Bears edge reeling Saints to win fourth straight

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The Chicago Bears showed off the depth of their running attack and strengthened their credentials as a serious playoff contender. --football gambling--

The New Orleans Saints knocked starter Thomas Jones from the game in the first half, only to watch Adrian Peterson and Cedric Benson combine for 137 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries in the Bears' 20-17 victory Sunday. --football gambling--

"We get off the plane running the ball," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "Cedric Benson, Thomas Jones, Adrian Peterson all did a good job ... What can I say about the offensive line I haven't said?" --football gambling--

Robbie Gould made the winning field goal with 6 seconds to go from 28 yards. Kyle Orton set up the clincher with a 22-yard, third-down completion on a sideline route to Muhsin Muhammad at the 10-yard line. That allowed Chicago (5-3) to run the clock down to 10 seconds before lining up for the winning kick. --football gambling--

Saints owner Tom Benson stayed away from Baton Rouge as promised after complaining that security was inadequate to protect him from angry fans. A number of fans stayed away, too. The crowd was announced at 32,637, dwarfed by LSU's 93,000-seat Tiger Stadium. The no-shows were probably glad they didn't come as the Saints (2-7) lost their fifth straight despite playing well in stints. --football gambling--

Chicago, meanwhile, won its fourth straight for the first time since 2001-02, the last time the Bears were playoff bound. Peterson gave the Bears a 17-10 lead in the third quarter on a 6-yard carry after he had run for a slashing 36-yard gain one play earlier. He finished with 58 yards on six carries.--football gambling--

Benson had 79 yards on 14 carries, including a 27-yarder during the Bears' final drive, which began on the Chicago 25 and ate up 4:02. "I never thought there was that much space in the NFL, but there was a lot of it," said Benson, a rookie out of Texas. "It says a lot more for our offensive line. Those guys are consistent, snap after snap. You could say anybody could look good behind those guys."--football gambling--

Orton was 12-of-26 for 137 yards and a touchdown and was intercepted twice. But the Bears ran for 183 yards, with Jones gaining 40 yards on 11 carries before leaving with bruised ribs.Antowain Smith had 110 yards on 17 carries for the Saints, while Aaron Brooks was 16-of-26 for 170 yards and a touchdown. He threw two interceptions, the second on a desperate heave as time expired.--football gambling--

Although the Saints ran well, they came up short on third-and-1 with under five minutes left, setting up the Bears' decisive drive. "We just cannot seem to get that one little play here and there that gives you a better chance of winning at the end," offensive tackle Wayne Gandy said. "You'd hope you could take that ball with four minutes to go and get a field goal. We created that third-and-one. It wasn't successful." --football gambling--

The Saints' first two possessions got them to or inside the Chicago 20, but they only came away with John Carney's 21-yard field goal, set up by Smith's 42-yard run on their opening drive."We talked all week about how we kick field goals instead of scoring touchdowns and we came out and did the same thing," said Saints coach Jim Haslett, who has never been this far below .500 in six seasons as a head coach. --football gambling--

The second drive began on the Chicago 35 after Fred Thomas' interception of a tipped pass.However, running back Aaron Stecker fumbled on the Chicago 15 and Chris Harris returned it to the New Orleans 38. That was the first of three New Orleans drives that started in Chicago territory after turnovers, none of which yielded points.--football gambling--

The Bears have made a habit of converting turnovers into points lately, and did so seven plays after Harris' fumble return. Orton drilled a 4-yard slant pass to Justin Gage for a 7-3 lead.New Orleans jumped back ahead 10-7 on a 14-play, 95-yard drive that ended when Brooks hit Donte' Stallworth on a crossing route for a 15-yard score. It was the Saints' first touchdown in more than eight quarters. --football gambling--

Against a Chicago defense that entered the game allowing an average of fewer than 85 yards rushing, the Saints' resurgent ground game surpassed 100 yards by the second quarter.But Harris' sack on a safety blitz helped Chicago get the ball back with just under two minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Bears then drove from their 31 to the Saints 17, setting up Gould's 35-yard field goal to tie the game at 10 with 22 seconds left in the half.--football gambling--

