Just about every Tuesday during football season, I take a few minutes to write about my favorite sport, football.  For those wondering, I did play the game and as the years go by, I think I was better than I really was…

Now I look at the game from a fan’s point of view.

Last week was a tough one for me in my NFL football pick contest – I ended up getting only nine correct out of the 13 games – way behind in wins to get a free pizza.  Somebody from Montana picked all 13 correctly and won last week’s contest both locally and nationally.  Congrats.  This week is a whole new week!

This week in the NFL section I take a look at the Lions, Packers and the Bears, the Chiefs, Tebow and the Broncos, winless teams, a FedEx Air Player of the week nominee, and a NFL birthday.  In the college football section, I look at the Big 12, a firing, an unsportsmanlike penalty, the Griz, the Cats, and the Frontier Conference.  Here we go…

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Lions, Packers and Bears:

The Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers are on a collision course as they play each other twice this season. Both are undefeated.  The first time they play is Thanksgiving Day in Detroit.  For both teams to stay in contention, they must keep their starting QBs healthy.

It was a little tiresome to watch the Monday Night Football game between the Bears and Lions – too many penalties (26 for 198 yards combined) – but the Lions are 5-0 for the first time since 1956.  Yes, 1956.  The 67,861 fans who attended Detroit’s first Monday night game in a decade helped the Lions get nine false start penalties on the Bears.

The Lions host the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday.  The Niners are 4-1.

Chiefs:

My Kansas City Chiefs came from 17 points down in Indianapolis to beat the Colts.  That was a positive step for the Chiefs who are not out of this yet.  By the way, Chiefs QB Matt Cassel completed 21 of 29 passes for 257 yards and four touchdowns (no interceptions) in the Chiefs’ victory over the Colts. His passer rating was 138.9.

Cassel is up for FedEx Air player of the week – vote HERE.

Broncos:

Tim Tebow came into the game for Broncos and almost led them to a victory.  Broncos head coach John Fox is supposed to make a decision on a starting QB on Tuesday – expect Tebow to get a shot.

Bye Bye:

The Cardinals, Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers, Seahawks, and Titans all have bye weeks for week 6.

Winless:

Since the Vikings won on Sunday, the Dolphins, Colts, and Rams are the only winless teams left.

Happy Birthday:

Former 49ers QB (and backup to the greatest QB ever, Joe Montana) Steve Young turns 50 today.

MAJOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL

The top five major college football teams according to the Associated Press are the same as last week: 1. LSU, 2. Alabama, 3. Oklahoma, 4. Wisconsin, 5. Boise State.

Four of the top five teams from last week played on Saturday and the closest score was winning by 30 points.  They won by a total of 152 points.

Looking Ahead:

Oklahoma State (#6) plays at #22 Texas.  #18 Arizona State plays at #9 Oregon.  Michigan (#11) plays at #23 Michigan State.

Big 12:

TCU accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 on Monday.  But will the Big 12 be able to keep Missouri from heading to the SEC??

Celebration Penalty:

In case you missed the new rule about celebrating before scoring a touchdown, the LSU punter found out you can’t celebrate before the TD is scored – or it could be called back.  You decide – here’s the video.

Stoops Fired:

Nope, not Oklahoma Bob Stoops but his little brother Mike was fired from Arizona this week.  He had taken the Wildcats to three straight bowl games, but this season the Wildcats were 1-5, (0-4 Pac-12).

FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION

The Montana State Bobcats are ranked #3 in the Football Championship Subdivision (The Sports Network) poll behind #1 Georgia Southern Eagles and #2 Northern Iowa Panthers.  The Montana Grizzlies are ranked #14.  That is it for the Big Sky Conference in the top 25.

The Grizzlies are ranked #11 in the FCS Coaches poll jumping from #14 last week.  The Bobcats are #3.

It looks like we’re heading to a Cat/Griz game on November 19 in Bozeman for all the marbles.

Bobcats:

The Montana State Bobcats held on to beat Portland State 38-36 last Saturday in Portland with Bobcat QB DeNarius McGhee throwing for 255 yards (15/22) and four TDs.  McGhee’s play was impressive enough to win him the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week award.  The Bobcats rushed for 173 yards as a team.  It was a very well-rounded attack.

The Bobcats (5-1, 3-0 Conf.) host the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (2-3, 1-2 Conf.) on Saturday in Bozeman.

Grizzlies:

Montana whipped Idaho State (33-0) on Saturday in Pocatello Idaho.  Jordan Johnson was back at QB for the Griz going 18/31 for 267 yards (1TD, 1 Int.). Nate Montana (the son of the greatest QB ever) saw some playing time at QB as did Gerald Kemp.  The Griz piled up 255 yards on the ground.

The Griz’ senior kicker Brody McKnight hit four field goals in the Grizzlies’ and was named special teams player of the week for the Big Sky Conference.

In what looks like to be a good game, Montana (5-1, 3-1 Conf.) hosts Portland State (3-2, 2-1 Conf.) in Missoula this Saturday.

NAIA

The Carroll College (Montana) Fighting Saints are ranked #3 in the latest NAIA football poll with #1 being Saint Xavier (Ill.) and #2 being Marian (Ind.).  Rocky Mountain is #21 and Eastern Oregon is #23 also made the poll to represent the Frontier Conference.

Rocky Mountain plays Carroll this Saturday in Helena.  In two weeks, Carroll plays at Eastern Oregon.

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