Does Tim Tebow Look Like an N.F.L. Starter to You?

Just to be clear: Matt Prater won Sunday’s Broncos game with a 52-yard field goal in overtime. Tim Tebow did not snap for it, hold for it or kick it.

But he will get most of the credit for the win anyway.

The unstoppable force that is the Tebow Legend got a new chapter on Sunday, when he shrugged off a day full of wayward passes and crunching sacks in his first start this season to direct a comeback that gave the Broncos an 18-15 victory over the Dolphins. Denver emerged from the game with a victory, but does Coach John Fox still need a quarterback?

Judy Battista covered the game for The Times, and she summed up the good and the bad of Tebow’s day in a few quick paragraphs:

For 55 minutes, Tim Tebow had barely looked like a functioning N.F.L quarterback. He took sacks and threw poorly. He was hesitant and overwhelmed.

The Broncos’ coaching staff, which had made him the starter just two weeks ago, had so little confidence in him that through three quarters, he attempted just eight passes.

But with five minutes left and the Miami Dolphins playing prevent defense, Tebow turned into the player who inspires fans to erect billboards and opposing teams to honor him when he visits, rallying the Broncos to two touchdowns.

And when Denver lined up for the 2-point attempt that would send the game to overtime, it seemed that only the Dolphins had never seen highlights from Tebow’s Heisman Trophy-winning career. They had their defense spread across the field, leaving gaping holes between each player. Tebow took the snap and ran off right tackle, untouched, for the conversion.

From there, the result seemed a fait accompli.

Of course the Broncos won. Because nothing ever seems to go wrong for Tebow, especially in Florida, where he could probably run for governor — and win. Tebow won a state title in high school, two B.C.S. crowns and a Heisman Trophy with the Gators, then scrubbed the state’s beaches clean using only a washcloth and warded off hurricanes by standing on the sand and staring them down as they pondered coming ashore. (O.K., only parts of that sentence are true, although maybe some in Florida would argue that all of it is.)

But Tebow doesn’t play in Florida anymore. He plays in Denver, and Sunday’s victory made the Broncos’ Tebow conundrum only more maddening. Is he the miscast fullback/quarterback who threw for only 24 yards in the first three quarters on Sunday, when he had more sacks (4) than completions (3)? Or is he the proven winner who directed drives of 80 and 56 yards to force overtime.

Sure, Sunday’s comeback was stirring — “Denver and Tebow have won!” the CBS announcer Kevin Harlan said as Prater’s field goal sailed through — but Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk laid most of the credit for Tebow’s success at the feet of a horrible performance by the Dolphins.

When Tebow missed throws, he often missed them by 10-15 yards. The Broncos wouldn’t let him throw on third down. It was one of the worst 55 minutes of quarterback play I’ve ever seen. At one point, the crowd chanted “Tebow sucks.” He didn’t remotely look like an NFL quarterback.

Jim Rome wrote on Twitter:

Tim Tebow looked like an H-back trying to play QB for most of the game. Credit for beating the NFL’s worst, I guess. He has a long way to goMon Oct 24 02:05:58 via webJim Rome
jimrome

… and then said half of his responses said: “Hater.”

But Yahoo’s Jason Cole, noting Tebow was intermittently awful and inspiring, wrote that Tebow may be winning over some of the people that matter, like the Broncos executive John Elway, who Cole notes “knows more than a few things about improbable comebacks.

While some people, including Denver coach John Fox, will talk about “competitive spirit” and how Tebow has the “it” factor you need to be great, here’s something to consider: Denver rallied in this game after finally taking the shackles off Tebow. He was put in the four-receiver, shotgun offense he was so good in at Florida and was allowed to play without thinking.

“You’re reacting more than thinking,” Elway said.

Or as Denver safety Brian Dawkins said: “When it gets to crunch time, he trusts what he sees, and that’s what I see [from him]. He trust things and he’ll let it just fly. Early on in the game, he was maybe second-guessing things. But at the end of the day, he’s a guy who’s going to continue to fight, continue to scrap and use his arm, his legs or whatever to get the job done.”

The fans spoke clearly on The Denver Post’s Web site, where readers voting in a poll wanted Tebow to remain the starter — and with fewer restrictions — by at least a four-to-one margin. But count SI.com’s Don Banks among the skeptics:

Are the Broncos really any closer to knowing if Tebow is their long-term answer at quarterback based on Sunday’s rollercoaster ride against the still-winless Dolphins? I don’t think so. How can they be? They saw Tebow struggle mightily for most of the game, with woefully inaccurate passing, poor pocket presence and a case of happy feet that surfaced again and again.

And while none other than LeBron James took to Twitter to call Tebow “a winner” — prompting a stream of invective from others, especially in Miami, who pointed out that he hasn’t earned the right to talk on that subject — but even Tebow acknowledged he still has a long way to go as a quarterback.

“I need to get a lot better, that’s for sure,” Tebow told reporters. “It’s my fault that we were in that position in the first place. I just have to play better in the first three quarters so we don’t have to make that comeback in the fourth.”

