What NFL souvenir most interests you?

June 29th, 2009 12:19 pm
by Pro Set

What connection does the death of Michael Jackson have to the 2009 NFL Season? It reminds everyone that value comes from scarcity. Merchandise and record sales for Jackson’s music have already skyrocketed since his death . So as everyone awaits training camp, here are five pieces of NFL memorabilia that I’d love to have.

1. Tom Landry’s hat: unfortunately for many younger NFL fans, Tom Landry’s hat is known only through Globex Corp but this hat symbolized the rise of America’s team: the Dallas Cowboys
2. Lamar Hunt’s chequebook: a basic rule of economics is that monopolies become inefficient, and Mr Hunt, by bankrolling the AFL, drove the NFL to its current omnipotence
3. Lambeau Field grass: the most storied venue in the League will hopefully never switch to Field Turf
4. Jerry Rice’s gloves: the greatest receiver in NFL history
5. Ed Hochuli’s referee shirt: despite Ed’s disaster at Mile High last season, his workouts and explanations are the best in the NFL

Posted in Dallas Cowboys, Game, Kansas City Chiefs, NFL, NFL Coaches, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players | No Comments »

NFL 2009: the end of 16 games?

June 29th, 2009 12:01 pm
by Pro Set

NFL Season 2009 is now less than 100 days away. This is the eighth season of the eight division format, adopted with the commencement of the expansion Houston Texans. As fair as this schedule format is (teams within the division have 14 of 16 common games) the NFL may well succumb to the temptation to expand the regular season to 18 games.

Roger Goodell does nothing for his credibility by claiming that an expanded regular season is being proposed in the best interests of fans. It is a simple revenue raising exercise.

Assuming an 18 game regular season, the NFL has one chance to save face: by having two intra conference divisional crossovers. This would mean 16 common opponents and 100% scheduling parity within a division. The NFL has repeatedly stated that precedence must be retained to the importance of winning a division. The only detriment would be the fact that divisional winners would no longer meet automatically in the following regular season, no doubt to the chagrin of the networks.

A hypothetical 18 game schedule (for an NFC East team) under this proposal could proceed as follows:

• Six divisional games
• Four intra conference games v NFC North
• Four intra conference games v NFC South
• Four inter conference games v AFC East

The intra conference schedule would complete a rotation every three seasons and the inter conference would complete a rotation every four seasons. It’s not as if NFL Game Analysis has not been right before: check out this 2007 vent on the force out rule. The force out rule was abolished in time for last season.

Posted in Houston Texans, NFL, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL on television, NFL schedule | No Comments »

Delaware allows NFL wagering

June 29th, 2009 8:24 am
by Pro Set

The NFL is crying crocodile tears regarding Delaware and sports wagering. Very few industries benefit more from gambling than professional football.

Outlawing gambling on football is about as likely to be successful on a public policy basis as outlawing alcohol. Of greater interest here is the possible challenge to the Professional and Amateur Sport Protection Act 1992 (US).

It is high time that the US Supreme Court struck down this ridiculous legislation. No Sovereign State should be prevented from legislating about sports wagering that occurs within its borders. The commerce clause of the United States Constitution, upon which Congress claims the authority to legislate such matters, was never intended to cover activities within a Sovereign State.

American taxpayers fund the salaries of Department of Justice flunkies who couldn’t get a job in the private sector. Sports wagering is a State matter. Is there nothing better for the Washington parasites to do than worry about how American taxpayers spend a Sunday afternoon?

Here at www.nflgameanalysis.com NFL betting will be covered every week of the 2009 season and beyond: let the games begin.

Posted in Analysis, Game, NFL | No Comments »

Breaking News: Brett Favre to coach Australian Rules Football

June 28th, 2009 11:02 pm
by Big Dog

In a shock announcement today Brett Favre’s agent has revealed the quarterback’s intentions to begin a new career halfway around the world, taking on a coaching position with the Australian Rules football team, the Essendon Bombers. Favre said that he had long enjoyed watching the AFL games via satellite and that he had great respect for the skill and toughness required to play that game. “They have the strength and speed of linebackers, with the catching skills of wide receivers and the kicking ability of the best punters – it’s an amazing all-round set” Favre answered when asked what had attracted him to the game.

