titan_uranus

Would be fantastic to see Tendulkar get a tonne in his final Test. He hasn't reached 100 since January 2011, which makes you wonder, if he wasn't Tendulkar, would have have kept his spot this long?

I should have entered! FWIW, I'd go with the Colts, Jets and Cardinals

I quite like the NFL site, if you can avoid some of the trash there are some decent analyses and videos, behind the scenes stuff (I always love the Sound FX clips they do, hearing coaches and players on game day is quite a novel insight), statistics are pretty good. Leaves the AFL site for dead.

Arrow's covered it, pretty much. This analysis on the NFL website also goes through the problems. Essentially, if you take the read out, he has to revert back to more 'conventional' QB play and he isn't that good at being an in-the-pocket QB. The NFL article shows how defences are taking out the read, and it leaves him with very few options, the less so if either Davis gets shut down when he gets on a downfield route. Boldin's been inconsistent this year, and until this week we've lacked both Manningham and Crabtree (who is Kaepernick's best friend on that offence). NFL defences play us better than they did last year which is messing with his formula. He's one of those players, when he's on he's unstoppable but when he's off he's toothless. Manningham and Crabtree will give him more options down the field which hopefully gets him more confident in his throwing, which I think is a key.

The NFC WC battle is heating up. Our loss to Carolina hurts us; that head-to-head result means the Panthers get in over us should we end the year on the same W-L record. But now we have to add Arizona to the list - SF, Carolina, Detroit/Chicago/GB, and now Arizona too. Technically, with Philadelphia and Dallas on 5 wins, they're somewhat around the mark too, but I can't see an NFC East team making the playoffs outside of winning that division.

Kap had one of his Kap days. Awful passing. 11/22 for 91 yards, and the INT late in the fourth sealed the game. Carolina deserves to be considered legit. If the Saints lose to the Cowboys, they'll be leading NFC South I think. Green Bay won't make the playoffs this year without Rodgers. Detroit for NFC North? Indy got very lucky this week, with Tennessee losing Jake Locker and thus losing to Jacksonville (which shouldn't have happened even without Locker). That loss to St Louis shows the hole in the offence Reggie Wayne's injury has left. Ravens and Steelers close the gap in the AFC North. Bengals not playing well enough to close that division out. Pittsburgh is awful but they're only three back. Same deal with the Giants, who will only be two back in the NFC East if Dallas loses. Denver did what it had to do, with the Chargers cooked in the AFC I think. Now having to deal with Baltimore for that wild card as well as the Jets and the Titans.

Agreed, it's a huge week. Denver are the big favourites against SD, but if you look closer, of SD's four losses, three have been right at the death, meaning they've pushed all their opponents, and have beaten the Colts. Rivers is putting up elite numbers too. Denver's only win over a team with a winning record is Dallas, and their defence has let a fair amount of points through (I mean, they conceded 19 points to Jacksonville). The offence usually gets the job done, but the last few weeks Peyton hasn't been at the same level. Denver still should win it, but I don't think it's a fait accompli. Baltimore have to win, but I don't think they will. Same for Atlanta. I think this week is the end of the road for those two sides. The last thing SF needs is a loss to Carolina. That would put us on the same win-loss ratio battling for the same wild card position. Beating them puts us two in front, helping us push for the first wild card on our own. I think we'll be right, our team's just coming together and our offence is really starting to click (Manningham, Crabtree coming back), plus Aldon Smith is due back some time on defence (hopefully).

If he can't make it back, then you absolutely have to win the next three. Get those on the board, move to 8-3, and then try your best to win one of those last three road games to help push you up. Assuming Wallace is good enough to beat Philly, NYG and Minnesota (questionable, but we'll assume it), the game at Detroit is season-defining (for both sides).

Australia A finally batting down in Hobart. Doolan 31 off 35, poor guy didn't get a proper chance to do anything of merit. Khawaja just 3, rule a line through him. Shaun Marsh currently 26 off 58, but there isn't enough time in the match for him to make a proper innings to push his case. Good to see Rogers make 88 and 117 in the Shield. White's good form continues, backing up his 48 with a 70*. Ahmed struggled again, whilst Nathan Lyon didn't do too much (got Rogers out both times though), but had good economy (another reason to take Lyon over Ahmed). Bailey only made 41 in the second dig in Queensland, not ideal from him. Chris Lynn might be one to watch though, with an 81 and 72*. None at all. He's been around the Aussie team though, hasn't he? I'm sure we'll hear his name during the summer.

Wallace is going to have to play a lot better if you're going to make it from here. You have to bank the wins against Philly, NYG and Minnesota in the next three weeks. Can't afford to drop those. The last five games include road trips to Detroit, Dallas and Chicago, alternating with what appear easier games against Pittsburgh and Atlanta at home. Bank the upcoming three with Wallace, then go 2-3 in the final five and you'll end up 10-6. Probably won't be enough for the division the way it's heading, nor for a wild card I don't think. So you have to convert at least one of those three tough road games. No Rodgers = no chance. If Rodgers makes it back in time for the Detroit game, and helps you pull our one or two of those three road games, you should be right. Sweeping Detroit will help you too.

Nice win by your boys in prime time! Interesting move though, when Ponder went down you went to Cassel and not Freeman. I wonder how that will affect the rest of your year, given you seem to have banked on Ponder. Washington is such a shadow of 2012. They're in a weak division, sure, but if the Cowboys beat the Saints they're three games back with 7 to play which is dangerous territory. They were 3-6 last year though, and rounded out the year with 7-0, so I guess it's possible.

Siddle, Harris, Johnson and Hilfenhaus are all being rested from next week's Shield games in preparation for the first Test. http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/pacemen-put-on-ice-for-ashes-20131107-2x499.html If we have to resort to Hilfenhaus this series, then we're stuffed.

Bailey out for 34, didn't add to his overnight score. Disappointing. Meanwhile Cowan continues, now on 75. Warner's up to 60 off 52. Rain in Hobart preventing Doolan from getting out there and having another shot at the Test side.

Warner showing his 'grit' with 28* off 21 and 6 fours. I suspect he's a given for the first Test, though I would prefer him never to play Test cricket again, so it probably doesn't matter. Siddle with the early wicket of Maddinson is a good sign; he's been a bit out of form so far this season, and we're no chance in the Ashes if he's not taking wickets. If Cowan goes on to make a century, I wonder whether that will change the selectors' minds? I doubt it, I feel like he'd need to make successive big scores because his cards appear stamped, but at least he'll be in form if we need back up.

He's in the side because he has talent, there aren't many decent batsmen going around in Australia at the moment, and CA is desperate for Australian cricket to have 'stars' to attract kids and the like. Grit isn't everything, which is why Cowan's Test days look numbered. But Warner doesn't have it. He's not the kind of batsman to just bunker down in the face of strong bowling, he doesn't have that lion-hearted fighting spirit. That's not him. His runs come from big shots and dominating bowlers.

Indy has its flaws, absolutely, but they're going to make the playoffs and when it comes down to it, you have to be able to beat the best. Indy has shown it can lift its game when required to match the best. Of course, KC and Denver will get their turns when they play each other, and KC will get Indy later too, so we'll be able to make better comparisons then.

England 0/310. Carberry 145*. Cook 154*. New opening pair confirmed, you'd have thought. Root to bat at 6. Cutting, Copeland, Henriques, Holland, Maxwell = all lacklustre. Meanwhile Victoria is 7/196, Rogers a valiant 87* whilst the rest struggle. Lyon's taken just the one wicket so far (I hate this media crap about a 'bowl off' between Lyon and Ahmed. Lyon is better. Ahmed hasn't done nearly enough yet to be included. Selecting him on the back of one innings where he took a six-for is exactly the kind of haphazard selecting we shouldn't be engaging in).

Rogers has dropped the anchor, as they say, in the match against NSW. 26* off 127. White made 48 before getting out, Quiney just 6. Victoria now 4/100. Carberry opened with Cook in the England XI v Australia A game. 0/164. Bowlers include Jon Holland, who got hit around for 25 off his 4 overs. Silk and Cosgrove doing well to have Tasmania 0/109, against bowling including Ryan Harris. What rubbish. He's got nothing but a desire to be flashy and the ability to hit sixes. I couldn't imagine a worse number 3 choice, to be honest. Cowan has 'grit and a real fighting spirit'. So does Rogers. Warner is at the other end of the spectrum.

Some perspective on the good sides, courtesy of Tuesday Morning Quarterback: Undefeated Kansas City and stats-a-palooza Denver each have only one victory over a team with a winning record, in both cases shaky 5-4 Dallas. Cincinnati has a quality win over New England, but also three losses; Chicago has a quality win over Cincinnati, but also three losses; Green Bay is 1-3 against other winning teams; Detroit 2-2 against other winning teams. Seattle beat the 49ers but lost to Indianapolis, making the Seahawks 1-1 in authentic games. San Francisco 1-2 against top teams. New England has just one quality victory, over New Orleans, which in turn has just one victory over a winning team. For authentic accomplishments, so far Indianapolis is tops (3-0, having beaten SF, Seattle and Denver). Carolina is on a 4-0 streak -- over teams with a combined 6-27 record. The Chiefs haven't faced a starting quarterback since September. Opposition quarterbacks in Kansas City's past five games have been second string, second string, second string, third string and fourth string. ​

What I meant is that, if his back is playing up, the extra rest he'd get by batting at 5 would do him good.

Incredibly soft schedule. Eagles, Giants, Vikings, Falcons, Steelers don't pose a huge threat (though I guess Eagles in their Week 9 form might be a bit tougher). That just leaves games against the Lions, Cowboys and Bears, all of which are road games and much tougher assignments. Having said that, at 5-3 they'll need to pick up all those easy games to get 10 wins. Lions and Bears also have 5 wins each, so the competition in NFC North is definitely on.

Not sure how long Rodgers is out for, but if he's out then Green Bay's playoff chances are surely in big trouble. With Stafford and Megatron in awesome form, winning NFC North is going to be tough (especially if the Bears can win games with McCown at QB). Today's result means that, if the playoffs were now, GB wouldn't be in them. Detroit wins NFC North, and Carolina beats out GB (and Chicago) in the tiebreaker for the second wild card (based on conference record). If we assume that Seattle/SF and Denver/KC make up the first WC in both conferences, the battles for the 6th and final playoff spot on both sides is really heating up. Going to be a massive finish to the season.

Is there anyone in Australia who can actually bat at 3? Watson can't. Smith can't. Khawaja cant. Clarke can, but shouldn't (back). I don't think Bailey can either. Maybe Doolan gets a game for this reason. 28 years old, so not as young as we might have hoped for, but still could get a decent few years out of him, and he is made for 3.

Looks as though Kubiak will be fine. Meanwhile the Colts came back from a 21-3 deficit to win the game, with the Texans' kicker missing a field goal on the final play of the game to force OT (his third missed FG of the game). Huge win for the Colts, keeps them two games clear of Tennessee (sounds ridiculous, but a loss would have only meant the Titans would be back one game!).

Provided we can call Melbourne a 'professional football team', this is fantastic. There's always reason to hope.