Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1436 of 1503)

Apparently I should have stuck to my guns two weeks ago when I claimed the Baltimore Ravens were a flawed two-loss team. Last week I choked on my words a bit and owned up that the Ravens look playoff-ready. However, after an ugly 13-7 loss to division rival Cincinnati, I’d like to reinstate my original assessment of Baltimore.

Nobody is going to say that the Ravens defense is overrated. The unit causes a ton of turnovers and always puts a great deal of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. However, the offense lacks any real playmaking threat and Steve McNair hardly looks comfortable in the pocket. Jamal Lewis has had a few nice games since Brian Billick took over the play calling duties from Jim Fassel, but he’s not a dominant back by any means. Look at Thursday night’s score. Sure, the field was slick and bad weather always keeps points off the board. But Baltimore faced a Bengal defense that was ranked 31st overall coming into this contest and was one cheap touchdown at the end of the game away from being completely shutout. All Cincinnati seemed to do was take away the underneath passing routes and McNair had nowhere to throw.

The Ravens will make the playoffs and may win a game with their defense and home field advantage. But that’s probably going to be it. As for the Bengals, I’m still holding judgment on whether or not “they’re back” until I see that defense play as well as they did Thursday night.

Apparently Michael Strahan forgot to change his diapers on Wednesday. Strahan went off on a female reporter in the Giants locker room when asked if he could elaborate on ripping teammate Plaxico Burress on a recent radio show.

“Come here, I want to see your face when you ask this question,” a confrontational Strahan bellowed. “You’re a responsible journalist, look me in the eye and ask this question the way you want to ask it. Look a man in the eye before you try to kill him or make up something.”

Kill him? I didn’t know you were at war Kellen Winslow.

“You know the difference between me reading your papers now and me reading your papers 10 years ago, is now I know [B.S.] when I read it,” he said. “Ten years ago, I didn’t know [B.S.] when I read it, so now I can read your papers and it doesn’t bother me because half is garbage.”

Why read it at all than Strahan?

Look, I’m not big on these sideline reporters and their terrible attempts at asking decent questions. But Strahan ripped his teammate first. The reporter just wanted a follow up, because that’s her job. For Strahan to bully a reporter because he’s upset that his team is losing has “crybaby” written all over it. Just tell the reporter that it’s an “in-house” situation and move on. You didn’t prove a point to anyone Strahan. You just came away looking like a jerk.

In honor of the 2006 NFL season, Bullz-Eye.com will take one contest off the schedule every week and break down each team’s strengths and weaknesses vs. its opponent. Plus, no preview would be complete without a forecasted score – you’ll find a prediction on the game at Bullz-Eye.com as well.

The Cowboys are surging and the Giants are reeling. The NFC East is quite possibly is on the line this Sunday in the Meadowlands as Dallas takes on New York.

On tap for Week 13: Dallas Cowboys (7-4) at New York Giants (6-5).

Donovan McNabb recently had reconstructive knee surgery after tearing his ACL two weeks ago in the Eagles loss to the Titans. ESPN.com is reporting that he might not recover in time for the 2007 season opener. Dr. James Andrews, who performed the operation on McNabb’s knee, said that Donovan would be out between 10 to 12 months.

Ten months would put McNabb near the start of next season, but 12 months would cost him nearly the entire ’07 schedule. Given this, one has to ponder what Philadelphia’s next move is. McNabb just turned 30 and is on his third mid-November season ending injury in the last five years. Nobody should question McNabb’s determination in trying to get back on the field. However, with the Eagles quickly slipping out of contention in the NFC, maybe Philadelphia might want to entertain drafting a quarterback in next year’s draft. Unless of course Andy Reid feels comfortable heading into next season with Jeff Garcia and A.J. Feely.

It’s sad to think that a player of McNabb’s class and attitude might never fully recover from injuries, but the Eagles eventually have to start thinking of the future.