NFL REPORT

Turn out the lights....the party's over

2005-10-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

Hello, Thank you for visiting my blog. I regret to announce that this is the end of the road for this site. For numerous reasons I have decided to end my stay here. I'll still be writing football, and you can read my work here. If you want to stay updated with everything, you can hit subscribe to my new posting via one of the RSS subscribe buttons below. You can still contact me, with the same e-mail address, I will be checking it for a while. Thanks to The Bears Blog, Falcons Daily, HeelsSoxSteelers, Jets Blog, Bolt Talk, Houston Texans Blog, Minnesota Vikings Blog , Bucaneers Blog, Blogging the 'Boys, 49ers Blog, The Hater Nation, Fantasy Lionbacker, and The Dolphin Tank for linking to me. I'll e-mail you all, as most of you probably don't come here that often, but for those who do, if you could move your link to point here, that would be great.

RIP Wellington Mara

2005-10-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wellington Mara of the New York Giants, one of the NFL's most influential owners for more than a half century and the last of the league's founding generation, died Tuesday. He was 89. Mara, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997, died of cancer at his home in Rye, the team said. "Wellington Mara is the face of not only the New York Giants but the NFL," Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey. "He's a pioneer and the guy that everybody looks up to." Mara's influence went far beyond the Giants. He clearly was one of the most important figures in NFL history...keep reading at si.com

Martz Out for the Rest of the Season

2005-10-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

By Nick Wagoner Senior Writer Rams coach Mike Martz has been declared medically unable to coach for the remainder of the 2005 season. Martz told the Rams today that after further examination with treating physician Dr. Victoria Fraser, his illness will prevent him from performing his duties for the rest of the season. Martz left the team and was admitted to Barnes Jewish Hospital on Sept. 30 for treatment and evaluation. Martz announced on Oct. 10 that he would be leaving the team. Interim head coach Joe Vitt will continue in his duties as the head coach for the rest of the season. The originally scheduled 3 p.m press conference was moved back to 4:30 p.m. today. Check back to www.stlouisrams.com for more details as they become available. Source

A sore blow indeed for the St. Louis Rams. Let's just hope Martz can come back sometime in the future. Blogging is only half as fun when I can't write about him burning all three time outs in the third quarter.

What's this you say? Blogger did something about splogs?

2005-10-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

It appears Blogger has finally done something about spam. I recently created a new blog to test out some html. When I did a test post I noticed something that almost took my breath away: Blogger has done something about spam! It appears to be only with blogs created from now on. On this blog I don't need to do anything, but new bloggers will need to pass a word verification/captcha test before posting.

The NFL Report Blog is moving and I don't know where

2005-10-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

I am moving. That much I have decided on. I knew I would have to move eventually. When I chose my name I had never heard of nflreport.com, and unfortunatly I never thought of looking. I plan to, sometime in the future, move to my own domain. When this happens I want to be able to get a simple, to the point domain name. With the name NFL Report I am bound to have complications doing so. Thus I am going to go ahead and move to a new blogpot domain, so the next move will be that much easier. I have yet to come up with a name, so any and all suggestions are welcome.

Thoughts on Week 7

2005-10-24T09:38:00.000-07:00

*This year has showcased what has perhaps been some of the best and worst field goal kicking ever. You have guys like Jose Cortez in Dallas and Doug Brian who were/are stinking it up, and then you have Paul Edinger and the Falcons punter making kicks well over 50 yards, and then you have Neil Rackers who is 20/20 so far this season, looking to blow past the record of 39 field goals in a year. *I thought at first the Chiefs and Dolphins would be at a disadvantage playing under the circumstances they had, but both teams seemed alright. *Ricky Williams is really lighting it up, isn't he? *Poor Brett Favre. He can plays superbly, but it doesn't do any good. *Hm. The Colts won, but they did give up 14 first half points to, gulp, the Texans. I believe Cato June was out, and that would certainly hurt them. *Detroit vs. Cleveland- The toilet bowl, aka which turd sinks the furthest. In this case it was Cleveland. Dilfer came out fast, but has slowed way down. *Willie Parker was back to quick self after two off weeks. He could still get 1000 yards this season, in fact, I expect he will. *How 'bout Heath Miller? He is an animal. He gets open, makes a catch with those great hands he has, and then drage several defenders four or five yards before he finally goes down. *The Saints blew a two touchdown lead to the Rams. Sounds bad, doesn't it? Sounds even worse when you realize the Rams were sans Holt, Bruce, and Bulger on offense. *Poor Alex Smith. At least he has enough money for some really nice massages. *Philidelphia stole that game. There is just no way they should have won it. *I stand by what I said when I wrote that McNabb should go ahead and get that surgery now in the hopes that he can come back for the playoffs. *I thought Bledsoe was supposed to be a really smart player. *I thought Jose Cortez was a proffesional kicker. *The NFC North will give us the worst team to ever make the playoffs. *I still think Warner is far better than McCown (who was 12/28 with a pick and a td), but with the Cardinals winning again, I don't think he's going back in. Never mind that the two wins have been despite McCown, not because of him. * I love it. McGahee spouts off about being the best in the game and gets 50 yards on 16 carries. *Eli Manning is looking sharper every week. I loved that last play where he dropped back about fifteen yards before throwing the off-balance td.

There is no doubt

2005-10-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

Mark Brunell will be comeback player of the year.

He was doing well until here...

2005-10-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

For once I was enjoying what looked to be an above-average Pete Prisco article until I got to here:

New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett was hit with a $20,000 fine for his biting comments about the officiating following his team's loss to the Falcons last Sunday. Haslett was angry about the defensive holding penalty called on his team that negated a missed field goal. The Falcons then made the kick to win the game. Haslett had every right to be angry. The call was terrible. Maybe the intent was right, but you don't call it in that situation. Let the players decide the game. After all Haslett's been through this year, he was bound to let loose. So what? Isn't a fiery coach a good thing? If Haslett doesn't stay with the Saints -- and he can if he wants to -- some team will give him a job. His handling of this situation, with all the off-field issues, has earned him a lot of respect around the league. One other thing about the Saints: Why is everyone up in arms about Tom Benson apparently pushing to move from New Orleans? Wasn't he considering it even before Hurricane Katrina hit? Aren't other big businesses moving out of New Orleans now? What about the levees? Don't they have to be fixed before the city can worry about an NFL team? It might be politically incorrect to bail on the city now, but let's not forget the Saints are a business. If it can't work in New Orleans, what's Benson supposed to do?

1. The call didn't seem bad. 2. Even if it was, the comments made by Haslett were very unproffesional. 3. I don't care what kind of hurricane blew through his city, New Orleans has no excuse for their crappy level of play.

NFL Week 7 Predictions

2005-10-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

Chiefs 27 Dolphins 14 Browns 16 Lions 6 Colts 41 Texans 10 Saints 21 Rams 13 Chargers 31 Eagles 20 Packers 28 Vikings 14 Steelers 31 Bengals 20 Redskins 27 49ers 6 Seahawks 21 Cowboys 17 Titans 19 Cardinals 10^* Bills 24 Raiders 10 Bears 13 Ravens 7 Broncos 24 Giants 21 Falcons 33 Jets 17 ^*McCown gets benched midway through the 2nd quarter.

Template Additions

2005-10-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Good/Bad?

It Works!

2005-10-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm testing out a pretty sweet tool called w.bloggar that lets you post without going to blogger.com and all that crap. Instead you just post from the program. If you are interested you can do a google search and find it, because I'm too lazy to post a link.

Testing

2005-10-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

Just doing a test post. Ignore.

A PR of 5? I'll take it!

2005-10-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

Google recently updated their page rank, and I shot up from a 0 to a 5. Now I'm not going to be stupid...I am certainly on the lower end of the traffic ecosystem, and I am probably more of a mid-range 4 at the most, not a 5. But hey, if Google wants to be nice to me, who am I to stop them?

Power Rankings

2005-10-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

1. Colts- That's what you get for underestimating the other team. If they do that any more, they're toast. Thankfully for themselves they pulled themselves together and still dominated the Rams. 2. Broncos- There's just not any way I can put them any lower. They have beaten some very good teams, and are on a five game winning streak. 3. Steelers- What? But they lost to Jacksonville! Yes, but that was the -Roethlisberger team, and for the rest of the year they look to have him, so I have to rank the team with Roethlisberger, and I believe that they are the third best team in the NFL. 4. Chargers- The only question is, what can't Tomlinson do? 5. Bengals- Palmer now shares Peyton Manning's passer rating record, but I wouldn't expect him to continue the streak against Pittsburgh. 6. Falcons- They gave up way too much to the Saints. Another week like that and I'm dropping them way down. 7. Jaguars- Let's see...they are in field goal range, they have a little bit of time on the clock, what could they do? Maybe run it down the middle? Maybe gain a few more yards then kick a field goal that you have about a 70% chance of making? Nope, they get all cute [and stupid] and go to the end zone on two consecutive plays. They got lucky on Sunday. 8. Panthers- Well, well. 4-2 isn't bad. Not bad at all. All of the sudden they are looking pretty good. 9. Bucs- Brian Griese being injured might actually do the Bucs a lot of good. 10. Cowboys- They just couldn't lose the game, could they? 11. Seahawks- As long as they catch the ball, they should coast most of the way. 12. Chiefs- They started out good, then slowed way down, but that win at Washington might get them back on track. I still say that their defense gives up way too many points. 13. Patriots- People are talking about how they showed so much spirit coming from behind, but it really wasn't all that amazing. The first one was more of a garbage touchdown, and then the second one was just a plaing old score. And after all, they did lose by eight points. No folks, this one wasn't nearly as close as the score showed. 14. Giants- If my facts are correct, Eli Manning has yet to win a road game. 15. Eagles- I think it's going to be all downhill for this team from now on. McNabb looked bad against the Cowboys, but a bye week might have been enough. 16. Redskins- Brunell is looking pretty sharp. He was the starting quarterback on my fantasy team, and those three touchdown passes won me my game. Clinton Portis has been quietly chugging away those yards, but he just hasn't looked as explosive as he was in the past. 17. Rams- They had the Colts 17-0, and then self-destructed. Not very good. 18. Bills- J.P. Losman anyone? No? Why not? The so-called "athletic" and "quick" and "nimble" and "mature" Losman managed to stink it up so bad that Kelly Holcomb actually looks really good. 19. Bears- Their defense is good, but their offense has a long way to go. Just as they get clicking Rex Grossman will get nice and healthy, and they are going to have a heck of a mess on their hands. 20. Dolphins- I just wish there were more spots lower down, because a lot of teams don't deserve to be this high. 21. Lions- I guess we know what three first round recievers and a first round quarterback gets you. 22. Titans- Steve McNaire is the only bright spot on this team, and he's been pretty dim lately. 23. Ravens- Talk about an ugly team. 24. Browns- Unnngh. 25. Packers- One win is nice, but they need several more to move up significantly. 26. Jets- Interceptaverde is back to his old form. 27. Raiders- Not until Randy Moss gets all-out mauled do the officials call anything. Just how much worse can the Raiders get? 28. Cardinals- They had a bye week, and they managed not to lose. Maybe there is some hope. 29. Saints- Well, they did decently against the Falcons, but they should have won and didn't. Losing games that you should have been able to win does you no favors in my book. 30. Vikings- Their former owner is looking like a pretty sharp guy for getting out while he could. 31. 49ers- They beat the Rams, but what else have they done recently? 32. Texans- 0-16 just doesn't sound all that outrageous, and if that happens, then I don't think they'll go like the 17-0 Dolphins and pop a cork when the last victoryless team wins.

Bruschi Back in Practice

2005-10-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

Many of you have probably already hear, but Teddi Bruschi is is back in practice. Now he can do whatever he wants, but I'm really not sure this is all that good of an idea. He has had some of the best doctors in the world looking at him, so hopefully they know what they are doing, but it is a bit of a risk. I guess that's what makes someone a football player.

Stat of the Week

2005-10-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

Dallas' Drew Bledsoe threw his 232nd touchdown pass, which ties him with Steve Young for 18th place on the all-time list. The next four above him are Pro Football Hall of Famers: George Blanda (236), Jim Kelly (237), Len Dawson (239) and Y.A. Tittle (242).

Via. Impressive, huh? That is after 12 1/2 years. Peyton Manning just threw his 225th touchdown. After 8 1/2 years. He is looking to move well up on the list this season, probaby at least to 13 or 14. Above Drew Bledsoe. How impressive is that? -- Another interesting stat: In 2001 Edgerrin James had 662 yards in 6 games. This year after 6 games he has 662 yards. In 2001 he had 151 carries, this year he has 142. That means four years after his injury James is playing even better than before!

Ben Roethlisberger

2005-10-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

Can we all shut up about how "he just hands off the ball" and "he doesn't really do anything". The Steelers looked like a fish out of water on Sunday. Steeler fans are surely wondering how they ever got along with Maddox.

MNF Review

2005-10-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

The Colts get the ball in the second half. Good. I've always thought that it was better to kick first, recieve later. The first three plays for for 45 yards. Oh boy. Touchdown after just under 3 minutes. Same old Colts. Kickoff is muffed. It's looking bad. Stopping the Rams for 3 was a huge play for the Colts, and might have been the turning point. Colts punt, Rams get a massive play. 17-0, it's not looking like it's going to be pretty. Colts get a nice long drive, and then Vanderwhateverhisnameis shanks a 48 yard field goal. Interception, Bulger is out. THIS was the turning point of the game. Manning looked very good, but what I found interesting after looking over his stats was that he only passed for 191 yards. Just from watching the game without keeping track it seemed like a 250+ yard night. Guess not. That 86th touchdown from Manning to Harrison was a thing of beauty, and despite Harrison being all nice and telling Manning he can have the ball, I'm guess it ends up in the hall of fame. Which brings me this- I am going to say right now that when it's all said and done, Manning will be considered one of the best if not the best ever. Hall of Fame bound? Heck yeah. If he broke his neck (God forbid) on the first play next week, it would be questionable, but he might end up making it based on the fact that he has broken so many records (td passes in a year, passer rating in a year, consecutive starts [2nd], td passes to one reciever, etc, etc.). However I don't expect that to happen, in fact, I would bet he'll end up winning a Super Bowl or two. James also looked great. I was very impressed and a bit surprised at his stats last year (over 1500 yards), and this year he is on track to top that, which is quite good. I think everyone can shut up now about: The Colts defense. The Colts offense. Peyton Manning.

Just asking, but...

2005-10-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

Why the heck is Heath Miller not on the pro bowl ballot? I'm not sure I'd vote for him, but he's not even on the ballot. He has been very impressive this year, and the thing that struck me most about him was how hard he is to bring down. He makes a great catch, and then runs another five or ten yards with three or four defenders hanging on him.

Monday Night Football- Colts vs. Rams

2005-10-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

Well now we get to see if the Colts defense has it in them. What has really been driving me nuts is everybody talking about the Colts defense being "overrated" and crap. So I looked at last year's results. Here are the points they gave up: vs. Pats- 27 vs. Titans- 17 vs. Green Bay- 31 vs. Jaguars- 17 vs. Oakland- 14 bye vs. Jaguars- 27 vs. Chiefs- 45 vs. Vikings- 28 vs. Texans- 14 vs. Bears- 10 vs. Lions- 9 vs. Titans- 24 vs. Texans- 14 vs. Ravens- 10 vs. San Diego- 31 -- Now if you look at their five easiest games, the ones against the worst teams, you find that they gave up a grand total of 10 (Ravens), 9 (Lions), 14 (Texans), 14 (Texans), and 10 (Bears). That equals 57 point. In their first five games this year they have allowed a grand total of 7 (Ravens), 3 (Jaguars), 6 (Browns), 10 (Titans), and 3 (49ers). That equals 29 points. That is 28 less than in their five easiest games last year. Clearly their defense is greatly improved. -- It will be interesting to see how the Rams will be without Mike Martz. Sure, he makes strange calls, and does strange things, but he is a genius when it comes to offensive planning. -- Anybody else wondering if Manning will ever put up another 350 yard game? He's been pretty bland this year. Good, but bland. -- Who will win? Colts 31 Rams 17

NFL Week 6 Prediction

2005-10-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

Atlanta 37 New Orleans 14 Carolina 29 Detroit 6 Bungles 20 Titans 16 Cleveland 17 Baltimore 13 Pittsburgh 37 Jacksonville 17 Tampa Bay 21 Miami 17 Chicago 10 Minnesota 7 New Jersey/A 31 Dallas 24 Kansas City 28 Washington 17 Denver 24 New England 14 Buffalo 16 New Jersey/B 7 San Diego 27 Oakland 20 Seahawks 37 Texans 13 MNF Analysis Monday Morning

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sued by the ACLU

2005-10-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Via Stop the ACLU.

