Tag: football

Divisional Breakdown : NFC East Teams

If you’re confused about which teams are in the NFC East, just reminder that at one time, the Arizona Cardinals were part of this division. And really, nothing about Arizona says “east” – even less than Dallas, TX.

The Dallas Cowboys

History: The Cowboys (originally named the Steers, which is potentially the best worst first name ever) were formed as an expansion team of the NFL in 1960. Tom Landry was named as the head coach and led the team with integrity, innovation, and a long list of winning seasons as a result. Dallas dominated the NFL in the 90’s with Hall of Fame players and coaches such as Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, and Jimmy Johnson. The Cowboys are synonymous with their hands-on owner, Jerry Jones.

Current Players to Know: Tony Romo has probably dealt with more criticism than most quarterbacks due to the fact that he’s the face of America’s most well-known football franchise. He’s often accused of being inconsistent. Jason Witten is Romo’s favorite target at tight end; DeMarco Murrary is having a great start to the season at running back. Sean Lee is making quite a splash at linebacker this season.

Head Coach: Jason Garrett

2011 Regular Season Record: 8-8

What to Watch For in 2012: It’s been a rough start for Big D. They might be 2-1 at this point, but it’s an ugly 2-1. The Cowboys have a lot of work to do to gel as an offense, and it won’t get any easier this week against the Bears on Monday night. Sean Lee is probably the player to watch this season; he’s off to an incredible start.

The New York Giants

History: The Giants go way back. They were founded in 1925 by Tim Mara. The Mara family still owns the Giants. The team is well-known for the Bill Parcels/Phil Simms/Lawrence Taylor era in the 1980’s. They are also the current Super Bowl champions and have won two Super Bowls in the last 5 years.

Current Players to Know: Eli Manning is currently regarded as the best 4th quarter quarterback in the league. He has pulled out some unbelievable winning drives in the past few seasons. Victor Cruz is well known for this moves as a wide receiver…and for his moves as a salsa dancer during his TD celebrations. The Giants have a glut of talented defensive ends: Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Jason Pierre-Paul are the best known.

Head Coach: Tom Coughlin

2011 Regular Season Record: 9-7

What to Watch For in 2012: The Giants are probably the least talked about Super Bowl Champions in the history of football. Perhaps it’s the unassuming demeanor of Eli Manning, who has often been criticized for his low-key presence on-field, but one way or another it seems like no one takes the Giants seriously, despite their overwhelming success over the course of the past few seasons. They’re on pace to have another great one, too, with Eli playing better than even in the 4th quarter.

The Philadelphia Eagles

 History: The Eagles were actually founded in 1933 as a replacement team for another team (the Frankford Yellow Jackets) that had gone bankrupt. They’ve been to two Super Bowls but have yet to win one. Current head coach Andy Reid has held his position since 1999 and has led the Eagles to five NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl. He is currently the longest tenured coach in the league.

Current Players to Know: Michael Vick, QB, who tends to spend more time on the ground getting hit than on his feet. DeSean Jackson (WR) and LeSean McCoy (RB) are his favorite offensive weapons. Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie hold down the fort on defense as cornerbacks.

Head Coach: Andy Reid

2011 Regular Season Record: 8-8

What to Watch For in 2012: Philadelphia is notorious for it’s emotionally-charged treatment of the Eagles…especially when they are performing poorly. And they are indeed performing poorly. They’ve won two games by the skin of their teeth and lost by a landslide on Sunday. Andy Reid has been on the hot seat in Philadelphia for a few seasons now, despite significant success, but if the Eagles don’t improve quickly it could be his last season in Philly.

The Washington Redskins

 History: The Redskins were awarded a franchise in 1932 as the Boston Braves. The team’s name was changed to the Redskins a year later and moved to Washington in 1937. That was also the year the Redkins signed Sammy Baugh, who went on to become a Hall of Fame quarterback. Head coach Joe Gibbs had a long and successful history with the Redskins, coaching the team from 1981-1992 and then again from 2004-2007. Mike Shanahan, long-time Broncos coach, is the current head coach.

Current Players to Know: RGIII, or Robert Griffin the Third, is having the best season of all of the rookie quarterbacks in the league so far (though he’s had a rough two weeks after a stellar start in Week 1). This is wide receiver Pierre Garcon’s first season in Washington; he previously played in Indianapolis. London Fletcher is an inside linebacker and has played 224 consecutive games over the course of 14 seasons – never once missing a game.

Head Coach: Mike Shanahan

2011 Regular Season Record: 5-11

What to Watch For in 2012: The Redskins have been abysmal over the past few seasons. It looks like there is some reason to hope for more this season, though, with the addition of RGIII at QB and Garcon at WR. There are still plenty of kinks to work out, but Redskins fans have reason to believe that over the course of the next few seasons their situation in a difficult division might improve.

