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barinacraft · 11 months ago

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NFL Football Team Cocktails - Drinks For Every Roster

Game Day Drinks And Cocktails For All 32 NFL Football Teams

Football season means great tailgate parties away at the stadium for home games and at your in home bar for away games when your team is on road. These NFL football team inspired cocktails* will give you lots of game day party ideas for themed drinks for all 32 NFL teams out on the gridiron.

The cocktails were chosen based on a number of factors including team names, colors, mascots, player and squad nicknames as well as city, regional and state monikers, landmarks, festivals and more. A few were created as signature drinks for specific football teams, but most were added to the roster because they were a good fit for that club.

Whether its pre-season scrimmages, regular season games or the playoffs; Wild Card, Divisional, Conference and the Superbowl, there's a drink listed here that's perfect for your pigskin party. Some of the squads have several symbolic sips which lets you substitute your drink line-up based on the schedule.

So, with one hand waving your favorite team's foam finger shouting you're #1 and the other hand free for a refreshment, the only question is:

Are You Ready For Some NFL Football Team Cocktails?

American Football Conference Team Themed Drinks

AFC East

Buffalo Bills:

Buffalo Bill - equal parts apple cider or juice and bourbon or rye whiskey.

Niagara Falls - a fancy drink named after the natural attraction nearby the city along the Canadian border.

Miami Dolphins:

Mojito - the national drink of Cuba is a favorite in Little Havana as well as one of the most popular cocktails in Florida and throughout the rest of the states.

New England Patriots:

New England Highball - when it comes to cocktails, what's better than a highball while watching football?

Red, White and Blue - a pousse-cafe drink layered in patriotic colors.

New York Jets:

Manhattan - along with Brooklyn has the highest concentration of fans according to a 2013 Facebook study.

Bronx - followed by Queens borough, the former home of Shea stadium, also love the J-E-T-S. This drink is basically an Income Tax cocktail minus the bitters.

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens:

Purple Hooter - black raspberry liqueur colors these tailgate party potations plum perfect.

Cincinnati Bengals:

Bengal Tiger - the namesake is a tawny, red brandy drink while an original recipe adds black licorice stripes to an orange vodka cocktail that could be a spooky sip on Halloween too.

Cincinnati Cocktail - fill your favorite beer glass half full with a bold brew and top off with soda water.

Cleveland Browns:

Brown Cocktail - equal parts gin, light or dark rum and dry vermouth.

Brown Derby Drink - legendary football coach Paul Brown who the NFL team is named after was known for wearing his iconic hat on the gridiron sidelines. It was a fedora, but the (brown) derby is de rigueur.

Brown University Cocktail - their namesake college football team drink would love to be drafted by pros for game day. The “Brunonian” is equal parts bourbon and dry vermouth with a couple dashes of orange bitters.

Pittsburgh Steelers:

Black & Gold - refining iron ore put this steel town on the grid. Their NFL football team inspired gridiron drink adds a precious metal to the mix. Combine black vodka with gold flaked cinnamon schnapps two to one.

Monongahela Cobbler - named for one of the waterways which flows past Heinz Field (formerly Three Rivers Stadium) that's known for its rye whiskey.

AFC South

Houston Texans:

Black Gold - a nod to the city's former franchise, the Houston Oilers.

Longhorn - another college sports team themed cocktail that would like to be drafted by the NFL, especially from the same great state and mascot. The burnt orange color of the University of Texas at Austin inspired this recipe with lemon rum, orange rum, vodka, orange vodka, orange soda, ice and oranges.

Indianapolis Colts:

Horse's Neck - this drink is named after its garnish.

Jacksonville Jaguars:

Jaguar - a Barina Craft original drink recipe that is spotted with southern sipping favorites.

Tennessee Titans:

Lynchburg Lemonade - Tennessee whiskey, sweet & sour mix, orange liqueur and lemon-lime soda makes a southern sip worth suing the distillery over.

Tennessee Tea - same as above, just substitute cola for lemon-lime soda.

AFC West

Denver Broncos:

Orange Crush - this NFL football team inspired drink celebrates the nickname given to Denver's opponent crushing 3-4 defense and the Broncos bright colored home uniform jerseys in the 1970s.

Kansas City Chiefs:

Arrowhead Cocktails - the Chiefs' logo is carved in stone and one of these drinks is cherry.

Kansas City Ice Water - flows thru the fountains at Arrowhead stadium and in the veins of the players and fans who as of this writing boast the loudest sports crowd roar.

Las Vegas Raiders:

Casino Cocktails - now that the team is located in the Entertainment Capital of the World, famous for gambling and other activities throughout all the city's mega casino-hotels, these drinks are a sure bet for Raiders fans.

Oakland Raider Cocktail - a black rum and cola mixed with a shot of silver tequila over ice. This silver and black drink symbolizes Raider Nation whether they're playing in Oakland, Los Angeles or Las Vegas.

Los Angeles Chargers:

Charger Cocktail - toast the team's moniker to 'charge' when the bugle call sounds with this cherry brandy and rum sour.

San Diego Seabreeze - this legacy drink preserves team history. 1 oz vodka, ½ oz each blackberry brandy and blueberry & raspberry schnapps, plus 2 oz each orange and pineapple juice in a tall collins glass over ice.

National Football Conference Team Themed Drinks

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys:

Cowboy Cocktail - throw the cream away and drink the shot of whiskey straight up.

Fedora Cocktail - in honor of their legendary head coach Tom Landry who wore his heralded headgear on the sidelines for 29 seasons.

Thanksgiving Cocktails - dubbed America's team, they always play football on this holiday.

New York Giants:

The New York Cocktail - the entire state loves the NY Football Giants, except for parts of the city per Facebook 2013. This is an interesting whiskey sour style drink with rye, lime juice, grenadine and an old fashioned sugar cube.

Philadelphia Eagles:

Eagle Cocktail - Philly is the perfect roosting place for this classic drink.

Eagle's Dream - sugar and egg whites substitute for maraschino liqueur in this variation of the Aviation drink recipe.

Washington Commanders:

Cherry Blossom - this national flowering festival held locally is closely associated with the area as is a rumored story of a namesake founding father chopping down a certain tree.

Gin Rickey - “air conditioning in a glass” is the unofficial official drink of D.C.

Political Cocktails - any number of these drinks could be served at a game day party in this city if you want to mix politics with religion, er, football that is.

NFC North (Black and Blue Division)

Chicago Bears:

The Chicago Cocktail - pretty fancy for football but it is the city's namesake drink.

Detroit Lions:

Lion's Tail - Detroit is one of two NFL teams along with Dallas to always play a game on Thanksgiving to start the Xmas holidays so the use of an allspice liqueur, dubbed “Christmas in a glass” by Murray Stenson, in combination with the drink's name make this cocktail a perfect match. 2 oz bourbon, ½ oz each pimento dram and lime juice, ½ tsp simple syrup and 1 dash aromatic bitters.

Green Bay Packers:

Blood and Sand - Johnny ‘Blood’ McNally, who took his nickname from the movie and loved to sing Galway Bay while standing up on bar table tops, was a star player for four championship Packer teams in Green Bay and one of the original members inducted into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.

Brandy Old Fashioned - to wet your whistle in Wisconsin, just replace the bourbon or rye you normally use in the recipe.

Minnesota Vikings:

Purple People Eater Elixir - raise your Viking drinking horn and toast possibly the best defensive line of any football team in NFL history.

Scandinavian Glogg - this Nordic mulled wine really packs a punch.

NFC South

Atlanta Falcons:

Georgia Peach Cocktails - did you know some suggested the Falcons be christened after the official state fruit?

Scarlett O'Hara & Rhett Butler - these two drinks are both named after characters in Gone With The Wind which was set in and around Atlanta.

Carolina Panthers:

Carolina Iced Tea - spiced rum, vodka and both peach liqueur & schnapps along with some southern style sweet tea in a tall glass or mason jar.

New Orleans Saints:

Sazerac - the official drink of New Orleans often referred to as America's oldest cocktail.

Vieux Carré - the signature drink of the French Quarter named after the “old square” at the center of the Crescent City.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

Bumbo - a pirate's poison.

Filibuster - although its more closely associated with politics these days, the word originally derives from the Dutch term vrijbuiter for pirate, which means "to plunder," where vrij means "free" and buiter means "booty."

NFC West

Arizona Cardinals:

Cardinal Cocktail - a Kir drink variation also known as Communard which substitutes red wine for white.

Los Angeles Rams:

Greatest Show On Turf - a nickname for the team's record breaking offense during the 1999 through 2001 National Football League seasons when they were the Saint Louis Rams.

Ram Cocktail - seems appropriate that the helmet battering Rams namesake drink is a variation of a Harvey Wallbanger.

San Francisco 49ers:

Barbary Coast Cocktails - a pair of pigskin party picks named after the city's seedy, crime ridden, red-light district during the California gold rush and beyond. One drink has equal parts gin, scotch whisky, white chocolate creme de cacao and light cream or half and half. The other is mixed with dry gin, cherry brandy, lemon juice and grenadine.

Frisco Sour - the tasteless moniker given to this gold drink garnished with a red cherry which matches the football team colors.

Seattle Seahawks:

Emerald City - a signature drink for this city with the blue green nickname whose major league football, baseball and soccer teams all sport these colors.

Share & Compare This List Of NFL Team Drinks For More Ideas

This list of libations is a work in progress. Be sure to check back for updated ideas, more NFL football team inspired cocktails and links to additional information.

Have a suggestion for a game day drink recipe for your favorite NFL team? Contact us or post on our Facebook wall.

Want a generic gridiron geared gulp instead? Check out these pigskin potations penned for plays, points and positions like the Block & Fall, Quarterback and Touchdown.

Please, always drink responsibly.

* - DISCLAIMER: NFL related images, logos, etc. are shown only as a point of reference / commentary for names, mascots, colors and so on as potential drink inspirations and do not represent an affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement by the league, any individual team or associated person or group.

#Cocktails #Drinks #Football #Sports #Party #Themes #Tailgating

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junker-town · 4 years ago

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My summer with Goose

Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc

A brief retrospective on the time I built barrooms with Tony Siragusa

I’ve only seen a Super Bowl ring in person once in my lifetime. It was jammed onto a big salami of a finger belonging to Tony “Goose” Siragusa. He received his ring as a defensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens in 2000, the year that that defensive unit allowed the fewest total points in NFL history (for a 16-game season) and beat the Giants for the Lombardi trophy.

Goose showed me his ring within 20 seconds of meeting him. It was on my first day as an intern for a TV show he was hosting called Man Caves. Man Caves was a very of-its-time (read: bad) reality show where Goose and a construction crew would go to a man’s house, talk to his family about how he was really into X thing, and then build this guy an X-themed basement/garage/spare room. I have no idea what about this concept needed it to be gender-specific. The show lacked budget and creativity in equal measure; often these spaces were just turned into a bar room with a pool table, a motorized TV shelf of some sort, and one or two X-themed items, like a dining nook inside the backseat of an old Studebaker, or a surfboard coffee table. Can you guess what this particular man was into?

Man Caves, DIY Network, 8/30/2009

Every man’s dream.

“It looks like ice,” says host Jason Cameron about the high-gloss epoxy floor in the clip I grabbed this screenshot from. “And it feels like ice when you’re on it!” Neat! There’s nothing manlier than inviting your closest friends and family over to your new Man Cave only to kill them all in slip-and-fall accidents. “They ruined my house,” said the homeowner (I imagine).

“Here’s a guy who likes to eat!” was the first thing Tony said to me when I arrived on set that day in the summer of 2008. I’m six-and-a-half feet tall, but only a touch wide, so I assume Goose maybe thought that eating can also make you taller.

The second thing he said was, “You ever seen a Super Bowl ring?” and he thrust it in my face before I could answer. I have to admit, it was impressive. And HUGE. It was like he had a swollen knuckle covered in diamonds. It was the size of a golf ball, and I refuse to believe it was anything but wildly uncomfortable to wear. I wondered why he was wearing it at all before I recalled that he’d be on camera that day. But I also had the distinct feeling that that ring came out a lot, cameras or no.

As a big thing himself, Tony got really excited by big things. Big tools, big sandwiches. Maybe that’s why he was so excited when I walked in. One day on set a firetruck rolled up outside the house we were working on, responding to a false alarm. Tony derailed filming for two hours so he could hang with these guys in the firetruck. A big shiny thing with lights, filled with other big Italians from Jersey, and he was their mayor.

My personal experiences with Tony after that were benign. The show was filmed and aired after he nearly ended Rich Gannon’s career with a dirty hit in the AFC Championship Game in 2001, and before he became your uncle who posts Instagram memes of Hillary with her eyes crossed. I got on Goose’s good side when he asked me one day between takes, “What exactly do you do here?” and I replied, “Whatever I’m told.” He got a kick out of an unpaid intern being fully resigned to his station, I guess.

