NFL Football Blogs

What a fantastic performance by the San Diego Chargers in Saturday's AFC Wild Card 23-17 overtime win against the visiting Indianapolis Colts.

Darren Sproles, Mike Scifres, Antonio Gates, the Charger defense...so much credit to go around the whole team. It was great to see balance in that way - it wasn't just a huge offensive performance, or a shut-down "D" but all sides contributing. Scifres, the punter, was perhaps the most valuable player in the game with four punts placed inside the 10-yard line. None were more important than his final punt in the game with around three minutes to go that put the Colts near their own goal line.

Continue reading "Cheers for the Chargers, and on to Pittsburgh."

 

           Wildcard weekend had an interesting lineup of games this year.  All four road teams (wildcard teams) were favored to win over the home teams (division winners).  That’s unusual, but this year it actually makes a lot of sense.  Many of the wildcard teams had better records than the division winners.  In the end, the underdogs won two of the four games (both 6th seeds defeated the 3rd seeded teams).

Continue reading "Where Are All The Nay Sayers Now?"

As I mentioned yesterday, the Eagles came right after Tarvaris Jackson. And they beat him. They brought some real pressure on him like I haven't seen before. He did make some good plays - I don't think he was absolutely terrible. But I do agree with Kevin Seifert ( http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nfcnorth/0-7-38/QB-questions-not-going-away-for-Vikings.html) when he says that the Jackson experiement is over and it's time to move on. The Vikings have a great runningback in Adrian Peterson. The defense is good when they are healthy. Special teams have been below average but that will improve in practice. They have some decent wideouts that can make the plays. They need a QB that can throw it to them.

Continue reading "Vikings lost"

I'm not sure how much to take from a game that was basically handed to us during a stunning 22-minute stretch, when a Dolphins team that tied a league record for fewest turnovers in a season self-imploded. Miami turned the ball over 5 times during those 22 minutes (including 4 picks, most of them gift-wrapped by a QB who'd thrown only 7 in the previous 16 games), and a 3-3 nail-biter became a 20-3 laugher.

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens-Miami Dolphins post-game ..."

Attention all Purple Pride fans.  Today (January 4, 2009) should spell the end of an era for the starting quarterback stint for Tarvaris Jackson.  Among national media types, if Childress does not adjust his commitment to T-Jack then he could also be bringing light to a flaw in judgment when it comes to his talent finding abilities.  I really do not want to pile on a pack of critics that want Jackson's job, however he has now had 3 seasons to blossom and even #5 for the Eagles showed up by that time.  Given all the money Mr. Wilf  laid out during this past offseason, I don't think the ownership is going to have a whole lot of patience.  If there is any slack given to Brad Childress by Mr. Wilf, it also won't have a very long leash come the 2009 football season.  However, I also don't think that Purple Pride fans have any more patience for developing Jackson.  It was obvious that the boo birds were out with the stinking of the Offense to start the 2nd half.  There is also one glaring stat that should get any Purple fan to reach a state of confusion; and that is A.P. only having 6 rushing attempts in the 2nd half!  It was obvious that the D-Line was being wore down by our imposing 0-Line in the 1st half already and why get away from what is working is beyond me, but the Vikes, in my humble opinion, found that one way to LOSE again.  I am by no means calling for Brad Childress's job, however he also needs to acknowledge some accountability when it comes to how games are getting called for Offense.  On a positive note, I think it is obvious that DCoord Leslie Frazier, if anything, deserves a raise.  He not only continually has the opposition paranoid to run the ball against us, but he is also now being considered for Head Coaching  opportunites.  Frazier won't be the DCoordinator for the Purple for more than a season more. 

Continue reading "The Obvious End of T-Jack"

It was a bitter end. The 2008 Miami Dolphins unexpected ride on the road to the Super Bowl came to a quick end at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. When the clock reached triple zeroes, the Fins were on the losing end of a 27-9 slaughter.

