NFL 2007/08 - Laber, Infos und mehr

Moin..seit halb 8 auf Arbeit...Müdigkeit geht ja noch...nach 1 h Schlaf

Im Abstand...hochverdienter Sieg der Giants. Schwaches Packers Spiel...die wissen gar nich, warum sie überhaupt noch Chancen hatten...vielleicht 3-4 starke Pässe...so kann Brett nich abtreten - Defense solide, aba dat hat nich gereicht..schade um den SB

Achja ich bin pro Giants ohne Frage...wobei Burress ...aba Strahan hats verdient und Shockey

Emotional Loss Difficult To Accept

Packers-Giants Game Centerby Nathan Hager, Packers.com
posted 01/20/2008

The win-or-go-home mentality of the playoffs sends emotions to both ends of the spectrum.

For the Packers, last week's win over the Seahawks was as euphoric as this week's loss was devastating.

And although the Packers may have exceeded nearly everyone's expectations for the season, the red eyes and disappointing faces in the locker room following Sunday's 23-20 overtime loss to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship demonstrated just how badly this one hurts.

Many players felt that they let a golden opportunity slip away.

"To make it this far and go through what we went through and lose, it's a rough feeling," defensive tackle Corey Williams said.

"When you have a chance to win and don't, that makes it even worse. It's not like they came in and just dominated us. We had chances to win and we didn't. They made the plays, we didn't."

Like Williams, cornerback Charles Woodson acknowledged that coming so close makes the loss sting a little more.

"We had a great opportunity here to play in the Super Bowl," Woodson said. "As a unit, as a team, we didn't have our best game. For whatever the reason, I don't know. The only thing you can take from it is that you don't want to feel this way again.

"The one thing about these opportunities, sometimes they are few and far between. You don't know when you are going to have your next time. It was five years since I had even been in the playoffs. So, you can't take for granted the opportunities you have. Whenever you have these opportunities, you have to make sure you're at your best when you're time comes because you don't know when it will come back around."

Right tackle Mark Tauscher, an eight-year veteran, said that this was no question the toughest loss of his career. But he also added that one of the toughest aspects to deal with in a situation like this is that the locker room will be a little bit different when the Packers open up the 2008 regular season.

"You can't say right now how things are going to play out," Tauscher explained. "I can assure you this isn't the football team that we are going to have back next year. That much is a given. I've never been on a team where every player has been back the next year.

"Every year is a different starting point. You start in March and you hope to be playing in February. We had our opportunities to be that team and we let it go."

Williams, an unrestricted free agent, agreed with Tauscher's assessment.

"To lose like that at home, that's tough," Williams said. "For me not knowing if I'm going to be back here next year, that's tough."

For others, the loss was disheartening simply because there was so much at stake.

"To lose period, it's disappointing," Brady Poppinga said. "But the fact it's a championship-caliber game and it's a game where the winner gets to go to the Super Bowl and play for it all, obviously it makes it that much more disappointing.

"When you're defeated you feel disappointed. Anybody who is a competitor, obviously you're goal isn't to lose. So when you fall short of you're goals, it's disappointing and discouraging. But it's not demoralizing. There's a lot that can be learned from it and a lot that can be taken with you into the future if these situations arise again. And hopefully they do."

Of course, the players weren't the only ones who were disappointed in the defeat. General Manager Ted Thompson said that the loss is tough from an organizational standpoint as well.

"Right now, I think we're all caught up in the disappointment of not winning this game," Thompson said. "We (the front office) are just like the guys in here that lay it on the line. We're disappointed we didn't win the game. I feel bad for them and I feel bad for the organization."

Several players admitted that losing this game had never entered their mind. The fact that it came in overtime only made it more difficult.

"I think everyone is in shock," Aaron Kampman said. "I don't think anyone believed we weren't going to win the game. We were very confident. Now it's just kind of, where do we go from here?"

On to next season, unfortunately, but no one was truly focusing on that in the immediate aftermath.

"I didn't want to believe it," Jarrett Bush said. "My mind was saying, 'No, don't believe it.' But you've got to accept it. That's part of getting over it. You have to accept it and move on."