Tampa, Florida — If you’ve been to a Bucs game this season, you’ve seen and felt a difference — you get patted down before entering the stadium. But on Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union and a Bucs season ticket holder are taking the owners of Raymond James Stadium to court.
Why the ACLU has decided to sue the Bucs when this is across the board mandated by the NFL is beyond me. The NFL said in August it was requiring all teams to conduct the pat-downs of fans, in an attempt to prevent a terrorist attack by someone with explosives. Of course this isn’t suprising since they are also against random searches on NY subways. This proves a very good point. The ACLU is against any kind of search no matter how it will protect us. They are against profiled searches, random searches, and now they show they are even against a search of everyone across the board. This lawsuit is ridiculous in my opinon. Another example of the word frivilous!

Stupid, stupid, stupid. It's private property. The Bucs can do as they please.

Ricky Williams

2005-10-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

He plays for the Saint. He sucks. He plays for the Dolphins. He's awesome. He retires. He smokes pot. He runs out of money. He plays for the Dolphins. He ???? -- Fill in the blank. Will he be good or bad? I don't know, and I don't really think anyone knows for sure, unless it's Ricky himself. Personally, I think he'll be okay, but not at his old form. I think he's going to be much lighter, but unlike other people, I think this will help him. He will be faster, and quicker at moving threw holes, as well as better suited to squeeze through smaller holes. I think that his biggest disadvantage will be the enormous amount of time that he has spent away from the game. People talk about how after the bye week it takes a few drives to get settled down and reaccustomed to the speed, imagine what it's like after as long as he's been out? We'll just have to wait and see

Power Rankings

2005-10-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

The hardest of them all...with all these run-around going on, how do you rank teams. Raiders lose to Eagles, Raiders beat Cowboys, Cowboys beat Eagles. Steelers lose to Pats, Pats lose to Chargers, Chargers lose to Steelers. So help me God 1. Colts- Until they lose a game they're number 1. 2. Steelers- What the heck is with that rule? That has got to be the second dumbest rule in the rule book (the dumbest being the tuck rule). The punt returner blew the catch, and then fell backwards. Meanwhile the ball flies forwards and is caught by the defender. What the heck? 3. Broncos- Sure, they lost to the Dolphins, but since then they've don very, very well. 4. Patriots- They got pretty darn lucky. Yes, I know Schaub played extremely well, but New England didn't have to go against a quarterback who also presented the very real threat of running the ball. I'm still not very impressed with New England this year, but they did win. 5. Falcons- They came this close. 6. Chargers- I can only keep them high for so long, eventually they have to play to their potential. 7. Eagles- Tough game. What's going to happen with McNabb. He's not helping them any, they'd be better off with Koy Detmer. I think it would be best if McNabb went ahead and got surgery, and then came back for the last bit of the season and the playoffs. 8. Redskins- Will they ever get a really convincing win? 9. Cowboys- They beat the Eagles pretty good, but that doesn't make up for some earlier games they blew. 10. Seahawks- One of the harder teams to rank. They beat the Falcons, but they also lost to the Jaguars. 11. Giants- In my opinion they aren't getting enough credit. They lost to the Chargers, but I think that was just a poor showing. You have to consider that their three wins have come by a total of 60 points. 12. Jaguars. Not bad, not bad. They upset an undefeated Bengals team. But I still need to see some more from them for them to get any higher than this. 13. Bengals. Tough loss. They still look good though. I think they just might make the playoffs this year. 14. Buccaneers- With Cadillac Williams they are a top 10 team, without him they are a top 20 team. So where do they go? Griese is looking downright bad. 15. Panthers- Don't forget, they did beat the Patriots a few short weeks ago. 16. Chiefs- Well, they started out nicely. 17. Dolphins- They had a good first game, but then slowed down. I still think they can be good, but they still require discipline. 18. Rams- The loss of Mike Martz will hurt. I know he has weird calls and strange decisions, but he is also an offensive genius, and he's not going to be there for them any more. 19. Raiders- If they could just get about 10 fewer penalties a game, and three more throws to the most athletic reciever in the league, they'd be undefeated. 20. Bills- Be careful what you ask for. Bledsoe must be laughing his head off every time he sees clips of Losman throwing interceptions. Holcomb is an improvement, but he's not the same quarterback Bledsoe was/is. 21. Titans- They are looking better every week. Not playoff quality, but still pretty good. 23. Cardinals- This high? Yes. Where it not for a few bonheaded play calls and a stupid delay of game, they would have won. 24. Browns- Braylon Edwards is out for a while, and that hurts. Looks like good old Romeo needs time to work. 25. Packers- Favre is still Favre (profound, I know. Especially when everyone has been saying that exact same phrase for the last two weeks.) 26. Ravens- Boller, Boller, Boller. Sound weird? Not when you look at Anthony Wright's stats. 27. Lions- People made all this talk about spending three first round picks on wide recievers. They said it was a waste, and I agree. Except not because they don't need good recievers. They do. Because these three guys just suck. Sure, they have skills, but what have they done? 28. Saints- They got absolutely obliterated. And I don't want to hear that they are homeless. They are also proffessional atheltes, and they aren't just paid to play well when they are comfortable. 29. Bears- They started out okay, and have gone downhill from there. 30. Vikings- Culpepper needs help. Is this really the same Daunte that passed for all those yards and touchdowns last year? 31. 49ers- Did they really beat the Rams? 32. Texans- Until they win, they stay here.

What's with all these templates?

2005-10-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me say that this is perhaps one of the nicest templates I have ever seen on blog*spot, and I am quite proud of myself for making it. It was originally gunsmoke from blogskins.com, but after my tweaking the only resemblence whatsoever is the font color. Anyways, first I had the two-column template. At first it worked fine, but I grew tired of both the color scheme (khaki and navy) and the limitations that two columns gave me. I then switched to a three-column scheme that had a grey background and white foreground. It really didn't look too hot. I then switched to a second three column template, this time it was several shades of green. After Erik over at Falcons Daily told me it was "gay" I reverted back to the grey and white. After several weeks of that, I started to fiddle with a new template. I took the gunsmoke template, moved the heading to the top and stretched it accross the page. Then I added a second column on the right side. I also modified all of the font and colors. You'll notice that hovering over links no longer gives you a background...I got sick of that look as well, and added an underline as well as changed the color. Anyways, probably none of my readers care about any of that, but that's my excuse for changing every ten days. I think I am, at least for quite a while, done switching around. I am very fond of this template, and it was many hours of coding to get it like this...

The Patriots

2005-10-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was watching a Patriots game and noticed something very interesting: the Patriots wide recievers ran out of bounds about 80% of the time. They would just never take a hit. Instead of trying to pick up a few more yards, they ran out. I counted about five plays where the guy could have gotten a first down, but instead ran out of bounds a few feet before so he wouldn't take a hit. Then suddenly it hit me: they're soft. Has anyone else ever noticed that every single year New England has about twenty guys get injured? When it happens over and over, I have to ask how anyone could think it's a fluke. They are just as injury-prone as they come. No wonder they run out

Thoughts on Monday Night Football

2005-10-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

Penalties. So many of them. And a lot of them rediculous. What ever happened to letting them play? Instead, every single little bit of contact was either a personal foul, or pass interference or whatever. Defense. The game seemed to have a very high level of defense in the first half, but then in the last couple minutes of the first half when San Diego made that drive, things fell apart, and from there on out the tackling seemed to get much worse. Offense. Despite what I just said about defense, both teams offense looked very good. Both teams were able to come up with several big plays. The Bus looked very, very sharp. The Steelers are a better team with him in there. What really surprised me was how litttle Willie Parker got the ball, and how little he did with it when he did get it. Perhaps he is not as good as he seemed in the first few games, or maybe (most likely) he has had to face two of the best defences in the last two games. Overall, I'm not really surprised Pittsburgh won (I did predict it), and with this win they are only one game behind the Colts for lead in the AFC. And guess who they play in a few weeks?

The AFC Mess

2005-10-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

New England beats Pittsburgh San Diego destroys New England. Pittsburgh beats San Diego. Strange world

MNF Analysis

2005-10-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

This ought to be a really good game. We have Pittsburgh with a great running game, and we have San Diego with a great running game. I would expect this to be a fairly low scoring game (fantasy translation: don't start anyone...except maybe defense) Expect to see Roethlisberger throw very little the first half: 5-12 times. In the second half it could vary depending on what the game looks like. This will be the game when we find out if Pittsburgh is a serious contender this year. So far they have beaten up on crap teams, and then lost a tough one to New England. If they get blown out of the water, we may have to reconsider just how high we are ranking them, but if they stay close or win, then we know they are good. San Diego will have the disadvantage of playing against a rested team coming off of a bye, so that should prove to help the Steelers. The Steelers also are lucky enough to have all three running backs healthy. With Willie Parker playing so well, don't expect the Steelers to use Duce Staley much. It will be interesting to see how well Tomlinson does against a completely healthy secondary. A big question for the Steelers is whether to put Troy Polamalu on Tomlinson or Gates. Both could be a big problem if the Chargers are able to give Brees enough time to throw. Prediction: Pittsburgh 17 San Diego 14

BREAKING: Martz to take leave of absence

2005-10-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

Statement from Rams team president John Shaw (Oct. 10, 2005) -- Head coach Mike Martz advised us today that after he met with his consulting physician, his physical condition has worsened and he will be readmitted to the hospital later this afternoon. As a result of his condition, he will be unable to perform his head coaching responsibilities for an indefinite period of time. After consulting with Mike, we have all agreed that assistant head coach Joe Vitt will be the interim head coach of the Rams during Mike's absence.

Link May he soon recover.

Week 5 NFL Predictions

2005-10-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

I apologize for my posting this week. It has been a bit shorter than normal, and not as complete. Running a blog requires that you post every day, I make it a goal to do this, which means that when I do not have a whole lot of time, I have to cut back on post length. This has been happening a lot lately, thus I have been posting shorter bits. Today is one of those days, so I'll just be posting predictions, but come back on Tuesday for a complete analysis. Lions 27 Raven 10 Bears 13 Browns 10 Dolphins 21 Bills 16 Falcons 31 Patriots 17 Packers 34 Saints 20 Rams 34 Seahawks 28 Jets 17 Bucs 10 Colts 35 49ers 7 Panthers 24 Cardinals 21 Eagles 27 Cowboys 20 Broncos 23 Redskins 3 Bengals 24 Jaguars 17 I know, I know, some controversial picks, but I'm feeling it this week.

Pennington has surgery

2005-10-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

Chad Pennington had surgery today. He is expected to be back next season. Also, the Jags traded a draft pick to the 49ers for Winborn.

Seymour Questionable For Sunday

2005-10-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

The Patriots could be without Richard Symour Sunday against the Falcons. That would indeed be a sore blow

Week Four Review

2005-10-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's coming so late in the week, there have been some issues...anyways: Saints 19 Bills 7 The Bills started off the game playing very well. They ran, and where moving the chains. Then once the first drive was over they just lost everything. You have to wonder how things would have turned out if the kick returner hadn't gotten tripped up over his own player at the end of the half. Thus far New Orleans has not impressed me this year. I know, I know, they play on the road, yadda, yadda, yadda. That doesn't take away from the fact that they are playing like crap. Crap is crap, even on the road. Besdies, the Saints tend to play better on the road anyways, so that doesn't really help their case too much. Their offense rotates between mediocre and aweful, and it's usually the latter. As for the Bills, I'm thinking we're going to hear about Kelly Holcomb any day now.

Chargers 41 Patriots 17 Will this be the week that the Patriots finally lose two in a row? We can just wait and see, but it wouldn't surprise me. Yes, yes, they are resilient, they do love adversity, I know all that junk that "experts" have been spouting for the last three years, but you have to remember that these are the same experts who predicted that Jake Plummer would win MVP last year, and that the Seahawks would be in the Super Bowl. Did I mention they also had Baltimore winning its division this year? I think we finally saw a team really demolish the Pats. I mean, they went after every single weakness they have and just killed them. Will the Pats bounce back as they always do and win this coming Sunday against Atlanta? I don't know. If Schaub starts, then I would say they probably will, but if it is Vick starting, I would say that they probably will not. The only time that I have ever really seen Vick shut down was against Philidelphia in the AFC championship game. That game was in freezing cold weather, and the Eagles were at home, so it's really not a surprise. Will the Patriots be able to do the same? Not a chance. At least I don't think so. The Chargers are going to be feeling pretty good about themselves coming off of this strong win, but next week they have to go play Pittsburgh. One thing that you can always say about Pittsburgh is that no one ever want to play them. The Steelers can be having a 2-14 season, but nobody wants to have to play them. The Chargers are coming off a huge win, and have an 8 day week, the Steelers are coming off a bye.

Broncos 20 Jaguars 7 I guess we can move Denver up a bit, and the Jags down a notch. The Broncos really showed up, and the Jags just looked bad. I think my favorite part of the game where the two catches by that monster of a lineman whose name I can't remember. The Jags haven't looked as good this year as people where saying they would, and the Broncos have looked pretty decent.

Bengals 16 Texans 10 The Bengals won, but it was a bit ugly. I think they should have been able to win more comfortably than they did. But hey, a win is a win. The Texans stunk it up for another week. "But they kept it close" I hear you say. Yeah, well so what? They scored 10 measely points, and in the end, as the Gatorade commercial goes, a win is a win, and a loss is a loss. Palmer looked decent, for another week. I think he's really catching on this year.

Redskins 20 Seahawks 17 Had the Cowboys thought to keep playing once the two minute warning hit, and had the Seahawks kicker made the field goal, and had the Bears mustered the tiniest bit of offense, the Redskins would be 0-3. This is surely the worst 3-0 team in the history of the NFL. Their three wins have come by a combined 6 points. That sounds like a Patriots stat. The Seahawks will probably win their division, but they've been off and on this year, I really don't know where they're going. Looking ahead the Reskins play: Denver Kansas City San Francisco NYG Philly Tampa Oakland San Diego St. Louis Arizona Dallas NYG Philly That ain't a very easy road to the playoffs. I can easily see them losing all but 3 of 4 of those, so I wouldn't exactly call this team a success quite yet, seeing as they have yet to play a really good opponent.

Colts 31 Titans 10 Colts-A+, Titans-D+. That's all there is to say.

Bucs 17 Lions 13 It was a touchdown. I have looked at it over and over and over again. At best it is a touchdown, and at worst there is just nothing to see that you can say for sure, beyond doubt made it an incompletion. Terrible call by the ref.

Giants 44 Rams 24 Eli Manning almost looks like a potential league MVP. The Giants offense has been great. The Rams are looking more and more like themselves from last year. How long can a flag-football offense keep the team going?

Ravens 13 Jets 3 Ugh. That was an incredibly unsightly game. It's ironic that these two teams where both predicted to do very well this year, and then they both sucked, and then they both lost their starting quarterback and started to suck even more.

Raiders 19 Cowboys 13 Finally the Raiders look like a potential division-winning team. Randy Moss was a heck of an aquisition. The only annoying stat- Kerry Collins: no touchdowns. He's on my fantasy team, and he gets no touchdowns? I ended up losing my game by about ten points.

Falcons 30 Vikings 10 The Falcons can only worry about Vick right now. If they have him, they win, if they don't, they don't. As far as the Vikings go, I was thinking about them yesterday, and look what I realized: Culpepper has NO supporting cast. Check it out: Mewelde Moore, Michael Bennett, Travis Taylor, Jermaine Wiggins, Marcus Robinson, Jimmy Kleinsasser, Troy Williamson, Koren Robinson. Troy Williamson might be good in a few years, but at the moment that is one crapload of players. No one, and I mean no one on offense is good except Culpepper. And the defense is underperforming.

Eagles 37 Chiefs 31 NFL Report is quietly eating humble pie. Last week I wrote:

Put the Eagles away early. The Eagles are very good when they are behind trying to catch up. If you get a 10, even 14 point lead on them, they go into a panick and start passing like mad. Remember Pittsburgh last year? Pressure McNabb. He's very tender, and very soft right now. If they can get some good blitzing, they could do quite well.

*sigh* Even I don't always know everything.

I think I've already written about the Cardinals game, so I won't waste your time.

I've also already written about MNF, so I won't wast your time on that either.

Stories You Ought To Read

2005-10-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

Will Bruschi return? Week 5 Fantasy Info League Round-up Dr. Z power rankings NFL by the numbers Inside the NFL

The quarterback roundabout

2005-10-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

It all started in the preseason: CHICAGO from - to WASHINGTON fromto SAN FRANCISCO fromto JETS fromtoto RAVENS fromto CARDINALS fromto BILLS fromto What next?

Power Rankings

2005-10-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

I've decided to switch things up. I'm going to compress the week, and post more stuff on Thursday and Friday. Tommorow comes the week 4 analysis. You'll notice that I stop putting a numerical rank on them after 12, and that is because the middle of the pack is an extremely inexact science, and this simiplifies things. Here are my power rankings: 1. Colts. Four touchdown passes. The offense is off my foot. 2. Steelers. Yes, they rose without playing. But these things happen. 3. Eagles. What a comeback. That says a lot about their team, but McNabb might not last the season. 4. Falcons. At this time next week they will either be at a huge high, or a huge low. Same goes for the Pats. 5. Bengals. They had trouble against a team that should have been a push-over, but they showed they can still win when things aren't as they should be. 6. Chargers. This is one good 2-2 team. They absolutely demolished the Patriots. 7. Bucaneers. Cadillac is out, but they filled in quite well. Their QB gave them some things to think about. 8. Patriots. At 2-2, it's looking like they're going down, but I don't dare drop them any further. 9. Giants. They lead the league in scoring. Eli Manning has been fantastic. Their defense could certainly improve. 10. Broncos. If you forget that crap throw to Champ, and a hiccup against Miami they are a pretty darn good team. 11. Redskins. This is as low as I can put an undefeated team. They just aren't that crisp, and Portis has yet to impress me this year. His number are okay, but he's been too up-and-down. 12. Chiefs. What is happening? Just Out of the Playoffs: Dolphins. They are looking quite good. Their run defense is great, and their journyman QB has found a home. Cowboys. Now their good, now they aren't. Jones needs to really improve. Seahawks. They beat the Falcons, which is quite good, then lost to the Redskins, which is not that good. They'll probably win the division, but what is that saying? Bears. They are in a week division, and they're doing okay, but how far will a rookie take you? Looking 6-10 in the Face: Panthers. How could they blow a lead that big? They're lucky they squeaked by. Nice game by Delhomme. Jaguars. They just aren't playing as well as the should be. Raiders. Randy Moss can only catch if they throw to him. Rams. /\ \/ /\ \/ /\. Up and down all over the place. Saints. They have a lot to worry about, and a tough schedule doesn't help them out any. Lions. Harrington HAS to improve. He's lucky the Lions have no backup worth mentioning. Just Playing Bad: Packers. Favre hasn't slowed down, but the offensive line sucks. Browns. They are decent, but they just can't keep up with the stronger teams. They lack the overall talent. Titans. McNair is only getting older. They are in the rebuilding years. Cardinals. McCown can throw. But will he be able to succeed against a good team? Bills. It's time to put the backup in. No need to waste a season. Jets. The "Brooks expiriment" as people are calling it, has been an utter failure. Time for Interceptaverde. Vikings. Culpepper ain't looking too good. But he's looking like the only good player on the team. Which scares me. 49ers. They started off nicely, but now what? They've blown to straight games that they could have won. Then there was the humiliation in Philly. Ravens. At least they have a little bit of defense. Their offense is unsightly. Texans. I'm tempted to raise them. If they do decently next week, they could rise several spots.

Must-Reads- Top NFL Stories

2005-10-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Rolle out for the season Rogers violtates substance abuse policy Steelers have a crowded backfield Vick should start Mor on the Murphey injury Alex Smith to Start?

Thoughts on MNF

2005-10-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

First, we'll go over my predictions: I see Brett Favre with 356 yards. Three touchdowns. One interception. He threw for 303 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 intercepton. My guess was quite close I see Jake Delhomme throwing for 249 yards. Two touchdowns, and two interceptions. He threw for 206 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Also not too bad. Ahman Green Rushes for 96 yards. Uh, no. I was 60 yards off Steve Smith breaks his fibula. Not really, he has seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. The Packers double-teamed him, which let others get open, but kept him quiet (2 catches, 12 yards) Julius Peppers goes out with a busted knee. Nope, it was the packers who had the injuries There are very few penalties. 13 all together. There were 15. The Panthers are 0-1 on fourth down conversions. The Packers were 0-1. Donald Driver has 9 catches for 35 yards. 6 catches, 92 yards, and a td Carolina: 24 Green Bay: 17 Carolins: 32 Green Bay: 29 --- What I thought: Brett Favre was absolutely incredible. Throughout the game he had a ton of pressure, but he was still incredible. The fumble at the start wasn't too good, but it was from his blind side, and he was getting ready to throw, so the ball was unprotected. As for the "interception", that should count as a fumble by Ferguson. The ball was right on the money, and the defender just took it from him, without any protest. The last minute TD drive was a thing of beauty. The fourth down play was another great throw by Favre. He squeezed it through a hole, and the usually reliable Donald Driver just dropped it. The Panthers were on and off. Their defense was great for a large chunk of the game, and then they gave up all those big plays. Delhomme looked pretty good over all. The Packers' "D" was aweful The Packers' offensive line was aweful The Packers running game was aweful It's not surprising they lost

NFL Report Hits 1000 Visitors

2005-10-03T17:33:00.000-07:00

This blog started in mid-August, and has gone from 8 hits a day at the start to 33 hits a day now. Still not very impressive, but that is a 350 percent increase in traffic. If I keep increasing traffic at this rate, by Christmas I'll be getting about 115 hits a day, and after a year I'll be getting thousands. I doubt that will happen, but I think good things are ahead. So thank you too all my regular readers and first-time visitors. The first person to read this can scroll half way down the page until they see the sitemeter icon on the left, and it will read 1000.

Cardinals 31 49ers 14

2005-10-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

here's what I wrote about the late game on my Cardinals blog:

First of all, kudos to myself for correctly guessing who would win.

Secondly, kudos to Josh McCown for having a great game. 32 of 46, 385 yards, two TDs, and no interceptions. Sounds like Kurt Warner numbers. Which brings about the question of whether or not Warner will be the starter when he recovers. This is a really hard one. Something that will make it much easier for Green to decide is that it will still be a couple of weeks before Warner is back. If McCown keeps playing like this, there’s just no way that they’re going to bench him. If he plays poorly, he might get benched. If he plays ok, then it’s really hard. In the end, I think Warner will get the starting job back when he returns, but he’ll be on a shorter leash now that the Cardinals know how well McCown and play.

One thing that is very encouraging from last night is that he got the ball to eight different recievers. A very important accomplishment, because the defense stays honest.

I was worried yesterday at the start of the game. 14-0 is a big hole for anybody, not to mention for an 0-3 team, but they did extremely well, scorng 31 straight points. A very impressive feat.

Neil Rackers had perhaps the most amazing kicking day I have ever seen. Nineteen points. 6/6 on field goals, and 1/1 for Xtra points. Just incredible. Anybody that had him on their fantasy team probably won, considering that is about 5 times the number of points that Kerry Collings put out (Yes, I have Collings on my fantasy team, no, my opponent [thankfully] did not have Rackers, or I would have lost worse than I did.).
Perhaps the most worrying thing so far is that...

finish reading

MNF Packers vs. Panthers Analysis and Prediction

2005-10-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

The Packers are 0-3. You don't hear that very often. The Packers are 0-4. You don't hear that very often either. In about 13 hours we could be hearing that. But will we? Brett Favre hates losing. Heck, who doesn't? He also hates having his ability questioned. Or rather, he hates having his ability at his age questioned. In recent weeks the Packers have lost their first three games. Brett Favre has been questioned and criticized endlessly by experts. Javon Walker went out for the season. The Panthers are 1-2. They lost to the Saints. Then they demolished the Patriots. Then they lose to the Dolphins. Now they play a Green Bay team that is desperate. Last year Steve Smith broke his leg. Against the Packers. On Monday Night Football. In Week Four. Not really, it was in early September. But still, Déjà Vu all over again. The stage seems to be set for a very good game. Looking into my crystal ball I see many things. I see Jake Delhomme throwing for 249 yards. Two touchdowns, and two interceptions. I see Brett Favre with 356 yards. Three touchdowns. One interception. Ahman Green Rushes for 96 yards. Steve Smith breaks his fibula. Not really, he has seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Julius Peppers goes out with a busted knee. There are very few penalties. 13 all together. The Panthers are 0-1 on fourth down conversions. Donald Driver has 9 catches for 35 yards. Now that I have done the absurd (trying to accuratly predict detailed statistics of an NFL game) I will give my prediction: Carolina: 24 Green Bay: 17

Quick Thoughts on NFL Week 4

2005-10-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Manning is good. The other Manning is also good. McNabb is one tough dude. Randy Moss is one fast dude. LaDanian Tomlinson is one skilled dude. The Patriots are 2-2. They lost at home. They lost to the Panthers who lost the Saints. The Patriots are no longer the class of the AFC. At least not right now. The Vikings are back to crap. That Rams-Giants shoot-out was pretty cool. This Cardinals-49ers game is going to be a toe-biter. Anthony Wright will never be a starter, at least not for a while, but he's a pretty solid backup. J.P. Losman looks like he's toast for the year. The world is ending. Bledsoe had a seven yard run in which he eluded two defenders. You read that right, eluded. Vick can run. Plummer continues to bounce up and down all over the place. One week good, the next week crap, the next week good, the next week great. What next? The Bengals looked a bit slow today, but still good enough to win. 4-0 speaks for itself. Brunell looks pretty good. Good enough to take Washington to the playoffs. Poor play by Tampa, but they still won. Congratulations to Manning and Harrison. In my opinion, they are the best combo ever. No questions. That's all for now

NFL Week Four Game of the Week- Eagles vs. Chiefs

2005-10-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

Why I Like This Game: * These are two very good teams playing. Anytime you have two good teams playing the game is good. * Donavan McNabb is injured. He plays best when he is injured. *Both teams really need this win to get a leg-up in their divisions. What The Eagles Must Do: *Run. A lot. They are often too pass-happy for their own good. They need to try to get the ball to Westbrook early in the game so that they can keep the Kansas City defense honest. *Protect McNabb. He is playing with a very real injury. Too much bumping around, and there goes your season as McNabb gets knocked out. *Stop the run. I like the Eagles' secondary more than their defensive line. I think they have more of an advantage if the Chiefs primarily have to pass the ball. What the Eagles Must Not Do: *Play conservative offense. Just because McNabb is injured doesn't mean they have to play soft. They need to mix up the plays. If they play bland offense, the Chiefs will eat them up. What the Chiefs Must Do: *Play good defense. Their offense is fine, their defense is the only thing that will keep them down. *Put the Eagles away early. The Eagles are very good when they are behind trying to catch up. If you get a 10, even 14 point lead on them, they go into a panick and start passing like mad. Remember Pittsburgh last year? *Stop the pass. Sure, Westbrook is very good, but the Eagles are primarily a passing team. If they have to rely on the run, it will throw them off their game. *Pressure McNabb. He's very tender, and very soft right now. If they can get some good blitzing, they could do quite well. What The Chiefs Must Not Do: *Overplay. Teams have a tendency to overplay the pass against the Eagles. That's a big mistake. *Drop eight. They need to defend the pass, sure; but just as importantly, they need to put pressure on up front. Why the Eagles will win: McNabb is hurt. He kicks butt when he's hurt...T.O. is playing very well...the Ealges are on the road. The pressure is on, and they do pretty well in pressure situations Why the Chiefs will win: They are at home...David Akers is out. They should have good field position quite freqently...they are at home...they are coming off a loss. They will be determined. Who will win: Chiefs 20 Eagles 17 With David Akers out, I just can't see the Eagles pulling it out. They don't have a dependable kicker, and to top it off, McNabb could go out any time if his injury worstens. gets worse.

NFL Week Four Preview, Analysis, and Predictions

2005-09-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

Buffalo vs. New Orleans (In San Antonio) This game is sure to be interesting. It's going to be in San Antonio, which makes it very different from your regular game. This is the second "home" game for the Saints, the first being the away game in New Jersey. This will be slightly better for them than the first home game, but still not quite like a home game. Buffalo is coming off a terrible performance by J.P. Losman, and the Kelly Holcomb watch started. There has been a bit of a debate over this. There are those that think there is no reason to sacrifice a season to break your rookie quarterback in. They want Losman benched and Holcomb put in, in the hopes that might jump-start the team, and get them in the playoffs. Others think that taking Losman out would be a bad psychological move. The kid is immature, and most likely a bit delicate. Taking him out would annoy him at best, and ruin his confidence at worst. What's my position? I don't know. That's why I'm not a coach. Game Breakdown: Aaron Brooks needs to start performing. He has been mediocre this season. I'd almost like to see the Saints play Adrian McPhereson. The running game could be better, but it's been okay. The Buffalo defense has been good, but Takeo Spikes is a key part, and now he's out. Prediction: Bills: 16 Saints: 10 Denver vs. Jacksonville The Broncos are coming off of a very strong game against Kansas City. Their running game was good, and Jake Plummer played quite well. Their defense was also very impressive, holding Kansas City to only 10 points. Jacksonville is coming off an overtime win over the Jets. Both teams are going to be confident, both teams are going to play well. I can't see either team putting up much offense, but I can't see either team putting up much defense. Game Breakdown: This will be a good game to really mix things up on offense for the Broncos. They need to keep Jacksonville guessing. Jacksonville is going to need to take care of Leftwich. He's taking way too much punishment. The Colts really bent him up two weeks ago. This game could swing either way. If one of the teams can get a 10 point lead sometime in the first quarter, that might be enough to ride on. Prediction: Jacksonville 20 Denver 14 Detroit vs. Tampa Bay This game could get weird really quickly. We have Detroit starting a quarterback who has played miserably ever since he came into the league, and he's trying to throw the ball to three extraordinarily talented wide recievers who are all first round picks. They also have a really good running back who only came into the league recently, and has done quite well. Their defense has been up and down all over the place. Tampa Bay is coming in strong. They have a fantastic young running back, and then a team mostly full of veterans. Or so it seems. Normally I'd give Tampa this game easily, but the matchup is just a little too strange. Game Breakdown: It's time Harrington gets thrown into the deep end. Start him off with some plays from the back of the book and see how he handles them. See how Tampa handles them. The Lions have to get a running game going as well, as impossible as that might sound against Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay needs to keep doing what they do best. Run, and stay conservative. I smell upset Prediction: Lions 27 Bucs 17 Houston vs. Cincy I'll be quick. Palmer throws two TDs, Johnson catches one, Houshmanzadeh catches one, the other Johnson scores twice. Once from inside the five, the other on a 45 yarder. Defense returns a fumble and interception for TDs. Prediction: Bengals 45 Texans 20 Indianapolis vs. Tennessee I'll be quick. Manning throws three TDs. Harrison catches one, Clark catches, Stokely catches one. James runs one in from the 14. Defense returns an interception for a TD. Prediction: Colts 38 Titans 13 San Diego vs. New England LaDanian Tomlinson playing really good+Drew Brees playing good+no BruschiHarrisonFaulkCharlieRomeoLawJohnson= Chargers upset the Pats. Prediction: Chargers 20 Patriots 17 Pats suffer their own venom. Seattle vs. Washington This one will either be a close one, or a blowout for Seattle, hard to tell which. Alexander is playing very well, Hasselback has been good enough. Washington had the game given to them last week. I don't see Mark playing very well (Jason, start warming up). Game Breakdown: Washington needs to run a lot, and pass very little. They also need to limit Alexander. Seattle needs to balance out passing and running, and stop the run. Prediction: Seattle 23 Washington 6 St. Louis vs. New York Offense vs. Sometimes Offense. When Manning is good, he's good, when he's bad he's not worth much. Tiki Barber is still playing well, and the Rams offense is as complicated and impressive as ever. This should be a shoot-out, and it might come down to the wire. Game Breakdown: St. Louis needs to try to score early, and then hold New York. Limiting Eli and forcing Tiki to do all the work could play in their favor. New York needs to try to keep the score down. A high-scoring games favors the Rams. Prediction: St. Louis 37 NY/NJ 28 NYJ vs. Baltimore The Battle of the Backups. Anthony Wright vs. Brooks Boolinger. It will come down to how the rest of the team plays. I think New York has the better core set of players. Baltimore's defense hasn't been all that impressive this year. Game Breakdown: Run, don't pass. Both teams. Prediction: Jets 17 Ravens 13 Cowboys vs. Raiders Can the Raiders actually win? I think so. Collins gets his fourth win ever as a Raider, Moss gets his first, Jordan still sucks. Game Breakdown: I think Bledsoe will play good once more, but the rest of the team will crumble for absolutely no reason. Prediction Raiders 28 Cowboys 24 Minnesota vs. Atlanta Here's what I wrote for the interview on Falcons Daily:

Erik Love: You cover every team in the NFL, what's your thought's on the Minnesota Vikings? Jesse: I think they are getting desperate. Culpepper was completely off his game for the first several weeks, and I have a feeling it drove him nuts to have all the talk about him missing Moss and he really turned his game on, and I think the Viking are going to pull themselves out of the hole. I don't know that they'll end up any better than last season, but they might still win the division. Erik: The Yikes beat a bad Saints team last week. Do you think they can score like that against the Falcons? Jesse: I don't think so. If Daunte plays like Culpepper from this year, the Falcons will most likely win by a couple scores, if he plays like Culpepper last year, Vikes might win. It also depends on this revamped defense that has sucked so far, and on the recievers and running back. Too much blame and pressure has gone to culpepper. Erik: Alright, what's your thoughts on the Falcons offense? Jesse: I think that if Vick can pass for at least 200 yards and/or 2 touchdowns with no more than one interception, the Falcons will never lose another game, but that doesn't happen too often. The Falcons are getting carried by their running game, which is excellent. if Vick can calm down a little, and be patient, they can get a good passing game. He has an amazing arm, and with his scrambling ability, he could be the next John Elway, but he has to learn. Erik: What do you think about the Falcons Defense? Jesse: I like it. DeAngelo Hall, that guy is awesome and Patrick Kerny is good. I think it's a solid bunch. Erik: What's your game prediction for the Vikes, Falcons Game? Jesse: Falcons by three, after a last minute drive. 23-20

Philedelphia vs. Kansas City This will be a great game. In fact, this is my game of the week. So come back tommorow evening at around 5:00 to see a full analysis. Arizona vs. San Francisco Here's my analysis from the Cardinals Blog I run:

MATCHUPS
Cardinals Pass Offense vs. 49ers Pass Defense
First of all, we know the Cardinals’ offensive line sucks. It’s just a fact. I like the Cardinals, and I’m probably the only Cardinals blogger on the planet, but I have to be honest, and an offensive line that lets its quarterback get sacked at the goal line at the end of the game on a potentially game-winning drive, and then false-starts to end the game just downrght sucks, so I’ll get that out of the way. The 49ers have a semi-respectable defensive line, so the advantage goes to them for that part.
As for recievers vs. defensive backs, that advantage has to go to the Cardinals. Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald are two top recievers, when they’re on their game it’s hard for anyone to cover them. let alone a 49er secondary with a couple of guys out injured (Ahmed Plummer, possibly Kelly Herndon).
The biggest disadvantage is going to be QB. Unless McCown really steps up it could be a long bus ride home through the desert. Thus far in his career he has shown nothing but flashes of brilliance, and thos tend to not last much longer than a play or two. Here the 49ers keep their advantage.
The Cardinals running game has been virtually non-existant. Hotshot second round draft pick from Cal who was supposed to be the next Brian Westbrook has turned out to be a waste of a good pick so far, but don’t despair, Ronnie Brown didn’t get it going until the 3rd week, so maybe he’s just a late bloomer. Maybe. 49ers defense has been okay so far. Last week the leading rusher got 46 yards, and Kurt Warner rushed for more yards than Arrington on 1/5 the carries. How bizzare is that? The 49ers allowed 85 yards to Jones who is supposed to be a 1300 yard rusher this year, so that’s not bad. Advantage goes to the ‘Niners.
The 49ers offensive line seems quite good. Their running backs got about 5 yards a carry last week, and Rattay was only sacked once, so they ought to be quite good. The Cardinals, on the other hand, got no sacks and gave Alexander 4 rushing TDs. Advantage goes to 49ers.
The 49ers recievers are decent, Arnaz Battle and Brandon Lloyd, but the Cardinals secondary is also only decent. At least on paper. They’ve been horrid this year. Led by Antrel Rolle who had played okay at best, they aren’t playing too well this year. Advantage goes to 49ers (I’m getting really sick of saying that, what I ought to do is copy the phrase to my virtual clipboard, and then just hit Control-V every time and save myself the finger strain).
Who will win? Although the 49ers seem to have the overall advantage (they easily beat a St. Louis team that easily beat the Cardinals), this is the NFL, and this is a “road game” for the 49ers, and the Cardinals are desperate. Strange things happen when a team is desperate, and the Cardinals are beyond desperate at 0-3 after an off-season when they were the pick to win their division by many (myself included), and have since failed to show that they have improved the tiniest bit.
Prediction:

Cardinals 22 49ers 17

strange score for a strange game

My Interview

2005-09-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

Erik over at Falcons Daily did an interview with me, and it's up on his blog, so go check it out. My favorite part?

Ok, there it is. This is a man, that lives football...he's a lil bit of a loser...but, the man loves his football and he run's a good blog...he's also not racist, so i can respect that...honestly, it's a good blog and y'all should check it out.

Alright, I'll take that

Don Banks Blows

2005-09-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Check out the latest column by SI's Don Banks Link)

Brady loses out every year because he doesn't have eye-popping statistics, but in truth he has numbers galore; they're just not the kind that fall into one calendar year and win you MVP votes. A 9-0 record as a playoff starter; 18 wins when the Pats were either tied or trailing in the fourth quarter; a 7-0 mark in overtime; a record of 59-15 (.797) as a starter, the best mark of any quarterback in the Super Bowl era; going an entire season (2003) without throwing an interception at home. Oh, yeah, and then there are those three Super Bowl rings he won before his 28th birthday. Those seven other quarterbacks I mentioned earlier? They own a combined one Super Bowl ring between them. Consider that Roethlisberger has lost exactly two games in his meteoric NFL career, and coincidentally both have come when Brady was the opposing quarterback. Manning? Besides not being able to beat Brady head-to-head, he can only dream of doing what Brady has done three times over -- leading a team to a Super Bowl title.

Several stupid points: 1. Richard Seymour has a 9-0 record as a playoff starter; 18 wins when the Pats were either tied or trailing in the fourth quarter; a 7-0 mark in overtime; a record of 52-15 as a starter, the best mark of any defensive end in the Super Bowl era. So, are we going to make him a Hall of Famer? Are we going to give him all kinds of awards and sponsorship deals? He has come up with big stops in big games, he has made big tackles on big stages. He never loses. Point taken? Just because Tom Brady wins does not mean he is the only reason the team wins. He has an excellent coaching staff, good recievers, good running game, a great defense, and one of the most clutch kickers in league history. I ask you, who couldn't win with that kind of a supporting cast? I would go so far as to say that there really isn't that much special about Brady. Is he good? Oh yeah, he has good stats, and he makes good decisions. But people just can't seem to get their minds around that fact that just because he is in a high-profile position does not mean that he is the reason for the team's success. 2. And another mistake, comparing performances in head-to-head games with other QBs is lame and stupid. They have different recievers, they play against different defenses and coaching. It is absurd to try to compare them. The best way to compare is performances against common opponents, in which Manning seems to do just as good, if not better.

It clearly works against Brady and his MVP hopes that New England is the ultimate team, with an organizational mentality of quashing any promotion of the individual at the expense of the greater good. Patriots headmaster Bill Belichick abhors putting one player ahead of the team, and he'll never lead the chorus in singing Brady's praises. But here's one more indicator of Brady's impact in New England: Before Brady started a game for him, Belichick was 42-58 (.420) as an NFL head coach, with one playoff trip. Since Brady took over in early 2001, Belichick has gone 59-15 (.797) and has won three Super Bowls. That's a decent little upswing.

Substitute Seymour and it would still be completely correct. That is simply a stupid point.

NFL Week Three Players of the Week

2005-09-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

AFC: offense- LaDanian Tomlinson/RB/San Diego Chargers defense- Lance Schulters/S/Miami Dolphins special teams- Adam Vinatieri/K/New England Patriots NFC: offense- Shaun Alexander/RB/Seattle Seahawks defense- Rod Coleman/DT/Atlanta Falcons special teams- Josh Bidwell/P/Tampa Bay Bucaneers

Pennington's Rotary Cuff IS Torn

2005-09-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

Said The Jets Blog:

FoxSports is reporting that Andrews was able to confirm that Pennington's injury was in fact a torn rotator cuff, not just a scar tissue tear. What this all means is the following: 1) No more media jerking us around, Pennington is definitely out for the year. 2) Pennington might not have to undergo the knife again, but they are planning on evaluating his status in a few weeks Whether this means he will be able to play again is still uncertain, but the source was positive about his future. 3) If Pennington can't play, the Jets will hope to hold onto him as long as they can due to the cap hit. Link

Week Three NFL Power Rankings

2005-09-28T06:45:00.000-07:00

1. Colts 2. Bengals 3. Patriots 4. Steelers 5. Bucaneers 6. Eagles 7. Falcons 8. Redskins 9. Chiefs 10. Panthers 11. Jaguars 12. Giants 13. Cowboys 14. Seahawks 15. Rams 16. Broncos 17. Dolphins 18. Chargers 19. Bears 20. Titans 21. Bills 22. 49ers 23. Vikings 24. Browns 25. Jets 26. Saints 27. Lions 28. Ravens 29. Raiders 30. Cardinals 31. Packers 32. Texans

Template

2005-09-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

Everything should be working now. I re-installed the comments. If you want the colors changed or anything, now's your chance to tell me.

NFL Week Three Comentary & Analysis

2005-09-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

Atlanta 24, Buffalo 16 Obviously Vick was not bothered by his leg. His passing was pretty good. Not excellent, but good enough to compliment his running (how weird does that sound?). That one catch by Brian Finneran was nothing short of amazing. J.P. Losman looked quite horrible. McGahee was great, but not good enough to make up for Losman. The Falcons looke to be on track to a 11-5 season, or so. Miami 27, Carolina 24 If there is one team in this league that I just can't figure out, it's the Carolina Panthers. They lose to the Saints of all things, then they beat the Patriots (make no mistake, it wasn't as close as the score showed), and then they lose to Miami? Miami has looked good this year, but that is still a huge surprise. Jake Delhomme alternated between looking like someone going to the Pro Bowl to someone the Panthers picked up off the street. The Carolina defense certainly could have been better, but in the end that turnover was what really killed them. Cincinnati 24, Chicago 7 Five picks. Two games in a row. Folks, it's not just the offense that is scary. The Bengals' defense is pretty darn good as well. Being 3-0 is not a fluke. This team is pretty darn good. I'm not quite sure they can challenge Pittsburgh for the division, but they'll certainly make the playoffs, and then they could go far. As for Chicago, they don't have to be too worried. Orton is a rookie, and rookies have games like this. It can be expected, no need to get all hyper. Indianapolis 13, Cleveland 6 Now it is almost time to get worried about the Indy offense, and excited about their defense. They have allowed hardly anything. There was the garbage TD by Baltimore, a FG by Jacksonville, and then only six points by Cleveland. Once Manning gets things going, they are going to look unstopable. Cleveland just wasn't able to convert enough, they made too many little mistakes. Jacksonville 26, N.Y. Jets 20 (OT) What a heart breaker. Compounded by the fact that Pennington is out for the season, and it is possible that his career is over. It was interesting, I just had a look at his statistics, and Pennington has never played a full 16 game season. Have a look:

Year Team G GS Att Comp Pct Yards YPA Lg TD Int Tkld 20+ 40+ Rate

2000 New York Jets 1 0 5 2 40.0 67 13.40 62 1 0 1/4 1 1 127.1

2001 New York Jets 2 0 20 10 50.0 92 4.60 24 1 0 1/8 1 0 79.6

2002 New York Jets 15 12 399 275 68.9 3120 7.82 47 22 6 22/135 40 3 104.2

2003 New York Jets 10 9 297 189 63.6 2139 7.20 65 13 12 25/160 26 6 82.9

2004 New York Jets 13 13 370 242 65.4 2673 7.22 48 16 9 18/103 33 6 91.0

2005 New York Jets 3 3 83 49 59.0 530 6.39 37 2 3 9/52 7 0 70.9

TOTAL 44 37 1174 767 65.3 8621 7.34 65 55 30 76/462 108 16 92.1

Source

Year	Team	G	GS	Att	Comp	Pct	Yards	YPA	Lg	TD	Int	Tkld	20+	40+	Rate
2000	New York Jets	1	0	5	2	40.0	67	13.40	62	1	0	1/4	1	1	127.1
2001	New York Jets	2	0	20	10	50.0	92	4.60	24	1	0	1/8	1	0	79.6
2002	New York Jets	15	12	399	275	68.9	3120	7.82	47	22	6	22/135	40	3	104.2
2003	New York Jets	10	9	297	189	63.6	2139	7.20	65	13	12	25/160	26	6	82.9
2004	New York Jets	13	13	370	242	65.4	2673	7.22	48	16	9	18/103	33	6	91.0
2005	New York Jets	3	3	83	49	59.0	530	6.39	37	2	3	9/52	7	0	70.9
TOTAL		44	37	1174	767	65.3	8621	7.34	65	55	30	76/462	108	16	92.1

The Jets defense just wasn't able to hold out until the end, and they gave up the game on a long pass play for a TD. Byron Leftwich amazed everybody on Sunday. It takes a lot of toughness to play like he did after the injury he took. Here's a wild idea: how about the Jets go after Philip Rivers? That solves many problems. The Jets get a good QB, Chargers get him off their hands. A 1st round draft pick my do it, or perhaps a couple players. People are throwing around Interceptaverde and other players, but I think this solution is best. Minnesota 33, New Orleans 16 We have found Daunte Culpepper. Now all we're missing is Aaron Brooks. Actually, I take that back. Aaron Brooks would make an excellent backup, but I think he is never going to be a really dependable starter. Joe Horn is amazing. Philadelphia 23, Oakland 20 For once Terrel Owens got the better of Randy Moss. The only negative, and it is a big one, for the Eagles, is that they have a kicker that has trouble walking. Tampa Bay 17, Green Bay 16 Missed extra points can cost you big. Reminds of the game last year when the Lions made a great comeback at the end, then missed the extra point to go to OT. Cadillac Williams is nothing short of amazing. Favre continues to throw interceptions faster than I can count. St. Louis 31, Tennessee 27 The Titans actually came quite close to pullin an upset, or at least going to OT. But the St. Louis offense was a bit too good. My only question- Why on earth did Isaac Bruce get so few passes thrown his way? Seattle 37, Arizona 12 Warner out with a groin injury=bad news for the Cards. Sure they haven't been that good all year, but losing Warner won't make them any better. Seattly looks pretty good. I think they might win the division again this year. Dallas 34, San Francisco 31 Nice comeback by Dallas, but why the heck did they ever let themselves get that far behind? The offense looked good again (enjoy, that was a historical moment when Bledsoe gained yardage on a run), but the defense showed some weaknesses, both this week and last. San Diego 45, N.Y. Giants 23 Here's what I really didn't like:

New York Giants at 03:48
1-10-NYG33 (3:48) D.Ward up the middle to NYG 35 for 2 yards (M.Wilhelm).
2-8-NYG35 (3:22) (Shotgun) E.Manning pass incomplete to P.Burress.
3-8-NYG35 (3:16) (Shotgun) PENALTY on NYG-L.Petitgout, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at NYG 35 - No Play.
3-13-NYG30 (3:16) (Shotgun) E.Manning sacked at NYG 21 for -9 yards (M.Harris).
4-22-NYG21 (2:44) J.Feagles punts 45 yards to SD 34, Center-R.Kuehl, out of bounds. PENALTY on SD-J.Wilson, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at SD 34.

Why did you punt? You are down 22, at least try to score! Here's what I like:

RUSHING
ATT YDS TD LG
L. Tomlinson 21 192 3 62

RECIEVING

L. Tomlinson 6 28 0 9

PASSING

L. Tomlinson 1/1 26 1 26

Way to use him. New England 23, Pittsburgh 20 Randel El, why oh why did you lateral? There have been many discussions, and everybody agreed, it was stupid. I don't care if you practiced it, I don't care if you normally succeed 99/100, it was still stupid, and it might have cost you the game. Now this is just downright criminal. Fifty-three seconds added to the game is a BIG difference. Bill Cowher would have used all his timeouts, and then the Steelers would still have had time for another drive, instead Patriots walk away with the win. Folks, this seriously cheapends the win. Not that it was the Pats fault, they had no control, but it makes you wonder what would have happened if it had been fair. In other news, Rodney Harrison is out for the year, and that is horrible news for NE. Denver 30, Kansas City 10 When making predictions I forgot the fact that Vermeil sucks in Denver. Kudos to the Broncs for creaming a very good KC team.

Offensive Player of the Week: LaDanian Tomlinson Defensive Player of the Week: Dwight Freeney Special Teamer of the Week: None, way too many amazing performances. Team of the Week: Broncos. They creamed an amazing KC team that was looking unstoppable. Play of the Week: 1-10-NYG26(13:15) L.Tomlinson pass to K.McCardell for 26 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Loser of the Week: Ryan Longwell, missed an XP, and a FG, both of which might have either won the game, or at least taken it to OT on Sunday.

That's all for now

Pennington Out for Season, Possibly Career

2005-09-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Story Here's what The Jets Blog posted:

The NFL Network is reporting that Chad Pennington will miss the entire 2005 season with a torn rotator cuff... …the buzz i'm getting from a few different sources is that there is a strong likelihood that pennington could not only miss the rest of this season, but the surgery that could be required to re-fix his shoulder could also be career-ending, and the jets are preparing for both options…apparently, the off-season surgery he had was experimental, and it has back-fired… ...what just happened here... John Clayton of ESPN.com reports that the team will bring in Doug Johnson, Jesse Palmer and Jonathan Quinn for tryouts this week… …according to the same sources, vinny testarverde is being considered, as well… ...seriously, what in the world just happened... ...i think i'm gonna be sick...

