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Jason Staurovsky was the Patriot kicker during some of the darkest years in franchise history. Taking over for 1988 flop Teddy Garcia, he kicked for four years and saw his team regress all the way to 1-15 in 1990. He finished his career with the 1992 Jets, who along with Cary Blanchard served as the replacements for the great veteran Pat Leahy. He kicked in four games and hit on only 3 of 8 field goals. Needless to say that Staurovsky made nobody in Gotham forget Leahy. Staurovsky lofts one high in the air which comes down to the six-yard-line.
For those of you who used to watch the old TV comedy I Dream Of Jeannie, the Deion Branch grievance hearings would have given you a new meaning of the word "master". Guess we'll never know now.
That was nice of Pittsburgh to celebrate their five Super Bowl titles before Thursday night's season opener. It wouldn't be stretching it to find several folks in that area who believe that 26 years is hardly an interruption of a dynasty.
On that note, things may still not be hunky-dory between the Steel City and Terry Bradshaw, noticeably absent from that ceremony (L.C. Greenwood?).
That red flag incident showed why Nick Saban is the pupil and Bill Belichick is the teacher.
The Patriots need to fix their pass blocking before they blame passing problems on the absence of Branch.
And that includes accounting for blitzing linebackers. Last we checked, wideouts don't block 'em.
David Givens and Willie McGinest will no doubt do fine in their new digs. But the Patriots won without them and they both lost without the Patriots.
Talk about a makeover. Every network broke out new graphics, new sound effects, new looks. But if you don't have HDTV, none of it has any impact at all.
Geek of the week: That was a cheap hit Robert Geathers laid on Trent Green. When a quarterback slides, that's it. Lay off.
But the geek award goes to the official who never threw a flag on the play.
Meanwhile, Green will be okay, but does not remember the play. Doubtful many people would either, if you took a good look at Green's head hitting the turf.
It figures that the battle between two teams with zero history of any passing offense (Baltimore versus Tampa Bay) would end in a shutout win for one of the teams.
But how did the Bucs ever give up 27? Yikes.
Nice to see the Broncos begin the 2006 season the same way the Patriots ended 2005. Five, count 'em, five turnovers.
Getting Rodney Harrison back was good. Getting both Harrison and Tedy Bruschi back will be better.
So you didn't think Cardinal fans could get excited over football? New stadium, home towners win the opener, well, why not?
Drew Bledsoe still dazzles you with some of the picks he throws.
Could Detroiters have possibly expected more than a 9-6 home loss to begin the season?
Both Vince Young and Reggie Bush will be brought along slowly, it seems. But their teams won't wait too long to turn them completely loose on the league.
Especially if it's out of necessity.
The Patriots may continue to be a team where it's completely useless to overanalyze. Why complain if they won?
Back to school: New Texas quarterback Colt McCoy looks like he's 12 years old. Ohio State showed him that he really has some growing up to do.
The Patriots might still lose at Green Bay later this year. But if the Packers play then like they did on Sunday, the Patriots might finally get that elusive second win ever against Brett Favre.
Olivia Manning now knows how Rosalie DiMaggio felt during the Sox-Yankee wars of the 1940s. You simply don't root for either team or either son. How can you?
Archie must have felt the same. To look at mom and dad during Sunday night's game showed an agonizing couple, who looked like they could not wait for the game to be over.
NBC's back in the NFL picture. They pulled a Fox '94 dipsy-do by corralling both ABC announcers (Al Michaels, John Madden) for their new Sunday night package (Madden was also involved in the 1994 switch from CBS to Fox).
Honk if you predicted Carolina to win the Super Bowl. Now be brave and go tell a Falcon fan about your football smarts.
The fourth quarter is Corey Dillon's domain. Period. End of story.
The most penalized team in the NFL. That's "Raider Football".
Think Seahawk Nation was mad at the Super Bowl officials? Just wait until Deion Branch gets hurt for the first time and has to miss significant game action.
Eli had a higher passer rating, but Peyton got the win. Good battle, yes, but big brother gets the pretty girl this time.
John Hall, you're no Adam Vinatieri.
Remember him: That long touchdown bomb to Heath Miller of the Steelers Thursday night was the longest by a tight end since Richard Caster in 1974. A standout tight end for 13 years, the first eight with the Jets, Caster topped out in 1975 with a team-high 47 catches. During that year, he bested his 89-yard 1974 gem with a 91-yard reception which did not go for a score. Three times in his career he averaged over 20 yards per catch. He would later play for Houston, New Orleans and Washington, but would never duplicate his success with the Jets. Along with Jerome Barkum, he formed one-half of a nice tight end tandem for Weeb Ewbank and Gang Green.
Charlie Casserly is now a studio analyst. He was made to defend why he drafted Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush. Why won't anyone ask him why he ignored the real problem with the Texans, that being saving David Carr from getting himself killed?
Someone please explain why Sebastian Janikowski doesn't kick the field goal to prevent the Raiders from getting shut out. Maybe that's what Art Shell wanted in the end. Why ruin a miserable evening with a happy ending?
Hoo boy. Patriots are going to file a grievance against the Jets for tampering. Oh, and guess who the Patriots happen to be playing this Sunday.
At least this will be the first Patriot-Jet legal battle which doesn't involve Bill Parcells.
But the old wounds are still there. You think for a second Jet fans don't look at the three Patriot Super Bowl wins and think about "I resign as HC of the NYJ"? Bring on them lawyers, and let the good times roll.
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