What To Know : Week 3

What to Know: Week 3:

GAME OF THE WEEK: Lots of great contenders here – Jets at Miami, Houston at Denver, Philadelphia at Arizona. But I think my pick for game of the week is New England at Baltimore. Both teams are AFC super powers and both lost ugly games last week – Baltimore to Philadelphia and New England to Arizona – so both teams will be looking for redemption on Sunday night. Both also have 1-1 records, so they’re looking to be on the right side of the win/loss ratio after Week 3.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Wes Welker. He’s a wide receiver for the Patriots, formerly one of their biggest stars, who has seemingly been demoted in favor of their innovative tight end system. The Patriots and Welker have been going through some messy contract negotiations, which might also be lending to Welker’s limited role. And Boston isn’t necessarily the kindest of places when it comes to phasing players out. If Welker still doesn’t receive any meaningful snaps despite Aaron Hernandez (one half of the aforementioned tight end system) being out on injury it could be a sign that his days in New England might be coming to an end.

STORYLINE TO KNOW: I think it’s still the replacement refs. Their performance quality seems to be getting worse rather than better. Hopefully no games have an unfair outcome based on bad calls…and hopefully Ed Hochuli and the gang are able to come back soon!

RECIPES TO MAKE:

30 minute buffalo chicken soup

crispy chocolate peanut butter cups

caramel apple cheesecake bars

hot blueberry cheddar dip (I KNOW?!?!)

speculoos, candied bacon, and nutella s’mores (come ON! oh my word!!!)

Our Training Camp : Week 6 Answers

Another round of answers, here we come! This weeks answers are:

1. Which quarterback is nicknamed “Matty Ice”?

  1. Matt Cassel
  2. Matt Hasselbeck
  3. Matt Ryan
  4. Matt Leinart

 

2. Which other professional sports team was the catalyst for the Panthers coming to Carolina?

  1. The Bobcats
  2. The Hornets
  3. The Knights
  4. The Eagles

 

3. What does Drew Brees do with his teammates before every game?

  1. Takes them out to lunch
  2. Shakes everyone’s hand
  3. Leads them in a pregame chant
  4. Reviews important notes from the previous day’s meetings

 

4. True or False: The Bucs have always been an NFC team.

  1. True
  2. False

 

5. Which team upset the Patriots last weekend?

  1. The Cardinals
  2. The Browns
  3. The Seahawks
  4. The Redskins

 

6. What was the cause of controversy between the Giants and the Bucs last weekend?

  1. The Giants ran up the score
  2. Greg Schiano wouldn’t shake Tom Coughlin’s hand
  3. The Giants got better calls from the replacement refs than the Bucs did
  4. The Bucs tried to make a move for the ball on the last play of the game when the Giants were in the victory formation

 

7. One quarter of NFL football is 15 minutes long. What was the elapsed time of the first quarter of the Falcons/Broncos game?

  1. 15 minutes
  2. 27 minutes
  3. 42 minutes
  4. 54 minutes

 

8. How many teams make it to the playoffs?

  1. 8
  2. 10
  3. 12
  4. 16

 

9. How are the Wildcard teams selected?

  1. They did not win their division but have the best regular season records remaining
  2. They did win their division and have the best regular season records remaining
  3. They won the first round of Wildcard playoff games
  4. They won the least amount of in-division games

 

10. True or False: Each team plays the other teams in their division twice every season.

  1. True 
  2. False

Our Training Camp : Week 6 Quiz

 Ready for another quiz? Here’s Week 6!

1. Which quarterback is nicknamed “Matty Ice”?

  1. Matt Cassel
  2. Matt Hasselbeck
  3. Matt Ryan
  4. Matt Leinart

 

2. Which other professional sports team was the catalyst for the Panthers coming to Carolina?

  1. The Bobcats
  2. The Hornets
  3. The Knights
  4. The Eagles

 

3. What does Drew Brees do with his teammates before every game?

  1. Takes them out to lunch
  2. Shakes everyone’s hand
  3. Leads them in a pregame chant
  4. Reviews important notes from the previous day’s meetings

 

4. True or False: The Bucs have always been an NFC team.

  1. True
  2. False

 

5. Which team upset the Patriots last weekend?

  1. The Cardinals
  2. The Browns
  3. The Seahawks
  4. The Redskins

 

6. What was the cause of controversy between the Giants and the Bucs last weekend?

  1. The Giants ran up the score
  2. Greg Schiano wouldn’t shake Tom Coughlin’s hand
  3. The Giants got better calls from the replacement refs than the Bucs did
  4. The Bucs tried to make a move for the ball on the last play of the game when the Giants were in the victory formation

 

7. One quarter of NFL football is 15 minutes long. What was the elapsed time of the first quarter of the Falcons/Broncos game?

  1. 15 minutes
  2. 27 minutes
  3. 42 minutes
  4. 54 minutes

 

8. How many teams make it to the playoffs?

  1. 8
  2. 10
  3. 12
  4. 16

 

9. How are the Wildcard teams selected?

  1. They did not win their division but have the best regular season records remaining
  2. They did win their division and have the best regular season records remaining
  3. They won the first round of Wildcard playoff games
  4. They won the least amount of in-division games

 

10. True or False: Each team plays the other teams in their division twice every season

  1. True
  2. False

The Basics : The Super Bowl

Just as the Super Bowl is the culmination of the football year, our Basics information is also coming to a close. This is our LAST Basics post!!! We made it!!! Next week we’ll have two more divisional posts and then…a final exam! Time to start hitting the books!

