Talk By The Fence

First off a melancholy goodbye to former Giants pitcher Larry Jansen who passed away last night at the age of 89. He'll be mostly remembered as the winning pitcher in the classic 1951 Shot Heard Round the World game.

Speaking of thrilling games, the Word of the Day is in fact, Thriller. We had two thrilling games last night, one in the NLDS, and the other on Monday Night Football.

First, the NLDS. The Phillies come back in the 9th inning to score three off Rockies closer Huston Street to finish off the Rockies 3 games to 1. AND Brad Lidge saved another game for the Phillies. Good for him after the year he's had this year. He rewarded Charlie Manuel's faith in him by giving him two decent, if not stellar outings. It's a sign for baseball that three of baseball's most reliable closers this year (Nathan, Papelbon, and Street) struggled, while Lidge, who had arguably the worst season by a closer ever, was a perfect two for two in save opportunities.

Now, the Monday night game. Chad Henne was superb for the Dolphins, going 20 for 26 and leading the Dolphins on a game winning drive. Ronnie Brown runs that Wildcat formation as well as anyone in the business. And the golden boy, Mark Sanchez, wasn't exactly golden, as he went 12 for 24 for the Jets in the 31-27 loss. That's a couple of bad games in a row for Sanchez. I think his inexperience is starting to show for the Jets. Matt Ryan, he's not. But he won't be Ryan Leaf either.

Chad Ochocinco is looking like a prophet right now, and Skip Bayless is probably somewhere eating some humble pie. Chad went onto First Take and said that the Bengals would win 12 games this year. Well, they're on pace to win 12 games, and they just went through the trifecta of beating the Browns (no tough chore), the Steelers at home (a tough task, something they hadn't done since 2001), and the Ravens on the road (a very difficult task no matter who you are). Definitely the most surprising team of the NFL season so far, positive or negative.

The Week Five Top Five NFL Power Rankings:

1. New York Giants (5-0)

2. Indianapolis Colts (5-0)

3. New Orleans Saints (4-0)

4. Minnesota Vikings (5-0)

5. Denver Broncos (5-0)

The Week Five Bottom Five NFL Power Rankings:

32. St. Louis Rams (0-5)

31. Cleveland Browns (1-4)

30. Oakland Raiders (1-4)

29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-5)

28. Tennessee Titans (0-5)

If I'm the coach of the Calgary Flames, I would have that entire team on the ice RIGHT NOW. Yeah, that's right, on the ice at 4 A.M. How do you score 5 goals in the first 12 minutes of the game, and LOSE??? A 5-0 lead in hockey is supposed to be like 35-3 in football. Oh wait, that comeback has been done too.

I think the Rams just gave up another touchdown. So did Oakland.

What a quirky schedule the Patriots have had this year. (0-0) Buffalo, then (1-0) New York Jets, then (2-0) Atlanta, then (3-0) Baltimore, then (4-0) Denver. Now they get (0-5) Tennessee with a great shot of facing (0-6) Tampa Bay the following week in London. Amazing how the NFL schedule works out sometimes. The streak ends in week 9 when they play Miami.

A quiet day on the sports front tonight, so unless there's some breaking news, you probably won't get any Words On The Farm until Thursday or Friday.