Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was admittedly rusty at the start of 2008, prompting a myriad speculation that his career was beginning to end. There were more setbacks than usual, granted, but the outlook has looked a whole lot brighter with Manning throwing for 7 touchdowns and no interceptions during Indianapolis’ 3-game winning streak.

While Manning’s vital statistics - 61.3 percent completions, 9 interceptions, 86.6 rating, 6.8 yards per attempt - remain near career-low levels, the futility is weighted by a few minor blowups. Manning and the Colts have a favorable schedule down the stretch, especially against the pass with San Diego (No. 31 pass defense), Cleveland (No. 22) and Detroit (No. 23) among the team’s last six opponents. His struggles appear to be over. Read more »

Since 1970, only 10 teams have reached the 10-0 mark in the NFL. The most recent squad is this year’s Tennessee Titans.

Not much of the offensive juggernaut like last year’s record-breaking New England Patriots, Tennessee has relied on one of the game’s best defenses to keep its season perfect. While surprisingly not in the top five statistically in rushing, passing or even total defense, the Titans have given up only 131 points through 10 games. That’s about 13 points per game and tops in the league for those playing along at home. Read more »

The Buffalo Bills season may have sailed wide right, following a similar path to Rian Lindell’s Monday night missed kick. The team is 5-5 and now in dead-last place in the AFC East after coming off an ugly loss at home against Cleveland.

This has us wondering: weren’t these the same Bills who were once a trendy pick to win this division with Brady out? Isn’t this the same team that was 4-0 and looked so promising a quarter into the season? Read more »

“Wide right” is the cruelest phrase a person can utter in western New York.

Brady Quinn and the Browns used it to their advantage and escaped Buffalo with a narrow 29-27 win on Monday night. The victory moves Cleveland to 4-6 on the season and keeps its razor-thin-playoff hopes alive, while Buffalo’s setback drops them to 5-5 and last place in the AFC East. Read more »

Week 11 has concluded and the headlines are as follows:

First tie in the NFL since 2002 … first 11-10 final score in league history … Tampa Bay beats Minnesota 19-13 … Miami edges Oakland 17-15 … Dallas beats Washington 14-10 in Romo’s return.

With games like these, how is someone supposed to get excited about heading into playoff football? Weeks like this make me plead with the NFL to abolish the field goal. Seriously, what a boring week of NFL “action”. Read more »

It’s too early to tell, but things may be unfolding perfectly for a Cadillac Williams comeback. The running back, who has resumed football activities after starting the season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, is getting healthy, while starter Earnest Graham may be done for the season with an ankle injury. Head coach Jon Gruden told the St. Petersburg Times that Graham’s status is “very much in question right now.”

Unfortunate for Graham, who was a terrific story in emerging from journeyman to starter in rushing for 898 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. The Bucs rewarded him with a contract extension in the off-season, then paired him with veteran Warrick Dunn to round out a formidable 1-2 punch in the backfield. Read more »

The Thursday night game between the Patriots and Jets was a quarterback-friendly, overtime shootout. The kind of game fantasy owners dream of, unless of course they were part of the faction that watched New England quarterback Matt Cassel’s 400 yards and three touchdowns waste away on their bench. Brett Favre, meanwhile, had the far better game in reality, efficiently completing 26-of-33 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-31 overtime win.

For football fans and Bill Belichick bashers, there was more joy in reality than in fantasy Thursday night. For fantasy owners with enough reason to put Cassel in their starting lineups, there was plenty of joy in a breakout performance that went into the NFL record books. In addition to monster passing numbers, Cassel rushed for 62 yards and became the first quarterback in league history to accumulate 400 passing yards and 60 rushing yards in a game. Read more »

Score one for the “average Joe”. The National Football League announced today that it will lower its ticket prices for some playoff games in the upcoming postseason. The move comes largely in part from the current economic slump the country faces; the league claims it wants to be “responsive to the economic challenges facing our fans.”

Well my friends, the league that can do no wrong has struck gold yet again. What better way to say “we care” than to lower single-game prices for the playoffs in what already is the most expensive ticket-price-per-fan league in the United States. Read more »

Avid football viewers can rejoice over the NFL’s addition of the Thursday Night Football game. Last week’s Broncos-Browns mid-week special did everything to complete the tri-fecta of fantastic night games last week. This time around, two big-time AFC East rivals will look to continue the primetime drama from Foxboro.

On top of that, two of the best cold-weather teams battle in Buffalo, the NFL’s oldest rivalry unfolds in “the definitive” football stadium, and the ‘Boys and ‘Skins hit it off again from our nation’s capitol. Read more »

The NFL is preparing for Week 11 as the weekend approaches. Festivities will, for the second straight week, be kicked off a little early with the NFL network’s broadcast of the Jets-Patriots contest on Thursday.

Besides the usual division rivalry/Man-genius vs. Belichick/student vs. master plot lines billed for this game, the comeback angle is now in play as well. As is the case with a few other games this week, the Thursday nighter will allow a former impact player to return to prominence in 2008. Read more »