Pats-Giants: Merry Christmas to us

Who said the NFL doesn’t have a heart?

Maybe it was the Christmas spirit. Or, maybe a visit from the ghost of Pete Rozelle.

Whatever.

Who cares?

At least the league is doing the right thing and allowing Saturday night’s Patriots-Giants game to be shown on network TV instead of to the three or four households in America who get the NFL Network.

Now we can all watch the Patriots march toward history on not one, but two networks, and see if quarterback Tom Brady can set the record for touchdown passes in a season and if receiver Randy Moss can set the record for touchdown catches in one year.

Thank you NFL.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And have a happy New Year.

A Christmas nugget

The weekly NFL release is full of interesting nuggets such as Jeff Garcia’s teams are 31-11 when the Tampa Bay quarterback’s passer rating is 95.0 or higher and San Diego’s Antonio Cromartie’s 10 interceptions have come in his last nine games.

Speaking of passer rating, Denver’s Jay Cutler has appeared twice on Monday Night Football and has a rating of 111.5 playing on Monday nights. That’s interesting because the Broncos play San Diego this Monday, which happens to be Christmas Eve, and that brings us to the best nugget of the week:

Cutler was born in Santa Claus, Ind., on … April 29.

Oh, come on. That would have been too much to ask for.

Spurlock returns kickoff into Bucs' history

Remember this name: Michael Spurlock.

Remember this number: 1865.

Both are answers to trivia questions.

Spurlock became the first Tampa Bay Buccaneer to return a kickoff for a touchdown in the team’s 31-year history when he took one back 90 against Atlanta during the first quarter of Sunday’s game at Raymond James Stadium.

It came on the 1,865th kickoff return in team history.

Just when you thought the week couldn’t get any worse for the Falcons – their quarterback is sentenced to 23 years in prison for his role in a dog fighting ring Monday and the head coach unexpectedly resigns and takes a college job Tuesday – they allow the first kickoff return for a touchdown in Bucs history.

What’s more, the Falcons wanted to challenge the play, claiming Spurlock stepped out of bounds inside the 10-year line, but not one official saw the red challenge flag on the field.

Nothing like over-coaching

Fourth-and-1, his team down by four, less then two minutes to play and Tom Brady is stuffed. End of possession. End of winning streak.

Corks were about to pop down in Miami late Monday night.

Wait. Who called timeout?

Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan did.

Why? To get the right personnel on the field?

To put the Ravens in a better defensive set?

How can anything be better than the personnel and defensive set that stuffed the quarterback sneak and won you the ball game?

All the timeout would do was allow New England more time to plan for the crucial play.

Think they are wondering about that in Baltimore today after the Ravens' last-minute meltdown allowed Brady to rally New England for the win?

Forget Brady’s 12-yard run on fourth-and-6 and the holding penalty on the Pats' next fourth-down attempt that nullified a game-ending incompletion and extended the winning touchdown drive.

None of that wouldn’t have happened had Baltimore not called timeout.

That was a blatant example of over-coaching. We see it every week. Football coaches have to control everything. Why can’t they let the players play?

The Ravens' defense knew what to do. They saw how the Patriots were lined up. They realized Brady wanted to get the play off quick. They knew he was going to try and get the yard himself.

Brady didn’t, and later said he heard the ref’s whistle.

Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t.

Either way, he wasn’t getting that yard until the Ravens’ coaching staff got in its own way.

Is Tebow slipping in Heisman?

It seems Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is slipping in the Heisman Trophy race, through no fault of his own, unless you pin the reason the Gators didn’t play in Saturday’s SEC title game on his shoulders.

But not being in Saturday’s spotlight while Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel played in the Big 12 title game gave Daniel an extra week to display his talents and make a case for himself among voters.

Also, the big game Arkansas running back Darren McFadden had against LSU the day after Thanksgiving has really given life to McFadden’s campaign.

Don’t forget McFadden finished second last year as a sophomore. Some voters will not vote for a sophomore figuring he has another chance to win it. McFadden certainly had a Heisman-worthy season this fall, and with him rumored to be leaving for the NFL, voters might feel this is their last chance to give him the award.

Or, they might feel Daniel deserves the Heisman because he got his team to a title game.

Packers-Cowboys: Can't see TV

It’s as if Bud Selig is running the NFL.

