Southern Pro Football Dispatch Archives
The Sunday Slate (Week Five): Separation Sunday
This week doesn't have the same drama as a Cowboys/Redskins weekend, but SPF teams pushing towards the playoffs, a solid 8 of 15, can further prove their mettle this week by taking care of business. As Always, SPF teams in CAPS with (Week 4's
Tuesday Tastings (Week 4): Hail To the Redskins!
Since Miami and Indy had byes this past week, we're leaving them off our weekly Tastings dispatch. That still leaves us with 11 samplings of varied quality. Let's start off with the best of the bunch... FINGER LICKIN' read more...
The Sunday Slate (Week Four): Cowboys vs Indians, er Redskins
Week Four features the only classic pro football rivalry in the Footprint. That's reason enough to tune in. Two of our teams have byes (Indy and Miami) and several others have critical games. We will quickly break it down for you. As Always, SPF read more...
Tuesday Tastings (Week 3): We're Dolphin-safe now, but the Goat, er Ram, is Smoked
After getting a full-sized Sunday helping of SPF games, some things have improved while others took a turn for the worse. "Finger Lickin' Good" Yum, yum. These teams served it up on Sunday leaving their fans hungry read more...
The Sunday Slate (Week Three): The NFC South Goes North While the AFC South Faces Off
Week 3 doesn't feature as many interesting games as last week, but the AFC South faces off and the NFC South heads up north. As Always, SPF teams in CAPS with (Week 2's T.I. Poll Ranking) Here's a read more...
Our Week Two SPF Tastings: Give Us Some Panther, but Steer Clear of Ram and Bengal
After getting a full-sized Sunday helping of SPF games, not everything we sampled was up to par. Let's do a quick break down in hopes that maybe some of the team cooks can get their wares "Finger Lickin' Good" Although read more...
The SPF Week 2 Slate: Pretender/Contender Separation Begins
It's only Week 2, but many of today's games determine how seasons will unfold for our SPF teams. One game may mean nothing, but two games often represents a trend. Let's start with our inter-SPF matchups. SPF teams in CAPS with (
Vick Still Casts a Long Shadow Over NFL Hopes in Atlanta
Has it really been a year? Last week marked one year since Michael Vick was indicted on federal charges for his role in a dog fighting ring that operated in Virginia. It also marked the beginning of one of the greatest falls from grace that we have ever seen by an athlete in read more...
Will Jags' Fans Respond?
An interesting question was asked last week in the local Jacksonville paper regarding the Jaguars and their fans: “What has this team not done to legitimately pursue a Super Bowl read more...
Overrated? Let's Start with Sal Paolantonio and other "National" Sports Analysts
Here we go again. I guess ESPN has nothing better to feed NFL fans during the offseason than more of Sal Paolantonio’s “Overrated/Underrated” drivel. read more...
Pro Sports Scandal Fatigue
While we at Swampland often write about College Football being the South’s number one passion, there’s no questioning the popularity of the NFL. We all love the ‘sport’ of professional football, but the ‘business’ of the game always seems to cause read more...
Post - NFL Draft Newspaper Wrap Up
We found this article from a week or so back that is about NFL Network being the tail the wags the dog for that league. Swampland Sports has long written now about the ways read more...
SPF's NFL Draft First Round Log (Live All Day!!)
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Snowflakes: Jake Long Goes #1 (and Other 2008 NFL Draft Thoughts)
The NFL Draft is this Saturday, and some of our Southern teams appear to hold the key to the most important non-gameday of the year. The Miami Dolphins have the #1 pick, and the Miami Herald reports that OT read more...
Season Summary: Houston Texans
Quick Summary: The Houston Texans finished last in their division again. The good news is that they also had a non-losing season for the first time in the team's history finishing 8-8. Coach Gary Kubiak's team looked much better than in his first read more...
Season Summary: New Orleans Saints
Quick Summary: The Saints bombed out after their near-Super Bowl run in 2007. People can point to injuries, but SPF warned before the season started about the Saints and the team's read more...
Season Summary: Charlotte Panthers
Quick Summary: The Carolina Panthers entered the 2007 season as a Super Bowl contender. They started out strong, but the team could not overcome the loss of QB
Season Summary: Cincinnati Bengals
Quick Summary: The Bengals were SPF's most disappointing team from this past season. They have all the tools on paper to be a perennial contender starting with a great QB in Carson Palmer, who has all kinds of skill position help. Unfortunately, read more...
