Marvelous McNabb throws for a mile…. The Eagles quarterback played very well on Sunday, but no matter how often he threw (55 times) or who he threw the ball to (seven different receivers) it wasn’t enough. While the Eagles fell McNabb’s numbers rose with 35 completions for 450 yards in the air and two touchdowns in a week 10 loss to the Chargers.

Action Jackson will not be stopped…. If you drafted running back Steven Jackson, but had second thoughts because the Rams offense is just bad pat yourself on the back for sticking with the stud. The St. Louis Rams may be 1-7, but that is not stopping “Action” Jackson from having a big season. On Sunday Jackson turned in his third straight 100-yard rushing game with 176 total yards against the Saints. Only twice has Jackson totaled less than 100 yards and for the season he has 1,146 yards of total offense ranking second behind Chris Johnson.
 
Worst of the Worst

When it comes to the Raiders-Chiefs rivalry, the Silver and Black know very little about home-field advantage. Thanks primarily to an inept offense that converted just 12 percent (2/16) of third downs, completed just 13 of 32 passes, and turned the ball over twice, the Raiders lost for the seventh straight time at home against the Chiefs. The Raiders are now 2-7; how did they win two games?

Jury is still Out

Has the Broncos offense finally turned the corner? Well after a fast start on Sunday against the Redskins, it certainly appeared that McDaniels had made the necessary adjustments and the offense was finally right. This was all until disaster struck. After watching Orton complete 11 of 18 for 193 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, the Broncos offense completely disappeared with backup Chris Simms in the game for the injured Orton. With a big matchup with San Diego in week 11 and Simms the likely starter, the offense might regress some before taking any more forward steps. The Jury is going to remain out on Denver’s “Patriot’s West” offense, at least until a healthy Orton returns.

10 Things I Remember From Sunday

(Week 10)

1. The Panthers used their two-headed monster out of the back-field to take down the Falcons; Stewart and Williams combined for 174 yards and two touchdowns.

2. One of my “Four Horsemen” Sidney Rice puts up 201 receiving yards against the Lions secondary.

3. The Titan’s running back Chris Johnson plays like a stud in a league of his own totaling 232 yards and scoring two touchdowns against the Bills.

4. The Redskins offensive line just blew holes into the Broncos defense all day to the tune of 174 yards on the ground.

5. Despite their recent struggles through the air, the Broncos and quarterback Kyle Orton came out gun-slinging in week 10; Orton passed for 193 yards in the first half before leaving with an injury.

6. The “Old man” in Arizona Kurt Warner took a while to get started, but once he did he was unstoppable completing 29 of 38 passes for over 300-yards and two touchdowns.

7. The Bengals defense showed up on Sunday against Big Ben and the Steelers recording four sacks and a forced fumble in their 18-12 win.

8. Steven Jackson is a one man wrecking crew in St. Louis rushing for 131 yards and catching nine balls for another 45 yards.

9. Who is Brandon Gibson, likely the next Waiver wire darling after catching seven passes for 93 yards.

10. Peyton Manning is still Peyton Manning; Sunday night against the Patriots he passed for 327 yards with four touchdowns.

Remember to check back for more “Monday Morning Huddle!”

They had a terrific opportunity to get back on the winning track tonight. All of the winds were blowing in the right direction. They were at home, in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden, with a struggling, defensively-challenged Golden State Warriors coming in with a 2-5 record.

So, what happened? More of the same play that has seen the Knicks spiraling into the NBA abyss. Uninspired, unintelligent basketball is what the Knicks gave their fans tonight as the Warriors handily defeated the hapless home team, 121-107. The New Yorkers fell to 1-9, the absolute worst start in the history of this franchise. That’s a mouthful….the worst start to a season in the 63-year history of the New York Knickerbockers.

The Warriors played only seven guys any significant minutes tonight and five of those scored in double figures. They had four players with 22 or more -  Steven Jackson with 23, Kelenna Azubuike had 22, Monta Ellis with 22, and Corey Maggette had 22.  C.J. Watson came off the bench to hit for 19 as the Knicks looked like stationary characters on the court next to the higher-flying, more athletic Warriors, who are probably one of the worst teams in the NBA.

This theme of the Knicks being out of their class athletically is becoming a nightly event but there was a different wrinkle to the beating they took tonight.

In his most damaging comments of his team’s lack of heart, a character assassination if there was one, Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni didn’t hold back.

“I thought our lack of fight was the most disappointing thing,” he said. “It’s bad, there’s no doubt about it. We’ve got three days off. We’ll practice hard and we’ll try to figure out something better, and let’s see who wants to come forward.”

D’Antoni is beginning to take on that look of bewilderment we’ve often seen here in New York City from other Knicks players and coaches over the many years of losing this franchise has encountered. He doesn’t seem to have an answer.

“The thing is, we are small but that doesn’t excuse us for people going by us,” he said. “We can’t be slow and small and also, not have fight. Those are not good combinations and that’s where we are now.”

Indeed, this roster, as currently comprised, appears not to be a good combination.

Danilo Gallinari had 19 points and 10 rebounds in his first career double-double for the Knicks, who dropped their sixth straight and fell to 1-9. David Lee scored 17 points and former Warriors forward Al Harrington had 16.

This was a matchup of teams that not only aren’t known for their defensive prowess, they actually live up to their reputations of playing undisciplined, playground-style basketball.

“The game was two teams that actually matched up pretty well against each other, played the same style,” Warriors coach Don Nelson said. “Probably the team that was going to shoot the basketball was going to win and that was us.”

The Knicks continued to display no resistance on the defensive end of the court.

“We knew there was no shot blockers in there,” Ellis said. “Our game plan was to attack the basket, move the ball two times and we would have open shots, and that’s what we did.”

They did it with such ease, one Knick fan was heard screaming, “Bring back Eddy Curry.” Obviously, that fan hasn’t seen Curry play defense.

On the Knicks lack of defensive prowess, even the rookie guard, Toney Douglas could chime in like an old veteran who’s lost too many games in his career. It’s getting scary how he’s learned the rhythm and tenor of a losing team’s post-game locker room in this, after just 10 games.

“Problem is communication,” voiced Douglas. “At the end of the day, they just played harder than us. We didn’t rotate and we weren’t in the right spots at times. Miscommunication and that type of stuff comes back to haunt you at the end of the day.”

One of the biggest culprits in this streak of terrible basketball has been Chris Duhon, the point guard D’Antoni had been counting on to be a leader and the glue to help his young team through the early stages of this season.

“It’s not where we expected or envisioned we’d be,” said Duhon. “We know we’re a much better team than that. It just comes down to us competing and fighting, myself included. I’m probably the main culprit. I try not to worry about it. We just need to go out there and compete and see what happens. And, we’re not doing that right now.”

Another comment from a team veteran about his team not competing. It can’t get any worse than that for a professional sports club, and this is Duhon’s second attack of this still-young season on the character of this roster.

David Lee, usually a calm and collected post-game interview, is feeling the anger.

“This is not good at all, it is very frustrating for us,” he said. “Like Toney just said, we need to continue to play harder and get better and at this point, we’re not where we need to be. We need to figure out where we are going wrong and fix it. If we continue playing the way we’re playing now, it is obviously just not working. Today, Golden State at home, is a game we should win.”

Truer words were never spoken.

Read more of Scott at Sportsreporters.com.

Spags is now off to St. Louis. (Bill Menzel/NYSD)

In the past few days, reports were that the Jets were leaning towards Ryan after they sat down together for five hours recently. With Baltimore facing Pittsburgh on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game, the Jets cannot officially sign him, even if they have already made a ‘wink-wink’ agreement. If that is the case, then they may have informed Spagnuolo that they were headed in a different direction.

But just couldn’t there have been a chance that ‘Spags’ either turned down the Jets or simply felt that the Rams job was more appealing? Of course, money and length of contract come into play, but without insider information we have to make our own conclusions.

As first reported by the NFL Network’s Adam Schefter, Spagnuolo signed a four-year, $11.5 million contract with St. Louis, who is coming off a 2-14 season. They lost their last 10 games and besides running back Steven Jackson, defensive end Chris Long and wideout Donnie Avery, their roster isn’t exactly filled with much promise. They do have the second overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft and will be looking to upgrade an offense that averaged a meager 14.5 points per game, low enough to finish tied for 30^th in the league.

Following their ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ run with Kurt Warner, the Rams have run into some hard times. They haven’t had a winning season since 2003 and snuck into the playoffs a year later at 8-8. They have been on a steady downfall since and cannot have been that attractive from a personnel standpoint to the Massachusetts native. But he did take the job and one of his former players had nothing but praise for him. “He is one of those coaches that has certain attributes about him that you can’t replace,” said Giants defensive end Justin Tuck.

Perhaps the Jets were leaving Spagnuolo hanging without a definite answer and he wanted to ensure a big payday before his star ran out. That may certainly be the case, but it’s also easy to speculate that he wanted nothing to do with a franchise that has had a black cloud hanging over it for then past 40 years.

Who would know that better than someone associated with a team that plays in the same stadium, the one that it was built for and named after? The stigma of not having their own identity will continue when the new stadium opens in 2010, one that will have a neutral corporate name but ultimately be called the “new Giants Stadium” by fans and scribes alike.

Over the years, regardless of who was the head coach or on the field, the Jets have made crushing defeats and disappointment a part of their culture. The mere mention of names such as Bill Simpson, A.J. Duhe, Vance Joseph or Rich Kotite will bring a litany of choice words from anyone who has bled Jet green over the long years. If you were in Spagnuolo’s shoes and had a choice, would you be rushing over to the ‘Same old Jets?’

With an unsettled quarterback situation and coming off a December collapse in which they lost four of their final five games, the Jets have many questions heading into the offseason. That had to make some type of impact on Spagnuolo when he was sitting down being interviewed by Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum.

This may all be a moot point if the Jets end up with a candidate that they wanted all along. But speculation such as this may have some legs to it.