Quick Kicks

Reeves back in hospital

Atlanta running back Jamal Anderson had a message Sunday for his coach, Dan Reeves, who he thought was home recovering from last week’s quadruple bypass surgery.

“This is for your family, Coach Reeves,” said Anderson, who set a team season rushing record in Sunday’s come-from-behind win over the Lions.

“The guys made the plays all season long when they had to be made,” Anderson said. “That’s how this team has done things all year. This is for Coach, because he came in here and built a winner.”

Bloomberg News reported late Sunday night that Reeves returned to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta at 2 p.m. after saying he didn’t feel well. He was listed in stable condition.

“It was nothing out of the ordinary,” said nurse supervisor Stacey Wheeler said. “He’s resting. They’ll probably run some tests and adjust his medication.”

Reeves told the Falcons before they left for Detroit on Saturday that he would be their biggest fan as he watched the game from his home with his wife, Pam.

The Lions had a 17-10 lead through three quarters, before the Falcons got the final two scores.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment, and I think this team is a team of destiny,” Anderson said. “Obviously, losing Dan Reeves was tough for us. But regardless of what happens, this team will carry on.”

There’s a lesson here

With the pressure of playoff expectations gone and nothing left to play for but pride and joy, the Washington Redskins have become a respectable team.

It’s enough to drive a middle linebacker crazy.

“When it comes off-season, we’re going to sit at home and wonder about our season and be mad and kick ourselves,” Marvcus Patton said. “I know I am, and I know probably everyone else in this room will, too.”

Patton, like his teammates, were tense and tight when the Redskins opened the season.

But when the record hit 0-7, there was nothing left to lose. Players and coaches talked about having fun, and coach Norv Turner got the kind of results unseen in his first 4-1/2 years on the job: come-from-behind victories, steady quarterback play, poise on both sides of the ball.

Now, the Redskins (6-9) have won six of their last eight, and a victory at Dallas next week would make them the first NFL team ever to win seven games after going 0-7.

Simply Favrelous

Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw 30 or more touchdown passes in five seasons.

Favre, 29, tossed three touchdown passes to Antonio Freeman during the Packers’ 30-22 win over the Tennessee Oilers, giving him 30 scoring passes on the season for the fifth straight year.

With his 108th straight regular season start, Favre passed Buffalo’s Joe Ferguson to move into second place in NFL history for consecutive starts by a QB. He’s eight behind the record of 116 set by Ron Jaworski of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1977-84.

The last word …

“That stuff ticks you off. It motivates me to go out there and prove people wrong.” - New England backup QB Scott Zolak on media reports that the Patriots had no chance to win without starter Drew Bledsoe.