Baltimore (4-9) at Miami (0-13)

Baltimore Ravens Defense
3rd Ranked against the Run
20th Ranked against the Pass
Baltimore Ravens Offense
18th Ranked in Rushing
22nd Ranked in Passing

Miami Dolphins Defense
32nd Ranked against the Run
3rd Ranked against the Pass
Miami Dolphins Offense
20th Ranked in Rushing
26th Ranked in Passing

The contest between Baltimore and Miami is one of only two games this week in which the participants truly have nothing to lose. The Ravens have been officially eliminated from playoff contention, and the Dolphins are desperately trying to avoid tying the worst losing record in the history of the NFL.

Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron has decided to start quarterback Cleo Lemon again this week. Lemon had been relieved of command to make way for the backup QB John Beck’s first start in pro football against the Eagles three weeks ago. Beck’s best performance was in the “Mud Bowl” against Pittsburgh where the Dolphins lost 3-0. In his last start against Buffalo however Beck was asked to sit down early in the first quarter after virtually handing the ball off to Bills safety George Wilson who easily ran it 20 yards into the end zone for his second defensive touchdown of the year. Lemon did make a nice pass to rookie receiver Ted Ginn for 54 yards on his first play off the bench after which Miami scored a TD, but he was still sacked twice and threw two interceptions. Cleo fumbled the ball four times but hey, he recovered three of them. What more could you ask from a quarterback?

The odds definitely favor Baltimore. Even through the Ravens difficult losing season, Baltimore running back Willis McGahee has emerged as a league leading rusher. With the fifth highest yardage tally in the NFL, McGahee figures to have a good day at Miami who now ranks dead last in stopping the run since Denver shut down KC for 16 yards on the ground last week. The Ravens defense may well stifle Miami while McGahee and QB Kyle Boller combine for enough offense to sink the blowholes once again, but with Baltimore’s streak of bad luck this year this is probably the best chance that the Dolphins have to win a game. It will likely come right down to the wire.

Tampa Bay 14, Houston 28

Houston backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels had the best day of his NFL career completing 27 of 36 for 209 yards and 3 touchdowns in a season saving performance for the Texans. Rosenfels had a perfect 158.3 QB rating two years ago in a game against the Chiefs, but that was based on completing his only attempt in the game for a touchdown. Although their chances of getting an AFC wild card are admittedly slim, Houston kept themselves from mathematical elimination by beating the Bucs this week. Had the Texans lost, they would have had a potential season record of 8-8 at best with a 2-4 division record, not good enough to beat Cleveland for sixth seed even if the Browns lost their 3 remaining games.

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Minnesota 27, San Francisco 7

On the first play of the game from scrimmage, San Francisco drew a false start penalty and was backed up to the 22 yard line with 1st and 15. That’s the best thing that happened to the 49ers on that series. On the following snap, SF quarterback Trent Dilfer hauled off and threw a bullet over the short middle where Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams was waiting. Williams had his hands raised high in the air to try and cause a deflection but it wouldn’t have mattered if he was knitting a sweater because Dilfer hit him right in the face with the football. Williams kept focused as the ball ricocheted off his head, pulled the ball out of the air and plodded his 311 pound carcass 19 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. Believe it or not it’s the second time he has run back an INT for a touchdown this year.

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The Weekly Buzz - NFL Football Week 15

Cyberspace; On the heels of the court hearing in which former Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for his participation in an operation consisting of dog fighting, gambling, and cruelty towards animals, the famed YouTube website has posted a rather low class video that features mug shots of Vick and other NFL players. The video, which is sarcastically called “The NFL’s Finest” is accompanied by a soundtrack of the Trey Parker song “Montage” and gives a slide show of police booking photos of 49 current and former pro football players.

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QT Video Test

We just did this Quicktime movie:

San Diego (7-5) at Tennessee (7-5)

San Diego Chargers Defense
20th Ranked against the Run
21st Ranked against the Pass
San Diego Chargers Offense
15th Ranked in Rushing
22nd Ranked in Passing

Tennessee Titans Defense
7th Ranked against the Run
8th Ranked against the Pass
Tennessee Titans Offense
5th Ranked in Rushing
26th Ranked in Passing

Two teams come into this game with identical records but in very different circumstances. Division leader San Diego is out in front of the Denver Broncos by two games in the AFC West after winning their last two games while Denver has dropped both of theirs. The Chargers last two wins have been impressive, each one showcasing different talent at different positions. San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers led a 3 touchdown performance against the Ravens in Week 12, and last week in Kansas City running back LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 177 yards and surpassed the great Walter Payton becoming third all time in NFL rushing touchdowns.

Tennessee on the other hand has lost three of their last four games, and after reaching a record of 6-2 in Week 9 and trailing the Colts by a single game in the AFC South they are now in third place in their own division and are looking uphill at Jacksonville and Cleveland as they watch their chances for a wild card ticket to the post season become less and less likely.

The Titans may keep it close but in spite of their confidence after the recent victory against Houston they will probably not be able to overcome San Diego by the final whistle. Although Tennessee has one of the leagues best defenses they are going up against a Chargers team that is second best in the NFL at protecting their quarterback and which had little trouble handling a Ravens defense that is ranked slightly higher than the Titans. San Diego is riding high after their recent surge, and LaDainian Tomlinson is just one of those players who, when he gathers momentum just keeps getting better and better.

New York Giants (8-4) at Philadelphia (5-7)

New York Giants Defense
5th Ranked against the Run
11th Ranked against the Pass
New York Giants Offense
6th Ranked in Rushing
18th Ranked in Passing

Philadelphia Eagles Defense
10th Ranked against the Run
18th Ranked against the Pass
Philadelphia Eagles Offense
10th Ranked in Rushing
12th Ranked in Passing

Yes it’s true that the Giants are 8-4, a record that would be good enough for first place in some other NFC divisions that don’t require their champions to exhibit any significant brainwave activity. But there’s something missing from the Giant’s victories; competition. Of the eight teams the Giants have beaten this year, the entire lot of them have losing records except for the Lions who are even at 6-6. Even one of New York’s four losses was to a Vikings squad that was 5-6 at the time.

Such a relatively easy schedule might paint a pretty picture on paper, but those who watch the Giants week in and week out know the real story. Giants quarterback Eli Manning is inconsistent and usually lacks the field generalship needed to keep the Giants offense executing all the way down the gridiron. Where earlier in the season Eli had better numbers than his brother in some categories, he has slipped in the rankings and has now thrown almost as many interceptions as touchdowns.

This weeks schedule pits the Giants against a losing team yet again as they play Philadelphia for the second time this season. Granted, some division rivals like the Eagles and Redskins are probably tougher than their records would indicate but the overall lack of solid adversaries through much of the season does not inspire hopes that the Giants can compete in the playoffs.

Nevertheless, Manning will most likely handle the Eagles this week. Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb is expected to start for the first time since the Washington game in Week 10, but will probably be a bit rusty. New York has a good defense against the run and thus are adequately prepared to slow down Eagles running back Brian Westbrook. And Philadelphia’s average pass defense can probably be exploited by the Giants if Plaxico Burress can fight his way through the pain of his sore ankle to come up with some big catches.

Video Test

VIDEO TEST
[flashvideo filename=videos/video.flv /]
How does that look??

Minnesota (6-6) at San Francisco (3-9)

Minnesota Vikings Defense
1st Ranked against the Run
32nd Ranked against the Pass
Minnesota Vikings Offense
1st Ranked in Rushing
31st Ranked in Passing

San Francisco 49ers Defense
27th Ranked against the Run
20th Ranked against the Pass
San Francisco 49ers Offense
27th Ranked in Rushing
32nd Ranked in Passing

A match made in…well, maybe not heaven, but someplace where good humor abounds. The absolute worst passing offense on the planet comes up against the crummiest pass defense in the world this week when the Vikings come ashore on the left coast to try for their fourth straight win. A victory would put them in a three way dogfight for a wild card with Detroit and Arizona, but only if those two teams win their games as well; should the Lions fall in Dallas and the Cardinals get taken down by the Seahawks, Minnesota would be the uncontested number six seed in the NFC and would have destiny in their own hands as they make a run for the playoffs.

An unconfirmed rumor has it that the San Francisco linebacking corps were seen at a meditation session earlier this week, all sitting in the lotus position and chanting in unison a mantra of “stop Adrian Peterson, stop Adrian Peterson…”. Of course that still leaves them the problem of Minnesota’s second running back Chester Taylor, who came in for a gimpy Peterson against the Raiders two weeks ago and prompty ripped off 164 yards on the ground and caught 3 passes for 38 more.

Don’t look for the Vikings to do anything other than what has gotten them to this point; total domination of the ground game on both sides of the football. Minnesota, who owns the best run defense in the NFL has given up only about 70 yards per game to opposing rushers, and the 49ers best running back Frank Gore doesn’t average that many yards even against teams who aren’t as stingy with rushing yardage as the Vikings.

And don’t look for San Francisco to do anything other than what has gotten them to this point either; lose football games.

NFL Football Week 14 – Fallen Heroes Still Battling

Washington DC; Every week we watch NFL officials enforcing league rules meant to protect players from injury; a significant number of penalties are handed out for “personal fouls”, such as unnecessary roughness, late hits and blows to the head. And while we have heard plenty of remarks from all variety of sources but more especially the game commentators about how “this is a rough sport” and we ought to just “let them play football”, not much mention is made of why these rules are in effect and more especially what happens when even stringent means of protecting the players break down and our gridiron heroes are carried off the field with game, season or sometimes career ending injuries.

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