Tag Archives: Philadelphia Eagles

An Odd Tuesday in the National Football League

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

There is a National Football League game tonight. The Sunday Nighter in Philadelphia that was postponed due the Eastern snowstorm, will be played in Philly tonight as the Eagles play host to the Minnesota Vikings. 7 p.m. on NBC.

It’s the first NFL game on a Tuesday night since 1946. That night, the New York Giants defeated the Boston Yanks 17-0. They played at the old Boston Braves’ stadium and there were so few people in attendance that the Boston Globe’s Jerry Nason wrote: “The New York Giants did everything but usher the surprisingly few patrons to their seats… (the Giants) gave the Boston Yanks a statistical shellacking of proportions far greater than the 17-0 score.”

Nason added that the game was considered “a financial catastrophe” for the Yanks franchise because less than 16,000 were in attendance. The star of the game was Giants’ fullback Merle Hapes, who scored both of his team’s touchdowns.

It won’t be a financial disaster tonight, even though this game should never have been postponed.  Lincoln Financial Field should be full as the Eagles take another step toward clinching the NFC East. The Vikings, meanwhile, will finish the most disastrous season in the team’s 50-year history, a season that included the collapse of its stadium, the firing of its head coach and the concussing of a future Hall of Fame quarterback.

Of course, outside of Dan Barreiro and Dan Cole on the FAN in Minneapolis, nobody in the football media even mentions that the Vikings had probably the worst offensive line in NFL history. Phil Loadholt couldn’t block my wife, Bryant McKinnie played on roller skates, centre John Sullivan was simply horrendous and Steve Hutchinson and Anthony Herrera (who isn’t very good anyway) were always hurt. They didn’t cause the Metrodome to collapse and they weren’t the reason the Vikings have had to play five games in five weeks in five different stadiums, but they were the reason Brett Favre got his ass beaten to a pulp, Brad Childress got his ass fired and the Vikings could very well finish behind the Detroit Lions in the NFC North.

Tonight’s game should be an interesting piece of work. Eagles by at least two touchdowns. Michael Vick takes another giant step toward vindication. All will be well in a town with a subway that still couldn’t get to a football game on Sunday while a measly two inches (it might have been less) of snow fell. The governor of Pennsylvania called Americans “wusses.” He was wrong. The people who run the NFL are wusses. As Minnesotans proved when last week’s Vikings game was moved to TCF Bank Stadium in a blizzard, most Americans are just fine, but rich Americans are indeed wusses. Dicks who can’t drive in the snow are wusses. NFL executives are wusses.

In the meantime, please discuss: Who plays quarterback for the Vikings next year? Tarvaris Jackson, Joe Webb, Carson Palmer, Donovan McNabb or Vick?

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Eagles-Texans Tonight

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Week 13 in the NFL starts tonight with Houston at Philadelphia, but the real news is what fans will see in two prime time games this weekend.

On Sunday, 8-3 Pittsburgh is at 8-3 Baltimore in a Sunday Night battle of the AFC North powers and on Monday, the 9-2 New York Jets are at the 9-2 New England Patriots in a showdown of AFC East leaders. You won’t find two better intra-divisional games all year than those two.

Dr. Football gives us a quick look at Thursday’s game between Philadelphia and Houston. The rest of the week’s picks will arrive tomorrow.

Houston Texans (5-6) at Philadelphia Eagles (7-4) Line: Eagles by 8.5

The Texans ended three weeks of stumbling last week by shutting out a Tennessee team with rookie third-string quarterback Rusty Smith making his first start. In the three games prior to that, Houston had lost to Jags and the Jets on last-minute bombs and to the Chargers when they drove twice inside the San Diego 30 yard line in the final five minutes but couldn’t score. The Eagles have done the reverse as last week’s 31-26 road loss in Chicago ended a three-game winning streak that had put them on top of the NFC East. The difference maker in this game, just the third meeting between these franchises, will be Philadelphia’s offense, ranked second overall and eighth in passing, against Houston’s defense, ranked 28th overall and 31st against the pass. Eagles quarterback Michael Vick is just too fast for the Texans, and he will have a big night here.

Dr. Football: EAGLES TO WIN AND COVER.

The Coach: EAGLES TO WIN AND COVER

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Thoughts And News From a Crazy Sports Weekend

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

From Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson battling it out in Atlanta to Brett Favre’s brilliant comeback at the Dome to Jimmie Johnson’s win at the Monster Mile to the Bombers home victory on Saturday night to the Lions first win in 19 games, it was a wild and woolly weekend.