It's a sad day for Jets' fans

Chiefs vs. Broncos MNF Breakdown and Analysis

2005-09-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

First of all, has anyone noticed I have been using very bland, very strange titles? Well, I have. It is mainly because I noticed that once I started putting key keywords in the title, I started to get a large number of referals and very nice placement on search engines, from Yahoo!, Google, Google blog search, and technorati. Anyways, enough with that: THE BREAKDOWN Chiefs need to run. I don't think the Broncos can do much to stop Larry Johnson or Priest Holmes, and the Chiefs can run both. Chiefs must stop the run. The Broncos rely heavily on their run game, as Plummer is not as dependable as they might like. If the run is shut down, you have a 50-50 chance. If it is one of Plummer's more brilliant games, this could be a close one; if he plays vintage Jake, then expect the Chiefs to win by 20. Chiefs need to contain Plummer. Not in the way you contain Mike Vick, but you need to keep him in the pocket. He plays best when he is rolling out on a bootleg. He throws very well on the run, and can see the field much better from there than from the pocket. If the Chiefs can bring guys blitzing from the outside, Plummer will be forced to step up into the pocket and make his throws from there, and I really don't know if he can do that. Broncos need to have at least two safetys back at all times, and then keep corners in coverage. No CB blitzes. Trent Green releases too quickly, and Antonio Gates is too big of a target for them to do anything less. They should also try to always rush at least 4 guys. In two TE sets they should rush 3, and drop an extra guy into coverage. Broncos need to spread the field. None of this bunched up stuff. They need to keep things spread out. Three recievers, always at least one TE, always at least one RB. Keep things open, and give Plummer lots of options. -- My Prediction: Chiefs 31 Broncos 23

Good and Bad Analysis

2005-09-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

First of all, great analysis of the Steelers-Pats game by HeelsSoxSteelers, I'll add a bit later, but that'll do for now. Secondly, Perhaps one of the most absurd pieces of NFL journalism I have ever seen by Andrew Perloff over at SI. I'll take each of his comments one-by-one and demonstrate this:

The Raiders were penalized 13 times to extend their league lead to 36 for the season. Just what you'd expect from a league conspiring against Al Davis. In all seriousness, Oakland players can't seem to help themselves. With more discipline, the Raiders might be 2-1 with wins over New England and Philly.

Well, sort of, and sort of not. It's not just penalties, their offensive line and secondary are also pretty horendous.

Benson, the No. 5 overall selection of this year's draft, might go down as the worst pick of the top 10 -- although 49ers QB Alex Smith (No. 1 overall) will be in the running. The 28-year-old Jones has 276 yards...

First of all, what happened to the days when rookies spent their first years learning? Alex Smith shouldn't have anything serious expected of him before next year, even then, it will be learning. Their third year is when QBs start to get good. As for Benson, the verdict is still out.

Finally, Kyle Orton looks like a Bears quarterback. The rookie's five-interception, zero-touchdown performance on Sunday initiates him into an exclusive club of futile Chicago signal-callers. Orton's name now belongs with other Midgets of the Midway like Chad Hutchinson, Craig Krenzel, Jonathan Quinn, Shane Matthews, Cade McNown ... you get the picture.

HE'S A ROOKIE! And Cincy is a good team. And this was his first bad outing of the season. Give him a break. He's still learning the playbook.

The Steelers didn't even need to make Adam Vinatieri boot the game-winning 43-yard field goal. That was like a two-foot golf putt for Vinatieri -- a total gimme. The Steelers should have just walked off the field before the kick.

I still don't get exactly what he was trying to say. Whatever it was, it was incorrect. The Pats just squeaked by with a win.

Although Ronnie Brown is still nowhere near his former Auburn teammate Carnell Williams, the Dolphins running back finally showed why he was the No. 2 overall pick on Sunday. Brown had 132 rushing yards and a TD to lead Miami past Carolina. Coming into this weekend, Ricky Williams appeared to have an edge for the Dolphins' starting job when he returns in Week 6. Brown showed he can be effective as a workhorse and the bruising rookie may still get a majority of the carries when Williams gets back from his league suspension.

Not too many problems with that, but I would say that the Dolphins' starting RB job is still very much up for grabs. A few more good games by Brown, and he's it.

Two Hall of Famers whose career may have jumped the shark: Brett Favre and Curtis Martin. Favre threw three more picks Sunday to give him seven for the season and the Packers dropped to 0-3. Green Bay came back from 1-4 last season to make the playoffs, but Favre at least had a taste of success during the terrible start in '04. Very little has gone right for Favre so far this season and a comeback is hard to envision. Of course, I seem to recall thinking that in previous years and being dead wrong. Martin has struggled with a knee injury and the Jets' ineffective passing game makes him a sitting duck for defenses. He doesn't look like the same back that led the league in rushing last season. Martin rarely breaks a tackle or has a successful cut and he's averaging just 2.8 yards per carry in three games.

Favre is certainly looking a bit worse than usual this season, but he is on a horrible team. All blame cannot go to him. As for Martin, he's getting old, what do you expect? I had a feeling he would be significantly worse this year, I'm betting he retires at the end of the season.

The Jets basically chose Martin over the younger Lamont Jordan, who fled via free agency to Oakland. Jordan had 19 yards on 16 carries against the Eagles on Sunday. He also caught five passes for 53 yards and a TD, but based on this performance so far this year, there's no reason to think New York let a superstar go.

I still think they should have kept him. No, he isn't a superstar, but they could sure use him. He will never be a feature back, but he's a darn good backup.

The Jets and Jaguars would have been better off punting on third down than keeping their offenses on the field Sunday. The only real threat either team could muster was scoring on turnovers, getting field position on turnovers or using defense to get good field position. For these two teams, the quarterback punt is underused. Maybe New York could bring Randall Cunningham out of retirement to execute some quick-kicks.

Again, that made almost zero sense, but it was wrong, and another example of bizzarre writing. His article got weirder as it went on.

There is a statistical trend that players who set offensive records tend to disappoint the following season, so maybe we shouldn't be surprised Colts quarterback Peyton Manning fell back to Earth so quickly after he threw a record 49 TDs last year. Manning's statistical collapse hasn't gotten any attention because the Colts are 3-0, but he has just two TDs after three games and he's averaged just 201 yards passing per game.

Still too early to say. I think Manning will stay throw about 35 TDs this year.

Chad Johnson gets mixed reviews for his two touchdown celebrations in Chicago. He celebrated his first score with a fine jig reminiscent of the Fonzi dance from Happy Days. On the second touchdown, Johnson opted for the push-ups, which is a derivative of Terrell Owens' sit-ups. And frankly, Johnson's form on the push-ups was terrible. It's amazing he has any upper-body strength if that's how he does a push-up.

Basically he can't think of anything to say, so he criticizes that way a guy jokes around after he scores. Lame.

The Colts' Dwight Freeney has to be considered the most disruptive defensive player in the league right now. The 2004 sack leader got to Cleveland's Trent Dilfer three times on Sunday and has been at the heart of Indy's defensive renaissance. This Colts defense is starting to look a lot like the unit Tony Dungy coached in Tampa Bay. Fast and aggressive.

This I actually agree with.

The Bills have to address their quarterback situation immediately, since they can't be a bona fide playoff contender with J.P. Losman. There are too many talented veterans on the defense to already give up on this season and commit to the future by sticking with Losman. The second-year QB's production is headed steadily downward -- he threw for 170 yards in Week 1, 113 yards in Week 2 and 75 yards on Sunday. At this rate, he'll be throwing for negative yards by Week 5. Buffalo has to commit to veteran Kelly Holcomb right now or the season is over.

Bull. That would be the worst possible thing to do. Keep Losman, let him work. If you dump him now, you risk destroying his confidence, which could have serious negatives later on. All for now, check back tommorow for detailed analysis of todays games, and a breakdown of KC vs. Denver

Game of the Week- Pittsbugh vs. New England Complete Analysis

2005-09-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

What is not to love about this game? This is guaranteed to be a heavy-weight match, as it always is when these two teams play. First, we start with the given points. This is what we know will happen- *It's going to be medium-level scoring. It won't be like the AFC Championship earlier this year (41-27) and it won't be a 3-2 game either, expect a total of about 27 points scored. *The defense will be awesome. Pittsburgh and New England always field two of the top defenses in the league, and they have both done it again this year. *Both teams will come out agressive early. The opening drives for each team should be great to watch. For Pittsburgh it will be their first real oponnent. Things to Look for- *The Patriots to crowd the box. Expect them to come out in a 4-3 defense. Possibly in the '46' defense. They've watched Willie Parker the last couple weeks absolutely demolish oponents with his spectacular speed and knack for winding up in the open field with no one around him. *Roethlisberger to look much more comfortable than the last time they played. This is his second year (sophemore slump my [edited])and he now is much better with calling the plays and making decisions, he plays smarter this year. (Note to self, never again pay the slightest bit of attention to the preseason) *The Patriots trying to run it early. To date Corey Dillion has looked like a scab off the street, not someone who just came off a season with 1635 yards. If this happens, Pittsburgh wins- "It's a blitz! Joey Porter comes around the corner untouched and just slams Tom Brady. AND THE BALL'S LOOSE!" Tom Brady, heck everyone, has to protect the ball. Pittsburgh's defense is hard enough to score on when you have four downs, but when you have three it's hopeless. "And Corey Dillion just get's stuffed. Loss of two." The Patriots must get the run game going. If this happens, NE wins- "Ben, getting pressured, throws it deep into triple coverage, bobbled, and Rodeny Harrison comes down with it. That's his second interception of the night. Oh my!" Roethlisberger cannot throw interceptions. One max. The Patriots just kill you when you make stupid mistakes Who will win- PITTSBURGH- it'll be a close game, but in the end the Steelers 'D' and running game will pull them through, look for Parker to get slightly under 100 yards, Roethlisberger to throw 2 tds and an int. Brady will be good, but throw a very costly pick at the end. Dillion will be mediocre for his third straight game.

Shanahan- Getting a Free Ride

2005-09-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about this for a while now, and I really think that Denver needs to get rid of Mike Shanahan. What has he done. Oh, that'r right, he won two Super Bowls. When was that again? It was in 1999 that he last did anything impressive. Since then they have managed to make the playoffs a few times, and when they did it wasn't all that pretty. Most recently was last year when they got torched for the second straight year by Manning and co. So what should they do? Dump him. Get rid of him. Move on. He has proven that he cannot win unless he has John Elway and Terrel Davis and Shannon Sharpe. He has had no success since he had that combo, and who couldn't win if they had that kind of a combination? Another of his faults is his poor decision making. Both in game time, and reguarding football matters. Whose idea was it to waste a valuable 3rd round draft choice on Maurice Clarett? By sticking with Mike Shanahan the Broncos are limiting themselves. They have a lot of talent on that team, and with some key personel decisions as well as some good coaching, I think they could go far.

Week Three Predictions

2005-09-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

Atlanta 17 Buffalo 10 Carolina 24 Miami 7 Cincinnati 21 Chicago 13 Indianapolis 34 Cleveland 10 Jacksonville 21 NYJ 14 New Orleans 17 Minnesota 16 Philidelphia 27 Oakland 24 Tampa Bay 31 Green Bay 21 St. Louis 14 Tennessee 3 Arizona 17 Seattle 10 Dallas 21 San Francisco 6 Pittsburgh 24 New England 14 New York-B 20 San Diego 13 And that is all for now

NFL Players of the Week

2005-09-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

BROWNS QB TRENT DILFER, BENGALS CB DELTHA O’NEAL & COLTS P HUNTER SMITH NAMED AFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 2 Quarterback TRENT DILFER of the Cleveland Browns, cornerback DELTHA O’NEAL of the Cincinnati Bengals and punter HUNTER SMITH of the Indianapolis Colts are the AFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played the second week of the 2005 season (September 18-19), the NFL announced today. OFFENSE: QB TRENT DILFER, CLEVELAND BROWNS • Cleveland quarterback TRENT DILFER passed for 336 yards and three touchdowns without an interception on 21 of 32 passing (65.6 percent) for a 131.8 passer rating in a 26-24 win at Green Bay. The 12-year pro from Fresno State reached the second-highest passing-yard total of his career as two of his three TD strikes stretched more than 60 yards. Making his second start for Cleveland, Dilfer completed 13 of his first 17 attempts, including his first eight. The 6-4 quarterback led the Browns’ offense with 201 second-half passing yards and a pair of touchdown passes. For Dilfer, currently the AFC’s third-highest rated passer (95.1), this is his second career Player of the Week Award (Week 4, 1997 with Tampa Bay). DEFENSE: CB DELTHA O’NEAL, CINCINNATI BENGALS • Cincinnati cornerback DELTHA O’NEAL recorded three interceptions Sunday in a 37-8 win at home against the Minnesota Vikings. O’Neal’s three interceptions tied a franchise record – last achieved by safety DAVID FULCHER in 1989 – and his eight tackles led the team. The sixth-year player from California was a key cog in a defense that permitted only one drive longer than 3:13 on the afternoon. Two of O’Neal’s interceptions occurred within Cincinnati’s 10-yard line to thwart Minnesota scoring opportunities. The Palo Alto native also defensed two additional passes, one of which was intercepted by teammate KEVIN KAESVIHARN. A win Sunday in Soldier Field would give Cincinnati a 3-0 start. The Bengals have advanced to the playoffs the last two times they started a season 3-0 (1988, 1990). This is O’Neal’s second career Player of the Week distinction (Week 4, 2001 with Denver) and his first as a Bengal. SPECIAL TEAMS: P HUNTER SMITH, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS • In a game where field position proved crucial, Indianapolis punter HUNTER SMITH was spectacular, keeping the visiting Jaguars on a long field as the Colts upended their AFC South rival 10-3 and seized sole possession of first-place in the AFC South. Smith punted seven times for a 46.1-yard average. Three of his punts resulted in Jaguars possessions beginning inside their own 10-yard line. Smith’s longest punt of the day traveled 55 yards and none of his kicks drew a touchback. In his seventh year from Notre Dame, this is Smith’s first career Player of the Week Award. 2005 AFC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Offense Defense Special Teams Wk 1 RB Willie Parker, Pittsburgh LB Gary Brackett, Indianapolis K Josh Scobee, Jacksonville Wk 2 QB Trent Dilfer, Cleveland CB Deltha O’Neal, Cincinnati P Hunter Smith, Indianapolis Other nominees for AFC Offensive Player of Week 2 were: • Kansas City running back PRIEST HOLMES, who ran for a touchdown and gained 75 rushing yards on 19 carries in a 23-17 Sunday night win at Oakland. • Indianapolis running back EDGERRIN JAMES, who rushed for 128 yards on 27 carries and caught four passes for 39 yards in a 10-3 win against Jacksonville. • Cincinnati wide receiver CHAD JOHNSON, who caught seven passes for 139 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown catch on the game's second play from scrimmage. • Cincinnati quarterback CARSON PALMER, who completed 27 of 40 passes for 337 yards with three TDs against one interception for a 108.0 passer rating. Palmer has registered a 100-plus passer rating in five consecutive starts. • Pittsburgh running back WILLIE PARKER, who rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries to help the Steelers attain their 16th consecutive victory in a 27-7 win at Houston. Parker leads the AFC and stands second in the NFL with 272 rushing yards. • Pittsburgh quarterback BEN ROETHLISBERGER, who registered a 139.8 passer rating by completing 14 of 21 passes (66.7 pct.) for 254 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Roethlisberger averaged a whopping 12.1-yards-per-attempt and guided a Steelers offense that did not punt until the fourth quarter. Other nominees for AFC Defensive Player of Week 2 were: • New York Jets linebacker JOHN ABRAHAM, who notched five tackles, including 1.0 sack with a pass defensed and a forced fumble in a 17-7 victory at home against division-rival Miami. • Denver cornerback CHAMP BAILEY, who returned an interception 25 yards for a TD and recorded three tackles in a 20-17 home win against San Diego. Bailey's score helped spur the Broncos to victory after trailing 14-3 at halftime. Bailey has interceptions in back-to-back games. • Kansas City rookie linebacker DERRICK JOHNSON, who tallied eight tackles and a fumble recovery. • Pittsburgh safety TROY POLAMALU, who registered 3.0 sacks – tying the most ever by an NFL safety – as he compiled six total tackles and a pass defensed. • Indianapolis defensive tackle MONTAE REAGOR, who chalked-up a career-high 3.0 sacks. Reagor is part of a defense that has limited opponents to single-digit scores in each of their first two games for the third time in franchise history. • Tennessee defensive end KYLE VANDEN BOSCH, who recorded six tackles, including a career-high 3.0 sacks, with a fumble recovery in a 25-10 win against visiting Baltimore. Vanden Bosch was part of a Titans defense that allowed only 14 rushing yards. Other nominees for AFC Special Teams Player of Week 2 were: • New York Jets punter BEN GRAHAM, who punted seven times for a 44.1-yard average with a long of 54 yards. • Kansas City kick returner DANTE HALL, who averaged 34.0 yards on four kickoff returns, including a long return of 45 yards. • Pittsburgh linebacker JAMES HARRISON, who posted three special teams tackles. • Pittsburgh kicker JEFF REED, who was two for two in field goal attempts (37 and 35 yards) to extend his consecutive FG-made streak to 21, surpassing GARY ANDERSON’s former franchise-best streak of 19. Reed also booted four kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. -- REDSKINS WR SANTANA MOSS, BUCCANEERS LB SHELTON QUARLES & BEARS PR BOBBY WADE NAMED NFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 2 Wide receiver SANTANA MOSS of the Washington Redskins, linebacker SHELTON QUARLES of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and punt returner BOBBY WADE of the Chicago Bears are the NFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played the second week of the 2005 season (September 18-19), the NFL announced today. OFFENSE: WR SANTANA MOSS, WASHINGTON REDSKINS • Moss helped the Redskins to a thrilling 14-13 come-from-behind win over their arch-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, on Monday night. The win was Washington’s first at Texas Stadium since 1995 and occurred in memorable fashion. Trailing 13-0 late in the fourth quarter, Moss broke free for a 39-yard touchdown reception on a fourth-and-15, drawing the Redskins closer with 3:46 remaining. Then, on the team’s ensuing possession, Moss’ 70-yard touchdown reception provided the game-winning points, as the Redskins improved to 2-0 for the first time since 1991. Moss finished the game with five receptions for 159 yards and two touchdowns. In his fifth season from Miami, this is Moss’ second career Player of the Week Award. The last Redskins wide receiver to earn Offensive recognition was ROD GARDNER in 2001 (Week 6). DEFENSE: LB SHELTON QUARLES, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS • Quarles led the team with 10 tackles and added 1.0 sack and a safety in a 19-3 home win over the Buffalo Bills. His second quarter sack of Buffalo quarterback J.P. LOSMAN gave the Buccaneers a 2-0 lead. Quarles is the first player in team history to have both a touchdown and a safety. The veteran linebacker helped limit the Bills to eight first downs and 147 total yards as Tampa Bay started the season with consecutive victories for the first time since 2000. In his ninth season from Vanderbilt, this is Quarles’ second career Player of the Week Award. He previously earned Special Teams honors in Week 11 of 1997. SPECIAL TEAMS: PR BOBBY WADE, CHICAGO BEARS • Wade helped break open a close game in the second quarter of an eventual 38-6 win over Detroit Lions, scoring on a 73-yard punt return for his first career touchdown. With Chicago holding a 10-6 advantage, Wade’s punt return extended the lead to 11 points, and the Bears never looked back, scoring the next 21points to close out the victory. Wade returned three punts on the day for 87 yards and also added onereception in the win. In his third season from Arizona, this is Wade’s first career Player of the Week Award. 2005 NFC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Offense Defense Special Teams Wk 1 QB Drew Bledsoe, Dallas DT Bryant Young, San Francisco K John Carney, New Orleans Wk 2 WR Santana Moss, Washington LB Shelton Quarles, Tampa Bay PR Bobby Wade, Chicago Other nominees for NFC Offensive Player of Week 2 were: • Seattle running back SHAUN ALEXANDER, who rushed for 144 yards on 28 carries, including a 14-yard touchdown run and added two receptions for 11 yards in a 21-18 win over Atlanta. • Washington quarterback MARK BRUNELL, who posted a 94.1 passer rating, completing 20 of 34 attempts for 291 yards and two touchdowns. • Carolina running back STEPHEN DAVIS, who rushed for 77 yards, including three one-yard touchdown runs in a 27-17 win over New England. • Chicago running back THOMAS JONES, who rushed for 139 yards on 20 carries, including touchdown runs of 3 and 16 yards. • Philadelphia quarterback DONOVAN MC NABB, who completed 23 of 29 attempts for 342 yards and a career high-tying five touchdowns, posting a 155.4 passer rating in a 42-3 over San Francisco. • Philadelphia tight end L.J. SMITH, who totaled career-bests nine catches and 110 yards with one touchdown. • Tampa Bay running back CARNELL “CADILLAC” WILLIAMS, who gained 128 yards rushing on 24 carries, including a three-yard touchdown run. Other nominees for NFC Defensive Player of Week 2 were: • St. Louis safety ADAM ARCHULETA, who had 10 tackles and 1.0 sack in a 12-7 win over NFC West-rival Arizona. • Carolina cornerback KEN LUCAS, who totaled 11 tackles and one pass defensed. • Philadelphia cornerback LITO SHEPPARD, who had 1.0 sack and one interception in the same game for the first time in his career. • Chicago cornerback NATHAN VASHER, who had two interceptions, four pass break-ups and one tackle. • Washington linebacker MARCUS WASHINGTON, who had 11 tackles, including eight solo. Other nominees for NFC Special Teams Player of Week 2 were: • St. Louis punter REGGIE HODGES, who averaged 42.9 yards on seven punts. • Arizona kicker NEIL RACKERS, who scored all 12 points for the Cardinals on field goals of 29, 26, 48 and 35 yards and added four touchbacks on five kickoffs. • Carolina kicker JOHN KASAY, who converted field goals of 51 and 52 yards. • Philadelphia linebacker MARK SIMONEAU, who posted two tackles on special teams and kicked an extra point, becoming the first defensive player since TED THOMPSON in 1981 to accomplish the feat.

