“So what
did you think of the Padres beating the Colts?”
That was
the question a good friend of mine asked tonight at dinner
in Chelsea. I had to chuckle. It was a good effort.
I Hate the Colts again
Why did I
put my faith in a bunch of pansies who play in a dome? When
drafting my fantasy football team in September, I didn’t
just pick one Colt, but two, in the first three rounds –
Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison. It worked
fine for the first 14 weeks. But, I forgot the most
important aspect of the Colts: the bigger the game, the
worse they play.
Just like
the Colts year in and year out, they choked again in their
biggest game of the year, and Edgerrin James led the way
with this lousy comment after the game that Jim sent me:
"It really
didn't matter. Nobody was really talking about no streak. I
think more people will be disappointed that we have to go to
work tomorrow. They didn't care about the streak. Now we've
got to show up."
That’s
funny, because I saw Peyton Manning on ESPN before
the game talking about the streak. I don’t know if Edge was
bitter or just out of touch with his teammates. Either way,
I’ve got to remember to trade these chokers next year before
I get stuck with them in the fantasy playoffs.
Put Favre out to Pasture
Why are so
many people saying that Brett Favre should be the one
to decide if he doesn’t start these last two games for
Green Bay? It’s all fine and dandy that he’s had a
remarkable career. He’s been good for the Packers, bringing
them a Super Bowl championship and coming within a touchdown
of winning a second one. But this nonsense that he should be
the one to decide if he or Aaron Rodgers starts these
next two games is ridiculous.
Rodgers was
drafted in the first round this past April to take over when
Brett Favre no longer served a purpose. With just two games
left, it’s time for Rodgers to get some much-needed
experience while Brett “Ballhog” Favre spends time with his
wife and kids over the holidays.
What’s
more, Rodgers probably gives the Packers a better chance of
losing. That’s a good thing. Right now, the Pack is battling
Houston, San Francisco, the Jets and
New Orleans for a top pick in next year’s draft. With
some real studs expected to be available in April, the
Packers could pick up a gamebreaker if they can just lose
these last two games.
The Packers
should be looking to the future – Aaron Rodgers and a #1
draft pick – and not to the past when deciding who’s going
to start these last two games of the season.
I
couldn’t have called it better
I said last
week to anyone that would listen that the Patriots
would destroy the Bucs and that all the chatter would
start brewing about a Pats-Colts playoff matchup. It’s one
of the few things I’ve gotten right this year.
You can
understand why the media is jumping all over this one. With
the Colts chocking, they just lost the storyline they’ve
been riding for the last few weeks. Now they need something
to fuel the run into January. And it doesn’t get better than
Indy-New England.
I wouldn’t
try to predict that potential game from four to five weeks
out (which is how far away it is). And it might not happen
at all. The Patriots aren’t the Pats of old. They’ve lost to
two good teams at home already this season; the Jaguars
are just the kind of unpredictable team that could go into
Foxboro and beat them.
Win or
lose, that game simply happening would make my season. And
if the Patriots somehow won – well, that would just be the
most glorious occurance in the NFL since Jeremy Shockey
dropped a touchdown pass against the 49ers in the
2002-season playoffs.
Tiki for MVP-Runner-Up
Yep, that’s
right. Tiki. The guy that trails only Shaun
Alexander in rushing yards has got to be the odds-on
favorite to finish second in the MVP voting. Yes, Peyton
Manning and Edgerrin James and Tom Brady and Steve
Smith have had fine seasons. But I don’t think any of
them have carried their team on their backs the way Tiki has
(except Alexander).
His total
touchdowns are low, but that’s simply because the Giants
have Brandon Jacobs getting the ball within the
two-yard line. When quarterback Eli Manning or the
defense have floundered, Barber has been there to pick up
the slack. And the fumbles that plagued him two years ago?
This year, he has only one in 14 games.
My Rankings as of Jan. 2
1)
Seattle – They’ve got the league’s
longest winning streak, will probably beat the #2 team next
week and look like the class of the NFC. Heck, if they were
in the AFC, they might even make the playoffs!
2)
Cincinnati – The only thing that
stands between them and the AFC Championship game are the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
3)
Indianapolis – Their defense looks
tired. Their running back looks tired. These are two bad
things.
4)
New England – They now have two
bye weeks to prepare for their first-round home game. You
give Bill Belichick two extra weeks to prepare his team and
that spells trouble. I just hope he doesn’t spend too much
of it preparing for Indy.
5) I could
throw Denver or the Giants here. But, I’m not
gonna.