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens defeat Miami Dolphins 27-9"

When the Vikings/Eagles wild card playoff matchup was finalized last weekend, the Las Vegas betting line had the home Minnesota Vikings as 10-point underdogs to the visiting Philadelphia Eagles.  Personally, I think that a different sort of "line" will be much more important on Sunday, that being the defensive variety...

Continue reading "Vikings/Eagles Preview: "Line" Is ..."

All I've written about so far is baseball, but since it's prime time in football season I might as well go ahead and share some thoughts about that. I've been a Vikings fan for awhile now. And it's been painful; the first season I remember was 1998, when they went 15-1 but lost in the championship game when Gary Anderson missed his first field goal all season. Since then they've had some other playoff teams, but very underwhelming. When Cris Carter left in the early part of this decade I have to be honest and admit that I kinda stopped following them. There was nothing exciting about them anymore.

Continue reading "Thoughts for Vikings-Eagles game tomorrow"

    The AFC East Champion Miami Dolphins have not shown any team dominance over the last few games of the season and find themselves playing the underdog role against the Baltimore Ravens.  The Ravens come into Dolphins Stadium after securing the last playoff spot with a win against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Continue reading "Wild Card Prediction"

The playoffs are finally here, and not a moment too soon. After a crazy regular season, twelve teams are left with their eyes on the Super Bowl. Let’s get you ready for this weekend with a wild-card edition of the Opening Drive.

Continue reading "Joey A's Opening Drive: Wild Card Weekend"

  

           Each week, I will look into my (never wrong, just misinformed) crystal ball and give my predictions for that weekend’s games.  I will prognosticate on all the playoff games each week.  Keep in mind, that this is for entertainment purposes only, and that I do not endorse any sort of legal or illegal gambling.  That being said…let’s see what’s in my crystal ball!

Continue reading "Predictions Wildcard Weekend"

Now that I’ve had some time to cool off, I can now address the Chicago Bears’ heart-breaking loss to the Houston Texans last Sunday. Chicago entered Sunday’s must-win contest with two possible scenarios to make it into the playoffs. If they won and Minnesota lost to the Giants, the Bears would claim the division title and host a wild-card game. If the Vikings won, the Bears could still make it in as a wild-card with losses from Dallas and Tampa Bay. Minnesota ended up beating New York with a last-second field goal, Tampa Bay ended up losing a fist-fight with the Raiders of all teams, and Dallas fell into despair thanks to the Eagles in the afternoon game. Of course, all of these possibilities required a Bears win in Houston that never happened. Lovie Smith’s crew never showed the desperation and intensity you would expect of a team fighting to make it into the post-season.

Continue reading "Bears' Season Ends in Houston"

So, evidently Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson is surprised he isn’t the Offensive Rookie of the Year. 

I don’t have the exact quote, but he said something like, “I found out yesterday that I am not the ROY.”

Continue reading "Chris Johnson and the Rookie of the Year"

Putting Shanahan's record aside, let's look at some of his positives. 1) Shanahan's zone blocking style has been successful, not only for the Denver's RBs but for Houston's as well. For instance,

Continue reading "Cleveland Browns: Five Votes for Shanahan"

Before previewing the big Vikings/Eagles matchup that will cap off the NFC Wild Card playoff round, I would first like to give my "official" (meaning they are most likely completely wrong!) predictions for the other three wild card games:

Continue reading "NFL Playoffs: Wild Card Preview"

Thin-slicing. It is the act cutting through all extraneous information and getting to the key items that characterize something. Malcolm Gladwell wrote an entertaining and informative book on thin-slicing called

Continue reading "Thin-slicing Week 1 of the NFL Playoffs"

Back in the summer I took a look at the San Diego Chargers and other teams with respect to how the oddsmakers in Las Vegas were perceiving them.

