The RedZone: Week 5 in the NFL

Ryan's Top 5

5. Terrell Owens - 7 catches, 102 yards, 1 TD. The Bengals may be struggling for momentum as a team, but T.O has been carrying the offense, with Chad Ochocinco and Cedric Benson looking much less effective compared to last year, probably due to Carson Palmer's continuing decline. Any perceived "personality issues" that Owens' has should be disregarded when you look at the impact he has had so far this season, although it wasn't enough on this occasion to prevent a 24-21 reverse at home to the Bucs.

4. Quintin Mikell - 8 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 for a TD. With Asante Samuel concussed, it was important that the rest of the Eagles secondary stood up and made some big plays - not a difficult task when faced with Alex Smith and the woeful 49ers. It was Mikell who shone the brightest. Rookie Brandon Graham exploited Smith's concrete feet to sack him, allowing Mikell to scoop up the ball and return it to the house for a decisive score in a 27-24 victory.

3. Ray Rice - 27 carries, 133 yards, 2 TD's; 4 catches, 26 yards. When fit, there is no finer site than Ray Rice running for the Ravens from Rutgers. Injuries have taken their toll so far this season, but this was a true return to form in a 31-17 win over the Broncos. Joe Flacco and his receivers have been picking up the slack whilst Rice has been nursed through the first few games. Now he's back, that Baltimore offense looks good. Really good.

2. Matt Forte - 22 carries, 166 yards, 2 TD's; 2 catches, 22 yards. Another team who needed a big name to step up in the absence of another. With Jay Cutler still feeling the effects of the Giants' pass rush, the Bears had to turn to Todd Collins as their starting QB against Carolina. He was shocking, even worse than Carolina's offering of Jimmy Clausen followed by Matt Moore. When a QB throws 4 picks, you need a miracle from your offense to acheive success (and terrible opposition - as the Panthers are). Forte was that man, once again displaying a new found maturity and big-game mentality. The Bears won 23-6

1. Shaun Hill - 21/32, 227 yards, 3 TD's - the Lions deserved better than the 0-4 record they held as they faced the Rams on Sunday. Their opponents were riding high on a wave of optimism, after two straight wins amid signs that their defence and Sam Bradford could eventually take them places. Hill blew them out of the water in a 44-6 battering. He has far from disgraced himself since covering for the injured Matthew Stafford. What is particularly impressive is how he targeted 7 different receivers fairly evenly, without relying solely on Calvin Johnson.


Graeme's Top 5

5. Tony Romo - 31/46, 406 yards, 3 TD's - Yes, he threw 3 picks and yes the Cowboys lost. But Romo in the main played with great poise, especially considering the meltdown that occured around him. 2 of his INT's were not his fault, he took 6 sacks and his teammates were more concerned with increasing the penalty count than helping him out.

4. LaRon Landry - 13 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 INT - The forced fumble killed a Packers drive and set up a score for Washington. The INT, in overtime, won the game. For an undoubtedly gifted player (formed 6th overall draft pick after all), Landry lost his way somewhat with Jim Zorn and Greg Blache, but new DC Jim Haslett has him back in the fast lane.

3. Giants Defence - Limited Texans to 24 yards rushing (Texans franchise low) and 171 yards passing with no TD's through the air - Big Blue came together against the seemingly broken Texans, with the offense alive and well in the hands of Manning E. , Nicks and Bradshaw. But it was the defensive effort that made this a convincing win for New York. The Texans offense were completely nulified.

2. Lady Luck in Arizona - 2 fumbles by Max Hall, 2 Turnovers by the Saints - With rookie Hall starting at QB, and being asked to do a bit too much by the coaches, there were bound to be some mistakes made. The fumbles, though, were blessings in disguise as they were both recovered by Arizona linemen, one by Alan Faneca for a key first down, one by Levi Brown for a TD. The Saints two turnovers, a fumble and an INT, were both returned by the Cardinals D for scores to allow Arizona to scrap to a win.

