In his second season back in the NFL after going to prison on dogfighting charges, Michael Vick has won the Sporting News’ Comeback Player of the Year Award. Despite not being the Philadelphia Eagles starter at the beginning of the season Vick received over 70% of the vote.

Following Donavan McNabb’s trade to the Washington Redskins, Kevin Kolb was set to take over at QB for the Eagles, but was injured in the first game against the Green Bay Packers. Vick took over when the team was down 20-3 and nearly led the team back, creating instant QB controversy. After being named the starter, Vick went down with an injury in Week 4 and didn’t play again until the eighth week of the season.

In Atlanta, Vick was known as a run-first QB, but he put together his best season throwing the football this past year. His first interception didn’t come until Week 9 and he finished with a QB rating over 100 for the first time in his career.

Vick tweeted about winning the award:

“I’m thankful for all the people in my life who made this possible. They know who they are!”

Vick set career highs in passing yards, passing touchdowns and rushing touchdowns on the year while still proving to be a dynamic force when given room to run. On the season Vick accounted for 30 touchdowns (21 passing, nine rushing) and turned the ball over only seven times.

Vick put himself into the MVP race in Week 10 when he led the Eagles to a 59-28 dismantling of the Washington Redskins. In that contest he accounted for six touchdowns and over 400 yards of offense. His signature moment, however, came in Week 15 when he worked the second miracle of his football career (the first being the Miracle in Morgantown when he was a member of the Virginia Tech Hokies). Down 31-10 with less than eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, Vick hit Brent Celek for a 65 yard touchdown strike. Two minutes later, he scored on a four yard run cutting the Giants lead to one possession. When the Eagles got the ball again, Vick drove them down the field and hit Jeremy Maclin for a 13 yard score, tying the game up at 31. DeSean Jackson secured the win when he returned a punt for a TD as time expired.

The 2010 season marked a remarkable turnaround for Vick both on and off the field. He seems to have completely remade his life and rededicated himself to the game of football. As before, he can wow anyone with his ridiculous athleticism, but the 2010 season was fantastic for Vick both on the ground and through the air.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and writes a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

NFL scores Week 3 with recaps are in.

The Saints lost their first game of the season, the 49ers are still winless and the Kansas City Chiefs remain unbeaten. Oh yeah, and the Vikings beat the Lions despite a so-so day from Brett Favre. Let’s go to the videotape as they say.

Pittsburgh Steelers 38  Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13: Charlie Batch threw for three TDs in the first half and the Bucs folded like a cheap suit.  So much for a Tampa Bay undefeated season. Speaking of that, the Steelers go 3-0 without Ben Roethlisberger.

Minnesota Vikings 24  Detroit Lions 10: Brett Favre can’t seem to find a deep threat or keep his INTs at bay…but when you have Adrian Peterson on a good day, you tend to win when you’re playing the Lions. He ran for two TDs and made you forget another pedestrian day for Old #4 who threw for one TD and 2INTs.

Cincinnati Bengals 20  Carolina Panthers 7 : Cincinnati’s passing offense is still less than you’d expect with their receivers, but Cedric Benson can still run and catch swing passes. He scored twice and the Bengals D forced four turnovers from young Jimmy Clausen and company.

IN OT: Atlanta Falcons 27 New Orleans Saints 24 : No Reggie Bush, no problem when you’ve got Lance Moore on a tear. He caught two TDs and Jeremy Shockey hauled in another. But Garrett Hartley, the Saints kicker had one of those days. He got his team to OT on a 32 yard effort but couldn’t replicate that in OT hooking a short 29-yarder that would have won the game. Handing the ball back to the Falcons was a mistake. Their kicker, an ex-USFL player, iced it with a 46 yarder.

Kansas City Chiefs 31 San Francisco 49ers 10: The new-look Chiefs frustrated the 49ers offense that you’d think would be explosive with Vernon Davis, Frank Gore and Michael Crabtree.  Oh well, KC showed off its passing game as Matt Cassel connected with three different receivers. Someone get the Xanax ready for Mike Singletary

Tennessee Titans 29 New York Giants 10:  Vince Young bounced back from last week’s benching and Chris Johnson was back on track with a 2 TD game. The Giants imploded with three turnovers, and multiple personal fouls on the O-line and secondary. Tom Couglin pulled three players as a result. The G-men fall to 1-2

New England Patriots 38  Buffalo Bills 30: Tom Brady threw 3 TDs, with 2 going to Randy Moss, while the latest of the unknown RBs for the Pats scored twice. The Bills made it interesting however, as C.J. Spiller finally found the end zone; he did it twice, one of them a 95 yard kick-off return.

