Quick Recap of Today's NFL Games

12 games today. Here's what we saw:

Ravens 35 Steelers 7 - The Steelers turned the ball over SEVEN TIMES against the Ravens defense. Ray Rice ran for over 100 yards and Joe Flacco threw 3 touchdowns as the Ravens made a big statement at home.

Photo Credit: cbc.ca/sports

Bears 30 Falcons 12 - Matt Ryan had over 300 yards passing, Michael Turner had 100 yards rushing, and the Falcons still got CRUSHED. Jay Cutler, threw for 312 yards and a pair of touchdown passes and Brian Urlacher had an interception and returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown. The Bears defense did not concede a touchdown and sacked Matt Ryan 5 times.

Texans 34 Colts 7 - Think the Colts miss Peyton Manning? Kerry Collins wasn't solely to blame in this one, though he did lose a pair of fumbles, as even without Arian Foster, the Texans amassed over 150 yards on the ground. Second year back Ben Tate ran for 116 years and a score and Jacoby Jones added a 79 yard punt return for a touchdown for Houston who led 34-0 at the half and coasted to an easy win.

Photo Credit: cbc.ca/sports

Jaguars 16 Titans 14 - Dwight Lowery picked off Kerry Collins with 16 seconds to play to give Luke McCown and the Jags a victory to start the season. Chris Johnson had just 24 yards on 9 carries in his first appearance of the year after getting his new contract. McCown wasn't anything special but he did enough completing 17 of 24 passes for 175 yards.

Bills 41 Chiefs 7 - Didn't see this one coming at all. The Chiefs got absolutely smoked at home as Ryan Fitzpatrick threw 4 touchdown passes and the Bills defense completely shut down every aspect of Kansas City's offense. Matt Cassel threw for just 119 yards, and the Chiefs running game accounted for just 108 more as Buffalo is a surprising 1-0.

Bengals 27 Browns 17 - Rookie Andy Dalton left the game with an injury, but Bruce Gradkowski rallied the Bengals to a win hitting another rookie, wide receiver A.J. Green, with a 41 yard touchdown pass late in the 4th quarter. Cedric Benson had 121 yards on the ground and the Bengals defense held Peyton Hillis to just 57 yards on 17 carries.

Eagles 31 Rams 13 - Quarterback Sam Bradford (hand), running back Steven Jackson (quad) and wide receiver Danny Amendola (dislocated elbow) all left the game with injuries as the Eagles routed the Rams. The Dream Team was solid though not spectacular and got a pair of touchdown passes from Michael Vick (to go along with 98 rushing yards) and 122 rushing yards and a pair of scores from LeSean McCoy.

Photo Credit: turfshowtimes.com

Lions 27 Bucs 20 - All Hail Megatron! Lions big play receiver, Calvin Johnson, caught a pair of touchdown passes from Matt Stafford and the Lions pulled out a big win in Tampa Bay for the second year in a row. Stafford finished with 305 yards passing and 3 touchdowns and most importantly, he didn't get hurt.

Cardinals 28 Panthers 21 - I guess I'll just keep my mouth shut about Cam Newton for the rest of the year. Newton threw for 422 yards (not a typo) and a pair of touchdowns in his NFL debut and nearly stunned Arizona on the road today. Arizona was bailed out by their own rookie, Patrick Peterson, who returned a punt 89 yards in the 4th quarter to break a 21-21 tie. Steve Smith, Newton's new best friend, had 178 yards on 8 catches and scored a pair of touchdowns in a losing effort.

Photo Credit: idahostatesman.com

Chargers 24 Vikings 17 - Fullback Mike Tolbert scored 3 touchdowns and San Diego scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to give the Chargers a win in their season opener. Donovan McNabb had his first pass of the day intercepted and finished with just 39 passing yards in his Vikings debut. Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding injured his knee on the opening kickoff forcing punter Mike Scifres into double duty as the kicker. He connected on 3 extra points and drilled a 40 yard field goal, the first of his NFL career.

49ers 33 Seahawks 17 - Seattle appeared to be on the brink of coming back to win this game cutting a 16 deficit to 2 in the 4th quarter, but Ted Ginn Jr. returned a kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown and a minute later returned a punt 55 yards for another touchdown giving coach Jim Harbaugh a win in his NFL coaching debut. Tarvaris Jackson threw for 197 yards and 2 touchdowns in a losing effort.

Photo Credit: cleveland.com

Redskins 28 Giants 14 - Rex Grossman is a winner. WOW. He earned it too throwing for 305 yards and a pair of touchdowns and the Skins scored 21 unanswered points to close out the game giving them a huge divisional win. Eli Manning did have his first rushing touchdown since 2008 for the Giants.

