How They Got Here: The San Francisco Giants is a
one-by-one look at how each member of the 2012 World Series Champion San
Francisco Giants found their way to the squad. We'll look at all of the
players on the roster, as well as notable players who did not make the
postseason roster for whatever reason and the coaching staff and general
manager. Part twenty-three is about wunderkind catcher Buster Posey.
Gerald "Buster" Posey III was born on March 27, 1987, in Leesburg, Georgia. Attending Lee County High School, baseball was Posey's main sport, and for good reasons. Splitting time between shortstop and pitching, Posey set school records for batting average at .544 and runs batted in with forty-six in just his junior year. He also had a 10-1 record and 1.53 earned run average. In his senior year, he set a school record with fourteen home runs to go with a .462 batting average and forty runs batted in. He had a 12-0 record in thirteen starts, with a 1.06 earned run average and 108 strikeouts as well. His honors from high school include Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year, Louisville Slugger State Player of the Year, and EA Sports and Baseball America All-American nominations. Besides being great on both sides of the ball, he was also great in the classroom, finishing high school with a 3.94 grade point average, perhaps the most important statistic he could have from his student-athlete career. He was a 50th round selection in the 2005 draft by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but he chose to attend college instead. Posey played college baseball at Florida State, and in his freshman year played shortstop. He was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American for his .346 batting average, four home runs, and forty-right runs batted in. As suggested by his coaches in 2007, he started playing catcher, and he was named the second best catcher in Johnny Bench Award voting. He hit .382 with three home runs and sixty-five runs batted in. The 2008 season was even better for Posey, where he won the Johnny Bench Award, hit a stunning .463 batting average as well as twenty-six home runs and ninety-three runs batted in, was named Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year, and achieved a very rare feat. On May 12th, he played all nine fielding positions, striking out two batters as a pitcher and hitting a grand slam in a 10-0 win over Savannah State University. His versatility was never more on display, and although that's not an achievement usually attempted a highly competitive environment, it is a feat worthy of praise. Posey was a first round draft pick in the 2008 draft, where he was selected fifth overall by the San Francisco Giants. Posey began his professional career with ten games in 2008, split between the Rookie-level Arizona League Giants, before moving along to the Class A Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Northwest League in Salem, Oregon. In the short stint, he hit .351 with one home run and six runs batted in. Posey was fast-tracked to the Class A Advanced California League in 2009, where he appeared in eighty games at catcher for the San Jose Giants, hitting .326 with thirteen home runs and fifty-eight runs batted in. He earned a mid-season promotion to the Class AAA Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League. Posey hit .321 with five home runs and twenty-two runs batted in at this level. This earned him a short major league call up, where he played in seven games but struggled early on. Undeterred, Posey went to Fresno for the beginning of the 2010 season, hitting .349 over forty-seven games, while launching six home runs with thirty-two runs batted in before being recalled to the major league Giants on May 29th. He worked at first base for the first month of the season, before going back to catching after a June 30th trade that saw starting catcher Bengie Molina traded to the Texas Rangers. Posey's rookie season was a highlight reel, with a twenty-one game hitting streak, his first grand slam, and a bump in the lineup to the coveted cleanup spot. This was only July, and he proved a force to be reckoned with as the Giants hurtled to a National League West Division title. He closed out his rookie year hitting .305 with eighteen home runs and sixty-seven runs batted in. This earned him the National League Rookie of the Year award for 2010. He was an obvious choice for the postseason roster, where he hit .288 with a home run and five runs batted in, although