Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers / Image: Zuma Press

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was upbeat and optimistic afterward:

“Not dead yet. The guys hung together, fought, made enough plays to win. We haven’t won in a while so it feels good. To keep it in perspective, we’ve got a little pulse here. Good to stay in the fight, good to win one for our fans, we’ve got the greatest fans in the world. Good to perform for them and get them something to be excited about here at Heinz Field. Today, I’m just as excited about that as I am getting that five-week monkey off our back.”

Ben was 29-of-46 passing for 503 yards and three touchdowns. Yes, 503 yards passing—a team record. It would be tiring to throw a football for 503 yards without being chased and harassed. But as long as the Steelers defensive secondary continues to struggle without injured safety Troy Polamalu, Ben will need to carry the team with more performances similar to this one.

Source: Steelers.com

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Ben Roethlisberger Has Career Day

GREEN BAY PACKERS at DETROIT LIONS (FOX, 12:30 PM ET): These two NFC North rivals will meet on Thanksgiving for the 19th time. The Lions, who will host their 70th Thanksgiving Day Classic, have an 11-6-1 record on the holiday against the Packers. Green Bay is coming off a 30-24 win over San Francisco, led by QB Aaron Rodgers’ 344 yards passing and two touchdowns. The Lions pulled off a stunning comeback victory over Cleveland as QB Matthew Stafford passed for 422 yards – the most ever by a rookie – and five touchdowns – tied for the most in NFL history by a rookie (Ray Buivid, 1937, Chicago Bears).

OAKLAND RAIDERS at DALLAS COWBOYS (CBS, 4:15 PM ET): The Cowboys will host their first Thanksgiving Day game at Cowboys Stadium when the team welcomes the Oakland Raiders to town. Dallas, who defeated Washington last week, has a 26-14-1 record on the holiday and QB Tony Romo has a perfect 3-0 mark on Thanksgiving. The Raiders will make their sixth appearance on the holiday and first since 1970 when the team played at Detroit. Last week, Oakland scored 10 points in the final 33 seconds to defeat Cincinnati, only the second time in club history the Raiders have scored two times in the final minute of the fourth quarter for a comeback win (November 17, 1968 vs. NY Jets, the “Heidi Game”).

NEW YORK GIANTS at DENVER BRONCOS (NFLN, 8:20 PM ET): Denver will host a Thanksgiving game for the first time since 1963 when the Broncos face the Giants in a primetime battle of two 6-4 clubs. New York will make its first appearance on the holiday since 1992 and 15th overall dating back to the Giants’ 17-0 win over the Brooklyn Lions in 1926. New York is coming off a 34-31 overtime win over Atlanta, highlighted by QB Eli Manning’s career-high 384 passing yards. The Broncos, who will play their 11th Thanksgiving Day game, will look to rebound from a 32-3 loss to San Diego.

Source: NFL Media

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Thanksgiving Day NFL Games

Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Bucs / Image: Zuma Press

After the game, Bucs head coach Raheem Morris kept things in perspective in getting his first-ever win:

“A great start to how we want to be, how we want to look, how we want to play. These guys played passionate. Obviously it’s not about me. It’s about us.”

Josh made his fair share of mistakes today. Especially early on. He looked like he had a case of first-start jitters. But after he got rid of the nervousness he was certainly feeling, I think he gained a wealth of experience on a special day for this organization. When the season started—when Byron Leftwich was named the starting quarterback—I knew matters would eventually fall into the hands of Josh Freeman, the QB this team drafted to be their quarterback of the future. And he didn’t disappoint.

I loved the throwback look today (and I emphasize today). But when the Bucs went to red and pewter 13 years ago, it was probably the best uniform upgrade in the history of the NFL. After today’s impressive win, I wonder if the team is rethinking that decision?

Sources: Buccaneers.com, NFL.com, TampaBayOnline

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Josh Freeman Makes First Start, Bucs Win

Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay Packers / Photo: Newscom

Well, as expected, a lot of people watched on Fox—29.8 million viewers, in fact. That made the game the most-watched program on television since the Academy Awards back on February 22 (36.3 million viewers). The Vikings-Packers viewership tops that of the season finales of popular prime time programming including American Idol, CSI, and Dancing with the Stars, as well as all regular-season and championship coverage of other sports. Pretty impressive.

Source: NFL Media

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Vikings, Packers Draw 29.8 Million Viewers

Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings / Photo: Newscom

I couldn’t be more impressed with the way Brett has handled the pressure and difficulty of both these games. Not only are the Packers an excellent football team, the situation Brett was faced with made winning both these games seem darn near impossible. He not only stood up to these two challenges, he thrived in the face of both of them. Seven touchdowns and no interceptions in two games against the NFL’s third best defense (before this game) is impressive.

Afterward, Brett talked about being booed by the Lambeau faithful:

“Packer fans cheer for the Packers first. I know that. But I hope that everyone in the stadium watching tonight said, ‘I sure hate those jokers on the other side, but he does play the way he’s always played.’”

With both of these Packers games behind Brett—and as long as he stays healthy—the Vikings have to be considered among the elite in the NFC. The Vikes do have some difficulty in holding leads of two or more touchdowns and playing top notch defense for four quarters. And they’re not running the football as well as they would like. But the Vikings are certainly a force to be reckoned with.

Source: NFL.com

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Brett Favre Beats Packers at Lambeau Field

Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings / Image: Zuma Press

I’m sure it’s partly due to the fact Brett has already played the Packers this season (albeit in Minnesota). That game set a record for cable television viewership. And Brett shook off some pre-game jitters to go 24-of-31 passing for 271 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Vikes to a 30-23 victory. But this is Lambeau Field, where Brett championed the Green Bay Packers for 17 seasons. This is unlike any other homecoming in the history of professional football. It’s Brett Favre at Lambeau Field—in the visiting locker room and on the opponents’ sideline. It’s so wrong. And that’s what makes it so interesting.

