Sentenced

NFL receiver Plaxico Burress has been sentenced to two years in prison in a hearing in New York this morning. The former Giants receiver began serving the sentence immediately. Burress was accompanied by his wife, son and father to the hearing this morning. He pleaded guilty to a weapons charge last month stemming from an incident in which he suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a Manhattan nightclub in November. Burress' sentence includes two years of supervised release. He could be eligible to leave prison after 20 months. Burress, cut by the Giants in April, has indicated he wants to return to the NFL after his prison sentence. He will be 34 when the 2011 season starts.

Star Emerges

Mario Manningham had just seven games of experience as an NFL receiver before this season. Manningham proved to a national audience Sunday night with his 10 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown in the Giants’ 33-31 win over Dallas. He and teammate Steve Smith — who also put up an impressive 134 yards and a touchdown on 10 receptions — were the critical catalysts for a 330-yard passing performance and last-minute game-winning drive from quarterback Eli Manning. Manningham, who worked on the scout team last fall and only had four catches all season, has made a pleasant emergence for the Giants. The Giants’ receiving corps was considered the team’s greatest uncertainty before the season, with experienced and talented veterans Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer no longer with the team.

Waiting for his Chance

Brandon Tate spends his time rehabilitating his knee while on the non-football injury list. And he’s just waiting for the call. “It’s real frustrating not being able to play your first few games in the NFL,” Tate said yesterday during a rare appearance in the locker room. “But I have it in my head I’m ready for a long journey. I’m just going to continue to get better.” Tate said he has the playbook “down pat” and is biding his time until the trainers tell him he’s able to play. “If it’s tomorrow, we have the go button,” Tate said. “If it’s a week from now, I’ll be ready when they let me go.” Tate is “hoping” to play this season, and time will tell if his knee is strong enough to make that happen. As per NFL rules, Tate can’t participate in practice or games until the Monday after the sixth game. Then, the team has three weeks to activate him, put him on injured reserve or release him.

Mayweather Destroyed Marquez

Floyd Mayweather Jr. returned to the ring with another emphatic victory. Maybe next time he’ll pick on somebody his own size. Mayweather overpowered the smaller, lighter Juan Manuel Marquez for an unanimous decision Saturday night, maintaining his perfect record in his return from retirement and a 21-month ring absence. Mayweather knocked down Marquez in the second round and then peppered him with countless damaging shots to remain unbeaten (40-0, 25 KOs). “I can get better,” Mayweather said. “He’s tough as nails.” Marquez (50-5-1) was a 130-pounder just 18 months ago, but the Mexican champion moved up two weight classes to be Mayweather’s hand-picked comeback opponent. At Friday’s weigh-in, he was four pounds lighter than Mayweather, who paid a $600,000 penalty for missing the bout weight of 144 pounds. The size disparity was painfully obvious from the opening bell, but Marquez stayed on his feet for 12 one-sided rounds. Mayweather often appeared to be toying with Marquez, who’s generally considered among the world’s top handful of fighters. Just 18 months ago, Marquez lost a narrow decision to Manny Pacquiao – another mighty mite who’s likely Mayweather’s top choice for his next bout. Pacquiao accepted a similarly mismatched challenge last year when he demolished Oscar De La Hoya, but the Golden Boy acknowledges his skills have diminished – and Mayweather clearly is still at the top of his game. Mayweather was too heavy and too speedy for his undersized Mexican opponent in his first fight since stopping Ricky Hatton in December 2007. Mayweather had a hefty advantage in this one, weighing in at 146 pounds Friday. He refused to re-weigh himself Saturday night, but his size advantage was obvious from the opening bell, when it became clear Marquez would struggle just to get close enough to throw good combinations. Mayweather abruptly knocked down Marquez midway through the second round when Marquez walked into a left hook, but Mayweather largely stuck to his jab, leaned back in his familiar defensive posture and picked apart another opponent. Marquez had a bloody nose by the bout’s midway point, and Mayweather landed several hard shots late in the sixth. Whenever Marquez appeared to land a combination, Mayweather invariably backed away with a grin. "When I hit him, he laughed, but I knew he felt my punches," Marquez said. "We tried to work the speed, but the difference was the weight." Marquez added a brave defeat to a career noted for its disappointments as much as its triumphs. Marquez still seethes over his 0-1-1 record in two fights against Pacquiao, and he followed Pacquiao's path up in weight in search of bigger bouts, which he got in recent wins over Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz. Mayweather chose Marquez for his return bout after flirting with Pacquiao, who will fight Miguel Cotto in the same arena less than two months from now. A Mayweather-Pacquiao fight would be the biggest in the sport, but a more natural opponent also wants a little Money. Sugar Shane Mosley called out Mayweather in the ring immediately after the fight, with Golden Boy representatives forced to separate the two. The brash-talking Mayweather, who has continually bragged he is the best fighter of his generation, refused to be drawn into the Pacquiao discussion shortly after his triumphant return. "People say Pacquiao is number one," the 32-year-old told a news conference. "I don't have to rate myself. I know what I can do. Pound-for-pound is an opinion. "I was a professional for 11 years, and I was a world champion for 10 years. I went away for two years, came back, I fought the number two fighter. I didn't rate him, they did. "I am a critic of myself. I want to be the best I can be." End of argument for Mayweather. For the boxing public, that argument can only be settled once Mayweather enters the ring with Pacquiao. I am ready for that fight personally.

