Hole Punch Sports

The hot topic, and one it's finally late enough in the season to address appropriately: will the Colts go undefeated and win the Super Bowl, becoming only the second team ever to do so? No. Why not? Well, to go undefeated requires three things. First, your team has to be really, really good. Second, your team has to stay really healthy. And third, your schedule has to be really, really easy. Do the Colts have what it takes? 1. Are the Colts good enough? The '72 Dolphins are never really judged fairly in historical terms-if anything, going undefeated hurt them, because everyone minimizes that as an accomplishment. And the fact that they've shown T.O.-sized egos in retirement doesn't help their case. I don't think the Dolphins are the best team ever, but they were by far the league's best in 1972. First in offense. First in defense. First in scoring offense. First in scoring defense. Not one but two thousand-yard backs. Am I forgetting anything? Oh yeah, they won...

It's been said that the key to the Broncos' resurgence this season has been the much-improved play of oft-maligned quarterback Jake Plummer. Wrong! Hear me out: Plummer's having a fine year. But outside of chucking a few too many picks last year with either hand or "obscene gestures" with just one (is it just me or does obscene gestures sound a lot worse than just saying he flipped a guy off?), he's done almost everything right in Denver. In fact, I'm not sure he's playing any better now than he did his first year here. Check the numbers: 2003: Went 189-302 (62.6%) for 2182 yards, 15 TDs, and 7 INTs. 2004: Went 303-521 (58.2%) for 4089 yards, 27 TDs, and 20 INTs. 2005: Has gone 160-264 (60.6%) for 1849 yards, 13 TDs, and 3 INTs. If the 2003 totals look low, you'll remember he missed time due to injuries and postseason preparation. If the 2005 totals look low, it's because the season's not over, genius. In 2003 the Broncos started out lookin...

Today you're getting what I think is a first: two posts in one day from Hole Punch Sports! As you have probably already heard, as we do not break news here at Hole Punch Sports, is that Terrell Owens is suspended for three more games and will not play again this season . This comes on the heels of the announcement over the weekend that another Eagles wide receiver, Brian Westbrook, received a $30 million extension from the club. Apparently the Eagles do renogotiate before a contract's up. (Of course, Westbrook is actually a running back, something he's done a pretty awful job of this year-3.5 per carry, on pace for under 700 rushing yards. But he could end up with nearly a thousand yards receiving.) Owens' contract controversy has already been covered splendidly on this website . However, despite all the dire predictions before the year started, T.O. didn't hold out of any actual games, and was playing some of the best football of his career. T.O.'s frustration ...

This football season, like all of them, has been a blessing for me. The Broncos are a game up in the division (though San Diego's closing and K.C. has held pace) and one of my family's schools is in the national-title hunt (Texas, still in it after a narrow 62-0 win at Baylor), but the best part has been the schedule. Almost none of the Broncos games have been on when I'm at church or otherwise occupied. And even though this was the Broncos' bye week, the week also features a matchup of my favorite non-Broncos NFL rivalry, tonight's game pitting the Indianapolis Colts against the New England Patriots. Well, we use "rivalry" in its loosest sense here. Patriots-Colts is a rivalry on par with Globetrotters-Generals, Germany-France, or Enron-business ethics. Or even pre-2004 Red Sox-Yankees. The Colts can't beat the Patriots. Not when it matters, and not when it doesn't. Unless it's somewhere other than a scoreboard. The Colts always field a fantas...

All right, I've lived off the non-glory of the Broncos' loss long enough, it's time to update this website and move on to the Nuggets. We/I at Hole Punch move on with a heavy heart, because it feels like the Finals ended about a month ago, and sometimes it seems like the NBA is all I ever talk about here. (And in the middle of football season!) Anyway, the Denver Nuggets open their season tonight in San Antonio (8 p.m. Eastern on TNT) against the defending champion Spurs, which is to say, we're looking at starting the season off at 0-1, especially with coach George Karl out for the first two games. The question this year is, what will the carryover be for the George Karl effect? Returning primarily the same roster that finished last season with a flourish, the Nuggets look to build on the momentum and contend in the West this year. A few key points, and a bunch of questions: Strengths: The Nuggets are strong in the same areas they've been for the last two playoff s...