Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-It seems that the Oakland Raiders still have not found the way to beat their arch-rival Denver Broncos.

Peyton Manning did not throw a touchdown, but did throw for 266 yards, while completing 22 passes and threw two interceptions and the Broncos made it eight straight over the Raiders with a hard fought 16-10 victory before a crowd of 54,500 at the Coliseum.

The two interceptions thrown by Manning were picked off by another future Hall of Famer, Charles Woodson, and it was the first two interceptions by Woodson against Manning in his 18-year career.

These two men have so many things in common, that it was main topic of the week preceding the game between these rivals that have been going at each other since the two teams were founded back in the old AFL in 1960.

When Woodson won the Heisman Trophy in his junior year at the University of Michigan, Manning, a senior at Tennessee was the runner-up. Just four months later, Manning went number one in the 1998 NFL Draft to the Indianapolis Colts and with the fourth pick, Woodson was drafted by the Raiders.

It was the 63rd and 64th interceptions of Woodson’s career, and it moved him into a tie with Ed Reed for 6th place on the all-time interceptions list. Woodson joins Clay Matthews (39) and Darrell Green (41) as the only three players 39-or-older to intercept a pass.

Woodson also moved into eighth place on the Raiders all-time interception list with 26.

Second year quarterback Derek Carr went 26-for-39 for 249 yards, a touchdown and a costly interception with 6:53 remaining in the game that Chris Harris, Jr., returned 74 yards for the backbreaking touchdown.

“From the advantage point that I saw, he was wide open and I don’t know if we missed him (Seth Roberts) or if he didn’t look for the ball. The live view and the quick view I saw on replay, it had a chance to be a catch and run and an explosive play and a first down and points for us and it turned into a pick six going the other way,” said Jack Del Rio.

After getting the ball after the Harris interception for a touchdown, the Raiders began to drive down the field; however on fourth-and-19, the Raiders called for a screen play and Marcel Reece gained four yards and was tackled by Harris and they turned the ball over on downs.

“I really don’t have an answer for that. Plays that don’t end up working end up having a question about,” said Del Rio.

It was an off day for Sebastian Janikowski, as the 16-year veteran became the all-time in games played for the Raiders with 241 games.

On the other side of things, Janikowski saw his 38-yard field goal on the Raiders second series blocked by Sylvester Williams. Janikowski then missed a 40-yard field goal wide left in the opening moments of the fourth quarter.

Brandon McManus kicked three field goals for the Broncos, a 25-yard field goal just 41 seconds into the second quarter, a 29-yarder on the Broncos second series of the third quarter and then McManus nailed a 52-yard field goal that gave the Broncos the lead for good with 6:25 remaining in the third quarter.

Reece gave the Raiders their only points in the first half, as he scored on a three-yard touchdown reception from Carr on the Raiders first series after McManus’ 25-yard field goal that gave the Broncos a 3-0 lead.

Janikowski finally put the ball through the uprights with 1:40 remaining in the game, as he nailed a 50-yard field goal after Bradley Roby was called for pass interference and the Raiders gained 48 yards via the penalty. The onside kick was recovered by Demaryius Thomas.

The Broncos were unable to run out the clock, as Britton Colquitt’s punt with eight seconds remaining was caught by Amari Cooper, then fumbled and recovered by Broncos safety David Bruton to end the game.

NOTES: Following their bye week, the Raiders will head to San Diego, where they will face the Chargers on October 25. The Raiders next home game will be on November 1, against the New York Jets.

Janikowski moved past Lou Groza into 15th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,608 after his field goal and extra point.

The 16-year veteran out of Florida State passed Tim Brown to become the Raiders all-time leader in game played.

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By Morris Phillips

All week, Jared Goff’s abilities as a smart, quick-thinking, pocket passer were trumpeted nationwide.

For three hours on Saturday night, the Utah defense did its best to tear apart the junior quarterback’s reputation and any accessible body parts as well.

