Turkey Day Football

I got the awesome gift of going to the Patriots-Jets game on Thanksgiving and it was amazing. It was the perfect game to end of day of food, family, and weird football.

I'll go in order starting with the Texans and Lions. The Lions might have won if refs had called the fumble that turned into a Texan touchdown. I think it was the right call to make, it wasn't clear enough to me that he was down by contact. Since there was no whistle the play continued. The game went into over time and the chaos broke out. The up-rights must have been cursed or something. The Lions had the ball first but fumbled it and the Texans recovered it. They lined up for a field goal attempt and it went wide left. So the Lions had the ball again. They got into field goal range and went to kick for the win. It looked good up until it bounced off the right up-right and the lower bar on the goal post. The Texans got the football back again and marched down the field. Once in field goal range they lined up to try again for the winning field goal. The announcers I was listing to were saying that they could make the field goal but having seen what had happened before they weren't so sure. The goal was good, just barely making it in side the up-rights. It almost went wide left again. Final Score: Texans 34 Lions 31

The Redskins won in Dallas. But they didn't just win, they steamrolled over the failing Cowboys. At the end of the game to kill time and avoid giving the football back to the Cowboys they stopped the clock by sliding just short of the end-zone. By the time most of the Redskin game was happening I was at Metlife stadium and saw some of the plays. Every time I looked over at the TV where they were showing the Skins game there was a score alert. The Cowboys didn't just lie there and take it. They did fight back to come within 7 points of tying the game up. Final Score: Redskins 38 Cowboys 31

The Patriots are on top of their game right now, while the Jets... well not so much to put it nicely. The Pats came onto the field with load boos coming from all over the stadium. But the boos soon turned to groans of disappointment, frustration, and the pain of suffering another loss to New England. The Pats just marched down the field to score when on offence and forced the ball back to the offence when playing defence. Or they just took the ball and scored for themselves. By halftime the stadium was half empty. By the forth quarter Patriots fans were the only ones remaining. There were a few Jets fans here and there but most had given up and left. Those who were left just wanted pain to end. One Jets fan shouted at one point after a kick off, "Just take a knee, just take a knee the rest of the game! Give them the ball!" Needless to say there was no hope for a late game victory for the Jets it was over after the first touchdown. Final Score: Patriots 49 Jets 19.

Pictures from the game:

                                                             Pre-game shot of the field.

                                                 Final Score with an empty stadium.

                                                  Edelman being helped off the field.

                                                                   Post Game
                                                   

Guest Post #5

After what might be the sweetest victory of the season, the Pats have a somewhat smooth ride to the playoffs for the rest of the season. Besides a bump in the road in the Houston Texans, New England is looking at fairly easy opponents for the rest of the season. The 4-6 Dolphins have been struggling on the road this season with a record of 2-4, and have lost the last 3 in a row. Coming off the back of the brutal beat-down against the Jets, the Pats should have little trouble putting the Dolphins down next week. The tougher opponents lie in the 7-2 49'ers and the 10-1 Houston Texans. The story of the season, it seems, has been the Texans dynamic defense. Their execution in the safety and on the defensive line has been great. However, their defense was lacking yesterday against Detroit, as they escaped with a narrow victory of 34-31 over the Lions, which could be due to the poor touchdown call on a fumble recovery by the Texans. The 49'ers offense has also been very productive this season, and without Gronkowski the Pats should be well matched against them. Still, their schedule is promising to give them a mostly trouble-free journey to January.
 -Written by Aidan K.

Guest Post #3

The tried of the series of guest posts:

EVERYONE NEEDS A VACATION
Wow, what a bye week can make! A team left for dead, no hope, no options, is now back in the hunt! Or so "they" say... After a week of vacation, to regroup, refocus, to rethink, it seems these Redskins have done just that. Or... Did they just finally run into someone worse than they are?? Bye weeks are useful to recover from injuries, rest a tired body, and take a mental break. Watching the game versus Philadelphia today, it seems that RGIII managed to do all of those things. He was as usual, amazing. Great stats don't do him justice. He is beyond his years in many ways, ability and mental toughness at the top of that list. And today, as we hope he will for years to come, he lead this team like a pro. He is so fun to watch, actually having a good time playing a game. Imagine that happening here in DC!
The defense also came to play today against a rookie that doesn't have those qualities, and it showed in turnovers and incompletions. The banged up line, and horrible coverage corners, looked so much better with Merriwether in the game. A good safety can change everything. The biggest scare though came when Fletcher went out, they need him to play more than anything. So much relief when he came back later and did as he always does, made more tackles then guys 15 years his junior.
I think this work in progress is still just that, in progress. Days there will steps forward, like today. And other Sunday afternoons will definitely be a step back. We all have to take it for what it is, a good team back from a great vacation, looking rested and playing a team they could beat. Let's hope that vacation hangover lasts a while and they can continue this in a short 4 days in Dallas on Turkey Day. That would be vacation dollars well spent! Hail to the Redskins!*
 -Written by my Aunt Mindi

