When Winning Become Losing.......

The 2011 Minnesota Vikings came into this season with high hopes to return the status they had back in 2009, when they when 12-4 and was one costly turnover away from the Super Bowl. Those days seem far and beyond nowadays. Going into the Christmas Eve game against the Washington Redskins, having a 2-12 and a shot at landing the #1 pick in the upcoming draft, one would think that the Vikings would hit rock bottom for this season. That is until yesterday......

Vikings traveled to D.C. to play the Redskins in consecutive years, although the Vikings won a pretty interesting game between two teams who had no playoff hopes, this win was costly, VERY COSTLY. 

The last thing and I mean THE LAST THING the Vikings wanted to worry about was losing their $100 million man to a injury. Adrian Peterson sprained his ankle a month ago, but the injury he suffered on Saturday makes that high ankle sprain look like an owie. It has been confirmed, well the video did enough convincing, that AP did indeed tear his ACL in his left knee. That may not be the only thing he tore, he may have MCL tears and possible structural damage.

With the Vikings already having holes to fill on the roster, this may be the ultimate blow to a team that may have to start thinking "completely rebuilding" for the first time since 2006. Now for the record, I believe that AP will make a full recovery and be back in time for the 2012 season. However, there are conflicting reports that say this could be a career-ending or career-altering injury. Vikings fans seen this before, i.e. Daunte Culpepper in 2005, the Vikings have not recovered from that injury to this date. Culpepper was also the Vikings $100 million man when he suffered his knee injury. Culpepper was the Vikings franchise QB, and to this day the Vikings haven't found his replacement yet. Could AP injury mean that the Vikings will be searching for a RB to replace maybe the best RB in the sport today?

Lets consider some positives and negatives behind all of this:

Positives

• Robert Smith: the guy who AP is behind as Vikings All-time leading rusher, had two ACL injuries in his 8 year career as a Viking and statistically had his best years after those injuries.
• Willis McGhee: who destroyed his knee during his last game in college, has come back to play a decent career as an NFL RB, currently with the Denver Broncos.
• Jamal Lewis: who torn his ACL in 2001, after the Ravens Super Bowl season, came back two seasons later and ran for 2,000 yards in 2003.
• Edgerrin James: tore his ACL in 2001, but was able to come back and rush for 5 1,000 yard seasons.

Negatives

• Terrell Davis: Won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1998-99, but in 2000 tore his knee and was never the same after. Retiring shortly after.
• Jamal Anderson: Had a great year in 1998, leading the Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl, but tore his ACL the following season. He tried to come back a few times, but never regained his top form.
• Deuce McAllister: Was the Saints work-horse from his rookie season in 2001 until his tore his ACL in 2005. The Saints drafted Reggie Bush in the draft and Deuce's years were numbered, as he never regain his pro bowl status.
• Olandis Gary: Was the replacement for the aforementioned Terrell Davis, had a great rookie season and the Broncos had high hopes for their future at RB. But the following season, he tore his knee up never recovered and his short career came to an end.

So for Vikings fans, there are some hope that AP can return to top form, while there are others who think this could be the beginning of the end for a career which could of been beyond promising for one Adrian Peterson. 

Go West Young Man, Go West?

Week 15 could be the tell all for where the road to Indianapolis (Super Bowl) will go through. I'll focus a lot on the AFC (Since the Packers have the NFC locked down) and I'll look at 3 teams today who all will travel west of the Mississippi. In the AFC, four teams are 10-3, with the Texans leading the way through tie-breakers. But of those four teams, the Texans are the only ones that are at home and have clinched their division. The Patriots, Ravens, and Steelers all are on the road and all have huge games that could have meaning in the playoff race. 

Lets start with the big game of the weekend, Patriots at Broncos. This game could be huge, not because of the Tebow-ism that's taken over the league right now, but this game puts the 10-3 Pats against the 8-5 Broncos. This game could be for tie-breaking purposes as well as can the team of the decade beat the rising phenomenon named Tebow and the Denver Broncos. Could today be the "changing" of the guard? Over the last 10 years, the Pats have been the darlings of the NFL, but if "Tebow-ism" beat the Pats today, could all of that finally change? 

I'll get on that topic later, but the reason why I am doing this entry is because of the huge impact this game could deliver for this year's AFC postseason picture. If the Pats pull off this victory, many people would be happy because the Tebow-mania would subside for a week and for Pats fans this could put them closer to having home-field in the AFC. But, if the Broncos were to pull out the win, this could give them the AFC West title and at least position this team for a possible run at the #1 or #2 seed in the AFC. Which leads me into the next AFC game.

Ravens at Chargers tonight could be a huge test for a Ravens team that's trying to make themselves the #1 top dog in the AFC. Ravens may have exercise their demons in the Steelers this season (winning the season series between the two) but seem to have mental breakdowns against teams they have NO business losing too (i.e. Jaguars, Seahawks and Titans). The Ravens don't want to repeat the last trip they made to the west-coast. As for the Chargers, making late season runs is their MO. However, this could be the final nail in the coffin that's known as the 2011 NFL season. The Chargers would have to win out and get help in order to make the playoffs, but winning their last two game is a good symbol for this team that's use to winning in the month of December.

If the Ravens can hang on the win this game, this would pretty much give the Ravens at least the #2 seed in the AFC and would very much wrap up the AFC North (with the Browns and Bengals left on their schedule). If the Chargers win, this would extend their other-wise not so good season by another week. Noteworthy to the Raven faithful, WIN THIS GAME TONIGHT!!!! Put the pressure on the Steelers!!! Which leads me to the final game of week 15.

Steelers at 49ers, this game has HUGE meaning on both teams who are in heated races within their respective conferences. This hurdle for the Steelers could be a tough one, being without the suspended James Harrison and having Big Ben injured and questionable to play in this game, the Steelers have to play the 49ers short-handed. As for the 49ers, who lost to the other AFC North top dog the Ravens a few weeks ago, will play a similar team in the Steelers. 

If the Steelers win this game, two things could happen: 1.) they could be leading the AFC North (if Ravens lose) or 2.) they could have locked down the #5 seed as a wild-card. The Steelers will go into Monday Night knowing the results of both the Pats, Ravens, and Texans games. If the 49ers win this game, this could lock down the #2 seed in the NFC and thus the 49ers would have two weeks plus a bye week to prepare for their first playoff game in 9 years.

So lets just say that the Super Bowl picture could be settled in the Wild, Wild West this week. Well I had to use something for the theme "Go West Young Man, Go West". We'll see what happens. Destination Super Bowl!!!!

2011 Packers vs 2007 Patriots

The "perfect season" has only been successfully accomplished once in the NFL, 1972 Miami Dolphins. Over the last 15 years this feat has been challenged several times, unsuccessfully of course with the most recent being the 2007 New England Patriots. Could 2011 be the season that a team goes undefeated in an NFL season ,counting both Regular and Post-Seasons? Many believe so, but I'm writing this blog in relation the last two teams who have challenged this feat: 07 Patriots and current Packers.

I will not compare the whole season of these two teams, as the 2011 season isn't completed, but I'll compare the two teams as to their position as if the Week 14 within their respective seasons.

2007 Patriots: 

The Pats were coming off the lost in the 06 AFC Championship game against the eventual Super Bowl Champs the Indianapolis Colts. The Pats upgraded their Wide Receivers with a huge trade for Randy Moss, who was with the Raiders and former Dolphins WR Wes Welker. These two pick up proved to be key to the Pats 2007 season. With the help of these two players, the Pats started off 2007 by scoring 24 or more points and each of its first 9 games (30 or more in 8 of those games). The only team that could of possibly beaten the Pats where the Colts and they played week 9 of that season, otherwise known as Super Bowl 41&1/2. This would be the first time the Pats played the Colts since that classic AFC title game, and this game lived up to the hype and some. Pats won this game 24-20 and thus started the "undefeated" talks that would plague the rest of their season.