ACE

Holmgren will return to Seahawks for final season in 2008

Associated Press

KIRKLAND, Wash. -- Mike Holmgren will return for a final season in 2008 as coach of the Seattle Seahawks -- but only a final season.
The 59-year-old veteran of 16 seasons as an NFL head coach announced his decision Tuesday to fulfill the final year of his contract, after spending the weekend with his wife at their offseason Arizona home.
Kevin P. Casey / Associated PressMike Holmgren, 86-68 in nine seasons in Seattle, passed Chuck Knox during the 2007 season for most victories by a Seahawks coach.
"Kathy and I came to this decision to finish my contract," said Holmgren, who had hinted at retirement for weeks. "This will be my last year. We are going to make it the best year ever.
"And then probably after that, I will take a little time off -- but not yet. We are going to go after it hard."
Two days after Seattle lost at Green Bay in the NFC divisional playoffs, Holmgren was asked if there was a third possibility beyond retiring or finishing the final season of his contract. He signed that extension soon after the Seahawks lost in the Super Bowl to Pittsburgh 23 months ago, at the end of a deal that was paying him about $7 million per season.
Holmgren said yes to the the "longer, larger" option of another contract extension beyond 2008, but the Seahawks have never approached him about it.
Tuesday, Holmgren said his comments about an extension were overblown and "misinterpreted," that the decision was always about working one more season or retiring.
The Seahawks have a likely heir to Holmgren in place in Jim Mora.
Soon after Mora was fired as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons on New Year's Day, 2007, Holmgren added him to the staff as the assistant head coach and defensive backs coach. Mora, 46, led Atlanta for three seasons and went to the NFC Championship Game in his first season there.
"The transition beyond this year should be really smooth. The organization is healthy," Holmgren said.
He didn't mention Mora by name, leaving talk of his successor "for another press conference. I won't be there."
Mora went to junior high and high school in the Seattle area while his father was an assistant at the University of Washington. Last week, as Holmgren was in Arizona contemplating his future, Mora removed himself from consideration for the vacant head coaching job with the Washington Redskins following two days of interviews.
Holmgren said Tuesday that Mora and all other defensive assistants will remain in their same roles in 2008.
A father to four daughters and grandfather to four more girls, Holmgren said he did not want next season to be "a farewell tour" that would take focus away from his team.
And he did not rule out a return to football in 2010 or beyond.
"Oh, I think you always have to say that's a possibility," he said, "but that's very speculative at this point."
Seattle went 10-6 and won its fourth consecutive NFC West title this season and believes its window of opportunity for a Super Bowl title is still wide open with the core of the team returning next season. Five of the Seahawks' six division titles have come under Holmgren.
"I want to do this because I want to give this one more shot with this team," said Holmgren, who led the Packers to two Super Bowls, winning one at the end of the 1996 season.
Holmgren's record with Green Bay and Seattle, where he arrived in 1999, is 170-110, one win behind former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs for 10th in NFL history. Holmgren is 86-68 in nine seasons with Seattle. He passed Chuck Knox this season for most victories by a Seahawks coach.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

