Shut up and play...and ruminations on the potential Santana trade

This has been a tiresome week for me.

I live in Whine Country in Maryland.

I watch the boards and read various articles about the NFL games for several days after the games end on Sunday and Monday. For weeks I have heard fans of other teams bitch and moan about the lack of class of the Patriots. This week I have heard, both locally, and nationally (mostly in interviews with Ravens) how the officials took the game from them (thankfully the national press has pretty much said what follows here...well, with the exception of my sentiments on Samari Rolle).

To that, I answer the following - since Belichick took over, you have never heard players blame each other for any of their losses (Peyton Manning, I'm looking at you), you have never heard the Patriots blame the officials (Ravens, I'm looking at you). The team has gone longer than any other team in the NFL without a player arrested (Bengals, Redskins, Cardinals, Bears, Dolphins, and...well the rest of the NFL, I'm looking at you). The team hasn't had any assistant coaches get into trouble on their own time (Detroit, and Arizona). As a matter of fact, other than Belichick being named in a divorce proceeding and the tragedy that took Marquise Hill, the Patriots are pretty much in the news for playing football.

As for the Ravens and their fan base, the idea that the refs took that game from them is patently ridiculous. While I have made many of the following points elsewhere myself, I would like to thank Peter King for the following summary of the end of Monday night's game -

• New England ball, fourth-and-1, Baltimore 30, 1:48 left, Baltimore up 24-20. At the last second before the snap, Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan calls timeout. The play went on, with Baltimore stuffing Tom Brady for a loss and, theoretically, that should have been New England's last gasp. One problem.
Only the head coach is supposed to be able to call time on the sidelines. But in
this case, the league has interpreted the rule on a last-millisecond timeout call that the side official cannot be responsible for seeing whether it's the head coach or another coach who calls time. So it's technically legal for Ryan to have called the timeout, and the league's point is the head coach is responsible for controlling his bench. In this case, Brian Billick has to be responsible for his sideline, and when Ryan calls time, the burden is on Billick to accept the call because it happened on the Baltimore sideline.
• New England ball, fourth-and-5, Baltimore 13, 55 seconds left, Baltimore up 24-20. Brady retreats to pass. From the right side of the line, tight end Ben Watson runs downfield into the end zone, with nickel back Jamaine Winborne riding him tightly downfield. Once Watson gets past the 8-yard line, it's illegal for Winborne to have anything but incidental contact with Watson, but he clearly has an arm on him well past the 8, and all the way into the end zone. Maybe the call should have been holding, maybe the call should have been illegal contact, but it was a legitimate call, not a ticky-tack one. Winborne impeded Watson's path.
The back judge, Billy Smith, called holding, a five-yard penalty and automatic
first down. I would have called illegal contact, but both penalties have the same impact, which is to give the Patriots a first-and-goal at the Baltimore 8. Great guts by Smith to make a call in that atmosphere.
• New England ball, first-and-goal, Baltimore 8, 50 seconds left. Brady throws to the left corner of the end zone for Jabar Gaffney, who catches the ball in front of his body with both hands while getting both feet down. During the time he gets both feet down, Gaffney moves the ball in front of him but never takes either gloved hand off
the ball and never juggles the ball. It is ruled a touchdown, and there is a booth review ordered by replay official Dale Hamer. The play is reviewed by ref Walt Anderson and confirmed. Let's remember what replay is: It's to be used to overturn a call only if there is indisputable visual evidence that the call is wrong. There's no way you can look at this play -- and I've seen it 10 times, in slow-motion -- and say there's clear evidence he didn't have control of the ball.
• Baltimore ball, second-and-10, Baltimore 45, eight seconds left. Kyle Boller throws a Hail Mary to the 3-yard line, and, in the middle of the scrum, Baltimore wideout Derrick Mason puts his hands on Patriot cornerback Asante Samuel's shoulders and pulls Samuel down. Mark Clayton makes the catch and is tackled at the three. There is no flag. Big mistake. There certainly should have been offensive pass interference ... but even if that was the call, it would not have changed the outcome. Because the clock expired, and the game can end on an offensive penalty, the game would have been over without the Ravens having another chance to score.

Let's also address Samari Rolle's complaint about the 53-year old former player, and official who called him "boy at least five times." The large black man whom Rolle accused, by his own admission, of having "never strapped on a helmet," in relation to what Rolle felt were bogus calls.

The more that comes out about Rolles complaint, the more it sounds like he incited the ref. Rolle claims that he was told by 110, "boy, shut up and play." Part of his complaint is that Rolle himself is 31 years old and a father of three, and "you don't call a grown man 'boy.'" To which I say, maybe he should act like a grown man and accept responsibility for his actions, and not blame the refs for his teammates screw-ups.

