NFL Supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month with Third-Annual “A Crucial Catch” Campaign Benefitting American Cancer Society

Games Throughout October to Feature Pink Cleats, Gloves, Chin Straps, Footballs with Pink Ribbon Decals

The National Football League and NFL Players Association will support October’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with their third-annual national breast cancer screening-reminder and fundraising campaign. In collaboration with the American Cancer Society, the initiative, called “A Crucial Catch: Annual Screening Saves Lives,” reminds women 40 and older about the importance of having an annual mammogram.

Beginning on October 2 and continuing throughout the month, NFL breast cancer awareness games will feature:

• Game balls with pink ribbon decals used for every down
• Pink equipment for players including: cleats, wristbands, gloves, sideline caps, helmet decals,  captains’ patches, chin straps, shoe laces, skull caps, sideline towels, eye shield decals and quarterback towels
• Pink coins used for the coin toss
• Pink sideline caps for coaches and sideline personnel and pink ribbon pins for coaches and team executives
• Pink caps, wristbands, whistles and pins for game officials
• On-field pink ribbon stencils and A Crucial Catch wall banners
• Pink goal post padding in end zones
• Breast cancer awareness track jackets for cheerleaders

Game-worn pink merchandise and footballs will be autographed post-game and auctioned at NFL Auction (www.nfl.com/auction).  All NFL Auction proceeds during the month of October will benefit the American Cancer Society and team charities. Last year, the NFL and its players donated more than $1 million to the American Cancer Society (ACS) as a result of the 2010 A Crucial Catch campaign, with the majority of the donation coming from the sale of pink NFL Auction items.  Special pink merchandise will be available at www.NFLShop.com, in stadium retail stores, at Dick’s, Hatworld and Lids, with a portion of proceeds going to breast cancer charities.

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Week 4 NFL Capsules

For Week 4 NFL Capsules, click here

Week 4 NFL Preview

KEY MATCHUPS HIGHLIGHT WEEK 4 SCHEDULE

– WEEK 3 FEATURED CLOSE GAMES & COMEBACK WINS –

After three weeks, 18 teams boast a 2-1 record or better. That ties 2010 for the most teams with a .667 winning percentage or better through Week 3 in NFL history. And two of the three teams sitting at 3-0 – Buffalo and Detroit – were 0-3 a year ago.

“It feels good to be 3-0,” says Bills quarterback RYAN FITZPATRICK. “That being said, we’re three games into the season and there’s still a lot of games to be played and a lot of work. The goal is to get better every week and we need to continue to do that.”

There is a lot of football left to be played. And while a strong start to the season is a good thing – 75.9 percent of teams (82 of 108) that started 3-0 since 1990 made the playoffs – it is hardly a guarantee of future success.

“We’re winning but guys are keeping it in perspective,” says Lions linebacker DE ANDRE LEVY. “I don’t think anybody’s getting too far ahead of ourselves. We know we’ve still got a long way to go and a lot of things to accomplish.”

Since 1990, 52 teams with a losing record after the first three games made the playoffs. So, entering Week 4, hope is still very much alive for everyone.

And the unpredictability of the NFL was on display in Week 3 as 12 contests featured second-half lead changes, 12 games were decided by seven points or fewer – tied for the most ever in a single week in NFL history (Week 15, 1993 and Week 12, 2003) – and two teams (Buffalo, 21 points; Detroit, 20) completed comebacks from 20+ point deficits for the first time since September 12, 1999.

The Bills, who erased a 21-0 deficit and defeated New England 34-31, became the first team in NFL history to win consecutive games in which it trailed by at least 18 points in each contest. The Lions, who trailed 20-0 at halftime and came back to win 26-23 at Minnesota in overtime, became the 10th team in NFL history to win a game in which it trailed by at least 20 points at halftime after being shut out in the first half.

“You have to keep playing in this league,” says Buffalo head coach CHAN GAILEY. “There are ups and downs in this game. Just handle the ups and downs and keep playing. If you keep playing, good things will happen to you. Our guys keep playing. You have to give them their due in the character department.”

