And just like that, the regular season is over. The NFL playoffs always guarantee some sort of fireworks and with two games Saturday and another two Sunday, we shouldn’t have to wait long for the insanity to, well, kickoff. Paying homage to the pigskin and the excitement that is January football, the Crew decided to do something a tad different for our usual preview. Read the rest of this entry »
Two weekends ago, San Fransisco 49ers rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh got into a heated back-and-forth exchange with Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz. The altercation was broken down and analyzed to the degree of an on-field play. Whether or not he was trolling Schwartz, Harbough’s youthful exuberance distracted many from the fact that his team had just knocked off a previously undefeated Detroit squad. Read the rest of this entry »
The Cincinnati Bengals’ star receiver was sent east, the running back attracts trouble and the guy rookie QB Andy Dalton was supposed to learn from retired rather than return to the team. And to make matters worse, the young man received his “welcome to the NFL moment” in his first preseason game when Detroit Lions super-defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh got a hold of him. Read the rest of this entry »
This is probably not the news NFL Commissioner Goodell wants to wake up hearing. Adam “Pacman” Jones took another trip to the clink after being arrested in a Cincinnati bar on early Sunday. Read the rest of this entry »
What do we have here? Another Ohio professional sports star refusing to ride the wave any longer? Well, it all depends on your definition of star. If Carson Palmer is your definition of a star, then you likely refer to Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady as “planet” and “universe,” respectively. Now Carson Palmer, the star, has given the Cincinnati Bengals the ultimate ultimatum: either trade him or he’ll retire. Read the rest of this entry »
In the long and storied history of this country, it doesn’t get much more American than Thanksgiving and the NFL. And while John Madden isn’t around to give us the pigskin gospel, the combination still feels right. Plates are stacked as high as Phillip Rivers’ passer rating and positions on the couch are claimed at the crack of dawn to be in best view of the television. Read the rest of this entry »
The NFL playoffs are supposed to be an exposé of the best teams and players the league has to offer. Ideally this leads to classic games, complete with 4th quarter drives and heroic individual efforts. Sadly this week was more about delivering beatdowns, as the Bengals, Eagles and yes, my beloved Pats were exposed as playoff frauds. Below is the game-by-game rundown.
Bengals Vs. Jets
This was a sloppy game between two teams that aren’t very good. The Bengals offense was hindered by crushing injuries/deaths in their wide receiver corps. Amongst the walking wounded was Chad Ochocinco, out with a sore posterior from the raping delivered over three hours Jets DB by Darrelle Revis. Watching Revis was particularly annoying as a Pats fan, because he’s totally mastered Ty Law’s style, making just enough contact with the receiver downfield to disrupt routes without getting flagged. Rookie Shonn Greene was the star on offense, routinely beating Cincy’s contain with edge runs. The Jets still have no business planning Super Bowl parades, as the Bengals were a shell of their former selves and the worst playoff team. San Diego should kill the dreams of Firemen Ed and annoying Gang Greeners everywhere next week.
Cowboys Vs. Eagles
Many, including myself, were expecting the Eagles offense to awaken after laying an egg last week but Dallas shut down McNabb and company for a second straight week. Meanwhile Tony Romo put his playoff demons behind him with some help from Miles Austin and Roy Williams.
The big play though was Felix Jones 73 yard TD run, in which he simply ran past the Eagles defense. Few players in the NFL have such raw speed and his playmaking abilities should scare the shit out of other NFC fans.
Patriots Vs. Ravens
Hey Pats fans, it was a good decade for us. But what a deflating way to close it out, getting punked by Baltimore. Everyone, and I mean everyone, laid an egg for the Pats – from Randy Moss’ no show to “Pro-Bowler” Brandon Merriweather getting schooled by Ray Rice on the first play of the game on an 83 yard touchdown. And just like that the game was over. Well not really, first I had to languish through three hours of Brady two yard checkdowns and approximately 73 third and ones where Baltimore converted by flattening our front 7. The Ravens move on, although they’ll need more out of Joe Flacco to take down the Colts next week. The Pats meanwhile, have some serious questions to answer in the offseason and a long climb back to the top. How’s KG’s knee?
Cardinals Vs. Packers
At least we had one classic game. More bullets were fired than the North Hollywood shootout as both Aaron Rodgers and Kurt Warner were afforded ample time to sit in the pocket and pick their favorite targets. This game had a little bit of everything, including a ballsy onside kick call by Green Bay that helped them get back in the game. By the 4th quarter, both defenses were gassed and it was clear that whomever had the ball last would win. Which should have been Arizona, but kicker Neil Rackers shanked a 34 yard field goal with 10 seconds left. The game thus proceeded to OT, Green Bay won the toss and appeared to be in the driver’s seat. Then, one great defensive play from ‘Zona sealed the deal.
Can the Cards win another shootout in the SuperDome next week? Probably not. But you just can’t count this team out.
Another season has come to a close and now it’s time to get down to business. We’re down the twelve teams and all have one goal in mind. The Super Bowl. Some teams have better chances than others, but it begins with the Wild Card. With the last two Super Bowl Champs starting out as Wild Card qualifiers, every team has to believe that if they get on a run that anything is possible. Read through the as the Crew states how we see things going down this weekend. Read the rest of this entry »
“Time to separate the platinum from the white gold/Right from the door/The real from the fake, Ready rock from the raw…” – Jay-Z
With the NFL season winding down, Week 16 found teams looking to sew up playoff spots. Although the top seeds were pretty much solidified, there were enough teams with hopes of a Wild Card berth jockeying for seeding to keep things interesting throughout the extended holiday weekend round of games. Read the rest of this entry »
Quite a bit went down in between Sundays in the NFL as ESPN actually filled its airwaves with news and highlights instead of spouting off randomness. Okay, they made time for plenty of Randy Moss “news” (I think he admitted to having sex with Tiger Woods), but between the tragic yet bizarre death of Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry and both undefeated teams playing mid-week night games, it was all NFL, all the time. Read the rest of this entry »
For the third and fourth time in the last five years, Indy and New Orleans enter December as unbeatens. Both teams maintained the course on their quest for perfection, Indy with a routine win over the feisty Titans (sorry Gotty™) and New Orleans with anything but against the Washington Redskins.
Down to the Skins, the Saints got a key touchdown after wide receiver Robert Meachem forced and recovered an improbable fumble after a (terrible) Brees interception. That’s a once or twice a year in the NFL play. Read the rest of this entry »
I’d be remiss of recapping the NFL in week 10 without turning the back clock to Thursday night. Admittedly, there was a lot of pressure on Jay Cutler coming into the season. The Bears gave up quite a bit for his cannon arm, creating expectations of future Pro Bowls and Bears playoff appearances. Said high hopes ignored the fact that 1.) the Bears wideouts are crap and 2.) their D is getting by on rep and is average at best. Read the rest of this entry »
Screw you Rookwood Tap and, for that matter, screw you all Wrigleyville bars from the heart of the brojects on Clark and Addison. Screw your buffet with the cardboard eggs, death to your pouty waitresses (though I appreciate the fake boobs,) screw you for not having coffee and screw you for having a bathroom attendant at a sports bar. And a special fuck you for playing country music during the commercials. Could I at least get some Black Eyed Peas?
I don’t know if it was my hatred that rubbed off on the Bears or just their own mediocrity coming to the forefront, but the Monsters of the Midway got rolled by the visiting Cardinals. The Cards moved the ball at will against the beaten down Bears D with Larry Fitzgerald serving notice as to why he’s the best wide receiver in the game. He dominated whomever the Bears threw at him in single coverage and, if he wasn’t open, Kurt Warner was finding someone else. With a brutal schedule up ahead, the Bears look headed for under .500 and Lovie Smith looks like he’s on his way out. Read the rest of this entry »
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/global/images/default-avatar.jpg){kind=avatar}
