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Show DAILY HERALD 1 2004 Wednesday, November NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE NFL.STANDINGS Capers, Texans getting it right in Houston Joel Anderson PRESS THE ASSOCIATED A lot happened HOUSTON to Dora Capers in the six years between his ambitious start with the expansion Carolina Panthers and the renewal of his career with the expansion Houston Texans. Capers led the Panthers within one win of the Super Bowl in 1996, was fired two years later, rebuilt his reputation as a defensive coordinator with Jacksonville and got another perchance to be a haps his final head coach in Houston. Capers is getting it right this time with a lot of help. The Texans (4-- have won four of their last five, climbing above .500 for the first time in franchise history this late in a season. After dominating Jacksonville on Sunday, Houston moved into a second-plactie in head-coachi- e the AFC South to confirm its status as a playoff contender. Starved for pro football after Bud Adams took the Oilers to Tennessee in 1996, Houston has fallen hard for Capers, owner Bob McNair and the team despite its early struggles. McNair has quickly become one of the NFL's power brokers, creating a buzz in the city and throughout the league that is fitting for the founder of one of the . owner Jerry Richardson. Carolina achieved success so quickly by loading up on estab- I I , 4, lished veterans, a plan that set up the Panthers for a quick downfall The Panthers went 124 in 4- : 1996, won a playoff game and seemed poise for another strong IF season with second-yea- r quarterback and the franchise's first-evdraft pick Kerry Collins leading the way. But Carolina got old too quickly, Collins struggled with an alcohol problem and the Panthers didn't have nearly enough young talent to remain a contender. Carolina's draft choices during DAVID J. PHILLIP Associated Press that stretch read like a who's Houston Texans quarterback David Carr dives for a first down over busts: Tim who of in '96, Rae Carruth in a pile of Jacksonville Jaguars defenders inHouston's victory over "97 and Jason Peter in 98. Jacksonville on Sunday. Reliant Stadium that Adams always wanted; convinced the NFL to bring the Super Bowl to Houston last January, and did such a good job hosting the game that the league intends to return; and, most importantly to fans, put the right people in charge of the football team. product Though the d has been slow to come around, McNair remained steadfast in his cent t 71,054-sea- on-fiel- ) Plummcr missing the mark in Denver Frank Schwab THE GAZETTE' ENGLEWOOD, Cob: Through Jake Plum- mer's first 15 starts as Denver Broncos quarter-bache had nine interceptions, a number that is reasonable for any NFL quarterback. In Denver's past four games, Plummer has displayed many of the regrettable mistakes he was known for when he was with the Arizona Cardinals. In Plummer's past four games he has thrown eight interceptions. The last two weeks have been particularly distressing for the Broncos, because Plummer has thrown five interceptions and Denver has lost both . games. Hummer threw three interceptions in a 4 loss at Atlanta, bringing up a lot of the questions that dogged Plummer earlier in his career about forcing throws and poor decision making. "I wouldn't say (Plummer has) regressed," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "You keep on working for perfection. You can say that there's no team in the history of this organization that's moved the ball as well as we did in that game. That's positive." Denver had 567 yards of total offense against Atlanta, a franchise record, and Plum- - -- Plummer's first interceptiflDiqaSunday was tipped at the line of scjUmmageand the carom was intercepted. Shanahan absolved Plummer of most of the blatnejfor that play, although he wouldn't say W RnSner could have done something morgrteavtoid getting his pass batted down. i P.L' ' On Plummer's last two interceptions, the latter returned for a touchdown, defenders were sitting on a route and Plummer threw it to them for easy interceptions. Falcons cornerback Kevin Mathis, who . picked off Plummer's pass