Packers QB Rodgers looks to start against Falcons despite injury.
September 29, 2008
Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy says quarterback Aaron Rodgers sprained his shoulder but intends to play against Atlanta on Sunday.
Packers coaches will spend this week monitoring Rodgers’ progress in practice and preparing rookie backup Matt Flynn to start, just in case.
“Speaking with Aaron this morning, he has every intention on playing,” McCarthy said Monday in Green Bay. “But I think Wednesday’s practice will be a pretty good indicator for us. It’s just something we’ll have to continue to rehab and see where we are on Wednesday.”
Rodgers was injured on a scramble in the third quarter of Sunday’s 30-21 loss at Tampa Bay. He stayed in the game and threw a touchdown pass to Greg Jennings, but sat out part of the fourth quarter. Rodgers said after the game he might have separated his shoulder.
“It felt like that’s what possibly happened,” Rodgers said Sunday. “But we’re going to wait until tomorrow to figure out exactly what the problem is.”
McCarthy said Monday that medical tests revealed no major structural damage.
“I think it’s just how he responds to rehab and how fast we can move forward,” McCarthy said.
Rodgers, the Packers’ first-round pick in 2005, has had two injuries in the past two seasons despite limited playing time. Some have interpreted that as a sign of Rodgers being injury prone, particularly when compared to the quarterback-record consecutive starts streak belonging to his predecessor, Brett Favre.
But Rodgers’ ability to play through a broken foot in a 2006 game against New England also could be interpreted as a sign of his toughness. And McCarthy said Rodgers’ ability to throw a touchdown pass after the injury showed he can play through pain.
“For him to muster up and throw that ball the way he did was a tribute to his ability to deal with that in that particular situation,” McCarthy said.
The Packers plan to have Rodgers rehabilitate the injury Monday and Tuesday, then see how well he can throw in practice Wednesday and how he feels Thursday morning.
“It’s important to have the strength back in the shoulder,” McCarthy said. “And really how he throws on Wednesday will have a lot to do with it, and then Thursday morning, how he recovers.”
McCarthy said Rodgers would split time with Flynn running the No. 1 offense in practice, with the intention of “making sure that both Matt and Aaron are ready to play.”
Flynn is a seventh-round pick out of LSU who beat out more-heralded fellow rookie Brian Brohm for the backup spot in training camp. If he has to start, he’ll be expected to run the offense the same way Rodgers has.
“Any quarterback that plays, his job is to run the game plan,” McCarthy said. “Stay within the game plan and make the proper decisions. Play with good vision, accuracy and footwork. They’re all trained the same way.”
Rodgers isn’t the only Packers player nursing an injury coming out of Sunday’s game. McCarthy said linebacker A.J. Hawk has a groin strain, defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins has a strained pectoral muscle and safety Aaron Rouse has a knee sprain.
The Packers already were missing cornerback Al Harris, out indefinitely with a spleen injury. And cornerback Charles Woodson continues to play with a broken toe.
McCarthy hopes to know more about the status of injured players later in the week, particularly Hawk.
“Knowing A.J., I’m sure he’ll do everything he can to play this week,” McCarthy said.
And while the Packers have lost two straight games after a 2-0 start and injuries are beginning to mount, McCarthy said the team’s mini-slump wouldn’t result in a slew of personnel changes.
“It’s not about changing parts, it’s about getting the parts cleaned up and working in a better fashion,” McCarthy said.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Brewers look to make noise in 2008 MLB postseason.
September 29, 2008
Now that the Brewers are finally in, there is no doubt that they want to win.
They have won a spot in the postseason for the first time since 1982, and you cannot help but wonder whether a team that features a manager two weeks on the job, an offense that has sputtered in September and a starting pitching staff in tatters sees it as a victory simply to get this far.
“That’s an understatement,” acting Brewers manager Dale Sveum said. “If you get to the playoffs, yeah, you’ve done your job. But if you lose in the playoffs, you didn’t finish the job.”
So the Brewers will try to finish the job after a September that put them through the ringer.
They held a comfortable, 5 1/2-game lead in the National League Wild Card standings on Sept. 1, when they began a three-game series against the Mets as the first leg of a 10-game homestand. A Mets sweep and a 3-7 homestand later, the Brewers still felt good going to Philadelphia for a four-game series with a four-game Wild Card lead. By Sunday night, after the Phillies swept a doubleheader and thus the series, that lead had vanished.
Left fielder Ryan Braun called the series a “complete and total disaster,” but it was about to get worse. The next morning, Ned Yost was out as manager and Sveum was in, a move designed to spark the team for the final 12 games of the regular season.