Goose once served the crew lunch; he had his own line of frozen barbecue meat that he sold in local grocery stores called Goose Ribs, and one day a giant trailer with a picture of his face next to a man-sized pile of pulled pork arrived to feed us what was actually halfway decent barbecue. I assumed it was not Goose Ribs.

He did say one mean thing to me, when he cursed at me for blinding him with one of those big silver reflectors. To be fair, it was my first time holding a big silver reflector and I did briefly but absolutely roast that guy. He wasn’t wrong!

Anyway, besides that, working on that show was fucking terrible. People were constantly mean and tired, working 18-hour days all in service of making chaff for a cable network to rerun late at night against ads for MyPillow and commemorative gold coins. At one point I was tasked with driving the production van. A producer (rightly!) took issue with having an uninsured intern operating a vehicle on set. When I tried to explain that I was merely doing what I was instructed to do, he shot back with the old chestnut: “You know who else did what they were told? The Nazis.” This was on day two. I remained unpaid.

On one episode I worked on, we built comedian Artie Lange a Borgata-themed poker lounge in the top floor of his 4-story waterfront mansion in Tom’s River, New Jersey—apparently he was friends with the producer of the show. He had just moved into the house, and it was totally unfurnished. Writing this, I’m realizing that after we left that night, Artie either slept on the couch of a gambling den that had just been built for him during a reality show taping hours earlier, or on the bare floor of one of the many empty bedrooms below it.

I interned for free for two months — didn’t even get gas money. I got to see Tony Siragusa’s Super Bowl ring in the first 20 seconds, and it was all downhill from there.

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blackkudos · 7 years ago

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Michael Strahan

Michael Anthony Strahan (born November 21, 1971) is a media personality and former American football defensive end who spent his entire 15-year career with the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Strahan set a record for the most sacks in a season in 2001, and helped the Giants win Super Bowl XLII over the New England Patriots in his final season in 2007. After retiring from the NFL, Strahan became a media personality. He is currently a football analyst on Fox NFL Sunday, and has also served as co-host on the syndicated morning talk show Live! with Kelly and Michael with co-host Kelly Ripa from 2012 to 2016, where he was a two-time Daytime Emmy Award winner. In 2014, he became a regular contributor on the ABC morning television show Good Morning America, and in 2016 the network announced that Strahan would be leaving Live! to join GMA on a full-time basis. He starred in and produced the short-lived Fox sitcom Brothers and appeared as host for Pros vs. Joes alongside fellow Fox football analyst Jay Glazer. On February 1, 2014, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As of 2016, he is the host of the ABC game show The $100,000 Pyramid.

Early life

Strahan was born in Houston, Texas. The youngest of six children, he is the son of Louise (Traylor) Strahan, a basketball coach, and Gene Willie Strahan, a retired Army Major and a boxer with a 1–1 record against future heavyweight Ken Norton. He is the nephew of retired professional football player Arthur Strahan. Gene was a major in the U.S. Army, and when Michael was 9, the family moved to an army post - BFV (Benjamin Franklin Village) - in Mannheim, West Germany. Although Strahan did not begin to play high school football at Westbury High School (Houston, Texas) until his senior year, he did play organized football while attending school at MAHS (Mannheim American High School) a US Department of Defense Dependent High School, in Käfertal (Mannheim), Germany, playing linebacker for the Mannheim Redskins in 1985. The summer before Strahan's senior year of high school, his father sent him to live with his uncle Art (a former NFL defensive lineman) in Houston so he could attend Westbury High School. Strahan played one season of football, which was enough for him to get a scholarship offer from Texas Southern University. He then flew back to Germany for the spring term, where he graduated from Mannheim Christian.

College career

Strahan followed in the footsteps of his uncle Art, who also played defensive end at Texas Southern University. Strahan was so dominant he drew double teams, and TSU coaches dubbed Strahan double teaming "Strahan rules." By his junior season, Strahan began to turn himself into an NFL prospect. As a senior with the Texas Southern Tigers, Strahan was selected All-America first team by The Poor Man's Guide to the NFL Draft, The Sheridan Network, Edd Hayes Black College Sports Report and the Associated Press. He recorded 62 tackles with a school-record 19 quarterback sacks and 32 tackles totaling 142 yards in losses. He was also selected Division I-AA Defensive Player of the Year by The Poor Man's Guide and Edd Hayes Black College Sports Report. In 1992, he was named First Team All-Southwestern Athletic Conference and the SWAC's Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. He was also named Black College Defensive Player of the Year. As a junior in 1991, Strahan led the SWAC with 14.5 quarterback sacks. His 41.5 career sacks is a Texas Southern record.

Awards and honors

Associated Press first-team college-division All-American (1992)

Edd Hayes' Black College Sports All-American (1992)

NFL Single-Season Sack Record (22.5) (2001)

AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (2001)

NFC Defensive Player of the Year (2001 & 2003)

NFL 2000s All-Decade Team

Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (2014)

Professional career

Early career

Strahan was drafted by the New York Giants in 1993. He played in only 9 games due to injuries, and missed the Giants' two playoff games that season. After a few unremarkable seasons, Strahan had a breakout season in 1997, recording 14 sacks. He was voted into his first Pro Bowl and was also named First Team All-Pro by the Associated Press. In 1998, Strahan continued his success, racking up 15 sacks and being voted into his second Pro-Bowl and All-Pro team.

Middle career

Strahan was a member of the 2000 Giants and participated in their playoff run to Super Bowl XXXV. Despite coming off a strong NFC Championship Game, where the Giants defeated the Minnesota Vikings 41–0, the Baltimore Ravens proved too strong for the Giants and they were handily defeated by a score of 34–7. In 2002, Michael Strahan and the Giants negotiated on a new contract. He said the team failed to negotiate after he turned down its first contract proposal. He accused the front office of not trying to be competitive in 2002. Four days later, running back Tiki Barber ripped him for being selfish and greedy. The two had a heated phone conversation that night, and Strahan said they no longer speak. It also surfaced in the spring that the Giants explored trading Strahan, after which he suggested that management had orchestrated the contract flap to make him look bad. The team denied that.

Few defensive ends in the NFL were more dominant than Strahan from 1997 to 2005. He was named the 2001 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and was a two-time NFC Defensive Player of the Year (in 2001 and 2003). Throughout the greater part of the 2004 season, Strahan was injured with a torn pectoral muscle, which limited him to only 4 sacks. He rebounded in 2005, returning to the Pro Bowl, with his protégé, Osi Umenyiora as the two combined for 26 sacks while anchoring the Giants' defense. Strahan was considered by many coaches, peers, and experts as the standard, and best at his position during the prime of his career (1997-2005). He was also regarded as one of if not the best defensive end ever at defending the run which made people and peers view him as a complete defensive end.

Later career

It seemed as though Strahan would retire after the 2006 season when he did not report to Giants training camp and missed the entire preseason, but the 14-year veteran opted to return for one final year. On October 23, 2006, with a sack of Drew Bledsoe in a Monday Night Football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Strahan tied Lawrence Taylor for the Giants franchise record for most career sacks with 132½. It was the last sack Strahan would get that season, as two weeks later he suffered a Lisfranc fracture against the Houston Texans and would miss the remainder of the season and the playoffs.

His 15th and final season proved to be the Giants' best record since 1990. On September 30, 2007, he sacked Donovan McNabb from the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football, increasing his career total to 133.5, setting a new franchise record. This total does not include 9½ sacks accrued by Taylor in his rookie season of 1981, the year before sacks became an official NFL statistic. On Sunday February 3, 2008, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, Strahan had 2 tackles and 1 sack in Super Bowl XLII, in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. Bolstered by a strong defense and unrelenting pass rush, the Giants went on to win the game 17-14, over the then-undefeated 18-0 New England Patriots, giving Strahan his first Super Bowl win as an NFL starter. His saying was "Stomp you out!"

On June 9, 2008, Strahan retired from the NFL. He told Jay Glazer of Foxsports.com "It's time, I'm done."

Strahan retired with a 2007 Super Bowl Title (his last game), 141.5 career sacks (5th all-time when he retired), 854 career tackles, 4 career interceptions, 24 forced fumbles and 3 career touchdowns in 200 games over a 15-year career (through 2007 season). He was also named to the Pro Bowl roster seven times.

On February 2, 2013, Strahan failed to get voted into The Pro Football Hall of Fame. 2013 was his first year of eligibility.

Super Bowl XLVIII, played in East Rutherford, New Jersey, was dedicated to Strahan upon his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014. Strahan performed the ceremonial coin toss, accompanied by the other members of that year's PFHOF class. Strahan also commented on the trophy presentation for Fox, since Terry Bradshaw (who had commented on the trophy presentations for Fox's previous Super Bowl broadcasts) was mourning the death of his father. On November 3, 2014, he was presented his Hall of Fame ring at halftime of the New York Giants-Indianapolis Colts game by the Giants. In attendance were 100 former Giants players as well as former teammates of Strahan's.

Strahan's 2001 record-breaking sack

In the 2001 season, Strahan set the NFL record for sacks in a single season with 22.5, the highest tally since it was made an official statistic in 1982, breaking New York Jets' Mark Gastineau's total of 22. In the final game of the season on January 6, 2002, with Strahan coming free, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre slid down and Strahan fell on top of Favre for an easy sack. After the play, during the ensuing celebration, many of the Giants' defensive players patted Favre on the helmet. At least one observer accused Favre of deliberately falling to ensure that Strahan would get the record. However, Packers right tackle Mark Tauscher claimed it was just a bad play and "we wanted to avoid that sack." New York Times columnist Mike Freeman wrote, "Yes, Mr. Favre, Strahan deserves the record, but please, handing it to him the way you did, as if you were throwing change into a Salvation Army bucket, is the kind of mistake Favre may never live down."

NFL statistics

Source:

In media

Strahan was the host of the home improvement program Backyard Stadiums on DIY Network, where he and a team of contractors and gardeners lay out sports courses and goals in backyards.

On June 24, 2008, it was announced that Strahan would be joining the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show, alongside Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson.

In September 2008, Strahan starred in VIP Like Me, a web series for Snickers.

Strahan stars in award-winning commercial series for Vaseline Men

Strahan alongside Oakland Raiders defensive end Justin Tuck, formerly of the New York Giants, also appears in Subway's 5 Dollar Foot Long commercials.

Strahan did a commercial for CA technologies for their new product Total Defense r12.

In 2015, Strahan authored and released a motivational book entitled Wake Up Happy: The Dream Big, Win Big Guide to Transforming Your Life.

Live! with Kelly and Michael

(2012–2016)

On October 1, 2010, Strahan co-hosted Live! with Regis and Kelly with Kelly Ripa for the first time when Regis Philbin was absent for that show. Philbin left in November 2011, leaving an empty spot. After twenty guest appearances over two years, Strahan was selected as Kelly Ripa's new co-host on September 4, 2012, marking his first official day on the rechristened syndicated talk show, Live! with Kelly and Michael. Ratings instantly surged, impressively generating year-over-year time slot gains across all key demographics, towering over its nearest competition, the fourth hour of NBC's Today Show, by 87 percent. On April 19, 2016, ABC announced that Strahan would be leaving Live! with Kelly and Michael to begin working full-time on Good Morning America. Strahan won a Daytime Emmy twice for "Outstanding Talk Show Host" during his tenure with the show.

The $100,000 Pyramid

In 2016, ABC announced that Strahan would be hosting a summer revival of The $100,000 Pyramid, which would air on Sunday nights along with the Steve Harvey-hosted Celebrity Family Feud and the Alec Baldwin-hosted Match Game as part of a "Sunday Fun & Games" lineup. Strahan is on record as saying that the Pyramid was one of his favorite game shows growing up. The $100,000 Pyramidpremiered on Sunday, June 26 at 9 pm ET/8 pm CT and has been the highest-rated program of the three game shows in the Fun & Games block.

Collection by Michael Strahan

On September 8, 2015, Michael Strahan launched a men's clothing line exclusively through J. C. Penney. Included in this men's line are suits, collared shirts, belts, ties, cufflinks, suspenders, and other accessories. Strahan described the clothing line as being both stylish and affordable.

Personal life

Strahan graduated from Texas Southern University in 1993. His uncle, Arthur Strahan, played defensive lineman for the Houston Oilers (1965) and Atlanta Falcons (1968).

He was married to his first wife, Wanda Hutchins, in Germany until 1996. They have a daughter, Tanita Strahan (b. 1992), and son, Michael Anthony Strahan, Jr. (b. 1995). Strahan moved them to the U.S. and purchased a $163,000 house in the same Houston neighborhood in which his parents reside.

In 1999, he married Jean Muggli after meeting at a spa. They have twin daughters, Sophia and Isabella Strahan (b. 2004). They divorced acrimoniously in 2006. In January, 2007 Judge James B. Convery awarded Muggli $15 million in a divorce settlement in addition to $18,000 monthly child support. In her testimony, Muggli claimed that their (at the time 20-month-old) daughters liked "to be accessorized", and that "Isabella doesn't like to leave the house without a purse" and that the children's preferences justified her spending $22,500 on photo shoots, $27,000 on clothing, and $1,700 for sign language classes. With this being more than half of his $22 million in assets, Strahan appealed. In March 2007, the court ordered the Montclair, New Jersey mansion to be auctioned and the sales money split evenly with Jean; the house is valued at $3.6 million.

