FOOTBALL

There were some crazy close games in the NFL yesterday.  Take a look:

1) In Atlanta, it was the revived Falcons against, um… the revived Bears.  Both teams were written off at the beginning of the season, but in the first 5 weeks of the season, both have pleaded their case to be taken seriously.  And for Atlanta, this nationally televised game was their chance to prove themselves to all sports fans.  Atlanta was on top early, but then it became a back and forth battle until the 4th quarter.  Atlanta led 19-10, and it looked like they had the game under control, even stopping the Bears on 4th down on the one yard line.  But in the last four minutes, the Bears went on a surge, and their QB, Kyle Orton, hit Rasheed Davis in the corner of the end zone in the last 30 seconds to put the Bears up 20-19.  Everyone thought it was over, but in the last 22 seconds, Falcons rookie QB, Matt Ryan, hit Michael Jenkins on a slant pass and with only two seconds left the Falcons were in field goal position.  Then, their kicker Jason Elam, who shanked a key field goal earlier, went from goat to hero as he booted the winning field goal at the last second.  Folks… the Falcons are for real.  Atlanta 22, Chicago 20.

2) In Arizona, it was a chance for the surging Cardinals to show THEY were for real against the mighty Dallas Cowboys.  It was a low scoring affair for a while, but then the Cardinals pulled ahead 24-14.  But that wouldn’t be enough, as the incredible Tony Romo hit Marion Barber on a dump pass, who then ran for a 70 yard touchdown.  Then, the boys were able to stop the Cardinals, and at the end of the game, Cowboys kicker Nick Folk crushed a 52-yard field goal to tie the game at 24 and send it to overtime.  Dallas won the toss, but couldn’t do anything.  They were forced to punt, but… IT WAS BLOCKED by Arizona, and recovered for a touchdown.  Game… over.  Note:  From this point forward, the Arizona Cardinals are to be taken VERY seriously.  Arizona 30, Dallas 24.

3) And in Houston, the Texans and Dolphins had a wild game with numerous lead changes.  In the 4th quarter, with 1:45 remaining, Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown ran it in for a 6 yard touchdown to put the Dolphins up 28-23.  Houston needed to run the field to win the game.  They got all the way down to the 3-yard line with only 3 seconds on the clock, and a field goal wouldn’t be enough.  So, in the last play of the game, Texans Quarterback Matt Schaub fooled the Miami defense, and rushed for a touchdown himself to win the game.  Houston is 1-4 right now, but they have an explosive offense and should not be ruled out of the playoffs.  Houston 29, Miami 28.

Baseball

Finally, in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers took on the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the NLCS.  But this time, it was the Dodgers that looked unbeatable.  They shalacked Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer, and the Dodgers Blake DeWitt had a clutch hit to drive in three runs.  But the story of the game was the contentious pitching duel.  Both teams felt certain pitches were being intentionally thrown at their head, especially Philly’s Shane Victorino, who threw a huge fit when a pitch came straight at his head.   The benches even emptied once.  Now this is more than just a baseball series.  It’s a mini-rivalry.  They do NOT like each other.  The next two games are in Los Angeles, and could go either way.  You NEED to watch the remainder of this series.