Dallas Cowboys 27  Houston Texans 13: Dallas showed some life on offense with Romo to Williams counting for two of the team’s three scores. They limited their mistakes and their D wrapped up Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson and Arian Foster. Dallas notches win 1 of the season and the Texans lose the cross-state game.

Baltimore Ravens 24  Cleveland Browns 17: Joe Flacco found out how to use his new toy, Anquan Boldin who caught three TDs, as the Ravens won their first game of 2010. The Browns ran the ball against Ray Lewis & company with Peyton Hills gaining 144 yd. with a TD.

Indianapolis Colts 27 Denver Broncos 13 – After a slow first-half the points started coming and fast too, but not for the Broncos. Peyton Manning threw for 325 yards and 3 TDs, two to Austin Collie. On the Broncos side, Kyle Orton completed passes to nine different receivers for a total of 476 yards but only one was caught in the end zone. The Broncos running game is truly in trouble. Laurence Maroney and Correll Buckhalter had 16 attempts for fewer than 40 yards. While the Indy D only forced one turnover, they did what they needed to do to get the Colts to 2-1 on the year.

St. Louis Rams beat the Washington Redskins 30-16 – Rams’ rookie quarterback Sam Bradford looks better each week, but it sure helps to have Steven Jackson in the backfield. Bradford had one TD and one INT on 235 yards passing. Jackson combined with Kenneth Darby for 2 scores. Donovan McNabb continues to love Santana Moss, who racked up 124 yards through the air and the Redskins only TD. Washington could only muster 91 yards on the ground from its running backs and fell to 1-2 in the Mike Shanahan era. Steve Spagnuolo celebrated only his second win at Rams head coach, but he’ll take it, for sure.

Seattle Seahawks got past the San Diego Chargers 27-20 – Seattle held the Chargers scoreless in the first half, but it was San Diego’s three fumbles at key stages of drives that kept them off the board. Then the Seahawks’ pick-up from the NY Jets, Leon Washington ran back the second half opening kick 101 yards for a score. He added another one for 99 yards in the fourth quarter to seal the win for the Seahawks. Philip Rivers and his wide receivers gave it all they had but it wasn’t enough. Rivers ended up with 414 passing yards, throwing TDs to Gates and Floyd. The Seahawks go to 2-1 and their division rivals, fall to 1-2.

Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-3 Michael Vick looks confident as the official starting QB for Philly. He threw for 3 TDs and ran for one. Jacksonville’s offense was virtually non-existent as they gained a bit more than 200 yards, 132 on the ground. David Garrard was harassed all day, going 13-30 with one INT and a quarterback rating of 38.9. Vick’s performance makes Andy Reid look good, after his early week flip-flop on the starter’s job. Kevin Kolb seems OK on the sideline with a visor and a clipboard. The Eagles lead the NFC East at 2-1 after losses by the Redskins and the New York Giants.

Arizona Cardinals outlasted the Oakland Raiders 24-23 – In a wild one in the desert, the Cardinals’ QB Derek Anderson was able to find his two top receivers, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston for one TD each, although his overall quarterback performance was average to poor. Anderson went 12-16 with an INT on 122 passing yards.

Oakland had more than enough chances to take this one from the Cardinals but tripped themselves up over and over. They committed 11 penalties that cost them 123 yards and to add insult to injury, kicker Sebastian Janokowski missed three field goalds. Bruce Gradkowski doesn’t lack for weapons and new ones at that. Louis Murphy caught 119 yards with TE Zach Miller hauling in 44 yards and one score. Darren McFadden had another good day a TD and 105 yards on the ground. Arizona climbs to 2-1 and the Raiders fall to 1-2

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

NFL Week 2 scores may produce panic among fans of the Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys, both of which suffered their second consecutive losses without a win this new season. But if you live in Chicago, you’re ready to crown Mike Martz, king of the Windy City.

Here are the scores and rundown of the games for NFL Week Two.