Game notesGage started for Mark Bradley (knee), who was placed on injured reserve last week. ... Saints TE Ernie Conwell (knee) did not play. Zach Hilton started in his place and dropped potential touchdown pass on New Orleans' first drive. ... Orton's interception was his first in 63 attempts.--football gambling--

Bradley out for rest of season with torn ACL

October 31, 2005 By Larry Mayer

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Sunday's pivotal overtime win in Detroit came with a price as the Bears lost Mark Bradley for the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his right knee. -NFL Football-

The promising rookie receiver was injured without being touched when he turned up field on a 13-yard reception. Bradley grasped his knee in pain after sliding out of bounds and was carted to the locker room with 4:10 left in the second quarter of the Bears' 19-13 victory. -NFL Football-

Bradley exited after catching a career-high five passes for 88 yards including a 54-yarder from fellow rookie Kyle Orton that stands as the Bears' longest play from scrimmage this season. -NFL Football-

"It's a tough break for Mark," said coach Lovie Smith. "He was having a super game; it was his coming out party you could say. But he'll get back and hopefully come back strong next year." -NFL Football-

The second-round draft pick from Oklahoma finishes his first NFL season with 18 receptions for 230 yards, second in both categories on the Bears to All-Pro Muhsin Muhammad (34-386). -NFL Football-

"You have a player that's really coming into his own," Smith said. "He has a great future ahead of him. It's a setback for him, but he'll come back from it. It's hard when you see a young player go down like that, but that's the hand that's been dealt, so we'll just kind of go from there." -NFL Football-

With Bradley out, Justin Gage is expected to regain the starting job he held the first three games of the season. But with Bernard Berrian also sidelined following thumb surgery, the onus to replace Bradley will be shared by Gage (4-78), Bobby Wade (6-53) and Carl Ford (0-0), a trio that has combined to catch just 10 passes for 131 yards in seven games. -NFL Football-

"We have other receivers that have played this year for us and it's time for all of them to step up," Smith said. "It's an opportunity. When one person goes down, there's an opportunity for someone else to step up and I think that we've got a few guys that can do that." -NFL Football-

Inactive a week earlier against the Ravens, Gage replaced Berrian on the roster Sunday and caught two passes for 47 yards after Bradley was injured. The 2003 fifth-round pick also dropped a key third down pass that would have given the Bears a first down. -NFL Football-

"I thought Justin Gage played well (Sunday) when he had his opportunity and he'll only get better," Smith said. -NFL Football-

Rookie receiver Airese Currie, a fifth-round draft pick, could practice for the first time this week since undergoing foot surgery in March. But that won't preclude the Bears from possibly acquiring a player to fill the void created by the injuries to Bradley and Berrian. -NFL Football-

"We're going to keep all options open right now," Smith said. "Airese Currie is an option that we have. As we do any time we need (to bolster) any position, we'll look at everything that's available. But we have a good football player right here in Airese Currie." -NFL Football-

In other news Monday, Smith said the bruised ribs that forced Thomas Jones to exit Sunday's game in the fourth quarter are "nothing serious" and the running back "should be OK." -NFL Football-

When it comes to the Bills-Pats rivalry, there's some history there

By Glen Farley, ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

FOXBORO — Their founders formed 25 percent of "The Foolish Club," two members of the gang of eight that decided to form a circuit to challenge the pro football establishment known as the National Football League. -NFL Football-

In fact, on July 30, 1960, Billy Sullivan's Boston Patriots and Ralph Wilson's Bills christened the fledgling American Football League by meeting in the league's first preseason game at Buffalo's old War Memorial Stadium. -NFL Football-

More than 45 years later, the Patriots — now Bob Kraft's New England Patriots — will meet Wilson's Bills (some things never change) in a battle for first place in the AFC East at Gillette Stadium. -NFL Football-

