FOOTBALL

In the NFL — Monday Night Football.  And ESPN had a double-header for us.

First up, it was a much anticipated showdown between the mighty New York Jets and the always rugged Baltimore Ravens.  These are arguably the two best defenses in the league, and many anticipated a grueling defensive showdown.  Plus, the NY Jets have been featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks the last few months, and everybody wanted to see how this team would fare.  Well, a defensive show is what they got.  Both teams wouldn’t let the other do anything, and the Jets run defense was absolutely stifling — holding Ravens star running back Ray Rice to under 50 yards.  But, alas, the Jets offense looked horrendous.  They only had six first downs, and didn’t get a touchdown all night.  In the end, the Ravens edged out the Jets by 1.  Baltimore 10, NY Jets 9.

Next up, it was the San Diego Chargers vs. the Kansas City Chiefs.  This game was a little more unpredictable.  The Chargers are typically dominant in this match-up, but they were without their star receiver Vincent Jackson and defense tackle Marcus McNeill.  Meanwhile, the Chiefs were truly hoping to turn things around.  In the off-season, they brought in Charlie Weiss from Notre Dame as offensive coordinator and Romeo Crenell from the Cleveland Browns as defensive coordinator.  And if you didn’t know, these were the coordinators surrounding Bill Belichick during the Patriots dynasty.

San Diego jumped out to an early lead, but then the Chiefs came surging back and showed what they could do.  Jamaal Charles burst out for a big 56 yard touchdown to tie the game.  And a Chargers turnover led to an easy touchdown pass to Tony Moeaki in the back of the end zone.  And, in the 3rd quarter, Chiefs speedster rookie Dexter McCluster ran back an electrifying punt return for a touchdown.  The crowd was going crazy!  Suddenly football was back in Kansas City.  However, the Chargers rallied back and even found themselves with the opportunity to tie the game with under a minute left in the 4th quarter.  But, the Chiefs applied defensive pressure and Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers couldn’t find an open man in the end zone.  And the Chiefs won their opening game.  The fans didn’t have to worry this year — the Chiefs should actually be competitive.  Kansas City 21, San Diego 14.

BASKETBALL

Finally, in basketball, Allen Iverson’s career is essentially on its last legs.  He tried to comeback last year, got a stint with the Memphis Grizzlies and was cut.  He couldn’t find a job after that, but the Philadelphia 76ers decided to sign Iverson for marketing reasons.  Basically, they thought having Iverson back might reignite the better days of Sixer basketball in the early part of the decade.  Didn’t work though.  And after that, Iverson couldn’t find a job.  Well, he’s still not ready to quit, and is reportedly considering playing ball in China.