Posts Tagged ‘Atlanta Falcons’

How was your week

Posted: February 4, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in football, hockey, sports
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It’s just one day until the New England Patriots face the Atlanta falcons in Super Bowl 51. It looks as though kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. cst on Sunday, but do they ever start on time? I’m just glad that it’s time for the game as the two week build up to it gets tiring. There are only so many times we can hear about Tom Brady being a 6th round draft pick or the fact that this is the first time a lot of the Falcons have made it to the Super Bowl. While the stories get boring no matter what they are or how hard the media tries to come up with different angles on them.

The big story line now is what kind of condition will Falcons center Alex Mack be in. All reports are pointing to him playing, but how long will he be able and will he be able to perform. As the center Mack is in charge of making all the Falcons line calls and adjusting protection for quarterback Matt Ryan. The other Falcons injury question is wide receiver Julio Jones. Jones was limited in practice, but is fully expected to play. Some good injury news for the Falcons was that pass rush specialist Dwight Freeney was removed from there injury report. As I’m sure you could’ve guessed the Patriots injury report is quite full. tight end Martellus Bennett and wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell are listed with knee injuries. Wide Receiver Chris Hogan is listed with a thigh injury that has been bothering him though the playoffs. On the Patriots defense Dont’a Hightower has a shoulder issue while two defensive tackles Alan Branch (toe) and Vincent Valentine (back) made the injury report. Also Patriots safety Nate Ebner left the AFC championship game with a concussion and still hasn’t been cleared tp return. With the exception of Ebner and of course barring any type of injury set back it appears all of these players will play in the game.

If you’re a betting man the Patriots are -3 point favorites right now and the over/under on the game is between 58 1/2 and 59 points. That is the highest over under for any Super Bowl. Of course being that it’s the Super Bowl you can find prop bets on just about everything. If you’re not interested in betting on the actual football game there are plenty of other prop bets out there. You can bet on the national anthem, the halftime show, the announcers (Joe Buck and Troy Aikman) Who’ll win the M.V.P. and if they’ll televise a handshake between Roger Goodell and either Tom Brady, Bill Belihick or Robert Kraft if the Patriots where to win. There are even more prop bets out there, but they’re just too many to list here.

Tomorrow on the Sports Time Radio podcast we’ll reveal are picks on the game. Obviously will pick our winners of the game, but we also do the final score and who we think will win the M.V.P. award. If you’d like to play along with us feel free to leave your picks in the comments here or e-mail them to SportsTimeRadio@Hotmail.com If we get your picks on time will announce yours on air right along with our picks. Really I’d like to see a good game.

In some other football news Michael Vick has said he plans to retire. Vick didn’t play in the 2016 season, but spent 13 seasons in the NFL. This of course is nor counting the 2007 and 2008 seasons when he spent some time in prison and was suspended for his involvement in a dog fighting ring.

The Atlanta Falcons traded up in the 2001 pick to take Vick #1 overall. Vick spent the first six years of his career with the Falcons. Vick made 67 career starts for the Falcons, but played in a total of 74 games for them. He was 38-28-1 as a starter and took them to the playoffs in 2002 and 2004. After his suspension Vick returned to the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles. Vick spent five seasons with the Eagles appearing in 54 games starting 42 of them. Vick went 20-20 as a starter for the Eagles. Vick spent the 2014 season with the New York Jets where he played in 10 games starting three of them where he went 1-2 as there starter. 2015 saw Vick join the Pittsburgh Steelers where he played in five games starting three of them going 2-1 as a starter for them.

In his career Vick played in 143 games starting 115 of them. As a starter his record was 61-51-1. Vick threw for 22,464 yards with 133 touchdowns and 88 interceptions. Now many will remember Vick for his running ability as a quarterback. In 2006 Vick ran for 1039 yards. In his career Vick rushed for 6109 yards with 36 touchdowns. Vick averaged an amazing 7.0 yards per carry in his career and had a career long run of 61 yards.

