Chargers guard suffered seizure on team plane
Chargers guard suffered seizure on team plane
Any time there’s a potential injury to the brain (including concussion), there should be a medical consult before a flight in a pressurized cabin is cleared. Detroit Tigers P Al Albuquerque was hit in the head by a line drive in Baltimore, never lost consciousness, but was taken to the hospital, and DRIVEN BACK TO DETROIT UPON RELEASE. The Tigers literally left a trainer in Baltimore after the game to make sure their player got back to Detroit safely.”Player safety,” my hind end. No one is thinking about the players — not Goodell, not the coaches, and sure as heck not the players themselves, who have been coached for decades to “get back in there,” and risk losing their job if they don’t. If Goodell wants any credibility on the player safety issue AT ALL, he must fine the Chargers for their flagrant disregard of their player’s safety, not once, but twice (keeping him in the game, and putting him on the plane without a thorough medical checkup first).Good luck, Kris, you’re gonna need it.
Smarter Stats: This Aaron Rodgers guy? He’s pretty good!
Smarter Stats: This Aaron Rodgers guy? He’s pretty good!
This week’s statistical potpourri features several quarterback numbers that put one man above the rest when it comes to pure efficiency — Aaron Rodgers(notes). The numbers below are reflected in traditional quarterback rating for the most part (that will change as the season progresses), and all stats come from STATS, Inc. or Football Outsiders unless indicated otherwise. Leaders in traditional passer rating through four weeks in a few different sets (we’re not using Football Outsiders’ DVOA for these just yet, because the opponent adjustments just start to kick in this early in the season): On two-WR sets, Aaron Rodgers has a perfect passer rating of 158.3. This could be explained a few different ways — with just two receivers, there’s more of a chance that the uncoverable Jermichael Finley(notes) would be on the field, Rodgers might be prone to dump off to his backs if he doesn’t see anything upfield, and … oh, the last one — Aaron Rodgers is just REALLY REALLY GOOD. Behind A-Rodge in two-WR passer rating is Ben Roethlisberger(notes) (138.2), Ryan Fitzpatrick(notes) (137.1), Matt Hasselbeck(notes) (131.3) and Matt Cassel(notes) (130.7). The leader among quarterbacks in three-WR sets is Drew Brees(notes), which makes sense — if Sean Payton has three receivers to play with, he’s going to turn things into a formational nightmare for the opposing defense. Brees and his 132.4 rating is followed by Eli Manning(notes) (124.1), Aaron Rodgers (111.0), Cam Newton(notes) (107.4) and Matthew Stafford(notes) (104.9). How about the increasingly popular four-WR sets? Your leader at the quarter-turn in passer rating for sets of four or more receivers would be … oh, what a surprise! Mr. Rodgers again, with a 121.1 rating. Behind Rodgers are Tom Brady(notes) (116.1), Philip Rivers(notes) (105.4), Josh Freeman(notes) (105.2) and Mark Sanchez(notes) (100.1). Considering the fact that Sanchez’s passer rating is 75.9 overall, maybe the Jets should run a few more multi-receiver sets against the Patriots this Sunday. And yes, you read that right — Aaron Rodgers is the only quarterback in the NFL to be in the top five in passer rating no matter the number of receivers. Another reason he’s the best quarterback in the NFL right now. Rodgers also has the league’s best passer rating in shotgun sets at 119.5 (go figure). More and more, this is an important consideration. 2011 is the first season in which the NFL is running more than 40 percent shotgun overall, and the Packers are running shotgun 51.9 percent of the time this season — that’s sixth-most in the league, per Football Outsiders. Behind Rodgers in the Pantheon of shotgun quarterbacks is Eli Manning (108.7, 39.0 percent shotgun), Tom Brady (107.5, 47.8 percent shotgun), Drew Brees (106.3, 40.4 percent shotgun) and Matt Hasselbeck (106.1, 35.2 percent shotgun). The Lions lead the league in shotgun percentage just as they did in 2010 — this season, they’re in the gun 67 percent of the time, and in 2010, they did so 64.5 percent of the time. The Bears have the fewest shotgun snaps (15.2 percent), just as they did in 2010 (10.4 percent). Given Jay Cutler’s(notes) protection issues, that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but this is Mike Martz we’re talking about here… Think the New England Patriots have the NFL’s worst pass defense? Well, they are allowing a league-worst 1,475 passing yards and 70 first downs (they also have the NFL’s worst sack percentage per pass attempt at 3.4 percent), but it could be even worse. The Pats are one of two teams — the Tennessee Titans being the other — who have benefitted from 10 opponent dropped passes. So, yeah, New Englanders … it could indeed be even worse. New England and Tennessee have the best dropped pass differential at +7; the Browns have dropped 14 passes through four weeks, and their opponents have only botched four, and that gives them the worst differential. As we detailed earlier this week, Aaron Rodgers is on an early pace to break Drew Brees’ single-season completion mark of 70.6 percent, and he’s doing it without dinking and dunking. Rodgers