XLII facts about Super Bowl XLII

By Research | NFL Network

I. This is the 42nd Super Bowl and the second time it has been held in Arizona. Super Bowl XXX was held at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona (Cowboys 27, Steelers 17).
II. The NFC leads 21-20 all-time but the AFC has won eight of the last 10 games after losing 13 straight.
III. The AFC is the home team in this year’s Super Bowl.
IV. To date 3,205,733 people have attended Super Bowl games.
Careful when you cheer when the coin toss comes up heads ... winning the pregame toss doesn't mean a Super Bowl victory.
V. No Super Bowl has ever gone to overtime.
VI. The team that has won the coin toss is 19-22 all-time in the Super Bowl and has lost the past four straight and nine of the last 11 games. The Patriots lost the coin toss in each of their three Super Bowl wins. They won the coin toss for Super Bowl XXXI and lost the game; they lost the coin toss for Super Bowl XX vs. the Bears and also lost that game. The Giants won the coin toss in Super Bowl XXXV and lost that game; they lost the coin toss in both Super Bowls XX and XXV and won those games.
VII. The Giants-Patriots Super Bowl is the 12th Super Bowl to feature two teams that met during the regular season. The team that lost the regular-season meeting has won six of the previous 11 matchups. The last matchup was Super Bowl XXXVI between the Patriots and Rams (Rams won regular season; Patriots won the Super Bowl)
VIII. The Giants-Patriots Super Bowl is only the second time that the two Super Bowl participants have met in the final regular season game; the other occurrence was in 1977 when the Cowboys and Broncos met in Week 14 and then in Super Bowl XII. The Cowboys won both games. (The Giants and Patriots also met in the final game of this year's preseason; The Patriots won that game 27-20).
IX. The Patriots have 20 players with Super Bowl experience on their current roster; the Giants have three.
X. Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi will be playing in his fifth Super Bowl; he is the 15th player to play in five Super Bowls. He is the seventh player to play in five Super Bowls with the same team, joining Larry Cole (Cowboys), Cliff Harris (Cowboys), D.D. Lewis (Cowboys) Charlie Waters (Cowboys), Rayfield Wright (Cowboys) and John Elway (Broncos).
With another Super Bowl MVP award, Tom Brady will tie Joe Montana for the most all-time.
XI. 21 Quarterbacks have been named MVP of the Super Bowl, the most of any position.
XII. Tom Brady is one of four players with multiple Super Bowl MVP awards –- the three others are quarterbacks as well: Bart Starr (2), Joe Montana (3) and Terry Bradshaw (2).
XIII. Tom Brady is 1 of 4 players with three Super Bowl wins as a starting QB. The other three are Terry Bradshaw (4), Joe Montana (4) and Troy Aikman (3).
XIV. Tom Brady is the 23rd NFL MVP to play in the Super Bowl in the same season. The last MVP to win a Super Bowl the same season was Kurt Warner in Super Bowl XXXIV in 1999. Overall, 10 NFL MVPs have won the Super Bowl in the same season. In 1968, Earl Morrall won the NFL title but lost Super Bowl III to the Jets.
XV. The Patriots are making their sixth Super Bowl appearance –- and fourth in last seven years. The Patriots are the fourth franchise to make six Super Bowl appearances, joining the Cowboys (8), Steelers (6) and Broncos (6).
Bill Walsh won all three times he led the 49ers to the Super Bowl.
XVI. The Patriots have won three Super Bowls; with a win they’ll join the Steelers (5), Cowboys (5) and 49ers (5) as the only franchises to win 4 Super Bowls.
XVII. Bill Belichick is the eighth head coach to appear in four Super Bowls. The others are Don Shula (6), Tom Landry (5), Chuck Noll (4), Joe Gibbs (4), Bud Grant (4), Marv Levy (4) and Dan Reeves (4).
XVIII. Belichick is one of four coaches to win three Super Bowls. The others are Chuck Noll (4-0), Bill Walsh (3-0) and Joe Gibbs (3-1).
XIX. Since 2001, the Patriots are 24-7 when meeting teams for the second or third (Jets, 2006) time in the same season.
XX. Junior Seau is making his second Super Bowl appearance; the first since Super Bowl XXIX. The 13 years between Super Bowl appearances is the longest span in the game’s history.