In the NFL, there are two conferences, the NFC and the AFC. There are four divisions within each conference (north, south, east, and west), and four teams in each division (resulting in 32 teams). Twelve teams make it to the playoffs, six from each conference.

To make the playoffs, a team has to place first in their division. During the 16-game schedule a team plays all of the other teams in their division twice: once at home, and once away. Example: the Packers will play the Lions, the Bears, and the Vikings once at Lambeau (home), and they will also travel to Detroit, Chicago, and Minnesota to play each team at their own stadium (away). That accounts for 6 games each season. The results of these divisional games are especially important because a team needs to win their division to make it to the Playoffs. If two teams in the same division have the same overall record the team that has the best divisional record gets the playoff spot.

The remaining 10 games are played in an even split of home and away games on a rotating schedule against all of the other teams in the league.

The four teams that win their division from each conference are ranked (“seeded”) according to their regular season record. That results in 8 teams total. The remaining 4 teams are called “Wildcard” teams. These are the two teams from each conference who have the best regular season record. Don’t count them out just because they’re the last ones in – Wildcard teams can be dangerous in the playoffs! (2010 Packers, I’m looking at you.) (!!!)

The playoffs are a single elimination tournament played over the course of four weeks (one of which is a free week in between the conference championship game and the Super Bowl). At the end of the playoffs, one AFC team and one NFC team remain. The AFC and NFC Champions play each other in the apex of all that is good in the world: the Super Bowl.

And after the Super Bowl we mourn the offseason…the absence of football for an ETERNITY (or about 6 months).

What To Know : After Week 2

Oh, boy. What a weird week in the NFL. Let’s dig right in:

  • Perhaps the most glaring story is the incompetence of the replacement refs. When you are officiating a game and have to refer to one team as the “red” team (which is what I’ll be calling the Falcons for the rest of the season) because you aren’t sure who they are…it’s bad. This is not a knock on the professionals who are filling in for the regular refs – they are sincerely doing the best they can. But it’s a situation in which they are simply not equipped to do the job they’ve been assigned to do. They’ve been given an impossible task and are being ruthlessly called to task on it. Fault here lies with the NFL and the representation for the regular refs. This deal should have been done ages ago. As per the National Post’s Bruce Arthur, if this continues, by Week 17 the NFL will be the Hunger Games with helmets. When it takes 54 minutes to play 15 minutes of football and general pandemonium erupts on national television, it’s high time for a resolution.
  • Another big off the field story this week: the ongoing battle between the suspended Saints players and the NFL. This has dissolved into a he said-he said argument that no one is going to “win.” It’s really an unfortunate situation which speaks to the darker side of the NFL.
  • Both of these issues – the officiating and the bounty scandal – call into question perhaps the biggest mountain the NFL is currently facing: player safety. The players are put in jeopardy by bad officiating and by pay-for-performance systems, but I think it goes much deeper than that into the very nature of the game. As a fan, and a passionate one at that, I don’t even want to contemplate a world without football. No one wants that. But it’s undeniable that football is a violent game that has long term repercussions, and no one wants that, either. Something has to change, and quickly.

As for actual football stories, here’s the round-up:

  • Goodbye, Survivor Leaguers: I’d love to see the stats on how many Survivor Fantasy Football League (in which you pick one sure-fire win a week) players were eliminated this weekend thanks to the Cardinals (very) surprising upset of the Patriots. The Cardinals are now 2-0. Who saw that coming?
  • The Bills aren’t that bad: They had a nice win over the Chiefs on Sunday, who, unfortunately, are that bad.
  • The Jets aren’t that good: It’s not that they’re not good. It’s just that they’re not as good as their Week 1 48-28 win over the Bills might have suggested. This week’s loss presented some glaring insufficiencies, like having any sort of established offensive weaponry.
  • Don’t throw things at your friends (or enemies): Josh Morgan effectively ended the game for the Redskins on Sunday when he retaliated to antagonism by throwing a football at Cortland Finnegan. That move incurred an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which backed the Redskins out of realistic field goal range for a chance to tie the game.I’m sure no one feels worse than he does, but really…that wasn’t the best decision.
  • Football Etiquette?: When a team goes into victory formation at the end of the game, it’s generally assumed that they’ve won and the other team accepts the loss. But Greg Schiano shook things up at the end of Sunday’s Giants/Bucs game by coaching his defensive players to go after the ball on the last play of the game with the Giants in a victory formation. They ended up knocking QB Eli Manning to the ground in the process, and Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was quite fired up about the whole incident. The Bucs didn’t do anything illegal, just frowned upon. In this situation I think Herm Edwards said it best, “You play to win the game.” He’s teaching his players how to fight until the clock goes to 00:00, and you can’t fault him for that.
  • A Bad Start for Peyton: Last night Peyton Manning opened the first quarter with three interceptions…in his first eight passes. It was rough. I went to bed at halftime, but from all accounts he seemed to bounce back in the second half, with the final score a respectable 21-27 loss for the Broncos.

And this week’s one last thing: this commercial.

My new favorite kind of yoga.