Season Summary: Miami Dolphins
Quick Summary: The Dolphins are one of the NFL's proudest franchises, but the 2007 season became its collective undoing. Within this one season, the Dolphins were only a Patriots Super Bowl win from losing all their records of distinction. Brett read more...
Season Summary: Atlanta Falcons
Quick Summary: The Falcons endured a year of endless upheaval. Problems brewed last season when the team sank into a string of losses creating situations where star QB Michael Vick made obscene gestures to the Georgia Dome crowd. This led to the read more...
Season Summary: St. Louis Rams
Quick Summary: This was the first year SPF covered the Rams, and it wasn't an auspicious beginning. It shouldn't have been so considering the Rams finished the previous season at 8-8 and signed their franchise QB Marc Bulger (a West Virginia alum) to a read more...
Petty & Eli: Underdogs Triumphant!
I sat back Sunday ready to enjoy a Super Bowl without a "horse in the race," so to speak. All of our SPF teams had been summarily dismissed in what was a down year for the Footprint on a pro football level. My thoughts were only on watching the Super Bowl as a read more...
Adventures In The (Pig) Skin Trade On Super Bowl Sunday
Roving Notes On Super Bowl Sunday 2/3/08 "There is some kind of back-door connection in my head between Super Bowls and The Allman read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 19, Part 4): Down By The River
12. Cincinnati Bengals and 13. St. Louis Rams - Our final Poll spots are held by two teams that have a connection via the river culture from which they arose. Like railroad tracks in towns across the south, rivers often appear to be a cultural divide, but they read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 19, Part 3): Teams at the Crossroads (aka the NFC South)
We've now gone through the first 7 teams in the T.I. Poll. So far, the entire AFC South has been covered as well as the traditional big market teams in Dallas, DC, and Miami. This leaves us with a group that the NFL has neatly placed in a division they call the NFC read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week 19, Part 2): Teams "On the Verge"
This is SPF's group of teams that are "On The Verge" of reaching elite status. They all have challenges, but they are clearly heading in the right direction. 4. Washington Redskins - A lot can happen in a week. The Redskins' read more...
SPF's Divisional Playoffs Pre-Pregame Show (or T.I. Poll Week 19)
There are three SPF teams left in the Super Bowl hunt, but the news doesn't stop with them. Of the 4 current coaching vacancies, SPF has three of them (Miami, Atlanta, and Washington). Signs point to a year of great transition. The SPF footprint has some of the read more...
SPF's Take: Yes, Cam Cameron deserved to be fired!
The year of suffering for Dolfans is finally over. Both Randy Mueller and Cam Cameron are out courtesy of Bill Parcells. (Watch Chris Mortenson on ESPN below)
SPF T.I. Poll (Wild Card Weekend Edition)
We're mixing it up again going into the playoffs. In an up and down year, six of the 13 SPF teams made the playoffs. Two, Washington and Tennessee, made it in the final weekend. SPF is rooting for an all-Footprint Super Bowl, and this isn't out of the realm of read more...
SPF's Week Seventeen Pre-Pregame Show
Playoffs and draft slots. It's all on the line in a strange season-ending weekend in the Footprint. EARLY GAMES Jacksonville (11-4, 5-2 away) Houston (7-8, 5-2 home)
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Seventeen)
It's the last week of the NFL season. There isn't much left to be decided. Two SPF teams (Washington and Tennessee) can get in the postseason fun if they win. We expect them to do so if only because they are playing two other SPF teams (Dallas and Indy) who are read more...
SPF's Take: Parcells to Miami
SPF has been listing franchises all season that needed one of the Bills, Parcells or Cowher. Miami was top on that list. Owner Wayne Huizenga didn't disappoint beating Atlanta's Arthur Blank to the punch. The only interesting wrinkle is that Parcells will read more...
SPF's Week Sixteen Pre-Pregame Show
SATURDAY NIGHT Dallas (12-2, 6-0 away) Carolina (6-8, 2-5 home) NFL Films Video Preview This is a much better read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Sixteen)
SPF laid down the gauntlet before last weekend's games. Many teams answered the bell. With two games left in the regular season, teams out of the playoff picture may have as much to play for as those that are in. Don't sleep SPF fans, there is still much to be read more...
SPF's Week Fifteen Pre-Pregame Show
It has been a largely disappointing season for SPF, but these final weeks can redeem or further decimate a team's momentum for 2008. There are three shoe-in playoff teams in the Footprint - Dallas, Indy, and Tampa. Two others (Jacksonville and Tennessee) have to keep read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Fifteen)
SPF will say it - this has been a very tough year for pro football in the Swampland Footprint. Of our 13 teams, more than half of them have been in serious disarray. At best only 5 or 6 teams will have a clear direction heading into 2008. Most will be going back to read more...
