Brett Farve, back to pass…long throw…caught by Driver! He’s rushing, he’s at midfield – he’s stopped at the 30-yard line!
At was at that moment that victory looked – if only for a second – like a reality for a Green Bay. Brett Farve, who according to the little box on the screen, had 35 career comebacks. It was up to him once again, and victory was more then just a field goal away. They needed a touchdown, and they needed it fast. The clock, already low on time, was ticking away steadily (Green Bay had already used up all their timeouts)… He drops back to pass – to let lose with one final pass, one final win at home, just one more catch for the game…
Christmas-time in Green Bay is always comes in the dead of winter, when the snow is coming down hard and the wind is bone-chilling… the Packers defence thrives in weather like this, as their opponents wither up and die in the cold as Green Bay’s infamous defence smothers them. This is how Green Bay defeated Carolina, how they beat the Cowboys, how they made it to the Super Bowl year after year in the 1990s.
But that was then; this is now. Green Bay’s chances of a Super Bowl ended long, long ago. Their defence is a lowly # in the league and their lone bright spot this season is out for the season with a torn MCL. Brett Farve, once one of the best Quarterbacks in the league is in what will surely be his final season – his best days having long since passed.
But things can change – at once point today, on Christmas Day of all days, the Chicago Bears were ahead by 17 points. But Brett Farve had some of his old self left in him to give…
It was about halfway through the third when Antonio Chatman received a punt deep in his own end and returned it – 85 yards – for a touchdown. 24-14. Slowly the minutes passed in Lambeau Field…the score remained the same. But, as the game began to wind and a Packers victory began to look impossible, Green Bay drove over 60 yards into Chicago’s territory and Ryan Longwell kicked a much-needed field goal to bring the game within reach. 24-17. Green Bay went for the onside kick – Chicago recovered – but had to punt it away with over a minute left. It was all up to Farve, once again.
And on the first play it went a-okay – Brett Farve completed a long pass to Donald Driver, who ran the ball up to the Chicago 30 yard line. It was within reach for Green Bay now – they were just one play away from the game-tying touchdown. But first they had to spike the ball, as they had no timeouts left. Second down – Farve gets sacked for a loss. Third down – Farve is sacked yet again as the clock keeps ticking down towards zero. Fourth down.
Farve drops back to pass…has time…long throw down the right side of the field into a crowd…and it’s picked off!
Suddenly, with one catch, with no time on the clock, Chicago is into the playoffs with a first round bye as Green Bay is left at the bottom of the league, waiting for Draft Day. They’re not down far enough to get the Reggie Bush pick, but they should get high enough that they can draft a decent QB.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Friday, December 23, 2005
Assorted X-mas notes from the Sports Desk
Big, big NBA game on Christmas Day… The LA Lakers - led by a recently resurging Kobe Bryant – are quickly making up for lost time and look to continue this against Officer Shaq and the Miami Heat. This will be a very, very good game – quite the Christmas present from ABC Sports.
***
The Raptors have a tough streak ahead of themselves for the end of the month, but have two games against the struggling (and that’s putting it mildly) Atlanta Hawks coming up – if the Raptors are going to finally win a home game, this is it. Their upcoming game against Detroit and San Antonio will be interesting, too, if only in a statistical sense: The Raptors are a surprising 4 for 5 against sub .500 teams in December and have beaten the Hawks in their only match up this year. Could boosting above the sinking Knicks be too far ahead?
***
Now that Hockey Canada has released its rosters for the Olympics, all the ‘fans’ of Todd Bertuzzi are coming out of the woodwork – and Quebec has been strangely silent to that issue, instead focusing on an alleged slur against a French Canadian Referee by Shane Doan – this is the same province that not too long ago floated the idea of putting out it’s own French-Canadian hockey team… Perhaps it’s just me, but do they have much of a right to argue about who can represent the whole country when they – almost at the same time - want to create their own team?
***
But hey, let’s include such stars as Rick Nash (who is an injury-prone question mark), Joe “4 seasons over the hill” Sakic and Rob Blake instead of players like Eric Staal or Jason Spezza (Who, as of December 23rd, are the #4 and #6 scorers in the NHL) and get angry that Sidney Crosby wasn’t even named to the practice squad – never mind that he has very little international experience at this level… And hell, while we’re inviting older players with Experience, let’s get Mark Messier, Lanny McDonald and Dale Hunter to play, too!
