Straight Outta The Box: Chief Rum Takes Over The FOF 2004 Cards

[Chief Rum]

Gawd, I did that again?

I did that in one of my weekly predictions, too. Stupid Titans-Texans similarity (and both roiginally from Houston, too...). I don't even think about it; I just type and there it is.

My injury levels are set to 80. I did this because I heard of there being way too many injuries at the 100 level from early players. Of coruse, we have since then done a lot of research into the possibility injuries (or the lack thereof) may be playing into the stat fluctuations and differences we are seeing, but I haven't changed it yet. The injuries seemed to be a fair mix for this season.

CR

[DolphinFan1]

Chief, Nice job on this dynasty. I like the quick reviews of the other games. Especially Miami's games.

[Chief Rum]

Week Four: Arizona at St. Louis

Things looked pretty good to start off.

We traded field goals with the Rams in the first quarter, and generally kept them at bay. Then with just three minutes left, we kicked another field goal and actually had a 6-3 lead. That's when the floor fell out.

On the ensuing kickoff, Isaac Bruce returned the kick 92 yards for a touchdown and a 10-6 Rams lead.

On the next possession, Blake was sacked in a third and long, and fumbled the ball to the Rams with good field position. On the Rams first play, Faulk broke a 35 yard run for a touchdown, putting the Rams up 17-6.

When the Cards got the ball back again, with just seconds remaining, Blake went back for another pass, was sacked again, and once again fumbled the ball to the Rams. There was just enough time for the Rams to kick a 49-yard FG to finish off the half. 20-6, just like that.

I'm sure it won't surprise you that by the fourth quarter, Blake was replaced in the lineup by #2 QB Preston Parsons. The Rams rolled, 34-13.

Parsons is much less talented than Blake, and Blake isn't very good to begin with. So it was with some surprise to see Parsons handle the position fairly well. He went 8-for-10 for 115 yd with 1 td, which he threw to Boldin late in the game.

Fuel for thought there...

The line was back to its sieve-like ways, allowing six sacks. Blake was at the losing end of three fumbles, and the team as a whole fumbled the ball twice, losing four. Blake also threw an interception. T Anthony Clement had another horrible day, allowing three sacks to go through him.

QB Blake: 15-for-26 for 177 yd, 0 td, 1 int
RB Smith: 30 rush yd
WR Boldin: 6 rec, 57, 1 td
WR Johnson: 7 rec, 66, 0 td

For the Rams, Faulk had yet to really break out this season. This was his first 100-yd game (105 rush yd, 2 td). Lamar Gordon also rushed for 48 yd.

Other Games

Home Team in CAPS

Atlanta 48, CAROLINA 21: There were three interceptions returned for touchdowns in this one, two of them by the Falcons. That shows you the kind of game this was. And it was all Falcons when neither QB was throwing picks. The Panthers turned the ball over five times to the Falcons one, and had more than 100 yards less than Atlanta. Michael Vick (26-35, 225 yd, 1 td, 1 int) was steady as usual, and Warrick Dunn & T.J. Duckett combined for 149 rush yds. Peerless Price (9 rec, 82 yd, 1 td) keyed the passing game.

Cincinnati 24, CLEVELAND 7: Wow, the Browns are missing Kelly Holcomb right now. Tim Couch (11-28, 141 yd, 1 td, 1 int, 7 sacks) just had an awful game. The Bengals nearly doubled the Browns' offensive totals (420-219). Jon Kitna (24-39, 276 yd, 3 td, 1 int) returned to solid form today, and Corey Dillon & Rudi Johnson combined for 142 rush yd.

DALLAS 16, NY Jets 3: The Jets lost their fourth straight game, three of which have been played at home. The Boys did it with three field goals and a Joey Galloway punt return. Neither team broke 300 yd. in offense, and the Jets had just 189 yd. Troy Hambrick (123 rush yd) led the way for Dallas.

DENVER 23, Detroit 13: The Lions had to survive both a chilly rain (49 degrees) in Denver, and a tough Broncos squad. They racked up 7 sacks and forced 4 turnovers, but it still wasn't enough, as they were sabotaged by Joey Harrington being a little off mark (19 for 39, 1 int) and the Broncos' offense succeeding in spite of 3 Jake Plummer fumbles. Clinton Portis (109 rush yd) returned to form, and Plummer (21-29, 213 yd, 2 td, 1 int) was on the mark when he wasn't dropping the ball.

CHICAGO 26, Green Bay 13: A bad season got worse for the Packers, as Brett Favre remained sidelined. Rookie Trevor Price (29-42, 349 yd, 1 td, 3 int) was actually pretty good, but he was a little too off the mark with some passes and that hurt the Pack. It didn't help that the running game generated just 17 yd. of offense. Kordell Stewart (16-for-22, 164 yd, 1 td, 0 int) knew well enough not to screw it up and didn't.

NEW ORLEANS 31, Indianapolis 13: Aaron Brooks (23-35, 194 yd, 2 td, 2 int) came back strong from injury and led the Saints to a victory that was even more lopsided than the final score indicates. Even more troubling, Peyton Manning (9-20, 137 yd, 0 td, 1 int) had to leave the game with an injury in the fourth quarter. Deuce McAllister (168 yd, 2 td) was unstoppable for the Saints.

Jacksonville 33, HOUSTON 24: Just when the Texans got close (moved within two with a late fourth quarter score), they gave it away. On the very following kickoff, the Jags' Fred Taylor took the ball back 87 yards for a kick return score and nailed the coffin in the Texans' loss. Taylor (124 rush yd) also did damage in set plays, and Bryon Leftwich (24-47, 291 yd, 2 td, 1 int) held up well enough to make the win hold up. David Carr (25-38, 284 yd, 2 td, 0 int) did well, but fell just short.

BALTIMORE 19, Kansas City 12: The Chiefs let late 9-7 and 12-10 leads get away from them, as Ravens' CB Chris McAllister returned a Trent Green int 66 yd for the clinching score with less than two minutes to go. The Chiefs outgained the Ravens, 370-259, but it went for naught. Todd Heap (8 rec, 79 yd, 1 td) was the key to the Ravens' passing game.

New England 15, WASHINGTON 14: Patrick Ramsey (21-28, 210 yd, 1 td, 3 int) threw one INT too many. Pats' S Eugene Wilson returned Ramsey's pick in the fourth quarter for New England's only td. It proved to be the difference, as neither side was particularly effective on offense.

BUFFALO 19, Philadelphia 14: Drew Bledsoe (22-33, 263 yd, 1 td, 0 int) and Eric Moulds (10 rec, 160 yd, 1 td) formed a powerful duo, and the passing attack keyed an offense that produced a score and 4 FG. That was enough, as the Bills defense kept the Eagles to just 285 yd in total offense.

OAKLAND 33, San Diego 15: This must be the week of the interception return. Rod Woodson and Derrick Gibson each returned one for the Raiders in this one, as part of a blowout victory for the home team. Ladainlian Tomlinson (31 yd) didn't provide Drew Brees (23-39, 247 yd, 0 td, 3 int) much support. Meanwhile, Rich Gannon (18-27, 219 yd, 1 td, 0 int) led an effective offense attack around the interceptions returns.

MINNESOTA 24, San Francisco 17: The Niners shot themselves in the foot with 6 turnovers, including 5 Jeff Garcia int, and the Vikings built a lead they were able to hold onto. San Francisco actually outgained the Vikings, 397-289. Daunte Culpepper, who himself recently threw 5 int in a game, was relatively flawless (20-31, 166 yd, 0 td, 0 int). Terrell Owens (7 rec, 150 yd, 2 td) turned in a second fine performance in a row.

Tennessee 21, PITTSBURGH 20: Steve McNair (17-26, 267 yd, 1 td, 1 int) came through like usual--just in time to save the day. With 1:25 left on the game clock, McNair hooked up with Drew Bennett on a 20-yd scoring pass, putting the Titans in the lead for good. Gary Anderson continues a fine kicking season with 5 FG in support of the Titan attack.

Injuries

I didn't have any major injuries, although changes may be happeneing in my lineup for other reasons.

With Blake struggling and Parsons doing well in limited time, it seems like as good a time as any to give him a start under center.

Also, it is clear that, with 10 sacks allowed in 4 games, Anthony Clement simply isn't the answer at LT. I will be going with the young Kendrick Rogers in his place.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Yeah, I figured the other game reviews would be popular for fans of those teams. Unfortunately, I can't do it forever, since I have to start moving forward faster. I will continue to provide them for key games in every given week, though, and I will continue to do all games in a week through Week Six. Mostly, I just want to givce people a feel for the other teams in the league, then stick to the ones who are doing well (and the Cardinals, of course).

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Five: Arizona at Dallas

This was an upsetting game, because you have to think it was very winnable. The Cards' defense came to play and limited Cowboys to just 195 yards of total offense.

The problem is that the Cards' offense wasn't too effective either, gaining just 281 yd itself, and also turned the ball over 3 times on top of it.

Nevertheless, the Cards had the lead, 10-9, deep into the fourth quarter when the Cwoboys finally broke through. Quincy Carter connected with Joey Galloway on a 6-yard scoring pass with 2:27 left in the game to finally give Dallas the lead and eventually the game.

Parsons wasn't horrible, but he wasn't really much more effective than Blake tended to be. His two int hurt the team just as much as Blake's would.

QB Parsons: 19-for-33, 179 yd, 0 td, 2 int
RB Smith: 77 yd (3.2 ypc)
WR Johnson (5 rec, 81 yd, 0 td)

The line, with Kendrick Rogers ensconched at LT in place of Anthony Clement, did better overall, with 3 sacks allowed. It's questionable how much Rodgers had to do with it, though, since he allowed 2 of them.

For the first time, McKinnon didn't lead the team in tacklea. He finished second with 5. The top tackler was SS Adrian Wilson (7 tkl).

Other Games

Home Team in CAPS

BUFFALO 17, Cincinnati 13: The Bengals took a 10-7 lead into the fourth quarter, and led 13-10 with nine minutes left after a Chuck Harwood field goal. But they were unable to keep the Bills out of the end zone in the end, with Drew Bledsoe running the ball in with just under 4 minutes left in the game. Bledsoe (30-44, 355, 1 td, 1 int) put up big numbers, considering it didn't produce many points.

PITTSBURGH 45, Cleveland 10: The Browns continue what has been an awful season so far for them. The yardage totals weren't far off (321-282), but the Browns continued to hurt themselves with turnovers, 4 for this game. Kelly Holcomb (10-18, 81 yd, 0 td, 3 int) was back in the lineup for the first time since Week Three, but it didn't do much good. He was eventually replaced again by Tim Couch. Jerome Bettis ran for 117 yd, and Tommy Maddox (14-for-17, 183 yd, 4 td, 0 int) took advantage of a poor Cleveland defense.

KANSAS CITY 31, Denver 21: The Broncos and Chiefs took turns giving up turnovers (4 each, 8 total) and put up about the same yardage. The Chiefs made their opportunities count better, though, giving them a 31-10 lead in the fourth quarter before coasting for the win. The Chiefs' attack was led by Priest Holmes (93 yd, 1 td) and Trent Green (15-25, 185 yd, 2 td, 2 int).

SAN FRANCISCO 33, Detroit 10: The Lions only broke into double digits when they got a score with less than two minutes go into the game. That should tell you how this one went. The Lions were outgained 441-307 and turned the ball over 4 times. Jeff Garcia (27-40, 302 yd, 1 td, 0 int) and Terrell Owens (10 rec, 123 yd) continue to perform at a high level.

TAMPA BAY 29, Indianapolis 23 (OT): The Colts blew 16-6 and 23-13 leads, and allowed the Buccs to tie the game down the stretch. The last lead came after a Peyton Manning to Marcus Pollard scoring pass with under four minutes left. Despite that deficit, the Buccs got within three when Thomas Jones ran in for a score from 15 yards out at 2:19, and then the Buccs got the ball back and tied it up on a 43-yard FG by Martin Gramatica with 20 seconds left. The Buccs then took that momentum and got the winning score in overtime, on an 18-yard pass to Mike Alstott. The two teams combined for 902 yards. Brad Johnson (28-39, 350 yd, 2 td, 1 int) led the Buccs' comeback. They overcame the Colts' Big Three: Edgerrin James (131 rush yd, 179 all-purpose), Manning (25-38, 312 yd, 2 td, 0 int), and Marvin Harrison (8 rec, 135 yd, 1 td).

NY GIANTS 23, Miami 14: The Dolphins did what they could to win the game, but they didn't really come close. They actually limited the Giants to just 252 yd. total offense and only turned the ball over once, but they were still pretty much out of it by half time. Go figure. Kerry Collins (17-23, 130 yd, 2 td, 0 int) led a mistake-free, if not yardage-heavy offense, which also featured Tiki Barber (115 rush yd).

ATLANTA 31, Minnesota 17: The Vikings usually outgain their opponents, and this week wasn't any different (389-296), but was has really sunk them are the turnovers. Daunte Culpepper threw 3 more int this week, and the Falcons ran with it. Michael Vick (21-31, 168 yd, 2 td, 1 int, 50 rush yd) was at his dual-threat best, and T.J. Duckett rushed for 70 yd. Culpepper threw for 309 yd, and Randy Moss (6 rec, 105 yd) and D'Wayne Bates (7 rec, 97 yd) racked up the yardage, if not the points.

CAROLINA 16, New Orleans 13: The Panthers have neen struggling, but this weke they take a small step forward. They held the Saints to 247 yd. of total offense and took a 16-6 lead early in the fourth quarter to cruise to the final. Rodney Peete (23-36, 239 yd, 0 td, 1 int) did just enough to preserve the victory.

Oakland 20, CHICAGO 13: The game ended up closer than it seems, as the Raiders built up a 20-3 lead after three quarters. They outgained the Bears, 403-265, and forced two fumbles. Charlie Garner (148 rush yd) had another fine week, and Jerry Porter (6 rec, 104 yd, 1 td) was the main man through the air.

JACKSONVILLE 31, San Diego 9: Except for a game against Indianapolis, the Jags have been rolling this season. They limited the Bolts to just 13 first downs and 245 yd of total offense. They also racked up 5 sacks and 3 int. Fred Taylor (84 yd, 2 td) continues to be the engine that drives the offense, and Bryon Leftwich (29-30, 321 yd, 1 td, 1 int) is still playing with poise beyond his years.

Seattle 30, GREEN BAY 13: You know things have fallen hard for the Packers when they can't even defend a snow-driven Lambeau Field from the Seahawks. As late as the early third quarter, the Packers and Hawks were tied 13-13, but it was all Seattle after that. Trent Dilfer (26-35, 242 yd, 2 td, 2 int) again keyed the offense for the Seahawks. Trevor Price (20-38, 161 yd, 0 td, 1 int) continued to play decently well for an undrafted rookie, but this team really needs Brett Favre to come abck from injury.

Tennessee 24, NEW ENGLAND 13: Tennessee ran it up to 17-3 by the third quarter, and then held on after that in a tough road game. McNair (18-30, 310 yd, 3 td, 0 int) had the best statistical game yet of his season to lead the Titans. His partner in crime was Derrick Mason (6 rec, 170 yd, 3 td).

Washington 25, PHILADELPHIA 19 (OT): The Eagles scored shortly after the beginning of the game, and didn't relinquish that lead until there was just over a minute left in the game. The Skins' Patrick Ramsey threw a 17-yd pass to TE Byron Chamberlain to put the Skins up by 3. The Eagles scrambled in the last seconds of regulation to tie it up, and did so on a 30-yard FG by David Akers with 21 seconds left. The Skins wouldn't give this one up, though, after coming back all game. With seven minutes left in the overtime, Ramsey secured the win with an 18-yd scoring strike to Rod Gardner. Ramsey (32-49, 339 yd, 2 td, 0 int) had his best game of the year thus far, despite being sacked 5 times. Gardner had 9 catches, for 151 yards and the game-winning score.

Injuries

Starting defensive tackle Wendell Bryant suffered a minor injury that will put him out for 2-3 weeks. Derrick Ransom will replae him in the lineup, although at this point in their careers, there will be little drop off between the two.

Duane Starks, by far the team's top corner and out since the first preseason game, looks to be ready to return to action for next week's game.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Six: Baltimore at Arizona

The difference between a 1-5 record and a 3-3 record is frighteneingly close here.

Last week, we played good enough defense to win, but we just didn't execute on offense. Now this week, we lead for most of the second half, and are up 23-16 late in the fourth quarter, when we let it slip away again.

Two touchdowns in the third quarter moved us from being behind 10-6 to up 20-10 and in control with about a quarter to go. But with 2: 27 left, Marcus Robinson caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Boller to tie the game.

In the overtime, the Ravens drove down and got in within range, and sure enough, their veteran kicker Matt Stover connected, kicking his fourth FG of the game to win it for the Ravens. The Ravens won, 26-23.

Although neither offense really did badly, neither did they click. Neither team got more than 300 yards in total offense, although they were roughly equal. The Ravens won in spite of 4 Boller interceptions.

Parsons, starting his second game, tried to keep pace with Boller, but topped out at 2 interceptions.

QB Parsons: 20-for-51, 225 yd, 2 td, 2 int
RB Smith: 54 yd. (2.4 ypc)
WR Boldin: 4 rec, 90 yd, 1 td
TE Jones: 7 rec, 41 yd.

The line played its second solid game of the year in pass protection, allowing just one sack.

McKinnon and SLB Raynoch Thompson split top defensive duties for the Cards. They both collected 10 tackles. McKinnon got a sack, and Thompson grabbed one of Boller's interceptions. The nice difference maker, though, was corner Duane Starks, playing in his first game of the year since healing up. Starks grabbed two interceptions in his debut game. Nice to have him back.

No one really stood out for the Ravens, other than Boller with his propensity to turn the ball over. Jamal Lewis ran for 47 yd and scored 1 td, and Robinson and Travis Taylor each grabbed 6 catches for 53 yards. Robinson also got a score.

Other Games

Home Team in CAPS

Atlanta 34, ST. LOUIS 28: The Falcons went into St. Louis and looked like they were going to pull out a fine conference win from a good team. But the Rams wouldn't let them go so easily. Trailing 28-18 in the final minutes of the game, the Rams scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass to TE Cameron Cleeland with just 36 seconds left, and then they recovered the ball on an onside kick. One Kurt Warner-to-Torry-Holt strike later, they were in field goal range, and Jeff Wilkins kicked in a 39-yarder to tie the game as regulation ended. The Falcons won the toss, though, and proceeded to grind out a long winning drive in overtime, ending with a 24-yard pass from Michael Vick to Brian Kozlowski. The two teams had 908 yards of total offense. Vick (29-33, 359 yd, 3 td, 0 int) was incredible in leading the Dirty Birds to victory. Peerless Price (12 rec, 134 yd) was a main weapon of his, and T.J. Duckett rushed for 99 yd, and 1 td. Kurt Warner (28-42, 399 yd, 3 td, 1 int) wasn't quite as good as Vick, although few could fault how he did. Torry Holt (9 rec, 159 yd, 1 td) continues a very strong season.

Buffalo 30, NY JETS 12: The Jets look to be horning in on the top pick at this rate. They actually outgained the Bills in a low-production offensive game for both sides, but they were done in by 3 turnovers. Drew Bledsoe (17-22, 199 yd, 1 td, 0 int) was very effective, and Eric Moulds (7 rec, 87 yd, 1 td) had another solid game.

INDIANAPOLIS 27, Carolina 9: The numbers don't look as bad as the score looks, but you don't get wins for turning the ball over less than your opponent. Both Rodney Peete and Chris Weinke tried to make it work against the Colts' benbut-don't-break D, but couldn't make it work. Peyton Manning (19-25, 269 yd, 2 td, 1 int) was very solid, and he had help from Edgerrin James (100 rush yd, 1 td), Marcus Pollard (6 rec, 90 yd), and Marvin Harrison (4 rec, 107 yd, 2 td).

NEW ORLEANS 33, Chicago 9: The Saints can't seem to stay off the roller coaster. The coaster went up this week at least. The defense held the Bears to perhaps a league-low 143 yd of offense, and forced 4 turnovers. The Bears only got 9 first downs. Aaron Brooks (17-29, 219 yd, 2 td, 0 int) had a solid, mistake-free game, and Deuce McAllister (90 rush yd, 1 td, 4 rec, 28 rec ryd, 1 rec td) was all over the place in this one.

TENNESSEE 12, Houston 7: The Titans employed a tough defense and the foot of Gary Anderson to roll to another victory. Anderson kicked 4 FG--his third game with as much this season--to supply the Titans with all their scoring offense. The defense limited the Texans to just 241 yd. of offense. Tyrone Calico and Derrick Mason combined for 16 catches and 198 yd.

Kansas City 27, Green Bay 20: The Chiefs jumped to a 14-0 lead, and eventually used it to fend off a feisty Packers' squad that is still missing Brett Favre. The final totals were very close (342 yd to 341 yd for GB, a fumble turnover each), but the Chiefs got more bang for their buck. Trent Green (22-36, 219 yd, 3 td, 0 int) played very well, leading the Chiefs' offense. Trevor Prce (23-35, 254 yd, 1 td, 0 int) had his best game yet, but it still fell short.