there was not a particular defining moment as Posey helped the Giants past the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers for a World Series Championship. Sadly, Posey was a poster boy for the San Francisco 2011 season as well, when a controversial play on May 25th resulted in a season-ending injury for the sophomore catcher. The play, still fresh in the minds of many of us, was when Scott Cousins scored a winning run against the Giants and crashed violently into Posey, causing serious ligament damage as well as a fractured fibula. Posey came out publicly when threats were made against Cousins, denouncing such actions while stepping up to acknowledge the vast support he received. He ended the season with forty-five games played, a .284 batting average, and twenty-one runs batted in with four home runs. Uncertainty clouded Posey's 2012 campaign, but he quickly cast doubts aside. He was the catcher for Matt Cain's perfect game on June 13, 2012 against the Houston Astros, resulting in what Posey called one of his most nervous moments on a baseball field. He was an easy selection for the All-Star Game, his first, and at season's end, he won the Willie Mac Award for demonstrating the spirit and leadership that Giants great Willie McCovey showed throughout his career. He hit a major-league leading .336 batting average (as well as a majors best .433 against lefties), with twenty-four home runs and 103 runs batted in en route to the National League batting title (which he won when teammate Melky Cabrera took himself out of the running due to his performance-enhancing drugs suspension). He was a cornerstone for the playoff run by the Giants, appearing in every game. The iconic moment of Posey's postseason was in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, when he hit a grand slam against Mat Latos, and later turned a strikeout-throw out double play to help preserve a lead that allowed the Giants to advance to the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Another key moment was his go-ahead home run in Game 4 of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers, which proved vital when Delmon Young hit a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning. Without those two home runs, Posey and the Giants may not have won the World Series, and because of his clutch power displays, Posey earned his second World Series Championship in three years. Additionally, Posey is the answer to the trivia question "Who is the only Giants player to be on the field for the clinching moments of both the 2010 and 2012 World Series?" Besides the previously mentioned awards, Posey won the following awards for his performance in 2012: National League Comeback Player of the Year, National League Silver Slugger at catcher, National League Hank Aaron Award for best hitter as determined by the fans and media, and the Baseball Writers Association of America National League Most Valuable Player Award. Despite playing a different position and in a different era, parallels between Posey and Giants great Willie Mays have already been drawn, including performance, leadership, and even years missed due to exterior circumstances. Hopefully, Posey can keep the comparisons going, as even with only three years to his name, he already looks like a Hall of Fame-caliber player.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
KHL November 20th 2012
Today's lone game is being played in Moscow, as Dynamo hosts Vityaz Chekhov. Ivan Kasutin for Vityaz and Alexei Volkov for Dynamo are the masked men. Chekhov began with a first period power play goal by Vladimir Malevich, powered by Alexei Troshchinsky. Moscow tied it in the second period as Nicklas Backstrom scored, with the help of Alexander Ovechkin and Denis Tolpeko. Vityaz retook the lead in the third period on a Troshchinsky goal, fueled by Anton Korolyov and Josh Hennessy. Dynamo shot back with an unassisted goal by Sergei Soin. Moscow took the lead on another Backstrom goal, assisted by Ovechkin and Tolpeko. This was all they needed for a 3-2 win, with Backstrom, Troshchinsky, and Ovechkin getting the three stars, while Tolpeko earns an honorable mention.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Fantasy Football All-Stars Week 11 2012
Clinching season is in full effect. There are about three or four more weeks of the regular season, and then it's playoff time. I won't be sending many teams to the postseason this year, as I've struggled with effectiveness. Here's the most recent stars.
