacked Joey Harrington twice to help start what figures to be a miserable season in Atlanta.

Lookin At The NFL - Week One

Pittsburgh 34, Cleveland 7 - You can add a third unpleasant certainty to death and taxes in the lives of Americans. The Cleveland Browns are, once again, a terrible football team. They gave up 206 rushing yards, Ben Roethlisberger threw four touchdown passes and two Browns quarterbacks helped contribute to a four-turnover performance that portends another long year in Ohio. Neither of those QBs was Brady Quinn but if the Browns hope to ever get anything out of the Notre Dame product they won't risk playing him behind an offensive line that gave up six sacks. Better to preserve Quinn's good looks for as long as possible before subjecting him to the indignity of life with the Browns offense. The Steelers new offense looked quite good but we'll reserve judgement until they face NFL opposition.

San Diego 14, Chicago 3 - Those of you looking for something with a more positive certainty in life are directed to LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers. Yes the Bears limited him to but 25 yards on the ground but he still scored his first touchdown of the season and also threw a 17-yard touchdown to Antonio Gates to account for all the scoring for the Bolts in Week One. Gates had a monster game, nine catches for 107 yards, to help beat the still feisty Bears defense. Also unchanged is the profligate Bears offense. They turned the ball over four times, couldn't generate any long drives and Rex Grossman remains as unreliable a signal caller as there is in the league. The Colts and Patriots flashed some offensive muscle in Week One but the Chargers defense was just as impressive as all the AFC contenders posted strong opening days.

Denver 15, Buffalo 14 - A stirring final drive by Jay Cutler, a redemptive winning field goal by Jason Elam and sharp debut by a maligned Bills defense are all secondary stories today. Kevin Everett of the Bills may never walk again after suffering a neck injury covering a kickoff and all the on-field results pale in comparison to the thoughts and hopes for a full recovery that any football fan should be sending in Everett's direction this morning.

Green Bay 16, Philadelphia 13 - This is the kind of loss that can come back to haunt you when you get nosed out for a playoff spot come Week 17. A fumbled punt that's recovered for a touchdown and another one that sets up the winning field goal are unacceptable happenstances at any point in the season. They were the difference in a defensive struggle that featured poor games from both Donovan McNabb and Brett Favre.

Houston 20, Kansas City 3 - A cursory look at Matt Schaub's line would probably leave Falcons fans apoplectic but it's a soothing sight for Texans rooters who are finally free of David Carr. Andre Johnson was dominant, Mario Williams scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery and the Chiefs look just as bad as expected. The only silver lining is that Herman Edwards stuck to his guns and didn't overwork Larry Johnson. It's not a recipe for wins but it makes everyone who passed on LJ in the first round of their fantasy drafts feel good about themselves.

Tennessee 13, Jacksonville 10 - Believe in Vince, my friends, and you shall find salvation. His numbers weren't impressive, 78 yards passing and 22 on the ground with a pick, but he scored the only touchdown on a two-yard plunge in the third quarter. He didn't need to do all that much anyway. Chris Brown rolled to 175 yards on the ground, LenDale White added 66 and the Jags couldn't do anything offensively behind David Garrard. Maurice Jones-Drew threw his hat in the ring for most disappointing high-round fantasy pick with 32 yards and a fumble.

Minnesota 24, Atlanta 3 - Despite the best arguments of the Sports Guy, the Falcons were looking at a really long season. Bobby Petrino isn't going to make it go any faster by giving the ball to Warrick Dunn 22 times a game and Joey Harrington is already well on his way to making the hit list in a third American city with two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. The Vikings should be encouraged by the defense but more so by the debut of Adrian Peterson. He turned a dumpoff into a 60-yard touchdown pass and ran for 103 yards to stake an early claim to the Rookie of the Year award.

Carolina 27, St. Louis 13 - The award for most depressing debut goes to the Rams. 58 yards and two fumbles for Stephen Jackson, a poor performance from Marc Bulger, a possible season-ending injury to Orlando Pace and 387 Panther yards add up to a terrible first scene in this year's Rams drama.

Seattle 20, Tampa Bay 6 - The Seahawks defense put Jeff Garcia and Cadillac Williams on the shelf and their offense showed signs that last year's struggles were behind them in an impressive performance. That should be enough to get the locals off their backs for supporting President Bush.

Washington 16, Miami 13 - A mixed bag for the Redskins despite getting the victory. Jason Campbell threw two interceptions but also found Antwan Randle-El five times for 162 yards. The two-headed running backs combined for 157 yards but the team put together only one touchdown drive. The defense shut down Ronnie Brown but gave up big chunks of yards through the air. A win's a win but the Skins didn't exactly make me a believer.