Extra point: Would you want Tebow running the controls of your team, no matter what it looked like, on the chance that he might regularly find a way to win?

Metro Pucks: A Week of Underachievement, and a Bit of Cheating

Our weekly review of the performances of the three local N.H.L. teams.

Grades

Rangers: What a strange trip it has been. Henrik Lundqvist won the game for the Rangers on Tuesday in Vancouver. They beat Calgary two nights later on a goal with two seconds left in overtime. The 2-0 loss in Edmonton on Saturday? Coach John Tortorella, who refused to take questions from reporters after the game, said the team was bad “from head to toe.” Unless you’re a goaltending aficionado, the Rangers have not been a fun team to watch on this marathon trip to start the season. Still, they won two of three this week. Grade: B

Devils: The week looked promising late in the third period Friday when the Devils held a one-goal lead over San Jose at Prudential Center. But the Sharks scored to tie the game after pulling their goalie for an extra attacker and earned the second point by beating the Devils in the shootout. A night later, the Devils lost, 4-1, in Pittsburgh to a team that manages to succeed without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Devils need more scoring outside of top talents llya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise and Patrik Elias. Grade: C

Islanders: “Except for the power play, we’ve got a lot to work on,” P.A. Parenteau said after the Islanders lost road games to the Lightning and the Panthers. The Islanders were dreadful for about 50 of the 60 minutes in their 4-1 loss in Tampa Bay on Thursday. In a 4-2 loss Saturday in Sunrise, Fla., the Islanders were inept during five-on-five play. Both goals were scored on the power play, but the Islanders failed to convert during four minutes of power play time at the end of regulation, including almost a minute of five-on-three play. The rebuilding Islanders, supposedly more mature with the addition of five elder statesmen, have to play more confidently and less tentatively on the road. Grade: D

Metro Puck Player of the Week

Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers: When the goalie took himself off the ice in the third period Saturday and word was he was suffering from dehydration, as opposed to a muscle injury, Rangers Nation exhaled. Lundqvist’s team would be worse than mediocre without him. His shutout in Vancouver was spectacular but also typical of how he keeps the Rangers in almost every game.

Dubious Achievement of the Week

Petr Sykora, Devils: Sykora managed to fool the referees in Pittsburgh by serving a four-minute high-sticking penalty called on Patrik Elias. When one of them realized what Sykora pulled – too late, after Elias scored a short-handed goal to tie the score at 1-1 – Sykora apologized and said his stunt was “unrespectful.” Worse, it was cheating and should be reviewed by the league for a fine for the player and his team. Maybe karma already exacted a price. After Elias’s goal, the Penguins scored three straight to win the game, 4-1.

Trending

Down: Brad Richards – The Rangers’ first-line center leads the team in scoring with one goal and four assists, but he has yet to take over a game. Richards will want to show more to the New York area fans when the Rangers start their home schedule Thursday against the Maple Leafs.

Up: Dan Girardi – In the absence of Marc Staal this season, Girardi is averaging 28 minutes a game and performing at a high level for the Rangers. “He can handle it,” said Tortorella, who has no choice but to lean on Girardi.

Down: Frans Nielsen – A strong playmaker, the Islanders’ second-line center has one goal and no assists in six games this season.

Down: Anton Volchenkov – For an annual salary cap hit of $4.25 million for the next five seasons, the defenseman is playing just 18 minutes a game and has not made a major impact in the Devils’ zone.

Theories

Kyle Okposo, the Islanders’ seventh overall pick in the 2006 draft, is a power forward with skill and excellent work habits, but he may have to alter his game. Okposo has just one assist and no goals in the Islanders’ first six games this season. He has yet to reach the 20-goal mark in his young N.H.L. career, in part because shooting accuracy is not his strength. At 210 pounds, Okposo needs to shoot from the perimeter less and crash the opposition net a lot more. Goals scored off shin pads count just as much.

The loss of Jacob Josefson for three to four months with a broken clavicle sustained in the game Thursday hurts the young player’s development and the Devils’ playoff chances. Josefson was one of the Devils’ top three centers and, if Lou Lamoriello is unable to acquire a player in a trade or through waivers, the Devils do not have the depth to replace him.

In Yogi Berra fashion, Ryan Callahan shed some light in a recent broadcast interview on the pressures of being a captain: “I have to focus more on not thinking about it,” Callahan said. In the Rangers’ first six games, Callahan has one goal and no assists.

This Week’s Mystery

On Sept. 30, Nino Niederreiter, a prized right wing prospect who was the Islanders’ fifth overall pick in the 2010 draft, sustained a groin injury. The club said his return to the lineup was day to day. More than three weeks later, Niederreiter has practiced infrequently with the Islanders and, on some days, has not even skated on his own. Like the Rangers regarding Marc Staal’s concussion symptoms, the Islanders have had nothing to say about Niederreiter’s status. Perhaps we’ll learn more this week. His development is crucial to the success of the Islanders’ rebuilding program.

