Broncos are Making the QB Switch

I feel for Jake Plummer. The Broncos are still in it at 7-4 and they abandon the vet for an untested rookie? Makes me wonder how much influence the media has on the decisions of the coaching staff. Similarly, I couldn't believe it last night when the MNF booth started theorizing about replacing Hasselbeck after he struggled in the first half. The guy has been out for a month and oh, by the way, it's snowing! I guess Kornheiser should just stick to ranking his "favorite bald guys." His commentating about Hasselbeck was just about as relevant as that.

Patriots Shine, Falcons Whine

I have to hand it to Tom Brady Tom Brady, putting it on the line and being able to fake out Chicago Bears' Brian Urlacher and get the big first down himself. With as much experience defending the run as he's got, Urlacher still went for the little swaying hip move Brady put on him. When all is said and done, a fake can fake out the best of them and the real deal is still Tom Brady.


I'm just sorry Michael Vick had to try and do it all himself vs the Saints. I tuned in to see the Vick magic, I love the way he moves, but when the magician has to perform the same trick over and over again because his "assistants" can't hold onto the passes, the defense is gonna catch on, and the audience is gonna see what he's really got up his sleeve -- not a rabbit, but "the bird!"

A Female Fan on Sunday Night

What does it mean to be a mom/football fan in this new era of the best game of the week airing on Sunday Nights?

It means sacrificing seeing the first and maybe second quarter of the game because I am cooking a lovely meal for my family.

It means my 8 year old son gets a chance to work on his play by play skills, as he yells to me from living room to kitchen, "Chargers have the ball, pass complete, first down!"

It means my husband and I sit at the coffee table and our son gets the TV tray. Of course, we don't call it a TV tray, we call it the "Sky Box."

By halftime everyone is happy, and I get to cheer and groan with my mouth full.

Cowboys vs. Colts

Got the chance to see one NFL game from beginning to end this weekend, and it was a great one. I was rooting for the unbeaten Colts, but I have to admit, Romo's win was darn convincing, and it's nice that this young man got a win at his first start in Texas Stadium.

I don't know about anyone else, but I believe there needs to be something done about the timing of throwing the challenge flag. Late in the fourth quarter, the Colts were behind but had just completed a long pass and had gotten inside the Dallas twenty. Manning was doing his bit before the snap, pointing to defenders and pumping his leg up and down, then finally he gets under center, the play clock is ticking down to :o2, to :01 and then right as he snaps the ball the refs blow their whistles because Parcells throws the challenge flag. So, what would have been a completed pass at the goal line is whistled dead, the call on the field is upheld and the Cowboys are charged with a timeout. Well, boo hoo for them, they'll take that, because it forces the Colts to try again, and they fail to get the yardage, allowing Dallas to take over on downs and win the game.

There should be a rule! Something like, the coach's challenge can't interrupt the flow of the play. Once the QB is calling signals, you can't stop the play.

Dungee's later challenge, which in my mind was a desperate attempt to get the ball back, was at least made before Romo got under center!

"Field Position" What Women Get From NFL Football

I have been a football fan since I was little. I like the crack of the tackle, and also what that contact represents. It's the crispness of the aggression. The ballet of steel and power, the driving ahead, the impossible bounce of the ball that swings momentum like a wrecking ball. Grace under pressure, broad shoulders, snug pants, white shoes, and speed. The player is as big and as strong as he can be. He uses one hundred percentgravity to become the opposite of gravity. It is athleticism and power and drama of the game, the teamwork, movement and personality of its players.

Perhaps my childhood football fantasies were bigger still because I was a girl. Because I knew that I would never actually be able to play. I was a physical, athletic child, refusing the pink Barbie aisle in favor of cowboy outfits and cap guns, but at the same time I was mooning over Drew Pearson's sweet smile on a Dallas Cowboys rookie card. I could have it all in watching football. And it made me different, it made me feel special. I traded cards with a boy around the corner, and played pick-up football with boys at the park (until they realized I was a girl).
Sunday afternoons meant rooting for the Oakland Raiders' in a fourth quarter come-from-behind win. Ken Stabler would be back to pass, the pocket crumbling aroundhim, and he'd find Dave Casper at the sideline, and Casper, the big tight-end, would tilt and bend over backward and pick the ball out the fog, sacrificing his body for the first down. The drive stays alive! And it has for me. Whether it's Tony Dorsett behind the fullback, Lynn Swannin the corner of the end zone or a Brett Favre bullet pass into joyous jubilation and winning smile. I like watching the whole game, and how it develops.

-- Fourth and one... This is a big play.
-- Montana is out and Young is in..."
-- Earl Campbell or Mike Alstott in a flat footed rumble, a barge barging ahead.
-- The neat, straight lines before the ball is snapped, and the pool-break effectwhen the center hikes the ball and everyone goes into action. Scattering and bashing,hidden patterns and a quaterback's threaded needle pass to a fully extended receiver.

I also like the mud soaked mistakes, the drama of the fumble, the pinched look of a coach.

When a player gets hit and grabbed at to the point of where his shoulder padshave been yanked over his jersey, I love it when the camera catches one of his teammatesfixing his shirt for him. In this mess and mass of competition and intimidation, I find this gesture so touching among the players. Team mates -- this whole sense of connection and belonging comes over me. It's the dance of a running back, the fakes and sidesteps. Moving in twodirections at once. I like the way it looks when the defender just misses the tackle andyou see his arms fall off his opponent like feathers.

I like the instant replays, slow motion that removes it for a few moments from the raw reality and takes it to another level of beauty. I like the close-ups. Televisionlets you see their eyes. Under all those pads they are a bunch of people who mustmaintain an amazing level of intensity through all of football's fits and starts. I won't sayI'd rather be capable of doing this, I'm just saying I appreciate what they have to do to getthe job done. It's like watching an action movie where the hero gets trampled by life'sadversity and keeps struggling -- banged up and bruised, muddy and thwarted by fate – to the end toward victory. Except in football it's just gotta be a team effort or the whole game is lost.