Detroit 36, Oakland 21 - An exciting game if not a particularly well-played one worked out in the end for the Lions. They blew a 17-0 lead and trailed 21-20 in the fourth quarter before getting bailed out by Tatum Bell and Shaun McDonald. Jon Kitna and Josh McCown each threw two interceptions, Sebastien Janikowski missed three field goals and the two teams generally played like they earned the first two picks in this year's draft.

Dallas 45, Giants 35 - There were points galore and there were injuries galore. The Cowboys were without Terry Glenn and Jason Ferguson for most of the night. The Giants lost Brandon Jacobs, Osi Umenyiora and, ultimately, Eli Manning. It was that last injury that ended their chances for a win as Manning played one of the best games of his career before departing in pain. He found Plaxico Burress for three of his four touchdowns, including one that made it a 38-35 game with seven minutes to play. But Tony Romo, who also had a career night, hit Sam Hurd for his fourth TD toss of the game. The defensive performance, or lack thereof, has to be distressing to each squad even while they revel in the performance of their offense.

(AP Photo/Ken Blaze)

Brewers Back On Top

The Brewers opened play on Sunday tied for the Central Division lead with the Cubs. By the fourth batter of the game they seemed a good bet to remain, at the least, in a deadlock for first place. Richie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun each homered off Phil Dumatrait and the Brewers were off and running on a 10-5 win in Cincinnati. Milwaukee added three more homers in the game and the fireworks paid off in spades when the results from Pittsburgh revealed that the Cubs were losers by the same score.  That returned sole possession of the division lead to Milwaukee in advance of their own trip to PNC Park for three games this week. The biggest obstacle to staying there may not come from on-field opposition. With Yom Kippur looming the Brew Crew must wonder if their splendid rookie third baseman is going to play on September 21 and 22 in games that will go a long way toward determining their playoff status. Braun is clearly the Chosen One but will that outrank his membership in the Chosen People?

• We can't know for sure what role Dave Littlefield's long overdue firing had on the Pirates this weekend but the Brewers will probably send a Thank You note to Pirate ownership nonetheless. The overmatched GM was finally sent packing and the Bucs responded by taking two of three games from the Cubs including yesterday's 10-5 win. Steve Trachsel, the according to Hoyle definition of a last-ditch option, lost his second start since rejoining the northsiders and couldn't get past the second inning. Nyjer Morgan drove in two runs for the Bucs, thrilling his parents beyond belief. It would also thrill this guy if he was still updating his blog. 
• The Mets looked like a team on the brink of implosion after dropping four straight to the Phillies. They were in need of a spark to save their season from disaster and they found one in Pedro Martinez. He won for the second time this week, pitching better than he did in Cincinnati, and the Amazins have won eight of nine to solidify their hold on the NL East. Pedro struck out four in five shutout innings in the 4-1 win and the Mets maintain their comfortable six-game edge on Philadelphia.
• If Dave Littlefield's firing inspired the Bucs the Rick Ankiel revelations seem to have taken the life out of the Cardinal comeback. The Diamondbacks finished off a three-game sweep with Sunday's 6-5 win and dropped the Cards three games behind the Brewers in the Central. The D-Backs hold the same edge on the Padres after Jose Valverde escaped a bases loaded ninth inning jam for his 45th save of the season.
• The score was fitting for the first football Sunday of the year, 14-7, but time looks like it's run out on the Seattle Mariners and their improbable playoff quest all the same. The losing Tigers may be in the same boat after they couldn't get a good start out of Jeremy Bonderman.

(AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)

Choke On This

A little more than a month ago there was some renewed conjecture about A-Rod being a choker. The Yankees had recovered from their early struggles and reentered the playoff race but Rodriguez was struggling to hit homers. He was stuck on 499 homers and couldn't seem to buy a hit when the team needed him to produce. Fast forward to the last five games and the Yankees are in an even more important stretch of the season. They have a Wild Card lead but the Mariners and Tigers remain locked in their rearview mirror and they can't afford even the slightest losing streak if they want to keep a firm grasp on their playoff spot. What's Rodriguez done?

