ATBNG

"These guys on (bad team) are playing for their jobs next year." Effort is always important, and can say something about a player's character, but come on! The Texans, for instance, are going to have an entirely new coaching staff and management team. The chances of the last game being very meaningful in their high level decisions are waaaaay lower than the media claims. Meanwhile, the lower level guys are always going to be evaluated by they perform during the entirety of training camp, and not in some meaningless week 17 "going through the motions" game. Plus, I'd be inclined to be highly suspicious for any player that saved his best game for this week. Well, any player but Antowain Smith.

I'm speaking in a "trying to predict how the media will vote" way MH. If they went undefeated, then Dungy could have won, but at 15-1 or 14-2 they will not vote for him. They were the preseason Super Bowl favorites, and they've done about what was expected. "Coach of the Year" is always given to some coach that is on a team that exceeded expectations or has a substantial turnaround from last year. Without that undefeated mark, no coach that was on a team that was expected to win double digit games can win. BuffOrange mentioned Shanahan. He has no chance. I bet that a Super Bowl winning coach has never won coach of the year subsequently while with the same organization (I'm pretty sure Parcells won it in New England in 1994). Someone, somewhere (I forget who) in the media was talking in earnest about Mike Tice being coach of the year yesterday. That says all you need to know about that award.

Coughlin should get some votes, as will Marvin Lewis. Dungy probably lost it today. Smith should win. It's a dumb award, because it's so media driven. The media thought the Bears would stink, and they ended up playing well, so the coach must have done a great job (evn though the media's preseason assessment just could have been BS).

I disagree. I thought the replay was inconclusive. One of those plays that the call on the field has to stick.

Wow, that's quite a prediction you made MBD. Kudos. My turn! * I predict that Tiki Barber will get more than ten touches today. * I also predict Chad Johnson will catch at least one ball tomorrow, and gain at least ten yards. * Reggie Bush is going to go in the top five of the draft barring an injury in the championship game. * At some point tomorrow night, Paul Maguire is going to instruct me to "watch this!"

Deion Branch is really, really good at running routes - one of the best I've ever seen. He almost always picks up blitzes and cuts off his routes accordingly. Scarnecchia (the OL line coach; Patriot coach for life) has also done a magnificent job this year. They've had no continuity on the line in terms of personnel and have lost probably their two best players in Light and Koppen. The protection has been outstanding the last three weeks - they got some pressures today, but Tampa has an above average defense. Yes, yes, yes on the jingle bells JinVA. Took away an unnecesary 10% of the screen as well. Meanwhile, this is the nicest day we've had up here in three weeks. Nauseating.

Miami at NE is in week 17. You need a 3-0 from the Dolphins and an 0-3 from the Pats to have a shot, because NE has the tiebreaker already.

I don't believe this. Philly took a couple games off last year to finish the season, and New England played out the string. I think either path can be correct based on the team. Dungy rested a lot of his starters last year as well and they absolutely jacked Denver the next week. It's a tough situation for Dungy, but his primary goal should be to win the Super Bowl. One thing no one mentions is that the '72 Dolphins won't go away because they also finished the deal and won the rings. They wouldn't be out and about popping champagne if they had lost in the playoffs.

I would guess that most folks would say that the 12 extra fumbles aren't worth the extra 250 yards, and I think McGahee is better in terms of blocking and blitz pickup. The 50 sacks per season pace that the Bills had while Henry played absolutely kills a team (Drew and the line were also complicit in those stats, but the RB switch showed a distinct change in that trend in 2004). Look at Domanick Davis. He makes his fantasy owners happy by bailing on his blocking assignment to run routes, but it's not what that very weak offense needs to give it a shot to be productive, and Carr has gotten pummeled this season. The salary point though is a good one. It's doubtful that Willis will ever be a "value" running back in his career due to Rosenhaus. I also think that he may have had too many carries last year - he had a lot of games with 30+ rushes, and as others noted it takes a couple years to come back from AllCL surgery. The heavy workload in 2004 may have extended that recovery time to 100% - he may be stuck in the 85-90% range.

I've heard Belichick single out Fletcher for praise on three separate occasions over the last two years. Admires his productivity, versatility, and durability.

You got to think that some of those folks with HOF votes will have seen him play a few games here and there. Also, consider that he's been cut and he's been benched (sort of) on separate occasions. Even projecting these two or three more years of "numbers," that shouldn't happen to a Hall of Fame quarterback ostensibly in his prime. Any analysis of Drew's career that extends beyond the superficial will result in the voter downgrading what he has accomplished (assuming nothing changes).

Life as a receiver has been a lot more difficult for Eric than Marvin. Harrison does not takes hits and either goes down or out of bounds on 90% of his receptions. It's also safe to say that Harrison's average reception has the football in a more accurate spot than Moulds's average reception over the years (better QB's, dome). Harrison's also been on an offensively oriented team that consistently spends 2/3 of its money on offense. Moulds has been doubled on the majority of his routes run in the league. That takes a toll. I've always felt that Moulds compares very favorably to Harrison in terms of career performance because of those factors. Considering the way he plays the position, I doubt Harrison would have thrived if he and Moulds switched places on draft day. He would have been good (no denying the talent), but he's had the perfect situation to generate HOF numbers at the WR position. Nevertheless, I think the more difficult ten years in the league that Moulds has played through now makes it more likely that EM will decline first. Moulds still however could be a big hit with a good offensive team. I've always been and remain a big fan of his.