Martin MRIs Negative, Expected to Play

2005-09-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

Curtis Martin's MRIs came back negative, and he is expected to suite up on Sunday

Tice is Safe

2005-09-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

The Vikings' owner came out and made sure everybody knew that Tice is safe, but I have to ask, for how long? 0-3? 0-6? If they don't pick up, you have to fire him at some point. In other news, the Dom Capers and Alex Smith watches are officially on

Power Rankings

2005-09-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

1. Colts 2. Steelers 3. Eagles 4. Panthers 5. Patriots 6. Chiefs 7. Bucaneers 8. Bengals 9. Falcons 10. Redskins 11. Giants 12. Jaguars 13. Bears 14. Cowboys 15. Bills 16. Seahawks 17. Jets 18. Saints 19. Dolphins 20. Rams 21. Titans 22. Broncos 23. Raiders 24. Browns 25. 49ers 26. Lions 27. Cardinals 28. Chargers 29. Raiders 30. Ravens 31. Vikings 32. Texans

Offensive Player of the Week: Donavan McNabb, QB, Eagles- How can you not love 5 TDs in that small an amount of time?

Defensive Player of the Week: Mike Brown, FS, Bears- 41 yard TD interception return. Special Teamer of the Week- Bobby Wade, WR, Bears- 73 Yard punt return for a TD. Team of the Week: Colts- Dang. That is one tough 'D'. Play of the Week: 1-10-WAS 30(2:44) (Shotgun) 8-M.Brunell pass to 89-S.Moss for 70 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Loser of the Week: Carr/Harrington- I'm going with the double-'r' QBs this week. Both performances were just awful.

Quick Thoughts on MNF

2005-09-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

*Eli looked really good. His throws were accurate, and he was very calm. He is definitly getting better. *Joe Horn is good. I don't think he gets enough credit for how good he is. I'd put rght beneath Harrison, Owens, and Moss along with Hines Ward. *The Redskins have amazing defense. They don't miss tackles; they don't make many mistakes. *That was the old Mark Brunell last night. That seventy yard bomb went about 60 yards in the air, and it was thrown perfectly. *Joe Gibbs is up to his old tricks. Unfortunatly they don't work very well any more. *The Big Tuna is now 77-1 when leading by 13 or more points any time in the fourth quarter.

Jets' Reciever Coles Reveals He Was Sexually Abused

2005-09-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

"I haven't talked about it in ... forever, but I know that holding something like that inside has been a burden for so long," Coles said after helping the Jets beat Miami 17-7. "For me to get on this platform that I have, having been in the league and have all the media attention that we have, I think it's something that should be said. "If it gets one kid to come out and say, 'Look, this is happening to me,' ... I think it's right."

Good for him -- Link

KC Holder Dies During Game...

2005-09-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

4-6-OAK 28 (9:35) L.Tynes 46 yard field goal is BLOCKED (L.Walker), Center-K.Gammon, Holder-D.Colquitt, declared dead at OAK 36.

Or so I thought until I saw the comma. Even so, it took me several minutes to process

Quick Thoughts On Week 2

2005-09-18T17:11:00.000-07:00

Rams vs. Cardinals * Kurt Warner looked darn good. It's too bad there was that stupid penalty at the end, or the Rams might be going home 0-2. Steelers vs. Texans * Willie Parker. Two straight games of over 110 yards rushing. This guy is GOOD. * Sophemore slump? What is this I hear about a slump? Roethlisberger looked just as good as in week one. *David Carr deserves to lose his starting job. He has shown me nothing to make me think he deserves to be a starter in the NFL. Baltimore vs. Tennessee *It's official. Baltimore sucks this year. Wright looks decent, but Ravens fans are in for a loooong season after all those people predicting them winning the AFC North. *Tennessee looked good. Any good play last week was overshadowed by Pittsburgh, I think they might be decent this year (6-10). Buffalo vs. Tampa Bay *John Gruden's new Cadillac is a nice ride (really, really lame, I know). * Griese looks like he should do well this year. *What the crap? Why on earth did they take Losman out of the game? He is going to need to learn to deal with games like these. Taking him out was a very bad move. San Francisco vs. Philidelphia *Well, San Fran, I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted. You just got demolished (I had Philly D on one of my fantasy teams...hooray). *Go with Smith or not? I think it is usually a mistake to play a rookie QB, the exception being if his name is Roethlisberger. On the other hand, Rattay is doing nothing good. Perhaps they should just go with Smith and let him learn the hard way. *If T.O. and McNabb had any problems, I think they have dealt with them (finally). Jacksonville vs. Indianapolis *Manning looked off. I think it was from being hit. He took a few hard whacks. He ought to be fine next week. *What is this? The Colts going with power football? I think I'm seeing things. *Nice effort by the Jaguard D. *Nice effort by the Indy D. Minnesota vs. Cinncinati *I think things are clicking for Carson Palmer. Finally. He is looking fantastic. *I think Johnson is a heck of a good WR, even if he does trash-talk too much. *I think The Vikings D still sucks. *I think Culpepper is starting to suck. *I think Randy Moss was more valuable than anyone gave him credit for. Detroit vs. Chicago *Just as it was looking like Harrington was starting to get things, he lays an egg. *Grossman is going to have quite a battle if he wants his starting spot back. Orton is tremendous. New England vs. Carolina *Carolina looked amazing. Even without Jenkins. They forced turnovers, and they played fairly good offense. *New England looked like it reversed roles on itself. Normally they are low-mistake and win the game capitalizing off of turnovers, but today they were the sloppy ones. Interesting to see how they react when they lose. I think they'll colapse if they ever lose in the playoffs. Atlanta vs. Seattle *Seattle really turned things around. Hasselback looked just fine. Alexander was his normal self. *Now we see what happens when Vick is limited. He simply is not a good QB. He should be a running back. He has no business throwing the football, because quite simply, he can't. Atlanta will never be really good until they get a lefit QB, whether that is Vick acting like his position, or someon else coming in. (I would guess the former will be the one to happen) Miami vs. NYJ *I think last week was a fluke. For both teams. Miami looked like nothing really special, and the Jets looked quite good, compared to last week's disaster. *Chad Pennington has calmed down. Beautiful throws. Right one the money several times. Cleveland vs. Green Bay *Favre will be a shoo-in for the HOF, but he isn't making the passage any smoother for himself. What's with all these rediculous interceptions? *Dilfer ain't bad. Ain't bad at all. San Diego vs. Denver *San Diego looked better than in week one, so did Denver. I just don't see either team getting over 9-7 this year. They don't look like they have what it takes to beat teams like Indy, Pit, NE, etc. Thoughts on KC vs. Oakland *Trent Green is smooth. He's darn good. *Chiefs defense is not bad. Not bad at all, in fact, I hate to say it, but I think it's actually *gasp* good...

TSN Top 100 NFL PLayers (I'll give my own later)

2005-09-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Click any name to go to that player's page.

1. Jim Brown 2. Jerry Rice 3. Joe Montana 4. Lawrence Taylor 5. Johnny Unitas 6. Don Hutson 7. Otto Graham 8. Walter Payton 9. Dick Butkus 10. Bob Lilly
11. Sammy Baugh 12. Barry Sanders 13. Deacon Jones 14. Joe Greene 15. Gino Marchetti 16. John Elway 17. Anthony Munoz 18. Ray Nitschke 19. Night Train Lane 20. John Hannah
21. Gale Sayers 22. Reggie White 23. Ronnie Lott 24. Jim Parker 25. Merlin Olsen 26. O.J. Simpson 27. Dan Marino 28. Forrest Gregg 29. Roger Staubach 30. Jack Lambert
31. Lance Alworth 32. Marion Motley 33. Earl Campbell 34. Alan Page 35. Bronko Nagurski 36. Mel Blount 37. Deion Sanders 38. Eric Dickerson 39. Sid Luckman 40. Raymond Berry
41. Bart Starr 42. Willie Lanier 43. Larry Wilson 44. Terry Bradshaw 45. Herb Adderley 46. Steve Largent 47. Jack Ham 48. John Mackey 49. Bill George 50. Willie Brown
51. Randy White 52. Bobby Layne 53. Tony Dorsett 54. Chuck Bednarik 55. Art Shell 56. Mike Singletary 57. Roosevelt Brown 58. Bruce Smith 59. Fran Tarkenton 60. Paul Warfield
61. Ken Houston 62. Gene Upshaw 63. Steve Young 64. Ted Hendricks 65. Joe Schmidt 66. Bobby Bell 67. Buck Buchanan 68. Emmitt Smith 69. Willie Davis 70. Emlen Tunnell
71. Lenny Moore 72. Marcus Allen 73. Kellen Winslow 74. Mel Hein 75. Mike Webster 76. Sam Huff 77. Steve Van Buren 78. Jim Otto 79. Larry Little 80. Red Grange
81. Darrell Green 82. Brett Favre 83. Franco Harris 84. Dwight Stephenson 85. Charley Taylor 86. Jack Christiansen 87. Rod Woodson 88. Jim Thorpe 89. Elroy Hirsch 90. Mike Ditka
91. Art Monk 92. Dan Fouts 93. Mike Haynes 94. Fred Biletnikoff 95. Troy Aikman 96. Joe Namath 97. Lem Barney 98. George Blanda 99. Lou Groza 100. Charlie Joiner

Roethlisberger as "Questionable"

2005-09-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

Today Bill Cowher announced that Ben Roethlisberger is down as "questionable" for Sunday's game against the Texans. This could potentially be a big blow, but the Texans are fairly crappy this year (what's new), so if necessar, Tommy Maddox should be able to do just fine.

Guess what I just did?

2005-09-15T14:17:00.000-07:00

You have three tries.... Is this bad/good? I think I prefer three columns...

Power Ranking

2005-09-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

Patriots
Colts
Steelers
Falcons
Chiefs
Eagles
Cowboys
Jaguars
Bengals
Panthers
Bills
Bucs
Giants
Raiders
Redskins
Lions
Chargers
Vikings
Dolphins
49ers
Seahawks
Cardinals
Bears
Chargers
Texans
Rams
Ravens
Jets
Packers
Broncos
Titans
Browns

Note: These are based solely on how the teams played in weeks one, not how I think they will finish at the end of the season.

This is too good

2005-09-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is too good not to make a post for I mentioned a while back that Yahoo! loves me...it appears now they are starting to really like me. If you do a Yahoo! search for NFL blogs, I come up number 29 and 30. Pretty good for a guy getting less than fifty hits a day.

Players of the Week

2005-09-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

Pittsburgh linebacker James Farrior, who registered six tackles and forced a fumble which led to a Steelers field goal. AFC:

(Sept. 14, 2005) -- Running back Willie Parker of the Pittsburgh Steelers, linebacker Gary Brackett of the Indianapolis Colts and kicker Josh Scobee of the Jacksonville Jaguars are the AFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played on NFL Kickoff 2005 Weekend (Sept. 8, 11-12).

OFFENSE: RB WILLIE PARKER, PITTSBURGH STEELERS

The Steelers' Parker, in his first-career NFL start, was the league's top rusher of Kickoff Weekend to help Pittsburgh upend Tennessee 34-7. The 5-foot-10, 209-pounder gained 161 yards on 22 carries (7.3-yard average) with a touchdown and also caught one pass for 48 yards. With his team ahead 27-7, a coaching decision was made to remove Parker from the game with 4:18 remaining in the third quarter. A rookie free agent in 2004, Parker's rushing total was the highest by a Steelers player in Heinz Field's five-year history.

In his second year from North Carolina, Parker is the second Steelers running back to earn Player of the Week honors in the past 10 weeks (Jerome Bettis, Wk. 9, 2004).

DEFENSE: LB GARY BRACKETT, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

Indianapolis linebacker Gary Brackett posted his first two-interception game along with nine tackles and a quarterback pressure as the Colts defeated the Ravens 24-7 at Baltimore. The Ravens did not score a point until 13 seconds remained in regulation as Brackett snared interceptions on the Colts' 23- and 1-yard lines to thwart scoring threats. Making only his second-career start, Brackett was part of a defense that limited a strong Baltimore rushing attack to 77 yards.

In his third year from Rutgers, the one-time rookie free agent is the first Colts linebacker to win a Player of the Week distinction since Tony Bennett in Week 13 of 1995.

SPECIAL TEAMS: K JOSH SCOBEE, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

In a 26-14 home victory, Jacksonville kicker Josh Scobee was four of five in field goal attempts and booted four kickoffs into Seattle's end zone for touchbacks. The second-year player's field goals were good from 23, 41, 29, and 41 yards respectively, with his only miss coming from 43. Scobee opened the scoring with a pair of first-quarter field goals for a 6-0 Jacksonville advantage and accounted for the game's final six points, extending a 20-14 Jaguars lead to the eventual final score.