Miami Dolphins beat the Minnesota Vikings 14-10: Adrian Peterson was the whole show for the Vikings in their home opener.  He ran for 145 yards and scored the team’s only TD. Another poor day for Brett Favre included a fumble in the end zone resulting in Miami’s second and final TD of the day.

Green Bay Packers over the Buffalo Bills 34-7: The Green Bay home opener against the Buffalo Bills gave the home crowd a big win, but the Pack sputtered a bit until the second half. QB Aaron Rodgers turned it up a couple of notches as he passed for two TDs and ran for another. Fred Jackson scored the lone TD for the Bills.

Chicago Bears win over the Dallas Cowboys 27-20: It’s worry time in Dallas. Cowboys QB Tony Romo threw a ridiculous number of passes for the second game in a row. He was 39-51, which resulted in only one TD and 2 INTs. The Bears held the Dallas running game in check and Jay Cutler was 21-29 with 3 TDs. The highlight for Dallas was rookie Dez Bryant’s 62 yard punt return for a TD.

Pittsburgh Steelers over Tennessee Titans 19-11: The Pittsburgh Steelers are 2-0 without Ben Roethlisberger but it’s no thanks to Dennis Dixon. He left the game with an injury, replaced by Charlie Batch. Kicker Jeff Reed accounted for 15 of the Steelers points. Titans RB Chris Johnson was held to 34 yards from scrimmage and Kerry Collins, in for the sputtering Vince Young threw for the only Titans.

Philadelphia Eagles beat the Detroit Lions 35-32: In a wild and high scoring game in Detroit, the Philadelphia Eagles outlasted the Lions 35-32. Mike Vick had a great day at QB, subbing for the injured Kevin Kolb. But the Lions almost pulled it out, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter. Lions rookie RB, Jahvid Best scored three times as did his counterpart on the Eagles, LeSean McCoy. Vick ended the day with 2 TDs 21-34 without an INT. Kolb is expected to return next week. QB controversy anyone?

New England Patriots visited the New York Jets and lost 28-14. The Jets had a controversial week with a sexual harassment flap and a bad loss to the Ravens. It made you think the Pats would roll, right? That’s why they play the game. Mark Sanchez didn’t turn the ball over on 21-30 passing and threw for three TDs. The Jets defense intercepted Tom Brady twice, both by Antonio Cromartie who had to pick up the slack for an injured. Darrelle Revis. LaDainian Tomlinson looked like he drank from the fountain of youth. He was the team’s most productive runner for the second week in a row, gaining 76 yards on the ground and added 26 yards receiving.

The Houston Texans came back to tie and then beat the Washington Redskins in overtime 30-27.  Matt Schaub who threw for more than 497 yards, pitched a pretty TD pass to trusty wide receiver Andre Johnson with a bit more than two minutes left in regulation to tie it up. The Redskins couldn’t seem to run the ball very much, except when Clinton Portis was near the goal line. He scored twice but gained only 33 yards. Donovan McNabb threw for 426 yards and one score. The Skins had a chance to win the game in OT, but as kicker Graham Gano ran up to the ball, Houston coach Gary Kubiak called a time out to ice him. It worked and his second attempt failed. The Texans were able to capitalize and won on Neil Rackers third successful field goal of the game. The two teams put up almost 1,000 yards of total offense.

The Denver Broncos skunked the Seattle Seahawks 31-14 and it was not pretty on either offense or defense for the Seahawks. The Seahawks came back down to earth in Week 2, after their win against the 49ers, and their defense let the Broncos run wild. Denver QB Kyle Orton didn’t have a pick and threw for 2 TDs on 307 yards. Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter both scored a Denver TD on the ground. Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck went 20-35 and was picked off three times, in a game that was reminiscent of the 2009 season. Back to the drawing board for coach Pete Carroll.

The San Diego Chargers put a beat down on the Jacksonville Jaguars, 38-13.  Philip Rivers threw for 334 yards, two TDs and 2 INTs. Malcolm Floyd scored once on 95 receiving yards with fullback Mike Tolbert scoring two on the ground. The Jaguars decided that after four INTs and no TDs quarterback David Garrad should be replaced by Luke McCown. It looked like a good move as McCown moved the offense, but he left the game with an injury. A chastened Garrad returned to throw for the only Jags touchdown on the day, a pass to Mike Sims-Walker. Maurice Jones-Drew was held to 31 yards on the ground and 17 receiving yards.

