All things being equal in the previous September, the New York Giants playing against the Washington Redskins would lead the mind to the kind of domination and cruelty by the ‘G-men’ against the ‘Skins that can be implied in the phrase ‘Cowboys and Indians’ (more than when Washington is playing the actual NFL Cowboys from Dallas).
The atmosphere was one of the most paradoxical one could imagine with stories intensifying the match-up of the first 2009 sell-out of Jacksonville’s All-Tell Stadium between the Indianapolis Colts and the hosting Jaguars. The Jags fighting against the ‘Collapse of the Cats’ as conjectured by critics killing them in the media by constantly clamoring over close calls against crappy competitors combined with the concept of clashing against the cunning Colts who are competing to cultivate their calamity-free season.
Despite all the disappointments during Turkey Day football and ups and downs of Sunday match-ups, all I heard about over Thanksgiving was this Monday’s game featuring the New Orleans Saints vs. the New England Patriots (in fairness I was in New Orleans with my fiancée’s family). Bias aside, as the talk of the NFL, it was the billed as the battle of 2 NFL offensive juggernaughts where the score was predicted to be around 49-48 by analysts everywhere . . . until it all went horribly wrong.
The chefs for the feast of retribution would be the players who set up their team to use this Thanksgiving Thursday night game to get their respective teams back in the race for the lead in their particular divisions. The New York Giants having bounced a struggling Atlanta Falcons team in overtime last week after losing 4 straight and the Denver Broncos losing their last four with the latest being a beat down by their AFC West rival San Diego Chargers; both teams were desperate for a springboard to get back into the playoff battle.
Tonight Dolphins fans had a different answer when posed the question, “What can Brown do for you?” Since Miami RB Ronnie Brown, the captain of the infamous Wildcat Offense, would be missing in the feline foray against the Carolina Panthers due to injury, the answer was ‘nothing’. But despite all the coverage I’ve done over this and seasons past of the Dolphins, I somehow managed to make the same mistake the Panthers did . . .
QB Ben Roethlisberger, SS Troy Polamalu, newly acquired CB Ty Law, and CB Champ Bailey . . . all big names that would have been prewritten into the opening paragraphs of writers all over the country, but it’s a man who wasn’t talked about leading up to this game, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ FS Tyrone Carter, that had the big numbers in silencing the Denver Broncos in the biggest match-up for Week 9, 28-10.
The buzz in this Monday night Match-up was dominated by talk of the New York Jets’ defense who’ve kept opponents grounded and the SpanAm subject QB Mark Sanchez, the kid they call ‘Sanchize’, as the apparent future and present of the Gangreen franchise. And in fairness the rookie, already ordained superstar by many (me included), had a solid night managing the game throwing 12 completions in 24 attempts for 50% with 172 yards and a TD representing his ‘nation’ well during the NFL’s Hispanic Heritage Night.
While it will not necessarily apply to all those who gaze upon this particular article, the public will be fed and mezmorized by the elements of the story pertaining to former Packer QB Brett Favre playing against his former team at the Metrodome in a Minnestoa Viking uniform for the first time in his last NFL game before he turns 40 years old and think that he was the hero of the game in the Vikings 30-23 division victory putting them at 4-0. But Favre himself was forced to show appreciation to the man who was the real factor, “[DE]Jared Allen is a beast . . . I’m glad we have ‘em”.
Imagine this: You are an NFL QB. As the leader of your team’s offense, you are asked to score more than 20 points a game, week in and week out, in order for your team to have a good chance to win the game. That may sound tough enough, but then someone says, “WAIT! -- you can only have the ball for 14:53 throughout the game . . . oh and JUST to make it interesting, you are without Anthony Gonzalez, your second-best WR”.
I’ve seen the headlines of the ridiculous already referring to ‘Brady Magic’ (see NFL.com’s homepage within in 1 hour following the game in question), but to those of us who actually watched the game without falling for the flash emanating from New England Patriots QB Tom Brady’s Super Bowl Rings, his ‘Golden Boy’ persona, or the lights of the cameras tracking every moment of his return from injury, we would know that he wasn’t the true game changer in the 25-24 teeth-skinning victory past the Buffalo Bills.
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