Lookout, Eric Mangini, because come Monday morning, this headline could be plastered all over New York (and New England.) The New England Patriots have opened the lion's cage and invited 53 dumb, ill-fated foot soldiers in to be devoured. It is a massacre of such epic potential, that it could shatter anything we have ever conceived about the outcome of a professional football game. Could QB Tom Brady swing 4 touchdowns a quarter? If the Pats scored 8 times in the first half, would head coach Bill Belichick put in Brady-lite Matt Cassel in the third quarter? What is the worst case scenario for the Jets... a) The Jets keep the game respectable through the first quarter and put 10 points on the board or b) The Jets gets demolished out of the gate and are scoreless at the half?
[ Read The Rest ]

Forget Indianapolis vs. New England, the supposed-Super Bowl 41½ championship game preview. Turned out, that match-up was notable only for the most blatant one-sided refereeing ever in a football contest. The game itself was dull and predictable compared to last night's romp in San Diego. For New England fans (yeah, them again) it was vindication watching Adam Vinatieri blow two field goals (one at the end of each half) and watch Peyton Manning misstep with poor reads to a 6 interception game with two (count 'em - two!) opportunities in the final two minutes of the game to steal the victory. [ Read The Rest ]

It's half way through the NFL season - every team has played at least eight games. This is usually when the stellar teams start to pull away from the pack as Pittsburgh demonstrated forcefully last night, pounding the Ravens into the muddy turf. So we start to see which teams have play-off destinies, and which teams are crossing their fingers for a high draft choice (come on, San Francisco!) Here are my predictions for the postseason berths, by division.

In the NFC [ Read The Rest ]

It's half way through the NFL season - every team has played at least eight games. This is usually when the stellar teams start to pull away from the pack as Pittsburgh demonstrated forcefully tonight, pounding the Ravens into the muddy turf. So we start to see which teams have play-off destinies, and which teams are crossing their fingers for a high draft choice (come on, San Francisco!) Here are my predictions for the postseason berths, by division.

In the AFC [ Read The Rest ]

Man, I am exhausted. After a playoff run that lasted the month of October, the Boston Red Sox finally clinched a World Series title and I can sleep regular hours again. With an 8:30 start time and almost daily 5th inning rallies that were lasting over a half hour, the games were stretching past midnight and past my ability to keep my eyes open.

I thought we were in the clear last night when the Sox and the Rockies kept the fifth inning to a manageable 15 minutes (partly due to a weak bottom of the line up for both teams.) But someone woke up the Rockies down the stretch and at that moment, I hit a wall. On what could be the very last game of the season, the exhaustion of staying up late nights and the tension that you only get when your team is on the verge of making history, I wasn't sure I was going to make it to the end. [ Read The Rest ]

Or so it seemed on the opening possession against the Indianapolis Colts yesterday. Carolina had a decisive plan, keep Colts QB Peyton Manning off the field, and for 11:01 in the first quarter, it looked like they had the scheme to pull it off. Putting 43-year old Vinny Testaverde under center, the Panthers ate up the clock with a combination of short passes and small yardage rushing and finished off the possession with a Deshaun Foster 3-yard rush for a touchdown.

Then the game plan all went to hell. [ Read The Rest ]

The time of year in the NFL when the contenders and pretenders show their true colors. When the win-loss record starts to separate the teams into the good, the bad and the ugly. Heading into the October stretch with a 5-0 record doesn't guarantee a perfect season, but heading into October with a 0-5 record pretty much does guarantee a long and protracted whupping. Just ask the Miami Dolphins. [ Read The Rest ]

October is full up of baseball's postseason frenzy. This is the time of year in the NFL when the contenders and pretenders show their true colors and college football games are called "gut checks." This time of year is a confluence of emotionally-charged incidents in the sports world, which makes it more distinguished than the Super Bowl or March Madness for barely controlled turmoil, where rivalries destroy friendships and unite people from vastly different walks of life (like Boston and Cleveland, at least until Friday.) Sure, the weather is fare, but the mood is foul. People get downright nasty. Hey, who do you want to blame? Here's a couple of suggestions... [ Read The Rest ]

With the buzz growing around the new AAFL, is the U.S. ready for yet another American football league? The All American Football League thinks so. [ Read The Rest ]

Week 4
The NFC North is a tale of quarterbacks. Minnesota and Chicago both face an offensive identity crisis. And though Kitna hasn't been exceptional, Detroit keeps winning. We'll start from the bottom up. [ Read The Rest ]