This will result in a talking to the officials by Goodell, but it should also result in a smackdown on the Ravens who seem to think that the officials are trying to help the Patriots by edict from the league offices.

One of the most ridiculous accusations is that the league wants to help Bill Belichick, who has pretty much become the NFL version of Darth Vader in everyone's eyes, win. It was obvious in the way the game against the Colts was officiated, and the way the officials helped AJ Feeley toss three picks, and of course the way the officials ignored an obvious penalty on the Baltimore Hail Mary in the closing seconds. If Clayton gets into the end zone, that's a potentially game changing play on which the refs blew the call. Do Ravens fans think the NFL told the refs to blow that call too?

Bottom line, they need to get their heads out of their asses and really look at how that game was called. Yes, it was poorly officiated, but it was poorly officiated on both sides. And if the second most penalized team in the AFC really thinks that the refs were quick to throw the flags on them, then maybe it has a lot less to do with the Patriots record than the fact that year in and year out they play disciplined football, and, as such, are one of the least penalized teams in the league. That might have followed the Ravens into the game more than any conspiracy by the NFL to keep the Patriots without a loss.

If they don't want the flags thrown, maybe they should try playing with discipline - hell, Ed Reed was five yards off-sides on an extra-point attempt. How often do you see that?

As for Santana, and I'm not talking the guitar legend...

I'm pretty much on record at a number of other blogs as not in favor of this trade. Johan Santana is a superb power pitcher whom I would love to see on the Red Sox for the right price. The deals as structured combined with the rumored contract demands are not the right price. Maybe if Santana were 27, it would be, but he's 29, has already pitched over 1300 big league innings, has faded down the stretch and has been mediocre, at best, in the post season.

This doesn't even take into account Santana's Fenway park numbers - 1-3 (15.2 innings) in three starts and one relief appearance with a 6.89 ERA, 12 K and a 1.85 WHIP. The only win came in the relief appearance and his last Fenway start was 5 innings with a 7.20 ERA. Part of what has hurt Santana in Fenway is the fact that he's a flyball pitcher. Those flyballs that are outs in the Metrodome are going to be doubles off the wall in Fenway.

I can't help but feel that given the fact that Jon Lester is 23, was solid in a year that he came off cancer, and put up better numbers in his first year than Santana in his first, I can't help feeling that giving the Twins Lester and three to four prospects that will likely be playing in the majors within the next two seasons, that the Red Sox are grossly overpaying ala the Vikings for Herschel Walker for a bauble they don't really need. What surprises me here is that the Twins haven't jumped on this offer, given that the Sox are currently not bidding against anyone else.

Why do I compare this to the Walker trade? I think, like Walker in Minnesota, that Santana will have limited success in Fenway, and that his propensity to give up flyballs will negate any upgrade he would otherwise represent over Lester who is likely to average 14 to 16 wins per season over the next couple of seasons (health permitting).

Power pitchers who begin to develop elbow problems like Santana has been exhibiting begin to show significant drop off in numbers between the ages of 33 and 35. Given Santana's demands, I can't help feeling that in four years that the Sox would be paying $20 to 25 million per year and dealing with the same situation that the Mets did this year with Pedro Martinez - paying gobs of money for a guy who couldn't get off the bench until late August due to injury.

And none of this takes into account the domino effect of paying Santana obscene gobs of money in spite of the fact that he's nowhere near the post-season pitcher that Beckett...or for that matter, Lester is.

Given the way last year's JD Drew signing went down, it feels like Theo has become enamored of another shiny bauble that the team doesn't need, and is bidding against himself in an effort to get it.

I understand not being able to do Lester straight up for Santana, even Lester and one player, but Lester and three seems too much for a team that doesn't actually need Santana. Don't even get me started on Buchholz or Ellsbury, neither of which I think should be included in any deal for the Twins ace.

Scraping the bottom

Sometimes in professional sports, scraping bottom isn't about finishing last. Sometimes its about the fact that the franchise is run into the ground for so long that employees feel like they go to work in a cave somewhere far below the level of the rest of the respective league - bad drafting, bad coaching, bad free agent signings, bad executive decisions (budget, contracts, etc.).

Some teams are so bad in a given season that they become a benchmark against which other teams are measured - the 1962 New York Mets won only 40 games; in the team's first season the Buccaneers lost all 14 regular season games, becoming the first NFL team to do so in the Super Bowl era; the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers won nine while losing 73.

Sometimes, as I said, it's less about the single season then it is about sustained periods of putrescence. Some teams just historically have issues - the Cubs, Browns, and Clippers have been the sad sacks of their respective leagues for years.

But who are the teams scraping bottom now?