***
Johnny Damon – Yankee in the centerfold. Well, Boston, let’s hope that the Bruins and the Celtics have bad years, then maybe your Red Sox will look good – Wait: The Bruins are 12-17-6 and the Celtics are 11-14, while the Sox made the postseason yet again…Why aren’t these loud, vocal Boston fans protesting the Joe Thornton trade instead? That trade decimated the Bruins, who are likely to remain in the gutter for years to come…
***
The Jays have a pitcher they don’t want – Batista – a fielder they can use to trade – Orlando Hudson – and a hole they need filled – power hitter. Look for them to unload both in a trade that will be essentially worthless, like as Hunter Thompson once said: “Like a used Mattress for a $300 bill”, possibly to Chicago for Frank Thomas
***
The Raptors have a tough streak ahead of themselves for the end of the month, but have two games against the struggling (and that’s putting it mildly) Atlanta Hawks coming up – if the Raptors are going to finally win a home game, this is it. Their upcoming game against Detroit and San Antonio will be interesting, too, if only in a statistical sense: The Raptors are a surprising 4 for 5 against sub .500 teams in December and have beaten the Hawks in their only match up this year. Could boosting above the sinking Knicks be too far ahead?
***
Now that Hockey Canada has released its rosters for the Olympics, all the ‘fans’ of Todd Bertuzzi are coming out of the woodwork – and Quebec has been strangely silent to that issue, instead focusing on an alleged slur against a French Canadian Referee by Shane Doan – this is the same province that not too long ago floated the idea of putting out it’s own French-Canadian hockey team… Perhaps it’s just me, but do they have much of a right to argue about who can represent the whole country when they – almost at the same time - want to create their own team?
***
But hey, let’s include such stars as Rick Nash (who is an injury-prone question mark), Joe “4 seasons over the hill” Sakic and Rob Blake instead of players like Eric Staal or Jason Spezza (Who, as of December 23rd, are the #4 and #6 scorers in the NHL) and get angry that Sidney Crosby wasn’t even named to the practice squad – never mind that he has very little international experience at this level… And hell, while we’re inviting older players with Experience, let’s get Mark Messier, Lanny McDonald and Dale Hunter to play, too!
***
Johnny Damon – Yankee in the centerfold. Well, Boston, let’s hope that the Bruins and the Celtics have bad years, then maybe your Red Sox will look good – Wait: The Bruins are 12-17-6 and the Celtics are 11-14, while the Sox made the postseason yet again…Why aren’t these loud, vocal Boston fans protesting the Joe Thornton trade instead? That trade decimated the Bruins, who are likely to remain in the gutter for years to come…
***
The Jays have a pitcher they don’t want – Batista – a fielder they can use to trade – Orlando Hudson – and a hole they need filled – power hitter. Look for them to unload both in a trade that will be essentially worthless, like as Hunter Thompson once said: “Like a used Mattress for a $300 bill”, possibly to Chicago for Frank Thomas
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Not even yr. A-game was enough/Some weird line for Chad Johnson/NFL Week 16
“Soon the trees will be bare and standing stripped
like ghostly silhouettes against the late autumn sky
Their summer glory lying in a dark mess on the ground…
Now the darkness of night will come early…”
- Graham Dean
Sunday afternoon, high above the field at the RCA Dome, a group of older men in a private skybox enacted their yearly tradition, a bit later then usual, but to them is was surely just as – if not more – sweet as usual. And as they sipped their drinks, popped corks and cheered, one lonely back slowly walked off the field in shame and defeat.
Yes Virginia, the Colts can be beaten. Their almost impossible 13 game winning streak has been snapped – snapped by the team that lost in overtime to the Steelers last year and lost last week to the Dolphins, of all teams. Not even the late game heroics of Payton Manning was enough to save the Colts – they had been ground down all game and by the time the Colts started to show themselves as what they are, it was much, much too late.
Tony Dungy has all but effectively blown his shot at football immortality. Everybody remembers that Don Shula was the coach of the 1972 Dolphins, but who remembers that Sam Wyche coached the 1988 Bengals?
Wait, who cares about those boring comparisons? It’s time to get off this ugly and boring tangent and on to something else – after all, that loss is Old News, almost a week old now. And there’s more interesting stuff going on in Cincinnati right now with Chad Johnson.
It seems that at some point this year, Mr. Johnson hit a deer while driving and took care of it, nursing it back to health in his garage. And now, just in time for the last home game in the season, it appears that he has a Christmas present for the fans in the stands – he says that he’s planning on bringing out a live, wild animal for a touchdown celebration. And even he knows that he’s going to get in trouble for this, too – “They might suspend me for the last game, but I think this one is worth it." – and he doesn’t care.
This is crossing some weird line that nobody would have thought of two, three years ago – bringing a wild animal (that has been living in a garage by itself, no less) into a stadium full of screaming people – while I doubt that it’ll be an actual deer (I’m guessing he’ll get a cheerleader to wear reindeer antlers or something) the idea is more then enough – I like this kid more and more each time I hear about him.
And hell, I haven’t seen an animal in the end zone since the days of John Matuszak…
(Wait, there I go – crossing my own line into slander and lies by calling a dead man an animal… Let’s just ignore that, dear reader, since he wasn’t an animal and he sure wasn’t dangerous – unless you played for the Cowboys… No, lets leave this mess of an article behind and get to the meat of this – the predictions for week 16)
***
New York Giants at Washington Redskins (Washington -3)
Not even Clinton Portis will be able to keep the Redskins in this game, as the killer offence of the Giants (Plaxico Burress, Tiki Barber, Eli Manning) keeps the Giants ahead of a surprisingly tight Redskins offence – after all, since Brunell hasn’t been passing to Moss lately, if the Giants can shut down the running game Brunell will be short on options. The Giants will play spoiler as Washington finally bows out of the Wild Card hunt.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans (Jacksonville –6)
Who cares? Jacksonville couldn’t even muster two touchdowns against the 2-win 49ers last week while the worst team in the league (their 2-12 opponents) scored three times as many. But Houston wants to lose this game so they can stay in the hunt for the #1 pick and draft Reggie Bush while Jacksonville almost seems to win in spite of its offence. Of course Jacksonville will win this one – but it won’t be the blowout that it could be and Jacksonville will be hard pressed to cover the spread.
Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Tampa Bay –3)
Two warm weather teams that both lost last week in the cold – and are fighting for the same Wild Card spot. And despite their superior record, Tampa Bay’s defence has been looking very bad lately – especially in the 28-0 loss to New England last week – while the Falcons were able to score on a tough Chicago defence. And despite Michael Vick’s rib injury, I think that the Falcons will be able to pull this on out, although not to the same extent that they did last year in the playoffs.
Indianapolis Colts at Seattle Seahawks (Seattle –7.5)
With both of these teams having powerhouse seasons, this could be the Super Bowl match up this year – if the Seahawks can actually win when it counts in the postseason. As such, this should be a good idea of what to expect from both teams in the postseason – except that both teams will be playing their starters in Detroit. Seattle will not pull out a win here and their “great” defence will be put to the test to even keep them close.
San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs (Kansas City –1.5)
After their upset win at the RCA Dome, the Chargers are hoping to keep on a winning path to the post season but are playing against one of (# 9 overall) the better run defences in the league – which can spell disaster for a team that relies heavily on LaDainian Tomlinson. Kansas City, however, has been hurting since the loss of Priest Holmes and is all but out of the playoff hunt and will try to play spoiler to a hot San Diego team… but it won’t be enough; the Chargers will cover the spread.
Buffalo Bills at Cincinnati Bengals (Cincinnati –14)
Buffalo is having the worst year in the NFL… never mind that there are teams with worse records or stats (After all, who expected San Francisco, Houston or the New York Jets to post good seasons?) it’s a matter that if they had a good QB this year, they’d be right in the playoff hunt. With Kelly Holcumb and JP Losman, though, they’re a .500 team at best that’s playing a definite Super Bowl contender on the road on Christmas Eve. But a 14-point spread is more too much for even the Bengals to cover, especially when they don’t need it – It’ll be closer to 10, if not under, since the Bengals don’t even need to win this game – but will anyway.
San Francisco 49ers at St. Louis Rams (St. Louis –9)
In a game that matters only for a position in the draft, St. Louis will win – maybe. Fitzgerald, for all his comebacks, is unreliable at best and the 49ers nearly pulled out a win against a much better Jacksonville last week. Still, with losses both this week and next (and Houston winning one of their next two) the 49ers will have a great shot at drafting Reggie Bush. Look for the Rams to cover the spread.
Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers (Chicago -6.5)
The Packers of today are like the Patriots of yesterday – almost unable to win when it counts and will be in the cellar for the foreseeable future. Chicago’s defence will shut down Brett Farve’s passing game and with Samkon Gado out for the season their running game is lousy at best; the Bears will make this look easy.
Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Ravens (Baltimore –2.5)
After embarrassing the Packers last week, the Ravens are on a hot streak that should carry over to this late Sunday game – look for the Vikings to continue to fall apart as their season comes to a close as Baltimore covers spread.
like ghostly silhouettes against the late autumn sky
Their summer glory lying in a dark mess on the ground…
Now the darkness of night will come early…”
- Graham Dean
Sunday afternoon, high above the field at the RCA Dome, a group of older men in a private skybox enacted their yearly tradition, a bit later then usual, but to them is was surely just as – if not more – sweet as usual. And as they sipped their drinks, popped corks and cheered, one lonely back slowly walked off the field in shame and defeat.
Yes Virginia, the Colts can be beaten. Their almost impossible 13 game winning streak has been snapped – snapped by the team that lost in overtime to the Steelers last year and lost last week to the Dolphins, of all teams. Not even the late game heroics of Payton Manning was enough to save the Colts – they had been ground down all game and by the time the Colts started to show themselves as what they are, it was much, much too late.
Tony Dungy has all but effectively blown his shot at football immortality. Everybody remembers that Don Shula was the coach of the 1972 Dolphins, but who remembers that Sam Wyche coached the 1988 Bengals?
Wait, who cares about those boring comparisons? It’s time to get off this ugly and boring tangent and on to something else – after all, that loss is Old News, almost a week old now. And there’s more interesting stuff going on in Cincinnati right now with Chad Johnson.
It seems that at some point this year, Mr. Johnson hit a deer while driving and took care of it, nursing it back to health in his garage. And now, just in time for the last home game in the season, it appears that he has a Christmas present for the fans in the stands – he says that he’s planning on bringing out a live, wild animal for a touchdown celebration. And even he knows that he’s going to get in trouble for this, too – “They might suspend me for the last game, but I think this one is worth it." – and he doesn’t care.
This is crossing some weird line that nobody would have thought of two, three years ago – bringing a wild animal (that has been living in a garage by itself, no less) into a stadium full of screaming people – while I doubt that it’ll be an actual deer (I’m guessing he’ll get a cheerleader to wear reindeer antlers or something) the idea is more then enough – I like this kid more and more each time I hear about him.
And hell, I haven’t seen an animal in the end zone since the days of John Matuszak…
(Wait, there I go – crossing my own line into slander and lies by calling a dead man an animal… Let’s just ignore that, dear reader, since he wasn’t an animal and he sure wasn’t dangerous – unless you played for the Cowboys… No, lets leave this mess of an article behind and get to the meat of this – the predictions for week 16)
***
New York Giants at Washington Redskins (Washington -3)
Not even Clinton Portis will be able to keep the Redskins in this game, as the killer offence of the Giants (Plaxico Burress, Tiki Barber, Eli Manning) keeps the Giants ahead of a surprisingly tight Redskins offence – after all, since Brunell hasn’t been passing to Moss lately, if the Giants can shut down the running game Brunell will be short on options. The Giants will play spoiler as Washington finally bows out of the Wild Card hunt.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans (Jacksonville –6)
Who cares? Jacksonville couldn’t even muster two touchdowns against the 2-win 49ers last week while the worst team in the league (their 2-12 opponents) scored three times as many. But Houston wants to lose this game so they can stay in the hunt for the #1 pick and draft Reggie Bush while Jacksonville almost seems to win in spite of its offence. Of course Jacksonville will win this one – but it won’t be the blowout that it could be and Jacksonville will be hard pressed to cover the spread.
Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Tampa Bay –3)
Two warm weather teams that both lost last week in the cold – and are fighting for the same Wild Card spot. And despite their superior record, Tampa Bay’s defence has been looking very bad lately – especially in the 28-0 loss to New England last week – while the Falcons were able to score on a tough Chicago defence. And despite Michael Vick’s rib injury, I think that the Falcons will be able to pull this on out, although not to the same extent that they did last year in the playoffs.
Indianapolis Colts at Seattle Seahawks (Seattle –7.5)
With both of these teams having powerhouse seasons, this could be the Super Bowl match up this year – if the Seahawks can actually win when it counts in the postseason. As such, this should be a good idea of what to expect from both teams in the postseason – except that both teams will be playing their starters in Detroit. Seattle will not pull out a win here and their “great” defence will be put to the test to even keep them close.
San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs (Kansas City –1.5)
After their upset win at the RCA Dome, the Chargers are hoping to keep on a winning path to the post season but are playing against one of (# 9 overall) the better run defences in the league – which can spell disaster for a team that relies heavily on LaDainian Tomlinson. Kansas City, however, has been hurting since the loss of Priest Holmes and is all but out of the playoff hunt and will try to play spoiler to a hot San Diego team… but it won’t be enough; the Chargers will cover the spread.
Buffalo Bills at Cincinnati Bengals (Cincinnati –14)
Buffalo is having the worst year in the NFL… never mind that there are teams with worse records or stats (After all, who expected San Francisco, Houston or the New York Jets to post good seasons?) it’s a matter that if they had a good QB this year, they’d be right in the playoff hunt. With Kelly Holcumb and JP Losman, though, they’re a .500 team at best that’s playing a definite Super Bowl contender on the road on Christmas Eve. But a 14-point spread is more too much for even the Bengals to cover, especially when they don’t need it – It’ll be closer to 10, if not under, since the Bengals don’t even need to win this game – but will anyway.
San Francisco 49ers at St. Louis Rams (St. Louis –9)
In a game that matters only for a position in the draft, St. Louis will win – maybe. Fitzgerald, for all his comebacks, is unreliable at best and the 49ers nearly pulled out a win against a much better Jacksonville last week. Still, with losses both this week and next (and Houston winning one of their next two) the 49ers will have a great shot at drafting Reggie Bush. Look for the Rams to cover the spread.
Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers (Chicago -6.5)
The Packers of today are like the Patriots of yesterday – almost unable to win when it counts and will be in the cellar for the foreseeable future. Chicago’s defence will shut down Brett Farve’s passing game and with Samkon Gado out for the season their running game is lousy at best; the Bears will make this look easy.
Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Ravens (Baltimore –2.5)
After embarrassing the Packers last week, the Ravens are on a hot streak that should carry over to this late Sunday game – look for the Vikings to continue to fall apart as their season comes to a close as Baltimore covers spread.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Week 15 quick wrapup:
On my first real attempt at predicting NFL scores I went 5 for 7...
My mistakes? Drew Bledsoe, as if on cue, fell apart when it mattered most and the Colts lost a game they could have won against a rebounding San Diego. All things considered, not too bad. Look for Week 16 to come on or around Thursday.
My mistakes? Drew Bledsoe, as if on cue, fell apart when it mattered most and the Colts lost a game they could have won against a rebounding San Diego. All things considered, not too bad. Look for Week 16 to come on or around Thursday.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
NFL Week 15 Preview
This is a big, if somewhat boring, week of matchups for the NFL - for every Chicago/Atlanta game, we have a Green Bay/Baltimore and a Miami/New York Jets matchup. Still, here's the first batch of predictions for the NFL:
Pittsburgh over Minnesota (+3)
- Big Ben Roethlisberger’s thumb refused to slow him down last week against the #1 rated defence in the NFL as the Steelers easily won over the Bears 21-9. Look this week for an even better game: The Vikings have been playing much better then they should have in recent weeks and against a strong defence we’ll suddenly remember why Brad Johnson was the backup – plus, this is a do-or-die situation for a Steelers team that has just started to play like they were last year.
New England over Tampa Bay (+4.5)
- Never mind that the Patriots are the new Packers – they’re 4-2 this year at home and were 8-0 at home last year – but Tampa Bay’s passing has been badly as of late, and they’ll tend to use Cadillac Williams more then they should on Saturday against a decent running defence (11th overall). Look for New England to more then cover the spread as they wrap up the AFC East for themselves.
Dallas over Washington (+2)
- This is kind of painful for me, a minor Redskins fan, to admit, but Washington’s year is done. With both LaVar Herrington and Mark Brunell playing hurt, Dallas will push hard to try and avenge their loss in week three. Look for Dallas to double team Santana Moss, making the Redskins rely on Clinton Portis to get the job done.
Seattle over Tennessee (-7)
- The Seahawks are one of the better (not the best, though) teams in the NFC as of late, but will have a close game against an underrated Tennessee team. While the Seahawks are playing in a fairly weak division (The Rams, the Cardinals and the 49ers aren’t exactly quality opponents), the Titans have been playing solid football against the likes of the Colts and the Jaguars. Look for Steve McNair to show us flashes of his old self against an over-rated Seattle defence. Yes, the Seahawks will win, but it won’t be by much more then a field goal.
Denver over Buffalo (+10)
- With Denver playing powerhouse football (albeit with a 3-RB system that’s killed my fantasy team) and Buffalo playing like chumps, this game will be a blowout that gives Denver the push they’ll need to wrap up the NFC West.
Indianapolis over San Diego (-7.5)
- This game should be all but a given for the Colts. But the Chargers need a win, badly, and the Colts could care less at this point – they’re going to start resting players soon, so they don’t get injured for the playoffs, and Tony Dungy has already said that he doesn’t really care about a 15-0 record. But, with a strong defence that’ll eat up LaDainian Tomlinson alive and both a killer running game and a powerful passing game, Indy will make this look easy, joining the 1972 Dolphins in the 14-0 club.
Chicago over Atlanta (+3)
- Coming off a tough loss to the Steelers, the Bears will rebound with a vengeance on Sunday night. With one of, if not the, best defences in the league, the Bears will be able to contain both Michael Vick and Warrick Dunn, making Vick rely on a less-then-perfect passing game. And with Kyle Orton running the Bears offence, look for this to be a low-scoring, defencive game.
Pittsburgh over Minnesota (+3)
- Big Ben Roethlisberger’s thumb refused to slow him down last week against the #1 rated defence in the NFL as the Steelers easily won over the Bears 21-9. Look this week for an even better game: The Vikings have been playing much better then they should have in recent weeks and against a strong defence we’ll suddenly remember why Brad Johnson was the backup – plus, this is a do-or-die situation for a Steelers team that has just started to play like they were last year.
New England over Tampa Bay (+4.5)
- Never mind that the Patriots are the new Packers – they’re 4-2 this year at home and were 8-0 at home last year – but Tampa Bay’s passing has been badly as of late, and they’ll tend to use Cadillac Williams more then they should on Saturday against a decent running defence (11th overall). Look for New England to more then cover the spread as they wrap up the AFC East for themselves.
Dallas over Washington (+2)
- This is kind of painful for me, a minor Redskins fan, to admit, but Washington’s year is done. With both LaVar Herrington and Mark Brunell playing hurt, Dallas will push hard to try and avenge their loss in week three. Look for Dallas to double team Santana Moss, making the Redskins rely on Clinton Portis to get the job done.
