By contributing writer Megan Shoup:

Most sports fans probably heard about Washington Redskins’ INACTIVE ROOKIE Robert Hensen and his comments on Twitter about Redskins fans booing at Sunday’s home game.  You may of also seen Mike Greenberg’s rant on Mike & Mike this morning.  If you haven’t, check it out…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rxk2NjMT2o

I think he was totally correct about Hensen’s inappropriate comments!  I LOVED it!  Especially because he had absolutely NOTHING to do with Sunday’s outcome.  As Mike & Mike said, he had as much to do with the game as you or I did!  He’s a 6th round draft pick who has not even played in a NFL game yet.  And he called fans dimwits and knocked people who work very hard to make enough money to go to expensive NFL games. 

My family and I have been Redskins’ season ticket holders for years.  Its expensive, but we’re loyal to the team so its worth it.  We were sitting amongst all the boos on Sunday.  I’m not saying it was right, but when you’re passionate about your team and they let you down, sometimes its hard to control your emotions.  I know the Redskins didn’t truly let us down because we won.  And a win is a win.  But it could have easily been a loss and I think that’s why there were some boos.  I don’t think any FAN was booing the players, but the poor redzone play calling that left us without a touchdown.  That’s on the coaching staff and Zorn. 

Now the people that were booing at the very end were wrong in my opinion, because we did WIN.  And I think a lot were stupidly booing because they ran out the clock and didn’t try to get a touchdown.  Whether they didn’t know football, or they had to many beers, they should have realized we did the right thing taking the win. 

I still think the Redskins fans are true, loyal fans!  A lot of teams get booed at home if they’re playing poorly.  Sports fans are passionate people and true fans will probably show their joy & displeasure equally!  I liked DeAngelo Hall’s comments and saying he’d probably boo too during that game.  He seemed to stick up for the hometown fans and I appreciate that. 

I guess there’s 2 issues here…1) Did the fans have a right to boo at all during a home game?  and 2) Do players have a right for calling fans out?  What do you think?  I think EVERYONE can agree that Robert Hensen is an idiot and should keep his mouth shut and stay away from Twitter!

The Houston Astros yesterday decided to ax their manager Cecil Cooper with 13 games remaining. This seems like a bizarre move to make considering the timing, and speaks to a bigger issue of the state of the Astros organization. I don’t understand the objective of firing a manager with 13 games remaining when, you’ve already been eliminated from the playoffs. Its not as if thats enough time to showcase some coach in your organization to take the reins next year. Now third base coach Dave Clark takes over, and now has 13 12 games to prove himself (lost 7-3 in his debut) worthy of a managing position.

Look I am not going to try to argue that Cooper was some amazing manager, and will lead some other team to a pennant. The Astros were bad this year, and needed to move on to another manager in the offseason. Firing him now is just petty, and disrespectful to him and the team. Should the Astros organization really be throwing Cooper under the bus for his 70-79 record this year? Did anyone outside of Houston really think the Astros were going to contend this year? I mean they had five good hitters, a good closer, and Roy Oswalt as their staff ace. The rest of their pitching staff was in shambles, Wandy Rodriguez was good number two (and the only reason they have 70 wins this year), but the back of the rotation was awful. There is no reason to expect to contend when you give Brian Moehler, Mike Hampton, and Russ Ortiz a combined 60+ starts in a season. That is over a third of the season you are putting in the hands of three guys, who would be lucky to make it as most teams’ 5th starter.