Let's start with the worst of the worst -

The New York Knicks - The Isiah Years. Not including the partial season of 2003 - 2004 that Isiah Thomas has presided over this team as team president/GM and/or coach, and not including this season's sterling start, Isiah Thomas has managed to pad his resume with the following facts -

• The team has an aggregate record of 89 -157. Currently the team is on pace for roughly a 25 win season.
• Thomas himself has been embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal, found guilty by a jury of his peers.
• He has put together a team of individuals with the highest payroll in the league, but has never been able to get the team to .500.
• He has publicly feuded with his team's biggest star, Stephon Marbury, who claims he has the goods on Thomas and also admitted to sleeping with a team intern.
• Owner James Dolan has publicly supported Thomas, going as far as to say that he believed that Thomas was doing a good job and had the team headed in the right direction.

Sure, there are other teams that have finished below the Knicks in the standings (last year's Celtics for one), but none have had the combination of futility on the court, in front office, and in the court rooms as the Knicks have had.

The Knicks were, at one point, one the NBA's most storied franchises. Now they're the punchline.

A close second? The Matt Millen Detroit Lions - Like the Dolan owned Knicks, the ownership of the Lions is in serious denial about their general manager, Matt Millen. Millen has drafted poorly, made poor hirings of coaches, and has played the free-agent market like a neophyte stock broker on Wall Street. Like the Knicks, there have been teams that finished behind them, but no other team has been as consistently bad.

To wit, under Millen,

• Detroit had an assistant coach arrested for indecent exposure. Said coach faced no significant consequences from the team.
• The team has set a record for futility with six straight seasons of double digit losses, and are sitting at 6-6 this season after a four game losing streak (no general manager in NFL history has presided over any team with as many 10+ losses per season). With games remaining against Dallas, San Diego, Kansas City, and Green Bay, a seventh straight season isn't out of the question.
• Has gone through at least three head coaches.
• Repeatedly drafted wide receivers with a top ten pick when the team had glaring needs at other places like offensive and defensive line.

Number three is, of course, the Miami Dolphins - Since 1998, this might be a team with some of the worst personnel decisions in the NFL. Consider that starters tend to hit their stride in their third or fourth year - particularly the later round picks.

And the result of their drafting futility?

• In the six drafts from 1998 to 2003, Miami had 59 choices. It exercised 46 of those picks and used 13 other choices in trades to acquire veteran players. Only Ricky Williams, acquired in a draft day deal as one of those 13 other choices, is on the current Dolphins roster (with thanks to Peter King for these numbers).
• They weathered the Nick Saban experiment.
• And while the jury is out, picking a glorified and injured kick returner with their first rounder just goes against conventional wisdom from a personnel standpoint.

Amazing for a team that once was a perennial power in the AFC East.

Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and the Baltimore Orioles - Sure, I'm grouping these three together because these three teams prove that it doesn't matter how big or small a team's budget is when ownership has no idea what it's doing. Continuing a recent history of futility, the Pirates and Devil Rays have become nothing more than glorified triple A teams cultivating talent for the rest of the league. The Orioles and George Steinbrenner wannabe, Peter Angelos has shown that a team can go out and spend money and still suck.

Were it not for the fact that the Marlins have established a pattern of binging and purging in order to win championships, they would make this list as well.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Patriots won last night.

As a New England fan, that's pretty much the good of it.

I suppose you can throw in the following facts as well - when the chips were down, the Pats came up big while the Ravens made the mistakes that lose you games. Even when the Pats made mistakes, they turned them to an advantage - like a late penalty before the snap that negated a fourth down play that would have given the Ravens the ball back with less than a minute-and-a-half to play. Instead, it was fourth and six, and Tom Brady scrambled for a first down.

Oh...and the forced fumble by Kevin Faulk after Brady was intercepted just before the half was probably worth at least a three point swing in the final score of 27-24.

As for the bad and the ugly...well, there was a whole lot of that in this game.

This was, for Brady and the wideouts, a bad game. Brady completed less than 50 percent of his passes, including a couple of poor throws (the interception at the end of the first half and the ricochet off a Raven helmet in the red zone late in the game come to mind). The receivers dropped a number of balls that hit them on the hands - Randy Moss had at least two and tight end Ben Watson one. Of those, at least two of them would have accounted for touchdowns and an 11 point swing (Watson's unforced error in the back of the end zone turned into a field goal attempt).

Asante Samuel was bad. He was picked on, and he made few plays. The biggest play he made was for the Ravens when he misplayed a 15-yard sideline pass into a 50+ yard reception in the first half.

The refereeing was bad as well, although I would say not as bad as the Colts game. The refs left calls on the field against both teams. I will even grant that the Pats touchdown to Jabar Gaffney was borderline, but I also don't believe there was enough to merit overturning the call on the field. Of course none of this matters since Raven Bart Scott was undergoing a meltdown which would have given the Pats the ball with four fresh downs on the Raven two yard line.

