NFL Week 13 Schedule

Theismann and Millen are coming to Philadelphia. Can't you tell that I am giddy beyond belief about this? (note: Author is not giddy beyond belief about this; he would prefer to be hunted by a wildebeest than have to endure the torture his ears will be forced to endure this Thursday). (all times ET; games I get are in bold)

Thursday Night Football

Houston Texans vs. Philadelphia Eagles 8:20 (NFL Network - Bob Papa, Matt Millen, and Joe Theismann)

Map of who gets what CBS game.

Cleveland Browns vs. Miami Dolphins 1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Rich Gannon)
Buffalo Bills vs. Minnesota Vikings 1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Tennessee Titans 1:00 (CBS - Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker)

Oakland Raiders vs. San Diego Chargers 4:05 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Dan Fouts)

Map of who gets what Fox early game.

Washington Redskins vs. New York Giants 1:00 (Fox - Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa)
San Francisco 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers 1:00 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick)
Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions 1:00 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan)
New Orleans Saints vs. Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 (Fox - Ron Pitts and John Lynch)

Map of who gets what Fox late game.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Indianapolis Colts 4:15 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman)
Atlanta Falcons vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4:15 (Fox - Dick Stockton, Charles Davis, and Jim Mora, Jr.)
St. Louis Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals 4:15 (Fox - Chris Myers and Kurt Warner)
Carolina Panthers vs. Seattle Seahawks 4:15 (Fox - Chris Rose and Ross Tucker)

Sunday Night Football

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens 8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)

Monday Night Football

New York Jets vs. New England Patriots 8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden)

NCAA Division II Football Playoffs Super Regional Finals Schedule

My beloved Bloomsburg huskies may be eliminated, but that won't stop the schedule postings! The 2010 Division II football playoffs are down to 8 teams, with the winning teams getting to take home th title of champions of their respective Super Regional, in addition to appearing on national TV next week (CBS College Sports) for the National Semifinals. Hopefully in addition to some Oregon/Auburn excitement, the Division II games will provide some excitement as well. Personally, I am particularly looking forward to the Central Missouri vs. Northwest Missouri State game. The way Central Missouri attacks defenses through the air provides great excitement, while defending D2 champions Northwest Missouri State have twice comeback from 2 scores down to advance into these playoffs. Also, Mercyhurst is the lone remaining team from the PSAC in this tournament. Can they be the first PSAC team to win the D2 National Football Championship? They are only 3 wins away. Also, Albany State (GA) and Minnesota-Duluth will hope to continue what have been perfect seasons up to this point. Anyway, enough rambling, here is the schedule.

Schedule by time

#4 Shepherd vs. #2 Mercyhurst 12:00
#2 Delta State vs. #1 Albany State (GA) 1:00
#2 Augustana (SD) vs. #1 Minnesota-Duluth 1:00
#4 Central Missouri vs. #3 Northwest Missouri State 2:00

Schedule by Super Regional

Super Regional 1
#4 Shepherd vs. #2 Mercyhurst 12:00

Super Regional 2
#2 Delta State vs. #1 Albany State (GA) 1:00

Super Regional 3
#2 Augustana (SD) vs. #1 Minnesota-Duluth 1:00

Super Regional 4
#4 Central Missouri vs. #3 Northwest Missouri State

NFC West: As Awful As Advertised

Here are some random facts and figures delineating how bad the NFC West is.

Of the 28 NFL teams outside the NFC West, 20 of them would be in 1st place if they played in the NFC West.

Net point differential (i.e. points scored - points against)
Rams: -18.
Seahawks: -66
49ers: -38
Cardinals: -125

The Arizona Cardinals are -125 in net points, and yet they are only 2 games out of 1st! The Carolina Panthers are -136 in net points, a league-wide laughing stock, and are all intents and purposes, are dead and buried for the year. Not to mention disgraced. Yet the Cardinals are 2 games out of 1st place.

No team has a winning record on the road. Hell, the best team in this department is the Rams and their road record is 2-4. That's only 33%. The Rams are alone in 1st in this department in the NFC West.

The Rams and Seahawks are tied for 1st place in the NFC West. They are each 5-6.

The teams each team in the NFC West has defeated and lost to this season.

St. Louis Rams
Wins: Redskins (5-6), Seahawks (5-6), Chargers (6-5), Panthers (1-10), Broncos (3-8)
Losses: Cardinals (3-8), Raiders (5-6), Lions (2-9), Buccaneers (7-4), 49ers (4-7), Falcons (9-2)
Teams beaten currently with a winning record: 1

Seattle Seahawks
Wins: 49ers (4-7), Chargers (6-5), Bears (8-3), Cardinals (3-8), Cardinals (3-8)
Losses: Broncos (3-8), Rams (5-6), Raiders (5-6), Giants (7-4), Saints (8-3), Chiefs (7-4)
Teams beaten currently with a winning record: 2

San Francisco 49ers
Wins: Raiders (5-6), Broncos (3-8), Rams (5-6), Cardinals (3-8)
Losses: Seahawks (5-6), Saints (8-3), Chiefs (7-4), Falcons (9-2), Eagles (7-4), Panthers (1-10), Buccaneers (7-4)
Teams beaten currently with a winning record: 0

Arizona Cardinals
Wins: Rams (5-6), Raiders (5-6), Saints (8-3)
Losses: Falcons (9-2), Chargers (6-5), Seahawks (5-6), Buccaneers (7-4), Vikings (4-7), Seahawks (5-6), Chiefs (7-4), 49ers (4-7).
Teams beaten currently with a winning record: 1

For comparison's sake, the Eagles have beaten 4 teams currently with a winning record (Jaguars, Falcons, Colts, Giants). In short, number of teams the Eagles have beaten with a winning record = the number of teams the entire NFC West has beaten with a winning record. Kind of pathetic on the part of the NFC West, eh? In order to make things fair, if the eventual NFC West "champion" loses by less than 30 in the wildcard round, it should really count as a win for said team.