 *Written on the 18th of November*

Guest Post #4

Number 4 in the series:

Hiya! I have come to make my trend-setting return on this awesome blog! Now let’s get down to business. I would like to start off with what an amazing job the Packers did against Arizona in week nine. They had many amazing plays and a lot of players missing due to injuries. The crazy thing about the team I love is they are at their best when some of their key players are injured (i.e. Jennings, Perry, among others). Hopefully with the Packers are coming off a bye week, it gives the injured players extra time to rest and heal.
The Pack had a rough time in the beginning of the season against the 49ers, but they got over it... after several games. Over the weeks we have seen the offense improve greatly (whereas at the start of the season the best way to describe it is a mess) and terrific strategies. The defense has taken a blow with Nick Perry and Bryan Bulaga out for the season. With T.J. Lang switching positions to right tackle (instead of left guard) and Dietrich-Smith taking up left guard, who knows how that’s gonna turn out.
For the remainder of the season, I expect to see more trick plays and some good back-ups. This season I don’t think they’ll make it all the way but, hey, you never know.*
 -Written by The Amazing Packers Fan

*Written in the 13th of November*

Guest Blog Posts #1 and #2

Again this year I asked some of my avid football fans to write up their opinion on their favorite team's season and how they think the rest of it will go. Here's the first two:

Hiya dere',
     The Ravens are first in their division. In their division is Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Cleveland. They are 8 and 2! YEA! I haven't really been watching as much as I'd like to but I know the important stuff. Like, how they've beaten someone that starts with S and ends with teelers. My favorite is still Rae Rice who is out from a triceps tear. I believe they will go far into the playoffs and hopefully farther than last year. Last year it all came down to the stinken' punt in the fourth quarter of the game before the Superbowl. So, maybe this year they will get into the Superbowl.
                         ~AN AWESOME RAVENS FAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

My beloved Steelers started the season as though they were, in fact, the “Over the Hill Gang!” And injuries added to their woes. Then things began to change. The third string running back – Dwyer – rushed for over 100 yards in two consecutive games; then he got injured. In the game with the Giants (who were not on their game) the Steelers looked like the team of old – the DEFENSE woke up and played well. And Redman returned to running back and had over 100 yards rushing.

The Steelers future is in their hands since they play the Ravens twice in the remaining games. If the Giants game was the turning point the Steelers are peaking at the right time. If it was once and done, turn out the lights and close the door – quietly! I expect to see the Steelers in the big game in January!*

 -Written by my grandfather

*Please note that this was written on the 6th of November.*

I will have more guest posts up in the following days.

Did anyone misplace some strips?

The Steelers brought back their Jersey from 1934 and they looked amazing. Now I might be the only person out there who actual liked them but they were very cool. How often do you see strips on football jerseys? The Steelers played the Redskins this past Sunday. To put it kindly, the Skins were stepped over and left in the dust. Nothing seemed to go right for them from the start, Griffin was fine but the receivers couldn't catch a thing. Their gloves must have been greased or something before the game. Oh, while I'm on the topic, the Skins have brought back Chris Cooley. I am mildly peeved at the Skins for letting him go and than bring him back part way into the season. If the only reason they cut him was to reduce his pay is just plain ridiculous. Yet again this is sports, people not politics. If you want mess with politics go somewhere else and stop messing with the sports world. Yes I'm glad Cooley's back but I almost wish he was on a better team. The Skins, after a good start to the season but have started to slip into the old ways of the team. The defence needs work and the offence definitely needs help to keep the rookie QB safe. Possibly if they can pull their act together they can have a decent season for once this year. DeAngelo Hall was ejected from Sunday's game and is facing a possible fine and/or suspension. It took Big Ben as well as several Redskin players to get him to head to towards the bench. He still "tried to explain" his side to the refs before being ejected. He just didn't know when to cool it. Here's a Pic of the Steeler's uniforms in case you didn't see them.