However, I'll limit this for another blog in the near future, but I want to talk about a game in week 13 against the Baltimore Ravens. This game was the final true test that stood in the way for the Pats as their quest for the undefeated season. This was a Monday Night game and everyone was watching, as the Ravens game it their all against this juggernaut.

2011 Packers:

Coming off their Super Bowl win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Pack started off their season against the previous Super Bowl champs the New Orleans Saints. The Pack wasn't so dominate in their first half of the season, but they won every game by at least 6 points. That is until week 13 match up against the New York Giants. This game, as to date, is considered to be the Packers final test in their quest to go undefeated in a season.

Now on to the real reason for this blog, I wanted to compare the two teams and their week 13 match-ups. Both teams were on the road and faced two teams who were capable of beating these two powerhouse teams.

It was strange when I saw the Packers win this game against the Giants because it reminded me so much of when the Patriots defeated the Ravens, as both games were had its share of controversial calls from the refs. 

12 vs. 12:

Both QB's, Aaron Rodgers for the Packers and Tom Brady for the Patriots, play beyond great in these respective years. Rodgers could be putting up the stats that would be considered the best ever when it comes to single-season performances. I remember hearing about this same thing 4 years ago, oh yea I did, in Tom Brady.

Aaron Rodgers: As of week 13 in '11: 3,844 yards with 37 TD's and 5 INT's . 70.6 comp%  and a 125.3 QB rating. 

Tom Brady as of week 13 in '07: 3,696 yards with 41 TD's and 5 INT's. 71.5 comp % and a 121.8 QB rating. 

Pats vs Pack Super Bowl Match-up?
There are some comparisons to the two that are highly striking and the ironic thing is that with both teams on a possible collision course for the Super Bowl. Picture this: Could it be the Patriots, who had their streak ended in Super Bowl 42, stop the undefeated streak of the Packers in Super Bowl 46 this season? Less than 2 months away, it would be very interesting game if this were to play out.

Monday Quarterback

Week 13 Recap


Philadelphia 14 at Seattle 31
This is the final, and I mean final nail in the coffin for the "Dream Team" in 2011. This could also mean the beginning of the end for one Andy Reid. With this win, Seattle keeps it's very slim playoff hopes alive.

Carolina 38 at Tampa Bay 19
Tampa QB Josh Freeman was scratched from this game before kickoff due to an injury, and the Panthers just went to task on the short-handed Bucs. Cam Newton sets the QB record for most rushing TD's in one season.

Cincinnati 7 at Pittsburgh 35
Young Bengals team just can't hang with the vets from the black & gold immortality known as the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mistakes did the Bengals in, as they lose another game against the "big boys" of the AFC North.

Atlanta 10 at Houston 17
T.J. Yates first start was successful, however it could of come with a price. WR Andre Johnson re-aggravated that hamstring injury again. As for the Falcons, missed a huge opportunity to lay claim to one the wild-card spots and keep up with the Saints in the NFC South.

NY Jets 34 at Washington 19
Jets scored 21 points in the 4th Quarter behind 3 TD's from Shonn Greene and good QB play from Sanchez as the Jets scored a huge win in DC.

Indianapolis 24 at New England 31
The Colts came to play in this "rivalry of the century". This game didn't turn out as bad as the 20-point spread that was on this game by the odd-makers.

Oakland 14 at Miami 34
Well I am not sure what the issue was here, the Raiders picked the WRONG time to have a let down game. It could of been because of the West Coast to East Coast travel, but what ever it was this game could be costly down the road. As for Miami, this team is playing the hardest and could be the biggest spoilers to playoff teams they play from here on out.

Denver 35 at  Minnesota 32
Tim Tebow does it again. Well with the help of his old college rival, Christian Ponder, who's 3 turnovers accounted for 13 points including the game-winning FG.

Tennessee 23 at Buffalo 17
Chris Johnson finally got his legs back underneath him, he ran for another 100+ yard day and Titans are keeping up with the Texans in the AFC South race.

Kansas City 10 at Chicago 3
Ugly game, but a huge injury could derail one team while this win could propel another. Matt Forte went out with an knee injury and could be missed for the remainder of the season. Difference in this game was a hail mary from Tyler Palko to Dexter McCluster before the half to give the Chiefs a 7-3 lead and the win.

Arizona 19 at Dallas 13 (OT)
Playing a game in Arizona against the Cowboys always equals to a weird win by the Cardinals. Over the last few games have come down to either game-winning kicks or Overtime TD's. All by the Cardinals. Jason Garrett iced his own kicker as Cowboys Kicker Dan Bailey kicked a game-winning kick. With that, Bailey had to re-tee and kick again, and this time he missed the kick. Cardinals scored a TD in overtime as they won against the Cowboys again.

San Francisco 26 at St. Louis 0
Niners clinched the NFC West for the first time in 9 years with this victory.

Detroit 17 at New Orleans 31

The Lions had 11 penalties that killed a lot of opportunities for the Lions as they lost against the Red Hot Saints who could be gearing up for a late season push for home-field advantage.

Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like 2007??

I was just looking back at some history with the NFL and I happen to see a comparison of some sorts that I wanted to discuss. This blog will be cover the New York Giants as I compare the 2007 and 2011 seasons. Now why did I pick just these two season for? Well as you know, the Giants are in the midst of another 2nd half collapse, but I'll focus more on the good things and not bad.

Looking at the two seasons, I see some similarities in it. At this time in 2007, the Giants were 7-4 and behind the Cowboys in the NFC East race. This season, the Giants are 6-5 and behind the Cowboys in the NFC East race. Well only a game difference between the two seasons, but more similarities to follow. In 2007, the Giants ended the month of November with a blowout lost to the Minnesota Vikings at home 41-17. Just this past week (the last Monday Night game in November) the Giants lost to the Saints 49-24.

Questions arose from the New York media after both games, and doubt was put into people's head as to question will the Giants go to the playoffs? Should Coach Tom Coughlin be fired? One thing about the Giants under Coughlin is that they respond to criticism well when it comes to situations like this. The game following that Vikings loss in 07, the Giants played another NFC North team the Chicago Bears. They won in Chicago 21-16, a game in which most picked the Bears to dominate the Giants. Fast forward to 2011 and this weekend's game against another NFC North team, the undefeated Green Bay Packers. This game, like the game in 2007, could very well be for the Giants season, in which if they lose this could give the Cowboys a 2 game lead in the NFC East and would put the Giants behind a few teams in the NFC Wild Card race.

We'll keep the Green Bay Packers in mind, the 2007 team played them as well (lost) and played them again in the NFC Championship game (won in OT). The 2011 team could very well see this team again in a few weeks (Considering that they win on Sunday), at the same place and possibly have the same seed they did in 2007. Now I do somewhat believe in divine intervention, but for Giants fans who though that they're season is over with, may need to just relax. 2011 Giants are just as talented as the 2007 Giants team, but Eli Manning as grown more over the years. Remaining schedule doesn't look too good for the Giants (Packers, Cowboys, Redskins, Jets and Cowboys), but with their backs against the wall, they usually respond.

Could this be a repeat of Super Bowl 42 (2007) against the Giants and Patriots? Remember these two teams played this year as they did in 2007. If the Giants make the playoffs as a wild-card team, they'll face the NFC South winner, as they did in 2007 against the Bucs. If they win that game, they could possibly face off against the winner of their division the Cowboys, as they did in 2007 (Considering if the Cowboys win out and the 49ers lose some games). With the showdown at Lambeau Field against the Packers, for whom they would of have already played them in the regular season, just as they did in 2007. Get where I am going with this now Giants fans?