LSU and Alabama remain on top of BCS standings

Louisiana State and Alabama, each with a week off to prepare for their Nov. 5 showdown in Tuscaloosa, dominated Sunday’s second release of the Bowl Championships Series standings.

LSU (8-0) remained on top with a BCS average of .9702, followed by Alabama (8-0) at .9627.

Weekend defeats handed to last week’s No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 6 Wisconsin, though, scrambled the standings and created opportunities for others.

Oklahoma State, with an average of .9240, took Oklahoma’s spot at No. 3 followed by Boise State at .8302 and Clemson at .8240.

Stanford moved up two spots to No. 6, followed by Oregon, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Oregon, the highest-ranked one-loss team, plays at Stanford on Nov. 12.

Wisconsin paid heavily for its last-second loss to Michigan State. The Badgers dropped nine positions to No. 15, one spot behind Nebraska.

The top two schools in the final standings Dec. 4 will meet for the BCS title in New Orleans.

--Chris Dufresne

Photo: Playmakers Trent Richardson of Alabama and Jordan Jefferson of LSU have helped their teams set up a showdown for SEC, and BCS, supremacy on Nov. 5. Credit: Associated Press and Getty Images

Kerley Making the Jets Forget About Mason

A quick look at the Jets’ 27-21 victory over San Diego:

KEY PLAY/PERFORMANCE: Each successive solid game by Jeremy Kerley makes it hard to believe he barely played the first month of the season. Eclipsed by the since-departed Derrick Mason in September, Kerley has since emerged as a favorite target of Mark Sanchez, who on third down found him twice on the Jets’ first scoring drive of the second half. Both conversions came with the Jets needing at least 5 yards for the first down. Kerley finished with a career-high four receptions for 29 yards.

NOTABLE NUMBER: At one point toward the end of the game, Calvin Pace glanced at the scoreboard and, reading Philip Rivers’s passing statistics, knew the defense had clamped down. Rivers threw for only 179 yards, his fewest in 22 regular-season games, since Jan. 3, 2010. The Jets had only one sack, in the first quarter, but their pass rush pressured Rivers for much of the afternoon. Their secondary held Vincent Jackson without a catch in the second half.

TALKING POINT: Have the Jets moved past their early woes, or will they reappear during a tough November schedule?

Despite fall, U.S. champion Alissa Czisny wins Skate America

Defending U.S. champion Alissa Czisny survived an early fall on her triple flip and held off Italy's Carolina Kostner on Sunday to win the women's title at Skate America at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario. Czisny, who also had a crooked landing on a triple loop and doubled another planned triple, outshone Kostner with her fast-paced footwork and technically better spins, also elements that are judged.

Czisny finished with 177.48 points, just ahead of Kostner's 177.35.

Skating to "Valse Triste" by Jean Sibelius and dressed in deep purple, Czisny's fall came on the second jump of her program. On her next jump, the triple loop, Czisny had an unsteady landingm but the 24-year-old gathered her composure and finished with highly rated spins and circular step work.

Viktoria Helgesson of Sweden won the bronze medal with a score of 145.75. Caroline Zhang, an 18-year-old from Brea who was third after the short program, had three falls in her long program, which ranked last among the 10 skaters Sunday, and fell to sixth place overall.

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Alissa Czisny celebrates her gold medal victory ahead of Carolina Kostner of Italy (left) and Viktoria Helgesson of Sweden (right) for the Ladies Free Skate competition. Credit: Frederic J. Brown / AFP / Getty Images

Germans win Skate America pairs gold medal

Robin Szolkowy and Aliona Savchenko, the defending world champions, won the pairs competition Sunday at Skate America at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, coming from fifth place after the short program with a free skate that beat the field.

Szolkowy and Savchenko, of Germany, finished with 183.98 points. Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao of China were second with 178.66 points and Canadians Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch were third. The top Americans, Caydee Denney and John Coughlin, were fourth and brought the crowd to its feet with their program, skated to the classical Puccini music "Nessun Dorma." The performance was without major mistakes but it was also cautious and didn't contain as many difficult elements as those done by the medal winners.

Szolkowy made reference to the error-marred short program he and Savchenko had done by saying, "I hope you missed us yesterday. Today's performance, though, was quite OK."

Zhang and Zhang were also happy. After missing much of last year because Zhang Hao was injured, the two had practiced their Sunday free skate only four times. "I was pretty pleased with it," Zhang Hao said. "We're still lacking condition and endurance, but that is still something we can work on. I don't think this is a major problem."

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Robin Szokowy and Aliona Savchenko perform their routine during the free skate portion of Skate America on Sunday at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario. Credit: Frederic J. Brown / AFP / Getty Images

MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli killed in Malaysian crash

Tragedy struck the racing world again Sunday when 24-year-old rider Marco Simoncelli died after crashing and then violently colliding with two other riders in the MotoGP motorcycle race in Malaysia.

The Italian rider struck American Colin Edwards and Italian Valentino Rossi on the second lap of the race at the Sepang circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which was immediately stopped and later canceled. It was the next-to-last race of the season.

