Sean Taylor Rest in Peace

Sean Taylor was one of the hardest hitting safeties in the NFL and now he is gone! Here is a video in remembrance of a young man who was a leader in the Redskins organization.

Battle for NFC "Air Supremacy"

Like the AFC showdown in week nine this Thursday should prove to be the NFC championship preliminary. In this week’s power ranking, the Dallas Cowboys are #2 and the Green Bay Packers #3. Both teams are entering the game with 10-1 records and coming off wins from Thanksgiving Day. The winner of this game could have the advantage for home field throughout the playoffs.

The Green Bay Packers are 5-0 on the road this year and on a six game winning streak going to Texas where the Cowboys are 5-1. The Cowboys are on a five game winning streak and since 1991 have the upper hand in this series. Since Favre entered the NFL he has only beaten the Cowboys twice and both victories were at Lambeau Field.

Which air assault will prevail? Will it be Brett Favre with 17 years of experience who is surrounded by talented young receivers and a running game that is coming to life in the legs of Grant? Or will it be Tony Romo, the kid who grew up in Burlington, Wisconsin, who has been in the NFL since 2003 on the Cowboy bench and didn’t start until 2006? One thing is for certain be prepared to see the long ball, it doesn’t take long for TO or Jennings to get down field.

Pats Near Loss

When your team is winning you always seem to get the prime time games! Sunday nights match up on NBC between the Patriots and Eagles was supposed to be another display of NFL dominance. The Eagles were a 26 point underdog (Bloomberg.com, 2007) walking into this game with nothing to lose.

The second play from scrimmage had Eagles fans pulling out their hair as A. J. Feeley, who was in for the injured McNabb, threw a pass that was intercepted by CB Asante Samuel and returned for a touchdown giving the Pats 7-0 lead. For many this was the prelude to the onslaught. But after that mistake, Feeley settled down and stood in the pocket connecting with eight different receivers for 345 yards and three touchdowns (NFL.com, 2007). However, it was Feeley’s forced pass in the end zone at the end of the game to Kevin Curtis that turned into Samuel’s second interception of the game that will be remembered as the pass that could have ended the Pats undefeated season.

The Eagles defense played a superb game sacking Brady three times and holding him to just one touchdown pass that wasn’t even to Randy Moss who had just five receptions for 43 yards. But it was that speedy slot receiver, Wes Welker, which kept New England drives alive! The Eagles exploited something here and trust me when I tell you Patriot opponents will be watching this tape as it was a close one 31-28!

Bloomberg.com. 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2007 from
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aIIsOIHkys7k

NFL.com. Game Center. Retrieved 26 November 2007 from http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?season=2007&week=REG12&game_id=29369

Upcoming Potential Sources

As this term nears the end we are beginning to wind down our blog entries and begin working on our analysis paper. When writing this paper we will analyze the community in which we are blogging. By now, I'm sure everyone knows that most of my blogs are written on Monday or Tuesday mornings and revolve around the games played on Sunday.

There are many football bloggers but some of the ones I find interesting are those that can be found on ESPN.com written by John Clayton and the NFL Blog Buzz at NBCSports.com. Both of these sites contain blogs written by professional analysis who are well known not only because of their writing but also because of their appearances on shows such as NFL Countdown and the NFL Network.

The above mentioned sites are just a couple of the positive sites out there on the internet. But believe me when I tell you there are many other football blogs that will make you madder than a coon dog stuck in a thorn bush. These guys have absolutely no clue, they haven't seen the ball since kick-off! A majority of the bad blogs make false statements to bash players or teams and use no stats or resources to back up such statements.

To me blogs like these are not even worth the time it would take to analyze them since life is so short and it's time you'll never get back.

Which #81 do you prefer?

When the season began everyone was concerned about how Randy Moss would fit in as a New England Patriot. There was also concern about the effect Terrell Owens would have on the Dallas Cowboys. Well all the speculation of the two supposed bad boy receivers of the NFL are actually 180 degrees out from all the anticipation.

Now, with 10 games behind them everyone wants to know, “Which reformed NFL bad boy is having a better season?” (NBCSports.com, 2007) or, “Who is the best WR in the NFL?” (FOXSports.com, 2007). Well, who do you think is the best?

After watching the Dallas Cowboys or should we say the Tony Romo and TO show on Sunday, when he caught four touchdown passes, I thought to myself, damn this guy is good and he is even better when he shuts his mouth. But it didn’t stop with the offense, knowing how good he is at jumping for the ball, the Cowboys found it fitting to put TO in the game to help defend the Hail Mary pass.

Later that even, I watched the New England Patriots and thought that it was déjà vu. This time it was Tom Brady and the Randy Moss show. These guys also connected for four touchdowns and almost five. However, when Randy Moss came into the game to defend against a Hail Mary pass, I couldn’t help think that the Patriots watched the earlier Cowboys game. Were the Pats making sure that TO didn’t outshine Randy Moss?

Well, who is better? Below are some stats pulled from Fox Sports Stats to help you make your decision!

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/sortableStats?div=NFL&stable=receiving&stat=recYds&dir=descending

NFL SORTABLE STATS, INDIVIDUAL -- Receiving Yards
Rk Name/Team Rec Yds Avg TD Long Fumbles 100-Yd Gms
1 Randy Moss, NE 66 1052 15.9 16 55 0 7
2 Terrell Owens, Dal 58 1028 17.7 12 52 1 5

Fox Sports on MSN. 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007 from http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl.