At the time, I threw out my own quick take on the season. Let's analyze how it turned out:

Continue reading "NFL Over/Under win totals"

Pretty much all has been written and said about the Chargers-Broncos season-ending game at San Diego. Just wanted to say how "Super" the performance was by the Bolts.

Philip Rivers played a darn-near perfect game. On the way, he shattered Dan Fouts' 1981 club record of season touchdown passes, finishing with 34 and along the way posted the NFL highest pass rating for the season. That was significant in its own right since he was the leading passer for just about the entire season. (Got to be honest though, a handful of times during 2008 I proclaimed that it didn't mean anything when he'd fumble since that doesn't factor in).

Continue reading "Sweet vindication vs. the Broncos"

I'm a bit late on commenting on the Vikings' last-second win over the New York Giants to catapult them into the playoffs on Sunday, but I do want to put in my two cents worth on the Vikings' effort.

Continue reading "Vikings 20, Giants 19: Getting the Job Done"

  

The crystal ball had a mediocre performance this past week, going a mere 2-2.  We’re not sure what happened, but this is not acceptable.  The crystal ball took its lumps on the Cowboys game, but it may have been predicting with its heart rather than its fortune-telling powers?  Either way, that puts the crystal ball at 33-26-1 for the season.  That’s seven games over .500 (.558 to be exact).  Hopefully the crystal ball will perform better in the playoffs!  Let’s take a look back, and review what happened last week.

Continue reading "Week 17 Review"

According to some people, timing is everything when it comes to hiring a new GM and coach. In a way, that makes sense. You want to hire your guy before someone else does. You want people in place to analyze the free agents and college prospects. Speaking of college prospects, it seems like we have a lot of useless college bowl games. It seems like almost every team makes a bowl, even ones that only have 6 wins. Some of these so-called bowl teams aren't even ranked in the Top 25, so why do we have these bowls? Wouldn't be more interesting if we have a playoff bracket, maybe involve the top eight teams in an NCAA bracket? Then, the next eight teams could make an NIT bracket. Obviously, it comes down to money. These colleges get money, and the players get gifts, as well. Furthermore, these games give scouts one more look at pro prospects. 

Continue reading "Cleveland Browns: Rumors and News...Any ..."

It's an odd year. That means the Patriots are going after a big name in free agency.

Just look at their history. '08 had no one major join our team. Just a bunch of journeyman corners, RB LaMont Jordan, and S Tank Williams, who was hurt in the preseason and was placed on injured reserve.

Continue reading "The Bi-annual Free Agency Splash"

Continue reading "Atlanta Falcons"

                        An era has ended in Denver.  The firing of Head Coach Mike Shannahan took many by surprise, but some  saw this one coming.  Could it have been the lack of post-season play for the past three years?  Possibly, but most  think the last straw was giving up a three-game division lead with three games left that finally ended Shannan's blue and orange days.  Say what you will about the man, but what he did for Denver was amazing.  Other than Mr. Elway, his name is probably going to be the most mentioned name in Bronco history. 

Continue reading "The end of a long road."

The Bears simply ran out of gas down in Houston. Andre Johnson made two terrific TD catches, catching 10 passes for 148 yards.  Well, Johnson may be a great receiver. But a  team can't allow that to happen in a big game. This was a big game. The Bears didn't get it done.

Continue reading "Bears Bite Dust in Houston"

     After all the bad things that happened in 2008, losing to Carolina got Big Daddy’s New Year’s drinking started early to numb the pain of a terrible year. This week Big Daddy’s Saints Beat blog delivers coverage of the New Year’s Eve Mid-City bonfire, gives the season’s final section 645 report, recaps the Carolina game, wonders if Jake Delhomme cursed the Crescent City, questions Sean Payton’s comments, releases his

Continue reading "Big Daddy Thanks Deuce In Finale:"

 

           This past Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys traveled to Lincoln Financial Field to play the Philadelphia Eagles in what was a win and you’re in the playoffs game.  This game had a lot of build-up prior kick-off.  The Eagles found out, about 15 minutes before the game started, that the stars had aligned for them; the Bears and Buccaneers had both lost.  This game had everything football fans wanted.  It was the ‘Boys against the Birds, with their playoff destinies on the line.