In August 2009, Strahan became engaged to Nicole Mitchell, Eddie Murphy's ex-wife; however, in 2014, the two broke off their engagement due to busy schedules.

In June 2011, Strahan filmed a commercial supporting legalizing same-sex marriage in New York.

He resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

In April 2016, Kayla Quick was reported to be Strahan's girlfriend.

Philanthropy

In 2002, he had a multimillion-dollar restoration and renovation done on Georgian Heights, a home built in 1906 at 99 Lloyd Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey, a red brick house with a carriage house and greenhouse that he bought in 2000 for $1.3 million. Before moving in he allowed the Junior League of Montclair-Newark to use his house as a model home for its Montclair Junior League show house charity fundraiser. From May 28–31, the League decorated the mansion, had a 'bare bones' party and a black-tie affair; they also held $25 tours to fund Junior League programs called Children At Risk and HomeCorp. Children At Risk aids children and families and HomeCorp is a housing agency that helps low income people achieve home ownership.

"Basically, we're redoing our house to let strangers walk through it for a month," Strahan said. "It's a month-long fundraiser. They'll come in and decorate, paint the walls. They'll hang the curtains, bring in furniture, light fixtures. None of it will be ours. When they're done, if we want something, we get it at cost."

In February 2008, Strahan and Giants teammate Justin Tuck teamed up with Nike to design their own exclusive pair of sneakers for ID studio in New York City. All proceeds of the sneakers were donated to Nike's Let Me Play global campaign.

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actutrends · 5 years ago

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Mike Vrabel beat Bill Belichick at his own game in Titans playoff victory

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 04: Derrick Henry #22 of the Tennessee Titans commemorates his goal with head coach Mike Vrabel versus the New England Patriots in the second quarter of the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Gillette Arena on January 04, 2020 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Picture by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

The Tennessee Titans and head coach Mike Vrabel entered into Foxborough on Saturday and beat the New England Patriots 20-13 in the AFC Wild Card

On a foggy night at Gillette Stadium, the student outclassed the old master.

Mike Vrabel‘s Tennessee Titans knocked off Bill Belichick‘s New England Patriots 20-13 on Saturday in their AFC Wild Card matchup, sending out the previous Patriots linebacker and his team to a matchup against the Baltimore Ravens next week in the Divisional round.

Vrabel spent eight seasons playing under Belichick in New England from 2001-08 and became part of three Super Bowl champions during the Patriots dynasty. However then Belichick rejected him to Kansas City in a Feb. 2009 tradein exchange for a second-round pick that became security Patrick Chung.

Vrabel got his first opportunity to precise vengeance last season when he beat his former head coach 34-10 in his first season on the Titans’ sideline. But Saturday’s match was on a much larger stage. The Patriots had actually played in three straight Super Bowls and eight straight AFC National championship. Not since the 2009 season have the Patriots stopped working to surpass the Wild Card round.

That was the history Vrabel was up against in Foxborough, and he passed the test.

The Titans strategy was basic: get the ball to the NFL’s leading rusher, Derrick Henry, early and frequently. Henry got 186 lawns– the most by a running back in a postseason video game considering that Ryan Grant had 201 for the Packers in 2007– on 34 carries as he continually used down the Patriots’ defensive front.

The Titans rushed the ball 40 times on Saturday and dropped back to pass just 16 times, just the fifth time in the last 30 seasons a group had such a variation between rushing efforts and passes in a postseason video game. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill tossed for simply 72 yards in the Titans success, the least by a winning quarterback in a championship game because Baltimore’s Joe Flacco threw for 34 in the 2009 postseason. That Ravens success was, coincidentally, the last time New England lost in the Wild Card round.

It was a sequence in the 4th quarter, nevertheless, with the Titans nursing a slim one-point lead, that Vrabel revealed his proficiency of technique and the rule book that must make his teacher proud. There was 6: 39 left on the clock when Tannehill fumbled the breeze on a third-down play from New England’s 34- yard line.

By the time Titans punter Brett Kern got off a punt that went out of bounds at the Patriots 11, there was 4: 44 staying. In the meantime, Vrabel had his team take a deliberate hold-up of video game then incorrect start, knowing that the play clock would reset after every play; the game clock doesn’t stop for penalties under there is under five minutes left. Belichick could not do anything but protest to the officials from the opposing sideline.

While other head coaches in the NFL continue to scratch their heads attempting to determine how to solve Belichick and the Patriots, it’s his previous disciples who have actually overcome the eight-time Super Bowl champ. Belichick is now 1-6 against opposing head coaches with close ties to him over the previous 2 seasons, including 0-2 versus Vrabel. He’s now lost to his former students 3 times in the last six weeks: Vrabel, Miami’s Brian Flores, and Houston’s Costs O’Brien.

As the clock injury down following a stopped working Patriots effort at a miracle kickoff return, Vrabel hurrying onto the field and rapidly shook hands with his previous coach. Few words were stated in between them. There didn’t require to be, for both guys knew that the better coach on this night was the one not on the New England side of the field. Vrabel’s wide smile showed that, 11 years after Belichick traded him, he lastly had the chance to get him back.

He didn’t dissatisfy. After all, he found out from the master.

The post Mike Vrabel beat Bill Belichick at his own game in Titans playoff victory appeared first on Actu Trends.

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gozonecoverage · 6 years ago

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Keep Reaching For Your Dreams: The Road to a Super Bowl

by Tyler White, ROUTE Analytics Intern

Obafemi Ayanbadejo is a former NFL running back, fullback and special teams player with the Baltimore Ravens. Signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 1997, he spent 11 years in the league and won a Super Bowl Championship with the Baltimore Ravens along the way.

[ROUTE] At what point in your high school career did you realize you could play football at the next level?

[Femi] Let’s go back a little bit. I was a 3-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball and basketball) and football wasn’t even the sport that I really cared about. To be honest, other than one year of Pop Warner and flag football, I didn’t even start playing football until my sophomore year of high school. If I thought I was going to get a scholarship in any sport – I thought it was going to be baseball. At no point in my high school career did I think I was going to get a football scholarship...and at no point did I think I was going to be a pro football player! I grew up in California dreaming of playing baseball at UC Santa Barbara, Cal Berkeley or Stanford. That was my goal. Football was never on my radar beyond high school – that’s the truth.

[ROUTE] You played Division I football at San Diego State, but you took a detour through Cabrillo Community College. What led to you to Cabrillo?

[Femi] I was 16 years old as a senior. After graduating high school, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, so I decided to take a year off and did two things: got a job in the kitchen of a retirement home working as a busboy and a waiter – and a Golds Gym membership in Santa Cruz. Every morning, I would take the bus to the retirement home and I’d work from 6am-2pm. Then I’d walk to the gym and lift weights for an hour and a half, then I’d go home. I had this routine for well over a year. I made some money and then I eventually went to school at Cabrillo College where I played both football and baseball.

“I didn’t start at the beginning of my freshman year and I was barely even playing.”

There was a lot of work in-between Cabrillo and San Diego State University (SDSU). No one even knew who I was – I had to play two years of junior college football. I didn’t start at the beginning of my freshman year and I was barely even playing. My coach really didn’t trust me until 4-5 games into the season. I was playing running back in high school, but at Cabrillo I was playing a combination of running back, fullback, and tight end. It was an adjustment for me. But once I studied, digested the playbook and the offense, the coach started to trust me. The second half of my freshman year, I went on a tear.

By the end of my freshman year, I was getting recruited by schools like Kansas, New Mexico and Louisville. I also played baseball in the spring and had a killer freshman year. I got drafted by the Marlins.

The big question I had to ask myself was: do I stick to baseball or keep playing football? I decided to return for my sophomore year, where I made first team all-conference and led my team in touchdowns. After my fall sophomore semester, I didn’t go back to play baseball in the spring. SDSU offered me a scholarship to play football and I accepted. I always wanted to be an Aztec. It always had that shine and glow to it, so that had a lot to do with it.

Unfortunately, I got injured half way through the season during my junior year at SDSU. I came back for my senior year and started at tight end. I won most improved player that season. I was very proud of that award. After all the work and effort I put into improving myself and coming back from my injury, the recognition from my teammates and coaches was awesome.

[ROUTE] So, you almost played professional baseball?

[Femi] After I finished my senior season of football, I was encouraged to play baseball at SDSU by the (baseball) coach. When I went out, there were a bunch of scouts from teams like the Phillies and the Giants. They saw I was a big kid, played football, could hit the ball, and could run. They were like, “Man! Who’s this kid?” I hit a couple home runs and they saw my arm in the outfield. Based on my initial tryout, they were thinking of drafting me as a “project”. Not too long after that, my football coach called to tell me that he was getting inquiries about me from NFL coaches and asked me to come for Pro Day. So, I left the baseball team and thought if someone picks me up or drafts me, I’ll play in the NFL! If not, I’ll just go back and play baseball.

During Pro Day, I ran a 4.5 40-yard dash; smashed 225 (bench press); and had a great vertical! I ran routes and caught a bunch of balls from the running back and tight end positions. But after all of that, I still didn’t get drafted and only received one call from the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent.

“I knew how important it was to get a degree and I was so close. I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way.”

[ROUTE] How important was it to have a college degree and be prepared for life after sports?

[Femi] After leaving SDSU, I had a semester’s worth of classes to complete because I changed my major to psychology. From 1998 to 2001, I went back to school during my off-season time. I took classes and worked out on campus to get my degree four years into my NFL career. I knew how important it was to get a degree and I was so close. I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way.

[ROUTE] After your career as a pro athlete, you decided to become an entrepreneur. What are you working on?

[Femi] After I retired, I went back to San Diego to open a training facility. I wanted to help people become healthier and to be more mindful about their fitness and wellness decisions. I ended up selling that business and decided to return to Baltimore where my kids lived (and where I’d played with the Ravens).

I had a large network in Maryland and decided to get my MBA at Johns Hopkins. My passion was health, wellness and fitness as well as tech. I was intrigued about how artificial intelligence was taking over the fitness world. So, I’ve created a company called HealthReel. Our first app helps users stay active and make good decisions regarding their health by focusing on caloric information, metabolic data, body composition and disease risk.

“There are no shortcuts. Not in sports, not in business, not anywhere. If you aren’t willing to grind, you’re just talking.”

[ROUTE] If you could share one piece of advice for aspiring college football recruits, what would that be?

[Femi] There are no shortcuts. Don’t think that just because you are the best on your team, that you will just end up at a Florida State or Michigan or Georgia. You have to be willing to grind and put in the work. And just because you don’t end up there right out of high school, doesn’t mean that going to a JC or a lower tier school to start is a bad idea. My brother started off at a JC and ended up at UCLA and eventually played 10 seasons in the NFL. I started off in JC and played 11 seasons the NFL and won a Super Bowl.

A lot of kids have this idea on where they are going to play, but aren’t willing to get down in the dirt. They want to take a shortcut. There are no shortcuts. Not in sports, not in business, not anywhere. If you aren’t willing to grind, you’re just talking. There are so many different routes you can take, you just have to stay the course and not let anyone determine your worth. If you want to whine, complain, and moan – then you’re not ready. You will run into someone who’s not as talented as you are, but is willing to give 100% and is never going to quit. They just put their head down and grind. That’s how you get to D1 and the next level.

#collegefootballrecruiting

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picturestees · 6 years ago

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Charm City Ravens football shirt

Baltimore Ravens is one of the NFL teams Charm City Ravens football shirt. Baltimore Ravens is a professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore Ravens competes in the National Football League as a member of the North American Football Conference. Baltimore is one of the strongest teams in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens won the two championships in 2001 and 2013. If you are…

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junker-town · 4 years ago

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Which NFL team do fans hate most aside from their actual rival?

Welcome to SB Nation’s Rivalry Week!

Bears vs. Packers. Cowboys vs. Eagles. Ravens vs. Steelers. The NFL is full of classic rivalries, but sometimes the hate fans feel for teams that aren’t their natural rival can be just as intense. Since it’s Rivalry Week here at SB Nation, we spoke to some of our NFL team sites about the team they hate the most aside from their favorite team’s rival.

