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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Odell Beckham Jr. had a scarlet welt growing between his right eye and ear, the apparent result of his lost sideline fight with a kicking net. It resembled a boxers mouse, actually, making it a good time to give the New York Giants receiver a history lesson in the bittersweet science.Just because Jake LaMotta fought Sugar Ray Robinson six times doesnt mean the two belonged in the same ring. In other words, Josh Norman is a very good football player. But Josh Norman also has no chance to ever be as good a football player as Odell Beckham Jr.On Sunday afternoon in MetLife Stadium, Norman honored his chief responsibility by keeping his opponent out of the end zone and helping the?Washington Redskins?to a desperately needed 29-27 victory. Of course, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Beckham was so wide open that he could have moonwalked into the end zone for a 75-yard score had Eli Manning?only seen him on the left side with his arm up, signaling for the ball.Manning instead threw to Sterling Shepard, and Norman ended up committing a personal foul on the play, the only unsportsmanlike penalty called between the cornerback and receiver who combined for five last season in their Giants-Panthers steel-cage match. Beckhams most flagrant offense on this day came when he responded to a brutal Manning interception by angrily swinging his helmet into that kicking net, which punched back by hitting Beckhams face with its crossbar.I dont remember, Beckham said when asked how he got the resulting scratch.He didnt remember a lot of things as he addressed reporters at his locker, including his sideline tantrum, whether he indeed started crying during the tantrum, and whether he felt Norman deserved to be flagged when the Giants scored their first touchdown on Shane Vereens 1-yard run in the opening quarter. On that play, Beckham leaped deceptively as if going for a jump ball, inspiring a confused Norman to grab him in the air, carry him six steps and then drop him gently to the ground in front of an official, while raising his arms in I-didnt-do-anything form.The only meaningful thing Beckham claimed to remember was the warning officials gave him before the game.Yeah, they implemented a new rule this year, he said. Its basically the Odell Beckham Jr. rule. I had three personal fouls last year so ... today they came up before the game and said, If you do anything, were throwing you out of the game. And that was before the game. There was no, You get a warning. There was no any of that.So youve just got to be on your best behavior. Unfortunately, thats what its come to. Its not really football anymore as much as it is all the other things that play into it.But heres the one thing above all that Beckham needs to take away from this rematch with Norman: He cant ever look at these Giants-Redskins games to come as anything outside the norm of a divisional duel that could make or break a teams season. In 2007, the 0-2 Giants made a late and improbable goal-line stand at Washington to salvage their season and ultimately win the Super Bowl. Could the 2016 Redskins use Sua Cravens late and improbable interception of Manning to turn an 0-2 start into a season to remember? Hey, crazier NFL things have happened.So Beckham has to rise above the Norman rivalry for those team-centric reasons -- and for the simple fact that Norman isnt his caliber of athlete. At age 23, Beckham is already the most explosive offensive player the Giants have dressed in more than 90 years of competition. He has the talent to supplant Antonio Brown as the leagues top receiver and to join Jerry Rice and Randy Moss among the all-time greats.With 107 of his 121 receiving yards on Sunday coming at Normans expense, Beckham cleared 3,000 career receiving yards in his 30th game, something no receiver dead or alive had accomplished. He also reached 200 career receptions faster than anyone before him. Though he didnt score against Washington, Beckham is averaging .833 touchdowns per game; Rice averaged .660 and Moss .712 across the regular season and postseason. Meanwhile, Norman doesnt rate the same way historically. He has seven interceptions in 61 regular-season and postseason games, an average of one per 8.57 games. Darrelle Revis, the cornerback he replaced as the NFLs best, has averaged an interception every 4.42 regular-season and postseason games, and Deion Sanders, the presumed best corner ever, averaged a pick every 3.45 games.This is why Beckham was quoted in GQ over the summer as saying that Norman made a smart business move in taking the $75 million deal with Washington and booking twice-a-year matchups with the Giants. Beckham said he had made his own mistakes in bringing people to your level who dont deserve to be there. Theyre trying to bite off your so-called fame, make a name off you. Though Norman deserves more credit than that -- he was essentially fired by Carolina -- it is true that the corner has a lot more to gain from the continuation of this feud than the receiver who lost his cool near the bench this time, and not on the field.Giants rookie coach Ben McAdoo tried talking to his ranting (and crying?) receiver, and so did Manning.I was trying to figure out what was going on, why he was getting frustrated, the quarterback said. He was getting catches. He was making plays and we just need everybody to stay calm. We dont need to get rattled. We dont need to get fired up. You can get excited, celebrate with your teammates. But we just need to do a better job offensively, everybody, to stay calm and stay in our rhythm.For Manning, this is about as close to a public rebuke of a teammate as hell get. He watched Beckham slam his helmet into the ground after a loss to San Francisco two years ago, and he watched him melt down against Normans Panthers last season, a performance that did nothing to help former Giants coach Tom Coughlin keep his job. ESPN confirmed a report that Beckham was fined $36,000 for delivering a blind crackback