NFL Page 1220 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Your Early Games Open Thread
Middle America wins the 1:00 games slate (or should I say "noon games," our new Hardee's-eating overlords?) as us coastal elite miss out on the promising Indy/Tennessee game. I promise to be nicer next time I'm changing planes. [The506]...

Having Eli Manning's Autograph More Humiliating Than Losing To Eli Manning
In the catalog of manufactured outrage, it's hard to think of a dumber example than Dallas players somehow being angry at Eli Manning for signing a wall in the new Cowboys Stadium. Plaster has never been so disrespected!...

Our Nation's Athletes' Traffic Violations Are No Longer Below-The-Fold News
Adrian Peterson was ticketed for doing 109 in a who-cares-how-many mph zone. But a police spokesperson took pains to assure the press that the traffic stop was "very routine." This is the world we live in now. [Pioneer Press]...

Looking For Dick
This is what it means to be a Bills fan: You spend your December days hunched over a team photo like some Bletchley Park code cracker, looking for proof that your recently shitcanned coach has been photoshopped into oblivion....

An 18-Game NFL Season? Be Careful What You Wish For
There's rumblings that the NFL is looking into the possibility of expanding the season by two weeks. This might sound like Christmas coming early, but there's a few good reasons to be wary....

'Tis The Season To Call Out Your Quarterback
Sunday saw two stars publicly questioning their respective QBs. Now, with a few news cycles to think about it, Hines Ward is sorry. Brian Urlacher, not so much....

Tom Brady Will Never Forget 9/11, U2's Super Bowl Halftime Show
Brady reminisces about 2002: "Your first chance to play in a Super Bowl and winning the Super Bowl, and of course the circumstances of that year with 9-11 happening and U2 performing at halftime — that was pretty unbelievable." [CBSSports.com]...

Pats-Saints: Your Open Thread
Sean Payton compared Bill Belichick's Patriots to Microsoft in a nice way. Belichick talked wistfully about deep-sea fishing with Payton. At some point tonight, the two men will hop off the tandem bike and coach a very important football game....

Does It Make You Feel Better To Know You Weren't Favored To Begin With?
On a shortened Sunday slate, two huge upsets looked possible late. But that's why they play 60 minutes (or in Houston and Washington's cases, 45)....

Your Late Games Open Thread
Grab a snack from the kitchen (or, if you're JaMarcus Russell, a bag of Skittles from your waistband), and settle in for three hours of either Brett Favre or Matt Leinart. There are no winners....

Your Early Games Open Thread
Well, someone is convinced the country really wants to see the Redskins play. But after last week's Detroit/Cleveland showstopper, I promised the scheduling gods I'd never question their wisdom again. [The506]...

Ben Roethlisberger's Brain Deemed Unfit To Participate In NFL Game
Jay Glazer has reported that the Pittsburgh Steelers will pin their hopes on the right arm of Dennis Dixon for Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens after it was decided that Ben Roethlisberger won't play due to "exercise-induced headaches." [FoxSports]...

NFL Network Apologizes For Terrible Motherf@*^ing Mistake
The NFL Network takes you inside the game like no other broadcast entity can. Who else could get a shot of Josh McDaniels swearing at offensive lineman on the sideline, then broadcast it live and completely unedited? Absolutely no one....

Heads Roll At NFL's Concussion Committee
Ira Casson and David Viano, co-chairmen of the NFL's brain-injury committee and spiritual heirs to the quacks who cooked medical studies for Big Tobacco, have resigned. In response, NFL retirees forgot what they were going to say. [NYT]...

Illicit High-Five Is Apparently A Thing Now
The NFL actually had to release a statement explaining that what happened between referee Jerome Boger and Vince Young on Monday was not technically a high five. You say "tomato," I say "terrorist palm slap." [Houston Chronicle, PFT]...

Someone Actually Tried To Blackmail Tom Coughlin?
A 30-year-old Philadelphia man, who lawyers say is mentally disabled, has pleaded guilty to sending threatening email messages to Tom Coughlin. Or are they just naturally assuming that any blackmailer who would choose Coughlin as his target must be deranged?...

Man Dating Woman Made Famous For Anti-Homo Pageant Speech/Sex Tape Will Start For Rams
Kyle Boller. You remember him. He was Joe Flacco before it was fashionable to be Joe Flacco. Now, Boller will most likely start in place of the broken-legged Marc Bulger. [Sky Sports/Photo: Radar]...

Matthew Stafford Wins The Weekend
In sports, everybody is a winner—some people just win better than others. Like Matthew Stafford, who won the weekend by suddenly turning into Bobby Layne, minus the crippling hangovers....

These Men Are The Best QBs Of The Day. Really.
I'm sure the fact that they were facing the Lions and Browns defenses had nothing to do with their spectacular numbers. But some quality defenses had tough afternoons as well....

Your Late Games Open Thread
The Jets got an early morning wakeup call in their New England hotel, apparently a common occurrence for teams preparing to play the Patriots. No word yet if Mark Sanchez got the required amount of beauty sleep. [PFT]...