Oakland Raiders Shock Pittsburgh Steelers 20 to 13; Win Two In A Row - NFL.com

Raiders KO defending champs 20-13

NFL.com wire reports

OAKLAND, Calif. (Oct. 29, 2006) -- The Pittsburgh Steelers might have been better off if Big Ben sat out this game.

Chris Carr returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown, Nnamdi Asomugha also took back an interception by Ben Roethlisberger for a score and the Oakland Raiders mounted a late goal-line stand to hold on for a 20-13 victory over Pittsburgh.

Roethlisberger, playing a week after being knocked out with a concussion against Atlanta, struggled from the start against the Raiders (2-5). He threw interceptions on two of Pittsburgh's first three possessions and then twice again in the fourth quarter when the Steelers (2-5) were driving for a potential tying score.

Oakland won back-to-back games for the first time since last October and handed the defending Super Bowl champions their fifth loss in six games.

Pittsburgh still had a chance after the two late interceptions, getting a first-and-goal at the 1 trailing 20-13 with about three minutes left.

But Robert Thomas stuffed Willie Parker on first-and-goal and hit Najeh Davenport for a 4-yard loss on second down. After a false start by Davenport put the ball at the 10, Roethlisberger completed a 7-yard pass to Hines Ward.

On fourth down, Kirk Morrison broke up Roethlisberger's pass to Santonio Holmes in the end zone.

After the Steelers forced a punt, Pittsburgh had one last-ditch chance. Roethlisberger completed a 49-yard pass to Nate Washington down to the Oakland 4 on the final play.

The Steelers had their chances in this one.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Morrison made a leaping interception on a pass from Roethlisberger to Ward on fourth-and-1 from the Oakland 36.

Trailing 13-6, Pittsburgh drove to the Oakland 7 before Roethlisberger threw a pass over the middle that Carr stepped in front of at the goal line and raced the length of the field for the score that made it 20-6.

Oakland's pass defense lived up to its No. 1 ranking, which had been achieved in large part because the Raiders trailed so often early in the season opponents didn't need to pass.

But along with the four interceptions, Oakland also sacked Roethlisberger five times and allowed Pittsburgh's receivers little room to operate until after the Raiders went up 20-6. Willie Parker caught a 25-yard TD pass from Roethlisberger on the next drive.

Roethlisberger finished 25-for-37 for 301 yards, but most of the damage came after Pittsburgh fell behind 20-6.

The Steelers did their best impression of the Raiders by committing four turnovers and four personal fouls. Pittsburgh is in danger of being unable to defend their title in the playoffs, falling three games behind Baltimore in the AFC North.

The 2006 debut of last year's leading receiver Jerry Porter did little to help Oakland's anemic offense. The Raiders managed just 98 yards, giving up six sacks and failing to score on offensive touchdown as they once again struggled to block a blitzing opponent.

Porter, inactive the first four games and suspended the last two as part of a long-running feud with coach Art Shell, came in on Oakland's first play of the second quarter. He caught a 19-yard pass in the final minute of the half to set up Sebastian Janikowski's 19-yard field goal that made it 10-6 at the break.

Oakland's other score in the half came on Asomugha's 24-yard interception return.

Oakland's leading rusher LaMont Jordan played sparingly with a sore back and Justin Fargas led the rushing attack with 55 yards on 18 carries.

Indy Colts Beat Denver Broncos 34-31; Remain Undefeated At 7-0

Manning, Wayne help Colts escape Denver

NFL.com wire reports

DENVER (Oct. 29, 2006) -- Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne picked, poked and plowed their way through a Denver defense that was designed specifically to stop them.

Manning passed for 345 yards and three touchdowns - all to Wayne - and Adam Vinatieri kicked a 37-yard field goal with 2 seconds left Sunday to lift the Indianapolis Colts to a 34-31 victory over the baffled Broncos.

Wayne finished with 10 catches for 138 yards and did most of his damage against defensive back Darrent Williams. Williams was Denver's first pick of the 2005 draft, a defense-heavy class that was part of an ongoing effort by the Broncos (5-2) to shore things up after those embarrassing playoff debacles in Indy in 2003 and '04.

It looked as though things were coming together very nicely; Denver came in comparing favorably to the best defenses of all time, having allowed only 44 points through six games.

Then came Manning & Co., who gained 437 yards to become the first team to start 7-0 in consecutive seasons since the 1929-31 Green Bay Packers did it three straight times.

