The Dugout – Playing With Guns
It’s Not Over Yet… But Maybe It Is
Incredibly after five weeks of the NFL, we still have six unbeaten teams left. It took overtime for the Atlanta Falcons to get by the Washington R**skins, winning it on a pick six, while the Cincinnati Bengals rode a blistering finish against the Seattle Seahawks to eventually take the game with an OT field goal. Things were much easier for the New England Patriots, cruising by the Dallas Cowboys. Aaron Rodgers was intercepted at home for the first time in 586 passes (including playoffs), having troubles against a superb St Louis Rams defence but the Green Bay Packers had enough to remain spotless. And on top of that, the Denver Broncos didn’t need any Peyton Manning vintage to beat the Oakland Raiders, their defence getting it done once more and the Carolina Panthers are the final unbeaten team, resting easy on their bye.
But things aren’t so flash for several other would-be contenders. If the Detroit Lions were hoping to build on making the playoffs in 2014, then that’s not happening. They were slaughtered by the Arizona Cardinals and are the only winless team left. Matt Stafford was so bad he got benched. Likewise the team that beat the Lions in last year’s postseason, the Dallas Cowboys, have dropped three in a row without Tony Romo or Dez Bryant. Things look bad there, they went over 25 minutes without a first down at one stage. The good news is that they’ll get those two stars back eventually but the bad news is that it may be too late by then.
It’s not too late for the Seattle Seahawks but they’ve lost all three road games so far and are already losing ground on the Cardinals in the NFC West. The Baltimore Ravens had slightly lower expectations that the ‘hawks but having blown a back and forth game against the Cleveland Browns they’re dead last in their division. Things had better change quickly.
However the supposedly-good team in the worst fix are the Kansas City Chiefs. Up 17-3 and rolling against the Chicago Bears, Jamaal Charles went down untouched with what immediately looked a serious knee injury and the team went on to lose 18-17. This is the same team that blew a win over the Broncos with a late (Jamaal Charles) fumble a few weeks back. At least before now the three teams they’d lost to were all unbeaten themselves, but after falling to the Bears thing are looking dire for KCC.
Hey, but a shout out to the Old Men of Indianapolis. The Colts needed some quality from an ailing Matt Hasselbeck to beat the Houston Texans. How was he ailing, you ask? Well…
“Lots of stuff coming out of the attic, then a lot of stuff coming out the basement,” Matt Hasselbeck
Yuck. Still threw a couple TDs though.
Science, Bitch!
The Hayne Refrain V
Oh, the pain of the last minute defeat. That’s what Hayne’s dealing with after the 49ers went down to an Eli Manning TD pass for the New York Giants with 22 seconds left on the clock. It’s a brutal way to lose, especially after a much better performance by the team’s offence. Colin Kaepernick had his best game of the season but it wasn’t quite enough. 30-27 it ended.
As for Hayne, he came so close to getting his first NFL touchdown. Not a game where he was overused (the Giants only punted twice on the night) but he did get his chance in on the offensive team.
Hayne rushed twice, in on a third & 1 at the 11 yard line early in the second half, and he busted through for 8. Given the ball the next play, he was able to make another yard. A big bit of responsibility for Hayne there, playing some red zone stuff.
"Making the most of my opportunities. Tuff loss against the Giants! Close losses are the worst. Good to see a parra Jersey be4 warm up tonight. 👌🏽..."
JH was there as the third string RB as he has been all season (regardless of who’s been second) and the possession where he featured had earlier included a big 22 yard dash by Hyde. As he took a breather after that, Reggie Bush came in for a couple of plays. He ran for 9 on first down, then Hyde came back in, rushing for no gain around the right edge and pushed out of bounds. So in came Hayne a yard shy of a new set of downs.
The first run he looked to be in a bit of traffic but the Niners linemen did a great job of setting the gap and Hayne did his own job by running through it. A strong hit as he busted past the line of scrimmage probably stopped him from trying to fend off the defensive backs with the chance to score.
Then on his second attempt, as he got the ball it seemed like the path to the goal line had opened up for him but he took the wrong route. Maybe.
See, if #71 (Erik Pears) sets the block on that one dude then Hayne’s in the clear. But he doesn’t and Hayne doesn’t take that path anyway, cutting back inside and ducking into the contact.
One the next play, Kaepernick wheels away and hits Anquan Boldin for the TD in the corner.
Plus while he fair caught one catch, the other Hayne was able to run back for 16 yards, beating a few defenders on his way before getting taken down. His shuffle step to beat the lead runner was dead slippery. Worth noting the Giants punter is Brad Wing, also an Aussie NFL convert, though Wing grew up playing Aussie Rules. Not professionally, mind you. His father was also a grid-iron punter, though he never made the NFL, and Brad got his break on an American student exchange programme in high school when he was offered a scholarship by Louisiana State. He went undrafted (like all punters do) and this is his third NFL team, after getting cut by the Eagles and having a few hiccups with the Steelers last season.
Cool to see Jarryd chilling for a pic with Giants linebacker Uani ‘Unga too. ‘Unga spend two seasons together with kiwi Paul Lasike at BYU, playing as one of the team captains in Lasike’s junior year (Lasike was a captain the year after). He’s a guy who’s had an incredible journey to the NFL himself, going undrafted after he busted his knee in his last college season and only getting onto the Giants practice roster near the end of last season. But a monster pre-season saw him storm onto the 53-man roster and he celebrated his first NFL game with an interception of Tony Romo in a loss to the Cowboys. ‘Unga was born in California and went to high school in Hawaii.