has completed 73 percent of his passes through four games, and his 9.4 yards per attempt figure is almost a yard per attempt higher than Brees’ 8.5 in 2009. However, when it comes to third-down passing in 2011, Brees still sets the tone. He’s completing 78.8 percent of his passes (26 of 33) for 394 yards and six touchdowns. Rodgers is “only” completing 73.6 percent of his third-down passes (22 of 30) for 254 yards and three scores. Brees also has the most pass attempts (19) and the most first-down conversions (19) on third-and-8 or longer Brees’ numbers are reflected in part on the amazing value of running back Darren Sproles(notes), who has basically become what everyone hoped Reggie Bush(notes) would someday be. No player has more third-down catches than Sproles’ nine, and the dynamic back is averaging an amazing 8.9 yards per rushing attempt on 15 carries. (Side note: Check out Chris Brown’s outstanding piece on how Sproles is affecting and improving New Orleans’ schematic versatility). Sproles is also fifth among NFL running backs in yards after catch with 219. Wes Welker(notes) leads the league with 306, and then it’s a parade of backs: Matt Forte(notes) with 292, Jahvid Best(notes) with 268, Ryan Mathews(notes) with 263, Ray Rice(notes) with 225, and then Sproles. Mathews is a name to watch this season — after a disappointing 2010 rookie campaign, he’s helping the Chargers in a number of different ways. Right now, he ranks seventh in the league in combined rushing and receiving yards from scrimmage with 393. He’s got a nice balance between his 45 carries for 207 yards, and 14 catches for 186 yards. Related: Matthew Stafford, Josh Freeman, Mark Sanchez, Ray Rice, Jermichael Finley, Matt Forte, Jay Cutler, Reggie Bush, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Cassel, Darren Sproles, Aaron Rodgers, Wes Welker, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Matt Hasselbeck, Cam Newton, Jahvid Best, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Smarter Stats
Carpenter 3-hits Phils, Cards reach NLCS (AP)
Carpenter 3-hits Phils, Cards reach NLCS (AP)
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Chris Carpenter’s teammates clutched champagne bottles and eagerly waited for him to enter the clubhouse before popping the cork. The ultimate ace, it turned out, belonged to the St. Louis Cardinals. So there’s no way Carpenter wasn’t going to be in the middle of this celebration. Carpenter tossed a three-hitter to outpitch old pal Roy Halladay(notes) in a duel for the ages and St. Louis edged the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 Friday night in the deciding Game 5 of their NL playoff series. “That’s Carp in a nutshell for you. That’s just what he does, and who he is,” Cards outfielder Jon Jay(notes) said. “No one in here is surprised at what he did out there. We owe it to him tonight. He was just doing everything right. We just had to make sure we caught the ball behind him.” The wild-card Cardinals scored in the first inning when Rafael Furcal(notes) led off with a triple and Skip Schumaker(notes) followed with a double. And that was it. Heavily favored Philadelphia, which featured four accomplished aces in baseball’s best rotation, never broke through against Carpenter. Ryan Howard(notes) grounded out to end the game and hurt his leg coming out of the batter’s box— he limped a couple of steps and crumpled to the ground as St. Louis started to celebrate. Howard has a left Achilles’ injury and won’t know more about the severity of it until he has an MRI. “Actually, I don’t know what to say,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “I just got through talking to our team, and basically when I look at it, we played 162 games, and definitely we had the best record in baseball.” “I know that we’re capable of going farther in the playoffs. Our goal was to get to the World Series. It’s been that way for two years now,” he said. The Cardinals needed a monumental collapse by Atlanta in the final month and major help from the 102-win Phillies just to reach the playoffs. Now they’re heading to Milwaukee for the NL championship series starting Sunday following a stunning upset in which they beat three of Philadelphia’s four aces: Halladay, Cliff Lee(notes) and Roy Oswalt(notes). “This is a nonstop feeling in there for them, and I all I can tell them, at this point, is let’s go keep it going,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. Three of the majors’ four opening-round matchups went to a deciding Game 5, and all of them were pitching-rich thrillers. Detroit held off the New York Yankees 3-2 on Thursday night, and Milwaukee beat Arizona in 10 innings earlier Friday. Then, the showdown between Carpenter and Halladay topped them all. “Roy Halladay is, at this time, probably the best pitcher in the game and we were able to go out and jump ahead, which was huge,” Carpenter said. “It was some kind of fun. He’s a great friend of mine, and like I said, he did a great job tonight also.” To some, the Phillies seemed destined for the World Series because of their big arms. But in a city where the collapse of 1964 is still never too far from memory, and in a town that has endured more than its share of heartbreaks, jinxes and bad luck, a sure thing is never a sure thing. Trailing two