Manning went 32-for-39 for 345 yards with a passer rating of 129.2. He wasn't intercepted, wasn't sacked, was barely touched, in fact.

His counterpart, the much-maligned Jake Plummer, did a wonderful job matching Manning, leading a Denver offense that hadn't scored 20 points all season. Plummer went 13-for-21 for 174 yards and a passer rating of 104.1. Rookie running back Mike Bell came off the bench for 136 yards and two scores.

But this was one of those games where the team that has the ball last was going to win.

Wayne's third touchdown gave Indy a 31-28 lead with 3:35 left. But when Bell answered immediately with a 48-yard run, the Broncos stalled at the Colts 30 with 1:49 to go and had to settle for a tying field goal. It then became clear this would be Indy's game to win.

Manning did it cruelly and efficiently, working the sidelines and finding every soft spot in the zone defense the Broncos used, and surprisingly stuck with, even as Indy's yardage piled up.

The two big plays were Manning to Wayne for 14 yards and Manning to Wayne for 9 more - both catches made in front of Williams, who all week acknowledged this game was something of a referendum on his presence in Denver.

Vinatieri, brought to Indy to make kicks exactly like this one, nailed the 37-yarder to finish a 4-for-4 day and help the Colts finish a perfect second half - they scored each of the five times they touched the ball after halftime. Denver's desperation kickoff return went nowhere and the Broncos saw their 13-game, regular-season home winning streak ended.

Indy, meanwhile, re-established itself as the team to beat in the AFC, taking a two-game lead in the win column over Denver and all the closest contenders with the season nearing the halfway point.

Joseph Addai ran for 93 yards for Indy and Dallas Clark, the tight end who has long been tough for Denver to cover, finished with six catches for 68 yards, as Manning spread his 32 pass completions to seven receivers.

Pat Summerall's Calling 49ers v. Bears Game Today

I'm watching the Niners v. Bears game on Fox and to my surpise, am hearing a voice that for a long time I associated with the Dallas Cowboys and John Madden: Pat Summerall.

According to Wikipedia, Summerall retired in 2002, and after Super Bowl XXXVI, but was drawn back in this year.

It's really cool to have him back in the face of American Culture.

ESPN's Michael Irvin Take High Road On Tiki Barber's Comments

Last week, New York Giants Running Back Tiki Barber responded to Michael Irvin's assertion that Tiki Barber's a quitter by calling him an "idiot" on his radio show.

Given the chance to talk back on national television, the energetic Irvin took the high road, stating that his views were just that.

I say, good for Michael Irvin for, in one swoop of his tongue, effectively ending an unfortunate and immature feud.

Jerry Porter To Play For Oakland Raiders Today - Finally - ESPN

If this is true, it's about time, and too bad that The Raiders let the whole matter with Jerry Porter grow to such immature proportions.

Report: Reinstated Raiders WR Porter to play
Associated Press

Jerry Porter reportedly will see his first on-field action Sunday for the Oakland Raiders.

An unnamed person close to the wide receiver told The Contra-Costa Times that Porter would play against the Steelers. The person told the newspaper that Porter worked with the first-team offense upon his reinstatement from suspension.

Porter was reinstated by the Raiders on Wednesday after the NFL and the players association agreed to cut his four-game suspension in half.

Porter was suspended Oct. 15 for insubordination a day after being kicked out of practice by coach Art Shell. The NFL Players Association appealed the suspension the following week, calling it "excessive."

Under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, union executive director Gene Upshaw and Harold Henderson, the NFL's executive vice president for labor relations, can agree to settle the grievance without a hearing.

Porter, Oakland's leading receiver a year ago, had been inactive the first four games before the suspension. Shell said he planned to talk to the receiver when he returned to the team but would not commit to using him in a game for the first time this season.

Shell and Porter clashed almost immediately after the coach was hired in February over Porter's offseason workout plans. Porter made public a trade demand at the start of training camp and was inactive for the four games before the suspension.

Porter had been working with the scout team in practice before being kicked out after an argument with the coach Oct. 14.

The Porter situation had led to some grumbling by players unhappy that one of the team's best players wasn't being used. Oakland struggled offensively without Porter, losing its first five games before finally breaking through with a 22-9 victory last week against Arizona.

Porter, in the second year of a five-year contract worth $20 million, was docked about $115,000 in pay for the two-game suspension.

