Archive for October 20th, 2009
The Good – Tom Brady & The Bad – Mark Sanchez
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | Mark Sanchez, New England Patriots, New York Jets, NFL, Randy Moss, Sports, Thomas Jones, Tom Brady, Wes Welker | No Comments
It was a tale of 2 stories for competing AFC East quarterbacks over the weekend. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets had vastly different games in Week 6 of the NFL schedule. Looks likes Patriots tickets are going to be a lot harder to come by than Jets tickets during the 2009 NFL schedule. The same couldn’t be said 4 weeks ago when the Jets upset the Patriots 16-9 at Giants Stadium in Week 2 of the NFL season on Sunday, September 20, 2009.
The Good – Tom Brady – In the Patriots 59-0 shutout of the Tennessee Titans this past Sunday at Foxboro Stadium just outside Boston, the Patriots fought through the snow and sleet of a noreaster to put a pasting on the fallen Titans. Tom Brady completed 29 of 34 passes for 380 yards and threw for 6 touchdowns – 3 to Randy Moss, 2 to Wes Welker and 1 to Kevin Faulk. But the big stat came in the 2nd quarter – with the Patriots leading 10-0 with under 10 minutes to play in the half, Brady led the Patriots offense on a dazzling display of aerial attack that led to 5 touchdown passes in a span of 9 minutes and 43 seconds that gave the Patriots a 45-0 halftime. It was really something to watch and an unbelievable feat. The Patriots set the following NFL records – Brady’s 5 touchdown passes in the 2nd quarter; the 45-0 halftime lead and the 59-point margin of victory was the biggest margin of victory since the AFL-NFL merger back in 1970.
The Bad – Mark Sanchez – In the Jets 16-13 overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Mark Sanchez had his worst game as a pro – throwing 5 interceptions that let the Bills erase a 13-3 halftime lead. The Jets didn’t score a single point after Thomas Jones rushed for a 71-yard touchdown with 7:31 to go in the 1st half. Sanchez completed just 10 of 29 passes for 119 yards. He did not have any touchdown passes and he ended the day with a dismal 8.3 passer rating. Ouch. At least he manned up to his mistakes: “I don’t know if I could play any worse. It was totally my fault and I owe these guys a lot.”
The Jets who were once “in control” of the AFC East have now dropped 3 straight games and they trail the Patriots by 1 game. After averaging 21+ points in their 1st 3 games (all wins), the Jets have averaged just 16+ points a game in their 3 losses. Could this be a bad trend for Sanchez and the Jets? Not good timing especially with the veteran Patriots back atop the AFC East and firing on all cylinders…
5-4 Walk-Off Wins in Each League Championship Game on Monday
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | Alex Rodriguez, Alfredo Aceves, Andy Pettitte, Carlos Ruiz, Casey Blake, CC Sabathia, Chase Utley, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Derek Jeter, Howie Kendrick, Jeff Mathis, Jimmy Rollins, Joe Girardi, Johnny Damon, Jonathan Braxton, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, Macier Izturis, Matt Stairs, MLB, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Raul Ibanez, Ryan Howard, Sports, Vladimir Geurrero | No Comments
MLB has gotta be loving this – two walk-off wins for the home team; two 5-4 scores; one series just about done and the other heating up. I live for October baseball!
I am most excited about the Angels rallying to beat the Yankees 5-4 in 11 innings on Monday afternoon. The Angels had struggled all game against Andy Pettitte as the Yankees built a 3-0 lead on solo homers from Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon. Despite blowing some chances early, the Angels hung in there. They cut the Yankees lead to 3-1 on Howie Kendrick’s HR in the 5th inning (that was the 1st home run given up by a Yankees pitcher in the playoffs this year) and then tied it up on Vladimir Guerrero’s 2-run bomb to left in the 6th inning. And after Manager Joe Girardi pulled Pettitte with 1 out in the 7th inning, the Angels immediately capitalized with a triple by Kendrick and a run-scoring sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Macier Izturis off Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain. Just like that the Angels had a 4-3 lead and needed only 6 outs to get the series back in their favor. Jorge Posada’s solo home run to center field put a slight damper on the Angels’ celebration, but the Angels gutted it out in the bottom of the 11th inning. Girardi’s “over-managing” could be called into question with his decision to pull David Robertson (who had recorded the 1st 2 outs of the inning) for Alfredo Aceves. Kendrick came through in the clutch with a single to center field and Jeff Mathis ended the game with a walk-off, 2-out RBI double to deep left field that plated Kendrick with the winning-run. Props go to Kendrick for winning the game for the Angels on Monday. On his triple in the 7th inning, Kendrick hustled right out of the box to get all the way to 3rd base with only 1 out. And in the 11th, even though there was 2 out, Kendrick’s speed enabled him to score all the way from 1st on Mathis’ double.
The win breathes new life into the Angels, and Girardi’s decision to go with a 3-man rotation in the ALCS will be in the spotlight tonight as CC Sabathia gets the nod in Game 4 on only 3 days rest. Sabathia pitched well on 3 days rest for the Brewers in 2008 (2-1, 0.83 ERA), but if he has an off-night, look for the critics to hand Girardi out to dry post-game. Scott Kazmir has had a lot of success against the Yankees (6-5 record and 2.66 ERA in 14 career starts), so it should be a great game to watch on Tuesday night.
The NLCS game was also a back and forth game – a 1st inning Ryan Howard home run gave the Phillies an early 2-0 lead. But then the Dodgers answered with 4 runs during the 4th through 6th innings on RBI singles by James Loney, Russell Martin and Casey Blake and a solo home run by Matt Kemp. After a Chase Utley RBI single cut the Dodgers lead to 4-3 in the 6th inning, it looked like the Dodgers would even the series as closer Jonathan Broxton entered the game in the 9th inning. Broxton (who had converted 36 of 42 save chances with a 2.61 ERA and 0.96 WHIP, but struggled on the road with an 5.81 ERA) even got lead-off hitter Raul Ibanez out, but laid an egg by pitching around Matt Stairs (Stairs had homered off of Broxton in the NLCS in 2008) and allowing him to reach on a walk. Broxton made matters worse by plunking Carlos Ruiz to give the Phillies 1st and 2nd with only 2 outs. Broxton got Gregg Dobbs to line out to 3rd base, but Jimmy Rollins crushed a 99-MPh fastball to deep center field that plated both Eric Bruntlett (pinch-runner for Stairs) and Ruiz with the winning runs. Just like that, the Phillies had a walk-off win to take a 3-1 series lead. The Dodgers have a huge obstacle to overcome. They face Cole Hamels on Wednesday in Game 5 and if they are luck enough to win that one, they will have to beat Cliff Lee in Game 6 in Los Angeles just to get to a Game 7. It’s not looking good for the Dodgers…
Enjoy MLB playoffs action tonight!
MLB Scores
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | MLB | No Comments
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