The REAL. BIG. Blog

Only five active NFL franchises have not appeared in the Super Bowl. They are the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans. Any team on that list jump out at you? You’ve got two teams which, when put together, have fewer wins this season than any of the other three. You’ve got two teams whose chance to make the playoffs is comparable to winning the lottery.

And then you have the Saints, a team founded the year the first Super Bowl was played. For the first 20 years of the franchise they couldn’t muster a winning season. Then came a string of winning seasons each ending in a loss in the wild card game. Then back to a string of losing seasons until finally in 2000, the Saints won their first playoff game.  The Saints best season came in 2006, making it to the NFC championship game against the Bears: a remarkable achievement after spending 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, playing every game outside their beloved New Orleans, and going 3-13.

Today we’re looking at a team that’s 13-2. Sure, that home loss to the Cowboys was rough and losing to the Bucs in OT seems downright silly but we’re still looking at the No. 1 seed in the NFC thanks to an even greater series of missteps by the Vikings the past few weeks. So the question is simple – is this the year the Saints make it to the Super Bowl?  Every team they’re likely to play during the NFC playoffs has a higher ranked defense than they do. But the Saints rank first in total offense in the NFL. Is that enough to make it to the Super Bowl? Probably not. But one thing’s for sure; the Saints won’t lose in the wild card round – they’re good enough this year to get a bye and that makes for a very successful season.

A little over 20 years ago a true Blockbuster event happened. Herschel Walker was traded from the Dallas Cowboys to the Minnesota Vikings. This deal was certainly groudbreaking… for the Cowboys. For those unfamiliar to what Minnesota gave up for the  All-Pro Running Back, heres the deal:

Minnesota Received:

Herschel Walker, Dallas’s 3rd (‘90) round pick, San Diego’s 5th round pick (‘90), Dallas’s 10th round pick(‘90) and Dallas’s 3rd round pick in the ‘91 draft.

Cowboys Received:

LB Jesse Solomon, LB David Howard, CB Issiac Holt, RB Darrin Nelson (who was traded to San Diego), DE Alex Stewart, Minnesota’s 1st, 2nd, 6th round picks in the 1990 Draft, their 1st and 2nd round picks in the 1991 Draft, their 2nd and 3rd in the 1992 Draft and their 1st round pick in the 1993 Draft.

Yes, draft picks are only draft picks and there are countless big name busts, but to put this into perspective a little bit, with the first round pick in the ‘90 draft, the Cowboys picked Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. In the ‘92 draft, they picked Darren Woodson, NFL Hall-Of-Famer and one of the best safety’s to ever play the game. Those two players alone would have made the deal worth while.

Now why do I bring this up you ask?

There are rumors floating about that the Detroit Tigers are putting Curtis Granderson on the trading block. Granderson is young player in his prime, with gold-glove fielding capabilities and the potential to be a 30-30 man every year. Many teams have reported interest, including the Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs, and the asking price is not cheap.

What will come of Curtis Granderson this offseason?

By Rebecca Moodie

After an exciting Wild Card Weekend, the stage is set for the next round of the playoffs.  All the teams who had a first round bye will now have a chance to prove their worth as they take on the wild card victors.

All eyes will be on the NFC East on Sunday as the defending Super Bowl Champs prepare to take on their division rivals in what should prove to be one of the more exciting games of the weekend.  Coming off a road victory in which they dominated the Minnesota Vikings, the Philadelphia Eagles will fly to New York to face the New York Giants for the much anticipated game.

By Ignacio Salazar

Houston Texans Logo Fathead Wall Graphic

Matt Schaub? Big Bad Bust! Sage Rosenfels? Well, he has seven turnovers in seven quarters of play this year to go along with that Texas-sized meltdown against the Colts in week four. Sprinkle some sage on that Texan fan.

This great city has been without a legit quarterback since 1993 when Warren Moon led the Houston Oilers to 12-4 with an AFC Central title before he was traded off to the Minnesota Vikings.

What’s the deal? Why can’t Houston get a GM in here who knows how to find a quarterback? Look around the NFL. There are quarterbacks around this league that came out of nowhere and yet Houston can’t catch a break.

Dallas has Tony Romo, a two-time Pro Bowler who went undrafted. Atlanta and Baltimore have two rookie’s starting, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco and both teams are 6-3 and in the playoff hunt. Arizona has a former grocery sacker, 37-year old Kurt Warner who has his team in first place. Chicago and Minnesota have Kyle Orton and Gus Frerotte, both known as backups but both have their teams tied for first place and Houston looks clueless at the position.

The Texans need a makeover from head-to-toe and it needs to start at the quarterback position. The Texans need someone that can lead this team, get them fired up and someone who can lead a comeback or put a game away when needed. Until that happens, here’s to dreaming of Warren Moon wrecking havoc on NFL defenses.

Notes: Since Moon left the quarterback reigns in Houston, no Houston quarterback, Oilers or Texans, has led his team a record over .500.

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this post are not necessarily those of Fathead, LLC.  Of course, we do agree that Warren Moon was a fine quarterback!