Whether or not the managerial switch made any difference, the Brewers got hot at the last — and best — possible moment. Despite taking such a long and winding road to get there, they’ll be dancing in the postseason.
The Brewers clinched the National League Wild Card on Sunday and earned a rematch against those Phillies. Game 1 is at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday at 2 p.m. CT on TBS.
“Some players can play a whole 15-year career and never be in this situation,” Sveum said.
The new skipper described his 12-game regular season tenure as a pre-playoff playoff, and he managed as such, throwing the usual “marathon” approach out the window and approaching every game as a must-win.
Looking for a spark at the top of the lineup, he plopped veteran center fielder Mike Cameron there despite the fact Cameron led the team in strikeouts (even after losing the first 25 games of the year to a suspension). Sveum dropped shortstop J.J. Hardy to the five-hole, trying to get better protection for sluggers Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder than previous No. 5 hitter Corey Hart was providing. He bunted more than Yost, and called for the hit-and-run more frequently.
Sveum also blew up the starting rotation, partly by choice and partly from necessity. Manny Parra, the promising young left-hander who was struggling in August and September, was sent to the bullpen to protect his arm. Co-ace Ben Sheets was lost a few days later to a right elbow injury, leaving Sveum to use both CC Sabathia and Dave Bush on short rest while mixing in Seth McClung, who had been in the bullpen, Jeff Suppan, who has a history as a big-time pitcher in September but has not shown it in 2008, and Yovani Gallardo, who is limited because he is barely three months removed from major knee surgery.
“Any time you have a chance to set up and go into the playoffs, you have to do whatever you can to get in,” said Sabathia, who has shattered even the most positive expectations since his July 7 trade from Cleveland. “Every game for us is like a playoff game.”
Sveum admitted that the mix-and-match approach was not exactly ideal.
“There is a different feeling when you’re making such decisions every day on the pitching staff,” he said. “Like I said, nobody said life was easy.”
Sveum and pitching coach Mike Maddux still have work to do to piece together a playoff rotation. And the offense also enters the postseason far from firing on all cylinders.
The Brewers will power through. There is too much at stake to pack it in now.
“It takes [guts] to stay positive,” Fielder said. “There is that failure part where people get passive and that fear of failure comes in. Then you’re playing — not scared — but you’re not letting your natural ability come out. I think it takes a lot more courage to be aggressive.
“Especially since Dale has been here, he’s really been stressing to stay positive,” Fielder added. “Realize that baseball … is not easy.”
It will not be easy the rest of the way. But at least the Brewers are playing baseball in October while 22 teams watch at home on TV.
Hookscenter.com wire report (mcCalvy).
Rams fire Scott Linehan after 0-4 start to 2008 season.
September 29, 2008
The winless St. Louis Rams fired coach Scott Linehan on Monday, the day after a fourth straight lopsided loss to start the season.
Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, once the coach of the New Orleans Saints, will replace Linehan on an interim basis. The Rams scheduled a news conference later Monday.
“I have enormous respect for Scott Linehan as a person and believe under the right circumstances he will be regarded one day as a fine head coach,” owner Chip Rosenbloom said in a release. “Unfortunately, the situation with the Rams as they exist today is no longer acceptable and we have to make a change.”
Linehan had an overall 11-25 record in his first head coaching job. The Rams have been outscored 147-43 this season, and have allowed at least 30 points in seven straight games dating back to last year.
The move was made heading into the Rams’ bye week and several hours after the Buffalo Bills outscored them 25-0 in the second half of a 31-14 victory Sunday.
St. Louis has lost 17 of its last 20 games overall.
The 0-4 start is the second straight for the Rams, who lost their first eight games last year en route to a 3-13 finish that landed them with the second pick in the draft.
A sign at Sunday’s home game read: “Congress. Now bail out the Rams.”
Linehan briefly addressed players Monday morning and then left Rams Park with his wife, Kristin, driving away in an SUV without speaking to reporters or even making eye contact.
“He just told us that we’re winners,” said rookie defensive end Chris Long, Linehan’s last first-round pick. “We’re not winning right now, but there’s winners in the room.
“He’s going to do well, he’s going to find a place where it’s going right.”
Haslett was fired as coach of the New Orleans after the 2005 season, and joined the Rams on Linehan’s first staff in 2006.
The Linehan era was mostly a dreary time for the franchise, especially on the heels of the wild highs and lows of predecessor Mike Martz, who helped the Rams win their lone Super Bowl after the 1999 season and led them to a second Super Bowl as coach in the 2001 season.
The Rams were 8-8 in 2006, Linehan’s first season. The team rallied to win four of its last six games after Linehan turned over play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Greg Olson.