Miami 51, JACKSONVILLE 13: The Dolphins handed the Jags a huge wake up call in this one. The Dolphins intercepted no less than 8passes from the Jags, 5 from Bryon Leftwich and 3 from Mark Brunell in replacement of the rookie. Overall, the Dolphins had just a 333-310 offense edge, so the turnovers made all the difference. Jay Fielder (18-26, 174 yd, 2 td, 0 int) and Ricky Williams (82 yd, 3 td) did the damage in the short fields the Jags gave them. Collectively, Leftwich and Brunell went 17-42 from the field.

NEW ENGLAND 34, NY Giants 27: The score looks closer than it was, as the Giants got within seven with an Amani Toomer kickoff return for score with 1: 45 left in the game. The Pats had pretty much nailed the door shut by scoring 10 points in the previous 6 minutes. The Giants dominated the Pats in yardage (421-268), but Kerry Collins threw 4 int to give New England a big advantage, including a Rodney Harrison interception return. The Patriots were off from the very beginning, with Antowain Smith bringing back a kickoff for score off the opening kickoff. COllins (31-50, 364 yd, 2 td) was otherwise very solid, and Toomer (14 rec, 190 yd, 2 td) had probably the best day for a receiver yet this year, above and beyond his kick return score. Tom Brady (20-25, 226 yd, 2 td, 0 int) was very efficient.

Oakland 37, CLEVELAND 17: It's clear that this Raiders team is much closer to last year's than this year's version. The Browns also got off right, with an opening kickoff return for touchdown by James Jackson, but it was all downhill from there. The Raiders more than doubled the Browns yardage (498-232). Rich Gannon (31-44, 425 yd, 2 td, 0 int) had more yardage than anyone yet this season, and his main target Jerry Porter (8 rec, 160 yd, 1 td) enjoyed a banner day.

DALLAS 20, Philadelphia 17 (OT): Last week, it was interception returns. This week it's kick returns. There were two of them in this one. The Eagles' Lito Sheppard brought back the second-half opening kickoff for the Eagles, but it was Joey Galloway's fourth quarter punt return for score that put the Cowboys up. The Eagles had to scramble to tie it, with a 34-yd FG by David Akers with 1:34 left in regulation. The Cowboys won the toss in overtime and drove quickly to field goal range, winning it on a 30-yd Billy Cundiff FG. The two teams had maybe the worst offensive output for two team yet this season, with just 422 total yards between them.

Pittsburgh 34, DENVER 31: The Broncos have been losing some tough ones. I'll give you one guess how this one started off. Yup, a game opening kick return for touchdown by Denver's Jimmy Spencer. This is getting kinda creepy. This game was very back and forth. They traded touchdowns early, but then the Steelers scored three touchdowns to a field goal by the Broncos to take a 27-17 lead. The Broncos scored two unanswered touchdowns to catch Pitt, 31-27, but then in the last minutes of the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh's Dan Kreider caught a 1-yd pass for the decisive score in the game. The two teams had 961 total yards, including 545 for the Steelers. Denver didn't help themselves with 4 turnovers, 3 of them fumbles. The Steelers' offense was full of stars, particularly Tommy Maddox (22-29, 346 yd, 4 td, 1 int), Jerome Bettis (162 rush yd, 1 td), and Plaxico Burress (6 rec, 177 yd, 1 td). Clinton Portis (87 yd, 1 td) and Shannon Sharpe (7 rec, 151 yd, 1 td) led the way for the Broncos.

SEATTLE 27, San Francisco 16: Okay, is this bug? Good Lord, another kick return for touchdown, once again off of the opening kickoff! The benefactor this week was Seattle's Kerry Carter. The Niners stayed wih the Hawks for most of the game before Seattle finally put them away with 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. The Niners also outgained the Seahawks 364-231. Koren Robinson (8 rec, 122 yd, 2 td) was the star today.

TAMPA BAY 36, Washington 17: Okay, this has to be a bug. It's just too weird. Rod Gardner had a 102-yard kickoff return for touchdown to open this game as well. What is that, eight return touchdowns? Five to begin games? The Skins needed a lot more of it, of course, because they couldn't get much else going on today. Brad Johnson (21-29, 248 yd, 2 td, 0 int) choreographed the offense, and Thomas Jones and Michael Pittman combined for 138 rush yd.

Injuries

Wendell Bryant is still mending, but with a bye week next week, he will be ready to go in Week Eight. We suffered today without our best lineman, C Pete Kendall, as he was hurt early in the game. It is a minor injury, though, and he should be back in the lineup when we play again in two weeks.

Parsons has done poorly enough to earn Blake a return to the starting lineup, and he will also be in place in Week Eight. Starting fullback, a key contributor for this offense, is close, but is still a few weeks away. I am hoping to have him back by Week Ten.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Standings: Week Seven

Front Office Football 2004
2003 Regular Season Standings—Week 7
   
  AFC North             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Pittsburgh              5   1   0   .833  164    95   5-1    3-0       
Baltimore               3   2   0   .600   96    83   2-2    1-1       
Cincinnati              1   4   0   .200   56   103   1-4    1-2       
Cleveland               1   5   0   .167   89   181   1-4    0-3       
   
  AFC South             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Tennessee               5   1   0   .833  117    89   5-0    2-0       
Jacksonville            4   2   0   .667  176   149   3-2    1-2       
Indianapolis            2   4   0   .333  143   149   1-2    1-1       
Houston                 1   4   0   .200   88   107   0-4    0-2       
   
  AFC East              W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Buffalo                 5   1   0   .833  117    96   4-1    3-0       
Miami                   3   2   0   .600  125    88   3-1    1-1       
New England             3   3   0   .500  102   105   1-2    1-1       
NY Jets                 0   5   0   .000   48   107   0-3    0-3       
   
  AFC West              W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Oakland                 5   1   0   .833  158    95   4-1    2-0       
Kansas City             4   2   0   .667  143   108   3-2    2-0       
Denver                  3   3   0   .500  141   133   2-3    1-2       
San Diego               1   4   0   .200   76   139   1-4    0-3       
   
  NFC North             W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA   Conf    Div  
Minnesota               3   2   0  .600  104   108    3-2    2-1       
Detroit                 2   3   0  .400  105   102    2-2    1-1       
Chicago                 1   4   0  .200   85   119    1-4    1-1       
Green Bay               1   5   0  .167   92   152    1-4    1-2       
   
  NFC South             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Tampa Bay               5   0   0  1.000  139    75   4-0    2-0       
Atlanta                 5   1   0   .833  169   109   5-1    1-1       
New Orleans             3   3   0   .500  129    95   1-2    0-1       
Carolina                1   4   0   .200   75   153   1-2    1-2       
   
  NFC East              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA   Conf    Div  
NY Giants               3   2   0  .600  128    94    2-1    2-0       
Dallas                  3   2   0  .600   75    91    2-2    1-1       
Philadelphia            1   4   0  .200   73   105    0-3    0-2       
Washington              2   4   0  .333   99   120    1-3    1-1       
   
  NFC West              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA   Conf    Div  
St. Louis               4   1   0  .800  138   104    4-1    3-0       
Seattle                 4   1   0  .800  143    88    4-1    2-1       
San Francisco           3   3   0  .500  133   130    2-3    0-2       
Arizona                 1   5   0  .167   92   142    1-4    0-2

CR

[Chief Rum]

I have reached the point at which I will change up some to move a little faster.

IMO, six weeks in is usually a pretty good time to sort out the contenders from the chumps. From now on, I will only recap games that involve two .500 or above teams or games of importance in some other ways (games between two top division rivals, or playoff clincher games, and so on...).

I will, of course, continue to have the same recaps of the Cards games, which will no doubt have very little importance in the playoff picture this year, if my 1-5 record so far is a true indicator.

For those games for which I don't give recaps, I will still give the scores.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week 7: Arizona On Bye

Just like the old joke says, we're guaranteed to not lose this week.

Week Seven's Big Games

Denver (3-3) at Minnesota (3-2)

Minnesota looks for legitimacy and a lead in the blac & blue division. The Broncos hope to prove they are better more often then they ain't.

Kansas City (4-2) at Oakland (5-1)

This will be a key battle for the AFC West.

New England (3-3) at Miami (3-2)

New England can get above .500 and move past Miami with a win. The Dolphins can put pressure on the Bills with a win of their own.

New Orleans (3-3) at Atlanta (5-1)

New Orleans will try to stay close to the NFC South power tandem of Atlanta and Tampa Bay.

Tampa Bay (5-0) at San Francisco (3-3)

The only undefeated team in the NFL gets a tough road test, while the Niners are trying to stay with the Rams in the NFC West.

Results

Home Team in CAPS

Denver 37, MINNESOTA 27: Well, if the Vikes are going to hold on to the NFC North, they are going to have to protect their home better than this. The Vikings overcame an early 17-7 deficit to lead 27-17 going into the fourth quarter, but the Broncos scored 20 unanswered points in the final quarter to take the victory. Clinton Portis (71 yd, 2 td) scored both of his touchdowns and Jason Elam kicked two of his three FG to account for the Broncos late-game offense. The Vikings outgained the Broncos, 402-265, but turned the ball over three times, fumbled the ball six times overall, and allowed seven sacks. Rod Smith (8 rec, 172 yd, 2 td) was a force at receiver for the Broncos. Daunte Culpepper (28-38, 365 yd, 2 td, 1 int) and Randy Moss (16 rec, 220 yd, 2 td) were typically incredible, but the ground game (47 total yd) was pathetic.

OAKLAND 44, Kansas City 3: The Raiders treated the Chiefs like a high school team. They were up 27-3 by halftime, and failed to score less than 10 points in just one quarter (the third, they got 7). The yardage difference (376-304) wasn't so significant, but the Chiefs helped the Raiders by coughing up four turnovers. Charlie Garner (108 rush yd, 1 td, 8 rec, 77 rec yd, 1 rec td) was a threat all over the field, and Rich Gannon (22-26, 221 yd, 2 td, 0 int) was very much on the mark.

New England 27, MIAMI 9: You would think a team that dropped 51 on Jacksonvilled would do better against a Pats team that has struggled at times this season, and at home to boot. Two Antowain Smith rushing scores, and a Deion Branch TD reception were the key plays in the Patriots' first half march to a 24-0 lead. The Dolphins had a big yardage advantage (427-263), but, as usual in cases like these, they returned the favor with 5 turnovers, including 4 Jay Fiedler interceptions. Smith (77 yd, 2 td) was the Pats' best weapon today. Randy McKnight (8 rec, 151 yd) and Chris Chambers (6 rec, 119 yd, 1 td) played well when Fielder got them the ball.

ATLANTA 28, New Orleans 14: I noted the Saints are about as close to an up-and-down team as we have seen this season. This week is a downer. The best that can be said is that they matched the Falcons with an interception return for touchdown. The Falcons had a 14-0 halftime lead, and they used their interception return score to put the nail in the Saints' coffin. T.J. Duckett (88 yd, 1 td) had a strong day for the Dirty Birds.

SAN FRANCISCO 27, Tampa Bay 24: The last undefeated team in the NFL has fallen, but it wasn't without drama. The Niners won the game on a lengthy 55-yd Owen Poachman FG with just 1:00 minute left in the game. The Niners were down 21-10 at one point in the second quarter before coming back in the second half. The Niners outgained the Buccs 393-299, and Tampa Bay also turned the ball over 3 times. Jeff Garcia (23-32, 250 yd, 2 td, 0 int) led the way for San Fran.

Baltimore 23, CINCINNATI 16
SEATTLE 17, Chicago 6
Dallas 17, DETROIT 14
ST. LOUIS 25, Green Bay 7
HOUSTON 17, NY Jets 10
NY GIANTS 9, Philadelphia 6
San Diego 26, CLEVELAND 16
Tennessee 26, CAROLINA 9
BUFFALO 20, Washington 13

Next week, the Cards are back in action.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Eight

Week Eight's Big Games

Buffalo (6-1) at Kansas City (4-3)

The Chiefs will try to bounce back from their horrible game against the Raiders and give the AFC East-topping Bills a test.

Dallas (4-2) at Tampa Bay (5-1)

The Boys are in a tie for first in the NFC East, while the Buccs are trying to rebound from not only their first loss of the season, but from also losing first place in the NFC South to the Falcons.

Denver (4-3) at Baltimore (4-2)

The Ravens are trying to catch the AFC North-leading Steelers, while the Broncos try and build on the monetum of their big win over the Vikings last week.

NY Giants (4-2) at Minnesota (3-3)

This is a matchup of two division leaders, neither of whom looks particularly great. This could be a key matchup where one team starts to move up, while the other might start to fall apart.

St. Louis (5-1) at Pittsburgh (5-1)

A potential Super Bowl preview? These two teams are certainly at the top of their games right now and could be contendors for their respective conference's berth in the Big Game.

Tennessee (6-1) at Jacksonville (4-2)

This is gut check time for the Jags, who got obliterated two weeks ago by the Dolphins after a rosey start prior to that. The Titans lead the AFC South, and the Jags need this game to have a chance to catch them.

San Francisco at Arizona

After a week off to nurse wounds and redouble for the rest of the season, the Cards return to the field for a matchup against a key division rival (and with the Cards being the dog in the division, every other NFC West team is a "key division rival").

The Niners are coming off of a big win over the previously undefeated Buccaneers.

The Cards will start Jeff Blake again, after a two-week failed experiment with backup quarterback Preston Parsons. DT Wendell Bryant and C Pete Kendall are back and healthy, and CB Duane Starks is now 100%.

You just knew things were going to go bad after what happened in the very first couple minutes of the game. Niner S Tony Parrish returned a Blake interception for the first points of the game.

The Cards didn't just give in, though. Later in the quarter, Blake hooked up with Anquan Boldin on a long bomb 47-yard scoring pass to tie it up, and then the Cardinals took the lead with a field goal seconds into the second quarter.

The Cardinals wouldn't score again, though, as the Niners ran off 20 unanswered points to run away with the victory. Final score, 27-10.

Blake threw two interceptions, both to Parrish, and the Cards just couldn't run the ball effectively (56 rush yd).

QB Blake: 22-for-40, 246 yd, 1 td, 2 int
RB Smith: 46 yd (2.0 ypc)
WR Boldin: 5 rec, 85 yd, 1 td

The line held up well again, for the second straight game. Maybe there is hope yet, at least with the grunts up front. They let just 2 sacks go by, although it would be nice if they could generate some push in the running game. Aside from his saky first game, Kendrick Rodgers seems to be holding up well in place of the poor-performance-deposed Anthony Clement.

Raynoch Thompson had a big game on defense, with a team-leading 11 solo tackles and a pick off of SF QB Jeff Garcia.

The Niners scored with a multi-faceted offense. Garcia (17-26, 188 yd, 1 td, 1 int) was solid. Kevan Barlow (86 yd) pounded the ball at us, and Tai Streets (4 rec, 62 yd, 1 td) stepped it up in an off week for Terrell Owens (I like to think Duane Starks shut Owens down).

Other Games

Home Teams in CAPS

Buffalo 20, KANSAS CITY 14: The Chiefs lost their second straight game to a division leader and are in danger of falling to mediocrity. The Bills jumped to a 14-0 lead, and then tightened down the hatches. Nonetheless, the Chiefs came back to tie it in the very last minute of regulation, on a 20-yard pass from Trent Green to Eddie Kennison. In overtime, Trent Green again produced a score. Unfortunately, it was in the form of a Nate Clements interception return, giving the Bills a hard-fought win on the road. The interception was Green's first and only miscue of the day and came deep in Bills territory when the Chiefs were driving. In other words, it was a back breaker. Drew Bledsoe (29-44, 285 yd, 2 td, 0 int) was very strong, and the Bills also got leading performances from Travis Henry (95 rush yd) and Eric Moulds (8 rec, 106 yd, 1 td). Green (17-30, 253 yd, 2 td, 1 int) was the key contributor for the Chiefs.

TAMPA BAY 37, Dallas 10: The Buccs were obviously pissed they lost last week, and it didn't matter that a division co-leader was coming to town. The game was surprisingly defensive deep into the third quarter, when Dallas had a 10-7 lead. The Buccs scored four touchdowns, three of them on scoring passes by Brad Johnson, in the last quarter and a half, though, to turn it into a rout. The Boys had just 191 total yards and Quincy Carter threw 3 interceptions. Troy Hambrick could get nothing done--he actually lost 6 rush yards on the day, in 15 carries. Johnson (20-32, 194 yd, 3 td, 1 int) was instrumental in the late-game offensive explosion. Keenan McCardell (3 rec, 102 yd, 2 td) made the most of his three catches.

BALTIMORE 13, Denver 10: The Broncos comeback fell just short. Down 13-3 going into the fourth, Denver scored a touchdown on a 35-yd strike from Jake Plummer to Rod Smith. They couldn't break the Ravens' D after that, though, and fell by a field goal. Ray Lewis was all over the place (6 tkl, 4 ass, 1 sack, 2 int). The Baltimore offense was stop-and-go, but a few players had nice days; Jamal Lewis (88 yd), Kyle Boller (20-28, 179 yd, 1 td, 2 int), and Todd Heap (10 rec, 83 yd). Rod Smith (10, 160 yd, 1 td) had a second straight incredible performance, although it wasn't enough this time.

MINNESOTA 21, NY Giants 16: The Vikings came back from a home loss to Denver and a halftime 9-0 deficit to these Giants before running off a string of points in the second half to bag them the victory. The Giants outgained the Vikings, 430-330, but the Vikes made it count when they had the ball. Rookie Onterrio Smith (146 rush yd, 2 td) had the best day of his young career, and Daunte Culpepper (19-26, 175 yd, 1 td, 0 int) didn't screw it up. Moss (11 rec, 96 yd, 1 td) was typically great. He wasn't the best receiver on the turf today, though. Amani Toomer (11 rec, 133 yd, 1 td) takes that prize.

PITTSBURGH 27, St. Louis 13: The Rams never really got going against a tough road crowd. They also allowed a kick return for touchdown, making it even harder to start a comeback. The Steelers overcame three lost fumbles to put up a veru solkid showing on offense, if not spectacular. Tommy Maddox (19-24, 193 yd, 2 td, 0 int) displayed poise in the pocket, and Jerome Bettis (132 yd) had another fine day running the ball. Maddox continues to show that his favorite target is Plaxico Burress (8 rec, 109 yd, 2 td).

Tennessee 27, JACKSONVILLE 17: Three weeks ago, the Jags were 4-1 and riding high. Now they are 4-3 and struggling. This was a needed victory they couldn't come away with. Fred Taylor gave them a good start, returning a kick for a touchdown and catching a TD pass from Bryon Lefrtwich in the first half to give the Jags the early 14-7 lead. The Titans did all the scoring in the second half, though, with help from a Andre Woolfolk interception return for score. Eddie George and Chris Brown combined for 98 rushing yards, and Steve McNair (15-25, 185 yd, 1 td, 1 int) was his usual effective self. Leftwich completed 30 passes, but only had 219 passing yards.

NEW ORLEANS 27, Carolina 15
NEW ENGLAND 38, Cleveland 10
CHICAGO 17, Detroit 14
INDIANAPOLIS 30, Houston 3
SAN DIEGO 16, Miami 10
PHILADELPHIA 31, NY Jets 7
Seattle 30, CINCINNATI 24

Injuries

My secondary tooka big hit when one of my two starting safeties--one of the few strengths of my defense--went down with an injur that could keep him out for two or three weeks at least. Free safety Dexter Jackson will have to mend up, while Marques Anderson gets the call to replace him. With all the injuries I have had in the secondary, the Anderson signing was probably the best move I made yet this season.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Nine

Week Nine's Big Games

Jacksonville (4-3) at Baltimore (5-2)

the Jags are free-falling, with two straight losses. The Ravens are playing strong and sticking close to the Steelers. This is another one the Jags need to win to turn things around.

New England (5-3) at Denver (4-4)

After that hard loss to the Ravens last week, the Broncos need a good win in a big way, especially with the Raiders threatening to run away with the AFC West. The Pats are themsleves trying to catch a seemingly unstoppable squad in the Bills.

New Orleans (4-4) at Tampa Bay (6-1)

This is a huge game in the NFC South. The Saints need to win to remind the Falcons and Buccs it ain't a two-team race for the division. But winning in Tampa is a tall order.

Pittsburgh (6-1) at Seattle (6-1)

Last week, the Steelers beat the Hawks' division mate, the Rams, at home, in the game of the week. This matchup might be this week's game of the week. Figure it to be a little tougher to pull off a win when you have to go on the road this time.

St. Louis (5-2) at San Francisco (5-3)

The Seahawks are on top right now, but the Rams and Niners are right on their tail. With the division leaders facing a tough test in the Steelers, this is a diamond opportunity for the winner of this game to get a step up and move in on Seattle.

Cincinnati at Arizona

At 1-6, the Bengals seem to be a very beatable team, especially at home. But, of course, with my team, no win is a certainty.