Seattle over Tennessee (-7)
- The Seahawks are one of the better (not the best, though) teams in the NFC as of late, but will have a close game against an underrated Tennessee team. While the Seahawks are playing in a fairly weak division (The Rams, the Cardinals and the 49ers aren’t exactly quality opponents), the Titans have been playing solid football against the likes of the Colts and the Jaguars. Look for Steve McNair to show us flashes of his old self against an over-rated Seattle defence. Yes, the Seahawks will win, but it won’t be by much more then a field goal.
Denver over Buffalo (+10)
- With Denver playing powerhouse football (albeit with a 3-RB system that’s killed my fantasy team) and Buffalo playing like chumps, this game will be a blowout that gives Denver the push they’ll need to wrap up the NFC West.
Indianapolis over San Diego (-7.5)
- This game should be all but a given for the Colts. But the Chargers need a win, badly, and the Colts could care less at this point – they’re going to start resting players soon, so they don’t get injured for the playoffs, and Tony Dungy has already said that he doesn’t really care about a 15-0 record. But, with a strong defence that’ll eat up LaDainian Tomlinson alive and both a killer running game and a powerful passing game, Indy will make this look easy, joining the 1972 Dolphins in the 14-0 club.
Chicago over Atlanta (+3)
- Coming off a tough loss to the Steelers, the Bears will rebound with a vengeance on Sunday night. With one of, if not the, best defences in the league, the Bears will be able to contain both Michael Vick and Warrick Dunn, making Vick rely on a less-then-perfect passing game. And with Kyle Orton running the Bears offence, look for this to be a low-scoring, defencive game.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Shaq on the beach
It was mid-morning when I got up and poured myself a tall glass of orange juice - the start to what I assumed would be a typical day in my household. With a "Sports Illustrated" on the table and SportsCentre on the TV I sat down to what I assumed would be an hour of fairly standard sports highlights.
But then it flashed on the screen: Shaquille O'Neal was now an officer of the law in Miami beach. Surely I thought that some fool had slipped LSD-25 into my drink - an NBA player also a cop? It sounded like the plot of some movie starring Eddie Griffin... But it had this ring of believability to it. Shaq, after all, is almost like a G-rated version of the modern basketball player. He's the latest in a long line of players that even your grandmother could love: People like Charles Barkley or Magic Johnson. If somebody like, for example, Ron Artest had suddenly decided to become a cop then we'd have reason to wonder - but Shaq is a natural fit.
Maybe it's the way that he can disarm anybody with his personality, maybe it's the way that he always seems to be smiling when the other players try to look menacing. I'm not sure, and I doubt that I ever will be. But, out of the current list of NBA superstars, he stands out as the one that could pull this off without looking foolish. Granted, his role is more of a spokesperson then anything else, but such a role is natural for him: as a internationally known superstar, he's already in such a role for the NBA - not to mention his commercials for those 'Crunch Bars' from a while back. Even if he doesn't do anything other then star in the occassional commercial - although, according to the Miami Beach Police Department, "He's here to conduct investigations and make arrests" - it's a dollar a year that could have been worse spent.
But then it flashed on the screen: Shaquille O'Neal was now an officer of the law in Miami beach. Surely I thought that some fool had slipped LSD-25 into my drink - an NBA player also a cop? It sounded like the plot of some movie starring Eddie Griffin... But it had this ring of believability to it. Shaq, after all, is almost like a G-rated version of the modern basketball player. He's the latest in a long line of players that even your grandmother could love: People like Charles Barkley or Magic Johnson. If somebody like, for example, Ron Artest had suddenly decided to become a cop then we'd have reason to wonder - but Shaq is a natural fit.
Maybe it's the way that he can disarm anybody with his personality, maybe it's the way that he always seems to be smiling when the other players try to look menacing. I'm not sure, and I doubt that I ever will be. But, out of the current list of NBA superstars, he stands out as the one that could pull this off without looking foolish. Granted, his role is more of a spokesperson then anything else, but such a role is natural for him: as a internationally known superstar, he's already in such a role for the NBA - not to mention his commercials for those 'Crunch Bars' from a while back. Even if he doesn't do anything other then star in the occassional commercial - although, according to the Miami Beach Police Department, "He's here to conduct investigations and make arrests" - it's a dollar a year that could have been worse spent.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
The Rise and Fall of the Eagles
January 23rd, 2005:
Today, at Philadelphia’s Lincoln field, the hometown Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons for the NFC Championship. The weather, a major factor in the game, was snowy, windy and cold for the duration of the game – as was the Atlanta offence. Michael Vick, who previously led the Falcons to a 47 to 10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was held to only 162 yards and was sacked on four different occasions. Donovan McNabb, on the other hand, passed for two touchdowns to Chad Lewis – who, while catching the second touchdown, injured his foot and was forced to leave the game.
The Eagles will play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.