The best game of the week, perhaps one of the best games of the season, won’t be available to most viewers across the nation because most cable companies do not include the NFL Network, and the NFL Network is the only place where you can see tonight’s Packers-Cowboys game.

Why the dig at Selig? Because only baseball finds ways to keep its fans from viewing its games.

Until now.

The NFL was always good about televising the big games. Premier match-ups were scheduled for Monday night and the playoffs are staggered in such a way that every game is on everywhere. The league has even gone to a flexible schedule late in the season to move better match-ups to Sunday Night Football.

But there doesn’t seem to be any give on getting the NFL Network as part of cable networks’ premium packages.

The game isn’t available to most viewers in Manatee County unless they have Direct TV.

Is this the NFL’s way of trying to make even more money, or is the league slowly drifting toward the day when all its games will be on cable instead of the major networks?

Too early to tell, there.

All I know is the best game of the year not involving the Patriots and the Colts won’t be on in my house. Oh, sure, I had no problems seeing Miami and Pittsburgh splash around in the rain Monday. Best 3-0 game I had ever seen.

But the game that could decide home field advantage in the NFC playoffs?

Another chance to see Brett Favre shine in prime-time?

Most of us are out of luck.

Should have gone to bed

If you are like me, you stayed up late Sunday to watch the end of the Philadelphia-New England game because you had a feeling something big might happen and you didn’t want to be dreaming of a healthy Jeff Garcia when it did.

You remembered back to early October when your buddies and coworkers couldn’t believe they missed the end of the Cowboys’ wild 25-24 come-from-behind victory against the Bills because it was Monday and they found it tough to stay awake that late and, besides, no way were the Cowboys coming back in that one.

Ha.

If you are like me, you stayed up late Sunday hoping to see another fantastic finish, hoping the magic that has taken hold of college football would last through Sunday and you would be witness to a big upset – Philadelphia with a back-up quarterback knocking off the Death Star that is New England.

If you are like me, you were disappointed when A.J. Feeley was picked off in the end zone late in the fourth quarter, denying the Eagles a chance to tie the score with a field goal or take the lead with a touchdown.

Now, if you are not like me and you are a New England fan, then you have to know that all good teams have a bad game in them late in the season, a loss that should have been a win, and you are wondering if that was Patriots’ bad game of the year.
At least that’s what I’m thinking today.

It's football and nothing more

When will these coaches learn that football is a game and nothing more?

Yes, there is a lot at stake, especially at the college level where wins on Saturday equate to millions in the coffers for universities.

Florida coach Urban Meyer used to call his players “soldiers,” and when one went down with an injury, the next would pick up his rifle and move forward. Meyer has since dropped the analogy.

But Alabama’s Nick Saban hasn’t seen the memo or e-mail or whatever it is coaches use these days to spread the message.

After losing to Louisiana-Monroe 21-14 at home last week, Saban described his team’s chances of bouncing back Saturday against Auburn with this:

“Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event. It may be 9-11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to catastrophic events. Pearl Harbor kind of got us ready for World War II, or whatever, and that was a catastrophic event.”

Losing to Louisiana-Monroe, however embarrassing for the Crimson Tide and their followers, was not a catastrophic event.

And beating Auburn has nothing to do with “changes in history.”

Maybe a better game-plan or better coaching or a better effort from the players.

Did losing to Louisiana-Monroe force Saban’s coaching staff and players to take a long, hard look at itself? I hope so. And that was Saban’s point. The Tide is now focused.

Terrific.

Why don’t you just say that?

Or would admitting that be, you know, catastrophic?

Bucs make statement

Now that is how you take control of a division.

You come off the bye week and throttle a team that appeared to be heading in the right direction after two consecutive wins.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did that Sunday with a convincing 31-7 win at Atlanta.
The Bucs are now 6-4 and have a two-game lead in the NFC South over Carolina and New Orleans, who both dropped to 4-6 with losses Sunday.

Carolina has issues at quarterback, and New Orleans is streaky, having lost four, won four and now lost two straight. That’s the type of inconsistency that leads a team home in January.

The Bucs still have two of their next three on the road, but all of the six remaining games are winnable.

Unless something major goes wrong – like (gasp!) an injury to quarterback Jeff Garcia – the Bucs should sail to the division title and return to the playoffs.

This is getting old

The Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers play each other Sunday in a game that will become a footnote in history regardless of the outcome.

The two starting quarterbacks will combine to become the oldest quarterback duo in NFL history.

Vinny Testaverde will be 44 years, 5 days old.

Brett Favre, the kid in this one, will 38 years, 39 days old.

Combined that’s 82 years, 44 days.

Shouldn’t this game be played in Miami?

Actually, the game will be played at Lambeau Field, a fitting site for such a matchup. The Frozen Tundra is the second-oldest venue in the NFL behind Solder Field in Chicago.

Nothing says 0-14 like warm Tab

And now there is one. Just the Miami Dolphins. Every other team in the NFL has at least one win now that the St. Louis Rams beat the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

The 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers watch from afar, wondering if they will remain the only winless NFL team since World War II.

Just as the 1972 Dolphins have an annual ritual of celebrating with champagne when the last undefeated team is finally defeated, Steve Spurrier, the quarterback for the Bucs in 1976, joked that he and his former teammates have their own form of celebrating.

They crack open a bottle of warm Tab and toast their infamous place in NFL history.

Sixteen-and-oh? Looks doable from here.

OK, now the big question: Can they do it?

Can the New England Patriots do what has been done only once in NFL history and never since the league moved to 16-game seasons?

Can they run the table?

Give them two home games in the playoffs and it is tough to think they won't reach the Super Bowl, and who thinks they will lose to an NFC team in the Big Game?

Getting there without a loss is the tricky part.

The Pats moved to 9-0 after rallying past the Colts on Sunday in Indianapolis. That was supposed to be their last big hurdle.

After this week’s bye, the Pats return to a schedule that includes three winning teams and two teams with eight losses.

They are in order: at Buffalo (4-4), home vs. Philadelphia (3-5), at Baltimore (4-3), vs. Pittsburgh (5-2), vs. the Jets (1-8), vs. Miami (0-8) and at the Giants (6-2).

That’s seven games against teams who are a combined 23-32.

There are four home games, including three straight in December when the weather turns frightful, but at least they will be warmed by their home field.

Any hurdles?

The Steelers? At Baltimore? Hmm, probably not.

At the Giants, possibly.

The Patriots will have clinched everything by then – the division title and home field throughout the AFC playoffs. Some starters might receive a much-needed day off.

The incentive will only be history, and with the way coach Bill Belichick has been smacked around this year for video taping defensive signals and running up the score, a shot to push the 1972 Miami Dolphins and hall of fame coach Don Shula off the books is incentive enough.

Can they do it?

I can't see anyone who can stop them.

Pats-Colts: Must see unless you're me

Pats-Colts. Sunday.

I’ve been told it is a pro football game, but it has the feel and hype of a big-time college game.

It’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 meeting in November as undefeated teams.
Think Michigan-Ohio State.

Think Florida-Florida State.

Think Notre Dame-USC.

You don’t see games like this in the NFL. In fact, it is the first time two undefeated teams met this late in any NFL season.

In college, of course, the stakes are bigger because the loser is usually out of the title picture, although that wasn’t the case in 1996 when No. 2 Florida State knocked off No. 2 Florida. The Gators were able to bounce back in the SEC Championship game then beat Florida State in the Sugar Bowl for the national title.

Here, the loser will likely travel to face the winner in the AFC title game, which takes some of the edge off Sunday’s game.

Yet it is still Pats-Colts, two teams that dislike each other.

It’s still Pats-Colts, the renewal of the NFL’s best rivalry.

It’s still Pats-Colts, No. 1 vs. No. 2.

It’s Sunday at 4 p.m.

And I’m going to miss it.

Darn.

FSU QBs: Time for a real change

A new offensive coordinator, new assistant coaches and what’s changed at Florida State?

Xavier Lee is out at quarterback, and Drew Weatherford is in. And this just weeks after Weatherford was out and Lee was in.

Didn’t we see this last year? Isn’t that why Jeff Bowden was paid to leave and Jimbo Fisher was paid to replace Bowden as offensive coordinator?

Is it possible the quarterbacks have more to do with the FSU offense than the coaches? Weatherford doesn’t look any better than he did as a freshman, and Lee, the Alabama game aside, never looks ready.