There is no reason to fire a guy with only two weeks to go in the season, unless you are still in the playoff race or there was some off the field incident. What kind of message does that even send to a team? If there was an issue the Astros shouldn’t have picked up Cooper’s option for 2010 back in the spring. If they wanted to get this team on the right track they should have made the move in late July/early August when the team was “theoretically” still in the playoff race, but falling fast. Also the Owner talking about how there is a $100 million dollar payroll with nothing to show for it. That is a ridiculous assertion, by Drayton McLane. Mr. McLane you got exactly what you paid for, your highest paid players were by an large your best players, the fact that you overpaid them, or structured their contract poorly isn’t Cooper’s fault. You also have ignored spending money on the draft in recent years, leaving you with the worst farm system in the Majors. The Astros organization should have tried rebuilding two years ago, but instead they made bad trades, and ill advised signings. Now they have an expensive, veteran team that is under performing and they have no minor league depth to supplement them/replace them.  Houston needs to wake up to the reality that we are in 2009 not 2005. They are not the same team that challenged for the fall classic in the early part of the decade. They need to blow up this team, otherwise they will be left in the cellar as the Pirates and Reds leap frog them in the standings. Before they rebuild the team, they should work on their image, and not throw their manager to the wolves for a bad season that the front office and ownership is to blame.

Yesterday was an interesting day around the NFL. The AFC in particular had an interesting day. The four teams that were expected to win their divisions (New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, and the San Diego Chargers) all lost yesterday. The Patriots and Chargers, who barely escaped upsets last Monday night, weren’t so lucky in week 2 with the short week of rest. Both teams entered this season as division favorites and contenders for the Super Bowl, but through two games they have had to play catch up against “inferior” opponents. The Steelers also fell to 1-1 after losing to the Chicago Bears on a last minute field goal, one week after winning with a field goal in overtime. The vaunted Steelers defense was ineffective against the Bears, and couldn’t make the big stops when needed. The Titans fell to 0-2 after losing to their division rival Houston Texans 34-31. The Titans were up 21-7 early in the 2nd quarter, and got over 280 yards of total offense from running back Chris Johnson, but the Texans passing attack was too much for them to handle. Now a team that started this season with their eyes on the Super Bowl, now are just looking for a win.

What’s even more surprising than who lost was who actually won yesterday. After two weeks only three AFC teams will start off the season 2-0 (the Colts will be the fourth if they win tonight). This is a bit surprising considering the AFC is considered the stronger overall conference (the NFC has five teams that are 2-0). What’s even more surprising is who the three teams are with a spotless record in the AFC, the New York Jets, Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens. Now the Ravens aren’t too surprising, they were a playoff team last year, and while they had some losses on defense their offense looked pretty strong entering the year. The Jets and the Broncos on the other hand are a bit more shocking. Both teams experienced a lot of turnover in the offseason. Each team bringing in among others, a new head coach and starting quarterback. The Broncos early success should be taken with a bit of a grain of salt. They have faced the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns, two teams that aren’t exactly expected to be in the playoff hunt this season. The Broncos also would have lost to the Bengals if not for a fluke last second 87 yard touchdown. While its easy to question the staying power of the Broncos, they are the division leader, and two wins are more than most teams have right now. The Jets on the other hand seem a bit more for real, and what’s scary for the rest of the AFC East is they should only get better. The Jets decisively beat the Texans in Houston in week 1, a team that figured to be a playoff contender. New York followed that up knocking off the New England Patriots in week 2, and holding the Patriots high-powered offense to just 9 points. The Jets defense which hasn’t allowed a touchdown in two weeks, should get better with a fully healthy DE Shaun Ellis, and the return of LB Calvin Pace after his four week suspension. On offense the Jets dual running attack has moved the ball effectively in both weeks. Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez has made major strides, and has put the Jets in a position to win both games. He hasn’t dominated the competition by any means, but he has shown plenty of poise and the ability to make plays when needed. If he continues to mature throughout the season, the Jets could make a deep run into the playoffs.

While nothing can really be determined after two weeks, the AFC balance for power is not shaping up how anyone expected. Some of the conference’s top contenders, are looking more and more like pretenders. While some of the teams that were overlooked going into the season, are looking like teams that need to be taken seriously for the remaining 14 weeks.

Yesterday we saw a couple of upsets in college football with the big one coming in Washington when the hometown Huskies knocked off the 3rd ranked USC Trojans 16-13.  Tonight I think we will see another big upset with the New York Giants going on the road to beat the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are favored by 3 points and the Giants are the defending division champs so on paper its not much of an upset. A Giants victory though would be a stinging blow to the Cowboys faithful since tonight is the unveiling of the new Cowboys Stadium which had a price tag of over $1 billion dollars.

I like the Giants tonight simply because they are a more balanced team than Dallas. The Giants defense is going to give QB Tony Romo and the Cowboys offensive line fits all game. New York’s defensive line spends so much time in the backfield that sometimes its easy to forget they aren’t playing on offense. I see the pressure getting to Romo and forcing a couple costly turnovers tonight. The Giants offense on the other hand isn’t as flashy, but they get the job done. I think Eli Manning can have a big night tonight against the Cowboys secondary. I have a lot of questions about the Cowboys defensive backs, and I think they will be exploited for a couple of big plays.

If the Giants do win tonight and go up 2-0 in the division, I think that will prove that they are the team to beat in the East, and probably in the entire NFC. The Giants always seem to find a way to execute on offense, defense and special teams to come up with the big play to win the game. I think that will hold true tonight, and over 100,000 Cowboy fans will watch in person the G-Men ruin their home opener 24-17.

Editors note, this blog was written by contributing Fanspeak writer Geoff Nelowet. Sorry for not attributing it earlier.

The 19^th ranked Cornhuskers travel to Lane stadium this Saturday to take on the 13^th ranked Hokies, and you can expect a decisive victory by the home team. Tech owns a 31-game non-conference home winning streak, so at this point it’s hard to bet against the maroon and orange at Lane. That, and the fact that ‘Huskers QB Zac Lee is a first-year starter under a second-year coach, and when you couple that with Virginia Tech’s dominant defense, you can expect that Nebraska will have a tough time executing their offensive game plan. Lee, though, has been successful this season, but against lesser opponents. He has completed nearly 74 percent of his passes, but he hasn’t faced a defense like Tech’s, and he simply does not have the firepower to overcome such a consistently dominant unit.

Nebraska is looking to avenge a home loss to Virginia Tech last season in which they lost by the score of 35-30. It wasn’t nearly as close as the score would imply, as Nebraska rallied for two touchdowns in the waning minutes. Tech dominated in yards from scrimmage a year ago, but don’t expect either offense to seriously dominate this Saturday, and you should probably not expect as many points.

Tech QB Tyrod Taylor has not shown any development in the passing game. The Hokies are a run-first team, and they are becoming more ostensibly one-dimensional as the season has progressed. The Hokies may shut down the Cornhusker attack, but they will in all likelihood struggle themselves. The Huskers are fairly talented up front, and they are lead by all-Big 12 senior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. In short, Nebraska has the ability to stop Tech’s run game – their only viable offensive threat. Expect a low-scoring game in which turnovers could be the deciding factor.

Virginia Tech and Nebraska are an exciting match-up, and they are two fairly even teams in talent and execution, but Tech has the edge, and when factoring in Lane Stadium, Tech has an even larger edge. The Hokie defense will force Lee into his first major mistakes of the season, and those mistakes will loom large as Virginia Tech walks away with a 24-14 victory.

With today’s news that Aaron Corp will likely start on Saturday for the ailing freshman Matt Barkley when the Trojans take on the Washington Huskies, it brings to mind a question. Just how secure is the Matt Barkley starting job in Southern California? I know most USC fans and the coaches will tell you that Barkley has done a wonderful job and he’s the greatest since Matt Leinart. So far USC is 2-0 so its been hard to find much to complain about, but if you take a look in side Barkley’s numbers you’ll see that he’s hasn’t been as effective as the USC hype machine would lead you to believe.

In his first game against San Jose State, Barkley was 15-19 for 233 yards and one touchdown. On paper that looks impressive, but watching the game you would see that a number of his completions were thrown high or low, that limited the receiver’s ability to get yards after the catch. A lot of those completions wouldn’t have been made against a better defense. Barkley’s inability to hit receivers on the numbers was somewhat exploited in week two against Ohio State. Barkley’s completion percentage dropped 30 points, with a 15-31 for 195 yards and an interception performance against the Buckeyes. Barkley did lead the game winning drive in the 4th quarter, but that was the only real touchdown drive he led. USC’s first touchdown came after the interception return and four straight running plays to punch it in. Barkley has also shown an inability to throw an accurate deep ball, which has always been a big part of USC’s game plan (especially with WR Damian Williams). Barkley lacks the mobility to make plays with his feet, and keep plays alive by moving outside the pocket. Already he’s been sacked three times and hit plenty of others (which led to this shoulder injury).

So what happens when redshirted sophomore Aaron Corp takes the field this Sunday and lights the Huskies up for 300 yards and four touchdowns? Pete Carroll will say that Barkley is still his guy, but the numbers  and the facts don’t lie. Corp has a better grasp of the offense, better mobility and is a more accurate passer. He knows how to hit a receiver in stride to turn moderate gains into game breakers. The biggest knock on Corp has been his lack of arm strength in throwing the deep ball, but since Barkley doesn’t have the accuracy to throw it that’s a wash now. Barkley is the best quarterback of the future and the better pro prospect, but Corp gives the Trojans a better on the field general right now and a better chance to win. I think if Corp sees the field this Saturday his performance will make it tough to take him off of it the following week, and could just possibly start a real quarterback controversy in Southern California.

This is a big game for the ACC to show that they are a legitimate conference this year, which is highly in question after their performance the first two weeks of the season. Last weekend Florida State and Maryland barely squeaked by at home against a pair of FCS teams, Jacksonville State and James Madison. (19) North Carolina needed a last minute safety to overcome UConn, one of the youngest and weakest teams in the Big East. Amazingly, that performance was better than the ACC’s performance in week 1. Virginia and Duke both lost to FCS teams in a pretty bad fashion. Against other big conferences the ACC didn’t do too much better. NC State and Wake Forrest both lost at home to South Carolina and Baylor, neither one of which are going to compete for their conference title. (12) California embarrassed Maryland beating them by almost 40 points. (7) Virginia Tech loss to (5) Alabama 34-24 at a neutral site. While Tech played well and the outcome wasn’t a huge surprise, it was pretty telling that the Hokies couldn’t couldn’t win the big game. Tonight’s game will hopefully prove that the ACC has more talent in their conference behind Virginia Tech.

Tonight should be a good match up, both Georgia Tech and Miami are top-15 team material. Miami has already shown its ability to knock off ranked opponents with their 38-34 win over the 18th ranked Florida State Seminoles in week one (the only ranked opponent beaten by an ACC team this year). The Yellow Jackets did beat the Clemson Tigers last week in a 30-27 showdown. The Tigers might not be a top notch team, but they have the talent to play with anyone in the country.

For the Hurricanes to upset another ranked team they will have to deal with Georgia Tech’s triple-option offense. Last year the Yellow Jackets ran all over Miami, on their way to a 41-23 performance. In fact Tech only had seven passing attempts, completing four of them, in their 18 point victory. The Yellow Jackets will need to rely on more than just the legs of QB Josh Nesbitt and RB Jonathan Dwyer to win tonight. Miami’s defense is going to stack the box tonight to shutdown the option attack. If the Hurricanes can force Nesbitt to try and beat them with his arm instead of his legs, they will overcome the Yellow Jackets.

Miami’s offense will also need to be running on all cylinders tonight to upset Georgia Tech. Tech has an underrated defense led by DE Derrick Morgan, who is one of the best pass rushers in college football. If Morgan is a force tonight and can put constant pressure on QB Jacory Harris, then the Yellow Jackets have a good shot of winning on the road. If Harris plays like he did in week 1 against FSU, then Georgia Tech will find themselves with a number in the loss column. Harris, took his game to the next level against the Seminoles, and if it is the real deal and not just a flash in the pan, Miami’s offense is going to be real dangerous this year. They have very talented receivers and plenty of speed at running back. What they’ve needed was a signal caller who could make plays happen, and they might have found that in Harris.

I’d look for Miami to challenge the Yellow Jackets in the air early on in this game. Not only is that Miami’s strength, but the Georgia Tech defensive backs are probably their weakest unit. If Harris can lead the Hurricanes to some quick scores (and the defense can contain Dwyer), the Yellow Jackets will be forced to play catch up by throwing more than they want to. I think the Hurricanes win at home 35-27.

AL East:

1. NY Yankees 93-53

2. Boston Red Sox 85-58

AL Central:

1. Detroit Tigers 77-67

2. Minnesota Twins 73-72

3. Chicago White Sox 72-73

AL West:

1. LA Angels 86-58

2. Texas Rangers 80-64

Wild Card:

Boston

Texas 5.5 Games back

With less than 20 games left in the regular season, now is a good time to look at the playoff picture and how things should play out. The Yankees have given themselves a comfortable lead in the East, and in getting home field advantage in the playoffs. The Tigers don’t have a big league in the Central, but have the best rotation that should allow them to outlast the Twins and White Sox. The Rangers have made an impressive run this year, but will fall just short of the postseason. They don’t have the pitching to overcome the Angels for the division or Red Sox for the wild card. While there are some very real questions about their rotation heading into October, New York seems destined for a first round match up with the Tigers. The Yankees have the offense to outlast Detroit, and should face a familiar foe in the ALCS. The Red Sox have about zero chance of catching the Yankees for the East, but have established a good lead in the wild card race over the Rangers. Boston will face the Angels in the first round and should be able to squeak by them. Los Angeles is a good team, but Boston’s offense is better and the top of their rotation is much stronger. The Angels might have more depth in their rotation, but they can’t match up with Beckett and Lester. In October anything can happen, especially when it comes to the Yankees-Red Sox match up, in the end though I think New York will get the better of Boston and come out of the American League.

NL East:

1. Philadelphia Phillies 83-60

2. Florida Marlins 77-68

3. Atlanta Braves 76-68

NL Central:

1. St. Louis Cardinals 85-61

2. Chicago Cubs 75-68

NL West:

1. LA Dodgers 87-59

2. Colorado Rockies 82-64

3. San Francisco 79-66

Wild Card:

Colorado

San Francisco 2.5 GB

Florida 4.5 GB

Atlanta 5.0 GB

Chicago 5.5 GB

The National League playoff picture is a bit murkier than its AL counterpart. The wild card race will be particularly interesting to watch as five teams are separated by 5.5 games. The reigning champion Phillies have a pretty firm grip on the East, but as the Mets know nothing is certain until all 162 games are played. Despite New York’s warning Philadelphia could very well be facing the Dodgers if the wild card comes from the West, but the division leaders are so close its hard to determine the seeding right now. Philadelphia has some strong pitching, especially with the additions of Pedro and Cliff Lee. Their bullpen has a major question mark in regards to Brad Lidge, but Madson still gives them a reliable closer. The Dodgers though are good enough to end the Phillies chance for a repeat World Series appearance. The Cardinals could be the team to beat in October. They have the best 3-4 hitters in the post season, as well as the best post season rotation (unless the Giants win the wild card). They should be more than enough for the Rockies who look ready to take the wild card. I think the Dodgers can outlast the Cardinals in a best of seven series. They can’t match up the top of the Cardinals rotation, but they have a much deeper playoff bullpen. Also the Dodgers have a stronger offense top to bottom, and aren’t as reliant on the middle of their order to produce runs. This will set up the return of Joe Torre to New York to manage against the Yankees in the World Series.

Going into last night Monday Night Football seemed like it was going to be a snoozer, even with two games. Both match ups featured a Super Bowl contender (New England and San Diego), versus a lowly divisional opponent (Buffalo and Oakland). No one gave the Bills or Raiders any chance of pulling an upset, not the sports polls, not Vegas, and certainly not me. In fact Vegas even predicated that the Patriots and Chargers would each win their games by double digits. I guess no one told the Bills and Raiders they didn’t have a chance, because both the Pats and the Chargers both had to have 4th quarter comebacks in the last two minutes to overcome their divisional foes.

For 55 minutes last night Tom Brady looked like the quarterback who couldn’t secure a starting job at Michigan and lasted until the 6th round of the 2000 Draft. Brady’s throws were high and erratic, he couldn’t move around in the pocket, and he threw a costly interception that was returned for a touchdown by DE Aaron Schobel. Unfortunately for Buffalo, the Brady that led the Patriots to 4 Super Bowl’s this decade returned for the last five minutes of the game. Brady connected with TE Ben Watson for a pair of touchdowns in the final two minutes to overcome the Bills 25-24. Brady may have never gotten the opportunity for the second trip into the endzone if Bills return man Leodis McKelvin hadn’t fumbled the kick-off (or if he had just kneeled down in the endzone for the touchback) with two minutes to go. The fumble gave the Patriots the ball on the Bills 30 with two minutes to go and the sure victory slipped away for good.

The late game was even more surprising last night as the Raiders not only hung with the Chargers, but led most of the way. The Raiders who have the worst record of any franchise since 2003 (including the the Lions) took San Diego to the limit last night. Every time the Chargers scored to tie the game or take a lead, the Raiders battled back and retook the lead. After Rivers drove down and threw a touchdown pass with 7 minutes to go it looked like the Chargers might hang on to win 17-13. The Chargers’ defense knocked QB JaMarcus Russell out of the game, and it looked like hope was lost. Things looked even bleaker when Russell returned a few plays later. The Raiders were facing a 4th and 15 from their own 43, with 2:40 remaining. The safe play would have been to punt it and hope that you can stop the Chargers from getting a first down. The smart play would have been to try for the first down, or even set up a screen pass to Darren McFadden. The Raiders elected for the bold play, and Russell executed a perfect 57 yard touchdown strike to rookie WR Louis Murphy. Now if only the game had ended there, the Russell and the Raiders would be the most talked about team all week. Unfortunately Phillip Rivers got his hands on the ball again and he drove the Chargers 90 yards for the game winning touchdown by Darren Sproles.

In the end the Patriots and Chargers came away with a win, and now sit atop their respective divisions like everyone expected. Although their record remains untarnished, their reputation is not. No one who watched last night’s games believed that these two teams are the teams to beat in the AFC. If the Patriots and Chargers want to contend for the Super Bowl, they will need to start playing like it, as their luck won’t last forever.

Bills at Patriots: This is a game that has plenty of hype and coverage, and pretty much none of it has to do with the match up. No one really expects the Buffalo Bills to upset the New England Patriots. The Patriots have a better, offense, defense, special teams and coaching staff than their division rivals. New England is favored by double digits, and should have no problem proving Vegas right. The real story lines here are two individual players; Tom Brady and Terrell Owens.

Brady returns to returns to regular season action for the first time since last year’s week one, when he went down with a knee injury. Despite a winning record and a pretty good offense behind his replacement, Matt Cassel, most Patriot fans feel like they didn’t have the chance to follow up on their 19-0 18-1 season. Now Brady is back and New England can rejoice, they’re once again a major Super Bowl contender, and the favorite in their division. Tonight the spotlight is on number 12 tonight, if he plays like the Tom Brady of the past then the Patriots run away with this game, and possibly the division.

Owens has his own version of redemption tonight, as he looks to prove his doubters wrong. Owens was released from the Cowboys this offseason, not due to lack of production or salary issues, but because of his effect in the locker room. T.O. needs to rebuild his image, and be a good citizen in Buffalo to prove that he wasn’t the reason for Dallas’s collapse last season. Owens should help the Bills offense be more potent this year with just his presence on the field. He will allow Lee Evans to get more open on the other side of the field. With a stronger passing game the Buffalo running game should be more effective as well (once Marshawn Lynch returns from suspension). Owens will have his work cut out for him in week one against the New England defense. More likely than not, no matter what T.O. does tonight the Patriots will win the game, but if Owens can have a big game then it will show the Bills are a contender and Owens is on his way to being reborn. Look for New England to win easy at home 35-17.