Vick had hoped to play in the 2016 season, but was never signed by a team. He did return to the Georgia Dome as a guest of the Falcons for there regular season finale on January 1st. Falcons owner Arthur Blank called Vick “an important player in our history” and the Falcons fans gave Vick a great reception at halftime when he was introduced.

It looks as though the National Hockey League will be playing some games overseas. The NHL is waiting on word for the National Hockey League Players Association on whether they’ll approve two regular season games overseas. It would be the Colorado Avalanche and the Ottawa Senators who would play a two game series in Stockholm Sweden on November 10th and 11th. The NHL would also like to have two pre-season games between the Los Angeles Kings and the Vancouver Canucks played in China. The China trip would involve either two games in Beijing; or one in Beijing and one in Shanghai.

The NHL still hasn’t made a decision on if it’s players will be allowed to compete in the 2018 South Korea Olympics, but the players would like to continue playing in the Olympics. The players would love a decision on there Olympic participation before the Sweden and China games are schedule,  but it doesn’t look like that will happen. The NHL, the NHLPA, the International Ice Hockey Federation and, for the first time, the International Olympic Committee are scheduled to meet in New York on Friday. It’s doubtful, but maybe they’ll come to a decision then on if the NHL players will be allowed to compete in the Olympics. Do you want to see the players from your favorite team play in the Olympics?

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalklRadio.com, but you can also get the podcast anytime you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

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So it’s Super Bowl week. On the Sunday morning podcast we’ll reveal our picks for the game. Don’t forget with the Super Bowl we not pick who we think will win the game, but what the final score will be and who we think will win the M.V.P. In most cases it’s easy to just take the quarterback from the team you think is going to win the game. Last year I went a different direction and manage to get lucky when I picked Von Miler as M.V.P. As you look at these two teams it can be tough to pick and M.V.P. if you feel that Atlanta is going to win. Now if you’re going with New England to win the game than your M.V.P. pick is probably Tom Brady. It’s difficult to think of who else on the Patriots could win the award besides Brady. Now as for the Falcons there are some players to choice between. The award could easily go to Matt Ryan. Of course if one of the Falcons running backs DeVonta Freeman or Tevin Coleman has a big game could they win the award. Then of course there’s Julio Jones who could easily put up bug numbers and walk away with the M.V.P. award. Now even though New England’s defense has given up the least points in the NFL I find it hard to believe that will see an M.V.P. winner from either defense. Feel free to play along with us. Leave your picks in the comments or e-mail them to SportsTimeRadio@Hotmail.com. Remember it’s the winner of the game with the final score and who you think will win the M.V.P. award.

The Falcons do have a couple of injuries to keep an eye on as teams start practicing a little more intensely for the game. Julio Jones has been dealing with a toe sprain since the Falcons game against the Kansas City Chiefs back on December 4th. While Falcons center Alex Mack is dealing with a left fibula injury that he suffered in Atlanta’s win over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game. Jones did return to practice on Friday, but he was limited while Mack didn’t practice at all last week. Jones has played through injuries all season and missed two regular-season games because of the sprained toe. Mack has not missed a start, but he didn’t finish the NFC title game; Ben Garland played the final series in place of Mack against Green Bay. The Falcons where off yesterday, but they’ll return to practice today, tomorrow and Friday at Rice University. These three practices are all closed practices. You’d have to think that both Jones and Mack will play on Sunday, but you should keep an eye on them just in case.

I have to tell you that I’m done with all of the LeBron James crybaby garbage and I don’t even want to get into the stuff with him and Charles Barkley. I’m sure Dan the Man and I will discuss it on the live version of Sports Time Radio today at 5:30 p.m. on BlogTalkRadio.com.

