Be Excellent To Each Other

I'm a bit pissed, but now I know what seahawks fans mean when they sayt that the refs are in steelers pockets. onlt call they gave to cardinals was the safety, which they couldn't not give.

Note to refs: they got rid of incidental facemask. that means you don't throw flags for it. it doesn't mean you throw 15 yard flags for it. Also: since when was roughing the holder illegal???

good game. 'Zona was robbed.

Know what you mean buddy

Every 5 s was a personal foul (mainly cards) but still, ridiculous penalty.


Was a cracking game, really disappointed we lost it right at the death, hopefully kurt stays around another season, cos as soon as fitz got involved things happened, then 2nd half couldnt have come sooner!
I know they were trying to play the ball away from fitz for obvious reasons to establish passing in other areas and the run, but kurt should have tursted fitz alot earlier, and the superbowl would have gone to the cards....

that was kind of exciting wasn't it
(only saw the excellent 8 mins of highlights on nfl.com, which is about as much attention i have for football (nasn has changed to espn america incidentally as of yesterday)..

they should have a site : highlights for those who do not want to know the score, with links to the movies of all psorts., instread of first showing you the score

Great game.

The penalties were incredibly painful for Arizona. Ouch.

I thought Ben Roflburger was robbed on MVP though. He won the game on that last drive, with scrambling that would have made a top form Randall Cunningham jealous. It was like watching Kordell Stewart in there... but not shit!

Not sure you can say the refs decided the game, Pundy. As far as I can see, the most egregious calls on Arizona didn't actually give Pittsburgh any more points. And the incredibly cheap personal foul call on Ike Taylor for some harmless handbags out of bounds pretty much balances the incredibly cheap roughing the passer penalty from earlier in the game.

It was a generally scrappy game, but a great last ten minutes or so. Pittsburgh's defence stopped attacking in the fourth quarter and went to some sort of conservative two-deep safety look that suddenly gave Larry Fitzgerald the space they'd denied him all game. This news just in: if you give Kurt Warner time, he'll find an open receiver.

Also: didn't Troy Polomalu have a terrible game? Total non-factor in the passing game, kept missing tackles against the run.

Polomalu seems to spend more time jumping on his own players than the opposition's.

I'm watching this now.

Crikey. It hasn't even started and it is everything i love america for.

Cheerleaders?

Well, them and the "heroes of flight 1543", the general "representing the servicemen".

All the pomp involved.

Bless.

Journey before the game on sky coverage was pretty ace

You weren't watching Mike Carlson on the BBC? For shame.

Fuck me, end of the 2nd, number 92 can run some, can't he?

Wasn't *shudder* Jake Humphries the anchor for the subberbowl?

*Ahem*

No excessive celebration call on Santonio Holmes on the winning touchdown, should have been 15 yards on the ensuing kick-off. No review on Warner's 'fumble' that was an incomplete pass. Combined with the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when pittsburgh players removed their helmets on the field, It should have been Arizona's ball on the Pittsburgh 34 with 5 seconds left.

Also, the illegal clipping and illegal block in the back by pittsburgh on James Harrison's run back of his interception, which would have both offset Arizona's penalty, and nullified the touchdown.

They booth did review the fumble, the officials just didn't announce it. Mike Pereira confirmed it after the game.

The dodgy blocks on the interception runback are the sort of things that get missed as much as they get called, especially on a long return like that where officials have a hard time keeping up with the ball. If we're nit-picking, you could just as easily say that the Roethlisberger run that was stopped on the three-inch line should have been a touchdown because there wasn't indisputable evidence to overturn the call on the field. Both sides caught breaks to (roughly) the same degree.

Except there was indisputable evidence. They showed it on the telly. A still with Roethlisburger's knee down, and the ball not on the goal line.

Didn't look terribly indisputable from where I was sitting. I don't think I could have argued if it had been called either way.

its one of those things, you have to trust the guys in the booth. If it was called indisputable, then it was. The league has access to the real-time footage of what the ref actually looks at under the hood. Not just the raw footage, but actually what he looks at, and theres all sorts of fancy stuff they can do. Synced composites, and all kinds of crazy stuff.

On the other hand, I didn't think that Harrison got in on his TD, so sometimes shit happens.

Woo hoo! I'm off to see the London game this autumn with some chums. It was a lot more interesting a game before Tampa Bay fired Gruden and most of their good veterans, but even so - live NFL helmetball!

You lucky bastard.

Lucky you!

Should hopefully be a good game aswell

the big jessies! look at all the armour they wear! And they have a rest every ten seconds!

Ooh! The Broncos have signed Brian Dawkins in free agency! sure he's getting on, but they desperately need a defensive leader.

Meanwhile, the Jets continue to grab expensive veteran free-agents like the team's only a couple of pieces away from a Soup Bowl. Crazy.

