Goal-Line Stand - The Score

The Ten: Week 17 (Christmas list)

It’s Christmas Eve, so we thought we’d do something really different, really cool. Really original. So we bring you the Goal-Line Stand’s Christmas list for the top 10 teams in football -- something that surely has never been done before. But it’s been a tough year for St. Nick’s pocketbook, too. So each team only gets to request one item, and there’s no guarantee Santa will deliver. If he does, there’s a good chance the recipients will be rewarded with a pleasant January. 1. Tennessee Titans Last...

Published Wed, Dec 12 2008 1:04 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers

The Ten: Week 16 (Pro Bowl comparison)

In case you missed it, we delivered our Pro Bowl rosters to loyal readers on Tuesday , hours before the actual rosters were released by the league. There were, of course, some shockers. Not surprisingly, it was the rookies and sophomores who got screwed. Eight guys who should be on the AFC team, but aren’t: Ben Roethlisberger, Steve Slaton, Ryan Clady, Jerod Mayo, Logan Mankins, Samson Satele, LaMarr Woodley, Michael Griffin. (It’s probably no coincidence that six of those guys are in their first...

Published Wed, Dec 12 2008 2:58 AM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers

The Ten: Week 15 (Dual backfields key)

This should come as no big surprise because the trend has been emerging for years, but let’s just reemphasize the importance of dual running backs. Whether you want to call them Thunder and Lightning or Smash and Dash or Earth Wind and Fire or Wash and Wear or whatever, multi-back systems have truly become vital to success in the National Football League. Want proof? At least eight of the top 10 teams in football (according to us) rely on more than one running back. On second thought, “rely” probably...

Published Wed, Dec 12 2008 9:50 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers

The Ten: Week 14 (Williams Wall should fall now)

The Minnesota Vikings are heating up. After a slow start, Minnesota’s won back-to-back games by a combined score of 64-26. Adrian Peterson’s rolling and the defence has finally smoothed out the rough edges after stumbling earlier. The Vikes haven’t been outplayed once this season at home (they lost to Indianapolis in week 2 despite controlling most of the game), and are making due with Gus Frerotte under centre. With all that said, Tuesday’s news that the “Williams Wall” -- defensive tackles Kevin...

Published Wed, Dec 12 2008 11:39 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kevin Williams, Roger Goodell, Tennessee Titans: Pittsburgh Steelers, Pat Williams

The Ten: Week 13 (Dedicated to Sinatra)

Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today I want to be a part of it - New York, New York These vagabond shoes, they are longing to stray Right through the very heart of it - New York, New York I wanna wake up in a city that doesn't sleep And find I'm king of the hill - top of the heap These small town blues, are melting away I'll make a brand new start of it - in old New York If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere It's up to you - New York, New York New York, New...

Published Wed, Nov 11 2008 11:54 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Frank Sinatra

The Ten: Week 12 (Giants back on top)

After spending three weeks atop our weekly rankings of the best 10 teams in football, the Tennessee Titans are handing their crown back this week. Sorry, Titans. We don’t mean any disrespect. But as Sean famously told Will : “It’s not your fault.” It’s not your fault, because one week after proving you could win by passing the football, you proved that you can win on the road … against a good football team … and in comeback fashion. It’s not your fault that the team that surpassed you -- the New...

Published Wed, Nov 11 2008 10:06 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, Washington Redskins, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Good Will Hunting

The Ten: Week 11 (Defence rules)

They say it’s become an offensive league, all about deep balls and spread formations. But here’s something for you: Nine of the 10 teams in this week’s edition of The Ten are ranked higher defensively than offensively. At least seven (all but the Patriots, Jets and Falcons) would be considered defensive football teams. The NFL’s two highest rated offences (New Orleans and Denver) have a combined record of 9-9. In fact, six of the top 10 offensive teams in football are currently out of the playoff...

Published Wed, Nov 11 2008 6:56 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, defence

The Ten: Week 10 (Plus a weird trend at the Ralph)

If you haven’t heard about the rather disturbing disturbance at Ralph Wilson Stadium last Sunday, we’ll sum it up: A man, a woman, and a bathroom stall. Understood? If not, you can read the gory details here . But amid the story of public copulation, one thing is bothering us. The Buffalo News is reporting 37 arrests were made at the Jets-Bills game Sunday. In all, 120 people have been arrested at Bills’ home games this season. And it’s only halfway done. The Buffalo News story goes on to list the...

