Sports Then and Now

Karl Kassulke

The November Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month spent ten seasons in the NFL as a starting defensive back before an automobile accident prematurely ended his career and left him paralyzed for the remainder of his life.

Drafted out of Drake University in the 11th round of the 1963 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, Karl Kassulke didn’t make it with the Lions, but soon became the starting strong safety for the Minnesota Vikings. Read the rest of this entry →

Philip Rivers had the Chargers back on course against the Kansas City Chiefs.

San Diego look like divisional contenders in the NFL betting lines once again, after they ended a rut of three straight defeats to overcome Kansas City 31-13 on Thursday night.

The Chargers (then 3-4) went into the game knowing a loss would be disastrous for their efforts to claim top spot in the AFC West but a return to offensive form soon righted previous wrongs.

Indeed, so determined were San Diego to rid themselves of October’s nightmare that they scored their first touchdown in six quarters on the first drive.

Quarterback, Philip Rivers, looked back at his best – finding Seyi Ajirotutu with an arching pass to progress the team downfield, before throwing a neat 14-yard pass to Antonio Gates, who took the touchdown tight in the near left corner, securing the Chargers’ first touchdown since week six.

Buoyed by their defensive resilience last week against Cleveland, in which they conceded just one touchdown, San Diego maintained a solid wall of defense to reduce Kansas to field goals until the last quarter, by which time it was all over with three more Chargers scores.

After the game Rivers told NFL news reporters that he was happy to be back to winning ways: “It was good to play well but more importantly, it was good to win a game. We needed a win in the worst way. Games like this, wins like this, can jump start us.” Read the rest of this entry →

Matt Ryan’s three 1st half touchdowns helped the Falcons improve to 7-0 with a Week 8 victory over the Eagles.

It was a week for offenses to shine in Week 8 as five NFL teams picked up wins by 20 or more points and a total of five teams put up 30 or more points.

The 49ers, Broncos, Patriots, Dolphins and Bucs all won by 20 or more and those teams with the exception of the 49ers all put up 30 or more points. The Falcons also put up 30 against the Eagles en route to their seventh win of the year while staying undefeated.

Atlanta became the sixth NFL team to start a season 7-0 and score at least 23 points in each of those games. They also improved to 15-0 when Matt Ryan throws three or more touchdown passes in a game. Philly had been 13-0 following bye weeks under head coach, Andy Reid.

The Saints couldn’t win their third straight and fell to 2-5, but Drew Brees threw a touchdown pass in his 50th straight game to extend his own record. New Orleans fell to Denver 34-14 on Sunday night. Peyton Manning and the Broncos improved to 4-3 and it was the first time that they have won back-to-back games this year.

Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, didn’t let the time change or long flight to London affect him as he also threw a touchdown pass again and this marks 40 straight games for him – still 10 behind Brees for the all-time record. More notable for the Patriots, they gained 473 yards of total offense against the Rams, marking the 17th straight game that they have recorded more than 350. This broke the all-time record set by those Rams in 1999-00.

The Patriots’ offensive explosion left plenty of storylines and it was hard to just pick a few. The 45-7 win for New England was the largest of the weekend and in two games in London since 2009, the Pats have outscored their opponents 80-14 (beat Tampa 35-7 in 2009).

Four different Pats scored touchdowns and both Rob Gronkowski and Brandon Lloyd caught two apiece. It was the 50th time that Brady has had a game with three or more touchdown passes, which is good for fourth all-time. Wes Welker recorded at least one reception in his 102nd straight game. Believe it or not, the Rams scored the first seven points of the game before New England rifled off 45 unanswered.

The last two times Bill Belichick and Jeff Fisher have met, Belichick has outscored him 104-7. Also, Rams receiver, Chris Givens, caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Sam Bradford and now has a 50+ yard reception in five straight games. Bradford was also sacked at least once in his 24th straight game.

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MUST HAVE For Any NFL Fan

Sports Illustrated has just released “Football’s Greatest” which is a MUST HAVE for any NFL fan. This book is choc full of beautiful images, historical tidbits and of course Top 10 lists. This keepsake covers the best players by position, the top 10 plays in NFL history and much, much more.

This week we are going to discuss the “10 BEST NFL Franchises”. Let the debate begin!

5. New York Giants

4-NFL Championships

4-Super Bowl Championships

31-Playoff appearances

27-Hall Of Famers

4.  Chicago Bears

7-NFL Championships

1-Super Bowl Championship

26-Playoff appearances

27-Hall Of Famers

3.  Dallas Cowboys

5-Super Bowl Championships

30-Playoff appearances

12-Hall Of Famers

Read the rest of this entry →

MUST HAVE For Any NFL Fan

Sports Illustrated has just released “Football’s Greatest” which is a MUST HAVE for any NFL fan. This book is choc full of beautiful images, historical tidbits and of course Top 10 lists. This keepsake covers the best players by position, the top 10 plays in NFL history and much, much more.

This week we are going to discuss the “10 BEST NFL Franchises”. Let the debate begin!

10. Washington Redskins

2-NFL Championships

3-Super Bowl Championships

22-Playoff appearances

19-Hall Of Famers

9. Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts

3-NFL Championships

2-Super Bowl Championships

24-Playoff appearances

16-Hall Of Famers

8. Oakland Raiders 

1-AFL Championship

3-Super Bowl Championships

21-Playoff appearances

20-Hall Of Famers

7. New England Patriots

3-Super Bowl Championships

19-Playoff appearances

3-Hall Of Famers

6. San Francisco 49ers

5-Super Bowl Championships

24-Playoff appearances

21-Hall Of Famers

Agree or Disagree with SI’S List?

Show your team spirit below and STATE YOUR CASE!

Tune in this week for Sports Illustrated’s 10 BEST NFL Franchises (5-1).

Giants quarterback, Eli Manning, celebrated his latest 4th quarter comeback on Sunday, beating the Redskins 27-23.

As always, the latest week in the NFL left us eager for the next one to start.

Here are the biggest feats, news stories and injuries from the week that was around the NFL.

No surprise here, but Drew Brees threw a touchdown pass in a record 49th straight game, extending his own NFL record. The Saints came back from down 21-7 to beat the Buccaneers after a 4th down touchdown catch was refuted by a penalty to end the game. After an 0-4 start, the Saints have won their last two.

Brees ] threw for 313 yards in the 1st half – the most by a quarterback in the 1st half of a game since Michael Vick threw for 329 against the Redskins in 2010. It was also Brees’ 18th career 4-touchdown game, which is good for fourth all-time and 62nd career 300-yard passing game, which is good for a tie for third on the all-time list. He is now tied with Dan Marino for the most career games with 4+ touchdowns and 300 yards with 16.

Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, remained ten games behind Brees as he threw a touchdown pass in his 39th consecutive game in his team’s 29-26 overtime win against the Jets. New England extended its all-time series lead to 54-52-1 against New York. Rob Gronkowski caught two touchdowns and now has 10 multi-touchdown games since 2010 – more than anyone else.

This was just the fifth time in their history that the Patriots scored 29 points in a game. The last time was on Oct. 14, 2001 against the Chargers and also a 29-26 OT win. New England, who has won 15 of the last 19 meetings with the Jets, scored points with their offense, defense and special teams in the 1st half.

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