We started off strong and did all the scoring in the first half. We were up 10-0, courtesy of a Graham Bolvin FG and a 31-yard touchdown pass from Blake to Emmitt Smith.

As so often happens, though, the pendulum swung back in the second half.

Rudi Johnson pulled the Bengals within a FG when he ran in a score on the Bengals' opening drive of the second half. At the end of the quarter, the Bengals got that FG and tied it up at 10 apiece. And finally, after a whole game of offensive struggles for both teams, the Bengals finally got close enough to kick another FG with 2:11 left in the game. And that would prove to be the bitter difference, 13-10.

The most disappointing thing was that we didn't get blitzed to hell (just three sacks allowed), we didn't turn the ball over (0 turnovers to 2 by the Bengals), and we outgained them (304-278). Despite all that, we still came up short. This team really needs an infusion of "winning attitude", and it appears it ain't gonna come from Emmitt.

QB Blake: 19-for-39, 236 yd, 1 td, 0 int
RB Smith: 45 yd (2.5 ypc)
WR Johnson: 4 rec, 80 yd, 0 td

As I said, the line allowed three sacks, which isn't really all that great, but it's better than many of our early games. We struggled again to rush the ball, but I am guessing that is going to remain a problem for the rest of the season at least.

Marques Anderson stepped in for Dexter Jackson just fine, leading the team with 8 tackles, and Duane Starks got his third pick in three games since returning from his preseason injury.

Interestingly enough, Carson Palmer started for the Bengals. Apparently something happened to Jon Kitna since the last time I saw this team. Palmer played as predicted--like a rookie (18-33, 192 yd, 0 td, 2 int). But he scored in the most important stat--he got a win.

Other Games

Home Team in CAPS

BALTIMORE 39, Jacksonville 31: Figures. The Ravens finally meet an offense that can score on them, so their own offense finally wakes up to compensate. The two teams traded scores in the first half, and went to the locker room knotted up at 17. The Ravens took the initiative to start the second half, though, and took a 30-17 lead by the end of the third quarter. The Jags moved within six with an early fourth quarter score, but the Ravcens came right back with a long Jamal Lewis run for touchdown (44 yder) and Matt Stover put it out of reach with a FG shortly afterwards. The two teams put up 962 yards of total offense, but also turned the ball over 8 times, with 4 each. Bryon Leftwich had maybe his best day of throwing the ball (25-48, 408 yd, 2 td), but he also maybe had his worst (4 int). Jimmy Smith (11 rec, 235 yd) had a great day as his main target. The story of the day, though, was Jamal Lewis, who approached Corey Dillon's single-game rushing record with 243 rush yd. He also scored 2 td.

DENVER 20, New England 17: The Broncos needed this one, and they got it. It was a typical cold day in Denver's high air, where the game time temperature hovered just below freezing, although thankfully on a clear day. The Broncos put a lockdown on the Pats and led 13-0 going into the fourth quarter. The Pats got a couple big plays to turn things around, though, when Tom Brady hit Troy Brown for a 67-yd bomb for seven, and then S Eugene Wilson returned an interception 85 yd for another score. Toss in a FG, and all of a sudden, the Broncos were down 17-13 with 7 minutes left in the game. Jake Plummer took his sweet time, but in Elway-esque fashion he finally got the Broncos in close as the game neared the final whistle. With just 33 seconds left, Plummer hit Ed McCaffrey for 37 yards and the winning score. It was a just result when you consider the Broncos outgained the Patriots 392-215. Plummer (21-45, 284 yd, 2 td, 2 int) apparently saved his best for last, because he wasn't very good prior to the last few minutes of the fourth quarter. Rod Smith (9 rec, 145 yd, 1 td), however, is simply a force this year.

TAMPA BAY 26, New Orleans 6: How strange is this? The Broncos and Pats play under the sun, but in the cold, while the Buccs and Saints meet up in a warm, almost tropical, 88-degree rain storm. As it turns out, it was too difficult for the Saints to come into Tampa and beat the defending champs. Except for a field goal on each side of halftime, the Saints didn't really get anything going today. The Buccs limited them to just 146 yards of total offense. Aaron Brooks (16-43, 129 yd, 0 td, 1 int) was atrocious. Brad Johnson (22-36, 265 yd, 3 td, 0 int) continues to turn in a top notch season. The good news for the Saints? They are bound to see the roller coaster go back up soon after losing the last two.

Pittsburgh 37, SEATTLE 24: Maybe it doesn't matter if the Steelers play at home or on the road. They continue to just roll along. The Seahawks actually jumped out to the early lead, partially because of a nice 67-yd scoring run by Maurice Morris. The Seahawks went into the locker room up 17-3. The Steelers came to play in the second half, though. They ran off 34 unanswered points before the Seahawks scored a mercy touchdown at the end of the game. The Hawks fueled Pittsburgh's offense with 6 turnovers, including 4 Trent Dilfer interceptions. Jerome Bettis pounded away at the defense and got into triple digits again (125 yd, 1 td). Tommy Maddox (16-29, 210 yd, 2 td, 0 int) is showing skills he doesn't seem to have in real life. That ole X-factor?

St. Louis 34, SAN FRANCISCO 30: It's funny how often it seems like 6-6 halftime games turn into one of these above. That was the score when the two teams trotted out in the second half. 52 brutal points later, the Rams came out on top in a key road game. And it took last minute heroics to do it, with a final two minutes likely as exciting as you will see this season. The Niners jumped ahead in the third quarter on a interception return touchdown and a more conventional run for score to take a 20-6 lead into the fourth quarter. The Rams finally woke up when the teams switched directions, though, tying it up again by the nine-minute mark of the fourth quarter with two scores of their own. The Niners moved ahead on a 56-yard Owen Poachman FG (man, he has a leg in this game), and when they returned another interception for a score with 1:50 left in the game, it appeared to be in the bag. But nothing is ever over when the Rams' offense is involved. Kurt Warner, whose throws had led to two direct Niner scores, finally hooked up with his own man, finishing off a quick drive at 1: 08 with a 24-yd td pass to Dane Looker, and moving the Rams to being down 30-27. They got the ball back on offsides and drove dwon again, looking for a FG. But, surprise, backup running back Lamar Gordon broke through on a run and ran 29 yards for the winning score with just 29 seconds left in the game. And that's all she wrote. Warner (25-40, 314 yd, 3 td, 2 int) was generally on-target--you could say he threw 5 td today. Terrell Owens and Tai Streets combined for 12 rec, 217 yd in a losing effort.

Carolina 24, HOUSTON 13
MINNESOTA 10, Green Bay 7
Indianapolis 31, MIAMI 3
NY Giants 24, NY JETS 14
DETROIT 35, Oakland 33
ATLANTA 30, Philadelphia 23
San Diego 34, CHICAGO 7
DALLAS 24, Washington 6

Injuries

Dexter Jackson remains out for next week, but at least Anderson has played well in his place, and will start again next week. I was hoping to finally get Jmes Hodgins--probably my most talented offensive player--back for next week's game, but he's slow in his healing process. We might see him the week after.

CR

[MizzouRah]

Oh how we miss James Hodgins here in St. Louie!


Todd

[Blade6119]

they lost to Pittsburgh...damn...stupid game starting Warner!!!

[sachmo71]

and a 31-yard touchdown pass from Blake to Emmitt Smith

It's stats like that that remind us that Front Office Football, while a very good game, just can't quite match reality.

[henry296]

Why aren't the Steelers this good in real life... arghhh

[Chief Rum]

Mizzourah: Was Hodgins in St. Louis? Yeah, I could see them missing him. Of course, the Rams seem like they want to replace their fullback and tight end with wide recivers all the time any way, since Faulk semeed able to pick his way through tacklers even without a lead back. I am definitely missing Hodgins myself right now. He's one of only 4-5 players on my team that ranks in the top 20 in his position group.

Blade: Pittsburgh's pretty good, and Wanrer has been playing very well. It just wasn't their day, I think. In the rosters, they actually have Warner better than Bulger (an assessment I actually agree with, as I said before, except Warner has some mental issues). Since I have already simmed ahead to the next training camp, there will be some cool news in the offseason for Cardinals fans who double as Rams fans.

sachmo: Well, yes and no. First of all, you have to remember that Emmitt's capabilities are because of the ratings he has been given. A lot of this is the way he was done in the player file. I have been of the opinion that Emmitt is a guy who still packs a punch when he hits a tackler, but he no longer has the open field ahtleticism to pull away from his tacklers or to bounce off of them and keep going. The player file settings seem to have the opposite impression, giving Emmitt some weak inside running ability, but surprisingly strong elusiveness and open field running and even some breakaway speed. Also, I have the X-factor on full, so who knows what further variation went into place? And finally, Hodgins' injury esentially leaves me with no very good third down back option in obvious passing downs. Shipp is only good for poundign the ball up the gut, and my reserve backs are chumps. So with Hodgins on the mend, Emmitt gets the call on third down and obvious passing situations. This probably puts him in more passing situations than you would normally see him in.

All that said, yeah, it's always a surprise to see a 30-yard pass reception for a back like that. I haven't looked at the game log to see how much of it was YAC.

Henry: Two reasons...Tommy Maddox ain't this good, and neither is Jerome Bettis. They certainly have a good run going here. As a diehard UCLA fan, I always root for Maddox to succeed. Great comeback story there.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Ten

Week Ten's Big Games

Atlanta (7-1) at New York (5-3)

Both teams are tied for their division leads and need to win to keep with their division rivals. The Falcons are on the road and look like a playoff lock already, so this one might matter more to the Giants, as a loss combined with a Dallas win would move them into second place and have them at playoff bubble 5-4.

Baltimore (6-2) at St. Louis (6-2)

Yet another interesting battle between the AFC North and NFC West, which are clearly matched up in the schedule this year. The Ravens need a win to stay with the red-hot Steelers. The Rams are ina three-team race for control of their division.

Buffalo (7-1) at Dallas (5-3)

The Bills are one of the big surprise teams of the year, and, in a way, so are the Cowboys. Both could use a big win for further legtimacy, and thr Boys are locked into a battle with the Giants for control of the NFC East race.

San Diego (4-4) at Minnesota (5-3)

The Vikings seem to be running away with the NFC North, and won't consider an out-of-conference foe to be of much importance. The Chargers are locked in a tough division and are ont he outside looking in. They need this win.

Arizona at Pittsburgh

We're still not as healthy as we would like to be, but we're probably about as healthy as we have been since the second preseason ga,e. If we get through this one unscathed, we will liekly see the rteurn of Dexter Jackson and James Hodgins next week, which should give us big boosts on both sides of the ball.

But before we get to that, we get the joy of being the Steelers' gimme opponent this week in Pittsburgh. Ouch. You could see this one would get ugly before it even started. The boys of Steel Town are rolling, and we're mostly just rolling over.

And everything went according to expectations. The Steelers felt sorry for us po' widdle Card'nals and let us kick in a FG in the second quarter. And that was it for us.

The Steelers rolled, 34-3.

It seems like every time I get completely blown out in Jim's football games, I also lose a major player to injury. I suppose it could be more accurate the other way around (since losing a major player is generally not conducive to winning football), but my point is, it seems like when I get beat bad, I not only will lose on the field, the opponent will also go out of its way to hurt one or more of my key players. I don't know why that is.

Anyway, the Steelers put a hurt on Jeff Blake with 5 minutes left in the third quarter. Blake had to leave the game with a dislocated shoulder, turning the game over to Preston Parsons. I guess that's like adding injury to insult.

Neither Blake nor Parsons made a dent in this Steelers defense anyway. The Cards were limited to just 189 total yards of offense, and 10 first downs. We also had 5 turnovers, including a pair of interceptions for each of our quarterbacks.

Meanwhile, the Steelers racked up 350 total yards and didn't turn the ball over once.

QB Blake: 10-for-18, 63 yd, 0 td, 2 int
QB Parsons: 8-for-14, 73 yd, 0 td, 2 int
RB Smith: 43 yd (3.9 ypc)
WR McAddley: 7 rec, 65 yd, 0 td

The line once again held up decently well, allowing just three sacks again. They also pushed forward for a 4.0 ypc for the rushing game, not that it mattered with us having to pass all the time trying to catch up (and failing miserably as you can see).

McKinnon had to be all over the place, as he had his biggest tackle game of the year (14 tackles) to lead the team. He was probably wrapping up Jerome Bettis more often than not.

Bettis had just 40 yards and a touchdown (actually we did a good job on their running game, limiting them to 2.2 ypc), but he pounded the ball forward and ate up a lot of time. The Steelers dominated time of possession, 36 min to 23 min.

Tommy Maddox was wonderful, of course, at 22-for34, 241 yd, and 3 td.

Other Games

Home Team in CAPS

NY GIANTS 23, Atlanta 9: This was a huge win for the Giants, as they made a strong statement in beating the Falcons, who were previously only defeated by fellow NFC South power Tampa Bay. The Giants took an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter and never relinquished the lead. The Falcons had a slight yardage advantage (321-305), but 5 turnovers, including 2 fumbles by Mr. Michael Vick himself, stopped the Atlanta offense time and time again. Vick also threw an interception. Kerry Collins (18-29, 212 yd, 2 td, 0 int) was the player of the game, and Tiki Barber (90 rush yd) keyed the running game.

ST. LOUIS 17, Baltimore 13: A week after I am asking what the Ravens are doing in a shootout, I am wondering why the Rams are in a defensive battle. I guess you win any way you can. The Ravens really couldn't get much going. The Rams scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to take a strong lead in a tight game, and the Ravens had to use a fumble return for score to get a touchdown in this one. You know what kind of game it is when a defensive end (Grant Wistrom) gets game MVP nod. Kyle Boller was under seige all day (17-32, 265 yd, 0 td, 0 int, sacked 7 times), although he put up pretty good yardage. In case you're wondering, Wistrom had 4 of those sacks, which I believe might be a season record (up to this point anyway). Warner (22-37, 222 yd, 2 td, 1 int) didn't light it up, but he got the job done. Marshall Faulk (53 rush yd, 7 rec, 56 rec yd, 1 rec td) finally showed some of that dual threat capabilities he has.

Buffalo 24, DALLAS 21: With the Giants beating the Falcons, this was a bad loss for the Cowboys, although you can't fault them for falling to a team that had only been beaten once before going into this game. It actually wasn't as close as it seems, as the Boys scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to close gap a bit. Dallas outgained the Bills, 366-260, but they also had two interceptions, including one run back by S Lawyer Milloy for a touchdown (in fact, the score gave the Bills the lead for good, so you could say it was a very pivotal play). The Cowboys couldn't do much about Travis Henry (120 yd, 1 td), who led the way for the Bills. Milloy, who was the game MVP, also had 16 tackles. The Cowboys had the better looking players, but all for naught. Quincy Carter (19-24, 200 yd, 2 td, 2 int), Troy Hambrick (107 rush yd), and Terry Glenn (6 rec, 71 yd, 2 td) all had good days.

San Diego 36, MINNESOTA 10: I said the Bolts needed this one, and boy, did they come through! One week after obliterating the Bears at Soldier Field to get back to .500, the Chargers took part the NFC North-leading Vikings, also on their home turf. Good thing for the black & blue division that the Chargers are stuck in the much tougher AFC West. The Chargers jumped out to a 10-0 lead, and led 13-10 at halftime. Then in the second half, they really turned it on, scoring 23 unanswered points. As has often happened when the Vikings implode, Daunte Culpepper was a little too free with his passes (3 int) and he was eventually benched in favor of Gus Frerotte, not that it did any good. DE Marcellus Wiley was dominating (4 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 int). Drew Brees (18-29, 235 yd, 1 td, 0 int) was steady, and David Boston (6 rec, 89 yd, 1 td) finally had a solid game (or the first I can recall anyway). Randy Moss (10 rec, 136 yd, 1 td) was the best player on the field, little good it did his quarterbacks or his team. With the Chargers win, the AFC West has now pulled off the improbable and has all four teams above .500.

DETROIT 10, Chicago 7
KANSAS CITY 37, Cleveland 20
CINCINNATI 17, Houston 6
JACKSONVILLE 38, Indianapolis 31
Miami 22, TENNESSEE 21
OAKLAND 20, NY Jets 17
GREEN BAY 28, Philadelphia 23
Seattle 47, WASHINGTON 3
Tampa Bay 17, CAROLINA 13

Injuries

Well, the dislocated shoulder will sideline Blake for 2-3 weeks. That means we don't have a choice but to go with Parsons now (Josh McCown is no more a choice than Parsons).

Dexter Jackson, alas, will still not be ready to go either next week. It's fortunate that Marques Anderson has been solid in his place, but there's no question we're a better team with Jackson.

There is also no question we're a better team with James Hodgins, and he has set to finally return from his injury and make his season debut. It's been a long time coming.

Fortunately, we play Cleveland next week, and they are nearly as bad as we are. So there's always hope.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Standings Week Eleven

Front Office Football 2004
2003 Regular Season Standings—Week 11
   
  AFC North             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Pittsburgh              8   1   0   .889  262   135   5-1    3-0       
Baltimore               6   3   0   .667  184   157   5-2    2-1       
Cincinnati              3   6   0   .333  129   172   2-5    1-3       
Cleveland               1   8   0   .111  135   282   1-7    0-3       
   
  AFC South             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Tennessee               7   2   0   .778  191   137   6-1    3-0       
Jacksonville            5   4   0   .556  262   246   4-4    2-3       
Indianapolis            4   5   0   .444  235   193   3-3    2-2       
Houston                 2   7   0   .222  127   187   1-6    0-3       
   
  AFC East              W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Buffalo                 8   1   0   .889  181   144   5-1    3-0       
New England             5   4   0   .556  184   144   3-3    2-1       
Miami                   4   5   0   .444  169   183   3-5    1-2       
NY Jets                 0   9   0   .000   96   199   0-5    0-3       
   
  AFC West              W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Oakland                 7   2   0   .778  255   150   6-1    3-0       
Kansas City             5   4   0   .556  197   192   4-4    2-1       
Denver                  5   4   0   .556  208   190   3-4    1-2       
San Diego               5   4   0   .556  188   182   3-4    0-3       
   
  NFC North             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf     Div  
Minnesota               5   4   0   .556  172   204   5-2    3-1       
Detroit                 4   5   0   .444  178   176   3-4    2-2       
Chicago                 2   7   0   .222  122   194   2-6    2-2       
Green Bay               2   7   0   .222  134   212   2-6    1-3       
   
  NFC South             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Tampa Bay               8   1   0   .889  243   131   7-1    4-0       
Atlanta                 7   2   0   .778  236   169   7-2    2-1       
New Orleans             4   5   0   .444  176   164   2-4    1-3       
Carolina                2   7   0   .222  136   236   1-4    1-4       
   
  NFC East              W   L   T   Pct   PF     PA  Conf     Div  
NY Giants               6   3   0   .667  200   144   4-2    3-0       
Dallas                  5   4   0   .556  147   172   4-3    2-1       
Washington              2   7   0   .222  121   211   1-5    1-2       
Philadelphia            2   7   0   .222  156   179   0-6    0-3       
   
  NFC West              W   L   T   Pct   PF     PA  Conf     Div  
St. Louis               7   2   0   .778  227   181   6-1    4-0       
Seattle                 7   2   0   .778  261   158   6-1    2-1       
San Francisco           5   4   0   .556  217   198   4-4    1-3       
Arizona                 1   8   0   .111  115   216   1-5    0-3       

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Eleven

Week Eleven's Big Games

Dallas (5-4) at New England (5-4)

At 5-4, it's safe to say that both Dallas and New England are on the playoff bubble, but most certainly not in. This is a critical game for the two teams. Dallas is also realistically close to the top of the NFC East-leading Giants, at a game back.

Jacksonville (5-4) at Tennessee (7-2)

The Jags faced a must win against these guys before and failed. Now, it's even more critical, and much tougher, too, since now they must do it in Tennessee. The Titans have something riding on this one, too, since a win would virtually lock up the AFC South title for them.

Minnesota (5-4) at Oakland (7-2)

Detroit has moved to within just a game back of Minnesota in the watered down NFC North, so this is a must win for the Vikings. The Raiders will seek a recent bad run which included a close loss to that same Detroit team, and then a very close victory over the thus far winless Jets last week.

Pittsburgh (8-1) at San Francisco (5-4)

Despite playing about as well as any team in the league, the Steelers could use a win here to keep their distance from Baltimore, which refuses to go away. The Niners are in an almost must-win situation, however. With Seattle and St. Louis now both a couple games ahead of them, they are at risk of falling out of playoff contention.

San Diego (5-4) at Denver (5-4)

The AFC West is still not out of reach for any team in the only division with all .500-plus squads. As such, any remaining divisional showdowns take on even more significance.

Arizona at Cleveland

The Browns started the year as the worst rated team in the league, based on initial power ratings. Like us, they have lived up to their original low billing and have won only one game. Only the Jets have won less games than either of us (because they haven't won at all).