MotoGP medical director Michele Macchiagodena told reporters that Simoncelli was taken to the track medical center with head, neck and chest injuries and died about 45 minutes later.

"I'm so shocked and saddened by the loss of Marco," said Casey Stoner, who recently clinched the series title. "When things like this happen it reminds you how precious life is."

Edwards suffered a dislocated shoulder in the crash but otherwise he and Rossi were not seriously injured, race officials said.

MotoGP is an international series featuring high-speed motorcycle racing. The series has two U.S. stops each year, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.

A week ago Indycar driver Dan Wheldon, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, was killed in a 15-car crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wheldon's funeral was Saturday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

— Jim Peltz

Photo: Italian rider Marco Simoncellit in August before the MotoGP race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Credit: Mirco Lazzari / Getty Images

Week 7 Matchups: When the Middling Face the Mediocre

Colts (0-6) at Saints (4-2)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m.
Line: Saints by 14.
The famous quote by the former N.F.L. commissioner Bert Bell — “On any given Sunday, any team in the N.F.L. can beat any other” — has been a source of reassurance for both fans and television programmers for decades. The league’s carefully maintained competitive balance almost guarantees that every week will feature several compelling games between high-quality, evenly matched opponents. Almost.
Bell would never imagine a week like this, in which the best (the Patriots) and most fascinating (the Eagles, the 49ers) teams have byes, while the top contenders face pushovers and the mediocre slug it out with the middling. Matchups that looked good when the schedule was announced now merit double-digit point spreads. Case in point: the Colts vs. the Saints, a rematch of Super Bowl XLIV that promised to be a seesaw offensive battle, is now little more than a three-hour wake for Indianapolis and a chance to watch Sean Payton coach New Orleans from the booth instead of the sideline.
Granted, Curtis Painter, like a frozen burrito under a filling station heat lamp, is slowly warming to the Colts’ starting quarterback job. His completion percentage has gone up every week, and the Colts offense no longer looks like an intramural team playing in a downpour. Also, Drew Brees offered hope that Payton might find a way to stand on, or slightly above, the field on the surgically repaired leg he broke in last week’s game. “I’m envisioning some kind of hovercraft on the sideline,” Brees said. Levitating coaches: another thing that Bert Bell could never imagine. Pick: Saints.

Bears (3-3) at Buccaneers (4-2) in London
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Bears by 1.
The Buccaneers rookie defender Adrian Clayborn tried fish and chips for the first time as soon as Tampa Bay arrived in London on Monday. “It didn’t sit well with me at all,” Clayborn told The Tampa Tribune. “It messed up my stomach bad.” Do not let Clayborn anywhere near steak and kidney pie.
You would think that most Americans have encountered fish and chips by now, and conversely, that most Britons would be able to differentiate a football team worthy of international acclaim from, say, the Bears. However, Lovie Smith (whose Bears stayed in the United States until Thursday) expects something close to a home-field advantage. “I’m told we have a big following overseas,” Smith said, not realizing that many Londoners are still expecting to see William (The Refrigerator) Perry.
Smith does not expect his Bears to be jet-lagged, any more than Raheem Morris expects his players to be cramped up from too much bangers and mash. Smith also hopes to win some new fans. “I know the guys are excited about showing our brand of football over there,” he said. The Bears brand includes Jay Cutler’s occasionally uttering profanities, heard by a microphone, about the coordinator Mike Martz. Though if you really want to hear Cutler swear, get him to try bubble and squeak. Pick: Buccaneers.

Chargers (4-1) at Jets (3-3)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Chargers by 2.
Norv Turner and Rex Ryan are as different as two coaches can be. The mild-mannered Turner has less motivational power than dress-down Friday, but his detail-oriented approach turns quarterbacks into sharpshooters and receivers into precision route runners. Ryan’s Homer Simpson-meets-Pagliacci routine keeps the troops fired up, but he is rarely bothered by trifling details, like his offense.
Yet their results are the same. Both Turner and Ryan appear to lose control of their locker rooms at times, with Ryan reining them back in with his Asylum’s Chief Inmate routine and Turner waiting for the pot to boil over and return to room temperature. Although neither coach has reached the Super Bowl with his current team, each has something to say about it. Ryan said Wednesday that he would have won “a couple of rings” had the Chargers hired him instead of Turner in 2007. Turner jokingly responded, “I was wondering if he had those rings with the ones he’s guaranteed the last couple of years.” When Norv Turner zings you, you know you left yourself open.
In news unrelated to Ryan’s imaginary jewelry box, Plaxico Burress promises that the Jets offense will soon “go through the roof.” It would be nice to at least see them get a few inches off the ground. Pick: Jets.

