Monday, January 16, 2006

Sunday NFL roundup

Hey, you don't win them all. (Nor does Indianapolis apparently). After having a remarkable run at perfection, The Big Picture, much like the Colts, went down hard. 4-0 in the Wild Card round, I close out the Divisional Round a mediocre 2-2 -- and I don't deal well with mediocrity.

Some thoughts about yesterday:


Steelers 21 at Colts 18:

-I can't remember a time I was this into a game. That phrase, "on the edge of your seat"...well, it finally made sense.

-As a Peyton Manning fan, I was pulling for the Colts today. I was surprised to see their offense struggle so much at times, but in the end, I'm happy Pittsburgh won.

-Jerome Bettis' fumble on the goal line, that nearly cost the Steelers the game, could've been his last carry ever. I'm certainly glad it's not.

-As for the interception that wasn't: Perhaps the worst call I've ever seen. If I was a Steelers' fan, I probably would have thrown my TV out the window right then. (Good thing I'm not a Steelers' fan).

-Mike Vanderjagt, tsk, tsk, tsk. Peyton (and The Bus) gave you a shot to win, and your arrogance pushed the ball wide right. I hear Florida State could use a new kicker.

-Speaking of Vanderjagt and Bettis, think The Bus got cozy with him after the game? He did bail him out and all.

-So I kept hearing the term "Blitzburgh" today because the Steelers often blitz and are from the city of Pittsburgh. Someone got a gold star for coming up with that. Pure genius.

-Often The Big Picture has thrown insults in the direction of Big Ben Roethlisberger. I'm still not sold on his quarterbacking abilities, but he'd be a helluva linebacker. His tackle saved the season for Pittsburgh (and tagged me with a second incorrect pick -- that bastard).

-I got very good at reading lips today. They kept saying for some reason, "He missed it."

-ESPN's poll currently has Pittsburgh the favorite to win the Super Bowl. No argument here.


Panthers 29 at Bears 21:

-Wow! Who woulda thunk they would've scored this many points?! I thought 50 -- the combined amount of points -- would have been Chicago's first half yardage.

-The final score of this game, say if USC were playing Texas in it, would equate to 299 to 221.

-As I mentioned yesterday, Joe Buck had the call today for Fox. I just love him. I dreamt about him last night, in fact.

-Here's Fox's knowledgeable announcers at their best: In the first quarter, Chris Gamble stripped Justin Gage after a short completion, and Julius Peppers returned it for a TD. The play was reviewed and overturned because Gage's knee was down when he was hit, thus down-by-contact. Well, good ol' Buck and Aikman did not even fathom that down-by-contact was an option. Hats off Fox!

-I continually and relentlessly rip into Rex Grossman and usually for good reason. But today he nearly won the game for the Bears. Then, much to my pleasure, with a chance to tie the game in the final minutes, what does Grossman do? He throws a perfect pass to Ken Lucas for a gain of 15 -- no wait, Lucas plays for Carolina. Way to go, Rex.

-DeShaun Foster breaks his ankle and half of Seattle has one of those sympathy sighs, smiles and high fives.

-Steve Smith: 12 catches, 218 yards, 2 td; 3 rushes, 26 yards. That equals 24 points in my fantasy league! If only fantasy leagues were still going...

-Where was Chicago's defense today? They surrendered 29 points, 434 total yards, six goals and 11 runs.

-Home field advantage? Yeah, not too important Sunday.


And while you were watching grown men grope eachother:

-Make it a good day all around for Pittsburgh. The 11th-ranked Pitt Panthers -- behind five dudes you've never heard of -- remain undefeated, beating #10 Louisville 61-57.

-It had the feeling of March Madness in Columbus, Ohio thanks to CBS' Gus Johnson and a thrilling double overtime game between #16 Ohio State and #15 Michigan State. The Spartans won by three, 62-59. (Yes, it was double-OT and a team won with a mere 62 points. The Bears and Panthers played basketball today too).

-#21 Maryland beat Wake Forest 90-86 and Terps' coach Gary Williams only popped three blood vessels in his forehead!


In other news: There's some tennis tournament being played in Australia. Thought you may like to know.

1 comment:

wjackalope said...

oh, but fantasy is still going. In fact, in the superbowl.com playoff challenge I'm holding strong in 33,226th place. Course I was drunk when I set my lineup for this week and I had Shaun Alexander (cuncussion) so that might have something to do with it.