As for the Ravens public claim that the officials were trying to give the game to the Patriots, they might want to re-watch the film of the bomb at the end when the official kept the flag in his pocket in spite of the fact that Derrick Mason did not play the ball. Replays clearly show that Mason threw a block on Asante Samuel, the closest defensive back to receiver Mark Clayton who came down with the ball. Not only did Mason hit Samuel, he then wrapped the corner from behind, aiding Mason in making the reception that almost won the game for the Ravens.

Yeah, refs conspiring to get the Patriots an undefeated season are going to ignore that every time, I'm sure.

As for the ugly...

The Patriots run defense was ugly through most of the game, as Willis McGahee carved up the Pats (at least until the game was on the line late in the fourth quarter). The Pats secondary was also carved up for the second week running by a career second string quarterback.

That the Ravens can't come to terms with the fact that their own mistakes killed them is ugly.

What could possibly have been the ugliest is what the Ravens allege about one of the refs calling Sumari Rolle "boy," throughout the game...were the ref white. Head linesman Phil McKinley, a black man and former player in the late sixties and early seventies (ie: the man grew up during segregation and the Civil Rights Movement). Given the background of the "name caller" I would say that Rolle and his teammates are looking for any reason to try and discredit a mediocre officiating staff just because they don't want to accept responsibility for melting down in their loss.

On a different note - the time of year has come again for the annual weight loss contest. Husband and wife teams: me and my wife, my wife's sister and her husband. Whichever pair drops a combined 40 pounds first, or whichever pair has the greatest combined weight loss by May 1 wins. I weighed 188.5 yesterday. Let the games begin.

Philosophical sports question of the week...

If a Major League Baseball player is a "major leaguer," and a National Hockey League player, is in the "big leagues," and a player in the National Football League is a "pro," then does that make a player in the National Basketball Association an "associate?" Too WalMart?

Greed

Greed will be the undoing of Theo Epstein this off-season. If reports are true regarding the Red Sox including likely rookie of the year candidate Jacoby Ellsbury in a trade for Johann Santana, and it's not the bluff that Dave over at The Coffin Corner hopes, then Larry Lucchino needs to step in now.

Sure, getting Santana would be a major move and keep the Sox as favorites in the East for years to come with a rotation of Beckett, Santana, Matsuzaka, and whoever the Sox have left after the trade to fill in the back end of the rotation. However, he's not worth anywhere near what Minnesota is asking - particularly if half his starts are coming in Fenway Park.

I noted the following in response to one of the postings at the Coffin Corner, because I wanted to note what no one has been saying about this deal from the Red Sox end of things -

Everyone is talking about his greatness, nobody is talking about the fact Theo is trying to bring a fly ball pitcher to Fenway who has a career 6.89 ERA when playing in Boston, or the fact that he's 1-4 in five post-season appearances with 3.97 ERA.

The Sox already have a lefty with better postseason numbers - Lester - 2-0 in two appearances with a 1.93 ERA.

At 23 and coming off of cancer treatment, Lester still has tremendous up-side. This season, coming back from injury Lester had a 0.77 Ground ball to fly ball ratio, worse than Santana's career ration of 0.88. However, last year, before Lester's health failed him, his ratio was 1.03 (in 81.1 innings pitched with a 4.76 ERA). In 2000, Santana's first season with the Twins, he tossed 86 innings with a 6.49 ERA to go with the 0.88 ratio (for those out there that don't get the ratio, the lower that number, the higher the number of flies given up by the pitcher).

From everything I have read about recovery from the sort of lymphoma that Lester suffered from, he won't be 100 percent until the start of the 2008 season - and he still posted a lower ERA this season than last.

I would be worried that the Sox were giving up way too much for a pitcher that hasn't been very good in Fenway through his career.

Many out there point out that Santana is more accomplished than Lester, and that Lester is unlikely to reach Santana's level. To that I say, I would rather have the solid middle of the rotation guy who comes up big in the postseason, than the ace who might account for maybe six more wins during the regular season, but disappears in the postseason.

I hate to say it, but right now, Santana is the A-Rod of pitching. He's a pretty bauble that hasn't been able to seal the deal when the pressure was on to bring home a championship.

Keep the everyday player. Keep the two major league ready pitching prospects. Let the Yankees gut their youth once again for a player who has on-year followed by off-year, and doesn't show up in the big games.

Take your chances Theo with what you have. Santana isn't what the Sox need.

Five weeks left...

With five weeks left in the regular season, there are certain truths that have become crystal clear in the NFL. Barring collapses of epic proportions, Green Bay and Dallas should represent their respective divisions in the playoffs and be the one and two seeds in the NFC. With a win tonight, Green Bay would clinch the NFC North.

