Percy Harvin proves a real pain to defend
MINNEAPOLIS -- It turns out that Percy Harvin can dish out headaches as well as get them.Harvin, who missed two days of practice this past week because of migraines, is starting to give defensive and special team coaches fits.
Harvin made another big impact in the Vikings' 27-24 win over San Francisco on Sunday. In the third quarter, with the Vikings down 17-13, he returned a kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown.
After the 49ers kicked a field goal, Harvin took a kickoff 1-yard deep in his own end zone. He cut to the middle of the field, then headed left, made one sharp cut back to the middle of the field and he was gone, going untouched for a touchdown.
"I stumbled a little bit," Harvin said. "I could have took it either way but the cutback was going to give me a cleaner alley so like I said, the blockers did all the work and I did the easy part."
Harvin became the first player in team history to score a touchdown in the first three games of his career. He also has the most kickoff return yards (358) after three games in team history.
He caught TD passes in his first two games. On Sunday he had four catches for 51 yards. He returned four kicks for 180 yards and lost eight yards on his only rushing attempt.
NOT SO SPECIAL: The Vikings had a chance to take a 16-7 lead when Ryan Longwell lined up for a 44-yard field goal on the final play of the half. But Ray McDonald split past rookie Phil Loadholt and Steve Hutchinson to block the kick. Nate Clements scooped the ball up and raced 59 yards for a touchdown. The 10-point swing gave the 49ers a big lift, and a 14-13 lead at the half.
"The guard fell down and I have to crack down more," Loadholt said. "I got to get down there faster than that. I have to make sure that I cover my guys better than that."
"All I know is that should be a fairly routine play, and it wasn't," Vikings coach Brad Childress said.
PLENTY OF OPTIONS: Vikings quarterback Brett Favre completed passes to seven players and four different wide receivers. Sidney Rice, Bernard Berrian and Greg Lewis all caught passes of 30 yards or more, with Rice and Lewis scoring TDs.
The Vikings threw a few more passes deeper down field than in previous games.
"We know we're capable of spreading the field and getting the ball down field," Rice said.
Favre was 26-for-48 for 301 yards. It marked the first time a Vikings quarterback had thrown for 300 yards in 63 games.
THE WALL: It looks The Wall has returned. The Vikings had allowed an average of 109 yards rushing a game in the first two games after leading the league in fewest rushing yards allowed the past three seasons. The Vikings returned to their stingy form against the 49ers.
San Francisco had top back Frank Gore for just one carry on Sunday, and he gained four yards before re-injuring his ankle. Glen Coffee took Gore's place, but the rookie managed just 54 yards on 25 carries. For the day the 49ers had 58 yards on 26 attempts, just 2.2 yards a rush.
"We obviously knew they wanted to run the ball," Vikings linebacker Ben Leber said. "We had to step up."
The Vikings topped the 49ers on a third-and-1 midway through the first quarter. In fact the defense forced four straight three-and-outs in the opening quarter.
"I think that up front we played well and really accepted the challenge of who was the more physical team," defensive end Jared Allen said.
The biggest stop by the defense came late in the game. The 49ers took over on downs at their own 47 with 1:49 left. The Vikings limited three rushing plays to six yards, and called a timeout after each stop. The 49ers were able to run just 20 seconds off the clock and had to punt, leading to the winning Vikings touchdown drive.
"Defensively at that time, we were just trying to get off the field," linebacker Chad Greenway said.
LITTLE RUSH: While the Vikings were stout against the run, they did allow a pair of touchdown passes. Ex-Viking Shaun Hill was 15-for-25 for 195 yards to a pair of TD tosses to tight end Vernon Davis.
The Vikings got on interception, by Cedric Griffin, but they managed just one sack, by Jared Allen on the first pass play of the game. Allen forced a fumble on the play, but the 49ers recovered.
"They hit the passes when they needed to," Allen said. "We knew that was their thing. Shaun Hill got rid of the ball quick, and was really good on the short and medium passes."
HAPPY, THEN SAD RETURNS: Darius Reynaud had a 32-yard punt return on the final play of the first quarter. But he suffered a left hamstring injury on a 10-yard punt return in the third quarter. Bernard Berrian took over for Reynaud and returned the final two punts by the 49ers for a total of 13 yards.
FIRST PICK: Favre threw his first interception of the season on a deflected pass with just over nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Shawntae Spencer picked off the pass. That led to a Joe Nedney field goal for a 17-13 San Francisco lead. Harvin returned the following kickoff for his touchdown.
Bills hang on to beat Bucs in home opener
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Lee Evans (R) scores a touchdown on a 32 yard pass play as Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber (R) defends during first quarter NFL football action in Orchard Park, New York.
Something was bubbling inside his combustible, diamond-studded skull. And as Terrell Owens sat on the bench, massaging his forehead after another quiet series, the outcome looked grim for the Buffalo Bills.
They were winning, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their home opener without his help, and that was part of the problem. Owens does not suffer silence well, which is why the deep ball thrown by quarterback Trent Edwards a few minutes later probably did as much for the sanity of football fans across Western New York as it did the outcome.
Owens caught the pass in full flight to the end zone, a 43-yard catch that went for his first touchdown in Buffalo, adding some security in a 33-20 win. Running back Fred Jackson was the star, carrying 28 times for 163 yards, but Owens remained the unquestioned celebrity by leaving everyone wondering exactly what he was thinking.
The 35-year-old receiver slipped from Ralph Wilson Stadium without uttering a word to reporters. Owens also restrained his formidable speaking talents after the season opener, and is assured to maintain his position as the king of online fan forums and talk radio.
“It will be about T.O.,” linebacker Kawika Mitchell said. “Don’t worry about that.”
Owens finished with three catches for 52 yards. He was only targeted five times — Tampa Bay threw to tight end Kellen Winslow 10 times — and was headed for a second straight quiet finish before the touchdown. The cheers in the crowd masked the sigh of relief.
“We had just picked up a first down and they were on their heels a little bit,” Edwards said. “We caught them in an all-out blitz, and Terrell did the rest. You’ve just got to throw the ball as far as you can, and he’ll run under it.”
The twin threat of Owens and fellow receiver Lee Evans was established early, with a 32-yard touchdown to Evans in the first quarter, softening the middle of Tampa’s defence for Jackson. Buffalo took a 14-0 lead before the game was nine minutes old when free safety Donte Whitner returned an interception 76 yards for a touchdown.
Buffalo was coasting, and the fans — having marinated in the parking lots for three hours longer than usual thanks to the 4 p.m. kickoff — were verging on delirium. They craved it, after another manic opening to a season in a city filled with football neurotics.
Still vulnerable after the late-game collapse against New England, the crowd hushed after Jackson fumbled deep in Tampa territory in the second quarter.
Buccaneers safety Sabby Piscitelli recovered and sprinted 72 yards downfield, setting up a short pass from Byron Leftwich to running back Cadillac Williams that cut Buffalo’s lead to 20-14, where it remained for an uncertain eternity.
And the news kept getting worse. The Bills lost right tackle Brad Butler to a knee injury in the second quarter, weakening an already inexperienced offensive line. Cornerback Leodis McKelvin was soon lost to an undisclosed ankle injury and tight end Derek Schouman was carted off the field in the third quarter. He left as the team’s leading receiver.
Owens, meanwhile, came and went without notice until his touchdown.
He had caused a minor stir by not speaking with reporters after the 25-24 loss to New England. And there was another swirl of smoke around comments he made to reporters mid-week about his lack of involvement in the offence under Edwards.
“It’s always a work in progress,” Owens said. “And Trent has to better assess what he’s seeing out there and take some shots down the field.”
By finally taking that shot Sunday, Edwards might have avoided — or, at least, delayed —an explosion.
Joke of The Day
Q - What do cue balls and puerto ricans have in common?A - The Harder You Hit em, the more english you get
Kanye West outburst mars MTV music video awards
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The MTV video music awards held on Sunday paid tribute to the late Michael Jackson, but was overshadowed by an outburst by rapper Kanye West, who interrupted an acceptance speech by U.S. singer Taylor Swift.West, who is known for his outspoken ways, jumped up on stage while the 19-year-old Swift was making an acceptance speech for best female video for her hit song "You Belong With Me," beating out singers including Beyonce Knowles and Lady Gaga.
"I am really happy for you," West said. "But Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time."
MTV said West, who was spotted earlier on the red carpet drinking alcohol, was ejected from an awards show already known for its circus-like atmosphere. West received loud boos from the crowd when his name was mentioned later in the show.
West apologized on his website. "I'm sooooo sorry to Taylor Swift and her fans and her mom," he wrote. "... I'm in the wrong for going on stage and taking away from her moment!"
Beyonce took the show's top honor -- video of the year -- for her single "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" before recalling her first MTV award with her old band, Destiny's Child, and calling back Swift to the Radio City Music Hall stage to finish her acceptance speech.
"I would like Taylor to come out and have her moment," she said, before the country music star reappeared and thanked her fans.
MTV said Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Green Day won three awards apiece, the most of any artists on this year's awards show.
JACKSON TRIBUTE
The cable channel's awards show began with a tribute to Jackson less than three months after the man known as the King of Pop died from what authorities call a prescription drug overdose at age 50.
"Most of us had turned our backs on him," Madonna said in a speech at the beginning of the awards that recalled his lost childhood. "He was so unique, so original, so rare and there will never be anyone like him again. He was the king."
Performers dressed like Jackson filled the stage and danced to some of his hit songs including "Thriller," "Bad" and "Smooth Criminal."
Janet Jackson then appeared on stage. With the video for her brother's song "Scream" playing on a screen behind her, she mimicked his dance moves in unison with the video. She did not speak.
Michael Jackson promoted many of his ground-breaking videos on MTV in the 1980s.
The network also aired a trailer for "This Is It," a documentary about Jackson due out in October that features footage from Jackson
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