The fact remains, however, that this is still one of 16 games on the Vikings’ and Packers’ NFL schedule. And one Brett is looking at as an important game in the NFC North race rather than his own personal homecoming to a place he is still, by-and-large, considered an icon. Being relaxed and having some control about him will be paramount and Brett admitted as much:

“To me, being able to focus, being relaxed, kind of seeing things clearly as they’re happening is a much better and more productive way to play. Being nervous and having anxiety and things like that, I don’t think can be a plus when you’re in a decision-making role.”

Brett is saying and doing all the right things. He says there are “no sentiments other than we need to win this football game.” But you know when he signed that contract with the Vikings, there were two games he circled on the 2009 schedule, games he wanted to win more than any of the others. One has been successfully completed. The other—the most important of the two (and most rewarding if he wins)—is this Sunday.

Source: Vikings.com

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Brett Favre Returns to Lambeau Field

Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings / Photo: Newscom

Brett has looked more comfortable with each of his four games this 2009 season. As he spends more time throwing to his receivers in both practice and in game situations, well—that just makes sense. It’s almost a night and day difference from the opening game against Cleveland to last night’s game against Green Bay. Brett looked completely in control against the Pack—like he had been running this Vikings offense for years. Which is bad news for the rest of the league. If Brett is able to stay healthy for the remainder of the regular season, the Vikings could be serious contenders in the NFC come January.

Source: NFL.com

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Brett Favre Has Beaten Every NFL Team

Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings / Image: Zuma Press

The media hype behind this game has been extraordinary. But one game does not a season make. Sure, it’s an NFC North division game and a win would give the Vikes an early two game lead on the Packers. But I’m sure even Brett would tell you, he would trade two losses to the Packers this season for another Super Bowl ring in February. That being said, however, you know Brett wants very badly to win tonight’s game against the Packers and again—maybe even more so—the November 1 game at Lambeau:

“I wanna beat them. I’ve got a lot of friends on that team. You know, the way things went down—I’m not gonna sit here and lie to you—it was disappointing. For both sides. I still want to prove that I’m worthy. And I think that’s human nature. Believe me. I wanna win the game.”

Source: ESPN.com

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Brett Favre vs. the Green Bay Packers

Source: NFL.com

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Chad Ochocinco Does the Lambeau Leap

Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers / Photo: Newscom

For one rookie, he will follow the NFL path of not only his father, but also his grandfather. Linebacker Clay Matthews, a first-round Draft pick of the Green Bay Packers this year out of Southern California, is the son of former Cleveland and Atlanta linebacker Clay Matthews, Jr. And grandson of Clay Matthews, Sr., a two-way lineman with San Francisco in the early 1950s.

When Clay takes the field for the first time on Kickoff Sunday September 13, the Matthewses will become only the second family with three generations of NFL players, joining the Pyne family (George, Jr., George III and Jim).

Clay’s uncle, Bruce, a Pro Football Hall of Fame lineman for the Oilers-Titans franchise, is now in his first season as an assistant offensive coach with the Houston Texans:

“Clay did his part, without a doubt, by working hard. The kid takes care of his body, eats right, and his reputation is that no one outworks him. That was a lot like his dad. His attitude was that you may have a head start on me or you may have a little lead on me, but through time and hard work, I’m going to find a way.”

For Clay, comparisons to his father, a four-time Pro Bowl linebacker for Cleveland, will be inevitable. But he’s up to the challenge of building his own NFL legacy:

“I never felt pressure from any of them to play football. It’s not something my dad ever pushed on us. He’s not one of those fathers who ever said, ‘You need to do this or do that.’ He’s always been very supportive of our decisions and steered us in the right directions. The pressure that I feel is more from myself to be successful. Maybe some of it stems from having such a successful family, but also just from the fact that I want to be the best – not just in football, but in everything in life.”

Clay may be the latest member of the Matthews clan to achieve his NFL dream, but he’s not likely to be the last. There are already two more Matthewses in the football pipeline. Clay’s brother, Casey, is a linebacker at Oregon and Bruce’s son, Kevin, is the starting center at Texas A&M.

Seven other rookies can join the NFL fathers-sons list this year: Buffalo safety Jairus Byrd, son of former San Diego cornerback Gill, Sr.; Dallas kicker David Buehler, son of former Oakland and Cleveland guard George; Cincinnati tight end Chase Coffman, son of former Green Bay and Kansas City tight end Paul; Seattle linebacker Aaron Curry, son of former Detroit and Baltimore Colts defensive back Reggie Pinkney; Kansas City defensive back Londen Fryar, son of former New England, Miami, Philadelphia and Washington wide receiver Irving; Chicago defensive tackle Jarron Gilbert, son of former New Orleans offensive tackle Daren; and Cleveland wide receiver Brian Robiskie, son of former Oakland and Miami running back Terry, who is currently the wide receivers coach for Atlanta.

There have been 173 father-son pairs and threesomes that have played in the NFL. The list includes such names as Dorsett (Tony and Anthony); Farr (Mel, Sr.; Mel, Jr.; and Mike); Hasselbeck (Don, Matt and Tim); Kramer (Jerry and Jordan); Klecko (Joe and Dan); Manning (Archie, Peyton and Eli); Metcalf (Terry and Eric); Shula (Don, Dave and Mike); and Winslow (Kellen, Sr. and Kellen, Jr.).

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Father’s Day in September for NFL Rookies