SPF's Week Fourteen Pre-Pregame Show
SPF has been beating a few drums this year, but one is about letting players play. Coaches coach systems. GMs find players to fit into these systems (or in the case of special players, systems are designed for their talents). Except for read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Fourteen)
SPF has looked at the coach/QB relationship. Now, it's time to look at the owner/coach relationship. When this relationship is good, everything clicks for the fans. The fans want to see the coach as an extension of the owner, an extension that helps build a bridge read more...
SPF's Week Thirteen Pre-Pregame Show
While Tribal Fever nation witnessed their conference championships this weekend, SPF has found a few of their own. There are four key head to head matchups in the SPF footprint this week - two of which will probably decide the winner of the AFC and NFC South. Our other read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Thirteen)
Coaching changes. They happen every year even though it seems as though jobs are more than safe. Changes are usually made because the coach no longer has the confidence of the fans. Once that occurs, the owner is left with little choice. As long term, one read more...
SPF's Week Twelve Pre-Pregame Show
Leadership. Is it there? The leader(s) of each SPF team define that team to their fans. Already, Thanksgiving solidified a sense of leadership between coach and QB with both the Colts and their Manning/Dungy duo and the Cowboys with their Wade/Romo combination read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Twelve)
SPF often talks a team's style when it comes to identity. Style, though, is kind of a catch all. Dig a little deeper and it comes down to coaching and, of course, a team's QB. This week seems like a good one to put the QB position under the read more...
SPF's Week Eleven Pre-Pregame Show
This week, more than any other this NFL season, the fan will find out who their teams are. Are teams going to the playoffs? Will they be Super Bowl contenders? Are they on the rise even if playoffs aren't likely? We shall see.
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Eleven)
Week Ten was a very weird football weekend. Many of the SPF teams lost games. Few had important wins. It just seems like this was a week to stumble. Desperation might be the biggest factor in any NFL game. The teams that are desperate have an edge read more...
SPF's Week Ten Pre-Pregame Show
SPF will stick by this point - no team set the NFL back more than the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. This "champion" brought the worst part of hip-hop's "thug" culture to NFL through the real life violence of Ray Lewis, whose murder acquittal and read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Ten)
Everyone knows that football is the dominant sport in the Footprint, but it has always been college dominating the pro variety. The goal of SPF's "Team Identity Poll" is to gauge the connection of each team to their fans. This week, two different studies were read more...
SPF's Week Nine Pre-Pregame Show
It's it the "Clash of the Titans!" The Colts-Pats game deserves the hype that it is getting. Both teams have built long term consistently excellent football teams in the "salary cap era " - something that is supposedly impossible. This read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Eight)
Things continue to settle out in the SPF Footprint. This week's big question is whether the South's best is the NFL's best. The Colts were just that last season, but their old New England nemesis seems to have stolen their thunder again. Here's last week's read more...
SPF's Week Eight Pre-Pregame Show
Much like yesterday's college slate, this week's SPF schedule features teams looking towards the season's end and where they want to be at that point. Teams know that the season is half over at this point and they need to be making their final pushes. The best teams read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Seven)
SPF's season previews are looking pretty good so far. The teams we singled out like the Jags, the Texans, and the Dolphins have shown themselves to be in hot water with their fan base. The Jags and the Texans suffered "must win" losses that neither could read more...
SPF's Week Seven Pre-Pregame Show
Getting on the same page. Coaches and players that have the same sense of urgency signify teams that are winning. The NFL is a business, and like all business deals - interests must align. This is the reason that ownership, the front office, and the coaching read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Six)
Here we are again for SPF's weekly Team Identity Poll. Things have shaken up a bit. We are much closer to how we saw things at the beginning of the season. Let's start with a look at last week's Poll: 1. Dallas Cowboys 2. Indianapolis read more...
SPF's Week Six Pre-Pregame Show
It's week 6 for the SPF teams. Four teams are basically done, but the rest have critical games that will go a long way to determining how the rest of the season will play out for them. Here's this week's slate (video links courtesy of read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Five)
The rich seem to be getting richer (and the poor, poorer) in the SPF Footprint. There is happiness at the top, confusion in the middle, and desperation at the bottom. Let's start with last week's T.I. Poll 1. Dallas Cowboys 2. Indianapolis read more...