Quarterback: Matt Schaub
Running Backs: LaRod Stephens-Howling and Marcel Reece
Wide Receivers: Andre Johnson and Justin Blackmon
Tight End: Rob Gronkowski
Kicker: Josh Scobee
Team Defense: New England
Defensive Players: Aldon Smith and Von Miller
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Quarterback: Matt Schaub
Running Backs: LaRod Stephens-Howling and Marcel Reece
Wide Receivers: Andre Johnson and Justin Blackmon
Tight End: Rob Gronkowski
Kicker: Josh Scobee
Team Defense: New England
Defensive Players: Aldon Smith and Von Miller
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday Night Football Week 11 2012
Our game this week should be a defensive war between the host San Francisco 49ers and the visiting Chicago Bears. San Francisco opened with a David Akers field goal of 32 yards. The 49ers padded the lead as Colin Kaepernick passed 3 yards for a touchdown to Vernon Davis, and Akers supplied the extra point. San Francisco kept going in the second quarter on a 14 yard Kendall Hunter touchdown run, and Akers again made the extra point. The 49ers struck again on a 37 yard Akers field goal. San Francisco padded the lead in the third quarter as Kaepernick passed 10 yards for a touchdown to Michael Crabtree, and Akers tacked on the PAT. Chicago got on the board when Jason Campbell found Brandon Marshall for 13 yards and a touchdown, and Robbie Gould booted the extra point. The 49ers shot back in the fourth quarter as Akers made a 32 yard field goal. San Francisco got some more as Aldon Smith sacked Campbell for a safety. This produced a 32-7 final, with the 49ers now at 7-2-1 and the Bears falling to 7-3.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
How They Got Here: The Story of the 2012 San Francisco Giants Part 22
How They Got Here: The San Francisco Giants is a
one-by-one look at how each member of the 2012 World Series Champion San
Francisco Giants found their way to the squad. We'll look at all of the
players on the roster, as well as notable players who did not make the
postseason roster for whatever reason and the coaching staff and general
manager. Part twenty-two tells us of young right fielder Hunter Pence.
Hunter Pence was born on April 13, 1983, in Fort Worth, Texas. He attended Arlington High School in Arlington, Texas, where he played in the outfield before playing shortstop in his senior year. He went to Texarkana College for one year before transferring to University of Texas at Arlington, where he was a star playing in the Southland Conference. In his junior year, he was drafted by the Houston Astros in the second round, and signed this time (Pence previously refused to sign as a 2002 draft fortieth round selection of the Milwaukee Brewers). He ended the 2004 season playing in the Class A Short Season New York-Pennsylvania League with the Tri-City ValleyCats of Troy, New York, where he hit to a .296 batting average with eight home runs and thirty-seven runs batted in. In 2005, he moved up to the Class A Lexington Legends in Lexington, Kentucky of the South Atlantic League, where he hit .338 with twenty-five home runs and sixty runs batted in over the course of eighty games. He was promoted to the Class A Advanced Caroling League to play with the Salem Avalanche of Salem, Virginia. Pence played another forty-one games here, hitting .305 with six home runs and thirty runs batted in. For the 2006 season, Pence earned another promotion, up to the Class AA Corpus Christi Hooks in the Texas League. His numbers dropped a bit at this level, as he hit only .283 with twenty-eight home runs and ninety-five runs batted in for the full season. It was enough to earn him a short stint in 2007 with the Round Rock Express of Round Rock, Texas, in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. He spent most of April here, hitting a sterling .326 batting average with three home runs and twenty-one runs batted in, before earning a call up to the Houston Astros. His debut was against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 28th, and he stuck with the Astros, playing center and right field, for the whole season except for from July 23rd to August 20th, when he was out with an injury. His rookie season concluded with him hitting .322 in batting average, as well as seventeen home runs and sixty-nine runs batted in. Pence played the full season with Houston in 2008, hitting to a .269 batting average as well as twenty-five home runs and eighty-three runs batted in, which was a slight regression. The 2009 season treated Pence a little bit better, as he made his first All-Star game en route to a personal line of .282 in batting average with twenty-five home runs and seventy-two runs batted in. He came into 2010 and left very similar results, cementing himself as a key player for the Astros by hitting .282 with twenty-five home runs and ninety-one runs batted in. His time as the face of the franchise was short though, as he began 2011 with the Astros and put up a .308 batting average with eleven home runs and sixty-two runs batted in before being traded during a firesale to the Philadelphia Phillies with cash in exchange for Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid, and a player to be named later (Domingo