So even though we are playing without Jeff Blake and Dexter Jackson, we have to consider this a strong opportunity to come away with a win, even on the road.

We got off to a strong start, scoring two touchdowns and kicking a FG to jump out to a 17-0 lead. The Browns cut the lead down to 17-7, though, with a score in the final minutes of the second quarter. We got another FG to move up to 20-7 in the third quarter, but it was all Cleveland after that. They scored a touchdown late in the third quarter and then moved within three with a FG at the 7-minute mark of the fourth quarter. The Browns finally broke through and tied us with a second FG with just 21 seconds left in the game, forcing overtime.

Neither team was particularly effective offensively in the overtime, so it was over ten minutes before we finally got close enough to take a shot for the win. Graham Bolvin nailed a 28-yard FG with 4:20 left in the overtime, and we had our first win since Week Three and ending our six-game losing streak, 23-20.

We had a strong yards advantage for the game (490-346) and also turned the ball over just once to their two times. Still, we managed to keep them in the game somehow.

There were a lot of nice stories for us in this one, but one of the nicest had to be the explosion of Emmitt Smith. It just shows how weak the Browns' run defense is that they just couldn't stop this guy. Smith had a day reminiscent of his playing days in his prime, rushing for 208 yards.

Parsons did solidly in place of Blake for this one.

Hodgins caught five passes and ran in a touchdown in his first regular season game, although he showed a bit of his rustiness when he fumbled a ball. The fullback was a key in the rejuvenated running game, with 4 key run blocks for the game.

For all the nice offensive play, though, the game MVP actually went to a defensive player. Ronald McKinnon has been fantastic all year, and today he turned in his best game. He once again led the team in tackles (9), and also abused the Browns for no less than 3 sacks on blitzes.

QB Parsons: 31-for-42, 252 yd, 0 td, 0 int
RB Smith: 208 yd (6.5 ypc)
TE Jones: 11 rec, 109 yd, 0 td

The line allowed three sacks for the third game in a row. They seem locked into the same gear right now. They did enjoy their second straight strong game running the ball, leading the way for a 6.0 ypc average for the team.

Kelly Holcomb (22-39, 305 yd, 1 td, 1 int) was solid, so was his prime target Kevin Johnson (6 rec, 117 yd, 0 td), but in the end it wasn't enough.

Of course, all we really may have decided is that they will pick ahead of us int he draft, and maybe that's not such a good thing.

Other Games

Dallas 21, NEW ENGLAND 16: The Cowboys wouldn't be stopped in this one. Not by a freezing rain. Not by a hostile New England crowd. Not by an early 10-0 deficit. The Cowboys zoomed past the Pats with two scores around halftime, one just before and one on the first drive of the third quarter. The Patriots took the lead back, though, a few minutes later, at 16-14, and it looked like they were going to make it stand up. The Cowboys finally returned the favor with 5:15 left in the game, when Troy hambrick ran in a 12-yard rush to give the Boys their final lead. Hambrick (95 yd, 1 td) had a strong game, and Quincy Carter (16-23, 194 yd, 2 td, 0 int) led the team on its two scoring strikes around halftime. Tom Brady (22-34, 235 yd, 2 td, 0 int) nearly matched Carter step-for-step.

TENNESSEE 34, Jacksonville 21: With this one, the Titans pretty much have the AFC South wrapped up. The hit-and-miss Jags were the only team near them, and they are now three games back of the division leader, and themselves, in seriosu danger of failing to make their strong 4-1 start stand up. The Jags didn't get much going in the first half, going to the locker room down 17-5. Their scores were on a FG and an odd safety called on Steve McNair for intentional grounding from his own end zone. The Jags owned the third quarter, though, scoring twice (with one missed conversion) to take an 18-17 lead late in the third quarter. You knew things would head south from there, though, when Old Man Gary Anderson booted a 56-yd FG at the end of the third quarter to return the Titans to the lead. The last period was all TRennessee, as they methodically advanced their lead beyond the Jags' reach. The Jaguars just didn't get enough going, although they got solid performances from several of their best offensive players. Fred Taylor (79 yd, 1 td) led the rushing attack, while Bryon Leftwich (22-36, 248 yd, 1 td, 1 int) continued a good rookie season under center. Eddie George (59 yd, 1 td) played well with split carries to lead the Titan rushing game, while Tyrone Calico (7 rec, 114 yd, 2 td) was uncoverable for the Jags' corners. DT Albert Haynesworth (8 tackles, 3.5 sacks) terrorized the Jacksonville backfield.

Minnesota 19, OAKLAND 17: The Vikings got a much needed win and continued the Raiders' recent run of woe. The Vikings took a 10-3 lead early on, but the Raiders came back on two short Rich Gannon runs to take a 17-10 lead. The Vikings pecked away at the lead for the remainder of the game, kicking a FG late in the third, and another in the middle of the fourth to push the score to within one at 17-16. Finally, with just 15 seconds remaining on the clock, Vikings kicker Aaron Elling kicked his fourth FG of the game, and his longest, a 50-yarder for the win. The win was justified, considering the Vikings dominated the yards gained, 418-259. Culpepper (32-58, 353 yd, 1 td, 0 int) practically threw his arm off, but in the end it worked. As usual, Randy Moss (12 rec, 162 yd, 1 td) was his chief cohort in the passing attack.

Pittsburgh 31, SAN FRANCISCO 24: The Steelers appear to be charmed against NFC West opponents (admittedly, they didn't need any good swings of fortune against us), even on the road. The Niners looked very strong early, taking a 21-7 lead after Kevan Barlow busted his way through for a 66-yard scoring run. The Steelers had a gut check time at that moment and turned to their longtime warrior, Jerome Bettis. Bettis scored three touchdowns, one by air, to completely take that game back from the Niners and take a lead the Steelers wouldn't give up. Bettis (58 rush yd, 2 td, 4 rec, 44 rec yd, 1 td) was gold when the Steelers needed a score, while Tommy Maddox (20-29, 240 yd, 2 td, 1 int) was more generally excellent.

San Diego 27, DENVER 22: In what may be considered somewhat of an elimination game, the Chargers took a big step forward in the AFC playoff picture by beating the division rival Broncos on the road and in 30-degree weather. In reality, it wasn't as close as it seemed, as the Broncos scored 10 points in the second half to close a 24-12 halftime deficit. The Chargers managed to fight off any further Denver scores in the end. The Bolts have been playing much stronger of late, and it's beginning to show in their record. They did have to overcome 4 interceptions by Drew Brees. Aside from those very significant miscues, Brees (27-43, 313 yd, 2 td) had a good day. Stephen Alexander (8 rec, 80 yd, 1 td) was the lead target for San Diego.

Atlanta 31, NEW ORLEANS 17
Baltimore 21, MIAMI 6
SEATTLE 34, Detroit 9
Green Bay 20, TAMPA BAY 16 (!!)
BUFFALO 20, Houston 3
CINCINNATI 41, Kansas City 17
INDIANAPOLIS 36, NY Jets 13
PHILADELPHIA 28, NY Giants 14
St. Louis 24, CHICAGO 17
Washington 16, CAROLINA 9

Injuries

First the good news. Dexter Jackson will finally be back after missing most of four games. And Jeff Blake has improved enough to return to the lineup (albeit still hurt a bit).

The bad news? We lost starting RT L.J. Shelton, who looks to be out at least one game with a minor injury. Starting OLB Gerald Hayes looks to be out longer, and might be out as long as Jackson was.

Shelton will be replaced by deposed former starter Anthony Clement, who hopefully will do better in a position which doesn't require him to pass block so much. Hayes will be replaced by LeVar Fisher, who was projected to start on the weak side before I decided I need to get the rookie Hayes into the lineup.

CR

[Chief Rum]

I had a lengthy post for Week Twelve here. It was almost complete.

But then I hit one of those stupid Interjnet Explorer key strokes that moves you Back or Forward or whatever, subsequently erasing evrything. Sometimes I think the people who designed this program are some serious assholes.

Make it easier, my ass.

Anyway, here's a much abreviated Week Twelve post, because I'm not doing that again. Here are the scores, starting with, of course, the Cardinals.

Home Team in CAPS

St, Louis 31, ARIZONA 20
DALLAS 24, Carolina 13
Chicago 17, DENVER 16
Cincicnnati 28, SAN DIEGO 26
Detroit 21, MINNESOTA 17
Indianapolis 33, BUFFALO 20
Jacksonville 31, NY Jets 21
HOUSTON 27, New England 17
PHILADELPHIA 24, New Orleans 12
NY Giants 37, TAMPA BAY 31 (OT)
Oakland 28, KANSAS CITY 26
Pittsburgh 32, CLEVELAND 21
San Francisco 42, GREEN BAY 20
BALTIMORE 34, Seattle 31
ATLANTA 17, Tennessee 7
MIAMI 20, Washington 6

CR

[sachmo71]

Wordpad.

Go Chief!

[Chief Rum]

Screw Wordpad!

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Thirteen

Week Thirteen's Big Games

Buffalo (9-2) at NY Giants (7-4)

The Bills are just a game behind Pittsburgh for home field advantage in the AFC, but they have the AFC East pretty much locked up. It seems likely they won't be as motivated as the Giants, who are fighting for their playoff lives. The Giants are tied for first in the NFC East with the Cowboys, but they can't afford to lose the division, since the loser will likely be well short of the two wildcard spots as well.

Minnesota (6-5) at St. Louis (9-2)

Although the Rams look to be locks for the playoffs and are currently in the lead for home field advantage in the NFC, they have other contenders breathing down their necks for both that and the NFC West crown. They can't afford to sit back. The Vikings are a virtual certainty to need to win their division to make it in. They sit in first right now, but surprising Detroit is just a game behind them.

San Francisco (6-5) at Baltimore (8-3)

The Niners have an above-.500 record, but they are a full two games out of a wildcard spot and three games out of the division race. So this is an absolute must win for them. The Ravens would have to fall apart to lose a wildcard spoot at this point, but they would need the Steelers to do the same to catch them. So there's not much to play for here, against an out-of-conference opponent.

Tampa Bay (8-3) at Jacksonville (6-5)

Jacksonville is one of two teams angling for the second wilcard spot (the other team is division rival Indianapolis), but there are a bunch of teams right behind the two of them as well. Every game is important in a situation like that. Tampa Bay looks good for a playoff spot, but they are a game behind Atlanta in the NFC South, and would like to return to the top.

Arizona at Chicago

Since last week was so abbreviated, I didn't get to announce the good news. Blake reaggravated his shoulder injury in the Pittsburgh game and hurt it worse than before. He's going to be out for a couple games.

I needed a third quarterback for the depth charts and found an undrafted rookie named Jermaine Hickman who would do the trick. I wasn't too excited about returning to Preston Parsons as the starter, though, and Hickman actually has more upside, so I figured I would throw the new guy to the fire this week and see how he did.

The Bears didn't come into this game looking all that hot, but who am I to talk?

It was a low-scoring affair from the very start. The Bears got a touchdown on an Anthony Thomas run in the first quarter, and we got some points back with a field goal in the second quarter. We didn't get much else going, though. The Bears scored another touchdown and a field goal in the second half before we got on the board again with a field goal in the final minutes of the game. Final score, 17-6.

The Bears outgained us 339-238, so that kinda shows how ugly it was, especially for us. Hickman didn't throw any interceptions, but it seems likely he didn't take many chances either. It's hard to make headway when connect fro a four-yard pass every two throws, and your running game is lucky to give you three yards a carry.

We kept ourselves in the game by forcing fumbles. Five times, a Cards defender loosened a Bears' player's grip on the ball, and three of those times, we recovered the ball.

QB Hickman: 18-for-32, 150 yd, 0td, 0 int
RB Smith: 33 yd (2.5 ypc)
WR Boldin: 5 rec, 73 yd, 0 td

The line gave up three sacks again. This must be some kind of record.

On defense, we had two players in double digits in tackles, and neither of them were McKinnon. Raynoch Thompson led the way with 14 tackles, and Dexter Jackson, now fully healthy, followed with 10.

The Bears were led by Kordell Stewart (22-31, 228 yd, 1 td, 0 int) and TE Desmond Clark (7 rec, 76 yd, 1 td).

Other Games

Home Team in CAPS

Buffalo 30, NY GIANTS 13: It was a must win game for the Giants, but they couldn't do it, even at home. Although the Giants kept within respectable range of the Bills in yards gained (352-391), they were never really in this game, thanks in part to 3 turnovers. The Bills were led by their three-headed monster Travis Henry (116 yd, 1 td), Drew Bledsoe (21-36, 246 yd, 2 td, 0 int), and Eric Moulds (7 rec, 86 yd, 1 td).

ST. LOUIS 13, Minnesota 9: The Rams led through out, but the final result was never without question until the final whistle blow. The Vikings kicked three field goals to stay in it, and the Rams didn't themselves move beyond range of falling to a field goal until 5 minutes were left in the game. Had Daunte Culpepper not had another one of his interception fits (3 today), they might have even taken this one from an unsuspecting Rams squad. Culpepper (28-40, 287 yd) was pretty solid outside of his pick throwing, and Randy Moss (13 rec, 149 yd) had another typical Randy Moss day. The Rams gained a lot int he air, too, even if they didn't score much. Kurt Warner (25-35, 308 yd, 1 td, 0 int) set up both Isaac Bruce (8 rec, 114 yd) and Torry Holt (7 rec, 97 yd, 1 td) for good days.

San Francisco 27, BALTIMORE 21 (OT): The Niners got a huge win today, although it may just be delaying the inevitable. CB Ahmed Plummer was very opportunistic for the Niners, returning an interception for a touchdown and recovering a blocked punt for a score. The Niners had a 21-13 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Ravens wouldn't go so quietly, though. Kyle Boller connected with Travis Taylor on a 10-yard touchdown pass with just under 10 minutes remaining, and then converted a two-point conversion with Todd Heap to tie it up. It would stay that way through regulation. In overtime, the Niners put ona solid drive and Kevan Barlow eventually ran it in from 8 yd out to win the ball game. Boller (30-41, 314 yd, 1 td, 1 int) had one of his best games yet.

Tampa Bay 13, JACKSONVILLE 9: The Buccaneers came back from a 6-0 deficit just before halftime to slip past the Jags in the second half. Tampa Bay's third quarter saw a touchdown and a FG to put them up 13-6. The defense made it stand int he fourth quarter, limiting the Jaguars to just a field goal. Brad Johnson (21-33, 207 yd, 1 td, 0 int) did his thing, and Thomas Jones (70 yd, 0 td) did the ground work.

HOUSTON 17, Atlanta 12
Cincinnati 30, PITTSBURGH 27
SEATTLE 41, Cleveland 13
OAKLAND 31, Denver 24
DETROIT 42, Green Bay 19
SAN DIEGO 23, Kansas City 20
Miami 27, DALLAS 17
INDIANAPOLIS 28, New England 27
New Orleans 28, WASHINGTON 0
CAROLINA 20, Philadelphia 17
Tennessee 21, NY Jets 16

Injuries

Jeff Blake will again be out next week. Gerald Hayes is also still hurt. L.J. Shelton missed last week's game against Pittsburgh, but returned this week and should be fully healthy next week.

The Hickman experiment was fun, but if you can't direct a good offense against the Bears, then you probably need a lot more seasoning at the position. Parsons will return to lineup next week.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Fourteen

Week Fourteen's Big Games

Indianapolis (7-5) at Tennessee (9-3)

This might be the game of the year in the AFC South. This division has looked like a walk for the Titans at times, but the Colts have been playing well and charged back into contention. A win here would move them within one of Tennessee with three games left to play. A Titan victory would pretty much seal up the division for the Titans for good, and would also keep the pressure on the Steelers for home field advantage.

Oakland (9-3) at Pittsburgh (10-2)

This could be a preview of the AFC Championship Game. The two division leaders both have two-game leads, which are good leads at this point, but not yet safe. They are also competing with each other for home field advantage, with Pittsburgh currently on the inside track.

San Diego (7-5) at Detroit (6-6)

This is a game featuring two teams that played themselves away from bad starts and into playoff contention. The Chargers are two games back of the Raiders in the AFC West and have a good shot at a wildcard spot. The Lions have overtaken the Vikings for the lead in the weak NFC North (albeit on tiebreakers). Needless to say, neither team can afford to lose at this point after coming so far.

Seattle (9-3) at Minnesota (6-6)

After looking like the NFC North was theirs for the taking, the Vikings lost their lead last week. With their record being what it is, they need to take the division to get into the postseason. So a visit from Seattle is the last thing the Vikings need.

Arizona at San Francisco

Let's face it. Even as the "weak sister" of the three top teams in this division, the Niners are far, far better than we are. This will probably not be too close.

The fact we are missing our starting quarterback and a key linebacker doesn't help the cause. Preston Parsons returns to the starting lineup today.

Hmmm...17-0 just 14 seconds into the second quarter. And, no, I'm not the 17. We broke up the monotony of Niner marches up and down the field by putting up a field goal. After that, it was back to business as usual.

The Niners utterly stomped us, 37-3.

For the second time in the past month, we were held to under 200 yards of total offense. The Niners ahd 394 to our 194. At least we only had two turnovers and no interceptions. Say what you will about his other qualities, but Parsons is pretty good at avoiding the picks.

QB Parsons: 16-for-39, 149 yd, 0 td, 0 int
RB Smith: 27 yd (1.8 ypc), 0 td
TE Jones: 4 rec, 67 yd, 0 int

The line gave up three sacks again. Wow, does this ever change. I suppose I am still happy we haven't been seeing the 5,6,7 sack days of earlier in the year, but at some point, will this line actually have a good day where it might keep sacks down to 1 or 2?

McKinnon was back on top of the team tackle totals with 10, and DT Russell Davis had 5 tackles and a sack.

The Niners have many ways to hurt an opponent. Today, that person was Kevan Barlow (177 rush yd, 2 td). Ouch. Terrell Owens (5 rec, 96 yd, 1 td) had a good day, of course.

It will be so satisfying when I can one day compete with these guys and Seattle and St. Louis, too. I hope one day to be put up at the top of the division in more ways than just alphabetical.

Other Games

Home Team in CAPS

TENNESSEE 44, Indianapolis 27: Wow, the Titans came to play. They took the lead from the start, and a 14-3 first quarter was highlighted by an 82-yd bomb from Steve McNair to Tyrone Calico. Still, the Titans were just up 21-13 as the seconds dwindled to halftime. It was at that point they stepped it up. A half-ending field goal and a good third quarter had the home team up 35-13 and not looking back. This was a fun, clean game for the fans, with 71 points, 935 yards and just one turnover (an Indy fumble). Eddie George (134 yd, 3 td) had his first real dominant game of the season, after a year of splitting time with backup Chris Brown. McNair (16-21, 225 yd, 2 td, 0 int) was his usual efficient self. The Colts got great numbers from the usual three: Edgerrin James (121 yd, 2 td), Peyton Manning (19-37, 326 yd, 1 td, 0 int), and Marvin Harrison (7 rec, 161 yd, 0 td). Tennessee clinches AFC South title!

Oakland 31, PITTSBURGH 17: What'dya know? The Steelers can be beaten in Pittsburgh, and in 28-degree weather, too. The Raiders charged out to a 14-0 lead early and really never let go. After a rough stretch in the midseason, they seem to have the AFC West under control. The Steelers, meanwhile, have fallen from favorites for home field advantage to wondering if they can hold onto the division title which had semed like a gimme. Two losses in a row will do that to a team. This was another high-scoring affair, with the teams putting up 892 total yards of offense. The Steelers had the edge (489-402), but also turned the ball over twice. Rich Gannon (28-37, 274 yd, 4 td, 0 int) was incredible, completing touchdown passes to four different receivers. One of them went to Charlie Garner (3 rec, 15 yd, 1 td) who was also effective in the running game (83 yd). The Steelers didn't lose this game on offense, that's for sure. Tommy Maddox (25-36, 368 yd, 2 td, 1 int, 65 rush yd) continued his impressive season, as did Plaxico Burress (10 rec, 163 yd, 1 td). Oakland clinches AFC West title!

DETROIT 30, San Diego 10: Better sit down, Lions fans. The Detroit Lions--the 2003 Lions--are in sole possession of first place in the NFC North, and playing as well as anyone right now. This one was all Detroit, even when the Chargers scored first with a field goal. The Bolts turned the ball over 5 times, giving the Lions way too many opportunities for them not to take advantage of it. The Lions scored 27 straight points in the middle quarters. Joey Harrington (21-31, 304 yd, 3 td, 1 int) is quietly coming into his own, it seems. His top target was Shawn Jefferson (6 rec, 152 yd, 2 td). I wasn't even sure that guy was still in the league.