Porter led the Raiders with 76 catches last season and had 942 yards receiving and five touchdown receptions in 2005.

Porter, a second-round pick out of West Virginia in 2000, has 239 catches for 3,215 yards and 24 touchdowns in six seasons with the Raiders. He has never reached 1,000 yards receiving in a season, missing the mark narrowly last season and with 998 yards in 2004.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

NFL 2006 - Year Of The Ticket Broker

The National Football League has proudly issued press releases annoucing the number of weeks where each team has sold out its home game, including some organizations that have been habitually non-sellout examples, like the Oakland Raiders.

In the case of the Raiders, this is the second year since their return that they've had more sellout games than non-sellout games, and they've had the worst record in the NFL until last Sunday. Why so many sellouts? It's not because people want to see the NFL's supposedly worst team, it's the secondary ticket market.

The rise of online ticket sales has changed the landscape of sellouts in the NFL. When this season started, RazorGator, an online ticket brokerage, came through and purchased the majority of Eagles seats, leaving none for public sale. Well, that's not quite fair, they were available publically, just through RazorGator. Some of the best seats went for over a grand. And the Eagles weren't the only NFL team bitten by the secondary ticket market.

While RazorGator's a brokerage, with StubHub.com, an online ticket market, everyone can be a ticket broker, charging whatever price, high or low. For example, one can get tickets to Sunday's Raiders / Steelers game for just $28. Yes, it's a nose-bleed seat, but it's below face value. But the simple fact that I can get such a ticket for cheap is a new development. It means that ticket prices are actually coming down.

Why?

Well, my theory on this is two fold-- at least for StubHub users -- that sellers are not all professional scalpers and really want to get rid of tickets, but for those who are pros, they may have an inventory they just want to dump. The result in either case is cheap tickets.

In fact, the tickets on Stubhub.com are generally lower than those sold on Craiglist, and safer, too. People using Craiglist have to meet the seller in person -- unless your lucky enough to find a post that links to a Stubhub-related website -- and risk being robbed by the seller or buyer. A problem that has worsened this year.

Still, one can get tickets to any NFL game. But when you go to a sold out game, and see sets of seats empty, you can both thank and blame the ticket broker who could not sell out his or her inventory. But their purchase of the tickets guarantees the rest of us will see NFL games on TV.

New York Jets West Side Stadium Video Documentary - www.antdogs.com

This is a video documentary of the politics behind the proposed and now defunct New York Jets West Side Stadium. It was produced by Anthony Thornton of www.antdogs.com, a 22-year old Fim major at City College, New York.

This video's a great example of how a proposed stadium can stir passions positively, or in this case, negatively. It features the Rev. Al Sharpton, and several New Yorkers and elected officials.

SF 49ERS Proposed Stadium: Is HNTB Cutting Corners To Save Money?

The San Francisco 49ers have played their games at two stadiums, Kezar Stadium in the center of San Francisco, and now Candlestick Park, which is now called "Monster Park."

While Monster Park at Candlestick Point has been the scene for some of the greatest plays in NFL history, it's seen better days. It has less than the standard number of luxury boxes, has a weird shape that causes the hard wind off the point to play havock with the kicking game, and has a large number of seats with views obstructed by beams holding up the second deck. It's time for a new stadium.

In fact, long past the time for one.

The first time a new stadium was considered for Candlestick Point, it was 1982. That proposal was a renovation, the costs of which kept going up and up and the economy faling into recession, until the need for the stadium was no longer important at the time.

The second attempt -- another renovation -- was taken over by then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who wanted a new stadium. That proposal barely passed the vote called Proposition D and E, but it did, the problem was that the Niners owners didn't have the right financing in place.



This 2006 proposal is the third attempt.

What's different with this one is simple in my view: the stadium model gives the look of a cheap facility -- the photo at the top of this post is the new proposal. Take a good look at it. Ok, the model itself is cheap, without the detailed seat representation I'm used to seeing, but there's more. For example, in all of the designs of seen for a stadium in the swirling winds of Candlestick Point, there's always been some kind of wind break or design that causes the wind not to swirl.

Take a look at the photo on the left -- it's the stadium part of the stadium mall proposed by Eddie DeBartolo and Carmen Policy. The extreme right side and near top of the photo shows the kind of hangover roof I'm referring to. And another view of this design is to the right. It looks like a complete stadium, without cutting corners.



Not this new design.