This marks the second Player of the Week award in the past 12 weeks for the 23-year-old kicker from Louisiana Tech (Week 7, 2004).

Other nominees for AFC Offensive Player of Week 1 were:

New England quarterback Tom Brady, who completed 24 of 38 pass attempts for 306 yards with a pair of touchdowns without an interception for a 105.8 passer rating in a 30-20 win against Oakland.

Miami quarterback Gus Frerotte, who completed 24 of 36 attempts for 275 passing yards and two touchdowns against one interception for a 96.4 passer rating in a 34-10 win over Denver.

Kansas City running back Larry Johnson, who carried the ball nine times for 110 yards (12.2-yard average) and two touchdowns in a 27-7 win against the Jets. Johnson has now scored two touchdowns in six consecutive games -- one game shy of the NFL record of seven held by Pro Football Hall of Famer John Riggins.

Cincinnati running back Rudi Johnson, who rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries (4.8-yard average) in a 27-13 win at Cleveland.

Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, who tossed two touchdown passes, completing 21 of 36 attempts for 254 yards without an interception for a 98.6 passer rating.Buffalo running back Willis McGahee, who posted a game-high 117 yards on 22 carries for his eighth-career 100-yard rushing performance in a 22-7 win against Houston.

Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer, who posted a 107.5 passer rating on 26 of 34 passing for 280 yards and a pair of TDs against one interception.

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who posted a perfect 158.3 passer rating by completing nine of 11 attempts for 218 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Jacksonville wide receiver Jimmy Smith, who caught seven passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. In addition to his touchdown catches of 30 and seven yards, the 13-year veteran also had receptions of 45 and 24 yards.

Other nominees for AFC Defensive Player of Week 1 were:

Kansas City rookie linebacker Derrick Johnson, who had nine tackles, one sack and a forced fumble in his first NFL game.

New England defensive lineman Richard Seymour, who led the team with eight tackles and rushed the passer consistently to help limit Oakland's offense to a 45.0 pass completion percentage (18 of 40).

Miami linebacker Zach Thomas, who chalked up 16 tackles, including three stops on a key second-quarter goal-line stand.

Buffalo safety Troy Vincent, who posted two interceptions. The Bills allowed only 25 net passing yards and 120 total yards on the day.

Other nominees for AFC Special Teams Player of Week 1 were:

Jacksonville punter Chris Hanson, who kicked four punts for a 42.8 net average. All four of Hanson's punts were downed inside the 20-yard line.

Buffalo kicker Rian Lindell, who was five for five in field goal attempts, splitting the uprights from 35, 21, 42, 39, and 31 yards, respectively.

Pittsburgh kicker Jeff Reed, who was successful on field goal tries of 44 and 27 yards without a miss. Reed has made 19 consecutive field goal attempts, tying Gary Anderson for the club record.

Miami kick returner Wes Welker, who returned four punts for a 16.0-yard average along with two kickoffs for an average of 25.5 yards.

Link NFC: Sept. 14, 2995) -- Quarterback Drew Bledsoe of the Dallas Cowboys, defensive tackle Bryant Young of the San Francisco 49ers and kicker John Carney of the New Orleans Saints are the NFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played on NFL Kickoff 2005 Weekend (Sept. 8, 11-12).

OFFENSE: QB DREW BLEDSOE, DALLAS COWBOYS

Bledsoe helped ensure his debut with the Cowboys would be a victorious one, completing 18 of 24 attempts for 226 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 28-24 road-win against the San Diego Chargers. Bledsoe became the 10th player in NFL history with 40,000 passing yards, as his 226 yards brought his career total to 40,034. Bledsoe's 143.4 passer rating was a Week 1 NFC-high and his best since posting a 144.4 rating on Sept. 14, 2003 versus Jacksonville.

In his 13th season from Washington State, this is Bledsoe's eighth career Player of the Week Award.

DEFENSE: DT BRYANT YOUNG, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Young led the way defensively for the 49ers in an exciting 28-25 win over the NFC West-rival St. Louis Rams at Monster Park. The four-time Pro Bowler totaled four tackles and a Kickoff Weekend-best 3.0 sacks, resulting in losses of 20 yards. Young's three-sack effort tied a career high and was his 18th career multiple sack game. The last 49er to post 3.0 sacks was Chris Doleman on Nov. 8, 1998 (3.5) against Carolina while the last time a 49er posted 3.0 sacks in Week 1 was Jeff Stover in 1986.

In his 12th season from Notre Dame, this is Young's third career Player of the Week Award.

SPECIAL TEAMS: K JOHN CARNEY, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Carney played a key role in the Saints' thrilling 23-20 win against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. The veteran kicker connected on three of three field goal attempts (29, 48, 47), including a game-winning 47-yarder with three seconds remaining. Carney's game-winner was the 13th of his career and fifth since joining New Orleans in 2001. The Saints have earned NFC Special Teams honors for an unprecedented five consecutive weeks dating back to 2004. The award was first instituted in 1993.

In his 16th season from Notre Dame, this is Carney's 11th Player of the Week Award.

Other nominees for NFC Offensive Player of Week 1 were:

Atlanta running back Warrick Dunn, who rushed for 117 yards on 21 carries, helping the Falcons to a 14-10 win over Philadelphia.

Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who totaled Week 1 and career-highs with 13 receptions for 155 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown catch against the New York Giants.

Washington running back Clinton Portis, who carried 21 times for 121 yards in a 9-7 win against Chicago.

Tampa Bay rookie tight end Alex Smith, who had four receptions for 34 yards, including touchdown catches of 23 and two yards.

Tampa Bay rookie running back Carnell Williams, who rushed for 148 yards on 27 carries, including a 71-yard touchdown run in the waning moments to seal a 24-13 triumph over Minnesota.

Other nominees for NFC Defensive Player of Week 1 were:

Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks, who led the team with eight tackles and added an interception on Minnesota's final drive of the game.

Atlanta defensive tackle Rod Coleman, who totaled three tackles, 1.0 sack, one pass defensed and one quarterback pressure.

Arizona linebacker Karlos Dansby, who posted three tackles, 1.0 sack and two interceptions, including one which he returned 18 yards for his first career touchdown.

Washington defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin, who had two tackles, 1.0 sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Dallas cornerback Anthony Henry, who had a team and career high 13 tackles and added one interception and five passes defensed.

Tampa Bay cornerback Brian Kelly, who tied a career high with two interceptions, helping force five turnovers in the win.

Detroit safety Kenoy Kennedy, who recorded four tackles, two passes defensed and one interception in a 17-3 home win over Green Bay.

New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, who totaled 11 tackles, including seven solo, 0.5 sacks and one pass defensed in a 42-19 win over Arizona.

Tampa Bay defensive end Simeon Rice, who posted three tackles, 1.0 sack, one tackle for loss and one forced fumble.

Detroit defensive tackle Shaun Rogers, who had 1.0 sack and six quarterback pressures.

Minnesota safety Darren Sharper, who finished with eight tackles and returned an interception 88 yards for a touchdown.

New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, who had seven tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Other nominees for NFC Special Teams Player of Week 1 were:

San Francisco rookie punt returner Fred Amey, who returned one punt 75 yards for a touchdown.

New York Giants punter Jeff Feagles, who averaged 42 yards on six punts, pinning four inside the 20. His six punts bring his career total to 1,370, surpassing Sean Landeta for most in NFL history.

Washington kicker John Hall, who accounted for all his team's scoring, connecting on three of three field goals from 40, 43 and 19 yards.

Detroit punter Nick Harris, who averaged 41.9 yards on seven punts, including four inside the 20. Handled kickoff duties in the second half due to an injury to kicker Jason Hanson.

Minnesota rookie punter Chris Kluwe, who averaged 54.3 yards on four punts with a 42.5 net average and a long punt of 62 yards.

New York Giants kickoff returner Willie Ponder, who returned four kickoffs for 191 yards, including a 95-yard touchdown. He also added one tackle on kickoff coverage.

Link

Another Blog!

2005-09-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

I just started another blog. This one is political.... Click here!

Week 1 Thoughts and Commentary

2005-09-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

BILLS: The Bills looked good. They stuck with the run, and didn't put pressure on Losman. He was able to step up when needed, and everything worked out. We will have to see what happens when they play opponents better than Houston. Performance Grade: B Houston: They played bad offense. They played bad defense. They didn't make plays. They gave Losman an easy time. They didn't stop McGahee. Performance Grade: C- Oakland: Well, I said they needed to score points, and they didn't. They put up a barely respectable 20 points, but blew many oppurtunites. Overall a good start for Randy Moss, and a bad one for Kerry Collins. LaMont Jordan looked ready to be a starter. Performance Grade: C- Patriots: I said they needed to avoid a shoot-out. In the first half there was very little defense. It was basically a shoot-out. They went into the locker room with the game still wide open. In the second half they settled down, and started playing defenese, and they dominated. Performance Grade: A NYJ: Not only did they allow 27 points, but they were virtually shut out. They only scored a meaningless touchdown at the very end. Chad Pennington was astoundingly bad. I said they needed to give him an easy time, but he was pressured like crazy. Performance Grade: D+ KC Chiefs: They basically shut out the Jets, they forced six Pennington fumbles, they played like a top five defense, not one of the worst in the league as they formerly have been. Performance Grade: A Seattle: They weren't that good. Didn't make enough plays, didn't rush well enough. Lost to a so-so team. Performance Grade: B- Jacksonville: Had an efficient week one win against a team many predicted to make the Super Bowl (Little rabbit trail- Why oh why does everyone always pick the Seahawks? Their recievers can't catch, their QB is decent, but not great, they have a good RB and a bad defense, yet they are constantly chosen to win the SB by "experts). They ran, they passed, they played ok defense. (Another note, Matt Jones looks like he might have been worth the first round pick) Performance Grade: B+ NO Saints: They beat a great Carolina team, they played tough, they were the center of so much, and the pulled off a last-second win. If they can keep this up, they'll be in the play-offs. Performance Grade: A Panthers: They were playing a very determined NO team, and they came very close to OT with their FG at the end, it was only a fantastic NO drive that prevented that. They could have been better. Performance Grade: B Chicago: They had a rookie QB and were playing against one of the best "D"s in the league. You can't expect more from a rookie on offense, and their defense held Washington to only 9 poins. Performance Grade: B Washington: They pulled it off, gritty though it was. They really need stability at QB. They cannot keep playing games with a total score of under 20. Soon they will need some offense. Performance Grade: B+ Titans: New season, same old story Performance Grade: D+ Steelers: New season, same old story (what sophmore slump? Willie who?) Performance Grade: A TB Bucs: Rejuvinated defense, new RB, running like a well-oiled machine. (Williams looked great) Performance Grade: A- Vikings: Who was that at QB? Where was this improved defense? They sure as heck miss Randy Moss. Performance Grade: C+ Denver: Mike Shanahan never loses a season opener. Until now. And against a supposedly horrible team. Jake Plummer is in the tubes. Performance Grade: D Dolphins: New coach, new players, formerly washed up QB looking good. Congrats on the win. Performance Grade: A- 49ers: New coach, new players, bad QB looking good. Congrats on the win. Performance Grade: A- STL Rams: Same players, same coach, terrible defense, flaf-football offense. Season doesn't look so good as it did a week ago. Performance Grade: C+ Cowboys: The throwing statue has made a believer out of me. I had a feeling The Big Tuna knew what he was doing, and I was right. (Jones is on my fantasy team, hooray!) Performance Grade: A- Chargers: Can't score on four straight down from inside the ten? (How 'bout running it?) Performance Grade: B- Cardinals: Warner was rusty, Fitz was good, overall terrible. Performance Grade: C- Giants: Manning okay (nice throw to the orange-thingy), everyone else was great. Performance Grade: B Packers: Favre is wishing he had retired right around now. With Walker out for the season, things could get messy. As for the game, absolutely abominable performance. Performance Grade: D Lions: The Snoil is back. Harrington was decent, the defense was great, they look just fine. Performance Grade: B Baltimore: Hyperextended toe. Sounds painful. Boller did the right thing by not rushing to get back on the field, though the press will blame him. Too many people make their inuries worse by trying to get back before they are ready. The backup looked good until the int. started to come. Performance Grade: C+ Indianapolis: The best offense of all time puts up 27 point against one of the top defenses. And the "D" almost gets a shut out. This is the real deal. Be afraid, NFL. Performance Grade: A Iggles: Mediocre defense+Terrible offense=Lose the game Performance Grade: C- Falcons: Good game for the RB+Terrible passing+a few Vick runs+terrible play of opponent=lucky win If Atlanta was playing a better team they would have been demolished. Performance Grade: B- Player of the Week: Willie "Da Man" Parker- this ain't no fluke Loser of the Week: Chad Pennington- Six fumbles is downright horrid Team of the Week: The Saints- That was awesome Loser Team of the Week- Tie- Packers, Broncos Required reading: Tuesday Morning QB

Walker Out for the Season

2005-09-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

Javon Walker of the Green Bay Packers is out for the rest of the season. On Sunday he tore his ACL and is not expected to play again for the rest of the season. Also... Tony Dungy is looking to get a five year contract extension

I've cracked the Google code!

2005-09-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

I did it! I showed up number one on a Google Search.

Passer Rating Calculator

2005-09-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

A little tool: Here is a little tool that can help you sound like a brainiac. Just enter the stats and it will calculate the passer rating for you (make sure you have jave script enabled). Now you can spout of stats and sound like a know-it-all. Very nifty

Blogger eats crow

2005-09-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

Quick thoughts

How did San Fran win?
How did Miami win?
How did Tampa Bay cream Minnesota?
What happened to the Jets?

NFL Sunday Preview

2005-09-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO VS. WASHINGTON: What Chicago needs to do to win:

Score points. If Chicago can get into a rhythm and score points against Washington, they can do well. Washington has a stingy defense, and a terrible offense. If you can put up some quick points, their offense goes into a funk, and their defense can't do a thing about it.
Stop the run. If Clinto Portis gets into a beat, and starts pounding in yards, the Bears are toast. Portis is deadly if you don't stop him early.
Get Orton comfortable. If you can get the rookie at ease, give him easy throws, nothing too difficult, he should manage it.

What Washington must do to win:

Play defense. If they can keep Chicago from scoring twenty points, they have a good shot at winning.
Score. Washington's biggest weakness is offense. If they can put up twenty points, they will win. Period.

CINNCINATI VS. CLEVELAND What Cinncinati must do to win:

Take the early lead. If they can put Cleveland out early, they will win. Cleveland doesn't have the kind of offense that can come from behind.
Keep scoring down. We saw what happened last year when these two teams got into shoot-outs.
Frustrate Braylon Edwards. Not to knock on him, but he is a rookie, and all rookies whose name is not Ben Roethlisberger will get frustrated if they make mistakes, and lacking the maturity of veterans, they will make even more mistakes, and take themselves out of the game.

What Cleveland must do to win:

Stay in the game. They need to keep it close, and then try to take the game at the end.
Get Edwards involved early. Edwards can take over the game if you get him warmed up and catching balls early enough in the game. If he can get a few good catches, then he will get confidence, and with a rookie confidence is key.
Play defense. Cinncinati has the potential to be one of the top five offenses in the league this year, depending on the play of Carson Palmer. If the Brown can keep a lid on them, then they have a chance.

DENVER VS. MIAMI What Denver must do to win:

Denver must not make mistakes. Miami is great at making you make stupid mistakes. We saw what happened last year when Brady started making mistakes.
Keep Miami confidence low. If Miami feels like they are doing well, they will start playing well, which will make the feel even better.

What Miami must do to win:

Stay close. As long as the game is close, Miami has a 50-50 chance of winning. They are fighters, and if you give them a chance, they can win the game, even against vastly better opponents.
Stop Denver. Miami doesn't have players to score 30 points. Denver does. If they keep Denver from scoring on the first two possessions, they have a good chance.

HOUSTON VS. BUFFALO What Houston must do to win:

Blitz. Blitzing can make or break you. In this case, it can make them. If we see Houston come out and play aggressive defense, then they will win. J.P. Losman is young and over-confident. If they can rattle him, he's finished. They need to pressure him, and clog holes to keep him from running. He will have to drop back and make quick decisions, something that he does not have the ability to do.

What Buffalo must do to win:

Run. If they can get Willis McGahee 30 carries, they will easily win. Molding their play after Pittsburgh last year, with the running game carrying the team, and the offense filling in the holes, they can be great this year. They have a fantastic young running back who should be able to handle a lot.

NEW ORLEANS VS. CAROLINA What NO must do to win:

Shut down Peppers. Julius Peppers is the heart and soul of the Carolina defense. Without him, they're hopeless.
Stop Delhome. Jake Delhome is a great QB, he does not, however, have the ability to beat you passing fourty times a game. If he passes more than thirty-five times, New Orleans wins.

What Carolina must do to win:

Pressure Aaron Brooks. Brooks does poorly under pressure. If you can fluster him, and keep him from making big plays, he starts making stupid decisions.
Score. If they can get a high-scoring game, they have a good chance. I think a low-scoring game favors NO.

