By Dan Shouse
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
Cough! Cough! Gag! Sorry, I was just doing my impression of the New England Patriots.
Colts 35 (9-0) Patriots 34 (6-3)
It's time to face facts. The Patriots are the chokers, and the Colts are clutch. The Patriots have not won anything in over 5 years now, and not only that, you can absolutely count on them to blow it when all the chips are on the table. Just add this one to their most recent history of gag jobs. The 2007 AFC Championship, the Super Bowl against the Giants, and now this one. And it is time to stop giving Bilicheck a free pass. Any other coach would be fired for doing something like that. He cost the Patriots the game, and likely a chance at the Super Bowl. How do you recover from that kind of loss? This is the kind of loss that can destroy a season. Now the Patriots will have to go on the road in the playoffs - if they can still get there.
Saints 28 (9-0) Rams 23 (1-7)
The Saints remained perfect, but it was much harder than expected. The Rams played well, but Reggie Bush had his best game of the season. Bush found the end zone twice, helping the Saints overcome 3 turnovers and remain unbeaten.
Bengals 18 (7-2) Steelers 12 (6-3)
The AFC North is now the Bengals' for the taking. The Bengals defense stole the show, keeping the Steelers out of the end zone. Usually the Bengals are done for the year by this point. Now they look like they will be playing for a first round bye.
Redskins 27 (3-6) Broncos 17 (6-3)
Miracles do happen. Ladell Betts had 114 yards and a touchdown, and the special teams added a touchdown on a fake punt, leading the Redskins to the upset win. The Broncos have now lost 3 in a row, and they also saw Kyle Orten go down with an injury. Time to press the panic button in Denver.
Dolphins 25 (4-5) Buccaneers 23 (1-8)
Chad Henne was the story in this one, going from goat to hero in the final minutes. After throwing a huge interception with under 2 minutes left that set up the go ahead TD by the Bucs, Henne was able to redeem himself. With 1:14 left, Henne directed a 77 yard drive, setting up the game winning field goal with 10 seconds remaining. The win keeps the Dolphins slim playoff chances alive.
Panthers 28 (4-5) Falcons 19 (5-4)
What is wrong with the Falcons? Matt Ryan struggled again, and the Falcons have now dropped 3 of 4. The Falcons may be the most disappointing team in the league. There is too much talent on this team to only be 5-4.
Titans 41 (3-6) Bills 17 (3-6)
Chris Johnson stole the show, going over 100 yards rushing and receiving, and adding a pair of TDs to lead the Titans to the win. The Titans have now won three straight games after starting the season 0-6.
Vikings 27 (8-1) Lions 10 (1-8)
Brett Favre and Sidney Rice are starting to become a lethal combo. Rice caught 7 passes for 201 yards, leading the Vikings to an easy win. Adrian Peterson was he usual self, gaining over 130 yards on the ground and adding a pair of scores.
Jaguars 24 (5-4) Jets 22 (4-5)
The annual free fall of the New York Jets has begun. Maurice Jones-Drew's heads up play, taking a knee at the one yard line rather than score, helped run down the clock and set up a last second field goal by Josh Scobee. Rex Ryan sure isn't talking much these days, as the Jets have now lost 5 of 6.
Chiefs 16 (2-7) Raiders 10 (2-7)
Who needs Larry Johnson? Jamaal Charles stepped in and rushed for 100 yards plus a score, as the Chiefs won for only the second time this year.
Packers 17 (5-4) Cowboys 7 (6-3)
Just when you think that maybe Tony Romo is turning things around, and that the Cowboys may avoid a late season meltdown, they have the kind of game they had in Green Bay. The Cowboys offense struggled, and Tony Romo threw a late int at the Packers goal line to seal the win for Green Bay. It was a nice bounce back victory for the Pack, after dropping a tough decision to the Bucs one week ago.
Cardinal 31 (6-3) Seahawks 20 (3-6)
It's now how you start, but how you finish. After falling behind 14-0, Kurt Warner and the Cardinals rallied, as Warner threw for 340 yards and 2 TDs. It was only the Cardinals second home win of the season.
Chargers 31 (6-3) Eagles 23 (5-4)
Three weeks ago, it looked like there was no way the Chargers could catch the Broncos in the AFC West. Now it looks like it is the Chargers division to lose. Behind two TDs from LT, the Chargers have now won four straight to get to the top spot in the AFC West. The Eagles may have lost more than the game. Brian Westbrook suffered another concussion and may be done for the year.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Big East Conspiracy
By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
Two bad calls in two days, both of which conveniently help the two top teams in the Big East. Hmmm...Interesting.
Ok, here it comes. Yes, another conspiracy theory by yours truly. And for the record, this one is not simply sour grapes because one of the calls in question happened to be against Notre Dame. Notre Dame was vastly outplayed for most of the game by Pitt and only had three points over the first three quarters. You don't deserve to win the game if you do that.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Before we tackle the Pittsburgh win over the Irish, let's examine a terrible call that had a huge impact on the outcome of Cincinnati's game against West Virginia. On first and goal, Isaiah Pead jumped over the pile and stretched the ball out towards the goal line. Not only did he not reach the line, but he fumbled the ball, which was recovered by West Virginia. That held the score at 14-7 with 5:15 remaining in the half. If you can see the indisputable video evidence that shows the ball crossed the line and that he maintained control as the ball crossed the plane, then you are a better man than I.
But wait. The replay gods saw fit to intervene and lo-and-behold, the call was overturned, making it a tie ballgame. Sure, there was a lot more football left to play in that game. However, the fact remains the Bearcats won by three points and the gift touchdown was the difference.
Fast forward to Saturday night, late in the Notre Dame - Pitt game. Notre Dame is faced with a third and 16 situation. Jimmy Clausen felt pressure as he did almost all game long and as he was going down, attempted a pass to Golden Tate, and while his arm was hit by Greg Romeus, it appeared to be an incomplete forward pass. The play was blown dead, but Pitt's Myles Caragein picked the ball up and attempted to run with it before realizing it had been called an incomplete pass.
Now here's where the mess begins.
Notre Dame let about 30 seconds run off the play clock before burning a timeout while trying to figure what to do on fourth and long. Seconds later, the Big East decided that would be a good time to review the play. Not before Notre Dame took its second timeout, so essentially, if the call has stood, the Big East would have essentially taken a time out away from the Irish. Upon review, the replay officials somehow saw that indisputable evidence that no one else, whether it be Notre Dame fans, Pitt fans or media outlets, saw. So it's a fumble. What happens now? Well, according to the officials, it's a fumble recovery by Caragein, despite the fact that the play was blown dead, giving Pittsburgh the ball and the win.
Sure, a fourth and 16 situation is likely going to be a turnover on downs anyway, but the fact of the matter is the officials upstairs made a bad call that took any chance away from Notre Dame. And let's remember that Jimmy Clausen is the quarterback with 63 passes of 15 or more yards and 22 completions of 25 or more (7th and 17th in the nation, respectively) with two of the best wide receivers in football.
So why did this happen? You can't think that it's a huge coincidence that the two top teams in the Big East were the benefactors of game-changing overturns.
The Big East is desperate to matter in college football again. The Big East since its formation has halways been a basketball conference first and since Miami and Virginia Tech bailed, the conference has been an afterthought in college football. Even as a BCS conference, in recent years they have gotten less national attention than the WAC and the MWC. Now they have an opportunity to be relevant.
Cincinnati played its toughest game of the season thus far on Friday after beating up mediocre to downright terrible opponents on its way to the No. 5 ranking in the BCS. Pitt has been one of the better defenses in the nation and the offense has found its way with LeSean McCoy gone, which most thought was a death sentence for the Panthers. With their win over Notre Dame, the Panthers moved to ninth in the BCS rankings.
Heading into this week, the Big East bigwigs had to be drooling at the idea of an undefeated Cincinnati facing a one-loss Pittsburgh for the conference title. Think about it. If Cincinnati loses to West Virginia, they no longer hold any major clout in the BCS. Even if Pittsburgh heads into the final week undefeated in this scenario, the odds of it meaning as much in terms of the BCS would be a lot lower than if Cincinnati were undefeated. And if Pittsburgh were to lose another game, Cincinnati would have the title locked up before the final week, making the matchup between the two teams irrelevant and one that people outside of the Northeast unlikely to watch. In all of these scenarios, the Big East stands to lose a lot. But most of all, it stands to lose a lot of money.
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
Two bad calls in two days, both of which conveniently help the two top teams in the Big East. Hmmm...Interesting.
Ok, here it comes. Yes, another conspiracy theory by yours truly. And for the record, this one is not simply sour grapes because one of the calls in question happened to be against Notre Dame. Notre Dame was vastly outplayed for most of the game by Pitt and only had three points over the first three quarters. You don't deserve to win the game if you do that.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Before we tackle the Pittsburgh win over the Irish, let's examine a terrible call that had a huge impact on the outcome of Cincinnati's game against West Virginia. On first and goal, Isaiah Pead jumped over the pile and stretched the ball out towards the goal line. Not only did he not reach the line, but he fumbled the ball, which was recovered by West Virginia. That held the score at 14-7 with 5:15 remaining in the half. If you can see the indisputable video evidence that shows the ball crossed the line and that he maintained control as the ball crossed the plane, then you are a better man than I.
But wait. The replay gods saw fit to intervene and lo-and-behold, the call was overturned, making it a tie ballgame. Sure, there was a lot more football left to play in that game. However, the fact remains the Bearcats won by three points and the gift touchdown was the difference.
Fast forward to Saturday night, late in the Notre Dame - Pitt game. Notre Dame is faced with a third and 16 situation. Jimmy Clausen felt pressure as he did almost all game long and as he was going down, attempted a pass to Golden Tate, and while his arm was hit by Greg Romeus, it appeared to be an incomplete forward pass. The play was blown dead, but Pitt's Myles Caragein picked the ball up and attempted to run with it before realizing it had been called an incomplete pass.
Now here's where the mess begins.
Notre Dame let about 30 seconds run off the play clock before burning a timeout while trying to figure what to do on fourth and long. Seconds later, the Big East decided that would be a good time to review the play. Not before Notre Dame took its second timeout, so essentially, if the call has stood, the Big East would have essentially taken a time out away from the Irish. Upon review, the replay officials somehow saw that indisputable evidence that no one else, whether it be Notre Dame fans, Pitt fans or media outlets, saw. So it's a fumble. What happens now? Well, according to the officials, it's a fumble recovery by Caragein, despite the fact that the play was blown dead, giving Pittsburgh the ball and the win.
Sure, a fourth and 16 situation is likely going to be a turnover on downs anyway, but the fact of the matter is the officials upstairs made a bad call that took any chance away from Notre Dame. And let's remember that Jimmy Clausen is the quarterback with 63 passes of 15 or more yards and 22 completions of 25 or more (7th and 17th in the nation, respectively) with two of the best wide receivers in football.
So why did this happen? You can't think that it's a huge coincidence that the two top teams in the Big East were the benefactors of game-changing overturns.
The Big East is desperate to matter in college football again. The Big East since its formation has halways been a basketball conference first and since Miami and Virginia Tech bailed, the conference has been an afterthought in college football. Even as a BCS conference, in recent years they have gotten less national attention than the WAC and the MWC. Now they have an opportunity to be relevant.
Cincinnati played its toughest game of the season thus far on Friday after beating up mediocre to downright terrible opponents on its way to the No. 5 ranking in the BCS. Pitt has been one of the better defenses in the nation and the offense has found its way with LeSean McCoy gone, which most thought was a death sentence for the Panthers. With their win over Notre Dame, the Panthers moved to ninth in the BCS rankings.
Heading into this week, the Big East bigwigs had to be drooling at the idea of an undefeated Cincinnati facing a one-loss Pittsburgh for the conference title. Think about it. If Cincinnati loses to West Virginia, they no longer hold any major clout in the BCS. Even if Pittsburgh heads into the final week undefeated in this scenario, the odds of it meaning as much in terms of the BCS would be a lot lower than if Cincinnati were undefeated. And if Pittsburgh were to lose another game, Cincinnati would have the title locked up before the final week, making the matchup between the two teams irrelevant and one that people outside of the Northeast unlikely to watch. In all of these scenarios, the Big East stands to lose a lot. But most of all, it stands to lose a lot of money.
Monday Night Football: No Instant Classic Here
By Dan Shouse
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
Say one thing for Monday Night's game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns - it will not be a game that will be replayed on ESPN Classic anytime soon.
The Cleveland Browns represent the worst that the NFL has to offer. You have to think that if ESPN had its way, it would not have schedule the Browns to be on prime time.
It has been kind of comical to seen ESPN try to hype this game. Other than fantasy football, is there any reason to really want to watch this train wreck of a game? There is no question that Baltimore will dominate from start to finish. The Ravens will look unbeatable on offense and defense, but that will have to do more with Cleveland's inept team than anything to do with Baltimore. Don't get to excited Ravens fans. Your team will look like the Super Bowl contender everyone thought they would be, but every team looks great against the Browns.
Brady Quinn takes over the offense form Derek Anderson, which is a step in the right direction. Anderson has been horrid this season, posting a QB rating of 36.2. Quinn cannot possibly do any worse, but it is unreasonable to think that Quinn will be anymore successful. The Browns simply do not have the weapons to put many points on the board. If the Ravens jump out to an early lead, and Cleveland has to throw the ball, then this one could get ugly real fast.
To make matters worse, things could remain ugly in Cleveland for awhile. Dating back to last year with the Jets, Mangini is just 2 and 11 in his last thirteen games as a head coach, but don't expect Eric Mangini to be fired anytime soon. Mangini is in year one of a four year contract. It's hard to imagine that the Browns would just eat the final years of Mangini's contract. Maybe this is one of the reasons that Jamal Lewis decided to retire at the end of the season. Things look bleak for the Browns for the foreseeable future.
Now it appears that many of Lewis' teammates agree with him. According to a report from the Associated Press, after Lewis ripped Mangini in an interview last week, Lewis was greeted as a hero in the locker room by many of his teammates.
If true, then Mangini has totally lost this team and it is highly unlikely that he will win them back. Mangini may have lost the team, but unfortunately for Browns fans, he may still not lose his job. Sorry Cleveland, your NFL team has hit rock bottom, and it appears that you will be there for awhile.
Prediction: Ravens 27 Browns 0
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
Say one thing for Monday Night's game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns - it will not be a game that will be replayed on ESPN Classic anytime soon.
The Cleveland Browns represent the worst that the NFL has to offer. You have to think that if ESPN had its way, it would not have schedule the Browns to be on prime time.
It has been kind of comical to seen ESPN try to hype this game. Other than fantasy football, is there any reason to really want to watch this train wreck of a game? There is no question that Baltimore will dominate from start to finish. The Ravens will look unbeatable on offense and defense, but that will have to do more with Cleveland's inept team than anything to do with Baltimore. Don't get to excited Ravens fans. Your team will look like the Super Bowl contender everyone thought they would be, but every team looks great against the Browns.
Brady Quinn takes over the offense form Derek Anderson, which is a step in the right direction. Anderson has been horrid this season, posting a QB rating of 36.2. Quinn cannot possibly do any worse, but it is unreasonable to think that Quinn will be anymore successful. The Browns simply do not have the weapons to put many points on the board. If the Ravens jump out to an early lead, and Cleveland has to throw the ball, then this one could get ugly real fast.
To make matters worse, things could remain ugly in Cleveland for awhile. Dating back to last year with the Jets, Mangini is just 2 and 11 in his last thirteen games as a head coach, but don't expect Eric Mangini to be fired anytime soon. Mangini is in year one of a four year contract. It's hard to imagine that the Browns would just eat the final years of Mangini's contract. Maybe this is one of the reasons that Jamal Lewis decided to retire at the end of the season. Things look bleak for the Browns for the foreseeable future.
Now it appears that many of Lewis' teammates agree with him. According to a report from the Associated Press, after Lewis ripped Mangini in an interview last week, Lewis was greeted as a hero in the locker room by many of his teammates.
If true, then Mangini has totally lost this team and it is highly unlikely that he will win them back. Mangini may have lost the team, but unfortunately for Browns fans, he may still not lose his job. Sorry Cleveland, your NFL team has hit rock bottom, and it appears that you will be there for awhile.
Prediction: Ravens 27 Browns 0
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