It’s Tuesday morning. Monday Night Football was a dog and our 92-CITI-FM radio show was highlighted by the announcement that we are “An Official Station of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Radio Network.” So  here’s what’s left in my head…

1) Favre was magnificent on Sunday afternoon, hitting Greg Lewis with a 32-yard touchdown pass — a 32-yard bullet, by the way — with two seconds left to beat a very good San Francisco 49ers team.

Yesterday, wherever I stopped in Winnipeg, people were jumping up and down with enthusiasm over Favre’s final drive. Many were happy that they were going to next week’s Monday Nighter between the Vikes and Packers at the Metrodome.

It was a truly great moment in football history, a 39-year-old veteran who has retired twice, once again doing what he’s always done throughout his marvelous career — bringing a team back in the final seconds. On Sunday, Favre earbned his paycheque and Vikings head coach Brad Childress earned the respect he might have lost by encouraging Favre to come out of retirement — after training camp had ended — to play another year (or two).

If you get a chance, go to http://www.kfan.com/pages/psn_paulallen.html and listen to Vikings play-by-play star, Paul Allen’s call. It was almost as exciting as the fact Favre threw the pass about 40 yards on a line.

2) Jimmie Johnson, the three-time defending Sprint Cup champion, won the AAA 400 at the Monster Mile at Dover on Sunday, but once again 50-year-old Mark Martin was second and, as a result, Martin remains 10 points ahead of Johnson in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

It was Johnson’s fourth win at Dover, his second at Dover this year, and he’s now just eight consistent races away from a fourth straight Sprint Cup title.

I love Mark Martin, but if Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knauss keep it together, Johnson should take home the Cup once again. And what an incredible feat that would be.

3) My beloved Detroit Lions won on Sunday, 19-14 over Jim Zorn’s (he’s a former Bomber, you know) confounding Washington Redskins.

It’s funny, but all six people in my NFL pool picked the Lions to win (it was one of my few victories this week) and that suggested that nobody, not anybody, thinks the Redskins are a threat.

The Lions won’t likely win more than two or three games this season, but right now there are six winless teams (and the Redskins aren’t one of them) after three weeks — St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Kansas City, Tennessee and Cleveland. And three of them — St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Cleveland — don’t look like they’ll win a game. In fact, if you look at every schedule, there is a reason to think all three could go 0-16.

4) Despite his win on Saturday night, Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly is still despised by plenty of Bomber fans. I know, I get the e-mails.

However, to be fair, Kelly could be Bart Andrus, a guy who has lost the Toronto Argonauts’ locker room and who has turned the Argos into a 3-9 last-place team. No matter how bad you might think Kelly is – and I’m not so sure he is that bad – it could always be worse.

Yesterday, another veteran has been sent packing by Andrus as the Argos traded cornerback Byron Parker — who has more interceptions for touchdowns in his CFL career than the entire Argos defensive backfield has interceptions — to the Edmonton Eskimos for a fourth-round pick in next year’s Canadian draft. Nice deal.

There is a chance Parker, who was cut by the Philadelphia Eagles to make room for Michael Vick, could suit up for the Eskimos when they play 4-8 Winnipeg at Canad Inns Stadium on Friday night.

If he plays, Parker could be a difference maker in that game so I guess if the Argos can’t beat Winnipeg on the field, they can make someone else better and hope that team beats Winnipeg.

5) Finally, I was able to announce on 92-CITI-FM this morning that our radio station is now “An Official Station of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Radio Network.”

That’s tremendous news, but it also means that 92-CITI will carry Canada’s games, plus the medal round of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament.

Here’s the schedule and every game is on 92-CITI-FM in Winnipeg:

Tuesday, Feb. 16: 7 p.m., Canada vs. Norway

Thursday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m., Canada vs. Switzerland

Sunday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m., Canada vs. USA

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 7 p.m. Qualification Game (Canada is not likely to play in this game).

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m., Quarter-final game.

Friday, Feb. 26, 2:30 p.m., Semi-final No. 1

Friday, Feb. 26, 9 p.m., Semi-final No. 2 (Canada would likely play in this game if Team Canada qualifies).

Saturday, Feb. 27, 9:30 p.m., Bronze medal game.

Sunday, Feb. 28, 2:30 p.m., Gold medal game.

There is nothing better than Olympic hockey. And there is really nothing better than having Olympic hockey on 92-CITI-FM.

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Some Blue Bomber Thoughts. On a Perfect Tuesday in September

Posted on September 15, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

The NFL is back and at this stage, I like New England and Minnesota in the Super Bowl. That, of course, is subject to change.

The NHL is back and right now, I like Calgary and Washington in the Stanley Cup final. That is also subject to change.

The CFL, meanwhile, is heading into Week 12. There are eight games remaining and things start to get serious now. If I were a betting man today, I’d bet Calgary and Montreal meet in the Grey Cup, but who knows? That could change, too. This year, the CFL is as close as it’s ever been, at least among the league’s top four teams: Calgary, Montreal, Edmonton and Saskatchewan. Meanwhile, Hamilton isn’t bad and B.C. should be better.

Toronto and Winnipeg, however, are extremely lousy, but if B.C. doesn’t improve, one of these two dogs could reach the playoffs.

1) Yep, that’s the craziest part about Winnipeg’s last two defeats – 29-14 in Saskatchewan and 55-10 by Saskatchewan in Winnipeg. As badly as Winnipeg has been beaten and as horribly as they’ve played, the Bombers are still in the thick of the playoff hunt.

Granted, when six teams out of eight make the playoffs, it’s harder to miss the post-season than to make it. But that’s a good thing if you’re the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Right now the 3-7 Bombers are only two points out of the playoffs, tied with Toronto at 3-7 and in view of crossover B.C. at 4-6.

Meanwhile, after this coming Sunday’s game in Montreal, the Bombers have a very easy schedule with more home games than road games. Playoffs here we come????

2) Mike Kelly continues to deny that Casey Printers is ever, ever, ever coming to Winnipeg, but what happens when Montreal clobbers the Bombers this week and again, it’s the quarterback position that kills the local side?

Kelly doesn’t like Printers, it’s personal and that’s fine, but the coach does have a quarterback problem and he’s running out of options. Jeff Garcia signed with Philly on Monday so he’s not returning to Canada any time soon.

And don’t tell me Casey Bramlet is the answer. Please don’t tell me that.

3) In the midst of a football world full of craziness, you have to give the Toronto Argos some credit. At least, they’re trying to get better.

Yesterday, the scorchingly fast Dominique Dorsey returned to the Argos. Dorsey, who was a CFL special teams all-star last season and a guy who led the league in combined yards despite missing five games due to injury, was just recently cut loose by the NFL’s Washington Redskins. No other NFL team came calling, so Dorsey re-signed with the Boatmen, the team with which he played for the past two seasons.

The Argos return game, just like the Bombers return game, has been less than satisfactory this year and Dorsey will immediately make the Argos better. He’ll also play some running back and catch the football from the H-back position. Evidently, the Argos don’t want to fall to 3-8 if they don’t have to.

Toronto plays in B.C. this week while Winnipeg plays in Montreal.

Wonder what the Bombers will be thinking about on Monday? Casey Printers? Pacman Jones? Kevin Glenn? All interesting thoughts.

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The NFL Championship Games: A Post-Mortem

Posted on January 19, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It will be the upstart Arizona Cardinals and the heavily-favoured Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII and don’t forget, the 92-CITI Sports Machine will be live at the big game all next week.

In the meantime, it was quite a Championship Sunday for a team headed to the big game for the first time in franchise history and a team going off to try to win its record sixth Super Bowl crown.

 

In Glendale, Ariz., on Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals took a big halftime  lead (24-6), blew that lead (25-24) and yet came back to beat the Philadelphia Eagles with a tremendous drive late in the fourth quarter, 32-25. The Cards Kurt Warner was 21-for-28 for 279 yards and four touchdowns while wideout Larry Fitzgerald caught nine passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns as the 9-7 Western Division champs won the NFC title. Some were calling that final drive, “Warner’s Hall of Fame drive.” They might be right.

 

Talk about red-hot (no colour-coded pun intended). It was only a month ago that the Cardinals were demolished 35-14 in their own building by the Minnesota Vikings and now, this team full of surprises is off to the Super Bowl.

 

However, as great a game as Kurt Warner had at the helm of the Cardinals yesterday – and yes, Warner becomes the first quarterback ever to return to the Super Bowl after an eight-year absence – it could be that his favourite target, Larry Fitzgerald, is the best football player in the game.

 

Fitzgerald, who grew up in Minneapolis and went to Pitt, was absolutely spectacular and during the Cards game-winning fourth-quarter drive, the Pro Bowl-bound Fitzgerald caught three important passes for 39 yards. 

 

Fitzgerald has caught 100 yards worth of passes in each of his team’s last five games. If he does it again on Feb. 1, the Cardinals could be Super Bowl champs.

 

Although, they do have to face a Steelers team that appears to have way too much on defence.

 

On Sunday, the Steelers (and their No. 1 NFL defence) beat Baltimore (and their No. 2 NFL defence) 23-14 in a game that had   Troy Polamalu’s stamp all over it. The Steelers monster defensive back had four tackles and an interception return for the game’s final touchdown.

 

It’s a little tired perhaps, but if offence fills buildings and defence wins championships, then it’s clear the Pittsburgh Steelers should win Super Bowl XLIII. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did what he needed to do, but it was that sensational defence that won the Steelers another AFC title

 

While Warner, Fitzgerald and the rest of the Arizona offence put up 32 points to win the NFC championship, the Steelers got seven of their 23 points from the defence en route to Tampa.

 

The Steelers defence was outstanding as LaMarr Woodley had seven tackles and two sacks, Ryan Clark had eight tackles and, of course, Polamalu was out of this world. It was a defensive masterpiece and late Sunday night, the Steelers were rewarded in one small way: They were made 6 ½-point favourites in the big game.

 

Of course, that’s something the Cardinals will pin up in their lockers at Raymond James Stadium next week.

 

See you at Super Bowl XLIII and if you aren’t going, listen for me on 92-CITI-FM in Winnipeg, The TEAM 1260 in Edmonton and The FAN 960 in Calgary.   

 

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Some Thoughts From a Crazy Weekend of NFL Playoff Football…

Posted on January 12, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

A few thoughts from a weekend in front of the big new Sony Bravia HD…

 

(1) OK, so I’d make a lousy NFL owner. No question about it. I know, because, on Saturday afternoon, if I owned the Carolina Panthers, I’d have fired head coach John Fox at halftime.

 

Let’s be honest, five interceptions will cost any team any football game and Carolina QB Jake Delhomme did himself no favours by coughing up the football five times. However, had Fox been marginally prepared for the Cardinals, Delhomme would not have found himself in a position where he had to force so many second-half passes.

 

Fact is, the Panthers could still have beaten the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday WITH five Delhomme interceptions, if Fox and his staff thought it might be somewhat important to actually try to cover Arizona wideout Larry Fitzgerald.

 

Fitzgerald came into Saturday’s game as the leading receiver in the NFC (1,431 yards). He might be the best receiver in football. He’s not a secret. 

 

Meanwhile, his receiving partner Anquan Boldin was injured and not in the lineup. So suddenly, with one of the Cards’ two most important weapons out of the equation, Carolina still forgot that Fitzgerald was playing. The Panthers allowed Fitzgerald to catch eight passes — six in the first half — for 161 yards and a second-quarter touchdown. Had Carolina shut down Fitzgerald before halftime, they’d have shut down the Cardinals. 

 

I hope this doesn’t sound presumptuous, but why didn’t Fox think of that?

 

(2) Evidently, in the National Football Conference, the 17-week regular season doesn’t mean very much. This coming Sunday a 9-6-1 team will journey to the home of a 9-7 team to play for the NFC title.

 

That’s right. It will be the 9-6-1 Philadelphia Eagles against the 9-7 Arizona Cardinals in the NFC championship game and the team hosting the game, the Cards, lost 35-14 at home to the Minnesota Vikings less than a month ago.

 

In a league where four injury reports are published every week just to keep the gamblers happy, it has now become painfully obvious the only reason the NFL’s regular season exists is for the benefit of the gamblers. 

 

After all, when an 11-5 team misses the playoffs and a 9-7 team could win the Super Bowl, the integrity of the schedule comes into question and right now, it would appear the only reason they bother to play a regular season is so you and I can bet on it.

 

(3) Why is it that people hate Minnesota Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson so much? Seems everyone from Vikings head coach Brad Childress to the entire Minnesota media corps wants the Vikings to find a way to make it appear as if ol’ T-Jack never existed.

 

Which brings up the following question: “Because T-Jack had no support whatsoever from his offensive line in a 26-14 playoff loss to the Eagles two weeks ago, is he any worse at playing quarterback than Eli Manning — who had some support at home this past week and lost 23-11? With no help from his Hawgs, T-Jack DID put up more points against that Eagles defence than L’il Manning.

 

Just asking.

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Three things rattling around in my cranium…

Posted on January 6, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Yet again, after a hard day at the radio/internet/selling/consulting/newspaper grind, here are three things banging inside my gray matter…

 

(1) In the end, the Minnesota Vikings just didn’t have enough offence on Sunday. Defensively, the Vikings were not embarrassed in that 26-14 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, but on offence, quarterback Tarvaris Jackson just couldn’t get it done. 

 

However, in fairness, his receivers didn’t do much to get open, and that’s probably because Jackson had virtually no time to throw. On Sunday, the Vikings mediocre offensive line didn’t even reach mediocrity. Jackson went 15-for-35 For 164 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. On Monday and Tuesday, all the pundits in the Twin Cities were calling for his head.

 

And that’s fine, but if the Vikings don’t fix the right side of the offensive line and don’t find a better left tackle than Bryant (Where’d he go?) McKinnie, it won’t matter if the Vikings make a trade to get Peyton Frickin’ Manning next season. Before poor Jackson got set on Sunday, his pocket had already collapsed. That offensive line was embarrassing.

 

Still, overall, it was a good season for the Vikes. Brad Childress isn’t much of a coach and while his offensive line is terrible and his defensive secondary is thin, it’s apparent you can build an offence around Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. There might be a future yet.

 

(2) Happy to see Canada beat Sweden 5-1 in the gold medal final at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Men’s Hockey Championship. Somewhat disturbed to see the Swedes live up to every Don Cherry stereotype.

 

I really thought, after Thomas Steen, Nick Lidstrom, Johan Franzen, Tomas Holmstrom, Mats Sundin and Peter Forsberg, that whole “Chicken Swede” thing had gone the way of the dinosaurs. After Monday night’s Canada-Sweden junior final, however, Cherry’s jingoistic rants about “Euro-hockey” might have been true.

 

If your goalie dives whenever someone comes within three strides of his crease and when your players spend every stoppage of play checking for blood, you’ve regressed back to the days when Swedish hockey players were so frightened of Canadians they almost always seemed on the verge of filing assault charges.

 

Sadly, the real gold medal final at the World Junior was Saturday night’s Canada-Russia semi. That was a great game featuring the two best teams in the tournament.

 

(3) Why is it, whenever I turn on a hockey game on Canadian television, I get Mike Milbury? Milbury is a Yank who singlehandedly destroyed the New York Islanders franchise, now he’s telling Canadians how the game should be played. Thank gawd for the mute button.

 

To make matters worse this week, former Detroit Lions president and franchise destroyer Matt Millen is now a TV football analyst and on Monday, he told the New York Times that he liked his new job. He also told the Times, he didn’t regret one thing about his eight seasons ruining the Detroit Lions and if he had to do it over again, he’d do it exactly the same way. That’s a moronic statement.

 

Sadly, that’s what passes for a TV football analyst these days.

 

Again, thank gawd for the mute button. 

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Winnipeggers fill up the Dome and the Excel Energy Centre. Drive home happy.

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I was with thousands of Winnipeggers in the Xcel Energy Centre in St. Paul, Minn. on Sunday night and I had a chance to watch one of the best teams in the National Hockey League.

The Chicago Blackhawks, with captain Jonathan Toews of Winnipeg and all-stars Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Brian Campbell, just waxed the outclassed Minnesota Wild 4-1. Dustin Byfuglien from Roseau, via the Brandon Wheat Kings, had two goals and two assists while Toews had two assists as the Hawks dominated the Wild in every possible way to win their franchise-record ninth straight game. 

 

The Hawks are now 20-6-7 on the season and with talent at every position, they clearly have a shot at the Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks in the West.

 

GM Dale Tallon deserves a lot of credit for building this winner.

 

Meanwhile, a Minnesota Wild executive told me on Sunday that he believed both the Phoenix Coyotes and the Nashville Predators are essentially bankrupt and are being carried by the league — that’s all of their expenses, including payroll. You’d have to think that at some point commissioner Gary Bettman is going to have to bury his pride and allow these teams to move to Canada where people actually care about hockey.

 

Meanwhile, as both D&J’s and All Season Tours dropped off thousands of ‘Peggers at the Dome yesterday afternoon, it became clear that folks around these parts are in love with the Vikings. Most of them sat right below me in the auxiliary press box and they all cheered loudly as Ryan Longwell hit the 50-yard field goal to win the game, the NFC North and a spot in the playoffs for the Vikes.

 

It’s also nice to see that after a tough few years, the Winnipeg sports tour companies had a good weekend. Maybe they’ll fare well for the Wild-Red Wings/Vikings-Eagles this coming Saturday and Sunday.

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