LATIMES.COM/SPORTS S SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2019D7
2018 STANDINGS
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
West W L T Pct. PF PA AFC Div.
** Kansas City 12 4 0 .750 565 421 10-2 5-1
y-CHARGERS 12 4 0 .750 428 329 9-3 4-2
Denver 6 10 0 .375 329 349 4-8 2-4
Oakland 4 12 0 .250 290 467 3-9 1-5
North W L T Pct. PF PA AFC Div.
z-Baltimore 10 6 0 .625 389 287 8-4 3-3
Pittsburgh 9 6 1 .594 428 360 6-5-1 4-1-1
Cleveland 7 8 1 .469 359 392 5-6-1 3-2-1
Cincinnati 6 10 0 .375 368 455 4-8 1-5
South W L T Pct. PF PA AFC Div.
z-Houston 11 5 0 .688 402 316 9-3 4-2
y-Indianapolis 10 6 0 .625 433 344 7-5 4-2
Tennessee 9 7 0 .563 310 303 5-7 3-3
Jacksonville 5 11 0 .313 245 316 4-8 1-5
East W L T Pct. PF PA AFC Div.
* New England 11 5 0 .688 436 325 8-4 5-1
Miami 7 9 0 .438 319 433 6-6 4-2
Buffalo 6 10 0 .375 269 374 4-8 2-4
N.Y. Jets 4 12 0 .250 333 441 3-9 1-5NATIONAL CONFERENCE
West W L T Pct. PF PA NFC Div.
RAMS 13 3 0 .813 527 384 9-3 6-0
Seattle 10 6 0 .625 428 347 8-4 3-3
San Francisco 4 12 0 .250 342 435 2-10 1-5
Arizona 3 13 0 .188 225 425 3-9 2-4
North W L T Pct. PF PA NFC Div.
z-Chicago 12 4 0 .750 421 283 10-2 5-1
Minnesota 8 7 1 .531 360 341 6-5-1 3-2-1
Green Bay 6 9 1 .406 376 400 3-8-1 1-4-1
Detroit 6 10 0 .375 324 360 4-8 2-4
South W L T Pct. PF PA NFC Div.
New Orleans 13 3 0 .813 504 353 9-3 4-2
Atlanta 7 9 0 .438 414 423 7-5 4-2
Carolina 7 9 0 .438 376 382 5-7 2-4
Tampa Bay 5 11 0 .313 396 464 4-8 2-4
East W L T Pct. PF PA NFC Div.
z-Dallas 10 6 0 .625 339 324 9-3 5-1
y-Philadelphia 9 7 0 .563 367 348 6-6 4-2
Washington 7 9 0 .438 281 359 6-6 2-4
N.Y. Giants 5 11 0 .313 369 412 4-8 1-5
clinched division and home field; clinched division and bye; z-clinched division;
y-clinched wild card.
NFL WEEK 1
OTHER GAMES TODAY
MIN at ATL Vikings by 4 10 a.m. PDT
WAS at PHI Eagles by 10 10
BUF at NYJ Jets by 2^1 ⁄ 2 10
BAL at MIA Ravens by 6^1 ⁄ 2 10
SF at TB Buccaneers by 1 10
KC at JAC Chiefs by 3^1 ⁄ 2 10
TEN at CLE Browns by 5^1 ⁄ 2 10
CIN at SEA Seahawks by 9^1 ⁄ 2 1 p.m.
DET at ARI Lions by 2^1 ⁄ 2 1:15
MONDAY
HOU at NO Saints by 7 4 (ESPN)
DEN at OAK Broncos by 2^1 ⁄ 2 7:15 (ESPN)
10 A.M., CHANNEL 11
RAMS (-2) at CAROLINA
Sean McVay has .750 winning percentage
(24-8) in two seasons as Rams coach and
won the NFC West both seasons.
1 P.M., CHANNEL 2
INDIANAPOLIS (+6^1 ⁄ 2 )at CHARGERS
Chargers’ Philip Rivers will make his 209th
straight start and pass Peyton Manning for
third-longest streak among quarterbacks.
1:15 P.M., CHANNEL 11
N.Y. GIANTS (+7^1 ⁄ 2 )at DALLAS
NFC East rivals opening season against
each other for sixth time in eight seasons.
The Cowboys have won last four meetings.
5:15 P.M., CHANNEL 4
PITTSBURGH(+5^1 ⁄ 2 )at NEW ENGLAND
The teams have played 32 times, including
playoffs, and each has won 16. The Patriots
have won five of six at Gillette Stadium.
SCHEDULE
Have a question about the NFL? Ask Times
NFL writer Sam Farmer, and he will answer
as many as he can online and in the Sunday
editions of the newspaper throughout the
season. Email questions to:
[email protected]
How did punters become known as “punt-
ers”? Does it have anything to do with the
British use of the word, to play at a gam-
bling game against the banker?
Glenn Rewick
Mill Valley
Farmer: While etymologists are unsure of
the origin of “punt” as it relates to football,
that connection to gambling is not among
the leading theories. According to the Mer-
riam-Webster dictionary, the term first
appeared in 1845 in football rules issued by
the Rugby School. It could be that punt is a
version of bunt, or possibly the regional
word punt which meant to “push with
force.”
Let’s set that aside for the moment —
punt on that question, if you will — and
examine “coffin corner,” which we know in
football as those areas that punters aim for,
at the intersection of the sideline and goal
line, in order to pin opponents deep in their
own territory.
So who came up with coffin corner?