Published Wed, Nov 11 2008 11:59 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, Washington Redskins, Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Ten: Week 9 (Plus midseason awards)

Divide 17 by 2 and you get 8.5. If there’s a midway point of the NFL season, it’s right in between the eighth and ninth week. Coincidentally, that’s where we’re at today, which makes it all the more fitting that we bring you our midseason awards. MVP: Albert Haynesworth, Titans How smart do the Titans look for not giving Haynesworth a long-term contract in the offseason? They know the big guy plays best with fire in his belly, and now a guy who makes his money stuffing the run is seventh in the league...

Published Wed, Oct 10 2008 9:31 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia Eagles, Albert Haynesworth, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Drew Brees, Chris Johnson

The Ten: Week 8 (No “great” teams)

We classify teams in several ways: great, good, average, bad, and horrible. This year, we aren’t having problems finding horrible teams. The Bengals, Chiefs and Lions get the job done. There is no shortage of bad teams. The 49ers, Raiders and Vikings come to mind. Average teams? Please. The Bears, Broncos, Browns, Chargers, Colts, Cowboys, Dolphins, Eagles, Jaguars, Jets, Falcons, Rams, Ravens, Saints, Texans and Vikings qualify. The rest of the teams (i.e. the ten listed below) are good, but are...

Published Wed, Oct 10 2008 10:54 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Ten: Week 7 (Giants stay on top)

No overreaction here. You’ll see it pretty much everywhere else, but we refuse to pull the New York Giants from the top spot on our list of the 10 best teams in the NFL. Sure, the Giants were dominated in pretty much every facet of the game Monday night against the Browns, but let’s call that a mulligan, at least for the purpose of these rankings. Steve Fellin, a producer here at The Score, said the other day that he thinks we should rank teams the same way gymnastics competitions are judged: Throw...

Published Wed, Oct 10 2008 9:00 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, Tennessee Titans

The Ten: Week 6 (and the Bizarro Ten)

Spurred by our everlasting thirst for Seinfeld season DVDs, we started thinking about “ Bizarro Jerry ,” and then about “ Reggie’s ,” the Bizarro diner, and then about the original “ Bizarro ,” Superman’s polar opposite. And then we figured, Why not find our own Bizarro NFL world? And so we bring you the Bizarro Ten: The worst 10 teams in football. To add to the excitement and suspense, we’ll rail them off in descending order. 10. New Orleans Saints This was the hardest spot to fill. We found that...

Published Wed, Oct 10 2008 10:50 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, Dallas Cowboys, St. Louis Rams, Bizarro Ten

The Ten: Week 5 (Could TO ruin the Cowboys?)

If history has taught us anything, it’s that Terrell Owens can only hang on for so long. Owens needs a lot of things to go right to stay happy, which is why his welcomes wore out in San Francisco and Philadelphia. In Dallas, though, it’s been a different story. TO has been all smiles 35 games into his tenure with the Cowboys. OK, it hasn’t been all ice cream and party hats. There was Owens’ alleged suicide attempt via an overdose of Hydrocodone in 2006. There was Owens’ publicist telling the media...

Published Wed, Oct 10 2008 9:02 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: Terrell Owens, The Ten, New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys

The Ten: Week 4 (All about the Cowboys)

Check out any version of any power rankings, and the Dallas Cowboys will be number one. We challenge you to find a power rankings with any other team in the one spot. If you find one, we’ll show you a biased power rankings. With the Patriots out of the way, Dallas has become the NFL’s standout team. Here’s a look at the Dallas’ early season dominance: The Cowboys lead the league in total offence and are averaging 32 points per game. Their worst offensive performance was a 27-point output against...

Published Wed, Sep 09 2008 9:14 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, Dallas Cowboys, Tony Romo

The Ten: Week 3 (Loving the NFC East)

If you asked us two weeks ago what the best division in football was, the AFC South was the winner, followed closely by the AFC North and then either the NFC North or NFC East. Oh, the difference a fortnight makes. Our top preseason division, the AFC South, is 3-4, with two of those wins coming from the unbeaten Titans. The Colts were badly outplayed in week 2, and only got their first win of the season thanks to Minnesota ’s inability to finish drives. Had the Colts lost that game, as they probably...

Published Wed, Sep 09 2008 10:43 PM by Brad Gagnon

Filed under: The Ten, New York Giants, NFC East, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys

Authors

News

Recent Posts

Tags

Archives

Top Column Archives

Blog Roll