--So
much for the streak. The San Diego Chargers’ 26-17 win
over the Indianapolis Colts gave the Colts their first loss
after 13 wins and ended what had become a media obsession.
ESPN
devoted the first 20 minutes of its 30-minute 7 p.m. EST
SportsCenter to the game. It featured a press conference
with Don Shula and Bob Griese from the undefeated 1972
Miami Dolphins. A press conference?
We heard
Shula say that he and Griese toasted each other with Diet
Coke after the Chargers won. Too much information. It wasn’t
as bad as ESPN’s obsession with Terrell Owens, but the Colts
streak was getting way overplayed.
--What
does the loss mean? Not that much, actually. The Colts
still have home field advantage and will be the favorite to
win the AFC. And the Chargers need to win their last two
games (at Kansas City and home to Denver) and hope the
Pittsburgh Steelers or Jacksonville Jaguars lose once. The Steelers play at
5-9 Cleveland, then 4-10 Detroit. The Jaguars draw 2-12
Houston and 4-10 Tennessee. The Chargers are in trouble.
There are
only two teams I think the Colts would worry about in the
AFC playoffs. One is, obviously, the Chargers, but I don’t
see them making the playoffs. The other is the New England
Patriots, who have owned the Colts in the playoffs the last
two seasons. A Colts-Pats playoff game would be indoors, not
in frosty New England, but right now I would rate the game a
toss-up; another playoff loss to the Pats and the Colts
might as well fold up the franchise since they will likely
never have a better chance.
--The
Colts came out Sunday sleepwalking and fell behind 16-0
before making a rally to take a 17-16 win, only to see the
Chargers score twice in the final 6:41 to win. Colts QB
Peyton Manning committed two key gaffes that helped doom the
Colts.
The first
came in the first half on fourth-and-goal at the Chargers’
1. Manning decided not to handoff and instead bootlegged.
Manning’s no Michael Vick and he lost six yards.
The second
came with 3:21 remaining and the Colts facing a second-and-1
at the Chargers’ 23, down 19-17, well within field goal
range. Manning went back to pass, was pressured and threw
the ball away. He was correctly flagged for intentional
grounding, which was a 12-yard penalty and loss of down. He
was sacked on third down and any hope of a long field goal
try was negated. It was the closest the Colts would get
again to winning the game.
--The
key stats were Manning throwing a season-high 45 times,
while Edgerrin James got only 24 yards on 15 carries.
Despite his reputation as a gunslinger, Manning is more
effective if he has a running game and defenses can’t load
up on the pass.
--The
loss leaves the 1972 Dolphins as the only team to go
undefeated. Some of those Fins have come across as bitter
old men, rooting shamelessly each year for the last unbeaten
to fall. So it was nice to read what Mercury Morris (a great
running back from that team) had to say after the Colts
lost, simply because it went against the grain. “A part of
me … wanted to see [the Colts] win them all. If they had
been able to go undefeated, then we could have someone to
talk to who would understand the experience. That’s the
biggest thing. It’s like trying to describe to someone what
it’s like to walk on the moon. It’s only a description;
they’ll never know until they go.’’
--The
Chargers continued to be a baffling team. How could a
team that did not sack Miami’s Gus Ferrotte a week ago get
to Manning four times and hit him countless more times? This
is the same team that destroyed the Patriots in New England
and lost to the Eagles on a blocked field goal returned for
a touchdown. If the Chargers fail to make the playoffs, they
can only blame themselves. Despite the attention they
received after ending the Colts’ streak, the Chargers would
have been much better off beating Pittsburgh in Week 5 and
losing to Indy, because the Bolts would now own the
tiebreaker over the Steelers.
--Another
weird team is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were lucky
to eke out a 10-9 home win against the San Francisco 49ers.
The 10-4 Jags are a near playoff lock and it looks like
they’ll play the Patriots in the wild card round.
Jacksonville seems to play up or down to the level of its
opponent, so it’s not inconceivable that they could beat the
Patriots.
--Hottest
player I saw all week was Buffalo Bills punter Brian
Moorman. He is one of the top punters despite playing in
windy Buffalo and is one of the few bright spots for a 4-10
team. He also seems like a terrific person. “Moorman has
helped build a house in Buffalo through Habitat for
Humanity, served Thanksgiving dinners to the homeless, taken
part in literacy programs and raised funds to assist
families of cancer patients,” wrote the
Rochester Democrat.
