Weekend Wake Up: Rematches Are Rehashes, Tuberville to Tech, Dominant Durant

Apocalyspe Now Redux. The Bengals and Eagles hoped to rebound from Week 17 beatdowns. The Jets and Cowboys had other ideas. Carson Palmer struggled all day and Shayne Graham missed two field goals in Cincy’s loss. DeMarcus Ware and the Dallas defense made sure Donovan McNabb’s dancing would be limited to the pregame, tallying four sacks and four turnovers, and the Cowboys’ offense produced 27 second-quarter points in their 34-14 rout. And, just to prove how far into Bizarro World we already are this playoff season, Mark Sanchez poked fun at Pete Carroll after his game, and Tony Romo shed his playoff demons emphatically.

Call It Lubberville? Texas Tech announced Saturday that it will hire former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville to replace Mike Leach. The pirate mindset and radical offense are out; a conventional running attack and sound defense are likely in. Forgive me for not rejoicing at this triumph of safety over creativity.

K-Smoove’s Groove. Kevin Durant is hotter than “Avatar” and Taylor Swift combined right now. He dropped 40 on the Pacers in a win Saturday night, is averaging 32.7 points and 6.9 rebounds a night over his last ten games, and has shot a ridiculous 57.4 percent from the field during that stretch. Better yet: The Thunder are 7-3 in those games, and just 2.5 games back in the Northwest Division. Durant and his team are both a little ahead of schedule, but they’re arriving in style.

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