Santana), all minor league players. None have broken into the major leagues yet. He closed out the season manning right field for the Phillies, where he hit .324 with eleven home runs and thirty-five runs batted in. He was primarily brought in with the intention of being a long-term solution in the outfield, as well as a short-term push in the playoffs, but the Phillies collapsed against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series, and Pence hit only .211 with four runs batted in during the postseason. Nevertheless, he held the job for Philadelphia, and began the 2012 season there, hitting to a disappointing .271 batting average and seventeen home runs with fifty-nine runs batted in. In another deadline deal, the Phillies decimated their outfield while looking far away from the playoffs, making two deals in the same day. One was with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Pence deal sent him to the Dodgers' rivals, the San Francisco Giants, in exchange for minor league players Seth Rosin and Tommy Joseph, as well as established major league player Nate Schierholtz. While the Dodgers were thought to have made the best deadline deals by acquiring big names and larger contracts, the Giants excelled even as Pence struggled in the orange and black, where he hit .219 with seven home runs and forty-five runs batted in to close out the season. In the end, the Giants made the playoffs while the Dodgers unraveled, and it was Pence who brought something immeasurable to the table in the postseason. When down 2-0 in the National League Division Series to the Cincinnati Reds, Pence gave a speech to his teammates, firing them up, and they won the next three games to advance to the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Here, he had one of the quirkiest moments in recent memory, when he hit a third inning double in Game 7 that hit his breaking bat three times, causing a very unusual spin to be applied to the ball. The hit resulted in two earned runs and an additional unearned run, and put the nail in the coffin on the Cardinals, allowing San Francisco to reach the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. He added the last of his four runs batted in during Game 2 of the World Series, a critical eighth inning insurance run to give the Giants a 2-0 series lead before heading to Detroit, where they finished off the Tigers with a four game sweep. While Pence's one home run and .210 batting average were nothing special, his fiery pregame speeches were recognized by teammates as a huge influence and motivation on them to win the championship, earning Pence his first World Series title.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Hunter Pence was born on April 13, 1983, in Fort Worth, Texas. He attended Arlington High School in Arlington, Texas, where he played in the outfield before playing shortstop in his senior year. He went to Texarkana College for one year before transferring to University of Texas at Arlington, where he was a star playing in the Southland Conference. In his junior year, he was drafted by the Houston Astros in the second round, and signed this time (Pence previously refused to sign as a 2002 draft fortieth round selection of the Milwaukee Brewers). He ended the 2004 season playing in the Class A Short Season New York-Pennsylvania League with the Tri-City ValleyCats of Troy, New York, where he hit to a .296 batting average with eight home runs and thirty-seven runs batted in. In 2005, he moved up to the Class A Lexington Legends in Lexington, Kentucky of the South Atlantic League, where he hit .338 with twenty-five home runs and sixty runs batted in over the course of eighty games. He was promoted to the Class A Advanced Caroling League to play with the Salem Avalanche of Salem, Virginia. Pence played another forty-one games here, hitting .305 with six home runs and thirty runs batted in. For the 2006 season, Pence earned another promotion, up to the Class AA Corpus Christi Hooks in the Texas League. His numbers dropped a bit at this level, as he hit only .283 with twenty-eight home runs and ninety-five runs batted in for the full season. It was enough to earn him a short stint in 2007 with the Round Rock Express of Round Rock, Texas, in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. He spent most of April here, hitting a sterling .326 batting average with three home runs and twenty-one runs batted in, before earning a call up to the Houston Astros. His debut was against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 28th, and he stuck with the Astros, playing center and right field, for the whole season except for from July 23rd to August 20th, when he was out with an injury. His rookie season concluded with him hitting .322 in batting average, as well as seventeen home runs and sixty-nine runs batted in. Pence played the full season with Houston in 2008, hitting to a .269 batting average as well as twenty-five home runs and eighty-three runs batted in, which was a slight regression. The 2009 season treated Pence a little bit better, as he made his first All-Star game en route to a personal line of .282 in batting average with twenty-five home runs and seventy-two runs batted in. He