In response to a question about whether his NFL experience was relevant to entirely different code of football Favre laughed and said “Well I know about reading a game, I understand high pressure situations, and I know how to have fun while doing it. Anyone could learn from that.”

This shock announcement has shaken the NFL world and dismayed fans, players and coaches alike, most of whom thought Favre was destined for Minnesota.

Of course, the preceding paragraphs are entirely made up and have no relation to any persons living or dead. But when the world’s spinning in the grip of yet another year of “What Will Favre Do?” fever, well we just had to have a little fun with y’all. No matter what happens with the great number 4, we hope his recovery from surgery goes well and we’re sure Brett will continue to add lots of excitement to the world of football, on or off the field.

In any case, with no disrespect to Brett intended, I can’t wait for all this speculation to be over and for the season to have begun. There’s been a lot going on, but man I’m ready for some football!

Posted in Brett Favre, Game, Minnesota Vikings, NFL, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players | No Comments »

50th Anniversary Season for the AFL

June 28th, 2009 10:31 pm
by Big Dog

So the 2009 NFL season also happens to be the 50th Anniversary Season for the original eight teams of the AFL. Of course this will be celebrated in many ways throughout the coming months but the primary format will be a series of matchups being touted by the NFL as “Legacy Games“.

These Legacy Games will involve the original eight teams (or their modern variations) wearing special historic uniforms and will of course provide the opportunity for a great deal more NFL merchandise to be sold. For the die-hard fan of any one of these franchises it will be all but impossible to not buy a commemorative jersey, cap, tshirt, sweatshirt, jacket, cup, cup-holder, giant foam finger and so forth.

Not to appear overly cynical, I think it’s great that the game’s alive and well today, here 50 years later and still going strong, but it does seem to me that the value of any game – “Legacy” or otherwise – can really only be measured in terms of its contribution to the season as a whole.

Why on earth is it more important that the Tennessee Titans Houston Oilers play the New York Jets Titans of New York on September 27 than that Cleveland and Baltimore go head-to-head on the same day?

It’s important to celebrate the evolving history of the game we love, but let’s all remember to keep it in context. And that context is competition. Win your division, win your conference, win the title… but win. It doesn’t matter if you’re facing a legacy team or the high school from the next town over. The game is the game, and it only rewards winners.

So feel free to buy a commemmorative tshirt, jersey, hat, whatever. Just don’t expect it to make one bit of difference to how well your team plays.

Posted in Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Game, NFL, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL schedule, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans | No Comments »

Superbowl XLII – PREVIEW

February 3rd, 2008 5:35 am
by Pro Set

New York Giants vs New England Patriots – Superbowl XLII

Despite the substandard play of Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game, the Patriots remain clear favourites. The key to the game, when New England has the ball, is whether New York changes its tactics from the Week 17 contest.

In Week 17, the Giants attacked the patriots, and put pressure on Brady. He looked a little unsettled, and generally the tactics of the Giants met with widespread approval. But the seminal moment of Week 17 was the Brady to Moss TD pass when Moss was left single-covered. The playoff opponents that have faced New England clearly determined not to get beaten deep. This policy looked futile as Brady picked Jacksonville apart in the AFC Divisional Playoff. But JAX stuck form to the game plan, and never let the Patriots strike quickly.

San Diego followed this lead, despite the fact that JAX could not force the turnovers. Luck, however, was with SD as Brady was 5% off his game, and with 7 or 8 men in coverage, SD had the men there to swallow three INTs.

So, does New York attack or play coverage? The excellent weather in Arizona tends to suggest that Brady will be comfortable picking apart deep zones. But I think that the Giants must rush four and trust them to deliver. The Patriots offensive line has to have an off day eventually. Since New York has no one who can cover Moss in single coverage, it would be a massive gamble to bring excess rushers on a consistent basis.

For the Giants offense, Eli Manning needs to have his hot streak continued. The accuracy on his throws, the lack of one bounce receptions, and the reliability of Plaxico Burress have to arrive in Arizona. It is obviously well known that Eli Manning has not fared well in his career against the blitz. New England will be tempted to bring relentless pressure. This will test Asante Samuel, who is surely the man to cover Plax when the blitz arrives. He cannot fare worse than Al Harris, who had a nationally televised disaster that will surely be the epitaph to an overrated career.

