American Football NFL News

Yet another outstanding performance by Tony Romo, who passed for three touchdowns and ran for another score, the Dallas Cowboys rolled to a 35-7 victory Sunday over the winless St Louis Rams.

Bengals 13 Patriots 34
Giants 16 Eagles 3
Broncos 20 Colts 38
Chiefs 30 Chargers 16
Buccaneers 20 Panthers 7
Seahawks 23 49ers 3
Steelers 14 Cardinals 21
Packers 23 Vikings 16
Rams 7 Cowboys 35
Texans 16 Falcons 16
Raiders 35 Dolphins 17
Bears 27 Lions 37
Jets 14 Bills 17
Ravens 13 Browns 27

A pair of teams separated by roughly 40 miles of I-95 interstate will meet in suburban D.C. on Saturday night, when the Washington Redskins play host to the Baltimore Ravens in the third preseason tune-up for each team.

Despite their geographical proximity, the Redskins and Ravens are currently in a much different place in terms of the current NFL hierarchy of quality.

Washington is looking to rebound from a 2006 season in which Joe Gibbs’ club finished 5-11 and in last place in the NFC East. The Redskins have just one playoff win in the current millennium and have not won a division title since 1999. The Skins have split a pair of preseason games in 2007, defeating Tennessee (14-6) in their opener before falling to Pittsburgh (12-10) last Saturday.

Baltimore, meanwhile, is seeking to build on a 13-3 season and AFC North title won a year ago. The Ravens have posted double-digit wins four times since 2000, including a ’00 season that ended with a triumph in Super Bowl XXXV. The Ravens have elicited mixed results in the preseason, however, routing Philadelphia (29-3) before falling to the Giants (13-12) last Sunday night.

Both the Redskins and Ravens suffered significant injuries in their most recent outings.

Washington quarterback Jason Campbell left the Pittsburgh game with what was later determined to be a knee bruise following a low hit by Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel. Campbell’s status for Saturday’s contest has not been decided, and if the third-year-pro can’t play, backups Todd Collins and Mark Brunell will have to carry the load.

Defensively, the Skins will be without linebacker Marcus Washington, who suffered a dislocated elbow in the defeat.

Baltimore, meanwhile, is expected to be minus the services of starting wide receiver Mark Clayton and cornerback Samari Rolle, who both went out with ankle injuries in the loss to New York.

Among those that will be in uniform on Saturday are Redskins linebacker Randall Godfrey, obtained earlier this week when the club parted ways with former starter Lemar Marshall. The 34-year-old Godfrey has been a starter in Dallas (1996-99), Tennessee (2000-02), Seattle (2003), and San Diego (2004-06).

Ravens tight end Daniel Wilcox (ankle) is expected to see action on Saturday, but tackle Jonathan Ogden (toe) remains out along the trench unit.

Baltimore has a 2-1 edge in its all-time preseason series with Washington, including a 17-10 triumph at FedEx Field prior to last season.

The Ravens also have a 2-1 lead in the regular season series with their local rival.

If the Cleveland Browns thought that they were going to get through the season without any serious problems with their offensive line, they were wrong. Once again the team that seems to be cursed has to deal with another problem to the people who protect the quarterback. This season was supposed to be a comeback party for Ryan Tucker after missing much of last season with an injury and some personal issues, but that party has now been derailed by a four game substance abuse suspension.

Tucker, who said earlier this week that he’s happy, healthy and anxious to get back on the field after spending the second half of last season on the non-football illness list, apologized for his suspension after Friday’s practice. He said he took a banned substance last year and failed an NFL test in the offseason.

Tucker will be allowed to participate in practice during training camp and he will be able to play in preseason games.

Daunte Culpepper’s NFL unemployment didn’t last for long. The former Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins quarterback has joined the Oakland Raiders on a one-year deal. He will compete with Josh McCown and Andrew Walter for a starting spot.

Last year Culpepper, who was plagued with injuries, only played four games for the Dolphins, throwing for 929 yards and two touchdowns.

He had issues with his mobility and was sacked 21 times and threw three interceptions. The Fish were 1-3 with Culpepper as a starter.

The 2007 NFL preseason kicks off at Pro Football Hall of Fame Field at Fawcett Stadium. The venue is home to the annual AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game with this year’s contest being played on August 5.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints will kick off the 2007 preseason schedule in the annual AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game in Canton on Sunday August 5. NFL Network will televise the preseason classic. It marks the first time that NFL Network will carry the game.

The game announcement came during the press conference on February 3, 2007 revealing the Class of 2007. The Hall of the Fame’s Board of Selectors elected Gene Hickerson, Michael Irvin, Bruce Matthews, Charlie Sanders, Thurman Thomas, and Roger Wehrli. The class will be formally enshrined during ceremonies at Fawcett Stadium in Canton on Saturday August 4th. The NFL Network and ESPN will also broadcast the enshrinement.

Tickets for the game, which went on sale May 2, are sold out.

Hall of Fame Game Series: The Hall of Fame Game series began in 1962, one year before the museum opened. A National Football League preseason game has been played at Fawcett Stadium each year but one since that inaugural game.  No game was played in 1966 as the preseason schedule was not set in time to include Canton for a neutral site game.

Beginning in 1971, following the AFL-NFL merger, an AFC vs. NFC format was adopted for the Hall of Fame series. Preset schedules were created that called for each team to make a visit to Canton over 14- and 15-year periods through 1994. In 1995, the NFL selected the Hall of Fame Game to showcase the debut of the league’s newest expansion teams – the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars. Since that time, the NFL designates the teams for the Hall of Fame Game on a season-by-season basis. The game normally includes teams with significant milestones (such as the return of the Cleveland Browns in 1999 and the Houston Texans inaugural game in 2002) or a connection to the Hall’s most recent class.

In 2006, the Hall of Fame Game returned to Sunday. The Hall of Fame games were played on Sunday afternoons from 1963 to 1965. The inaugural game and those played from 1967 through 1997 were played on Saturday afternoons. Then, in 1998, the Hall of Fame game was switched to primetime with kickoff moved to Saturday evening. One year later, the game moved to Monday night.

The Hall of Fame Game was televised nationally by ABC from 1971-2005 and broadcast by NBC in 2006. NFL Network will televise the 2007 AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game as the Pittsburgh Steelers kick off their 75th anniversary season against the New Orleans Saints.

Five weeks after being banned from training with the team, quarterback Daunte Culpepper has been officially released by the Miami Dolphins, ending the three-time Pro Bowler’s tumultuous time with the team.

The free-agent quarterback recently met with Tampa Bay, two days after being released by the Dolphins.

The Bucs declined to disclose details of the meeting, which occurred in Tampa – though not at the team’ training facility.

This is interesting, as I also read that Culpepper reportedly has drawn interest from the Jacksonville Jaguar.