Texans (3-3) at Titans (3-2)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Titans by 3.
The last meeting between these teams was overshadowed by a brawl between Texans receiver Andre Johnson and Titans cornerback/provocateur Cortland Finnegan. Finnegan reinterpreted “jam at line” as “jab to face” on several plays, until finally he and Johnson ripped each other’s helmets off and began swinging. The kerfuffle ended with Finnegan clapping and smiling in the fine “I got you in trouuuu-ble” tradition of schoolyard agitators everywhere. The Texans got the last laugh with a 20-0 victory that perpetuated a six-game Titans losing streak.
Johnson (knee) is doubtful for Sunday, so Finnegan will not have his favorite playmate, and the Texans will again be without the focal point of their passing game. “We needed a new hero,” Gary Kubiak said after last Sunday’s 29-14 loss to the Ravens. Kubiak failed to mention if that hero’s got to be sure, or it’s got to be soon. “Larger than life” would not hurt. Pick: Titans.

Broncos (1-4) at Dolphins (0-5)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Dolphins by 1.5.
Fun things to do during this game. 1.) Count the number of incredibly minor accomplishments Tim Tebow receives credit for: completing screen passes and faking handoffs are about to go from remedial quarterbacking skills to “Things Tebow Does Ever So Well.” 2.) Try to figure out which Dolphins defender is trying to cover which Broncos receiver. That is exactly what the Dolphins defenders will spend much of the afternoon doing. 3.) Watch the entire Dolphins organization acquire tunnel vision at the 5-yard line, passing to Brandon Marshall on every snap, as if the plays are being called by a tipsy fantasy football enthusiast who needs a big game from the concentration-challenged receiver. Pick: Broncos.

Steelers (4-2) at Cardinals (1-4)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
Line: Steelers by 3.5.
We have reached a crossroad in human history: Larry Fitzgerald is officially quoting Winston Churchill. “Sometimes doing your best isn’t good enough. Sometimes you need to do what’s required,” Fitzgerald said earlier in the week. Fitzgerald got the quote from the special teams coach Kevin Spencer, who got it from Churchill, who got it from his special teams coach. Fitzgerald missed the “personal responsibility” part of Churchill’s message when he explained that he was not to blame for his lackluster four-catch game against the Vikings. “We had this other guy, what was his name? Oh, yeah. Anquan Boldin,” he said, adding, “I wasn’t here by myself. I had some talented guys around me.” There’s something delightfully ironic about signing a cap-straining contract, then complaining about your budget-friendly supporting cast. Any thoughts, Mr. Churchill? “If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future.” And shall have caught only a handful of passes. Pick: Steelers.

Redskins (3-2) at Panthers (1-5)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Panthers by 2.5.
Rex Grossman has a 23-16 career record as a starter. That record is updated and displayed every time he starts a game, more as justification than information: “Yes, we know you are watching a guy close his eyes and heave the ball into tight downfield coverage, but look, he has won many games, so he must do something right.” The entire Redskins offense closed ranks around Grossman after his four-interception meltdown against the Eagles, which meant it was only a matter of hours before Mike Shanahan named John Beck (career record: 0-4, earned honestly) the starter. If you did not celebrate the renaissance of Redskins team unity, wise management and long-range planning before last week, it is now probably too late. Pick: Panthers.

Seahawks (2-3) at Browns (2-3)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Browns by 3.
Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson (ankle) was a limited practice participant this week, but Charlie Whitehurst took most of the snaps with the first-team offense. Pete Carroll said he may not choose his starting quarterback until Sunday. The Browns are preparing for both by trying to keep a straight face. Carroll also made waves during the bye week by sending football-suggestive Twitter messages to the N.B.A. star (and Cleveland expatriate) LeBron James, including a picture of a Seahawks jersey with James’s name on it. A Browns fan countered by creating a video game montage of a superhuman James playing tight end for the Browns. The montage ends with the Eagles snatching James away to create a Double Dream Team for whom James spends his days watching Vince Young throw interceptions. Pick: Browns.

Falcons (3-3) at Lions (5-1)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Lions by 3.5.
Jim Schwartz went from “the coach who may finally be turning the Lions around” to “the guy who turned the postgame handshake into the Uproar Festival mosh pit” in just a few regrettable seconds last week. Mike Smith is no stranger to coaching violence (he almost decked DeAngelo Hall in 2009), but Smith is more worried about Detroit crowd noise than acts of Schwartz. Smith made the Falcons practice while he had jet engine noise pumped through giant speakers. It was a far cry from past years, when teams prepared for Ford Field by practicing in a sensory deprivation chamber. Pick: Lions.

Chiefs (2-3) at Raiders (4-2)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
Line: Raiders by 4.5.
Time stands still in the Raiderverse. Hue Jackson was a Bengals assistant from 2004-6, so he may believe he is getting Early Carson Palmer in exchange for two first-round picks, one of them conditional. That Palmer routinely threw for 4,000 yards per season. Unfortunately, the Raiders are getting Late Carson Palmer, a conscientious objector who sat out all of training camp this year, a player whose efficiency rating has fallen in each of his last five seasons as a healthy starter. Palmer went straight from the recliner to the starting lineup, meaning that the Raiders’ game plan this week will be mostly runs, reverses and fake punts, which is really not a stretch for them.

