EARLY INDICATIONS

Three games in, your team can only be 3-0, 2-1, 1-2, or 0-3. Four possibilities, but the record could be terribly misleading. I'm here to set the....um, record....straight.

0-3 (...and going nowhere)

St. Louis, Kansas City, Cleveland, Miami, Tampa Bay - all of these teams have shown nothing this season. Quarterbacks are the key - which is the surprise with Kansas City, considering Matt Cassel's success last year. St. Louis has an injured Marc Bulger...again. Cleveland might win a few games when Eric Mangini makes up his mind about a quarterback to stick with, but Miami suffered a huge setback when Chad Pennington got hurt. Tampa Bay's last hope is a quarterback change.

0-3 (...not quite cooked yet)

Carolina, Tennessee - Carolina showed signs of life Monday night, but even then couldn't get a win. They might fight their way back to 8-8 or so, but they certainly won't be in the playoffs, as I predicted at the beginning of the year. (Though the '200 Miles From the Citi' Southern Bureau had Carolina pegged this year. Should have consulted them before putting out my picks.) Tennessee played well against the Jets after the first quarter, but they need to play well now for 13 straight full games to earn back some respect.

1-2 (...and they mean it)

Detroit, Oakland, Seattle, Jacksonville, Washington - I really wanted Washington to play well this year, but they haven't shown anything. Detroit has nothing to play for now that they have a win under their belt.

1-2 (...but we'll still be a force to be reckoned with)

Pittsburgh, Arizona, Houston, Buffalo - Buffalo and Houston could be in their own category - bad teams that will play you tough this year. They'll hurt somebody's season down the stretch. I fully expect last year's Super Bowl teams to right themselves and make it back to the playoffs.

2-1 (...but don't be fooled, we're not really that good)

Cincinnati - I know they could easily be 3-0 right now, but I'm not buying into them. I don't know how they beat Pittsburgh, but their winning ways won't last.

2-1 (...and on the way up)

New England, San Diego, Atlanta, San Francisco, Green Bay, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia - Best crop of teams in any grouping, including the 3-0's. These teams could all be in the playoffs...and San Francisco's presence reminds me that I may regret saying I expect Arizona to rebound from their 1-2 start and make the post-season.

3-0 (...mostly with smoke and mirrors)

Denver, Denver, Denver, Denver, Denver - Ugh. How is this team 3-0? Anyone want to tell you momentum means nothing from week to week in the NFL, you point to this team. They lucked into a win in Week 1 and have ridden that wave. I'll be disgusted if they keep this up. Luckily for me, they won't.

(Due to the fact I wanted to emphasize Denver, I'm slipping Minnesota's presence to down here, as a sub-headline. Let's not forget Brett Favre's huge fade last year. Yes, the Vikings have Adrian Peterson, unlike the Jets, but Favre won't be making last-second touchdown throws all season, and the Vikings will lose key games because of that.)

3-0 (...and here to stay)

New Orleans, Baltimore, Indianapolis, New York Giants, New York Jets - I know, this is where I lose credibility...but you tell me that Jets' defense won't keep them in games and win them a few the rest of the season. Same with Baltimore, which is now putting up points as well. New Orleans and Indianapolis are the opposite, winning with offense (and the Colts just know how to win). The Giants still aren't impressing me, but they're winning, and they look convincing doing it. Color me convinced.

DUCKS UPDATE: By a hair, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs knocked the Long Island Ducks out of the playoffs. After Long Island battled back from an 0-2 series deficit, they rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 9th in Game 5 to cut a 7-3 lead to 7-5, but a strikeout with the winning run at the plate ended Hall of Famer Gary Carter's season. Next stop, the majors?

OH CHAD

The good news, I guess, is that Chad Pennington could be in line for a record third Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2010.

But there's got to be serious doubt that Pennington will be able to come back at all from another season-ending shoulder injury suffered Sunday in San Diego.

The reports are that Pennington has a torn capsule in his throwing shoulder, the same shoulder he had surgery on in 2004 and 2005. The same reports say he is out the rest of this season. I'm guessing the next step, though I haven't heard anything yet, is that the rest of his career is in jeopardy.

For those of you who are not familiar with my past, you need to know that I think the world of Chad Pennington. So much so that last year he had me rooting for the Dolphins (I HATE the Dolphins) over the Jets so that he could make the playoffs again. I know he couldn't throw the deep ball, and I know he didn't play the greatest games of his career in the playoffs, but he was a winner with the Jets. He just couldn't stay healthy.

And that is still a problem.

This latest injury seems a bit much. I'm no expert, but when your career (a career which is already characterized by a weak arm) rests on your throwing shoulder, and that shoulder has already suffered three pretty serious traumas, I would think that would end said career. And I would hate to see it happen...but I would also hate to see Chad Pennington unable to do simple tasks like lift a fork to his mouth because he ruined his shoulder playing football.

My dad and I talk about Pennington often. He likes to say that one day Pennington will win a Super Bowl. I like to agree, because he is such a smart ballplayer, a great leader, and someone you want to see have that kind of success. He has all the traits that would make him a great coach after his playing days are over.

I want to think maybe he'll still get that Super Bowl win. Unfortunately, after this latest injury, it might have to be on the sidelines as a coach rather than on the field as a player.

JETS 24, TITANS 17

Another great win by the Jets against another very good opponent. They're 3-0. Almost more importantly, they're 3 conference wins, including 1 division win, in a season that is sure to come down to some sort of tiebreaker.

So I'm feeling good about the Jets....for the most part.

Instead of really celebrating the third win, though, I want to spend a bit of time looking at a couple of the Jets' flaws...because I'm sure other teams are starting to notice.

