Anthony Stalter (under @TheScoresReport) and I (under @fantasytips) will be tweeting throughout Week 11. Feel free to ask us questions, call us names, whatever…
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This is turning out to be a fine rookie class, isn’t it? There are game-changers on both sides of the ball:
1. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys—On pace for 73 catches, 958 yards, and 9 TDs; but also he’s averaging a ridiculous 14.4 yards on punt returns with 2 scores. Absolutely electrifying.
2. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—A monster in the middle, and something Detroit has not had in a long, long time.
3. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—It’s not like he’s throwing to Roddy White or Hakeem Nicks or Antonio Gates. In fact, I don’t know who this kid is throwing to.
4. Earl Thomas, Seattle Seahawks—47 tackles and 4 picks through 9 games. That’s a full season for many safeties.
5. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns—If the Browns had beaten the Jets, and they almost did, we’d be talking potentially squeaking into the playoffs. And this kid is a huge reason the Browns are playing with confidence.
6. Mike Williams, Tampa Bay Bucs—DUI might hurt his chances for the top spot, but still no denying his numbers (40, 627, 5).
7. Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati Bengals—Give it a year or two, and this dude will be fawned over the way Jermichael Finley was this year.
8. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs—He’s going to make life miserable for whoever is quarterbacking the Cardinals these days.
9. Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions—Slowed after a fast start and injury, but finally Megatron has defenses paying attention to someone else.
10, Dexter McCluster, Kansas City Chiefs—If he hadn’t hurt his ankle, this Ole Miss product might be higher on this list.
Definitely a balance of power shift here. But that’s why the NFL is so great.
1. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—Look at the standings in the AFC South (Falcons 7-2, Saints and Bucs 6-3). And ask yourself, “Did I see this coming?”
2. Tom Cable, Oakland Raiders—Tied for first in the AFC West with the Chiefs. Really?
3. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs—A bad showing in Denver, but still exceeding expectations in a big way.
4. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Seriously, no one expected 4-5 at this point and real contention, much less with a rookie quarterback.
5. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles—Does anyone else think the plan all along was to run Donovan McNabb out of town and then eventually start Michael Vick?
6. Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks—Is anyone going to give the Seahawks’ new coach credit for having them in first place on November 21?
7. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots—Follows up a crushing loss to Cleveland with a thumping of the Steelers in Pittsburgh.
8. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears—After they started 3-0 and then Jay Cutler was assaulted by the Giants, a tailspin ensued. But now it’s all bright and sunny in the Windy City.
9. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—Okay, so after five wins in a row, the crap hit the fan last Sunday against Dallas. But Coughlin has this way of making his team look Super Bowl bound most of the time.
10. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—It’s almost like no one is paying attention to this team, but they are serious contenders.
Well, this sure got interesting, didn’t it? Michael Vick had an MVP type game, maybe the greatest game statistically for a quarterback in NFL history on Monday night against Washington. There is no argument here — Michael Vick is the MVP, and he’s going to have to have a total collapse in the next few games for anyone to claim that perch. Injury? Even if he’s injured Sunday and misses the rest of the season, Vick is still the MVP, because of this past game and because of his entire body of work this year, which is absolutely sick.
1. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—In just six games, Vick has thrown for 1350 yards with 11 TDs, 0 interceptions; and 44 carries for 341 yards rushing with 4 more rushing scores. Most of all, he makes the Eagles a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
2. Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—He hasn’t played a game since we last did this, so why penalize him except to let Vick take the top spot?
3. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—Did you see Brady screaming at his offensive linemen in the middle of a rout of Pittsburgh on the road? Dude is not messing around.
4. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Quietly has his team contending again, despite guys off the street to throw to.
5. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Like Rivers, Manning is getting it done without a strong receiving corps.
6. Eli Manning, New York Giants—Little brother deserves love too. Why? The Giants are 6-3 and he has 19 TD passes. And half of his 13 picks were not his fault.
7. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons—Yeah, we’re QB heavy, but aren’t the real voters?
8. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—On pace for 2202 all-purpose yards and 20 touchdowns.
9. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—Off last week, so we’ll let Matthews and his 11 sacks hang out here some more.
10. Brandon Lloyd, Denver Broncos—Really? 48 catches for 968 yards? That’s a ridiculous 20.2 yards per catch
If we had a playoff system, today would have been a very dramatic day in college football. Instead, games that would have had huge national championship implications with an eight-team playoff system were just big games that affected the bowl picture. What a waste.
One of the dumber arguments repeated by defenders of the current BCS system involves the excitement surrounding games as teams battle for the top two spots. Sure, many games are exciting throughout the year with this system, but so many more games would be exciting to fans across the country if teams were battling for eight spots instead of two.
Let’s assume we had a system that had the top eight BCS teams square off in a playoff format for the national championship. Heading into this weekend, the top 25 teams in the BCS were as follows:
1 Oregon
2 Auburn
3 TCU
4 Boise State
5 LSU
6 Stanford
7 Wisconsin
8 Nebraska
9 Ohio State
10 Oklahoma State
11 Alabama
12 Michigan State
13 Arkansas
14 Oklahoma
15 Missouri
16 Virginia Tech
17 South Carolina
18 Nevada
19 Texas A&M
20 Iowa
21 Mississippi State
22 Arizona
23 Utah
24 Miami (FL)
25 Florida State
With several weekends left, many teams still had a shot at the final eight, so all of the games involving the top 15 teams would have serious implications for the national title hunt. This week produced a number of wild games that went down to the wire, and college football fans would have been glued to their big screens watching the final minutes as #5 LSU survived against Ole Miss in a dizzying fourth quarter. Meanwhile, #8 Nebraska was clinging to the last playoff spot, until they suffered a 9-6 upset at the hands of #19 Texas A&M. This was great news for Ohio State fans, as the #9 Buckeyes survived their own nail-biter against #20 Iowa with a huge fourth down run from Terrelle Pryor on the game-winning drive to put them in a position to move into that last playoff spot. That must have killed Oklahoma State fans, as they probably needed the Buckeyes to lose in order to claim that last spot. Next week they would have been gathering in bars and the homes of family and friends to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game, hoping that RichRod’s hapless defense could rise to the occasion and help to pull a miracle upset against the Buckeyes.
Fans of all the teams ranked within striking distance of the top eight would have been in a frenzy watching all of these games, and all college football fans would have enjoyed all of the games that much more with playoff spots at stake. Also, many rivalry games would take on that much more importance. Next week, Michigan fans would have something huge to play for in addition to their classic rivalry with Ohio State. Instead of hoping to deny the Buckeyes a chance at a playoff berth for the national championship, they would just be playing to deny them a share of the Big Ten title. Big deal. Apart from a general interest in that game from college football fans, a playoff system would make that game and many other games must-see TV for practically all college football fans.
Instead, we’re just waiting to see if Oregon and Auburn get beat so that we can watch TCU and Boise State play for the most meaningless national championship in the history of college football.
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