Jets 27 Cowboys 24 - Dallas lost for the first time EVER when leading by 14 points in the fourth quarter. In the final 15 minutes Tony Romo had a fumble deep inside the red zone, Mat McBriar had a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown, Darrelle Revis picked off Romo in the game's final minute, and ex-Cowboy Nick Folk drilled a 50 yard field goal to win it. Crazy finish to a wild opening day. Mark Sanchez and Romo both finished with over 300 yards passing and a pair of touchdown passes. Plaxico Burress had 4 receptions for 72 yards a touchdown in his first game back after missing the last two seasons.

Photo Credit: nbcsports.msnbc.com

Seven for Saturday - U.S. Open, Red Hot Rooney, College Football and More

U.S. OPEN SEMIFINALS SET

Novak Djokovic capped off one of the more impressive comebacks in U.S. Open history rallying from 2 sets down to knock off 5-time champion Roger Federer in today's first semifinal. After rallying to even the match up at two sets apiece, things started to fall apart for Djokovic in the fifth set and he found himself down 5-3 and 40-15 with Federer serving for the match. But Djokovic dug in and just absolutely smoked a winner cross court to get to 40-30, and his next return drew an unforced error from Federer to send the game to deuce. The momentum shifted it seemed and Federer never was able to get back on track double faulting to lose that game and then getting broken again a little while later by the Serbian to give Djokovic a 6-5 lead. The 24 year old wouldn't miss the opportunity to close out the match and he advanced to his second straight U.S Open Final. Final score 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. I actually watched most of the fifth set of this one, and I've got to tell you, I was REALLY impressed with Djokovic's composure at the end. Fifth set of a 3+ hour match, and the crowd was certainly pro-Federer for the most part, he starts getting plagued by unforced errors and easily could have lost his composure or thrown in the towel, but comes up with just a RIDICULOUS shot (watch the video at about the 27 second mark) and rallies for the improbable victory. Djokovic, who has never won the U.S. Open, now has to get through Rafael Nadal in a rematch of last year's final on Monday. Nadal punched his ticket to the final with a 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over 4th seeded Andy Murray. Although Djokovic has won all 5 meetings between the two this year, Nadal this owns a 16-12 edge in head-to-head matchups.

Photo Credit: smh.com.au

One the women's side, Caroline Wozniacki, the #1 ranked women's player in the world, leaves yet another Grand Slam without a title. Serena Williams, the last American standing, despite entering the tournament as the 28th seed, absolutely routed her younger opponent 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the finals in an attempt to win her 4th U.S. Open and 14th Grand Slam. She'll be opposed by Aussie Samantha Stosur who will be playing in just her second Grand Slam Final after ending cinderella story Angelique Kerber's dream run 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. The two women have met six times with Serena taking four of them including their one match this year. The women's final will be tomorrow on the 10 year anniversary of the September 11th attacks.

Photo Credit: guardian.co.uk

ROUGH DAY FOR BARCELONA

Photo Credit: soccernet.espn.go.com

The reigning champions of basically every soccer competition they've entered lately hit a bit of a speed bump today blowing a 2-0 lead and settling for a draw against Real Sociedad. Last year's 15th place finishers in La Liga got 2nd half goals just over a minute apart from Imanol Agirretxe and Antoine Griezmann. This shouldn't have come as a surprise though as last year Barcelona traveled to Estadio Anoeta and lost 2-1 to this same squad. But despite facing one of the only two teams that beat them in league play last year, they started the match with Lionel Messi, David Villa, Andrés Iniesta, and Gerard Piqué all out of the lineup. Now I get it that Barcelona is really good, really deep, and just totally stacked. So with Champions League play kicking off on Wednesday they probably wanted to make sure their big guns were fresh. And it's not like they put a bunch of scrubs out there - they still fielded a lineup with Xavi, Dani Alves, Cesc Fábregas and Pedro among others. But clearly they didn't get the result they were hoping for, and to make matters worse, Chilean midfielder and newcomer to the squad Alexis Sánchez left the match in the first half with an injury. All told, just a dismal day for Barcelona. And to cap it off, Real Madrid now sits 2 points ahead of Barcelona atop the table following their 4-2 win over Getafe.

ROONEY RED HOT FOR REDS

Wayne Rooney netted his second consecutive hat trick and now has 8 goals through United's first four matches as Manchester United thrashed Bolton 5-0 today at Reebok Stadium. The win improves the Reds to 4-0 on the young season and they've outscored their opponents 18-3 over that stretch. Rooney's been the real story though as with 8 goals, he now has more than every other TEAM in the Premiership with the exception of Manchester City (more on them in a minute). In 28 EPL matches last year, Rooney scored just 11 goals. I think it's safe to say that Wayne Rooney is back. He's even scoring goals for England again netting a pair against Bulgaria in Euro 2012 Qualifying last week.

Photo Credit: zimbio.com

Now over on the other side of town is Manchester City, the only other side with an unblemished record through four matches. Like United, City has been on a tear outscoring their opponents 15-3 through the first four matches after notching a 3-0 win over Wigan Athletic today. Two weeks ago against Spurs, they got 4 goals from Eden Dzeko, and today they got a hat trick from Argentinian striker Sergio Agüero. It's still early in the season, but if things continue to go this way, you should mark October 23rd on your calendar as that's when the two Manchester clubs will do battle.

WILD DAY OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Not much in the way of upsets this week, but boy were there same crazy finishes. 12th ranked South Carolina hung on to beat Georgia 45-42 in a game that featured a 39 point 4th quarter and 7 lead changes. South Carolina took advantage of 3 Georgia turnovers, returning 2 of them for touchdowns and another inside the ten to improve to 2-0 and drop the Bulldogs to 0-2. Defensive End Melvin Ingram had a 68 yard touchdown run on a fake punt and a 5 yard fumble recovery for a touchdown, and he also recovered an onside kick to ice the game.

Photo Credit: ledger-enquirer.com

Auburn dodged a bullet for the second straight week stuffing Mississippi State one inch from the end zone as time expired to win 41-34. Backup safety Ryan Smith stopped 240 pound quarterback just before the goal line sealing the win for the Tigers. Relf, who ran for over 100 yards on the day, ran the option on the game's final play and took the ball himself, but came up just short.

Michigan scored 28 points in the 4th quarter and the Wolverines and Notre Dame combined for three touchdowns in the final 1:12 in the first night game at the Big House. After Notre Dame took a 31-28 lead with 30 seconds to play, Denard Robinson drove the Wolverines down the field and hit Roy Roundree with a 16 yard TD pass with just 2 seconds left on the clock to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and drop the Fighting Irish to 0-2. Notre Dame turned the ball over 5 times for the second week in a row.

Andrew Luck and Stanford eeked out a 44-14 victory over (basketball) powerhouse Duke in a nail-biter. Luck, thought by many to be the favorite to win the Heisman and go first in the 2012 NFL Draft finished 20/28 for 290 yards and 4 touchdowns. He now needs just 3 wins to overtake Steve Stenstrom as the winningest quarterback in Stanford history.

Photo Credit: shop.sportsworldcards.com

RED SOX IN TROUBLE?

Boston lost their 4th game in a row and 8th in their last 10 tonight dropping their lead in the AL Wild Card to just 4.5 games over Tampa Bay. The Rays have taken the first two games in their 3 game series, and it doesn't get any easier for Boston moving forward as they play the Rays 5 more times before the end of next week. Only they'll have to do it without Clay Buchholz and Josh Beckett leaving them a starting 5 that after Jon Lester includes Tim Wakefield (winless in his last 7 starts), Andrew Miller (allowed 11 runs in last 6 1/3 innings), John Lackey (allowed 4 runs or more in 8 of last 9 starts - worst ERA for a pitcher who qualifies for the ERA title in the majors - 6.30), and Kyle Weiland (12 runs in 16 big league innings). Time for that high powered offense to earn their paychecks. Tomorrow's game between Lester and Big Game James Shields is huge from a momentum standpoint

Photo Credit: redsoxhub.com

MISTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR KENNEDY!

Photo Credit: zimbio.com

Who's leading the National League in wins right now? Roy Halladay? Clayton Kershaw? Tim Lincecum? Wrong, wrong, WRONG. The answer is Ian Kennedy who had just 10 wins TOTAL in 44 starts spanning his first four seasons. The 26 year old former Yankees prospect has really come into his own this year with a record of 19-4 and a 2.90 ERA. Kennedy was involved in the trade that brought the Yankees Curtis Granderson, so they certainly shouldn't feel cheated, but with New York's pitching rotation dealing with a lot of questions right now, you can bet they'd love to have a guy like this on their staff. Surprisingly, Kennedy has gotten very little buzz in the Cy Young conversation to this point. While I think Kershaw still has the edge over him, I feel like you should at least hear his name tossed around. Kennedy goes for win number 20 on Tuesday in L.A. against the Dodgers. Unfortunately for the fans, he'll miss Kershaw by a day.

EUROBASKET UPDATE

One match remains in the second round or EuroBasket 2011. Here's a quick look at the Group E and F standings. Teams highlighted in green have clinched a spot in the quarterfinals while teams in red have been eliminated. The top four teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals:

Group E

Tomorrow's Games

Serbia vs Turkey

France vs Spain

Lithuania vs Germany

Group F

Monday's Games

Slovenia vs Finland

Greece vs Georgia

Russia vs Macedonia

NFL Week One Picks

So here's what I put together for my NFL Week One picks. A word of caution, I would not recommend using these if you are looking to put money on the line. For whatever reason, despite my love of sports, I cannot pick games to save my life. We had an office pool last year, and I didn't win a single week. And we only had like six or seven guys making picks. It was terrible. Not to mention embarrassing. Anyhow, here's to hoping this year goes better. So without further ado:

Saints @ Packers

I actually got this one right, so that has to be a good sign, right? While this was not a popular pick in Who Dat Nation, I couldn't in good conscience pick against the defending champs, now healthy, at home.