What I will get into with the Cleveland Cavaliers is that they’re still looking for a play maker. The Cavaliers are actually going to hold a tryout with some names that you’ll recognize attending. Veteran point guards Mario Chalmers, Kirk Hinrich and Jordan Farmar as well as guard/forward Lance Stevenson will all work out for the Cavaliers today. There will be other free agents at this try out, but these where the names that have been reported to be there. There are also reports out there that the Cavaliers will sign one or possibly two of the players from this try out. Report are that if the Cavaliers do decide to sign any players from this try out they’ll do it just prior to the All-Star break. The Cavaliers have one open spot on there roster, but they could easily open up another roster spot by waiving center Chris Andersen. Andersen is out for the season with a knee injury.

Chalmers is recovered from an Achilles injury he suffered last March and is a former teammate of LeBron’s. James played with Chalmers for four season in Miami. As teammates they made it to the finals four times and won two NBA titles. Chalmers has career averages of 9.0 points and 3.8 assists per game.

Hinrich is a 13 year NBA veteran, He played last season for the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks. Hinrich has a career scoring average of 10.9 points per game and 4.8 assists per game. Hinrich is a career 38% shooter from behind the three point line.

Farmar played two games this season with the Sacramento Kings. For his career Farmar averages 7.7 points, 2.9 assists and 1.9 rebounds per game. Farmar has spent parts of 10 seasons in the NBA with five different teams.

Stevenson is healthy after rehabilitating a groin injury that required surgery in November. The New Orleans Pelicans released Stevenson do to roster constraints. Stevenson is the youngest of this group at 26 years old and has played for five NBA teams in seven seasons.

The Cavaliers went 7-8 in January, but are still on top of the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 32-15. The Cavaliers host the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight before they head out on a four game road trip that will see them play the New York Knicks, Washington Wizards, Indiana pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The NHL returned from there All-Star break with 14 games last night. In one of those games the Winnipeg Jets beat the St, Louis Blues 5-3. This morning the Blues fired there head coach Ken Hitchcock and replaced him with associate coach Mike Yeo. This move was actually suppose to take place after this season as Hitchcock had planned to retire, but with St. Louis having a record of  24-21-5 and 53 points general manager Doug Armstrong decided to make the move early. St. Louis is tied for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with the Calgary Flames. Just behind the Blues and the Flames sit the Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks all with 52 points. Yeo has been with the Blues since last summer; so the transition should be an easy one, but even with a coaching change will the Blues find there way into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Week 15 ended up being a good week for us as we all got into double digit wins. I won the week with a 13-3 record. Mr. Fantasy finished 2nd going 12-4. It was Dan the Man in 3rd place for the week with a record of 11-5; so that means Schaumburg Stu ended up at the bottom on the week at 10-6. With just a couple of weeks left in the season I find myself in the overall lead with a record of 138-85. Dan the Man is 7 games behind me with an overall record of 131-92. Mr. Fantasy has found his way out of the cellar and is in 3rd with an overall record of 125-98. That means that Schaumburg Stu is back in the cellar, but only by a game as his overall record is 124-99. Week 16 starts tomorrow (Thursday) with an AFC West match up as it’s the San Diego Chargers vs. the Oakland Raiders. Let’s see how the picks go for us.

I’m sure by now you’ve seen or heard about what took place on the field between Odell Beckham Jr. and Josh Norman during the New York Giants/Carolina Panthers game. Beckham Jr. ended up being suspended for 1 game and if it was me I would’ve sent him packing for the rest of the season which would’ve been 2 games. I’ve heard the excuses the Giant tried to make for Beckham Jr, and I don;t believe any of them. I’m not here to go into any of that garbage. What I’m interested in is how this affect the Panthers. Remember at one point in time the Panthers where up 35-7 on the Giants and ended up winning 38-35. So now the Panthers take their 14-0 record to the Georgia Dome to face the Atlanta Falcons. Two weeks ago the Panthers easily defeated the Falcons 38-0, but I’m not sure that this game will go the same way.  First off the Falcons are at home; so that should help a little. What I think may have an even bigger effect on this game might be the fact that the Panthers could have an emotional let down. With all the Beckham Jr./Norman garbage and now the fallout from that it may also start to prove as a distraction to the Panthers. Are the Panthers a better team than the Falcons; yes of course they are, but you know from watching the NFL that the best team doesn’t always win the game. It may also be possible that Atlanta found something last week in their 23-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaquars. The win snapped a 6 game losing streak for the Falcons. Remember Atlanta reeled off 5 wins to start the season. Call it a hunch or maybe I’m just stupid, but I think that Atlanta has a better than average chance to win this game. I don;t have to make a pick on this game right now, but Sunday on the Sports Time Radio podcast you’ll get to hear who I decided to go with in this game.

Last night in the NHL the marquee match up was the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks vs. the team with the most points (54) in the NHL the Dallas Stars. Even with the season not quite to the halfway point this was still a bit of a statement game. Both teams where coming into this game with a win. On Sunday the Blackhawks beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in overtime while on Monday the Stars topped the Minnesota Wild 6-3. It appeared as though the Blackhawks had a couple of things working in their favor going into the game. Dallas had to fly into Chicago for the game and it was the 2nd game of a back to back for the Stars. As it turned out none of that mattered as it was the Stars that made the statement in the game. There was no scoring in the 1st period, but the Blackhawks did have 2 power plays. Oddly the Blackhawks didn’t get a shot off on either of those 2 power plays and had just 3 shots on goal in the 1st period. Dallas out shot the Blackhawks 7 to 3 in the 1st period, but no scoring. The Blackhawks got quite a few more shots on goal 914) in the 2nd period, but Dallas goaltender and former Blackhawk Antti Niemi stopped them all. Dallas had 8 shots on goal in the 2nd period and Jason Spezza was able to put 1 of those shots past Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford for a 1-0 Dallas lead. Patrick Sharp and John Klingberg got the assists on Spezza’s goal. That was the only goal of the period and the teams went to the ;locker room with the Stars ahead 1-0. The Stars got on the scoreboard very quickly in the 3rd period as the former Blackhawk Sharp scored his 12th goal of the season with assists from Jamie Benn and Jason Demers to give the Stars a 2-0 lead. Colton Sceviour was the next Dallas player to light the lamp with his 2nd goal of the season giving the Stars a 3-0 lead. Jordie Benn and Antoine Roussel assisted on Sceviour goal. Mattias Janmark ended the scoring for the Stars and for the game with his 8th goal of the season to put the Stars up 4-0. Demers picked up his 2nd assist of the night on Janmark’s goal. Former Blackhawk Johnny Oduya also picked up an assist on the Janmark goal.

Antti Neimi was the #1 star of the game with the shutout. Neimi stopped all 20 of the Blackhawks shots. With 1 goal and 1 assist Patrick Sharp was the #2 star of the game. With the first goal of the game Jason Spezza was the 3rd star of the game.

The NHL takes a few days off for the Christmas holiday. The schedule picks up on Saturday when the Stars will face the St. Louis Blues; in St. Louis. The Blackhawks get an extra day off as they take the ice Sunday as they play host to the Carolina Hurricanes.

I mentioned that Dallas has the most points in the NHL with 54, but their lead isn’t that big. Dan the Man;s pick to win the Stanley Cup the Washington Capitals have 52 points on the season and the Stars have played 2 more games the Capitals have. The Stars and the Capitals are the only two teams over 50 points, but there are some teams closing in on 50 points. The St. Louis Blues have 46 points. While the Blackhawks and the New York Rangers are at 44 points with the Montreal Canadiens sitting at 43 points.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can also find me on Twitter @Burketime

 

How was your Week?

Posted: October 17, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, football
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Week 6 in the NFL started with a loss for Dan the Man, Schaumburg Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I as we all had the Atlanta Falcons to beat the New Orleans Saints 31-21 on Thursday night football. The Saints knocked the Falcons out of the undefeated ranks and we’ll all go into Sunday at 0-1.