1. Josh Freeman - 20/33, 280 yards, 1 TD - An away win against the reigning AFC North champions is no mean feat, and it shows that this young Tampa outfit, while perhaps not legitimate this year, are undoubtedly on the right track to something great. Freeman continues to improve and justify Ryan and myself's belief in him. The throw to Spurlock to set up the winning Connor Barth field goal was seemingly came from a different plane of existance to the rest of us mortals.

FavreWatch - 14/34, 264 yards, 3 TD's, 1 INT - completion % shows a man with a mind elsewhere perhaps? You know you're out of form when calls are made for Tarvaris Jackson to replace you!

GM and RM

Like a Mad Octopus: The State of Scottish Rugby This Month

This should become a monthly feature, basically as an opinion piece giving my take on the often-ignored world of Scottish rugby. It will depend on whether or not I can make Scottish rugby sufficiently interesting for more than one month. Here goes then...

The Club Scene

Edinburgh (9th in the Magners League) have put in some decent performances against the better teams in the league (Munster, Cardiff, Leinster), but have lost most of those games anyway. They barely beat Aironi in Italy, but that was forgivable given the Italians' status as unknowns. Talk of the capital side finishing near the bottom of the league seems premature then, especially considering the Burgh are notoriously inconsistent at the best of times. The loss of Phil Godman, while a godsend for Scotland, means that the Blair Brothers Variety Show is now forced to become the headline act. Alex B remains mainly an asset for use in future years, leaving David as the only real option at 10. He hasn't proved strong enough so far, but maybe he'll grow into it. Tim Visser has been ace, and I am counting down the days until he is eligible for the national side. Other than him though, the backs aren't that threatening (the centres are far too same-y). The pack has been not bad though, and will improve. Ross Rennie coming back will be great provided he doesn't succumb to yet more injury.

As for Glasgow (10th in the league), their indifferent start can be ignored due to the number of absentees in their squad. While their form does suggest that perhaps team depth isn't what it could be, at the end of the day any team coming to terms with it's top 10 and blindside leaving while being without their starting international captain, scrumhalf, tighthead and number 8 could be in a better position. When, respectively, Kellock, Cusiter, Low, and Beattie return this team can get back to playing the style it wants to. The new additions (Aramburu, Pyrgos, Ryder, O'Toole etc) seem to be not bad as depth. Playing as starters though, they did manage to lose badly to Newport away and then to Connacht at Firhill. With a bit more experience though, they were able to beat Newport in the Heineken Cup last night (while the rest of Scotland were somewhat preoccupied by events in Prague). Provided the injured lads get back quickly, the Warriors should climb the table in the next few months. As long as Duncan Weir and Rhuiridh Jackson don't both cock up at the same time that is.

The National Side

Not much to report in this edition, as the Autumn Tests are yet to arrive. We can be happy that some of the New Zealanders have pulled out of their squad, and that the current South Africans couldn't beat up on an anti-apartheid protester, let alone a decent international side with home advantage.

I'd assume Coach Robinson has no issues with playing Kelly Brown now that he's down in England (he doesn't with Strokosch anyway), so two of the three Killer B's should be present in the backrow. It'll be interesting whether Roddy Grant gets a shot at playing 8, or if the more likely candidate Richie Vernon is first choice. Euan Murray is back in the squad as is Jason White (as far as I'm aware), so I wonder who will play second row; Hines is a shoo-in, but who of Scott MacLeod, Richie Grey and White do you trust against two of the worlds top teams?

Dan the Man Parks now cannot get injured as there is no longer the admittedly useless body of Godman to fill in. Mike Blair has a shot at becoming starting 9 again (he is still joint captain after all), but Rory Lawson's previous form suggests he'd probably be a better choice. In an occcurance rarer than Haley's Comet, both the Lamont brothers are fit and healthy. I hope they both start, and survive to start again.

Finally, a quick shout out goes to the Scotland 7's side, featuring fellow Glasgow Hawk Mike Adamson, currently preparing for their opening games in Dehli.

Lad Awards for September

Most Laddish Forward: Ross Rennie for coming back from injury once again, in spite of now possessing no working knee ligaments.