Continue reading "Underachievers"

The Denver Broncos are currently accepting applications for... yup Head Coach!

 Mike Shanahan will surely be missed. He has defined our city for 14 seasons with and without John Elway. Does anyone remember the frustration under Dan Reeves? Run, Run, Pass. Boooooring! Wade Philips? Nevermind him, Dallas didn't make the playoffs either.

Continue reading "Good bye Mike Shanahan? -- What!"

Possible coaching replacements could include the following: Jim Schwartz, Titan DC; Marty Schottenheimer, former Browns coach; Bill Cowher, former Steeler coach; Steve Spagnuolo, Giant DC; or Kirk Ferentz, Iowa HC; Eric Mangini, former Jets coach; and Brian Billick, former Ravens coach.

Continue reading "Cleveland Browns: Who Can Fix Our Mess?"

In an improbable year, the biggest story in the NFL continues.  The Miami Dolphins went from winning only one game last season to capturing the AFC East title by handling the New York Jets a home defeat. 

Continue reading "Miami Dolphins capture AFC East title"

Boy, we don't even get a chance to let the fact that the Patriots are out of the playoffs for the first time since 2002 soak in before the team is involved in off-season news.

On Monday, three teams fired their head coaches, with two of the head men out of work have Patriots ties. Rod Marinelli was canned after a 0-16 season with Detroit, snitch Eric Mangini was let go by the Jets for missing the playoffs two out of three years, and Cleveland had enough of Romeo Crennel after 40 losses in four seasons. Crennel and Mangini were both former defensive coordinators for the Patriots.

Continue reading "Wanna Trade, Cleveland?"

I don't know how much there is to say about yesterday's rout of an undermanned Jacksonville team (I think even the '04 Ravens had better receivers). After a somewhat shaky start, for all practical purposes we put this game out of reach with a picture-perfect, 21-point 2nd quarter. By halftime, I was more interested in the Jets-Dolphins scoreboard than in anything taking place at M&T Bank Stadium.

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens-Jacksonville Jaguars ..."

The Cleveland Browns need an individual that will not only bring instant respect, but one that is or has been a Super Bowl winner.They also need an individual that will change the culture and build a franchise much like the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. The team needs to look to its roots. 

Continue reading "Cleveland Brown Outliers for General ..."

While listening to some of the National Media types, it is obvious that most feel Brian Westbrook is going to run wild on the Purple Crew's defense.  I don't know that I buy that.  However, I do think that if the Purple shut down Westbrook, #5 is very capable of picking apart the Purple pass defense.  I think it is obvious that our only chance, should this scenario come to fruition, would be for our pass rush to come alive (as it has all season) and continually make #5 very uncomfortable.  I also don't think its enough to just make him feel uncomfortable, the Purple D need to make him eat some turf repeatedly, whether or not they get sacks.  Historically, that reduces #5's efficiency and effectiveness. 

Continue reading "Sold short againstw Philly"

Hey Guys!

Even though it took a last second field goal from Joe Nedney, we beat the Washington Redskins.  And between you and me, we deserved it.  We outplayed them all game, survived a bad second quarter, and finished the game strongly.  We finished the season on an up-note by beating a good Washington Redskin team that had their playoff hopes broken last week.  All we did was put the final nail in the coffin.

Continue reading "The San Francisco 49ers Salvage The 2008 Season"

Well, that's it. The Patriots did what they needed to do Sunday, but it just didn't happen. That's why every team should handle their business on their own and don't leave the job for a third party to complete.

Continue reading "The Drive in '09"

The Vikings didn’t fumble, bumble and stumble their way into the playoffs, but they didn’t exactly come up with a work of art.

