Oates on Football

The roar of the crowd can make a difference on the field. . . . . but in football games, is that the sporting thing to do?

The NFL Week: A keen new passer . . . Other rookie quarterbacks seldom play . . . Arizona squanders Leinart’s lead.

NFL on the way up. Pass offenses create the most difference as well as the most excitement. Owners’ rule changes paying off.

Suspending NFL players is punishing the wrong people: their teammates

The NFL week: Shanahan starts with an edge on Belichick; he brings in a big-play receiver

The NFL Week: Chicago Putting It Together. . . . Calling Plays Right for Grossman . . . . Six Teams Playing Modern, Pass-First Football.

Edgerrin James’ Departure Gives Peyton Manning His Best Chance to Win: Now He Can Throw Passes on First Down

This is going to be remembered in pro football as the year of the pass -- the year of more pass-first teams and fewer run-first offenses.

Football is So Difficult to Officiciate that It Can’t Be Done Flawlessly.

Steeler Coach Dulls Up Super Bowl . . . Hard on Own Team . . . Wins Worst Game with Trick Play . . . Pittsburgh’s Huge Edge Over Seattle Not Visible in Statistics.

Roethhlisberger Wins Easily If He Comes Out Passing. . . Cowher Makes It Close If He Runs . . . AFC Obviously Superior . . . Seahawks’ 12th Man No Help on the Road

NFL Playoff Week 3: Cowher Lets Roethlisberger Throw . . . So a Super Bowl Win is Now in Their Sights . . . Hasselbeck Carries Seattle into the Big Game.

NFL Week 8: Changing of the Guard: Palmer in for Favre. . . Packers Disintegrating . . . Rams’ Jackson: Disrupts Defenses. . . Broncos are Coming.

NFL Week 7: Steelers, Pats, Colts Stand Out . . . The Colt Problem . . . Parcells, Schottenheimer Hurt Own Teams . . . No Pro Club Should Ever Have a Kick Blocked.

Notre Dame Played Ball Control Instead of Pass Offense . . . In NFL’s Week 6: Steelers, Patriots Hailed as Parity Pair . . . Cowboys Recreate Bledsoe . . . Gibbs’ New Century?

NFL Week 5: Can the Steelers Win Now? . . . Are the Patriots and Eagles Out of the Race? . . . Why Didn’t the Eagles Blitz Bledsoe? . . .A Quarterback Controversy in Atlanta?

NFL Week 4: L.A. Doesn’t Miss a ‘Team of Its Own’ Because the Best Pro Clubs with Their Talented Passers are All Shown Here on Network TV.

NFL Week 2: Steelers Need Balance ... Patriots’ Offensive Concept Wrong ... Shotgun No Help to Good Passers ... Winners Pass and Run.

NFL Preview: Patriots, Colts and Eagles Stand Out in a Year that has Brought More Parity to the 29 Other Teams.

Part 2: On Passing Teams, Skill beats Emotion, Brains Beat Brawn, Play-Calling is the Key, and First Down is More Vital than Third Down

Part 1: Teams that Score First Win 60-80% of the Time. ... In the Race for the Lead, Passes Gain Up to Twice as Many Yards as Runs Per Play.

Why Colts Lose . . . What’s the Matter with Pittsburgh? . . . The Eagles are Close . . . Can Longshots Crash the NFL’s Big Four?

Super Bowl Champions Coach Gifted but Flawed Low Draft Choices to Third NFL Title in Four Years.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First to last, this was one of the closest and most entertaining of the many Super Bowls.

McNabb Is Being Asked to Do Too Much

McNabb, Brady Pass Eagles, Patriots into Super Bowl . . . The Running Teams (Steelers, Falcons) Come Up Short As Usual.

NFL Playoffs: Peyton Doesn’t Pass Enough . . . Patriots, Eagles Still on Super Bowl Track . . . Big Ben Has Another Big Game.

Carroll Isn’t Up for NFL Head-Hunting . . . An Early-Round Playoff Look at the Colts, Patriots, Chargers, Vikings, Eagles and Rams.

NFL Week 17: Five Good Teams . . . Five Great Players . . . Can Steelers Win in a Passing Era with a Running Team and a Rookie Quarterback?

NFL Week 16: A Running Team Heads for a Cold-Weather Title Game Against a Team That Can Throw 49 Touchdowns . . . Or, Maybe, the Patriots Will Be There.

NFL Week 15: How and Why Patriots Lose, Peyton Wins, Tight Ends Soar, Officials Star and Roethlisberger Has to Bail Out Cowher.

NFL Week 14: Roethlisberger, Bettis, Polamalu Bring Back Run-and-Defend Football . . . Halfback Passes Help . . . Patriots, Eagles Not Out of It.

The Bush-Leinart Drama . . . A Winning Bear Quarterback . . . Doubts About Vick and Tomlinson . . . Football’s Greatest Formation.

NFL Week 12: Chargers On Rise . . . Good Runners Always Good Mudders . . . Patriots Need a Dome . . . Never Trust a Kicker . . . Rams are Awful.

NFL Week 11: Brother quarterback duo has unanswered questions . . . More on the Colts, Giants, Falcons, Patriots, Chiefs, Rams, Bills, Bengals and Steelers.

NFL Week 10: Ram Passing Game Too Much for Seattle’s Run-Pass Team . . . Eagles’ Night in Dallas . . . Next: Roethlisberger (7-0) vs. Carson Palmer (4-5)

NFL Week 9: Roethlisberger Makes the Steelers Go . . . Colts Win with Three-Receiver Running Game . . . Martz Tops as Passing Coach, Slips as Play-Caller

NFL Week 8: McNabb vs. Roethlisberger Next . . . Is Big Ben Better Than Waterfield? . . . Ravens Don’t Have Enough Defense . . . Jets Win Mind Game

NFL Week 7: To Maximize TV Revenue, NFL Should Offer No. 2 TV Market the Big Game Every Sunday

NFL Week 6: Lacking a Sound Play-Caller, This Isn’t a Passing Team . . . Mid-American Update: All Three QB’s Win, Though It’s Unlikely that Pennington or Roethlisberger Can Stop Patriots

NFL Week 5: Rookie Goes for Fourth Straight . . . Vikings, Rams, Titans, Patriots Prove Passing is the Way to Go, But Colts Can’t See It.

Belichick, Brady Set New England Apart ... Rise of the Mid-American Conference ... Shotgun Hurts Colts ... Not this Year in Chicago ... The Monday Night Standpatters.

Jacksonville coach to take a shot at slowing Manning, which Packers could not. Also, Parcells goes modern to outduel Gibbs, while mistakes cost Rams and Brooks’ dirty hit injures Gannon.

NFL Week 2: Palmer Has It All . . . McNabb Was Monday Night’s MVP . . . Raiders Dis Rice . . . Vick is Back . . . Seven Reasons for NFL Parity

NFL Week 1: Portis Runs Once; Dillon, James, Green Run Wild; Broncos Win the Bailey-Portis Trade; Manning’s Audibles Damage His Team

Brady and Belichick Too Good as the 2004 Season Starts: New England, Philadelphia and Carolina 1-2-3 in Pro Football’s Top Ten

In Super Bowl XXXVIII, Carolina had the best players on the field, but New England had a decidedly better pass offense.

Super Bowl XXXVIII: Pass offense succeeds running and defense as the way to win football championships