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NFL Week 12 MVP Power Rankings

Well, we can’t ignore what Drew Brees did to the Patriots on Monday night, can we? It doesn’t even really matter what Mr. Manning and Mr. Favre did. Oh, those guys are all bunched up here, but consider that in their biggest game of the season so far, the Saints’ Brees threw for 371 yards, 5 TDs to five different receivers, and zero picks in leading them to a 38-17 dismantling of New England in the Superdome. Yikes.

1. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—See above. Brees now leads the NFL in both QB rating (112.6) and touchdown passes (27). He’s even rushed for 2 scores for good measure. And oh yeah, the Saints are 11-0 and starting to think about Miami in February.

2. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—Funny how Favre is not getting the love he should from sportswriters in the MVP conversation. Well that’s ridiculous, and you can count this writer among those who think he is extremely deserving. Against Chicago last Sunday, Favre threw for 392 more yards, with 3 TDs and no picks. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s 24 TDs to 3 interceptions on the season, and his team sitting at 10-1 and in line for a first round bye.

3. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Our apologies for dropping Peyton from #1 to #3 here, but he keeps flirting with disaster each week before bringing his team back. Sure, they are 11-0 just like the Saints, but we don’t feel particularly happy about those 11 interceptions so far.

4. Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans—800 yards in the month of November. 800 yards. Are you freaking kidding me? Apparently LenDale White was not in uniform against Arizona last Sunday because of being late to a meeting. I think it was more like Jeff Fisher didn’t want to make the mistake of putting White in the game for any reason, so he kept the guy in street clothes. And how about this sick run by the Titans?

5. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—His numbers are damn near close to the guy he replaced in Green Bay, Mr. Favre…a.k.a. #2. 3136 yards, 22 TDs, and just 5 interceptions. Imagine if Rodgers (44 sacks) wasn’t running for his life most of the time.

Honorable Mention—Philip Rivers, Chargers; Adrian Peterson, Vikings; Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars, Reggie Wayne, Colts; Cedric Benson, Bengals; Jared Allen, Vikings; Tom Brady, Patriots; Randy Moss, Patriots; Miles Austin, Cowboys; Vince Young, Titans; Andre Johnson, Texans; Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Darren Sharper, Saints

Six-Pack of Observations: Texas squeaks by Nebraska

Here are six quick-hit observations from Texas’ unimpressive 13-12 win over Nebraska in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship.

1. What was that?
Unless you’re a Texas fan, this was a freaking dud of a championship game. Both teams combined for 308 yards of total offense, which is the lowest combined total in Big 12 history. It was almost maddening at times watching these two teams try to move the ball forward. In fact, this game turned out to be the “B Channel” of the night, because the ACC title match was 10-times the game that the Big 12 championship was. What an unimpressive win for Texas.

2. That said, nice kick.
On a day when there were multiple extra points missed, you have to stand back and appreciate the 46-yard game-winning boot that Hunter Lawrence made as time expired. With so much on the line, Lawrence could have folded like your favorite futon in college. But instead, he rose to the challenge and converted the biggest kick of his collegiate career.

3. What a performance by Nebraska’s D.
If Nebraska had anything resembling an offense, then they win this game walking away because their defense was outstanding. For the defense to overcome three turnovers and an absolutely putrid effort by their offense and only give up 12 points was amazing. Coming into this game, the Longhorns were averaging 43 points a game and had the 11th best offense in the nation. Yet, Nebraska made Texas look like a team that had never played a down of organized football. They whipped their ass in the trenches and at times, McCoy’s only option was to take a sack or throw the ball away because he had limited opportunities to make plays. This had to be the single best defensive effort by a team this season that wound up losing.

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Six Pack of Observations: Alabama crushes Florida in SEC title game

Here are six quick-hit observations for Alabama’s 32-13 shellacking of Florida in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game.

1. Maybe Lane Kiffin had it right after all.
Maybe that brash Lane Kiffin had it right when he said earlier this week that, “Florida has better players, and Alabama has better coaches.” And actually, Kiffin only had it half right. Nick Saban outschemed, outcoached and outsmarted Urban Meyer for four quarters and not only did ‘Bama have the better coaches, but they proved to have the better players as well. Meyer simply didn’t have his team prepared to play today – period.

2. This was total domination at its best.
The game wasn’t even as close as the final score wound indicate. Alabama’s backfield trio of quarterback Greg McElroy (12-of-18 passing, 239 yards, 1 TD) and running backs Mark Ingram (113 yards, 3 TDs) and Trent Richardson (80 yards on 11 carries, 7.3 YPC average) played near-flawless games. The Tide dominated the Gators in every phase of the contest and never let up after smacking Florida in the mouth from the very first drive.

3. So much for Florida’s game plan.
Coming into the game, pundits figured that if Florida stopped Ingram that the Gators come out victorious. But instead, Alabama’s game plan to stay balanced was executed to perfection because not only were the Gators unable to stop Ingram, but they were unable to stop McElroy too. Florida tried a variety of different looks and in the end they just had no answer for what the Tide was doing offensively. And it really didn’t even matter that defensive end Carlos Dunlap (who was suspended after arrested for DUI earlier in the week) didn’t play because Florida just had the wrong scheme.

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Astros pick up Ryan Sadowski from the Giants


Photo from fOTOGLIF

The Houston Astros have signed Ryan Sadowski, a 27 year-old right-hander who made his major league debut with Giants last season. Sadowski was unexpectedly impressive upon arrival, tossing 13 shutout innings in his first two starts. However, he eventually faded, earning a record of 2-4 with a 4.45 ERA. He was subsequently sent back down to the minors.

The ‘Big Sadowski’, a six-year minor league veteran, finally got to the majors when the Giants called him up to start against the Brewers in Milwaukee on June 28th. Thursday, the former 12th-round Giants’ draft pick signed with the Houston Astros.

This isn’t a bad move by the Astros. The team has the bats, but they obviously need more quality arms. Sadowski just needs the opportunity to prove himself over the long haul and the Astros are willing to make that happen. Of course, the pitching is a tad crowded over in the Giants’ camp, so Sadowski was up for grabs.

Report: Brian Kelly to entertain Notre Dame opportunity

ESPN.com is reporting that Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly would entertain the idea of talking to Notre Dame next week about the school’s open coaching position.

Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly told ESPN this week that he promised fans he would focus on the Pitt game and that speculation he is a candidate for the Notre Dame opening wouldn’t be a distraction.

Kelly still maintains that it hasn’t been, adding that he was staying away from it until after the game, but if Notre Dame wanted to speak with him next week, he would “entertain” their request.

Kelly told a local radio station in Cincinnati that he’s happy at Cincy and wants to stay there long term. But that means nothing, especially coming from a man that ditched Central Michigan in 2006 before its bowl game in order to take the vacant position in Cincinnati.

Kelly has successfully climbed the latter from D-III head coach at Grand Valley State, to MAC coach at CMU to Big East coach at Cincinnati. If Notre Dame calls, there is little doubt that he won’t at least entertain the offer. And chances are, Cincinnati won’t come up with the money it’ll take to retain Kelly’s services and he’ll move on.

Regular readers know that I think Kelly would be a perfect fit for the Irish, even though I would think it would be admirable if he stayed at Cincinnati and continued to grow that program. We’ll see what happens.

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