NEW YORK — The experts said this was going to be one of the most unpredictable in recent memory. And you can easily say that was the case for Day 1 of the 2013 NFL Draft. There were some surprises and disappointments. Speaking of disappointments, no “Fandango” humming in the first round? The “What?” chants sort of hung on for another year. Thought we could get “Fandangoing” got at least. Ah, let’s get to it. ————————————————————————————————————————————– First things first ————————————————————————————————————————————– Mike Mayock called this fat-boy draft. He said Eric Fisher was going to be the first overall selection. So there were no surprises. Luke Joeckel went to the Jaguars with the second pick. That was expected. (And our style correspondent […]

In 1985, the Philadelphia Eagles used a second-round pick on UNLV’s Randall Cunningham. Despite signing with the USFL’s Tampa Bay Bandits that spring, Cunningham eventually landed in Philadelphia and embarked on a 16-year NFL career. With the former signal-caller turning 50 on Wednesday, we take a look at the defining moments of one of the most exciting players in NFL history. ————————————————————————————————————————————– Ready for Primetime ————————————————————————————————————————————– On Oct. 10, 1988, the Eagles were on “Monday Night Football” for the first time in seven years. Their opponent that night at the Vet were the division-rival New York Giants, a team that had won the last six meetings with Philadelphia. With the Eagles trailing by three in the second quarter, Cunningham rolled […]

Adrian Peterson has a chance to break Eric Dickerson’s hallowed single-season rushing record. The Los Angeles Rams runner rushed for 2,105 yards in 1984, in just his second season in the NFL. With that in mind, we take a look back at the careers of Dickerson and Peterson through trading cards in a little feature we like to call The Cardboard Bio.

By: Robert Karpeles As the last few weeks of the NFL season come to an end, it’s important to keep in mind that the most exciting football hasn’t even been played yet. Yes, the best is still to come and with good games come even better storylines.  You know, the one’s about the Jets sneaking in at the last second, quarterback controversies in San Francisco and the health of the quarterback in our nations’ capital. We live for football. But we also live for the great stories that stay with us after the games have been played. Here our nine things we hope for nine teams with playoff potential: Jets – Make the playoffs. Please, these guys just have to […]

The Chargers defense has played a single high coverage 76% (104/170) of the opponents drop backs. They will also be forced to stack the box due to RB Doug Martin’s presence.

The Cowboys pulled out an ugly win yesterday over the Bucs, the kind of gritty, hard-fought battle that allows you to learn about yourself. For sure, they learned about their quarterback, though it’s something they already knew. Tony Romo is a tough dude. Yesterday, he was the symbol of toughness, rising again and again despite being brutalized by the Bucs defense. He was sacked and belted, hit helmet-to-helmet and flung to the ground. He kept getting up and was perfect in the fourth quarter despite all that. Teammates were impressed, and they took notice. “Some quarterbacks who take hits like that don’t want to go back,” Cowboys WR Dez Bryant said. “Not him.” The Cowboys fed off their quarterback. The […]

As we do every week — except this time, it’s game week! — let’s take a swing around the NFL, looking at a bunch of random things … So, what’s been up? 1. The Steelers play tonight against the Broncos, and they get the first crack at QB Peyton Manning. Sure, Pittsburgh is tweaked about some injury issues (I don’t blame them), but they are mostly ready to go. I just want to take out a second and note something you shouldn’t really need to praise anyone for. I’ll do it anyway. Nice, easy, sound decision by coach Mike Tomlin to eliminate any possibility of S Ryan Clark playing in the mile-high altitude because of a health issues. This should […]

Ian Rapoport dives into the past week starting with reports that David Garrard is the leader for the Dolphins’ QB job. While Matt Moore should be concerned, what about Ryan Tannehill?

I spent Wednesday and Thursday flying around to two places, hitting Vikings OTAs on Wednesday and Saints OTAs on Thursday. This is my TV hit from Minnesota and here was mine from New Orleans. It was a whirlwind, but a productive experience. Now that my Columbia reunion is done, and I have some time, let’s recap. Want some highlights? First impressions: The first thing that struck me about both Winter Park in Eden Prairie, and the Saints facility in Metaire was the construction. Lots of it. Trucks everywhere, men working on things, both places are getting a facelift. Vikings VP Public Affairs and Stadium Development Lester Bagley told me now that the Vikings stadium deal is complete, redoing the practice […]

As we do once a week (and in celebration of my 10-year Columbia University reunion being over), let’s take a brief swing through nine things going on around the NFL.