Roethlisberger to prove he is BIG BEN

Ben Roethlisberger last trip to the Super Bowl wasn’t a good trip as he would like to be, and his team won. Three years ago, Big Ben helped Pittsburgh win Super Bowl XL, but he had a passer rating of 22.6, worst ever for a winning quarterback. The MVP of that game was Hines Ward. Willie Parker had a 75-yard TD run, and Antwaan Randle El had an option pass to Ward.

Roethlisberger being a 23-year old playing in his first Super Bowl admitted that he was “overwhelmed”. This time he is older and wiser, just enjoying his time. He might not be the most accurate passer or the fastest quarterback, but he just wins. He can make a play last when you think its over and he going to be sacked, as evident by the 65-yard TD connection to Santonio Holmes in the AFC Championship game against the Ravens. No matter what kind of game he has on Sunday, he will enjoy it this time around, until the opening kickoff that is.

Raiders pick Cable?

ESPN reports that Tom Cable will be the head coach of the Oakland Raiders for the 2009 season. Cable served as interim head coach in 2008 after the in-season firing of Lane Kiffin. Cable has been considered the front-runner ever since he helped the Raiders finish the season with consecutive victories while winning three of their last six games. No official news from the Raiders have confirmed the report.

Super Bowl takes a hit

Super Bowl XLIII will be played in Tampa this year. In years past Super Bowl has been much more than just a game, the glitz and the glamour that comes with the largest sporting event in the county. But in these tough economic times, the Super Bowl is taking a hit too. Numerous corporations including General Motors and FedEx have pulled their TV ads, even though NBC has lowered the price. Ticket prices have also fallen for the big game. Many individuals cannot afford to pay $5,000 to just go to a game.

NFL Trivia and Fun Facts 01/28/2009

Trivia
What year did the Cardinals win their last NFL Championship?
Answer revealed 01/29/2009.

Fun Fact
In 1944 the Chicago Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers merged to create the Car-Pitts due to WWII.

Dan Reeves

According to multiple sources the San Francisco 49ers and head coach Mike Singletary has interviewed Dan Reeves for the open offensive coordinator position. Reeves was a head coach for 23 seasons in the NFL with Denver, the Giants and Atlanta. But he has been out of coaching since being replaced by Wade Phillips with three games left in the 2003 season with the Falcons.

New Jets coach wants Favre back?

According to John Clayton of ESPN, new head coach of the Jets Rex Ryan wants Brett Favre back. This is what he had to say.

Priority No. 1: Rex Ryan's biggest recruiting task will be trying to talk Brett Favre into not retiring. The Jets would save Favre's $13 million salary if he retires, but they would have to enter the market for a quarterback and may not find one as talented as Favre. The Jets went 9-7 last season with an easy schedule, but they had a great quarterback. Going into next year's tough schedule with uncertainty at quarterback could lead them to a losing record.

Kiper on Draft

ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr break down the top 10 picks.

Boldin run-in with Haley

Arizona wide receiver Anquan Boldin laughed when asked about his run-in with offensive coordinator Todd Haley, calling it “hilarious.” Boldin was seen shouting with the coach on the sideline during Arizona’s 32-25 victory over Philadelphia in the NFC championship game.

Bolting Boldin left after the game insteading of celebrating with teammates. While the media is making a big deal of this situation, Boldin and his teammates think nothing of it. Unhappy with his contract situation, the last game Boldin might play for the Cardinals could be the upcoming Super Bowl.

Mel Kiper's 2009 NFL mock draft

(click on picture for bigger image)


Here is ESPN's draft guru Mel Kiper Jr's latest mock draft for the first round. Interesting enough he has the top two quarterbacks in the draft going #1 and #3.

The Inauguration of Barack Obama

Find out how the sports world reacted to the first African-American President elected.

Barack Obama Talks Sports With Stuart Scott

2009 Superbowl Countdown

More Countdown widgets here

NFL Trivia and Fun Facts 01/16/2009

Trivia Answer From 01/15/2009
Joe Montana attended Notre Dame

Trivia
The Seattle Seahawks became a NFL expansion team in 1976. Who did they select as their primary quarterback in their first season?
Answer will be revealed 01/17/2009

Fun Fact
In the 2000 NFL draft, the Jets set the record for the most first-round draft picks of all time with four selections.