Saints fans make New Orleans easy to hate

The Saints. The team and fans have been so whiny after annually choking in the playoffs. Sean Payton pining for reviewable pass interference and Saints fans throwing a parade to protest Super Bowl LIII because of that one missed call in the 2019 NFC Championship Game was so pathetic. You guys still got the ball first at home in overtime with a Hall of Fame quarterback! No one should feel bad for you. - Brandon Gowton, Bleeding Green Nation

The Ravens have the Dolphins’ number these days

The Ravens. Easily. I do not understand how or why, but over the last nine meetings with the Ravens, the Dolphins are 1-8 and the finals include such close games as 59-10, 40-0, and 38-6 (the last three meetings). Baltimore just has the Dolphins’ number. - Kevin Nogle, The Phinsider

The Bears have bad blood with the Eagles

If I take the other three NFC North teams completely off the table, I’ll have to go with the Eagles. The double doink playoff loss is still fresh enough, plus the Eagles knocked the Bears out of the playoffs in the 2001 season after a cheap hit to quarterback Jim Miller. Also, the Bears haven’t beaten the Eagles since 2011. - Lester Wiltfong, Windy City Gridiron

Falcons fans can’t stand the Patriots for obvious reasons

Do I hate the Patriots a little less now that Tom Brady’s gone? Sure. Is that a little like gingerly taking one sheet of newspaper out of a raging bonfire? Also yes. Living here and watching Patriots fans go from bored to crowing in the midst of the greatest NFL dynasty ever, and watching them stomp my favorite team in the Super Bowl, has ensured my antipathy for them will be lifelong. Screw ’em. - Dave Choate, The Falcoholic

The Niners have a decades-long grudge against the Cowboys

49ers fans have hated the Cowboys since the 90s, and nothing has changed since. How can you be America’s team when you haven’t won anything in so long? One of San Francisco’s proudest moments in history was “The Catch.” The cherry on top of that play was that it happened against Dallas. Nobody here likes Jerry Jones or Jimmy Johnson. The team and their fans, in general, aren’t very likable, so many Niners fans look forward to Jerruh’s inevitable sadness on the Jumbotron. - Kyle Posey, Niners Nation

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227snewfacebookfries · 7 years ago

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cover32-yahoopartner-blog · 8 years ago

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Ranking the NFL’s Top 10 greatest upsets in Super Bowl history

The Super Bowl is unique among the championships of the four major North American sports.

Unlike the World Series, NBA Finals, and Stanley Cup Finals, the Super Bowl is a one-time, winner-take-all contest. The single game format lends itself to high drama and drawing in viewers who don’t watch the National Football League in the 21 regular season and postseason weeks preceding Super Bowl Sunday.

The drama created by the format of the NFL’s league championship round doesn’t always translate to the play on the field.

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The Nickel: Super Bowl LI coin flip picks

2017 NFL Draft: Exclusive interview with prospect Forrest Lamp

Joe Montana led the San Francisco 49ers to a 55-10 rout of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV. Three years later, Troy Aikman threw for four touchdowns and Emmitt Smith gained 108 yards on 22 carries in a 52-17 drubbing of the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII.

The Super Bowl blowouts are not as memorable as the games in which an underdog David slays a favored Goliath. They serve as a reminder that odds can be defied by force of willpower and ability to do the impossible.

Without further adieu, here are the top 10 Super Bowl upsets of all time:

10. Super Bowl XXXVII: January 26, 2003, Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48; Oakland Raiders 21

This Super Bowl was an example of unstoppable force meets immovable object. The unstoppable force was the Raiders offense, who led the NFL in total passing yards (4,689) and was second in total yards gained (6,451). The immovable object was the Buccaneers defense, who led the league in total defense (252.8 yards per game), pass defense (155.6 yards per game), points allowed (12.3 per game), passing touchdowns allowed (10), interceptions (31), and opponents passer rating (48.4).

The number one offense facing the number one defense was an afterthought. Super Bowl XXXVII’s predominant theme was Jon Gruden. Gruden was Raiders head coach from 1998-2001. Raiders owner Al Davis famously didn’t want to open up the piggy bank for his head coaches. Rather than pay Gruden, Davis “traded” him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers had fired Tony Dungy and hoped Gruden could build their offense into one that could win a championship.

Oakland entered their first Super Bowl in 19 years as four-point favorites. Tampa Bay dominated the game, out gaining Oakland in total yards (365 to 269), rushing yards (150 to 19), and first downs (24 to 11). Gannon threw a Super Bowl record five interceptions, three of them returned for touchdowns. Tampa Bay scored 34 unanswered points to capture their first and only Super Bowl.

NFL Films later revealed incompetence on the part of Gruden’s Raiders successor, Bill Callahan. The Raiders hadn’t changed the audible-calling system installed by Gruden. Furthermore, defensive back John Lynch told his teammates during the game virtually all the plays Oakland ran were plays Gruden specifically told them watch out for.

9. Super Bowl XVIII: January 22, 1984, Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida Los Angeles Raiders 38; Washington Redskins 9

The first Super Bowl played in Tampa featured two teams that already hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. Washington was the defending Super Bowl champions while the Raiders (who relocated from Oakland in May 1982) won Super Bowl XV three years earlier.

Washington entered Super Bowl XVIII as a three-point favorites. They had the best offense, best defense against the run, best regular season record, and were defending Super Bowl champs. In Week 5, Washington beat Oakland 37-35 by scoring 17 points in the final six minutes of the game.

The Raiders began their day with a blocked Redskins punt recovered for a touchdown. This was followed by a pair of touchdowns. Oakland put up 21 points in the first half while Washington only managed a field goal. Marcus Allen scored two touchdowns in the third quarter: a five-yard run and a then record 74-yard run to end the quarter and Washington’s hopes for a repeat.

Allen, the Super Bowl MVP, carried the ball 20 times for 191 yards and the two touchdowns. The Raiders were the first team to score an offensive, defensive, and special teams touchdown in the same Super Bowl.

Allen’s supremacy was immortalized in two ways. The first by President Ronald Reagan, who famously said in a telephone call with Raiders head coach Tom Flores, “I already had a call from Moscow. They think Marcus Allen is a new secret weapon and they insist that we dismantle it.”

The second was by John Facenda, the voice of NFL Films, in his final voice-over work. Facenda summed up Allen’s historic run with one of his most memorable quotes, “As Washington’s hopes faded into the dying daylight, on came Marcus Allen, running with the night.”

8. Super Bowl XLVIII: February 2, 2014, MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Seattle Seahawks 43; Denver Broncos 8

Super Bowl XLVIII was the first to be played in an outdoor stadium in a cold weather city. Seattle was in the Super Bowl for the second time in franchise history while Denver was making its seventh Super Bowl appearance. Both teams boasted a 13-3 record, tops in their respective conferences.

Denver had the league’s best offense. Quarterback Peyton Manning set records for passing yards (5,477) and touchdowns (55). Seattle had the NFL’s top defense. They allowed the fewest yards per game (273.6) and fewest points (231) with the most takeaways (39), becoming the first team since the 1985 Chicago Bears to lead the NFL in all three categories.

Denver were two-point favorites and had the ball first. Seattle scored a safety on the first play from scrimmage with 14:48 left in the first quarter, the quickest score in Super Bowl history. At halftime, Seattle had a 22-0 lead. Denver didn’t get on the scoreboard until the end of the third quarter, making the score 36-8. Manning, a five-time league MVP, threw two interceptions in the first half. One of them was returned by Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith for a 69-yard touchdown.

This was the first Super Bowl in which the winner scored more than 40 points while holding their opponent to less than 10. The 35-point margin of victory is the largest for an underdog and tied for third largest overall in Super Bowl history. Seattle was the first team since the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV to score touchdowns on offense, defense, and special teams. The 59 minutes and 48 seconds Seattle continuously held the lead is also a Super Bowl record.

Denver lost their NFL-record fifth Super Bowl. Their loss ensured that each of the eight-highest scoring teams in league history failed to win a Super Bowl in the same season. In addition, the four teams that entered the Super Bowl with the NFL’s leading passer failed to win the game.

Denver joined the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV as the only teams to score less than 10 points in the previous 30 years. The Broncos loss is especially biting considering Manning set a Super Bowl record for completions (34) and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas for receptions (13).

7. Super Bowl XXV: January 27, 1991, Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida New York Giants 20; Buffalo Bills 19

The opponents were examples of contrasting strengths. Buffalo featured an explosive, no-huddle offense that scored the most points in the league (428). The Giants boasted the NFL’s stingiest defense, allowing a league-low 211 points. Their contrasting strengths yielded the same result: a record of 13-3.

They met Week 15 at the Meadowlands. Buffalo won 17-13 in inclement weather. The game was memorable because the two starting quarterbacks, the Giants’ Phil Simms and the Bills’ Jim Kelly, were both injured. Kelly returned for the Divisional Playoffs but Simms was replaced by Jeff Hostetler.

Buffalo entered their first Super Bowl as seven-point favorites. They were a deep talented team with nine Pro Bowl players, five future Hall of Fame players, and a future Hall of Fame coach in Marv Levy. Buffalo handed the Los Angeles Raiders a 51-3 thumping in the AFC Championship Game, the most lopsided score in AFC Championship Game history. They were expected to do the same to the Giants, who made their second Super Bowl appearance in four years.

The Giants had a future Hall of Fame coach in Bill Parcells, who constructed his team to play “power football”. This included a powerful defense and an offense that sustained long drives and kept the opposing offense off the field. Their game plan for Super Bowl XXV was conservative: a power running game on offense and being physical with Buffalo’s wide outs and playing with extra defensive backs. Defensive coordinator Bill Belichick famously told the defense that they would win the game if Bills running back Thurman Thomas gained more than 100 yards.

Thomas ran for 135 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries. The Giants overcame an early 12-3 deficit. They controlled the clock, holding the ball for more than 40 minutes. Super Bowl MVP Ottis Anderson ran for 102 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown.

Super Bowl XXV was the first to feature two teams from the same state and the first in which neither team turned the ball over. It was also the first in which both team wore Super Bowl patches on their uniforms. The Giants had a 75-yard touchdown drive that took a record nine minutes, 29 seconds off the clock.

Both teams played well enough to win. Many thought Thomas should have been MVP in spite being on the losing side. Though this game is most memorable for Wide Right, it was strategy that decided the victor. Belichick’s defensive game plan is included at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

6. Super Bowl XV: January 25, 1981, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana Oakland Raiders 27; Philadelphia Eagles 10

These were not John Madden’s Raiders. Tom Flores was in his second year as head coach. Quarterback Ken “The Snake” Stabler was traded to the Houston Oilers for Dan Pastorini. Pastorini struggled to a 2-3 start before he was replaced by journeyman Jim Plunkett. Oakland entered the postseason as a Wild Card, defeating Stabler’s Oilers, the Cleveland Browns, and San Diego Chargers to reach their second Super Bowl in four years.

Awaiting Oakland was the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, making their first league championship game appearance in 21 years. Philadelphia had one of the league’s stingiest defenses. They allowed the fewest points in the league, adept at stopping both the run and the pass. Philadelphia defeated Oakland 10-7 in a hard-fought Week 12 contest that included eight sacks of Plunkett.

The Eagles were two-point favorites. Oakland jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Plunkett picked apart the Eagles’ secondary. He finished 13-of-21 for 261 yards and three touchdowns. The most memorable score was an 80-yard reception by running back Kenny King through the outstretched arms of Eagles cornerback Herman “You Play To Win The Game” Edwards.

Raiders linebacker Rod Martin intercepted Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski three times, a Super Bowl record that still stands. Philadelphia didn’t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter but it was too little, too late.

The Raiders became the first Wild Card team to win the Super Bowl. Plunkett was named MVP, the second Heisman Trophy winner to earn the honor (Roger Staubach won the Heisman in 1963 as a junior at Navy and was MVP of Super Bowl VI). Flores was the first person in NFL history to win a Super Bowl as a player (Super Bowl IV as a Kansas City Chiefs backup quarterback), assistant coach (Super Bowl XI with the Raiders), and head coach.

5. Super Bowl XXXII: January 25, 1998, Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California Denver Broncos 31; Green Bay Packers 24

AFC representatives in the Super Bowl had fallen on hard times. The conference hadn’t won since the Los Angeles Raiders bested the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII, a streak of 13 games.

Denver also had Super Bowl futility on their side, losing their four previous trips by a combined 163-50. Three of the Broncos’ Super Bowl losses came with John Elway under center, adding to the belief that No. 7 couldn’t win the big one.

Meanwhile, the Packers were defending Super Bowl champions with a reigning three-time league MVP in quarterback Brett Favre. The Gunslinger led the NFL with 35 passing touchdowns and was second on the Packers in rushing. Future Hall of Famer Reggie White led the team with 11 sacks.

Denver, a Wild Card team, entered the game as 11-point underdogs. Outside of the Mile-High City, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who thought the Packers would lose this game. There was just no way they could fall to a team that lost four Super Bowls by 113 points.

Broncos running back Terrell Davis, a San Diego native, missed most of the second quarter with a migraine. In spite of that, he rushed for 157 yards, scored a Super Bowl record three rushing touchdowns, and earned Super Bowl MVP honors. Elway wasn’t sacked in the game, finishing 12-of-22 for 123 yards and an interception.

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen famously hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in the air and exclaimed, “This one’s for John!” during the post-game celebration.

