Jerry Jones handpicked the Ravens for the Cowboys’ final game at Texas Stadium because he apparently thought they would be an easy victory. Oops. (SPORTSbyBROOKS.com)

Peter King discusses Sammy Baugh, the playoff race in each conference, and breaks down the current MVP watch in his latest edition of Monday Morning Quarterback. (SI.com)

The Love of Sports compiles its “All-Disappointment Team” for the 2008 NFL Season. (The Love of Sports)

Detroit News columnist Rob Parker recently asked Lions head coach Rod Marinelli if “he wishes his daughter had married a better defensive coordinator?” Ouch. (Deadspin.com)

Best headline from the Week 16 in the NFL: “You Stay Classy, Fatback Who Rides the Coat-tails of Reggie Bush and Chris Johnson.” (Kissing Suzy Kolber.com)

Here are your Top Ten Boston Sports Stories of 2008. Good for Boston…makes everyone else want to throw up. (Small White Ball)

The Titans’ LenDale White is a bit peeved that the Carolina Panthers’ backfield tandem of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart might have stolen a nickname that White came up with to describe he and teammate Chris Johnson’s running style.

Apparently, LenDale White of the Titans crafted the term “Smash and Dash” for himself and Chris Johnson a few weeks ago. And then Monday night on ESPN, there were signs rooting for “Smash and Dash,” referring to the Panthers’ tandem of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. From ESPN.com’s Paul Kuharsky:

“If they want a nickname, I can nickname them: ‘Identity and Theft,’” said White, who’s successfully paired with the speedy rookie Chris Johnson this season. “I was upset because I made that phrase up myself. I mean I made it up. I don’t know about NFL Network and all those other guys. I heard somebody say, ‘Batman and Robin,’ that’s like cute, that’s for them. If they want that name they can have it. The ‘Smash and Dash’ is something I made up.”

“Identity and Theft”? That is freaking hilarious! Between that and Terrell Owens’ “Dumb and Dumber” comment about Emmitt Smith and Keyshawn Johnson, there have been some outstanding athlete quotes this week.

Titans’ running back LenDale White isn’t a happy camper after getting only one carry in Tennessee’s 34-13 loss to the Jets on Sunday.

“I have been over it. It is a game, so what?’’ White said. “You would like to win it, but it is one game, so what? … I only played three plays so I really couldn’t tell you what happened, I don’t really know, I wasn’t paying attention, I didn’t care really.’’

White wouldn’t say if the game would’ve been different had he played. Rookie Chris Johnson had 46 yards on 10 carries, but had a fumble that led to a touchdown.

“You never know, man,” White said. “I can’t tell you that. I don’t know if I would have gotten the ball 30 times if we would have won the game or not. I would like to be involved more, but if I am not involved I would like somebody to tell me what’s going on. Coming into these games, you expect to get certain carries or see certain things going on at least that’s what they tell you.

“And then you get in these games and then randomly you only play three plays. I just wish somebody would let me know what’s going on before I go out there. Three plays, I don’t know what you want me to do with three plays. I don’t know what three plays is helping me do.”

White said he had not had a conversation with coaches, and wasn’t sure if he would.

“I ain’t got no conversation for nobody, I don’t care,’’ White said. “If they have something to tell me, if they need to tell me I’m not going to play, then they should tell me, you know?”

I know he’s frustrated, but there’s no reason for White not to be paying attention on the sideline. This shows a lack of maturity on his part for not always being involved in the game, whether he’s on the field or not. It is befuddling that the Titans would only use him for three plays, but they’re 10-1 on the year and don’t need White to become a distraction.

While I was at the gym this morning, I caught some NFL highlights on ESPN including some of the taped commentary from Chris Berman and Tom Jackson. For the record, no one recaps games better than those two guys, not even the 11 or 12 characters on NBC, who just keep trying to outwit each other. Anyway, Jackson said something really, really intriguing. Something to the effect of that while no one is saying it out loud, you can make a case for Titans’ quarterback Kerry Collins for NFL MVP after nine games.

Now think about that for a minute. Yes, it’s a strange year in the NFL, and yes, the Titans are 9-0 and way out in front of the AFC pack. But when you first think about it, Collins in MVP conversations sounds ridiculous. He is somewhere toward the bottom of the pack in passing yards, with 1525 (169 per game in 8-plus games), with just 5 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions and a QB rating of just 78.8. But here’s the thing. Drew Brees is putting up Tom Brady/Peyton Manning type numbers, with 2985 yards, 17 TDs and 10 picks. But Brees’ Saints are 4-5 and bringing up the rear in the AFC South. Jay Cutler is second in passing yards with 2616, and his team is 5-4 (and leading a pathetic AFC West). In fact, in pure yardage, you have to scroll down to number 10 (Brett Favre) to find a QB with more than five wins. Eli Manning of the 8-1 Giants is 12th and has a QB rating of 88.8.

So throw the stats aside, and think purely in terms of MVP for a minute. Manning and Brandon Jacobs deserve consideration, because they lead an 8-1 team in the NFL’s toughest division. But the Giants have a whole team of great players and the G-men would still be very competitive if either of those guys missed a game or two. The Panthers are 7-2, but have also had many contributors. And among the teams that are 6-3 (Jets, Pats, Steelers, Ravens, Redskins, Bucs and Falcons), you can make a case for a handful of players–Favre, Clinton Portis, and Matt Ryan. But even Ryan has had help from Michael Turner and Roddy White and John Abraham.