NYJ VS. KC CHIEFS What NY must do to win:

Lead with the run. I'm pretty sure that Chad Pennington is fine, but better to let him take it easy for the first game. Ease him in for the season, and he'll be fine. He shouldn't pass more than 25 times.
Stop the pass. If NY makes this game down-and-dirty they will demolish the Chiefs. We saw them in this style of play against Pittsburgh, and they did great when things got grity.
Make special teams plays. They must make up for the explosive power of Santana Moss. If they can get good returns and set up the offense with field position, they're going to have an easier time of it.

What KC must do to win:

Force Pennington to throw. Like I said, he isn't quite ready for a heavy throwing load. If they force him to throw starting the first quarter, he will wear down.
Score. A lot. KC has the second best offense in the league. If they can effectively make this a no-defense game, they have a 70-30 chance of going home 1-0.

SEATTLE VS. JACKSONVILLE What Seattle must do to win:

Pound Alexander. Jacksonville cannot stop Alexander. If Seattle takes advantage of this, they can win easily.
Stop Byron Leftwich from running. Leftwich makes great plays scrambling. Keep him in the pocket, and he is limited.

What Jacsonville must do to win:

Stop the run. This goes directly opposite Seattle's virst objective. Matt Hasselback is good, his recievers are not.
Get Matt Jones involved. He can do wonders, you just have to let him.

TAMPA BAY VS. MINNESOTA What Tampa Bay must do to win:

Not make turn-overs. If they make too many mistakes, John Gruden will blow something, and without a coach, Tampa is toast. Seriously, the need to be mistake-free.
Make Culpepper miss Randy Moss. If they can play good coverage, Minnesota will be forced to rely on mediocre running backs.

What Minnesota must do to win:

Open up passing lanes. If Culpepper has time, and hass room, he will kill Tampa.
Keep the offense on the field. The Minnesota defense is only good for twenty minutes.

TENNESSEE VS. PITTSBURGH What Tennessee must do to win:

Lock the entire Pittsburgh team in the hotel. No other way to win.

What Pittsburgh must do to win:

Start their first-stringers

ARIZONA VS. NY

What Arizona must do to win:

Clog the run. If they can keep the line clumped together, and keep lanes for Barber from opening, he will have to bounce outside, something he doesn’t have the speed to be successful at.
Play good offense. If they put up a lot of points, Eli Manning will be unable to respond.

What NY must do to win:

Pressure Warner. If Warner gets flustered, he’s awful. If they can force a fumble and an interception, they automatically win.

DALLAS VS. SAN DIEGO

What Dallas must do to win:

Control Tomlinson. If they can limit him to just running, or just passing, that will be a significant accomplishment.

Put up points. They’ll have to in order to keep up.

What San Diego must do to win:

Get Tomlinson involved. If they pass to him, and get him catching balls and blocking, they’re good to go. He can single-handedly carry the team, and if they take advantage of that, they walk home with an easy win. If they try to hand the reigns to Brees, nothing is guaranteed.

GREEN BAY VS. DETROIT What Green Bay must do to win:

Play good cover defense. If they are moderate, and just keep the receivers from getting too many big plays, and Jones from getting over 100 yards, they stand a chance.
Run the ball. Detroit has no “D”.

What Detroit must do to win:

Get the ball to their receivers. They have three top-notch receivers. If they get them the ball, interspersed with Jones’s runs, they win easily.

ST. LOUIS VS. SAN FRANCISCO What St. Louis must do to win:

Play their starters.

What San Francisco must do to win:

Cheat.

INDIANAPOLIS VS. BALTIMORE What Indianapolis must do to win:

Dominate the line. If they keep Lewis under 120 yards, they win. They have the best offense in NFL history, and their defense only needs to be okay.

What Baltimore must do to win:

They must figure out how to stop Manning, or score forty points. I don’t see how they can do either.

Yahoo Loves Me!

2005-09-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

I have been showing up very high on recent Yahoo! searches. If you search SI NFL predictions, I show up at number 3. If you do Patriots vs. Raiders who will win, I show up number 1. For a while I was number 15 on a CNN search for Hurrican Katrina before and after photos. If you do Raiders vs. Patrios score, I show up number 1. Patriots vs. Raiders game has me number 2. Patriots vs. Raiders box score makes me number 7. Patriots vs. Raiders 2005 as well as espn+patriots vs raiders also put me very high. Suffice it to say that it has been getting me a big boost in traffic...

Salary Cap Situations

2005-09-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

John Clayton, of ESPN has tallied up the cap situations of each of the thirty-two teams as of September 1. Notable stats are that the Eagles are more than 12 million dollars under cap, and the Titans, after all their purging, are under the cap by only 168,000.

Thoughts on Patriots vs. Raiders:

2005-09-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

Randy Moss is good. It took double, sometime triple coverage to keep him from shredding NE, and even so he had two huge plays.

Oakland has a terrible offensive line. Every other play Collins was under pressure and either had to make a quick read, or he had to throw it away. Randy Moss can be doing whatever he wants, but if Collins has no time, it makes no difference.
Oakland's defense was quite good in the second half. In the first half it looked like the Pats were scoring at will, but in the second half of the second quarter, and the entire second half, Oakland played great "D".
Tom Brady looked sharp. He had a nearly perfect game, with just over 200 passing yards in the first half, and over three hundred overall.
The Pats' running game was terrible.
That interception turned the game around.
I was wrong in picking the Raiders, though they had every opportunity to win

2005-09-08T15:02:00.000-07:00

Stories from around the league:

·	Injury report \| Week 1 preview \| Game-by-game look
·	RB Barber signs contract extension with Giants
·	Westbrook cuts off contract talks with Eagles
·	Judge resets trial for Redskins safety Taylor
·	Suspension reduced for Colts' Doss to one game

•	TRUTH & RUMORS: Bears won't use Benson
•	'Skins' Taylor's assault trial set for Oct. 24
•	Westbrook cuts off contract talks with Eagles
•	Father of Chiefs CB rescued in New Orleans
•	Giants' Manning probable for season opener
•	Robbins jailed in attempted murder case
•	Broncos' QB causes scene at CSU-CU game

Today in the NFL (FROM NFL.com)

2005-09-07T16:29:00.000-07:00

September 7, 1963 -- The 19,000-square-foot, two-building Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio is officially opened. The Hall's charter class of 17 enshrinees are inducted: Sammy Baugh, Bert Bell, Joe Carr, Dutch Clark, Harold "Red" Grange, George Halas, Mel Hein, Wilbur "Pete" Henry, Cal Hubbard, Don Hutson, Curly Lambeau, Tim Mara, George Preston Marshall, John "Blood" McNally, Bronko Nagurski, Ernie Nevers and Jim Thorpe. Birthdays:

Joaquin Gonzalez, IND

Josh Shaw, MIA

Jeff Hartings, PIT

Derrick Dockery, WAS

Mason Unck, CLE

James Butler, NYG

NFL.com Prediction

2005-09-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

Today NFL.com analysts released their predictions. Overall I would say that Vic Carucci, Gil Brandt, and Boomer Esiason were the most accurate. Here is the link to their predictions Here is the link to Vic Carucci's more thorough walk-through

SI Predictions

2005-09-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Today Sports Illustrated posted more predictions. I know, I know, they're "experts", but I am betting not a single one of those guys will have more than 2/3 of his predictions come out correct

T.O. setting things right?

2005-09-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

From Ben Maller: Terrell Owens broke his silence yesterday and presented an olive branch to teammate Donovan McNabb in the process. During an interview with ESPN's Michael Irvin, the Eagles wide receiver said he had been talking to his teammates and he planned to mend fences with his quarterback soon. Owens and McNabb have not spoken since the start of training camp on Aug. 1."It's not that I hate Donovan," Owens told ESPN. "I love Donovan. I don't hate him at all. I was disappointed in a few things. I have the right to do that. Everyone speaks out of emotion. Everybody speaks out of frustration. Everybody's done it. That means I'm human. If you want me to go in and say I was wrong, maybe I was. Maybe I wasn't."

Patriots vs. Raiders Preview

2005-09-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

Tommorow is the kick-off of the 2005 NFL season. The opening game will by played by the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders. Either team can win. The Raiders have a fantastic offense, and the Pats are a Super Bowl winning team. Here is what the Raiders must do if they want to win:

Score, score, and score some more. The Pats cannot afford to get in a shoot-out, if they do they will lose. The Raiders will need to play defense, but if they can put up either a touchdown or a field goal on their first three possessions, they'll throw New England into a panic. We saw that happen last year when the Pats played Pittsburgh.
Make the Patiots one-dimensional. With the Pats it is pick your poison. They can run, and they can pass. If the Oakland Raiders can shut down one of these two, then they will most likely win. If they Pats have to lean heavily on Corey Dillion, the Raiders can load the box; if the Pats are forced to pass the whole time, the Raiders can rush three and keep everyone else in coverage. However, if they cannot stop either the run or the pass, they will lose.
Do anything and everything to prevent turn-overs. The Patriots kill teams when they force turn-overs. We saw it last season. We saw it in the AFC title game. We saw it in the Super Bowl. The numero uno thing to do is to not commit turn-overs. More than one and you will probably lose, more than two and you are doomed, more than three and you cna pray you don't lost by more than twenty point.

What the Patriots must do to win:

Keep the score down. As I said earlier, if the Pats get into a shoot-out, they don't have much hope. They have to shut down Randy Moss and Joey Porter. If they can keep those two guys from catching a touchdown pass in the first quarter, the Pats will win. Randy Moss will quite playing, and Porter will get frustrated. LaMont Jordan is a great back for the Raiders because he is not in the primary role. He is there to take teams by surprise after a bunch of pass plays. If the Pats shut down the passing, he will not be able to run, because they will be concentrating on him.
Score. If the Patriots jump out of the box early and put 7, 10, 13 points on the Raiders, they will go into panic and go pass-happy. Once this happens, the team is doomed. They will forget the running game, allowing the pats to only rush three, and with both of their primary recievers double-covered, they will have little success passing.
Rush. If the Pats running-backs run for more than 150 yards, they will win the game. Oakland cannot stop them if they do not keep their rushing yards down.

Who will win? That is a hard one. I am going to regret this, but I will say that the Pats lose.

NFC Predictions

2005-09-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

Playoff Home-Field Advantage: Vikings AFC Title Game: Vikings.........34 Panthers......28 DIVISION WINNERS- NFC North: Vikings NFC South: Panthers NFC East: Cowboys NFC West: Rams Wild Card: Eagles; Cardinal Division Rankings: NFC North: 1. Vikings 2. Lions 3. Packers 4. Bears NFC South: 1. Panthers 2. Bucs 3. Falcons 4. Saints NFC East: 1. Cowboys 2. Eagles 3. Redskins 4. Giants NFC West: 1. Rams 2. Cardinals 3. Seahawks 4. 49ers Kyle Orton has great rookie season as Bears' starter, "D" is terrible...Joe Gibbs resigns...Saints struggle playing on the road the whole season...Warner returns to his old form...Marc Bulger has 40 TD passes Recommended reading- Mike Silver from SI.com talks about hurricane Katrina and the damage it did.

Ward recieves four year deal

2005-09-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

Pittsburgh wide reciever Hines Ward yesterday signed a four year contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The deal will most likely make him the highest-paid player in Steelers history

Jerry Rice Retires

2005-09-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

Today Jerry Rice confirmed that he will retire following his being demoted to the number four reciever behind Darius Watts. Jerry Rice played 20 season in the NFL, and will retire with 22,895 yards recieving, 197 touchdowns, and 688 first downs. Here's to the best ever

Season Predictions- AFC

2005-09-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

Playoff Home-Field Advantage: Colts AFC Title Game: Colts.........27 Steelers...17 DIVISION WINNERS- AFC North: Steelers AFC South: Colts AFC East: Patriots AFC West: Raiders Wild Card: Ravens; Chiefs Division Rankings: AFC North: 1. Steelers 2. Ravens 3. Bengals 4. Browns AFC South: 1. Colts 2. Jaguars 3. Texans 4. Titans AFC East: 1. Patriots 2. Bills 3. Jets 4. Dolphins AFC West: 1. Raiders 2. Chiefs 3. Chargers 4. Broncos Peyton Manning will win his third consecutive league MVP...Philip Rivers gets starting job, does poorly for SD...Raiders have second best offense in the league, average about 30 points per game...Kyle Boller has breakout season Tommorow, NFC Predictions

Statement by NFL Commissioner reguarding Katrina

2005-09-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE STATEMENT BY COMMISSIONER PAUL TAGLIABUE Our nation has experienced an unprecedented natural disaster and we join everyone now in focusing our attention on the massive relief and recovery needs of the Gulf Coast region. On the home schedule of the New Orleans Saints this season, we will move the site of the Saints’ first home game, which had been scheduled for the Louisiana Superdome on September 18 against the New York Giants, to Giants Stadium on that same weekend. We are in the process of working out the specific arrangements, including the day and kickoff time of the game and plans for television coverage. Information on tickets will be announced by the Giants within a few days. We deeply appreciate the strong cooperation and leadership of Saints owner Tom Benson and the entire Saints organization in addressing the current extraordinary situation. We also appreciate the support of the Giants and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority in these efforts. There are many reasons for this decision, including recognizing that the overwhelming priority for public and private resources in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region in the weeks ahead must be the essential needs of the public and the restoration of the area’s infrastructure. With the support of Giants fans and others in the New Jersey/New York area, this Saints-Giants game will be presented with elements that will highlight and contribute to the national relief effort. The Saints and Giants will donate a portion of the gate proceeds from the game to Hurricane Katrina relief. The Saints represent Louisiana and New Orleans, and we will work closely with public officials there to maintain a focus on the region’s needs and the role of the NFL and Saints in the recovery.

Jeff Garcia Breaks Leg

2005-09-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

Lions Coach Steve Mariucci is reporting that Jeff Garcia has suffered a broken fibula. He had his shoulder pad yanked backward at the end of a 20+ yard run in the Lions closing preseason game. His leg bent backwards, much like the injury sustained by T.O. last year, and he was unable to walk off the field. He is likely out for the rest of the season.

Saints to open season in New Jersey

2005-09-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

The New Orleans Saints will be playing their season opener at the Giants' stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The Saints will likely play either on Saturday or Monday.

How Passer Rating is Calculated

2005-09-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

I found it. I've been curious. Here's the explanation from Wikipedia:

The passer rating is determined by four statistics, each of which are computed as a number between zero and 2.375. The benchmarks for these statistics are based on historical averages. If any of the components are less than zero, they are reckoned as zero; if any are over 2.375, they are reckoned as 2.375.

The completion percentage rating is calculated as
The rating for average yards per attempt is calculated as
The rating for touchdowns per attempt is calculated as
The rating for interceptions per attempt is calculated as

The result is then summed, divided by 6, and multipled by 100. Since each of these numbers is at most 2.375, the maximum passer rating is

Also, here is a link to the explanation on NFL.com (Link)

Chiefs Release 'Fred-Ex'

2005-09-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

Today the Kansas City Chiefs released former Eagles' wide reciever Freddy Mitchell. He was bothered by an injury and was not able to play in any of the four pre-season games. He will have surgery and hopes to sign with another team in a few months time.

NFL to give 1,000,000 dollars to hurrican relief

2005-09-02T07:27:00.000-07:00

NFL-48 8/31/05 NFL TO DONATE $1 MILLION TO GULF COAST HURRICANE RELIEF The National Football League will donate $1 million to the American Red Cross to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast region that includes Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, Commissioner PAUL TAGLIABUE announced today. The NFL and its clubs are working on other initiatives to assist in the relief effort, Commissioner Tagliabue added.

Thoughts on Cowboys vs. Jaguars

2005-09-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

Julius Jones is good. Darn good. He's easily going to get 1200 yards this year.
Drew Bledsoe looks just fine. If he isn't pressured he has a chance to revisit his glory days. He finally got a team with a good O-line.
I think the Jaguars are going to be laughing at some of the teams who passed on Matt Jones. He is some kind of athlete.
I think Anthony Thomas is going to be a solid backup.
Byron Leftwich looked fresh. Very ready for the season.

Colts' LB Pope Suspended

2005-09-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

SI.com is reporting that Colts' linebacker Kendyll Pope has been suspended for violating the league's substance abuse policy. no details

New York Giants at 03:48
1-10-NYG33	(3:48) D.Ward up the middle to NYG 35 for 2 yards (M.Wilhelm).
2-8-NYG35	(3:22) (Shotgun) E.Manning pass incomplete to P.Burress.
3-8-NYG35	(3:16) (Shotgun) PENALTY on NYG-L.Petitgout, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at NYG 35 - No Play.
3-13-NYG30	(3:16) (Shotgun) E.Manning sacked at NYG 21 for -9 yards (M.Harris).
4-22-NYG21	(2:44) J.Feagles punts 45 yards to SD 34, Center-R.Kuehl, out of bounds. PENALTY on SD-J.Wilson, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at SD 34.