Instead they team play in spurts against the Giants, a formidable team that rested its starters in the second half. The red-zone defense was good throughout, and the offense played well early and late for the final (small) margin of 20-19.

Continue reading "Vikings beat Giants, make playoffs"

I thought I would write this blurb while watching the Purple in a dogfight with the G-Men.  I am eagerly awaiting some confirmation that the AZ win in all facets of the game wasn't just a aboration.  I will do my best to stay positive in this writing, however mistakes are killing us.  Right now, T-Jack has the opportunity to shut any critics up (including me!).  I am praying that he does.  I would love for him to step up.  They are going to A.P. so he doesn't have to make those smart decisions, which I can understand, however that also allows nerves to be rattled with A.P.'s tendenancy lately to lay the rock on the ground lately.  Now, with 25 seconds and the Purple driving there wasn't a sense of urgency to get closer for Longwell.  We had to burn our final timeout to stop the clock and make Longwell kick from much farther away than he should have had to.  Poor Longwell, having to make good in crunch time again.  .05 seconds to go and it's playoffs or......  The Vikes have won!  but boy did they make it interesting.....Go Purple!

Continue reading "Thoughts while watching with apprehension"

Regardless of what happens on Sunday, this was a successful season. I really want a birth in the playoffs, but if the chips don't fall in New England's favor and they are on the outside looking in, then that's just how it is. It wasn't meant to be.

Continue reading "Hats Off"

From bostonsportz.com: 

Well it all comes down to this. When Brady went down this is probably about as high as Pats fans' expectations could've been, needing a win in the last game of the season to even have a chance at the playoffs. 

Continue reading "5 Keyz: Patriots vs. Bills"

  

           Each week, on Friday, I will look into my (never wrong, just misinformed) crystal ball and give my predictions for that weekend’s games.  I will always prognosticate on the Eagles and Cowboys games and then pick two or more games of interest (to me, that is, not necessarily to you).  Keep in mind, that this is for entertainment purposes only, and that I do not endorse any sort of legal or illegal gambling.  That being said…let’s see what’s in my crystal ball!

Continue reading "Predictions Week 17"

So, there's this Oakland County, Michigan law enforcement officer who's a professional acquaintance of mine. Nice guy, former Marine. Definitely not a guy you'd want to mess with. "James" has a friend who works in the Detroit Lions front office. Here's what the friend told James: a few years ago, the Lions contacted Bill Parcells about coaching the Detroit Lions. After all, who better to resurrect the toothless Lions than the Big Tuna? After all, Parcells has won two Super Bowls as a coach, went to a third and very nearly took the New York Jets there.

Continue reading "How the Detroit Lions almost had Bill Parcells"

Cincy 14, Cleveland 0.

Well, we got to see the Browns lose to the Eagles on Monday night and Cincy last week. Both games were pathetic. Some of our players looked like they packed it in. And once again, our play calling was predictable. On the other hand, some of our defenders showed up against both teams. Even Bruce Gradkowski made an appearance in the 4th quarter against the Bengals, but that didn't help either. Maybe he should have made an appearance to start the second half. I couldn't even watch every play; my fantasy football team was more exciting to watch. Now we have the Steelers on Sunday. OMG. Part of me wants the season to end, hoping for FA and the draft to come quickly. Oh yeah, we already traded away our 3rd, 5th, and 7th picks of the draft.

Continue reading "Cleveland Browns: Thinking of Free ..."

They say we always hurt the ones we love, and that’s obviously true because Jerry Jones is killing the Dallas Cowboys.

There is no question Jones loves his Cowboys. He spends millions on salaries and is sinking millions more into the team’s new home stadium. But Jones is turning “America’s Team” into a spoiled child that does what it pleases because its owner does as he pleases.

Continue reading "Jerry Jones killing the Dallas Cowboys"

From Week 12 to Week 15 the Houston Texans showed great poise and determination. They started a 4-game winning streak in Cleveland in a defensive battle. Not overly impressive, but a win is a win in the National Football League. The team then dominated a displaced looking Jacksonville Jaguars team at home in the first Monday Night game in franchise history.

