womenwatchingfootball

There was only one big surprise win today. That was Denver beating the Jets. That left the door open for the Patriots but they fumbled it away. The Patriots turned the ball over 5 times in a loss to the Steelers.

The Falcons won in San Diego today keeping their unlikely playoff hopes alive. The definately have to be the surprise team in the League.

I saw someone today that I haven’t seen in a long time. I’ve known him probably since he’s been 7 years old and he’s almost 40 now. He’s always been a Dolphins fan, which is not easy in Patriots nation. He was all decked out in his Dolphins gear as he just came from a bar watching the game. He was telling us about a whole room in his house that is completely Dolphins merchandise. To say he’s a true fan is an understatement.

He was in a great mood because Miami beat St. Louis 16-12. With the Jets and Patriots losing, the Dolphins are still alive.

Kansas City actually won today. They beat the Raiders in a divisional game. It was probably the least watched game of the day.

The Giants faced the Redskins and the weather to get a win in Washington today. It was actually a pretty nasty day up and down the east coast. Real football weather I guess.

The Bears are leading the Vikings in the Sunday night game. More on this one tomorrow.

Imagine you won the Super Bowl with the Giants last year. You made the catch on the winning touchdown to win the Super Bowl. It can’t get any better, can it?

No, I guess things only go down hill from there. In the latest of a string of bad luck and stupid moves, Plaxico Burress put the icing on the cake last night. He was already out of this week’s game with a hamstring injury. So, what does he do? He goes to a Manhatten club on Friday night.

Somehow, he received an apparent self inflicted gun shot wound to the right leg. The bullet entered his right thigh but did not hit any major arteries. All of this happened inside the club.

You have to ask a number of questions in a situation like this. First off, what was he doing out in the first place. Why was he carrying a gun? Why did he need to pull out the gun? Why did he fire the gun? Is this the most stupid thing you ever heard?

I’m sure there will be no clear answers to any of these questions. I’m sure the answers will not become public information.

There will be an investigation and then the Giants will have to decide if they want to suspend him, provided he doesn’t receive a league suspension. They’ll probably have to wait to see what his health status will be before making any decisions.

Will these players ever learn?

The weeks are getting shorter and there are teams looking in from the outside that are trying to score a place in the playoffs.

The Cowboys won yesterday and that was huge for them. If the Redskins can win, they will keep pace with the Cowboys and they’ll be tied for second place behing the Giants.

The Bears and Vikings are tied with 6-5 records in the NFC North. Winning the north is crucial because that type of record in second place will probably not make the playoffs.

The NFC South is bottlenecked with the Bucs leading over the Panthers and the Falcons. All these teams could use a win too.

The Colts, Ravens and Patriots all need wins. All these teams are fighting for wild card spots right now.

Each week wins get more important. Teams are trying to position themselves for the spots in the playoffs. It should be an interesting weekend and if yesterday’s games are any indication, there will be a lot of points scored too.

So, did you watch today? I started watching the Titans/Lions game at the half. It was already 35-10, Titans leading.

They had 4 rushing touchdowns and one interception returned for a touchdown in the first half. In the second half, they put up four field goals. The final ended up being 47-10.

The second game wasn’t close either. Dallas took an early lead and never looked back. Seattle never scored a touchdown, only 3 field goals. The final score of this one was 35-9.

Tony Romo looked great in his second game back from the broken finger. He passed for 331 yards with pinpoint accuracy. He was really in a groove today.

The Thursday night game is turning out to be a blow out too. But, surprisingly, it’s the Eagles that are blowing out the Cardinals. They are leading 21-0 in the second quarter. With all they’ve gone through in the last week, it’s really a surprise they came out strong in this game.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, a great day for football. We went to Mass tonight and the priest (whose ancesters came over on the Mayflower) was telling the story of the first Thanksgiving. It had been documented that after they ate, the men went outside and participated in sport. No one is sure exactly what they played but it proves that sports and Thanksgiving have been forever intertwined. So, it’s our Pilgrim duty to watch football tomorrow.

The early game is always from Detroit. Yes, the winless Lions. They are facing the Titans, the one loss Titans. What a game that would have been if the Titans were still undefeated. The interest level would have been through the roof.

The 4PM game is Seattle at Dallas. I’m sure we’ll see the replay of the Leon Lett play of many years ago. I remember watching that game when it happened and it’s still one of the most unforgetable games. Tomorrow’s game will probably be very forgetable. Seattle is having a bad season. Dallas is looking like Dallas again. We’ll be watching anyway.

The night game is Arizona at Philadelphia. The Eagles are trying to salvage their season. Donovan McNabb will be back as the starter after being benched in the second half last week. Arizona usually puts on a pretty good offensive show. They already have their division sewn up.

Whatever level of football you watch tomorrow, enjoy it. Don’t forget to give thanks and give something to someone less fortunate than you.

This week, the NFL set a new record. In week 12 there were a total of 837 points scored. Each game averaged 52.3 points per game.

As I was recapping week 12 games, I had mentioned how many points were scored but I never thought it had set a record.

The previous record was 788 points and that was done 3 times, all in recent history. It was done in 2002, 2004 and 2007.

So, I guess the question we need to ask is what is happening to the defenses. Everyone says that defenses win championships. Who’s defense will step up to make a push for the playoffs.

Offensive games are great to watch, if you’re a fan. I guess the league probably likes it. Ratings are probably up too with the increased scoring.

We’ll have to see if the record can be broken this week.

Let’s take a look back to the teams I felt needed wins in week 12.

The first team I mentioned was the Eagles. Not only did they not get a win, they got killed. They also created a quarterback controversy by benching McNabb for the second half of the game. I think the Eagles may be done despite the great start.

The Cowboys had a convincing win over the 49ers. Tony Romo had a good day throwing the ball and TO was on the receiving end of a lot of those passes.

The Falcons came up with another huge win. They are having one of the best turn arounds in the league recently. They put up 45 points against Carolina.

The Redskins squeaked by Seattle. It really wasn’t a great win but at this point in the season a win is a win.

The Patriots beat (and beat up) the Dolphins yesterday. They were hoping to be tied with the Jets but they beat the Titans to remain one game ahead.

The Colts probably knocked the Chargers out of the playoffs with a field goal as time expired. They still don’t look like the Colts of old but they are winning.

One game left in week 12 as Green Bay visits New Orleans. The Packers need to win tonight. We’ll see how it plays out.

According to my stats, this is my 100th post to this blog. I think I only missed one or two days in that time. One time I posted to the wrong blog. Not bad, for me.

Week 12 had a considerable amount of large victory games. The 1 o’clock games averaged an almost 20 point margin of victory.

The Bills scored the most points with 54 points in a 54-31 win over KC. The Patriots scored 48 points in a win over the Dolphins and Atlanta had 45 points in a win over Carolina.

The Lions are still winless. They jumped out to a 17-0 lead but lost 38-20 to Tampa Bay. Tennessee finally lost a game to the Jets 34-13. It was a big surprise that they lost at home. It would have been a great match up on Thanksgiving but it wasn’t meant to be.

Oakland got their act together today. They beat Denver 31-10. There was a lot of points scored today all over the league. There’s still 2 games left before week 12 is in the books.

Tomorrow we’ll take a look back at the teams I thought would have to win this week to keep the playoffs in their sights.

Week 12 is here. What games will you be watching? Thursday night’s game started off competive but then Pittsburgh took control and it wasn’t much of a game after that.

A big 1PM game is the Patriots at the Dolphins. The Dolphins won the first meeting of these teams pretty handily. The winner of this game will be no worse than second in the division. If the Jets lose (they are playing Tennessee) then the winner of this game will be tied for the division lead.

The Giants at Arizona game (at 4:15PM) could potentially be a shootout. Kurt Warner is one of the highest rated quarterbacks this season and we all know what Eli Manning can do.

The Sunday night game is Indianapolis at San Diego. On paper in the beginning of the season, this looked to be a great game. Chances are the loser of this one won’t make the playoffs. Both teams are having sub-par seasons this year.

The Monday night game is Green Bay at New Orleans. Drew Brees is the statiscally best quarterback this season even though his team is not doing great. This is a statement game for Green Bay as they look to make a playoff charge.

Enjoy the games and I’ll be back tomorrow to recap the games.

I just finished reading a story about former Patriot player JeRod Cherry. He was with the Patriots for all 3 Super Bowl victories.

He was not a superstar by any means. He played in the defensive backfield and special teams. I’m sure he didn’t make a ton of money as a player but was comfortable.

He was deeply touched by moving stories from around the world about the suffering of children. Having a wife and kids of his own made the stories even that more heart wrenching.

After watching a video presentation, a teenaged girl asked if he was going to donate a Super Bowl ring. His first reaction was no way. Then he discussed it with his wife.

Ultimately, he decided to donate the ring from the first Super Bowl. It was worth the most, valued at $35,000. Instead of auctioning it off he wanted everyone to have a chance at the ring.

If you are so inclined, visit www.netraffle.org for more information or to buy tickets. You’ll need to hurry because they are picking a winner on Thanksgiving Day.

By the way, they’ve raised over $100,000 so far that will benefit 4 or 5 different charities.