Goff threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns, but ultimately Cal and its star quarterback were taken down by Utah’s aggressive defense that forced six turnovers–including a career-worst five interceptions thrown by Goff–in the Utes’ heart-stopping 30-24 win over the Bears.

“Boy, our kids played really hard,” Coach Sonny Dykes said.  “I’m disappointed for them.  It’s one of those games we’ll look back on and wish we could have it over.  Just made too many mistakes to win the football game.”

“The secondary did a great job, especially against a team and quarterback like that,” Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham said.  “They were ball hawks back there tonight.”

Goff led the Bears on a potential game-winning drive in the final minutes only to misfire on his final two throws allowing the Utes to take over on downs at their 21-yard line with 26 seconds remaining.  The tremendous burden Goff assumed Saturday as Cal’s best player trying to lead his team to a historic 6-0 start was illustrated on that final drive.  Of the 11 plays on the drive, Goff threw nine passes—completing six—ran twice for short gains, and absorbed a painful hit that resulted in a roughing the passer penalty.

Utah preserved its No. 5 ranking and became the Pac-12’s lone unbeaten team with the win.  The Utes find themselves squarely in the middle of the College Football Playoffs’ discussion regarding which teams will grab the coveted, four spots despite being picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 South.  Cal falls from the unbeaten ranks, and will have to plenty of adjustments to make in advance of their critical meeting with UCLA on October 22.

The Utes battled through an uneven, offensive effort as well, but were boosted by Devontae Booker, who rushed for a season-best 222 yards on 34 carries.  Booker’s big night helped mask quarterback Travis Wilson’s uneven effort.  Wilson was picked twice and completed 16 of 26 passes for just 170 yards. Utah also failed to convert Goff’s turnovers into a comfortable lead in the first half.  Five of Cal’s six turnovers came in the first half, but Cal trailed just 24-17 at the break.

The Bears led only once, 7-3, late in the first quarter.  Six plays later, Booker broke free on a 40-yard touchdown down the near sideline that gave Utah a 10-7 lead that they never lost.

Cal tied it 10-10 on Matt Anderson’s 22-yard field goal halfway through the second quarter, but the Utes answered right back, coming up with a pair of touchdowns less than two minutes apart to take a 24-10 lead.

The Bears responded right before halftime on Goff’s pass to Darius Powe to draw with 24-17.  The touchdown marked the sixth time in six games that Cal scored points in the final two minutes of the first half.  But with Utah coming out conservative offensively to start the second half and fashioning a drive, the Bears failed to score within the first 5 ½ minutes of the second half for the first time all season.

Cal was even more dependent on Goff in this one, as Utah’s big and fast defensive front virtually eliminated the Bears’ run game in the second half.  Vic Enwere led the Bears in rushing with just 33 yards, and Daniel Lasco fumbled in the first quarter on his only carry of the game.

Kyle Kragen had a huge game along the Cal defensive front with 14 tackles and a sack.

The Bears were attempting to beat a Top-5 team on the road and start 6-0 for the first time since 1950.  Cal also failed stay unbeaten in their sixth game of a season in 2005 and 2007.

While Cal maintains the best overall record in the Pac-12 North at 5-1, Stanford—idle on Saturday—remains the only undefeated team in conference play at 3-0.

By Jeremy Harness

STANFORD – It appears now that Stanford is back to the form that it showed in winning the Pac-12 championship in 2013.

The latest installment, however, did come against a team that was, to say the least, not exactly firing on all cylinders.

Arizona traveled to Palo Alto without their vital components on both sides of the ball, as quarterback Anu Solomon missed the game while recovering from a concussion he suffered in last week’s loss to UCLA. After returning from a knee injury, star linebacker Scooby Wright sprained his right foot in that same game and is expected to be out several more weeks.

The end result was a beatdown in Stanford’s favor, a 55-17 win at Stanford Stadium that kept the 18th-ranked Cardinal (4-1) undefeated in Pac-12 play.