Made Good on Promise

Chad Ochocinco made good on his promise. Sort of. The flamboyant receiver got a chance to do a Lambeau Leap after catching a 13-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter of Cincinnati's 31-24 win over the Green Bay Packers yesterday, even if he did jump into a group of Bengals fans. "It was pretty cool," he said. "I just wanted to really get the W. The W is the most important because if I leaped and we lost, it's all nullified, it all makes no sense. To be able to do what I do best, which is I'm always running my mouth and making the game fun." Ochocinco reached the end zone and, after making sure a flag on the play was against the Packers, looked for a place to make his jump with about a half-dozen cameras following him. He found a soft spot among three Bengals fans sitting together, one wearing a tiger-striped cheesehead in the first row of the northeast corner of the end zone. He was coy with reporters afterward on whether the Leap was coordinated before the game with those fans on Twitter. "Shhh! I don't want you giving away my secrets," he said. Ochocinco had pondered this week whether the Packers fans would embrace him and he said he wouldn't be disrespectful of the tradition. The Cincinnati fans certainly enjoyed the leap, but at least one man in a Packers jersey made an obscene gesture that was caught by the cameras. "If you were paying attention, I did ask as I went down the line. I didn't want to be disrespectful to the Packers, their tradition or their fans," Ochocinco said.

Favre Backseat to Peterson

The Lions were dangerously close winning when young Matthew Stafford threw his first career touchdown pass to give them a 10-0 lead late in the second quarter. "I was worried," admitted old Brett Favre. Brett Favre didn't flinch revealing the Vikings' weekly game plan. "I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure it out: if you come in and try to stop everything but Adrian Peterson, you're a fool," Favre said. "So that's where it starts, and that's where it starts with our offense. "I got no problem telling you that our offense is based around Adrian Peterson." Peterson admitted he was "excited" about a potential big play, and he failed to secure the handoff from Favre, instead booting the ball forward and watching as Lions linebacker Ernie Sims corralled it four yards up the field. It was Peterson's fifth fumble and the third one lost in the past three games against the Lions. Anything to it? "I think it's a fluke deal," Peterson said. Ball security has been the singular chink in Peterson's armor; he lost four of nine fumbles last season. But Peterson, as he did against the Browns, sparked his team and finished strong. Peterson had 15 carries for 92 yards, including another highlight touchdown run, this one from 27 yards out. Favre said teams have been aggressive about trying to take him out of the game, and he and the passing offense have to do more to punish teams for focusing on Peterson. Favre says he has no problem sitting in the back seat on a team that's one game better than Chicago and Green Bay in the NFC. Peterson's fumble was the Vikings' only turnover of the game. The Lions turned it over three times, leading to 14 points.

Time To Sign

The greatest wide receiver of all time had some advice Sunday for the player who insists he was the greatest wide receiver in the April draft: It's high time you signed your contract. "This guy's way behind, way behind," Jerry Rice said of Michael Crabtree. "I'm talking the speed of the game, everything. If they brought him in right now, I don't think he's going to be ready to play." Crabtree, meanwhile, missed his second regular-season game Sunday when the 49ers defeated Seattle 23-10. The 49ers have offered the No. 10 overall draft pick a five-year contract worth roughly $20 million overall with $16 million guaranteed. Crabtree reportedly is seeking a contract better than that of No. 7 pick Darrius Heyward-Bey, who signed a five-year deal with $23.5 million guaranteed with the Raiders. The 49ers are considering lowering their offer. "There's no way I would have held out during the regular season," Rice said. "I was like, 'Just get it done so I can get back in there with my team and try to win football games and make this team a better team.' " His sense of what is holding up Crabtree's deal? "I think the thing is right now he has maybe too many people in his ear," Rice said.

Record Setting Day

One week after losing an important home division game to the 49ers, the Cards dominate the Jags for most of the game. As the offense was in sync for the first time this year. The team looked very good and definitely alleviated some of the worries most of the Cardinals fans had after the week one loss. Kurt Warner did a complete and total flip flop from Week 1 and decided to have one of the best completion percentages ever in a game. Warner completed 24 of 26 passes (92.3 completion percentage) beating out the old record held by Vinny Testaverde who had completed 21 of 23 passes (91.3) in 1993. To add to that, Warner broke the team record for most consecutive completions with 15 originally held by Jake Plummer, who made that record in 1998. Warners final numbers were 243 passing yards and 2 touchdown passes. Next week should be a shoot out as the Cards face the Colts.

Beanie actually had a pretty good game, carrying the ball 7 times for 44 yards. His problem was that he could not hold onto the ball and fumbled the ball twice.

Stepping Up as a Rookie

Jets held the ball for only 20 plays in the first half, managing all of four first downs and minus-2 passing yards. By the time it ended, Sanchez completed 14 of 22 passes for 163 yards, no interceptions and a 101.1 rating. In the process, he might have developed some chemistry with some receivers. "I think we opened things up," Sanchez said. "We threw the ball a little more, and it balanced our attack ... We needed to set the tempo and make a statement on offense, and I felt like we did." He can take credit for avoiding interceptions while relying on the Jets' defense to maintain control. In fact, watching the Pats' Tom Brady falter under pressure from the Jets' defense, Sanchez said he "felt" for the man regarded as one of the best QBs in the NFL. "Our defense is full of studs," Sanchez said. "I play against them every day, and I know how hard it is. It feels like you're playing against 20 people."

Lambeau Leap

Green Bay Packers fans: Chad OchoCinco could be headed for a grandstand near you. The Bengals wide receiver says he'll do a celebratory "Lambeau Leap" if he scores in Sunday's game at Lambeau Field. During a conference call Wednesday, Ochocinco said he's looking forward to being embraced by cheeseheads. Packers fans might respond the way Browns fans did when the receiver jumped into the Dawg Pound a few years ago - with a shower of beer and derision. But, if Packers fans allow just one opposing player to leap, Ochocinco says he should be the guy.