FOOTBALL

In the NFL, it was Monday Night Football between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins.  This game was interesting because it was a battle of the Patriots high-powered offense against the Dolphins stingy defense.  The Dolphins have looked pretty good this season, but haven’t really been tested by an explosive offense.  Well, the game got out to a slow start, with the Dolphins taking the early 7-6 lead at halftime.  It looked like they were containing the Pats, and might eek out a close victory.  Nope, nope, nope, nope, NOPE!  In the second half, the Patriots came out firing on all cylinders, but most notably, their defense and special teams got in on the action.  They got a kickoff run back for a touchdown, and two defensive touchdowns from an interception and blocked field goal.  Wow!  This Patriots team is hard to predict.  Sometimes they show up, and sometimes they completely fall apart.  Last night they definitely showed up.  New England 41, Miami 14.

Elsewhere in the NFL, bad news for Eagles fans.  Philly has been super excited to witness the triumphant return of Michael Vick this season. They went from thinking they would finish last in the NFC East to thinking they might actually make it to the Super Bowl.  Unfortunately, in Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins, Vick went down holding his ribs.  Now it looks like Vick will definitely be out next Sunday and might miss one more week after that.  Bummer.  However, this just means that their original starter, Kevin Kolb, will have a chance to prove he is the rightful replacement for Donovan McNabb yet again.  Kolb is a much more traditional quarterback, and this might actually play to the Eagles benefit.

BASKETBALL

And in the NBA, the pre-season is about to tip-off, and the Lakers will be without their best player Kobe Bryant. He is still recovering from a knee injury from last season.  Kobe said after a game in Europe that he is only at 60% right now.  What does this mean?  Well, the Lakers are without Andrew Bynum for the first month of the season, and if Kobe is still recovering going into the season, they might lose more games than they would like.  In the NBA, it’s all about playoff seeding, because that’s how you gain the home court advantage when it counts.  If they lose 4 or 5 games because Kobe’s knee isn’t in tip-top shape, that could mean getting the #2 or #3 seed in April come playoff time.  It’s too early to predict anything, but the Lakers will definitely want Kobe in action as soon as possible.