This, as it would turn out, was the peak of 2005 for the Eagles, who now have a 5-7 record after their ghastly loss on Monday night. This has been a tough year for the NFC Champions, who went 13-3 during the regular season and winning by at least 13 points in each playoff game – without Terrell Owens, their of their key players. When February 6th came around, it looked as if the Eagles would have a great shot at winning the Super Bowl, even if they faced the New England Patriots.
It was a long road to get that far, though, for the Eagles. They had to suffer through losing season after losing season in the late 1990s before they hired head coach Andy Reid and drafted quarterback Donovan McNabb. This led to a fantastic 2000 season, where they made their first playoff appearance since 1996 and finished second in the NFC East. After demolishing Tampa Bay in the first round, they lost to the New York Giants in the next round.
2001 wasn’t much more successful for the Eagles: after finishing first in the NFC East and posting an 11-5 record, they made their way to the NFC Championship by destroying Tampa Bay (31 – 9) and the Chicago Bears (33 –19), but lost to the eventual champions, the St. Louis Rams by less then a touchdown. Clearly, something was missing from the Eagles lineup. They had proved that they could score, but their defence proved to be lacking in key games.
By the next year’s playoffs, though, their defence had picked up considerably. Playing against the Atlanta Falcons, they had three sacks on Michael Vick and were able to hold one of the NFL’s powerhouse offences to only two field goals. Again, however, they lost in the NFC finals, to a much-improved (and eventual Super Bowl winning) Tampa Bay.
In 2003, the story was the same – yet again. After their infamous ‘4th and 26’ play (a 28 yard reception on a fourth down play that led to the game-tying field goal) and barely winning over Green Bay in overtime, they once again lost in the NFC championship; this time to Carolina. This was the third year in a row that they had lost in that game and the second year in a row that they had gone into the playoffs as a #1 seed.
It was on that fateful game in January 2005 that they were finally able to win the Championship, finally making it to the Super Bowl. They had all the keys to winning the game: While the Patriots had a secondary was injury-prone, the Eagles had one the top passing games in the NFL, thanks to the combo of Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens – who was set to make his comeback after missing the playoffs with a broken ankle. It was Donovan, however, that was one of the factors in the loss that year. Despite passing for three touchdowns, he was sacked four times and intercepted three times – the final one coming on the Eagles last drive at the end of the game.
Going by their past merits, the 2005 season looked to be good for the Eagles: They had been on top of the NFC for a number of years now, they had a massive passing game and a defence to match. But, like many of the other teams that lost in the Super Bowl in recent years, they fell apart in the regular season. From the off-field antics of Terrell Owens (which started even before the season did) to McNabb’s decision to play despite his sports hernia, the Eagles offence was not as powerful as it had been the year before; and their defence was much of the same. It was on another Monday night game, this time at home against the Dallas Cowboys.
The game started off well for the Eagles: at halftime they were ahead by a touchdown; at the end of the third quarter, the lead had jumped to 10 points – all without Terrell Owens, who had just been suspended for ‘conduct detrimental to the team’. But in the fourth quarter, Dallas came back and won the game while McNabb took a huge sack and aggravated his hernia, causing him to leave the game – and ended his season.
Since that night, the new starting quarterback, Mike McMahon, has been less then successful, winning only one game out of the three that he has so far started.
So it was on another Monday night, this time in early December, that the Eagles hit their lowest point in years: a 42 to nothing loss against the Seattle Seahawks at home, in the midst of a snowstorm, no less. This season has been a disaster for the once-mighty Eagles: and it’s not the fault of any one person. From the actions of Terrell Owens (his preseason shenanigans, his treatment of Donovan McNabb in the press, his fights with the team in the locker room), the coaching of Andy Reid (who has been almost unable to establish a running game in his tenure as coach or his knee-jerk reaction to Owens’s outbursts) to the intangible factors that worked against the Eagles this season (Donovan McNabb’s injuries, the collapse of their defence), this is a year to forget in Philly, as one of their only sports success stories in recent years falls apart.
So, what’s next for Philly? They undoubtedly want to rid themselves of Owens (and already there are rumors of either the Denver Broncos or the Dallas Cowboys acquiring him as soon as the season ends) and Andy Reid’s job is on the line. Donovan McNabb is set to resume his career as soon as the next season starts, but will he still be as effective as he used to be? We’ve all seen what happened to Steve ‘Air’ McNair after his injury-plagued seasons in 2003 and 2004. The easy answer, at least at this time, is that the Eagles will have to retool their offence: their pass-heavy scheme has barely, if at all, worked for them in the playoffs and with the loss of Terrell Owens, as well as the potential loss of Donovan McNabb’s passing skills, will only hurt them if they continue down that path.
Today, at Philadelphia’s Lincoln field, the hometown Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons for the NFC Championship. The weather, a major factor in the game, was snowy, windy and cold for the duration of the game – as was the Atlanta offence. Michael Vick, who previously led the Falcons to a 47 to 10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was held to only 162 yards and was sacked on four different occasions. Donovan McNabb, on the other hand, passed for two touchdowns to Chad Lewis – who, while catching the second touchdown, injured his foot and was forced to leave the game.