Numerous offensive line injuries, beginning with seven-time Pro Bowl tackle Orlando Pace’s season-ending shoulder injury in the opener, paved the way for last year’s poor season. Linehan reclaimed play-calling duties that year after three games.
Linehan, 45, again relinquished the play-calling this season after replacing Olson with Al Saunders, among several moves in a staff overhaul. Other changes were made, with training camp moved to a remote location in Mequon, Wis., and Linehan attempting to inject more energy into a his low-key personality.
On Sunday, he benched quarterback Marc Bulger, the highest-paid player in franchise history, and went with 38-year-old backup Trent Green. That was one of six lineup changes for the Bills game.
None of it worked.
Linehan knew his job was in jeopardy Sunday, having been put on notice by Rosenbloom. He emptied the playbook, going for first downs twice on fourth down and using a handful of trick plays with a juggled lineup led by Green.
The firing was the second in-season coaching change by the Rams this decade. Martz was replaced after five games in 2005 by interim coach Joe Vitt due to medical reasons. Martz was let go the day after that 5-11 season.
The last Rams coach removed during the season for non-medical reasons was Bob Waterfield, replaced by Harland Svare after eight games in 1962 when the Rams were in Los Angeles.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Ravens at Steelers MNF preview - September 29, 2008.
September 29, 2008
The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t feeling too good - mentally or physically - coming off a game against an aggressive defense that blitzed relentlessly.
The Baltimore Ravens probably can’t wait to try the same thing.
The early lead in the AFC North will be on the line Monday night in Pittsburgh, where the beat-up Steelers will try to find some answers for the Ravens’ top-ranked defense in one of the NFL’s most physical rivalries.
Pittsburgh (2-1) felt pretty good about its revamped offensive line heading into a showdown at Philadelphia last Sunday, but that wasn’t the case when it flew back home. Ben Roethlisberger, already nursing a sore shoulder, was sacked eight times and left with an injury to his right hand in the fourth quarter of a 15-6 loss.
“I think this was about as frustrating a game as it could be,” wide receiver Hines Ward said. “I think sometimes you do not want to press the issues too much this early in the season, but we really had a lot of guys that were not on the same page.”
Yet when the Steelers’ injury report came out, Roethlisberger wasn’t the offensive star listed as out against Baltimore (2-0). Tailback Willie Parker - the AFC’s second-leading rusher - was, after suffering a sprained left knee late in the loss to the Eagles. With Parker out, rookie Rashard Mendenhall will start against the Ravens.
“I had a lot of experience in the preseason and early in the season, so I’m just looking forward to going in there,” Mendenhall said. “You have to make sure you have your assignments down and have an idea what they’re going to do so, come gametime, you’ve seen it all before.”
Mendenhall will be running into the NFL’s top-ranked defense. Baltimore has given up an average of just 161.5 yards through its first two games, 72.5 fewer than the league’s No. 2 unit, which belongs to Pittsburgh (234.0).
The Ravens, who have had a top 10 defense in each of the last five seasons, seem like they haven’t strayed far from their aggressive philosophy despite the arrival of new coach John Harbaugh.
Harbaugh certainly fits in with Baltimore’s defensive style. He served as the Eagles’ defensive backs coach from 1998-2007, learning from head coach Andy Reid and blitz-happy defensive coordinator Jim Johnson.
After watching what Philadelphia did to the Steelers last Sunday, might Harbaugh check in with his old team?
“I talk with Andy and Jim Johnson and those guys pretty much every week,” he said.
With quarterback Joe Flacco learning on the job, the defense has made sure its rookie signal-caller doesn’t have to do too much. Last Sunday against Cleveland, four-time All Pro Ed Reed returned an interception for a touchdown and former defensive rookie of the year Terrell Suggs had two sacks in Baltimore’s 28-10 victory.
“Ever since the Ravens started playing football in the ’90s, they’ve played great defense and it’s gotten better as we go,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve got a long way to go, but they’ve played really well the first two weeks.”
Flacco began his collegiate career at the University of Pittsburgh, but after seeing limited playing time as a redshirt freshman, transferred to Delaware. With Troy Smith and Kyle Boller injured, he’s assumed the starting job right away with the Ravens.
He hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass yet and he tossed two interceptions against Cleveland, but Harbaugh liked what he saw from the rookie.
“You shouldn’t have to play perfect to win,” he said. “I’m going over to console Joe, and Joe’s consoling me. That’s the kind of guy Joe is.”
Flacco will face a Pittsburgh defense that’s allowed just 12.7 points per game - third in the NFL - and has picked off six passes, second in the league.
