So in a huge upset as we get into the meat of the season, the front-running
Rams (4-1) [howie] were knocked off by the previously struggling niners (now
2-2).  After a slow start by both teams, the score was 10-3 in the final
seconds of the half when Garcia threw off his back foot over two
linebackers, attempting to really thread the needle.  He watched from the
ground under a comibned 440 pounds, and I think he had to peer over a foot
that was firmly planted on his face, as the ball sailed the 30-odd yards to
the endzone, but he had to smile as Owens turned, jumped ahead of the CB,
and pulled it in to land hard... just over the white strip for the
game-tying TD.  The second half again started as a defensive effort... but
the charging 49ers and a revitalized Garcia were too much.  The niner's
nonexistent running game even showed up to join in the ass-kicking.  It was
a textbook example of how to pick apart a defense, and something tells me
that the Rams coaching staff is not even going to look at the film, just
mark it down as one fucked up day and move on.

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in other news.... in a surprising battle of Halfbacks, Curtis Martin
destroyed his matchup against Priest Holmes, with the Chiefs running game
not showing up until late in the second half.  Perhaps the KC O-Line was
partying somewhere with their secondary, because both were just
embarrassing.  Martin, however, running behind a vastly improved blocking,
showed that there was more to the Jets than emeringing superstar QB Chad
Pennington.  Martin was barely touched until at least 6 yards into every
run, and when it WAS left up to him, some he bowled over Shockey-style and
others he just nimbly danced past on his way to racking up a career day.  On
the other hand, Holmes had barely touched the ball from the handoff or
lateral before being dragged down for most of the first half, and it wasn't
until the end of the third that the KC O-Line realized they were being
embarrassed and finally stepped up in too little too late.  One positive
note for KC was the surprising play of backup QB Todd McBride who came off
the bench to replace a lackadaisical Trent Green halfway through the first
half, and played well until the final minutes as he tried too hard too force
some passes into nonexistent holes.  It was a shellacking but one other
coaches in the league might want to watch- as the Jets held the Priest
scoreless until the end of the game and it might be time to gameplan for
Martin as well.

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