"It's a division game," Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown said of Sunday night's nationally telecast ESPN game. "For whatever the reason, it seems whenever they come in here they play us tough." -NFL Football-

This weekend's game will mark the 91st regular-season/postseason game between the two teams with Boston/New England holding an advantage of 49-40-1 in a series that has seen them outscore the Bills, 1,808-1,688. -NFL Football-

That's a point differential of 120 points over 90 games — a mere 1.33 points per game. -NFL Football-

The 49 wins over the Bills represent a franchise record for the Patriots. The Pats have met the New York Titans/New York Jets 90 times, trailing in that series, 42-47-1. -NFL Football-

Let the record show that the Patriots won that first AFL exhibition game, 28-7, in front of a Saturday night crowd of approximately 16,000 fans in Buffalo. -NFL Football-

A Friday night parade to welcome the two teams on the eve of the AFL kickoff was said to have drawn 100,000, but the price was right: It was free. -NFL Football-

The Patriots paid the price when they met for the first time that really mattered. With 20,732 fans on hand at Boston University Field on Sept. 23, 1960, the Lou Saban-coached Patriots turned the ball over seven times en route to a 13-0 loss to the Buster Ramsey-coached Bills. -NFL Football-

The first postseason game in the history of each team? -NFL Football-

The Patriots' 26-8 win over the Bills in the 1963 AFL Eastern Division playoff game at War Memorial that sent them on to that year's AFL Championship Game, where they were unceremoniously dismissed by the Chargers, 51-10, at San Diego's Balboa Stadium. -NFL Football-

With a crowd of 33,044 in attendance and an inch of snow covering the field, the Patriots punched their ticket to San Diego by holding Cookie Gilchrist and friends to 7 yards on 12 attempts, which, to this day, stands as the lowest rushing total in the Bills' playoff history. -NFL Football-

Babe Parilli threw for 292 yards, twice finding running back Larry Garron for touchdowns, and Gino Cappelletti (who also caught four passes for 109 yards in the game) booted four field goals in five attempts, which, to this day, stand as Patriots playoff records (since equaled by Tony Franklin). -NFL Football-

While they've never met again in the postseason, more than 37 years before they closed Foxboro Stadium with a 16-13 overtime win over the Oakland Raiders in an AFC playoff game that shall forever be known as the "Snow Bowl," the Patriots and Bills staged one of their own to close out the regular season. -NFL Football-

A sellout crowd of 38,021 filled Fenway Park on Dec. 20, 1964, and sat through a 45-minute snow delay as the field was cleared. -NFL Football-

By the end of the day, the hometown team was buried, not by snow but by Bills, as future Congressman and vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp scored two touchdowns and threw to Elbert "Golden Wheels" Dubenion for another in a 24-14 win that gave Buffalo a record of 12-2-0, the division over the 10-3-1 Patriots, and a spot in the AFL Championship Game, which they won, 20-7, over the Chargers. -NFL Football-

Fired by the Patriots and replaced by Mike Holovak following a 2-3 start to the 1961 campaign, the win marked a measure of revenge for Saban, who had moved on to Buffalo and lost four of six games to his old team. -NFL Football-

According to the book, "The New England Patriots: A Pictorial History," Saban proclaimed the win in Boston "the greatest victory I ever had" and added "there will never be another victory like this one." -NFL Football-

Has anyone ever run against the Patriots like O.J. Simpson once did? -NFL Football-

Long before he hopped in a white Bronco and led police on a chase, the Hall of Fame-bound back ran away from the Pats. -NFL Football-

En route to becoming the first player in NFL history to eclipse 2,000 yards rushing in a season, Simpson, who finished with 2,003 yards back in the days of the 14-game campaign, ran free for 469 yards in a season sweep of the Patriots in 1973 (250 in a season-opening 31-13 romp at Schaefer Stadium on Sept. 15; 219 in a 37-13 romp at Rich Stadium in the next-to-last game of the season on Dec. 9). -NFL Football-

