Month: December 2006 (Page 4 of 14)

Welcome to Rumorville, Pop. 31

The league is buzzing with Allen Iverson trade talk and there are rumors flying about almost every team. Here is a sampling:

1. The Clippers would send some combination of Corey Maggette, Shaun Livingston, Sam Cassell and Zeljko Rebraca for AI. If Livingston and Maggette were included in an offer, I don’t know how the Sixers wouldn’t jump on it.

2. The Celtics would trade Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair, Delonte West and Theo Ratliff to Philadelphia. West and Jefferson are two good young prospects, but the Sixers would rather not trade Iverson to a division rival.

3. The Nuggets are offering a package that would include J.R. Smith, Nene and Eduardo Najera. Only the Sixers are interested in Camby, not Nene, and the Nuggets don’t want to give him up.

4. The Kings would send Mike Bibby and Kenny Thomas to the Sixers.

5. Golden State is eager to get rid of one of their bad contracts (Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Adonal Foyle) but would have to give up Baron Davis, Jason Richardson or Monta Ellis in the process.

6. AI reportedly nixed a trade that would send him to Charlotte, only Iverson doesn’t have a trade clause in his contract. Go figure.

7. Wolves’ GM Kevin McHale has confirmed that he is in talks with the Sixers, but in my estimation, that makes it less likely that a deal will get done. If Minnesota does land Iverson, the deal will most likely include Randy Foye. Kevin Garnett loves the idea of playing with AI.

8. Contrary to internet reports, the Mavs are not interested in trading for AI.

9. Surprisingly, Isiah Thomas says the Knicks are not interested in Iverson. The more likely scenario is that the Sixers aren’t interested in anything the Knicks have to offer.

As you might have gathered, there’s a lot of speculation and very little substantial fact. With the internet, rumors travel like wildfire and they’ll keep circulating until The Answer finds a new home.

NFL Power Rankings Week 14

Anyone that says the rush towards the playoffs isn’t exciting is either one of two things: A Lions fan or a soccer lover. The league is so watered-down that every team (except the Lions of course) still has a shot. And I love every damn bit of it.

Watch closely because the following top and bottom five may change next week.

Freaking parity, it keeps me up at night:

1. San Diego Chargers (11-2)
Third Quarter Ranking: #1
I read an interesting stat the other day. LaDainian Tomlinson needs just eight more touchdown passes to surpass the number of touchdown’s thrown by Ryan Leaf as a Charger. Ha, Ryan Leaf. What a joke.

2. Baltimore Ravens (10-3)
Third Quarter Ranking: #3
The Ravens could have probably lost in Kansas City last week and everybody would have given them the benefit of the doubt. Hey, it’s Arrowhead – nobody wins there. But Baltimore didn’t do that and won rather convincingly over a sinking Chiefs club. The Ravens aren’t going to roll over anybody come playoff time, but they’re dangerous enough to make a Super Bowl run.

3. Chicago Bears (11-2)
Third Quarter Ranking: #5
That’s right, I’m sipping on the Bears Kool-Aid again. A game in which Rex Grossman throws for more than 34 yards will do that to a man. I really believe that if Chicago handed the ball off on every single one of its remaining offensive possessions from that the Bears would still win out. Devin Hester is a freak of nature.

4. New Orleans Saints (9-4)
Third Quarter Ranking: #8
Who doesn’t love the Saints right now? You have to love them, they’re completely fun to watch and Sean Payton is coaching is ass off. That onsides kick Payton ordered when New Orleans was already up 28-17 on the Cowboys Sunday night was priceless. If you turned up your volume real loud, you could make out Payton saying: “Suck it Parcells.”

5. Indianapolis Colts (10-3)
Third Quarter Ranking: #2
Hmm. Do I put the team that got shutout by Miami in this spot or the team that just allowed the Jaguars to rush for 375 yards on them? I’ll go with the Colts, but I’ll let Cincinnati prove it to me next Monday night that they deserve this spot more than Indy.

28. Cleveland Browns (4-9)
Third Quarter Power Ranking: 26
The Browns flat out gave up in Pittsburgh last Thursday night. Willie Parker must have felt like he was running threw the cheerleader section instead of the Cleveland defense.

29. Houston Texans (4-9)
Third Quarter Power Ranking: #28
One week they’re reminded of how they passed on Reggie Bush and then the next it’s Vince Young. But hey, all’s not bad in Houston. At least they still have David Carr and Ron Dayne to build around.

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-10)
Third Quarter Power Ranking: #28
The Succs have now been held out of the end zone for their last 11 quarters. Seeing Derrick Brooks’ solemn look on the sidelines at the close of the loss to the Falcons was sad. He’s a warrior who will fight to the bitter end though. No matter who Tampa throws out as its quarterback.

31. Oakland Raiders (2-11)
Third Quarter Power Ranking: #32
The Raiders defense has a lot of spunk. Too bad the Raiders offense has a lot of horrid excuses for football players.

32. Detroit Lions (2-11)
Third Quarter Power Ranking: #31
Even though both teams lost last week, I had to move the Lions past the Raiders. Any team that rushes for negative yardage has my attention for the worst in all of football.

Devin Hester is a sick man

Here’s an idea for all future Bears opponents. If rookie Devin Hester is healthy and lining up to receive a punt or kickoff, don’t kick the ball anywhere near him. Don’t even look in the relative direction that he’s standing. Just a warning, because he’s likely to do what he did Monday night in Chicago’s 42-27 win over the Rams.

With the Rams up 6-0 late in the first quarter, Hester took the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. Then midway through the fourth quarter after another St. Louis score, Hester repeated the magic, this time returning a kickoff 96 yards for a score to essentially put the game on ice. He now has the NFL record for return touchdowns in a single season with six. The kid is amazing.

This is why people get on Rex Grossman so much and dare Lovie Smith to see what Brian Griese has left in the tank. The Bears have one of the best defenses in the league and the most dangerous kick returner in the NFL. Grossman played well last night in going 13 of 23 for 200 yards and two touchdowns. The better stat is the goose egg he had in the turnover department. Perfect. You don’t have to win the game Rex – just don’t lose it.

Fantasy Football: Waiver Wire Watch, Week 15

QUARTERBACKS

Here is a list of players that may be available on your league’s waiver wire, in order of relative value:

Vince Young, Tony Romo, Philip Rivers, Jeff Garcia, Steve McNair, Trent Green, David Garrard, Joey Harrington, Jason Campbell, Chad Pennington, Jay Cutler, Matt Leinart, David Carr, Aaron Brooks, Alex Smith, J.P. Losman, Brad Johnson, Bruce Gradkowski

For those fantasy owners in dire straits at the QB position, two players with nice matchups in Week 15 are Jeff Garcia and Jason Campbell, who play the Giants and Saints respectively…Vince Young is blossoming into a fantasy star right before our eyes, but he has a rather tough matchup with the Jaguars this week. Still, if you don’t have another great option, you could do a lot worse than Young…David Garrard didn’t post very good numbers against the Colts, but that had more to do with the Colts’ rush defense (or lack thereof) than it did with their pass defense. This week, he has an attractive matchup with the Titans.

RUNNING BACKS

Sammy Morris, Ron Dayne, Cedric Houston, Artrose Pinner, Travis Henry, Mike Bell, DeAngelo Williams, Chris Brown, Aveion Cason, Arlen Harris, Wali Lundy, Justin Fargas, Cedric Benson, Brandon Jacobs, Jason Wright, Leon Washington

Artose Pinner simply ran harder than Ciatrick Fason, finishing with 29 carries for 125 yards and 3 TDs. His value going into Week 15 depends entirely on the health of Chester Taylor. The Vikings have terrific matchups the rest of the way as they face the Jets and Packers, so whoever starts will have value…Keep an eye on Travis Henry’s status heading into Week 15. He has an ankle sprain and is currently listed as day-to-day. Chris Brown was his backup this week and he rushed for 44 yards on four carries…Ron Dayne appears to be the man again in Houston. HC Gary Kubiak seems to change his mind on a weekly basis, so we should start calling him Baby Skeletor…Kevin Jones is going to miss the rest of the season with a foot injury, which leaves Arlen Harris and Aveion Cason to fight over his carries. It’s not clear how the team plans to use each back.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Reche Caldwell, Chris Henry, Mike Furrey, Joe Jurevicius, Santonio Holmes, Antwaan Randle El, Ronald Curry, Marcus Robinson, Devery Henderson, Wes Welker, Arnaz Battle, Terrance Copper, Ernest Wilford, Eric Parker, Patrick Crayton, Doug Gabriel

Joe Jurevicius caught 7 passes for 111 yards, which was his second strong game. This week he faces the Ravens, which isn’t that bad of a matchup for a WR…Ronald Curry caught 8 passes for 99 yards and a score against the Bengals and seems to be getting Randy Moss’ targets. It’s tough to count on any Raiders this deep into the season, but if you’re in a pinch, Curry could be OK.

TIGHT ENDS

Vernon Davis, Bo Scaife, Tony Scheffler, Jerramy Stevens, Randal Williams, Bryan Fletcher, David Martin, Owen Daniels, Alex Smith, Eric Johnson

Vernon Davis caught three passes for 74 yards and a score against the Packers and has a pretty decent schedule down the stretch…Tony Scheffler caught three passes for 66 yards and 2 TDs against the Chargers. Don’t expect this kind of production every week, but he could be a decent spot starter, especially in Week 16 against the Bengals.

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