Then look at the Titans themselves. Aside from Collins, you have LenDale White and Chris Johnson piling up yards behind a very underrated offensive line. You have Albert Haynesworth absolutely terrorizing offensive coordinators and Cortland Finnegan playing out of his mind. All of them Pro Bowl possibilities, but not really MVP material. Collins, though, stepped in for Vince Young and has been a steady hand leading a very talented team to an undefeated record so far. You can’t say the Titans would be better than maybe 5-4 with Young as the starter right now. 9-0 with the veteran Collins is the only number that should be mentioned in MVP talk at this point, and for that I have to say Tom Jackson is on to something.

Bookmark this page for when the real talk begins, and don’t forget you heard it here second.

LT2 did some damage in PPR leagues (with six catches), but he totaled 67 yards on 20 touches and failed to score. After his Week 9 bye, he has four nice matchups over the next six weeks, but that might be too late for his owners to make a run…Reggie Bush (10 touches, 60 yards) is out for the next 3-4 weeks with a meniscus injury in his knee. This is the downside of drafting Bush. Deuce McAllister looks like he will get the bulk of the work in his absence…Chris Johnson (20 touches, 172 yards, TD) and LenDale White (18 touches, 156 yards, 3 TD) both went nuts against the worst rush defense in the league (KC)…Willis McGahee (21 touches, 152 yards, TD) is still RB1 in Baltimore when he can play…Ronnie Brown’s (14 carries, 28 yards) schedule is pretty easy from here on out, so if you might want to buy low after a bad game against the Ravens…Steven Jackson (27 touches, 176 yards, 3 TD) ran like a madman this week. He’s definitely back in must-start territory…Ryan Grant (33 touches, 117 yards, TD) looked pretty good against a very bad Colts rush defense. His schedule isn’t very favorable over the next several weeks, so you might want to think about selling high…Thomas Jones (25 touches, 159 yards) is looking good and he has a favorable upcoming schedule. It might not be a bad idea to try to snatch him away from an unsuspecting owner…Clinton Portis (28 touches, 183 yards, TD) is looking like a top 5 back. He shrugged off a hip flexor to post big numbers against the Browns…Jamal Lewis (20 touches, 98 yards) played better than his stats would indicate. He almost scored on a catch and had a couple of goal line opportunities, but the Browns’ line failed to get the necessary push…Julius Jones (8 touches, 37 yards) and Maurice Morris (8 touches, 68 yards) are back in a timeshare now that Morris is healthy again.

Brodie Croyle claimed his starting quarterback job Sunday in Kansas City after missing most of the season with a separated shoulder suffered in Week 1. He completed 9 of 10 passes for 63 yards and promptly was knocked out of the game with a knee injury. The team announced after the game – a 34-10 Titans’ victory – that he’ll miss the rest of the season.

Croyle attempted just 29 passes in two starts this year. Talk about bad luck.

As for the Titans, they thumped a team they should have thumped and looked impressive doing so. Chris Johnson made yet another push for Offensive Rookie of the Year, rushing for 168 yards and a score on just 18 carries. LenDale White also added 149 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries.

It’s hard not to be impressed by Tennessee this year. Their defense is playing as well as anyone in the league and while Kerry Collins isn’t lighting up the stat sheet, he’s not making mistakes and isn’t forcing passes. There’s nothing flashy about this team, but they do all the little things right and have struck a nice balance on offense. In the upcoming weeks, they face the Colts, Packers, Bears and Jaguars, so they’ll get several tests over the next month to see where they’re at as a team.

With the Giants loss to the Browns last week, there is only one undefeated team remaining…the Tennessee Titans?!?

Sure, the Titans’ success is a little surprising, but they’re doing it old school. They have the top scoring defense (11.2 ppg) in the league and are 4th in total yards (268 per game). Tennessee also features a strong running game that features rookie speedster Chris Johnson and LenDale White, who takes care of most of the work between the tackles.

Tennessee has a fairly tough schedule after this week’s date with the Chiefs. So, the question is…

Poll Answers

I know many of you are heading into your drafts this weekend, so here are a few things that are going on in the world of fantasy football:

Peyton Manning returned to practice, but HC Tony Dungy said that he was “iffy” for the season opener. Apparently, he looked good, so plan on Peyton keeping his consecutive games streak alive in Week 1… HC Marvin Lewis says that even though Chris Perry is atop the depth chart at running back, Rudi Johnson could win his job back with a good performance on Thursday night. The vibe seems to be that Rudi is on the way out of Cincy, but you never know. Perry is a nice late-round pick, as is Kenny Watson, who was the team’s most productive back last season… Jeff Fisher says that he plans to split touches between LenDale White and rookie speedster Chris Johnson. “I would assume it would be close to 50-50, maybe 60-40,” he said. “We’re going to use them both depending on the game plans and it makes sense to take advantage of both of their abilities. I think we’ll have a better gauge once we get to the middle part of the season.” Johnson’s stock has risen of late and while White is pretty solid between the tackles, the rookie is more of a home run threat… The Packers plan to get Brandon Jackson more involved in the running game in an attempt to reduce the pounding that Ryan Grant takes over the course of the season. The idea is to limit Grant to 300 carries (which is still a lot) and use him more in the passing game, which means that Grant’s value is enhanced in PPR leagues.