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Something To Play For
December 24, 2007
FOX Sports (NAT)
Editorial by John Czarnecki
For a second there, we thought Tom Brady and Co. were going to break all those offensive records at home against the hapless Miami Dolphins. But I suspect coach Bill Belichick wanted to save a little motivation for the final game on NFL Network next Saturday night against the Giants. Brady needs one more touchdown pass to tie Peyton Manning's record of 49. His favorite receiver, Randy Moss, needs one more touchdown catch to tie Jerry Rice's record of 22 in a season.
And if you are one of those conspiracy theorists, you would think that owner Bob Kraft, one of the architects of the NFL Network, had his hand in these entire scenarios. Compared to ESPN, the NFL Network is in half as many American homes. The league is making one last-ditch effort to convince the cable companies to get on board with their network.
The bottom line is that the NFL cares more about its network than its fans, millions of them who can't afford to attend a game. They love the league through television. You would have thought that the NFL would have flexed this historically important game to one of their network partners next weekend, albeit CBS or NBC. They easily could have swapped Meadowlands games with the Jets and Giants both home next weekend. New England going for the first undefeated season since the '72 Miami Dolphins, plus a new NFL scoring record (the Pats need seven more points), and Brady and Moss, well, who wouldn't want to see history being made in America's favorite sport? But it's going to cost you. Shame on the NFL for not switching this game to one of its network partners.
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