Seattle 29, MINNESOTA 28: Heartbreaker! To have been so far up in your division and to lose it in a game like this. It's been a cardiac-stressing year for the Vikings and their fans. Making it all the more maddening is the fact the Vikings seemed to have a comfortable lead at 21-6 with just a few minutes left in the second quarter. It was there for the taking. But the Seahawks aren't 10-3 because they sat on their asses and let people walk over them. Josh Brown kicked five FG for the Hawks, none bigger than the 38-yarder he hit with 49 seconds left in the game to complete Seattle's impressive comeback. Trent Dilfer (22-31, 273 yd, 1 td, 0 int) did the dirty work and kept the Seahwaks in this one. He got a little help, of course, from Daunte Culpepper (2 int), who has been known to keep teams in games with his errant throws this season. That said, several Vikings offensive players had big days. Onterrio Smith (118 yd, 1 td) continues to be very solid. Randy Moss (6 rec, 55 yd, 2 td) caught the scores if not the bombs. D'Wayne Bates (8 rec, 114 yd, 1 td) did his once-a-month great performance here. And Culpepper himself (20-35, 233 yd, 3 td) was no slouch himself. Despite all this, the Vikings are looking up at the Lions in the NFC North.

Carolina 33, ATLANTA 27
GREEN BAY 13, Chicago 10
BALTIMORE 23, Cincinnati 10
Dallas 17, PHILADELPHIA 7
Houston 28, JACKSONVILLE 26
Kansas City 33, DENVER 27
Miami 33, NEW ENGLAND 23
BUFFALO 27, NY Jets 7--Buffalo clinches AFC East title!
St. Louis 30, CLEVELAND 20
Tampa Bay 26, NEW ORLEANS 20
Washington 27, NY GIANTS 17

Injuries

Rejoice! Jeff Blake will return next week! Did I just say that?

In fact, Gerald Hayes is returning to action, too. To an extent, several players are still Probable or even Questionable, but they can all play, and this is the healthiest we have been all year.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Fifteen Standings

Front Office Football 2004
2003 Regular Season Standings—Week 15
   
  AFC North             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Pittsburgh             10   3   0   .769  369   241   6-3    4-1       
Baltimore               9   4   0   .692  283   231   7-2    3-1       
Cincinnati              6   7   0   .462  238   265   5-6    2-4       
Cleveland               1  12   0   .077  209   418   1-8    0-4       
   
  AFC South             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
x-Tennessee            10   3   0   .769  297   218   9-1    5-0       
Indianapolis            7   6   0   .538  359   297   6-4    2-3       
Jacksonville            6   7   0   .462  349   342   5-6    2-4       
Houston                 5   8   0   .385  202   262   3-7    1-3       
   
  AFC East              W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
x-Buffalo              11   2   0   .846  276   200   7-2    4-0       
Miami                   7   6   0   .538  255   260   4-6    2-2       
New England             5   8   0   .385  267   243   3-6    2-2       
NY Jets                 0  13   0   .000  153   314   0-9    0-4       
   
  AFC West              W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
x-Oakland              10   3   0   .769  362   236   9-1    5-0       
San Diego               7   6   0   .538  274   282   5-5    2-3       
Kansas City             6   7   0   .462  293   311   5-7    3-3       
Denver                  5   8   0   .385  295   298   3-7    1-5       
   
  NFC North             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf     Div  
Detroit                 7   6   0   .538  280   266   5-5    4-2       
Minnesota               6   7   0   .462  245   284   5-5    3-2       
Chicago                 4   9   0   .308  183   253   3-8    2-3       
Green Bay               4   9   0   .308  206   322   4-8    2-4       
   
  NFC South             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
Tampa Bay              10   3   0   .769  329   217   8-3    5-0       
Atlanta                 9   4   0   .692  323   243   8-3    3-2       
New Orleans             5   8   0   .385  259   239   3-7    1-5       
Carolina                4   9   0   .308  211   320   3-6    2-4       
   
  NFC East              W   L   T   Pct   PF     PA  Conf     Div  
Dallas                  8   5   0   .615  224   235   6-3    3-1       
NY Giants               7   6   0   .538  281   260   5-4    3-2       
Washington              4   9   0   .308  170   285   3-6    2-2       
Philadelphia            4   9   0   .308  232   242   2-8    1-4       
   
  NFC West              W   L   T   Pct   PF     PA  Conf     Div  
St. Louis              11   2   0   .846  325   247   9-1    5-0       
Seattle                10   3   0   .769  396   242   8-1    2-1       
San Francisco           8   5   0   .615  347   273   6-4    2-3       
Arizona                 2  11   0   .154  167   321   1-8    0-5       

x—clinched division title

CR

[Chief Rum]

Play Off Picture

AFC North Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

Pittsburgh (10-3) @NYJ, SD, @BAL
Baltimore (9-4) @OAK, @CLE, PIT

Obviously, the key game is the season-ending game in Baltimore. That said, the Ravens have to stay within two to even have a chance. If they do, it could be winner take all in the last week.

AFC South Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

Tennessee (10-3) BUF, @HOU, TB

Clinched. Tennessee could be tied by record with Indianapolis at the end of the year, but the COlts can't match their division record.

AFC East Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

Buffalo (11-2) @TEN, MIA, @NE

Clinched. The Bills wrapped this one up outright this week.

AFC West Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

Oakland (10-3) BAL, GB, @SD

Clinched. Like Tennessee, the Raiders could be caugfht by San Diego, but the Chargers can't beat Oakland's divisional record.

AFC Wildcard Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

Baltimore (9-4) @OAK, @CLE, PIT
Indianapolis (7-6) ATL, DEN, @HOU
San Diego (7-6) GB, @PIT, OAK
Miami (7-6) PHI, @BUF, NYJ
Jacksonville (6-7) @NE, NO, @ATL
Cincinnati (6-7) SF, @STL, CLE
Kansas City (6-7) DET, @MIN, CHI
New England (5-8) JAX, @NYJ, BUF
Houston (5-8) @TB, TEN, IND
Denver (5-8) CLE, @IND, @GB

Baltimore will lock up at least a wildcard spot with a victory in any of the last three weeks. Cleveland is almost certainly a lock of a win, so Baltimore should be in. That means that no less than nine teams will vie for the other spot. Thelast spot will probably go to one of the 7-6 teams, because it would take all three faltering for one of the 6-7 or 5-8 teams to have a chance. Miami has the easiest schedule, but the worse conference record. With two sub-.500 teams on its schedule, Indy looks like the odds on favorite to grab the other wildcard spot.

AFC Home Field & 1st Round Bye Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

Buffalo (11-2) @TEN, MIA, @NE
Oakland (10-3) BAL, GB, @SD
Tennessee (10-3) BUF, @HOU, TB
Pittsburgh (10-3) @NYJ, SD, @BAL
Baltimore (9-4) @OAK, @CLE, PIT

Buffalo obviously has the edge for home field advantage, but it's far from safe. Both Oakland and Tennessee have two-game edges in conference record on Buffalo, which is the first tie breaker. So if Buffalo falters and one of those two catch them, they will get home field. If both of them catch Buffalo, the Bills may even have to host a game in the wildcard round. Pittsburgh either needs Buffalo to fall off, or both of the other division winners to not catch Buffalo (while Pittsburgh passes them up). And, of course, Pittsburgh must beat out Baltimore, which would be an extreme longshot for a home field or a bye.

NFC North Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

Detroit (7-6) @KC, @CAR, STL
Minnesota (6-7) @CHI, KC, @ARI

With even the wildcard a bit of a longshot for these teams, the division race is what matters here, in the league's weakest division. Detroit has the game edge, but also has the toughger schedule, with a visit from St. Louis to end the season. The Vikings play three sub-.500 teams.

NFC South Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

Tampa Bay (10-3) HOU, ATL, @TEN
Atlanta (9-4) @IND, @TB, JAX

Obviously, the Week 16 matchup is critical for these teams. The Falcons have to go an extra step, though. They will need help from one of the Buccs' other opponents, since the Falcons' poorer divisional record means they have to win the division outright to take it. Fortunately for Atlanta, a visit to Tennessee is a tough way for the Buccs to end a season.

NFC East Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

Dallas (8-5) @WAS, NYG, @NO
New York Giants (7-6) @NO, @DAL, CAR

Another division that may be settled mano y mano. The winner of the Week 16 matchup will likely take the division, although the Giants may still need help even if they win, while the Cowboys will essentially clinch with a win there.

NFC West Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

St. Louis (11-2) SEA, CIN, @DET
Seattle (10-3) @STL, ARI, @SF

Week 15 sets the first stage. The Seahawks must win to stay alive. The Rams can clinch simply by winning that game. If the Seahawks beat the Rams, then they must either beat out the Rams outright ( i.e. the Rams need to lose another game), or the Seahawks need to win their last two as well to match divisional records in case of a tie.

NFC Wildcard Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

Seattle (10-3) @STL, ARI, @SF
Atlanta (9-4) @IND, @TB, JAX
San Francisco (8-5) @CIN, @PHI, SEA
New York Giants (7-6) @NO, @DAL, CAR
Minnesota (6-7) @CHI, KC, @ARI

Unlike the AFC, there is a clear pecking order here. Seattle clearly has the inside track on the first wildcard spot, although two losses with two SF wins in Weeks 15-16 could produce an interesting head-to-head play for the playoff spot in Week 17 between the two teams. Likewise, Atlanta has the edge for the second spot, albeit not as safe a one. The Giants and Vikings would need some seriosu help to get a shot at this, and should probably more count on their divisions than on getting in as a wildcard.

NFC Home Field & 1st Round Bye Wk 15, Wk 16, Wk 17

St. Louis (11-2) SEA, CIN, @DET
Tampa Bay (10-3) HOU, ATL, @TEN
Seattle (10-3) @STL, ARI, @SF
Atlanta (9-4) @IND, @TB, JAX

This one is also much clearer. Neither the winner of the NFC East nor the NFC North will have a shot at home field advantage or the bye. So, the byes will go to the winners of the NFC West and the NFC South, both of which have yet to be decided. And the best of those two division champs will get home field. The Rams have the edge over the Buccaneers among the current division leades, thanks to record. The Rams also have the advantage in divisional record. Neither team has an easy road down the stretch.

CR

[sachmo71]

Wow. Nice job, Chief. And you are still better than Cleveland!

[DolphinFan1]

Great depth on the playoff picture Chief.

Go Miami.

[Chief Rum]

sachmo: And the Jets, too!

DolphinFan: The Fins have been an enigma. Can't figure them out. Halfway through the season they seemed out of it. Now they have a decent shot at a wildcard spot after all. Weird. They win games they should lose and lose games they should win. I guess this isn't a surprise to you...

CR

[Scoobz0202]

Just wanted to voice that i think you have an excellent Dynasty Report, Rum.

[Chief Rum]

Thanks, scoob. I appreciate that. It's why I do it.

Keep reading...

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Fifteen

Week Fifteen's Big Games

Atlanta (9-4) at Indianapolis (7-6)

The Falcons need to keep the heat on the Buccaneers, and stay ahead of the Niners--just in case. And the Colts are one of three teams with the inside track on the final wildcard spot.

Baltimore (9-4) at Oakland (10-3)

The Ravens pretty much clinch a wildcard spot if they win, and they are also the only AFC non-division-leader that still has a chance to catch the team ahead of them. The Raiders have clinched a spot for the playoffs and the AFC West title, but home field and that first round bye still beckons.

Buffalo (11-2) at Tennessee (10-3)

It's getting kinda creepy with all these great matchups here. This one pits perhaps the top two teams in the AFC, and both want that home field advantage. This game could decide it, giving that advantage to one team--and sending the other into a fight for a first round bye.

Seattle (10-3) at St. Louis (11-2)

The NFC West title could be on the line in this one. The Rams have it if they win. The Seahawks probably clinch a wildcard spot and keep hoopes up for the division title if they take it.

Carolina at Arizona

I am happy so many other teams are getting into the playoff hunt, but for Carolina and my Cards, this season is over. This could be a game we can win, playing at home against a team that doesn't seem to be much better than us. But with this team, nothing can be counted on.

At least we're reasonably healthy, with Blake and Hayes back, and no one major seeing the training room too much.

This game had a little back-and-forth in it. The Panthers jumped out to a 10-0 first quarter lead, but we got back within three with a second quarter touchdown. The Panthers took it back in the third, moving up to 17-7. But just minutes into the fourth quarter, we scored another touchdown and now the score was a very manageable 17-14, Panthers with a lot of time left.

Carolina showed some cajones, though, and got tough. They kept us from scoring again, and then added a final score, a two-yard run bu DeShaun Foster with a minute to play, to shut the door for good. 24-14.

As has happened a few times this season, we actually outgained the panthers 340-294. We also forced three turnovers (all interceptions) and didn't turn the ball over ourseleves even once. How did we lose this game again?

I took a closer look at things and picked out some key reasons we lost. We allowed seven sacks, and just about all of them seemed to come at key moments in the game. We had 85 yards in penalties to their 25, and it hurt us at bad times as well, including prolonging the Panthers' first scoring drive. We had too many incompletions, thanks to a fierce pass rush and good pass defense. And finally, Bolvin ,issed two field goals and didn't even got called upon a couple times--we lost the ball on downs.

Well, at least I know why now.

QB Blake: 21-for-40, 364 yd, 1 td
RB Smith: 47 yd (3.3 ypc), 1 td
WR McAddley: 5 rec, 62 yd, 1 td

As I mentioned, we finally broke our streak of three-sack games. I can't say I like the way we did it, though, allowing seven sacks, reminiscent of our opening games. Chris Dishman, who had been amazingly solid in the passing game, despite being almost exclusively a run-blocker, finally broke and allowed three sacks. L.J. Shelton didn't help matters by allowing two himself. Mike Rucker (2.5 sacks) and Julius Peppers (2 sacks) had field days with my line.

We had some standout performances on defense. Dexter Jackson intercepted the ball two times and had seven tackles. Raynoch Thompson tied for the team-lead with nine tackles, and he intercepted the third of Rodney Peete's bad throws. And Ronald McKinnon was his usual self, with a Thompson-trying nine tackles, and five assists on tackles as well.

The Panthers won this with an opportunistic defense and with just giving us enough rope to hang ourselves, as they say. Peete (23-35, 240 yd, 2 td) did pretty well outside of the three picks.

Other Games

Home Teams in CAPS

INDIANAPOLIS 41, Atlanta 38 (OT): Wow, how about this one? Both teams had some things on the line, and both came to play. The Falcons leaped out to a big lead behind a Michael Vick pass, a Vick throw, and a T.J. Duckett 53-yard rumble for a score to make it 21-0. Then the teams started trading scores, and by halftime, the Falcons had held off the Colts and maintained the 21-point lead, 35-14. The Colts got a little back in the third quarter, with Edgerrin james third rushing touchdown of the game atthat point. But a Falcons FG early in the fourth quarter made it 38-21, and things looked bleak. That's when things opened up for the Colts. James scored his fourth touchdown on a 48-yard breakthrough run to make it 38-28. Then with just under three minutes, Peyton manning ran it in for another score, and all of a sudden it was just 38-35. The Colts got the ball back one more time and got close enough for Mike Vanderjagt to attempt the game-tying field goal with 29 seconds left. He made the 38-yard kick and this one went to overtime. That extra period went throught en minutes of trade offs before the Colts were again set up for a FG. Vanderjagt made it count again, and the Colts pulled off an amazing comeback victory in a game both teams were desparate to win. The two teams put up an amazing season-high 1141 yards, including 641 yards of total offense by the Colts. And no turnovers! Wow, what a fun game. James (166 yd, 4 td, 6 rec, 56 rec yd) was incredible, having his best game of the season. Manning (31-45, 462 yd, 0 td, 0 int) set the season yardage mark to this point in this one. Marvin Harrison (12 rec, 211 yd) had the kind of game most people are used to him having. This really was a game where the winners simply took it, but the Falcons certainly didn't lose it. Vick (26-31, 315 yd, 3 td, 0 int, 28 rush yd, 1 td) had probably his best game of the season. T.J. Duckett (128 yd, 1 td) and Peerless Price (10 rec, 186 yd, 2 td) were also at the top of their games.

OAKLAND 20, Baltimore 17: The Raiders almost let the Ravens run away with this one, and then once they caught them, they let them back in before finally beating them with a last minute field goal. Marcus Robinson was the recipient of a 76-yd bomb by Kyle Boller to set up the Ravens' early scoring. They were up 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Raiders took over in the second and third quarters, though, scoring 17 unanswered points to stand in the lead at 17-10 heading into the fourth quarter. The Ravens tied it up with six minutes left on a 1-yd scoring pass to Todd Heap, but the Raiders drove down in the final minutes, and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 45-yd FG for the win with 1:20 left in the game. It was an ugly game of turnovers, with 7 total. The four Ravens turnovers were all Boller interceptions. Rich Gannon (27-38, 313 yd, 2 td, 2 int) had a fine day to lead the Raiders.

TENNESSEE 30, Buffalo 27 (OT): The Bills went into the locker room at halftime with a 24-14 lead, but they couldn't hold on in another exciting, playoff-tension filled game. The Titans scored field goals at each of the eight minute marks of the third and fourth quarters, but the low rate of points being scored made it look like the Bills would make the 24-20 score hold up. Finally, with 1:13 left, Steve McNair completed a 21-yard scoring pass to Derrick Mason to finally take the lead, 27-24. The Bills had to scramble in response, but they just got in range at the end, and a 46-yard FG by Rian Lindell sent the game into overtime. With six minutes left in the extra time, Titan kicker Gary Anderson kicked his third FG of the day, a 29-yarder to win the game. McNair's (26-50, 324 yd, 2 td, 3 int, 51 rush yd) arm was probably pretty sore after the game with all the passes he threw. Travis Henry (135 yd, 1 td) had a fine day, other than the fact his team lost.

Seattle 19, ST. LOUIS 14: These two teams are two of the better offensive teams in the league, so it's funny when you get a matchup like this and they combine for just 33 points. But that's what happened. The Seahawks got the only score in the first quarter, with a field goal, and the Rams soon passed them with a touchdown from Kurt Warner to Torry Holt in the second quarter. The Rams couldn't capitalize on that, though, as the Seahawks ground their offense to a halt. The Hawks scored 16 straight points to build up a 19-7 lead. In fact, the Rams scored their second touchdown with just 59 seconds left in the game, so this one wasn't even as close as it seemed. The Rams did outgain the Seahawks, 390-296, but they also threw 2 interceptions, while Seattle didn't turn over the ball at all. Warner (24-42, 312 yd, 2 td, 2 int) looked like the best offensive weapon on the field for either team, but what was needed in this game was mistake free ball, and Trent Dilfer (21-30, 215 yd, 0 td, 0 int) was the one to do that. Seattle and St. Louis both clinch playoff spots!

DENVER 17, Cleveland 10
Dallas 31, WASHINGTON 6
KANSAS CITY 14, Detroit 3
SAN DIEGO 24, Green Bay 17
TAMPA BAY 17, Houston 16--Tampa Bay clinches NFC South title & first round bye!
Jacksonville 31, NEW ENGLAND 28
Minnesota 17, CHICAGO 16
NY Giants 35, NEW ORLEANS 28
MIAMI 42, Philadelphia 13
Pittsburgh 27, NY JETS 21--Pittsburgh clinches playoff spot!
CINCINNATI 14, San Francisco 10

Injuries

Duane Starks suffered another injury and will likely miss the rest of the season. I guess if I was angling for a playoff spot, this might matter, but since I'm not, I guess it doesn't. I had to figure I wouldn't stay healthy for long anyway.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Playoff Picture Update

Things have a habit of getting a clearer from three weeks out to two weeks out, and this is no different. Here's a snapshot look at the division races.

AFC North

Despite the Ravens (9-5) losing and the Steelers (11-3) winning, the division is not wrapped up for the Steelers yet. One more win clinches it, but the Ravens could still conceivably catch the Steelers and would have a better divisionr ecord if they did so.

AFC South

Tennessee (11-3) has won this outright.

AFC East

Buffalo (11-3) has won this outright.

AFC West

Oakland (11-3) has won this outright.

AFC Wildcard

This is one picture that didn't really get much clearer at all. Amazingly enough, all three 7-6 teams--Miami, San Diego and Indianapolis--won their games. What this means is that all of the fringe teams at 6-8 and below have been eliminated. This limits the group we're looking at, but it doesn't make any clearer just who will get the two wildcard spots. Muddying the issue is the fact the Ravens lost their game. The unlikely (and quite frankly unexpected) combination of all three 7-6 teams winning and the Ravens (9-5) losing has put the Ravens at risk of missing the playoffs. They still have the edge, and control their own destiny, but if they lose another game and fall intoa tie with these other teams, one win will no longer be enough.

AFC Home Field & 1st Round Bye

Buffalo's (11-3) loss to Tennessee (11-3) and wins by the other division leaders, Oakland (11-3) and Pittsburgh (11-3) has resulted in a four-way tie. So this is not clear either. If a tie stays in place, Oakland and Tennessee clearly get first round bye, and Oakland likely gets the home field advantage, based on conference records and point differentials. Pittsburgh and Buffalo can still get either prize, though, by finishing ahead of them in overall record.

NFC North

Minnesota (7-7) retakes first place by virtue of a slightly better conference record, but this one is far from over. Both Minnesota and Detroit (7-7) stand at .500, and whoever does better over these last two weeks will take the division. It's a 16-game season reduced to a 2-game stretch.