Falcons @ Bears

I'm a big fan of Matt Forte, the Bears running back, but I'm not a huge fan of Chicago's offense. And unlike a lot of people, I don't think the problem is Jay Cutler. I mean, this is Cutler's receiving corps: Earl Bennett, Devin Hester, Sam Hurd, Johnny Knox,undrafted rookie Dane Sanzenbacher, and ex-Cowboy Roy Williams. Knox led the receivers last year with 51 catches, and no receiver had more than 5 touchdowns last year. Additionally, tight end Greg Olsen is gone which I think is going to leave a big hole. Atlanta meanwhile has a budding quarterback in Matt Ryan teamed up with a game breaking receiver in Roddy White. They also drafted wide receiver Julio Jones out of Alabama, they still have Michael Turner who is a 1000 yard back, and don't forget the ageless wonder Tony Gonzalez who still gets the job done at tight end. I don't know that Atlanta goes 13-3 again this year, but I like them in Week 1. Pick: Falcons


Bengals @ Browns

If you question what Cleveland is capable of, I want you to consider a two game stretch last year where the Browns went into New Orleans and beat the Saints 30-17, and followed that up with a 34-14 thrashing of the Patriots. Yes, I'm aware they also lost to Buffalo, Cincinnati, and barely escaped an upset against Carolina, but the fact is, these guys have potential. Peyton Hillis came out of nowhere to run for 1177 yards, and Colt McCoy should finally give them stability at the quarterback position. I mean shoot, last year they spent half the season with either Jake Delhomme or Seneca Wallace under center. The Bengals meanwhile were hurt by the strike. Top picks Andy Dalton (QB) and A.J. Green (WR) didn't get a full offseason to get acclimated to the NFL and while I think both are going to be very good players, maybe even later this season, I don't see them lighting it up on the road in Week 1. Pick: Browns


Bills @ Chiefs

While I don't expect to see Kansas City winning the AFC West again, I do like them in this matchup. The Chiefs led the NFL in rushing last year with Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, but the Chiefs certainly aren't one dimensional. Matt Cassel is more than capable under center and he'll have a big time receiver in Dwayne Bowe - 15 touchdowns a year ago - and I think Steve Breaston will be a much better target for him than Chris Chambers was last year. The loss of tight end Tony Moeaki is going to hurt, but I expect to see more looks to go to the versatile Dexter McCluster as a result. Buffalo on the other hand, still has a ways to go before they're going to be a contender. Even with a healthy Shawne Merriman, I don't see the Bills defense slowing down the Chiefs. Pick: Chiefs


Eagles @ Rams

I think Sam Bradford is going to be an exceptional quarterback in this league for a long time, and Danny Amendola has been a staple on my fantasy team for a few years now, but I'm going to go with 'The Dream Team' in this one. The Eagles boast a secondary with studs Asante Samuel, Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie, and Nnamdi Asomugha, and an offense with an absurd number of weapons: Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, ex-Giant Steve Smith, Brent Celek, LeSean McCoy, Ronnie Brown... I'm not ready to crown the Eagles NFC Champs just yet, not with teams like New Orleans and Green Bay out there, but I like them enough to pick them here over the Rams. Pick: Eagles


Lions @ Bucs

North meets South as a couple of franchises that are both heading in the right direction face off in Week 1. I like a healthy Matthew Stafford and Jahvid Best over Josh Freeman and LaGarrette Blount here. The Lions beat Tampa in Tampa last December with Drew Stanton under center and Maurice Morris handling the bulk of the workload in the backfield. I see this one going the same way. Pick: Lions


Titans @ Jaguars

If David Garrard was still playing, I'd be a little more hesitant about making this pick. But now that the Jags cut him just days before the season opener and are opting to go with Luke McCown, who threw all of 18 passes during the preseason, I feel pretty good about Tennessee's chances. I have no idea what to expect from Chris Johnson as he didn't play at all in the preseason, or Kenny Britt for that matter who's been hampered by injuries, but I think Tennessee is in better shape than the Jags right now. Pick: Titans



Steelers @ Ravens

These two rivals met three times last year, with the 3 games being decided by a total of 13 points. So you can bet this will be another great, hard hitting football game. The last time these two teams met, Baltimore blew a 21-7 halftime lead and lost 31-24 to eliminate them from the postseason, so you can bet the Ravens haven't forgotten that one. The Ravens lost Derrick Mason, Todd Heap and Willis McGahee, but brought in Ricky Williams and Lee Evans so those losses shouldn't hurt TOO much. It should noted that Baltimore did not beat Pittsburgh last year when Ben Roethlisberger was on the field instead getting their win with Charlie Batch at quarterback for the Steelers. But in a matchup that's this even, I have to defer to the home team. Pick: Ravens


Colts @ Texans

The Colts are going to have a much tougher time playing without Manning than the Texans are going to have potentially playing without Arian Foster.  Derrick Ward was a 1000 yard back with the Giants in 2008 and averaged over 6 yards a carry for the Texans in a backup role last year. The Colts will start Kerry Collins in place of Manning, so now we'll really get a chance to see just how good Manning's supporting cast is. I don't think they're good enough here. Pick: Texans