XXI. The Patriots are the third team to win 18 games in a season, including playoffs. The ’85 Bears (18-1) and ’84 49ers (18-1) also won 18 games.
Junior Seau's Super Bowl XXIX experience was a bitter one.
XXII. The Patriots are the 11th team to go 10-0 at home, including the playoffs. Of the previous 10 to accomplish the feat, 8 of them won the Super Bowl (only the 1990 Bills and 1988 Bengals lost).
XXIII. The Patriots led the NFL with 36.8 PPG this season, the highest in the Super Bowl era.
XXIV. The Patriots are the 17th team to lead the NFL in scoring and reach the Super Bowl. The previous 16 teams are 9-7 in the Super Bowl (last two -- the ’05 Seahawks and ’01 Rams -- have lost). The last team to lead the NFL in scoring and win the Super Bowl was the ’99 Rams in XXXIV.
XXV. The Giants will be playing in their 18th NFL title game dating back to 1933. The Giants have won five NFL championships in their history –- including two Super Bowls.
XXVI. The Giants' 18 NFL championship game appearances are the most in NFL history.
Eli Manning was a No. 1 overall pick, but was originally selected by the Chargers.
XXVII. Eli Manning is the seventh No. 1 overall pick to start the Super Bowl at quarterback; the others are Peyton Manning, Drew Bledsoe, Troy Aikman, John Elway, Jim Plunkett and Terry Bradshaw.
XXVIII. 18 sets of brothers to have reached the Super Bowl. Eli and Peyton Manning are the first set of brothers at quarterback.
XXIX. Eli Manning is the only quarterback in the 2007 playoffs yet to throw an interception. Of the 12 quarterbacks in the 2007 playoffs, he had the most interceptions during the regular season (20) -- tied for the most in the NFL with Jon Kitna and Carson Palmer.
XXX. Eli Manning is the seventh quarterback in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to throw 20 interceptions in the regular season and reach the Super Bowl.
XXXI. This is the second straight season in which the NFC quarterback in the Super Bowl threw 20 interceptions in the regular season (last year, Rex Grossman threw 20 interceptions, and threw three in the playoffs, two in the Super Bowl). The other to throw 20 interceptions during the regular season and then reach the Super Bowl are Kurt Warner (22 in 2001), Phil Simms (22 in 1986), Terry Bradshaw (25 in 1979 and 20 in 1978) and Darryl Lamonica (20 in 1967). The only two Super Bowl quarterbacks to throw 20 interceptions during the regular season and not throw one in the playoffs were Boomer Esiason in 1990 and Simms in 1986.
XXXII. Tom Coughlin is coaching in his first Super Bowl as a head coach. Head coaches making their Super Bowl debut are 20-22.
XXXIII. Tom Coughlin has coached 205 career games, including the playoffs. That is the most games coached before making a Super Bowl debut as a head coach.
XXXIV. The Giants are 10-1 away from Giants Stadium and 3-5 at home this season.
XXXV. The Giants are the third team to reach the Super Bowl by winning three straight road games, joining the ’05 Steelers and ’85 Patriots.
Hines Ward helped the wild-card Steelers win Super Bowl XL.
XXXVI. The Giants are the ninth wild-card team to reach the Super Bowl. Wild-card teams are 4-4 in the Super Bowl. The ’05 Steelers were the last wild-card team to win.
XXXVII. The Giants are the fourth team to reach the Super Bowl following a 0-2 start. They join the ’01 Patriots, ’96 Patriots and ’93 Cowboys.
XXXVIII. The Giants are the only team in NFL history to win 10 straight road games in a season.
XXXIX. Bill Belichick (15) and Tom Coughlin (7) have 22 postseason victories combined, tied for the second most in Super Bowl history among opposing coaches and surpassed only by the 25 combined playoff wins by Tom Landry and Chuck Noll in Super Bowl XIII.
XL. Giants long snapper/linebacker Zak DeOssie’s father Steve DeOssie played in Super Bowl XXV as a member of the Giants (Belichick was the defensive coordinator of that Giants team). The DeOssie’s are the ninth different father-son combo to reach the Super Bowl.
XLI. When he appears in the game, Jeff Feagles will be the oldest Super Bowl participant at 41 years, 335 days. The previous oldest was Mike Horan at 40 years, 363 days. Feagles began his career with the Patriots in 1988.
XLII. Giants DE Justin Tuck and Patriots LB Adalius Thomas are cousins. Tuck’s father and Thomas’ father are first cousins.