NFC South

Tampa Bay (11-3) clinched this outright.

NFC East

Both Dallas (9-5) and the NY Giants (8-6) won their games, so this division remains undecided. The two teams meet up in Week SIxteen, and if Dallas wins, they will clinch. If trhe Giants win, though, and the two teams match records after Week 17, this one could go all the way down to point differentials. Right now, the Giants have the edge there (30-14), but that's hardly a safe advantage.

NFC West

The Seahawks (11-3) kept their division title hopes alive by beating the Rams (11-3), but they still need to win out or beat the Rams' overall record outright to take this one. Both teams have clinched playoff spots.

NFC Wildcard

The Falcons (9-5) lost, so they don't have the second wildcard spot tied up yet. Fortunately for them, the Niners (8-6) also lost, so they still have the edge over the other contenders. The losses by the Niners and Falcons allowed the Giants (8-6) to creep within range, so now this looks like a three-team race. The Falcons can still take it simply by winning out, but one of their games is against Tampa Bay. The loser of the NFC West title race has a wildcard spot clinched already.

NFC Home Field & 1st Round Bye

Tampa Bay, by virtue of winning the NFC South, has a first round bye locked up, and will be one of the two teams competing for home field at the end. The other team is still set to come from the NFC West. Both the Rams and the Seahawks have better conference records than Tampa Bay, so the Buccs would likely need to have the best overall record to take home field advantage.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Sixteen

Week Sixteen's Big Games

Atlanta (9-5) at Tampa Bay (11-3)

The division may be in Tampa Bay's hands, but there's still a lot on the line in this one. The Falcons need to win to stay ahead of the other wildcard contenders. The Buccs need to win to edge out the venetual NFC West title winner for home field advantage. And, of course, there's pride.

Cincinnati (7-7) at St. Louis (11-3)

The Bengals remain in the mix, but they are heavy longshots for a wildcard at this point. They can't win the division. Still, until they are eliminated, they aren't out, so this is a must win. The Rams are in a fight of their own. They have a playoff spot wrapped up, but the NFC West title, a first round bye and home field advantage still within their grasp.

Minnesota (7-7) at Kansas City (7-7)

Like the Bengals, the Chiefs aren't entirely out of it, but they are an extreme longshot. Minnesota is tied for first in the NFC North, and that prize is still very much in the air.

Miami (8-6) at Buffalo (11-3)

Like Atlanta-Tampa Bay, a division title is no longer on the line. Buffalo clinched three weeks ago. But the Dolphins are right in the mix for that second wildcard spot--maybe even the first--and the Bills can still get a first round bye and home field advantage.

NY Giants (8-6) at Dallas (9-5)

This is for all the marbles. The winner will probably end up with the NFC East title. For Dallas, it's an absolute--if they win, it's theirs. The Giants will have to rely on tiebreakers that could go all the way to points even if they win. But a lot can happen in two games, especially when you can ensure your chief rival loses at least one game. Also, the Giants have moved within range of the second wildcard spot.

San Diego (8-6) at Pittsburgh (11-3)

The stakes here are almost exactly the same as the Miami-Buffalo game, except these guys aren't division rivals. The Chargers are competing with the Dolphins--among others--for the two wildcard spots, and the Steelers are loking for a first round bye and home field advantage. Of course, the Steelers also still need to wrap up the AFC North, which they can do with a win.

Arizona at Seattle

It seems butally unfair to have to play a team like the Seahawks, right in the middle of a playoff race as they are. They could finish anywhere from a wildcard spot to the top team in the NFC, so you know they will be motivated.

On top of that, it's cold (39 degrees) and raining, typical of Seattle in December. This should be fun.

As we like to do, we got off to a good start and actually scored first. Marcel Shipp bulled his way up the middle for a one-yard touchdown. The Seahwks got a field goal by the end of the quarter, though, and the second quarter was all theirs. They scored their first touchdown of the day on a Trent Dilfer to Alex Bannister pass, and then added another field goal, pushing the score up to 13-7.

We got off to another good start in the second half, when Jeff Blake hooked up with Anquan Boldin for a 13-yard scoring pass at around eight minutes of the third quarter. Well into the third quarter, we had a 14-13 lead and were eyeing what could be one of the biggest upsets of the year. Playing the spoiler, of course, is one of the few things a team in my position has left to hope for.

The Seahawks finally woke up near the end of the third quarter, though, and put this one away. Dilfer threw another touchdown pass with a minute left in the third, and then Seattle tabbed on another field goal a few minutes into the fourth. With eight minutes left, Doug Evans returned a Blake interception for a score, and that's all she wrote. Final score, Seattle, 32-14,

At least we scared them a little.

The three interceptions Blake threw were the only turnovers in the game, and they had their impact on the final score (most obviously via Evans' return for score, of course). We nearly matched them in yardage (303-338).

QB Blake: 20-for-33, 222 yd, 1 td, 3 int
RB Smith: 42 yd (2.8 ypc), 0 td
WR Boldin: 3 rec, 52 yd, 1 td

The line gave up four sacks. Now I wish we would return to the days of three sacks allowed per game. The most disappointing thing is that all four sacks were allowed by Kendrick Rodgers, who got his starting spot because previous starter Anthony Clement was giving up too many sacks.

On defense, there was really very little playmaking on our part, although it should be noted we kept their high power offense somewhat in check. Raynoch Thompson led the way with 8 tackles (and 6 assists).

Dilfer (26-33, 268 yd, 2 td, 0 int) had a terrific day. His top targets were Koren Robinson (7 rec, 103 yd) and FB Mack Strong (8 rec, 50 yd, 1 td).

Other Games

Home Team in CAPS

TAMPA BAY 23, Atlanta 9: The Falcons are playing poorly at exactly the wrong time. They did get some good yardage (356 yd of total offense), but they didn't make it count when it mattered--getting it into the end zone. Michael Vick (20-37, 255 yd, 0 td, 1 int) was clearly a little off, and going up against Tampa Bay's defense doesn't help a player having an off-day. Vick's counterpart Brad Johnson (18-26, 247 yd, 1 td, 2 int) wasn't particularly great himself, but he had more help from the guys around him, like Thomas Jones (91 yd, 1 td) and Keenan McCardell (8 rec, 119 yd, 1 td).

ST. LOUIS 30, Cincinnati 22: The score ended up close, but that was because the Bengals made a last quarter charge to make it respectable, scoring two touchdowns in the fourth. Coming into the fourth quarter, the Rams were up 30-7 and rolling. The Bengals actually outgained the Rams, 445-369, but the Rams were the ones doing the scoring. Kurt Warner (23-31, 303 yd, 2 td, 0 int) played very well to lead the Rams, and for once, Isaac Bruce (9 rec, 141 yd) outshined former protegee Torry Holt (6 rec, 73 yd). The Bengals have been eliminated by losing this game, but it wasn't for lack of effort on Jon Kitna's (34-49, 358 yd, 2 td, 0 int) part. Chad Johnson (11 rec, 160 yd) was Kitna's main hook up.

Kansas City 18, MINNESOTA 15: Both teams needed a win. The Vikings would have moved into sole possession of first if they had taken this one at home. The Chiefs needed a win just to stay on the fringe. It was the Chiefs that stepped it up when they needed to, though. Minnesota leaped to a 10-0 lead shortly into the second quarter, but the Chiefs roared back and tied it up by halftime. The Vikings used a field goal and a safety to build a 15-10 lead after three quarters. The game was theirs for the taking, but they just couldn't hold off the Chiefs. With eight minutes left, Trent Green connected with Tony Gonzalez on a three-yard scoring pass, giving the Chiefs the lead they wouldn't relinquish. Green (15-28, 205 yd, 2 td, 3 int) overcame his interception problems to lead the Chief to victory. Two of his throws went to Gonzalez (3 rec, 23 yd, 2 td). Daunte Culpepper (19-34, 213 yd, 1 td, 1 int) didn't have enough to pull it out.

Miami 27, BUFFALO 10: For a team that had the best record in all of football two weeks ago, the Bills sure are playing like chumps right now. Usually Buffalo is a tough place to play in December, but the Dolphins didn't seem to be bothered by the cold (41 degrees) at all. The Bills had an early 7-3 lead after a touchdown in the second quarter, but that was the last time as the Dolphins charged ahead and out of reach. The Bills had three interceptions and were outgained, 380-320. Jay Fielder (20-27, 192 yd, 2 td, 1 int) played solid, effective ball, and Ricky Williams (80 yd, 1 td) had one of his better games in an underachieving season. Drew Bledsoe (17-37, 268 yd, 1 td, 3 int) was just completely off.

DALLAS 17, NY Giants 16: You can't ask for a more exciting way to decide a division title than with a late season, one-point game that comes down to the final seconds. After trading field goals early, the Giants put the clamps down on Dallas and pushed across 10 points for a 13-3 lead eight minutes into the second half. The Cowboys moved to within three with a late third quarter score, but the Giants fended them off and seemed to be on their way to a big victoryu when Matt Bryant kicked a 24-yd field goal with 2:10 left in the game to move the Giants up to 16-10. Quincy Carter had other ideas, though. He completed 32, 14, and 15 yard passes in a two-minute drive to move the Cowboys down the field, and also scrambled for seven yards when his receivers were covered. With just 44 seconds left, Carter tossed a short one-yard scoring pass to FB Richie Anderson, and Billy Cundiff kicked the extra point for the one point lead. Ouch, what a game for a divison! Carter (28-40, 241 yd, 2 td, 2 int) had a couple picks, but he really came through in the clutch. Kerry Collins (22-32, 175 yd, 1 td, 0 int) and Amani Toomer (11 rec, 111 yd) made up most of the Giants' offense. Dallas clinched the NFC East title!

PITTSBURGH 23, San Diego 13: The Chargers made a game of it before falling. The score after three quarters was just 14-13, Pittsburgh. The Chargers never really got much offense going, though, with their only touchdown coming on a kickoff return for touchdown in the first quarter. The Steelers kicked three late field goals to put this one away. The Chargers took a big step back from the wildcard, since their two primary contenders for the second spot--Indianapolis and Miami--both won. The Steelers dominated the yardage game (396-160). As good as the defense was, the story of the Steelers this day was Jerome Bettis (238 yd, 1 td), who was unstoppable. Pittsburgh clinched the AFC North title!

Baltimore 27, CLEVELAND 24--Baltimore clinched wildcard spot!
INDIANAPOLIS 23, Denver 17
CAROLINA 27, Detroit 10
Green Bay 17, OAKLAND 16
NY JETS 19, New England 16
New Orleans 24, JACKSONVILLE 7
PHILADELPHIA 27, San Francisco 13
HOUSTON 21, Tennessee 3
CHICAGO 33, Washington 17

Injuries

Starks remains out, of course. Gerald Hayes hurt himself again as well and will be out next week (and effectively for the season).

Other than that, we are pretty healthy.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Final Playoff Picture Update

We have entered the final week and now it's a lot easier to pin down what happens with a given win or a loss. Some spots are settled, but there is still plenty left to settle here. Here's a look at the playoff races.

AFC North

Pittsburgh (12-3) has clinched this outright.

AFC South

Tennessee (11-4) has clinched this outright.

AFC East

Buffalo (11-4) has clinched this outright.

AFC West

Oakland (11-4) has clinched this outright.

AFC Wildcard

Baltimore (10-5) has clinched one wildcard spot. They could be tied, but they beat both Miami (head-to-head) and Indianapolis (division record) on tie breakers.

Miami (9-6) and Indianapolis (9-6) are the frontrunners for the last spot. If either wins, and the other loses, the winner gets it. If they both win, or both lose and no one catches them, Indianapolis gets the spot, courtesy of a head-t-head win over Miami. If they both lose, and either San Diego or Kansas City wins, then those teams will also be in the mix.

AFC Home Field & 1st Round Bye

Surprisingly, this is stil very much in the air.

Pittsburgh has the advantage, with the best record of the division winners. If they win, they get home field and a first round bye. If they lose, things get muddy. If they lose and any of the other division winners win, tiebreakers will be needed for this point, as all of the other division winners are one game back of Pittsburgh. Oakland and Tennessee have the best conference records, but head-to-head figures into it, too. Until we can see just who is part of the tie, it's pointless to analyze how it will come out. Needless to say, all four teams will have motivation to win today.

NFC North

Minnesota (7-8) and Detroit (7-8) remain tied in one of the lower division rcaes ever, and football purists are fearing a sub-.500 team will get into the playoffs. That is a distinct possibility, but not likely. Detroit has the tiebreaker edge with Minnesota, based ona head-to-head sweep in-season, so the Vikings need to win and the Lions lose for Minnesota to get in. Fortunately for the Vikings, they are playing the Cardinals, while the Lions are playing the Rams.

NFC South

Tampa Bay (12-3) has clinched this outright.

NFC East

Dallas (10-5) has clinched this outright.

NFC West

Seattle (12-3) and St. Louis (12-3) remain tied for this division. The Seahawks play the Niners, and the Rams play the Lions. If it ends up in a tie, Seattle gets it, thanks to its conference record. But as usual, this is a one-guy wins, other guy-loses situation for either team.

NFC Wildcard

The loser of the NFC West division battle has one wildcard spot locked up.

The Falcons (9-6) have the line on a playoff spot, as they have had for the past couple weeks. If they win, they're in. If they lose and the Niners (8-7) and Giants (8-7) win, it's a tie ball game and everything gets a little confusing. Any of the three could end up with that spot.

NFC Home Field & 1st Round Bye

Tampa Bay has clinched a first round bye, and the winner of the NFC West will get the other bye.

Home field advantage will go to the NFC West winner unless both NFC West teams lose and Tampa Bay wins. In that case, Tampa Bay would get it.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Week Seventeen

Week Seventeen's Big Games

Oakland (11-4) at San Diego (8-7)

The Raiders are gunning for home field advantage and a first round bye. The Chargers are hanging onto a dim hope of a wildcard spot. Should be a good one.

Pittsburgh (12-3) at Baltimore (10-5)

The Steelers can clinch home field and a first round bye with a win. The Ravens have clinched a wildcard spot, and don't have much to play for this week.

Seattle (12-3) at San Francisco (8-7)

The Seahawks are locked into a battle for the NFC West, home field advantage and a first round bye. The Niners are hoping to sneak into the playoffs.

Tampa Bay (12-3) at Tennessee (11-4)

Both of these teams can end up with home field advantage, and the Titans are also looking for the first round bye. A win can help either team reach those goals.

Minnesota at Arizona

How fun! A playoff race! It's always nice to be a part of spoiling someone else's dreams.

Minnesota seems like a team that often bites itself in the foot, and they aren't looking so hot anyway at under .500 (7-8), so maybe we can sneak one out here.

The Vikings got onboard firat, with an Onterrio Smith 7-yd run in the first quarter. We came back in the second quarter, though, when Jeff Blake ran it in himself from 3 yards out. We traded field goals withthe Vikings in the third quarter, and entering the fourth quarter, it was just 10-10. Can we do it?

Of course not. Like Seattle, we let them have their way in the fourth quarter. The Vikings didn't blow us out, but they did what they needed to (made two field goals). Final score, Vikings, 16-10.

We had two Blake interceptions to overcome to no turnovers at all by the Vikings, so that didn't do us much good. We did barely outgain them, 307-305.

If Blake had had a better day, we probably would have taken this one with ease. Emmitt Smith was running like the Emmitt was old--maybe because he suspected it would be his last game ever? Who kn ows--this game doesn't announce retirements ahead of time, but I would imagine he would retire after this season.

QB Blake: 18-for-28, 132 yd, 0 td, 2 int, 11 rush yd, 1 rush td
RB Smith: 144 yd (8.0 ypc), 0 td
WR Johnson: 6 rec, 32 yd, 0 td

We had our third straight horrid game ont he line, allowing 6 sacks. That puts us at 17 sacks allowed in the last three games. That is disappointin considering I thought we had brought that problem under control when we took Anthony Clement out of the starting lineup. The main culprit this time was Leonard Davis, one of our best young blockers. He allowed four sacks, which is very uncharacteristic of him--he is a pass blocker by nature and ability. Of course, part of the problem was that he was playing across from the strong Chris Hovan (2 sacks).

Dexter Jackson led the team with 10 tackles. It was nice to see the defense do pretty well again, limiting a good offense like the Vikings.

Daunte Culpepper (25-31, 259 yd, 0 td, 0 int) decided he wasn't going to lose this one for his team after throwing them out of at least three other games this year. With Starks out, of course, Randy Moss (8 rec, 111 yd) had a good day.

Other Games

Home Team in CAPS

SAN DIEGO 15, Oakland 13: The Chargers finished off the season well, doing their part to get into the playoffs, even if they would need help. Of course, beating the division leader to do it makes it all the more special. The Raiders got within two by kicking a field goal with 6 minutes left, but they couldn't push across another score. After a quick Raiders score to begin the second half, the Silver & Black had a 10-6 lead. But the Chargers came back in the third quarter, with a field goal and then their only touchdown, a 10-yard scoring pass from Drew Brees to Grant Mattos, to put them up 15-10. Neither offense produced as much as 300 yards of total offense in a defensive game. Brees threw two picks, but was otherwise solid (21-35, 205 yd, 1 td). His top target was TE Stephen Alexander (7 rec, 78 yd, 0 td). RIch Gannon (19-36, 227 yd, 1 td, 2 int) had an eerily similr performance to Brees.

BALTIMORE 22, Pittsburgh 17: The Ravens didn't really need this one, but do you need a reason to beat your division rival? The Ravens no doubt were licking their chops for an opportunity to screw up the Steelers' plans for home field advantage in the playoffs. This game was played in cold, cold weather (24 degrees),a lthough it was fortunately fair. The Ravens started off strong jumping out to a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Steelers came back over the next quarter and a half, though, and took back the lead 14-13 at the 8 minute mark of the third quarter. The Ravens pushed forward again after that, with a 15-yard Musa Smith run and a field goal to move up to 22-14. They made the lead stand up. The Steelers outgained the Ravens, 371-317, not that it did them much good. Jamal Lewis (85 yd) and Smith (47 yd, 1 td) moved the ball well against the Steelers. In fact, even Kyle Boller (40 rush yd) made plays on bootlegs. Boller's best work, though, was in the passing game, where he played good, efficient ball (13-17, 129 yd, 1 td, 0 int). Tommy Maddox (26-44, 299 yd, 1 td, 0 int) wasn't as accurate as Boller, but his team certainly didn't lose because of him.

SAN FRANCISCO 30, Seattle 27: Both teams had a lot riding on this one, above and beyond a little divisional rivalry. As you might figure from two teams with strong offenses, this one came down to had the ball last. With just nine seconds left, Terrell Owens took a Nate Schultz pass 65 yards for the game-winning touchdown. How about that ending! Schultz had replaced regular Niner starter Jeff Garcia, who had to leave with an injury. The touchdown was a complete turnaround for the Niners, whom had blown a 24-12 lead after three quarters. The Seahawks got the score to 24-19 early in the fourth quarter with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Shaun Alexander, and then finally managed to get that second score in dwindling regulation time, scoring on a 15-yard Koren Robinson pass with just 42 seconds left. The late score and abrupt turnaround made the Niners' comeback score a mere 33 seconds later all the more shocking. The Niners outgained the Seahawks, 408-299, and also won the turnover war (none to 2). So this game probably shouldn't have been as close as it was. Owens (8 rec, 174 yd, 2 td), crabby as he can be, came through for his team when they needed him. Garcia (14-17, 185 yd, 1 td, 0 int) was having a fine day when he got hurt, but Schultz (14-21, 169 yd, 2 td, 0 int) did just as well. Trent DIlfer (18-38, 221 yd, 2 td, 2 int) was rather hit-and-miss.

TENNESSEE 20, Tampa Bay 16: Not enough points were scored in this one to ever say a team was out of it, but this one wasn't as close as it seemed. The Buccs used two fourth quarter field goals to narrow the score. They were down 20-10 prior to that, but after a Titan 2-yd touchdown pass to Frank Wycheck. By los9ing, Tampa Bay blew its shot at home field advantage, while the Titans may have won it. It wasn't for lack of yardage--Tampa Bay led the way, 425-358. What really hurt them were three lost fumbles (and five fumbles altogether). Starting tailback Thomas Jones put two of them on the ground, and reserve back Gilbert Frassrand dropped two more. Steve McNair (21-39, 220 yd, 2 td, 1 int) didn't have his best stuff, but he had enough. Chris Brown (86 yd) led the team on the ground. Aside from the fumbles, Jones (104 yd) did well, as did Brad Johnson (21-33, 303 yd, 1 td, 1 int). Keenan McCardell (6 rec, 164 yd, 0 td) had a fine day catching the ball.

Buffalo 27, NEW ENGLAND 13
NY GIANTS 24, Carolina 9
Chicago 24, KANSAS CITY 17
CINCINNATI 31, Cleveland 12
Dallas 24, NEW ORLEANS 12
Denver 26, GREEN BAY 24
HOUSTON 34, Indianapolis 17
Jacksonville 24, ATLANTA 12
MIAMI 33, NY Jets 21
Philadelphia 35, WASHINGTON 6
St. Louis 26, DETROIT 6

Who Got What

As expected, the Steelers' loss cost them both ome field advantage and a first round bye. The Raiders' loss also cost them both of those goals. The Titans won it the hard way, by beating Tampa Bay, and the Bills got the second first round bye, thanks to a better division record than the Steelers.

