Lineup
DEPARTMENTS
6 Leading Off
12 Letters
17 Scorecard
The plane crash that rocked Russia's KHL
27 Faces in the Crowd
29 Just My Type
Clay Matthews on Suh, Raji and Vick
BY DAN PATRICK
30 Inside ...
College Football
Why UCLA doesn't win
Baseball
The NL's Cy Young?
NFL
Super Mario's start
88 Point After
A twist in conference realignment
BY PHIL TAYLOR
FEATURES
40 | PRO FOOTBALL
COWBOYS-JETS
The Ryan twins set the tone for the season with a wild opening-week showdown
By Lee Jenkins
46 RAVENS-STEELERS
Baltimore's win over its fierce rival sent a message to the NFL: adapt or die
By Damon Hack
• THE PACK HAS RELOADED
54 | COLLEGE FOOTBALL
VANDERBILT
The only SEC team that everyone can love is 2--0
By Michael Rosenberg
62 | BASEBALL
JUSTIN VERLANDER
Detroit's ace is having a year MVP voters can't ignore
By Ben Reiter
68 | BOXING
FLOYD MAYWEATHER
The unbeaten champ faces an unthinkable possibility: defeat
By Chris Mannix
72 | TENNIS
U.S. OPEN
Rain and schedule changes made this the Outrage Open
By S.L. Price
NASCAR 2011 CHASE PREVIEW
JUNIOR JOHNSON
The old hero holds forth on the state of the sport he and his rivals created
By Lars Anderson
P. 76
• JIMMIE JOHNSON'S PLAN
• WILD CARDS WITH A CHANCE
SCOUTING REPORTS
"When Serena Williams brandished her racket at chair umpire Eva Asderaki and snarled, "I hate you!" she put a face on a tennis fortnight that for sheer negativity had no equal.
—S.L. Price, on Williams (right) and the U.S. Open tournament
P. 72
This week SI has three covers: Tigers ace Justin Verlander, the Jets and the Ravens.
ON THE COVER
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TOM DAHLIN (VERLANDER), BOB ROSATO (RAVENS) AND DAMIAN STROHMEYER (JETS); INSET: RUSSELL LABOUNTY/AUTOSTOCK (48 CAR); JARED C. TILTON/GETTY IMAGES FOR NASCAR (99 CAR); NIGEL KINRADE/AUTOSTOCK (24 CAR)
Please Recycle This Magazine Remove Inserts or Samples Before Recycling
PHOTO
DAMIAN STROHMEYER (JETS)
NEW YORK'S FINEST Before their game on Sunday, Mark Sanchez (6) and his Jets teammates paid tribute to those lost on 9/11.
PHOTO
BOB ROSATO (DICKSON)
RAVENS TE ED DICKSON
PHOTO
SIMON BRUTY (WILLIAMS)
FOUR PHOTOS