The new 49ers Stadium Proposal is open air at the top, with no shielding or protection of the crowd from the elements. In this, it looks like a high school stadium. The sideline seat structure does not hug the field, as do other designs. In fact, the last stadium proposal -- see the photos -- did have a seat structure that hugs the sidelines. The new proposal seems to have the stadium made in straight sections, rather than a smooth structure that hugs the field.

Yikes! .

Whatever's going on, it looks like project architects NHTB is cutting corners, or at least being told to do so. That's a mistake. As it looks now the stadium costs about $700 million and I predict that cost will increase to $1 billion.

That's terrible.

The 49ers staff and Mayor Gavin Newsome should check into this. As I told both the Mayor and a person working on the "San Francisco Olympic Bid" since the stadium's a part of the bid, any cost overuns may impact San Franciso's Olympic Bid.

NFL OWNERS APPROVE RESOLUTION TO STAGE INTERNATIONAL REGULAR-SEASON GAMES

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
280 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
(212) 450-2000 * FAX (212) 681-7573
WWW.NFLMedia.com

Joe Browne, Executive Vice President-Communications
Greg Aiello, Vice President-Public Relations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
NFL-104 10/24/06 MICHAEL SIGNORA, NFL, 212-450-2076
SIGNORAM@NFL.com

NFL OWNERS APPROVE RESOLUTION TO STAGE
INTERNATIONAL REGULAR-SEASON GAMES

The NFL will stage up to two international regular-season games per season beginning in 2007, further demonstrating the league’s commitment to competing in a global sports marketplace and to developing a greater presence beyond the
borders of the United States.

NFL club owners approved a resolution at a league meeting in New Orleans today that enables the league office to schedule up to two regular-season games per season outside the United States beginning in 2007 and continuing through
at least the 2011 campaign.

“This step comes in response to the tremendous and growing interest in the NFL around the world,” said NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL. “The owners believe that hosting a limited number of regular-season games outside the United
States on a regular basis is in the best interests of the league and will help to increase the fan base, build awareness of the NFL and grow the sport worldwide.”

Participating teams and venues will be decided at a later date with Canada, Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom as potential host countries.

In 2005, the NFL staged its first-ever regular-season game outside the United States as the Arizona Cardinals hosted the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City.

A crowd of 103,467 flocked to Azteca Stadium – the largest crowd for a regularseason game in NFL history.

The NFL has engaged in almost 20 years of international activity, including the preseason American Bowl series, the NFL Europe League, grass roots programs and customized television programming.
# # #

Dallas Cowboys Coach Bill Parcells Picks Tony Romo As QB; Drew Bledsoe Says He's The Best

Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Bill Parcells picked Tony Romo as the starter after his three-interception, one touchdown performance against the New York Giants. I personally think it's a terrible idea, and will result in the Cowboys losing several games. Drew Bledsoe says he's the QB to win and I think he's correct. Here's what Drew said in the Dallas Morning News "blog."

In what was a break from club protocol, Drew Bledsoe held a news conference following the news of his demotion.
"Thanks for coming," he deadpanned at the start of the 10-minute session.

"In this league, it's day to day, week to week, and apparently half to half," Bledsoe said in reference to being yanked at halftime of Monday night's game.

He said Bill Parcells informed him of the decision during a 30-minute conversation this morning. He said he was "surprised" that Parcells would demote him, but that he still respected him.

"I really believe in my heart of hearts that I give us the best chance to win," Bledsoe said.

He called his experience during the second half of Monday's game "surreal." And when asked whether he thought he would've led the Cowboys to a victory, he said, "I have to believe we would've won. That's my makeup."

Atlanta Falcons Tickets Exchange - Buy or Sell Falcons Tickets

Get Atlanta Falcons tickets for all games with a click here "Atlanta Falcons" Se the exciting Falcons with Michael Vick.

Oakland Raiders - Keys To Win? O-Line Blocking and Defense

The Oakland Raiders finally won a game, and just in time for a visit by the hated Pittsburgh Steelers. What were the keys to the win? The offensive line and the defense.

The offensive line finally used a different blocking technique -- they didn't retreat! They stood up and blocked their assignments. Yes, there were some sacks, but far fewer hurries and pressures than we've seen this season. Plus, there was slightly more formation variation.

Now I'm still not sold on the offense entirely, but they're taking steps in the right direction. I'd still replace Tom Walsh, however.

Hire Hue Jackson.