At one time, Philadelphia's trip to Kansas City this Sunday might have been billed as a Super Bowl preview. Until the Chiefs played abysmally in Denver last Monday and lost 30-10.
Still, the Philadelphia Eagles, beaten up as they are, seem on track in the softer NFC. And while the Chiefs showed some weaknesses against the Denver Broncos, its hard to write them off after one bad game.
Philadelphia has to be worried about quarterback Donavon McNabb's injuries -- chest, shin and an abdominal problem diagnosed during the week as a sports hernia that could require surgery. Even so, he threw for 365 yards in a win over the Oakland Raiders, although his mobility has been limited this season.
"I'm ready to go," McNabb said. "I don't have any concerns right now. It's just something you have to deal with and realize some days you'll feel great and some days you won't."
McNabb isn't the Eagle most hurt before the meeting of 2-1 teams. David Akers, who kicked the winning field goal in the 23-20 win over Oakland last week with a torn hamstring, is out and will be replaced by Todd France, who starred in NFL Europe last spring.
As for McNabb...
"I worry a bit about the chest that keeps recurring," coach Andy Reid says. "He took a pretty good shot there and we have to get that settled down a bit. And I guess you can put the abdomen strain right up there, too. That's bothering him. I think the shin will heal up a bit, too."
Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil is using his team's woeful Monday showing as motivation for his players.
There are two unusual settings for games on Sunday: Arizona against San Francisco in Mexico City, the first regular-season game played outside the US, and Buffalo against homeless New Orleans in San Antonio, the Saints' temporary headquarters.
More than 100,000 people are expected at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium for a game which is notable because of its location, not because of the teams.
At least Mike Nolan has San Francisco trying. The 49ers should have beaten Dallas last week in a game in which Nolan clearly outcoached Bill Parcells. Arizona, which was supposed to be a "sleeper" playoff contender, will start Josh McCown at quarterback in place of Kurt Warner, who strained a groin in last week's loss in Seattle.
San Antonio will be the fourth venue for New Orleans in four weeks, but at least the Saints don't have to get on a plane to get there. The Saints have been flying around the country since late August after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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