The Eagles will play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.
This, as it would turn out, was the peak of 2005 for the Eagles, who now have a 5-7 record after their ghastly loss on Monday night. This has been a tough year for the NFC Champions, who went 13-3 during the regular season and winning by at least 13 points in each playoff game – without Terrell Owens, their of their key players. When February 6th came around, it looked as if the Eagles would have a great shot at winning the Super Bowl, even if they faced the New England Patriots.
It was a long road to get that far, though, for the Eagles. They had to suffer through losing season after losing season in the late 1990s before they hired head coach Andy Reid and drafted quarterback Donovan McNabb. This led to a fantastic 2000 season, where they made their first playoff appearance since 1996 and finished second in the NFC East. After demolishing Tampa Bay in the first round, they lost to the New York Giants in the next round.
2001 wasn’t much more successful for the Eagles: after finishing first in the NFC East and posting an 11-5 record, they made their way to the NFC Championship by destroying Tampa Bay (31 – 9) and the Chicago Bears (33 –19), but lost to the eventual champions, the St. Louis Rams by less then a touchdown. Clearly, something was missing from the Eagles lineup. They had proved that they could score, but their defence proved to be lacking in key games.
By the next year’s playoffs, though, their defence had picked up considerably. Playing against the Atlanta Falcons, they had three sacks on Michael Vick and were able to hold one of the NFL’s powerhouse offences to only two field goals. Again, however, they lost in the NFC finals, to a much-improved (and eventual Super Bowl winning) Tampa Bay.
In 2003, the story was the same – yet again. After their infamous ‘4th and 26’ play (a 28 yard reception on a fourth down play that led to the game-tying field goal) and barely winning over Green Bay in overtime, they once again lost in the NFC championship; this time to Carolina. This was the third year in a row that they had lost in that game and the second year in a row that they had gone into the playoffs as a #1 seed.
It was on that fateful game in January 2005 that they were finally able to win the Championship, finally making it to the Super Bowl. They had all the keys to winning the game: While the Patriots had a secondary was injury-prone, the Eagles had one the top passing games in the NFL, thanks to the combo of Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens – who was set to make his comeback after missing the playoffs with a broken ankle. It was Donovan, however, that was one of the factors in the loss that year. Despite passing for three touchdowns, he was sacked four times and intercepted three times – the final one coming on the Eagles last drive at the end of the game.
Going by their past merits, the 2005 season looked to be good for the Eagles: They had been on top of the NFC for a number of years now, they had a massive passing game and a defence to match. But, like many of the other teams that lost in the Super Bowl in recent years, they fell apart in the regular season. From the off-field antics of Terrell Owens (which started even before the season did) to McNabb’s decision to play despite his sports hernia, the Eagles offence was not as powerful as it had been the year before; and their defence was much of the same. It was on another Monday night game, this time at home against the Dallas Cowboys.
The game started off well for the Eagles: at halftime they were ahead by a touchdown; at the end of the third quarter, the lead had jumped to 10 points – all without Terrell Owens, who had just been suspended for ‘conduct detrimental to the team’. But in the fourth quarter, Dallas came back and won the game while McNabb took a huge sack and aggravated his hernia, causing him to leave the game – and ended his season.
Since that night, the new starting quarterback, Mike McMahon, has been less then successful, winning only one game out of the three that he has so far started.
So it was on another Monday night, this time in early December, that the Eagles hit their lowest point in years: a 42 to nothing loss against the Seattle Seahawks at home, in the midst of a snowstorm, no less. This season has been a disaster for the once-mighty Eagles: and it’s not the fault of any one person. From the actions of Terrell Owens (his preseason shenanigans, his treatment of Donovan McNabb in the press, his fights with the team in the locker room), the coaching of Andy Reid (who has been almost unable to establish a running game in his tenure as coach or his knee-jerk reaction to Owens’s outbursts) to the intangible factors that worked against the Eagles this season (Donovan McNabb’s injuries, the collapse of their defence), this is a year to forget in Philly, as one of their only sports success stories in recent years falls apart.
So, what’s next for Philly? They undoubtedly want to rid themselves of Owens (and already there are rumors of either the Denver Broncos or the Dallas Cowboys acquiring him as soon as the season ends) and Andy Reid’s job is on the line. Donovan McNabb is set to resume his career as soon as the next season starts, but will he still be as effective as he used to be? We’ve all seen what happened to Steve ‘Air’ McNair after his injury-plagued seasons in 2003 and 2004. The easy answer, at least at this time, is that the Eagles will have to retool their offence: their pass-heavy scheme has barely, if at all, worked for them in the playoffs and with the loss of Terrell Owens, as well as the potential loss of Donovan McNabb’s passing skills, will only hurt them if they continue down that path.
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