came into 2010 and left very similar results, cementing himself as a key player for the Astros by hitting .282 with twenty-five home runs and ninety-one runs batted in. His time as the face of the franchise was short though, as he began 2011 with the Astros and put up a .308 batting average with eleven home runs and sixty-two runs batted in before being traded during a firesale to the Philadelphia Phillies with cash in exchange for Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid, and a player to be named later (Domingo Santana), all minor league players. None have broken into the major leagues yet. He closed out the season manning right field for the Phillies, where he hit .324 with eleven home runs and thirty-five runs batted in. He was primarily brought in with the intention of being a long-term solution in the outfield, as well as a short-term push in the playoffs, but the Phillies collapsed against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series, and Pence hit only .211 with four runs batted in during the postseason. Nevertheless, he held the job for Philadelphia, and began the 2012 season there, hitting to a disappointing .271 batting average and seventeen home runs with fifty-nine runs batted in. In another deadline deal, the Phillies decimated their outfield while looking far away from the playoffs, making two deals in the same day. One was with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Pence deal sent him to the Dodgers' rivals, the San Francisco Giants, in exchange for minor league players Seth Rosin and Tommy Joseph, as well as established major league player Nate Schierholtz. While the Dodgers were thought to have made the best deadline deals by acquiring big names and larger contracts, the Giants excelled even as Pence struggled in the orange and black, where he hit .219 with seven home runs and forty-five runs batted in to close out the season. In the end, the Giants made the playoffs while the Dodgers unraveled, and it was Pence who brought something immeasurable to the table in the postseason. When down 2-0 in the National League Division Series to the Cincinnati Reds, Pence gave a speech to his teammates, firing them up, and they won the next three games to advance to the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Here, he had one of the quirkiest moments in recent memory, when he hit a third inning double in Game 7 that hit his breaking bat three times, causing a very unusual spin to be applied to the ball. The hit resulted in two earned runs and an additional unearned run, and put the nail in the coffin on the Cardinals, allowing San Francisco to reach the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. He added the last of his four runs batted in during Game 2 of the World Series, a critical eighth inning insurance run to give the Giants a 2-0 series lead before heading to Detroit, where they finished off the Tigers with a four game sweep. While Pence's one home run and .210 batting average were nothing special, his fiery pregame speeches were recognized by teammates as a huge influence and motivation on them to win the championship, earning Pence his first World Series title.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
KHL November 19th 2012
One game today, as Sibir Novosibirsk hosts Metallurg Novokuznetsk. Alexander Lazushin for Metallurg and Sergei Gaiduchenko for Sibir tend the twines. Novosibirsk got on the board in the first period with a Konstantin Glazachev goal, made possible by Jori Lehtera and Jonas Enlund. Sibir added on in the second period as Enlund scored, with assists provided by Lehtera and Glazachev. The scoring stopped here, so Sibir won 2-0, and the three stars belonged to Glazachev, Enlund, and Gaiduchenko (21 save shutout), while Lehtera gets an honorable mention.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
NFL Afternoon/Night Games Week 11 2012
Four games for the late wave. This post will be finished on November 19th, 2012. We begin in...
Oakland, as the Raiders host the New Orleans Saints. New Orleans led off in the first quarter with a Drew Brees 1 yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham, and Garrett Hartley made the extra point. The Saints added on as Malcolm Jenkins picked off Carson Palmer and took it 55 yards to the house for a touchdown, with Hartley making another extra point. Oakland replied in the second quarter as Palmer passed 1 yard to Brandon Myers for a touchdown, and Sebastian Janikowski booted the extra point. New Orleans answered as Brees threw a 38 yard touchdown pass to Lance Moore, and Hartley made the PAT. The Saints kept going in the third quarter on a 27 yard touchdown run by Mark Ingram, with Hartley making the extra point. The Raiders replied as Janikowski made a 40 yard field goal. New Orleans padded the lead as Brees found Moore again, this time for a 15 yard touchdown connection, and Hartley made his extra point. The Saints padded the lead in the fourth quarter with a 47 yard Hartley field goal. Oakland got some back as Palmer passed 3 yards to Juron Criner for a touchdown, and Janikowski was there with the extra point. This ended the scoring at 38-17, with the Saints now at 5-5 and the Raiders at 3-7.