1) With a lead late, the Jets seem more than willing to let their defense run out the clock rather than the offense. A normal team leading by a touchdown with 9 minutes or so left in the game might milk the clock and try to limit the other team's possessions. The Jets don't seem to care about giving the ball back quickly and putting their defense back on the field. I understand the idea that it's their stronger unit, but at some point that unit is going to be tired, and the end of the game is where it's going to show the most. I'm going to start to get a little uncomfortable with opponents getting 3 or 4 chances to tie the game late in the game, as the Patriots and Titans have now had in consecutive weeks.

2) The offense hasn't exactly been lighting things up. If Tom Brady had connected on a few passes last week and the Titans hadn't played a terrible opening 10 minutes on Sunday, the Jets could easily be 1-2. They're 3-0, which is great, but Mark Sanchez can only be effective if the Jets have a running game...and they had no such thing on Sunday. It was a weird game for Tennessee - they showed why they are 0-3 in those first 10 minutes, but after that they showed flashes of the team that opened last year 10-0...and the Jets couldn't do much against that latter version. So I'm sure there's a book being written on Mark Sanchez, and the first chapter deals with stopping the run and putting some pressure on him to make throws. He looked the worst this week of his small three-game sample.

3) Thomas Jones is not playing well. Don't be fooled by the numbers Jones put up in that first game against Houston. Remember, he only scored two touchdowns because he spelled Leon Washington at the goal line and then ran all over a tired defense in fourth quarter garbage time. After that it was 14 carries for 54 yards against the Patriots and 14 carries for 20 yards against Tennessee. Yes, numbers 2 and 3 here go hand in hand. And Thomas Jones needs to help set that running game tone...and if he doesn't do it soon, it might be all Leon Washington all the time.

Those are the big issues I see with the Jets. Mostly it's been positive - they're winning, which comes ahead of anything. And they've won these three games without the suspended Calvin Pace, so they will only get stronger on defense. And they've already benefitted once from a Buffalo near-upset - playing New England after the Bills almost beat them. Now they get New Orleans next week after they struggled most of their game against Buffalo. So thanks again, Bills, for helping show the Jets the way. I have a feeling, though, that Drew Brees will present the Jets with their biggest challenge against an opposing quarterback so far this season.

MORE GOOD NEWS: Hall of Famer Gary Carter's Long Island Ducks will play a deciding fifth game Tuesday night in their playoff series after winning Sunday night to tie the series at 2. All the credit to the manager.

SUNDAY PAPER

I'll admit, I was less than pleased all last week when the Jets talked and talked leading up to their game with the Patriots.

The truth is, when they do things like that, it makes them look even worse when they get beat.

But the fact that they were able to back up all that talk and win the game makes me kind of happy they did it.

I think I like a team with some swagger.

And I think I like that it starts with the coach.

This is certainly not the type of thing that would have happened under Eric Mangini. A player who said anything under Mangini would face a fine, I'm sure...or worse.

I suppose it could have happened when Herm Edwards was at the helm, but it didn't really seem to. That was the kind of team that let Herm do the talking and they just went out and played. And while it was fun to listen to Edwards most of the time, the team was never really what you'd call dominant. More of a by-the-skin-of-their-teeth team.

Enter Rex Ryan. He started the talking in the middle of the off-season, first targeting Bill Belichick (which is tremendously overblown, incidentally - tell me something he said that has been wrong. Of course he's not going to worship Belichick - he's out to beat him. He just said what others keep to themselves.), but don't forget that when the Jets play the Dolphins, Channing Crowder says he has a score to settle with the Jets coach dating back to an off-season war of words.

The team picked up on the chatter in Week 2, and I think I'm a little disappointed that it hasn't continued into Week 3.

Well it has, kind of. Bart Scott took to the airwaves this week to call out Randy Moss, who belittled some of the Jets' defensive performance. And the target wasn't Scott specifically - he was backing up his teammates.

Listen, I know the Jets are just 2-0. I know it's not like they are a threat to win the Super Bowl...yet. (I was talking to a Patriots friend of mine this week after the Jets-Pats game and he said, "I wouldn't get too excited about your team yet." I had to respond, "I'm a Jets fan. You don't have to tell me that.") But you have to get a little excited at the atmosphere around the team Rex Ryan has created.

They believe they can win. They'll talk about it and they'll back it up. Most importantly, they'll back each other up on and off the field.

There's a lot to like - and believe in - about that.

**All of the talk around Boston is who the Red Sox are going to start in Game 1 of the ALDS...not an 'if' but a 'when'. I know they're very close to clinching...but after what I've seen with the Mets the past couple of years it gives me pause to hear people talking about the playoffs as a sure thing when it's not locked up yet. It's like when the Mets were in the playoffs commercials MLB was airing last year through the summer. That turned embarrassing come late September. And then you watch Jon Lester take a line drive off the knee and you think, 'Maybe everyone should keep their mouth shut.' Or at least stop talking about the ALCS versus the Yankees and only focus on an ALDS.

**You may remember two weeks ago I (slightly accidentally) gave you the Bills getting big points against the Patriots. I forgot to pick an underdog last Sunday, but if I had I like to think I would have gone with the Cardinals to outright win getting points in Jacksonville (I had them and felt great about them in my picks pool). But I won't let another "would have" situation go by. This week, I notice there are quite a few home underdogs, which are always hard to pick against. I do not like the Lions or Rams, both getting points, nor do I like the Bengals or the Seahawks. I think all of those teams lose and fail to cover at home. I do like the Bucs to at least cover against the Giants and the Bills to at least cover against the Saints. I'm not sure either team wins, though. And then finally, I can't believe the Broncos are underdogs in Oakland. Is there any way they lose to the Raiders? I don't think either team is very good, and I have a hard time seeing Denver getting to 3-0, but I think they win again on Sunday.

**That reminds me - I think it's time to start figuring out who's for real and who's not some time this week I'll write about the legit teams with winning records (like the Falcons) and the frauds (Denver). Also, the hard-luck losing teams (like the Titans) and the flat-out bad teams (like the Rams).

**I know you're dying to know a little more about the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, opponent of Hall of Famer Gary Carter's Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League playoffs. In Game 1 of their series, the Ducks were beaten 1-0 by former major league pitchers John Halama and Mac Suzuki (the closer). The manager is Butch Hobson, which I'm sure resonates with the many Red Sox fans who read this blog.

**I was able to listen to the last couple of innings of Game 3 of the series on WNYG streaming over the internet and it was pretty excellent quality, all things considered. Surprised to hear that Gary Carter also coaches third base, but I guess it makes sense at that level. I guess I always assumed Buddy Harrelson would man third for Carter like he did for the 1980's Mets teams. Anyway, the Ducks pulled out an 8th inning rally to win Game 3 and stave off elimination in the best-of-five series. They trail the series 2 games to 1.

**Update: Forgot to make a Jets pick in my original posting...The Jets and Titans always play each other tight (in today's case, incidentally, it'll be Titans-Oilers - one of the AFL anniversary games, with the Jets as the Titans). I say Jets 23, Titans 20.

GIVE THE KID A CHANCE

Dear New York Mets,

As another disappointing season comes to a close, I'd like to make a pitch for an opportunity to turn the franchise around.

I know as an organization you say you are committed to the losing ways of Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel. But I know that it's not too late to make a change.

You can have a man who has Hall of Fame player credentials. He knows how to play the game of baseball. He has done nothing but win since he began his managerial career. And I'm pretty confident that if you pick up the phone, this person would leap at the opportunity to manage the Mets.

His name is Gary Carter.
Carter's Long Island Ducks clinched the second-half title in the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League. Once again a Carter-led team is storming into the post-season. (The post-season, you may remember, is what happens after the regular season ends, when teams play for the championship. Your current leadership hasn't been able to accomplish that feat in three years...and the team has been there only once in the past decade.)

Here's a brief overview of Carter's managerial resume:

Gulf Coast Mets, 2005: 37-16 (0-2 Postseason)

St. Lucie Mets, 2006: 40-30 1st half, 37-32 2nd half (5-0 Postseason, championship)

Orange County Flyers, 2008: 28-15 1st half, 26-22 2nd half (6-4 Postseason, championship)

Long Island Ducks, 2009: 37-33 1st half, 37-33 2nd half (tbd)

It's time someone took a chance on Carter at the major league level. It might as well be the team he led to a world championship as a player.

I don't know why no one has taken this chance yet. My only guess is that Carter is not well-liked around baseball...because from the reading I've done over the years it seems like he was not very well-liked as a player. But that's by other players. You know what the fans thought of him? We loved him. So New Yorkers would come to the park, I'm sure. Especially when he starts making the Mets a winning ballclub again.

Because he will make them a winning ballclub. You argue that he has only handled young players in the minors? Well, guess what? The veteran approach hasn't quite succeeded with the Mets. Time to build up a young core...and let Carter lead them.

It won't be overnight success with Carter. But it'll be worth waiting for, I promise.

Don't give me the excuse that Jerry Manuel hasn't had his full roster since April and he's dealt with all of these injuries. I saw the Mets in April, at full capacity, and they were not going anywhere. I bet a Gary Carter-led team doesn't tolerate guys waltzing into home when they should be sliding and guys making countless poor baserunning errors. And Carter's enthusiasm probably wouldn't hurt a team that lacks a certain fire.

Again, I don't know why no one has hired him yet at a high-minor league or major league level. But it won't be long until the secret's out. The man can manage. And right now, he could be the next manager of the New York Mets.

If you wait too long, you might watch him win a championship at this level with another team.

Sincerely,

A Mets fan

WHAT'S UP WITH TOM BRADY?

OK Jets fans...let's cool it with the "Brady Sucks" chants.

Tom Brady does not suck. Tom Brady is just playing below the significant bar he has set for himself to this point in his career. I know, it's much too wordy to chant at a game. But it's more true than "Brady Sucks".

At the very least, Brady sucks right now. The question is, why?

Here are the facts:

Game 1: 39-53 for 378 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Game 2: 23-47 for 216 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT

Going deeper than the facts, Brady only had as many yards against Buffalo as he did because they didn't run the ball and he completed short passes. And if it wasn't for the final five minutes of that game he would have shown no life at all.

Against the Jets, he should have gotten a win. All he had to do was complete one pass at any of five or six key moments in the game - and he overthrew or threw behind his receiver each time.

I'm hearing that the Jets' pressure was affecting his timing and that every throw was made a step sooner than he would have liked. But I don't buy it. Because there were times he was throwing to the sidelines when his receivers were going long, or vice versa. He was throwing over guys' heads. To be honest, I didn't think the Jets' pressure in Week 2 was all that great. He had plenty of time to let things unfold most of the game.

My wife was quick to a theory - "Remember he had the shoulder injury in the pre-season?" I do remember, and it's certainly possible that his shoulder is bothering him...many a lesser quarterback suffered through such injuries and never came back (Ken O'Brien anyone?). And of course, he's coming off major knee surgery. So he still may come around as he gets his legs under him.

But I'm not so sure I'm buying the injury thing either. Is it because he's hurt that Brady takes his sweet time coming on and off the field? Casually coming up to the line and letting delay of game penalties rack up? I don't really think so.

To sum up what I'm noticing I need to give you some background. Even as a Jets fan I've always liked Tom Brady. He was hard not to like. He always had an answer for the reporters, he played the game hard, he seemed like a nice guy.

The Brady I'm watching on the field right now looks like a punk.

He looks like he's slinking on and off the field. Really, he does. Watch him. He doesn't look like he's hustling. I know it's hard to tell sometimes with football players with all the padding and helmets and stuff...but he doesn't really look like he cares.

Then there was the interview he blew off after the Buffalo game. Tom Brady doesn't do that. He stops and answers the questions, or at least makes an effort to hear the reporter ask the question. He doesn't give an on-the-run "I can't hear anything you're saying." At least he doesn't do it when it's live TV and it's ESPN. Is it an off-the-field thing that's bothering him and made him wary of a reporter's on-the-spot question? He and his supermodel wife are expecting a baby, and then there was a lawsuit publicized Tuesday against their bodyguards for gunshots at the wedding. The problem here is that Tom Brady doesn't bring that type of stuff with him onto the field.

I know it's silly that I sound so concerned. As a Jets fan, part of me is enjoying watching this - it's been a long nine years. But the football fan in me misses watching a professional go about his job.

And it also makes me think how lucky the Jets would be if Mark Sanchez turns into the type of player I expect Tom Brady to be...on and off the field.

MONDAY MORNING IMPRESSIONS: JETS 16, PATRIOTS 9

I don't want to make a huge deal out of this...but I got a game ball on Sunday.

"I think our fans are huge in this victory," said head coach Rex Ryan. "In fact, we're giving a game ball to our fans. It will go up in our trophy case. I thought they were the difference."

It's not the first time I've been given a game ball, incidentally. I remember I was awarded one after the Jets' playoff win over Jacksonville in 1999. I was loud then, too.

But I wasn't alone in this - I did have help. Besides the 70,000+ others screaming for much of the game, there was the Jets' defense. They played pretty well. They still have yet to give up a touchdown on this young season, holding the Patriots to three field goals (and after the Texans scored last week on only a defensive score).

And then there was Tom Brady. I'll delve into this one later in the week, but again he looked terrible, this time without the end-of-game flurry like the ones the Bills handed him last week. And there were times that he had the Jets' defense beat, but threw a terrible pass, and didn't seem on the same page as his receivers.

Sure, I'd like to think it was all me causing the back-to-back delay of game penalties (following a time out, no less), but some of that blame falls on the quarterback. And on this day that QB did not look like a former Super Bowl MVP.

The Jets' rookie quarterback, meanwhile, was able to bounce back from his mistakes. (And I did my part to help the offense by resting my voice while they had the ball...but again, this isn't about me. I was only part of the team, game ball or not.) After a first few possessions that were just terrible (a Sanchez fumble that put the ball inside the 5, a Leon Washington fumble that the Patriots recovered), Sanchez managed to get the Jets 3 points in the second quarter (after some questionable play-calling where the Jets seemed to give up the chance at a TD), and then came out of the gates in the third quarter with a quick, efficient touchdown drive to give the Jets the lead for good.

Sanchez could have easily had a second touchdown but he overthrew a receiver in the end zone...but he managed to limit the mistakes and help the Jets hold the lead.

In the end, as Rex Ryan said, the Jets were the better team on this day. They're starting to look like they might just be a better team than most this year. Again, we'll have a better idea when the Jets take on the Titans at home next week.

I just hope they can manage without me there.

SUNDAY PAPER

I should be excited.

I'm going to the Meadowlands for a big Jets game against a division rival...and it is shaping up to be a great game. I should be really excited.

But I'm kind of dreading it.

Even growing up in Queens the trip out to Rutherford, New Jersey was such a pain. Actually, the trip there wasn't so bad - we could finagle it so that we could beat most traffic. Coming home was the disaster.

Now, trying to go to a Jets game from Framingham, Massachusetts is nothing short of a mistake. I'm going to try out the new train transportation to get there, but again, I'm worried about how long it will take to get out of Jersey...and then what time I will end up back in Massachusetts that night (a school night, no less).

It was a huge tease when it became clear that the Jets were going to be involved in building a new stadium, and the west side of Manhattan was thrown out there (not to mention the faint possibility of them moving back to Queens). It would have been too easy. So what happened? They built right next door...still in Jersey.

It's too hard to make a trip that way too often ends in disappointment. Not too mention that we're not treated well. My dad has had Jets season tickets since the mid-1960's...and when the time came to get tickets to the new stadium, the Jets didn't acknowledge anyone pre-late 1970's. The result - a minor seat change, closer to midfield, still in the upper bowl. Not that we would have paid for any seat licenses and gotten much closer to the field. (How exactly can you own a seat in a stadium that is shared by two teams and two sets of season ticket holders?)

I'm in too deep to return my fan card over all this - but I certainly won't be showing up at the stadium too often anymore. It's looking like, barring a playoff appearance, my first visit to see the Jets in 2009 will be my last visit to Giants Stadium (and a lot less sentimental than my last visits to Shea Stadium). And I might just do the trip one more time - when the Jets open up their new stadium...then my dad is thinking of giving up the tickets, and I won't stop him.

So I am excited to see the Jets hopefully beat the Patriots. I am excited to see the home debut of Mark Sanchez. I am excited to hang out with a couple of great friends, which is the real reason I'm making this trip to begin with. But I'm not excited about watching the game surrounded by the mostly idiotic football fans in Section 336. And I'm not excited about the inconvenience of getting to the game.

*Seems like the Jets did way too much talking this week. Part of me thinks it's a good sign, the sign of a confident team. A bigger part of me feels like it's just rattling the Patriots' cage in a bad way.

*Can't get a clear Red Sox radio signal 10 minutes away from my house in Framingham, but driving down Saturday night I picked up the Reds radio broadcast in the middle of Connecticut clear as a bell.

*High on my list of concerns with traveling to the Jets game today: When I arrive back in Framingham, it will be well after night falls. Sunday nights are garbage nights. I'm putting it at better than 60% that I will see a raccoon on my street. That will set me back about a week's worth of sleep.

*LI Ducks update: Looks like Hall of Famer Gary Carter has the Long Island Ducks right where he wants them - in the post-season. They will be facing Southern Maryland in the first round, starting later this week. This is where it gets exciting - and this is where a Gary Carter-led team does its damage - in the post-season. We'll certainly keep you posted.

POINT/COUNTERPOINT: JETS VS. PATRIOTS

Other than, "Don't fumble the ball inside your own 25 on the kickoff after a Patriots touchdown that seemed to give them a tiny bit of life late in the fourth quarter", I'm not sure the Jets could learn anything about the Patriots from Monday night's game. I mean, that had to be the Patriots looking past the Bills and getting caught in a Week 1 trap game, right? They can't possibly be as bad as they looked for the first 45 of the 60-minute game, could they? Let's go with a Point/Counterpoint to figure things out:

POINT: The Jets looked great in their win against Houston, and the Patriots looked terrible, barely getting by Buffalo. Gotta be a win for the Jets in Week 2, no?
COUNTERPOINT: I don't believe the Patriots will come out and play that flat two weeks in a row until I see it happen. I can't believe their coaching staff would let that happen.

POINT: Tom Brady looked like he was sleepwalking the entire game. He has to be hurt or his head is cloudy as he gets ready to leave his newly impregnated wife, right?
COUNTERPOINT: He was 39-53, 378 yards, 2 TD and he sure didn't look hurt in the final 5 minutes. Then again, though, another un-Brady move was blowing off the post-game interview...so maybe he's not himself.

POINT: The Patriots played that game against Buffalo looking like the end of their 2007 season team, when they would luck into wins and barely scrape by opponents, leaving them ripe for the beating in any of those weeks.
COUNTERPOINT: You mean the year they won 16 regular season games and 2 playoff games before finally losing? That didn't really seem to catch up to them when they beat the Jets twice.

POINT: The Jets finally seem to have the type of team that can give Tom Brady fits and actually get in his face.
COUNTERPOINT: Yes, actually they do. I wonder how Brady will react to actually getting hit. But let's remember these are the Patriots and not the Texans...will the Jets defense from Week 1 look the same in Week 2 against New England?


POINT: I think the Jets have it in them to beat New England at home. Jets 30, Patriots 20
COUNTERPOINT: You're nuts. Patriots 31, Jets 10

AROUND THE NFL: WEEK 1

My thoughts on some of the rest of the NFL weekend:

CHECKING IN WITH CHAD: You are not forgotten, Chad Pennington. Pennington had a typical Pennington day passing, at least in the positive stats category, in the Dolphins' 19-7 loss to the Falcons. Pennington was 21-29 for 176 yards (that's vintage Pennington) with a touchdown and interception each. But he also fumbled, making him responsible for 2 of the Dolphins' four costly turnovers. The numbers look OK, but it wasn't a great day for Chad.

WISHY-WASHINGTON: I swear the only time I've seen the Redskins move the ball well the past couple of years is when they're trailing in the final five minutes of a ballgame. That was when they looked the best against the Giants on Sunday, when Jason Campbell brought them to within six points (big back-door cover!) on a 17-yard TD pass to Chris Cooley. Otherwise the Redskins looked terrible against a Giants team that kind of dominated the game...but it's hard to judge because of how badly the Redskins played. I'm still not buying into the Giants a ton - but I think I may have miscalculted the Redskins. I thought they were better than they looked in Week 1.

COMEBACK: The Denver/Brandon Stokely play is the reason I never, if at all possible, leave a game before the final gun sounds. Rare that it's worth it, though. Also, let's not let that touchdown mask the fact that both the Broncos and the Bengals played a terrible ballgame offensively, and both are going nowhere this year.

MCRIBB: Just what Donovan McNabb needed - an injury to fuel speculation that he should take a backseat to Michael Vick when Vick's suspension is over. The worst part of it all was that it didn't have to happen - it came with McNabb taking on a defender as he entered the end zone when the game was already well in hand.

SPEAKING OF INJURIES: I always listen to at least one sports radio update on my way home from school to catch what I may have missed during the day, and usually the Monday after an NFL weekend has a juicy something. Today it was nothing less than shocking to hear that Brian Urlacher would be out the rest of the season. I watched most of the Sunday night game, and I didn't see him get hurt, but I knew he was hurt and I saw them cut to him on the sideline often during the game...and I'm just very surprised it was a season-ending injury. Bad news for the Bears.

MONDAY NIGHT: Speaking as someone who no longer has the DirecTV Sunday Ticket, I would totally deal with only 3 of the late Sunday games (4pm starts) to have two Monday night games...and one starting at 7pm. I love the 7pm Monday start.

MONDAY MORNING IMPRESSIONS: JETS 24, TEXANS 7

Now that's defense.

In the recent past, you couldn't really blame the Jets' defense for their problems. But it was still frustrating to watch the bend, don't break style, where they'd give up huge chunks of yardage until they finally clamped down.

Sunday, in the Jets' 24-7 win over Houston, was everything you'd want to see out of a defense - it was the 'clamp-down' version of the defense over the entire game.

Instead of rare instances of pressure there was a player in Matt Schaub's face almost every play (by my calculation six of the seven plays on the Texans' first drive featured Schaub getting hit). The one bad stretch the defense had came in the second quarter, when Steve Slaton started to carve them up...but a timely hit on the ball resulted in a fumble and a turnover, and the Jets never looked back.

The game could have been a shutout, which would have been appropriate for the new attitude Rex Ryan has brought to the team, but the Texans managed a defensive touchdown for their points.

Which brings us to the offense. The interception returned for the TD wasn't Mark Sanchez's only mistake...it was just the one that the Texans made him pay for. Sanchez threw some ill-advised passes that weren't picked off...some were also caught by the Jets' receievers. But the overwhelming impression Sanchez gave on Sunday was positive. Most importantly, he was very poised on third down - the Jets converted 10-of-18 on third down. Sanchez was 18-31 for 272 yards overall, throwing 1 TD and 1 INT. Not bad for an NFL debut.

There were not many negatives to take away from the game, but I'm looking in Thomas Jones' direction. Sure, he finished with 107 yards and 2 TD...but it was just about the cheapest 100-yard game I've ever seen.

His first touchdown was the equivalent of a major league baseball reliever blowing an 8th inning lead on a starter, then watching his team score in their half of the inning, giving him the win. The "vulture win". Jones' first touchdown was a "vulture touchdown". Leon Washington did all the work getting the ball inside the five, then Jones punched it in from the one. He then ran ragged over a tired Texans defense in the fourth quarter, which was nice as far as closing out a game, but he went nowhere in the early stages of the game, which I think may have been more telling.

So the Jets are 1-0, and they looked great doing it. But it came against the Texans, a team I have made quite clear so far that I haven't bought into. Next week, at home, the Jets play the Patriots, and that will be the real test - for Sanchez, for the defense, for the Jets' chances in the division. It was a good opening week - the Jets showed there's reason for optimism. Let's just hope it lasts longer than one week.

SUNDAY PAPER

And today it begins. Yes, the full slate of games that begins the NFL season, but on a personal level, for me it's life after DirecTV.


When we bought and moved into our house five years ago, it represented a freedom of choice for us - if we wanted a dish, we could get a dish. (As opposed to our apartment, which had a restriction on satellite dishes.) Thus, we fulfilled my dream of watching the Jets when I wanted, without having to leave the comfort of my own home (and allowing me to let fly whatever I needed to say during a game in the company of family rather than complete strangers).

Well, after last year's debacle of a season, I succumbed to my wife's request to go to a cheaper cable option, thinking I would never care to schedule my Sundays around the Jets again.

Then this weekend hit. And I still care.

It's not easy being a Jets fan in New England for a number of reasons...but primarily it's because the Jets are often televised opposite the Patriots. With the increase in the number of prime-time Patriots games, I've lucked into some TV windows where the Jets are the local TV option - but that hasn't had an effect on me recently because of the Sunday Ticket.

This year, though, I'm going to have to heavily rely on those days. And today happens to be one of them. With the Patriots playing Monday Night Football, the Jets-Texans is the nationally televised CBS game. And next week I'm going to the home opener (although it's a game I would have been able to see at home, since it's against New England). So two games down, 14 to worry about.

A small part of me misses the old days when I'd get to a bar that had the Sunday Ticket at around 11:30am, reserve myself a booth with a TV, and then eat lots of appetizers. I'm kind of excited to see who would be up for recapturing that element of our lives from five years ago.

But I'm realizing now that I'm a little worried about the days when the Jets face a must-win situation and I'm stuck in enemey territory, and I can't yell at the TV. I just hope I don't cry if they lose.

*I hope my head doesn't explode today. First full weekend of NFL, a few baseball doubleheaders, and a golf final round to boot.

*I've mentioned this before, but I'm not really buying the Houston Texans. I'll go with Jets 24, Houston 20. And if I'm smelling big upset anywhere, I look no further than Foxboro, Massachusetts. Now, this does come with a caveat - I did pick the Patriots in a survivor pool, so I feel pretty strongly that they're going to win. But if any team can stretch their defensive weaknesses, it's the Bills, with Lee Evans and Terrell Owens. Plus, there's the Richard Seymour trade. There are shades of the Lawyer Milloy deal here, when the Pats got plastered by the Bills in the game after that trade. But I don't get the impression Seymour had the same relationship with his teammates that Milloy had...I have it in my mind that Seymour was kind of a loner. That's how I imagine it at least. Anyway, maybe there are repercussions. But, again, I picked the Patriots, so this is just a thought I'm throwing out there. Of course, the fact that I picked the Patriots makes me feel strongly that they might lose, too, because that's the way things go for me.

*I forgot that Sports Illustrated had picked the Mets to win the World Series this year. I should have listened to my Red Sox fan friends who were quick to point out after that prediction that SI had also picked the Red Sox to win it all in a year they would rather forget. (I think it was 2003.) It's sad that the only teams below the Mets in the standings are the likes of Kansas City, Washington, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. Not the company a team with that kind of payroll should be keeping. I'll add that it was nice to see David Wright come through in a clutch situation and carry the Mets to a big win over the Phillies on Saturday...if a meaningless game in mid-September for the Mets counts as a big win.

*Your weekly update on Hall of Famer Gary Carter and the Long Island Ducks - the Ducks are at .500, and have a 2 game lead in the wild card chase with 8 games remaining, all against last place teams. Seems like the Ducks are right where they want to be.

OH RIGHT, IT'S STILL BASEBALL SEASON

So I'm watching the Mets on their way to what's sure to be a slaughtering by Philadelphia, and realizing that you're probably wondering what I do with this next month, considering it's the first time in five years that the Mets have not had the ol' "meaningful games in September" thing going on.

Besides rooting for David Wright to hit doubles.

And the answer is quite simple - I root like the dickens for Josh Johnson and the rest of my fantasy baseball team.

Let me give you some history. (Wow, fantasy baseball history! The excitement is dripping from the walls!) Each year four of us from college get together and do our fantasy draft - a four-person league. Because it's such a small league, we have to narrow down the baseball universe, so it's just American League and National League East teams that we choose from. Hence the super-clever league name, "East Coast Bias".

Well, every year one guy, let's call him "Kevin", just dominates the league. He pretty much lives and breathes his fantasy baseball team, so it's not a surprise. What's so painful is that, not unlike my Mets, I've had season-long leads that have fallen apart in the last month of the season.

