CHAIN WRECKS
Crabtree, Talib go at it as CB nabs necklace for 2nd time
THE 1956 f ilm “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was set in a fictional California town named Santa Mira. More than 60 years later, a sequel of sorts played out on an NFL field in Oakland, Calif. Call it “Invasion of the Chain Snatcher.” Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib, who’s making a reputation for himself as a serial jewelry thief, on Sunday ripped a chain off the neck of Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree, inciting a brawl on the Denver sideline and leading to the two squaring off and throwing punches like hockey players back on the field. In last year’s season f inale, Talib did the same thing at the end of a play, explaining afterward: “He has just been wearing that gold chain all year. It’s just been growing on me. I said if he wears that chain in front of me, I’m going to snatch it off. He wore it in front of me, so I had to snatch it off.” Crabtree’s response t hen: “Snatching chains on the field, like what you accomplish? You hard? You tough? That make you tough? ... Childish, man.” Crabtree missed the first Raiders-Broncos meeting this season with an injury, so when he started to shove Ta l i b into the bench area after a short run by Marshawn Lynch in the game’s third minute, it at f irst appeared he was taking revenge. But re p l ays clearly showed Talib yanking away a shiny object — again. Three players were ejected for the brawl — Talib, Crabtree and Raiders guard Gabe Jackson, who’d made contact with an official. “I don’t like it and it’s unacceptable,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. Oakland’s Jack Del Rio called it an “ugly incident” and said, “I have to count on my guys to do the right thing there and keep their poise and keep their composure and not get tossed.” Broncos cornerback Chris Harris, however, wasn’t buying Crabtree as the victim. Harris claimed Crabtree “sucker punched” him in the stomach on the play before the brawl and added, “He didn’t come to play football. He came to fight.” As for the game, the Raiders raced out to a 21-0 lead and held on to win 21-14 as Trevor Siemian threw two touchdown passes for Denver in the fourth quarter. He’d re pl a ce d Paxto n Ly n c h , wh o we n t 9 - fo r -14 for 41 yards and an i nte rce pt i on while getting sacked four times in his f irst NFL start. He left in the third quarter with an ankle injury and was shown in tears on the bench by CBS. The Broncos keep rifling through Lynch, Siemian and Brock Osweiler. Sadly, the best quarterback in Denver right now is John Elway, and he’s 57 years old.
ARROWHEADING DOWN
After five weeks of the 2017 season, the Chiefs were the only undefeated team in the NFL, led the league in points scored and were second in point differential. Now, with f ive weeks to go, t hey a re 6-5, just a game ahead of the Chargers and Raiders in the AFC West, and pictures of their offensive stars are being featured on the side panels of milk cartons throughout the Midwest.
Kansas City lost 16-10 to the previously free-falling Bills at Arrowhead Stadium. It was the Chiefs’ third loss in a row and fifth in a six-game span in which they have failed to reach the 20-point threshold in all but one game. Last week, they lost 12-9 in overtime to the Giants, who had yielded 82 points in their previous two games. Sunday, they managed just 10 points against Buffalo, which had given up 101 points in its previous two games. They were booed off the field, and now the calls are growing louder for coach Andy Reid to replace Alex Smith with f irst-round pick Patrick Mahomes II.
“Alex Smith has thrown his last pass as a KC Chiefs (sic),” FOX Sports’ Cris Carter tweeted.
“Time to take the car cover off the Ferrari. #Mahomes,” tweeted ESPN’s Louis Riddick.
Reid, though, is not ready to flip the switch suggested by the two former NFL players.
“That’s not where I am right now,” Reid said. “We’ve got a couple of other things to take care of.”
New York will have an influence in the AFC West race next week as the Chiefs head to MetLife to play the 4-7 Jets, while the 2-9 Giants trek cross-country to face the Raiders in the Black Hole.
The Bills (6-5) are back in the sixth and f inal pl ayoff spot, at least te mporari ly, pending the Ravens-Texans result Monday night. Tyrod Taylor, returned to the starting job after the disastrous f ive-intercept i on Nathan Peterman experiment last week, played a clean game, throwing for 183 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
PLAY OF THE DAY
With apologies to Tom Savage, the best former Rutgers passer in the NFL today may be Mohamed Sanu. The wide receiver was lined up at quarterback in a wildcat set with the Falcons tied with the Buccaneers, 3-3, with 12:36 to go in the second quarter. Sanu bobbled the shotgun snap on third-and-1, then launched a rainbow pass that dropped softly into the hands of Julio Jones for a 51-yard touchdown. Jones f inished with 253 yards receiving, the third time in his career he’s topped 250.
BAD BEATS
You’ve got the Colts plus 3 ½ at home and a 16-6 lead and the ball with 2:57 to go in the third quarter. But then Marlon Mack fumbles, the Titans recover on the 4-yard-line, and then next Marcus Mariota hits Delanie Walker for a touchdown to make it 16-13.
DeMarco Murray’s 1-yard touchdown run with 5:59 to go gives the Titans the 20-16 win and you the half-point loss.
POST PATTERNS
Brett Hundley entered Sunday ni ght wit h two c a re e r touchdown pass e s . He threw three against the Steelers, but Pittsb urg h beat t he Packers 3 1-2 8 on Chris
Boswell’s 53-yard f i el d goal at the g un. The kick matched t he l ongest in Heinz Field’s 17-year history and helped the Steelers remain tied with the Patriots atop the AFC at 9-2. ... Jimmy Garoppolo played the final two snaps for the 49ers against the Seahawks in relief of an injured C.J. Beathard and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to
Louis Murphy to make the final 24-13 Seattle. … The game of the day turned out to be the Cardinals’ 27-24 victory over the Jaguars, won by Phil Dawson’s 57-yard f ield goal with a second to go. Blaine Gabbert (241 yards, two touchdowns) got some revenge on the Jaguars, who drafted him 10th overall in 2011 but pulled the plug after three games in Year 3. Jaguars defensive end Cal
ais Campbell had given the Jaguars a 17-16 lead early in the fourth quarter, taking Gabbert’s fumble 10 yards for a touchdown after
Yannick Ngakoue’s sack. Campbell played the f irst nine seasons of his career with the Cardinals. According to the Cardinals’ website, Arizona tight end Jermaine Gresham and Jacksonville defensive tackle Malik
Jackson exchanged punches in a postgame skirmish.