NFL Trivia and Fun Facts 01/15/2009

Trivia Answer from 01/14/09
Brett Favre was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons

Trivia
What college did former San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs QB Joe Montana attend?
Answer revealed 01/16/2009

Fun Fact
The Detroit Lions became the first NFL team in history to go 0-16 in a season (2008).

Goodbye Coach

Tony Dungy is a man of honor and integrity, and that’s exactly how he coached his entire career. His coaching, his life, has been full of accomplishments. He had been a successful assistant coach wherever he went, Pittsburgh, Kansa City and Minnesota from 1981 through 1995. After 15 years of pro coaching, he finally got his chance to be the boss. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which had been the laughing stock of the league to one of the most consistent teams in the league, a team than won a Super Bowl after he left, with the players that he had assembled.

In 2005, Dungy lost his son James just before Christmas to an apparent suicide. Having suffered an unimaginable lost; Dungy was a symbol of strength and faith. With his unwavering determination, he led Indianapolis to a Super Bowl title in 2007. Over the years with his family in Tampa Bay and his football family in Indianapolis, Dungy had to make a decision, and he decided to leave his football family. Tony Dungy believes there is a higher calling for him, away from football and he will surely find it wherever he goes.

NFL Trivia and Fun Facts 01/14/2009

Trivia Answer from 01/13/2009
The seven teams that have won back-to-back Super Bowls are:

Green Bay Packers (Super Bowls I & II)
Miami Dolphins (Super Bowls VII & VIII)
Pittsburgh Steelers Twice (Super Bowls IX & X; XIII & XIV)
San Francisco 49ers (Super Bowls XXIII & XXIV)
Dallas Cowboys (Super Bowls XXVII & XXVIII)
Denver Broncos (Super Bowls XXXII & XXXIII)
New England Patriots (Super Bowls XXXVIII & XXXIX)

Trivia
What team drafted Brett Favre?
answer revealed 1/15/2009

NFL Trivia and Fun Facts 01/13/2009

Trivia Answer from 01/12/2009
The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers have played each other in the Super Bowl 3 times.
Super Bowl X Steelers 21 - Cowboys 17
Super Bowl XIII Steelers 35- Cowboys 31
Super Bowl XXX Cowboys 27 - Steelers 17

Trivia
Name the seven NFL teams that have won back to back Super Bowls?
Answer revealed 01/14/2009.

Fun Fact
RB Emmitt Smith finished his career by posting the exact same number of yards (937) in his final season as he did his rookie season.

Recap: Steelers v. Chargers

On Sunday night the Pittsburg Steelers faced the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers came to the game having had lost their best offensive threat to an injury in Ladanian Tomlison. With the absence of Ladanian Tomlison, the pressure was going be on Phillip Rivers who had the highest passer rating in the league. Phillip River did everything possible to lead his team to victory but it just was not enough. Phillip Rivers passed went 21-35 and passing for 308 yards, which led to 3 touchdowns.

The running game for San Diego Chargers was non-existent with only 15 yards by Daniel Sproles with 11 attempts. Meanwhile Willie Parker did most of the hard work for the Pittsburg Steelers who ran for 146 yards.

It has been a tough season for the San Diego Chargers having had started the season 3 and 8. With high expectation at the beginning of the season one should say that the San Diego Chargers season was a failure. Norv Turner seems that he could not manage a winning team even he has 3 great players in Ladanian Tomlison, Antonio Gates and Phillip Rivers. Norv Turner should change things around and take the San Diego Charger further in the post season or else look forward the San Diego Charger to look for some else to lead the team to victory.

Not to take anything away from the Pittsburg Steelers but the San Diego charger ended their own season. The Pittsburg Steelers are a great team and a great franchise which offers stability to its coaching staff and players which in return offers them to worry about game day and not all the drama many loosing teams go through every season. The Pittsburg are now going to play the Baltimore Raven who are also know for their great defense. I look forward to a great game between Pittsburg Steelers and Baltimore Ravens.

Hardest Hit?

Some of the hardest hits in both college and pro football. Comment on which one you think is the best hit and/or if you have one that you think is better.

Georgia WR Reggie Brown Lit Up By Auburn’s Junior Rosegreen

Reggie Bush Decleated by Sheldon Brown

Zack Dumas Lights Up Auburn RB

Texas A&M Safety Putting Hard Hit On WR

Pop Warner Action!!!