But not this year. This year I was in third or fourth place much of the early part of the year, and waited for everything to come together, until I took over first place in just the past couple of weeks.

There are a couple of reasons for this. First of all, I drafted a really good team. I really did...I didn't worry about certain negative categories (like hitters' strikeouts), and loaded up on some big RBI/Runs guys.

More importantly, though, "Kevin" has some very important, and positive, things going on in his life that have leveled the playing field a bit. Now, he doesn't have two kids, which is the circumstance I will blame if I don't hold my lead, but he has some serious demands on his time that he hasn't had the past few years.

So one more month of rooting for the Phillies every fifth day (Pedro). One more month of rooting for certain guys to get wins (Beckett, Lester), but only by 2 or 3 runs, so I can get a save (Papelbon). One more month of sitting through the terrible Marlins telecasts for my dose of Josh Johnson. And one more month of juggling through the baseball channels to catch my hitters' at-bats (V. Martinez, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Evan Longoria, and Ryan Zimmerman, to name a few).

At least I don't have the Mets (well, besides Angel Pagan) to distract me from all that.

P.S.: School has started, and for those of you who don't know, that's my real job. So I apologize for the slowdown in posting...I'll find some sort of rhythm soon.

PLAYOFF PICKS

You saw my picks for the regular season yesterday...today I present my playoff picks.

Not much for me to say about these, other than your guess is as good as mine.

Remember in the playoffs last year, the Falcons fumbled their opening possession in the second half, and the Cardinals never looked back? (If I remember correctly.) I have to think that's been sitting poorly in the Falcons' guts since then. It could have just as easily been them in the Super Bowl against Pittsburgh last season. Might as well be them this year.

YOUR 2009 NFL STANDINGS

Like everyone else, I like to try my hand at the ol' NFL predictions, so here they are.

Warning: I don't know any more than you do.


A couple of clarifications:

-I would give these picks, especially the extremes (15-1 and 1-15, for example) a +/- 2 margin of error.

-Based on what I'm seeing elsewhere, I may have put too much stock in the Tennessee Titans, and too little stock in the New York Giants. But I don't get the love for the Giants - what makes them any different today than the team that fell apart at the end of last season? I'll stay with what I have.

-In the AFC North, it's not so much that I believe a tremendous amount in the Steelers and the Ravens, it's more that they have an easy schedule and the other two teams in that division are pretty bad.

-Tampa Bay is another one that I'm not feeling so great about my pick with...but who knows. It's the NFL...they probably will be terrible.

-I'm a bit surprised at how highly regarded the Houston Texans are in these pre-season publications. What am I missing there?

-Arizona might not be as good as I picked them to be, but I definitely don't think they'll fare as poorly as past Super Bowl losers. I definitely think they're the best team in their division, hands-down. I don't expect a Super Bowl run, but I do expect a division title.

-You'll notice I played it conservatively with the Jets. Still, I ended up with 9-7. They do have a tougher schedule this year, so it was easier to not pick them every week...but it was still a struggle. I was happy to read this week's Sports Illustrated, though, and the 'Point After' section, where Phil Taylor writes about unsuccessful predictions...and the chances of the Jets winning the Super Bowl. I'll gladly let him make the prediction instead of me if it helps the karma.

Tomorrow I'll play out my playoffs for you.

SUNDAY PAPER

I'm a little disappointed in the way things played out with the new and improved extra-protective batting helmet that David Wright tried out this week.

I'll admit - the things look silly. Players from the Mets and Rockies apparently called Wright The Great Gazoo, referencing the Flinstones character...I think it brings to mind Michael Dukakis. Regardless, I think they're necessary, and I don't think David Wright helped matters much by deciding to ditch the helmet after one game.


According to Wright, the change was due to comfort rather than appearance, but he took enough ridicule from all angles that I have to think he was somewhat worried about his image.

And that's the problem, because Wright is a star, and his image could have helped garner more widespread use of the product.

The Rawlings S100 helmet has extra padding and has been shown to withstand 100-mile-an-hour pitches thrown from 2 feet away. David Wright, for example, was hit by a 90+-mile-an-hour fastball from 60 feet, 6 inches away. And he's just the most prominent example.

The head is a sensitive area - and this is an issue that becomes more and more relevant as pitchers throw the ball harder and harder. I think it sends a horrible message when players like Jeff Francoeur talk about how they won't wear the helmets because they don't want to look like "clowns".

The idea of the helmet is protection, not style. We're in the year 2009 here, so I'm sure there will be some sort of technological advancement soon where the same kind of protection is offered in some sort of slimmer model. But I think priority number one when they're sitting down testing these helmets is not to make sure Jeff Francoeur doesn't look like a clown.

Unfortunately, David Wright looked like a clown, and he didn't like it. Maybe it would have been better for him to try the helmet out at home, so at least he didn't get ridiculed by the fans.

As it stands now, Major League Baseball will require minor league teams to wear the helmets next season. Hopefully that carries into the majors soon...or Rawlings gets something together that doesn't look so padded.

The events of the past week have given the helmet a bit of a black eye. But if the players don't start wearing it, they might suffer something much worse.

*I hate poor sportsmanship. I hate self-congratulatory behavior, especially when it is directed at someone else specifically to put them down. And I hate seeing fights. So I'm pleased that a heavy punishment was doled out to Oregon's LeGarrette Blount for his sucker punch to the jaw of Boise State's Byron Hout. And I don't want to say Hout had it coming, but he certainly didn't help matters by going up to Blount to rub it in. Yes, Blount had done a lot of talking leading up to the game, and probably during the game. But Hout should have let the scoreboard speak for itself. I'm glad Boise State's coaches reacted to Hout's actions the way they did, and it's unfortunate the way Blount reacted...but none of it should have happened if everyone had been a good sport in the first place.

