Blog Posts For Tag: Football

Ten weeks into the season the leading running back in the NFL is not Adrian Peterson. No, Peterson is second behind none other than Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans. I saw this and was inspired to write this post, only to find out that Trent Dilfer already broached the subject on Countdown Daily. However, this is still a great subject. Would you rather have Peterson or Johnson, power or speed?

I have seen quite a few Minnesota Vikings games this season, as well as a few Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints games, and I have one thing to say. Adrian Peterson is being misused. Yes, Adrian Peterson- the most fear running back in the entirety of football- is being grossly under utilized by Brett Favre and the Vikings despite the fact that they are 7-1 and sitting atop the NFC Central in the NFL standings.

There once was a time when quarterbacks only threw for 300 yards in a losing effort because they had to try and cover as much ground as possible quickly. Now, the league demands that quarterbacks be able to surpass the 300 mark just to get a win. Peyton Manning is leading the NFL with 318 passing yards per game and his team is 7-0. In fact, the 10 quarterbacks averaging more than 250 passing yards a game are all on teams with winning records and five of those are on teams that are at least tied for the lead in their division.

The seventh Sunday of the NFL schedule brought about a bevy of blowouts. Only two games were decided by less than 10 points or less. Four games were decided by a deficit between 10 and 19. An incredible six games were won by more than 20 points. The most lopsided loss was the 38-0 win by the New York Jets over the Oakland Raiders. That game is one of four decided by 30 points or more.

So, there is little doubt now that this is the age of the quarterback in the NFL. All the announcers are talking about it like it is news, which is akin to your mother “discovering” new rock music. Once she has heard of a band and it is played on her radio station then the novelty of it is over and surely half the globe already knows about it.

The preseason schedule has just started, meaning that its time to get revved up to watch NFL starters play at half speed for a quarter before the scrubs take over until half time, giving way to the future stars of the AFL, USFL, and the rest of the new defacto minor league system of football leagues sloppily missing tackles and looking out of place on the field.

I broke down the season predictions for the NFC last week and need to finish with the AFC before changing my predictions at three intervals, just before the season begins, halfway through the season, and with four weeks left until the playoffs start. I will, of course, quote injuries as the source of my ill-fated analysis. So, let’s take a look at my impressions of the AFC.

The NFL training camps are underway, so everyone whose baseball team has sunk to the bottom of the division or everyone whose baseball team is obviously on its last leg has a chance to obsess about a new team and dream up scenarios where they might actually put together a Super Bowl season (hey, the Cardinals did it last season so why can’t a club like the Raiders, right?).

Well, not so fast there St. Louis Ram’s diehard and Mr. Kansas City Chief. I do not care what you read about Marc Bulger returning to form or if Tom Cassel still has the scent of the New England Patriots. Read on and see which teams have a shot and which teams should pay more attention to their fantasy football teams, beginning with the NFC in this edition.

I love sports. I check ESPN's website dozens of times a day for the latest development on the NFL front and for things as silly as the New York Yankees ERA last season. I am not so completely insulated from reality that I can not appreciate how silly the idea of professional sports can sometimes be, and sometimes I wonder which sport is the silliest.

Not too long ago the Dallas Cowboys were beginning another promising era that could have brought yet another Super Bowl win to their storied history. The Arizona Cardinals were looking like they were going to be collecting veterans looking for a rest stop before officially retiring (their M.O. for the past decade). Now, after the Cardinals managed to get into the Super Bowl and play half way decently, everything is turned around in the Southwest.

It is not but a week into NFL Free Agency time and there are already completed deals that are causing havoc in every football-obsessed sports fans life. They range from questionable signings to questionable trades and are boring our girlfriends who thought it was safe to take us out in public.

Bucking the general downward trend of the economy, football, as an industry is expanding. Yes, in the next couple of years it looks like fans will have four more leagues to watch. Who knew that professional football would become a beacon for financial hope?