September 4 - 2-4, two runs, home run, RBI, Yankees win 12-3

September 5 - 2-3, two runs, two homers, three RBI, Yankees win 10-2

September 7 - 3-4, run, home run, RBI, Yankees win 3-2

September 8 - 2-3, two runs, two homers, three RBI, Yankees win 11-5

September 9 - 2-5, two runs, home run, two RBI, Yankees win 6-3

That gives him eight homers and 15 RBI through eight September games and leaves him on a pace for his best month of the season. That's stunning when you realize that he hit 14 homers in April, hit .402 with 34 RBI in June and posted a 1054 OPS in August. That's an MVP season and a season that ranks with the greatest of Yankee history. He's two homers away from tying Mickey Mantle's best ever total, he's already got the most homers by a third baseman in a season and the most by a righthander in pinstripes. It's probably not enough to silence those who believe A-Rod chokes in big spots, he'll need a big October in the Bronx to end that once and for all, but it's getting awfully difficult to continue selling that theory.

Jets Reap What They Sowed In Offseason

I'm assuming among the pregame comments Eric Mangini made to the Jets was a reminder that yesterday's game with the Patriots actually counted toward the regular season. He's a smart coach and it would have been a bit reckless of him not to just make sure one last time that his guys didn't still think they were only playing a quarter or a half before the reserves took over. If we assume he did make such an announcement the only question is why didn't his players pay any attention to it? Week One was a full-scale disaster for the Jets. They failed to produce in every facet of the game, nearly got their quarterback killed and lost in an embarassing 38-14 rout to New England.

The offensive line failed to do its job. They couldn't open holes any better than they did a year ago, even without Richard Seymour in the Pat lineup, and they couldn't protect Pennington or Kellen Clemens. One of their breakdowns led to an injured ankle for Pennington in the third quarter. He responded by hobbling off the field as quickly as he could so the team could avoid using a timeout. The crowd responded by cheering wildly for his replacement Kellen Clemens who threw one completion before the Jets punted. Pennington returned, with no fanfare from the crowd, and led the Jets on their second and final scoring drive before handing the game over to Clemens.

I understand the crowd's reaction. Things were going poorly and a new quarterback always brings a spark of hope that things are going to get better. In this situation, though, they were dead wrong. Pennington was the only Jet to have a decent game yesterday. He hit on 16-of-21 passes for 167 yards and two scores. He wasn't intercepted but was sacked four times, thanks in no small part to the team's refusal to pay Pete Kendall. When Pennington hurt his ankle it was Jarvis Green that came from the undermanned left side and rolled him. His status for next week is unknown but it's terrifying to imagine what this line will do against the Ravens defense.   

On defense there wasn't a hint of a pass rush which helped Brady keep his uniform clean en route to 297 yards and three touchdowns. The secondary looked poor, especially on Randy Moss' 51-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter, but it's hard to say how much that had to do with their own poor play and how much was because the front seven played like there was a force field around the Patriots pocket. They weren't any better against the run. Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris combined for 126 yards on 31 carries to help the Pats keep the ball for 33 minutes.

Throw in a breakdown that led to Ellis Hobbs' 108-yard kickoff return to start the second half and you have as complete a failure as you could have a nightmare about in the first week of the season. The defensive problems had as much to do with Brady's excellence as anything and you have to figure that there will be improvement when they aren't facing such a loaded offense. That offensive line, though, doesn't foster such hope. Pennington looked like a soldier driving out on patrol in one of those unarmored Humvees that our government employs instead of spending the money necessary to fully protect the troops. He realized it, “With six minutes left, down 31-14, I had to, for the first time, be brutally honest with myself as far as injuries are concerned, and say that without the threat of the run, I’m kind of a sitting duck.” After one week Pete Kendall's looking like this season's Most Valuable Player. It's a shame he plays for the Redskins.

(AP Photo/Mel Evans)

A Friendly Wager

Come Monday look for a missive proclaiming the everlasting greatness of Chad Pennington, Eric Mangini and the New York Jets. That's nothing new in these parts but what is new is the guy who will be writing it. JD of the Six Pack Sports Report is a diehard Patriot fan but he will pull a Curtis Martin and switch sides after the Jets pull off the victory at the Meadowlands this weekend. If he does a good enough job we'll invite him back to explain the greatness of the Yankees in the ALCS aftermath.

In the unlikely event that the Patriots should make a game-time decision to dip into Rodney Harrison's unused stash of HGH and juice themselves up for a win I will be forced to swallow my pride and extol certain "virtues" of the winning New England side. A harder thing I've never done, that's for sure, but thankfully if push does come to shove at least their quarterback shares my alma mater, my love for the Yankees and my belief in fine Brazillian ass.

In the event of a tie we'll each mow the other guy's lawn in our wives best Sunday dresses.