Six-time Pro Bowler Alstott retires after 12 seasons

Associated Press

Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesMike Alstott is the Buccaneers' career leader in touchdowns (Photos: Alstott through the years).

TAMPA, Fla. -- Tampa Bay's A-Train has made his final run.
Six-time Pro Bowl fullback Mike Alstott announced his retirement after 12 seasons Thursday, saying goodbye to the NFL during a tearful news conference in a meeting room where the Buccaneers played a highlight film of some of his most memorable plays.
The Bucs all-time touchdown leader, who played at Purdue from 1992-95, spent the 2007 season on injured reserve with a neck problem that was not related to a career-threatening injury that required surgery in 2003. He held little hope for a return, but still had difficulty saying his career was over.
Mike Alstott's single-game career bests:
» Rushes: 28, vs. Minnesota, Oct. 28, 2001
» Rushing yards: 131, vs. Denver, Sept. 26, 1999
» Rushing TDs: 3 (twice), vs. Minnesota, Oct. 28, 2001; at Cincinnati, Dec. 27, 1998
» Long run: 47 (for TD), at Atlanta, Nov. 9, 1997
» Receptions: 8, vs. Oakland, Nov. 10, 1996
» Receiving yards: 91, vs. New Orleans, Nov. 24, 1996
» Long reception: 44 (for TD), at New Orleans, Dec. 1, 2002
» Receiving TDs: 2, vs. Miami, Sept. 21, 1997

"Though mentally I feel like I can continue, physically I can't," he said. "The second injury to my neck will prevent me from playing football forever."
Flanked on a podium by his wife, coach Jon Gruden, general manager Bruce Allen and executive vice president Bryan Glazer, Alstott choked up on three different occasions while talking about how difficult it will be to not be around his teammates on a daily basis.
"If you needed a yard, Mike would get you two," said Glazer, one of the sons of Bucs owner Malcolm Glazer. "If you needed to grind out the game at the end, Mike was the man for you."
Arguably the most popular player in franchise history, Alstott was better known for bouncing off defenders and breaking tackles than as a traditional fullback whose job was to block for a featured runner.
He was selected to play in the Pro Bowl six consecutive seasons from 1997-2002, however his role in the offense diminished dramatically after Gruden arrived in Tampa Bay six seasons ago.
In 12 seasons, he rushed for 5,088 yards, second on the Bucs' career list. He also caught 305 passes for 2,284 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Glazer said 7,325 players have played since 1990. Alstott is the 18th during that span to play 11 or more seasons with one team and retire with that team.
Together with Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, John Lynch, Ronde Barber and former Bucs coach Tony Dungy, Alstott helped transform one of the NFL's worst franchises into a championship contender.
He entered the league as a second-round draft pick in 1996, and Glazer noted one of his two favorite Alstott moments came the following season when the fullback rumbled 31 yards for a touchdown that help the Bucs beat Detroit for their first playoff win in 18 years.
"It signified the beginning of a rebirth for this franchise," the team executive said, adding that his other favorite was Alstott's 2-yard touchdown run during Tampa Bay's victory over Oakland in the Super Bowl in January 2003.
"I lived in Chicago before we bought the Buccaneers, and I know how that town agonized over the fact that the great Walter Payton did not score a touchdown in its Super Bowl (victory)," Glazer said, turning toward Alstott. "I'm so happy that you had an opportunity to score a touchdown in this team's greatest time."
Alstott played down his personal accomplishments, instead stressing how gratifying it was to play with other outstanding players as part of a team that changed the perception of the franchise.
"We turned this into an elite organization," he said. "It's been a great ride, an unbelievable ride."

Zitat von peksim

Alstott ist wie ein König in Tampa. Im Stadion ist jedes zweite Trikot mit seinem Namen beflockt! Möge die Macht mit ihm sein

Die Kombination Dunn - Alstott war mit das Beste, was die NFL zu bieten hatte...(halt nur Tampa;))

Zitat von peksim

GO Chargers !!!

ein gemeinsamer Nenner

Garcia replaces Favre on NFC Pro Bowl roster

Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. -- Buccaneers quarterback Jeff Garcia is headed to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time, replacing Green Bay's Brett Favre on the NFC roster.

Favre, who was chosen as the starter for the annual all-star game, had said he was unsure whether he would play after leading the Packers to the NFC championship game.
Garcia signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent last winter and led the team to the NFC South title. He made three consecutive appearances in the Pro Bowl from 2000-02 with the 49ers.
Garcia completed 63.9 percent of his passes and threw 13 touchdowns against just four interceptions in 13 starts. He began the season with a stretch 197 consecutive attempts without an interception, a Bucs record.
The other NFC quarterbacks are Tony Romo and Matt Hasselbeck. Garcia is the only Tampa Bay player making the trip to Hawaii.