The 1956 film “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was set in a fictional California town named Santa Mira. More than 60 years later, a sequel of sorts played out on an NFL field in Oakland, Calif. Call it “Invasion of the Chain Snatcher II.”
Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib, who’s making a reputation for himself as a serial jewelry thief, on Sunday ripped a chain off the neck of Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree, inciting a brawl on the Denver sideline and leading to the two squaring off and throwing punches like hockey players back on the field.
In last year’s season finale, Talib did the same thing at the end of a play, explaining afterward: “He has just been wearing that gold chain all year. It’s just been growing on me. I said if he wears that chain in front of me, I’m going to snatch it off. He wore it in front of me, so I had to snatch it off.”
Crabtree’s response then: “Snatching chains on the field, like what you accomplish? You hard? You tough? That make you tough? … Childish, man.”
Crabtree missed the first Raiders-Broncos meeting this season with an injury, so when he started to shove Talib into the bench area after a short run by Marshawn Lynch in the game’s third minute, it at first appeared he was taking revenge. But replays clearly showed Talib yanking away a shiny object — again. Three players were ejected for the brawl — Talib, Crabtree and Raiders guard Gabe Jackson, who’d made contact with an official.
“I don’t like it and it’s unacceptable,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said.
Oakland’s Jack Del Rio called it an “ugly incident” and said, “I have to count on my guys to do the right thing there and keep their poise and keep their composure and not get tossed.”
Broncos cornerback Chris Harris, however, wasn’t buying Crabtree as the victim. Harris claimed Crabtree “sucker punched” him in the stomach on the play before the brawl and added, “He didn’t come to play football. He came to fight.”
As for the game, the Raiders raced out to a 21-0 lead and held on to win 21-14 as Trevor Siemian threw two touchdown passes for Denver in the fourth quarter. He’d replaced Paxton Lynch, who went 9-for-14 for 41 yards and an interception while getting sacked four times in his first NFL start. He left in the third quarter with an ankle injury and was shown in tears on the bench by CBS. The Broncos keep rifling through Lynch, Siemian and Brock Osweiler. Sadly, the best quarterback in Denver right now is John Elway, and he’s 57 years old.
Arrowheading down
After five weeks of the 2017 season, the Chiefs were the only undefeated team in the NFL, led the league in points scored and were second in point differential. Now, with five weeks to go, they are 6-5, just a game ahead of the Chargers and Raiders in the AFC West, and pictures of their offensive stars are being featured on the side panels of milk cartons throughout the Midwest.
Kansas City lost 16-10 to the previously free-falling Bills at Arrowhead Stadium. It was the Chiefs’ third loss in a row and fifth in a six-game span in which they have failed to reach the 20-point threshold in all but one game. Last week, they lost 12-9 in overtime to the Giants, who had yielded 82 points in their previous two games. Sunday, they managed just 10 points against Buffalo, which had given up 101 points in its previous two games. They were booed off the field, and now the calls are growing louder for coach Andy Reid to replace Alex Smith with first-round pick Patrick Mahomes II.
“Alex Smith has thrown his last pass as a KC Chiefs (sic),” FOX Sports’ Cris Carter tweeted.
“Time to take the car cover off the Ferrari. #Mahomes,” tweeted ESPN’s Louis Riddick.
Reid, though, is not ready to flip the switch suggested by the two former NFL players.
“That’s not where I am right now,” Reid said. “We’ve got a couple of other things to take care of.”
New York will have an influence in the AFC West race next week as the Chiefs head to MetLife to play the 4-7 Jets, while the 2-9 Giants trek cross-country to face the Raiders in the Black Hole.
The Bills (6-5) are back in the sixth and final playoff spot, at least temporarily, pending the Ravens-Texans result Monday night. Tyrod Taylor, returned to the starting job after the disastrous five-interception Nathan Peterman experiment last week, played a clean game, throwing for 183 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
Play of the Day
With apologies to Tom Savage, the best former Rutgers passer in the NFL today may be Mohamed Sanu. The wide receiver was lined up at quarterback in a wildcat set with the Falcons tied with the Buccaneers, 3-3, with 12:36 to go in the second quarter. Sanu bobbled the shotgun snap on third-and-1, then launched a rainbow pass that dropped softly into the hands of Julio Jones for a 51-yard touchdown. Jones finished with 253 yards receiving, the third time in his career he’s topped 250.
Bad Beat
You’ve got the Colts plus-3 ½ at home and a 16-6 lead and the ball with 2:57 to go in the third quarter. But then Marlon Mack fumbles, the Titans recover on the 4-yard line, and next Marcus Mariota hits Delanie Walker for a touchdown to make it 16-13. DeMarco Murray’s 1-yard touchdown run with 5:59 to go gives the Titans the 20-16 win and you the half-point loss.
Post Patterns
Brett Hundley entered Sunday night with two career touchdown passes. He threw three against the Steelers, but Pittsburgh beat the Packers 31-28 on Chris Boswell’s 53-yard field goal at the gun. The kick matched the longest in Heinz Field’s 17-year history and helped the Steelers remain tied with the Patriots atop the AFC at 9-2. … Jimmy Garoppolo played the final two snaps for the 49ers against the Seahawks in relief of an injured C.J. Beathard and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Louis Murphy to make the final 24-13 Seattle. … The game of the day turned out to be the Cardinals’ 27-24 victory over the Jaguars, won by Phil Dawson’s 57-yard field goal with a second to go. Blaine Gabbert (241 yards, two touchdowns) got some revenge on the Jaguars, who drafted him 10th overall in 2011 but pulled the plug after three games in Year 3. Jaguars defensive end Calais Campbell had given the Jaguars a 17-16 lead early in the fourth quarter, taking Gabbert’s fumble 10 yards for a touchdown after Yannick Ngakoue’s sack. Campbell played the first nine seasons of his career with the Cardinals. According to the Cardinals’ website, Arizona tight end Jermaine Gresham and Jacksonville defensive tackle Malik Jackson exchanged punches in a postgame skirmish.
Three Stars
1. Julio Jones, Falcons WR
Jones caught 12 passes for a whopping 253 yards and two TDs in a 34-20 win over the Bucs. With 8,649 yards, he broke Lance Alworth’s mark (8,502) for most receiving yardage in first 90 games of a career.
2. Antonio Brown, Steelers WR
Brown caught 10 passes for 169 yards and two TDs, and made a highlight-reel, toe-drag catch with 13 seconds to go to set up the decisive field goal in a 31-28 win over the Packers.
3. Tom Brady, Patriots QB
Brady threw for a modest 227 yards but had four TD passes, including two to Rob Gronkowski. Brady has 26 TD passes, setting a record for the most in a season by a 40-year-old.
He said what?
“That’s a good football team that’s had similar scores to what we experienced today. We didn’t play well enough in any phase really for us to compete. The game was not competitive from early on.”
— Bears coach John Fox after his team’s 31-3 loss to the Eagles in Philadelphia.
Fantasy Insanity
- The Chiefs offense has taken a midseason turn from great to terrible unlike anything we’ve seen since “From Dusk Till Dawn.” Early-season breakout rookie Kareem Hunt, against a run defense that had given up nine TDs to running backs in the past three games, was a disaster — with 11 runs for 17 yards. No one on Chiefs should be locked-in starter at this point, beyond Travis Kelce.
- Julio Jones always has been a feast-or-famine player — sort of the Ben Roethlisberger of receivers. His 50.8-point fantasy day (in points-per-reception leagues) is latest example. Previously, he had just one game better than 20 this season. This is the type of game that boosts his season totals and drives up his draft value, but we’ll still take Odell Beckham Jr. ahead of him next season.
- Joe Mixon has averaged fewer than 3 yards per carry, so of course he posts his best game against a Browns defense that led the league in rushing defense per carry (3.1 yards). Mixon was 23-for-114 with a score, plus three catches for 51 yards — the kind of day those who drafted him thought he routinely would post.
— Drew Loftis