Over in Denver, the Broncos host the San Diego Chargers. San Diego started as Eric Weddle intercepted Peyton Manning in the first quarter for 23 yards and a touchdown, and Nick Novak handled the extra point. Denver tied it in the second quarter with Manning passing 13 yards to Demaryius Thomas for a touchdown, and Matt Prater knocked in the extra point. The Broncos took the lead as Prater made a 19 yard field goal. Denver extended the lead as Manning passed to Brandon Stokley for 31 yards and a touchdown, and Prater again made the PAT. The Chargers got some back as Shaun Phillips sacked Manning for a safety. The Broncos shot back as Manning passed 20 yards to Eric Decker for a touchdown, and Prater handled the extra point. San Diego got some back as Philip Rivers passed 8 yards to Danario Alexander for a touchdown, and Novak was true with the extra point. Denver extended the lead in the fourth quarter on a 30 yard field goal by Prater. The Broncos got some more as Prater made a 32 yard field goal. The Chargers took some back when Rivers hooked up with Alexander for another touchdown, this time from 21 yards, and Novak supplied the extra point. They got no closer, falling 30-23, with Denver now at 7-3 and the Chargers dropping to 4-6.
Further to the east, the New England Patriots host the Indianapolis Colts. Indianapolis opened in the first quarter as Delone Carter ran 1 yard for a touchdown, and Adam Vinatieri handled the extra point. New England tied it as Tom Brady passed 4 yards to Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown, and Stephen Gostkowski's extra point was the equalizer. The Colts retook the lead on a 14 yard touchdown pass from Andrew Luck to T.Y. Hilton, and Vinatieri supplied the PAT. The Patriots pulled even again as Julian Edelman returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, and Gostkowski made another extra point. New England took the lead with an Aqib Talib interception of Luck, which he took back 59 yards for a touchdown, and Gostkowski again made the extra point. Indianapolis got some back as Vinatieri made a 47 yard field goal. The Patriots answered with a Gostkowski field goal from 31 yards. New England extended the lead in the third quarter as Brady passed 2 yards to Edelman for a touchdown, and Gostkowski tacked on the extra point. The Patriots padded the lead as Brady found Gronkowski for another touchdown, this time a 24 yard connection, and Gostkowski kicked in the extra point. New England kept going in the fourth quarter with another pick-six, as Alfonzo Dennard intercepted Luck for 87 yards and the touchdown, allowing another Gostkowski extra point. The Colts got some back with Luck finding Hilton for 43 yards and another touchdown, and Vinatieri tacked on the extra point. The Patriots replied as Stevan Ridley ran 3 yards for a touchdown, and Gostkowski tacked on the extra point. New England iced it at 59-24 as Shane Vereen ran 4 yards for a touchdown, and Gostkowski again made the extra point. The Patriots go to 7-3 while the Colts drop to 6-4.
Finally, the night game has the Pittsburgh Steelers host their fierce rivals, the Baltimore Ravens.Pittsburgh got going in the first quarter as Byron Leftwich ran 31 yards for a touchdown, and Shaun Suisham made the extra point. Baltimore took the lead when Justin Tucker made a 26 yard field goal. The Ravens took the lead as Jacoby Jones returned a punt 63 yards for a touchdown, and Tucker handled the extra point. Baltimore extended the lead in the third quarter on a Tucker field goal of 39 yards. The Steelers got some back with a Suisham field goal from 22 yards away. They got no closer, losing 13-10, with Baltimore now at 8-2 and Pittsburgh at 6-4.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
Oakland, as the Raiders host the New Orleans Saints. New Orleans led off in the first quarter with a Drew Brees 1 yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham, and Garrett Hartley made the extra point. The Saints added on as Malcolm Jenkins picked off Carson Palmer and took it 55 yards to the house for a touchdown, with Hartley making another extra point. Oakland replied in the second quarter as Palmer passed 1 yard to Brandon Myers for a touchdown, and Sebastian Janikowski booted the extra point. New Orleans answered as Brees threw a 38 yard touchdown pass to Lance Moore, and Hartley made the PAT. The Saints kept going in the third quarter on a 27 yard touchdown run by Mark Ingram, with Hartley making the extra point. The Raiders replied as Janikowski made a 40 yard field goal. New Orleans padded the lead as Brees found Moore again, this time for a 15 yard touchdown connection, and Hartley made his extra point. The Saints padded the lead in the fourth quarter with a 47 yard Hartley field goal. Oakland got some back as Palmer passed 3 yards to Juron Criner for a touchdown, and Janikowski was there with the extra point. This ended the scoring at 38-17, with the Saints now at 5-5 and the Raiders at 3-7.
Over in Denver, the Broncos host the San Diego Chargers. San Diego started as Eric Weddle intercepted Peyton Manning in the first quarter for 23 yards and a touchdown, and Nick Novak handled the extra point. Denver tied it in the second quarter with Manning passing 13 yards to Demaryius Thomas for a touchdown, and Matt Prater knocked in the extra point. The Broncos took the lead as Prater made a 19 yard field goal. Denver extended the lead as Manning passed to Brandon Stokley for 31 yards and a touchdown, and Prater again made the PAT. The Chargers got some back as Shaun Phillips sacked Manning for a safety. The Broncos shot back as Manning passed 20 yards to Eric Decker for a touchdown, and Prater handled the extra point. San Diego got some back as Philip Rivers passed 8 yards to Danario Alexander for a touchdown, and Novak was true with the extra point. Denver extended the lead in the fourth quarter on a 30 yard field goal by Prater. The Broncos got some more as Prater made a 32 yard field goal. The Chargers took some back when Rivers hooked up with Alexander for another touchdown, this time from 21 yards, and Novak supplied the extra point. They got no closer, falling 30-23, with Denver now at 7-3 and the Chargers dropping to 4-6.
Further to the east, the New England Patriots host the Indianapolis Colts. Indianapolis opened in the first quarter as Delone Carter ran 1 yard for a touchdown, and Adam Vinatieri handled the extra point. New England tied it as Tom Brady passed 4 yards to Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown, and Stephen Gostkowski's extra point was the equalizer. The Colts retook the lead on a 14 yard touchdown pass from Andrew Luck to T.Y. Hilton, and Vinatieri supplied the PAT. The Patriots pulled even again as Julian Edelman returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, and Gostkowski made another extra point. New England took the lead with an Aqib Talib interception of Luck, which he took back 59 yards for a touchdown, and Gostkowski again made the extra point. Indianapolis got some back as Vinatieri made a 47 yard field goal. The Patriots answered with a Gostkowski field goal from 31 yards. New England extended the lead in the third quarter as Brady passed 2 yards to Edelman for a touchdown, and Gostkowski tacked on the extra point. The Patriots padded the lead as Brady found Gronkowski for another touchdown, this time a 24 yard connection, and Gostkowski kicked in the extra point. New England kept going in the fourth quarter with another pick-six, as Alfonzo Dennard intercepted Luck for 87 yards and the touchdown, allowing another Gostkowski extra point. The Colts got some back with Luck finding Hilton for 43 yards and another touchdown, and Vinatieri tacked on the extra point. The Patriots replied as Stevan Ridley ran 3 yards for a touchdown, and Gostkowski tacked on the extra point. New England iced it at 59-24 as Shane Vereen ran 4 yards for a touchdown, and Gostkowski again made the extra point. The Patriots go to 7-3 while the Colts drop to 6-4.
Finally, the night game has the Pittsburgh Steelers host their fierce rivals, the Baltimore Ravens.Pittsburgh got going in the first quarter as Byron Leftwich ran 31 yards for a touchdown, and Shaun Suisham made the extra point. Baltimore took the lead when Justin Tucker made a 26 yard field goal. The Ravens took the lead as Jacoby Jones returned a punt 63 yards for a touchdown, and Tucker handled the extra point. Baltimore extended the lead in the third quarter on a Tucker field goal of 39 yards. The Steelers got some back with a Suisham field goal from 22 yards away. They got no closer, losing 13-10, with Baltimore now at 8-2 and Pittsburgh at 6-4.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
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