TheAreopagite

On the Patriots' dual-thread tight ends: "You could see [in 2010] what they were trying to do with that personnel," said Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith, who has referred to Gronkowski and Hernandez as the equivalent of "queens on the chessboard. You move those guys around according to how the defense is trying to defend you. If you want to play standard personnel on defense, they flex one or both of those guys out and force you to cover them with linebackers. If you put extra defensive backs in, they line up in double-[tight end] and maul you. You never have the right personnel on the field."

Petersen joined Boise State's staff from Oregon, where he joined up with fellow Oregon defect Dan Hawkins, who, in turn, had joined Koetter at BSU after Koetter left Oregon in 1997. In one of the many layers of intrigue in this game, Petersen has said the Boise State offense really just grew out of the Mike Belloti/Dirk Koetter/Jeff Tedford system at Oregon, especially ironic now that the Ducks themselves run something entirely different, the Chip Kelly spread.

"For now, it appears as if Umenyiora has made up his mind. The 29-year-old Umenyiora recently moved out of his New Jersey home with plans to take up full-time residence in Atlanta, where he has spent much of his time over the past six years."

"In these 89 pages, Judge Nelson wrote the opinion that the players and their lawyers dreamed of a few weeks ago. She gave them everything that they need now to make the injunction stick and to end the lockout. She did not write this opinion for us at ESPN. She wrote this opinion for the judges on the higher court, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. When they read it, they are going to be very reluctant to give the stay that the owners want."

"Hell, no. I wasn't coming out (of the game). I just told (the coaches and the doctors) I've got one eye. I'm not coming out. I'm OK," said Abraham, much calmer in the locker room. He played with double vision after he was poked in his right eye at some point doing the see-saw drama, and his defiance was symbolic of the Falcons in general.