Miami's win and Indy's loss puts the Dolphins in the playoffs with the second wildcard spot outright.

In the NFC, the Rams' victory and Tampa Bay's loss gave the Rams home field advantage. The impressive Niners comeback to defeat the Seahawks also ensured the Rams would win the NFC West outright, and with it the first round bye.

The Vikings' win and Lions' loss gives Minnesota the hardware in the NFC North, at just 8-8. They will have the worst regular season record of any playoff team this year. The amazing collapse of the Falcons continued with another loss, and in the end, it cost them dearly. The Giants won out over the Niners and Falcons via tiebreakers to get the second wildcard spot. The Falcons went 2-6 to finish the year after looking like a lock after the first half of the season.

Wildcard Round Matchups

Baltimore (11-5) at Oakland (11-5)
Miami (10-6) at Pittsburgh (12-4)
NY Giants (9-7) at Dallas (11-5)
Seattle (12-4) at Minnesota (8-8)

First Round Byes: St. Louis* (13-3), Tennessee* (12-4), Buffalo (12-4), Tampa Bay (12-4)
*--home field advantage throughout playoffs.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Final Standings

Front Office Football 2004
Final 2003 Regular Season Standings
   
  AFC North             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
x-Pittsburgh           12   4   0   .750  436   297   8-4    4-2       
y-Baltimore            11   5   0   .688  349   292   9-3    5-1       
Cincinnati              8   8   0   .500  302   317   6-6    3-3       
Cleveland               1  15   0   .063  256   483   1-11   0-6       
   
  AFC South             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
xzh-Tennessee          12   4   0   .750  352   282  10-2    5-1       
Indianapolis            9   7   0   .563  440   386   7-5    2-4       
Jacksonville            8   8   0   .500  411   406   6-6    2-4       
Houston                 7   9   0   .438  273   300   5-7    3-3       
   
  AFC East              W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
xz-Buffalo             12   4   0   .750  342   270   8-4    5-1       
y-Miami                10   6   0   .625  357   294   7-5    4-2       
New England             5  11   0   .313  324   330   3-9    2-4       
NY Jets                 1  15   0   .063  214   390   1-11   1-5       
   
  AFC West              W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
x-Oakland              11   5   0   .688  411   285  10-2    5-1       
San Diego               9   7   0   .533  326   336   6-6    3-3       
Kansas City             8   8   0   .500  342   353   5-7    3-3       
Denver                  7   9   0   .438  358   355   4-8    1-5       
   
  NFC North             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf     Div  
x-Minnesota             8   8   0   .438  293   328   7-5    4-2       
Detroit                 7   9   0   .500  299   323   5-7    4-2       
Chicago                 6  10   0   .375  256   304   4-8    2-4       
Green Bay               5  11   0   .313  264   386   4-8    2-4       
   
  NFC South             W   L   T    Pct   PF    PA  Conf    Div  
xz-Tampa Bay           12   4   0   .750  386   262   9-3    6-0       
Atlanta                 9   7   0   .563  382   331   8-4    3-3       
Carolina                6  10   0   .375  271   368   5-7    2-4       
New Orleans             6  10   0   .375  322   309   3-9    1-5       
   
  NFC East              W   L   T   Pct   PF     PA  Conf     Div  
x-Dallas               11   5   0   .688  298   274   9-3    5-1       
y-NY Giants             9   7   0   .563  356   314   7-5    3-3       
Philadelphia            6  10   0   .375  307   303   4-8    2-4       
Washington              4  12   0   .250  199   384   3-9    2-4       
   
  NFC West              W   L   T   Pct   PF     PA  Conf     Div  
xzh-St. Louis          13   3   0   .813  395   294  10-2    5-1       
y-Seattle              12   4   0   .750  474   300  10-2    4-2       
San Francisco           9   7   0   .563  400   341   7-5    3-3       
Arizona                 2  14   0   .125  205   403   1-11   0-6       

x—clinched division title
y-clinched wildcard spot
z-clinched first round bye
h-clinched home field advantage

CR

[Scoobz0202]

Go Cowboys

[Chief Rum]

End Of Season Positional Overview

Here is a look at the Cardinals from position to position, with key stats and commentary.

Quarterback

Jeff Blake (181-329, 56.3%, 2142 yd, 7 td, 17 int, 62.0 QBR)
Preston Parsons (116-211, 54.9%, 1125 yd, 3 td, 6 int, 62.9 QBR)

Obviously, quarterback play was at a low this year. The two starters just threw too many Interceptions, didn't complete passes enoug and didn't engineer enough scoring drives. I do think this position will play better when all the other facets of the offense are improved, particularly more developed receivers a good pass blocking line. It's scary to consider that Parsons, who is very untalented, did almost as well as Blake.

Tailback

Emmitt Smith (291 car, 1049 yd, 3.6 ypc, 2 td, 43 rec, 328 rec yd, 1 rec td)
Marcel Shipp (61 car, 199 yd, 3.2 ypc, 3 td)

I have a thousand yard rusher and as it turns out, that didn't happen all that often this season (this was simmed on the pre-patch FOF 2004). So I suppose I should be happy. I'm not, though. Smith just isn't the playmaker anymore that I need him to be, and he was way too inconsistent. On top of that, he is likely going to retire. Shipp did nothing to indicate he can replace Smith if need be, especially as a receiver.

Fullback

James Hodgins (13 car, 46 yd, 3.5 ypc, 1 td, 26 rec, 175 rec yd, 1 rec td, 8 KRB, 53.3 KRB%)

The only thing we need from Hodgins is health. He is an underrated inside runner, and he can really serve as a nice out in the passing game. Over the whole season, he would have projected as one of our best receivers had he appeared in more than seven games. He's also a very good blocker--there's very little he can't do. I would mention Rex Summers, who actually started more games, but he hardly got any carries and he left the field for Emmitt Smith in passing situations.

Tight End

Freddie Jones (59 rec, 624 yd, 0 td, 3 drops, 4 KRB, 57.1 KRB%)

Jones actually led the team in receptions from his tight end spot, although he did it rather quietly. He was also third in receiving yardage, and had quite a few less drops than the receivers. He was effective, but under-used in the running game. Apparently we didn't use many two tight-end sets, because Steve Bush didn't see the field much.

Wide Receivers

Bryant Johnson (58 rec, 724 yd, 0 td, 8 drops)
Anquan Boldin (49 rec, 681 yd, 5 td, 7 drops)
Jason McAddley (42 rec, 516 yd, 3 td, 4 drops)

Now, they aren't world beaters, and they may never be with Jeff Blake throwing to them, but I think my young receivers took some good steps forward this season. Johnson showed he can get open regularly and finsihed second inr eceptions and first in yardage. He needs to cut down on the drops and improve his playmaking ability, as a receiver with no touchdowns is of little good to me. Boldin showed more athleticism and big-play ability, but he was't nearly as consistent as Johnson. He led the team in touchdowns, was second in yardage and third in receptions. He also needs work on his hands. McAddley has much less apparent talent than the starters, but he did very well, finishing fourth in yardage and second in touchdowns. He also showed a better ability to get open and had better hands.

Center

Pete Kendall (39 KRB, 36.7 KRB%, 5 sacks all, 0.9 sack%)

Kendall was fantastic this season. Very few members of the offensive line had good seasons, but Kendall was far and away the best man out there. He showed he is indeed one of the best centers in the league. He easily led the team in key run blocks, allowed the least amount of sacks of all the starters (even the part-time starters), and had the best sack percentage of those same starters.

Guard

RG Chris Dishman (24 KRB, 39.3 KRB%, 12 sacks all, 2.2 sack%)
LG Leonard Davis (18 KRB, 26.4 KRB%, 9 sacks all, 1.6 sack%)

The guards were solid for much of the season, and that's better than I can say for most of the other linemen on this team. Dishman fought off challenegs from the undrafted rookies I brought in, and then proceeded to have a better season than I expected. I knew he could run block, and sure enough, he led the team in run block percentage and was second in run blocks. But what surprised me was his pass blocking. No, he was not good, bis talent ratinsg had him at utterly awful. Outside of a 3-sack game, Dishman was even pretty good against the pass. Davis is the kid with growing talent. I have to feel that this year was a step back for him. He was better in the passing game than Dishman, but he is capable of much better--he is a natural pass blocker. He had only allowed 5 sacks when he met up with the Vikings in Week 17, so I should probably cut him some slack. His run blocking was average, but that was expected.

Tackle

RT L.J. Shelton (17 KRB, 29.8 KRB%, 6 sacks all, 1.2 sack%)
LT Kendrick Rodgers (5 KRB, 19.2 KRB%, 14 sacks all, 3.3 sack%)
LT Anthony Clement (2 KRB, 13.3 KRB%, 10 sacks all, 5.3 sack%)

This is where we had some real problems, especially at LT. At RT, Shelton had a very quiet but solid season. He was pretty terrific against the pass, finishing just behind Kendall as our second-best pass blocker. Of course, he was on the strong side, but those tackles have to pass block, too. He was third in run block % and fourth in run blocks, both numbers of which need to be higher for a right tackle, although they aren't horrible. The LT is a huge nightmare. Clement was the starter and was just a way station for pass rushers on their way to Blake or Parsons. He didn't show any ability to run block or pass block. His replacement, developing tackle Rodgers, had some good spots, but was also quite bad at times. He had too many games where he imploded in the passing game and ended up leading the team in sacks allowed. He was better against the run than Clement, but easily the worst run blocker of the five end-of-season starters.

Kicker

Graham Boivin (24-33 FG, 55 long, 19-19 PAT)

Boivin started off really good and was fantastic at times. But he proved to be a little more inconsistent as the season progressed and ended up with subpar precentages in field goal accuracy. It was nice to see that he is able to hit those 50-yarders if needed. I think Boivin has a good future ahead of him, but I don't know yet if I should be the one giving him that chance. I score little enough as it is, so I really need a kicker who makes all the kicks. Also, Boivin is not very good on kickoffs.

Punter

Scott Player (106 punts, 38.1 avg, 58 long, 26 Ins20)

Player got a lot of work this year, as you would expect. He's not a boomer of a punter, so the yardage isn't that great. He was okay in directional punting but could use improving there. I would say that overall his percentage was average.

Defensive End

Kenny King (34 solo tkl, 10 ass, 5.5 sacks, 3 blk, 16 hur)
Kyle Vanden Bosch (16 solo tkl, 5 ass, 3 sacks, 2 blk, 5 hur)
Calvin Pace (16 solo tkl, 8 ass, 3 sacks, 1 blk, 7 hur)

My line is largely young, so I suppose some inconsistency is to be expected. I like what I saw in spurts, but one look at where I ended up in defense rankings shows not everything is exactly rosy. King came in much better than expected for a fifth rounder, and he was indeed my best overall defensive end. He was stronger in the running game than the others, and also led my team in sacks. In fact, he was clearly the best pass rusher on the team, with the most blocks and far more hurries than any other Cardinal. I am looking forward to him developing even further. On the other side was the resident "veteran", third-year-man Vanden Bosch. Unfortunately, Vanden Bosch largely disappointed me. He just wasn't active enough, rarely a blip on the screen in this defense--and this should not be a hard defense on which to stand out. He seems to be a solid, functional defensive end, but he is probably best as a backup. The third end, Pace, who replaced Vanden Bosch on passing downs, did pretty well for the time he played. But he, too, has a logn way to go. The ironic thing is that Pace is the first round draft pick, while King was the unknown late round pick. I am expecting better things from Pace as he develops further. He was probably our second best pass rusher, with 3 sacks, 1 block and 7 hurries, and would have put up better numbers with more time.

Defensive Tackle

Russell Davis (48 solo tkl, 25 ass, 5 sacks, 1 blk, 7 hur)
Wendell Bryant (24 solo tkl, 10 ass, 1.5 sacks, 2 blk, 3 hur)
Derrick Ransom (29 solo tkl, 10 ass, 2.5 sacks, 2 hur)

Like the defensive ends, this is an area that could get much better in the future. Davis looked like he would be the key figure on my line, and he was. He was a rock in the middle, solid against the run, and got a good pass rush going from a position that is traditionally hard to rush from. His presence allows us to wait for a young talent like Bryant to develop. Bryant is another former first rounder who needs to develop more. He was way too inconsistent this season, when he wasn't hurt. Ransom is a better overall tackle right now than Bryant, with abilities against both the run and on the pass rush. He's a poor man's Davis really. I felt he did well with sporadic play and in replacing Bryant at times.

Inside Linebacker

Ronald McKinnon (135 solo tkl, 38 ass, 5 sacks, 2 hur, 1 int, 4 pass def, 4 forced fum, 2 fum rec)

There is absolutely no question about who the defnesive star and leader of this unit is. Mckinnon is just incredible, and I shudder to think where we would be without him. He finished among league leaders in tackles and was tied for second on our team in sacks. He led the team in tackles in games more than anyone else combined. He took part in seven different turnovers, including forcing four fumbles. The guy is smart, great against the run and in the rush and passably good in pass defense. I plan on keeping him around as long as I can afford him.

Outside Linebacker

Raynoch Thompson (105 solo tkl, 44 ass, 1 hur, 5 int, 4 pass def, 2 forced fum)
Gerald Hayes (40 solo tkl, 17 ass, 3 sacks, 2 hur)

The linebackers are, like many other parts of this defense, a work in progress, mostly because of Hayes. Hayes was just a third round pick, but he came in well and started from Day One. If he could have stayed healthy, we might have gotten a better indication of how good he is. As it was, the best that could be said is that he has some good pass rush skills, but he still needs to work on his pass defense and play recognition skills. When he does he should eb a much more well-rounded player. He is also a natural SLB whom we had to play on the weak side. No problems on the strong side, where Thompson gives us another linebacker who holds up well against the run and was better defending the pass than I gave him credit for. In fact, he was the antithesis of Hayes, playing all games and doing everything except rush the passer (the one thing Hayes had no issues with).

Cornerback

David Barrett (54 solo tkl, 18 ass, 1 sack, 1 int, 6 pass def)
Duane Starks (17 solo tkl, 9 ass, 5 int, 5 pass def, 1 forced fum)
Corey Grier (25 tkl, 17 ass, 0.5 sacks, 1 hur, 4 pass def)

These guys played to their talent, so I can't really hold it against them playing to their strengths (or weaknesses as it were). This just wasn't a strong area, and then we lost our best cover corner (Starks) for half the year. Barrett started all year and was very solid against the run and in wrapping up. But he was probably the worst pass defender of our top three corners. Starks missed half the season, but made a big impact when he came back. He wasn't as strong in run support as I expected, but he was far and away our best cover man. He also showed a knack for coming up with picks that neither Barrett nor Grier showed. He is a good solid corner, and it's nice to have one. I hope to have him for the entire year next season. Grier was a solid pick up as an undrafted rookie. Truth be told, he was even better defending the pass than Barrett was, and made for a good nickel back when Starks returned. He didn't get enough time to really show how he did against the run, but he didn't embarrass himself.

Safety

Adrian Wilson (91 solo tkl, 30 ass, 0.5 sacks, 1 int, 7 pass def, 3 forced fum, 1 fum rec)
Dexter Jackson (78 solo tkl, 15 ass, 0.5 sacks, 2 int, 7 pass def, 2 fum rec)
Marques Anderson (56 solo tkl, 4 ass, 1 int, 4 pass def, 3 forced fum)

This triumvirate was a lifesaver. The fact I picked up Anderson in the preseason is amazing, since he helped replace Starks at times at corner, and jackson when he went down. Jackson and Wilson are a solid twosome that hits hard and wraps up ont he tackles very well. All three are atheltic and can make the plays. None of them set the world on fire with their pass defense and they didn't display much ability in coming up with the interceptions. But they didn't seem like zeroes back their against the pass either.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Full Team Summary

Front Office Football 2004
2003 Summary for Arizona Cardinals
   
Record: 2-14
Winning Pct.: .125
   
Arizona Cardinals       Team      Rank
Rushes                  413       23          
Rushing Yards           1430      24          
Yards Per Carry         3.46      20 (T)      
Pass Attempts           564       11          
Completions             315       22          
Passing Yards           3417      23          
Yards Per Attempt       6.05      27          
3rd Down Conversions    32.7      28 (T)      
Points Per Game         12.8      31          
Turnovers               35        25 (T)      
Turnover Margin         -10       28          
   
Opponents               Team      Rank
Rushes                  486       29          
Rushing Yards           1660      19          
Yards Per Carry         3.41      11 (T)      
Pass Attempts           499       4           
Completions             328       14          
Passing Yards           3618      7           
Yards Per Attempt       7.25      22          
3rd Down Conversions    34.8      10          
Points Per Game         25.1      30          
Turnovers               25        22 (T)      
   
Week  Team  Versus        Oppnt
1     3     at DET        28      
2     16    SEA           41      
3     27    GBY           6       
4     13    at STL        34      
5     10    at DAL        17      
6     23    BAL           26      
8     10    SFO           27      
9     10    CIN           13      
10    3     at PIT        34      
11    23    at CLE        20      
12    20    STL           31      
13    6     at CHI        17      
14    3     at SFO        37      
15    14    CAR           24      
16    14    at SEA        32      
17    10    MIN           16      
   
Passing             Pos   Att   Comp  Yards Y/Att TD    Int
11 Blake            QB    321   181   2142  6.67  7     17      
15 Parsons          QB    211   116   1125  5.33  3     6       
17 Hickman          QB    32    18    150   4.68  0     0       
**Team              ---   564   315   3417  6.05  10    23
   
Rushing             Pos   Att   Yards Y/Att TD
22 Smith            RB    291   1049  3.60  2       
31 Shipp            RB    61    199   3.26  3       
**Team              ---   413   1430  3.46  9
   
Receiving           Pos   Targ  Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC   TD
85 Jones            TE    89    59    624   10.5  120   0       
83 Johnson          WR    101   58    724   12.4  85    0       
81 Boldin           WR    116   49    681   13.8  139   5       
22 Smith            RB    66    43    328   7.6   103   1       
80 McAddley         WR    83    42    516   12.2  120   3       
42 Hodgins          FB    39    26    175   6.7   50    1       
86 Gilmore          WR    43    22    227   10.3  31    0       
**Team              ---   563   315   3417  10.8  703   10
   
Defense             Pos   Tack  Asst  Sack  Hurr  Ints  Defn
57 McKinnon         ILB   135   38    5.0   2     1     4       
55 Thompson         OLB   105   44    0.0   1     5     4       
24 Wilson           S     91    30    0.5   0     1     7       
34 Jackson          S     78    15    0.5   0     2     7       
37 Anderson         S     56    4     0.0   0     1     4       
36 Barrett          CB    54    18    1.0   0     1     6       
98 Davis            DT    48    25    5.0   7     0     1       
54 Hayes            OLB   40    17    3.0   2     0     0       
72 King             DE    34    10    5.5   16    0     0       
95 Ransom           DT    29    10    2.5   2     0     0       
35 Grier            CB    25    17    0.5   1     0     4       
91 Bryant           DT    24    10    1.5   3     0     0       
38 Hannah           S     18    3     0.0   0     0     0       
28 Starks           CB    17    9     0.0   0     5     5       
93 Vanden Bosch     DE    16    5     3.0   5     0     0       
79 Pace             DE    16    8     3.0   7     0     0       
**Team              ---   890   289   32.0  48    17    44

Offensive Run Down

The offensive problems really stand out when you look at the side by side. We were in the bottom eleven in almost all categories. We managed to get to 20th in yards per carry, and we were 11th in passing attempts (showing our devotion to both passing the ball, and our need to do so, thanks to constantly being behind). We were near the bottom in completion percentage, passing yards per attempt and sacks allowed, and we were only slightly better running the ball. We were also bad in turning the ball over.

Defensive Run Down

We seemed to be better defensively than offensively, although that's not saying much. It's encouraging that we had the 11th best yards per carry allowed in the rushing game, and that it only looked bad because we faced more rushing attempts than all but three teams (since teams were trying to run out the game clock on us). The less passing attempts, though, hid what I think was the worst part of our defense--the pass defense. We weren't so bad overall, but we were probably not as good as two-thirds of the rest of the teams in the league at pass defense. We also need to do better at foricng turnovers, as we finished near the bottom in that (our turnover margin of -10 was terrible). We were 31st in points scored and 30th in points allowed, so we were constantly coming from behind.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Originally posted by Scoobz0202
Go Cowboys

As a Cowboys fan for much of the past 14-15 years, I agree. Until they play the Rams anyway.

CR

[Chief Rum]

I will put up a series of league totals and individual totals for everyone's perusal in the following posts.