in the fourth quarter and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown, was asked after the game if Plummer is an easy quarterback to read. "Yeah, he's easy to read and he has confidence that he can make the throws into tight places," Mathis said. DAVID ZALUBOWSKIAssociated Press The season's final eight games will be important for Plummer. The way Plummer's contract Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer sets to was structured when he signed with the Bronthrow during Sunday's game against the cos before last season, he is owed a $6miDion Atlanta Falcons in Denver. option bonus next March and his base salary escalates from $660,000 this year to $3.3million in 2005. The Broncos can choose not to pay mer set a team record with 499 passing . yards. A lot of those yards came after the sec- Plummer the bonus and go a different direction at quarterback having invested only about ond quarter, in which two Plummer interceptions helped turn the game in Atlanta's favor $82million of the $40.7tnillion that was included in Plummer's seven-yea- r contract. and the Broncos had to try to catch up. L T Pet 6 10 JB57 N.Y.Jets 6 1 0 .857 168 116 2 ,S 0 .286 115 120 . Miami COKT TTf I TJ tT! 1 7 0 PF PA Aim Home AFC .168 124 ON NFC 30 J-- 0 H iH) 044 044 .125 100 162 144 044 NFC Dlv SOUTH Jacksonville 5 L T Pet PF PA 3 0 .625 128 146 Houston 4 3 Imfanapofis 4 3 0 571 218 178 Tennessee 3 5 0 W L T.Pct 1 0 PF PA .857 170 134 Home 6 440 0 .571 W I 0 Awav Home AFC 158 143 .571 375 151 044 4 4 4 244 4 144 4 4 178 4 0 NORTH ' Ptebura first-roun- d demand for a roster full of guys who rarely show up on a police blotter and are charitable to the media, fans and community. So far, McNair has made all the moves Carolina and plenty other expansion team owners should have made from the very start. No one knows that better than , Capers. Dating back to the Dallas Cowboys in 1960, no modern expansion team in the NFL won more games in its first two seasons than the Panthers built by CaBill Polian and pers, then-G- W New England Buffalo "mm world's largest privately owned energy companies. He easily finessed the city into building the stadium magnifi- ft T.T. EAST er The opportunity came in 2001 with the expansion Texans, a team that wouldn't even start playing for another year and a half . Armed with a laundry list of failures in Carolina, Capers sought a more patient route in Houston. He found a perfect match with McNair and Charley Casserly. "You have to build toward a window of opportunity," Capers said. "You're going to go through growing pains. It's a process and everyone has to be on board. We wanted to build a foundation, a basis. It was a I ft" good fit." TOOTH A ETTTTTCAX . "Baltimore 4 3 Cleveland 3 .4 Cincinnati 2 5 W L T Pet PF 3 0 .625 168 Div NFC AFC 4 . 144 24 3 127 100 0 .429 147 147 0 Awav 4 4 044 286 126 166 044 WEST Denver 5 PA Awav Home 141 AFC Div NFC 344 4 ' San Diego 5 3 KansasGty. 3 4 0 X29 206 177 Oakland 2 6 0 0 .625 219 156 .250 138 223 (M-- , 0 NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE EAST W Philadelphia 7 Giants I T Pet PF PA Home 0 0 1.000 186 104 444 0 .714 151 2 3 4 0 .429 138 177 Washington 2 5 0 T .286 98 NFC AFC Div 344 544 244 144 144 113 5 Dallas N.Y. Awav 4 4 , 123 SOUTH W L Atlanta 6 2 Pet PF PA Home 4 0 .750 170 170 NewOrleans 3 4 0 Tampa Bay 2 5 0 286 Carolina 1 6 0 Awav NFC AFC Dlv 144 4 144 .429 154 191 109 124 4 .143 100 158 4 144 124 (M-- 0 NORTH W 5 Minnesota i T Pel PF PA Home 2 0 .714 183 162 Detroit 4 3 Green Bay 4 4 0 .500 206 186 Chicago 2 5 0 0 Awav NFC 214 137 154 .571 AFC Div 244 44 144 1 344 4 ' 4 04 0 .286 108 121 WEST W L T Pet St Lous 4 3 0 .571 PF PA 158 165 .571 152 118 Seattle 4 3 0 Arizona 2 5 0 286 126 142 San Francisco 1 6 0 118 182 .143 Awav Home 2 2 4 Div 344 42 0 0-- 4 0 4 SUNDAY. NOV. 7 Washington at Detroit, 1 p.m. Arizona at Miami, 1 p n N.Y. Jets at Buffalo, 1 p.m. Dallas at Cincinnati, 1 p.m. Oakland at Carolina, 1 p.m. Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. Kansas City at Tampa Bay. 1 p.m. Chicago at N.Y. Giants, 4:05 p.m. Seattle at San Francisco, 4:05 p.m. New Orleans at San Diego, 4:05 p.m. Houston at Denver, 4:15 p m. New England at St. Louis, 4:15 p.m. Cleveland at Baltimore, 8:30 p.m. Open: Green Bay, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tennessee ' MONDAY'S RESULT N.Y. AFC 4 SUNDAY'S RESULTS Dallas 31, Detroit 21 Buffalo 38, Arizona 14 Tennessee 27, Cincinnati 20 Green Bay 28, Washington 1 4 Houston 20, Jacksonville 6 Kansas City 45, Indianapolis 35 Philadelphia 15, Baltimore 10 ' N.Y. Giants 34, Minnesota 13 Seattle 23, Carolina 17 Atlanta 41, Denver 28 San Diego 42, Oakland 14 Pittsburgh 34, New England 20 Chicago 23, San Francisco 13 Open: Tampa Bay, St. Louis, New Orleans, Cleveland NFC 4 MONDAY, NOV. 8 Minnesota at Indianapolis, 9 p.m. Jets 41, Miami 14 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Lowe, Varitek lead Red Sox free agency filing frenzy Rodriguez collects his 11th Gold Glove honor dalgo and opted to pay the outfielder a $2 million buyout. Hidalgo then filed for free agency Kris along with Benson and Ricky Bottalico, lefthander John Franco and first baseman Todd Zeile, who plans Ronald Blum THE ASSOCIATED NEW YORK PRESS right-hande- rs Right-hand- Derek Lowe and catcher Jason Varitek led a parade of 10 Red Sox who filed for free agency Monday, two days after they were honored in Boston following the team's first World Series title since to retire. "We are to speaking to Richard about coming back next year," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said. Hidalgo, acquired from Houston on June 17. hit 228 (74-- f with 21 homers and 52 RBIs in 86 games with New York. New York has spoken with the agent for Benson, obtained from Pittsburgh in late July. The Mets have said they would like to reopen-minde- d 1918. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera and backup catcher Doug Mirabelli also filed along with Curtis Leskanic, Ramiro Mendoza and Scott Mike Williamson; Myers; first baseman Dave and second baseman Pokey Reese. Leskanic f iled after Boston declined a $1.25 million option, elect" ing to pay a $100,000 buyout. filed Thirteen Red Sox have for free agency since Boston won the World Series last Wednesday, and three more are eligible, including pitcher Pedro right-hande- J vJ&Rt i Mc-Car- ty ".'., Martinez. Three players from the NL mj i , iiiiIiiiMM.- ill ii "t I fl AL mmmmml-- BEHRMANAssociated or-32- -, lirt Press Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek talks to pitcher Derek Lowe during Game 4 of the World Series. Lowe and'Varitek are among the lORed Sox players that have filed for free agency. champion St. Louis Cardinals filed second baseman Tony Womack, r Matt Morris and left right-hande- hander Steve Kline. The New York Mets declined a $15 million option on Richard Hi sign him. team Franco, the captain, probably won't be asked back. rigniL ., THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK Alex Rodriguez's was the best shortstop in the American League for the sixth straight season, according to baseball's annual rankings. That's right, shortstop. Even though he moved to third base following his February trade from Texas to the New York Yankees, Rodriguez was counted as a shortstop because he, played more perigames at that position over a two-yea-r od (160) than he did at third base (155). Rodriguez's appearances at shortstop this year were limited to two innings July 1 against Boston and Aug. 23 at Cleveland after Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter got hurt. The rules for the rankings, compiled by the Elias Sports Bureau, were established by players and owners in their settlement of the 1981 strike. Rodriguez had an 87.013 ranking on a scale of 100, followed by Baltimore's Miguel Tejada (85.714) and Jeter (83.766). If Rodriguez had been listed as a third baseman, he would have been second to Oakland's Eric Chavez (92.857). Toronto first baseman Carlos Delgado was the top player in the major leagues at 98.333, followed by Boston outfielder Manny Ramirez (97), Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield (96.75) and St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols (96.667). Delgado led AL first baseman for the sec ond straight season and third year overall, while Seattle second baseman Bret Boone (86207) and