Dunno about the suit though…
Clutch
Optimistic
Frustration
Corey in the USA
We have two more games to report on in NBA pre-season as per the fate of Corey Webster. Steven Adams too, but he can have his own article in the next couple weeks. Keep an eye out for that one.
So Corey. To recap, he’s probably in competition with three other guys for one spot: Chris Douglas-Roberts, Bryce Dejean-Jones and Sean Kilpatrick. To date, Kilpatrick’s been crap, BDJ’s been anonymous, CDR looked like the favourite and Webby’s doing his thing with the time he can muster.
First off they played Atlanta Hawks on the weekend. In which Webby logged eight minutes and hit his first NBA field goal for 2 points (1/4), also getting an assist and a steal. Then against the Chicago Bulls, in came Corey Webster late in the first and his initial impact was a poor one, fouling a jump shooter for three free throws. But as he got to stretch his legs he was able to run the offence relatively hitch-free, logging 2 points on 1/2 shooting and bagging a pair of assists as well in 5 minutes on the court. Without Eric Gordon or Norris Cole playing, that left big minutes to be filled but unfortunately Corey didn’t get them. It was Sean Kilpatrick, actually, that did the damage, scoring 17 fourth quarter points for 23 total.
As of now it doesn’t look like Webster’s in the front-running. CDR’s been pretty poor despite his potential but Kilpatrick is suddenly looking all sorts of ready. It’s interesting that Webster’s still getting PG responsibilities as the others scrap for SG time (still, the three are all playing more than CW is every game). Whether that versatility is a positive or he’s just filling a gap while the others battle we don’t know. Unfortunately he’s struggling to get noticed in his time on the court.
The Pellies don’t play again ‘til Saturday (NZT) and after that they have a good run of games in a row, three in five days in fact. Then it’s time for reckoning because the rosters will be set and the real stuff will begin soon after.
A sneaky factor here though: Norris Cole is gonna miss all that time with a high ankle sprain, potentially up to six weeks (which leads into the season by several games). That leaves only two proper point guards on the roster, Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday – and the latter’s on a minutes restriction. Kilpatrick has the ability to handle the ball a bit so he’s not too damaged by that, though neither is the dude who’s playing there at the end of the rotation already – Corey Webster. Hmm. Of course, they may try sign another candidate on the short term to challenge for that spot.
NFL Week 5 Power Rankings:
- Green Bay Packers (Last Week = 1)
- New England Patriots (2)
- Cincinnati Bengals (3)
- Arizona Cardinals (5)
- Atlanta Falcons (4)
- Denver Broncos (6)
- Carolina Panthers (7)
- Seattle Seahawks (NA)
- New York Jets (8)
- Buffalo Bills (9)
Quote of the Week:
“I play with guns.” – Gilbert Arenas.
“Well I play with guns too.” – Javaris Crittenden.
At least according to Caron Butler, whose autobiography came out this week (Tuff Juice: My Journey from the Streets to the NBA – apparently it’s real good). That quote comes from an excerpt where he recounts one of the most WTF moments in the history of basketball, when a game of boo-ray on the plane went from friendly cards to a gun-wielding standoff in the locker room between Arenas and Javaris Crittenden. Basically, Arenas pulled out four guns and asked Crittenden which one he wanted to get shot with and Crittenden responded by pulling out his own, cocked and loaded, handgun. Luckily Caron was there to save the day (so he claims). Gilbert had a differing take on it in an Instagram post recently (saying it was all a bit of a joke, pretty much). Javaris had no comment, probably because he’s serving a 23 year sentence for voluntary manslaughter.
Good Week:
Jacob deGrom (New York Mets) – The playoffs are a starting pitcher’s time to shine and none was more impressive than JDG for the Mets (okay, Jake Arrieta’s up there but we just take that for granted these days). His 13 strikeouts in game one vs LAD tied a Mets record as he and his 98mph fastball outduelled Clayton Kershaw.
Eli Manning (New York Giants) – At least Jarryd Hayne can say he was beaten by a quality player. Eli posted 441 passing yards with 3 TDs, going 41 of 54 in the G-men win. That includes that gorgeous pass for the late winner. Prime Eli.
Bad Week:
Kansas City Chiefs – No team relies on their elite running back than the Chiefs do with Jamaal Charles. With JC probably now done for the season with a torn ACL, and with the Chiefs falling to 1-4, maybe 2015 isn’t gonna be their year.
Chase Utley (LA Dodgers) – Banned for two games after this hard-ass, dirty slide on Mets second baseman Ruben Tejada, a slide that broke the dude’s leg as well as breaking up a double play. Pretty filthy.
Player of the Week:
Jorge Soler (Chicago Cubs) – One of six Cubs to homer in their game three win, but Soler’s been getting it done all playoffs. He’s reached base all nine times that he’s stepped up to the plate – a MLB record to start a postseason career. Plus twice he’s gone yard. 4 for 4 with 5 walks, 3 runs and 4 RBI. Not bad for a rookie, eh?