The Broncos didn’t lose yardage in any play from scrimmage. Davis became the only player to rush for three touchdowns in a Super Bowl and the only non-San Francisco 49er to score three touchdowns in a Super Bowl. Favre gave props to the Broncos defense after the game, citing their blitz packages as one of the main reasons why they lost.

4. Super Bowl IV: January 11, 1970, Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana Kansas City Chiefs 23; Minnesota Vikings 7

Super Bowl IV was the final Super Bowl before the AFL/NFL merger. In spite of the New York Jets’ victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, many still believed that the AFL was an inferior league to the NFL. Because of that, the NFL’s Vikings were 12-point favorites to knock off the AFL’s Chiefs.

Minnesota posted a 12-2 regular season record. They were dominant on both sides of the ball, leading the NFL in points scored (379) and points allowed (133). Minnesota scored 50 or more points in three games but the team’s true strength was the fearsome defensive line known as the Purple People Eaters.

Kansas City went 11-3 in the regular season. Their defense was the fourth in the history of professional football to lead their league in fewest rushing yards, fewest passing yards, and fewest total yards. Kansas City advanced to Super Bowl IV after defeating the AFL’s two previous champions (the Jets and Oakland Raiders) in the playoffs.

Kansas City dominated Minnesota on a field deteriorated by rain, forcing three interceptions of Vikings quarterback Joe Kapp and three fumbles. Chiefs head coach Hank Stram’s most famous call was the 65 Toss Power Trap.

The Chiefs’ victory gave the AFL a second consecutive Super Bowl, evening the series at 2-2. Quarterback Len Dawson, maligned because of the perceived inferiority of the AFL, found vindication when he was named Super Bowl MVP. Super Bowl IV featured Stram wearing a microphone in the game, the first coach to be miked up for NFL Films. Hank Stram provided memorable in-game quotables including “C’mon Lenny! Pump it in there, baby! Just keep matriculating the ball down the field!”

3. Super Bowl XXXVI: February 3, 2002, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana New England Patriots 20; St. Louis Rams 17

Perhaps it was a bit of poetic justice that the first post 9/11 Super Bowl featured a team named the Patriots. The Patriots were a feel-good story but virtually no one gave them a chance against the Rams.

After all, the Patriots were 0-2 in Super Bowls and the Rams were 14-point favorites. The Greatest Show on Turf lit up the scoreboard. Quarterback Kurt Warner won the MVP. Wide receivers Issac Bruce and Torry Holt combined for 142 receptions, 2,469 receptions, and 13 touchdowns. Marshall Faulk was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year for a third consecutive year. The Rams had the best record in the league at 14-2. They were supposed to make short work of the Patriots and capture their second Super Bowl in three years.

The Patriots turned to Tom Brady after incumbent Drew Bledsoe was injured in a Week 2 loss to the New York Jets. Brady had immediate success guiding the offense, earning his first Pro Bowl berth. Their success on the defensive side of the ball was mixed. The Patriots ranked sixth overall in scoring but 24th in yards allowed. The controversy surrounding the Tuck Rule Game added an element of perceived flukiness to the Patriots’ season.

The Rams outgained the Patriots 427-267 but turned the ball over three times. New England capitalized on the turnovers, taking a 17-6 lead. After a Patriots fumble return for a touchdown was wiped out by a penalty, Warner led two drives down the field to tie the score at 17-17. With time expiring, the Patriots defied conventional wisdom and turned to kicker Adam Vinatieri (who kicked a winner against the Raiders in the Tuck Rule Game) to seal their first Super Bowl in regulation.

Though no one knew it at the time, Super Bowl XXXVI was a coming out party for the Patriots. Today, Belichick and Brady are synonymous with NFL excellence. Before they became a league standard, they were underdogs facing a seemingly insurmountable obstacle.

2. Super Bowl XLII: February 3, 2008, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona New York Giants 17; New England Patriots 14

The 2007 Patriots were the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to go undefeated in the regular season and the only team to do so since the NFL expanded to a 16-game regular season in 1978. Quarterback Tom Brady threw a career high 4,806 yards and a then record 50 touchdowns on his way to the NFL MVP. New England set records for points scored (589, since broken by the 2013 Denver Broncos), 75 total touchdowns, and a net deferential of 315 points.

The Giants weren’t expected to do much after the retirement of running back Tiki Barber. Eli Manning faced criticism (with Barber being one of the loudest voices) because of inconsistent play. When the Giants dropped their first two games, the criticism intensified. Manning and the Giants eventually found their groove, winning 10 of their final 14 games and entering the playoffs as a Wild Card. They were the first NFC team to win three playoff games on the road to reach the Super Bowl.

The game was a rematch of the regular season finale that New England won 38-35. Eighteen consecutive wins made the Patriots a 12-point favorite. Expectations of a shootout evaporated as the defenses took center stage. A grand total of 10 points were scored in the first three quarters. The final quarter saw three lead changes. The highlight of the Giants’ game-winning drive was David Tyree’s catch that he pinned to the side of his helmet with Patriots safety Rodney Harrison draped over him.

Super Bowl XLII was the first Super Bowl in 34 years in which neither team scored at least 20 points. Manning, who had to escape five Patriots defenders just to get the pass off to Tyree, was named MVP. The Giants did more than deny perfection to the Patriots.

They won all 11 road games they played in, an NFL record. Manning silenced Barber and the rest of the critics who believed he would never justify his draft status or family pedigree. The Giants won it all despite trailing in each of their postseason games, including overcoming two fourth-quarter deficits. And they did with only one Pro Bowl starter (defensive end Osi Umenyoira).

1. Super Bowl III: January 12, 1969, Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida New York Jets 16; Baltimore Colts 7

It should come as no surprise this is the mother of all Super Bowl upsets. The historical significance of this game cannot be overstated. This was the first league championship game to bear the moniker “Super Bowl”. The 1966 and 1967 AFL-NFL Championship Games (retroactively known as Super Bowls I and II) were dominated by Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers. The upstart AFL was seen as not being on the same level as the more established NFL because of the performance of the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders against the Packers.

Baltimore entered Super Bowl III as 18-point favorites after posting a 13-1 regular season record and shutting out the Cleveland Browns 31-0 in the NFL Championship Game. Their defense allowed the fewest points in the league (144) and was third in rushing yards allowed (1,339). Joe Willie Namath threw for more than 3,000 yards for Gang Green. However, he only completed 42.7 percent of his passes. He also threw more interceptions (17) than touchdowns (15).

Namath’s Guarantee is etched in pro football folklore but the Jets’ victory was a team effort. They used a conservative game plan that emphasized the run and quick, high percentage passes to cut down on interceptions. Running back Matt Snell ran for 121 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. Jim Turner kicked three field goals. The Jets defense picked off Colts quarterback Earl Morrall three times before he was benched in favor of Johnny Unitas, who drove the Colts down the field for their only touchdown late in the game.

Namath was named MVP even though he didn’t throw a touchdown in the game. The Jets are the only team in Super Bowl history to score only one touchdown and still win the game. More importantly, the Jets’ victory legitimized the merger and served as a template for every Super Bowl upset that followed.

– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for cover32 and covers the NFL and the New York Giants. He can be followed on Twitter @TheArmchrAnlyst.

The post Ranking the NFL’s Top 10 greatest upsets in Super Bowl history appeared first on Cover32.

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kansascityhappenings · 5 years ago

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Tom Brady exits NFL playoffs with loss, retirement unlikely

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady walked off the field at the end of his 20th NFL season and said he plans to be back for another, when he will be 43 years old.

If not in New England, somewhere else.

The Patriots quarterback said after a season-ending 20-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night that he has no plans to retire, putting owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick on the clock to either re-sign him or watch the franchise’s greatest player suit up somewhere else.

“I would say it’s pretty unlikely, hopefully unlikely” that he would retire, Brady told reporters. “I love playing football, I love playing for this team. I’ve loved playing for this team for two decades and winning a lot of games. I don’t know what it looks like moving forward.”

Brady completed 20 of 37 passes for 209 yards with no touchdowns, throwing a game-clinching interception that was returned for a touchdown. That left him with with a lower quarterback rating than Ryan Tannehill, who threw for a total of 72 yards in his first career playoff appearance.

It was the earliest postseason exit for Brady and the Patriots in a decade.

“I think we’re all running out of time and chances, every year that goes by,” said Brady, who was without a touchdown pass for the second consecutive postseason game — and just the fourth time since 2001. “I don’t think I’m the only one in that category.”

A six-time Super Bowl champion, four-time Most Valuable Player of the NFL title game and three-time winner of the league MVP, Brady is not under contract for next season. Although he has said he wants to play until he is 45, he is coming off perhaps the worst (non-injury) season of his career.

“Who knows what the future holds? We’ll leave it at that,” Brady said. “I love the Patriots. It’s the greatest organization. Playing for Mr. Kraft all these years, and for coach Belichick, there’s nobody who’s had a better career than me, just being with them. So I’m very blessed.”

Brady threw for 4,057 yards and 24 touchdowns this season, with eight interceptions. But he completed fewer than 56% of his passes six times in the final eight games of the year, including a season-ending loss to a four-win Miami team that cost the Patriots a first-round bye and then the wild-card loss to the Titans.

Still, the love from New England fans has never waned.

A fan in the front row hung a banner reading, “Please Stay Tommy.” The rest of the crowd for what could be the last home game of his Patriots career showed its love by chanting his name a half-dozen times throughout the night.

But Brady’s last pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Logan Ryan, a teammate during two championship seasons, sending the Titans to a divisional round matchup with the Baltimore Ravens. Brady walked off the field, his helmet off and his head hanging low, surrounded by photographers and security, before jogging the last few steps to the stairway that leads to the Patriots locker room.

Whether he will ever be back could be the most interesting drama of the offseason.

“I don’t want to get too much into the future and stuff,” he said. “I just don’t know what’s going to happen and I’m not going to predict it. No one needs to make choices at this point.”

Although the Patriots have at times attempted to groom Brady’s successor — including Jacoby Brissett, now with Indianapolis, and Jimmy Garoppolo, who’s with San Francisco — rookie Jarrett Stidham is the only other quarterback on the New England roster. He threw four passes this season.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick refused to say whether he thought Brady would be back. Defensive captain Devin McCourty said it’s difficult to predict what will happen in the offseason, when football decisions are strictly about business.

“It’s hard to imagine Tom not playing football,” McCourty said. “It’s hard to imagine him not playing here.”

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2020/01/05/tom-brady-exits-nfl-playoffs-with-loss-retirement-unlikely/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2020/01/06/tom-brady-exits-nfl-playoffs-with-loss-retirement-unlikely/

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yeskhanzadame11 · 5 years ago

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NFL Fan or Bandwagoner

Growing up in New England as a football fan had its ups and downs. Mostly downs through the years until a glimmer of hope came in the 90's when the Patriots signed Drew Bledsoe making him a one hundred-million-dollar man. He brought us to a super bowl, but unfortunately it didn't end well. In 2000, The Patriots had a 6th. sense so to speak, to draft a quarterback in the 6th. round using their 199th. pick in a player from Michigan named Tom Brady. He became their 4th. string in the depth chart and for some reason the new coach, Bill Belichick, had the sense to hang on to him to eventually, at the right time, become the number 2 Quarterback in 2001. When Drew Bledsoe fell to injury, that unknown Michigan Wolverine stepped up. It was an up and down first few games for Tom Brady, but in the end, helped lead the team from being a 14-point underdog against the Rams, (who were known as the Greatest show on turf at the time with a Hall of Fame Quarterback named Kurt Warner through the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons winning the big game in 1999 and expected to win in 2001), to coming from behind to pull off a miracle victory in Super bowl XXXVI. Was it a fluke? As it turned out... hardly. With Bill Belichick as the head coach, now choosing to stick with Tom Brady over Drew Bledsoe, having 6 more Super Bowl appearances that would garner the Patriots 4 more Lombardi trophies for a total of 5 for New England with all of them at the hands of what's being called the greatest coach/QB tandem in NFL the history.