The Chiefs have won two games after an 0-3 start, and beanbags may be the reason. The embattled coach Todd Haley set up a  game in the locker room, which has lightened the atmosphere and fostered team unity. The beanbags offer almost as much resistance as the Colts and the Vikings, the two opponents the Chiefs beat to get their confidence back. Haley has also given up shaving during the winning streak in an effort to look more like the St. Louis Cardinals squirrel. Pick: Raiders.

Rams (0-5) at Cowboys (2-3)
Sunday, 4:15 p.m.
Line: Cowboys by 12.5.
Jerry Jones has backed away from his harsh criticism of Jason Garrett’s play-calling after last week’s loss. Jones wanted Garrett to give Tony Romo more passing opportunities while the Cowboys nursed a 3-point lead, because we all know that never backfires. “I would say that probably if I had that to do over again, I wouldn’t comment, period,” Jones said later in the week. Was he visited by the Ghosts of Meddling Past, Present and Future? Perhaps Nolan Ryan’s low-key demeanor as the Texas Rangers’ owner is rubbing off.
The new Rams receiver Brandon Lloyd had a reputation as an extraordinary talent with major maturity issues when he played for the 49ers and the Redskins, but he blossomed in Denver under the former Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, now a Rams assistant. Birds of a feather and all that. Pick: Cowboys.

Packers (6-0) at Vikings (1-5)
Sunday, 4:15 p.m.
Line: Packers by 9.
Donovan McNabb, whose declining accuracy has the Vikings passing game look like a game of pin the tail on the donkey, has been mercy-benched so the Vikings can develop the off-brand prospect Christian Ponder. Ponder is best known to magnetic resonance imaging technicians in Tallahassee as the Florida State quarterback who played through multiple injuries; no one knows yet if he can throw a pass without raising health insurance premiums. The Packers have been excellent long enough that we take it for granted, but not for so long that we resent it, placing them in a sports-consciousness blind spot that makes them difficult to comment upon. Pick: Packers.

Ravens (4-1) at Jaguars (1-5)
Monday, 8:30 p.m.
Line: Ravens by 7.5.
We wrap this week’s remarkable run of ho-hum matchups with a game of staggering inconsequence. The Ravens specialize in beating down-and-out teams, often in methodically dull ways. With David Garrard, Matt Turk and Mike Sims-Walker all briefly unemployed in the middle of the week, more recognizable Jaguars were out of the league than on the team’s roster. That changed when Jacksonville re-signed Sims-Walker, who was cut by the Rams, who lost two weeks ago to the Ravens, 37-7, to give the Jaguars a shot of adrenaline, or more likely a nice cup of chamomile. Pick: Ravens.

Gale Gillingham, a Packers Hall of Famer

In the era before offensive linemen were allowed to open their hands and extend their arms, for both run and pass blocking, Gale Gillingham was an unusual combination of power and technique. Gillingham died on Thursday at his home in Minnesota. He was 67. A few thoughts:

In the 1967 postseason, Green Bay’s young guard, Gale Gillingham, faced the Rams’ 300-pound, six-time pro bowler, Roger Brown; the Cowboys’ future Hall of Famer, Bob Lilly; and Oakland’s quick and agile all-pro, Tom Keating. Three outstanding defensive tackles, each with a different style. And yet Gillingham, in his first year as the full-time starter, neutralized all of them and more, as the Packers won their third consecutive N.F.L. championship and their second straight Super Bowl. By 1976, his final season, Gillingham was the last remaining Packer of the Lombardi era.

Gillingham played fullback in high school but he made the transition to both offensive and defensive tackle so well at the University of Minnesota that Green Bay selected him in the first round of the 1966 draft (13th over all). He spent his rookie year mostly on special teams, but it was clear that he was so smart and talented that he would soon be taking the job of one of the veteran guards, Jerry Kramer or Fuzzy Thurston.

The next year, when Thurston, who was about two years older than Kramer, hurt his knee in training camp, Gillingham became the starter at left guard. Kramer reflected on the change years later:

Gilly was such a good kid, had such a good attitude that none of us who had been on the offensive line for so long… really resented his arrival. It was just the natural progression of life. Fuzzy was aging, slowing down a bit. Gilly was young and swift and strong. Of course we all envied him his youth and his speed and his vigor, hated him for having all the things we’d lost. Until he showed up, Forrest (Gregg) and I had always been the fastest offensive linemen on the team. Suddenly, we no longer were. (Jerry Kramer, “Distant Replay”, Putnam, 1985)

Over his 10-year career, Gillingham played in 128 regular-season and 5 postseason games, all with the Packers. He moved to right guard when Kramer retired in 1968 and made first-team All-Pro in 1969 and 1970. He was selected for the Pro Bowl 5 times, from 1969 to 1971, and in 1973 and 1974. He was inducted into the Packers’ Hall of Fame in 1982.

Gillingham had the ideal build for a guard: thick, strong and powerful. He started his career at about 255 pounds and ended it closer to 275. He was one of the few players at that time who lifted weights in the off-season.