Giants @ Redskins

Rex Grossman is starting for the Redskins. That should be all you need to know here. All kidding aside, I think Tim Hightower has the potential to have a breakout season running in Mike Shanahan's offense. I just don't think it's enough to beat the Giants on Sunday. Pick: Giants


Seahawks @ 49ers

I'm going with San Francisco here if for no other reason than I'm not sold on Tarvaris Jackson as an NFL quarterback. Now, you could also argue that Alex Smith isn't exactly among the elite at the position, but Smith has Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree and Braylon Edwards at his disposal. Jackson's not exactly without weapons to throw to himself, but there's a reason he didn't pan out in Minnesota. Pick: 49ers



Vikings @ Chargers

The Chargers had all kinds of injury issues last year and Philip Rivers still threw for 4710 yards. Darren Sproles is gone, as is Legadu Naanee, but the Chargers should have Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates and Malcom Floyd all on the field and at Rivers' disposal. The Vikings counter with 34 year old Donovan McNabb who threw 14 touchdowns and 15 interceptions last year for Washington. He does have Adrian Peterson on his team which will certainly take the pressure off him, but I think this is San Diego's year. Pick: Chargers


Panthers @ Cardinals

Cam Newton's numbers in the preseason: 24 for 57 (42%) for 300 yards and a touchdown. And that was against some pretty basic schemes. Now he's going to see the real deal, and I think he's going to go through some significant growing pains. Arizona on the other hand will start Kevin Kolb who is looking to establish himself as a starter in this league and I think he's more than ready for that challenge. Pick: Cardinals



Cowboys @ Jets

I'm not a Jets fan at all, but there's no doubt that the Jets can play defense. And I think they're going to get up for this game being that it's the season opener, at home, and against a storied franchise like the Cowboys. Dallas meanwhile never seems to win these 'big' games. This is certainly a game that Dallas CAN win, as they have weapons like Felix Jones, Jason Witten and Miles Austin and a solid quarterback in Tony Romo, but they'll need to play near perfect football against the vaunted Jets D, and I just don't see that happening this early in the season. Pick: Jets


Patriots @ Dolphins

Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams are gone as the Reggie Bush era begins in Miami. Bush has yet to show he can be a feature back running effectively between the tackles so it will be interesting to see how he does with the Fins. In two games against Miami last year, the Patriots outscored the Dolphins 79-21. I don't know that Chad Henne is ready to go toe to toe with Brady and win. Pick: Patriots


Raiders @ Broncos

Denver gave up 2473 rushing yards last year, 2nd worst in the league. Oakland ran for 2494 yards last year, 2nd most in the league. In two head-to-head meetings last year, Oakland beat Denver 59-14 and 39-23. The Raiders ran for 328 yards and 5 scores in the first game, and 264 yards and 3 scores in the second. I expect more of the same in this one until Denver shows they can stop the run. Pick: Raiders

U.S. Open Semifinal Matchups

The semifinals of this year's U.S. Open are finally here. No surprises on the men's side as the top four seeds are all that remain, but Caroline Wozniacki, who has never won a Grand Slam, is the only woman in the top eight still standing. Here's a quick breakdown of today's semifinal matchups.

Photo Credit: gemtennis.com

MEN

(1) Novak Djokovic - Croatia vs (3) Roger Federer - Switzerland

This will be the 5th time that these two heavyweights have clashed this year. Djokovic took the first three matches including a win in straight sets at the Australian Open, but Federer defeated the 24 year old Serbian at the French Open snapping Djokovic's 41-match unbeaten streak in 2011. Overall Federer and Djokovic have met 23 times over the past 6 years with Federer owning the edge in the series, 14-9. This will also be the 5th straight U.S. Open where these two have ended up facing off against one another. Federer knocked Djokovic out of the tournament in 2007, 2008 and 2009, while Djokovic won last year in 5 sets in the semifinals. Federer is a 5-time winner at the U.S. Open winning every tournament between 2004 and 2008 whereas Djokovic has never won it reaching the finals twice in 2007 and 2010 losing to Federer and Rafael Nadal respectively.

(2) Rafael Nadal - Spain vs (4) Andy Murray - Great Britain

Nadal owns a 12-4 edge in his career against Murray including win's at this year's French Open and at Wimbledon. Murray, despite being ranked 4th in the World, has never won a Grand Slam losing in all three finals that he's played in including this year's Australian Open. Murray's been to the U.S. Open Finals once, losing to Roger Federer back in 2008. Nadal, on the other hand, is in search of his 11th Grand Slam win. While the majority of his Slam wins have come at Roland Garros, Nadal is the reigning U.S. Open Champion having defeated Federer in last year's final in 4 sets. This will only be the second time that these two have faced each other in U.S. Open play with Murray winning in the semifinals back in 2008.


WOMEN

(1) Caroline Wozniacki - Denmark vs (28) Serena Williams - USA

The number one ranked woman in the world has never won a Grand Slam, and has played in just one final in her career. Despite being by far the highest seeded player remaining on the women's side, her road to the finals isn't going to be easy as she'll have to get through the last American standing, three-time U.S. Open Champion Serena Williams. The two women have only faced each other twice, but Serena won both matches back in 2009. The U.S. Open is the only Grand Slam in which Wozniacki has reached the finals losing to Kim Clijsters in straight sets in 2009.

Angelique Kerber - Germany vs (9) Samantha Stosur - Australia

The 23 year old Kerber is quite the cinderella story. Ranked 92nd in the world coming into the tournament, she hadn't advanced beyond the first round in this year's first three Grand Slams. In her career, she'd only made it to the 3rd Round of a Slam twice. But she's been on a role in this year's U.S. Open knocking off seeded players Agnieszka Radwanska (12) and Flavia Pennetta (26) to reach the semifinals. She'll face Stosur who is playing in just her 3rd Grand Slam semifinal and who has bounced back nicely from a crushing first round loss to 262nd ranked Melinda Czink in the first round at Wimbledon. He tournament run includes an upset of 2nd seeded Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals. Stosur and Kerber will be playing one another for the first time.

The NFL is BACK! Thoughts on Packers-Saints

Tonight kicked off the start of the 2011 NFL season, and if tonight's game was any indication, we're in for a great one. In a wild shootout at Lambeau Field, the Packers defeated the Saints 42-34 on a game that ended with a goal line stand by Green Bay's defense. Here's five quick observations on tonight's game:

Photo Credit: photos.denverpost.com

1) Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees are both ridiculously good.

It's no small wonder that these guys are the last two Super Bowl MVPs. The #1 and #2 defenses in the NFC last season got their butts handed to them tonight. Brees completed 32 of 49 passes for 419 yards and 3 touchdowns against the defending Super Bowl Champs and nearly rallied the Saints back from a 15 point deficit in the 4th quarter. Rodgers meanwhile completed 14 of 15 passes for 199 yards and 3 touchdowns in just the first quarter and finished with 312 yards of his own. The Packers and Saints allowed opposing quarterbacks to throw for just 194 yards per game last season. If these two guys could shred these two vaunted defenses like this, just think what they might be capable of doing against the rest of the league.

2) Darren Sproles is a great fit in New Orleans.


I'll be honest. I really thought the Saints were going to miss Reggie Bush this season. Not necessarily for what he contributed in the box score, but because of the attention he commanded from opposing defenses. I know you can't draw too many conclusions from just one game, but Darren Sproles already has people saying 'Reggie Who?' down here on the bayou. Sproles was a human highlight reel catching 7 passes for 75 yards, returning a punt 72 yards for a touchdown, returning a kickoff 57 yards, and drawing a pass interference penalty on the game's final play giving the Saints one final chance to tie the game after time expired. If Sproles can make those kind of contributions on a regular basis, you're going to see a lot of #43 jerseys around New Orleans.


3) The Packers offense is not one dimensional.

Last year, the Packers running attack suffered significantly following the loss of Ryan Grant for the season. Brandon Jackson led the team in rushing last year, but managed just one 100 yard game (aided by a 71 yard touchdown run). However James Starks' emergence during last year's Super Bowl run, Ryan Grant's return from injury, and big John Kuhn returning at fullback have the Packers showing that they can run the ball as well as pass it. The Packers ran for 103 yards and 2 scores tonight against the Saints helping open up the field for Rodgers. They also picked up 10 first downs on the ground.



4) Mark Ingram was outplayed by another rookie from the SEC.


There's been a lot of talk about Ingram this preseason. And rightfully so. The former Heisman Trophy Winner will be a huge part of the New Orleans offense and tonight he received over 60% of the team's carries. However, Ingram was stopped at the 1 on the game's final play, and it was a different SEC rookie who really left his mark on this game. Randall Cobb, the second round pick out of Kentucky, caught a 32 yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers and returned a kickoff 108 yards for another score for the Packers. For you fantasy football players out there, Cobb is owned in just 10% of yahoo leagues right now compared to 94% for Ingram.


5) New Orleans needs to figure out things on defense.


If you include last season's playoff loss to Seattle, New Orleans has now lost back to back games in which Drew Brees threw for over 400 yards and the offense scored at least 34 points. The Saints defense also looked shaky in the preseason other than in their opening win against San Francisco. Gregg Williams is too good of a coordinator to let this continue, but the Saints can't be excited by what they've seen so far. Granted Green Bay's offense is going to make a lot of good defenses look bad, but you can't give up 40 points per game and expect to win. Even if Drew Brees is your quarterback.

Wednesday Thoughts - Verlander Wins #22, Wake's Quest for 200 and More

DOUBLE DEUCE ACTION

Photo Credit: zimbio.com

The Tigers rallied to defeat the Indians 8-6 today as Justin Verlander won for the 22nd time this season. Verlander is now 22-5 and became the first pitcher since 2008 to win 22 games in a season. More importantly for the Tigers, today's win capped off a 3 game sweep of Cleveland and opened up an 8.5 game lead atop the AL Central. Verlander wasn't at his best today, surrendering a pair of two-run home runs to Shelley Duncan, but he was bailed out by a 7th inning Grand Slam off the bat of Victor Martinez as Detroit won their 6th in a row. Verlander has now won 10 straight starts, and he currently leads the league in Wins (22), ERA (2.44), and strikeouts (232). The last pitcher to lead the American League in all three categories, aka the Pitching Triple Crown, was Johan Santana back in 2006. The feat has only been accomplished 4 times in the American League since 1950.

WAKEFIELD DENIED WIN #200 FOR THE SEVENTH STRAIGHT TIME

Photo Credit: zimbio.com

Tim Wakefield, the 45 year old Red Sox knuckleballer, cannot buy a win these days. Despite being backed by the #2 offense in the Majors, Wakefield has now gone winless in seven starts since getting his 199th career win on July 24th. Tonight was especially brutal. Playing in Toronto, the Sox jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after just a half inning. But the lead would be short lived as Toronto would tie the game in the second, and then go up 5-3 in the third. Still, thanks to a 4 run 4th keyed by a Jacoby Ellsbury 3-run home run, Boston would retake the lead and Wakefield would actually leave the game up 8-5 after 5 innings and in position to get that coveted 200th win. Enter Boston's bullpen. Toronto got one back in the 7th to cut it to 8-6 and then the wheels absolutely came off in the 8th. Daniel Bard loaded the bases with nobody out, but then got back to back strikeouts of Dewayne Wise and Yunel Escobar. Then, just when you thought the Sox were going to escape unscathed, he issued back to back walks to Eric Thames and Jose Bautista to tie the game up at 8 and rob Wakefield of his win. Then, to add insult to injury, Matt Albers entered the game and immediately surrendered a 3-run double to Edwin Encarnacion. The Sox would go on to lose the game 11-10 and failed to gain ground on the front running Yankees. So hopefully for Wakefield and the Sox, the 8th time is the charm. Wake takes the hill again at home against the same Blue Jays team on Tuesday.

DID TIKI BARBER DESERVE BETTER?

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Tiki Barber's agent is saying that he's 'flabbergasted' that his client didn't get a chance to win a job this season. Only the Miami Dolphins had Barber work out for them after the end of the lockout, but Miami opted to go with 31 year old Larry Johnson (who had all of 2 rushing yards last season), among others, instead. It should be noted that Johnson did not make the team after rushing for 46 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries during the preseason. We talked about Barber's chances of coming back back when he first announced his unretirement back in March. The reality is he's 36 years old, he hasn't played football since the 2006 season, and if he'd really shown something when he worked out for Miami, they would've given him a chance. Now I suppose it's possible that someone will still give Barber a chance this season. Injuries happen. Shoot, we saw the Saints go into a playoff game with something like 7 running backs on injured reserve forcing them to start Julius Jones. So maybe in that scenario, a veteran like Barber would make sense. But right now, how do you justify giving someone like Barber reps over anyone? So Tiki's agent might be flabbergasted, but I don't think anyone can really be all that surprised that people weren't chomping at the bit to sign Barber. Not yet at least.

QUARTERBACK SHAKE-UPS IN THE AFC SOUTH

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On opening day of 2010, you had Peyton Manning in Indy, Matt Schaub in Houston, Vince Young in Tennessee and David Garrard in Jacksonville. Oh what a difference a year makes. Peyton Manning hasn't yet recovered from neck surgery and will miss his first game since 1997. Instead the Colts will start the season with Kerry Collins, who led the Titans in passing last year and actually retired back in July. Vince Young is also gone from Tennessee as they'll start 35 year old Matt Hasselbeck whom they signed from Seattle during the offseason. Jacksonville's situation is perhaps the most bizarre. David Garrard was cut by the team this week just days before the season opener against Tennessee. Now, the Jags turn the team over to 30 year old Luke McCown who threw just 18 passes during the preseason and has played just 16 games since being drafted out of Louisiana Tech in 2004. Only Matt Schaub remains from last year's starters at quarterback in the AFC South. Is this the year the Texans finally make the jump to the next level as a result?

EUROBASKET 2011 UPDATE

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Three games on the slate today as the second round kicked off. Spain got 43 points from the Gasol brothers (24 for Marc and 19 for Pau) as Spain overcame a solid performance from Dirk Nowitzki (19 points) and a double-double from Chris Kaman to defeat Germany 77-68. Tony Parker continued his strong tournament with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists to lead Spain past Turkey 68-64. And Lithuania reached triple digits while shooting 63% from the field to defeat Serbia 100-90. Here's an updated look at the standings of the second round for Group E. Keep in mind, matches played in the first round against teams that made it into the second round count against the standings. Group F plays tomorrow.

