The Minnesota Vikings were desperate Sunday in the MetroDome. Not only was star running back Adrian Peterson (last year’s NFL rushing leader) out injured, so was his more-than-capable backup Toby Gerhart. Desperate people are dangerous though, and as Tommy Lawlor said, the Vikings were backed into a corner and came out swinging. Swinging in this case meant throwing the ball. …
from Video I heard a great story on the radio about a guy teaching himself to make really good pizza. He knew a special, extra hot oven is needed to make a good crust, hotter than the 500 degrees or so a conventional oven will give you – but he didn’t have the $5,000 to $20,000 that a real pizza oven …
from Video Chip Kelly seems to spend half his life fighting shallow stereotypes about his teams. He’s a passing demon! No, wait — he’s obsessed with running. Well, he demands running quarterbacks, right? In any case, he has a huge book of tricky plays. Or is it a small book of flexible plays? They all come fast . . . …
Mark Saltveit Now it gets serious. The big push toward the playoffs is on. The Eagles survived a very tough schedule, with three games in the first 11 days, two of the best teams — Denver and Kansas City — in their first four games and the latest bye week in the NFL. Now they are rested and healthy again …
from Video The Philadelphia Eagles are now in first place in the NFC East, on track to make the playoffs just a year after finishing last and losing 11 of their final 12 games. They have their bye this week, well timed to heal up some injuries and refocus for the final push. It won’t be easy. In December they …
from Video The Eagles consolidated their recent gains by knocking off division-leading Green Bay, 27-13. It was a solid win (and their first against a team with a winning record). Nick Foles did not have another Hall-of-Fame-type of game. He started with some tentative play that brought back grim memories of his terrible showing against Dallas, but he steadied himself in …
People are streaming in for the big PAC-12 showdown, and the Stanford tailgate crowd is the weirdest I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen nary a beer all day; there are wines, better wines and best wines — the kind where you want to write down the name for future reference. There are no Ducks hung in effigy, but check out this clever use of a very expensive …
Two weeks ago, against the Dallas Cowboys, Nick Foles had one of the worst games any NFL quarterback has thrown (up) this year. Today, he’s in the NFL Hall of Fame. Literally – as we speak. Foles destroyed the Oakland Raiders, 49-20, last Sunday by tossing 7 touchdowns (3 to former pariah Riley Cooper), tying the league’s record for TDs in …
After three-and-half quarters of domination, the Stanford Cardinal barely outlasted a furious Oregon comeback, to win 26-20. Coach David Shaw said “in the back of my mind, all of us, everybody in this room, you all know they were going to make a run. That’s who this team is. We were ready for it, we knew it was going to …
from Video Four weeks ago, I thought the Eagles had hit rock bottom with their 52-20 loss to Denver. If only . . . Part of that was the schedule. They had just lost to the dominant Broncos, the (still undefeated) Chiefs and the surprising Chargers. Ahead was a parade of cream puffs: the Giants, Tampa Bay, Dallas (less so), …
from Video Two weeks ago against Tampa Bay, Nick Foles was the best quarterback in the NFL. He was the NFC Offensive Player of the Week, throwing for 22-of-31, for 296 yards and 3 TDs, and even ran in a touchdown. His QBR (ESPN’s quarterback rating) was 89.8, and he was leading the NFL in completion percentage (at 58.3%) for …
from video Chip Kelly’s Eagles are surprising people — after disappointing them — after startling them, like a date with too many tattoos and no job who proves nicer and more respectful than you or your parents imagined. The Birds evened their record at 3-3 and stayed apace with Dallas with a solid, if not spectacular, win against Tampa Bay, …
