Notre Dame on the Offensive

I am convinced the Notre Dame offense that was in sync in the fourth quarter of its win over San Diego State is the offense we are going to see throughout the season. The little jet Golden Tate, freshman Michael Floyd and Duval Kamara comprise an underlooked wide receiver corps. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen, for the first time in his Notre Dame career, looked like a leader in the huddle.

I don't think there is any question that Tom Brady is out for the year. Matt Cassell will now step in and try to prove that you truly can plug anyone into the New England football machine and produce a consistently dominant team.

Michael Turner's Falcons record of 220 yards rushing was phenomenal, and Turner will be a definite upgrade in the Atlanta backfield and a nice protection policy for rookie QB Matt Ryan. But they did play the Lions. Yes, the same old Lions, who are proving once again that they still cannot stop the run. The Lions are now 31-82 since the start of the 2001 season.

Is it really true that the Dallas Cowboys have not won a playoff game in 12 years?

The Minnesota Twins went 5-9 on their 14-game ill-timed road trip, including losing nine of their last 12 games, and only lost a half-game to the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central standings. That does not bode well for the ChiSox, who must go into the Metrodome during the last week of the season for what most likely will be for the division title. The Twins play nine of their next 19 at home, where they are 20-plus games over .500.

Serena Williams won her ninth major title on Sunday, defeating Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 in the U.S. Open final. It was Williams' third U.S. Open title and first at Flushing Meadows since 2002. Williams will reclaim the number one ranking in women's tennis for the first time since August 2003, making it the longest gap between stints at No.1 for a woman. It's amazing that both Serena and Venus can seemingly turn off their games for years and come back as strong and dominant as ever. They are quite a story.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray eliminated Rafael Nadal on the men's side, preventing another potential epic clash between Nadal and Federer in a Grand Slam final and stopping Nadal's 19-match winning streak at majors. Murray hadn't previously made it past the quarters at a major and was 0-5 lifetime against Nadal, who was 54-2 in his last 56 matches. Sick.