Archive for December, 2009
SAN DIEGO SECURES BYE
Philip Rivers is still perfect in December and the San Diego Chargers have their first-round bye for the playoffs. Rivers threw two touchdown passes, and the Chargers beat the Titans 42-17 on Friday night to grab the AFC’s No. 2 seed and that first-round bye in the playoffs. The AFC West champs streaked to their 10th straight win and tied the 1970-74 Miami Dolphins for most consecutive wins in a month with their 18th in December dating to 2006. The Dolphins won 18 in a row in the month of November.
Darren Sproles caught a TD pass and ran for two more scores to help San Diego squash the Titans. San Diego rolled, outgaining Tennessee 425-270 in total offense while holding the ball for 39 minutes. Obviously, the guys are playing with great confidence right now. I think they have been concentrating on winning 10 games, one at a time. Instead of worrying about winning 10 games in a row. So to support the San Diego Chargers in the playoffs is to slip on one of my San Diego Chargers jerseys.
How the Mighty Have Fallen
It seems like just a few years ago the St. Louis Rams were touted as “The Greatest Show on Turf.” In recent seasons instead of competing for Super Bowl titles, the Rams have had the dubious honor of competing for the number one draft pick. St. Louis has just one win this year and, in my opinion, is lucky to have that.
Unfortunately for him, Steven Jackson has been stuck in St. Louis despite being one of the toughest runners in the league. We can only hope that his entire career isn’t plagued by his inferior teammates, much like Barry Sanders. The Rams will undoubtedly have a chance to begin rebuilding with a top pick this season, and fans will have a new name to put on their St. Louis Rams jerseys
HOW NOT TO IMPRESS
The Washington Redskins (4-10) missed an opportunity to impress their new GM, Bruce Allen on Monday night. They should have had a desire to put on a good show. Instead, they did a good job of showing Allen that maybe everyone ought to be fired.
I don’t really think this team is that bad. I don’t think the players are that bad. I think they are all just going in different directions, and are in need of someone to lead them in the right direction. The score and the record both say they’re horrible, that they don’t know how to play football. But I think that they do know how to play football.
So for Jason Campbell and the rest of the team I will be showing my support by wearing one of my Washington Redskins jerseys on Sunday night against the Cowboys.
WILL THE GIANTS SEE THE PLAYOFFS?
Eli Manning controlled every facet of the game in a 45-12 victory against the Washington Redskins on Monday night. The dominant version of the Giants showed itself again Monday night, only this time as a desperate team clinging to its playoff hopes. The Giants (8-6) don’t control their destiny, but they moved one game behind Dallas and Green Bay in the race for wild-card spots with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Eli Manning played seven possessions before taking an early seat in the fourth quarter. New York scored on six of them. He completed 19 of 26 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns. His 26 scoring passes this season are a career high. On their first possession Eli Manning marched 80 yards in 16 plays and took almost 10 minutes off the clock. Meanwhile I will be wearing one of my New York Giants jerseys to support them in making it to the playoffs.
CAROLINA STUNNS MINNISOTA
Matt Moore, in his third year out of Oregon State, had the best game of his career in his sixth start completing 21 of 33 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions to beat the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night 26-7. Running back Jonathan Stewart (28) staggers into the end zone for a three-yard touchdown run against Minnesota in the fourth quarter on Sunday. Stewart, in his second season out of Oregon, rushed for 109 yards on 25 carries and scored on a three-yard run in the fourth quarter and later on a two-yard pass from Moore.
Panthers were officially eliminated from playoff contention after Dallas’ win Saturday night, but Moore was the more efficient quarterback in the first half. He led Carolina on an 8-minute drive that ended with his 1-yard touchdown pass to Brad Hoover. Maybe this means next year can be a promising year for a #1 fan like me, meantime I will don one of my favorite Carolina Panthers jerseys in support of the team.
FOURTEEN-AND-OH FEELS GOOD
I have to say the Colts have had some of the most exciting and fun football games this year. That game last night at Jacksonville was a shootout coming down to the last min with everyone on the edge of their seats. Peyton Manning, who played a perfect first half for a second time in as many visits to Jacksonville, followed that half with yet another fourth-quarter rally, leading the Colts to their 14th consecutive victory this season – 35-31 over the Jacksonville Jaguars in front of a sold-out croud at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday night. The Colts rallied five times from three-point deficits, the last time when Manning threw his fourth touchdown pass – this one a 65-yarder to three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Reggie Wayne on 3rd-and-5 from the Colts 35 with 5:23 remaining. An interception by rookie cornerback Jacob Lacey secured the victory with :56 remaining.
The Colts, who extended their regular-season winning streak to an NFL-record 23 games, became the third team in NFL history to start the season 14-0. The 1972 Miami Dolphins went unbeaten in a 14-game regular season, and the New England Patriots finished 16-0 in 2007. Donning one of my Indianapolis Colts Jerseys is an excellent way for me to show my support for my team.
WILL CINCINNATI BE IN THE SUPERBOWL?
As a lifelong Cincinnati Bengals fan, I have had few chances to cheer on a winning franchise. Carson Palmer has given hope to a long time fan like me. Palmer is a Pro Bowl quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. Palmer won the Heisman Trophy in 2002, his senior season at USC. He was drafted by the Bengals with the first overall pick in 2003. He did not take a single snap in his rookie year while being mentored by Jon Kitna.
In the 2004 season Palmer was named the starting quarterback. He made mistakes which is usually normal for quarterbacks in their first season, but still managed to throw for 2,897 yards with 18 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in 13 games. The team finished with an 8-8 record. In 2005 Palmer threw for a league-leading 32 touchdown passes to finish the season at an 11-5 record to win their first division title since 1990. I will be wearing one of my Cincinnati Bengals jerseys this week for their game against the Chargers to give my support.
HANGIN IN WITH THE CARDINALS
Kurt Warner is the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals. He was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 1994. He played college football at Northern Iowa. Warner first reached fame for his highly successful stint with the St. Louis Rams from 1998-2003, where he won two NFL MVP awards in 1999 and 2001, . Kurt Warner finished the 1999-2000 NFL season with a 414-yard performance in Super Bowl XXXIV, shattering Joe Montana’s Super Bowl-record 357 passing yards. This performance earned him Super Bowl MVP honors as well. Kurt amassed 4,353 yards, 41 touchdowns, and a 109.1 passer rating during this period as well.
Kurt Warner has had a lot of ups and downs in his professional NFL career. He says “Looking at the big picture, I know my role in this is to help share my faith, and to share my relationship with the Lord in this capacity”. I think he is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. By slipping on either my St. Louis Rams jerseys or my Arizona Cardinals jerseys is one of the ways I show my support for my favorite players.
TOM BRADY ACHIEVES GREATNESS?
Tom Brady, of the New England Patriots, was never expected to achieve greatness. Yet he has become one of the stars of the NFL. Against their AFC East rival, the New York Jets was Tom Brady’s opportunity to advance to the starting position during a Patriots home game on September 23, 2001. When Drew Bledsoe was injured, Brady stepped in to become the starting quarterback. Brady led the Patriots to four Super Bowls, with three Super Bowl victories in the years to come. Brady is well known for taking his team 70 yards down field within the last minute of a game, to win in a come from behind victory.
Brady comes to us from the University of Michigan where in time was given the opportunity to be the starting QB. He eventually started every game in the 1998, 1999 seasons under head coach Lloyd Carr. As a wolverine Brady led Michigan to an overtime win in the Orange Bowl over Alabama, throwing for 369 yards and four touchdowns. While he is questionable for Sunday’s game against Carolina, the best way I know how to support him or any other player is owning a couple of New England Patriots jerseys.
ARE THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS DONE?
Those of us dedicated Pittsburgh Steelers fans are stunned at the teams performance as of late, and have all of us wondering, are the Steelers done for the season? The defending NFL champions lost their fifth straight game to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night 13-6. QB Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 8 times. Pittsburgh’s postseason hopes are in jeopardy, if not over completely. This is a total reversal of having a 6-2 record at the midway point of the season. With the unanticipated losses to Kansas City, Cleveland and Oakland, (three of the worst teams in the NFL) has stunned a long time Pittsburgh Steelers fan such as myself.
All I can do now is be sure and wear my Pittsburgh Steelers jerseys for support in hopes something unexpected will happen between now and the end of the year to make it possible for my team to advance to the playoffs. If that’s not possible then I will always have next year to tease my friends about.
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