Continue reading "Still Important"

While calling Bill Belichick a genius seems like a true statement, there was one time, recently, that makes me want to disagree with any statement of such. On December 14, when the Oakland Raiders pla

Continue reading "Bill Belichick, New England Patriot ..."

I'm not here to rant and rave about Pennington being snubbed from the AFC Pro Bowl team.  Do I think the man deserved a spot on the squad? Absolutely. But, do I understand why he was left off the roster? Of course.  Pennington's numbers — 3,453 yards to go with 17 TDs and 7 picks — aren't quite as flashy as the stats Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Jay Cutler have put up through the air this season, but they are certainly solid.  For the record, Manning has thrown for 3907 yards, 26 TDs and 12 picks, Favre has 3239/21/19 and Cutler has 4210/24/16 through 15 games this year. Sure, CP has more yards and 12 fewer completions to the other team than Favre, but remember, it's Brett Favre.  As long as Favre is healthy and somewhat productive, the man will be in the Pro Bowl.

Continue reading "Props for Pennington"

 

           Each week I will answer questions submitted by my loyal readers.  I personally read every single email I receive.  I will pick out the best five or so to use for the weekly post, as I won’t be able to answer all of them.  I will also answer one or two questions on my daily posts as well.  Now it’s time to open the mail!

Continue reading "Reality Mail Bag - 12/25/08"

On this Christmas Eve, coaches, players, and fans draw one day closer to the final week of the NFL 2008-2009 season. 

The Jacksonville Jaguars have fit the "playing for pride" bill quite well in the past couple weeks, knocking off an unlucky Green Bay Packers team, at home, and giving the 11-4 Colts everything they could handle before ending up on the losing end of some fourth quarter Peyton Manning heroics, 31-24, finishing the game with the ball on the Indy seven-yard line. Against the Colts, QB David Garrard was brilliant for three quarters, throwing for 329 yards through the air and a touchdown (and also running for one), WR Dennis Northcutt had another good game with 101 yards and a receiving touchdown, and Maurice Jones-Drew continued his late season push to be "the guy" next year with 91 yards rushing. The defense, on the other hand, played forgettably against Indianpolis's traditional offensive machine. This Sunday, the Jags travel to another cold weather city, Baltimore, for one last game that means...well, nothing. 

Continue reading "Loss to the Colts the Epitome of a Season"

It's been a tough year being a Seattle Seahawks fan, and a Seattle sports fan in general.  We lose the Supersonics to Oklahoma City, the Mariners become the first team to have a $100M payroll and post 100 losses, and the Seahawks miss the playoffs for the first time in 5 years.  But there is still a lot to look forward to.  We have a new MLS team in Seattle FC that looks like it could be competitive from day 1, and the Mariners and Seahawks are not far from being playoff calibur teams.

Continue reading ""

Hey Guys!

 We did it. We beat the Rams...barely! I won't get into everything that went wrong for the 9ers, i.e. Shaun Hills' poor decision making, the bad play of the offensive line, the poor job of Deshaun Foster, etc.  Instead, i'm going to focus on the positives of the game. 

Continue reading "Week 16 Wrap-Up & Week 17 Preview"

While in the midst of watching the Bulls-Pistons game, my mind keeps tracking back a little bit to last night's thrilling Bears-Packers MNF game. It was great to see the Bears win, even though they waited almost a little too long to get their offense in gear. It did irk me off though, to hear they announcers totally rip the Bears for lack of stability at the quarterback position. I will admit it hasnt been the most stable for a while, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the announcers (specifically Tony Kornheiser, who needs to get off his high horse) made it out to be. Anyway, that is my blog (rant) for today. Hope you all have a great christmas!

