Tashard Choice will finally get another shot over the next two weeks. Marion Barber III is out with a calf strain, which means that Choice will get some of the carries that Barber normally gets. My prediction is that Choice, already a fan favorite, will continue to build his legend. It doesn't hurt that Choice will be in action against one of the worst run defenses in the league this Sunday. Indianapolis allows 4.9 yards per carry and 136 yards per game, good for 29th in the league.... Read More >>

The last time the Atlanta Falcons met the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, their swashbuckling coach Raheem Morris was blabbing to all who would listen that the Bucs were the “best team in the NFL.” Fast forward four weeks later and the Falcons (9-2) are perched atop the conference all by their lonesome. The Bucs on the other hand? Well, at 7-4 they are fighting for their playoff lives. Tampa Bay can ill afford to have another loss – especially against a division opponent – and that makes... Read More >>

The Saints are scoring points and winning games with a group of nobodies and has-beens. Chris Ivory, an undrafted rookie from Tiffin University – that’s the Tiffin Dragons of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – leads the team in rushing and is eating up nearly five yards a carry. Many thought the Saints’ second-leading rusher was finished after having a lousy 2009 and getting cut by the Seahawks in September. But through six games, Julius Jones is averaging... Read More >>

The Eagles need to find a wider variety of ways to get DeSean Jackson involved in the offense . When Jackson goes over 50 receiving yards or scores a touchdown, the Eagles are 6-0 this year, but they’re 1-3 when he falls short of those numbers. Over the last two years, those splits are 14-3 and 3-5. The problem is, four of those eight games in which he’s come up shy of 50 yards or a score have been in his last seven games, including each of the last two. As Jackson has... Read More >>

With their 17-13 road win over the Washington Redskins Sunday, the Vikings moved to 4-7, a respectable record -- if you're in the NFC West. The team is still four games behind the division-leading Chicago Bears with just five weeks to go, but a win's a win at this point. Here's a few observations from this weekend's game: Positives First win for interim head Leslie Frazier A la Jason Garrett in Dallas, the team rallied around their former defensive coordinator and snapped their... Read More >>

Prior to this season, I publically expressed my hope on this blog that we would not see Drew Stanton in action this year. I guess I didn’t quite do enough. Not only will we see Stanton in action this weekend, but the ex-Spartan is likely to start for the Lions as they take on the NFC North-leading Chicago Bears at Ford Field. According to the Detroit Free Press, Shaun Hill could be out for the year with a broken index finger on his throwing hand. With Matthew Stafford already... Read More >>

Any fan watching the Giants this season must find them self wondering who this team really is. Are they the dominant force we saw in Seattle or the bumbling mess we saw at home vs. the Cowboys? Week to week we’re not sure which team will show up. This week, well, both teams did. Much of the discussion after the game revolved around the rousing half-time speech by Justin Tuck. I don’t know what he said exactly, but he must be studying the great orators before him – Gen. Patton, Knute... Read More >>

Once the most revered unit of the Oakland Raiders, the defensive secondary has suddenly become the most picked on. Thanks in large part to injuries to Nnamdi Asomugha and Chris Johnson the defensive backfield is now the team’s weakest link. This past Sunday a Miami Dolphins team minus its best weapon in the passing game, Brandon Marshall, came out of the gate going right at Asomugha. Normally this would be about as bright an idea as trading for Brady Quinn. But with Nnamdi nursing an ankle... Read More >>

I'm always being asked by fans of other teams about the Green Bay Packers history. Some questions are, "What's a Packer anyway?" and "Why are the Packers uniforms green and gold?" Since the Green Bay Packers will be donning their retro navy blue and gold uniforms this week, I thought I'd answer those questions. In 1919 a group of men, including Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun decided to put together a football team. Looking for a sponsor, they approached Curly's employer at the... Read More >>

Offense This unit played their most complete all season. Jay Cutler completed 14 of 21 passes for 247 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating was 146.2. Devin Hester, Johnny Knox and Earl Bennett all added huge plays. Bennett found his way into the end zone twice and Knox went in for a score once. Greg Olsen had a big touchdown catch in the red zone that put the Bears up for good. The most impressive player was clearly Matt Forte, he had 14 carries for 117, however one of... Read More >>

So to put it bluntly, the Arizona Cardinals postseason hopes are all but over after a lopsided 27-6 loss to the 49ers on Monday Night Football. But the good news for the fans out in the desert is, hopefully, things can be set in place for 2011. 1. Find out if Max Hall or John Skelton is your QB of the future. Maybe one of them is. Maybe Donovan McNabb or Matt Hasselbeck, if rumors are true, is. Either way, that needs to be settled by Week 17, since Derek Anderson is not our QB of... Read More >>

The adage that, “On any given Sunday, any team can win,” has never been truer than this season. This particular NFL season has been difficult to try and predict, as teams that look great one week lose to a seemingly inferior team the following week. Trying to predict the big Monday Night showdown between the Jets and the Patriots, two teams with 9-2 records, is as equally difficult to do as any other game, if not more so. To try and predict a winner, let’s take a look at how the teams match up... Read More >>

Most NFL fans know that the quarterback position has the longest learning curve. It is extremely rare for a rookie quarterback to be effective because there is just so much to learn and the game is played much faster than it is in college. Dan Marino is a notable exception to this rule. Despite leading them to the AFC Championship game last year, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez was not such an exception. His 63.0 rating and 20 interceptions as a rookie was pedestrian, at best. ... Read More >>

Earlier this month Chad Henne lost his starting job to 34-year old Chad Pennington, but then Henne regained the position when Pennington got injured. on Sunday, Henne threw for 307 yards, two touchdowns, and only one interception in the Dolphins 33-17 win over the Oakland Raiders. Henne led the offense to 471 yards of total offense and was on the field for over 41 minutes of the game. All coming a week after this offense, behind the play of Tyler Thigpen, was held to only 187 yards. So,... Read More >>

Yes, the Colts turned the ball over five times. Yes, the team only ran for 24 yards. Yes, Reggie Wayne only caught five passes for 42 yards. And yes, the Colts put up the team’s lowest point total of the entire season. Before we all run to the hills though, we need to remember that the Chargers do have the No. 1-ranked defense in football and the Colts are still playing with their third- and fourth-string running backs. With that said, the most detrimental issue to the Colts’ offense on... Read More >>

Jaguars blogger Jack Harver is tasked with grading the team's performance in Week 12. Today, he'll break down the offense's efforts in Jacksonville's 24-20 loss to the New York Giants. QUARTERBACK: B Behind an offensive line missing both starting tackles, David Garrard did a good job - for the most part - of getting the ball out of his hands quickly without asking for too much time to throw from the Jaguars' backups. His interception came on a catchable pass, and he made some... Read More >>