Notes From the Foreskin
Sundays during football season are some of the best days of the year. These are days that men can usually take a "mental break" from the other things that may otherwise cloud their mind. Women, Jobs, Kids, Hemorrhoids, Women, etc...
I never really get to enjoy these "breaks" like I would like to because I usually work every Sunday during the day. This Sunday was an exception. I caught much of the noon games at a casino in Southern Iowa and caught most of the other action on a beautiful invention known as Sirius Satellite Radio. I took a couple things from this weekend(and Monday....and Thursday)....
We'll start with something that happened late Sunday night. Word came out late that Sean Taylor, safety for the Washington Redskins, was shot in his home in Florida. As I write this, Taylor is still in critical condition and the doctors are telling people to "pray for a miracle." Never a good thing. In the initial report, Taylor was awoken late Sunday when he heard noises downstairs. He got up and grabbed a machete that he keeps near his bed for protection. He was fired at twice, with one bullet connecting. Now, I don't know about you but I gotta respect a man who wields a machete for protection. Whether you like Sean Taylor or not, this is pretty sad news. Drafted out of "The U" in 2004, Taylor had become one of the NFL's premier talents and one of it's hardest hitters. Along with rookie Laron Landry, Taylor helped form the best safety tandem in the league. I won't lie and say that I've watched a great deal of his games, but from the games that I have seen, I've noticed that viewers are only a minute away from seeing a vicious, and yes, sometimes somewhat illegal hit that can bring people to their feet. He would hit you like you stole something... Literally. He was involved in a incident last year in which he was accused of pistol whipping a guy who was thought to have stolen Taylor's all-terrain vehicles.
Anyways, I hope for his sake, as well as his family's, that he makes it through this.
The Vikings game was odd in many ways. First was Tavaris Jackson tossing a 60 yard touchdown pass on the second play of the game. Yes, I said Tavaris Jackson. Second was Eli Manning throwing 4 interceptions to one of the worst pass defenses in the game. Third was that almost every pass the Vikings picked off they proceeded to bring back for a score of their own. The Vikings are the hardest team to figure out. Their play varies so much from week to week. One week they look like they can't do anything and the next week they are breaking all sorts of records. I really think this team is a quarterback away from being pretty damn good.
The rest of the league was screwed up as well. This was the week of the backup running back. Chester Taylor did his thing again, but he was also joined this week by a couple back ups and third string guys. Names like Andre Hall, Justin Fargas, Kolby Smith, and Adrian Peterson(no, not that one) combined to rush for about 440 yards and 5 touchdowns. If you haven't heard of these guys before, you aren't alone. Look for another no name to have a decent week this week. Cecil Sapp is the 5th string running back who might start for the Denver Broncos, who take on the Oakland Raiders and their horrid run defense.
Thanksgiving Day brought us a trio of boring games. The Cowboys and Packers both rolled to victories, setting up a Thursday night showdown this week that will probably determine home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. This is especially important considering that Green Bay in January is not fun weather to play in. Lets hope this game lives up to the hype that the Colts-Patriots game failed to. 
Did anyone see that the Eagles were 24.5 point underdogs to the Patriots on Sunday night?? That is the biggest spread ever for an NFL game. I happened to not see it beforehand, but if I did, I would have put my left nut on the line that the Eagles would cover that spread. The Eagles are bad, but not even close to that bad. I'm sure they felt disrespected and overlooked and for that reason they gave the Pats the best game they will probably get all season. NO team deserves to be more than a 17 point underdog in any NFL game. Even the 0-11 Dolphins...
Speaking of the Dolphins. The Monday Night Game brought us another lovely matchup with the Steelers and the aforementioned winless Miami Dolphins. This is now the 4th straight horrible game that the folks at MNF have shown us. And you can't count the Pats scoring 56 points against a really over matched Bills team. This weeks game was the lowest scoring game in the NFL this year, as the Steelers won a WILD one 3-0. It was scoreless until the last 20 seconds. This wasn't your hard hitting defensive struggle 3-0 game that could be fun to watch. It was a sloppy mess of bad play and even worse play. One sequence stuck out from the game. The Dolphins were driving late in the 3rd quarter and lined up for a field goal. A delay of game penalty backed them up 5 yards. Now instead of taking another crack at a field goal which would have possibly put his winless team in position to finally win, Dolphins coach Cam Cameron decided to let his rookie quarterback, in his second start ever, try to convert a 4th and 11 when the team hadn't done anything right all night long. The ensuing play resulted in a breakdown by the line and a sack. Good call, bud. Thats why your team is 0-11. Almost as good a decision as drafting Ted Ginn Jr.
This week was another zany one in the NFL. I'm starting to think that the Patriots are the only sure thing and that anything goes for the rest of the league. Stay Tuned..