*One thing I took away from last week's Jets-Giants pre-season matchup is that I didn't realize Mario Manningham was with the Giants. I missed his four catches last season, I guess. It looks like he'll be a bigger part of their plans this year, which I like, because I'm liking the Manning-to-Manningham name connection.

*Lots of mixed feelings as I sat and watched a lot of college football on Saturday. I really enjoyed it, obviously, but that means there's no turning back - back to school, end of summer weather, all that. I do love the fall, but there's a tough adjustment period, especially this year.

*Your Long Island Ducks update - Their playoff position is in jeopardy - they're a game behind second-place Bridgeport, but they play Bridgeport later this week. Long Island is 26-28, six games behind the division leader. You better believe Hall of Famer Gary Carter will have his players fighting for that wild card spot this week. We'll have another update next week.

*Can't wait for the NFL to get going. I'll have some previews coming this week.

A QUICK PLUG

I don't have HBO. Used to, but I don't anymore.

As such, I used to enjoy "Hard Knocks", back when I did have HBO. Of course, I'm sure I would still enjoy the show if I could still watch it.

I can't, but Justin from Sports Crackle Pop! can, and each week he gives a thorough recap of the show. Reading his recaps keeps me in the loop. You will enjoy them as well.

WRIGHT WATCH: Big day for David Wright in Colorado, incidentally. Double #32.

WELCOME BACK DAVID WRIGHT

In a season full of disappointments, there was one highlight - maybe the highlight of the 2009 season - for the Mets on Tuesday night, when David Wright came back off the DL and went 1-for-3 in Colorado.

The initial reports were that Wright might miss the rest of the season after he was hit in the head by a Matt Cain fastball in mid-August. No one knew what to expect, since the injury was a concussion, and the Mets were going to be extra cautious with their star in an already-lost season, following a poorly-handled concussion and recovery suffered by Ryan Church with the team last year.

But Wright and the Mets played it smart, and there he was Tuesday night, back in the three spot in the lineup, and he got a hit into left-center field.

The only thing better would have been if the ball carried a little deeper into the gap and he could have legged out a double.

You see, I love rooting for David Wright. I want him to be a member of the Mets forever, and I want him to make a historical mark on the game. Unfortunately, he's not a big bomber (never more evident than his 8 homers this year), and he's not a speed demon (though a smart and efficient base runner), and he's not a tremendous defensive third baseman (though he has steadily improved each year since he was brought up).

He's just a solid baseball player. If there is a place where he can leave his mark on the game when everything is said and done, though, it's in the doubles column. So I watch David Wright for the doubles, and this year was going great until he spent his time on the DL.

Probably because of the vacuous Citi Field, Wright had 31 doubles in 116 games before the DL stint. That put him on a career-high pace of 43 doubles for the season, one behind the team record of 44 set by Bernard Gilkey in 1996.

Wright has made a run at that record every year he has played regularly, with 42 doubles in 2005, 40 in '06, and 42 in '07 and '08. He has 214 for his career, which puts him in a tie for second on the franchise list, 11 behind team leader Ed Kranepool.

So Wright will undoubtedly become the team leader in doubles, maybe even before the end of this season (though 11 doubles in 30 games is a tall order). But I have my eyes on a bigger prize.

Tris Speaker is the all-time leader in doubles, with 792. If Wright puts up 40 doubles a season for however many more years he plays, especially since it looks like Citi Field will sap some of his homers and turn them into doubles, I think it will be fun to see him chase that mark of 792. Believe me, I will keep you posted on this chase for as long as I write in this space.

So welcome back, David Wright. Now start hitting some doubles.

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

With both Johan Santana and Oliver Perez set to undergo surgery today, we turn to the 200 Miles From the Citi futurives (opposite of archives, I made it up) to see just how pivotal a day in Mets history this was.

July 28, 2025 - Cooperstown, NY - Ollie and Johan. Johan and Ollie. Like Tinker, Evers, and Chance; Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine; Schilling and Johnson; the names have been intertwined in baseball history.

They celebrated together on the mound after Perez relieved Santana in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, capping the Mets' fifth World Series championship in seven years. They kidded with each other as back-to-back co-Cy Young award winners in 2010 and 2011, beginning a stretch where each alternated as the NL winner of the award for eight straight years. And they sit together this weekend reflecting on a remarkable stretch which began with both of them on the disabled list and ends here, as they prepare to be inducted together into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

"My success definitely traces back to the surgery," says Perez, referring to the controversial procedure conducted at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. "I came back from that a different pitcher."

"I don't really remember much about the past 16 years, to be honest," added Santana.

The players both had surgery on September 1, 2009, suffering from season-ending injuries in a terribly disappointing season for the Mets. For Perez, scar tissue was removed from the patella tendon of his left knee, and Santana had bone chips removed from his pitching elbow. Those surgeries were conducted as scheduled. What no one was told until the players' careers were over, though, was that doctors also took part of Santana's brain and implanted it into Perez's head.

"It was very strange," said Jeff Wilpon, whose father's sale of the team during the off-season was another move that has been widely credited with the team's turnaround. "It was like a Frankenstein setup."

"From that day forward, I was like a different pitcher," Perez recalls. "It was like, 'Oh, you're not supposed to walk guys. Especially with the bases loaded!'"

The effects of the surgery are reflected in the stats: both pitchers averaged 17 wins over the next 10 seasons. Santana reached 300 wins for his career in his final season, while Perez recorded 4,000 strikeouts for his career during that final campaign five years ago.

Neither pitcher reported any negative side effects following the surgery, though fans noticed that every time Santana struck out 10 or more batters from the 2010 season forward, he would wet his pants.

Asked about their time together with the Mets, Perez said of Santana, "I think I owe him everything."

Santana replied, "I don't remember anything."