The Patriots have five teams to go through to tie Miami's single season record for consecutive wins. The teams with the best chance to stop it between now and then is the ones that get the most creative in the way they play. Philly already proved that.

The Dolphins have a strong chance to go 0-16. Miami has lost six games by three points, and their best chance for a win will probably come against the offensively deficient Ravens in December.

Currently in the NFC, the wild card standings are as follows -

1. NY Giants
2. Detroit Lions
3. NO Saints
4. Arizona Cardinals
5. Philadelphia Eagles
6. Washington Redskins

I'll call it right now. The Giants and the Cardinals get in, Detroit will struggle to their first non-double digit loss season since the 2000 at 7-9, and this will mark Donovan McNabb's last season in Philadelphia.

The current wild card standings in the AFC -

1. Jacksonville Jaguars
2. Cleveland Browns
3. Tennessee Titans
4. Denver Broncos
5. Buffalo Bills

The most likely changes in the AFC playoff picture really take into account the possibility that the Colts could end up the top wild card entry and the Broncos could knock the Chargers out of the playoff picture. With the soft final five for the Browns, I wouldn't rule out Cleveland and Pittsburgh tying with an 11-5, or even a 12-4 record. However, a tie still puts the Browns behind the Steelers by virtue of their two losses to the Steelers and no better than the fifth seed, no matter how bad the record of the AFC West champion is.

Let the games begin.

Superman wears the number 80

A hearty welcome back to Troy Brown.

For over a decade Troy Brown has been everything for the Patriots - special teams demon, slot receiver, third-down threat, number one receiver, pro-bowl receiver, nickel corner, third string quarterback (and Kordell Stewart was nicknamed Slash?!). Today he was activated when Rosevelt Colvin was shut down for the season.

With Colvin shut down, the Patriots resigned Chad Brown and, as I previously speculated would happen, released rookie defensive lineman Kareem Brown (expect Brown to be signed to the practice squad, if possible).

Superman is back for what may be his last hurrah before going off into that sunset.

Coincidentally, Troy makes his return to a team that is already six deep at wide out with Randy Moss, Dante Stallworth, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney, Kelley Washington, and Chad Jackson. However, for those watching Sunday night's game, it might have been noticed that the defensive backfield was a little strapped with career special-teamer Eddie Jackson seeing significant time.

Don't be surprised if the Patriot's elder statesman goes out with six guns a blazing from the nickel or dime corner position, covering opponents' slot receivers rather than catching passes.

Welcome back Superman. Hope to see you on the field this Sunday.

RIP

Has there ever been a year like this for professional football?

Early this morning Sean Taylor, the 24-year old starting safety for the Washington Redskins died from a gunshot wound to the leg sustained during a home invasion last night.

Taylor becomes the 40th player or coach to have passed away since January 1 of this year. That number includes four active players in the NFL, all 24 years old at the time of death: Broncos corner Darrent Williams (shot on January 1), Broncos back-up running back Damien Nash (heart failure after a charity basketball game on February 24) Pats defensive lineman Marquise Hill (drowned trying to rescue a friend on May 27), and Sean Taylor, as previously noted, early this morning.

He is the second in 11 months whose life was ended by a bullet.

Makes one wonder what Tank Johnson will take from all this....I digress...

This is, of course, tragic in many ways - families grieve for members taken from them far too soon, several had children who will learn about their fathers second hand, and least of all - we will never know if these four ever came close to fulfilling their true potential on the field. Team mates mourn, but the games go on, as do they.

Of the remaining 35, six were 55 or younger; former Charger Mike Mooney (37); former Patriot Darryl Stingley (55); former Giant Johnny Perkins (54); former 49er and Redskin special teams ace Kevin Mitchell (36); former Buccaneer Ron Hall (43); and former Packer, Skin, and Phin Nate Hill (41).

Among the other notables - three members of Lombardi's Packers passed - Jim Ringo, Max McGee, and Bill Forester. Former Eagles player and Patriots GM Bucko Kilroy died in July, as did Mr. 49er, Bill Walsh. Sam Dana, earlier this year thought to be the oldest living football player (Hartford Blues and New York Yankees), died at the age of 104 in October.

Overall the causes of death have ranged from natural (Dana), to the gunshot wounds suffered by both Taylor and Williams, to the tragic accidental death of Marquise Hill. Other causes include a variety of diseases such as Walsh's battle with Liekemia, former Cleveland Brown George Ratterman's (80) decline into the final stages of Alzheimer's, to Ken Kavanaugh's combination of age (90) and pneumonia.

Somehow I find it ironic that none of those who have passed away played for the NFL's oldest franchise - the Cardinals.

