Quote:<H1>Surprising Thigpen almost leads the Chiefs past the Jets

By ADAM TEICHER

The Kansas City Star

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. | One minute ? 60 measly seconds ? prevented Tyler Thigpen from the memory of his lifetime.
Thigpen, in one of the great quarterback upsets of all time, outplayed Brett Favre and came that close to beating him. Then came the final minute and Favre's 15-yard touchdown pass to Laveranues Coles that lifted the New York Jets over Thigpen's Chiefs 28-24 at the Meadowlands.

Thigpen may get few more chances for career moments like this. The Chiefs were preparing for three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Daunte Culpepper to visit Kansas City this week and perhaps sign a contract.

The Chiefs contacted Culpepper last week after losing starter Brodie Croyle for the season because of torn knee ligaments.

"We're still talking to him," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. "We'll see where it's at."

Even if Thigpen couldn't deliver a victory ? he pushed the Chiefs to the New York 31 on their final possession, but his fourth-down pass for Will Franklin was incomplete ? he did bring them some hope until Culpepper is ready to take over.

"He played better than I thought he was going to play," said tight end Tony Gonzalez, who could have been speaking for just about everyone who followed the erratic Thigpen earlier in the season. "I don't care what anybody said, if they thought he was going to come out here and play the way he did, then they're lying.

"That's a credit to him. He just came out and said, 'Who cares what the critics think?' He had good practices all week."

Thigpen completed 25 of 36 pass attempts for 280 yards and two touchdowns, one to Gonzalez and the other to Mark Bradley. He threw no interceptions.

Favre was 28 of 40 for 290 yards and two TDs, but he was picked off three times. Brandon Flowers returned one for a 91-yard score.

Gone was the Thigpen who sprayed the ball wildly all over the field. He was replaced by a strong-armed, accurate passer who beat good coverage several times.

The Chiefs tailored their plays for Thigpen, who played in the spread offense in college at Coastal Carolina. They used a lot of one-back formations and went to the no-huddle frequently.

"It's obviously what I ran in college," Thigpen said. "It's just more comfortable. We'll probably put a lot more plays in this week. We had a select few plays this week for that. I imagine we'll broaden that up to where we can get out there and just get lined up, walk to the line instead of huddling up. It just gives you a change of pace where the defense can't sub."

Thigpen no longer has the specter of Croyle or Damon Huard hanging over him. Both are out for the season because of injuries, so the Chiefs couldn't be tempted to pull Thigpen from the game.

Having ownership in the job seemed to help Thigpen.

"When he's in the huddle, it's his huddle," said Dwayne Bowe, whose early-week prediction of a big game from Thigpen sounded like false bravado. "It was just his preparation. He's been in my ear all week, telling me the things he's seeing. He's growing as a leader. He showed some poise out there. We came up short, but he got better."

Still, Thigpen couldn't outscore Favre. The game loomed as maybe one of the biggest quarterback mismatches in NFL history, a future Hall of Famer against a second-year player who began the season as a third-stringer and inherited the job only because of injuries.

Thigpen admitted to watching Favre when the Jets had the ball.

"I'm always out there watching on the JumboTron, just watching what he does," he said. "You always can watch another quarterback and pick up just one little thing."

From Favre, he learned how to operate the two-minute drill. On the winning touchdown, Favre picked on reserve cornerback Dimirti Patterson, playing in place of the injured Patrick Surtain.

Still, the Chiefs were encouraged by Thigpen to the point they could see him eventually winning such a game.

"He gave us a chance to win," Edwards said. "He didn't turn the ball over. He didn't do everything perfect, but I thought he played pretty good against a good defense.

"For a guy who's only started two football games, he kept us in the game. He made some nice throws. It's something we can build on."

Looks like the Koolaid has arrived. LOL

I HATE IT! No Sunday night Football. The damn World Series is on. Now I dont have anything against baseball. I have nothing against fans of the game. What i do hate is the fact that we dont have Sunday night football. Why cant baseball use this Sunday as a travel day. Or play a day game. This is why this weekend is the 2nd worst weekend during football season.

Eh? Whats the first you ask? Simple.

Its that damn so called bye week the NFL has the weekend between the Championship games and Superbowl Sunday.

I am in trouble this week, in Warpath I have been pretty solid, but this week is killing me between injuries and bye weeks.

Well lets start up the old traditions. We have the NY Bretts today. Some think this game is the only chance to get another win this year.

[url="http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=282990142"]http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=282990142[/url]

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Chase Daniel matched his school record with five touchdown passes and No. 15 Missouri's beleaguered defense handed Colorado its first shutout since 1988 in a 58-0 rout on Saturday night.

Jeremy Maclin caught two touchdown passes and Chase Coffman set a career record for receptions by a Division I tight end for Missouri (6-2, 2-2 Big 12).

The Tigers punished the Buffaloes (4-4, 2-2) in their homecoming game one week after fading from the national title picture in a no-contest 25-point blowout loss at top-ranked Texas. The Tigers had lost their previous two games, also falling at home against Oklahoma State, after a 5-0 start in which they trailed for a grand total of 13 seconds.

Missouri led 34-0 at the half, a huge turnaround for a team that trailed Texas 35-0 late in the first half last week. Daniel completed his first 14 passes and was 31-for-37 for 302 yards with one interception against a defense that nursed a one-point lead for the final 25 minutes last week in a 14-13 victory over Kansas State.

Colorado absorbed the second straight spanking at the hands of Missouri, also losing 55-10 last year in Boulder, Colo., and was shut out for the first time since a 7-0 loss to Nebraska on Nov. 12, 1988. The 243-game streak was the third-longest in the nation.