Tuesday Thoughts - Strasburg, Shields and More

STRASBURG THROWS 5 SCORELESS INNINGS IN 2011 DEBUT

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With the exception of the Nationals delivering a win, Stephen Strasburg's 2011 debut was everything the Nats organization could have hoped for. Facing a Dodgers lineup featuring James Loney, Matt Kemp, Juan Rivera and Andre Ethier, Strasburg allowed just 2 hits, a leadoff double to Dee Gordon in the first and a two out single to Rivera in the 4th, in an otherwise stellar performance. Featuring a 99 mile an hour fastball, Strasburg fanned 4 and did not walk a batter as he needed just 56 pitches - 40 of which he threw for strikes - to get through his 5 scoreless innings. Strasburg even reached on an error while putting down a sacrifice and scored a run and he actually left the game with a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately the bullpen allowed 7 runs in their 4 innings of work and Washington fell 7-3. Still, even with the loss, this game had to feel like a win for the organization. Their $15M man returned to the mound for them for the first time in over a year and by all accounts it appears to have been a success. Strasburg will make his second start on September 11th against the league's worst team, the Houston Astros, and rookie Henry Sosa (2-3, 4.11).

BIG GAME JAMES FIRES ANOTHER COMPLETE GAME

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Maybe you don't need a six or seven man bullpen in this day and age. All you need is a staff full of James Shieldses. James Shields fired a complete game 4 hitter against the Rangers yesterday giving him an incredible 11 complete games this season in 29 starts. No pitcher has thrown that many complete games in a season since 1999 when Randy Johnson accomplished the feat for the Arizona Diamondbacks. What's even more remarkable about Shields is that he threw only 5 complete games TOTAL in his 5 previous seasons. The 29 year old Shields will next take the hill on September 11th at home against the Red Sox and is tentatively scheduled to match up against Josh Beckett. Beckett's availability is questionable though due to an ankle injury suffered yesterday against Toronto. Shields already has two complete games against Boston this year.

U.S. STILL WINLESS UNDER KLINSMANN

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The U.S. lost a second 1-0 match in a week's time falling in Belgium today to drop to 0-2-1 under new coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Touted to be an offensive genius, the U.S. has struggled to score goals under him, tallying just one in his first three matches at the helm. However U.S. fans should remember that scoring goals has been a problem for us for a while now, and while it'd be nice to get results right away, like anything, it's going to be a process that will unfortunately take time. Klinsmann, much to people's dismay, isn't going to be any kind of 'quick fix'. Next up for the Americans is a home tilt against CONCACAF rival Honduras on October 8th in Miami. The U.S. is 11-3-3 all time against the Hondurans, but Honduras won the last matchup in January of 2010 by a score of 3-1.

U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S QUARTERFINALS SET

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Rain washed out today's full slate at the U.S. Open, but that gives us time to take a look at the upcoming women's quarterfinal matchups.

(1) Caroline Wozniacki - Denmark vs (10) Andrea Petkovic - Germany

Despite being the #1 Women's Player in the world, Wozniacki has never won a major. However the U.S. Open is the closest she's ever come having reached the U.S. Open Finals in 2009. Petkovic meanwhile has reached the quarterfinals in 3 Grand Slams this year now, but has never gone beyond this point. The two have met twice before, both this year, with each player winning one match.

(2) Vera Zvonareva - Russia vs (9) Samantha Stosur - Australia

Zvonareva has the higher ranking, but Stosur has won 7 of the 9 matches between the two women including the last 7 in a row. Zvonareva reached the finals of the 2010 U.S. Open, but is still in search of her first Grand Slam win. Stosur is also in search of her first Grand Slam win and is only playing in the U.S. Open quarters for the second time.

(17) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova - Russia vs (28) Serena Williams - USA

The 20 year old Pavlyuchenkova has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam reaching them here for just the second time. Williams, on the other hand, has won the U.S. Open 3 times and won 13 Slams. Williams is the last American standing on the women's side and has won her only previous matchup with the 20 year old Russian.

(26) Flavia Pennetta - Italy vs Angelique Kerber - Germany

Pennetta is in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the third time, but has never advanced beyond them. Kerber meanwhile, ranked 92nd in the world, had never advanced beyond the 3rd round of a Slam before this year's U.S. Open. The two met earlier this year for the first time with Pennetta winning in straight sets.

NEW COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS RELEASED

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Oklahoma is ranked #1 for the second week in a row, narrowly edging out SEC powers LSU and Alabama. Boise State is at #4 following their big win against Georgia while Florida State, Stanford, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State and Nebraska round out the top ten. Notre Dame, Georgia, Auburn and USC were all dropped from the rankings this week while Baylor (20), South Florida (22), Penn State (23) and Texas (24) are all new to the Top 25.