Given how things turned out on Sunday, I’m fairly certain I’m going to grow weary of all of the Ray Lewis and “Harbaugh Bowl” talk that will happen over the next two weeks. It’s hard to deny both teams deserve to meet in the Super Bowl, and on paper, it should be a great match up of two very physical teams with a lot of play making ability on both offence and defence.
Here’s what I saw during the two conference championship games: Continue reading
After a disappointing wildcard weekend, the divisional weekend slate of games produced wall-to-wall drama. Here’s what I saw in the four matches:
Ravens-Broncos: Wow. Aside from Eagles playoff games (ah, those were the days), I can’t remember a playoff game that had me glued to the TV like this one. Deep passes, turnovers, special teams TDs and inconsistent officiating all came together to produce a spectacular double overtime win for Baltimore. Truly, I didn’t think the Ravens would play consistent enough to make the AFC championship, but they’ll be back there for the second year in a row. Aside from all the spectacular plays, a few more subtle things caught my eye in this game: Continue reading
I’m a pretty big football junkie, but three of the four games this weekend bordered on unwatchable for long stretches. Thankfully, the last game on Sunday provided a full sixty minutes of entertainment, and possibly a story line to last through the offseason. Here’s what I saw in the four games this weekend:
Bengals – Texans: In what was one of the least appealing playoff games in recent memory, the Texans won by six points and by the balance of play, should have won by three touchdowns. Letting Cincinatti hang around, the Texans were within an Andy Dalton overthrow of AJ Green late in the 4th quarter of losing. For the third time in four years, the Bengals flame out on wildcard weekend. Continue reading
A three day conference had me in Denver, Colorado. Unfortunately, the timing didn’t line up for me to combine two of my favourite things – travel and football. To make up for that, I decided to use a bit of the very limited free time I had to do a tour of the Broncos stadium – Sports Authority Field at Mile High. A short light rail ride from downtown and ten minute walk away I came upon the stadium:
Sitting at 3-4 after an embarrassing 30-17 loss to Atlanta, the main question for the Eagles is “Where do we go from here?” With five division games remaining on the schedule, they’re by no means out of a playoff race, but there are some trends and hard questions to be asked.
The first question – Is this really a talented team on offence? Continue reading
The Eagles bye week this week provided a good break from watching my team fumble the early part of their season away. It also gave me plenty of time to check in on some other teams and games. Here is what I saw this week:
Steelers: After their defence allowed the Bengals to march down the field in the first quarter for a TD, they almost completely shut down Cincy the rest of the way. Taylor kept AJ Green in check, the d-line and strong linebacker play shut down the run, and the overall group held Dalton to just over 100 yards passing. The Steelers run game dominated and is showing that the strength of this team’s much maligned offensive line is their ability to run block. In the first half, the Steelers overcame dropped passes (including one for a TD), a dropped interception and four penalties on kick returns that resulted in a loss of more than 100 yards of field position. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but a divisional win on the road doesn’t have to be pretty.
In one word, the game against the Lions was disappointing. Sad. Frustrating. Undisciplined. Terrible. Ok, that’s more than one word but you get the picture. Being a fan of the Eagles is like being suspended in some sort of déjà vu land where you’re stuck watching the same story unfold each and every Sunday, season after season.
Every four years, for one Sunday I live in a household divided. My love is a Steelers fan, and this past Sunday was the long awaited battle for bragging rights. I didn’t make out so well this year. A close, hard fought game went against the Eagles and there were a few things to pick out of the rubble of the loss that drops them to 3-2 on the year. Continue reading
So that’s what an Eagles game without turnovers looks like. Philly stretched its record out to 3-1 with a mistake-free 19-17 win over the Giants. They’ve become the first team ever to win each of their first three games by two points or less. Fun television watching for me, but I look forward to a blowout win sometime soon to enjoy.
There really isn’t much positive to say about the Eagles loss to Arizona. As a fan, all you can hope for is that it’s just “one of those games”. Now three games into the year, I’m not so sure this is a one-off performance, especially on the offensive side of the ball. There were a number of worrying signs:
Bluenose Traveler 