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It’s Been Quite a Week… And There is a Game Thursday Night

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It’s been quite a week in the National Football League.

Minnesota Vikings’ wide receiver Sidney Rice will return to the lineup in Chicago on Sunday after recovering from hip surgery that kept him out of the lineup for the first nine weeks of the season. Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford is out for the season after re-injuring his throwing shoulder. And Indianapolis Colts wideout Austin Collie has a concussion from that massive hit he took in Philadelphia last week and he won’t play against Cincinnati this week.

Brad Childress is still coaching in Minnesota, but Wade Phillips is no longer in Dallas. The new coach in Cowboy Town is Jason Garrett, who does have a slight connection to Winnipeg. In 1991, the year after Blue Bombers head coach Mike Riley led the Bombers to their last Grey Cup, he left town to take over as head coach of the World League of American Football’s San Antonio Riders. His quarterback was Jason Garrett. After the Riders and the WLAF folded, Garrett went on to play QB in Ottawa. The connections are weak, I’ll grant you, but they are still connections.

This week, the NFL schedule starts on Thursday night. Tomorrow I’ll post all of our picks for Week 10. In the meantime, here’s Dr. Football with a look at Thursday night’s game in Atlanta:

Baltimore Ravens (6-2) at Atlanta Falcons (6-2) Line: Falcons by 1.5

The NFL kicks off its Thursday Night Football series with a very good game featuring two 6-2 teams coming off wins in week 9 and playing on a short week. The Ravens have it double tough; the Falcons are dominant at home and the Georgia Dome crowd will be its usual raucous self. Ravens QB Joe Flacco who had a strong game last week, completing 20-of-27 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns,  will once again have to go to the air, a task made easier by the fact that Atlanta’s secondary is lousy (ranked 31st in the league). Flacco won’t have much success on the ground as the Falcons are very good against the run; no opponent has rushed for more than four yards per carry against them since Week 2. The Ravens had problems once they got into the red zone last week only coming away with one touchdown against the Dolphins. Atlanta is an impressive 17-3 on its home field since the beginning of the 2008 season, including a perfect 4-0 this season.

Dr. Football: FALCONS TO WIN AND COVER.

The Coach: FALCONS TO WIN AND COVER

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Great effort by Arizona. Indy-San Diego was a Tim Donaghy special.

Posted on January 3, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

You have to hand it to old Kurt Warner. He did a wonderful job on Saturday to give the Arizona Cardinals a 30-24 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in the first game of the NFL’s Wild Card weekend. The old guy still has some big-time chops. 

 

Warner went 19-for-32 for 271 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and had a passer’s rating of 94.7 to lead the Cardinals to the first upset of the day.

 

With Larry Fitzgerald having a particularly good afternoon, catching six Warner passes for 101 yards and a 42-yard touchdown, the 9-7 Cards were full marks for their victory.

 

Can’t say the same about San Diego’s  23-17 win in OT against Indianapolis.

 

The National Football League should be ashamed of itself. There is very little doubt that Ron Winter’s officiating crew had San Diego to cover. If I ran a Vegas casino, I’d want an investigation. The officiating in overtime looked more suspicious than anything Tim Donaghy ever did in the NBA.

 

As I watched the replays and saw all the offensive holding on San Diego that was, of course, completely ignored, especially on that overtime drive, all I could think of was “How many of these officials had San Diego to win or San Diego to cover?” Sure glad I had the Chargers on one of my Sport Select tickets. Gentlemen, I appreciate the help.

 

I especially liked the phantom holding on that incomplete pass for a first down. Nice work. Oh yeah, and the defensive holding while the exact same defensive lineman, the one who was called for holding, was being, well, tackled. Brilliant stuff. 

 

Over the course of the game, San Diego had three penalties for 40 yards while Indy had nine for 74. More importantly, the Colts were assessed three key penalties on that one overtime drive. That’s fix city baby. That’s how you get an 8-8 team to beat a 12-4 team. 

 

In fact, that was just about the phoniest finish to an NFL playoff game I’ve ever seen. But, then again, here in Canada I’ll take the government’s money. Thanks boys. You’re crooked as hell and my wallet likes it.

 

 

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Quit cheerleading you cretins!!!!

Posted on December 21, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Coverage of NFL football on CBS hit rock bottom at 3:10 CST on Sunday during the Minnesota-Atlanta game when the announcing team of Dick Stockton, Brian Baldinger and Brian Billick actually changed out of their suits and put on Atlanta Falcons cheerleading skirts. 

Granted, I usually watch the NFL with the mute button on. Most play-by-play announcers are blind and most colour commentators just talk for the sake of talking. After awhile, the whole thing just gets annoying and it’s so much more peaceful and sane with no announcers. 

 

But on Sunday, I made the huge mistake of actually listening to Stockton, Baldinger (yap, yap, yap) and Billick. It would have been more comfortable sticking hot pokers in my ears.

 

Here’s what drove me nuts…

 

1) The three of them were more interested in the crowd noise than the play on the field.

 

2) Until the third replay, Stockton tried to maintain that Visanthe Shiancoe’s reach for the end zone was a fumble. 

 

3) Finally, the outright cheerleading for the Falcons reached such a crescendo that it was time to hit the mute button.

 

Why can’t these guys just call the game? They make millions and not one of them could call his dog, let alone a football game…. mute!

 

… 

 

Oh my gawd! I just turned the volume back up and Baldinger is talking about the crowd again. Brian, buddy, the drunk in the fourth row at the Metrodome can’t run for a first down. The crowd has nothing to do with anything. You’re an idiot!!!!

 

Sorry. I promise I will mute the TV for the remainder of my football day.

 

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