special teams

The ending of today's Redskins game was absolutely incredible. The score was tied with six seconds remaining. The Cowboys attempted a field goal to win but it was blocked. Sean Taylor picked up the live ball and started running it back. One of the Cowboys grabbed Taylor's facemask before he was tackled. Since the game can't end on a defensive penalty, the Redskins got one untimed down. Because of the flag, the ball was spotted 15 yards closer to the end zone. The Redskins used their one down to kick a field goal that barely made it through the uprights to win the game. My son immediately started singing the "NFL Replay" jingle.

At the beginning of the season, I was doubtful that we would see very many Redskins games on local TV. So far we've seen more than I expected and there's a good chance we'll get next week's game against the Eagles too.

Today's game was the featured matchup on Fox which means that Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were the ones to blatantly favor the Cowboys impartially call the game. In addition to the top announcers, we were treated to all the newest cameras and effects. At the risk of sounding curmudgeonly, I've got to say that I hate the flyover camera during live coverage. It's supposed to look like the view during the Madden video game but I think it makes it too difficult to tell how many yards are gained or lost on a play. It's frustrating. Those angles are fine for an instant replay when you want to focus on a catch or a tackle. Just show me the normal left to right (or right to left) movement during live action.

After the game, Terry Bradshaw stumbled his way through the highlights of all the early games. To me it sounds like they add a fake crowd noise track. I noticed the same thing last weekend while watching the local version of the George Michael Sports Machine. Why is this necessary? Do they think that the added sounds make the highlights more exciting?