NBCSports.com. 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007 from http://www.nbcsports.com/portal/site/nbcsports/menuitem.985c117df26e300afafa6d91d0d08a0c/?vgnextoid=6f33d5e59df02110VgnVCM100000dc032c03RCRD&vgnextfmt=default

Cowboys NFC East Champs!

The Dallas Cowboys (8-1) will face off with the Washington Redskins (5-4) in Dallas this weekend and will virtually set themselves a top the NFC East after already defeating the NY Giants (6-3) in the Meadowlands this past weekend and the Philadelphia Eagles (4-5) at Lincoln Financial the weekend prior to New York.

The Cowboys are currently 3-0 in division play with two wins over the Giants and one over Philly. The only loss they have is against the AFC undefeated New England Patriots who has the number one total offense in the NFL with the Cowboys ranked number two.
The only team in the NFC that could possible match or contend with the Cowboys on paper is the Green Bay Packers whose only loss was to the Bears. These two teams will meet November 29th and this game could possibly get the same hype as the Patriots and Colts game.

When I look at this team I see the makings of another Dallas tri-factor. The same tri factor that led to a few Superbowl wins in the 1990’s. Back then it was names like Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith. Today, the Dallas Cowboys revolve around the same three positions with names like Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, and Marion Barber. I could be wrong but if these key players keep performing the way they are Dallas fans can buy their tickets to Arizona now!

NFL.com. Team Stats. Retrieved 12 November 2007 from http://www.nfl.com/stats/team.

Dallas Cowboys. Schedule. Retrieved 12 November 2007 from http://www.dallascowboys.com/schedule.cfm.

Who is Worse?

Who is worse? Is it the Miami Dolphins or the St. Louis Rams, place your votes. It's too bad they don't play each other! If you are a Miami Dolphins fan or St. Louis Rams fan you probably have already accepted the fact that your team is having a losing season. Unlike most teams in the NFL these two teams are playing for the #1 draft pick and not to make it to the playoffs. Neither of these teams have much to brag about this season.

The Dolphins have three things going for them this year despite their record. The Dolphins home field is in sunny Florida, they have good looking cheerleaders, and they played in London in the first ever NFL regular season game abroad. But even then I don’t think it’s worth bragging about, I mean, that was an awful display of what the NFL has to offer. The Dolphins have a legitimate chance of joining only a few other teams to be winless in a single season and with opponents such as the Eagles, Steelers, Jets, Bills, Ravens, Patriots, and Bengals remaining the chances are looking more like reality.

The Rams can at least say they won a game beating the New Orleans Aints (the S was purposely left off) and have the opportunity to win a second game this upcoming weekend as they square off with the San Francisco 49ers who are on a 7-game slide and were just skunked by the Seahawks in a Monday Night game! A win this weekend will allow the Rams to finish the season at a possible 2-14 record. But that might be good enough to knock them out of the playoffs for the #1 pick in the draft.

Rookie Running Backs, Getting It Done!

Marshawn Lynch leads the Buffalo Bills to a 33-21 victory over the Cincinatti Bengals. Lynch had 29 rushes for 153 yards and a touchdown. His longest run was 56 yards in the 4th quarter with 2:25 left in the game. Lynch didn't only do it with his legs; he also threw an 8 yard pass for a touchdown. Although these numbers look good and in most cases are fantastic, on this day they are second best to a fellow rookie playing for the Minnesota Vikings.


Minnesota Vikings improve to a 3-5 record using the legs of running back Adrian Peterson who was responsible for 315 of 528 offensive yards for the Vikings. Of the 315 yards 296 came on the ground as Peterson used the Charger defense as his paved way to the endzone three times. The way Adrian was running, plays probably could have been simplified down to Peterson to the left, right, or up the middle.

NFL Game Center. Post game-Cincinatti Bengals at Buffalo Bills. Retrieved 05 November 2007 from http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?season=2007&week=REG9&game_id=29312

NFL Game Center. Post game-Cincinatti Bengals at Buffalo Bills. Retrieved 05 November 2007 from http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?season=2007&week=REG9&game_id=29315

What a game!

The game of the week between the two AFC power houses concluded with the Patriots squeaking by the Colts 24-20. If you think the score is close then check out the game stats:

New England Patriots (9-0-0)
Total Net Yards 342
Penalties-Yards 10-146
Time of Possession 29:44
Total Turnovers 2
Indianapolis Colts (7-1-0)
Total Net Yards 329
Penalties-Yards 4-25
Time of Possession 30:16
Total Turnovers 2

The Colts led the entire game until there was 3:21 left in the game and Tom Brady found Kevin Faulk for 13 yard touchdown. The Colts got the ball back and began there drive down the field. But with 2:34 left in the game, Manning was hit from behind and coughed the ball up and right into the hands of OLB Colvin. This turnover would wind up being the nail in the coffin for the Colts as the Pats ran three plays and began kneeling, to run out the clock and continue their undefeated season.

After this game the question that lines the sky is, “Can the Patriots go the rest of the season undefeated?” There is only one other team in NFL history that went undefeated and that was the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

NFL Game Center. Post game-New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts. Retrieved 05 November 2007 from http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=29321&displayPage=tab_gamecenter&season=2007&week=REG9