A match up like this always looks good to fantasy owners; so hopefully you had your Saints and Falcons in your line ups. Drew Brees went 30 of 39 for 312 yards and 1 touchdown. Matt Ryan was 30 of 44 for 295 yards ans 2 touchdown. If sacks are a negative in our league Ryan was sacked 5 times for 32 yards. Brees did run 2 times for 2 yards and Ryan had 4 carries for 10 yards and while it’s not huge rushing yards they weren’t in the negatives. Ryan did fumble the football 3 times on the night, but only lost 1 of them.

On the ground Mark Ingram carried the football 20 times for the Saints, but only picked up 46 yards. Luckily for Ingram owners he scored 2 touchdowns.Ingram did add 3 catches for 10 yards. If you’re using a secondary Saints running back they weren’t much help for you. Khiry Robinson had 7 carries for 23 yards while C.J. Spiller had 3 carries for 10 yards. Robinson also had 2 catches for 24 yards and Spiller added 4 catches for 17 yards, but neither player scored. Devonta Freeman continued to run the ball well for the Falcons. He only ran the football 13 times, but got to 100 yards even and scored a touchdown. Freeman also caught more passes (8) than any other Falcons on Thursday night for 56 yards and added a receiving touchdowns as well. Even in a losing effort Freeman put up a 2 touchdown night for his fantasy owners. Tevin Coleman returned from injury to run the football 4 times for the Falcons gaining 40 yards, but he did fumble 1 time.

Tigh  and t End Benjamin Watson was the big target for Brees in the New Orleans passing game as he caught 10 balls for 127 yards and 1 touchdown. Willie Snead and Brandin Cooks each had 4 catches; Snead went for 55 yards while Cooks had 41 receiving yards..The Saints other tight end Josh Hill also had 3 catches for 38 yards. While Freeman led Atlanta with his 8 catches Julio Jones led the team in yardage with  93 on 6 receptions. Leonard Hankerson seems to be the Falcons #2 wide receiver now had 4 catches for 37 yards. Tight end Jacob Tamme had 3 catches for 32 yards, but it was Roddy White who had the Falcons other touchdown catch. White had a total of 3 receptions for 23 yards, but had that touchdown catch. If you’re in a deep league or you have to start a fullback Patrick DiMarco had 2 catches for 18 and if you’re in a league where you have to start two tight ends Levine Toilolo had 2 catches for 18 yards as well. Nick Williams (11 yards) and Terron Ward (7 yards) each had 1 reception in the game for Atlanta.

The Saints kicking game struggled in this game as Zach Hocker made just 1 of 3 field goals he attempted on the night, but he did all 4 of his extra points. Atlanta’s kicker Matt Ryan had a pretty quite night for his fantasy owners as he just had 3 extra points in the game.

If your league scores for defense Dannell Ellerbe led the Saints in tackles with 14 and recovered a fumble. Cameron Jordan had 6 tackles, 3 sacks and recovered a fumble. Hau’oli Kikaha and Kasim Edebali each had a sack for New Orleans and Brandon Browner had the other fumble recovery for New Orleans. Paul Worrilow was the Falcons team leader in tackles with 9 and Adrian Clayborn had the Falcons lone sack on the night.

