Magic54

How about a game ball, or at least honorable mention, to Jon Dorenbos for leading the league in tackles made by long snappers?!? Longsnap.com has Dorenbos at the top of the chart for tackles made, and that was before yesterday's solo tackle and assisted tackle.

My wife and I are flying up from So. Cal, along with my in-laws.

I would certainly agree. Shelton has been laying some very confidence-inspiring hits for us recently. I've been wondering, what happened to him to keep him out of football last year?

We've all seen Moorman run - he's a speed demon! Why don't we just have him carry the ball 7 - 10 times a game? I envision a rugby type thing, where Moorman starts off running the ball, but if he doesn't like what he sees, he pulls up and kicks the tar out of it.

Is he really? When did that happen?

Well one thing's for sure, when that sucker burns out we'll all be dead.

Another shining example of what all Raiders, and their fans, aspire to. Raider Nation must be proud. http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3133278

Did you at least ask them what their favorite planet was? Mine's the sun, it's like the king of planets.

I voted early and often.

I particularly liked the 3rd and 4 play when McGahee ran off left tackle, got into a pile, and our guys just drove the pile forward for the first down. I thought Price was a good contributing factor there, and I loved the emotion he showed after the play. He certainly looks like he is going full bore out there.

I had never seen the rule called before this season. I don't recall what game it was (maybe last Monday night game?), but this same thing happened last week. That was the first time I had ever seen it before. Kind of funny to see the same thing happen again this week. Personally, I don't like the rule. Extend the scenario a bit further, and imagine that the ball has completely stopped, inbounds, without anyone touching it. If the ball has remained inbounds on the kickoff, I don't think there should be an illegal procedure penalty on the kicking team simply because a guy on the receiving team is able to stretch far enough to have one foot out of bounds while grabbing the ball.

Shelton made a big league play on a great linebacker. There's not a whole lot sweeter than seeing your FB pancake a guy like that to spring a long run. I love the way we were running today.

Good point. I suppose if you trip over your own feet before you get to the line of scrimmage, it is hard for the defense to rip the ball out.

This morning's Sportscenter had an interesting piece on Ahman Green and his fumble problems. They compared where he carries the ball with how Tiki Barber now carries the ball. Tiki carries the ball at a 45 degree angle upwards, which makes it very hard to knock the ball out of his arm (this is a change Tiki has made this season apparently). Green, on the other hand, carries the ball at a 90 degree angle to his body, or parallel to the ground. This makes it more likely that the ball can be easily ripped out. Has anyone seen or heard what Travis Henry is doing differently this season, if anything, to overcome his earlier fumbling problems?

We certainly have the ability to win games, as evidenced by our play in the 4th quarter today, and in the first half last week. I would be shocked if we suddenly started playing every game at that level, but I would greatly appreciate it!

I'm not from out of the country, but I'm on the other side of it. I've lived in Southern California my whole life. It was hard to have a favorite hometwon team here, because the Rams and Raiders came and went. During the season of the Giants SB, I read an article on the Bills in Sports Illustrated, which featured Bruce Smith on the cover. I was hooked, and have been ever since.

Sorry GG. It's the other way around. Compensatory damages are not taxable, punitives are. Compensatory damages are meant to put the plaintiff in as near a position as possible to that state he/she was in prior to the incident. As such, they are generally not taxable, because they are not income. Punitives, on the other hand, are meant to punish the defendant, not to provide a benefit to the plaintiff (although obviously they do). Punitives are taxable, because they are akin to income in the sense that they represent extra money given to the plaintiff after the plaintiff has already been made whole.

Exactly. Curry showed a veteran move when he cut to the inside and looked back at Gannon, who pump faked at that precise moment. Baker bit hard on that fake by Curry and Gannon, and Curry went back up, at which time Baker had no hope of getting back in the play. I think a key component of that play was the amount of time that Gannon's line gave him to execute a nice pump fake, and stay in the pocket to throw.

Nice prediction - lifted straight from the ESPN Scouts, Inc. website. Do you also predict that the Raiders offense will struggle, but that Gannon will make enough big plays to keep them in the game?

Don't hate me if I'm wrong! I feel good about this one, though. Remember too that last week Quentin Griffin ran all over the K.C. defense.

I think Kevin Jones has big-time potential, and like I said for Foster, above, I would use Kevin Jones this weekend instead of Alexander. I just don't think Alexander will get a lot of carries this weekend.

This week definitely go with DeShaun. Alexander will be in a lot of pain, and they have a capable back-up in Maurice Morris, who will probably see a lot more time than Alexander this weekend. I think Foster is a great back, which is part of the reason Carolina is so strong at the RB position. Play Foster against Kansas City this weekend, and I predict a 100 yard, 2 touchdown game for him (especially with the loss of Steve Smith, which will force the Panthers to run even more).

I'm confident about his staying power. He's a gym rat, so physically he's very strong, and while he is a little too fearless (taking on linebackers rather than sliding), I love the toughness that mentality shows.

Obviously the QB situation makes Dorenbos' chances of sticking around a little more shaky. I would think, however, that it's far more important to keep a long snapper who will perform his job flawlessly, than an extra DB, DL or OL who likely won't play at all this season. The performance at long snapper has the potential to be the difference between a win or a loss, and I don't see that same level of importance with any other position player, when talking about someone at the bottom of the depth chart. I say move one of the DBs, DLs or OLs that are on the bubble to the practice squad, bump somebody from the practice squad, and call that DB, DL or OL back up later in the season when we don't have to carry 4 QBs.

Well said, Falstaff. It's easy to look past the importance of having a top-notch long snapper, until it really comes back to bite you.