Of course all of this isn't what's going to happen, but then again who's to say that divine intervention can't run it's course again. I mean the Giants are collapsing again in the 2nd half of the season for a second year in a row right? Right? Only time will tell.

Is it that time of the year again?!?!?!?

Well as we turn the calendar to December, we note that a few things usually (Over the last 5 years) happen around this time. For instance, NFL teams making their run to a championship, the New York Giants collapsing, and a team that's either trying to go 16-0 or 0-16. But for the purposes of this blog entry, I'll be talking about one person in particular that everyone knows who has a December collapse. That one guy being: Tony Romo. 

If the month of December has never done a man in, this man right here would say otherwise. Tony Romo is a career 19-2 as a starter in the month of November, but December he's 8-10 for his career. For the last five Thanksgiving games, Romo goes into those games hotter than the turkey stuffing you had last week. After those games is when the wheels come off of the Romo express and the Cowboys go south.

This season is no different, with the Cowboys leading the NFC East by one game to the Giants (whom they play twice in the next 5 weeks). Could 2011 be different then any of the other years (2009 being the last time they won the division and withstood the collapse). The schedule-makers this season gave the Cowboys a HUGE break. Lets take a look at the last couple of Cowboys December's with Romo at the helm.

2006: Romo first year, as he took over for Drew Bledsoe and won 4 of his first 5 starts heading into December of 2006. The Cowboys were in a division dead-heat with the Eagles, and played them on Christmas at, then Texas Stadium. The Eagles won this game and the division, and this was the big Jessica Simpson game (Romo's Ex-girlfriend). Cowboys finished losing 3 of 5 and having to travel to Seattle for a playoff game with the Seahawks. End Result: This is the infamous "Botched Field Goal game" with Romo mishandling the snap from center with him trying to run it in and was stopped short of the goal-line, to preserve the Seahawks 21-20 victory.

2007: Cowboys were rolling this season, winning 11-1 in their first 12 games and another winning November from the Cowboys. After dismantling the Jets and Packers, people started looking at this as Super Bowl contenders. As December rolled around, a new year, they can't hit the brick road soon right? Yes they could and did. Cowboys lost again to the Eagles and the Cowboys lost the last two games to lose home-field to the Packers. This would hurt the Cowboys as they fell to the #2 seed, and had to play the Giants coming off their 1st Round win against the Bucs. Romo was unable to lead his team to a come-from-behind victory. On 4th down with less than half a minute and no timeouts left, Romo threw the ball into the end-zone, but it was intercepted, ending the Cowboys hopes for another championship.  End Result: Cowboys lost at home to the Giants 21-17, as the Giants would become the eventual Super Bowl champs.

2008: This marked the final season at Texas Stadium for the Cowboys and how fitting that in December, they lost their final game to the Baltimore Ravens. This was a huge lost because it set up a key match up in Philly against the Eagles with the winner going to the playoffs. This game was the game that the Cowboys just flat out laid down and got the doors blown off them 44-6. Romo committed three turnovers in the game and went 21-39 for 183 yards and no touchdowns. End Result: Cowboys at 9-7 missed the playoffs after being 8-4 and in control of the wild card at the beginning of December 2008.

2009: This season was one in which the Cowboys bucked the trend. After losing it's first two games in December 09, the Cowboys we're 8-5 and the critics were once again coming out on the Cowboys and their December collapses. However, the Cowboys woke up. Winning it's next three games and winning the NFC East, they hosted another playoff game against the Eagle (whom they played a week earlier). Cowboys won that game behind a great game from Romo. Romo had a 104.9 passer rating in a 34-14 win of the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the playoffs, earning the first play-off win in 13 years for the Cowboys, and his own first career post-season win. End Result: However the following week in the NFC divisional round against Minnesota Vikings, Romo had three fumbles (losing two), an interception and was sacked six times in the 34-3 loss at the Metrodome.

2010: This was not a good season for the Cowboys or Tony Romo. Romo suffered a broken left clavicle in a game against the Giants. With a few months of rehab, the Cowboys placed Romo on Injured Reserve on December 21, 2010. End Result: Cowboys finished with Jon Kitna at QB and had a record 6-10.


2011: Which leads us today (As of December 2nd, 2011) what will the Cowboys and Romo do this year? Having the Cardinals, Giants, Bucs, Eagles, and Giants in that order, can the Romo lead the Cowboys to a perfect December this year? End Result: Check back with me in a few week.....only time will tell!!!

Undefeated teams in December + New York Giants = ???

Well it's that time of the year again, if you're a Giants fans, the feeling of "here we go again" comes around. However Giants fans I will deliver some facts for you to ponder about as your Giants prepare to face the NFL's best team in 2011: the Green Bay Packers. But this isn't the first time that a team who is trying its might at history, has faced a Giants team who's fighting for a playoff spot at the Meadowlands. Remember the 1998 Denver Broncos and the 2007 New England Patriots as examples of what can happen this weekend. One good, one bad, but where will the Packers fate go on Sunday?

Fact #1 - 1998 Broncos 13-0 going into the Meadowlands

The Broncos we're going into this game as favorites against the Giants, who had nothing to play for and was just waiting to end the season. Going to Giants Stadium, I am sure the Denver Broncos, let alone the whole country, wasn't expecting nothing less than the Giants winning on the road. Kent Graham game-winning drive against the King of all comebacks, John Elway, helped the Giants defeat the Broncos on that very weird December afternoon at the Meadowlands. End Result: 13-1

Fact #2 - 2007 Patriots 15-0 going to the Meadowlands

The Patriots had came into this game needing one more victory to become the 2nd NFL team in history to go perfect in the regular season. The Giants gave the Pats all they could, but at the end the Patriots were too much for the Giants on that cold December night at the Meadowlands. However, this may have come at a cost. The Patriots may have showed too much to the Giants, as they lost the the same team 4 weeks later in the Super Bowl. End Result: 16-0 (However a few short weeks later the Giants got the Patriots back in Super Bowl 42.)

Which lead me to this week's opponent: 2011 Packers 11-0. 

Well if the Giants need a win, this would be the best week to get it considering that they have a huge divisional showdown in Dallas after this game. The Packers come into this game as hot as the other two teams did, so can the Giants find a way to stop history for a 3rd time? Most would say that this is the only chance the 2011 Packers have at losing this season, as the same was said in '98 and '07. With the Packers playing a schedule that would favor history, the Giants are fighting for their playoff and division chances for 2011. Not to mention a possible coaching change if they don't make the playoffs. One thing about the Giants under Coughlin is that they usually stand up to challenges like this, so to say that they can't win this game is playing into the Giants hands.

End Result: 12-0 or 11-1??? If you doubt the Giants ability to stop history, just ask the 98 Broncos and the 07 Patriots........history could be in trouble this December weekend at the Meadowlands.

Monday Quarterback

Recap of Week 12

Brown 20 at Bengals 23
The Browns jumped out on the Bengals early, but wasn't able to keep it up as Andy Dalton and the Bengals came back late, with a TD pass to A.J. Green that was the difference in a tight match up.

Bills 24 at Jets 28
Can the real Mark Sanchez please stand up. Well the guy wearing #6 for the Jets, yea that guy did stand up. Sanchez threw for 4 TD's as he pulled a game-winning drive to help his Jets to a huge win against the slumping Bills in the battle of New York and the battle for the Playoffs.

Cardinals 23 at Rams 20
Cardinals get their 2 win in 3 weeks as they got on the back of Beanie Wells and rode him to a 23-20 win.