The ALCS kicked off last night with the Kansas City Royals beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0. Edinson Volquez was the Royals Game 1 starter and he pitched 6 innings giving up 2 hits and while he did walk four betters he struck out 5. Kelvin Herrera was the first pitcher out of the Kansas City bullpen pitching 1 inning and striking out 2. He was followed by  Ryan Madson who gave up a hit and a walk in the 1 inning he pitched. Luke Hochevar finished the game off for the Royals pitching the 9th. Marco Estrada got the start for the Blue Jays and he pitched 5 1/3rd innings giving up 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 6. Alex Gordon led off the bottom of the 3rd with a double off Estrada. After a strikeout Alcides Escobar doubled to right field to score Gordon. A ground out moved Escobar to 3rd base where a single by Lorenzo Cain drove him home to give Kansas City a 2-0 lead. Estrada struck out the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the 4th, but with 2 outs Salvador Perez its a solo home run to left field giving the Royals a 3-0 lead. Aaron Loup relieved Estrada in the bottom of the 6th and got the final 2 outs of the inning. Mark Lowe worked the bottom of the 7th for the Blue Jays. Lowe struck out 1 batter in his inning of work. LaTroy Hawkins took over on the mound in the bottom of the 8th inning for Toronto. Hawkins hit Escobar to start the inning. Ben Zobrist followed that with an infield single moving Escobar to 2nd. After a fly out for the 1st out of the inning Eric Hosmer doubled to right field scoring Escobar and moving Zobrist to 3rd. Kendrys Morales hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Zobrist with the Royals final run of the night.

I’m not sure Game 1 played out anywhere close to how people thought it would. I’m not sure that anyone had the Blue Jays being shutout. Toronto only managed 3 hits on the night; all singles. One each by Josh Donaldson, Chris Colabello and Ryan Goins; Jose Bautista was 0 for 1 on the night, but did walk 3 times. Kansas City ended up with 8 hits on the night, but Escobar was the only Royal with more than 1 hit.

Game 2 of the ALCS is this afternoon. The Blue Jays are going with David Price on the mound while Kansas City is starting Yordano Ventura. Price has pitched 10 innings this post season; 1 start and 1 relief appearance. He’s given up 8 runs on 11 hits while walking 2 and striking out 7; his post season ERA is 7.20. Ventura has made 2 starts this post season, but it only covers 7 innings. He’s giving up 6 runs on 8 hits while walking 4 and striking out 10; his post season ERA is 7.71. Pitching may not be the key to Game 2; it may be the injury to Toronto’s DH Edwin Encarnacion. Encarnacion suffered a ligament sprain to his left middle finger in Friday night’s 5-0 loss. Encarnacion is listed as day-to-day for the Blue Jays. If Encarnacion can’t go today look for Justin Smoak to take his place in the Toronto line up. Smoak had a .226 batting average with 18 home runs and 59 RBI this season.

The NLCS kicks off tonight in New York. Jon Lester gets the Game 1 start for the Chicago Cubs while Matt Harvey will start for the New York Mets. Lester’s last start was 7 days ago against the St. Louis Cardinals. Lester went 7 1/3rd against St. Louis and it happened to be the only game the Cubs lost to the cardinals in that series. Harvey’s last start was a 5 inning outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers 5 days ago where he got the win. Who needs a Game 1 win more; the Cubs or the Mets?

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast at BlogTalkRadio.com.

I remember last season hearing people complain that they didn’t like the match ups the National Football League (NFL) was showcasing on Thursday night football. With the games moving to CBS everyone thought the match ups would be better, but this Thursday night wasn’t one of them. The Atlanta Falcons beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 56-14. The Falcons where up 56-0 before Tampa Bay added a couple of meaningless 4th quarter touchdowns. Dan the Man, Mr, Fantasy and I picked the Falcons to win this game while Schaumburg Stu was alone in selecting a Buccaneers win. Matt Ryan was 21 of 24 in the game for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns before getting the 4th quarter off. Atlanta also ran the football 36 times for 144 yards and 3 touchdowns. Stephen Jackson was the Falcons leading rusher with 54 yards and 1 of the Atlanta rushing touchdowns. Devin Hester and Antone Smith had the other Atlanta rushing touchdowns. In the 2nd quarter with the score already 28-0 there was about 7 minutes before halftime and Tampa Bay was punting. Hester fielded the punt and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. This was the 20th return touchdown of Hester’s career breaking the record he shared with Deion Sanders. I was a little surprised that Hester’s former coach and now head coach of the Buccaneers even kicked the ball to Hester. I figured since Smith was Hester’s head coach for 19 of his return touchdowns he wouldn’t let the ball get anywhere near him, but they did and Hester took advantage. While watching the game it seemed like Ryan and Julio Jones where just out playing catch, Jones end up with 9 catches for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns. Harry Douglass caught the other touchdown pass from Ryan and when Douglass went down with a foot injury Eric Weems stepped in and add 4 catches for 69 yards. T.J. Yates came in to wrap up for the Falcons and went 3 for 4 in the passing game for 64 yards, but did throw an interception that was returned 27 yards by Danny Lansanah for the final Tampa Bay touchdown. Josh McCown was inured during the game and Mike Glennon came in and play decently for Tampa Bay. Which has to make you wonder of there will be a quarterback controversy. While in the game McCown was 5 for 12 for 58 yards and 1 interception while Glennon went 17 for 24 for 121 yards and 1 touchdown. Bobby Rainey was the leading rusher for Tampa Bay. Rainey had 11 carries for 41 yards, but did fumble twice; Rainey also caught 7 passes for 64 yards. Vincent Jackson caught the Tampa Bay touchdown pass and Brandon Myers added 5 catches for the Buccaneers. Atalanta improved to 2-1 and are on the road against the Minnesota Vikings next week. Tampa Bay dropped to 0-3 and have a Week 4 road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

We’ve set up fantasy leagues for hockey (NHL) and basketball (NBA) for Sports Time Radio. The league is free and run through the Yahoo sports site. Here’s the link for the hockey league if you’re interested in signing up Sports Time Radio Fantasy League and then here’s the link to the basketball league if that’s what you’d be interested in Sports Time Radio Fantasy League They are both set up in the suction league format with live drafts scheduled. Dan the Man and I will be playing in both leagues while Mr. Fantasy only has time to do the basketball league. Hope you sign up; we’re always looking for new players.

The Kansas City Royals are hosting the Detroit Tigers this weekend in a 3 game series that may decide who wins the American League (A.L.) Central. Detroit won the 1st game Friday night 10-1 behind Justin Verlander. Verlander went 7 1/3rd innings giving up 7 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 4. With the win Verlander improved his record to 14-12. Offensively Ian Kinsler led the way for Detroit going 3 for 5 with a home runs and 3 RBI’s and scored 2 runs. J.D. Martinez went 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored. Tori Hunter, Victor Martinez, Nick Castellanos, James McCann and Eugenio Suarez all added 2 hits. Suarez also added 2 R.B.I.s for the Tigers. Jason Vargas started for the Royals lasting 3 1/3 rd innings giving up 9 hits and 5 earned runs in the loss. With the loss Vargas is 11-10 on the season. Game two is the national telecast on the Fox network and the pitching match is Max Scherzer (16-5) for Detroit and “Big Game” James Shields (14-7) for Kansas City. This is a rematch from a week or two ago and Shields shut down the Tigers and got a big win for the Royals. Can he do it again?

Clayton Kershaw got his 20th win yesterday against the Chicago Cubs Friday at Wrigley Field. Now a lot of pitchers in baseball history have won 20 or more games, but Kershaw is only the 2nd pitcher to win his 20 game in less than 30 starts. Kershaw is 20-3 in 26 starts for the Dodgers this season and is a lock to win the National League (N.L.) Cy Young award for the 2nd time in a row and his 3rd Cy Young in 4 seasons. It wasn’t a dominant outing for Kershaw as he went 5 innings giving up 7 hits and 3 earned runs, but did strikeout 9 hitters in a 14-5 Dodgers victory. Just to let you know Pedro Martinez is the only other pitcher since World War II with 20 wins in fewer than 30 starts. Kershaw is also the first Dodgers pitcher to reach the 20-win mark twice since Claude Osteen in 1969 and ’72. At 20-3 (.870), Kershaw has the best winning percentage for a Dodgers pitcher since Preacher Roe went 22-3 (.880) in 1951. Kershaw’s ERA is 1.80.

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.