That was one of the most clutch kickoffs of all time by Adam Vinatieri.

Vinatieri is consistently poor on kickoffs. People don't talk about it much, but he's been among the worst in the league the last few years.

Of course, Devin Hester's amazing skills and Marlin Jackson's missed tackle helped Hester score on the opening kickoff, but Vinatieri's low liner barely made it over the ten-yard line. I don't think it will cost him a trip to Canton, but it's something to watch the rest of the game.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 06:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Dr. Z times every national anthem. I bet Billy Joel's rendition had to be one of the shortest of all-time. Well done. National Anthems are like weddings: shorter the better.

And the Colts will kick off! Would be huge for the Bears to play with a lead.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 06:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was cool when the Patriots first came out as a team in 2001. It was original. Since then, slowly teams have become afraid to not come out as a team, as if introductions would prove the players are just mercenaries in it for themselves.

Both the Bears and Colts came out as a team tonight. I wonder what the NFL thinks of this. One well-known story from the Rams-Patriots Super Bowl is that Bill Belichick openly defied the league when he refused to have player introductions. The Patriots have reportedly battled over the issue since.

It looks like Belichick won.

(And yes, I had to include a Patriots post tonight. I promise, it will be the last one).

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, I've avoided the pregame festivities as long as possible. It's time for Super Bowl XLI!

Nick Harper will start at cornerback for the Colts. This is big news because there is a solid drop-off to Marlin Jackson and Kelvin Hayden at cornerback. Jackson can play some safety as well. Ricky Proehl is inactive, so he won't be catching another Super Bowl touchdown.

For the Bears, second-year wideout Mark Bradley is active. He will split snaps as a slot receiver with Rashied Davis. The Bears don't go three wide that often, but Rex Grossman loves throwing to these guys when they do.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I spent a chunk of this week compiling my own list of potential free agents this off-season. Turns out I could have waited for the NFLPA to do it for me.

Mike Sando of the News Tribune posts an invaluable PDF and excel list of free agents for the entire league.

Keep in mind this list doesn't include players whose contracts that can be voided. It also doesn't include likely cap casualties, which will make the pool of players much more interesting. Still, it's a great resource. And it will make my life easier this week as Evan Silva and I prepare Rotoworld's free agency preview.

See you on Sunday for the liveblog.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The Hall of Fame voting announcement is my favorite part of Super Bowl week other than the game. I don't pretend to know enough to have strong feelings about who should be in or out yet because I don't know the older generation of players well enough.

But it's fascinating to hear the arguments each year about the candidates, and Dr. Z's post vote breakdown is always a good first place to look. Zimmerman also checks in with a fine positional breakdown of the Super Bowl. Zimmerman changed football writing with his "Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football" books and he still seems like the best scouting writer out there.

Continue reading "Dr. Z on HOF vote" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1804)

If you are a football addict, the NFL Network's Saturday night complete re-broadcast of Joe Namath's win in Super Bowl III sounds pretty sweet. It's worth setting the Tivo for, if you have a life and might actually be out on a Saturday night.

Patriots-Panthers and 49ers-Bengals are also on the docket Saturday. One of the best parts of these rebroadcasts is seeing how much TV coverage has changed. The announcing and cameras aren't so different. The graphics are laughable.

If I survive apartment hunting and my first NYC bachelor party in three years, I'll be back for a liveblog of the game Sunday - if not before then. Thanks for stopping by.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Brian Billick says that reports about his contract extension are incorrect. He says he is under contract beyond 2008, which would indicate that's not on the whitehot seat going into next season. The Ravens have a policy of not talking about a coaches contract, which is sorta ruined if Billick ... talks about it.

Regardless of his contract length, I think Billick needs to get Baltimore to the playoffs next year again to keep his job. Wtih half the league changing coaches in the last two years, most of the NFL coaches have reasonable job security. My top five coaches on the hot seat would be ...

1. Tom Coughlin
2. Romeo Crennel
3. Jon Gruden
4. Jack Del Rio
5. Brian Billick

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Brett Favre will return for the 2007 season, which is hardly a surprise. I'm not sure why he was considering retirement in the first place.

Favre can still be a starting quarterback in the NFL and a highly compensated one at that. His base salary for next season is $11 million. He can chase Dan Marino's records and try to make the playoffs. He can compete at the highest level of his field, something that's unlikely to happen for the rest of his life.

The only dangerous aspect to Favre's return is that it seems to be highly influenced on Green Bay's 8-8 finish to the season. Seemingly, the only thing that would drive Favre to retirement at this point would be a team that isn't competitive.

It's true the Packers are the youngest team in the league and play in a weak division. There is room for improvement. But the reality is they were much closer to a 5-11 team than a 10-6 playoff team in 2006. Two games, late in the season, stand out to me.

The Packers lost 35-0 to New England at Lambeau in mid-November. Two weeks later, in December, the Packers lost 38-10 to the Jets, again at home.

Their four-game winning streak at the end of the season was encouraging, but let's be realistic. They beat an equally inconsistent 49ers team. They barely beat the Lions and Vikings, who were playing out the string. Finally, their "best" win was against a Bears team in Week 17 with little to play for. Chicago was the only team with a .500 record they beat all season.

If Favre is returning to play in 2007 for the love of competition, he'll have a great time. If Favre is returning to play because of championship aspirations, he's likely to be very disappointed.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So much to promote, so little time.

Tiffany somehow got Ocho Cinco himself to send me a shout out. Between this and the line of T-Shirts that came out during the football season, I could retire now and be happy.

Tiffany, of course, is doing a bang-up job down in Miami. NBCSports.com, knowing it's readership, smartly gave Tiffany her own page. My personal favorite dispatch may be the skills competition video. I'm not sure if the slow-motion Chariots of Fire-like sequence at the end is amazing or uncomfortable, but it's worth a look.

Meanwhile, back in Stamford, I tried to hold down the fort while taping the baseball and football shows. Not the best work on the Fix by yours truly, but I was helped out by some amazing guest appearances. Aaron Gleeman's stubble shows up in the baseball show, while our producer Harriet and intern Brett Bandermark do nice background work at the bar in both programs.

Continue reading "I love me some me" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)