Sanchez's Slump Continues

It took almost an entire overtime period for the Jets to drop to 3-3 and officially be considered a .500 team.

But if you watched the game (which in one of my most desperate acts as a football fan I drove to New York to do), you saw early on that the Jets really are no better than a .500 team.

You may remember in the preseason that I said Mark Sanchez's fast start (48-yard touchdown on his first throw) was probably the worst thing that could happen to him. I also said the humbling game he had against the Ravens might turn out to be the best thing that could have happened to him. I forgot about that lesson as the Jets jumped out to a 3-0 start this year. And I take back what I said about his first preseason game - the 3-0 start to his career is THE worst thing that could have happened to Mark Sanchez.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

Solid D + Late TD = Ugly W

You hardly know what to make of a win that looked much like a loss, but if you’re somebody who cheers for the Cleveland Browns, you’ll settle for a 6-3 victory regardless of how ugly it looked.

Think about it: The Browns had been rolling nightmarishly toward a futility that would match what the Detroit Lions did a season ago. Sixteen losses, although hardly guaranteed, did seem reachable, and coach Eric Mangini and the Browns did nothing Sunday to suggest they could win a game.

They dropped passes, slogged around in the wind and, essentially, played as if it were an exhibition game. One thing that helped the Browns was a Buffalo Bills team that couldn’t get out of its way. The Bills stumbled and false-started from the opening whistle to the game’s end.

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

No-Huddle Predictions

The Guru is going to try something different today, and the main reason is because we are less than three hours away from kickoff of the 1 p.m. games. So this is my version of the no-huddle offense, and I'm even going to break protocol this one time when it comes to the Dolphins.

Without any further delay, let's get the ball rolling:

Cleveland at Buffalo -- Ugh. Two teams headed in the same direction -- DOWN. Playing at home gives the Bills the edge in this never-to-be-seen-in-prime time match up.

Bills 16, Browns 13

Dallas at Kansas City -- Back-to-back losses to two AFC West non-juggernauts? Not in the cards for the Cowboys. Romo will snap out of it and DeMarcus Ware will make Matt Cassel wish he never left New England.

Cowboys 31, Chiefs 7

Minnesota at St. Louis -- Trap game? I think not. This one could get REAL ugly.

Vikings 45, Rams 14

(Continue to NFL Guru)

Dolphins Finally in Win Column

It was the template you thought the Miami Dolphins would follow for success against the Buffalo Bills: Establish the run, and put Chad Henne in good situations when throwing the football.

Well, the Dolphins held the ball for more than 37 minutes, and piled up 250 rushing yards for their first victory of the 2009 season, 38-10 over the fading Buffalo Bills.

Henne was efficient, completing 14-of-22 passes for 115 yards and his first NFL touchdown pass, a 5-yard toss to rookie Brian Hartline.

But the story of this game was the Miami offensive line, which cleared the way for Ronnie Brown's 20-carry, 115-yard, 2 TD effort.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

New-Look Dolphins Take on Bills

It's not the ideal time to break in a new starting quarterback, but the Miami Dolphins will try and make the most of it as they take on the Buffalo Bills at home Sunday. Kickoff is at 4:05 p.m.

At 0-3, it's panic time for Miami, which suffered a huge blow in losing starter Chad Pennington for the season last week.

That means Chad Henne, who has thrown all of 31 professional passes in his NFL career, is now the starter.

Henne struggled last week off the bench against San Diego, completing 10-of-19 passes for 92 yards. But Eric Weddle intercepted Henne, and returned the ball 31 yards to clinch Miami's third straight loss of the season.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

Buccaneers Get Buffaloed

"No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills!" - Chris Berman, ESPN

The Buffalo Bills didn't have to circle their wagons on Sunday.

No, the team they were facing wasn't that big of a threat.

Sure, there are no easy wins in the National Football League, but before some of the hometown fans were planted in their seats, the Bills had run up a quick 17-0 lead on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Sure Tampa Bay fought back and made a game of it for a while, 20-14, Bills, but when all was said and done, when all the Buccaneer defensive weaknesses were exploited, Tampa Bay headed for home 0-2 and absorbed another defensive setback in the 33-20 loss.

(Continue to Buccaneer Bow Shots)

The Customer Is Always ...

While the American public wrung their hands and wailed to the heavens about the breakdown of civility and politeness among elected officials and celebrities, they forgot once again that they have no room to talk.

In fact, just in the past three weeks, sports fans proved that they can match the very stars they blast for their anti-social behavior, outburst for outburst. It didn’t seem that way for a while, but a pair of Buffalo Bills fans closed the gap earlier this week.

These two couldn’t even wait for the rage at Serena Williams to cool down. Two days into the nationwide flogging of the 11-time Grand Slam winner for unleashing her tirade against a line judge at the U.S. Open, the “fans’’ staged an early-morning vandalism run on the home of the Bills’ Leodis McKelvin, whose late-game fumble had opened the door for New England’s comeback victory over Buffalo in Foxboro a few hours earlier.

(Continue to The Steel Drum)

Same Song for Bucs, Bills Fans

Listen to the hard-core fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Buffalo Bills and you get the feeling you're talking to the same people.

Tampa Bay fans are seeing the bright side of a 34-21 loss to Dallas that embarrassed the Buc secondary. They are talking about how great Cadillac Williams looked, they're talking about the offensive line and the running game and the 276 passing yards that Byron Leftwich racked up.

They see this glass half full, as does the Buccaneer leader -- Raheem Morris. Rah promises to clean up the mess that left poop all over the defensive backfield he once oversaw. He promises that the sins of safety Sabby Piscatelli won't be repeated. Indeed, Piscatelli was out of position often and wound up observing the rear-ends of Dallas receivers as they paraded into the Buccaneer end zone on three big plays.

(Continue to Buccaneer Bow Shots)