Thanksgiving football leftovers

I’m still recuperating from a weekend filled with good friends, good food, good wine and of course good football.  So, let me get straight to a few highlights.

College Weekend.

Auburn is #1.  The Tigers put away Alabama 28 – 27.   They now have the top spot in the BCS and will play for the SEC Championship this weekend.

Boise State loss a close game to Nevada, 34-31.  The loss closed the door on their hopes to play in the BCS Championship Game and opened the door for #4 Stanford,

#5 Wisconsin, #6 Ohio State, #7 Arkansas, #8 Michigan State and #9 Oklahoma to move up.   Arkansas and Oklahoma entered the top 10 after beating LSU and Oklahoma State respectively. 

The Big Ten title is a three-way tie this year.  Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State all ended the regular season with 11-1 records.  Big Ten Conference Championship game can’t come fast enough.     

NFL Week 12

The Thanksgiving Day games went as expected.  The New York Jets beat Cincinnati, New Orleans beat Dallas and New England played with Detroit before Tom Brady crushed them. 

A lot of fans and people close to the sport, believe that the Thanksgiving game should be taken away from the Lions and replaced with a game that has playoff implications.  The Lions overall have not been that bad on Turkey Day.  They are 33-35-2.  The problem is that in the last 10 years the Lions have only won twice and the 8 losses were nowhere near competitive.  From a business standpoint, I think rotating the game could build some excitement and generate more interest on a day where people have all day to eat and watch football.  Personally, I’m tired of people complaining to me about their desire to watch a good game on Thanksgiving instead of my Lions. 

Reminder to everyone: I’m from Michigan.  I don’t have a NFL team.  I liked the Bears, Cowboys and 49ers growing up.  I do not own the Lions nor am I the commissioner of the NFL.  Send your concerns to Mr. Roger Goodell.

After Turkey Day…

Brett Favre had a good day with new Minnesota Vikings Head Coach, Leslie Frazier making the decisions.  Without throwing a touchdown pass, Favre still led the Vikings to a 17-13 victory over the Washington Redskins.  McNabb started off the game well.  The Redskins’ first score was a touchdown pass.  By the end of the game, he had an interception and was sacked four times.  The Redskins are now 5-6.

Michael Vick’s 333 passing yards and two touchdowns were not enough to get Philadelphia a win against the Chicago Bears.  The Bears defense discovered a way to stop Vick.  They intercepted one of his passes and sacked him four times.  Chicago won, 31 – 26.

The Buffalo Bills almost pulled a big upset against an AFC leader, Pittsburgh Steelers.  After two consecutive wins (their only victories this season), Buffalo was prepared to make a statement.  They scared the Steelers and forced overtime with just two seconds left in the game.  Pittsburgh finally won the game with a little more than two minutes left in overtime, 19–16.

Are you ready for some football?

Monday Night Football is out west again this week.  The San Francisco 49ers are traveling to University of Phoenix Stadium to play the Arizona Cardinals.  They are in the same division, NFC West.  They have the same record, 3-7.  They suffered embarrassing losses last week by more than 21 points.  (San Fran did not even get on the scoreboard.)  The situation looks bad for both teams, but all hope should not be gone.  This is not the result of a superstar addition or new coach.  49ers and Cardinals fans can still be optimistic because the NFC West is weak.  The “leaders” in this division, Seattle and St. Louis, are tied at 5-6.  So, this game still has some value.  Both teams have the potential to make it to the playoffs.  As their records illustrate, neither team has done anything impressive this year.  However, San Fran is 12 in the league on defense while Arizona is 29.  Despite an ugly loss last weekend to Tampa Bay, the 49ers are undefeated with Troy Smith starting at quarterback.  We may see some great moves from Arizona wide receiver, Larry Fitzgerald, but I don’t expect much else from the Cardinals.  I’m picking San Fran.  Honestly, it’s not because of the defense or Troy Smith.  It’s nostalgia.  Joe Montana.  Steve Young.  Jerry Rice.  Deion Sanders.  I loved those guys.  

Ciao! 

Heels & Helmets®

Thanksgiving with college and NFL teams

It’s Thanksgiving week.  My weekend was filled flipping the channel between football games and the Food Network.  As I watched some games over the weekend and developed new ideas to enhance my Thanksgiving recipes, I thought about what some football teams would be thankful for this year.   Before I get to that, I have to share one tip to help with your Thanksgiving dinner.  If you are responsible for the turkey this year, purchase a cheesecloth.  It is the best secret to baking the perfect turkey.  Soak it in your favorite marinade, place it over the turkey and let it bake.  The moist cloth prevents the turkey from getting dry and protects the color from getting too dark.  I create a marinade using apple cider, cinnamon, rosemary and sage.  When the turkey comes out, I garnish with apples and cinnamon sticks to accentuate the aroma.  It is a great centerpiece at the dinner table.  

Now here is my take on what we would hear around the table at Thanksgiving from some college and football teams.

Around the college Thanksgiving table.

Wisconsin: “We are thankful that Michigan’s Denard Robinson’s record setting performance on Saturday was not enough to stop us from beating the Wolverines 48–28.   We are the highest ranked Big Ten team in the BCS.”

Michigan State: “We are thankful that we scored 22 points in the fourth quarter and came back from a 28–13 deficit and managed to beat Iowa 35–31.  In this close Big Ten race, we are grateful that we already beat Wisconsin and don’t play Ohio State this year.”

Ohio State: “We are thankful for Terrelle Pryor.  He ran on a crucial 4^th down and brought us back from behind to barely defeat Iowa 20–17.” 

Oklahoma State: “We are thankful that Nebraska loss to Texas A&M.  We are now the highest ranked Big 12 team in the BCS.”

Notre Dame:  “We are thankful that we won the inaugural college football game at the new Yankee Stadium, 27-3 over Army, in front a record crowd of 54,251.   We are going to a bowl game.”

Michigan:  “We are thankful that the superstars on our offense are sophomores and we are going to our first bowl game under Coach Rich Rod.”

Around the Thanksgiving table after NFL Week 11

Washington Redskins: “We are thankful that Tennessee made a ton of mistakes that allowed us to win 19-16 and put us at .500.”

New York Jets: “We are thankful that Mark Sanchez threw a perfect 42-yard pass to Braylon Edwards with 16 seconds remaining in the game.  After blowing a 16 point lead, we beat Houston 30 – 27.”

Dallas Cowboys: “We are thankful that we played the Detroit Lions in our home debut with Garrett as the interim head coach.  It allowed us to get our first win at home.  The 35–19 victory gives us confidence to play like we have talent.”

New England Patriots: “We are thankful that we have Tom Brady.  He makes things happen even with rookie receivers.  We are also grateful that our defense intercepted Big Manning’s first and last pass of the game and we beat the Colts 31–28.

Philadelphia Eagles:  “We are SOOOOOOO VERY THANKFUL, GRATEFUL AND APPRECIATIVE that Kevin Kolb’s injury opened the door for Michael Vick to play.  We are just over filled with gratitude because Vick replaced Kolb as our starting quarterback.  He has demonstrated that he is still a franchise QB.  We look so smart for sending McNabb to Washington.  After beating Young Manning and the Giants 27–17, we are in first place in the NFC East by ourselves.  Again, we are SOOOOOOO VERY THANKFUL, GRATEFUL AND APPRECIATIVE.

Are you ready for some football?

Monday Night Football goes out west tonight.  The San Diego Chargers host the Denver Broncos.  This is an important division game because the AFC West is so close.  Oakland and Kansas City are tied for first place with a 5-4 record, San Diego (4-5) is in third and Denver (3-6) is in last.  Both teams are passing machines.  Both quarterbacks, Philip Rivers (Chargers) and Kyle Orton (Broncos), are on pace to challenge Dan Marino's single-season record of 5,084 passing yards.  I think that this game will come down to defense.  San Diego has the best defense in the league right now.   On the other hand, Denver has defensive tackle Jamal Williams, who is in first season with the Broncos after 12 seasons in San Diego.  I think Jamal may give his new team some insight on how to get past the Chargers’ offensive line.  So, I’m going with Denver. MNF is at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.  If you’re in DC, you can join us at Degrees in the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ciao! 

Heels & Helmets®