The NFL and its teams often refer to themselves as family - the NFL Family, the Redskins Family, and so on...well, here are the losses that the NFL family, and it's sub families have suffered this year -

Washington Redskins -

Sean Taylor, d. Nov 27, 24 yrs old
Nate Hill, d. Sept 18, 41 years old (also played for the Packers and 'Phins)
Ken McAfee, d. July 4, 77 years old (also played for the Giants and Eagles)
Sam Baker, d. June 5, 76 years old (also played for the Browns, Eagles, and Cowboys)
Kevin Mitchell, d. April 30, 36 years old (also played for the 49ers)
Jim Ricca, d. Feb 11, 79 years old (also played for the Eagles and Lions)

Green Bay Packers -

Jim Ringo, d. Nov 19, 75 years old
Max McGee, d. Oct 20, 75 years old
Nate Hill - see Redskins above
Bill Forester, d. April 27, 74 years old

Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens (for obvious reasons, sorry Cleveland fans) -

George Ratterman, d. Nov 3, 80 years old
Sam Baker - see Redskins above
Tom Hutchinson, d. May 5, 65 years old
Tommy James, d. Feb 7, 83 years old

Los Angeles/St Louis Rams -

John Baker, Jr., d. Oct 31, 72 years old (also played for the Eagles, Steelers and Lions)
Lamar Lundy, d. Feb 71, 71 years old

Philadelphia Eagles -

John Baker, Jr. - see Rams above
Frank "Bucko" Kilroy, d. July 10, 86 years old (was also a scout and general manager for the Patriots)
Ken McAfee - see Redskins above
Sam Baker - see Redskins above
Jim Ricca - see Redskins above

Pittsburgh Steelers -

John Baker, Jr. - see Rams above
Ed Brown, d. Aug 2, 78 years old (also played for the Bears)
George Webster, d. April 19, 61 years old (also played for the Oilers and Patriots)

Detroit Lions -

John Baker, Jr. - see Rams above
James David, d. July 29, 79 years old
John Gonzaga, d. May 17, 74 years old (also the 49ers, Cowboys, and Broncos)
Charlie Ane, d. May 9, 75 years old
Ralph Heywood, d. April 10, 85 years old (also the Chicago Rockets, Boston Yanks, and New York Bulldogs)
Bill Fisk, d. March 28, 90 years old (also the 49ers and Los Angeles Dons)

Atlanta Falcons -

Jim Mitchell, d. Oct 20, 60 years old

Miami Dolphins -

Nate Hill - see Redskins above

Buffalo Bills -

Garrard "Buster" Ramsay, d. Sept 16, 87 years old

Chicago Bears -

Ed Brown - see Steelers above
Ken Kavanaugh, d. Jan 25, 90 years old

San Francisco 49ers -

Dick Nolan, d. Nov 11, 65 years old (also coached the New Orleans Saints)
Bill Walsh, d. July 30, 70 years old
Kevin Mitchell - see Redskins above
John Gonzaga - see Lions above
Bill Fisk - see Lions above

New England Patriots -

Frank "Bucko" Kilroy - see Eagles above
Marquise Hill, d. May 27, 24 years old
George Webster - see Steelers above
Darryl Stingley, d. April 5, 55 years old

Houston Oliers/Tennessee Titans -

Jim Norton, d. June 12, 68 years old
George Webster - see Steelers above

Tampa Bay Buccaneers -

Ron Hall, d. May 19, 43 years old

Dallas Cowboys -

Sam Baker - see Redskins above
John Gonzaga - see Lions above

Denver Broncos -

John Gonzaga - see Lions above
Damien Nash, d. Feb 24, 24 years old
Darrent Williams, d. Jan 1, 24 years old

Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts -

George Preas, d. Feb 24, 73 years old

Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers -

Ernie Wright, d. March 20, 67 years old (also played for the Bengals)
Mike Mooney, d. March 2, 37 years old

Cincinnati Bengals -

Ernie Wright - see Chargers above

New York Giants -

Tex Coulter, d. Oct 2, 83 years old
Johnny Perkins, d. April 25, 54 years old
Ken McAfee - see Redskins above
Ken Kavanaugh - see Bears above
Ray Beck, d. Jan 10, 75 years old

Other -

Sam Dana, d. Oct 29, 104 years old, played for the Hartford Blues and New York Yankees

A Different Beast

Since 2001 the Patriots are a league best 40-8 in post-Thanksgiving games.

Those teams of past years were built to grind games out and run out the clock with tight leads in the fourth quarter with the likes of Antowain Smith and Corey Dillon. They had a punishing defense which got harder to penetrate the closer an opponent came to the goal-line. While the defense punished, an underrated offensive line mauled.

