The End of Fred Taylor

It appears that Fred Taylor and the Pats are reaching the end of the line. Taylor is signed through the end of the season. It would make no sense to bring him back next year unless he was paid at the veteran minimum.

Taylor has been brilliant when able to be on the 45 man roster. His injuries have raised the question of what might have been.

Taylor came to the Pats with a lot of miles on his legs. Hehas not been able to stay on the field the last two seasons. He has been active the last two games and seen limited mop-up duty. He was a healthy scratch against the Bears.

He has avoided publicly stating his frustration. He knows the end of his career is sooner rather than later. It's rather ironic that his might be his best chance to get a Super Bowl ring, but in the end, his contribution has been minimal.

I think he still has some games left if some team wants to pick him up on cheap dollars in spite of his great injury risk.

No Fair Way of Voting

There is probably no fair way to select the Pro Bowl team. The Pats are well represented, but other players should have been included.

I still feel that giving the fans a voice was not the best idea. The NFL wants input from the fans, but this type of voting gets abused.

The league prohibits players and coaches from voting for their own team. Not all players are knowledgeable of the other players in the league. Some get selected purely on their reputation.

The honor gets further diluted when players withdraw for various reason. That happens every year, especially with quarterbacks. Pretty soon you end up with a starter who got on the team only because of attrition of those in front of him.

Last Game Thoughts

Many questions come up about the Pats playing the Dolphins on Sunday to end the regular season.

How long should the starters play? Should the Pats play to win the game?

I think the team needs to keep its competitive edge. You never want players to get hurt in a game that doesn't mean anything. Wes Welker is the prime example of getting hurt in the last game of the 2009 season. It contributed to the season ending loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Brian Hoyer could certainly use some work. He has taken very few snaps this season. He needs to get his timing with the offense.

Maybe running the ball on Sunday is the safest way to go. Nobody gets hurt (hopefully).

Piling on the Record

Tom Brady continues to win ball games. Lost in all that is his assault on some NFL passing records.

Yesterday, he set a league record with his 319th passing attempt thrown without an interception. He can add to his total when the Pats play the Dolphins on Sunday.

It broke a nearly 20 year old record held by Bernie Kosar. We must wonder if anyone will ever surpass his new record. It took 20 years from someone to break Kosar's mark. It could happen next year or in thirty years.

Even Deion Sanders was flabbergasted as evident by his comments last night on the NFL Network.

QB Questions

It's quite a story to think that the two most valuable quarterbacks in the NFL are Tom Brady and Michael Vick. They are both under consideration for MVP award from Mercedes Benz.

Vick has risen from the dead and carved out a new identity. It helps a lot when your team wins. He has played well in his 11 starts this season.

I think Brady is the obvious choice for MVP in any category. Vick has some great numbers, but in the end, it doesn't really matter. It's all about winning.

Football at Christmas

There is concern about the Pats having a bad game in Buffalo tomorrow against the Bills at 1pm. It looks like snow is in the forecast. This could work to the advantage of the Pats as they are 11-0 in snow games during the Brady era.

It could get real bad in Buffalo tomorrow. The city is not the best place to play a football game in December. It will only get worse if the NFL expands to an 18 game regular season schedule.

I like the concept of an 18 game season. The television networks want to expand the season into late February when there are not a lot of high profile sporting events on other than the NBA and NHL

The NFL has already had one postponement of a game. The league had to wait one day to reschedule as the did with the Vikings and Giants.

It would be interesting to see the league's reaction when the have a blizzard going over to a second day. It's going to happen at some point.

The End of T.O.?

There comes a day when every career ends. It's not always on the player's terms. Time and injury catch up with everyone if they last that long in the NFL.

Terrell Owens may have reached the end of the road. At the age of 37, he was having a very productive season with the Cincinnati Bengals. Two weeks ago, he tore cartilage in his left knee. As with the case of so many players, he continued to suit-up in the last two games.

During last Sunday's game against Cleveland, he aggravated the injury while making a cut during his team's opening offensive series. He hobbled off the field and into a potential retirement.

He had surgery done by the noted Dr. James Andrews. He faces a long struggle ahead to convince teams that he is a viable receiver next season at the age of 38.

He might be T.O. , but at his age, there are fewer opportunities available for him. He could get signed for one more season, but the likelihood of ever getting a Super Bowl ring is rapidly fading.

Two More Episodes

The Vikings are doing everything in their power to keep the career of Brett Favre alive. The declined to put him on IR after he suffered a concussion last Monday.

The team admitted that Favre is doubtful for Sunday's game against Philadelphia, but won't rule him out for the season finale on Jan 2nd against Detroit.

The Favre Watch continues. It appears that there are only two more episodes left before the curtain comes down on his illustrious career.

Brett's Last Game

It would be a miracle if Brett Favre plays another game in his career. He started the MNF game against the Bears, but suffered a possible concussion when he was slammed to the turf by DL Corey Wooten.

He was replaced by rookie Joe Webb. With two games to go, it appears to be pointless to have Favre play another game. He keeps getting hurt. He almost needs to be kept on the bench for his on well-being.

It looks like it took a knock-out to end Favre's career.

The Play of the Year

Every game has great plays, but the 71 yard kick return by OL Dan Connelly has to be one of the season's highlights. It was the longest kick return in NFL history by a lineman.

It would have been nice if he scored a touchdown, but he was stopped on the four yard line. He caught the ball on a short kick and proceeded to carry it with two hands against his stomach as all linemen are trained.

Once he broke a few tackles, he ran like a bruising full=back in the open field. He even stiff-armed a defender.

I have seen many great plays, but this one was at the top of the list for any season. That will probably go down as the highlight of his career.

End of an Era

As a fan of the game, I felt bad that the 297 consecutive game streak of Brett Favre came to an end tonight in the game against the Giants.

He has been unable to throw since spraining his shoulder last Sunday. This could be the end of a great career. I don't expect to see him back again this season.

I enjoyed watching him play. He had an awesome career.

Consecutive Starts

Getting on the field is becoming more difficult for Brett Favre on a weekly basis. He faces a huge challenge to play against the New York Giants and make his 297th regular season start. On the other end, Eli Manning will be making his 100th consecutive start. Between the two of them, is Peyton Manning with 204.

Tom Brady knows how quickly these streaks can end. His came at 111. He is in good company with Ron Jaworski (116), and Joe Ferguson (107) for quarterbacks.

It's interesting to look at other positions. DE Jim Marshall of the Vikings had 282 between 1960 and 1979. Recently retired punter Jeff Feagles holds the record with 353 from 1988-2009.

You can't beat kicker Morton Andersen for total games played with 383 from 1982-2004 and 2006-2007.

It's interesting to note the longevity of kickers.