The Patriots played the St. Louis Rams in London, England. The English must have a soft spot for the Pats since their are banners from all over London (This is slightly biased since I just see things from the Pats on my feed and nothing from the Rams. There could be just as many Rams signs as Pats). I did not see this game but from the highlights it was very event that the Rams were out matched. Rob Gronkowski may have taking the end zone dance a bit to far during the game although it did make for great entertainment for us. I always like to watch the London game and it's great that we're sharing our sport but, this is one thing that I don't think will catch on besides more fans. I don't think that there's enough people out there who would be willing to play. I diffidently do not want this to become an Olympic sport like commissioner Goodell wants. It just wouldn't be fair to the other countries since we've had a several years experience in how the sport is played and actual playing it. The only other country to my knowledge that plays American football is Canada and they play it on a shorter flied that's also wider.  I just don't think it would be a good sport to add to the Olympics. I love football and all but just not in the Olympics.

Now I don't talk about college football that often but in this case I felt I needed to. The UMD Terps' have lost four of their four quarterbacks. No that's not a type-o. All four of the QB they recruited to play are now out with season ending injuries. Junior C.J. Brown who was supposed to be the starter this year tore his ACL  during an preseason drill. Freshman Perry Hills tore his ACL trying to make a tackle in the N.C State game on Oct. 20. Sophomore Devin Burns took over for Hills after he was injured until he broke his foot later in the game. Finally Freshman Caleb Rowe tore his ACL in the Boston College game Oct. 27. So the Terps have no option but to turn to two former quarterbacks. Freshmen: Shawn Petty, who was recruited as a linebacker; and Brian McMahon who plays tight end. They both played quarterback in high school and were good at it. Just not enough to get recruited as one. Petty will start Saturday against Georgia Tech for his first college QB debut and McMahon will be his back-up. They don't have a third string quarterback. I don't know if it's just dumb luck or a curse but most teams have a lot of injuries just not all to quarterbacks. Or at least this many in one season. Hopefully they won't need a third string, because they might be hard pressed to find one. They're probably lucky that they had two players who played quarterback in high school. Otherwise they may have been walking around the locker room with a clip board asking if anyone had played quarterback when they were younger. Maybe this will be the end of bad luck for the Terps or at least as far as quarterbacks go.

Adam LaRoche received a Gold Glove and is now a free agent. I hope he decides to come back to the Nationals or finds another good team to play on were his skills will be used to the fullest of their potential.

The Reason I Hate Over-Time Games

First I want to thank the Washington Nationals for an amazing season. You guys should hold your heads high, you proved the "experts" (insert finger quotes) wrong. The best part? You had a awesome time doing it and had some of the best players on any team in the league. So thank you for showing me that D.C. sports have a chance at winning a major title.

NHL News. There is none. At all. Besides that they can't come to an agreement so they've had to cancel games through November. Ovie and four other Washington Capital players are playing or seeing family overseas. So unless they put their egos in a box and lock them up before too long we won't have a 2012/2013 season.

NFL News. The New England Patriots played the New York Jets last week. Any NY vs. NE game , in any sport, is going to matter a lot to fans on either side of the game but when it's the Jets and Pats, it really matters. Maybe it's 'cause the Jets have a Yankee-esque air about them, the kind that turns everyone away like a bad smell. So when I turned on the game, the Jets were up by a field goal. Tom Brady had to march the Pats all the way down the field with enough time to score at the least a field goal. Brady did what he does best under pressure, does what needs to be done. The Pats get down the field just barely, the last two plays of the drive were played in the last 10 seconds of the game. The stress was horrible. It was like the whole world would end if the field goal missed. Thank goodness it didn't. The game went into overtime and the Pats had the ball first. These new overtime rules are pointless and confusing. It should be the first one to score wins not who ever has the most points at the end wins UNLESS one team scores a touchdown or a safety. What? Who came up with that? In this case it didn't matter, the Pats scored a field goal and let the defence go to work. They did their job and kept the Jets out of the end zone, not even close to it. Pats win 29-26.

The Redskins are failing, with all the hype about this season it's really flopping. They lost to the Giants, 27-23. The Skins were the only team to beat the Giants twice last season.

The Steelers haven't been great but haven't been bad, yet they're not mediocre. All their games have (except for two games) been close, won or lost by a touchdown or less. They won today, it came down to the end but they pulled a win out of it, 24-17.