That was the Bills' fifth straight win in a run of nine straight victories over the Patriots. -NFL Football-

Two wins over the Bills in 1976 snapped that streak and helped the Patriots end a 13-year drought between postseason berths. David Posey's 21-yard field goal with eight seconds to play gave the Pats a 26-24 win over the Bills on Dec. 10, 1978, at Schaefer, earning Chuck Fairbanks' troops their second playoff berth in three years before the coach took the money and ran to the University of Colorado. -NFL Football-

The Eighties were marked by a streak of 11 straight Patriots wins from the regular-season finale under Ron Meyer in the strike-shortened 1982 campaign through the next-to-last game of the 1987 season under Raymond Berry when Reggie Dupard burst 36 yards for the team's longest TD run from scrimmage that year, part of a 13-7 New England win on Dec. 20 at Sullivan Stadium. -NFL Football-

Marv Levy's four-time AFC champion reversed that trend, ripping off 11 wins in 13 games in games spanning from September of 1988 through September of 1994 when the Bills claimed a wild 38-35 win at Foxboro Stadium in a Sept. 11 game that saw the two teams combine to pile up 933 yards of total offense as Drew Bledsoe and Jim Kelly combined to put up 708 yards and seven TDs passing while hoisting up five interceptions between them. -NFL Football-

More recently, Buffalo has become a home for wayward Patriots who were once big-name players in these parts. -NFL Football-

After losing his job to Tom Brady in New England's 2001 Super Bowl championship season, Bledsoe was traded to the Bills in 2002, but he remained under Bill Belichick's thumb in going 1-5 against his old team before being released and reuniting with his first coach with the Patriots, Bill Parcells, in Dallas. -NFL Football-

Released in a salary cap move on Sept. 2, 2003, strong safety Lawyer Milloy was signed by the Bills and played a role in their 31-0 season-opening rout of the Patriots only five days later, but he's come up empty handed since then while his former teammates have slipped two more Super Bowl rings on their fingers. -NFL Football-

Where the Patriots are concerned, it's been payback for the Bills since that 31-point embarrassment on Opening Day 2003 as they've uncharacteristically won the last three games in the series with ease, a running score of 91-23. -NFL Football-

Prior to all that, the two teams went through a five-game stretch from December of 1999 through December of 2001 that saw four go into overtime. -NFL Football-

That span concluded with a 12-9 Patriots win at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Dec. 16, 2001, that ended with running back Antowain Smith breaking free for 38 yards to help set up Adam Vinatieri's fourth field goal of the day, a game-deciding 23-yarder. -NFL Football-

2005
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning set the NFL single-season record with 49 touchdown passes, January 2.
---NFL---
The New England Patriots became the second team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in four seasons by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville. The game was witnessed by 133.7 million viewers, making Super Bowl XXXIX the fifth-most watched program in U.S. television history, February 6. ---NFL---
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The NFL announced that, for the first time in its 86-year history, the league would play a regular-season game outside the United States on October 2 in Mexico City between the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers, March 21. ---NFL---
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The NFL set an all-time paid attendance record in 2004 for the third consecutive year with a mark of 21,708,624. Regular- season paid attendance increased to 17,000,811, the first time the NFL reached the 17-million mark. Average paid attendance of 66,409 was also an all-time high, March 21.
---NFL---
The Pat Tillman USO Center opened in Afghanistan. The NFL donated $250,000 to the USO to honor the memory of the former Arizona Cardinals player who died in Afghanistan while serving in the U.S. Army, April 1.
The NFL reached long-term agreements for its Sunday and Monday primetime TV packages.---NFL---
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NBC returned to the NFL by acquiring the Sunday night package for six years (2006- 2011). ESPN agreed on an eight-year deal to televise Monday Night Football from 2006-2013, April 18. ---NFL---
---NFL---
The NFL strengthened its steroids program by adopting the Olympic testosterone testing standard, tripling the number of times a player can be randomly tested during the offseason from two to six, adding substances to the list of banned substances, and putting new language in the policy to allow for testing of designer drugs and other substances that may have evaded detection, April 27. ---NFL---
---NFL---
NFL owners voted unanimously to approve the purchase of the Minnesota Vikings to real-estate developer Zygmunt Wilf, May 25.
NFL owners awarded Super Bowl XLIII, to be played on February 1, 2009 to Tampa, May 25. ---NFL---
---NFL---