Texans 20 at Jaguars 13
The Texans started the game with Matt Leinart, but they ended the game with a possible QB nightmare. T.J. Yates, rookie from North Carolina, and Kellen Clemens may be the only thing that stops the Texans from a championship run. Then again these two guys could be the new Kurt Warner of this decade. But that wasn't the only QB situation in this game, Jags benched the ineffectiveness of Blaine Gabbert in favor Luke McCown and nearly came back, but fell short to the Texans at home.

Bucs 17 at Titans 23
From a 10-win team last season, the Bucs seems to be regressing and so is their QB Josh Freeman. Despite 4 Titans turnovers, they still manage to come back and win. Chris Johnson woke up and when I say woke up he woke up for 190 yards in sloppy conditions as the Titans keep up with the Texans in the AFC South race.

Panthers 27 at Colts 19
Cam Newton and the Panthers keep the Colts win-less as they win in Indy.

Vikings 14 at Falcons 24
Falcons jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, but the Vikings did stage a small comeback when Christian Ponder connected with Percy Harvin for a TD which game the Vikings some momentum. However, with the help of Matt Ryan's 3 TD day, the Falcons were able to put the Vikings away on a goal-line stand from their defense when the Vikings failed to use a 104-yard Kickoff return to its advantage, securing the game and a win 24-14.

Redskins 23 at Seahawks 17
Grossman bounces back from last week's tough loss with a come from behind win in Seattle.

Bears 20 at Raiders 25
Caleb Hanie would love to have the 1st half of this game back, for which he threw 3 INT's and the Raiders kicked 4 FG's, 6 in all for the whole game. The Bears couldn't use those to their advantage as the Raiders won to keep a one-game lead in the AFC West.

Broncos 16 at Chargers 13
The Broncos defense should be 2nd half MVP for this team, this defense made it rough for Philip Rivers. Tim Tebow had a career day as he had 22 rushes, most ever by any QB in NFL history. This game went to OT and the Chargers had a chance to win, but missed a FG. The Broncos we able to put a drive together and was able to make their OT FG which won the game, giving the Broncos it's 5th win in the last 6 games.

Patriots 38 at Eagles 20
Tom Brady had a field day against the Eagles Defense that's been getting torched all season long. Despite a 400-yard game fro Vince Young, the Eagles Offense were plagued by dropped TD passes and not running the ball enough, as the Patriots keep up with the Texans, Steelers, and Ravens with a 38-20 win in Philly. This lose pretty much ENDS all hopes for the "Dream Team's" chances at a Super Bowl this season.

Steelers 13 at Chiefs 9
Well this game was a defensive battle in which the difference was a TD throw from Big Ben to Weslye Saunders late in the 1st half to give the Steelers a huge road win against the Chiefs.

Turkey Day Football Games Recap

Well had a good time with family and friends yesterday. Three football games, upset stomach, and a headache later.....I am here to give a recap on the football games from Thanksgiving.

First game was the Packers vs. Lions and this game was noted more for what one player did than the whole grand scheme of the Packers winning again going 11-0 for the season. Ndamukong Suh was ejected from the game in the 3rd Quarter after an act for which I'll say is just plain "stupid", this changed the game. The Packers just got stopped on a key 3rd & Goal and should have been kicking a FG to make it 10-0, until that incident. The Packers got the ball on the 2 and scored a few plays later. From that time on, Stafford throw a few INT's and the Packers scored on those mistakes and before you knew it was 24-0 and the game was essentially over.


Second Game featured the Dolphins vs Cowboys and this game, the Dolphins effort wasn't question this time around. Matt Moore played well against Tony Romo, whom despite two 1st quarter INT's, lead the Cowboys on a few good scoring plays of his own. This game came down to a last-second FG, and no it's wasn't snowing this Thanksgiving for all of you Leon Lett fans, but Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey nailed the game-winning kick in a 20-19 victory for the streaking Cowboys.


Third and final game was between the 49ers vs Ravens, the headline of this game was the Harbaugh family, bothers Jim and John Harbaugh teams faced off against one another in a possible Super Bowl preview. This game was just a defensive battle. The Raven's defense sacked Alex Smith not 1, not 2, not 3 (okay I'll kill the Lebron James reference) but 9 times. Joe Flacco threw the only TD of this game as the Ravens won 16-6.

Happy Thanksgiving to all

Happy Thanksgiving to all

Monday Quarterback

Recap of Week 11:

Jets 13 at Broncos 17
Tebow Time continues.......Tim Tebow pulled out a win in the final minute against the Jets.

Jaguars 10 at Browns 14
Browns held off the Jags in the final seconds with a goal-line stands. Jags wasn't able to punch in the game-winning TD.

Panthers 35 at Lions 49
Lions came back from a 17-point deceit to beat the Panthers by 14.

Bucs 26 at Packers 35
Bucs really gave the Packers a battle and a possible blueprint of slowing down or controlling the Packers. But at the end, the Pack was just too much for the younger Bucs team.

Bills 8 at Dolphins 35
The Dolphins are responding after their 0-7 start, by winning their last 3 games against the slumping Bills.

Raiders 27 at Vikings 21
Well this game turned in AP went out with an ankle injury in the first quarter. The Raiders took off from there, with the help of Ponder's 3-Int game.

Cowboys 27 at Redskins 24
Good game between two NFC East Rivals, but Gano's 52-yard FG going wide right, the Cowboys we're able to win it in OT behind a good performance by Tony Romo.

Bengals 24 at Ravens 31
Bengals comeback came up short, but there was a controversial call that could have made this game a lot closer. The Ravens D at the end was just too much, even without their leader Ray Lewis.

Seahawks 24 at Rams 7
Seahawks won a easy game against the Rams to keep their somewhat playoff hopes alive.

Cardinals 7 at Niners 23
Niners are one game closer to winning the NFC West, they could as early as next week.

Titans 17 at Falcons 23
A few interesting things happened in this game, Hasselback was knocked out of the game with a elbow injury and Jake Locker looked REALLY good in this first ever appearance in the NFL. But they came up short to the Falcons at the end.

Chargers 20 at Bears 31
This game showed how two teams are traveling in different directions. It also renewed a rivalry of QB's between Rivers and Cutler. However it's after this game that could be a problem, for the Bears. Cutler was reported to have broken his thumb and could miss the rest of the season. Although he played the whole game without telling anyone about this injury, this could hurt the Bears chances for a wild-card.


Eagles 17 at Giants 10
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and will the Giants go through their yearly end of year slump again? Well after watching this game, you might think that the Giants would come out and play well and put away the team who "eliminated" them from the playoff race last year? No, Vince Young had a good game and really put the Eagles back into the division race with this win. Could this be the beginning of a QB controversy in Philly?

What Was Week 12 in College Football

This may have been one of the most craziest weekends of College Football in a long time. The BCS standings as of Thursday, November 17th was the following:

1. LSU

2. Oklahoma St.

3. Alabama

4. Oregon

5. Oklahoma

Well if you thought everything was going to be routine, you was in for one BIG surprise after Saturday night. 3 of the top 5 teams fell and fell hard! This crazy weekend started Friday night in Ames, Iowa, with the Iowa St. Cyclones upset over the OSU Cowboys in double OT.

That lost was to have hurt the chances of Oklahoma, who would of needed to beat an us undefeated Okla. St. team to climb over an Alabama and Oregon. Well that was until they lost at Baylor (For the first time in school history), which pretty much knocks them from any National Championship chance they had this year.

This set the stage up for an Oregon team, who fought they way back to the top 3 and could make a big argument about why they should be #2 team playing in the National Championship game. All they had to do was win out and hope that they convince the voters to choose them, but then USC destroyed all hopes of that with a 35-32 win in Eugene. Chip Kelly and crew will be kicking themselves for this lost.

