Category Archives: Other Football

Jets overcome injuries, penalties, widespread charges of moral turpitude to beat Dolphins, 31-23

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Hooray Mark Sanchez:

Another good game for our Taco Bell-loving hero, though Sanchez was not quite as sharp as he was against New England. He got away with a Bubby Brister-esque ill-conceived shovel pass that should have been a momentum-shifting interception, for one. But he found Dustin Keller until the Dolphins decided to start covering him, so that was good. A better game on paper — 256 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs — than in reality for the Sanchise, perhaps, but a good game nonetheless.

I won’t be around to recap this one with Brian Bassett, which is a shame because I’d be interested to see what he had to say about the Jets’ defense. I thought some of the secondary — most notably Kyle Wilson — looked pretty rough, really missing Darrelle Revis.

And it was hard to say if the Dolphins’ o-line played great or the Jets just couldn’t get any sort of consistent pressure on Chad Henne, but it seemed like they were coming at Miami with a bunch of different looks and blitzes and couldn’t get much penetration. Chris Collinsworth said they were pulling guys out of the pass rush to add more in coverage, but I almost felt like it was the other way around — the Jets moved more guys into coverage because the pass-rush was ineffective.

Regardless, a good win over a heretofore undefeated division rival on the road.

Shockingly, Ray Lewis’ son also good at football

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Ray Lewis had a big game last week, leading his team to a dominant victory with 504 yards, two touchdowns and six completed tackles. No, we’re not crazy, we’re just not talking about the Ray Lewis you’re thinking of; it’s not the Baltimore Ravens linebacker. We’re talking about his son, Ray Lewis III, a budding sophomore star at Lake Mary Prep High School in Florida.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Ray Lewis III gained 504 yards in a 34-7 Lake Mary Prep win over Windermere Prep on Friday.

– Cameron Smith, Prep Rally.

I can’t decide if the 504-yard total looks more or less impressive when you find out it came as a combination of rushing, passing, receiving and punt and kick returning. Probably more impressive. Ray Lewis’ kid pretty much dominated this football game.

Anyway, it reminded me of the most hilariously dominant burst of individual performance I’ve ever seen in a football game. And amazingly enough, the kid responsible was actually on my team.

That means I’m not talking about the humiliating time when, in my first-ever game starting at inside linebacker my junior year, a kid named Jason Ham from Port Washington nearly set the Long Island single-game rushing record against us. Or the time in middle school when a dude on Malverne named Jeffrey Birthwright dunked over the uprights (in middle school!) after his fourth rushing touchdown in the first half. Or the time in pee-wee ball when a boy named Jeremiah Pope from Inwood scored so many touchdowns that my dad and I walked off the field noting to remember his name as he would certainly make the NFL someday (we weren’t terribly far off.)

No, the instance I’m talking about happened in the first JV game of the season when I was in ninth grade, and really lasted only a quarter.

The opening kickoff fell in the hands of a kid on our team named Peter, a kid who played fullback in eighth grade the year before but grew up, thinned out and moved to tailback that season. The first time he touched the ball — the first time anybody but the kicker touched the ball that year — he returned in 76 yards for a touchdown.

On the ensuing series, our defense got a stop, so our opponent — I forget who it was but even-money it was West Hempstead, sucking like this — had to punt. Peter returned it 68 yards for another touchdown.

We weren’t able to stop them the next series, but obviously they didn’t want to put the kickoff anywhere near the kid so they squibbed it. We recovered. Then, on the first play from scrimmage, Peter ran the ball 65 yards for a touchdown.

The first three times he touched the ball, he broke touchdowns of 65+ yards. Craziest thing I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t even that he was faster than everyone on the field, either; he just had this remarkable vision for where the seams would develop, combined with outstanding quickness to cut deftly and hit those seams

Sadly, that first quarter of his first season of JV was probably Peter’s peak. He was a nice kid, but he struggled with his grades and authority — at least once in spectacular fashion — and it led to a lot of trouble remaining on the football field.

Here’s the thing

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Take Jacobs, for example. He’s apparently annoyed about being demoted to the No. 2 running back role behind Ahmad Bradshaw. OK, fine. You and I would be annoyed too. Human nature, etc.

But Jacobs deserves to be demoted, based on the way he played last year. Bradshaw’s injuries severely limited his playing time, Derrick Ward was gone, the rookie they drafted got hurt and missed the whole year. Last year was Jacobs’ year to dominate — to stamp himself as one of the best and most reliable backs in the league. And he didn’t do it.

Jacobs ran carefully when he should have been aggressive. He whined about the way he’s used and perceived. He stunk, along with so many other parts of the team, and as a result he has lost his starting job.

For many, this would be a wake-up call. A sign that something has to change. That the way you went about your business last year wasn’t good enough and you need to look in the mirror and do something about it. But not for Jacobs.

– Dan Graziano, SNY.tv.

I was going to write about this today, but Graz took care of it. I don’t like to put too much stock in players blowing up at reporters, but answering questions is part of the job, and — like Dan says — while it’s human nature to be upset about losing his starting spot, Jacobs has a lot of nerve to be complaining. For all the reasons Dan mentions, but also this:

You’re playing behind a guy who has had injury problems his whole career on a team known for sharing carries. You’re going to get plenty of chances. If you know you’re better than a backup — and it sounds like you feel that way — make something of them.

Hold on a sec

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Several Miami Dolphins crawled across the field after practice Tuesday — not due to exhaustion, but because they were looking for a diamond earring.

Defensive end Kendall Langford said he forgot to take his earrings off before practice and lost one during drills. He said the diamond was nearly 2.5 carats, which is why he was still on the field an hour after practice scanning the grass.

– Associated Press.

Wait, really? Because my understanding is that if the Dolphins are looking for someone to find lost gemstones around their facilities, they’ve already got a guy:

R.I.P. Roger Podacter.

The perfect foil, you say?

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Rex Ryan is the perfect foil. He’s a pompous, arrogant, irreverent, classless, mouthy gasbag. And for that I hate the man. Yet for making me hate him, I love him. I love every chin on his chubby little face. Because say what you want about the big buffoon… and believe me I have… no one can accuse him of being dull. On the contrary, he’s like a breath of hot air.

– Jerry Thornton, WEEI.com.

Really? Lovable Rex Ryan is the perfect foil? Because last time I checked, your quarterback is a butt-chinned, model-impregnating, Movado-watch-wearing, three-time Super Bowl champion who looks like he got bumped from an Adam Sandler movie for seeming like too obvious a casting choice for the villain role.