SPF's Week Five Pre-Pregame Show
It's week five in the NFL season. Overall, the SPF Footprint is shaping up to be a year of the haves and have-nots. The Footprint contains two of the NFL's winless teams (Dolphins and Rams) and several other struggling squads. However, we also have two of the best read more...
SPF T.I. Poll (Week Four)
Just like in the college ranks, it was a bit of a crazy week in the SPF Footprint. Right now, there are more bad teams than good, but the good teams are pretty darn good so we guess that evens things out a little. Here's last week's "Team Identity" read more...
SPF's Week Four Pre-Pregame Show
Welcome SPF fans! Here's today's slate. (SPF teams in BOLD) Early Games Dolphins v. Raiders preview Rams @ read more...
SPF T. I. Poll (Week Three)
Back to our weekly gauge of how each SPF team is resonating with its fans. First, let's take a look back at last week's Team Identity Poll: 1. Dallas Cowboys 2. Washington Redskins 3. Indianapolis Colts 4. Tampa Bay Bucs
SPF 's Week Three Pre-Pregame Show
Here we are again. Let Week Three begin! SPF Teams in BOLD Early Games Indianapolis Colts @ Houston Texans (
SPF Friday Fishwrap-up: the Cowboy/Redskin paradigm
We've just posted a new analysis of the Wayne issue in Florida, Weaver in Jacksonville and Huizenga in Miami. Team Identity is our focus as always. That's why we start our Friday dispatch with read more...
Swampland Sports Thursday Links
Just a few quick hits here on Thursday.... Snowman's Latest Column Patrick Snow's new column is up. As a Vol himself, it pains him that he's calling out Phil Fulmer read more...
SPF T. I. Poll (Week Two)
Time for our Week Two "Team Identity" Poll. Things keep getting interesting, and that's how we like it. Let's start off with a recap of last week's T.I. Poll: 1. Dallas 2. Indianapolis (tie) 2. read more...
SPF's Week Two Monday: Playmakers making plays
THE "BEATING THE DEAD HORSE" THEME Our theme for this week is similar to last week's - the importance of playmakers. In the Footprint, we all love great coaches. We all love great schemes. However, it usually comes read more...
SPF 's Week Two Pre-Pregame Show
Each week, it will be SPF's pleasure to bring you the best pregame show on the Net. We provide our audience with clips from NFL.COM mixed in with our commentary and insight. Let's run down today's slate of games: Early games (SPF Teams in read more...
SPF Friday Fishwrap-up: LeBatard vs. Galloway
Another great southern tradition is writing. We have a whole section called Discourse that is dedicated to this pursuit. Newpapers (aka fishwraps) around the Footprint have great sportswriters that deserve to be read, and sometimes needled.
SPF's T. I. Poll (Week One)
Team Identity. This is our constant gauge for the success or failure of NFL teams in the South. College football reigns because people see themselves as part of the team. In the Swampland footprint, allegiances don't change at the college level. Coaches read more...
SPF's Week One Monday: Channeling SEC over Big Ten
12 of our 13 SPF teams have played. Only the Bengals remain with a tough Monday Night battle against the Ravens. It's only week one, but let's review what we know. The Swampland footprint loves football. It is part of the culture. However, read more...
SPF Week One Game Log
Thursday's game didn't do nearly what yesterday's college slate did to pump us up here at SPF. Our own James Calemine is a little distraught about his Bulldogs going down to the dreaded read more...
Sunday's slate & Long term troubles for the Jags in Jax
Phew! The 2007 previews are finally up. Now we can get down to some regular daily updates at SPF. Tomorrow's slate of games features these inter-SPF read more...
Swampland Sports Six-Pack for the week ending 8/26/07
Your weekly filter for the top sports stories around the South 1. What an interesting day for the Atlanta Falcons as they play their first home contest under new coach Bobby Petrino while Michael Vick
Swampland Sports Six-Pack for the week ending 8/19/07
Your weekly filter for the top sports stories around the South 1. Although college athletics has become (mega) big business, there are a few reminders every now and then that it’s still a game for ‘kids’ and that the best coaches tend to be read more...
Welcome Back!
Greetings to all you football fans around the Swampland footprint! Southern Pro Football is back to cover another NFL season. Patrick Snow and I will be making sure that SPF covers the NFL from a Southern perspective. For all of you that didn't tune into
Stanley Booth arrives! (Fiction & Southern Pro Football too!)
Swampland is honored that esteemed Southern writer, Stanley Booth, has contributed one of his classic pieces