How did the Raiders lose four straight games earlier this season? I just saw Gannon put Al’s Boys up 35-14 on a beautiful spiral down the middle to Jerry Rice, his thrid TD pass of the game (the other two were to breakout youngster Jerry Porter), while both of the main running backs also have running TDs. Can the Raiders keep it up next Sunday against hot rookie QB Chad Pennington and the Jets?
Will we hear calls this week from the Midwest yammering for Marc Bulger to get the starting QB job back? After all, Kurt Warner lost for the fifth time in five starts this year and he blew a chance to tie the game at the end by losing a fumble in the red zone on the Rams’ last offensive play of the day. Coahc Mike Martz said he called a very safe pass play, that should leave them easily set up for a field goal on an incomplete, but LaVar Arrington gave Steve Spurrier a huge pre-Thanksgiving present.
Is Marty Mornhinweg setting himself up to be fired? Sure, he’s a QB guru and is doing a pretty decent job with rookie Joey Harrington, but decisions like the one he made today, to kick off after winning the coin toss to start overtime, could easily prove to the voluble Matt Millen that he needs more seasoning as an offensive coordinator.
In the college scene, how about a shoutout to Pete Carroll and the bruising team at USC? After absolutely demolishing crosstown rivals (F)UCLA yesterday 52-7, the Trojans moved up to #6 in both the AP and Coaches polls. Washington State, the only team ahead of them in the Rose Bowl race, lost their big local rivalry game yesterday and now UCLA can (shudder) do us a huge favor–give us the Pac-10 title–by beating WSU in two weeks. Even without a UCLA win, we can almost guarantee a top-level bowl appearance by knocking off the Whimpering Irish at home. Major kudos to QB Carson Palmer–he’s passed for 2,251 yards and 23 TDs with five INTs in USC’s last seven games and has thrown at least two TD passes in eight straight games.
BillSaysThis 