| God bless laterals and surprise onside
kicks. They’re so much more fun than pitchouts in baseball or behind-the-back passes
in basketball. No one outside of St. Louis and Indianapolis is necessarily happy
that the Rams and Colts squeaked into the playoffs. But think about how much more fun
they’ll make the postseason experience. Don’t tell me you’d rather be
watching the Lions and Steelers. Think about it. And calling the Rams a No. 6 seed is like
calling the Knicks a No. 8 seed.
The Vikings are in trouble if Bubby Brister has to go in place of Daunte
Culpepper. The Broncos, on the other hand, may continue to be just fine if Gus Frerotte
has to go in place of Brian Griese.
No team has lost its last three regular-season games and won the Super Bowl.
Good luck, Minnesota.
You may really want to wish the Vikings luck too when you take into account the
fact the Vikings came into Sunday’s game at Indianapolis having surrendered points in
14 of their opponents’ last 16 possessions. They really buckled down vs. the Colts,
though, holding them to just five scores in 11 possessions.
How many times do you think the weather reporters in Philadelphia will be looked
to for the forecast for this weekend’s game vs. the Buccaneers? Currently the running
total for the Bucs is 0-19 when it’s under 40 degrees. Somewhere along the line I
think Tampa Bay has to get it done before they’re allowed to play in the Super Bowl
— a right of passage if you will.
How bad is Seattle’s defense? The Seahawks only held one opponent all
season under 300 yards of offense, while seven foes torched them for at least 400. In
contrast, the Ravens held 12 opponents under 300 yards of offense and were lit up for
better than 400 just twice.
If you think the Ravens’ offense still leaves a lot to be desired, however,
you guessed right. Trent Dilfer and the boys couldn’t even score a touchdown on the
hapless Cardinals in Week 16. Then they mustered a whopping five first downs and were
outscored three touchdowns to one by their own defense and special teams.
Oh, the Jets did have a chance at making the playoffs. But it’s those
things called three-game losing streaks (two of them) that tend to come back to haunt you.
The Jets sat at 4-0, 6-1 and 9-4 before being bounced out of the playoff picture.
Is it just me, or was there an inordinate number of interception and fumble
returns for touchdowns this season? It seemed as though each week outdid the previous one
as the season wore on.
Let’s see, just how many quarterbacks were hurt this week?
Brian Griese, Daunte Culpepper, Kurt Warner, Shane Matthews, Charlie Batch, Dilfer and
Tony Banks. That’s why there shouldn’t be much complaining with the
league’s tendency to protect the passers when it can. OK, maybe a little, but having
the stars of the game on the sideline with a thumb where it isn’t supposed to be or
feeling as if they just ate a bucketful of bad oysters is not good for the game.
To think there were snickers around the room when I took Marshall Faulk with the
sixth pick in Pro Football Weekly’s fantasy football draft last year. What a
difference two years makes.
Mike Anderson rushed for 1,500 yards and played basically in just 13 games.
Faulk scored 26 times and missed two games because of arthroscopic knee surgery.
That’s what I call production.
And speaking of production, it’s tough to find a better WR tandem than the
"Century Brothers" out in Denver, Ed McCaffrey and Rod Smith. Not only do they
catch a ton of passes, but they block as well as any receivers in the business. The
Broncos’ offensive line gets a lot of credit, and for good reason, but watch next
week vs. the Ravens to see who springs Mike Anderson a lot of the time. |