block last week on the Saints Kenny Vaccaro.Clearly, Beckham is struggling to funnel his passion into positive thoughts and actions.If I was you, you, you, you, any of you, he said to reporters, and were playing pinball and your score is 36,000, I want 36,001. It doesnt matter who it is. I love to compete and I hate losing.Today, I think we did a great job in making it a lot about football, even though there were a lot of outside implications that went on that predetermined the matchup before it happened -- instead of letting us play football, which weve been doing all of our lives.Given the officials pregame lecture, Beckham said he was surprised he wasnt ejected when called for offensive pass interference on his teams final drive. As it turned out, after Beckham started making one-handed catches and sideline spin moves and stiff-arms that left Norman in his dust earlier in the fourth quarter, center Weston Richburg was the one Giant to get tossed for taunting, a foolish breakdown that did no favors for the line.Norman said the officials had also warned him not to make a mockery of the game, and despite his personal foul, he heeded those words. He met with the Giants receiver on the field afterward in a mutual (if temporary) show of respect.Were just two fierce competitors, thats all it is, Beckham said. We love football. We feel like this has turned into something that is not football.Truth is, Norman and Beckham are more responsible than the media for starting and extending this sideshow, and its on Beckham to stop it. Hes five years younger than Norman, more gifted than Norman and headed places Normans never going to reach.As he left the building Sunday evening wearing headphones and his boxers welt, Beckham should have remembered that a beautiful fighter never lets a lesser man trap him against the ropes.Renell Wren Womens Jersey . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. Andy Dalton Bengals Jersey . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. 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LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse.FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Losing is one thing for Arkansas coach Bret Bielema.Losing in the fashion the Razorbacks did two weeks ago to No. 11 Auburn -- allowing 543 yards rushing in a 56-3 loss -- is another completely.With a bye week to put that humiliation behind it, Arkansas (6-3, 2/3 Southeastern Conference) bounced back with a dominating 31-10 win over No. 10 Florida on Saturday.And it was the defense that was trampled by the Tigers that led the way, holding the Gators (6-3, 4-2, No. 11 CFP) to a season-low 12 yards rushing on 14 carries.To come out of that game and realize we couldnt stop the run, I just said, `I dont care what we do, were going to stop the run on defense, Bielema said. I dont care if we played with 11 guys or had to play with 12. Ill take the penalty; we aint going to have someone run the ball on us.While Arkansas defense had its way with a reeling Florida offense, Rawleigh Williams did his best to lead the Razorbacks on offense -- rushing for 148 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 26 carries. It was the fifth time this season Williams has topped the 100-yard mark.The win is the first over the Gators for Arkansas since the 1982 Bluebonnet Bowl, and its the Razorbacks first SEC victory over Florida. Arkansas had lost nine straight conference games to the Gators since joining the league in 1992, but it outgained Florida 466-241 in total yardage on Saturday in the comfortable win.Thats our identity, Williams said. If we cant run the ball, our team doesnt click the way it should ... Everything else will open up because of that, and it did today.The Gators only touchdown came on an interception return for a touchdown by Duke Dawson in the first half. Luke Del Rio finished 19-of-37 passing for 229 yards and also threw two interceptions for Florida, which has now failed to reach 250 yards of total offense in three of its last four games.First and foremost for the guys who made the trip down here, I apologize you had to sit through that, Florida coach Jim McElwain said. ... I feel horriblee for Gator Nation and the way everything kind of played out.ddddddddddddThe Razorbacks finished with 223 yards rushing overall, a marked improvement after totaling 25 yards on 31 carries in the loss to Auburn two weeks ago. Freshman Devwah Whaley added 66 yards on the ground on 14 carries, and quarterback Austin Allen finished 15-of-26 passing for 243 yards and a touchdown.Senior wide receiver Drew Morgan led Arkansas seven catches for 95 yards and a touchdown, while safety Santos Ramirez opened the scoring with a 24-yard interception return for a touchdown -- the fourth time the Razorbacks have scored on an interception this season.After that Auburn game, we were down, Arkansas defensive end Jeremiah Ledbetter said. But we knew we could bounce back and we had a good team.THE TAKEAWAYIf there was any doubt left about the dominance of the SEC West vs. the East this season, this should put an end to that once and for all. The West was 8-1 against the East entering Saturday, and every team in the West now has a victory this season over an East opponent.POLL IMPLICATIONSArkansas fell out of the rankings following its humiliating 56-3 loss to Auburn two weeks ago, the worst defeat in Bielemas four seasons. Saturdays win might not be enough to usher in a return for the Razorbacks, but voters are likely to now pay more attention to who Arkansas has lost to this season -- No. 1 Alabama, No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 11 Auburn.Florida, meanwhile, continues to rate as the best of the SEC East -- which should be enough to keep the Gators in the rankings for at least another week.UP NEXTFlorida returns home for the first time since Oct. 15 when it hosts South Carolina next week.Arkansas closes out its home schedule next week by hosting No. 13 LSU, which it has defeated in each of the last two seasons.---More AP college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. ' ' '