Quick Kicks
It works for all of us
It looked like former Washington State Cougar quarterback Drew Bledsoe was going to need a helping hand himself after his New England Patriots fell even further behind Buffalo just before halftime in Sunday’s nationally televised contest on NBC.
The Patriots trailed 12-10 and were on the move before disaster struck. Bledsoe threw a pass he never should have thrown and had it picked off by Bills’ linebacker Cornelius Bennett who returned it 69 yards for a touchdown.
Immediately after the play, NBC ran a United Way commercial featuring - you guessed it - Bledsoe.
Fortunately for Bledsoe, he shook off the rust and led a fourth quarter New England rally in which he threw two touchdowns to tight end Ben Coates. The Pats eventually won 35-25.
Bledsoe threw for three touchdowns in addition to three interceptions en route to a 21 for 45, 263-yard day.
Thanks to you Drew …
No more records, please!
Three times Dan Marino has set NFL career-passing records and his Miami Dolphins have lost all three games.
The latest came Sunday, when Marino threw the first of four touchdown passes as the Dolphins were losing to Indianapolis 36-28.
Marino claimed the record with TD pass No. 343, a 6-yard touchdown pass to Keith Byars late in the second quarter.
It was the third of four passing records set by Fran Tarkenton that Marino topped in this, his 13th season.
Marino tied Tarkenton’s record for touchdown passes last Monday night against San Francisco and brought NFL records of 47,554 yards passing and 3,797 completions into the game.
Marino set records for completions and passing yards in losing efforts this season, and the Dolphins also lost 44-20 to San Francisco when he tied the record for TD passes.
As if we didn’t already know
“I’m dumb, but I’m not deaf. I can’t control what they (fans) do.” - Giants coach Dan Reeves on being booed after not attempting a possible game-winning 49-yard field goal.
Monday night matchup
It had all the feel of a Super Bowl, and the results turned out that way, too.
Dallas Cowboys 34, Oakland Raiders 21.
“We were anxious to see where we measured up, and it was reality,” Raiders coach Mike White said of the blowout loss. “We’re bitterly disappointed in our last game and realize we’ve got a long ways to go.”
The Raiders will try and get over that loss tonight (KXLY, Channel 4, 6 p.m.) against slumping San Diego.
The Raiders have established themselves as one of the AFC’s better teams with an 8-3 record.
But a week ago Sunday they were merely the third AFC West team to lose to Dallas this season. With Thursday’s win over Kansas City, the Cowboys are 4-0 against the AFC West, generally considered to be the most competitive in the NFL.