Gillingham had good balance, was quick and explosive off the ball, and he had exceptional pulling speed in either direction, especially early in his career. He would take off running low and hard, with his arms pumping, looking for someone to hit. His ability to adjust, in a split second, to the movement of a defender, made him an effective downfield blocker.

By the mid-1960s, the Green Bay power sweep, with both guards pulling, was well established as the most famous play in football. Lombardi installed it every year in training camp with the same energy and enthusiasm. The photographs of Kramer and Thurston leading Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung are some of pro football’s iconic images of the decade. Over time, one of the ways that developed to counter the sweep was to have the defensive end take a hard rush upfield to cut off the guards and force the runner back into the pursuit. The Packers would answer with the play that provided the turning point in the divisional playoff against the Rams in 1967: the Long Trap.

Coming into that game, many believed that time had run out on the Packer dynasty. Too old and banged up, they said. Green Bay struggled to go 9-4-1. The Rams finished tied with the Colts for the N.F.L.’s best record, 11-1-2, and had beaten the Packers in Los Angeles two weeks before. Even though the game was played in Milwaukee, the Rams were favored.

Green Bay preferred to run the sweep to the right. This was especially difficult against the Rams because their left defensive end, Deacon Jones, was so quick and fast off the ball. Now, trailing, 7-0, in the second quarter, with the ball on the Ram 46, Bart Starr called for the trap play, right at Jones.

This time, however, Jones took an inside move and was driven out of the hole by Forrest Gregg, Green Bay’s right tackle. Kramer blocked Merlin Olsen to the inside. Gillingham pulled to his right, flat down the line of scrimmage, and executed the trap on the first defender who showed, outside linebacker Jack Pardee. Travis Williams was no more than 10 yards downfield with the ball when Kramer raised his arms over his head, signaling a touchdown. He was right. The Packers went on to win, 28-7. Through the years, many of the players have called that victory one of the proudest moments of their careers.

After Lombardi retired, Green Bay finished with a winning record in only two of Gillingham’s remaining eight seasons, and never won a playoff game. Just before the start of the 1972 season, with the Packers short of defensive linemen because of injuries, Dan Devine moved Gillingham, his best offensive lineman, to defensive tackle. In Week 2, he seriously injured his right knee and missed the rest of the season. The next year he came back at right guard. Frustrated with losing, Gillingham sat out the 1975 season and asked to be traded. When the Packers refused, he came back for one more year, in 1976, and then retired for good.

In the years after his playing career ended, Gillingham’s ex-teammates sensed, although he never openly expressed it, that he was disappointed at not receiving the recognition he believed he deserved. The public might not have known, but the players did. Gregg, who ended his Hall of Fame career in Dallas, said recently that Bob Lilly told him that “Gale Gillingham was the best guard he’d ever played against.” (Forrest Gregg, “Winning in the Trenches: A Lifetime of Football”, Clerisy Press, 2010). Mike Reid of the Bengals said that Gillingham “hit me so hard, I almost couldn’t fall.” (Kramer) “When you played football and you’re concentrating and you get hit,” said Eagles middle linebacker Bill Bergey, “it never hurts. When Gillingham hit me, it hurt.” (Kramer) As Jerry Kramer wrote: “I always used to measure guys, look in their eyes, see if they were there. Gilly was always there.”

Ten of Lombardi’s Packers are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Gillingham, Kramer, left tackle Bob Skoronski and outside linebacker Dave Robinson are worthy of election as well.

In the mid-1980s, Kramer went to Little Falls, Minn., to see Gillingham for “Distant Replay”, the follow-up to his best-selling diary of the 1967 season, “Instant Replay.” Just before he left, Kramer asked his old teammate what he remembered best about his football career. Gillingham didn’t talk about any particular play or any specific game, like the Ice Bowl or either of the Super Bowls. What mattered most to Gale Gillingham was the feeling of anticipation in the moments leading up to the opening kickoff. “I love my kids dearly”, he said, “but I have never been as close to people as I was every Sunday when I walked through that damn tunnel to the field. I thought so much of those guys walking with me, I didn’t want to do anything to let them down. We would kill for each other. We would die for each other. We would do anything for each other.”

Andy Barall writes about pro football history for The Fifth Down.

Rugby World Cup 2011: New Zealand deserved winners in the greatest final of them all

Stunner: Thierry Dusautoir's try got New Zealand fans sweating (Photo: AP)

The wait is over, but my word how the whole of New Zealand had to live on its nerves to see their precious All Blacks claim their first World Cup in 24 years.

France were simply magnificent, from the moment they advanced on the haka in an arrow-shaped formation with the captain Thierry Dusautoir at the front, they defied every prediction that they would be a soft touch.

They were resolute, unyielding and hell-bent on taking the game to New Zealand in the best World Cup final ever.

And yet it was not enough. They may rue the 48-metre penalty goal failure by Francois Trinh-Duc in the 65th minute, the ball just drifting wide but given that Wales the week before had failed in similar circumstances perhaps there was some justice in all of it.