Pittsburgh had owned its series with Baltimore in the late ’90s and early part of this decade, winning 11 of 14 meetings including a 2002 divisional playoff victory. But the Ravens have won four of the last five meetings, including 27-0 on Nov. 26, 2006, when they sacked Roethlisberger nine times.
After watching their quarterback go down eight times in Philadelphia, the Steelers are well aware that the Ravens are capable of doing the same.
“If we do not make changes, we are going to have problems,” right tackle Willie Colon said. “If we do not get on the same page, these things are going to continue to happen.”
The lone Steelers win in the last five meetings came when Roethlisberger threw a career-high five touchdown passes Nov. 5 in Pittsburgh - a 38-7 Steelers win on Monday Night Football.
That victory was Pittsburgh’s 13th straight at home on Monday night since 1992.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Marlins finish off Mets 2008 collapse in finale at Shea Stadium.
September 28, 2008
Mets collapse, the sequel.
Doomed by a dreadful bullpen that failed them again Sunday, the New York Mets completed their second consecutive September slide with a 4-2 loss to Florida that knocked them out of playoff contention in the final game at Shea Stadium.
Scott Schoeneweis and Luis Ayala served up back-to-back homers in the eighth inning that put the pesky Marlins ahead, and New York (89-73) lost out to Milwaukee (90-72) for the NL wild card on the last day of the season.
“We failed. We failed as a team,” Mets third baseman David Wright said. “There’s no pointing fingers. There’s no excuses. We as a unit didn’t get the job done.”
Next up, a gloomy scene at Shea.
The Mets brought in former greats from Tom Seaver to Dwight Gooden for closing ceremonies after the game that were sure to feel much more like a funeral than a party.
As the Mets played Florida, the Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1, earning the league’s last postseason spot. The Mets went home for the winter, another bitter offseason ahead.
It was an eerily similar scenario to last year, when New York lost at home to Florida on the final day of season, ending their playoff hopes.
That defeat finished one of baseball’s biggest meltdowns — the Mets had led the NL East by seven games with 17 to play before they went 5-12 down the stretch. This time, they held first place by a season-high 3½ 1/2 games with 17 remaining before going 7-10 the rest of the way.
Excluding the 1981 split season, the Mets became the first team in major league history to hold 3½-game division leads in consecutive Septembers and fail to make the postseason both times, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“We’re all aware what happened last year,” first baseman Carlos Delgado said.
New York wasted Carlos Beltran’s tying, two-run homer in the sixth, a useful start by Oliver Perez on short rest and another clutch catch by Endy Chavez. Delgado flied out to deep left with two on to end the eighth, and former Mets prospect Matt Lindstrom retired Ryan Church on a flyout to the edge of the center-field warning track with a runner on to close it out.
Pinch-hitter Wes Helms homered off Schoeneweis (2-6) to start the eighth, snapping a 2-all tie. Dan Uggla connected against Ayala.
The Mets pulled into a tie with Milwaukee for the wild card on Saturday, thanks to Johan Santana’s three-hit shutout on three days’ rest and the Brewers’ 7-3 loss to Chicago.
But a day later, New York was out. The Mets finished 1,859-1,713 at Shea, according to Elias.
Joe Nelson (3-1) struck out two in a perfect seventh and Lindstrom earned his fifth save.
Missing injured closer Billy Wagner for the final two months, the Mets finished with 29 blown saves, including 16 since the All-Star break - most in the National League.
But the offense fizzled, too. Playing its most important games of the year, New York scored only five runs against Florida over the weekend.
Soon after New York fell behind Sunday, the crowd groaned again when Milwaukee took a 3-1 lead over Chicago.
With the Mets trailing 2-0, pinch-hitter Robinson Cancel drew a leadoff walk from starter Scott Olsen in the sixth. One out later, Beltran hit his 27th homer and sent the sellout crowd of 56,059 into a frenzy.
In the seventh, Chavez made a good play to hold Cameron Maybin to a single on a drive off the base of the left-field wall. With two outs and Maybin on second, Jorge Cantu hit a shot that appeared to be headed over Chavez’s head until he raced back and reached up to make a difficult catch on the run.
New York reliever Brian Stokes put both arms over his head and then bowed gratefully to Chavez, who had just entered as a defensive replacement before the inning. He jogged off the field with the crowd chanting his name.
When he made the grab, Chavez was only steps from the spot where he leaped above the fence for an incredible catch that saved the Mets - momentarily - in Game 7 of the NL championship series against St. Louis.
The Cardinals wound up winning anyway, and the Mets have flopped over and over again in big games since.
Revved up fans were lined up outside the gates three hours before the scheduled first pitch, hoping to celebrate Shea Stadium’s regular-season finale in style.
After the start was delayed 51 minutes by rain, Perez took a two-hit shutout into the sixth. But he gave up a leadoff double to Cameron Maybin on a 1-2 pitch and a soft RBI single to John Baker.
Perez was pulled with the bases loaded and one out for Joe Smith, who walked Josh Willingham to force in a run. Smith, a submarine specialist, escaped further damage.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Bucs’ Griese improves to 4-0 lifetime as starter against Packers.
September 28, 2008
So much for the notion that Derrick Brooks and Tampa Bay’s aging defense is slowing down. The Buccaneers still have what it takes to make things miserable for young, inexperienced quarterbacks.
Just ask Aaron Rodgers.
Brooks had one of three interceptions off the Green Bay quarterback and also forced a fumble that Jermaine Phillips returned 38 yards for a touchdown Sunday, helping the Bucs beat the Packers 30-21.
Rogers threw for two touchdowns to Greg Jennings, who had six receptions for 109 yards, but was sacked three times and left the game for one series with a shoulder injury midway through the fourth quarter.
The fourth-year pro returned briefly after Green Bay (2-2) fell behind 23-21 on Matt Bryant’s third field goal of the game. But he was hit from the blindside as he launched a pass on second down, and the ball was picked off by Gaines Adams with just over two minutes to go.
Earnest Graham put away Tampa Bay’s third straight victory with Brian Griese at quarterback, breaking a 47-yard run to the Packers’ 1 and then scoring on the next play to make it 30-21. He finished with 111 yards rushing on 20 carries.
Rodgers was 14-of-27 for 165 yards. He threw a 25-yard TD pass to Jennings on Green Bay’s opening drive of the game, then threw a 48-yarder to Jennings to trim Tampa Bay’s lead to 20-14 late in the third quarter.
Matt Flynn replaced Rodgers for Green Bay’s first offensive possession of the fourth quarter. The Packers said it was a coach’s decision to hold him out and that there was a chance he would return.
When Bryant, kicking four days after his infant son died at home, booted a 23-yarder to put the Bucs ahead, coach Mike McCarthy didn’t hesitate to send his starter back onto the field to try to pull out a win.
A week after throwing for a career-high 407 yards in an overtime win over Chicago, Griese completed 15 of 30 passes for 149 yards. He was intercepted three times in the second half, and Charles Woodson returned one of the picks 62 yards for a touchdown that put the Packers up 21-20 early in the fourth quarter.
The Packers played nearly the entire second quarter in their own territory, with Rodgers throwing two interceptions to set up 10 points and a short punt giving the Bucs the ball at the Green Bay 41 leading to one of Bryant’s field goals.
Rodgers was one of just three starting quarterbacks who didn’t throw an interception during the first three weeks of the season. He extended his streak of consecutive attempts without a pick to 108 before a throw intended for Brandon Jackson deflected off the running back’s hands into Brooks’ arms on the first play of the second quarter.
Six plays later, the Bucs made it 7-all on Griese’s 9-yard TD pass to Alex Smith. Bryant’s 23-yard field goal following Derrick Frost’s 36-yard punt made 10-7. Brooks forced Ryan Grant’s fumble midway through the third quarter, and Phillip scooped up the ball and raced to the end zone to make it 20-7.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Favre throw 6 TDs as Jets pummel Cardinals, 56-35, in New York.
September 28, 2008
Sore ankle and all, Broadway Brett joined Broadway Joe in the New York Jets’ record book.
Brett Favre set a career high and tied Joe Namath’s Jets mark with six touchdown passes, including three to Laveranues Coles, and New York took advantage of a series of mistakes by Arizona in a big second quarter before holding on to beat the Cardinals 56-35 on Sunday.
“Throwing six touchdown passes was awesome,” Favre said. “That had nothing to do with how I felt I played. It was one of those games. More importantly, I felt the overall game itself, I managed it well.”
Favre, showing no signs of a left ankle injury that hobbled him during the week, finished 24-for-34 for 289 yards and an interception for the Jets (2-2).
“I asked him if he had tied a career high and he said, ‘I’ve never thrown six,’” said Jerricho Cotchery, who had two TD catches. “That was like the end of the conversation because I’m scratching my head, like, ‘Really? He’s never thrown six touchdown passes before?’ He played great today.
“He was just dialing it up and telling everybody, ‘Hey, get ready. The ball is coming.’”
Arizona wide receiver Anquan Boldin was carted off the field after a scary helmet-to-helmet collision with New York safety Eric Smith in the end zone with 27 seconds remaining. Boldin was moving all his extremities on the field and was talking to his teammates, but was immobilized and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York for precautionary reasons.
“He’s alert,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “He asked to get up and the doctors wouldn’t let him.”
New York’s defense rattled Kurt Warner and forced three fumbles and two interceptions in the first half, and the Jets set a franchise record by scoring 34 points in the second quarter.
“That’s more like it,” safety Kerry Rhodes said. “We came after them with some looks and wrinkles they hadn’t seen.”
Coles had eight catches for 105 yards after campaigning to the coaches for more plays earlier in the week.
“I think it was a little bit of me being a brat,” he said. “Sometimes you want to be involved a little bit more, not in a selfish way. I feel if given an opportunity, I can help the team win some ballgames. I went and voiced that to the coaches and they heard me.”
Warner tried to bring the Cardinals (2-2) back in the second half as Arizona scored 35 points. Warner, 40-of-57 for 472 yards, threw a 14-yard TD pass to Jerheme Urban with 4:49 left, but lost the ball again on a fumble with less than 3 minutes left.
“It’s a game, you know?” said Warner, clearly shaken up by Boldin’s injury. “I didn’t play well. I’ll bounce back and play better next week.”
Favre hit Dustin Keller for a 24-yard touchdown and a 2-point conversion with 1:54 remaining to seal it for the Jets, wearing their navy and gold New York Titans throwback uniforms.
“It’s just one game,” Favre said. “Don’t expect six touchdowns every week, but we, as an offensive unit, should see and expect a lot of ourselves.”
After a scoreless first quarter, the Jets got on the scoreboard early in the second when Favre found Coles streaking across the back of the end zone for a 7-0 lead. Darrelle Revis gave the Jets a 14-0 lead just over a minute later on a 32-yard interception return.
Coles caught his second touchdown pass of the game with 7:17 left in the half as he went uncovered down the left sideline as defensive back Eric Green crumpled to the turf near the line of scrimmage with a sprained right knee.
Favre and Coles connected for the third time on a 2-yard score with 10 seconds left in the half to make it 31-0.
The Cardinals chose to run a play instead of taking a knee — and paid for it. Warner was sacked by David Bowens, who knocked the ball out of the quarterback’s hands and recovered it. Jay Feely kicked a 30-yard field goal as time expired.
Edgerrin James had touchdown runs on consecutive possessions in the second half, cutting the deficit to 34-15, and Tim Hightower added a 1-yard TD run to make it 34-21.
Favre came back and connected with Cotchery on a 17-yard touchdown, but Boldin had an 8-yard touchdown catch, cutting the deficit to 41-28.
Again, Favre led the Jets down the field and hit Cotchery for a 40-yard touchdown.
“As long as I play up to par and allow these guys to make plays,” Favre said, “we can be pretty good.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Jimmie Johnson wins 2008 Chase race at Kansas Speedway.
September 28, 2008
Jimmie Johnson barely held off a strong challenge from Carl Edwards on Sunday at Kansas Speedway, winning the race and vaulting into first place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.
Edwards, who overcame a poor starting position and two pit lane incidents, to catch and pass Johnson for the lead, lost the top spot to Johnson on a pit stop with 47 laps to go. He finally caught him again on the last lap, shooting past Johnson on the low side of the banked 1½-mile oval in Turn 3 — but just a little too fast.
Edwards slid up the track and bounced off the wall as Johnson drove back past and on to his fifth victory of the season, with Edwards holding on for second.
“That was cool,” Johnson said moments after crossing the finish line. “Where’d he come from?
“Those last two laps he figured out something and got a bunch of grip. I thought he was under control and all of a sudden he was there. Great race, I saw the slide jump coming, dodged it and got a win.”
Edwards was grinning after the race.
“I was just wondering how far I cleared him by,” he said. “I planned on hitting the wall, but I didn’t plan on the wall slowing me down that much.
“In video games, you can just run into the wall and run it wide open,” he added. “That’s what I did, but it didn’t quite work out the same as the video game. I just really, really wanted to win this race. … But Jimmie’s a smart racer. I’ve done that to guys, too. When they slide jump you, you just lift, go right back by them and watch them. I didn’t know what was going to happen and just had to give it a try.”
Greg Biffle, who came into the third race of the 10-race Chase for the Championship with back-to-back victories, followed the leaders across the finish line to stay close in the points.
Johnson, who has three wins and five top five finishes in his last five starts, now leads Edwards by 10 points, with Biffle 35 points behind and seven races to go.
It was a very long race for Edwards, who started 34th in the 43-car field after a poor qualifying effort on Friday.
On his first pit stop, Brian Vickers veered into his pit as Edwards was coming out of his and the two made contact. On Edward’s next pit stop, he got out cleanly but was hit in the side by Dave Blaney, who had ricocheted off Jeff Burton.
That second collision forced Edwards to make another stop to have sheet metal pulled away from the tire.
Missourian Edwards, who considers this his home track, was relentless as he drove through the field and took his first lead of the day on Lap 176 of 267.
But Johnson, who started from the pole and had the strongest car all day, was just as tough and twice regained the lead with quick pit stops.
“What a great race,” said Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief. “Jimmie’s just done a great job. I love racing with Carl Edwards and (crew chief) Bob Osborne. They’re gentleman racers and they wanted it really badly.”
Asked about being in the points lead, Knaus said, “Doesn’t mean anything right now. All we have to do is win races and finish in the top five, and the rest of it will take care of itself.”
Jeff Gordon, battling an unspecified illness since Friday, finished fourth, followed by Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, who notched his ninth consecutive top 10, and Burton, all among the 12-man Chase field.
The postseason nightmare continued for regular season points leader Kyle Busch, who had an early engine problem and struggled to a 28th-place finish. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Tony Stewart, a two-time Cup champion, had an even worse day, finishing 40th after colliding with Vickers and damaging his front splitter as he drove through the infield grass.
Heading into next week’s race at Talladega, Gibbs teammates Denny Hamlin, who finished 11th Sunday, Stewart and Busch are 10th, 11th and 12th in the points and all but eliminated from title contention.
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Brewers ride CC Sabathia to 2008 NL wild card clincher.
September 28, 2008
CC Sabathia and Ryan Braun put the Milwaukee Brewers in the playoffs for the first time since 1982 — with big help from the New York Mets.
Making his third consecutive start on three days’ rest, Sabathia pitched a four-hitter and Braun hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning to lead the Brewers over the Chicago Cubs 3-1 Sunday.
The Brewers, who fired manager Ned Yost with only two weeks left to go, won the NL wild card less than a half-hour later when the Mets lost to Florida 4-2. Milwaukee (90-72) and New York (89-73) went into the final day of the regular season tied.
Thousands of fans stayed in Miller Park to watch the Mets’ game on the giant video board in center field, standing and cheering wildly as the Marlins recorded the final out.
Streamers and confetti fell from the rafters and fireworks went off in the outfield as interim manager Dale Sveum and the Brewers began showering each other with champagne in the middle of the clubhouse.
“I tried to visualize what this would be, and nothing could describe it,” Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said in a television interview.
It was nice redemption for the Brewers. They blew a big lead in the NL Central last year, and were in danger of a big fold this season after going 3-11 to start September.
The Brewers will face Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs. The NL Central champion Cubs will play the Los Angeles Dodgers,
Sabathia (11-2) pitched his NL-leading seventh complete game - those came in just 17 starts after the Brewers got the big lefty in July from Cleveland. The only run he allowed was unearned after an error by first baseman Prince Fielder, and he finished with a 1.65 ERA for the Brewers.
Sabathia struck out seven, walked one and threw 122 pitches. He got Derrek Lee to ground into a double play to end it.
The Brewers couldn’t get much of anything going offensively against Cubs manager Lou Piniella’s by-committee approach to pitching the final game of the regular season - until Braun’s towering two-run homer off Bob Howry (7-5) broke a 1-all tie.
Conventional wisdom figured that the Brewers got a break by facing Angel Guzman instead of Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano on Sunday. But Guzman mowed through the first two innings, giving up a leadoff single to Mike Cameron but retiring six straight, including four strikeouts.
And the rest of the Cubs’ bullpen combined to keep the pressure on the Brewers. Piniella used four pitchers in the first six innings, who combined to retire a whopping 18 straight Brewers batters after Cameron’s first-inning single.
Milwaukee tied the game in the seventh, but squandered a chance to take the lead.
Milwaukee’s Ray Durham led off the seventh with a double off Sean Marshall, and advanced to third on a groundout by Ryan Braun. After an intentional walk to Fielder, Michael Wuertz relieved Marshall and walked J.J. Hardy on four pitches to load the bases with one out.
Corey Hart struck out on three pitches, but Wuertz walked Craig Counsell to score a run to tie the game. Jason Kendall grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Sabathia made a stunning play in the field to end the top half of the eighth inning, barehanding a ground ball from Koyie Hill and throwing to first for the out.
Sabathia was allowed to hit for himself to lead off the eighth, and struck out looking. Cameron followed with a single.
With the crowd cheering as Florida’s 4-2 lead over New York was posted on the scoreboard, Durham flied out deep. Then Braun hit the first pitch he saw from Howry into the second deck in left field, triumphantly holding his fist in the air as he rounded the bases.
Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the second, thanks in part to an error by Fielder.
With Aramis Ramirez on first base with one out, a ground ball from Micah Hoffpauir squirted between Fielder’s legs, allowing Ramirez to advance to third. Ronny Cedeno then hit a potential double-play grounder, but was called safe on a close play at first as Ramirez scored.
Zambrano actually did end up making an appearance Sunday - as a pinch-hitter for Guzman to lead off the third. Zambrano, one of the best-hitting pitchers in the league, struck out swinging against Sabathia.
Sabathia nearly homered himself in the sixth, narrowly sending a long fly ball foul down the right field line.
If Sabathia was feeling any pressure Sunday morning, he certainly wasn’t showing it.
Sprawled out on a couch in the Brewers’ clubhouse, Sabathia boisterously debated college football with teammate Rickie Weeks and flipped through channels on a big-screen television, eventually settling on “America’s Funniest Pets.”
Hookscenter.com wire report.
Ben Sheets career in Milwaukee probably ended in loss to Cubs.
September 27, 2008
In the moments after Saturday’s 7-3 loss to the Cubs, with free agency looming and his right elbow aching, the longest-tenured Brewer was not quite ready to ponder whether he had thrown his final pitch for the only franchise he has known.
Ask again Sunday, Ben Sheets begged. He did concede that, “It’s the reality, probably.”
One thing Sheets did know: Even if the Brewers wiggle their way into the playoffs, he has thrown his final pitch in 2008.
“That’s it,” Sheets said. “That’s all I have. I’ve got a broke arm.”
It’s not quite broken, but it is certainly damaged. Sheets had been pitching with pain in his right elbow since Aug. 24 in St. Louis, and he finally revealed the injury on Sept. 17 in Chicago after exiting a start after two innings.
It appeared all week that Dave Bush would start for the Brewers on Saturday, a game they entered with a one-game lead over the Mets in the chase for the National League Wild Card. Sheets, though, said he could go.
As he would say later, “It didn’t work out.”
“I felt pretty good at the beginning, not great,” Sheets said. “That didn’t last long. I think in the third inning, it jumped on me pretty good.”
Cubs outfielder Daryle Ward, a late addition to a Chicago lineup stacked with subs, hit a bad fastball for a two-run home run in the first inning, when Sheets still felt relatively well. By the third inning, Sheets was hurting, and after an error by Bill Hall spotted the Cubs a baserunner to open the inning, Sheets walked two batters and surrendered a two-run single to Mike Fontenot that prompted interim manager Dale Sveum to tap the bullpen.
It should have been obvious to the 45,288 fans in the stands, Sheets said, that something was not right.
“If you’ve ever seen me pitch, you know I wasn’t able to cut loose,” he said.
Sheets pitched in a Brewers uniform for the 221st time on Saturday. He is a free agent at season’s end, and given his high price tag and his checkered medical history, the odds of a return to Milwaukee appear extremely slim.
When he was healthy, Sheets was one of the best pitchers in Brewers history. He went 86-83 over eight seasons with a 3.72 ERA, tied with Lary Sorensen for the fifth-lowest ERA in franchise history. Earlier this season, he became the Brewers’ all-time strikeout leader, and one more on Saturday made it 1,206 for his career.
Many fans will remember the injuries, and there have been a lot of them. Sheets has made six different trips to the disabled list, though he avoided it this season, with shoulder, back, finger and inner-ear issues. He was on the way to a fourth consecutive seasons of at least 30 starts and 200 innings in 2005 when he tore the latissimus dorsi muscle behind his right shoulder, an injury that ended his season and affected him through most of ‘06.
Last September, Sheets missed his final start because of a strained hamstring. Was he glad he gave it a try this time?
“Nope,” he said. “Because it didn’t work out well.”
He thought about the question further.
“I’m kind of torn in-between on that one,” Sheets said. “If they would have hit balls right at people, it would have been a great job. But I put us down, 4-0, in the third inning. Why would I have done that had I known? I really thought in my mind I could go in there and get us through five or six quality innings.”
Brewers catcher Jason Kendall knew his pitcher toed the rubber on guts alone.
“He threw his heart out there,” Kendall said. “He needs rest. Everybody in this clubhouse appreciates his effort.”
Sveum was asked if he would count on Sheets for a postseason series, assuming it gets that far. His answer was telling.
“I don’t know,” Sveum said. “I’ll have to deal with that in the next couple of days.”
Judging by Sheets’ comments, the Brewers can count him out.
Hookscenter.com wire report (McCalvy).