Moorman visits young cancer patients each week at a Buffalo
area hospital. One of them is 10-year-old Taylor Speth, who
said: "The neatest gift Mr. Brian ever gave me was his
friendship. And he is one of the best friends a person could
ever have." Said Moorman: "I could boom a punt 90 yards and
it wouldn't mean as much to me as comments like that."
--The
least-surprising result was Pittsburgh’s 18-3 win at
Minnesota. The Vikings had won six in a row but did it with
mirrors against the Giants and by beating the awful Lions
twice, along with St. Louis, Green Bay and Cleveland. It’s
probably good for the Vikings long-term if they miss the
playoffs. This way, they can dump coach Mike Tice and get
some competence on the sideline.
--I
enjoy seeing what games CBS assigns Don Criqui to late
in the season, since he’s on the F Team of their
broadcasters. The producers must cackle each week and say,
“What dog can we send Criqui to this week?” On Sunday it was
the 4-9 Cleveland Browns at the 4-9 Oakland Raiders and the
game didn’t disappoint. The Browns won 9-7 on a last-play
field goal, yet that didn’t stop Criqui from enthusing about
how hard both teams played (always a sure sign you’re
watching losers).
I did
like watching Browns rookie QB Charlie Frye, who has the
look of a Ben Roethlisberger. The Browns may have found
themselves a quarterback as they rebuild.
Yes,
I know you're wondering what was I doing watching the
Browns-Raiders? The other late games (Bengals-Lions and
Cowboys-Redskins) were blowouts and it was on in the
background as I made some delicious vegetable pea soup.
--It
shows how far the Cincinnati Bengals have come when they
win their division for the first time in 15 years (something
both
Cyd and I predictedin the preseason) and it’s
pretty much greeted with a yawn. I know beating the Lions
elicits a shrug, but before this year the Bengals hadn't had
a winning record since 1990.
I
don’t think the Bengals have the defense to win the Super
Bowl this year, but they will be a contender for the next
few years with a great coach in Marvin Lewis and wonderful
skill players, led by QB Carson Palmer.
--The
9-5 Patriots are a very lucky team this season. If they
were in any other division, they would be in second place
and fighting just to get a wild card spot with zero
prospects for a home playoff game. In the lousy AFC East,
though, the Pats are kings and basically get three weeks off
to get healthy before hosting a first-round playoff game.
Everything is breaking just right for them.
--Billy
Witz, the NFL writer for the Los Angeles Daily News, is
not sold on the Patriots staging much of a playoff run. He
wrote me: "The Pats' five wins in six games have come
against the following QBs -- Gus Frerotte, Aaron Brooks,
Brooks Bollinger, J.P. Losman and Chris Simms, who before
this weekend were rated 27, 28, 31, 32 and 18 respectively
in passing efficiency."
--The
New York Giants are blessed they have Tiki Barber
carrying their offense right now because Eli Manning seems
to get shakier each week.
--So
much for parity. After 14 games, there is only one 7-7
team (Miami). Thirteen teams are guaranteed to have losing
records, while 17 teams could win 10 games or more. The NFL
in 2005 is the rich and the poor with a shrinking middle
class, kind of like Brazil.
--I
give up trying to handicap the NFC. Seattle has home
field in its sights and will be tough to beat at their
place, but after that it’s a scramble. I was shocked by how
easily the Redskins crushed the Cowboys, and it’s amazing
that the Skins (5-6 after 11 games) are in the playoffs if
they win their final two games.
--Game
of the year, in one sense, could take place in Week 17,
when it could be 2-13 Houston at 2-13 San Francisco. Loser
gets Reggie Bush in next year’s draft.
--Can't believe how
badly some teams tackle. The prize for ineptitude is
shared this week by Kansas City and Dallas (have Tiki Barber
or Chris Cooley been tackled yet?) These teams whiffed more
than Sammy Sosa.
My Top 5
1.
Indianapolis (13-1): Peyton Manning has been sacked
seven times in the last two weeks after only going down nine
times in the first 12 games.
2.
Seattle (12-2): They aren’t always impressive, but they
just keep winning.
3.
Cincinnati (11-3): These cats have finally grown claws.
4.
Denver (11-3): Getting the No. 2 seed is vital for their
chances in the playoffs.
--Hottest
player I saw all week was Buffalo Bills punter Brian
Moorman. He is one of the top punters despite playing in
windy Buffalo and is one of the few bright spots for a 4-10
team. He also seems like a terrific person. “Moorman has
helped build a house in Buffalo through Habitat for
Humanity, served Thanksgiving dinners to the homeless, taken
part in literacy programs and raised funds to assist
families of cancer patients,” wrote the