Right after he wins "Sportsman of the Year." Those guys have no historical cache. Sure.

"Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, and Paul McGuire have been rehired by the NFL for the 2006 season."

I definitely want to see them lose. They're like the Yankees - emotionally, I am rooting for them to lose no matter how I might try to intellectualize the situation (for instance, I couldn't root for the Yanks in 2001). I'm not exactly a huge fan of the Steelers, but it was amazing how much I was pulling for them Monday night. I suppose it is a sign of respect for the Colts in a way. They are playing so well. Their offensive line has amazing synergy. Those two passes that Manning threw to Harrison were awesome - the second one that he rifled into the cover 2 hole thirty yards down the field was even better than the TD. They avoid turnovers and injuries. The defensive speed proved to be an asset against a "grass" team like Pittsburgh. Steelers did show one thing - you must play physical with their WR's (especially Harrison, who always avoids contact and will overreact as he did Monday), but they didn't have the team to get it done. Great pick by Polamalu, by the way. Even though the game ultimately wasn't close, I thought it was a good game to watch.

So Rivers=RJ????

I do like Houston - I have to say. This is their Super Bowl, and KC is not a very good team. I think they're going to beat them. Also like NO and San Francisco to play games that go down to the wire. I don't like Cincy. Indy will beat them easily. Cincy showed a lack of mental toughness in that Pitt game. I expect the Cincy defense to be making big mistakes jumping routes prematurely and all that stuff and for Peyton to do basically what he wants against them. Also, I think Tennessee is a live dog at home today against the Jags.

Jake Plummer or Eli Manning today? I went with Eli (Jets still defend the pass well) but it is extremely close.

I think that when you look back at a season for any team in the NFL, you'll usually see one glaring result that makes no empirical sense. Best example last year was Atlanta's 50 something points that they gave up to KC last year. Strange things can also happen in week one, and conditioning assuredly was a factor in that first game - Denver trains in mild thin air, and they have to start their season in Miami.

Gado has to start. I'd start him and Rudi.

Buffalo jacked Seattle last year by a very healthy margin.

No - that's a great point - that team was loaded like no other at the skill positions, but in general, the yard totals for QB's and (probably even more so) WR's has a great deal of inflation today that needs to be accounted for. Fouts is a bad comparison because he did have that cast, as well as play in the division that was ahead of its time in terms of style. It's not to say that Drew sucks, but that it is not correct to look at his career yards and say that tells the whole story. His career W/L record is right around .500 despite having logged 7 out of his 13 years under Hall of Fame coaches.

Bill - if Fouts and Bledsoe played in the same era, who do you think would have had more TD passes? Comparing the two is a little like comparing baseball statistics - would Rafael Palmeiro have more HR's than Mickey Mantle if they played in the same era? The NFL over the last fifteen years has adapted its rules to make the game more pass and thus QB-stat friendly.

So, let me see if I have this straight. Buftex thinks the 1996 Patriots were carried "to" the Super Bowl by Bledsoe, and that they had "no" defense, even though they gave up no touchdowns in the two preceding playoff games. MBD thinks Bledsoe "carried" the team in the actual Super Bowl, even though he had four interceptions in the game. Here's an accurate assessment of that team. You had a well coached overachieving team in New England in 1996 that got a huge break when Mark Brunell played the game of his life and helped upend Denver in Denver. Brunell's was a performance for the ages in that game. The Pats were a playoff team that had a lot of things go their way to get to the Super Bowl. They had a good offense - Coates was in his prime, Martin was really good all year long, and they got some nice contributions from Byers, Meggett and Glenn (set the rookie record for receptions that season). They had probably a better defense, but a lot of the raw talent on it was young (Law, Milloy, Ted Johnson, McGinest, Chris Slade) and Favre, directly in the prime of his Hall-of-Fame career, was not challenged in that final game. Desmond Howard also made a huge play returning a kickoff for a TD, capping his fine, fine season that year. The game landed on the point spread (14) - it was a pretty normal Super Bowl by that standard. Bledsoe had a good season (statistically his best in New England), and threw a lot of passes as he did throughout the Parcells era, but he didn't carry them to the game. He didn't carry them in the game. If you want to give credit to anyone for that run, I think Bill Parcells gets the brunt of it. Charlie Armey also should be recognized for his personnel work - especially his fantastic 1995 draft (Law, Martin, Ted Johnson, and Woulabaugh). Before Johnson started tearing his biceps every training camp, he was one heck of a runstopping linebacker. The two now-Jets speak for themselves, and are both legitimate HOF candidates (with Curtis a surefire lock).

I think he's wrong. Usually comments like these reflect a miscalculation about what would happen, but if you come into the season open minded the NFL always, always delivers an entertaining product.