Live Blog: NFL Week 17

955: Alright all set to go. I’ve got the Pats @ Bills and Giants @ Vikings as the early games and will follow along with the others.

957: The intense wind I have to think favors the Bills. Both teams may be forced to almost run exclusively. Field goals will be an adventure.

1004: Bad weather games are always fun to watch. Going to be interesting to see how they deal with this wind.

1008: The first punt goes only 13 yards because of the wind. Crazy.

1011: Falcons on top of the Rams early 3-0. They should win that one pretty easily.

1014: Panthers also get an early field goal. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up losing this one and drop to the five seed.

1016: Watched my two favorite comedies of 2008 on Blu-ray last night. Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Tropic Thunder.

1018: The Lions give up a 73 yard TD run. 0-16 here they come.

1019: The Bears now up 7-0. Putting the pressure on the Vikings to win.

1021: The Rams just drove down the field to take the lead on the Falcons. Still not feeling much concern there. Seen too much of the Rams this year to worry about them pulling an upset.

1025: New England starts some play action that works effectively with the short passing. Into the red zone. I like their strategy of using time outs to conserve time going with the wind.

1027: They just showed a highlight from the Bears-Texans game where Slaton was obviously down for like two seconds, then the ball came out and they ruled it a fumble? Was it not challenged? Led to a Bears FG.

1034: I’m really getting sick of the Five Dollar Foot Longs song.

1040: Wow a Todd MacCulloch sighting. I’ll always remember that Huskies team that had one of the most crushing defeats I’ve ever experienced with the buzzer beater loss to UConn in the tournament.

1043: Vikings on the board with a field goal. I’m surprised that the Giants would’nt put in full effort in this game. After last year we saw the importance of momentum heading into the playoffs.

1045: Why did the Bills settle for a 45 yard FG attempt? Even with the wind supposedly at their back? He kicked it left but it ended up missing right.

1047: The Raiders now leading the Bucs 7-0. No excuse if they can’t win this game. It would open up the possibility of the Eagles slipping into the 6 seed.

1050: 67 yard run by AD. Vikings 10-0. The way things are looking in this game the Giants don’t seem to mind.

1052: Matt Cassell has an impressive presence about him. He’ll get a huge contract to start somewhere next year. He may have to adjust to the changes but eventually he is going to be a top 10 QB in the league.

1055: Did the Titans even take their offense to Indy? They have like six offensive plays run compared to the Colts 30.

1057: The leaning goal posts is wild to see. They have to straighten them out before the kick attempts.

1059: 26 yard FG attempt misses right. That one was hard to tell cause it did get up pretty high.

1100: TB answers with a TD to tie it up. The Lions somehow score a TD also.

1101: I just realized that the winter storms we’ve had here have now stretched past two weeks which is insane. Really unprecedented and a huge hassle.

1102: Andre Johnson padding his Madden 2010 cover resume with another TD. 5 catches and 92 yards before halftime.

1104: DeAngelo Williams also improving his Madden cover chances as he has already crossed 100 yards in the first half.

1107: The Panthers have had several red zone opportunities and finally got a TD out of it. 16-3 lead right now.

1108: And just like that the Panthers look to have secured the #2 seed. Fumble returned for TD on the kickoff and 23-3 lead. Makes the Falcons game meaningless.

1112: Another Andre Johnson TD. Bears have blown their lead and now trail 14-10.

1116: The Bills blew that. Could’ve had a FG attempt but ran the ball with no timeouts and couldn’t get the attempt off before time expired.

1126: Raiders take a 14-7 halftime lead. ‘The Bucs need to get things going.

1133: The Vikings gave the Giants an opportunity to get an extra field goal before half.

1137: DeAngelo Williams 143 yard at half, Andre Johnson 101 yards and 2 TDs at half.

1138: Patriots recover Edwards fumble. That is a huge play.

1139: Seriously who came up with the idea of Fox’s robot?

1146: Cassell runs for another first down this time on 4th and 2. Gotta like his poise.

1148: The Texans looking to put a dagger into the Bears season. 21-10.

1150: Pats get a TD. Almost feels like an insurmountable lead now.

1151: And wow the extra point was almost short. What is the rule on the ball going through but flying back out? Would that be a miss?

1153: Bucs tie it up with a 58 yard TD pass.

1158: The Lions have tied it up! There is hope they’ll avoid 0-16! Alright…yeah we know they’ll blow it.

1203: Giants TD puts them in the lead. David Carr had a nice drive there and a good looking TD pass.

1212: After helping someone with a car stuck in the snow outside I’m back and see that after the Bears answered with a TD the Texans have drivin into the red zone. I really like the direction this Texans team is headed and think they’ll make the playoffs next year.

1215: Tampa takes the lead 17-14.

1216: Getting tired of the commentators repeating the Vikings playoff scenarios every other minute.

1217: Just when it looks like the Lions have a glimmer of hope you remember that they’re the Lions. 80 yard run by Ryan Grant puts the Packers up 21-14.

1220: Guess the Packers TD was taken away. Maybe fate is on the Lions side today.

1223: Tampa stretches the lead to 10. Looking keep their hope alive for the 6 seed.

1224: Tavaris Jackson throws a pick on goal to go. Good thing for them that the Bears are losing.

1230: Damn…David Carr is on the money today.

1231: How does Tampa give up a TD drive like that to the Raiders?