games to one, the Cardinals began their comeback with a win in Game 4. That night in St. Louis, a squirrel scampered across home plate as Schumaker batted in the middle innings—if the Cardinals keep winning, their fans will certainly go nuts, thanks to their “Rally Squirrel.” Coincidentally, a squirrel was caught at Citizens Bank Park before Game 5. Not a good omen, apparently, for the Phillies. “This is the best feeling in the world for a lot of these guys, and it’s something that we just can’t describe it,” slugger Albert Pujols(notes) said. “It’s hard not to celebrate now, but this is just the start, and we know it’s only going to get tougher from here.” Carpenter was over 100 pitches when he took the mound in the ninth. He retired Chase Utley(notes) on a fly to the warning track in center and got Hunter Pence(notes) on a grounder. Howard was next, and Carpenter got the big slugger to end a most improbable series win. Catcher Yadier Molina(notes) threw his mask toward the mound, Carpenter turned to the left of first looking for someone to celebrate with before his teammates finally got there, led by Pujols. The congregation settled at second base, as just off to the right, while Howard was carried off the field and into his dugout. Howard took a called third strike with the tying run on second base to end the Phillies’ season last year in the NLCS against San Francisco. The expectations for Philadelphia were even higher this year after Lee returned. The loss meant the teams with the top two records and payrolls in the majors—the Phillies and Yankees—were gone in the first round, even while holding home-field advantage. “We had a great team this year. We had a great opportunity,” Pence said. “When you have a team like this, it’s definitely disappointing to not come through.” Carpenter walked none and struck out three in the matchup of Cy Young Award winners who were longtime teammates in Toronto. The aces had already agreed to take a fishing trip together after this season. Halladay was outstanding, too, but his year is over. Tagged by the first two batters, he allowed six hits overall, striking out seven in eight innings. It wasn’t good enough, and now the Phillies will certainly be considered a disappointment in their own town after failing to win a World Series in an all-or-nothing season. The Phillies cruised to their fifth straight NL East title and were hoping to add to the crown to the one they won in 2008. But nothing less than a second World Series championship in four years was going to be acceptable this season. Everyone from management to players to fans expected the Phillies to win it all. A sellout crowd that stood and screamed from the first pitch held their heads in disbelief and silently walked out without even booing. “It’s hard to have it end like that,” Halladay said. “It won’t sit well this winter.” The pesky Cardinals looked nothing like an underdog. They were the best team in the NL down the stretch. St. Louis trailed the Braves by 10 1/2 games on Aug. 25, but went 23-8 the rest of the way and earned a wild-card berth after Game 162 when Philadelphia completed a three-game sweep in Atlanta. The Cardinals scored three runs off Halladay in the first inning of the series opener on Lance Berkman’s(notes) three-run homer. They got to him again quickly in this one. Furcal lined a triple to the gap in right-center. He did the same off Lee in Game 2, but was stranded that day. Not this time. Schumaker then lined a double to right to put the Cardinals up 1-0, stunning a crowd that expected Halladay to be lights-out. One run wouldn’t seem enough against a lineup that features seven regulars who’ve been All-Stars. But nearly everyone except Utley, Jimmy Rollins(notes) and Shane Victorino(notes) struggled. Fans in the parking lot before the game talked about trying to unnerve Carpenter the way they famously did to Burt Hooton in Game 3 of the 1977 NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers at old Veterans Stadium. They made plenty of noise and waved their white-and-red rally towels Carpenter never flinched. After Victorino lined a one-out double in the second, Carpenter retired Raul Ibanez(notes) on a foul pop and Placido Polanco(notes) on a grounder. The Phillies had runners on first and third with two outs in the fourth, but Ibanez flied out to the warning track in right. Carpenter allowed a one-out single to Utley in the sixth, but Molina threw him out trying to steal second. Carpenter pumped his fist and hollered at Molina, who became the first catcher to nail Utley stealing this season. Utley had been 14 for 14 and 56 for 58, dating to 2009. Furcal made an outstanding play to rob Ruiz of a hit in the eighth, diving to his left on a grounder up the middle and throwing out the slow-footed catcher. This “dream matchup,” as La Russa called it, lived up to the hype. Halladay and Carpenter grew up together with the Blue Jays, have remained best buddies and often vacation together. NOTES: Pujols, who will be a free agent after the season, will play at least a few more games in St. Louis. … Cole Hamels(notes), the Phillies’ fourth ace, won Game 3. … Schumaker left the game in the fourth because of right oblique tightness. … This was the 220th straight sellout in Philadelphia, including postseason play.
