Andy Richardson

Trying something a little different this time: A Day of Football in real time. (Perhaps I'm subconsciously influenced by the upcoming 24 movie event.) Somewhere Jack Bauer is yelling at me. "Write your column!" And then: "WRITE YOUR COLUMN!"

12:45 p.m. Amusing Kenny Mayne feature involving players splashing water on their head. Heh. I'm all caught up on the injury updates, with few if any meaningful surprises. James Jones -- wow, what a disappointment he's been. Donte Stallworth -- ditto. Steven Jackson and Jason Witten will both play with their injuries, but not in my lineup.

1:00 p.m. I go to DirecTV's Red Zone channel to start. It's a good place to catch the first touchdown of the day, plus for a brief overview of the games to come -- maybe a good indication which ones will be worth spending the most time on. Host Andrew Siciliano has a good voice but some big ears. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I find myself wondering, as I often do, when he goes to the bathroom, since they don't have commercial breaks. Maybe it's during the highlight recap packages -- perhaps he prerecords them, or maybe he actually calls those from the bathroom! It's a mystery.

1:05. Jets-Bills. Big play by Leon Washington, then a dropped pass by Dustin Keller that would have set up a first and goal. Rookie receivers, what are you gonna do.

Lions-Bears. Dan Orlovsky interception. I won't pick on Orlovsky because he went to UConn.

Bucs-Kansas City. Jamaal Charles on the field. I want to find out who it was who first said the guy had a high ankle sprain last week. Guess it wasn't that high after all. TD pass to Dwayne Bowe. Oh boy. Did another team forget to show up to play Kansas City? You would think people would have figured it out by now: you can't look past anyone in the NFL.

1:15. Tim Hightower starts for Arizona, and on the first series is credited with a touchdown -- which is then reversed (correctly; he was inches short). Cardinals go for it on 4th down with a Kurt Warner quarterback sneak. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I bet Warner hasn't had many (any?) successful quarterback sneaks in the last several years. Slow-footed concussion- and fumble-prone veteran quarterbacks are not the guys whose numbers I'd call in that situation.

Bucs-Kansas City. Earnest Graham fumbles. Before long it's 14-0 Kansas City. Bucs appear to have started their bye week early.

1:25. Violent commercial for some battlefield video game. Hello, I have a 3-year-old son here watching with me. You know, until he goes upstairs to watch Oswald or Curious George. Can't you just show a few more beer commercials?

1:30. Baltimore's Mark Clayton hauls in a perfectly thrown TD bomb. Unless I miss my guess that's Clayton's annual big play. BTW, Willis McGahee is active but not playing. That's the second time this year that's happened. The next time you delude yourself into thinking NFL coaches care about your fantasy team, just remember the Ravens keeping their normal starter at running back active, so you think he's good to go, but not putting him on the field.

1:45. Jets-Bills. Defensive touchdown for Jets' safety Abram Elam; pressure up front by Kris Jenkins will be overlooked by many. Nice defensive team effort. Nice effort also by Marshawn Lynch, who chases Elam the length of the field and almost gets him at the goal line. .

2:00. Ocho Cinco TD. I wait for the hinted-at Obama tribute that doesn't come. Makes me think of the Michael Jordan quote; something like "Republicans buy shoes, too." In K.C., receiver Mark Bradley throws a touchdown pass to quarterback Tyler Thigpen. Better be careful Thigpen, he could take your job with a few more throws like that. Off his back foot, too.

2:00. Bills use the Wildcat formation to pick up a first down. I admit, I'm a little weary of this formation already. I kind of enjoy seeing it stuffed. A few minutes later, the Bills use a challenge, and lose it. We're told they're 0 for 5 on the season. With challenges like that one, I'm not surprised.

2:20. Long TD run by Tim Hightower. It's safe to drop Edgerrin in fantasy leagues, I guess. Those of us who dropped Hightower two weeks ago (look, the league allows only 3 bench spots and I have Jones-Drew, Slaton, and Chris Johnson ahead of him, sue me) regret it.

Lions-Bears. Lions winning. I knew Orlovsky could do it. Nice TD lob to Calvin.

2:30. Packers-Titans. My wife is an aggressive Aaron Rodgers hater (not really; at least, she doesn't "hate" him. Just a phrase we use in passing. "Ron Jaworski is an aggressive Favre hater," that kind of thing. Anyway, we watch about 10 minutes of the game, a respectable Packers drive, and she says, "I don't think Rodgers' [posterior] is spending enough time in contact with the ground." My wife, ladies and gentlemen. I'm not rooting for Rodgers either, but it seems clear he'll be at least a decent quarterback for a while in this league. Long as he doesn't get knocked around too much. Ryan Grant doesn't look particularly good. Brandon Jackson has much quicker feet (and Jackson wasn't exactly a speed back coming out of college).

2:45. Lions-Bears. At the start of the season, you never thought you'd hear yourself saying, "Kyle Orton is hurt -- Bears are in trouble." At around the same time, I see that Matt Schaub has suffered a knee injury in Minnesota. Both look bad; the Schaub injury looks kind of like Jared Allen intentionally rolled into his knee.

Jaguars-Bengals. A long run by Cedric Benson. No, really, I know! That Cedric Benson! I'll need to check the stats to see if it's a career-long for him. Wouldn't surprise me a bit.

3:00. Marc Bulger scrambles to try to pick up a first down. Gets leveled. Slide, buddy! Concussion and all. It's 4th and 1 at their own 35 yard line, they're down 17 points, and the third quarter is just a few minutes old. The Rams go for it. With the immortal Antonio Pittman. Who gets stuffed. Really odd decision there. I wonder idly if Scott Linehan is watching it saying, I would have punted there.

Lions-Bears. Grossman to Rashied Davis, TD. From ridiculed backup to potential hero, just like that. That's why the NFL is great.

Packers-Titans. Nice run by Chris Johnson. Ball at the 3. In two leagues this week, I've got Johnson and my opponent has LenDale White. I'm very curious to see who gets the carry. Johnson stays in and gets stuffed. Fortunately, I've also got Rob Bironas, heh.

3:15. I really think Geico needs to decide on EITHER the gecko or the cavemen. It's just too hard to keep track of.

Jets-Bills. Jets drive the field using the short pass, which the team seemed to have scrap in recent weeks, just because they've got a stronger-armed quarterback than Chad Pennington, perhaps. Look, Favre played in a short-passing offense for 16 years. Worth continuing to use.

Ray Rice is from my wife's New Rochelle high school, so we root for him. One of these days he'll get that elusive first touchdown. He had one wiped out by penalty last week, one taken away by an official overruling another one this week, and then was driven out at the 2 on another play. Rice is having a huge game, but I really want the guy to get in the end zone one of these days.

Jets-Bills is a pretty good game, so I watch as Lee Evans nearly catches a touchdown but safety Kerry Rhodes recovers to knock it away at the last second. Great play.

3:30. Touchdown, Visanthe Shiancoe. Continuing to make me look bad for ripping him early in the season and also dropping him like the touchdowns he used to drop. Yes, I continue to take zeroes with guys like Jerramy Stevens, L.J. Smith, Ben Watson, and Nate Jackson. Damn you, Visanthe! Daaaaa.......

3:45. Costly fumble by Jamaal Charles, leading to another trick-play TD -- Graham to Alex Smith. Kansas City is blowing it. Charles is replacing Kolby Smith, gone with a knee injury. In St. Louis, rookie corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie body slams veteran Torry Holt to the turf. Rookies; no respect for their elders.

Lions have a chance to win on the game's final play, but Orlovksy's Hail Mary is just a little too high for Calvin Johnson. The play was there, almost anyway. I guess the Bears have lost enough heartbreakers for one year.

Ravens-Browns. Braylon Edwards just dropped a potential huge play over the middle, something he's been doing kind of a lot of this year. Browns lose.

Bucs-Kansas City. Costly fumble by Earnest Graham, his second of the game. Next series, reserve runner/return man Clifton Smith is on the field.

4:00. Rob Bironas field goal hits upright. Overtime. 4:05. Bucs come up with unbelievable final drive and two-point conversion to force overtime. 4:10. Titans moving. As I watch, an official incredible keeps LenDale White from drawing a 15-yard penalty as he goes after Green Bay linebacker Nick Barnett. Might have cost the Titans the game right there. 4:12. Johnson is having a big OT period for Tennessee. Titans are lining up game-winning field goal -- and Fox goes to a commercial! And then I get Giants-Cowboys, my local game. Excellent. Frantically I find the Titans game. Field goal good. Game over. I turn to Tampa Bay-Kansas City. Clifton Smith still in for Graham. Bad sign for Graham owners, although so was rushing for only 62 yards against Kansas City. Big play to Michael Clayton. Bucs lining up a field goal. Good. Game over. Good night everybody. Drive safe.

Andy watches all the games he can each Sunday. If you want to add some observations of your own from yesterday, feel free.

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