Mitglieder » final home opener for the Pistons at The Palace of Auburn

An NFL coach once told me the first four weeks of the season are basically a continuation of the preseason -- that no one really knows who they are until around Week 5. So if youre confused by all of the twists and turns and shockers and surprises from the first four weeks of this NFL season, dont be. That ball is not round, and it bounces funny.The Patriots were dominant in Week 3 and shutout in Week 4. The Steelers were shut down in Week 3 and dominated in Week 4. Julio Jones had one catch last week; this week he rolled up THREE HUNDRED YARDS. The Cowboys, Rams and Falcons all lost ugly in Week 1 and are a combined 9-0 since.You cant count on much in this league except Russell Wilson, the Denver Broncos and whoevers playing the Browns. But each week, we try to take a step back and figure out whats going on thats real and whats not. Here are this weeks thoughts on what we learned:The Cardinals are brokenArizona outgained the Rams 420 yards to 288, possessed the ball for 32:09, ran 75 offensive plays and had 26 first downs to Los Angeles 12. They scored 13 points. Carson Palmers concussion was surely a factor late, but the five turnovers mattered a lot more. This normally explosive offense is alarmingly inconsistent so far this season, and the Cardinals are losing to teams they should beat. At this rate, that Week 8 NFC Championship Game rematch in Carolina could be an elimination game. Speaking of which ...... The Panthers arent looking good eitherAnd not just because Cam Newton had to leave the game against the Falcons?with a concussion, either. Long before that, a Carolina secondary thats trying to replace Josh Norman with a collection of overmatched rookies was looking like a major weakness for the defending conference champs. The Falcons were the only team to beat the Panthers last regular season, so you might be able to write this off as a blip. And its hard to count on Atlanta to run away with anything after it?started 5-0 and fell apart last season. But Carolina does have some issues to fix, regardless of how soon Cam gets cleared to return to practice.The Texans are fineRemember 11 days ago, when Houston lost 27-0 to New England and everybody was talking about what a mess it?was? Remember six days ago, when we found out J.J. Watt had reinjured his back and was going on injured reserve? Remember all of that? Yeah. Now go look at the AFC South standings. Ill wait. (... examines fingernails ... ponders fantasy trades ...) Right. Bill OBrien coached this team to the playoffs last year with four different starting quarterbacks. Brock Osweiler needs to get better, but he has time to do it. The Colts are a mess and the Jaguars and Titans arent ready. Houstons one-third of the way to the win total it needs to claim a second straight division title. No one should be judged on their worst day, and the Texans are obviously better than they were that night in Foxboro. They have plenty of ways to win.Nobody circles the wagons like ... Rex Ryan?Since that ugly Thursday night loss to the Jets and the next-day firing of offensive coordinator Greg Roman, Ryans Bills have outscored two of last years conference finalists by the combined score of 49-18. Ryan may still need to get the Bills into the playoffs for the first time in 17 years in order to keep his job, but as was so often the case when he was coaching the Jets, hes not going down without a fight. New coordinator Anthony Lynn wanted to get Robert Woods more involved in the passing game and allow LeSean McCoy to operate in space. Looking good so far on both fronts.The Chargers will turn over every single rock in their weekly search for ways to loseI mean, you have to be kidding me with this one, right? San Diego was up by 13 points, at home, with the ball and five minutes to go in a game against a team that cannot play defense. The only way you can possibly lose that game is if you fumble on each of your next two plays from scrimmage. Being the Chargers, this is exactly what they did. Drew Brees was excited to go back to San Diego, and that was before he knew they were going to straight-up hand him and the Saints their first victory of the year. The Chargers blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead in Kansas City in Week 1, blew a two-point lead with two minutes to go in Week 3 in Indianapolis, and now this. Next week, the Chargers play the Raiders, who have scored go-ahead touchdowns in the final three minutes in two of their four games. Be afraid.Buccaneers home games need to start earlierFor the second week in a row, a Tampa Bay home game in the late Sunday window was delayed during the fourth quarter due to lightning in the area. Anyone who has ever lived in Florida knows the storms roll in at basically the same time every day. (Also, that its even hotter and more humid when they end, and that turn signals are effectively meaningless.). The good news is that only one more Bucs home game this year starts at 4:05 p.m.Alex Mack was one of the offseasons best signingsThe Falcons had a lot of problems last year, but center was an underrated one. Mack has solidified the offensive line and, by extension, an offense that hung 571 yards on the Panthers on Sunday. I talked to Mack last week, after the Falcons had beaten the Saints with their running backs and before they drubbed the Panthers with the passing game. He said, This is what we expect of our playmakers. Theyre making the O-line look really good. Maybe so, but in a league where everybody seems to be putting their line together as the season goes along, Atlantas is pushing people around up front. And it matters.The Jaguars draft was even better than we thoughtThey couldnt get Myles Jack on the field for the first three weeks, then they taught him this week how to play strongside linebacker because Dan Skuta was hurt. He started there Sunday and played great. Yannick Ngakoue, their third-round pick out of Maryland, had a sack and forced a fumble for the third game in a row -- and threw in an interception this time to boot. Jalen Ramsey looks the part. Its too early to know whether Gus Bradley survives if Jacksonville doesnt recover from that 0-3 start, but whoevers coaching the Jaguars next year and in the years to come will have some very exciting young players on his defense. Swell Flaschen Schweiz . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. Swell Flasche Kaufen . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. http://www.swellflascheschweiz.ch/ . Oyama had six birdies and two bogeys at Kintetsu Kashikojima in the event also sanctioned by the Japan LPGA Tour. "I have been having this neck ache thats been affecting my golf recently," Oyama said. Swell Bottle Schweiz Kaufen . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. Hydro Flask Flasche Schweiz . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. OKLAHOMA CITY -- Russell Westbrook had 51 points and a triple-double and scored the winning points in the Oklahoma City Thunders 113-110 overtime victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.According to the Thunder, it was the first 50-point triple-double since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had one in 1975. Westbrook finished with 13 rebounds and 10 assists and took a career-high 44 shots.Westbrook made a layup to put the Thunder up a point with 7.6 seconds remaining. Phoenixs Devin Booker missed a layup and Westbrook was fouled. Westbrook scored his 50th and 51st points at the free-throw line with 3.5 seconds remaining. Booker missed a 3-pointer as time expired.Westbrook has 38 career triple-doubles. He scored 39 points in the second half and overtime.T.J. Warren had a career-high 30 points for the Suns.CAVALIERS 94, RAPTORS 91TORONTO -- Kyrie Irving had 26 points and LeBron James scored 21, helping Cleveland hold off DeMar DeRozan and Toronto.DeRozan had 32 points for Toronto in the first of four games scheduled between last seasons Eastern Conference finalists. Cleveland beat Toronto in six games on its way to winning the franchises first NBA championship.Kevin Love had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavs. Torontos Jonas Valanciunas had his second straight double-double to open the season with 10 points and 17 rebounds, while Clevelands Tristan Thompson had his first of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.HORNETS 97, HEAT 91MIAMI -- Kemba Walker scored 24 points to lead six players in double figures and Charlotte erased a 19-point deficit in the second half.Jeremy Lamb scored 16 points for the Hornets, who lost a first-round series in seven games to Miami last season -- albeit a very different looking Miami. Nic Batum and Marco Belinelli each scored 12 points for Charlotte.Hassan Whiteside led Miami with 20 points andd 15 rebounds.dddddddddddd Goran Dragic scored 14 points and Dion Waiters added 13 for the Heat, who lost a home opener for the first time in nine years.ROCKETS 106, MAVERICKS 98DALLAS -- Trevor Ariza scored 27 points, James Harden had 26 and Houston beat Dallas with Dirk Nowitzki missing from the Mavericks home opener.Nowitzki didnt play for just the second time in 19 home openers with Dallas. The 38-year-old had a stomach ailment bad enough that coach Rick Carlisle wasnt sure he would make the trip to Houston for the Rockets home opener Sunday.Harrison Barnes, playing his first home game for the Mavericks after signing a max contract in the summer, had a career-high 31 points.NETS 103, PACERS 94NEW YORK -- Jeremy Lin had 21 points and just missed a triple-double in his Brooklyn home debut, Brook Lopez scored 25 and the Nets got their first victory.Lin finished with nine rebounds and nine assists, drawing some delirious cheers the way he briefly did during his run of Linsanity last time he played in New York, with the Knicks in 2012.Sean Kilpatrick hit consecutive 3-pointers during the decisive fourth-quarter surge as the Nets gave new coach Kenny Atkinson his first victory, not far from where the Northport native grew up.PISTONS 108, MAGIC 82AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Andre Drummond had 12 points and 20 rebounds, helping Detroit rout Orlando in what might have been the final home opener for the Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills.Pistons owner Tom Gores confirmed before the game the team is close on a deal to move downtown next season.Tobias Harris scored 18 points for the Pistons, and Marcus Morris added 17. Ish Smith had