The Patriots will win, and this author congratulates New England in advance on a perfect season.

Posted in Analysis, Asante Samuel, Bill Belichick, Game, NFL, NFL Coaches, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, NY Giants, New England Patriots, Plaxico Burress, Randy Moss, Superbowl, Superbowl XLII, Tom Brady, Tom Coughlin | No Comments »

Superbowl XLII – Pros and Cons

January 31st, 2008 11:11 pm
by Big Dog

The Superbowl’s always an exciting time of year. It’s the culmination of a long and hard season. It’s one of the greatest sporting spectacles on earth. And yet, if your team didn’t make it, the Superbowl presents a very real conundrum. Who do you cheer for?

This year your choice is between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Each of these teams present their own sets of pros and cons when you consider offering your support.

New England Patriots
Pros

Cons

New York Giants
Pros

Cons

Anyway, no matter who you decide to cheer for this weekend, enjoy the game, enjoy the spectacle and enjoy the football.

Posted in Bill Belichick, Eli Manning, Game, Laurence Maroney, NFL, NFL Coaches, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Game Previews, NFL Players, NY Giants, New England Patriots, Plaxico Burress, Randy Moss, Superbowl, Superbowl XLII, Tom Brady, Tom Coughlin | No Comments »

Week 14 Analysis: New Orleans @ Atlanta

December 11th, 2007 1:51 am
by Big Dog

I’m not 100% sure what it means when the Monday Night Football team (Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser) spend most of the night NOT talking about the game, instead talking non-stop about Michael Vick’s 23 month sentence.

There’s no question that the news about Vick is big, and that it’s directly related to the performance of the Atlanta Falcons this season. That said, there was a game of football going on and while most of the good people of Atlanta chose to stay home, that doesn’t mean this game didn’t have anything riding on it. In particular, this game was a must win for the New Orleans Saints as they struggle to make the playoffs.

Saints QB Drew Brees had another good day, continuing to build on his solid reputation with 28 of 41 for 328 yards, 3 TD. He shared the ball around, his touchdown passes going to three different receivers, and made several good plays, scrambling when necessary and absorbing some good hits along the way. WR David Patten and WR Marques Colston came away with nine receptions each and S Roman Harper returned an interception for a TD. Overall New Orleans looked like a strong team with the right mixture of desperation and determination to make their run into the playoffs and perhaps even go a little further. Head Coach Sean Payton certainly demonstrated his aggressive style on the night and it was absolutely clear that he has this team in the right frame of mind to complete their mission. Watch out for the Saints.

It was also interesting to watch Falcons QB Chris Redman starting and running the game tonight, as Atlanta continue to experiment with their roster. Redman had a good night completing 23 of 40 for 298 yards, 2 TD and an INT. WR Michael Jenkins was his favourite target of the night with 9 receptions for 83 yards and a TD. RB Jerious Norwood had a lacklustre night with 6 carries for 21 yards. Right now the Falcons are clearly a team holding some genuine talent, but they are struggling to draw together as a team. One can only hope that with Vick’s sentence now handed down, the Falcons can finally and truly put this saga behind them and get on with being a competitive football team. The talent’s there, the team just needs to unite behind a QB and a plan, then the Falcons will get their chance to be great.

Posted in Analysis, Atlanta Falcons, Chris Redman, David Patten, Drew Brees, ESPN, Game, Jerious Norwood, Michael Jenkins, Michael Vick, Mike Tirico, Monday Night Football, NFL, NFL Coaches, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, NFL on television, New Orleans Saints, Roman Harper, Ron Jaworski, Sean Payton, Tony Kornheiser | No Comments »

Week 14 Analysis: Dallas @ Detroit

December 10th, 2007 6:54 am
by Big Dog

With most pundits declaring that the Detroit Lions are pretty much done for the season it looked today like QB Jon Kitna and the rest of the Lions may have had the fire to pull off an amazing upset win against the second best team in the NFL right now, the Dallas Cowboys.