That’s actually a term used for decorative
inset niches in the walls of old houses with
steep, winding staircases. Those nooks,
which display vases or other knickknacks,
purportedly were built that way to allow
more room for navigating coffins up and
down the stairs.
That doesn’t make a lot of sense, ofcourse. Even if someone died upstairs, why
lug a coffin up there to retrieve the body. But
it makes for a colorful story, and a curious
connection to football.::
Is there a limited amount of people per
team who can be on the sideline during a
game? Not pregame, but during the game
— besides players, team personnel, report-
ers, etc.?
Chris Rising
PasadenaFarmer: According to an NFL spokesman,
there is not a set number of people allowed
on the sideline, but all there must have an
in-game, on-field function to be permitted
access. Both league football operations and
security work closely with the host team to
ensure those credentialed to be on the field
have a working function.
It used to be that reporters in the press
box had the option of watching the final
minutes from a designated area on the
sideline. That helped avoid a logjam at the
end of a game, when everyone was trying to
use the same bank of elevators to get down
to the locker rooms. For security reasons,
that pretty much ended in the wake of the
9/1 1 terrorist attacks.
During his playing days, Peyton Man-
ning wanted to know precisely who was on
the sideline during games, and why they
needed to be there. He also wanted to know
where all the team’s scouts were on a given
weekend, and why they were in a particular
place. John Madden used to say Manning
was taking that detailed interest because he
was training to be a team owner one day.ASK SAM FARMER ...
BUFFALO PUNTERCorey Bojorquez kicks in preseason. The origins of “punt”
in football are murky, while “coffin corner” kicks hearken back to a bygone era.Adrian KrausAssociated Pressanother receiving target for Tom Brady
after the retirement of Rob Gronkowski.
And once again, the Patriots are the tor-
mentors of the Raiders.
The franchise whose dynasty began
with the Tuck Rule — the apparent fumble
that wasn’t in a snowy divisional playoff
game against the Raiders — took full ad-
vantage of the Pluck Rule, shamelessly
swooping in to snare Brown mere hours
after he was released.
It’s hard to know who the true villain is
here. Is it Brown, whose churlish behavior
knew no boundaries? Is it the Raiders, who
Friday night voided nearly $30 million in
guaranteed money in Brown’s contract? Is
it the Patriots, who didn’t hesitate after the
stunning divorce with pen and contract in
hand?
We know it isn’t Pittsburgh quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger, who is looking increas-
ingly justified in his fallout with the star
receiver during Brown’s days with the
Steelers.
Regardless, for the second year in a row,
the Raiders are starting the season with
their best player on another team’s roster.
Now it’s Brown, and last year it was
linebacker Khalil Mack, traded by Gruden
to Chicago just before the regular season
began.
“Sometimes adversity can be a good
thing for a football team,” former Raiders
quarterback Rich Gannon said Saturday.
“It’s just that you hate to have it before the
season even starts.”Trying to stay on top of the unpre-
dictable moves of Antonio Brown the last
couple of days must be what it feels like to
cover him on the football field. He head
fakes one way, cuts another and leaves the
rest of the world in his wake.
In the last two days, the All-Pro wide
receiver apologized for his previous antics
to his Oakland teammates, stunned every-
one by posting a video that featured a
private phone conversation with Raiders
coach Jon Gruden, pleaded for his release
from that team (which he ultimately got)
and agreed to a deal with the New England
Patriots.
Then a little salt in the Raiders’ wound:
He showed up in a YouTube video that
captured the moment he learned Oakland
released him. He runs around the back-
yard of a home gleefully flapping his arms
like a bird and yelling, “I’m free!”
Who knows what his mental state is, but
it’s troubling that someone who works so
hard to stay a step ahead of the competi-
tion seemingly has worked just as hard
lately to sabotage his career. Then again,
he clearly wanted out of Oakland, and like
a receiver squeezing through double cov-
erage, he found a loophole to tantrum his
way out of his Raiders contract.
Now, he’s headed to the defending Su-
per Bowl champions, who badly neededA big difference between the Mack and
Brown situations is that Mack was a fixture
on the Raiders, a spectacular contributor
for the team in his first four seasons. Brown
turned out to be a figment of their imagina-
tion. He was a coming attraction.
The Raiders scored only 30 touchdowns
last season, 28th in the NFL.
Brown alone scored 15 for Pittsburgh.
Tim Brown, who’s unrelated to Antonio
but was selected to nine Pro Bowls in his
Hall of Fame career as a Raiders wide
receiver, called the embarrassing soap
opera “extremely bizarre.”
“You have a guy who’s an incredible
football player, about as high-profile as you
can get,” Tim Brown said. “Was basically
kicked out of the situation he was in before
[with Pittsburgh], to a loving home. Re-
warded handsomely. And the last five or six
weeks was a circus.
“If there’s any team that’s built for the
circus, it’s the Raiders.”
Less receptive to a circus, the Patriots.
It’s highly unlikely Bill Belichick would
countenance a player secretly taping him,
then posting the conversation online. That
said, Belichick does have a history of taking
talented players who might scare off other
teams — Corey Dillon, Albert
Haynesworth, Josh Gordon, Randy Moss
and Chad Ochocinco among them — and
sometimes squeezing incredible years out
of them.
But here, the Raiders are left in the
lurch, and Brown has gamed the system.Brown finds his way from
Oakland to New England
SAM FARMER
ON THE NFLRick ScuteriAssociated Press
ANTONIO BROWN prepares to take the field before Oakland’s preseason game in Arizona. After days of drama and
tantrums, the receiver was released by the Raiders on Saturday before signing with New England.