San Francisco Giants Podcast with Michael Duca: With Tuesday night win Dodgers avoided reaching a possible all time loss steak record at 16

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AP File Photo: San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy looks on against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

San Francisco Giants Podcast with Michael Duca:

1 After the Giants took Monday night’s first game of the three game series against the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers at 2 AM 8-6 the Dodger got that sinking feeling that they may not ever break that long losing streak that extended to 11 that night. They breath easier now after snapping the streak on Tuesday night.

2 The Dodgers one figure who helped them with the win was starter Klayton Kershaw who pitched six innings and gave up eight hits and two runs.

3 The Dodgers also avoided reaching the all time franchise loss streak going back to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1944 at 16 straight games

4 The 2018 season schedule came out and San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy was pleased to see more road trips and home games that will be longer with nine to ten games per stand. It would give the club time to settle down rather than just picking up and going all the time.

5 The Dodgers start Yu Darvish (8-12) against the Giants Matt Moore (5-13) Wednesday night at AT&T Park to conclude this current series.

Michael Duca does the Giants podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Kershaw continues dominance against Giants; LA snaps 11 game skid in 5-3 win at AT&T

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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) throws against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After leaving the ballpark near 3:00 AM, the last thing that the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers wanted was extra innings, and luckily that did not come into fruition.

Yaisel Puig hit a two-run double in the top of the fourth inning, as the Dodgers hung to defeat the Giants 5-3 before a crowd of 38,727 at AT&T Park.

With the victory, the Dodgers broke their 11-game losing streak, and lowered their magic number to win the National League West down to eight with 17 games to play.

Clayton Kershaw went six innings, allowing two runs (one of them earned) on eight hits, while walking one and striking out six on his way to 17th win of the season against just three losses.

Kershaw is now 13-4 in 21 games, 20 of them starts against the Giants at AT&T Park.

The lone run that Kershaw allowed was a solo home run to Kelby Tomlinson in the bottom of the third inning. It was the first home run of the season for Tomlinson, and his first since October 3, 2015.

Johnny Cueto lasted just 3.2 innings, as he gave up four runs on six hits, while walking four and striking out eight. In those 3.2 innings of work, Cueto threw 101 pitches.

Chase Utley hit his eighth home run of the season in the top of the fourth inning, as he led off the inning. Utley’s home run landed in McCovey Cove, as it was the second night in a row that a home run landed in San Francisco Bay. Denard Span hit one into the drink on Monday night.

After the Giants cut the Dodgers lead down to one in the bottom of the seventh inning, Justin Turner doubled in Chris Taylor.

Cody Bellinger became the first Dodgers player since June 4, 2004 to be intentionally walked three times in the same game, as Jose Hernandez accomplished the feat against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

NOTES: Matt Moore takes the ball in the finale for the Giants, while Yu Darvish will pitch for the Dodgers.

After further discussion with Major League Baseball and Chicago White Sox Official Scorer Bob Rosenberg, Buster Posey will be credited with a steal of home from the Giants game on Friday night against the Chicago White Sox.

Oakland A’s Podcast with Charlie O: Review of how A’s swept Astros; Cleveland ties 2002 A’s 20 game win streak record

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Oakland Athletics players celebrate their victory over the Houston Astros in a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron)

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O

1) What happened with the A’s over the weekend – why were they able to dominate the Astros

2) Cleveland’s 2-0 shutout over the Detroit Tigers ties them with the 2002 Oakland A’s for 20 straight wins in a season Tuesday night

3) How important is this 9 game road trip?

4) The 2018 schedule was released today- how does it look for the fans ?

Charlie O does the A’s podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

Mookie Betts leads the Hit Parade Red Sox trounce the A’s 11-1

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Boston Red Sox’s Mookie Betts, right, is congratulated by Hanley Ramirez after his two run home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park in Boston, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Boston- The Boston Red Sox pounded the A’s Tuesday night as Mookie Betts hit two homers and a triple that drove in six runs and the Red Sox won 11-1. The A’s Sean Manaea, who is left-handed, did not have a happy experience in Fenway Park this evening. Fenway has been a graveyard for lefties over the years, and Manaea became another victim.

The A’s, on the strength of a Jed Lowrie double, plated the first run of the game in the first inning. The lead didn’t last long as the Bosox tallied five times in the bottom of the second. The big blow was a triple off the bat of Mookie Betts. Betts homered in the fourth with a man aboard and the Sox extended the lead to 7-1. Manaea’s night was over. He went just 3 and 2/3rds innings, and he gave up eleven hits and seven runs.

The Sox scored two in the fifth and two in the sixth. Mookie Betts hit his second homer of the night with a man aboard off Raul Alcantara to make it an 11-1 game. There was no more scoring after the sixth inning.

Game Notes. Eduardo Rodriguez evened his record at 5-5 and is now 2-0 versus the A’s in his career. He went six innings and gave up just one run and one hit. Manaea absorbed the loss, and his record is now even at 10-10.

The hitting stars for Boston were Dustin Pedroia, Chris Young, Xander Bogaerts, and Mookie Betts. Betts became the first Red Sox player to have two consecutive 20-20 seasons. The only other Red Sox player to have two 20-20 season was Jackie Jensen who did it in 1954 and 1959.

The line score for the A’s was one run, three hits, and two more errors. The Red Sox line was eleven runs on sixteen hits and no errors. With the win, the Red Sox, coupled with the Yankees’ loss to Tampa Bay, increased their lead in the Eastern Division to four games.

Just a historical note: The Cleveland Indians tied the A’s record of twenty consecutive wins Tuesday night to tie the American League record. The Major League record is held by the New York Giants. They won twenty-six in a row way back when.

Game two of the series will be Wednesday night in Boston. Jharel Cotton will go for Oakland, and the Sox will counter with lefty Drew Pomeranz. Game time is at 4:10 pm.

 

Giants send Dodgers to an LA-record 11th consecutive loss–at 2 a.m.

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San Francisco Giants’ Hunter Pence, right, is congratulated by teammate Denard Span (2) after scoring against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning of a baseball game, Monday, Sept. 11, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO– The rain finally stopped, play resumed, the runs came steadily–first from the Giants, then the Dodgers–and in the end, at 2:10 a.m., the visitors in blue had a very, embarrassing loss after an unusually long night at the ballpark.

It never rains in Southern California? OK, this one was at suddenly stormy AT&T Park. The last Giants-Dodgers rain out at Dodgers Stadium was in August 1977, the night after Elvis died.

The Los Angeles Dodgers never lose 11 in a row? Can’t say that: In the midst of one of their most successful seasons ever since moving from Brooklyn in 1958, the Dodgers have gone nearly two weeks without a win, stuck on 92 wins for the season, after Monday’s 8-6 loss to the Giants.

“We came back, got back in the game a couple times,” Corey Seager said. “Unfortunately we didn’t win. Just got to get back to winning, that’s about it. Nothing else about that.”

The first batter of the game, Curtis Granderson struck out facing Chris Stratton at 7:58pm. Nearly three hours later, Denard Span, the Giants’ third batter of the night, homered to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.

A nearly three-hour rain delay–after the game’s first batter–turned the evening toward the surreal. The Giants struck first, scoring in each of the first three innings to build a 4-0 lead and chase Dodgers’ starter Kenta Maeda. But the Dodgers responded, tying the game with four runs in the fourth.

The Giants led in the fifth and sixth, only to see the Dodgers match those runs in the next frame.

The difference? Hunter Pence’s RBI single in the sixth, scored Pablo Sandoval to give the Giants a 7-6 lead. Buster Posey’s RBI double in the seventh provided insurance. Hunter Strickland pitched a scoreless eighth, and Sam Dyson pitched the ninth, earning his 13th save.

The teams combined to use 15 pitchers in the game, including Giant’s starter Stratton who faced just one batter. The game took slightly less longer to play than the 3 hours, 22 minutes in rain delays.

Both teams entered Monday’s series opener playing awful baseball. Both teams had lost five series in a row, and the Dodgers had compiled 15 losses in their last 16 games. The Dodgers’ losing streak makes them the first club since 1991 to build winning and losing streaks of 10 or more games in the same season.

A’s-Sox preview: Watch out Red Sox- The homer happy A’s are looking to do damage at Fenway

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Oakland Athletics’ Boog Powell (3) follows the flight of his two-run home run against the Houston Astros during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Boston- The Oakland A’s coming off a sweep of the Houston Astros and winners of five straight, are on their way to Boston to face the AL East division leader, the Boston Red Sox. The A’s had lost eight of nine before beating the Angels last Wednesday. The lost all six on the road and the first two games of the home stand.The young and powerful A’s did not have any trouble scoring runs, but the pitching couldn’t keep the opponents off the scoreboard. All that changed this past weekend as the A’s pounded the Astros’ pitching and the pitching kept the Astros from scoring.

For many of the young A’s hitters, it will be their first trip to Fenway Park. The A’s are hitting homers. They have over 200 so far, and they are led by Khris Davis, Ryon Healy, Matt Chapman, and Chad Pinder are leading the way from the right side, and Matt Olson and Matt Joyce are the big boppers from the left side of the plate. Fenway Park has very unusual dimensions. The distance down both lines is slightly over 300 feet. The problem for the right-hand hitters will be hitting the ball over the 37-foot high wall aka the Green Monster. For the lefty hitters, if they can pull the ball down the line, it will be an easy home run. However, the distance increases to 380 feet quite rapidly, and it takes a big blast to put the ball out of the park.

The other problem the A’s have is that they cannot win on the road. The A’s at home are 42-33 but have a woeful road record of 21-47. The Red Sox, on the other hand, need to win. They are in a dogfight with the New York Yankees for the top spot in the East. The Sox do not have the big boppers in the lineup this year. The Sox have hit 146 home runs, and that is about 40 homers below the league average. They have several excellent players. They are led by the veteran Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia has missed a lot of games due to injury, but the slack has been taken up by Eduardo Nunez. Nunez came over to the Red Sox in a trade with the SF Giants. Rafael Devers is manning third base. He is just 20 years ago and made a big splash when he came. He had his first slump of his career but seems to be hitting much better now. Xander Bogaerts is at short, and Mitch Moreland platoons at first base with Hanley Ramirez. The Red Sox have Andrew Benintendi in left, Jackie Bradley, Jr in center and Mookie Betts in right field. Sandy Leon and Christian Vasquez handle the catching.

The pitching matchups for the series will see Sean Manaea pitch Tuesday night against Eduardo Rodriguez. Manaea beat the Angels last Wednesday in Oakland. He went six innings and no runs while earning his tenth win of the year. Rodriguez, also a lefty, is 4-5 with an ERA of 4.33. Rodriguez has scuffled most of the season, but he had a good outing last week as he allowed just six hits and 2 runs in six innings of work. Rodriguez is 1-0 against the A’s lifetime with an ERA of just 1.69.

The second game of the series will feature Jharel Cotton going against Boston’s Doug Fister. Cotton’s record is 7-10, and he has an ERA of 5.82. In his last outing, Cotton gave up seven runs in five innings of work. He continues to give up the gopher ball. In his last outing, he was hammered three times. He has given up 12 big flys in his last 33 2/3rds innings. Fister was plucked off the waiver wire from the LA Angels. Everyone thought Fister was done. Fister has shown that he is not ready to close the book on his career. With the Red Sox, he is 5-2 and has an ERA of 2.79. Overall he is 5-7 for the year, and his ERA stands at 3.91. In three of his last starts, he gave up runs in the first inning, but settled down and was able to pick up three wins.

The Thursday game will feature righty Daniel Gossett going against the lefty, Drew Pomeranz.Gossett beat the Astros on Saturday as he allowed just one run in six plus innings and struck out seven. Pomeranz, a former Oakland Athletic, has found a home in Boston as he is having the best year of his career. His overall record is 15-5, and his ERA is 3.35. He is also pitching very well in Boston. Fenway Park is notorious for being a nightmare for left-handed pitchers. Lefties have to keep the ball down and away to right-hand hitters. If they come inside, there’s a good chance that pitch will either be off the wall or over it. Pomeranz is 8-2 at Fenway. Pomeranz has faced the A’s just once since leaving the team. In his only game against Oakland earlier this year, he gave up one earned run in the four innings that he pitched.

It should be a fantastic series. The Red Sox figured that this might be a breather for them. That was two months ago. They cannot take the A’s lightly. This young team is starting to come together, and if the A’s get any kind of pitching, the series could be a barn burner.

 

Oakland Raiders-New York Jets Preview: Raiders host Jets Sunday in home opener

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AP File Photo: New York Jets quarterback Josh McCown (15) is sacked by Buffalo Bills’ Jordan Poyer (21) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
Sports Radio Service Writer

OAKLAND — Sunday’s 26-16 road win in Nashville (the team’s third straight win at Nissan Stadium in as many seasons), gave Oakland its first win of the year and marked just the first time since the 2001 and 2002 seasons that the Raiders open consecutive seasons with a victory.

Oakland (1-0) won their first game of the season last year, 35-34 over the Saints.

Now, Oakland didn’t follow up that close win in New Orleans with a win in their home opener the very next week, losing to the eventual NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons 35-28.

But this year’s version of the Silver and Black shouldn’t worry about experiencing another letdown this time around, especially with the bottom-feeding New York Jets (0-1) visiting the Black Hole Sunday in Oakland’s home opener at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Kickoff is at 1:25 p.m. PT.

Offensively, the Raiders and Jets are on different stratospheres. The Raiders hold a 24-19-2 edge over the Jets all-time.

Oakland has the clearer edge at quarterback, engineered by the 26-year-old Derek Carr who continues to mature into one of the league’s top passers.

Against Tennessee on Sunday, Carr out-performed Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota, completing 22-of-32 passes for 262 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 114.3 passer rating in a matchup between two of the NFL’s best young quarterbacks.

Mariota finished 25-of-41 for 256 yards and a 78.9 passer rating to go along with a 10-yard scoring run in the first quarter.

In the last matchup against the Jets in 2015, Carr thrashed New York, throwing for 333 yards and four touchdowns with a blistering 130.9 passer rating in a 34-20 victory in Oakland.

The Jets have played musical chairs at quarterback in recent years, going through Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith and are now piloted by journeyman Josh McCown, with holdovers Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty still on the roster.

McCown completed 26-of-39 passes for 187 yards and two interceptions in a 21-12 loss at Buffalo on Sunday.  He did engineer an 11-play, 75-yard drive that he capped off with quarterback sneak for a touchdown on fourth down that pulled the Jets within two points late in the third quarter.

In 16 NFL seasons, McCown is 18-43 in 61 career starts, including 3-23 in his last 26 starts.

Carr has a great arsenal of offensive weapons at his disposal, with wide receivers Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper, and tight end Jared Cook.

Crabtree led Oakland with six catches (on seven targets) for 83 yards, while Cooper (five catches on a team-high 13 targets for 62 yards) scored Oakland’s first touchdown of the season on a 8-yard catch that Cooper fought off a hoard of Tennessee defenders. The Titans gift-wrapped Oakland’s first score of the game after failing to recover an onside-kick on the game’s opening possession that rookie Shalom Luani recovered at the 50-yard line.

Cook, a former Titan, finished with five catches for 56 yards.

Outside of former Seahawks wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, who by all accounts wasn’t the biggest name in the Seahawks’ wide receivers’ meeting room, the Jets have nobody at wide receiver that will scare defenses.

Against Buffalo, Kearse led all Jets receivers with seven catches (on nine targets) for 59 yards.

Second-year wide receiver Robby Anderson is viewed as New York’s best deep threat. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oakland’s ground game is head and shoulders better than New York’s.

Marshawn Lynch looked refreshed in his first game in over a year following his retirement, carrying the football 18 times for 76 yards –10 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter.

Lynch reminded us that he is still “Beast Mode” late in the fourth quarter with one of his signature powerful runs that broke the spirit of the Titans and put the game away for the Raiders.

With Oakland nursing a 23-16 lead and facing a second-and-eight from the Titan 40-yard line, Lynch eluded one defender before charging through the 6-foot-1, 305-pound Jurrell Casey that made a thunderous sound throughout Nissan Stadium and saw Casey fall like a ton of bricks.

That’s what a guy like Lynch brings to the Raiders, a guy who will finish off runs that are just back-breaking for a defense in the fourth quarter when its trying to catch its breath after dealing with Oakland’s aerial attack.

When the Raiders get a lead late in a game, Lynch will become the ultimate closer because teams won’t want to tackle a 5-foot-11, 215-pound speeding rhino that hits like an anvil.

Veteran running backs Bilal Powell and Matt Forte powers New York’s running game, with the duo accounting for all 38 of New York’s rushing yards against the Bills.

Oakland’s defense surrendered 95 yards on the ground to Tennessee.

New York’s defense had leaks all over it Sunday, yielding 408 yards of total offense to the Bills. Buffalo’s starting running back LeSean McCoy gauged the Jets for 110 yards on 22 carries and quarterback Tyrod Taylor completed 16-of-28 passes for 224 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

McCoy added five catches for 49 yards, proving that the Jets don’t handle running backs who can catch the football out of the backfield.

Lynch can definitely catch the football, but running backs Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington are adequate receivers out of the backfield as well and will give New York’s defense fits come Sunday if matched on a linebacker.

The Raiders open as 14-point favorite at home by most odds-makers and with the Jets being a very young and inexperienced team at key positions, Oakland has the chance for a blowout win in front of Raider Nation.

Prediction: Raiders win going away,  34-10, behind a 300-yard and three touchdown performance from Carr sprinkled with 15-20 carries from Lynch for 80-90 yards and a touchdown.

The aforementioned Crabtree could be in for a big game against the Jets.

The last time Crabtree played New York, he was unstoppable hauling in seven catches for 102 yards and a touchdown.

 

 

 

 

San Francisco Giants Podcast with Morris Phillips: Rain delay has 7:15 start pushed back to 10:15PM start at AT&T due to thunder and lighting

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Fans believe it not just hours earlier were fanning themselves at AT&T Park in sunny 81 degree weather but the storm clouds formed around 5:00PM two hours before first pitch and it rained causing a delay and the game time to be changed to 10:15PM on Monday night in the opening game of the three game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants (AP Photo/Jose Sanchez)

On the Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

1 The Los Angeles Dodgers come to San Francisco after losing ten straight and 15 of 16 will Monday Night’s game at AT&T be a test for LA. The Dodgers want to get back on track after having this embarrassing run and if there is any sign of strange things to happen to LA is a rain delay in San Francisco which produced thunderstorms and forced a rain delay. The game was supposed to start at 7:15PM but the thunder and lighting has it rescheduled until 10:15 PM for a first pitch. Which is tough on a Monday night with patrons needing to go to work early Tuesday plus public transportation shuts down after 12 midnight.

2 The Giants are coming off two loses in Chicago. The Giants enter the ball game wanting to play spoiler at their home park on Monday night

3  Jarrett Parker the Giants designated hitter on Sunday in Chicago who had missed 96 games and one week’s worth of baseball took his first at bat and went deep. Parker previous to being the Giants lineup had looked great in batting practice but got to do it for real on Sunday.

4 Madison Bumgarner got shelled in the second inning on Sunday for six runs and eight hits mirroring pitcher Jeff Samardjiza’s last outing. Mad Bum drops his record with the loss to 3-8.

5 The Giants have now lost five straight road series and are 0-9-1 in their last 10 road trips

Morris Phillips does the Giants podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Cal Bears Podcast with Morris Phillips: Bear’s Patrick Laird will see more playing time, especially after last performance

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AP File Photo: Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA – Patrick Laird (28) of California move the ball against Cole Holcomb (36) of North Carolina. The North Carolina Tar Heels hosted the California Golden Bears at the Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Saturday, September 2, 2017. California won 35-30. (Credit Image: © Fabian Radulescu via ZUMA Wire) (Cal Sport Media via AP Images)

On the Cal Bears Podcast with Morris:

1 Weber State was no push over Saturday at Memorial and that’s the reason why Cal got it together fast with two fourth quarter touchdowns by running back Patrick Laird

2 Laird is third on the Cal depth chart with four touchdowns and two of those TDs were rushes for 50 yards or more

3 How much impact does a back like Laird make in helping the club get to 2-0

4 Laird has set the tone and he has tuned vital for Cal’s offense he’ll be valuable this season going forward

5 How big of a transformation did Cal make under new head coach Justin Wilcox

Cal Bears Podcast with Morris appears each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Raiders Tavecchio kicks four field goals in 26-16 win

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Oakland Raiders kicker Giorgio Tavecchio watches a field goal against the Tennessee Titans in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

By Jeremy Kahn

Derek Carr loved being back on the field in a real game for the first time breaking his leg in the home finale for the Oakland Raiders.

Carr, who broke his leg on December 24 against the Indianapolis Colts threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns and the Raiders defeated the Tennessee Titans 26-16 at Nissan Stadium.

It was the third straight for the Raiders over the Titans and their quarterback Marcus Mariota, who is also returning to the field after breaking hours after Carr broke his leg on Christmas Eve.

Amari Cooper caught a touchdown pass from Carr, while Marshawn Lynch, who sat out last season after announcing his retirement from NFL, finished the game by carrying the ball 18 times for 76 yards.

Mariota ran for a touchdown, and threw for 256 yards.

The return of Carr and Lynch were big for the Raiders, but their biggest news came from their left-footed kicker and his name was not Sebastian Janikowski.

Former Cal kicker Giorgio Tavecchio kicked four field goals, including two from more than 50 yards.

Tavecchio, who signed a contract with the team on Friday replaced Janikowski, the team’s all-time leading scorer and 18-year veteran, who is on injured reserve with a bad back.

Tavecchio, who connected on two 52-yard field goals in the contest became the first player in NFL history to kick two field goals from 50 yards or more in his NFL debut.

He also joined Janikowski as the only two players in team history to make multiple 50-yard field goals in a single game.

The Titans attempted an onside kick on the opening kickoff; however, it did not succeed. The Minnesota Vikings were the last team to attempt an onside kick in their season opener in 2009.