With all the teams in the NFL, no team can get away with being on top for very long stretches of seasons without fans from other teams coming up with excuses as to why that team is better than others. Like Green bay, Pittsburg, San Francisco, Dallas and now New England. All these teams found ways to be good and stay good for several years while many others had no success and some, one and done. The real fan talks about what their team did wrong and what should be done to fix it. Bandwagoners can only find excuses as to what the other team did illegally to get an advantage, or that the referees were somehow involved in the outcome of the game and who should win. Yes, I am from New England and I'm sure there is some bias here, but as a real NFL fan through the good and bad times steelers hat , I can give credit where it's due regardless of the team and how I feel about them. A real fan knows the facts that surrounded the "spy-gate" and "deflate-gate" scandals and can realize they were not the huge issues that sports networks and some others made it out to be. As far as cheating in concerned, the Patriots have a much smaller record than most other teams. In fact, their record of any disciplinary actions due to breaking the rules fall within the top 5 teams with the least number of incidents involving questionable practices. In general, all sports teams and individuals over time, since the inception of sports in our daily lives have done things to gain the edge over their opponents. In many ways by legal means, while other ways... not so much. Like the time Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin attempted to trip Baltimore Ravens Jacoby Jones while returning a kickoff. He made it 73 yards from the end zone when it could have possibly gone all the way for a touchdown if not for the interference. I talk to many in the sports world and I can spot the bandwagoners very easily compared with the real fans. Especially now that I live in the Seattle area. Most fans here seem to be mostly bandwagoners now, which is a far cry from when I first came to Seattle in 1992 when the Seahawks went 2-14 on the season and the Monday night game I went to see against the Denver Broncos had the stadium packed and the fans celebrating as if they just won the Super bowl rather than it being that they just won only their 2nd. And final game of that season. What happened to those fans? Many of the fans these days give me such a hard time about the accusations against the Patriots, finding excuses as to why the Patriots beat them in SB XLIX and never giving any credit for their accomplishments. It was all about the "bad" call made by coach Pete Carroll and not the great play in the end zone by an unknown cornerback named Malcolm Butler. Or that the Patriots are cheaters and that's why they won the game without giving any examples as to what they could have done that illegally gained them enough of an edge to win the game. When asked, they simply say, "They are cheaters" with no knowledge of anything to back up the claim.

Then some news hits the Seattle sports world with shock waves of grievance when it was announced that Seattle Seahawks former defensive tackle #96 Cortez Kennedy, a 2012 inductee to the NFL Hall of Fame, one of the greatest Seahawk and NFL players of all time in general, suddenly passed away. I had a hard time finding a single person who would share the grief-stricken sentiments with me until I talked to my brother, who also is from New England and now lives in Seattle. All the Seahawks fans I first talked with about it could only say... " Who?" This came as a big surprise to me. To me and to the rest of any real fan base and for pretty much any team in the NFL. Not knowing who Cortez Kennedy is would be the same as not knowing who Steve Largent is. Not only was Kennedy an 8-time pro bowler, but his entire 11 year NFL career was solely with the Seahawks. How can anyone call themselves a real diehard Seahawks fan and not know who Cortez Kennedy is? Unless you are a young fan to the NFL, there is no real excuse other than, you are a bandwagoner. Even some real young fans know who he is and what he meant to the city of Seattle. When you can have a conversation with a 10-year-old about the greatness of Cortez Kennedy, you know he grew up in a house raised by real Seahawks fans. Then have a conversation with someone in their 50's who does nothing but bash the Patriots about winning the Super bowl who doesn't have a clue who Kennedy is, and you know you are in the presence of a real bandwagoner.

Before Super bowl XLIX, I had many heated conversations with Seahawks fans about who would win. Some were great, typical back and forth banter, while others were down right vile and as offensive as they could be. It even went so far as to have "friends" take me off their friends list on social media sites for the simple reason that I am a Patriots fan. For one thing, I was born and raised in Massachusetts with my entire family as Boston/New England sports fans, so being a Patriots fan was inevitable. Even so, I don't, nor would I ever apologize for being a Patriots fan. I am very proud to be a Patriots fan and I enjoy wearing my Pat's attire wherever I go. By simply wearing my Patriots hats or shirts, I find it a great way to interact with other NFL fans and can easily spot the real from the bandwagoner. The real fans usually throw a jab, which is expected and usually turns to fun banter, but then moves on to compliment the team and their success under the leadership of Bill Belichick with Tom Brady at the helm. The bandwagoners can't pass up the opportunity to throw jabs, but these jabs don't end with laughs and fun followed by compliments. They usually move into pure hate for the team and insults towards me for being a Patriots fan. Looking at the Super bowl following the 2016 NFL season, I don't think anyone will forget that game any time soon, or rather ever, especially if you are Matt Ryan and the rest of the Atlanta Falcons. However, when the Patriots were down but seeming to begin a push to come from behind, there were Falcons on the sidelines commenting that "it is Tom Brady" showing the respect they have for him for all his accomplishments. I don't care who you are, the success the Patriots have had over the last 16 years, post salary cap to boot, could not possibly continue if it was some fluke or even if they did cheat at any time throughout. Think about it. Since 2001, the Patriots have been to 7 out of 16 Super bowls. It almost comes out to them going every other year. That is insane. The two losses were hard, even being to the same team. Every team has their Lex Luther team and the Giants are the Lex to the Patriots. That doesn't take anything away from the Giants success and two Super bowl victories over that Patriots by any means. They continued on after the two losses, to gain two more victories with a good chance, on paper so far, to go back and snag another after the 2017 season. In fact, they are favored to repeat based on off season acquisitions and new contract negotiations. Whether they repeat or not, it's hard to argue about the New England Dynasty and where they will land in sports history. This is all accomplished post salary cap era as well, where it was supposed to be designed to not have stacked teams like the Steelers and 49ers did during their reign of success.

It's obvious I am using the Seahawks and Patriots to make my point about real vs. bandwagon fans, but this goes on in every sports areas, however, it's more prominent in some areas compared to others. I was definitely one of the lucky ones to grow up in such a strong professional sports area with so many championships. Although it took the Red Sox 86 years to accomplish another World series title in 2004, they brought two more to Boston after that in 2007 and 2013. And with the early Bruins and Celtics, how could anyone complain? Well, real fans, that's how. Real fans will always complain, bandwagoners will just rant and rave, moan and groan while finding excuses for their team's downfalls by blaming other organizations. Real fans start looking at the rosters, coaches, management etc. and begin to look at their own teams to see what is wrong and what can be done to fix it. Being from Chicago, LA, SF, Dallas, Pittsburgh and a few other multi championship towns are fortunate areas to be from as a sports fan. Especially the recent Cubs of Chicago who finally won a world series after waiting 108 years. If Boston thought they had a long wait, talk to a Cubs fan.

Fans from the sports towns like the 49ers of San Francisco, Steelers of Pittsburgh and Cowboys of Dallas in most cases, know what Patriot fans are going through. There are definitely exceptions, but in general, they know. The Steelers of the 70's with Bradshaw, Swan, Harris etc. as well as the incredible "Steel Curtain" with the likes of Mean Joe Green and company are blamed for the start of steroids in the NFL. Some say an asterisk should be next to their titles just as they do with the Patriots. Are there any merits to those claims? Personally, I don't feel that at all steelers hat . Not because I am a Patriots fan, but because I am an NFL fan. There was no team that could have possibly gone through the Steel Curtain on a consistent basis during that period and there is a record number of players from that same time period that have gone on to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio. Can there be arguments made that some may not have been as good if not for steroid use? Sure, but the bottom line is if these players had no talent, there are not enough steroids around to give someone talent. Either you have talent or you don't. Sure it can enhance some talents in the area of endurance and strength, but if you can't throw, catch, run with a ball or watch a ball while watching the player you are designated to cover at the same time, it doesn't matter how strong you are or how fast you can run.

So, the main point here is simple. Are you a real NFL fan or are you just a bandwagoner? There is nothing wrong with being a bandwagoner in some ways. There are definitely those who can only get into their team and get excited when they are winning. Many will even admit this with no shame and it's nothing really to be ashamed about if you're willing to admit and accept it, but most won't and like to pretend to be fans while frustrating everyone around them with know it all ignorance. Personally, as a lifelong fan of Boston area sports, no real fan is a bandwagoner. If you want to support the team when they are doing good, you should have been there when they needed you the most. Sure, it's frustrating, but as a real fan, it's part of the excitement to get involved as if you actually have some influence that can help your team win. Obviously being a Boston fan, we have the privilege to be part of the greatest rivalry in sports history. The classic Red Sox / Yankees rivalry. Here it gets a bit complicated. This rivalry can get downright dirty. The language shared between these two fan bases geared towards getting the lowest you can possibly go in order to shred the opposing fans better than they can shred you. However, unlike the newly developed rivalry with the Seahawks / Patriots, in the end, New York and Boston fans know when to show respect and when to carry on. With this rivalry, it's fun, and in a strange way, respectful even at its worst. When "friends" un-friend me on social media just because I am a Red Sox fan, that borders on pathetic, but in reality, it's sad. This is a game, not some life or death situation that affects our lives.

When I meet a Yankee fan, in most cases, it's a fun exchange and I have become friends with some people because of it. When a player with the stature of those like Jeter and Ortiz, both teams honor those as if they were part of their own respective organizations. That my friends, is what real true sports fans are and should be in every city in every situation.

Now it's time to search inside yourself and ask these simple questions. Do you dislike a particular player from a rival team that is an obvious star, and treat it like that player is not that good, or do you dislike them because they are that good and don't play for your team? The obvious one is the Tom Brady debates. For any fan from any team to claim Brady isn't that good after looking at his stats and records, then you may be a bandwagoner. Sounds like something from Jeff Foxworthy but it fits. There are some who claim Peyton Manning wasn't that good. But 10-1 those are fans from teams that rival the Bronco's and/or the Colts. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is this. If you think you're a real fan as opposed to a bandwagoner, start to do some personal research on matters that you feel are things that upset you. Things such as the biggest issue these days. The controversy surrounding the Patriots. Read from as many sources as possible including the facts involving "spy-gate" and "deflate-gate". What you'll find is technicalities in spy-gate that show the Patriots didn't even break an official rule and they did what every other team has done, just at a different time, and that rule they supposedly broke to start the whole cheaters controversy wasn't even in the rule books as an official rule until the following year. As for deflate-gate, if you were to read the Wells report, you'll find no real evidence that any rules were broken and that the phone incident with Brady and throwing it away should never have come into the conversation in the first place since Brady had been informed that his phone wasn't needed by Wells himself before he destroyed it and the fact that he destroyed it is nothing more than what he does with every old phone. Like many celebrities, phones can contain delicate, private info they don't want others to gain access to and sell to some news or entertainment magazine so their private lives can be splashed all over the place. It makes sense and it wasn't something he just decided to start doing. It's something he's always done in the past and had no reason to change once he was told that his phone wasn't needed anymore for the investigation. After his phone was gone, it was then plastered all over as if it was done in an attempt to hide something.

This just shows what information can be gained by being a real fan and educating yourself while also realizing that this is only a game that is intended to be fun to watch and follow. If it consumes you with hatred towards someone or some teams as a whole steelers hat, then you should think about leaving the band, jumping off the wagon all together and just take a train instead to the loony bin for help.

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jodyedgarus · 6 years ago

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Pennsylvania Is A Battleground State … In Football

Pennsylvanians went into the 2018 season believing that it might be a banner year for the state’s NFL teams. The Philadelphia Eagles were league champs the season before, and the Pittsburgh Steelers had harbored their own championship aspirations before an upset playoff loss against Jacksonville. Although we’ve never seen a Steelers-Eagles Super Bowl, we’ve come close a few times this century — both teams made the conference championship in 2008-09 (Eagles lost), 2004-05 (Steelers lost) and 2001-02 (both lost). There was reason to think 2018 might bring another chance for a clash between Eastern and Western PA on the game’s biggest stage.

Fourteen weeks later, that’s not looking so hot. The Steelers started strong despite a contract impasse with star running back Le’Veon Bell, but they’ve faltered recently in a three-game losing streak and now are in danger of missing the playoffs. And Pittsburgh is this year’s Pennsylvania success story. The defending-champion Eagles continue to suffer from one of history’s worst Super Bowl hangovers and are down to an 18 percent playoff probability after Sunday’s crushing loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

In the midst of all of that turmoil, though, Pennsylvania will be at the center of the football universe for Week 15 of the NFL season. According to our combination of matchup quality (i.e., the harmonic mean of the teams’ Elo ratings in each game) and game importance (how likely it is to swing every team’s odds of making the playoffs),1 the Steelers’ game against the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon is the best of the week, while Philly’s Sunday-night clash against the Rams is tied for second-best:

The best matchups of Week 15

Week 15 games by the highest average Elo rating (using the harmonic mean) plus the total potential swing for all NFL teams’ playoff chances based on the result, according to FiveThirtyEight’s NFL predictions

Playoff % Playoff % Team A Current Avg. Chg* Team B Current Avg. Chg* Total Change Game Quality PIT 62.3% +/-23.1 NE 99.3% +/-0.7 47.1 1617 PHI 17.6 14.7 LAR 100.0 0.0 30.8 1604 MIN 56.8 17.9 MIA 20.2 11.3 58.4 1491 CAR 8.9 9.4 NO 100.0 0.0 20.3 1605 IND 27.2 12.3 DAL 99.2 0.9 26.5 1546 BAL 54.6 15.1 TB 0.8 1.1 32.8 1508 TEN 34.5 19.1 NYG 0.5 0.5 40.8 1485 LAC 99.7 0.2 KC 100.0 0.0 4.0 1656 GB 3.2 4.2 CHI 99.9 0.2 10.0 1527 HOU 96.1 4.9 NYJ 0.0 0.0 12.7 1440 WSH 10.5 8.6 JAX 0.0 0.0 19.8 1429 DEN 5.1 3.2 CLE 0.5 0.7 9.0 1445 DET 3.5 3.3 BUF 0.0 0.0 10.1 1431 SEA 99.3 1.1 SF 0.0 0.0 3.3 1481 ATL 0.1 0.0 ARI 0.0 0.0 1.5 1409 CIN 0.4 0.3 OAK 0.0 0.0 2.4 1370

Game quality is the harmonic mean of the Elo ratings for the two teams in a given matchup. Total Change adds up the potential swing in playoff odds for every team in the league (not just the two teams listed).