Continue reading "Monday Night Football"

Now that the horrific game against the Falcons is behind us, let's reflect.  Score wise it wasn't horrific, however the 5 fumbles wasn't so nice to watch.  When a true fan such as myself and all of you other Purple lovers out there watch a game that had our offense penetrating DEEP into Atlanta's territory, then continually turning over the ball.  Not only that, but doing that at home!!  I do not live in Mn and was fortunate enough to have my local TV station carry the game and I thought the fans at "The Dome" were very gracious with how long they took to "booo" the Purple.  Also, it is very rare that I think Booing is warranted from a fan to their team.  However, it is obvious that in the ONE game that the Vikes needed to come out fired up for, they came out FLATTER than a warm beer!  It was also obvious, aside from CB Griffin and Jared Allen, that the team was flat and not really caring about the fan's concern with performance at home. 

Continue reading "Crucial Game Lapses"

     After the Saints soiled Detroit’s White Christmas, Big Daddy enjoyed the soothing sounds of Motown awed by the artists’ talents and fashion sense. Too bad Lions’ players don’t have that smooth style. This week Big Daddy’s Saints Beat blog examines Bernard Madoff’s ethics, features the season’s final Kingpin update, recaps the Detroit game, covers the New Orleans Bowl, and releases his

Continue reading "Big Daddy Digs Motown’s Groove:"

By now we all know what needs to happen for the Patriots to get into the playoffs, but what happens if and when they get there? 

There are four potential scenarios that could play out depending on what happens this weekend. Assuming the Patriots beat the Bills, which may be a foolish assumption but it's no fun to assume otherwise, here they are:

Continue reading "Potential Patriots Playoff Scenarios"

The Chicago Bears did two remarkable things last night. They played football in frigid conditions, with a temperature of 2 degrees and a wind chill of -10degrees.  It was cold, it was freezing, it was unbelievably frigid, but the fans came and screamed and the Bears played and won in OT.  Two, The Bears did this with a  minimal offense. There was no offense of the first half. The Bears had two first downs, and gained 48 yards. Green Bay was marching up and down the field and the defense seemed like Rocky holding on for dear life.

Continue reading "Bears Beat Pack in OT 20-17, Survive Frigid Cold"

 

The crystal ball had a mediocre performance this past week, going a mere 2-2.  We’re not sure what happened, but we will get to the bottom of this.  The crystal ball took its lumps on the Cowboys game, but it may have been predicting with its heart rather than its fortune-telling powers?  Either way, that puts the crystal ball at 29-22-1 for the season.  That’s seven games over .500 (.563 to be exact).  Let’s take a look back, and review what happened last week.

Continue reading "Week 16 Review"

There's a reason I didn't post a blog after the Browns-Eagles game.  That reason carried over to why I didn't post after the Bengals-Browns game, and it partially explains why I'm posting this one (technically two) day(s) later while everyone else is asleep.  I didn't come to terms with it until just a couple hours ago, but here we go:

Continue reading "Love Punch, Baby!"

Breaking down Saturday's Ravens-Cowboys game:

1. Joe Flacco: Mike Preston gave Flacco's performance an "A," writing that the rookie QB "made some really impressive throws. He showed great patience under duress and kept his patience regardless of what happened in the game. He won a big game against a quality team." I agree with all three points, but I don't know if that warrants an "A."

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens-Dallas Cowboys post-game ..."

For a guy like Jay Cutler, his performance vs. the Bills will motivate a huge degree of improvement.

 Interceptions are bound to Jay's game because he is so super-confident. At the end of the Bill's game, Cutler made two near INT's that could've cost him, but the defense, along with Kavika Mitchell deserve a lot of cred.

Continue reading "Can Cutler cut it in the clutch? ..."

