Bay Area Sports Blogging

That was a wild NFL weekend. We had the New England Patriots versus the San Diego Chargers for the AFC championship and the Green Bay Packers going against the New York Giants for the NFC championship. The Patriots continue their pursuit to perfection with a win over the Chargers while the Giants upset the Packers big time.

The Chargers had injuries to key members of their offense: Philip Rivers - starting quarterback, LaDainian Tomlinson - starting running back, and Antonio Gates - leading receiver. Throughout the week, there had been reports that LT would play, but Rivers and Gates were doubtful. When the game began, all three would be active and started for the Chargers. LT, however, would only last 3 plays, being taken out due to "coach's decision".

The National Football League takes its game to Wembley Stadium in London for Week 8. The match up pits the 5-2 New York Giants versus the 0-7 Miami Dolphins on Sunday, October 28. Unlike previous trips, this voyage will mark the first time a regular season game has been played in Europe. The NFL is pushing for a rise in global viewer ship, although cutting down the NFL Europe isn't going to help.

This isn't the first time the NFL has taken a regular season game off US soil. A regular season match up between the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals took place in Mexico City in 2005. The record crowd of 103,467 in attendance at the Estadio Azteca stadium saw the Cardinals defeating the 49ers.

The NFL has chosen the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins to represent the league in Europe. I can only assume these teams were selected for the European showcase because both teams are on the East Coast, making for shorter flights. Both teams have Bye weeks during week 9, so they can spend some extra time in London. The league also expected the Dolphins to suck this year, thereby having lowered attendance for their home games in Miami. Miami has done its part, being winless after seven weeks.

There are two things I hate about NFL pre-season: hold out, and injuries. Ignoring the JaMarcus Russell situation for now, injuries in pre-season totally suck.

In the New York Giants vs Baltimore Ravens pre-season game, a total of seven players left the game with injuries. These are not scrub players; these are starters. The Giants lost safety Will Demps, cornerback Sam Madison, receiver Michael Jennings, receiver Steve Smith, and guard Grey Ruegamer. The Ravens lost cornerback Samari Rolle and receiver Mark Clayton.