CR

[Chief Rum]

Team Rushing Rankings

Front Office Football 2004
Team Statistics - Rushing Offense
   
  Team                  GP  Rush  Yards YPG   Avg
Pittsburgh Steelers     16  570   2245  140.3 3.93    
Tennessee Titans        16  513   2175  135.9 4.23    
Philadelphia Eagles     16  481   2001  125.0 4.16    
Miami Dolphins          16  516   1991  124.4 3.85    
San Francisco 49ers     16  478   1968  123.0 4.11    
Baltimore Ravens        16  457   1959  122.4 4.28    
Atlanta Falcons         16  497   1957  122.3 3.93    
Indianapolis Colts      16  412   1934  120.8 4.69    
Kansas City Chiefs      16  465   1845  115.3 3.96    
Dallas Cowboys          16  528   1828  114.2 3.46    
Seattle Seahawks        16  500   1816  113.5 3.63    
Tampa Bay Buccaneers    16  462   1695  105.9 3.66    
Cincinnati Bengals      16  402   1661  103.8 4.13    
Buffalo Bills           16  449   1641  102.5 3.65    
Chicago Bears           16  495   1624  101.5 3.28    
Houston Texans          16  382   1594  99.6  4.17    
Washington Redskins     16  464   1554  97.1  3.34    
Jacksonville Jaguars    16  418   1541  96.3  3.68    
Denver Broncos          16  442   1531  95.6  3.46    
San Diego Chargers      16  437   1525  95.3  3.48    
New York Jets           16  428   1506  94.1  3.51    
New York Giants         16  437   1501  93.8  3.43    
Oakland Raiders         16  450   1483  92.6  3.29    
**Arizona Cardinals     16  413   1430  89.3  3.46    
New Orleans Saints      16  397   1424  89.0  3.58    
St. Louis Rams          16  421   1396  87.2  3.31    
Minnesota Vikings       16  385   1388  86.7  3.60    
New England Patriots    16  406   1325  82.8  3.26    
Carolina Panthers       16  415   1258  78.6  3.03    
Detroit Lions           16  351   1205  75.3  3.43    
Green Bay Packers       16  379   1184  74.0  3.12    
Cleveland Browns        16  336   1124  70.2  3.34    
League Totals          512 14186 52309 102.1  3.68

CR

[Chief Rum]

Team Rush Defense Rankings

Front Office Football 2004
Team Statistics - Rushing Defense
   
  Team                  GP  Rush  Yards YPG   Avg
San Francisco 49ers     16  405   1363  85.1  3.36   
Oakland Raiders         16  403   1378  86.1  3.41    
Dallas Cowboys          16  425   1393  87.0  3.27    
Tampa Bay Buccaneers    16  421   1415  88.4  3.36    
Seattle Seahawks        16  434   1415  88.4  3.26    
Miami Dolphins          16  409   1430  89.3  3.49    
New York Giants         16  438   1439  89.9  3.28    
Minnesota Vikings       16  435   1445  90.3  3.32    
San Diego Chargers      16  434   1467  91.6  3.38    
Baltimore Ravens        16  419   1503  93.9  3.58    
Detroit Lions           16  490   1552  97.0  3.16    
St. Louis Rams          16  417   1569  98.0  3.76    
Houston Texans          16  439   1571  98.1  3.57    
Philadelphia Eagles     16  485   1626  101.6 3.35    
New York Jets           16  524   1627  101.6 3.10    
Buffalo Bills           16  427   1633  102.0 3.82    
New England Patriots    16  468   1652  103.2 3.52    
Chicago Bears           16  449   1656  103.5 3.68    
**Arizona Cardinals     16  486   1660  103.7 3.41    
Cincinnati Bengals      16  443   1661  103.8 3.74    
Atlanta Falcons         16  402   1675  104.6 4.16    
Green Bay Packers       16  456   1689  105.5 3.70    
New Orleans Saints      16  458   1692  105.7 3.69    
Pittsburgh Steelers     16  372   1698  106.1 4.56    
Kansas City Chiefs      16  442   1716  107.2 3.88    
Denver Broncos          16  444   1724  107.7 3.88    
Tennessee Titans        16  417   1771  110.6 4.24    
Carolina Panthers       16  444   1777  111.0 4.00    
Washington Redskins     16  470   1830  114.3 3.89    
Jacksonville Jaguars    16  441   1895  118.4 4.29    
Indianapolis Colts      16  450   2031  126.9 4.51    
Cleveland Browns        16  539   2356  147.2 4.37    
League Totals          512 14186 52309 102.1  3.68

CR

[Chief Rum]

Team Passing Rankings

Front Office Football 2004
Team Statistics - Passing Offense
   
  Team                  GP  Att   Cmp   Pct   Yards Yd/Cm Yd/A  YPG   Sckd Yards
Indianapolis Colts      16  566   361   .637  4833  13.3  8.53  302.0 47   303     
St. Louis Rams          16  542   350   .645  4575  13.0  8.44  285.9 37   235     
New York Giants         16  580   375   .646  4558  12.1  7.85  284.8 43   255     
Jacksonville Jaguars    16  604   371   .614  4481  12.0  7.41  280.0 45   289     
Green Bay Packers       16  595   358   .601  4478  12.5  7.52  279.8 65   437     
Denver Broncos          16  546   330   .604  4344  13.1  7.95  271.5 66   386     
Oakland Raiders         16  553   369   .667  4303  11.6  7.78  268.9 38   228     
Minnesota Vikings       16  569   359   .630  4170  11.6  7.32  260.6 72   410     
Tampa Bay Buccaneers    16  538   355   .659  4134  11.6  7.68  258.3 51   315     
San Francisco 49ers     16  521   323   .619  4101  12.6  7.87  256.3 46   299     
Kansas City Chiefs      16  500   319   .638  3985  12.4  7.97  249.0 50   315     
Cincinnati Bengals      16  543   333   .613  3903  11.7  7.18  243.9 47   312     
Pittsburgh Steelers     16  456   300   .657  3863  12.8  8.47  241.4 28   186     
San Diego Chargers      16  573   342   .596  3852  11.2  6.72  240.7 51   303     
Atlanta Falcons         16  542   354   .653  3843  10.8  7.09  240.1 37   231     
Seattle Seahawks        16  486   322   .662  3831  11.8  7.88  239.4 32   193     
Buffalo Bills           16  539   339   .628  3813  11.2  7.07  238.3 44   263     
Detroit Lions           16  598   353   .590  3767  10.6  6.29  235.4 45   278     
Houston Texans          16  540   322   .596  3603  11.1  6.67  225.1 68   432     
Tennessee Titans        16  500   308   .616  3571  11.5  7.14  223.1 32   222     
Carolina Panthers       16  607   358   .589  3520  9.8   5.79  220.0 53   343     
Philadelphia Eagles     16  532   308   .578  3474  11.2  6.53  217.1 39   258     
**Arizona Cardinals     16  564   315   .558  3417  10.8  6.05  213.5 59   335     
New Orleans Saints      16  571   307   .537  3359  10.9  5.88  209.9 53   319     
Baltimore Ravens        16  504   314   .623  3353  10.6  6.65  209.5 40   247     
Washington Redskins     16  607   337   .555  3348  9.9   5.51  209.2 42   267     
Cleveland Browns        16  551   291   .528  3319  11.4  6.02  207.4 54   336     
New York Jets           16  514   300   .583  3282  10.9  6.38  205.1 44   269     
Miami Dolphins          16  551   333   .604  3232  9.7   5.86  202.0 33   190     
New England Patriots    16  503   302   .600  3226  10.6  6.41  201.6 50   297     
Chicago Bears           16  440   270   .613  2728  10.1  6.20  170.5 44   267     
Dallas Cowboys          16  438   283   .646  2712  9.5   6.19  169.5 40   248     
League Totals          512 17273 10561 .611 120978 11.4   7.00  236.2 1495 9268

CR

[Chief Rum]

Team Pass Defense Rankings

Front Office Football 2004
Team Statistics - Passing Defense
   
  Team                  GP  Att   Cmp   Pct   Yards Yd/Cm Yd/A  YPG   Sckd Yards
Miami Dolphins          16  542   311   .573  3120  10.0  5.75  195.0 40   267   
Washington Redskins     16  466   282   .605  3136  11.1  6.72  196.0 40   246     
Dallas Cowboys          16  544   299   .549  3205  10.7  5.89  200.3 46   289     
New Orleans Saints      16  549   336   .612  3395  10.1  6.18  212.1 46   297     
Pittsburgh Steelers     16  493   291   .590  3399  11.6  6.89  212.4 52   310     
New York Jets           16  477   312   .654  3458  11.0  7.24  216.1 44   282     
**Arizona Cardinals     16  499   328   .657  3618  11.0  7.25  226.1 32   213     
Seattle Seahawks        16  547   307   .561  3621  11.7  6.61  226.3 56   337     
Green Bay Packers       16  533   342   .641  3635  10.6  6.81  227.1 31   190     
Tennessee Titans        16  522   308   .590  3642  11.8  6.97  227.6 61   379     
Buffalo Bills           16  519   312   .601  3683  11.8  7.09  230.1 51   303     
San Francisco 49ers     16  552   322   .583  3697  11.4  6.69  231.0 57   346     
Philadelphia Eagles     16  550   349   .634  3737  10.7  6.79  233.5 40   234     
Minnesota Vikings       16  536   335   .625  3742  11.1  6.98  233.8 49   314     
Tampa Bay Buccaneers    16  601   335   .557  3751  11.1  6.24  234.4 42   286     
New York Giants         16  560   352   .628  3784  10.7  6.75  236.5 55   346     
Carolina Panthers       16  528   332   .628  3809  11.4  7.21  238.0 50   329     
Detroit Lions           16  539   338   .627  3846  11.3  7.13  240.3 63   359     
Jacksonville Jaguars    16  539   320   .593  3848  12.0  7.13  240.5 47   288     
Cincinnati Bengals      16  530   326   .615  3874  11.8  7.30  242.1 46   261     
Chicago Bears           16  528   324   .613  3874  11.9  7.33  242.1 45   288     
Houston Texans          16  590   344   .583  3890  11.3  6.59  243.1 36   223     
Baltimore Ravens        16  601   342   .569  3978  11.6  6.61  248.6 53   338     
San Diego Chargers      16  501   306   .610  4001  13.0  7.98  250.0 59   378     
Denver Broncos          16  538   338   .628  4003  11.8  7.44  250.1 48   303     
Atlanta Falcons         16  559   329   .588  4003  12.1  7.16  250.1 44   276     
Cleveland Browns        16  538   369   .685  4109  11.1  7.63  256.8 31   180     
Oakland Raiders         16  565   331   .585  4116  12.4  7.28  257.2 47   293     
Indianapolis Colts      16  543   359   .661  4156  11.5  7.65  259.7 42   248     
St. Louis Rams          16  549   367   .668  4252  11.5  7.74  265.7 53   340     
New England Patriots    16  562   352   .626  4285  12.1  7.62  267.8 40   244     
Kansas City Chiefs      16  573   363   .633  4311  11.8  7.52  269.4 49   281       
League Totals          512 17273 10561  .611 120978 11.4  7.00  236.2 1495 9268

CR

[Chief Rum]

Team Scoring/Turnovers

Front Office Football 2004
Team Statistics - Scoring/Turnovers
   
  Team                   Pts   Opp Fumb  Int  TO OppFumb   Int  TO   Margin  
Buffalo Bills           21.3  16.8  7    10   17   16      25   41   +24       
Pittsburgh Steelers     27.2  18.5  13   10   23   11      28   39   +16       
Oakland Raiders         25.6  17.8  6    11   17   10      22   32   +15       
Atlanta Falcons         23.8  20.6  9    13   22   8       28   36   +14       
Miami Dolphins          22.3  18.3  8    18   26   7       33   40   +14       
San Francisco 49ers     25.0  21.3  3    15   18   10      20   30   +12       
St. Louis Rams          24.6  18.3  6    17   23   18      15   33   +10       
Tennessee Titans        22.0  17.6  5    11   16   13      13   26   +10       
New England Patriots    20.2  20.6  13   16   29   13      23   36   +7        
Indianapolis Colts      27.5  24.1  11   8    19   9       16   25   +6        
Seattle Seahawks        29.6  18.7  9    21   30   6       29   35   +5        
Baltimore Ravens        21.8  18.2  11   21   32   8       27   35   +3        
Detroit Lions           18.6  20.1  16   24   40   14      28   42   +2        
Dallas Cowboys          18.6  17.1  8    25   33   11      23   34   +1        
Kansas City Chiefs      21.3  22.0  8    17   25   8       17   25   0         
New Orleans Saints      20.1  19.3  7    26   33   12      21   33   0         
New York Giants         22.2  19.6  10   19   29   8       20   28   -1        
Houston Texans          17.0  18.7  11   19   30   11      18   29   -1        
Denver Broncos          22.3  22.1  13   16   29   10      17   27   -2        
Carolina Panthers       16.9  23.0  6    29   35   11      20   31   -4        
Philadelphia Eagles     19.1  18.9  10   21   31   8       19   27   -4        
Cincinnati Bengals      18.8  19.8  7    23   30   7       18   25   -5        
San Diego Chargers      20.3  21.0  7    30   37   11      20   31   -6        
Chicago Bears           16.0  19.0  15   15   30   6       17   23   -7        
Minnesota Vikings       18.3  20.5  7    24   31   5       19   24   -7        
Jacksonville Jaguars    25.6  25.3  7    29   36   4       23   27   -9        
Tampa Bay Buccaneers    24.1  16.3  9    23   32   5       18   23   -9        
**Arizona Cardinals     12.8  25.1  12   23   35   8       17   25   -10       
Cleveland Browns        16.0  30.1  10   22   32   9       12   21   -11       
Green Bay Packers       16.5  24.1  12   26   38   9       12   21   -17       
Washington Redskins     12.4  24.0  10   33   43   7       18   25   -18       
New York Jets           13.3  24.3  15   29   44   8       8    16   -28       
League Totals           20.7  20.7 301  644  945  301     644  945    0

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[Chief Rum]

Total Offense Rankings

Front Office Football 2004
Total Offense Rankings

Team                     Rush (Rk)    Pass (Rk)   Offense (Rk)
Indianapolis            120.9  (8)   302.1  (1)     422.9  (1)
Pittsburgh              140.3  (1)   241.4 (13)     381.8  (2)
San Francisco           123.0  (5)   256.3 (10)     379.3  (3)
NY Giants                93.8 (22)   284.9  (3)     378.7  (4)
Jacksonville             96.3 (18)   280.1  (4)     376.4  (5)
St. Louis                87.3 (26)   285.9  (2)     373.2  (6)
Denver                   95.7 (19)   271.5  (6)     367.2  (7)
Kansas City             115.3  (9)   249.1 (11)     364.4  (8)
Tampa Bay               105.9 (12)   258.4  (9)     364.3  (9)
Atlanta                 122.3  (7)   240.2 (15)     362.5 (10)
Oakland                  92.7 (23)   268.9  (7)     361.6 (11)
Tennessee               135.9  (2)   223.2 (20)     359.1 (12)
Green Bay                74.0 (31)   279.9  (5)     353.9 (13)
Seattle                 113.5 (11)   239.4 (16)     352.9 (14)
Cincinnati              103.8 (13)   243.9 (12)     347.8 (15)
Minnesota                86.8 (27)   260.6  (8)     347.4 (16)
Philadelphia            125.1  (3)   217.1 (22)     342.2 (17)
Buffalo                 102.6 (14)   238.3 (17)     340.9 (18)
San Diego                95.3 (20)   240.8 (17)     336.1 (19)
Baltimore               122.4  (6)   209.6 (25)     332.0 (20)
Miami                   124.4  (4)   202.0 (29)     326.4 (21)
Houston                  99.6 (16)   225.2 (19)     324.8 (22)
Detroit                  75.3 (30)   235.4 (18)     310.8 (23)
Washington               97.1 (17)   209.3 (26)     306.4 (24)
Arizona                  89.4 (24)   213.6 (23)     302.9 (25)
NY Jets                  94.1 (21)   205.1 (28)     299.3 (26)
New Orleans              89.0 (25)   209.9 (24)     298.9 (27)
Carolina                 78.6 (29)   220.0 (21)     298.6 (28)
New England              82.8 (28)   201.6 (30)     284.4 (29)
Dallas                  114.3 (10)   169.5 (32)     283.8 (30)
Cleveland                70.3 (32)   207.4 (27)     277.7 (31)
Chicago                 101.5 (15)   170.5 (31)     272.0 (32)

CR

[Chief Rum]

Total Defense Rankings

Front Office Football 2004
Total Defense Rankings

Team                     Rush (Rk)    Pass (Rk)   Offense (Rk)
Miami                    89.4  (6)   195.0  (1)     284.4  (1)
Dallas                   87.1  (3)   200.3  (3)     287.4  (2)
Washington              114.4 (29)   196.0  (2)     310.4  (3)
Seattle                  88.4  (4)   226.3  (8)     314.8  (4)
San Francisco            85.2  (1)   231.1 (12)     316.3  (5)
NY Jets                 101.7 (15)   216.1  (6)     317.8  (6)
New Orleans             105.8 (23)   212.2  (4)     317.9  (7)
Pittsburgh              106.1 (24)   212.4  (5)     318.6  (8)
Tampa Bay                88.4  (5)   234.4 (15)     322.9  (9)
Minnesota                90.3  (8)   233.9 (14)     324.2 (10)
NY Giants                89.9  (7)   236.5 (16)     326.4 (11)
Arizona                 103.8 (19)   226.1  (7)     329.9 (12)
Buffalo                 102.1 (16)   230.2 (11)     332.3 (13)
Green Bay               105.6 (22)   227.2  (9)     332.8 (14)
Philadelphia            101.6 (14)   233.6 (13)     335.2 (15)
Detroit                  97.0 (11)   240.4 (18)     337.4 (16)
Tennessee               110.7 (27)   227.6 (10)     338.3 (17)
Houston                  98.2 (13)   243.1 (22)     341.3 (18)
San Diego                91.7  (9)   250.1 (24)     341.8 (19)
Baltimore                93.9 (10)   248.6 (23)     342.6 (20)
Oakland                  86.1  (2)   257.3 (28)     343.4 (21)
Chicago                 103.5 (18)   242.1 (20)     345.6 (22)
Cincinnati              103.8 (20)   242.1 (20)     345.9 (23)
Carolina                111.1 (28)   238.1 (17)     349.1 (24)
Atlanta                 104.7 (21)   250.2 (25)     354.9 (25)
Denver                  107.8 (26)   250.2 (26)     357.9 (26)
Jacksonville            118.4 (30)   240.5 (19)     358.9 (27)
St. Louis                98.1 (12)   265.8 (30)     363.8 (28)
New England             103.3 (17)   267.8 (31)     371.1 (29)
Kansas City             107.3 (25)   269.4 (32)     376.7 (30)
Indianapolis            126.9 (31)   259.8 (29)     386.7 (31)
Cleveland               147.3 (32)   256.8 (27)     404.1 (32)

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[Chief Rum]

Passing Leaders

Front Office Football 2004
Passing Statistics
   
  Player          Team  GP GS Att  Cmp  Pct   Yards Avg   TD  Int Rating
Maddox, Tommy     PIT   16 16 451  296  65.6  3834  8.50  34  10  108.0
Manning, Peyton   IND   16 16 560  358  63.9  4803  8.57  29   8  102.3
Warner, Kurt      STL   16 16 542  350  64.5  4575  8.44  34  17   98.9
Gannon, Rich      OAK   16 16 552  369  66.8  4303  7.79  23  11   95.8
Collins, Kerry    NYG   16 16 571  372  65.1  4511  7.90  30  17   94.4
Dilfer, Trent     SEA   16 16 485  321  66.1  3824  7.88  32  21   94.0
Green, Trent      KCY   16 16 500  319  63.8  3985  7.97  26  17   91.6
Plummer, Jake     DEN   16 16 540  325  60.1  4231  7.83  28  15   90.5
Johnson, Brad     TBY   16 16 537  354  65.9  4132  7.69  30  23   89.8
Bledsoe, Drew     BUF   16 16 533  335  62.8  3746  7.02  22  10   89.6
McNair, Steve     TEN   16 16 498  307  61.6  3568  7.16  22  11   88.8
Garcia, Jeff      SFO   16 16 499  308  61.7  3928  7.87  21  15   87.8
Vick, Michael     ATL   16 16 542  354  65.3  3843  7.09  19  13   87.7
Favre, Brett      GBY   11 11 351  207  58.9  2896  8.25  18  13   87.2
Leftwich, Byron   JAX   15 14 530  330  62.2  3934  7.42  25  22   83.2
Carr, David       HOU   14 14 466  283  60.7  3273  7.02  14  15   78.5
Kitna, Jon        CIN   12 12 388  236  60.8  2785  7.17  15  16   78.3
Brady, Tom        NED   16 16 479  287  59.9  3065  6.39  19  16   77.9
Boller, Kyle      BAL   16 16 503  313  62.2  3347  6.65  19  21   76.8
Carter, Quincy    DAL   14 14 365  242  66.3  2267  6.21  19  21   76.5

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