Barber inadvertently punches official

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (Oct. 9, 2005) -- Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber inadvertently punched umpire Butch Hannah in the eye when he swung at New York Jets center Kevin Mawae during an altercation in the second quarter of their game. - NFL Football -

After the Jets got the ball on the Buccaneers 8 on Ty Law 's second interception of the season, Curtis Martin rushed for 3 yards. After the play, Mawae and Barber got into it. While the two were yelling at each other, Barber took a swing at Mawae with his right hand -- but missed and landed a punch to Hannah's right eye. Hannah was sent sprawling to the field, holding his face, but he got up quickly. - NFL Football -

Hannah appeared to be OK and stayed in the game, but was rubbing the eye afterward.

Barber was flagged for unnecessary roughness but not ejected, giving the Jets the ball on the 2. Martin ran it in on the next play for his first touchdown of the season, giving New York a 7-6 lead with 7:32 left in the half. - NFL Football -

© 2005, NFL Enterprises LLC.

Mexico gets ready for football, not futbol

By Tom Weir, USA TODAY

Carlos Copernicus, a former college football player in Mexico, smiles as he says no one will care that no Mexicans are playing when the NFL holds its first regular-season game on foreign turf here Sunday. "We're not genetically made to play football, but we love it," jokes the diminutive defensive back-turned-graphics artist.

As a resident of North America's largest metropolis, Copernicus adds, "We're not going to conquer the world with weapons. We do it with the numbers of our people."

The NFL's respect for those numbers was obvious when it scheduled the Cardinals-49ers matchup for this ancient capital, where population estimates for the metropolitan area exceed 18 million. The league says its research shows there are 20 million fans of profootball in Mexico - the NFL's largest following outside the USA - plus another 25 million Mexican-Americans who count themselves as NFL fans.

And though Mexico's sports profile is that of a soccer-obsessed nation where cries of "Goooal!" constantly ring out, Mexico City earned this historic game with record attendance forNFL preseason games. A 1994 Houston-Dallas exhibition drew a still-standing NFL record 112,376 to Estadio Azteca, and two other preseason games there each drew more than 100,000.

Renovations have shrunk the capacity to 105,000 at Azteca, built for the 1968 Summer Olympics and the world's only stadium to host two soccer World Cup finals, in 1970 and 1986. The first of those tournaments saw the legendary Pele lead Brazil to a title, and the second included Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal for champion Argentina. Sunday's competitors are definitively less heralded as they prepare to battle the effects of Azteca's 7,200-foot elevation. San Francisco is 1-2 and coming off a 2-14 season. Arizona is 0-3 and without injured quarterback Kurt Warner.

The crowd favorite on the Arizona sideline figures to be one not in uniform - practice squad member Rolando Cantu. A guard, Cantu hopes to expand his country's NFL presence beyond the placekicking niche that has been the most prominent path for Mexicans, including Rafael Septien, Raul Allegre and Tony Zendejas.

A key factor in scheduling the game here was Arizona's willingness to give up a home date in its final season at Sun Devil Stadium, where average attendance of 37,533 last year was at least 13,000 behind every otherNFL team.

The NFL isn't selling some low-level seats here with poor sight lines, so Sunday's crowd likely won't top 85,000. At mid-week, only 65,000 tickets were sold, priced $23-$80.NFL officials, who say the payout to teams won't be affected by the gate, expect a game-day sales boom, much like the one of about 25,000 tickets for the record-setter in 1994.

"Mexicans always leave things to the end," says Fox Spanish-language broadcaster Jose-Roberto Espinosa. "I'm very confident it will be sold out. It will be something unbelievable."