Most 'Laddish' (NB: backs cannot be true Lads) Back: Graeme Morrison, for not screwing up a brilliant attacking move at any point so far.

Phil Godman Award for Uselessness: Esteban Lozada, for concussing himself after about 3 minutes for no real reason, delaying the game for 20 minutes and forcing us to watch Craig Hamilton thereafter.

LAD of the Month: The Try-tastic Tim Visser (below. Picture taken immediately after kick to testicles).

GM (with thanks the the great Bill McLaren for providing the title)

Graeme's Take on the Commonwealth Games

Quick update: I have not taken the slightest bit of interest in the Games whatsoever.

Therefore, I will not be writing any more about them. As a sports blogger, I have to at least confirm that they are happening right now. But I genuinely don't care about any of it (it's hardly the World Athletics Championships, or any other event which good athletes deem important and non health-threatening enough to attend).

GM

The RedZone: Week 4 in the NFL

Ryan's Top 5

5. Giants' pass rush - Justin Tuck - 7 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 FF; Osi Umenyiora - 3 tackles, 1 assist, 3 sacks, 2 INT's. Having played terribly the whole season so far, the Giant's D came out big style against the Bears in a 17-3 victory, spoiling Chicago's unbeaten start. 10 sacks were recorded in all as Jay Cutler was once again exposed by a fallible offensive line. Unlike against the Cowboys, he was not able to find ways around it and left the game at the half with a concussion.

4. Ravens' defensive stars - Haloti Ngata - 8 tackles, 3 assists, 1 sack; Ray Lewis - 7 tackles, 2 assists, 1 INT. Another game, another perfect record ruined, this time the Steelers in a 17-14 reverse. That came thanks to a late TJ Houshmandzadeh TD but the main work was done on the ground, stopping Rashard Mendenhall getting away for big gains and Charlie Batch continuing what amounts to not quite an Indian summer, maybe a Bangladeshi summer...

3. Heroic kickers - I want it known that I came up with this idea before Deion aired it on Primetime. However, I have no proof so on we go. Matt Bryant (Falcons vs 49ers, 42 yds with 2 seconds left in 16-14 win), John Carney (Saints vs Panthers, 25 yds with 3:55 left in 16-14 win) and Josh Scobee (Jaguars vs Colts, 59 yds as time expired in 31-28 win) can all take a bow. It's not often these guys get the limelight (not that this constitutes limelight)

2. Sam Bradford - 23/41, 289 yards, 2 TD's, 1 INT. The number 1 pick has now led the Rams to two straight wins, more than they managed overall last year. Steve Spagnuolo has trusted his young leader to throw the ball, even without an out-and-out lead receiver. Throw in a half-fit RB in Steven Jackson and this 20-3 divisional victory over the Seahawks looks all the more impressive. Things are looking promising for the young QB.

1. LaDanian Tomlinson - 19 carries, 133 yards, 2 TD's; 3 receptions, 22 yards. Now THIS could be the start of an Indian summer. The Jets offense continued to impress in a 38-14 pounding of the abysmal Buffalo Bills, but it was the renaissance of LT that particularly caught the eye. This was the first time since 2008 where he carried for over 100 yards in a game. He appears revitalised since his move from San Diego and is even keeping hot prospect Shonn Greene on the sidelines a lot of the time, rather than playing the backup role that was expected of him on his arrival.

Graeme's Top 5

5. San Diego Defence - 9 sacks, 2 INT's, 1 Pick 6, 1 Forced Fumble, limited Arizona to 124 total yards - The team from the city named after a whale's vagina simply routed the miserable looking Cardinals, whose big play offense struggled to even play mediocre football.

4. Peyton Hillis - 27 carries, 102 yards, 1 TD - He's a white man, and he rushed for 100 yards. He gets in automatically (much like Deion gets to put people in automatically, so do I. I'm just way less cool than him). The fact that he has been consistently dismissed throughout his career (as being slow, merely a fullback and, well, white) and that his performance against a decent Bengals D got the Browns their first win help as well.

3. Kyle Orton - 35/50, 341 yards, 2 TD's - Orton is the entire Broncos Offense. He got absolutely no help whatsoever from the run game (well, not nothing. The perpetually awful Lawrence Maroney netted a whole 5 yards on only 11 carries!). In fact, Orton was the Broncos' leading rusher, as well as dragging the team to a good road win against the Titans that they really shouldn't have gotten.

2. Patriots' Special Teams - 1 Kickoff return TD, 1 blocked punt, 1 blocked kick - The Pats reminded us all of the importance of the often-mocked special teams unit. Ben Tate showed his speed has returned following his ACL injury by returning the second half kickoff 103 yards for a TD, and Safety Pat Chung blocked a punt (resulting in a Pats TD) then also got in front of a field goal (which was returned for another Pats TD). To top it off, he also got a pick 6 on D for yet another Pats TD (Rob Ninkovich's 2 INT'S deserve a mention on the side as well). The Special teams' performance resulted in a rout, and the immediate firing of the Dolphins Special Teams coach.

1. Jaguars O-Line - the Jags have lost to the Colts enough to know what to expect from them. This week, though, they were finally able to do something about it. The speed crazed Colts pass rush could not get near David Garrard, and the QB was able to demonsrate the accurate arm and decent mobility he can exploit when not constantly getting hit or sacked. The young pair of tackles, Eben Britton and Eugene Monroe, did not concede a sack and rarely let Colts Ends Freeney and Mathis anywhere near their QB. As an entire unit, the line also gave Pocket Hercules, Maurice Jones-Drew, exemplary run blocking and allowed him to top 100 yards.

GM and RM

Ten Things We Learned During the Ryder Cup

1. Foursomes is better than fourballs - there is no place to hide when you have two balls and four players. If you consistently shank the ball anywhere but the fairway, both you and your partner will suffer. The games move on quicker and are the greatest test of teamwork. Europe benefitted from the form of Ross Fisher when Padraig Harrington struggled in the fourballs because the best individual score counts towards the team, whereas the USA suffered whenever Phil Mickelson addressed the ball.

2. Rain can actually be of benefit - the necessary format changes after the deluges on Days 1 and 3 actually made for a compelling weekend. In particular, Day 2 with the completion of the first round of fourballs followed by 6 foursomes, meaning that all 12 from each side had to turn out for three rounds of golf, making captaincy a relative formality and once again, giving nobody a place to hide

3. Ian Poulter might have had a point - "Just me and Tiger" he said. The famous Poulter foot-in-mouth scenario deepened as he and Fisher fell to Woods and Steve Stricker in the opening round, but from then on, Poulter was unstoppable. If he could translate the form he has shown both at Celtic Manor and Valhalla to the PGA Tour, he perhaps could do great things.

4. No item of clothing featuring the Ryder Cup will ever look good. Ever - those jumpers that the USA wore on the first day.... essentially a knitted cardigan with a massive image of the Ryder Cup on it. Wrong. This after those burgundy shirts in 1999 - Google them.

5. Putts win matches - it may sound obvious, but no matter how good your driving and approach to the green is, you still have to sink the ball from whatever distance you set up, particularly in match play scenarios. The Molinaris showed they lack the skill and the bottle to do so this weekend and as such scored just 1 1/2 points between them.

6. Tiger's still got it... just about - 3 points over the weekend is a pretty good return for a wildcard pick. Although the one defeat to Luke Donald and Lee Westwood in the foursomes was a massive one (6&5). Today's singles showed the Tiger of old, with a massive eagle chip-in on the 12th and some classic putts to see off Francesco Molinari and keep the USA in the hunt. However, these flashes of brilliance are all too brief these days and it's clear that some mental fragility remains.

7. Luke Donald is a star - pretty much everything he touched turned to gold over the weekend. He still has never failed to win a Ryder Cup foursomes match and formed a dream team with Westwood to smash Woods and Stricker. The crowd really took to the Englishman (rare that side of the Severn) and there really is nothing in his game needing major work. Another Brit who now needs to push on in stroke play golf.