The Lions took the early lead and stayed there for much of the game. Kitna managed to put up good numbers (22 of 36 for 248 yards) with no interceptions. The telling statistic was that he also had no passing touchdowns. The Lions also managed to gain 152 rushing yards against a Cowboys defense that is very tough on the run. In the end though, there were two drives that defined the outcome of the game. Early in the 4th quarter, the Lions had the chance to stretch the lead to more than a TD, with a 35 yard field goal attempt. Detroit K Jason Hanson would normally find this well within his range but this time the kick sailed just wide, to the right of the uprights. This missed attempt is sure to be haunting the Lions staff, players and fans.

The second key drive began when Dallas gained possession at their own 17 yard line with 2 minutes 15 seconds left on the clock and no timeouts remaining. Dallas QB Tony Romo led the march down the field, connecting regularly with TE Jason Witten (as he had all game). Detroit’s great sin was that they constantly allowed Cowboys receivers to find the sideline and stop the clock. In the end Romo connected with Witten for a 16 yard TD pass. The point after was successful and that sealed the win. This is the Cowboys’ ninth win from behind this season.

In many ways, it’s that statistic that makes the Cowboys’ record even more impressive than the Patriots. The Patriots are easily dominating almost every team that they meet and have only really been put to the test twice this season. Meanwhile, the Cowboys are having to work harder to get their wins, and the toughness that is bred by that sort of competition will serve them well when it comes to the playoffs.

Posted in Analysis, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Game, Jason Hanson, Jason Witten, Jon Kitna, NFL, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, New England Patriots, Tony Romo | No Comments »

Week 13 Analysis: New England @ Baltimore

December 4th, 2007 1:25 am
by Big Dog

First things first, the Baltimore Ravens defense dominated much of this game. On offense, RB Willis McGahee earned his money and then some, as he carried major responsibility for a Ravens strategy that included keeping the New England Patriots offense of the field for as long as possible.

Baltimore led this game from the early stages and were managing to stay in front as the Patriots were at best only able to equalise. Each time they did that the Ravens came back to score with confidence and QB Kyle Boller did an excellent job of making some critical passes in the face of tough pressure from the Patriots pass rush.

The Ravens have been renowned for their defense for years and tonight that squad’s skill and experience showed as they limited the Patriots and managed to apply significant pressure to New EnglandQB Tom Brady, sacking him several times. Importantly, they were twice able to hold the Patriots to field goals and maintain a lead. In the end the Ravens defense still had to spend a lot of time on the field and the toll of their workload was showing in the latter stages of the fourth quarter.

New England’s final drive was what decided the game. The Patriots took possession with a little over three minutes left on the game clock and were moving downfield. The Ravens had held the Patriots to 4th and 1 on the Baltimore 30 with just under two minutes to go. The Ravens sideline called a timeout just before the ball was snapped and as the play was whistled off, the Ravens defense stopped the play for what would have been a turnover on downs if the timeout hadn’t been called.

After the reset, the Ravens again stopped the following play for a turnover on downs, but a flag on the play called a false start on the Patriots offense for 4th and 6. Brady scrambled for the 1st down on the following play.

That series of plays was decisive. After investing nearly 60 full minutes of emotional, mental and physical energy, the Ravens defense just imploded. The rest of the drive was dogged by penalty calls against the Ravens. Every time that the Ravens defense got the upper hand, there was another call that let the Patriots off the hook. The frustration was tangible.

The Patriots snatched the lead with a passing TD to TE Benjamin Watson, that will live in infamy for Baltimore fans as Watson held the ball in the fingertips of both hands for the completion. The play was reviewed by the booth and upheld, on replay it clearly was a caught pass.

Kyle Boller and the Ravens offense made a huge effort to race back down the field in the final minute and try to either get into field goal range to tie the game or make the long play for a TD and win. The final play of the game was an awe-inspiring 52 yard shot from Boller to WR Mark Clayton who was on the 2 yard line and unable to make it to the endzone.

In the end, Baltimore’s troubled season continued and the pressures within the team once again boiled over. On the other hand, the Patriots stayed cool and committed to the end, making the plays when the plays needed to be made. This is two weeks in a row that the Patriots have been tested and both times they have passed. The Patriots aren’t without their weaknesses, but nobody has yet been able to make New England’s weaknesses overcome their strengths.

Posted in Analysis, Baltimore Ravens, Benjamin Watson, Game, Kyle Boller, Mark Clayton, Monday Night Football, NFL, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, NFL on television, New England Patriots, Tom Brady, Willis McGahee | No Comments »