The Result

The Patriots beat the pesky Cleveland Browns at home to improve to 5-0, while the Browns drop to 2-3. 

New England was bouyed by 4 Browns turnovers that led to 21 Patriots points.  Junior Seau had a pair of interceptions including one in the end zone on the Browns first drive.  Asante Samuel added his third pick of the season and Randall Gay forced a fumble, recovered it and returned it for the games final touchdown in the last minute of play. 

Wile they improve to 5-0 this was by far their worst perfomance of the year, at times sputtering offensively and playing soft defense.  Even the special teams who have been so good had an off day with some lazy kick off coverage, a poor decision that ended up with a kick off going out of bounds for a 30 yard gain on the flag and poor punting. 

The brightside is that this team and the staff are smart enough to work on the difficulties they are having and correct the for the next week. 

Scoring Plays

• Cleveland           0      0     3     14    -  17
• New England     10    10     0     14   -   34

1^st Quarter

• NE – Gostkowski 20 yard FG – 3-0 Patriots
• NE – Brady 34 yard TD pass to Stallworth – kick good – 10-0 Patriots

2^nd Quarter

• NE – Gostkowski 25 yard FG – 13-0 Patriots
• NE – Brady to Watson yard 7 TD pass – kick good – 20-0 Patriots 

3^rd Quarter

• CLE – Dawson 42 yard FG – 20-3 Patriots

4^th Quarter

• CLE – Anderson 21 yard TD pass to Carter – kick good – 20-10 Patriots
• NE – Brady 25 yard TD pass to Watson – kick good – 27-10 Patriots
• CLE – Anderson 15 yard TD pass to Winslow – kick good – 27-17 Patriots
• NE – Gay 17 yard fumble return – kick good – 34-17 Patriots

Offensive Player of the Game

Ben Watson had 6 catches for 107 yards and two TD catches.  He also ran for 11 yards on a reverse.

Defensive Player of the Game

Junior Seau had 6 tackles and 2 interceptions.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

Four Cleveland turnovers lead to 21 New England points including a defensive touchdown in the last minute.

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Here is a look at the starting lineups for today’s game 3 ALDS matchup between the Red Sox and Angels courtesy of Amalie Benjamin from the Boston Globe.

Red Sox

1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
2. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Coco Crisp, CF
9. Julio Lugo, SS

Curt Schilling, SP

Angels

1. Chone Figgins, CF
2. Orlando Cabrera, SS
3. Vlad Guerrero, RF
4. Garret Anderson, LF
5. Kendry Morales, 1B
6. Maicer Izturis, 3B
7. Howie Kendrick, 2B
8. Juan Rivera, DH
9. Mike Napoli, C

Jered Weaver, SP

This is how the hitters of both teams stack up against today’s starting pitchers (taken from the Red Sox game notes)

According to a report on ESPN.com, Joe Torre will probably lose his job as the manager of the New York Yankees if they fail to make the ALCS.

“His job is on the line,” Steinbrenner told The Bergen Record. “I think we’re paying him a lot of money. He’s the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don’t think we’d take him back if we don’t win this series.”

Personally, I don’t understand how you can fire Torre for not making the ALCS when you (Steinbrenner) didn’t fire him when the Yankees were down and out in June. Torre has been the manager of the Yankees since 1996 but the last time they won the World Series was back in 2000 when they beat the Mets.

Big Stein also said that he thinks the Yankees will re-sign Alex Rodriguez.

The Red Sox held an optional workout yesterday in Anaheim in anticipation of today’s game on TBS at 3:07 PM. The Red Sox will be looking to sweep the Angels and make their trip to the West Coast a short one. I am sure the rest of the day was spent getting some much needed rest after Friday’s pressure cooker of a game. So while you’re recovering from staying up Friday night and going out drinking last night, let’s take a look at the headlines from the Boston and Los Angeles media on this Sunday morning.

Sox flying high long after Ramírez HR [Boston Globe]

Angels’ Guerrero expected to play today [LA Times]

Sox pop by Angels’ place [Boston Herald]

Schilling A Fall Guy [Hartford Courant]

Jered tries to keep Weaver dream alive [LA Daily News]

Schilling savoring return [Pro Jo]

Angels face the hole truth [LA Times]

Schilling has ‘perfect’ plan [Boston Globe]

Rejuvenated Okajima returns to form [Boston Herald]

Vlad’s X-ray shows only a contusion [LA Daily News]

Manny Times This Perfectly [Hartford Courant]

Red Sox are in charge, but wary of a letdown [Pro Jo]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Providence Journal, Hartford Courant, LA Times, The Orange County Register and LA Daily News websites.

