Monday Night Madness

Make that '2' close for comfort!
(espn.com)

Well, that was kinda close, huh? It wasn't the smoothest performance ever, but in the end, the expected result was obtained as the Pats eeked one out by T.O. and the Bills. For a while, it looked like Fred Jackson, a former member of NFL Europa's Rhein Fire, was making early bid for the NFL MVP as he was shredding up a Pats defense that is still looking for an identity. I admit, after the Jackson TD that made it 24-13 (with an inexperienced offensive line), I was already thinking about how not to lose against the Jets next week. But with 5:32 left in the game, and with a guy named Brady back at the helm, I wasn't ready to flip the channel just yet. Not with the throwbacks and the orange candy cane ref unis, which made me feel like I was watching a more violent version of Candy Land. All we needed was a scoring drive and for the Bills to do something dumb. Enter: Leodis McKelvin, who decided not to kneel in the end zone and instead coughed up the ball on his own 31 yard line with just under 2 minutes to play. One Watson TD later, the Armageddon feel lessened, and all of a sudden Pats fans are not worried about a shaky defense, which might be without Jerrod Mayo next week. Knowing my history, we will probably never know what's up with that knee, which doesn't help the psyche one bit. While Randy Moss didn't score any TDs, he did get 12 receptions, 10 more than his Bill counterpart T.O. If this continues, I estimate the Bills implosion to possibly start in T-3 weeks. While it took a combination of 53 Brady pass attempts and the untimely (but almost predictable) Bills mistake to achieve victory, I'm not worried about this shaky performance in relevance to the long-term grind. The defense has mostly veteran members, who won't take as long to regroup and find their groove as a unit. A 378 yard, comeback performance from a slightly off-kilter Brady is no reason for concern, either.

Just when I thought my heart was safe....
(espn.com)

Why suddenly does a whole fanbase need an EKG? Oh yeah, because The National Treasure is back! Dice-K makes his first start in almost 3 months as he faces a well-balanced Angel offensive attack. So which Dice-K are we going to get? Are we going to get the guy who drove us to the Tobin Bridge, only to get out of constant bases loaded jams? Or will we get the arm fatigued version that was the walking-launching pad in his 8 starts in 2009? Either way, I have officially lowered my expectations for my own health. With 20 games to go, the Sox have a firm grasp on the Wild Card with a 4.5 game lead going into a week where they will face the division leading Angels and the Orioles, who have thrown in the towel a while ago. And from what we have learned from the past couple months of trials and tribulations with the staff, another effective arm is always welcome. With Wakefield's back being preserved with a tsunami of cortisone now, there is no guarantee that he will be a major contributor in the final push for October. So I will be watching Dice-K tonight, with stress ball in hand, to see whether he can emerge from a year of shoulder weakness and utter disappointments to possibly be a late addition to a staff that has changed faces more than a recently deceased pop star. So don't pass out tonight, because the Byrd is the word tomorrow!

Mochaman's Fantasy Football Report

- Boston Beersquad - 1-0 (3rd, Plax's Got a Gun, 2nd in Division 2, 122.72 Pts.)
Can't get much better than a Week 1 victory. Capitalized with huge games from Santonio Holmes, Shockey, and the New York Giants defense. This 'Madden Curse' thing has almost brought me to prayer, considering I have Larry Fitzgerald as my top receiver. Also regretting the Ronnie Brown pick right, but it's still early. Expecting huge performances from Ochocinco and Clinton Portis this upcoming week.

- Killa' Beavaz - 1-0 (4th, Yahoo Public 179914, 103 Pts.)
Like on my other team, Fitzgerald (I know, kinda scary) and Holmes came through while Ronnie Brown produced a stinker in Week 1. Brandon Marshall didn't exactly light the world on fire, either. Had more points with Tennessee's defense than the other team had with Pittsburgh, despite opposite results in the real game on Thursday night. The big blow for this team was McNabb and his cracked rib, which really shakes things up for the rest of the year, even if he does play in the games. Not too confident in putting in Eli just yet.

R.I.P. Mr. Dirty Dancing

Patrick Swayze (Aug.18, 1952 – Sept. 14, 2009)
(media.photobucket.com)