THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2007
SPORTS
5B
49ers earn multiple spots on poor performance list
This week's NFL games featured some close match-ups and surprising defense, and included the St. Louis Rams' first victory of the season. Here are the players who pleased and disappointed over the weekend.
CROWD PLEASERS
BY KELLY BRECKUNITCH
KANS AN COLUMNIST
KBRECKUNITCH@KANSAN.COM
QB Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers — Favre keeps rolling up the records in the NFL. This weekend against Minnesota Favre joined former Miami quarterback Dan Marino as the only other player to throw for 60,000 yards in his career. Favre completed 33 of 46 passes for 351 passing yards and three touchdowns. Favre may hold every significant quarterback record in the NFC by the end of the season. If he keeps up this level of play the Packers will definitely be playing in the NFC championship game at least.
RB Selvin Young, Denver Broncos — Mike Shanahan has done it again. He has taken a relatively un-hyped running back in an NFL draft and made him a feature back in the Denver offense. This year it is more of a surprise because the Broncos signed Travis Henry in the off-season to be the featured back in the Denver backfield. An
injury to Henry, though, opened the gates for Young, a rookie from Texas. Young had 20 carries for 109 yards and one touchdown in Denver's first victory at Arrowhead stadium since 2002, according to Espn.com. Young will easily keep Denver's running game in the positive until Henry returns from his injury.
WR Terrell Owens, Dallas Cowboys — Owens is one of the most outspoken players in the NFL, but he backs up his talk with his performance on the field. On Sunday, the Cowboys entered a big division game with Giants and Owens stepped up big in the game. Owens had six catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, helping the Cowboys gain an early advantage over the Giants in the Division race. Owens is having another Pro Bowl year, and it's no surprise the
TE Jeremy Shockey, New York Giants — Shockey did everything he could to help the Giants win on Sunday but they fell just short. The Giants had won six straight games before losing to the Cowboys for the second time this season. Shockey had 12 catches for 129 yards and one touchdown in the game. Shockey has steadily become Eli Manning's go-to option on offense this season and will continue to be a big factor in the Giants' passing game.
Cowboys are challenging for the NFC championship.
K Shayne Graham, Cincinnati Bengals — How often does a kicker score all of a team's points and the team wins that game? It rarely happens, but Sunday was one of those instances. Graham converted all seven field goals he attempted and the Bengals beat the Ravens. Graham was injured at the beginning of the year, but has come back strong for the Bengals.
players
CROWD PLEASERS
Chargers defensive back Antonio Cromatie grabs an interception against the Colts in Sunday's game. Colts quarterback back six interceptions in Indianapolis second straight loss.
Brett Favre
33/46
351 passing yards
3 touchdowns
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Selvin Young
20 carries
109 rushing yards
1 touchdown
**Terrell Owens**
6 catches
125 receiving yards
2 touchdowns
**Jeremy Shockey**
12 catches
129 receiving yards
1 touchdown
Cincinnati Defense — The Bengals, dealing with injuries on defense, held the Ravens to only seven points. Now, that doesn't seem that impressive considering it's the Ravens' offense, but this was also a Cincinnati defense that had not been able to stop anybody on offense this year. The Bengals forced six turnovers on defense and were able to hold the Ravens to 272 total yards of offense. If the Bengals' defense continues playing like this, they might actually win a few more games.
DISAPPOINTMENTS
Alex Smith
12/28
114 yards
Sacked 3 times
2 fumbles
Jamal Lewis
16 carries
35 rushing yards
2 fumbles
Darrell Jackson
1 catch
4 receiving yards
Vernon Davis
1 catch
4 receiving yards
yards. Smith was also sacked three times and fumbled the ball twice. If San Francisco wants to turn this season around, Smith will be a big part of it.
RB Jamal Lewis, Cleveland Brown's — There were a lot of questions about Cleveland's quarterback situation going into the season, but now the question should be why Lewis is still starting. Lewis has rushed for more than 100 yards just once this season, and that was against an inept Cincinnati defense. In Sunday's loss to Pittsburgh, Lewis had 16 carries for 35 yards and two fumbles. If Cleveland wants to challenge for the division title or even a wild card spot, they may have to rework their running game.
QB Alex Smith. San Francisco 49ers - Smith has been a big disappointment this year, along with the entire San Francisco team. They made a lot of personnel moves in the offseason, but they have not benefited the 49ers. Smith is working with his third offensive coordinator in three years and has still not settled into the offense. On Monday night he managed to complete 12 of 28 passes for only 114
DISAPPOINTMENTS
WR Darrell Jackson, San Francisco 49ers — As disappointing as Alex Smith has been, Jackson might be the most disappointing 49er. Jackson was the leading receiver in Seattle last season, but has only 237 receiving yards and one touchdown in San Francisco so far. On Sunday he caught only one ball for four yards. Jackson will need to step up if San Francisco wants any production in its passing offense.
K Adam Vinatieri, Indianapolis Colts — Who would've thought Vinatieri could lose a game? It actually happened on Sunday night. Vinatieri missed his only two field goals in the game, where either one could have won the game for Indianapolis. He made the lone extra point he attempted, but he has to be kicking himself for missing not one, but two field goals — a mistake he rarely makes. Vinatieri will easily recover from this setback because he is arguably the best kicker in the league.
TE Vernon Davis, San Francisco 49ers — Yes, I am putting three 49ers on the list of worst performances. Frankly, I am tired of their underachieving ways, especially Davis. Davis was one of the most talked about tight ends in the NFL draft two years ago. An injury slowed him last year, but disappointing production has hampered him this year. San Francisco let his veteran counterpart Eric Johnson get away in the offseason, and Davis performed poorly. I guess the 49ers should just take consolation in the fact that they most likely have the defensive rookie of the year playing on their team, because their offense is a joke.
Minnesota Defense — It is no secret that Minnesota's pass defense is terrible, and Brett Favre had no problem proving that. But the Vikings had the second best rushing defense in the NFL entering
Sunday's contest and yielded more than 100 rushing yards to a running back for the first time this season. No one would have been surprised if that happened last week when the Vikings faced LaDainian Tomlinson of the Chargers, but the Vikings gave up 119 yards to rookie Ryan Grant of the Packers. Minnesota's defense has been keeping them in games this season, but on Sunday it failed to protect its weak offense. The defense will need to refocus if it wants to compete in the NFC North division.
- Edited by Rachael Gray
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