The Oakland Raiders held off the St. Louis Rams, 16-14. After Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell got benched, Bruce Gradkowski did what he generally does for Oakland: he wins. He threw for the team’s only touchdown on the day, a pass to Louis Murphy. Kicker Sebastian Janikowski kicked three field goals and that was enough to beat St. Louis. Rams quarterback Sam Bradford had a decent game two for a rookie. He threw for two touchdowns, both to Mark Clayton and went 14-25 on the day with one INT.

Cincinnati Bengals win against Baltimore Ravens 15-10: Cincinnati evened its their record at 1-1 with a big win against their fierce division rival. Ravens QB Joe Flacco had the worst day of his pro career, going 17-39 with 4 INT’s and one TD. The Bengals got all their points from kicker Mike Nugent.

Atlanta Falcons over the Arizona Cardinals 41-7: . Matt Ryan threw for 3 TDs and running back Jason Snelling ran for two. The Cardinals offense was non-existent except for one 80 yard TD run by Tim Hightower. How’s that QB thing going for the Cards? Anyone? Other news from the Falcons sidelines, Michael Turner left the game with a groin injury in the 2nd quarter and did not play in the second half.

Kansas City Chiefs beat the Cleveland Browns 16-14: The newly invigorated KC Chiefs won their second in a row by beating the Cleveland Browns, who drop to 0-2. Seneca Wallace, subbing for injured Jake Delhomme, at QB for the Browns actually outplayed his counterpart, Matt Cassel but the KC defense and running game ruled the day.

Tampa Bay Bucs win against the Carolina Panthers 20-7:  Break up the Bucs! They are 2-0 after a beat down of the Carolina Panthers, 20-7. Bucs QB Josh Freeman threw for 2 TDs and the Bucs defense held the twin-towers of Carolina’s running game to under 100 yards. They also picked off Matt Moore once, which resulted in him being benched for rookie Jimmy Clausen, who fared no better.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

The first Monday morning after the opening weekend of the NFL season usually features the same things –
overreacting to poor/great performances, assessing injuries to key players, obsessing over fantasy football results, reading incessant “WE (sic) won!”-type status updates on Facebook and at least one potential quarterback controversy.

And on cue, we have one brewing in Philadelphia, where there is now a debate over who should start in NFL Week 2 – Michael Vick or Kevin Kolb.  This is great news for sports radio station WIP, whose airwaves have been filled today with callers debating this topic.

Vick replaced the injured Kevin Kolb (concussion) with the Eagles trailing the Green Bay Packers 20-3.  He was 16-for-24 for 175 yards and threw for one touchdown, and also rushed for 103 yards.  (Yes, fantasy football degenerates – more rushing yards than most starting running backs had this week.)  While the Eagles fell short and lost, 27-20, Vick’s presence clearly sparked his team and already riled up the usually critical Philadelphia fans and media.

Head coach Andy Reid tried to restore order today by said today that, “…Kevin Kolb is the No. 1 quarterback.” But since Kolb is still suffering from the effects of his injury, Vick is likely to start in Week Two against the Detroit Lions.  This, combined with the fact that Kolb performed poorly before he got hurt, has all the makings of a looming controversy for the foreseeable future.  Remember, this is the same city which once extolled the virtues of the likes of Bobby Hoying, A.J. Feely and Jeff Garcia.

Looking ahead, if Kolb is still injured in Week Three, Vick would get to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in another favorable match-up.  This would lead to the perfect storm in Week Four: an even-bigger QB controversy coinciding with the return to Philadelphia of – you guessed it – Donovan McNabb and his Washington Redskins.

Even “American Idol” would be jealous of this script, except that Fox doesn’t have a staff of writers on this show.  Here’s hoping this scenario pans out and we’re rewarded with such potentially riveting reality television.  If you can stomach Joe Buck, that is…

Used with permission of the author.

Chris Lardieri covers the Los Angeles Dodgers for Examiner.com and has written about Major League Baseball for Inside Edge, a scouting company that provides content to ESPN Insider and Yahoo Sports. He previously wrote for 1766, the Rutgers Alumni Magazine, and popular blog, ‘The Outer Loop’.  Be sure to follow Chris on Twitter for more MLB and sports observations.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC