Maybe Eric mangini isn’t happy unless he is being hated.
Mangini ticked off Bill Belichick by abruptly leaving the Patriots coaching staff a few years back, reportedly breaking an agreement the two had when Belichick made Mangini the defensive coordinator.
For the second time in three years the cranky old 1974 Dolphins are sweating bullets. Mercury Morris and his boys had part of their legacy chipped away when the 2007 Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season (before faltering in the Super Bowl). Now, less than two years later, the Colts are taking dead aim.
With the possible exception of Bernie Madoff, has there been a fall from grace more dramatic than that suffered by the Denver Broncos? From that blistering 6-0 start that included victories over the Bengals, Patriots, Cowboys and Chargers (who are now a combined 38-18), Denver enters Week 16 without a playoff spot yet locked down.
The Washington Redskins may have just hired a new general manager and may be in the process of hiring a new head coach, but they still aren’t playing for next year quite yet.
In the Redskins last five games, they have two wins over the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders, and three losses by a combined seven points (losses to the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints).
The San Francisco 49ers had their Super Bowl last week when they stopped the Arizona Cardinals from clinched the NFC West on Monday Night Football. Now, on a short week, the 49ers have to travel on the road to the East Coast and find a way to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
The Minnesota Vikings don’t have a great shot to catch the New Orleans Saints for the top seed in the NFC but they do have an excellent chance to lock down the No. 2 seed in the conference.
The Dallas Cowboys have begun their annual December collapse and the cure for their ailments is not a road trip to face the lone undefeated team in the NFC. Nonetheless, the Cowboys will try to do what 13 other teams have failed to do: defeat the New Orleans Saints.
They’re circling the wagons on Foxboro, where the Holy Trinity of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and Bob Kraft is defending Randy Moss in an obvious desperate attempt to keep the wide receiver from completely checking out in the final three games of the season.
Much has been made of the Cincinnati Bengals’ conversion from a team dominated by hoodlums to a group that stays home on Friday and Saturday nights, which greatly enhances the team’s chances of winning on Sunday afternoons. But a more subtle metamorphosis has taken place, and it will be evident Sunday when Cincy travels to San Diego in an important Week 15 game.
The Arizona Cardinals have a division title on the line when they head to San Francisco on Monday night, but there is a little extra incentive that they aren’t being so vocal about.
In Week 1, the Cardinals hosted the San Francisco 49ers and they eventually lost that game because of a shoddy overall team effort.
There will be more than just some good old-fashioned divisional hatred on the line when the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants meet up on Sunday night. The Eagles currently hold the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoff picture while the New York Giants are the No. 7 seed – just one game behind.
The New Orleans Saints are just one of two teams in the NFL that has yet to lose this season and as they head out on the road as a 10-point favorite in Atlanta, the odds makers don’t believe that this is the week that their perfection will end.
So what’s the trick to beating the Indianapolis Colts?
Control the ball for large chunks of time? A lot of good that did the Dolphins.
Put a ton of points on the board? That helps, but the Patriots did that and still took an L.
Never, ever it is a good sign when an NFL owner talks on or off the record about the status of his head coach, but it’s Wade Phillips’s lot in life that Jerry Jones has never met a microphone that he didn’t like.
If you take a look at the Baltimore Ravens stats, you wouldn’t think that much has changed from last year’s daunting defense. While they are still the third best scoring defense, there has been a noticeable diminishing.
For example: Last week on Sunday night football, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who lost to Oakland this week with starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the lineup, nearly won on the road in Baltimore with third string starter Dennis Dixon.
The Arizona Cardinals may be without starting quarterback Kurt Warner this week, which would really hamper a matchup of two ageless quarterbacks in the NFC.
Warner led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl last year and Brett Favre is hoping to do the same for the Vikings this year.