As for LSU and Alabama, this was the only thing routine on Saturday as both teams won easily in mist of their huge showdown games next week against Arkansas and Auburn.

But even then, I wouldn't put anything past me that the upsets are gone.........as Chris Berman would say "THAT'S WHY THEY PLAY THE GAME!!!!"

Busy Week

I do apologize for not writing the normal weekly stuff on this site. I've been busy, but I'll try to catch up today.

Mid-season NFL Playoff Predictions

Well this is the time that we start to look at who's gonna be playing in January and who's "Goin' Fishin" (In the words of NBA Analyst Kenny Smith). I'll do these often as the season progress, but this is my initial one......So here's who I think will be in the playoffs:

AFC

1. Baltimore Ravens

2. New York Jets

3. Houston Texans

4. Kansas City Chiefs

5. Pittsburgh Steelers

6. New England Patriots

With the Ravens big win over the Steelers, thus winning the season series, and beating the Jets earlier this year will help this team retain the #1 seed in the AFC and its up to them to lose it. The Jets should round out the AFC North division, unless the Pats beat them at MetLife this weekend, Texans will win the South by default and the Chiefs as of right now, will win the West, but that could come down the the final two weekends of the season (see schedule on ESPN.com). Steelers and Pats will make two very tough wild-cards for the AFC.

NFC

1. Green Bay Packers

2. San Francisco 49ers

3. New York Giants

4. Tampa Bay Bucs

5. New Orleans Saints

6. Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers will have the #1 spot....period! However, at #2 things can get interesting as the Giants vs. 49ers match-up this weekend will pretty much decide this seed. Huge game for both teams, but I do believe that the 49ers will put this one out. Tampa Bay will round out the division (only person who still believe that the Bucs can win the NFC South). I know that the Bucs schedule is pretty tough, I still think they can pull out some wins and since they have 2 divisional wins already, that should help them out with tie-breakers. The Saints can easily be the #2, #3, or #4 but I think they would be a wild-card again. Huge win from the Bears yesterday. As they beat the Eagles, Falcons, and Bucs, the Bears put themselves in GREAT position for one of the wild-card and possibly the NFC North.

The Monday Quarterback for Week 8

Here's week 8 MQ:

Seahawks 13 at Cowboys 23
Turnover fest in the 1st half for the Cowboys, settled down in the 2nd half.

Browns 12 at Texans 30
Texans run their way to a win against the Browns.

Falcons 31 at Colts 7
Matt Ryan throws a few TD's, two to his new target Julio Jones. As for the Colts, the suck for luck campaign unfortunately continues.

Buccaneers 16 at Saints 27
This game was filled with plenty of mistakes by the Bucs, with untimely penalties, undisciplined play and not really knowing the where too line up on offense. Defense had some poor tackles toward the end of that game, which helped the Saints ice the game with a FG to make it an 11 point lead. Huge win for the Saints as they go into Atlanta next weekend for a Huge NFC South showdown.

Dolphins 31 at Chiefs 3
Dolphins won their first game, as they should have last week. But the Chiefs fell back down to earth after having their 4 game losing streak snapped.

49ers 19 at Redskins 11
Niners win another game on the East Coast as Frank Gore goes wild again.

Jets 27 at Bills 11
Jets may have saved their season and not only playoffs hopes, but division hopes as well. This win sets up a huge showdown at MetLife next Sunday night against the Pats.

Broncos 38 at Raiders 24
Tebow wins another start as he runs wild on the Raiders D with over 100 yards on the ground. Willis McGhee had a good game as well.

Bengals 24 at Titans 17
Dalton does it again. Winning a big game on the road, but now they'll face a huge divisional test next week against the Steelers.

Packers 45 at Chargers 38
Aaron Rodgers throws for 4 TD's and Philip Rivers throws 2 pick 6's to the Packer D, which may have been the difference of the game.

Rams 13 at Cardinals 19
Patrick Peterson tops off his big weekend (LSU) as he returned a 99-yard TD to end the game in OT.

Giants 24 at Patriots 20
Eli Manning does it again to the Patriots. Come from behind with a game-winning drive to win and put his Giants in a GREAT position heading into their toughest part of their schedule.

Ravens 23 at Steelers 20
Joe Flacco answered the critics with a game-winning drive of his own (second straight year he did this at Hines Field). Ravens sweep the Steelers and have a huge leg up in the AFC North title race.

This Week's Top 5

Top 5 Stories of the Week:

This is a brief one this week, since I'll be on vacation all weekend.

1. LSU vs Alabama: In this corner, we have the #1 team in the country with a "Crazy-like a fox" Head Coach.....from Baton Rouge, LA the Bayou Bengals, Geaux Tigers, The LSU Tigers! And in this corner, we have the #2 team in the country with a "Very demanding, strict and detailed" Head Coach......from Tuscloosa, AL, Rooooooollllllllllll-Tide, The Alabama Crimson Tide! Okay maybe I over did it with the "Michael Buffer" intros, but this is like a heavyweight match-up in the eyes of college football. 

2. Ravens vs Steelers: Just to simply put it, these two teams just don't like each other. Just for the record, I don't think you'll see any of those guys holding hands, singing Kumbaya anytime soon!

3. NFL Mid-season review: This week marks the mid-way point of the season.

4. Mayweather vs Pacquiao: Could this "fight of the century" finally happen? 

5. NBA Lockout continues: From the people of the " Please Please Please, stop the lockout" foundation (no such organization)

Friday's Confidence Picks for Week 9

Away                              Home                  Pick                     Confidence #

New York Jets                 Buffalo                New York Jets       1

Seattle                             Dallas                  Dallas                    14

Atlanta                            Indianapolis          Atlanta                  12

Miami                             Kansas City          Kansas City           11

Tampa Bay                     New Orleans         Tampa Bay            3

San Francisco                  Washington           San Francisco        10

Cleveland                        Houston                Houston                13

Cinncinnati                     Tennessee              Cinncinnati           6

Denver                            Oakland                Oakland                9

New York Giants             New England         New England         4

St. Louis                         Arizona                 St. Louis               8

Green Bay                       San Diego             San Diego             2

Baltimore                        Pittsburgh              Pittsburgh             5

Chicago                           Philadelphia           Philadelphia          7

What is the Best Rivalry in NFL?

As we're dawning on a weekend of big rivals playing one another. Which has me thinking, what is the best NFL rivalry in the game? I'll give you a few to choose from:

Bears vs Packers
This by far is the oldest rivalry in the NFL, but it's not as big as it was back in the glory days of the NFL (Before all of the "Rules" we have in today's NFL). But last year's NFC Championship game may have brought this rivalry back to life in the 2010s. Being two hours away from each other helps fuel this rivalry too. Bears coach Lovie Smith said in his first press conference that he has to win a championship and beat the Packers each season. That says a lot about this rivalry

Colts vs Patriots
This could be the best non-divisional rivalry over the last 9 years (Since the new division alignment in 2002). Brady vs Manning has brought some good regular season and playoff games. No other than the 2006 AFC Championship game, which could be, in my eyes, the best game of this rivalry. Even though this rivalry has simmered down a bit, it's still one of the more intriguing match up.

Cowboys vs Redskins
Yea this could be considered the craziest rivalry in the NFL. Especially in the 2000's, which included one wild Monday Night game in 2005 that Cowboys Fans would love for me not to mention. Lately games in this series have gone to the final play or have been very close.

Steelers vs Ravens
This may be the best rivalry going right now in the NFL. These two teams we're former division rivals (the old AFC Central) and this rivalry has spun off from that. From 2000 on until today, these games have been promising the worth of admission when it comes to watching these two teams battle on the gridiron. Three tightly contested playoff games (2001, 2008, and 2010) all won by the Steelers. But the Ravens have had some big regular-season against this team as well.

Packers vs Vikings
Yea I had to put this one in the mix (homer pick). This rivalry, known as the Border Battle, has had some good games in the past. But this rivalry never took a national stage until the late 90's. Since the 2000's, this rivalry has taken off. With a few great game: 2000 Monday Night Game, Favre to Freeman in OT; 2004 two games that ended 34-31, Ryan Longwell (Kicker for GB 98-04, MIN 05-present) kicking two game-winning FG, only to lose a few weeks later in the NFC Wild Card game; 2009 then Vikings QB Brett Favre plays his old team and beat them twice; 2010 Aaron Rodgers finally beats Favre....twice. The Border Battle continues.......

Jaguars vs Steelers
This is one of the over-looked rivalries, but they have played some great games in this series. These two teams we're former rivals of the old AFC Central division and they hit it off right away when the Jags entered into the NFL in 1995. The first true test of this physical battle happened on one Monday Night in Jacksonville when the Jags won a game off a blocked FG and then Head Coach Bill Cowher seems as if he wanted to "punch" a Jags player after he ran past him during the recovery of that blocked FG. These two teams only met once in the playoffs, 2008 AFC Wild Card, and the Jags won that game in Pittsburgh. These two teams play close games every time they see the field.

Chiefs vs Raiders
Rivals during the AFL days and still at it now. These two teams, just flat out don't like each other. This rivalry began fro the old AFL and continued when both owners, the late Lamar Hunt for the Chiefs and the late Al Davis helped upstart the merger with the NFL. The rivalry lives on but the ironic thing about this is that both owners we're best friends.

Patriots vs Jets
This rivalry took off after Bill Parcells left the Patriots to handle the duties of the New York Jets. Named the "Tuna Bowl". This rivalry is known more for what happens off the field then what happens on it. In 2000, when Parcells stepped down from coaching, he turned the ranks over to his assistant Bill Belichiek, that only lasted two days. Belichick resigned and took the job as Patriots Head Coach. Not the most popular move in the eyes of Parcells. This rivalry may have aided one of the best dynasties in sports. 2001, Jets LB Mo Lewis knocks, then Pats QB Drew Bledsoe out of bounds giving him a chest contusion. Then enters Tom Brady and the rest, as they say, is history. Spy-gate was discovered during the course of this series, when Jets coach (former Pats Defensive Coach Eric Mangini) told the NFL that the Pats videotape other teams practices and stole signals teams used in games for their advantage. Now the rivalry has taken a very comedic approach with Belichick vs Rex Ryan. Stayed tuned.......

Giants vs 49ers
This rivalry is a mostly a playoff rivalry and we're there some GREAT games to this!!! As of the start of the 2011 season, the Giants are 14-13 vs the 49ers. Big playoff games included the 1990 NFC Championship game, which was won by the Giants. Most noticeable for the big hit that Giants LB Lenard Marshall put on 49ers QB Joe Montana, which essentially ended his years with the 49ers.

Cowboys vs Steelers
This is a old-school reference. These two teams are just seem to put the R in Rivalry and with the all-time series tied up at 15-15, you can see why. 3 Super Bowl match-ups and 11 Super Bowls between the two. Yea I would say that this is a good, non-conference rival.

So, what would you say it the NFL's best rivalry???

What could be.......

I've decided to write this morning. Remember the 2005 NFL Draft? It wasn't that eventful, but I'll just take two players from that draft for the purpose of this blog entry. Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith will forever be linked to this day, in which two franchises took two different paths to a run at a championship.

Before this draft most people, including myself, believed that Aaron Rodgers would be the #1 pick to the San Francisco 49ers, but the 49ers took a different approach that day. They took Alex Smith at #1. Keep in mind that this year's draft wasn't the most Quarterback-friendly drafts, considering that the new wave of QB's were still a few years away and the previous draft had Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger.

As for Alex Smith, being the #1 pick, he hasn't lived up to that standard and has plenty of times come very very close to having his career ended by inconsistent play and injuries. However, this could be the comeback of all comebacks if Smith can pull off the unthinkable by getting the 49ers back to the Super Bowl.

As for Aaron Rodgers, he's gone from rags to riches over the years. From being snubbed by this favorite team, the 49ers, to winning a championship with his current team. He was protected from early failures by being the backup to one Brett Favre, before he was inserted into the lineup at the start of the 2008 season. 3 years later, Rodgers is arguably one of the top 5 QB in the league. Coming off of a Super Bowl win, most could say that the Packers made a great choice that day in 2005, when it picked Rodgers at 24th in the draft.

Now the true reason why I am writing this is because both the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers are on a collision course to see each other sometime in the playoffs, particularly in the NFC Championship game. This would be the 1st time that Alex Smith will make the playoffs (considering that he gets in as to date) and for Aaron Rodgers, this is his first time defending a Super Bowl title and could be his first time winning the MVP.

As I said before, these two men will be forever linked with each other, but they could start up a late rivalry against one another if both teams stay young (Packers are the 2nd youngest team in the league and the 49ers are the 9th youngest).

#1 vs #2

We're T-minus 3 days until the Showdown in T-town. What's at stake for this game: Well for starters, the National Championship. But before we start thinking about that, there's another Championship to be won and that's to take place December 4th and it's called the SEC Championship in Atlanta.

If LSU wins: This wouldn't entirely lock down the SEC west yet, but this could leave LSU in the drivers seat for the road to Atlanta in SEC Championship Game. However, LSU would have another big game in Baton Rouge on Black Friday against Arkansas (who's likely to come into Death Valley as a top 10 team) as a winner takes all game.

If Alabama wins: This pretty much seals the deal for Roll Tide, as they would have both tie-breakers over Arkansas and LSU. They would await either Georgia/South Carolina from the SEC East in the SEC Championship game and pretty much will be a shoe-in for the BCS Championship game.

This game has a lot riding on it, not only for the National landscape, but as for the SEC title game. As for the game of the century, (as Lee Corso would say) NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND!!!! Remember, just 5 years ago we called the Michigan/Ohio State the game of the century. Although, it lived up to it, I wouldn't be so fast to call it the game of the "Century". But this game will be as good as the game 5 years ago, then Saturday night will bring in so huge ratings.

So sit back and enjoy, watch the Showdown in T-Town, Armageddon in Tuscaloosa, or simply #1 vs #2.

Monday Night Recap

Chargers 20 at Chiefs 23

Well this game was a pretty good game, until the end. Chargers had a chance to win this game until Philip Rivers fumbled a snap from under center while killing the clock for a game-winning FG. The Chiefs are on a 4 game winning streak and have climbed back into the AFC West division race, with the Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders all tied at 4-3. The Chiefs, however, by virtue of having a better division record, would be the division winner if the season ended today.

The Monday Quarterback

This will be my usual topic on Monday's from here until no more football......I'll review some of Sunday's game, giving who won and lost and the reason(s) behind it.

Colts 10 at Titans 31
This game was pretty much over with in the 2nd Quarter, when the Titans scored 17 points and the Colts offense never recovered as the Titans scored 20 points in the 1st half.

Saints 21 at Rams 31
Rams get their 1st win of the season, behind an aspired defense and Stephen Jackson power running. Maybe it was because of presence of the newly crowned Champs, the St. Louis Cardinals. Great Week for the city of St. Louis.

Dolphins 17 at Giants 20
Whatever people may say or write, the Miami Dolphins DID NOT quit, but again they came up short at the end. The Giants just showed why they are the better team in this tilt.

Vikings 24 at Panthers 21
This could mark the beginning of many match-ups between Newton and Ponder. Both rookie QB's played GREAT and both teams could have won, but the Vikings defense was the difference in this game. Timely turnovers and Adrian Peterson won the game for the Vikings.

Cardinals 27 at Ravens 30
Well this game was the tale of the halves: 1st half went to the Cards and 2nd half went to the Ravens. Flacco, who came off of his sub-par performance last Monday Night against the Jags, had a slow start but finished the game well. Anquan Boldin torched his former team with 7 catches for 145. Good comeback by the Ravens as they prepare for there showdown next week with the Steelers.

Jaguars 14 at Texans 24
Well this was an important win for the Texans. Keep in mind that Peyton Manning is on the shelf, so it would be WISE for the Texans to win the division this year or else suffer the wrath of "Blowing Up" this team.

Redskins 0 at Bills 23
Not really much to say about this game, just that Redskins QB John Beck was sacked a lot of times........

Lions 45 at Broncos 10
The Lions responded after their two game losing streak by going out and annihilate the Broncos. As for that Tebow guy, it seems as if he could be in way over his head with this starting QB in the NFL. The Broncos have a lot to look at before they can get back to those glory days of the 80's and 90's. This may take awhile after watching yesterday's game.

Patriots 17 at Steelers 25
This was the game of the week and it did not disappoint anyone either. The Pats came into this game winning 6 of the last 7 meetings against the Steel Curtain, but yesterday the Steelers had enough and really dominated this game with their defense. Brady was dazed and confused all day long and Big Ben played maybe he's best game as an NFL quarterback.

Brows 10 at 49ers 20
The 49ers are showing to the rest of the league, especially the NFC, that this team could be a huge contender for the NFC title come playoff time.

Bengals 34 at Seahawks 12
This win for the Bengals shows two things: 1.) that they are rebuilding, but at a VERY VERY fast pace and 2.) they are not contenders for the AFC wild card, if not, the AFC North division. They haven't played the top two dogs (Steelers and Ravens) in that division yet, but they are winning the games they are suppose to win.

Cowboys 7 at Eagles 34
Eagles needed this game to show everyone that (in the words of Lee Corso) "NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND" in counting this team out of the NFC East race. As for the Cowboys, if they can be consistent, then they just may be a big player in the NFC playoff picture.

Vikings "Failed" Season

For those who truly know me, knows that I don't hide my allegiance to my favorite sports teams (mostly all Minnesota teams). I created this blog to cover everything that I like or find interesting, not necessarily my teams exclusively. But I was requested to do a report on a team (okay my team) the Minnesota Vikings. For starters, before the season started, I believed could win 10-11 games with this team as currently constituted. Okay, I was wrong, but that's not a discredit for this team. I still believe that this team is an 10-win team, just not in 2011.

I'll come up with 3 things that doomed this season as to date:

1.) Lockout: Lets face it folks, it is what it is, the NFL lockout really did a number on the Minnesota Vikings this off-season (or lack thereof). When a team is in transition from one coaching system to another coaching system, they need a full off-season to implement their system into the players and organization. Now for those that will say that Coach Leslie Frazier had 6 games of 2010 to help put his stamp on the team, he also had former coach Brad Childress system from which he had to run for the last 6 games of 2010.

Now to Coach Frazier's defense, this season isn't really how any first year head coach wants to make his "mark" onto the organization. With only having about 8 weeks of training camp/preseason, the offense is the only thing that had a huge makeover (the defense is still under the cover 2 format).

2.) Frazier Offensive Coordinator Choice: The only issue I had with Frazier when it came to the offense is that he should of kept, then offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell (at least for this season). Considering that IF Frazier knew that he would try to get Donovan McNabb from the Washington Redskins, it would made things a little easier for McNabb to run this offense with Bevell calling the plays (i.e. Brett Favre 2 years ago under this same system).

Nothing against current Offensive Coordinator Bill Musgrave, but I believe that if you we're going to bring in a new system that I would of brought it in with a new QB (insert Christian Ponder or Joe Webb). I'll admit, I was strong against bringing in Ponder before Webb and in place of McNabb, but after watching the horrible performance against the Chicago Bears (on Sunday Night at that), I felt that it was time to see what we had in both QB's. Ponder has played VERY GOOD football, considering the few times I've watched him at Florida State.

3.) Re-tread Veteran Quarterbacks: Well as we saw a few years ago, 2008 to be exact, we saw the Vikings give up on what had been planned on the "Quarterback of the future" in Tarvaris Jackson after 2 games of the season. Gus Frerotte, a Veteran QB, was inserted and the Vikings season was saved. Now after that season, one could of said that Childress should of drafted another QB and tried that experiment again. He actually drafted John David Booty from USC, then to cut him when he decided to bring in a "Re-tread Veteran" in Brett Favre.

The Vikings QB situation has been screwed up since that bad day in Carolina in 2005. Yea the day, then Vikings Franchise QB, Daunte Culpepper had his knee destroyed and ultimately ended his career. Since that time the Vikings had these QB's as starters: Brad Johnson, Tarvis Jackson, Kelly Holcomb, Brooks Bollinger, Gus Frerotte, Brett Favre, Joe Webb, Donovan McNabb and now Christian Ponder. Of those QB's I've mentioned, only two of them are under the age of 30. Safe to say that Ponder could be that replacement that the Vikings been looking for over the last 6 years.

Ponder and Frazier are now married at the hip. After 2 games they have a 1-1 record, so far so good. Only time will tell.........

Baseball Irony

With baseball season now officially over for 2011, I find something to be a little ironic about the ending of the past two baseball seasons. The last two champions: San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals have more in common then people may think.

Before I continue on with this point, I want to expand a little more on MLB over the last 18 years. With 2011 being the year of labor stoppage (NFL and currently NBA), I've decided to look at the American top 4 sports leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB) over this 18 year span. All of these leagues have gone on strike or lockout within the last 18 years (NBA in 1998-99 and 2011-?, NFL in 2011, NHL the whole 2004-05 and the MLB strike in1994).

My point in this blog is to show that MLB has somewhat made a comeback into American lives again as it did pre-1994. This year's World Series may go down as one of the greatest of all-time and 2011 could be the rebirth of MLB as we once knew it. With the NFL and NBA lockouts of 2011, MLB had the opportunity to re-assert itself as the "American Pastime". Some could argue in the future this year's postseason may have saved the sport, considering that the last 5 postseasons weren't as great. Which leads me to my main point, a few years ago baseball was the laughing stock of all sports in America. From Commissioner Selig being pretty much bullied in his own sport, to the Rodger Clemmons HGH case, and Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's alleged doping issues.

Now I've gotten back to my earlier point I was making by naming Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa. We'll take Sosa out of this for the time being. What are the connections between Bonds and McGwire, outside of their HR chase and doping allegations? You guessed it, how ironic that both of their former teams are the last two World Series Champions.

For St. Louis and San Francisco, their fans we're most effected by the aforementioned events and to see that both organizations have succeeded after this is a sign to MLB that baseball may not be as dead as people made it out to be a few years ago. Even though, Bonds and McGwire may or may not get into Baseball's Hall of Fame, but for the two organizations that they've played for its safe to say that they have "moved on" and Baseball as a sport as moved up into the top 3 of American sports after this postseason.

So as for the Chicago Cubs, the Sosa mentioning earlier, if this all holds up the way that's has, 2012 could FINALLY be your year.........Huh Huh??

Only Time Will Tell...........if the Giants, Cardinals and MLB recovered, then why not the Cubs!!!

RED BIRDS.......CHAMPS AGAIN!!!

What's the one thing you'll remember the most about the 2011 World Series? Will it be the:

Game 1: The chess-match between Tony LaRussa and Ron Washington

Game 2: Cardinals bullpen collapse in the 9th Inning 

Game 3: Pujols 3-HR game in Texas

Game 4: Derek Holland's masterpiece pitching performance

Game 5: The Cardinals "Bullpen Communication Mishap"

Game 6: The "Nelson Cruz" game (History will apply this name soon)

Game 7: Cardinals take it home, wins 11th World Series title!!!

Either way, the Cardinals will have to send a Thank-you basket to one team. Just remember, one month ago today that the Cardinals wasn't even in the Playoffs, but with the collapse of one team is another team's championship run. This one team, which I'll name shortly, had a death-grip on the NL Wild Card for it seems to be all season long. I wonder how the Atlanta Braves are feeling this morning, knowing that this could have been their championship. Either way, it doesn't matter but it's compelling to see what WOULD of happened if the Braves did make the Playoffs. This kind of reminds you of another championship game played earlier this year (Super Bowl) that had a team who was loaded in the Pittsburgh Steelers and a team that wasn't suppose to be there, but somehow made the final cut in the Green Bay Packers.

Anyhow, my last blog was about should MLB change the Home-field Advantage rule in the All-Star game for future purposes. Now I am sure that most of the "Expert Analysis" will say that this doesn't matter and stuff like that, but ask the Texas Rangers fans this. The Rangers had a better record then the Cardinals but had to play Game 7 on the road because of a player, Prince Fielder, who hit a 3-run moonshot in Arizona back in July that gave the NL All-Stars the win and home-field advantage. Now I am not the one to say that if the Rangers had home-field that they would won, but you gotta look at it from that prospective. Rangers we're the best home team in the playoffs, record-wise, and they have the "loudest" stadium of all the playoff teams (Okay I am poking fun at the Game 5 fiasco with the Cardinals Bullpen phone). I guess we'll never know how this series would of turned out had the Rangers played Game's 6 & 7 at home instead of on the road.

For the Cardinals, we should expect some "gifts" of some sort being sent to the Braves and to Prince Fielder. Or a simple THANK YOU PRINCE FIELDER for aiding the Cardinals to an 11th World Series championship. As for the Rangers, we all hope they can recover from this and win their 1st World Series championship soon. Just hope that Nolan Ryan doesn't do too many changes to a team that I feel is a championship-caliber team. 

Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Should Baseball Change the Home-field Advantage Rule??

Well interesting thing I've learned about today, this is the first time since 2002 that a World Series game has gone to a Game 7. Lets think back to 2002, no not my high school graduation, but to the All-Star Game in Milwaukee. Remember the game ending in a tie, thus making MLB change the stakes that comes with playing in the All-Star Game.

The reason why I am asking this is because I happened to look at the regular season records: Rangers finished 1st in AL West with a 96-66 record, while the Cardinals finished 2nd in the NL Central with a 90-72 record. See anything strange about this?? Yea the Cardinals have a worst record than the Rangers, but Game 7 will be played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis instead of The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX. Now the NL did win the All-Star Game this year, but shall the Rangers lose tonight's game, a mist what happened in the 9th inning of game 6, would some people blame this on the Rangers NOT having home-field advantage?

Could Prince Fielder, who hit the game winning homer in Arizona during the All-Star Game in JULY, help the Cardinals (the team whom eliminated HIS Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS) win the World Series in OCTOBER? I guess I could ask the question again: Should MLB change the Home-Field Advantage Rule in such All-Star Game in the future? I mean the Rangers are a very VERY good home team and a game like this should be played in their home park right?

Only time will tell..........

This Week's Top 5

Top 5 sports stories of the week:

1.) Tebow: Yes Tim Tebow. Me personality I think this all too much of nothing, but for the people out there in Bronco Land this is the story of the year so far. Okay maybe not...... But for those who say that Tebow shouldn't be out may be right. If you watched the first 55 minutes of the Broncos/Dolphins game and the ones who's on Team Tebow look at the end result of that game, A WIN. Yes Tebow did in fact win the game, but if you're looking at it in between the lines then you would suggest that the Dolphins simply blew it.

2.) World Series: Baseball isn't the most popular sport among the "new-aged" sports fans, but even those new fans have to LOVE this year's World Series.....right?? As we approach GAME 7 *pause* we look at the ending of the 2011 season. Texas is trying to win its first ever championship and the Cardinals are just glad to in the post-season and looking to win for the first time since 2005. Keep in mind that the Cardinals only got into the post-season because the Atlanta Braves choked up on something......This series has been noted as being one of the best World Series played as to date. Now I wouldn't be a prisoner of the moment right now, I've seen great World Series in 1991 Braves vs Twins (YES THAT'S A HOMER PICK), 1993 Phillies vs Blue Jays, 1997 Indians vs Marlins, 2001 Yankees vs Diamondbacks. Does the 2011 World Series live up to those World Series as to date?? Only History will tell......and the ratings of course.

3.) Top 3 games of Week 8: Well I've already done my picks for Week 8 (see last blog). But I think that these 3 games are worth mentioning for game of the week:

New England vs. Pittsburgh

The last 7 games, the Patriots have DOMINATED the Steel Curtain beating them 6 of 7 times, including a few playoff wins (notably at Hines Field). 

Dallas vs Philadelphia

This could very well be the setting for what could be the winner of the NFC East division. These two teams will end the season in Dallas, but this game could be the early barometer for who has control of the NFC East. With Washington (Injuries and Rex  not being "Our" quarterback) and the New York Giants just not being able to stay consistent and seize the opportunity a few weeks ago to take control of this division, it leaves this game as the game that could very well decided the champion (Even though it is Week 8).

San Diego vs Kansas City

A month ago, this game would not have had the worthy of being mentioned as a game I would be looking forward too. Well since the Chiefs last lost (Against the Chargers in Week 3), they've won 3 straight games and have pretty much played themselves back into contention for the AFC West. Arrowhead stadium has historically been a very tough place to play and for the Chargers this could very well put their whole season to test. San Diego, who normally would begin it's late-season charge from having a "bad start" are 4-2. Their death-grip of sort they had on this division could be slipping away, especially if the Chiefs put out this Trick or Treat edition of this rivalry. Interesting game, can the Chiefs make that late season push to the playoffs or will the Chargers make this "business as usual" and take command of this series???

4.) BCS Rankings: Well with the top 2 ranked teams on idle this week (Armageddon in Tuscaloosa next Saturday), LSU and Alabama could play in the first BCS knockout game since 2006 with Michigan and Ohio State. What I mean by that is that whoever loses this game, will pretty much be knocked out of any contention for the BCS Title Game. Interesting to see what the "Mad-Hatter" (Coach Miles) and Satan (Coach Saban) will have for this game. I predict that this game will be GREAT. I'll give you my picks next week. But a few noteworthy games this week includes:Baylor vs Oklahoma State, Clemson vs Georgia Tech, and Georgia vs Florida. This weekend's game will be the positioning games for teams hoping for that #2 spot after the Armageddon game next Saturday.

5.) NBA Lockout: Well what a difference a healthy commissioner and week makes. Last week all hell broke lose, as NBA Commissioner David Stern put it. Keep in mind that Stern was sick last week and did not attend the meetings, thus negotiations breaking down and the whole league almost went down with it. This week, as late as Wednesday, the two sides got back together again and are supposedly on the brink of having a new CBA agreed on and saving what could of been a short 2011-12 season. What looked to be a looooonnnnggggg lockout, might end soon. I would say that's a HUGE win for the NBA's popularity in America, considering that the Lockout in 98-99 didn't do much justice. I believe that the league is somewhat STILL recovering from that lockout, so to have another one isn't much help for the NBA. They got a lot of "making-up" to do and the earlier they get to it, the better.