March 12, 2010 by
Lars Hanson |
Andy Reid,
Boston College,
Brett Favre,
Green Bay Packers,
Matt Hasselbeck,
Mike Holmgren,
NFL draft,
Pete Carroll,
Playoffs,
Seahawks,
Steve Hutchinson,
Super Bowl,
tony romo,
Trent Dilfer
Disclaimer: Usually journalist and especially good journalist don’t usually use “I” in articles and recently I’ve been trying to improve on that and just stick with reporting. However I’ve decided to try a little experiment and create a new series of articles titled “In my opinion” which will include players, coaches and other aspects of the NFL an give my opinion on those topics. So articles titled “In my opinion” will be the only time I use “I” in an article, but when it comes to reporting on the Seahawks and the draft, “I” won’t be included. Just needed to clear that with this [...]
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January 21, 2010 by
Paul Preibisius |
49ers,
atlanta,
Bears,
Broncos,
carolina,
chicago,
Denver,
Dolphins,
falcons,
Football,
Giants,
houston,
Jacksonville,
Jaguars,
Miami,
New York,
NFL,
Panthers,
pittsburgh,
Playoffs,
san francisco,
Steelers,
tennessee,
Texans,
Titans
With several teams falling just short of the playoffs this year, it begs the question, what of these teams can find a way to secure the two or three extra wins necessary to take themselves into the playoffs. This mid-range covers all 7-9 and 8-8 teams, as well as the 9-7’s that fell short of a wildcard berth.
Chicago Bears
The Bear narrowly avoided entrance to the first list by way of back to back wins to close out the year. A preseason darling for a deep postseason run, Chicago lands itself as one of the biggest disappointments of the year.
Why They Can: Defensive emotional leader Brian Urlacher was gone for the year. With him back the team will have more fire and swagger. Jay Cutler may be turnover prone, but he can air the [...]
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The Minnesota Vikings have many reasons to be optimistic going into Sunday’s NFC Championship game. They have a hall of fame quarterback who knows how to earn a ring. They have a great running back and potent array of offensive weapons. They also have a fearsome pass-rush that demolished Dallas by sacking Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo six times while holding the Cowboys to just three points.
One concern going into the weekend however, is health. Half of the team’s starting defensive line in Ray Edwards and Kevin Williams missed two straight practices with knee troubles. Edwards especially proved dominant in the team’s first playoff game, netting three of the team’s sacks himself while being a disruptive force all day.
Wide receiver and kick returner Percy Harvin [...]
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January 19, 2010 by
Paul Preibisius |
championship,
Colts,
Indianapolis,
Jets,
minnesota,
new orleans,
New York,
NFL,
Playoffs,
Saints,
Super Bowl,
Vikings
Now that the NFL’s final four has been set, an array of interesting storylines emerge. Each team has its own story, own reason for making the super bowl interesting. Here’s a look at the stories going on beyond the facts and figures.
Indianapolis
Holding the top record in the NFL at 14-2. Indianapolis has probably the most pressure of any team in this round. The Colts have (by far) the most recent super bowl victory or even just appearance of any of the four teams involved. They have an MVP quarterback and a superior record.
So why the concern and pressure? First of all, they shook some, but not all of the concern regarding the team’s concept of benching starters to prevent injury and rest them up. They came out strong and soundly defeated the [...]
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When the Chargers went to face the Jets, they were a hot team looking to advance to face an opponent they had historically fared quite well against. Something happened in between the start of the playoffs and that date with Indianapolis however. The Jets.
Vincent Jackson, expected to be shut down by Darrell Revis had seven catches for 111 yards. Phillip Rivers put up nearly 300 yards. Mark Sanchez was held to being perfectly average, with just 100 yards on 12 of 23 passing with a TD and a pick. Thomas Jones was even stuff for less than three yards a carry and the attacking Jets defense only managed two sacks.
On paper most of what the Chargers wanted to happen would have seemed to. But in a game of inches, the team was buried on three plays.
The first goes to Nate [...]
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Well, you can't win them all. As a person and fan, I've have to learn to accept that. Sometimes you don't win the big games.
This game the Cowboys lost while it is tragic they did, you can't win them all. There are some days where it would have been close, where Dallas would've won, where Minnesota would've won, where one is a blowout like today or a close one.
It comes down to who played the better game that day and that was Minnesota. This loss was painful, but Dallas wasn't horrible, Minnesota was just good.
If I may, I'd like to drift off for a second. Before I realized that [...]
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If you hadn't watched every snap of the Cardinals season as I did and only caught their playoff performance, you might surmise that their defense is awful. To be sure, Arizona's season ended on a sour note at the hands of a very good football team.
Nothing went Arizona's way: I mean let's face it, it is hard enough to stop the No.1 ranked offense with a full, healthy roster. With LB Gerald Hayes (arguably the Cardinals best run-stuffing backer) already having been declared inactive for the game, after Pro Bowl CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (the Cardinals' only true cover DB) and Pro Bowl alternate Safety Antrel Rolle were both injured early, and it was game on for the Saints. [...]
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On Sunday the Minnesota Vikings will welcome the Dallas Cowboys to the Metrodome to kick off their run at the Super Bowl. On paper the two teams match up very well, and it looks as though this should be the game of the weekend. As always, this game will come down to who can win the major categories of the game, offense, defense, and special teams.
Offense - Cowboys
I give the edge on the offensive side of the ball to the Cowboys, who have been on a roll the past couple of weeks. Tony Romo has the most talent of any quarterback in the NFL, and over the past couple of weeks it looks as though he has finally reached his immense talent. On top of that, Felix Jones has become the most explosive back in the playoffs, surpassing Adrian Peterson. Which brings me to my final reason why I chose [...]
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He has been ridiculed for getting beaten repeatedly in pass coverage in recent weeks, leading critics to proclaim that at 5'8", Cardinals' CB Michael Adams is simply overmatched because of his less than ideal height.
Darrell Green was one of the best defensive backs in NFL history and he was 5'9"/184 lbs. Adams is 5'8"/181 lbs.
While Green's best asset was his Olympic-caliber speed, Adams has shown off an astounding vertical leap. Adams is a work in progress and a great prospect if he continues to improve. He has flashed tremendous athleticism and is a hard worker.
Yet those positive qualities are not going to keep fans off of his back [...]
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Wow- I don't think I've ever come so close to having a heart attack. The amount of ways that we tried to give this game to Jacksonville was stunning. Over and over again, when we had a chance to slam the door on them, we gave them hope- two fumbles in field goal range, and missed 38 yard field goal (the first missed FG inside the 40 for Dan Carpenter's career), and a bad interception thrown by Henne all contributed to make a game that should have been a double digit blow out into a 4 point squeaker.
There are a couple of ways to look at this. The pessimist will say that this is a sign that the Dolphins are pretenders. Jacksonville is far from being a top NFL team, and we just could not put them away when we had everything on the line.
The optimist will say that this is [...]
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