31 degrees is downright balmy up here in the Northwoods this time of year. People are walking around without wearing their winter jackets today (Saturday). That usually happens when temps have already dipped to as low as -2 F like they were earlier this week (and -10 F the week prior) in Madison, WI. And those aren’t wind chill temps either.

agree with your analysis and your post mortem on the san fran game. i am more worried about hightowers fumbles. they always seem to occur after he has taken a first hit. he then seems to expose the football and if he gets hit a second time (like the giants, vikes and san fran) — coughs it up.

i’ll be making the trek to ford field so i will be cheering the cards on for hopefully a win and a wrap up of the nfc west title. that would be a great christmas present!

Honestly, I don’t. I could be wrong, but here is my reasoning: To me, fumbling is a football fundamental. Carrying the ball correctly should be something you should know by the time you get to the NFL. My wife is a high school English teacher on the junior level and she runs across way too many kids who can’t construct simple paragraphs. While that falls in her lap to correct, it takes away from teaching what she should on her current level. I think the Cards’ coaches do work on the fumbling issue, but it comes down to hanging on to the ball. I’m not 100 percent sure it can be corrected, other than putting two hands on the ball — which obviously would take away from what these backs do.