*Average change is weighted by the likelihood of a win or loss. (Ties are excluded.)

Source: ESPN.com

Despite their mind-blowing last-second loss to the Miami Dolphins — and their generally less-impressive-than-usual season — the Patriots don’t have a huge amount riding on their matchup with Pittsburgh. (Win or lose, our model gives them at least a 99 percent chance to make the playoffs.) But the game does have major implications for the Steelers’ postseason future. Right now, Pittsburgh is one of five AFC teams with between a 20 percent and 65 percent playoff probability, according to our model. If the Steelers win, their number goes from 62 percent to 85 percent; if they lose, it drops to 38 percent.

Gone are the questions about whether the Steelers could maintain their offensive output without Bell. With James Conner carrying the load at RB instead, Pittsburgh’s offense ranks roughly the same in expected points added per game (fifth) as it did a year ago (third) and has improved from 21st to 11th in EPA on the ground. Even without Conner against the Raiders — and with backups Jaylen Samuels and Stevan Ridley combining for just 32 yards on 16 carries — Pittsburgh’s offense exceeded its usual weekly EPA average (although most teams do that against the Raiders). The real issue has been on defense, where the team ranks fourth-to-last in EPA over the past three weeks, including dead last against the pass. When Derek Carr is shredding your D for a 122.4 passer rating, there are some problems that must be addressed by Mike Tomlin and staff.

And Steelers-Patriots has ripple effects that stretch far beyond just Pittsburgh’s chances. The Baltimore Ravens’ odds will go up or down by 13 percentage points depending on who wins in Pittsburgh; Tennessee and Indianapolis will also see their odds shift by multiple percentage points based on the outcome. Three other teams — Miami, Denver and Houston — will get changes of about 1 percentage point apiece. All told, about 47 points of playoff probability will move around on the basis of New England and Pittsburgh’s contest.

For the Eagles, their playoff chances all but evaporated after falling to Dallas. While they were able to beat Washington (which is now also sitting at 6-7, two games back of the Cowboys, and now auditioning quarterbacks who walk in off the street) two weeks ago in the most important game of Week 13, Philly was unable to replicate that feat in overtime Sunday, losing the most crucial matchup of Week 14. There are still scenarios left whereby the Eagles can make the playoffs, most of which involve them winning out — while facing winning teams in the Rams and Texans over their three remaining games — and the Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers losing games down the stretch. But Philadelphia has dug a deep hole for itself with three weeks to go.

As we noted in late October, Carson Wentz and the Eagles’ offense were above average throwing the ball, but that wasn’t enough to offset a suspect running game and a disappointing defense. Since then, Wentz has basically held steady, but the rushing attack has gotten even worse, and the defense has done nothing to turn its season around. After weeks of waiting for the real Eagles to show up and play like champions, it’s probably time to admit that these are the real Eagles — and their hopes of repeating are slim.

A win over L.A. would drag Philadelphia’s playoff chances up to 42 percent, so there is plenty on the line for at least one of the two teams involved Sunday. But with the Rams having locked up their division earlier this month, the game’s second-biggest stakes belong to the Vikings, who would lose 14 points of playoff probability with an Eagles win and gain 6 points if Philly loses. In addition, Washington, Seattle, Detroit, Dallas, Green Bay and Carolina will see at least 1 point of movement to their postseason odds depending on whether the Eagles win or lose.

But most of all, it should be a good game. For all their mediocrity this year, the Eagles are still probably better than their 6-7 record, while the Rams are locked in a fight for the No. 1 seed in the NFC and have something to prove offensively after a weak Sunday-night showing against the Bears in Chicago. The Steelers and Patriots are in similar positions — both teams rank among the best in the AFC yet have a lot of questions to answer. Add it up, and the state of Pennsylvania figures to be a key battleground in the playoff ace, even if its teams aren’t exactly as intimidating as they seemed three months ago.

FiveThirtyEight vs. the readers

Want more playoff probabilities? Check out FiveThirtyEight’s Elo ratings in our NFL prediction interactive, which simulates the rest of the season 100,000 times and tracks every team’s odds. You can also pick against the Elo algorithm in our prediction game. Try your hand and attempt to climb up our giant leaderboard.

Based on data from the prediction contest, here are the matchups in which Elo made its best — and worst — picks against the field of readers last week:

Elo’s dumbest (and smartest) picks of Week 14

Average difference between points won by readers and by Elo in Week 14 matchups in FiveThirtyEight’s NFL prediction game

OUR PREDICTION (ELO) READERS’ PREDICTION PICK WIN PROB. PICK WIN PROB. Result READERS’ NET PTS WSH 69% NYG 51% NYG 40, WSH 16 +21.1

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BUF 70 BUF 63 NYJ 27, BUF 23 +7.6

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CAR 62 CAR 56 CLE 26, CAR 20 +4.8

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ARI 51 DET 55 DET 17, ARI 3 +4.6

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NO 74 NO 79 NO 28, TB 14 +1.0

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GB 53 GB 55 GB 34, ATL 20 -0.1

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HOU 68 HOU 67 IND 24, HOU 21 -0.4

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LAC 84 LAC 85 LAC 26, CIN 21 -1.0

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KC 71 KC 72 KC 27, BAL 24 -1.1

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DAL 59 DAL 58 DAL 29, PHI 23 -3.3

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TEN 66 TEN 63 TEN 30, JAX 9 -4.0

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SEA 62 SEA 60 SEA 21, MIN 7 -4.2

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PIT 78 PIT 81 OAK 24, PIT 21 -6.9

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NE 72 NE 75 MIA 34, NE 33 -7.0

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LAR 56 LAR 62 CHI 15, LAR 6 -8.9

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DEN 63 DEN 68 SF 20, DEN 14 -9.0

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Home teams are in bold.

The scoring system is nonlinear, so readers’ average points don’t necessarily match the number of points that would be given to the average reader prediction.

Elo beat the typical reader again in Week 14, but it was very close: On average, our predictions won the week by only 6.8 points. Relative to readers, Elo was rightly bearish on the Rams and Broncos, but the readers did get a huge victory over the model in the Giants’ 40-16 blowout of Washington. Knowing that the ‘Skins were down to Mark Sanchez at QB (who was later replaced by Josh “No, not that Josh Johnson” Johnson), readers preyed on Elo’s ignorance and picked Eli Manning and company to win. Although it wasn’t enough to win the week, it was the most lopsided single-game victory of the season by either readers over the computer or vice-versa.

Anyway, congrats to Vyascheslav Tolbert (Mike Tolbert’s Russian cousin?), who led all users in Week 14 with 129.5 points, and to Greg Chili Van Hollebeke, who maintained his No. 1 ranking for the season with 963.4 points. Thanks to everyone who has been playing — and if you haven’t, get in on the action before it’s too late! You can make picks now and still try your luck against Elo, even if you haven’t played yet.

Check out our latest NFL predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/pennsylvania-is-a-battleground-state-in-football/

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investmart007 · 6 years ago

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Tom Brady vs. Jaguars is one-sided confrontation

New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/tom-brady-vs-jaguars-is-one-sided-confrontation/170529/

Tom Brady vs. Jaguars is one-sided confrontation

If there’s ever going to be a changing of the guard in the AFC, then Sunday’s visit to Jacksonville by the Patriots would seem a perfect time.

Except when you look at the numbers that say Tom Brady doesn’t lose to the Jaguars.

Ever.

Jacksonville had a 10-point lead at New England in the second half of the AFC championship game last January when Brady worked his magic, helped mightily by the Jaguars’ discomfort being so close to making the Super Bowl. It shouldn’t have been a surprise in this matchup: Brady now is 8-0 against the Jags, the only AFC team without a win against the five-time Super Bowl champion and three-time league MVP. He has 19 TDs and two interceptions against Jacksonville while completing more than 70 percent of his passes for more than 1,800 yards.

So solving Brady, as it is for most teams, is a must for Jacksonville in this battle of opening-game winners that could wind up pivotal for the AFC playoffs.

“It’s going to be an emotional environment,” Brady said. “I think everyone, whenever you play some of the best teams, you want to see where you’re measured up to, and that defense has been ranked very high all last year, and I could see why. We practiced against them. They were very good. They’ve got a lot of very talented players — some of the guys that are probably the best at their position. So, it’s going to be a great environment for football.”

Brady has 224 career wins, one shy of the NFL record held by kicker Adam Vinatieri, whose Colts are at Washington.

Jacksonville could be short-handed in a key area: running back Leonard Fournette has hamstring issues, and the Jags need a strong running game to keep Brady on the sideline.

T.J. Yeldon would get the start if Fournette can’t go.

“He has always been good,” coach Doug Marrone says of Yeldon. “I think he is more explosive. He’s stronger. He’s elusive. I think he can carry a load of carries.”

The weekend began with Cincinnati’s 34-23 home victory over Baltimore. Andy Dalton threw four touchdown passes in the first half — three to A.J. Green — to help the Bengals improve to 2-0. The Ravens are 1-1.

Philadelphia (1-0) at Tampa Bay (1-0)

One reason the Eagles had the NFC’s best record in 2017 was a 6-2 road mark. They were sloppy yet victorious in their opener at home against Atlanta and haven’t played since Sept. 6. Nick Foles gets the call at quarterback again with Carson Wentz still not ready, though Philly’s running game with Jay Ajayi, who had two touchdowns last week, and strong defense could decide things.

The Buccaneers come off an impressive upset win at New Orleans in which Ryan Fitzpatrick showed why he has been a quality fill-in passer for years. He threw for a career-best 417 yards, four TDs, and had no interceptions against the Saints. He also scored a rushing TD.

FitzMagic indeed.

Kansas City (1-0) at Pittsburgh (0-0-1)

As ugly as the Steelers’ performance was in the rain in Cleveland, that’s how pretty Chiefs fan think their team’s work was in Los Angeles.

But this is a nightmare matchup for KC: The Steelers have won seven of the last eight vs. the Chiefs, who are 0-6 in Pittsburgh since 1986. Plus, the Steelers are 15-2 in home openers at Heinz Field.

Two of the NFL’s most dynamic wideouts go at it here: All-Pro Antonio Brown for Pittsburgh, WR-KR Tyreek Hill for Kansas City. Don’t take your eyes off the field.

Minnesota (1-0) at Green Bay (1-0)

Right up until kickoff, the fans at Lambeau Field will be holding their breath to see if Aaron Rodgers can go. Green Bay is in massive trouble if he can’t, as last week’s heroic performance by A-Rod in the comeback victory over Chicago showed.

“Yeah, well, you know he walks on water, so I’m sure he’s going to play,” Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said.

The Vikings aren’t the Bears and won’t likely be playing passively if they get a lead. Not with that dynamic defense that handed Jimmy Garoppolo his first pro defeat in the opener.

Carolina (1-0) at Atlanta (0-1)

Not only did the Falcons falter in Philly in their opener, they had two significant long-term injuries with safety Keanu Neal and linebacker Deion Jones. The defense kept them in the Eagles game while Matt Ryan struggled. Sure, he completed 10 passes for 169 yards to Julio Jones, but Ryan generally was off the mark.

Carolina has its own injury woes, losing star TE Greg Olsen with a foot problem. Its defense was super stingy against Dallas, with LB Luke Kuechly in on 13 tackles.

Miami (1-0) at New York Jets (1-0)

Barring a tie — and we all know those never happen in the NFL, right? — one of these teams will be a surprising 2-0 Sunday night.

The Dolphins come off the longest NFL game since the 1970 merger, outlasting Tennessee in 7 hours, 8 minutes, including 3:59 in multiple weather delays. RB Frank Gore has 14,087 career yards rushing and needs 15 to surpass the Jets’ greatest runner, Curtis Martin (14,101), for fourth place on the NFL’s list.

Sam Darnold threw a pick-6 on his first pro attempt, then reversed things with aplomb at Detroit. The Jets’ defense deserves the highest accolades for making Matthew Stafford look like an inept rookie, something Darnold didn’t resemble beyond that opening pass.

Cleveland (0-0-1) at New Orleans (0-1) Oh yeah, they do have ties, which for the Browns is a monumental achievement considering they lost all 16 games in 2017 and were 1-15 the previous year. Oddly, the Browns overwhelmingly lead this series 13-4, winning five of the last six meetings.

WR Michael Thomas had a Saints single-game record 16 catches last week for 180 yards and a score. Drew Brees will target him often, sometimes against rookie Denzel Ward, who had two picks of Ben Roethlisberger in the opener.