Christian McCaffrey led the way in gouging the Wright-less Arizona defense with 156 rushing yards, 113 of them coming in a first half that saw Stanford send a clear message that it was the dominant team, while the Cardinal defense held Arizona to 102 total first-half yards, most of which came on one drive in the second quarter that netted a field goal. The Wildcats (3-2, 0-2 Pac-12) finished with 314 total yards, but most of that came when the game had already been decided.

The only thing the two teams had in common was the fact that neither turned the ball over once.

McCaffrey got his game going right away. His first touch of the game was a 12-yard run for a first down and eventually led to a field goal, and on Stanford’s second possession, the sophomore running back dashed the Arizona defense for a career-long 49-yarder. On the very next play, quarterback Kevin Hogan used his legs to get out of trouble and complete a 19-yard pass on the run to Trenton Irwin to the Wildcats’ 19.

However, the Wildcats defense tightened up and eventually forced the Cardinal to settle for another field goal.

Stanford finally cashed in on their third drive by running and throwing to their tall tight end, the two long-standing staples of the Cardinal offense. After McCaffrey picked up 12 yards and a first down, Hogan found Devon Cajuste down the middle for 32 yards to the Arizona 9-yard line. Two plays later, McCaffrey punched it in to give the Cardinal a 13-0 lead.

Hogan completed 17 of his 19 passes and finished the game with 217 passing yards and threw for two scores along the way, while his running game did the heavy lifting.

Without Solomon manning the controls, Arizona could not get its offense on track in the first half and did not get into Stanford territory for the first time until early in the second quarter. At that point, the Wildcats embarked on a 20-play, 73-yard drive but blew a great scoring opportunity in the process.

Jerrard Randall, a redshirt senior who started in Solomon’s spot and finished 178 yards on 15-of-28 passing and a touchdown, missed a wide-open Nate Phillips in the corner of the end zone from the Stanford 8, and the Wildcats settled for a field goal to narrow the Cardinal’s lead to 13-3.

Arizona, however, got things moving slightly after halftime, getting into the end zone on their first possession of the second half, courtesy of a 15-yard touchdown throw to Johnny Jackson. Late in the quarter, the Wildcats scored again, this time cashing in with a 1-yard dive by running back Nick Wilson.

However, Stanford answered each Arizona touchdown with one of their own, and by the end of the third quarter, the Cardinal were increasingly getting runs in huge chunks with their backups on the field. Immediately following the punch-in by Wilson, Barry Sanders, Jr. bolted past the demoralized Wildcats defense for a 65-yard touchdown that extended Stanford’s lead to 48-17.

The Cardinal will now enjoy the benefit of a bye week, and they will play Oct. 15 at home against a UCLA team that was shocked by Arizona State on Saturday.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-There are not many home runs hit at AT&T Park, but it is rare when all the runs scored by the winning team, it helps a lot.

Kelby Tomlinson hit an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the first inning, and then after a Matt Duffy ground out, Marlon Byrd hit a solo home run into the center field seats and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Colorado Rockies 3-2 before a 41,505, the 407th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

The Tomlinson inside-the-park home run was the first by a Giants player since Angel Pagan hit against the Rockies on May 25, 2013.

Brandon Crawford rounded out the scoring for the Giants in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he hit his 21st home run of the season. All three home runs came off of Rockies starter Chris Rusin.

Jake Peavy went five innings, allowing just one run on four hits, while walking one and striking out two and finished the 2015 season with a record of 8-6.

Rusin went six innings, allowing three runs on five hits, walking two and striking out three, as he finished his season with a 6-10 record.

NOTES: Matt Cain will take the ball in the season finale for the Giants, while Christian Bergman will take to the mound for the Rockies.

Prior to the game, there was a retirement ceremony for Tim Hudson, who is retiring after 17 seasons in the major leagues.

In a tribute video to Hudson, Bruce Bochy, Madison Bumgarner, Jake Peavy, Barry Zito, Billy Beane, Bobby Cox and Fredi Gonzalez all spoke to Hudson and thanked him for everything.

Since the opening of AT&T Park on April 11, 2000, this was only the ninth inside-the-park home run.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-In his final start of the 2015 season, this was probably not the way that Chris Heston wanted it to end.

Nolan Arenado hit a solo home run and a double in his first two at-bats, as the Colorado Rockies defeated the San Francisco Giants 9-3 before a crowd of 41,505, the 406th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

It was the 42nd home run of the season for Arenado, who added two more runs batted in with his double in his second at bat against Heston.

After Arenado hit his home run in the top of the second inning, the Giants tied up the game, when Jarrett Parker doubled to score Brandon Crawford, who singled to lead off the inning.

Heston was out of the game with two outs in the top of the fourth inning, after he allowed eight runs on eight hits, walking just one and striking out three and his season ends with a 12-11 record.

Charlie Blackmon was the last batter that Heston faced this season, and the Rockies planted a Heston offering into the netting that protects the garden in straightaway centerfield.

Kyle Kendrick ended his season on a high note, as he went six innings, allowing one run on five hits, while walking one and striking out six and ended the 2015 season with a 7-13 record.

Prior to the game, the Willie Mac Award was given to third baseman Matt Duffy and it was a historic event for the team and the award.

Duffy is the first Giants rookie to ever receive the Award that annually given to the Most Inspirational member of the team, and is voted on by his teammates.

By: Joe Lami

After two straight nightmare performances for the 49ers (1-2), things won’t get easier this week for the red and gold, as the Green Bay Packers (3-0) come to Levi’s Stadium this Sunday.

The 49ers are coming off of one of their worst performances of recent memory, as they were blown out by the Arizona Cardinals 47-7 in week three. Things went down hill fast as Colin Kaepernick was intercepted twice in the first two drives with both interceptions brought back for touchdowns.  The 49ers were trailing 14-0 within the first six minutes of the contest, and it was the first time since 1925 a game started with the quarterback throwing two pick sixes in the first two drives.

Kaepernick was intercepted four times in the contest, a career-worst and finished his day 9 of 19 for 67 yards. He also got the only touchdown on a 12-yard scamper to the left. The running game didn’t come to the rescue either, as Carlos Hyde was shut down, running for 51 yards on 15 carries.

Things didn’t get too much better for the 49ers defense either, as the secondary got lit up again. Carson Palmer threw for 311 yards going 20 of 32 for two touchdowns and throwing an easy interception to Anton Bethea. The Cardinals were also able to get the running game going, as Chris Johnson finished the day with 110 yards on 22 carries for two touchdowns.

With the horrendous performance Kaepernick had on Sunday, Niners coach Jim Tomsula reiterated his confidence in his quarterback.  He may seem to be the only person in the Bay Area with confidence in the man that finished with a quarterback rating of 16.7%.

The 49ers only hope this week comes from catching the Packers on a short week, as Green Bay defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 38-28 on Monday night.  Aaron Rodgers went off for Green Bay as he finished with an outstanding night of 333 yards and five touchdowns.  Rodgers now leads the NFL with passing scores with ten in just three contests.

Kansas City was able to shut down Eddie Lacy, as he only carried the ball ten times for 46 yards. Causing one would have to think that the Packers are going to go in with the same game plan and let the ball fly with Rodgers. His main target on the year has been Randall Cobb, who leads the Packers with 20 receptions for 245 yards and four touchdowns.

Unfortunately, it’s going to be another ugly week for San Francisco, as they are going to be embarrassed at home by Green Bay this coming Sunday. They have shown no improvement in the secondary, and an all-pro quarterback like Rodgers is geared up to have an absolute field day.

Prediction: Packers 42 49ers: 10

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – If the Giants are dejected about missing the playoffs, they sure didn’t show it Wednesday night.

A night after being eliminated from playoff contention and having to watch the hated Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate their clinching of the National League West on their home field, the Giants pulled things back together and showed they are still in it until the very end with a where-was-this-last-night? 5-0 win over the Dodgers at AT&T Park.

It’s pretty safe to say that the acquisition of starter Mike Leake has been far from what the Giants had in mind as they were trying to chase a playoff spot upon trading for him two months ago.

The right-hander was 2-5 in his nine starts with the Giants this season, which is still hard to believe given the fact that he arrived in San Francisco riding a four-game winning streak and gave up only two runs during that stretch.

Nonetheless, he closed out his season in style Wednesday night and reminded Giants fans of what he showed in Cincinnati, even though it was a little too late to make a difference. He threw a complete-game, two-hit shutout at the Dodgers by keeping the ball on the ground. He closed the game out in the most fitting way, as he got Corey Seager to bounce into a double play to ensure that he will have at least a winning record (11-10).

“I would say that this was his best game,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “A (two)-hit shutout, it’s hard to beat that. He really pounded the strike zone, he mixed it up, and he did a really good job of working the game plan.

“We think a lot of him. That’s why we acquired him.”

Matt Duffy made sure that Leake got some runs to work with early on, as he turned on a first-inning fastball from Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger and sent it over the wall in left-center for a two-run homer to put the Giants ahead.

Two innings later, after Angel Pagan led off with a walk and then stole second, Kelby Tomlinson brought him in with a double down the right-field line. Pagan, however, was unaware that Tomlinson had hit the ball at first, as he had already taken off for third on a steal attempt and stayed there for a few seconds before realizing that the ball was rolling into the right-field corner.

The Giants added a run in the seventh – Nick Noonan’s first major-league home run – as well as the eighth, courtesy of an RBI single by Jarrett Parker, which especially proved crucial in helping Bochy make a pitching decision.

“That was a big hit, to allow you to stay with your starter a little bit longer to allow him to get a shutout,” Bochy said.

The Giants have one more game against the Dodgers before closing out the season with a three-game series at home against Colorado.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-On the night where the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their third consecutive National League Western Division Championship, Clayton Kershaw was not the only star of the game.

Kike Hernandez got the celebration going, as he scored the only that the Dodgers would need on their way to 8-0 over the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 41,862, the 403rd consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

With the win, the Giants are officially eliminated from the playoffs and they watched their longtime rivals celebrate on their field.

Hernandez scored the Dodgers first run of the game in the first inning, as he led off the game with a single, advanced to third on a Kelby Tomlinson fielding error on a ball hit by Howie Kendrick and after Adrian Gonzalez loaded the bases with a walk, Justin Turner hit a sacrifice fly that scored Hernandez from third base.

In his second at-bat of the evening, Hernandez planted a Madison Bumgarner offering into the left field bleachers for his seventh home run of the season.

Kershaw was his dominant self in the clincher, as he went nine innings, allowing zero runs on just one hit while walking one and striking out on his way to picking up his 16th win of the season. The left-hander retired the last 19 batters he faced.

He struck out the side on three different occasions, and struck out two in another inning.

It was a tough loss for Bumgarner, who allowed four runs (three of them earned) on five hits, while walking one and striking out six, as he saw his record fall to 18-9 on the season.

This was the Dodgers first win in the Bay Area after 10 tries, as they are now 1-7 at AT&T Park and were swept by the Oakland A’s at the Coliseum on August 18 and 19.

Kevin Frandsen picked up the lone Giants hit of the night off of Kershaw , as he singled with one out in the bottom of the third inning. Angel Pagan was the only other Giants player to reach base against Kershaw, as he walked in the bottom of the third after Bumgarner popped out to second base for the second out of the inning. That would be the lone Giants rally of the night.

The Giants defense did not help Bumgarner at all, as Tomlinson’s big error in the top of the first led the Dodgers scoring their first run of the game and then Brandon Crawford committed a throwing error in the top of the fifth inning off the bat of Hernandez and then after a basehit by Kendrick, Bumgarner was able to get of the jam.

It was a totally different story in the top of the sixth inning, as after Bumgarner got Turner and Corey Seager out for the first two outs of the inning, Justin Ruggiano and A.J. Ellis hit back-to-back home runs on successive pitches to put an end to Bumgarner’s night.