Chavez topped their positions . a- for the third straight year. Ramirez was among the top three AL outfielders for the eighth time in nine seasons he led designated hitters in 2002. He was joined by Sheffield and Anaheim's Vladimir Guerrero (94.75), who replaced Chicago's MaggKo and the Yankees' Bernie Williams. . Baltimore's Javy Lopez (91.597) replaced the Yankees' Jorge Posada at catcher. Toronto's Roy Halladay (95.833) repeated at start-- ; ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK Derek Jeter's diving grab caught the attention of all of baseball and perhaps earned him his first American League Gold Glove. The New York Yankees shortstop won the honor Tuesday, taking over from teammate Alex Rodriguez, who had won it two straight years before moving to third base this year. In the 12th inning of a game against Boston on Jury 1, Jeter sprinted after Trot Nixon's pop d line with down the runners at second and third. He made the catch in fair territory, went sprawling into the crowd and was stopped by the d seats. He was taken to a hospital with a bloodied chin, cheek and bruised shoulder, and New York went on to win in the 13th inning. "I take pride in my defense, and I work hard each year to improve in the field," Jeter said in a statement issued by the Yankees. "There are a number of fantastic defensive shortstops in the American League too many to count and to be recognized with the Gold Glove makes it that much more of a special accomplishment. I also want to thank our pitching staff for having so many of our opponents hit balls in my directioa" Some baseball analysts have said Jeter has less range than Rodriguez, Nomar Garcia-parr- a and Miguel Tejada. "Derek Jeter is a great, inspired leader and captain," Yankees owner George said in a statement. "He certainly deserves this honor." Toronto outfielder Vernon Wells ajso was a first-tim- e left-fiel- Tampa Bay declined an $8 million option on Tino Martinez and will pay him a $1 million buyout. The Devil Rays, his hometown team, remain interested in baseman. the vice Jeter tops baseball's annual rankings lo Ronald Blum THE at shdttstop r i ing pitcher, and Boston's Keith Foulke (94.426) repeated at reliever. David Ortiz of the Red Sox (90) replaced Seattle's Edgar Martinez at designated hitter. Pujols, among the top three NL outfielders last year, took over from (fclMado's Todd Hefton at first, San Diego's Mark Loretta (91.837) replaced Montreal's Jose Vidro at second Scott Rolen of St. Louis (93.651) led at third base for the third straight year and Cardinals teammate Edgar Renteria (89.655) repeated at shortstop. Houston's Lance Berkman (92.809) was among the top three outfielders for the second time in three years and San Francisco's Barry Bonds (91.461) for the third time in four seasons, joined by Philadelphia's Bobby Abreu (92.fe84). They replaced Pujols, Guerrero and San Diego's Brian Giles. San Francisco's A.J. Pierzynski (86.1) took over from Ivan Rodriguez at catcher, Roy Oswalt (94.667) replaced Curt Schilling at starting pitcher, and EricGagne of Los Angeles (95.83) repeated at reliever. KATHV WIUENSAssociated Press Boston's Johnny Damon tries to break up a double play that the Yankees' Derek Jeter is trying to turn in the ALCS. Jeter won his first Gold Glove award. hard-backe- Stein-brenn- er winner. "My hope now for next year is to put together a complete season when I might compete for both awards, the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger," Wells said. In his first season with De- troit, catcher Ivan Rodriguez won his 11th Gold Glove, his first since 2001 with Texas and the most for any catcher. Johnny Bench won the award 10 times. Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers, who turns 40 on Nov. 10, won for the third time, the first since 2002. "I'm not the same guy I was in the years past," he said. "There's a lot of things physically I could do that I can't do now," he said. Despite his age, Rogers had 65 total chances, third in the AL behind Jake Westbrook (76) and Mark Buehrle (71). "Shortstops and second basemen over the years have complained I go after balls that are hit right to them," Rogersfsaid. v |