1238: Big pass to Berrian gets the Vikings back in this down by just two now with plenty of time left.

1241: Slaton breaks a big run and gets the Texans into FG range. Fumbles a few plays later to keep the Bears in it.

1242: Looks like the Panthers may be in some danger of blowing the big lead. Didn’t seem likely considering their running game but the Saints are only down 13 and in the red zone.

1244: Well that was short lived for the Bears. Texans get the ball back in the red zone.

1245: Packers with the TD to almost seal the deal on the Lions going 0-16. And the Raiders have captured the lead after a big run by Michael Bush of 67 yards. The Bucs are blowing their chance at the playoffs and now under pressure to come up with a game winning TD drive.

1247: And the Saints now within a TD of winning. All of the sudden the Falcons do need to win that game but are in danger of losing it.

1250: Slaton gets in for the TD so it looks like the Texans will hold off the Bears and the division will go to the Vikings regardless of whether they win or not.

1251: CBS switches to the Raiders-Bucs game. This one should have an interesting ending. Still I’m not understanding how the Bucs could allow this to happen.

1254: The Saints in the red zone with an opportunity to take the lead. Quite the comeback happening there. But the Falcons are trailing by a FG and have to win for this game to mean anything.

1255: And like that the Saints have the lead. Brees is only 16 yards away from breaking Dan Marino’s record for passing yards in a season.

1257: Michael Turner 207 yards rushing at this point. If the Falcons end up the #2 seed I say that is your MVP right there.

100: Lots of games coming down to the wire. This is exciting.

105: Vikings win the game on a last second field goal and win the division. They’ll host either the Cowboys, Eagles, or Bucs.

106: And the Panthers get the FG with only one second left. Looks like they’ll win the division and #2 seed. The Falcons will play at Arizona next week.

109: The Raiders beat the Bucs. Yes crowd, you have the right to boo.

120: Baltimore opening drive sees Flacco connect 48 yards to Clayton. The next Madden roster update better see a stat increase to Flacco. Long overdue.

128: What a shocker. Another fumble lost for Kurt Warner.

131: Philly on the board first with a field goal. Wish I had that game. Got the Dolphins-Jets and Seahawks-Cardinals.

133: Beautiful pass by Favre completed to the Dolphins secondary.

151: The Jags take the lead 7-3 over the Ravens. Meanwhile still a 3-3 tie for the final NFC wild card spot. Gotta be an intense game given between bitter rivals in what is essentially a playoff game.

153: I think its fair to say that the Cardinals are not very good. I don’t know how they’d expect to win next week going in with only one win in their last seven games. They really need to win this game but they look pretty bad so far.

200: Seneca Wallace is the man.

202: Eagles with the 10-3 lead. Will be interesting to see how the Cowboys respond to being down in this situation.

212: Cardinals do tie it up a few plays after a deep jump ball type catch by Larry Fitzgerald.

213: The Jets on the board but they can’t convert the extra point. That feels like something that may come back to haunt them.

226: The Eagles seem to be dominating that game statistically. 17-3 now. If the Cowboys don’t charge back there is going to be a lot of questioning going around that team in the offseason.

229: Dolphins take the lead. That missed XP is standing out right now as potentially being a huge factor.

233: Oh man, Favre INT taken back for TD. I doubt he retires after his collapse this year. I don’t think he’d want to go out like this. If he sticks around I wonder what team he would go to, Minnesota maybe. Its a joke he took the roster spot of a more deserving QB (Rivers, Pennington, Cassel).

237: Fitzgerald with a one handed catch. Damn impressive.

239: Looking good for the Ravens, don’t see any possibility that the Jagaurs could come back on them. So they’ll have the #6 seed and play at either the Patriots or the Dolphins next week.

241: Eagles go up 24-3. Oh to be a fly on the wall of the Cowboys locker room at half…

243: Alright Dallas its over. 27-3 at half. Must have fumbled the return to set up that extra field goal at the end. Looking forward to the drama to come out of this.

305: Jets recapture the extra point for a 3 point lead.

306: Somehow Jason Witten has a 42 yard pass…thats only 20 yards less than Romo has been able to put together all game.

308: Now that game is becoming a laugher. Romo blows it again. This time a fumble that is returned 73 yards. Really this is going to be fun to see what happens with the Cowboys now.

312: Another amazing catch by Fitzgerald. I don’t know how he pulled that one in (TD).

314: Dolphins recapture the lead. After a morning of tight pressure packed games, this one is the only late game that is matching that.

318: 41-3. Not sure much else to say that hasn’t already been said. Amusing.

320: Looking forward to the Dallas post-game press conferences…

323: Romo fumbled again. At this point I think they’ll keep rubbing it in considering its the Cowboys. But will they take guys out to rest and avoid potential injury?

327: Will every road team next week be favored? Maybe the Dolphins/Patriots will be favored over the Ravens, but the other three matchups don’t look encouraging for the home teams.

341: Dolphins block the punt. Big shift in fortune there.

346: Now Favre is in a position where he needs to put together a big drive. Not sure he has anything left in him to do so.

359: Classic Favre INT. Not that I feel much sympathy for the Patriots even though they’re a good story this year. The Dolphins are a remarkable one.

414: So we’ll have Ravens @ Dolphins, Colts @ Chargers/Broncos,  Eagles @ Vikings, Falcons @ Cardinals.

415: That’ll wrap up the live blog for today. Going to relax and enjoy the SNF game!