No Luck For Andrew

Colts QB Andrew Luck is a great example of a player being put into the concussion protocol. He took far too many hits to his head on Sunday. It's hard to determine which play was the one.

It's good to see the league respond with this program. Too many players suffered concussions in the past where nothing was done. They pay the price when they get older.

The Highest Kickoff

Tonight's MNF game between the Raiders and Texans in Mexico City is all about growing the Hispanic fan base. The 22 million NFL fans in the Mexico City area make up the league's 7th largest fan base. The 76,000 tickets for the game were sold out within one hour.

The league makes its first appearance there since 2005, in spite of the concerns about street crime, smog and playing at the high altitude of 7,500 feet.

If things go well, more games will be considered. One of the biggest issues is that one team will lose a home contest.

The Pats have traveled to England to play, but only as the visiting team.

Left Behind

DE Jabaal Sheard must wonder what his future is with the Pats after they left him behind when they traveled to play the 49er's.

He will be a free agent at the end of the season. It doesn't bode well for him, especially because he was healthy. The word is that the coaching staff is not happy with his performance.

Fans will never know the real reason. Coach Belichick will mumble his way through any questions and say that the decision was made in the best interest of the team.

Three or Nine

I don't gamble, but if I did, it might be a good bet to take 2-8 UMass over 6-3 BYU today. The Minutemen face an uphill battle for a win before they depart for their trip to Hawaii.

Depending on the source, BYU is favored by 28-32 points. UMass has been competitive in most of their loses. They have beaten the spread against some strong opponents.

It seems like everyone has written off UMass today and expects them to be 2-9 before the day ends. 

Law On List

Former Pats CB Ty Law is one of the 25 semi-finalists for the Hall of Fame. He is making progress from just being on the ballot.

Every player on the list is worthy of induction. It's good to see more defensive players and offensive linemen make the cut.

I don't understand why DE Jason Taylor is the only defensive lineman. It's a joke if the only two linebackers don't make it. How could you not include Clay Matthews and Karl Mecklenburg?

Morton Anderson deserves to be the second kicker. The list of the offensive players is loaded with running backs and receivers. It's hard to believe Kurt Warner is the only quarterback.

The voting process is difficult and has its flaws. It's an amazing accomplishment for these players to get this far. Unfortunately, some will never make the final step.

Ban The Fans

If the NFL can make a dollar off some idea, they will try it. Fans can begin voting today to select players for the Pro Bowl. Their input carries weight, along with the players and coaches.

I think it's a bad idea to allow fans to vote. They tend to go with players from their favorites teams or names they know.

The league now has a poll on their website to solicit fan input for Hall of Fame selections. This idea is even worse. The selection process has its flaws. Thankfully, this is just a poll of the fans and carries no weight in the final decisions.

Fitz Passing

New York Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is the ultimate example of a journeyman quarterback. The former 7th round and 250th overall pick in the 2005 draft has played for the Rams, Bengals, Bills, Titans, Texans and Jets. He was benched this past Sunday in favor of Bryce Petty in their loss to the Rams.

After 12 seasons and 112 starts, he has yet to play in a post-season game. He has moved up in all-time stats due to the proliferation of the passing game.

His recent TD broke a tie with Earl Morrall, Jeff Garcia and Jake Plummer. He has thrown for more career TD's than Roger Staubach and yards than Bart Starr.

He has made good money, but it looks like he will watch the playoffs from home again this year

Breathing Gronk

It doesn't look like fans will know whether Rob Gronkowski suffered a collapsed lung during the team's loss to the Seahawks. Gronk said he took the hardest hit of his career which forced him to the sideline for a short time. He returned and was involved in the incomplete pass on the last play of the game.

Reports first said he had a chest injury. It suddenly became a collapsed lung and was the lead story on the 11pm news last night. The team has been quiet on it. All we know is that he has a chest injury.

The lung issue could certainly keep him out of the game with the 49er's as it would not be a good idea to fly across country.

Cruz To Nowhere

Giants WR Victor Cruz is out of the game tonight against the Bengals because of an ankle injury. He has returned this year after missing most of the last two seasons.

At 30, he is a shell of his former self. He took a huge pay cut to stay on the roster. The hand writing is on the wall. He won't be with the Giants next season unless he plays for the minimum. He will need to beat out others for a roster spot. His career is evaporating.

Not The Same Teams

I have no doubt that the Sunday night game between the Pats and Seahawks will be a great contest. It's being hyped as a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX, but both teams have changed a lot over the past two seasons.

They have a core group of players and most of the same coaches, but roster turnover is a way of life in the NFL.

The most important thing for the league is to have a good television rating. They are floundering big time and hope to calm their sponsors with millions watching.

Telling Lies On Ratings

The NFL knows it must address the downward spiral of television ratings. They blame it on a variety of reasons, including the recent election.

Nothing stops them from telling lies to the public. They claim they will look into making games shorter by having fewer timeouts and commercials. Who are they kidding? The commercials drive the revenue stream that they so covet. How can they control timeouts with all of the replays and injuries?

They say things to pander to the public. They won't admit that many of the marque games are between teams with mediocre records and don't feature the stars of the league.

They are so worried about having to give back money to the sponsors because the ratings were not what they were guaranteed to be.

London Issues

The NFL has ben playing games in London since 2007. It seems like they are determined to have a team there full-time eventually.

Former Giants great Osi Umenyiora is their point man there. He also does some broadcasting work for the BBC with a week in review show and a Sunday game preview.

The league is determined to make it happen in spite of all the push back. Any team based there would face a brutal travel schedule to away games, especially those on the west coast. Teams making the trip to London would also need to deal with jet lag.

The travel is a major hurdle. Will it effect the quality of the games? The NFL is probably ok with having it suffer because of the potential revenue stream.