Category: NFL (Page 1255 of 1282)

Joey Porter of the Pittsburgh Steelers opened his big mouth again, criticizing the NFL officials. The NFL continued to justify their rapidly declining creditability by not fining him. The league needs to quickly learn that regardless of the outcome or call during the game, respecting the game should be the number one priority. Porter’s statement that the whole world wanted Indy to win shouldn’t sit well with the NFL.

I believe that players should be held to the same standards as coaches. The game comes first!

I’ve got to say, I’m stunned. When we put the poll up asking who the best remaining quarterback in the playoffs was, I assumed Jake Plummer would get the fewest votes. I just didn’t know how few he’d get.

One? Wow. In no way am I a big Plummer fan (I voted for Hasselbeck), but he’s coming off easily his best season, tallying a 90.2 QB rating (seventh in the NFL) while throwing just seven interceptions. Granted, he also threw just 18 touchdowns, and Roethlisberger and Hasselbeck each had higher QB ratings, but as crazy as it sounds, Jake Plummer was one of the most effective quarterbacks in football this year. And yet, no love.

Meanwhile, roughly half of the votes have gone to Roethlisberger, who threw two more interceptions than Plummer in four fewer games. Which suggests two things: 1. A lot of Steelers fans frequent our blog (check out last week’s smack thread for proof, as well as this Joey Porter post), and 2. Only one Broncos fan has visited the site since the poll went up. Either that, or not even Denver fans believe in Plummer.

Incidentally, ESPN does a pretty nice write-up of the four quarterbacks’ lack of star appeal. Worth the read.

The AFC Championship features another great matchup. The Broncos had to be happy to learn that they’d be hosting the title game instead of traveling to Indiana, but they can’t be happy about playing a Pittsburgh team that is on fire right now. Will Ferrell-er-Ben Roethlisberger is throwing the ball like a champ, but he did appear to have difficulty with his accuracy after taking a big hit in the second half of the Colts game.

The Broncos have a big advantage playing at home and if (which is a BIG if) they can get their running game going they should be able to control the game. I’m holding off making my pick for this game until later in the week – who do you think will win?

This should be a great game. The two hottest teams in the NFC squaring off for the right to represent the conference in the Super Bowl. Carolina is playing good defense and no one seems to be able to stop (or even contain) Steve Smith, who has established himself as one of the best – if not the best – WRs in the league.

Shaun Alexander missed most of the game against the Redskins with a concussion, but Seattle expects him to play. Julius Peppers plans to play through his shoulder injury, but the real question is how effective can he be? Carolina had a tough time pressuring Rex Grossman when Peppers was out of the lineup, and I don’t expect it to be any easier against the Seahawks.

I’m holding off until later in the week to make my pick. So who do you think is going to win?