The initial report last week said that Mark Sanchez had been stabbed in Indianapolis and was taken to a hospital. Later, there was a report that Sanchez had been arrested; that was a tad strange; the victims of a stabbing are usually not the ones getting arrested. This morning the report is that Sanchez is being charged with three misdemeanors – – battery, public intoxication and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle. The “stabber” in this case is 69 years old and said that he feared for his life in the altercation and used pepper spray on Sanchez in addition to a knife. The hospital has upgraded Sanchez’ condition to “stable”.
The report this morning said that it appears as if the altercation began over a “parking situation”; Sanchez was in Indy intending to call the Colts/Raiders game on Sunday for FOX. Maybe he can take some solace in the fact that he did not have to watch his former college coach, Pete Carrol, take a severe drubbing on Sunday. The Raiders lost 40-6 kicking field goals on their first possession and again on their final possession in the game. Between those field goals, here are the results of the Raiders’ offensive possessions:
- Punt
- INT
- Missed Field Goal
- Punt
- INT
- Turnover on DOWNS
Geno Smith now leads the NFL in interceptions thrown with 9. That is a particularly ominous statistic when you consider that the Raiders’ defense allowed the Colts yesterday to score 6 TDs on 6 Red Zone possessions.
The 2025 season is about one-third finished; I have not yet seen all the teams in the league but of the one’s that I have seen for at least a half of a game let me categorize them into 3 groups – – teams that look very good; teams that look very bad and teams that look as if they could be a serious contender later this year.
- Very Good Teams: Bills, Broncos, Bucs, Chiefs, Lions, Rams
- Very Bad Teams: Browns, Dolphins, Giants, Jets, Raiders, Ravens
- Improving Teams: Commanders, Jags, Pats
Note that I do not have the Eagles anywhere on those lists because I do not think they have played well at all; and at the same time, they are not a very bad team either.
Last week, Giants’ coach Brian Daboll looked to be in desperation mode starting Jaxon Dart against the Chargers and it looked as if his longshot had paid off. The Giants came away with a major upset victory and Dart was the toast of the town. Against the Chargers, Dart produced 111 passing yards and one TD, and he added 54 yards rushing on 10 carries. Yesterday was a different story …
Against a middling Saints’ defense, Dart led the Giants to touchdowns on the team’s first two possessions. Things were looking up in NYC until the worm turned. Here are the Giants; possessions after those two early touchdowns:
- Punt
- Punt
- Fumble
- Strip Sack
- Fumble
- Fumble
- INT
- Turnover on DOWNS
The Giants did indeed turn the ball over on five possessions in a row. At that point the joy in NYC was probably equal to the joy in Mudville when Casey struck out.
Another source of agita in NYC is the current state of the Yankees/Blue Jays series in the AL playoffs. The Jays lead the series 2-0 and have outscored the Yankees 23-8 in those two games. No joy there either …
Finally, having mentioned the lack of joy in NYC, let me close with this observation about riding the subway in NY by Dorothy Parker:
“Not just plain terrible. This was fancy terrible; this was terrible with raisins in it.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
The Bucs – Seahawks game was the best NFL game we have watched this young season. Second place would be Green Bay – Dallas.
GO JAYS!!