It’s time for Plan C, and that would be freshman D’Vontrey Richardson.

The Seminoles aren’t going anywhere this season unless you consider a lower-tier bowl some place.

They play Duke on Saturday night. Perfect.

Let’s see what Richardson can do. He can’t be any less effective than the other two, and maybe standing around all game watching a freshman play might be what finally lights the fire under Weatherford or Lee.

Nothing else seems to work.

Now comes the hurt

Well, South Florida Bulls fans have now experienced another emotion that comes with big-time college football – disappointment.

Let’s count the emotions.

There was shock, from the surprise of winning at Auburn in overtime.

There was joy, from the elation of being nationally ranked for the first time in school history.
Then exhilaration, from the excitement of beating West Virginia in what was then the biggest game in school history.

Up next was giddiness, from the tingling sensation you get when you see your team ranked No. 2 in the polls.

That was followed by anticipation, from the expectation of Thursday’s nationally televised game against Rutgers on ESPN and from the expectation that comes with dreaming of a possible trip to the national title game.

Now, it’s disappointment, the frustration from seeing all those hopes and dreams dashed by the 30-27 loss to unranked Rutgers.

Oh well, it was fun.

Now comes a pair of litmus tests for the program.

Can the Bulls bounce back from the tough loss and continue to chase the big East championship? A trip to the Orange Bowl is not a bad way to end the season, you know.

More importantly, how many fans are still on the USF bandwagon?

Interest in the Bulls, not to mention fans attending home games, swelled as the team climbed up the polls.

Can USF fans sustain that enthusiasm? Or were the Bulls nothing more than a college frat party?

This is how we will know this program has arrived:

The Bulls will remain a fixture in the polls and their fans will remain at Raymond James Stadium even when the future isn’t as bright as it was earlier this week.

Gruden bullish on the Bulls

Count Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden among the legion of fans the USF Bulls are gathering this fall.

Gruden showed more emotion during his Monday morning press conference while answering a question about the Bulls than he did talking about his team’s 4-2 start. He especially liked the trombone section of the university’s band, which played the National Anthem before Sunday’s 13-10 win against Tennessee at Raymond James Stadium.

Take it away coach:

“No. 2 in the nation. That is unbelievable. I say it every week, just unbelievable. Coach (Jim) Leavitt and their organization, their athletic department, their coaching staff, support staff. I had the band right in front of me playing the National Anthem, the trombone players, even they’re great, so they got it going on. I’m really fired up and I can’t wait till the next game.”

A look at No. 2

Just a quick history lesson here.

It took the USF Bulls seven seasons of Division I-A football to rise to No. 2 in the AP poll.
It took the Florida Gators 49 years.

The AP started ranking teams in 1936. Florida, which earned its first top-10 ranking in 1964, moved up to No. 2 on Oct. 26, 1985. The Gators beat Auburn that week to move up to No. 1. Then they lost to Georgia the following week.

USF has been ranked in the top-5 for the last two polls.

Florida State has been ranked in the top-5 a total of 204 times.

Miami has appeared in the top-5 in 201 polls.

Bucs can't run from this

Yes, they were playing the Indianapolis Colts, and yes they fell behind early and yes they had to throw the ball to play catch-up, but isn’t it alarming the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gained only 17 rushing yards in Sunday’s loss?

And that’s with the Colts playing without safety Bob Sanders, their best run-stopper. Ball control is a must when trying to stop Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

Your best defense is an offense that can keep him off the field with long drives. Three-and-outs is only going to allow Manning to find a rhythm while your defense runs ragged trying to chase his receivers up and down the field.

The Bucs' running game was nonexistent even before Michael Pittman was lost in the second quarter with an ankle injury.

It doesn’t appear things will get better quickly for the Bucs, and not because Earnest Graham will be the starting tailback against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

No, the key to beating the Titans will be to keep quarterback Vince Young off the field with long drives. Problem is, the Titans defense is fifth overall in the NFL, including third against the run.

Welcome to the top-five

If you are a fan of the UCF Knights then you have to like your chances against USF on Saturday simply because USF is now a top-5 team.

The South Florida Bulls moved up a spot in the AP polled released Sunday to five, which, naturally, is the highest ranking in school history.

But being a highly ranked team – or ranked, period – is turning into a curse this season.

Led by then-No. 2 USC, 11 ranked teams, including four in the top-10, went down Saturday, and that came just a week after five top-10 teams and nine ranked teams overall lost.

USF even had a scare against FAU in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday before pulling away late in the fourth quarter.

All these upsets have given the AP top-5 a strange look.

At No. 2 is Cal, which hasn’t been ranked that high since it was No. 1 in 1951.

At No. 4 is Boston College. The last time the Eagles were No. 4 was in 1984.

Fifth is USF, and we know all about the Bulls.

It’s refreshing to see the new faces.

Nothing against the Oklahomas, Floridas, Michigans and Notre Dames, but the new faces will make things more interesting the rest of the way.

Big-time in a small way

Turns out the view from No. 6 wasn’t all that stunning.

The University of South Florida football team ended its first week as the sixth-best team in the AP poll by playing in one of the smallest venues in Division I-A football – Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

The home of the FAU Owls is also the home of several Broward County high school teams.

The 20,000-seat stadium can’t even be seen from nearby Interstate-95.

It has one scoreboard and no replay screen.

It’s a glorified high school stadium.

And it’s pretty neat to see a I-A game played in such a setting.

There are only 30 rows of seats, so no matter where you sit you’re close to the action.

Think a Major League Baseball game played in a spring training park.

Cozy, quaint and cool.

Caddie a big loss too

There is a feeling among Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans that losing running back Cadillac Williams for the season is not as bad as losing left tackle Luke Petitgout.

Not quite.

While every team needs a strong left tackle to protect the quarterback’s blindside, and while Petitgout was doing a terrific job of that before suffering a season-ending knee injury last Sunday at Carolina, don’t be quick to dismiss the loss of Williams, who also suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Williams will be replaced by Michael Pittman and Earnest Graham for now and maybe Kenneth Darby later.

Pittman did enjoy success as the Bucs tailback during the 2002 Super Bowl season and the years before Cadillac’s arrival. But the Bucs still drafted Williams in the first round.

As for Graham, he was an undrafted free agent who has played well on special teams. Maybe more carries might jump-start his career as a running back, but, again, he was undrafted. That tells you something.

Williams struggled last year and wasn’t setting the league on its ear before being hurt this season. He found the end zone, yes, but he also continued to fumble.

Still, he had value as a blocker and the team saw improvement in that skill.

Unless Donald Penn explodes in a big way this season, the Bucs will miss Petitgout. That’s without a doubt.

But check back after the season. I think we’ll find the Bucs will miss Cadillac, too.

The importance of being Earnest

The first time I saw Earnest Graham play football was during his freshman year at Cape Coral Mariner High. He touched the ball three times in the first half at Punta Gorda Charlotte. The results: He had a long touchdown run, caught a touchdown pass and threw a touchdown pass.

You knew right then that his kid was exceptional.

I watched him the next three years and thought he was the best high school running back I ever covered. (Note: I didn’t arrive at the Bradenton Herald until September 1998 so I missed all the great ones from Manatee and Southeast.)

I watched Graham have a decent career at Florida, but I always wondered what might have been had he gone to a school that placed a little more emphasis on the running game.
Anyway, now he’s four years into a pro career as the king of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers special teams and a part-time running back.

It was good to see him finally find the end zone, which he did twice during last Sunday’s win against St. Louis.

Afterwards, Bucs coach Jon Gruden praised Graham’s efforts, said he had a “tremendous future” in the league and promised Graham would be more involved in the running game.

Yeah, well, here’s the deal: You and I have as much of a chance to get 15 carries in a Bucs game this season as Graham.

Even Graham knows his role won’t change. Heck, that’s why he wasn’t too excited Sunday afternoon as wave after wave of reporters found their way to his locker.

He’s played for Gruden for four seasons.

He knows where he stands.

The Bucs have too much money invested in Cadillac Williams to suddenly give some of his carries to Graham. And it wasn’t too long ago when Williams was the best offensive rookie in the league. It’s going to take more than two seasons plus three games and a few more fumbles for Williams to fall far enough from grace to see his playing time dramatically reduced.

Keep in mind, too, that back-up tailback Michael Pittman rushed for 124 yards in the Super Bowl.

Unless there is an injury to Williams or Pittman, I don’t see Graham’s role changing.