The National Football League playoffs give football fans a little bit of everything. Whether it be a botched snap on a field goal that would win the game, a game winning field goal, or driving down the length of a football field to win a game. This is the best time of the year for football fans, regardless if your team is in or out.
By David J. Cohen
The playoffs have a different feel this year than in recent years. In those years there were clearly defined contenders and pretenders for the championship. However, this year the playoffs seem truly wide open. This year the playoffs are centered on three inexperienced quarterbacks: Tony Romo of the Cowboys, Rex Grossman of the Bears, and Philip Rivers of the Chargers. If they can rise to the occasion their teams will make the runs expected of them. If they falter, proven veterans will seize the day.
The NFC is the perfect example of what parity has done to the league. It has made teams competitive which have been awful the year before. With parity, you can go through Hurricane Katrina one year and earn a bye the next. Parity has also made mediocrity a premium. The 8-8 Giants are in the playoffs, and teams like Green Bay were still in it going into the last week of the regular season. The playoff picture in the NFC is murky, with no clear cut choice. With that said, here is how it should play out.
By: Jarred Peine
It’s the end of the season as we know it. Heading into Week 17 the Kansas City Chiefs(8-7) square off against the Jacksonville Jaguars(8-7) at Arrowhead Stadium. Both teams playoffs hopes remain alive, but the NFL gods will have to shine on them if there season is going to continue past this week. The Chiefs will need to win, and then start scoreboard watching in hopes the Denver Broncos(9-6), Cincinnati Bengals(8-7), and Tennessee Titans(8-7) all lose there respective games. In all reality, the true Kansas City fans know that if their team receives a wild card birth they will lose on the road in the playoffs. Theirs loses on the road at Cleveland and Miami proved they are not a Super Bowl contender. The ability to close games on the road have plagued the Chiefs all season and will not change in the postseason. So let’s take a look of off season moves the chiefs must make to be a contender.
I’ve heard a lot of things recently about the NFL defensive MVP.
What kind of message are you sending to kids by giving a steroid user the MVP?
Ahh yes.. but you aren’t sending the wrong message when a guy like Shawne Merriman wins the award. You might even be sending the right one.
Now that most of the team’s problems have been identified, we can examine potential solutions on the coaching staff and defense for the New York Giants. These solutions will not work overnight, but they will help the team in the future, and possibly get them to the Super Bowl in future years.
Here I am, the total New York Giants fan. I have sat through fifteen weeks of wins, losses, good performances and bad ones. I have sat through injuries, from Derrick Ward to Sinorice Moss to Michael Strahan. In vain, I have watched Tim Lewis set up a zone defense, one in which the middle of the field is exposed. Here I am, I have seen Eli Manning make mistakes, throw his arms up in the air, and look like a wounded puppy all at the same time. Yes, I have seen the worst tackle and best hug of all time, courtesy of Mathias Kiwanuka to Vince Young. I saw Martin Gramatica, out of the NFL for 2 years (prior to 2006) kick that game-winning field goal, in our house. Please, on behalf of all of us- it is time for a total overhaul.
When you watch ESPN after anything happens with Terrell Owens, you get a sense of hypocrisy. Let’s take this latest incident where he spit in DeAngelo Hall’s face. Wait this is the same DeAngelo Hall that took a cheap shot at Rudi Johnson’s knees in week 8. At least getting spit on doesn’t injure you. ESPN talks about Tank Johnson and his off the field issues by simply stating what happened. They don’t dig deep into his character and talk about him being a problem for his team. I know T.O. has done a lot in his tenure as an NFL receiver do deserve attention, but maybe everyone should just state the facts and move on. Is it really necessary to talk every week about how he’s such a problem and how something needs to be done before it blows up in their face. Well, based on what they’ve said from the beginning, the Cowboys should be feeling the backlash by now. You don’t have to like T.O. because of all the things he’s done, but you sure can ignore it. My god it’s the only way Cowboys fans can continue to like their team. This isn’t a defense of Terrell Owens, but rather a story about the focus of the people at ESPN.
In the NFL, there is a serious disease affecting every player and every team. The symptoms of the disease become apparent at the worst possible times, when the game is on the line. It affects everybody, even the game’s best. The most terrifying thing is that no cure exists now or in the future. This disease affects a person’s ability to catch a ball also known as, “the drop.”
by Zach Richardson
Recently we’ve seen at least five NFC teams cluster around the same record with a few more jump in at one or two games close behind. Which teams will or won’t make the playoffs and why?
Nine games into the season, we are finally being shown some team’s true identities. The Falcons, Bengals, Rams, Vikings, and Jags have all declined from the teams they were a month ago. Even New England is down, after back-to-back losses for the first time in years. While the NFL’s middle ground remains muddled, two things are clear: some teams are elite while many have already secured a top 10 pick in next year’s draft. This week, with the exception of a few games, it’s the haves playing to have-nots.