The Post Mortem

Don't feel too bad Raiders fans, Lovie Smith could be your coach. That gut-wrenching, kick in the groin style of losing is typically reserved for the Raiders. Tom Cable and the Raiders, however, took it easy on their fans by rolling over and soiling themselves like the beaten dogs that they are. Rightfully retaking their spot in the NFL�s dog house.

The Raiders lack of effort and other bewilderment of actually having to play a game of football is one of the biggest atrocities to the game. Pacman Jones and his body guard could beat up a brothel full of adult entertainers, and it couldn�t do more damage than what the Raiders did to the game in recent weeks.

This game was just a culmination of that and more damaging than any press conference. The Raiders had two weeks to prepare for the Saints, and they were as unprepared for the forward pass as the 1950 Eagles who were taking on Paul Brown�s, uh, Browns.

At one point, Cable pulled a referee aside and said, �Can that guy really throw the ball forward like that? Is that play real?�

And the referee said, �It is, now get your big butt out of here.�

Hopefully for Cable�s sack, Lane Kiffin will get a sweet gig and he can latch on to him again.

BOSTON MASSACRE
Something interesting happened towards the end of the Chargers beatdown of the Patriots on Sunday night. Coach Bill Belichick seemed content to take his beating, and run the clock out. But why?

The Patriots sure had no problem throwing the ball when they were up by 40 points last season.

There might be some who will suggest that beating the Patriots without Tom Brady isn�t very satisfying. And those people are on glue. Injuries happen. New England had no problem fielding a team when Philip Rivers was playing on one-leg last season. (Some thing Brady might want to take a cue from.) And the Chargers are Rivers� team now. Maybe it stems from him playing hurt in last year�s AFC Championship Game, but you can tell that the team has rallied behind him.

• Can this also be the defining victory that ends Southern California's long losing streak to Boston teams? Maybe Jon Lester can go out and pull a hammy or something tomorrow.

BIRDS WIN
The Cardinals tried everything they could do to lose that game on Sunday, short of putting on Raiders uniforms. The Cowboys rallied from 10 points down in the final three minutes to tie the game thanks to a call that didn�t seem to make much sense. (Why wouldn�t the referees charge the Cardinals with a timeout because of an injured player?) And then the Cowboys got the ball in overtime. Only to lose on a punt block.

Amazing.

The key play though, occurred on second down when Chike Okeafor (I think) knocked Tony Romo into next week. He really pounded Romo worse than what Johnny Knoxville does to Jessica Simpson in the luxury box. (Thankfully Bain doesn't swing low enough to take that joke.)

And you have to give the referees credit on that play for not throwing a flag. The officials followed Mr. Goodell�s objectives to a T, trying to give the Cowboys the game, but even that � in a league brimming with crooked officiating � would have gone too far. That would have been like watching ConAir and saying that the flying car was just too unbelievable.

Romo looked like a JV quarterback on third down, throwing a bounce pass to Terrell Owens, which ultimately set up the winning punt block by Sean Morey.

Morey once played for the Los Angeles Avengers, however, he went to Brown. Be cognizant of that fact when you watch the Monday night pregame show with Chris Berman.

• The St. Louis FC almost impressed me with the way they hung tough with Washington. But that was more the Redskins letting them hang around, more than anything. A fluke fumble return in the second quarter changed the game. But give credit to Donnie Avery for a nifty one-handed grab to set up the winning field goal. Amazing what happens when you hire a coach with a little credibility and experience instead of promoting the next available puppet. St. Louis FC played hard, they just aren't very talented.
  

• Florida did jump USC in the AP poll, as college football writers have amnesia when it comes to SEC teams losing to bad games. But it shouldn't be a surprise. USC was able to overcome its horrible home loss to Stanford last season to get another crack at the BCS ttile, before losing to Oregon a few weeks later. So instead of being outraged, you just have to be confident that Florida will lose another game this season. And they will.
  

• What does BYU have to do to move up in the polls? They beat Tennessee by 62 points. Let them play. Unfortunately, all of the "big-time" schools will point to the Hawaii game as the reason why teams like BYU can't join the fun. Though, the real reason is they don't want to end up like Oklahoma two years ago.

• Joke floating around: Who is having the worst nine 100 days in office, George Bush or Mike Holmgren? Elisabeth Filarski, however, will tell you that both are doing a great job.
  

• Did Eagles DE Juqua Parker seem fast to you? Mike Martz will soon be taking over that gig.
  

• Dan Orlovsky will feel much more comfortable when his career path eventually takes him to the CFL and its 20-yard end zones.

AND FINALLY
Leave it to the Dodgers to try to throw at somebody�s head. The Phillies have owned the inside part of the plate for the entire series � even when losing in Game 3 � and the Dodgers took the coward�s way out. The Phillies could close this one up in Los Angeles. Unless Jamie Moyer pitches again.