The entire Red Sox team are awestruck of Manny Ramirez after his mammoth blast on Friday night/Saturday morning.

After leaving Game 2 early, Vlad Guerrero will be back in the lineup for the Angels on Sunday afternoon.

Diamondbacks closer Jose Valverde is thriving in the postseason.

99 years and counting for the Cubbies.

The Indians will show no fear in playing at Yankee Stadium today.

The Yanks have been in this position down 0-2 before in the 2001 ALDS. They came back and won.

Charlie Manuel is hoping that he is the Phillies manager again next year.

The Rockies’ youngsters have been filling in admirably for Wily Tavaras.

Both American League series are at 2-0. The National League Championship Series will start Thursday in Arizona.

Steve and I both got this one wrong. Steve moves to 1-1 while I fall to 0-2.

 

The New England Patriots activated safety Rodney Harrison on Saturday from the Commissioner’s Exempt list.  Harrison was on the list because of his four game suspension due to admitted HGH use.  It is unknown if Harrison will play but with this move you can safely assume he will be dressed and on the sideline. 

So what kind of treatment does Harrison get?  Does he start?  Does he not start but play a lot?  Does he play in only certain situations?  Is he brought in at the end to get up to game speed?  Or does he just watch and cheer?

Those are Bill Belichick’s obvious options.  I think because the defense and especially the secondary have been so good, you see him situationally.  This way he gets game action and he’s brought along slowly much like they did with Asante Samuel.

In order to make room for Harrison on the roster, TE Marcellus Rivers was cut.  Rivers just signed to a two year contract on Wednesday when he replaced TE David Thomas who was placed on the IR.  He didn’t even get his first paycheck yet and he’s gone. 

Steve correctly picked the winner of this series while I took the Cubs.

Do you think your call of Manny’s dramatic walk-off home run would be better than what you heard on TBS last night?

Well if you think so, you need to check out this site called YouCastr. There you can upload your own version of the call of the Manny-bomb or any other sports game.

YouCastr.com, founded by four avid sports fans, is aimed at people who want to make their own boosterish broadcast reveling in Papi’s home runs or watch the game while listening to a commentary filled with inside jokes and the voices of friends. To become broadcasters, people just need to sign in, pick their game, plug a microphone into their laptop, and start talking. Listeners can browse games they’re interested in, find their friends’ sports shows, or check out top-rated broadcasters.

So if you’re the basement broadcaster and think you might be the next Vin Scully (just don’t aspire to be the next Glenn Geffner, that’s all I ask), then definitely give this site a looksie. I have perused it and all of it is very entertaining.

[Boston Globe]

The person I am the most jealous of right now, the sweet and sexy Texy from Center Field wants to know “Have We Met?”

The very beautiful Yankees Chick was too upset to type last night, so she filed a Yankeechickography instead. Bug free I might add.

Succulent Sooze from Babes Love Baseball has what is known as White Man’s Disease.

The hottest USC fan on the planet, Gridiron Goddess, has her college football picks for you.

Are you in the mood for some tasty french toast? The Starter Wife from Ladies… has a recipe you might like.

Peter from Peter’s Red Sox Forever had a magical night seeing the Boss in concert this past week.

Kenrick from Sports Fan talks about what could have been for the Mets this postseason.

Anthony from the Oriole Post has a must-read article about the big business of sports.

The Big Lead tells us Bruce Pearl is a ladies man.

Kissing Suzy Kolber has a play on one of Peter Kings’ columns.

Brian from Awful Announcing had the pleasure of an email exchange with the ombusman from ESPN.

J.D. from SporTech Matter gives his thoughts on Rotoworld’s 2008 Marlins roster.

We Are the Postmen wants you to know who Tashard Choice is (MUST WATCH VIDEO!!!)

Dan from Red Sox Monster held a roundtable discussion between Red Sox bloggers before the start of the ALDS (yours truly was involved).

And even though Fitzy of Townie News fame can’t swear with his new gig on ESPN, I will have to say his stuff is still pretty funny.