And by all accounts Matt Cassell is being traded to Kansas City. Because only having one young quarterback who performed well last year in a specific system but whose long-term worth they're not sure of isn't enough.

I saw on sky sports news today that T O has been released by the cowboys

Dont know if this is true or not.

Wonder who'll snap him up if it is!

Um, someone who's really, really desperate.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you.... the Detroit Lions.

The Redskins must be kicking themselves that they've spent all their selfish-headcase-whose-rep-far-exceeds-his-ability money for this offseason.

Apparently the league consensus on T.O. is 'no fucking way is he coming to this team!'

I'm betting someone will cave, though the 'Boys basically throwing away nine million bucks worth of salary cap just to be rid of him... not exactly the greatest endorsement.

I'm thinking some team will sign him on veteran minimum, with lots of target based bonuses. Suitable targets including:

Keep your mouth shut, especially when the press is around.
Don't do sit-ups on your driveway for the cameras.
Don't complain when you don't get enough touches.
Don't insinuate that your quarterback is a homosexual.
Don't be T.O.

Well, the Buffalo Bills have signed Terrell Owens. God help them.

Haha christ!

Terrell Owens on a team with a weak-armed sub-standard quarterback.

I can't see any possible way that can go wrong.

You really would think that he'd have learned his lesson by now, wouldn't you? Or maybe not if people keep on employing him.

Ack.

Well, it's draft day! All teams are looking to fill needs, for example, my beloved Broncos, whose stupid cock of a new head coach managed to piss off our Pro-Bowl QB enough that they had to trade him to the Bears. I'm not bitter.

So who will Detroit take with the first overall selection? Matt Millen is gone, so it can't be (yet) another WR.. can it? CAN IT?

Should be good to see what happens

Has anyone else read the draft by pete williams, Im about a third through and Im enjoying it a fair bit

Nah, they've already done a deal with Stafford (QB) for the first pick. Frankly they should get mercy picks from the NFL as well.

Maybe that's just a smokescreen, come the draft, Matt Millen will drop from the rafters, clobber everyone will a steel chair, and shout 'I'm baaack!' then pick a Wide Receiver.

That'd be awesome.

quate from the pti podcast' the nfl draft is a bigger sport these days than the entire nhl'

New York Jets in "Mortgaging Future To Move Up The First Round" Shock. If Sanchez turns out to be a franchise player, it'll be worth losing some depth across the board. If he goes full Dewayne Robertson then not so much.

Well, season 09/10 has just kicked off, and there's been some interesting moves in the offseason.

Brett Favre retired at the end of the 08/09 season.... then unretired again, for the second year in a row. This time for hated Packer rivals the Minnesota Vikings. Expect burning effigies and a season that starts out well, then plunges into disaster.

Disgraced quarterback Michael 'Dogfightin' Mike' Vick returned from prison, threw himself on the mercy of the league and is reinstated and eligible to play in week 3 (I think) for the Eagles... well it was either them or the Raiders, no PETA protestors will dare to show up at the only NFL stadium with its own courtroom... and not because they fear getting sentenced there.

The Bronco's new head coach has managed to alienate both the Quarterback and top WR of that organisation. It's not like they had one of the top offenses last year or anything... oh wait.

Holy crap.

Drew Brees 358 yards passing, 6 touchdown passes.

Admittedly, the Saints were playing The Hapless Detroit Lions.

That's a pretty standard Saints approach isn't it? Brees is probably the next biggest "gunslinger" type QB in the league after Favre. 4 interceptions next week probably.

I probably will forget to check the NFL stuff until baseball season is over, like usual. My NFL season never really starts until November.

Welcome to Chicago, Jay! You pathertic cry baby.

I only saw the first half, but his receivers really didn't help Cutler out. The first two interceptions were both down to the receiver breaking off his route and not fighting for the ball.

And yes, I AM just bitter that I started Cutler over Roethlisberger in my fantasy team.

And the third, and the fourth.

Yes, Chicago, you can start a defensive back/kick returner turned wr, a rookie and a second year player who barely played in his rookie year as your WR corps. Just don't expect them to be as good as Marshall, Royal, and Stokely were last year for the Broncs. Or good in general.

Also, the Bears Offensive line was pretty terrible, which didn't help.

after finishing 0-16, didn't the lions get some nice draft picks then?

I have a theory about the Lions... they have had so many high draft picks, and have had to pay so much money for them, that they never have enough money for a decent supporting cast, and are consequently doomed to failure.

Case in point, their new quarterback, Stafford, has played as many NFL games as Eli Manning has Superbowl rings.. guess who is on more money? Give you a clue... it's not Peyton's little brother.

So the Packers won then?

The Lions should have retired as a team when Barry went.

Especially as Barry went, in his prime, because the Lions were a shit team.

The most amazing news of the season so far has come out of the Motor City...


The Detroit Lions have....
















Won a game!!!!!!