8. Graeme McDowall has got some balls - Remember 1991 and the War on the Shore at Kiawah Island? McDowall probably did as Hunter Mahan came up short on the 17th, as the Ryder Cup was wrestled back to the fair side of the Atlantic by the narrowest of margins. Knowing that the entire campaign rests upon your shoulders cannot be easy, but McDowall showed the stronger will to reduce the defeated Mahan to tears. Like Donald and Poulter, got better and better as time went on

9. The Ryder Cup is the best golf has to offer - I enjoy the majors and many businessmen enjoy a lazy afternoon playing their own round, but to see 24 of the best battling it out in tense matchplay, showing genuine passion and surrounded by a borderline feverish crowd is just wonderful. It's the team element I think. The Ryder Cup is great and the 2010 edition will go down as one of the best.

10. Wales needs to get over itself - "Bringing the Ryder Cup to Wales" was the message that any Taff would have tried to get across this weekend. I've driven past Celtic Manor. It's a dive. I put my foot down to take it out of my eyeline. This golf course was designed specifically for this weekend - to serve the business interests of one man, not the Welsh nation (cough, principality). Now, enough of your delusions of grandeur!

RM

The Back Page - October 2010

An alternative look back and ahead at all the sporting action that matters and doesn't matter.

The September Awards

Moment of the month - "Corner in from the right from Robson, McManus with the header! GOAL FOR SCOTLAND!!! Right at the death!". Blushes well and truly spared. Celebrations in the Miller household include jumping on parents, falling out of chairs and breaking watches. No, really. Berbatov's overhead kick against Liverpool a close second.

Bullshit of the month (i) - Sam Allardyce's claims that he could manage Inter Milan or Real Madrid without too much difficulty. Comments which were clearly inspired by the likes of Juande Ramos and Carlos Quieroz being given a shot.

Bullshit of the month (ii) - PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt's claim that England's batting collapse in the 3rd ODI at the Oval was fixed. Nothing to do with some of your boys bowling really well then Ijaz?

Convenient injuries of the month - English athletes Christine Ohuruogu and Lisa Dobriskey - "Oh what a shame, our recovery times are slightly longer than expected. Now we won't be able to compete in the train wreck that is the Delhi Commonwealth Games!" At least Phillips Idowu's reasoning was a little more blunt!

Omission of the month - American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin forgetting to introduce Stewart Cink at the captain's address on Thursday. Forgetting of course that Cink is the last Yank to win on these shores back at the 2009 Open. It doesn't exactly give the impression that Pavin has everything under control!

LAD of the month - Indian spin bowler Harbhajan Singh had the perfect response in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal when asked what he would do if approached by an illegal bookmaker "I'd give them a slap!". Well said Bhaji!

Hopes for October

• A massive game in the NFL on Sunday as my Eagles host Graeme's Redskins. Here's hoping The Dog Lover Michael Vick sends Donovan McNabb back to DC with his tail between his legs. McNabb hopes he won't get booed - if Eagles fans boo Santa, they will certainly boo the man they feel failed them over a decade as the franchise QB.
• I got my wish for minimum points from Scotland's first two qualifiers (just!). Now we are away in Prague and at home to Spain. I'll take a point to be honest!
• As few athletes as possible pick up cholera at the Commonwealth Games
• Genuinely, genuinely hope that Alberto Contador is innocent in cycling's latest doping scandal. Not like The Back Page to get all serious but the guy is a monumental athlete and it would be nice to keep the belief that he got to the top of his game legally.
• India and Sri Lanka give the Aussies a good battering this month so they are in no frame of mind to be successful in the Ashes. There, back to the usual vitriolic hatred!
• Gavin Henson quickly gets voted off Strictly Come Dancing. I just can't stand him. Not that I watch SCD, just would like to see Henson brought down a peg or two.

Lookalike of the Month

Troy Polamalu, star safety of the Pittsburgh Steelers, this month got his hair insured for the sum of $1 million. The photos that accompanied this piece of "news" reminded me of another famous sporting moment. Think back to the World Cup 94 opening ceremony in the USA and Diana Ross' fluffed penalty kick, a sign of things to come for the likes of Roberto Baggio. I'm sure you'll agree that there is a "supreme" resemblance between the two.

RM