Espinosa, a former college coach who had one of Mexico's top football conferences named for him, has broadcast 29 Super Bowls. He says Americans underestimate the sport's popularity south of the border. "Every time I go to the U.S., they say, 'Are you playingfootball yet?' "

The answer has been si since the late 1890s. Mining company teams helped popularize the sport and in the 1920s college play began. College games commonly drew 40,000 and more in the 1940s and '50s, but attendance waned in the mid-'60s when Mexican television began broadcasting theNFL.

Virtually all Dallas games were televised in Mexico in the late '60s and early '70s, and the Vaqueros (Cowboys) remain Mexico's most popular team, by all accounts.

But, says ESPN Deportes broadcaster Alvaro Martin, "What NFL teams don't understand is that there are fans of their team here - and I don't care if it's Jacksonville or Green Bay - and they are everywhere."

Sunday's game also will be the cornerstone of the NFL's biggest outreach to the Hispanic/Latino market.

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month in the USA, all NFL players will wear a Futbol Americanodecal on their helmets in this week's games. The league also will air its first Spanish-language public service announcement - with English subtitles - asNFL Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz and Kansas City All-Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez encourage children to play football.

"The NFL clearly is making an investment in this because we believe it's the right thing to do," says NFL COO Roger Goodell.

Says San Francisco safety Tony Parrish, who made a summer trip to Mexico to promote the game: "We feel this is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Tough to break through

Alejandro Morales is the founder and director of Salon de la Fama del Futbol Americano de Mexico, or Mexico's Hall of Fame for American Football. A review of his 1959-64 football career at National Autonomous University of Mexico, one of Mexico City's oldest teams, provides a quick understanding of why the Mexican college system is still waiting to see its first player get in anNFL game.

Copyright © 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Favre's hometown offers fans comfort after storm

NFL.com wire reports

KILN, Miss. (Sept. 11, 2005) -- For a few hours at least, it looked like a normal Sunday at the Broke Spoke: the bar loud and smoky, the beers cold, the Packers on TV.

In this southern Mississippi town where Brett Favre grew up, Green Bay's season opener is always a big event. Then came Hurricane Katrina, which left many in this community of just over 2,000 homeless and out of work -- and put the season-opening ritual in jeopardy.

But Katrina spared The Broke Spoke, a raucous joint where customers sign the bar and women staple their bras to the ceiling. - NFL Football -

"We were all surprised that the bar made it," said Tim Johnson, 52, who is living in a tent in his back yard. "But it did, and even if we had to bring generators to keep the beer cold, we knew we were good to go."

Many Packers fans made the journey to The Broke Spoke, located nine miles from the coast, simply on faith. - NFL Football -

"I knew no matter what, there'd be food and football on Sunday," said Radley Ladner, a Kiln native who had been living in New Orleans.

Favre is huge in Kiln (even when the Packers lose, as they did to Detroit, 17-3).

"It's that and moonshine," Ladner said.

The Broke Spoke knows something about survival during tough times -- in 1999, when an air conditioner caught fire and gutted the building, owner Steve Haas promptly taped milk cartons together and made bar stools for his customers to drink outside.

The bar never closed. - NFL Football -

It took months to repair the bar and the owners put a glob of melted beer cans and scrap metal on the roof in honor of its survival.

And so it was when southern Mississippi came together and put Katrina behind them for an afternoon.

"Today is a great day. Finally people can relax, rather than think about survival," said Chad Favre, Brett's cousin. "You can close the door, and forget about what's going on outside."

Brett Favre and Green Bay fans sent several tractor-trailers full of supplies to Kiln and The Broke Spoke has become something of a community center. Hot food has been served day and night since the storm. - NFL Football -

"Chicken, beer, sausage, we just cooked it up and put it out," Haas said.

Gina Tallman lived in New Orleans but moved in with friends in Kiln after the storm.

"This is part of the recovery," she said. "Life is getting back to normal."

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2005, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved