ATBNG

Out of curiosity, what do you folks think the line will be on the game? I would guess New England will be favored by 5 or so. Home divisonal underdogs have always been a good bet in the NFL. My guess is that the game goes right down to the wire.

Why do you think that they chose to do Saturday afternoon in week one and not this time around? It wouldn't have anything to do with fantasy leagues and gambling, would it? I would have been annoyed if they pushed up the game this week because those deadlines are noon on Sunday, but it wasn't a big deal week one because of the Thursday night kickoff.

I think Red Sox as well as long as Ebstein remains in power. Given 15 years or so on the job, I think Theo's too good a GM not to win one title. I think any team in the NFL has a shot, but I can't imagine the Vikings winning it with Tice as their coach.

It's great to hear a fellow Red Sox fan say that Buffalo Bob. Far too many of us try to stubbornly insist the Yankees inhale large amounts of air when it's so untrue. A tip of the cap indeed. For what it's worth, I think that the Yankees have a ton of guys any baseball fan should respect for how they play and carry thesmselves - Rivera, Jeter, Bernie, Matsui, Torre, Tom Gordon, etc. And while Sheffield may have been a punk in his youth, he's having a wonderfully gutty season this year with all the clutch RBI's despite being banged up.

I think that Red Sox fans (and many baseball fans) are way too critical of the manager. The manager is always going to be "resulted" when a decision goes poorly, even if it was the better decision before the fact. People always say that Timlin and Williamson "would have" been the right decision, but they might have given up the three runs as well. Once Timlin got in game 7, it was the only time the entire playoffs where his command was off, and that guy's a rock. Williamson on the other hand is a bit kooky and when his command goes, it goes badly. As far as Francona goes, he's been OK - an adequate guy calling the shots. Last night was pretty bad - we went around on Pedro after Damon hit the HR in the 7th and all thought he should be out of there. The important thing for this team is to get the clinching win and set up their pitching. I don't get the obsession with the division title - it's not worth it if they wear out their pitching staff before October.

Pedro is always very candid when he speaks to the media. He doesn't really care to sugarcoat his feelings or politicize them to protect his image. This is the same guy who came into the playoffs against Cleveland and pitched six no hit innings the week after he injured his rotator cuff. He'll be fine mentally - physically I wish he had a couple more miles on his fastball so he could challenge more hitters.

I think that clearly the booing was for Pedro being out there to start the 8th. Last night Francona pitched Kim late in the game in order to save his bullpen for this series. It wasn't particularly consistent of him then to throw Pedro out there with around 100 pitches under his belt. It will be too bad if that is indeed Pedro's last night at Fenway (which is unlikely but possible). At his physical peak in '98 and '99, he was the best pitcher I'd ever seen.

Absolutely true. This is another reason why Drew's stats of old may not be relevant to his expectations for the future. When you have a high salary cap figure on your QB, some other portion of the team has to suffer. In that both his teams for the last five years are cold weather organizations, it makes sense that they would develop their defenses first and expect Drew to carry an extra load on offense when it comes to O-line, WR2/3, etc. Since Indy plays in a dome, they're better off creating a lights-out offense that will be just as effective at home in January as they are in September. This is why I think Indy has no chance this year - their schedule is brutal and getting home playoff games is going to be really tough. They impressed me last week for sure. Peyton has also had an advantage with his key personnel (the center, tailback, WR1, and offensive coordinator) being of all-pro quality and being consistent throughout his years at the helm in Indy. That surely helps him make good instantaneous decisions when he is forced to, and he isn't forced to do so that often.

This is interesting, but I don’t think that the averages will be meaningful because as mentioned above all sacks are considered equal in this evaluation. Player A might scramble for a loss of -1 yards while player B gets hit 10 yards behind the line and fumbles - big difference. I also wonder if intentional grounding is factored into these evaluations. Since the result tends to be at least as bad as a sack (usually worse), I would think that it should. Does anyone know if intentional grounding counts as a sack? Sacks are truly an overrated stat. The big concern with Drew is that sacks lead to concussions/fogginess/turnovers and that they have had a snowball effect on his recent seasons as they add up.

One of the other things with Drew’s poor mobility is that he absolutely, positively cannot run to his left and make a throw or a play. There is never a need to contain on that side of the field. Defenders in the secondary can almost always overplay Drew’s right (their left) as soon as there is any sign that the pocket is breaking down. I somewhat agree that benching him now is not the answer. The key decision was made by the organization in the offseason when they didn’t release him and reworked his contract. Now is not the time to go in a different direction, but those who backed Drew in the offseason horse race aren’t looking like they’ll be headed to the window anytime soon.

What an obnoxious post. As a Pats fan, I will admit it was great to win the Super Bowl in 2002 and 2004. Having been a fan during the dark days...well, that is what made it most meaningful. Anyone can jump on a bandwagon. I'm of the opinion that you chose your teams when you are 5 or 6 years old (or by where you live/grow up). You know in your heart who you root for. Anyone with integrity knows that switching horses when times are tough is the weakest thing one can do. I'm sure the Bills' faithful will carry on without "Hogboy." There probably will be more at the tailgate for everyone with him gone.

Always the bridesmaid.... NEVER GILBRIDE!!!!!

I am a huge Eric Moulds fan, even though I'm not a Bills' fan. I think that he has had an extraordinary career in the context of who he has had throwing him the ball and who he has had lining up across from him. In his prime years, I would say that only Peerless in '02 represents a big season opposite him - Reed was slowing down by the time Moulds got going. He caught Kelly and Drew on the downside of their careers, and had subpar QB's RJ, Collins and Flutie throwing ducks at him mostly through his own prime. He's had a lot of double coverage and very little consistency in terms of offensive personnel and coaching throughout his career. Clearly Harrison has been the best of that noted WR bunch from the '96 draft, but he's also had the easiest road - a very good QB, an excellent OC in Tom Moore for 7 years now, and great versatile backs in Faulk and James who keep the defense honest on passing downs. I think Eric compares very favorably to Glenn and Keyshawn on all fronts - I would argue that Moulds has faced the most adversity of the four (that wasn't self-inflicted). It would be interesting if you could swap Moulds and Harrison in the draft in '96, and you could compare their careers now. I concede that he's an old 31 at this point (especially tough to age quickly at WR) and that the ghosts of hits past may be surfacing at times on the field, but I think it is entirely expected in light of the difficult road he has faced to become great as a wideout. Make no mistake about it - Eric Moulds is a great player.

Hey, looks like I'm in midseason form.

Since Kraft bought the team, they have sold out every game, including this season. 11 years and counting. There are 50,000+ people on the season ticket waiting list, despite having the highest prices for tickets in the NFL. Buffalo has had blackouts in recent years, so which team's fans are "showing up?" This is not to diminish the Buffalo fans, who support their team well despite being in a much smaller market. This characterization of the Patriots' fans however as "fleeting" is no longer remotely sensical. You would have been right in 1991.

I've always thought the offsides rule in soccer was really asinine. Shouldn't the team on offense be rewarded for having the speed to go by the defense?

My best bet this week is Miami +3 at home against Tennessee. Wrong team is favored - Fins by 10-17 points.

Oakland? Way better?? First of all, shouldn't a Yankee fan be counting on the Yankees' six games left with the Sox than to decide things rather than some other team protecting them? Is it coming to that? Second - the Sox have won 8 out of their last 9 with Oakland. Boston is a better team than the A's. I daresay that they relish the chance to play them next week, maybe only slightly less than those six games left with the Yanks.

Could it be that ARod is not a winner? Whereever he goes the team he leaves improves and his new team gets worse. I know it flies in the face of what the stat hounds will tell you, but I think that the guy is a self absorbed prima donna. Great individual athlete and player, but he's going to be known for cashing checks and not for winning games if his career continues on this path. There's also the pitching thing. The Yanks have missed having Mussina's typical consistency in a huge way.