Brady hit the pass plays that were needed to win, and Adam Vinatieri could always be relied on to get the big kick as the weather worsened.

The team was built for the elements - to excell in the harsh winters. There was little finesse in the sledgehammer that Belichick and Pioli built. The team wasn't built for prolific records, it was built to win championships.

Then, last year the season died in a dome on a dropped pass that would have iced the game. Reche Caldwell.

And Pioli and Belichick gave the team a face-lift on offense and created a different sort of beast to play on the new turf in Gillette.

Belichick said that the Pats hadn't done anything different this off-season, but that wasn't really true. He and his right hand (personnel) man assembled on offense that is decidedly un-Belichick-ian.

Suddenly an outdoor stadium is fielding a very dome-like offense. It is a team built for an aerial assault unlike any previously seen in the NFL - Brady is outing the lie to the statement that Manning is the best quarterback in the league, the Greatest Show on Turf now sounds like it violated truth in advertising laws, and Randy Moss is reminding everyone why he was once considered the best young receiver in the league.

Through ten games that Pats have scored 411 points. In 1998, the Vikings led by Moss, Chris Carter and Daunte Culpepper scored a record 556 points. If the Patriots keep up their average of 41.1 per game, they will shatter the existing record, finishing with 658 points scored. Moss already has 16 touchdown receptions on the season. The record held by Jerry Rice is 22 - Moss, if this pace keeps up, will likely break that in the 14th game of the season, and should finish with between 25 and 26 touchdowns on the season.

Brady is on pace for 4895 yards (second only to Dan Marino's 5084 in 1984 - and don't think that if Brady is within 150 yards of that record in the third quarter of the Giants game that Belichick wouldn't keep him in) and 61 touchdowns. Manning finished his best season with 49. In addition to that, Brady is currently on pace to tie Drew Bledsoe for the franchise record for completions in a season with 400 (1994), and annihilate the league record for completion percentage in a season (held by Cincinnati's Ken Anderson - 70.55, 1982) at 73.9.

But all of this is contingent on one thing - can the team keep the pace up?

As previously noted, this offense is built like it was made to play in a dome, rather than in Foxboro, and the weather begins to turn nasty after Thanksgiving in the greater Northeast and four of the Pats remaining six games are at the Razor. The other two are in the Meadowlands against the Giants and in Baltimore. They host the Eagles, Jets, Steelers, and Dolphins.

Of their remaining schedule, only the Giants and Steelers have winning records. Both have solid running games, as do the Dolphins - important in the sleet and snow that comes down in these areas in December.

Watching the team one thing is obvious. None of the teams remaining on the schedule match up well with the Patriots rapid-fire attack. The Steelers have been awful on the road, dropping games to mediocre or substandard teams like the Jets, Broncos, and Cardinals. Baltimore has no offense, the Giants pass defense couldn't keep up with Dallas - it's unlikely to keep up with the Pats. The Eagles, Jets, and the Dolphins are just shadows of their former selves.

The Patriots could stumble - it has been a common occurrence for teams that have seemed invincible this late in the season, but I think it's unlikely.

No. If anything is going to be a problem for the Patriots, it's not going to be the opponent on the other side-line. It's going to be the elements. How does the deep passing attack adjust to the snow and wind of Gillette and Giants Stadiums? Can Wes Welker get in and out of his low, sharp cuts on a wet and icy field?

If the elements are too much to overcome for the passing attack, does Belichick forgo a number of the aerial records, and begin pounding the ball with Laurence Maroney, Heath Evans, and Kyle Eckel? Does this become the fight at the end of Rocky II with Mickey yelling at Rocky to switch back to southpaw?

What's in an MVP...or draft position for that matter?

Yesterday Alex Rodriguez won the American League MVP award, keeping a 20+ year streak intact of AL MVP's that failed to reach the World Series. It is the third MVP that he has won. There are a couple of questions that this presents -

What does the MVP really mean?

Is it just an award to acknowledge the player who statistically has the best year, or is it meant to recognize the player who has the greatest impact on his team?

What does that key word, "valuable," really mean?

I will admit that the Yankees don't make the post-season this year without A-Rod, but do the Red Sox without Lowell? Without Ortiz? Just one of those guys out of the lineup for significant time and the Sox don't make the post-season.

Which, in turn, begs the following question - 20 years of AL MVP's failing to make the World Series, then isn't World Series MVP the far more telling award? After all, it is given to the player who plays the best and has the most impact on the championship team during crunch time. I mean, think about it, this year's winner hit 30 of his 54 home runs before the All-Star Break - 56 percent of his dingers. Through the first 63 games he was on pace to hit 64 homers.

To put the cherry on the whipped cream, A-Rod won the award playing on a last-place club in Texas. What was his value there?