Billy Miller Gets Smacked

Patrick Willis Smacks Brad Smith

Baylor Rips North Texas

Wes Welker Gets Jacked By Ryan Clark

Ray Lewis Nails Hall

Ravens edge out Titans to advance 13 - 10

It was a real nail biter going into the last two minutes of the game. With only 57 seconds on the clock it looked like overtime until Matt Stover put a 47 yard field-goal through the uprights.

Tennessee dominated in nearly every stat but the most important…the score. Collins passed for 281 yards verses Flacco’s 161 yards. Tennessee racked up a total of 391 yards and held on to the ball for 34:07, and completed 21 first downs to the Ravens 9. Baltimore had a mere 211 yards and was limited to 25:53 time of possession. So how did Tennessee manage to lose this game? The answer is simple….Penalties and Fumbles.

Tennessee suffered 12 penalties totaling to a disastrous 89 yard loss, also the Titans turned the ball over three times while in Raven’s territory (two fumbles and one interception), which brought three potential scoring drives to a screeching halt.

Some may blame be made on the Refs for a missed dely of game call in the 4th which led to a Raven’s field goal but, I think the real problem were the red-zone turnovers and the 89 penalty yards. You just can’t commit these type of blunders in the post season and expect to win a football game. Better luck next year Tennessee!!

Football 101

Football 101 will give the beginning, average, and advanced football fan a little more knowledge into the sport of football. Each blog will cover a different aspect of the game (i.e. offense, defense, special teams, coaching, offensive and defensive plays, video games, etc.) Keep on the lookout for the first segment of football 101 coming soon: Offensive Positions.

NFL Trivia and Fun Facts

Trivia
What two teams have met the most times in the Super Bowl?
Answer revealed tomorrow (01/13/2009)

Fun Fact
The New York Giants and New York Jets actually play their home games in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Eagles Soar Past Giants Into NFC Championship

The New York Giants went into their NFC Divisional matchup against their rival from the NFC East, the Philadelphia Eagles, as the number one seed in the NFC playoffs. When the game clock read 0:00 though, they were the defeated team sent to watch the rest of the playoffs from the comfort of their own home rather than moving on for the chance to play in the Super Bowl. The Eagles looked and played like the team that wanted to win the game, in the second half at least.


To start the game the Eagles kicker, David Akers, kicked off to dangerous return man, Ahmad Bradshaw, who took the ball from his own endzone all the way down to the Philadelphia 35 where he was pushed out of bounds by Akers himself. The Giants then went on a 9 play, 31 yard drive but had to settle for a 22 yard field goal by kicker John Carney.


The Eagles could not get anything going on their opening drive and had to punt. Eli Manning’s first pass attempt on the Giants next drive was intercepted by Asante Samuel and returned to the New York 2 yard line. Three plays later Eagles quarterback, Donovan McNabb, plunged forward for a one yard touchdown run and a 7-3 Eagles lead.


No more scoring took place until the beginning of the second quarter when the Eagles were backed up inside their own 5. McNabb dropped back to pass in the endzone and when he felt the pressure from the Giants defense he tried to throw the ball away but was called for intentional grounding which resulted in a safety for the Giants and made the score 7-5. The Giants and Eagles exchanged field goals going into the half giving the Eagles a 10-8 halftime lead.


The only scoring in the third quarter were field goals by both teams resulting in a 2 point Philadelphia lead going into the last quarter of play. The first play of the fourth quarter was a 1 yard strike to Eagles wide receiver Brent Celek from McNabb to push the Philly lead to nine points at 20-11. That proved all the Eagles needed as they added one more field goal and won the game 23-11 to move on to Arizona and take on the Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game.


McNabb finished the game 22/40 for 217 yards, 2 touchdowns (1 rushing), and 2 interceptions. Eagles dangerous running back, Brian Westbrook, gained only 36 yards on 18 carries. Manning played terribly completing only 15 passes on 29 attempts for 169 yards and 2 interceptions. Giants running backs Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward combined for 138 yards on 31 carries.


A Game Fun Fact: This was the first game in NFL history to end with a final score of 23-11.

Weather Report

Here is the weather report for all games this weekend for the Divisional Playoff Games:

Baltimore Ravens @ Tennessee Titans
Saturday Jan. 10, 2009
4:30 PM EST
Nashville, TN

Hi: 53 degrees
Lo: 32 degrees


Arizona Cardinals @ Carolina Panthers
Saturday Jan. 10, 2009
8:15 PM EST
Charlotte, NC

Hi: 57 degrees
Lo: 43 degrees



Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants
Sunday Jan. 11, 2009
1:00 PM EST
East Rutherford, NJ

Hi: 34 degrees
Lo: 16 degrees


San Diego Chargers @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Sunday Jan. 11, 2009
4:45 PM EST
Pittsburgh, PA

Hi: 27 degrees
Lo: 20 degrees

Eagles/Giants Ready For Third Showdown

For a third time this season the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants will square off. This meeting will have much bigger implications. The winner will move on to the NFC Championship Game with the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl, the loser goes home and has to wait for another chancenext season.

These two NFC East rivals split their season series 1-1. The first game played in Philadelphia on November 9, was won by the Giants by a score of 36-31. Running Back Brandon Jacobs for New York ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns while the Giant offense racked up a whopping 401 yards of total offense in the game. A little less than a month later on December 7, the Eagles went into New York and gave the Giants their one and only home loss of the season defeating New York by a score of 20-14. Jacobs opposing running back, Brian Westbrook of the Eagles, rushed for 131 yards and had six receptions for 72 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter for the winning score.

Now let us compare how these two teams stack up against each other statistically. Let’s start with the visiting Eagles. Both offensively and defensively the Eagles are toward the top of the league. They rank in the top 10 in three out of four major offensive categories; 6th in points (26.0), 9th in total yards (350.5), and 6th passing yardage (244.4). They only rank outside the top 10 in rush yards (22nd at 106.1). As for the Eagle defense, it ranks no lower than 4th in all major categories; 4th in points (18.1), 3rd in total yards (274.3), 3rd in passing yards (182.1), and 4th in rushing yards (92.2). The Giants offense ranks very closely to that of the Eagles. They are 4th in points (26.7), 7th in total yards (355.9), 18th in passing yards (198.6), and 1st in rushing yards (157.4).

The Giant defense is also one of the top defenses in the NFL; 5th in points (18.4), 5th in total yards (292.0), 8th in passing yards (196.2), and 9th in rushing yards (95.8). The Giants passing game started out hot at the beginning of the season, but tapered off with the season ending suspension of Wide Receiver Plaxico Burress. For this game the Giants will likely also be without top Tight End Kevin Boss. Boss, one of Eli Manning’s favorite targets in the redzone, caught 33 passes for 384 yards and six touchdowns.

The key for both teams is simple, stop the other team’s offensive weapon. The Giants 3 headed dragon of Jacobs, Derrick Ward, and Ahmad Bradshaw combined this season for 2,469 yards and 18 touchdowns. The Eagles, on the other hand, have Donovan McNabb and Westbrook. Eagle’s coach Andy Reid can have McNabb throw the ball deep to one of his speedy receivers or dump the ball off to the team’s playmaker, Westbrook. Both Eagle’s defensive coordinator, Jim Johnson, and Giants defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, will have their hands full Sunday trying to stop the opposing offenses.

The Eagles are probably the hottest team in the NFL winning 4 out of their last 5 games of the regular season and continuing that success into the postseason winning their wild-card playoff game against Minnesota 26-14. Giants players have taken notice. “They may be the sixth seed, but they sure aren’t playing like it,” said defensive end Justin Tuck who led the Giants with 12 sacks this season. The New York Giants locked up the #1 seed and a first round bye last week, “You heard me say that I thought the bye was good for our team,” Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said. Giants players who were nicked up by injury were able to rest their injuries and get healthy for this week’s match-up.

The Eagles and Giants have met in the playoffs three times in their history. The Giants won the first two meetings in 1981 and 2001, but the Eagles won the most recent meeting in 2007 by a score of 23-20. Will the Eagles continue their magical comeback season, or will the Giants resume their quest for a second straight Super Bowl? We will all find out Sunday, January 11 at 1:00 PM EST. This could turn out to be the best game of the entire NFL season by far.


Woody’s Prediction: Eagles 27 – Giants 13