Like the first three weeks of the season, there are plenty of enticing games on the schedule in Week 4.

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AFC & NFC Notes — Week 4

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Week 3 What to Look For — A Look Back

FRESH START: Three teams are undefeated through their first three games this season – Buffalo, Detroit, and Green Bay. Washington can also extend its record to 3-0 when it faces Dallas tonight on Monday Night Football.

Two of these clubs, the Bills and the Lions, have begun this season 3-0 after starting 0-3 last season. And while no guarantee of future success, a strong start to the season is a good omen – 75.9 percent of teams (82 of 108) that started 3-0 since 1990 made the playoffs.

Of the seven other teams since realignment in 2002 to begin a season 3-0 after starting the previous season 0-3, four qualified for the postseason. Most recently, the Kansas City Chiefs started 3-0 in 2010 en route to an AFC West title on the heels of an 0-5 start in 2009.

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Rule Explanation from the New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles Game

In Sunday’s game between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles, Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz scored on a 28-yard touchdown reception with 8:07 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The ruling on the field was a touchdown, which was then confirmed after an instant replay review.

Referee Jeff Triplette announced the following:

“After reviewing the play, the ruling on the field is confirmed.  The receiver caught the ball, stuck it over the goal line – the plane – before he lost possession. It is a touchdown.”

Cruz had firm grip and control of the ball, touched both feet to the ground, and fulfilled the time requirement to complete the catch.

At the point that Cruz completed the catch, he became a runner (a runner is an offensive player who is in possession of a live ball).

When Cruz, acting as a runner, extended the ball over the goal line, it was a touchdown at the instant the ball penetrated the plane of the goal line.  Rule 11, Section 2, Article 1 (a) of the NFL Rule Book (page 61) states that a touchdown is scored when the ball is on, above, or behind the plane of the opponents’ goal line and is in possession of a runner who has advanced from the field of play.

When Cruz lost control of the ball, he was no longer attempting to catch a pass.  He had already completed the catch and was a runner attempting to score a touchdown by extending the ball across the goal line.

If the same situation occurred in the middle of the field, and a receiver who had become a runner lost possession of the ball as he reached forward for a first down, it would be a fumble.

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Seven from Sunday — Week 3

A look at seven statistical highlights from games played at 1:00 p.m. ET and 4:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 25, the third week of the 2011 season.

• With two games still to play in Week 3, there have been 33 individual 300-yard passing performances this season, including 10 today.  That total is the most through the first three weeks of a season in NFL history.  The previous record was 21 individual 300-yard passing games through the first three weeks of the 2009 season.

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Week 3 @NFLFootballInfo And @NFLHistory Tweets of the Week

The following release includes the “Tweets of the Week” from the @NFLFootballInfo and @NFLHistory Twitter feeds.

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What to Look For – Week 3

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NFL games rank as 5 of 6 most-watched sporting events since Super Bowl

Eagles-Falcons on NBC Sunday Night Football  Most-Watched Show of Week, Nearly Doubles Emmys

Record Tying: Local Ratings Top All 30 Markets in First 2 Weeks

After a record-setting Kickoff Weekend, NFL games continued as television’s most-watched shows in Week 2.

The Eagles-Falcons Sunday night game on NBC was the most-watched program on television last week (Sept. 12-18) drawing an average of 23.4 million viewers – nearly doubling the 12.4 million that watched the Emmy Awards, also on Sunday in primetime.

The CBS national telecast (mostly Chargers-Patriots) ranked second for the week with 22.7 million viewers.

With two weeks completed, NFL games already account for five of the six most-watched sporting events since Super Bowl XLV in February. Following are the most-watched sporting events since Super Bowl XLV:

(**NOTE: The FOX Single telecast — mostly Bears-Saints and Cowboys-49ers –from Sunday 9/18 will likely be added to this list when viewership figures are available tomorrow.)

Locally, NFL games matched a record as they topped the ratings in all 30 NFL markets for the second consecutive week.  Last year marked the first time games rated number one in each market in the first two weeks of a season.
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