For the victors where was nothing but relief. The exultation at the final whistle, the clamour to embrace each other, tells you just how much it meant to all of them, to the players on the field, to the packed Eden Park stands and to the hundreds of thousands that have flooded in to the city to watch the match on big screens.

Who knows what level of desolation would have afflicted this country if that one-point margin of victory had been lost. It so nearly was.

In the end New Zealand were just grateful to hang on, the forwards picking and going only inches at a time to run the clock down for four long minutes. But they managed it, and the celebrations right throughout the land began. It was going to be a long night but a joyous one.

It was a deserved accolade to have claimed in the end for the double act of coach and captain, Graham Henry and Richie McCaw, these two great men warranted all the plaudits they would receive.

It was staggering to see the transformation in this French team. Even the All Blacks, respectful throughout the week, must have been stunned by the sustained ferocity with which France played.

It was true that the All Blacks had the better of a fearsome first half, scoring a try through the unlikely source of prop Tony Woodcock in the 15th minute, substitute fly-half Stephen Donald extending the lead five minutes in to the second half, but from there on in it was all France.

Some quite sumptuous performances to behold in the France back row, noble work from Aurelien Rougerie in the centre and some nice testing ball play from the back three. It was the forward pack though, who grabbed hold of the game, dominating in the set-piece, line-out and scrummage.

When Dusautoir was on hand to round off a sharp, opportunist attack, Trinh-Duc converted and it closed the scores to 8-7 with 34 minutes to run. You felt the force was with France and that somehow they might pull off an improbable victory.

Somehow New Zealand hung on, knowing that this sort of chance might never pass their way again. That they managed to do so was a sign of their character, their togetherness and a sense that it was their destiny to finally lay their hands on the Webb Ellis trophy after such a long time.

Gary Klein on USC victory over Notre Dame [video]

Times college football reporter Gary Klein and Cinesport's Brian Clark discuss how USC played its best game of the season on Saturday in South Bend, Ind.

On Revis and Sweetness

Two media-related items to chew on this morning:

1) Darrelle Revis’s interview with Mike Francesa of WFAN was cut short by a Jets public-relations staffer Friday afternoon.

Francesa teased Revis about a penalty he felt should have been called on him in the Jets-Miami game Monday night. Before Revis’s 100-yard interception return for a touchdown, he and Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall became entangled.  Francesa, who has had a contentious relationship with the Jets in recent years and who is no favorite of many Jets fans,  wanted Revis to admit that it was a penalty. Revis wanted no part of it. And the two became stuck on the subject.

Jared Winley, a Jets staffer, told Revis to hang up. Winley later apologized, saying in a statement: “In my judgment, given the tone of the interview, I should have asked Mike to move on to another topic, instead of instructing Darrelle to hang up the phone. That was an error on my part. I’ve called Mike’s producer and I apologized.”

You can listen to the full audio of the interview.

2) On the book front, Jeff Pearlman’s biography of Walter Payton has been praised for the depth of its reporting, and panned by many of Payton’s fans, particularly in Chicago,  who saw it as a hit job.

Michael Wilbon of ESPNChicago.com wrote last month:

The point isn’t to question Pearlman’s accuracy, but to question his purpose in writing the book. What’s the literary mission here? From what we’ve seen of the excerpts in Sports Illustrated, Payton’s big sins seem to be he allegedly took a lot of painkillers, and he cheated on his wife.

Pearlman took on his critics on his Web site recently, then explained why he has thin skin over the matter.

When you put X amount of work into a project, you breathe it, feel it, live it. It becomes your life. The thing consumes you. So for people to say, “Just a guy after the money” or “Lazy reporting” or … whatever. I just don’t know — on every occurrence — how to let that stuff go. Because, unless you’re made of iron, it stings. Hurts. Bruises.

Extra point Pearlman’s mission was to write the truth about Payton, wherever it led him. It’s hard to find fault with that. With Francesa vs. Revis, it’s hard to find a winner.

Chargers at Jets: Matchup to Watch

Chargers (4-1) at Jets (3-3), 1 p.m. Eastern, CBS

Plaxico Burress vs. Chargers secondary

Could that 10-reception game that Rex Ryan expects from Burress come on Sunday? Doubtful. The Chargers yield fewer passing yards (179.6 per game) than every team but Pittsburgh, and they tend to deploy a zone defense that could minimize opportunities down the sideline, where Burress often roams. He could, though, find openings in the middle of the field, where he has made all three drops this season. A few catches, especially early, could help him find the connection with Mark Sanchez that has been absent so far.

Number to watch: 10
Rex Ryan met last week with Mark Sanchez and with several members of the coaching staff to devise ways to snap out of their first-quarter malaise, which has reached 10 consecutive possessions without a first down. A slow start did not hurt them against winless Miami, but it did against Baltimore and New England, and it could against the Chargers, another elite A.F.C. team.

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK
“They’ve got two 6-5 N.B.A. players — LeBron James is out there — who can go up and get the ball.”
DARRELLE REVIS on the Chargers’ starting receivers, Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd