Tag: games

What To Know : After Week 5

Here are the Top 5 from Week 5:

  1. Drew Brees broke Johnny Unitas’ record for the most consecutive games with a touchdown pass (47). Also significant because it was the Saints first win of the season, and suspended personnel Mickey Loomis, Joe Vitt, and Sean Payton were allowed to attend the game to see the record broken and the game won.
  2. The Colts came back from an 18 point deficit to beat the Packers in an inspirational win to honor their head coach, Chuck Pagano. On the flip side: the Packers looked bad, and things are about to get worse. They are losing one of their most productive offensive players, Cedric Benson, to a Lisfranc foot injury for 8 weeks at the least. They also have the task of playing the undefeated Houston Texans on Sunday night in Texas. It promises to be a long night for me and my #12 jersey.
  3. Speaking of the Texans, they were also dealt a significant blow in last night’s game, losing linebacker Brian Cushing to an ACL injury, perhaps for the rest of the season. They pulled out the victory…but it probably would have been a lot harder if the Jets would actually use Tim Tebow. Not even as the starter if they’re not ready for that yet (emphasis on yet), but just in ways that MAKE SENSE. I said it last night on Twitter and I’ll say it again here: having Tebow on the roster and not using him on critical 3rd downs or in the red zone is like having a dishwasher and choosing to wash your dishes by hand. Blindfolded. It just doesn’t make any sense.
  4. The much-lauded Manning/Brady game wasn’t a bad game, but wasn’t a nail biter, either. It looked like it might turn around in the 4th quarter with the Broncos on their way to a touchdown to make it 28-31, but a goal-line fumble ended that. But competitive or not, it’s still great to see both of them play. They’re just so good.
  5. The Bills have been outscored 91-7 in the past 6 quarters. To every fan I met at training camp who had an optimistic spark in their eyes about this season: I’m sorry.

What To Know : Week 5

Here’s what you need to know about Week 5 in the NFL:

GAME OF THE WEEK: This one is a no-brainer. Whatever you are doing on Sunday at 4:30pm, you should really stop to watch some of the Broncos/Patriots game. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are two of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. Neither is getting any younger and no one can know how much longer they’ll be in the league, so opportunities to see them face off like this should be treasured.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Drew Brees is only one touchdown away from breaking Johnny Unitas’ for consecutive games with a touchdown pass (47). It’s likely that he’ll break it on Sunday in their game against the Chargers in New Orleans. The interesting part of this story is that suspended personnel Sean Payton, Joe Vitt, and Mickey Loomis are being granted permission to attend the game to see Brees go for the record breaking score. It should be an emotional game for all involved, and will hopefully result in the Saints first win of the season.

STORYLINE TO KNOW: Indianapolis will be playing their first game without head coach Chuck Pagano, who is undergoing treatment for leukemia. The Colts have had an emotional week and will have a tall order facing Green Bay, but they’re playing at home and should be considered an upset threat.

RECIPES TO MAKE:

It’s all about the brownies this week…

2 ingredient pumpkin brownies

brownie batter on a stick

caramel brownies

chocolate covered pretzel peanut butter brownies

fudgy brownies with cookie butter frosting

What To Know : After Week 4

It’s the end of the first quarter of the season, which means this week it’s time for teams to assess how they performed in the first quarter and see how they can improve in the next. For this week’s postgame review, let’s take a look at each Division and see where the stories are:

NFC North: The Vikings…are 3-1?! This has to be the biggest surprise of the season so far…and not just in the NFC North. The Vikings have a solid running game led by RB Adrian Peterson and QB Christian Ponder has been good – more than just efficient. The Bears are also 3-1 and the Packers aren’t far behind at 2-2, but the Lions shouldn’t be counted out either quite yet despite their 1-3 record.

NFC South: Atlanta has this all but wrapped up already. They are sitting pretty at 4-0 with the Bucs and Panthers back at 1-3 and the Saints a shockingly dismal (sorry, Liz!) 0-4.

NFC East: The NFC East is always exciting, but I think it will be a dog fight for 1st in this Division this year. The Eagles are 3-1 by the slimmest of margins, and the other three teams (Giants, Cowboys, Redskins) are all 2-2. In the end, I’d bet the Giants come out on top. They have a way of pulling it out at the end.

NFC South: It was kind of assumed that the 49ers would have this Division locked up at this point, with the Cardinals, Rams, and Seahawks having a history of less-than-impressive records. But it’s been surprisingly competitive out in the West, with the biggest surprise coming with the Cardinals 4-0 start. The 49ers aren’t far behind at 3-1, but the Cards look way better than expected nonetheless.

AFC North: The Steelers and Ravens look good, the Browns look bad, and the Bengals look like a dark horse to challenge for a playoff spot. So: same old, same old.

AFC South: This is the Texans Division to lose. They’re undefeated, and the other three teams (Colts, Jaguars, Titans) only have one win a piece. Stranger things have happened, but barring an overwhelming collapse the Texans can basically punch their ticket to the playoffs already.

AFC East: You’d think, with the abysmal performances of the Jets and the Bills over the past few weeks, that this would be an easy domination for the Patriots. But the three are squarely tied at 2-2 with Miami pulling up the rear at 1-3. In my opinion, though, that won’t be the case for long. The Jets are beat up and confused and the Bills are…the Bills. Welcome to the playoffs, New England.

AFC West: The Chargers are 3-1 (somehow) and the Broncos aren’t far behind at 2-2. The Broncos schedule, however, is brutal, so they might take a dip in the standings over the next few weeks. The Raiders aren’t as awful as their 1-3 record suggests. The Chiefs are far worse than their 1-3 record suggests.

P.S. A final exam is forthcoming! Details soon!

What To Know : Week 4

Here’s what you need to know about Week 4 in the NFL:

GAME OF THE WEEK: I think Giants at Philly is going to be a great game, but ultimately I’m going with Chicago at Dallas on Monday night. Chicago has had to deal with the fallout from Jay Cutler hashing out some ill-advised emotions with his offensive lineman on national television. Dallas won their game last week…but just barely, in an ugly win against Tampa. Both teams are 2-1 and both seem to have equal amounts of strengths and glaring weaknesses, so it’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Christian Ponder, QB for Minnesota. The Vikings pulled out a surprising win over the 49ers last weekend, and perhaps even more surprising are Christian Ponder’s QB ratings: he’s currently ranked second in completion percentage and has respectable numbers in all other categories as well. He is the main reason the Vikings are 2-1 right now.

STORYLINE TO KNOW: The referees are coming! The referees are coming! The regular refs are back in action, which means that a) everyone will be in a better mood this week and b) games will actually make sense again…and won’t take 4 and 1/2 hours to play. And will be decided based on the quality of play, not the quality of officiating. How refreshing.

RECIPES TO MAKE:

pear and granola muffins (let’s call these pregame fuel)

baked parmesan garlic fries

spicy caramel bacon popcorn

homemade snickers

triple dipped s’mores apples

What To Know : Week 3

What to Know: Week 3:

GAME OF THE WEEK: Lots of great contenders here – Jets at Miami, Houston at Denver, Philadelphia at Arizona. But I think my pick for game of the week is New England at Baltimore. Both teams are AFC super powers and both lost ugly games last week – Baltimore to Philadelphia and New England to Arizona – so both teams will be looking for redemption on Sunday night. Both also have 1-1 records, so they’re looking to be on the right side of the win/loss ratio after Week 3.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Wes Welker. He’s a wide receiver for the Patriots, formerly one of their biggest stars, who has seemingly been demoted in favor of their innovative tight end system. The Patriots and Welker have been going through some messy contract negotiations, which might also be lending to Welker’s limited role. And Boston isn’t necessarily the kindest of places when it comes to phasing players out. If Welker still doesn’t receive any meaningful snaps despite Aaron Hernandez (one half of the aforementioned tight end system) being out on injury it could be a sign that his days in New England might be coming to an end.

STORYLINE TO KNOW: I think it’s still the replacement refs. Their performance quality seems to be getting worse rather than better. Hopefully no games have an unfair outcome based on bad calls…and hopefully Ed Hochuli and the gang are able to come back soon!

RECIPES TO MAKE:

30 minute buffalo chicken soup

crispy chocolate peanut butter cups

caramel apple cheesecake bars

hot blueberry cheddar dip (I KNOW?!?!)

speculoos, candied bacon, and nutella s’mores (come ON! oh my word!!!)

What To Know : After Week 2

Oh, boy. What a weird week in the NFL. Let’s dig right in:

  • Perhaps the most glaring story is the incompetence of the replacement refs. When you are officiating a game and have to refer to one team as the “red” team (which is what I’ll be calling the Falcons for the rest of the season) because you aren’t sure who they are…it’s bad. This is not a knock on the professionals who are filling in for the regular refs – they are sincerely doing the best they can. But it’s a situation in which they are simply not equipped to do the job they’ve been assigned to do. They’ve been given an impossible task and are being ruthlessly called to task on it. Fault here lies with the NFL and the representation for the regular refs. This deal should have been done ages ago. As per the National Post’s Bruce Arthur, if this continues, by Week 17 the NFL will be the Hunger Games with helmets. When it takes 54 minutes to play 15 minutes of football and general pandemonium erupts on national television, it’s high time for a resolution.
  • Another big off the field story this week: the ongoing battle between the suspended Saints players and the NFL. This has dissolved into a he said-he said argument that no one is going to “win.” It’s really an unfortunate situation which speaks to the darker side of the NFL.
  • Both of these issues – the officiating and the bounty scandal – call into question perhaps the biggest mountain the NFL is currently facing: player safety. The players are put in jeopardy by bad officiating and by pay-for-performance systems, but I think it goes much deeper than that into the very nature of the game. As a fan, and a passionate one at that, I don’t even want to contemplate a world without football. No one wants that. But it’s undeniable that football is a violent game that has long term repercussions, and no one wants that, either. Something has to change, and quickly.

As for actual football stories, here’s the round-up:

  • Goodbye, Survivor Leaguers: I’d love to see the stats on how many Survivor Fantasy Football League (in which you pick one sure-fire win a week) players were eliminated this weekend thanks to the Cardinals (very) surprising upset of the Patriots. The Cardinals are now 2-0. Who saw that coming?
  • The Bills aren’t that bad: They had a nice win over the Chiefs on Sunday, who, unfortunately, are that bad.
  • The Jets aren’t that good: It’s not that they’re not good. It’s just that they’re not as good as their Week 1 48-28 win over the Bills might have suggested. This week’s loss presented some glaring insufficiencies, like having any sort of established offensive weaponry.
  • Don’t throw things at your friends (or enemies): Josh Morgan effectively ended the game for the Redskins on Sunday when he retaliated to antagonism by throwing a football at Cortland Finnegan. That move incurred an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which backed the Redskins out of realistic field goal range for a chance to tie the game.I’m sure no one feels worse than he does, but really…that wasn’t the best decision.
  • Football Etiquette?: When a team goes into victory formation at the end of the game, it’s generally assumed that they’ve won and the other team accepts the loss. But Greg Schiano shook things up at the end of Sunday’s Giants/Bucs game by coaching his defensive players to go after the ball on the last play of the game with the Giants in a victory formation. They ended up knocking QB Eli Manning to the ground in the process, and Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was quite fired up about the whole incident. The Bucs didn’t do anything illegal, just frowned upon. In this situation I think Herm Edwards said it best, “You play to win the game.” He’s teaching his players how to fight until the clock goes to 00:00, and you can’t fault him for that.
  • A Bad Start for Peyton: Last night Peyton Manning opened the first quarter with three interceptions…in his first eight passes. It was rough. I went to bed at halftime, but from all accounts he seemed to bounce back in the second half, with the final score a respectable 21-27 loss for the Broncos.

And this week’s one last thing: this commercial.

My new favorite kind of yoga.