Arizona (0-1) at Los Angeles Rams (1-0)

All seven of the new head coaches lost last week, none more distressingly than Arizona’s Steve Wilks at home against Washington. QB Sam Bradford, the top overall draft choice by the Rams in 2010, now is the Cardinals’ starter, and he has an all-time great receiver in Larry Fitzgerald. Yet Arizona was outclassed in its first game for Wilks.

No such problems for the Rams, who looked strong in all phases at Oakland. A worry, though, is losing All-Pro kick returner Pharoh Cooper to an ankle injury.

Oakland (0-1) at Denver (1-0)

The glow from the return of Jon Gruden as coach will fade into the Mile High air if the Raiders put forth another mediocre showing in this bitter rivalry. Oakland struggled in the second half in falling to the Rams, with only TE Jared Cook a consistent positive with nine catches for a career-best 180 yards. The defense clearly missed Khalil Mack.

Von Miller was a terror against Seattle: Miller had three sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He’s one of three active players (Robert Quinn, Terrell Suggs) with two career games with at least three sacks and two forced fumbles.

In all, Jon Gruden’s teams are 1-9 against the Broncos, with the one win coming in Oakland in 2001.

Indianapolis (0-1) at Washington (1-0)

The last time Frank Reich coached in a game that counted, he helped Philly win a Super Bowl. His Colts blew a big lead at home to Cincinnati, but at least Andrew Luck is back behind center. And Luck likes the look of Redskins burgundy: He threw for 370 yards, five TDs and one interception in his only previous game vs. Washington.

RB Adrian Peterson moved into 10th place all-time in rushing yards after gaining 96 last week at Arizona. Washington’s defense was stout and ranks second overall.

Houston (0-1) at Tennessee (0-1)

After their long, weather-related wait to eventually lose in Miami, and a right elbow injury to Marcus Mariota, the Titans could use a boost in a key early season AFC South game. Mariota should play for new coach Mike Vrabel, who was an assistant in Houston the last four years under Bill O’Brien.

The Texans have won nine of the last 12 against Tennessee, and O’Brien is 6-2 against the Titans. Houston lost at New England last week, but kept things close.

L.A. Chargers (0-1) at Buffalo (0-1)

So, first-round pick Josh Allen will start and hope to avoid another debacle after the 47-3 defeat at Baltimore. Allen will have a long leash. Remember, Buffalo’s other QB, Nathan Peterman, threw five first-half interceptions in his start against the Chargers last year. He was just about as bad against the Ravens.

The Chargers have won three straight and 17 of the past 22 meetings. They outscored the Bills by 113-44 in those three victories.

Detroit (0-1) at San Francisco (0-1)

It’s impossible to fathom Stafford being as awful again. He threw four picks, one returned for a touchdown by the Jets. His passes were off the mark most of the game.

Now that 49ers QB Garoppolo has lost a game, maybe the expectations in the Bay Area can be tamped down a bit. Keep a watch out for DL DeForest Buckner (2 1/2 sacks at Minnesota) and LB Fred Warner, who led all rookies with 12 tackles last week and forced a fumble.

New York Giants (0-1) at Dallas (0-1)

Easy to understand why the NFL keeps scheduling this matchup in prime time and why the broadcasting network loves it: big audiences. This year’s faceoff doesn’t have all that much charm considering both teams stumbled, particularly with the ball, in losing openers.

Of prime interest will be the running backs, second overall pick Saquon Barkley, who excited Giants fans with his 68-yard TD burst in his debut, and Dallas star Zeke Elliott.

Seattle (0-1) at Chicago (0-1), Monday night So the two night games in the second week of the schedule feature a combined record of 0-4. YAWN!

Both teams lost close ones on the road, with the Bears infamously blowing a 20-point lead at Green Bay to a hobbled Rodgers. Seattle gave up 475 yards at Denver and the usually slippery Russell Wilson was sacked six times.

By BARRY WILNER , Associated Press

#Adam Vinatieri #barry wilner #England #Jacksonville #jaguars' discomfort #sided confrontation #Super Bowl #TodayNews #Tom Brady

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junker-town · 5 years ago

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6 risers, 4 fallers in the latest NFL playoff picture

Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images

The 49ers are back atop the NFC, but the Patriots keep slipping in the AFC. Geoff Schwartz takes a look at this week’s playoff standings.

What an amazing Sunday of football. The NFL games to remember happen in December. Between the 49ers-Saints game and Bills-Ravens in the early window, followed by Patriots-Chiefs in the late window, we might have had our best Sunday this season.

As usual, this week also provided another glimpse into what the playoffs will look like. Two more teams clinched their spot in the playoffs, while six others were eliminated.

Let’s check out which of the contenders helped and hurt themselves the most Sunday in Week 14.

The AFC’s Risers

1. Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens are officially in the playoffs, and unless something weird happens to end the season, they’ve basically locked up homefield advantage. Their offense has cooled off the last two weekends as they’ve faced better defenses, but they find ways to get it done.

In the 24-17 win over the Bills, Lamar Jackson had 145 yards passing, with 61 of those coming on a single pass. The Ravens ONLY had 118 yards rushing, almost half of their usual amount. The Buffalo defense harassed the Ravens and made Jackson uncomfortable. I don’t think they are getting figured out, but that’s two straight weeks of just OK play on offense.

However, Baltimore defense was legit once again. The Ravens made life tough on Josh Allen and forced a fumble to give their offense a short field. Their defense doesn’t get the credit they deserve because Jackson is on track to win MVP.

I’ll say it again, though: The Ravens just have that look of a Super Bowl team.

2. Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs went into New England and won! It almost never happens. In fact, the Patriots entered the week 42-0 at home against AFC opponents when Tom Brady has had a healthy Julian Edelman in the regular season. How wild is that? Or how about this one:

At 24 years old, Patrick Mahomes is the youngest QB to beat Bill Belichick and Tom Brady in Foxborough during the regular season. New England had been 29-0 against starting QBs under the age of 25 at home since 2001. pic.twitter.com/nd7UAtTs0L

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 9, 2019

But, the Chiefs got it done. They had an outstanding second quarter where they scored 17 of their 23 points. Outside of that quarter, their offense was out of sync, like it’s been at many times this season. Patrick Mahomes leaves the pocket way too often when there’s no pressure and doesn’t set his feet, or step toward his target on plenty of his throws, which leads to inaccurate tosses. It started when he hurt his ankle at the same time the Kansas City offensive line was beat up. It’s not gotten better as the OL has gotten healthier. It’s something to watch moving forward.

The Chiefs’ defense continues to play well, although I’d caution against getting overly excited about what y’all saw Sunday because the Pats’ offensive skill players are a hot mess. While Brady wasn’t fooled by anything, no one was getting open when the Chiefs brought the house. You can’t do that as often against better receiving options. The Chiefs did find matchups on the New England offensive line to take advantage of, so that was good for them.

In the end, the Chiefs won the AFC West for the fourth straight season. Andy Reid is the man.

3. Tennessee Titans

Raise your hand if you saw the Titans inserting Ryan Tannehill into the starting lineup and rattling off six of seven wins. The Titans cannot be stopped on offense right now. They put up 42 on the Raiders in a massive win on the road, after scoring 31, 42, and 35 in consecutive weeks. Tannehill is first in the NFL in passer rating, has completed 77.6 percent of his passes the last three weeks, and is one of the best in the NFL on play-action passing.

Ryan Tannehill threw for 276 yards on play action today, the 2nd-most yards on play action in a game over the last 4 seasons.@ryantannehill1 now has 2 of the top 5 games in yards on play action since 2016, both in the past 3 weeks (Week 12: 218 yards).#TENvsOAK | #Titans pic.twitter.com/mOWwffJCoW

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 9, 2019

He’s had a revival in the Music City, and he’s got the Titans sitting at 8-5 with two games against the Texans in their final three weeks. I think the Titans have a great shot to win the division.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers

Quack, Quack, Quack ... Duck Hodges is 3-0 as the Steelers’ starting quarterback. It’s not always pretty, but he’s not making mistakes. He’s letting the game come to him. He was 16 of 19 for 152 yards in a 23-17 win against the Cardinals. It was a modest day, but he didn’t turn the ball over, and the Steelers’ run game and defense are winning games for them.

Right now, they are the sixth seed in the AFC. They get the Bills next weekend, then the Jets and possibly a Ravens team that’s not playing hard in Week 17. There’s a real chance they can make the wild card. What a coaching job by Mike Tomlin.

The AFC’s Fallers

1. New England Patriots

The Patriots’ longest plays on offense were two trick plays, two defensive pass interference calls, and a Tom Brady scramble. Their offense just isn’t good right now. They don’t have a single WR who can win against man-on-man coverage. Julian Edelman can, but he’s being doubled. There’s no easy fix unless their receivers all of a sudden become quicker. Brady is seeing everything, but just can’t make the connection. They still can’t run the ball, which is less than ideal when you can’t pass it.

The defense wasn’t perfect against the Chiefs, but it wasn’t bad either. They allowed 23 points, forced two turnovers, and the Chiefs had just 4.9 yards a play on offense.

Now, to address the obvious: Yes, the officials screwed the Pats out of two touchdowns. I get that. But the old Patriots would have been able to overcome that. This team can’t. They can still get the No. 2 seed and play two perfect playoff games, most likely rematches against the Chiefs and then the Ravens for the AFC Championship. It’s possible, but right now, how can you count on that?

In the past, the Patriots would lose games to random teams, like the Dolphins and Titans. We’d laugh about it and pretend to write them off, but they’d always be fine. However, this season they’ve lost to the other top seeds in the conference. That’s a legit concern. The Patriots might not have it this season.

2. Houston Texans

WTF, Texans? You get crushed by the Ravens, then beat the Colts and Patriots, only to get smoked by the Broncos at home with Drew Lock starting his second game. The inconsistencies week to week fall on the coaching staff, which I’ve felt has held back this team for years. Now, with the Titans coming on strong, the Texans have to get their shit together to win the AFC South.

The NFC Risers

1. San Francisco 49ers

Oh boy, a big-dog game from the 49ers. Down 27-14 in the Superdome, the 49ers came all the way back to win 48-46 after George Kittle just destroyed half the Saints’ defense on the final drive. The 49ers are a young team, with only two of their players on the roster seeing meaningful playoff time in their career. I thought they’d struggle with another physical opponent after losing to the Ravens, and they did not.

I think we can put to rest the idea of Jimmy Garoppolo not being a franchise quarterback. He had stones, throwing for 349 yards on 26 completions. He answered the critics.

The importance of this win goes beyond the box score. The 49ers now control homefield advantage. If they win out, they stay at home for the playoffs. While Levi’s Stadium isn’t a massive homefield advantage, they don’t have to travel to New Orleans or Seattle for the playoffs. Combined, Drew Brees and Russell Wilson are 11-1 at home in the playoffs. So the advantage is not having to go on the road.

2. Green Bay Packers

The Packers barely won at home against Washington, but they won. Their offense is still a wreck. It didn’t matter this week. They are now sitting in the No. 2 and are still a game up on the Vikings in the NFC North.

NFC Fallers

1. New Orleans Saints

Not only did the Saints allow 48 points at home, but Sean Payton did some weird things. The Saints scored to go ahead 13-7 and they went for two after the ball was moved from the 2 to the 1 because of a Niners penalty. Instead of running ahead, they tried to run Taysom Hill on an end around, and it was stuffed. If you’re going for it, at least call a decent play. You’ve run Taysom Hill on end round-type plays this season and it was zero surprise.

Then, why the heck are you attempting a boring fake punt? If you’re going to call that play, you need to make it creative, especially from the 49ers’ 45-yard line down 35-33. The Niners promptly drove down the field for a touchdown. I did not like that call.

With the loss, the Saints now fall from the No. 1 seed to No. 3 for now. More importantly, they lose the tiebreaker to the 49ers if it comes down to that.

2. Seattle Seahawks

They just laid an egg on the road against an average Rams team. Now they drop from the No. 2 seed and leaders of the NFC West to the fifth seed. There’s still plenty of time to make up the ground with a home game against the 49ers to end the season. But they looked flat in this game. Their defense was torched by a Rams offense that had been dormant for much of the season.

A few days ago, I ranked the Super Bowl contenders and I wrote that I didn’t trust the Seahawks. Their lackluster performance against the Rams showed why.

As a refresher, here’s what the playoff standings look like after Sunday in Week 14:

AFC standings:

Baltimore Ravens (11-2)*

New England Patriots (10-3)

Kansas City Chiefs (9-4)**

Houston Texans (8-5)

Buffalo Bills (9-4)

Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5)

NFC standings:

San Francisco 49ers (11-2)

Green Bay Packers (10-3)

New Orleans Saints (10-3)**

Dallas Cowboys (6-7)

Seattle Seahawks (10-3)

Minnesota Vikings (9-4)

*clinched a playoff spot **clinched division

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