I'd write more things about this terrible division, but alas, my stomach is really cramping. Excuse me while I go to the bathroom and drop an NFC West.

Eagles Week 12 Recap: Eagles 25, Bears And Soldier Field 31

To the bullet points we go!

• The popular meme of this week will be that the Eagles "were exposed."  I would disagree with that.  Reasons why the Eagles lost not having to do with the fact they are "overrated:"  Asante Samuel, the league leader in interceptions, was out of the game had a some to do with it (more on that later).  The fact that Eagles players were slipping all over the place on a terrible Soldier Field while the Bears seemed to remain upright had more to do with it (more on that later).  The Eagles defense missing all sorts of tackles had a lot to do with it (I'd get more into that later, but I can't keep it PG-13).
• To further denounce that sure to be meme among people, the Chicago Bears had only given up 20 or more points once this season.  The Eagles got 25 on them today.
• Jay Cutler threw 21 passes today.  He threw 17 of them to the left side of the Eagles defense. What was so special about the left side of the Eagles defense?  Joselio Hanson and Trevard Lindley were filling in for the injured Asante Samuel.  All I will say is may Asante Samuel return Thursday as this would have been a completely different football game had Cutler had to deal with Samuel on one side and Dimitri Patterson on the other side.  Cutler may have been forced into one of his classic mistakes.
• For all the talk of the Bears not having a win versus a quality opponent this year, well, they have won now.  Very impressive win for them.
• Even good teams lose road games to other good teams in the NFL.  Some of the tack
• The Eagles were slipping all over Soldier Field.  The Bears were not.  If I am the Eagles, I am having a brief talk with my equipment manager after the game as he is fully responsible if the Eagles did not have the same cleats the Bears had.  Shameful.
• The equipment manager may be at fault for the Eagles falling while the Bears were not, but that does not excuse the fact that Soldier Field was in piss poor condition today.  Whomever thought it would be a good idea to play a high school game there on Friday should be fired.  Whomever cleaned that field up and thought it was even remotely playable should also be fired.  That field was an abortion and an embarrassment to football and the NFL today.  I would expect field conditions like that out of high schools, not the NFL.  Then again, it was a high school field a couple days ago, so I guess I should have seen this coming.
• It may have been at the end of the game in a loss, but that still does not change the insanity of this touchdown pass from Vick to Celek.  Not only is that a great catch by Celek in triple coverage, but a great throw by Vick as well.  I mean, it was not his best decision (there were 4 Bears in the area), but wow.  What a throw.  He put that right in there for Celek.  Incredible.  Unbelievable.  Amazing.
•  Multiple reports claim that DeSean Jackson was visibly upset in the locker room after the game and had some animated discussions with Vick.
• The Bears constantly played their safeties deep this game to prevent the long ball.  The Eagles responded in turn by dinking and dunking their way down the field for the entire game.  It also led to Jason Avant getting 8 catches for 83 yards.  Whenever a defense plays like that against the outside threats, Jackson and Maclin, the slot receiver is almost always going to have a big day.  Today was no exception with Avant.
• Michael Vick threw his first NFL regular season interception today since December 24, 2006.  The pass was tipped at the line, but it was a pass into double coverage which may have been intercepted anyway even if it was not deflected.  Some may point to the deflection and say that was not Vick's fault, but Vick's decision making on throwing that pass was very poor, a rarity for him this season.
• Aspeaking of poor decision making, when down by 3-scores in the 4th quarter and faced with 4th and goal from the 2, you do not kick a field goal.  Be aggressive, go for it, and get yourself back in the game.  And then, after having to settle for another field goal, Andy Reid kicked it deep instead of going for the onside kick.  All around stupidity and terrible clock management on Reid's parrt.
• While going to commercial break after a Chicago Bears touchdown, Fox used Chelsea Dagger as their bumper music.  Congratulations on alienating every Eagles fan who rooted for the Flyers in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Fox!
• The Eagles need to have a quick amnesia as their next game is this Thursday against the Texans on Thursday Night Football.  I dread the hearing Matt Millen and Joe Theismann talking about the Eagles.
• And lastly, the win probability chart. (advancednflstats.com)

2010 NFL Season Week 12 Live Blog

CLICK HERE TO GO TO LIVE BLOG!

The Craziest College Football Finish Of The Year

Perhaps maybe even one of the games of the year.

The Egregious Officiating Blunder That Cost The Flyers An OT Game-winning Goal (A Complete Breakdown)

(Originally posted at Broad Street Hockey)

Let's get one thing straight: The Flyers did not deserve to beat the Flames today. They were outplayed and outworked by an inferior hockey team who is ranked 26th in the league in the overall standings.

Let's get another thing straight: The Flyers would have stolen a 2nd point from Calgary anyway, had the officials not made one of their biggest blunders of the season.

When Sean Avery instigated what is now known as the "Avery Rule" back in the 2008 playoffs, did anyone really think we would see it come up again? Maybe the lack of occurrence of the penalty caused the referees to forget what the penalty is for. It certainly is an explanation for calling it when they did.

Follow along with the jump for a complete breakdown of everything regarding this rule and this play.