Missouri shut out its first Big 12 opponent since a 48-0 victory over Kansas on Nov. 22, 1986, with Colorado driving inside the Missouri 9 before time ran out.

The Buffaloes have lost four of five, allowed a season high points and had zero success with either of coach Dan Hawkins' rotating quarterbacks against a defense that surrendered 56 points a week ago. Missouri's defense, ranked 100th in the country, recorded its first shutout since beating Ball State 48-0 Sept. 18, 2004.

Missouri jumped ahead by two touchdowns after its first seven plays, meeting no resistance on a 56-yard, four-play opening drive and then capitalizing on Colorado's awful opening possession, which netted minus-17 yards before punter Tom Sauzo fumbled the snap and was tackled at the 5.

The Tigers, known for their quick strike capability, also controlled the clock in the first half with consecutive touchdown drives of 13 and 15 plays lasting 5:10 and 4:57.

Freshman Tyler Hansen got his first career start ahead of Cody Hawkins and fumbled a shotgun snap on his first play to put Colorado in an immediate hole. He was held to 30 yards on 16 carries, a week after his 86 rushing yards helped beat Kansas State.

Coffman, the son of former NFL Pro Bowl tight end Paul Coffman, caught seven passes for 50 yards and has 220 career receptions. He broke the mark of 217 receptions by Ibn Green of Louisville from 1996-99, and extended a school record with his 25th career touchdown on a spectacular one-handed grab in the back of the end zone for a 3-yard score in the first half.

Maclin caught 11 passes for 134 yards, scoring from 3 and 30 yards, and added 41 yards on two punt returns.

[url="http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=282992305"]http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=282992305[/url]

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- It's one down and three to go in a brutish four-game swing that'll either ruin the season for Texas Tech or thrust the Red Raiders squarely into the national championship hunt.

With Graham Harrell throwing for 386 yards and five touchdowns and a swarming defense forcing Todd Reesing into his worst game since high school, No. 8 Texas Tech pasted No. 23 Kansas 63-21 Saturday. The Red Raiders scored 49 straight points.

Next up for Texas Tech (8-0, 4-0 Big 12) will be No. 1 Texas, followed in order by No. 6 Oklahoma State and No. 4 Oklahoma.

"We're focusing on not looking ahead," said running back Baron Batch, one of 11 different receivers who caught passes in coach Mike Leach's seemingly unstoppable spread offense.

Harrell, the nation's No. 1 passer also scored on a 1-yard run for the Red Raiders, who rolled up 556 yards of total offense while matching their best start in 32 years.

"Here's the reality of it," Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. "We got a good old-fashioned butt-whipping today and we know that. You just get a day where the snowball starts rolling down the hill and before you know it, you've got no chance to stop it and it runs you over."

Darcel McBath intercepted three of Reesing's first four passes of the third quarter to snuff out any flickering hopes for the Jayhawks (5-3, 2-2).

Harrell's touchdown passes ranged from 55 yards to Edward Britton to 4 to Michael Crabtree. He also connected with Eric Morris on scoring tosses of 10 and 7 yards and found Crabtree on a tackle-breaking 16-yard scoring play.

"It's all about having fun," Harrell said. "When we have fun, we're at our best."

The Red Raiders' career passing leader was 34-for-42 with no interceptions. But late in the game, long after the outcome was decided, Harrell was sacked on successive plays after being sacked only once in his first seven games.

"We went out and executed well. When we play like that, we're tough to beat," he said.

Kansas matched Harrell touchdown-for-touchdown through a first quarter that ended 14-14. But the Red Raiders ripped off 49 unanswered points for their 10th victory in 11 games against Kansas, which had won 13 straight at home.

The Jayhawks kept trying to disguise coverages. But a week after giving up an Oklahoma school-record 468 yards passing, they were helpless against Harrell and his offensive machine. When they dropped everybody back in coverage, Harrell would simply stand back, protected by huge blockers, and pick out targets.

When the Jayhawks tried to blitz, Harrell almost invariably found the open receiver and kept moving downfield.

"I thought we had some pressure on him at times," Mangino said. "There were a couple of instances where we hit him as he was throwing the ball and he completed it. That's pretty impressive."

Kansas tried a safety blitz on second down early in the second quarter and Harrell connected with Batch for 24 yards to the 7. On their second possession, Harrell again frustrated a Jayhawks blitz by flipping the ball to Batch on a simple screen that went 42 yards.

Any hope Kansas had in the second half was extinguished by the two quick touchdowns that resulted from McBath's interceptions, and turned a game that had Kansas favored by two points into one of the most embarrassing routs in Mangino's seven years as coach.

"I've never had that happen to me in a lot of years of football, back-to-back mistakes like that," Reesing said.

Reesing finished 16-of-26 for 154 yards and two touchdowns in Kansas' most lopsided home loss since a 64-0 setback to Kansas State in 2002.

"Sometimes when things go bad, they can get real bad," he said.

Said Kansas defensive back Justin Thornton, "We just got thrashed out there."

Matt Williams, the Texas Tech student who came out of the stands between quarters of a game on Sept. 20 and won a month of free rent by connecting on a 30-yard field goal, kicked every extra point. The Raiders' regular kicker, Donnie Corona, missed his only field goal attempt.

"I thought it was easy compared to the kick that got him free rent," Leach said.

LIR and Mrs. HG at minicamp

Can you name that a**

Now that the season is about under way, Who ya got?


I will take my Lakers to win it all!

Here is a hockey thread for you followers of hockey! Lets go Pens!