It seems only fitting that what could end up as the Chicago Bears’ final game of significance this season comes against their biggest rivals the Green Bay Packers. If you choose to recall week 11’s trouncing at Lambeau Field, revenge would be that much sweeter. Oh, I hear revenge is a dish best served cold. Well, with an expected high of only seven degrees in Chicago, it could be on the menu Monday night. This time around, the Packers have been eliminated from playoff contention, and the Bears are the team fighting to stay alive. Since the Vikings chose to lose four fumbles to Atlanta yesterday, the Bears are playing with a purpose. 

Continue reading "Joe's Gameday Preview: Green Bay ..."

Who'd of thunk it? When the season began, people everywhere were dissing the Dirty Birds saying they would only win 3 or 4 games, or that they had given away all their "good" players. Truth be told, they had given away all their troublesome, individual Vick supporters, with the exception of Roddy White, who, with the addition of an incredible young QB whom we will discuss in moments, kept his mouth shut throughout the season.

Continue reading "Falcons Clinch Playoff Berth"

Usually I’m not one to consider a conspiracy in sports but the “flex schedule” set up by the NFL has gotten me perturbed to say the least. With their slaughter over the Cardinals last week the Patriots did their part in the efforts to make the playoffs. As luck would have it the Seahawks, allowing a glimmer of hope for New England, downed the Jets. In the final week of the regular season the Jets and Dolphins were to meet in an AFC East clash that will determine the fate of the division. With the entirety of the East playing at 1pm all of the NFL would know by early evening their AFC East divisional winner.

Continue reading "A Final Punishment?"

I'm not going to analyze this game a whole lot, as it is pretty simple why the Vikings fell to the Falcons.  Despite dominating in nearly aspect of the game, turnovers (four fumbles in all) doomed the Purple in their quest for the NFC North Division title.

Continue reading "Falcons 24, Vikings 17: I Should ..."

A friend of mine, whose wife was pregnant, headed to the hospital last week and hunkered down for the impending labor, promptly updating his Facebook status by noting that he was playing "the waiting game."

Continue reading "The Waiting Game"

    What more could you ask for?  Down to the last game of the season, Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington heads back to New York for what literally is the AFC East title game against his former team the New York Jets.  Jets opted for the unretired Bret Favre over what many considered a weak armed Pennington during the offseason.  Pennington who had spent his entire career with the Jets found himself playing his 9th season with division rivals Dolphins.  A team that went 1-15 in 2007 but were in the middle of management shake up with new GM Bill Parcels and first year head couch Tony Sparano.

Continue reading "Pennington returns to New York"

  

           On Saturday night, the Cowboys had a golden opportunity to close out Texas Stadium in style.  This was the final game to be played at the stadium.  A Cowboys win would have been a fitting end to a stadium that has had many classic games.  A win, and the Cowboys would have been one step further in their quest for a playoff berth, and a Super Bowl run.

Continue reading "Not Dead Yet"

Some things in this world are complicated. Not many people can describe all those fancy high-risk investments in Wall Street that have caused so much devastation.

But sometimes it doesn’t take much to understand the devastation at the Metrodome on Sunday. The Vikings had four turnovers against the Atlanta Falcons, and that’s it. When you’re minus four in the turnover battle, forget it.

Continue reading "Vikings in holiday spirit, give game to Falcons"

Where to begin in the wake of one of the most amazing Ravens games I have ever seen? Perhaps with this observation: This was a 16-7 game going into the fourth quarter. The next 6 drives all produced scores --- Cowboys FG, Ravens FG, Cowboys TD, Ravens TD, Cowboys TD, Ravens TD --- before the Ravens defense finally made the game-ending stop with 52 seconds left.

Continue reading "Baltimore Ravens-Dallas Cowboys post-game ..."

As I watch the Patriots season I can help but be reminded of baseball seasons past. As an avid Red Sox fan the race for the pennant is always one that leaves fans on the edge of their seats, gasping for air and clutching their tall frosty ones until their fingers are sore. The Patriots are going to need Lady Luck if they're going to have a shot at the playoff picture. As of right the only thing New England fans can do is hope for