Official NFL Thread

I am a really big fan of professional (American) football. There are few things better than waking up on Sunday and realizing that in just a few hours you'll be eating pizza, cracking a brew, and watching your team with your buddies. I just love it. When I'm not watching the game, I'm often looking up stats, watching sports-talk shows, or discussing the game, both online and in real-life.

Anyway, I was gonna start a new blog tonight to talk NFL, but I figured I might get more views If I put it here. And perhaps there are others who would like to discuss the game with me, as well. Since this is the reviews forum, I will be recapping/reviewing at least one game a week, as well as trying my hand at writing a few other articles.

Hopefully the mods are cool with it, and don't see it as off-topic, or something.

I can't wait. This is gonna be a fun one.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS @ SAN DIEGO CHARGERS


With Sunday night's come-from-behind victory against a very capable San Diego Chargers squad, the New England Patriots have proven, once again, they are ready to go to the playoffs and maybe even a little farther.

The first half saw QB Tom Brady and the Patriots offense moving the ball quite well, though both their trips to the red-zone resulted in a field goal by K Stephen Gostkowski. It saw a defensive unit that could barely contain the San Diego offense, allowing the Chargers to make a considerable amount of big plays, including QB Philip Rivers connecting on a 15-yard pass to WR Malcolm Floyd, for the first of two touchdowns. The second would come nearly three minutes later, when the Chargers DB Darrell Stuckey capitolized on a fumble by Patriots WR Brandon LaFell with a 53-yard run. 6-14 San Diego.

With about four minutes remaining until half-time, the Patriots ventured into the red-zone for a third time, but they wouldn't have to settle for 3 this time around. Brady's 14-yard pass to TE Rob Gronkowski would give the Patriot's their first touchdown of the evening, closing the gap to a single point. Minutes later, and with seconds until halftime, a possible scoring drive was halted by an interception by Chargers LB Manti Te'o. 13-14 San Diego.

A balance of solid defensive plays and a few flags prevented either team from scoring, but also created a rare level of suspense. Amongst these plays was one in which an interception and subsequent touchdown by New England FS Devin McCourty was nullified due to a personal foul by New England CB Brandon Browner against San Diego TE Ladarius Green.

It wasn't until five minutes had elapsed in the fourth that a Gostkowski field goal allowed New England to take the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter. Not two minutes later, in the opening play of their next possession, Brady found WR Julian Edelman for a touchdown that would sel the deal. Patriots win 23-14.

Fantastic game.
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Side notes

The Chargers are vastly more successful when their average time of possession exceeds that of their opponent, or more than 30 minutes. Their time of possession in this game was 25:27, and the Patriots 34:33. One has to wonder if perhaps they would have converted a couple more third downs (they were 4 for 13), even if they didn't necessarily score on those drives.

Chargers QB Philip Rivers now has an all-time record of 1-5 against the Patriots. Rivers' only win over the Patriots came in 2008 when Patriots QB Tom Brady was out with an injury. Matt Cassel was the New England QB that year.

With this win, the Patriots have clicnched their 12th straight 10-win season, becoming only the second team in NFL history to do so. The 49ers played 16 consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins, from 1983-1999.
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Check back tomorrow for the Green Bay @ Atlanta recap, which I'll post shortly after the game's end.

And looking forward to week 15, I will be covering Thursday's Arizona @ St. Louis match-up, as well as Dallas @ Philadelphia on Sunday.

I know nothing about this sport, I've obviously heard of some of the teams like Dallas 49ers and the Chicago Dolphins and the San Fransisco Cowboys and who can forget the legendary Miami Bears.

Ooops i almost forgot to mention the Toronto Maple Leafs, how dumb would i have looked if i didn't mention them.

Don't know if anybody was paying attention, but I missed the last couple reviews I promised. Had a nasty cold the past week and could hardly get out of bed, let alone get to the computer. But I'm back now.

Got little preview, of sorts, for you now: A brief, and admittedly bias, look at tonight's Cowboys-Eagles game.
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Dallas Cowboys: Playoff-Bound?

The Cowboys last post-season appearance came following the 2009 season. That year, they finished with an overall record of 11-5. After a shutout victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in week 17, they would defeat them once again during the Wild Card round, their first playoff in over a decade. Unfortunately, they lost to the Minnesota Vikings in the Divisional round.

Last year, a victory over the Eagles in week 17 would earn the Cowboys their first winning record and trip to the playoffs since 2009, but they were unable to get it done and finished with an 8-8 record for the third year in a row.

Tonight, the Cowboys and the Eagles will once again battle it out in a game with huge implications in regards to the NFC East division and the playoffs picture. After losing to the Eagles a couple of weeks back on Thanksgiving, the Cowboys are looking for a little payback, as well as a major increase in their odds of making the playoffs this year. A loss tonight does not mean the Cowboys season is over, but it will leave them in an undesirable position going forward. Although, obviously, winning their final three games would be ideal, they can’t afford more than one loss going forward, and they’ve still got to play the Indianapolis Colts next week, a loss to whom would be much less devastating than one tonight.

On a personal note, I've been a Cowboys fan for about 10 years now, but had, honestly, lost faith in the 'Boys the past couple years. At the beginning of this season, I found myself, for the first time ever, without any hope of success for my team. They've since proven me so wrong, and I couldn't be happier. Even if tonight proves to be the beginning of the end, I'll remember this as one fuckin' awesome season.

RockRosen wrote:

I've actually never watched an American football game. So even though your review sounds terrific I have really no idea what it is you're saying haha... Hoping others do and join in on your revs and comment.

I'm just happy to see that someone's paying attention. It might take a while, but once people see what I'm trying to do here, I'm sure I'll find my audience.

Uneducated Thug wrote:

I know nothing about this sport, I've obviously heard of some of the teams like Dallas 49ers and the Chicago Dolphins and the San Fransisco Cowboys and who can forget the legendary Miami Bears.

Ooops i almost forgot to mention the Toronto Maple Leafs, how dumb would i have looked if i didn't mention them.

I lol'ed.

Maybe its just me, maybe im overlooking something really obvious, but, do the Toronto Maple Leafs spell their name incorrectly? Surely it should be leaves?