I think major league baseball has to have less vague specs for the voters in regards to this award. I do not begrudge A-Rod the award because, as I said, I don't think the Yankees make the post-season this year without him, however, I don't think he deserved to have such a landslide sort of vote leaning his way. There were several other players that were just as valuable to their teams.

However, I would still take the World Series MVP on my team over the AL MVP for one reason and one reason only - at this point it seems that the AL MVP pretty much means that my team didn't even make the Series.

Feeling drafty...

An interesting idea has creeped into the scribblings of many sports writers. Many like Peter King have started to note that drafting a franchise running back in the top ten is a waste of money. There is a history that they point at that includes Curtis Martin (3rd round), Terrell Davis (6th round), Willie Parker (undrafted), performing at as high a level, and often higher levels than a number of highly picked running backs such as Ron Dayne, Curtis Enis, Ki-Jana Carter, and Lawrence Phillips.

The idea is that a team looking for a running back, but doesn't want to spend big bucks on an unproven rookie, would be better served finding a gem in the late rounds rather than spending on an established back closing in on his 30th birthday (Texans and Ahman Green, we're looking at you).

It's not a bad idea, however, why wouldn't this be just as prudent to apply this same reasoning to quarterbacks? Some of the best in the business, per generation, have been missed by a number of teams - Johnny Unitas was cut by Pittsburgh, Joe Montana was a second rounder out of Notre Dame as was Brett Favre, Tom Brady came out of the sixth round, and Steve Young was a pick in the supplemental draft. A number of other solid starters have come from the late rounds - Bernie Kosar was a pick in the supplemental draft, currently Derek Anderson is looking solid, as is John Kitna. Jake Delhomme was undrafted as was Kurt Warner. Steve Grogan was drafted in the fifth round.

Isn't the evidence of first round quarterback busts just as damning as it is for running backs? Rick Mirer, Michael Vick, Ryan Leaf, Jeff George, Akili Smith...the list goes on.

Ladies and Gentlemen...

I give you the Red Sox third baseman for 2008 - 2010. Coincidentally, the same year that Red Sox first base prospect Lars Anderson is expected to be ready for big-league action.

Welcome back, Mike.

Two last thoughts on the Pats this afternoon -

Of the fourteen offensive weapons that have either received a hand-off, run with the ball, or hauled in a pass (not including back-up quarterbacks Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez), thirteen have found the end zone. The lone exception - tight end Dave Thomas.

The breakdown -

Randy Moss 16
Wes Welker 7
Ben Watson 6
Sammy Morris 3
Dante Stallworth 3
Kyle Brady 2
Tom Brady 2
Kyle Eckel 2
Heath Evans 1
Kevin Faulk 1
Jabar Gaffney 1
Laurence Maroney 1

And for the final thought - last night Kevin Faulk left the game with a head injury after what looked like a vicious shot from a Bills defender. He did not return. Not much of Maroney was seen after a strong start.

If the two are injured and could miss time, then what are the Pats' options? Sign a veteran who's been sitting on his butt? Someone like Corey Dillon? I doubt it, otherwise they would have done it already - and their issue isn't with the bruisers right now. It's with the small, shifty change of pace guy who catches passes on third down.

This is a shot in the dark here, but don't be surprised if (assuming Kevin Faulk can't go for a few weeks) the Pats release rookie defensive end Kareem Brown (resign him to the practice squad) and activate Troy Brown with the intention of using him as the third-down back a la Faulk. He's a good blocker, already knows the system, and is a player in which Brady has a high level of confidence.

I could be completely off the mark with this, but it's what occurred to me while watching Faulk sit on the bench after that hit.

Edsel

From Wikipedia -

There is no single reason why the Edsel failed, and failed so spectacularly. Popular culture often faults the car’s styling. Consumer Reports cited poor workmanship. Marketing experts hold the Edsel up as a supreme example of corporate America’s failure to understand the nature of the American consumer.

I start off this way for a reason.

While growing up, the jokes I always heard about Ford was that the product name was an acronym - the jokes were that the acronym stood for either Fix Or Repair Daily, or Found On Road Dead. There was a general belief that Ford had trouble putting out a....competitive product.

I bring this up because I want to talk about another Ford product made in MoTown: The Lions.

Three weeks ago Detroit was everyone's surprise, a 6-2 media darling. The wow, John-Kitna-wasn't-just-blowing-smoke-when-he-guaranteed-the-team-would-win-at-least-ten-games team. This morning the Motor City is waking to a 6-4 record and a remaining schedule including games against Green Bay (twice), Dallas, San Diego, Minnesota, and KC.

Given the team's struggles against the NFC East, I'm going to assume Dallas as a loss, I don't think they can beat Green Bay, and I doubt they can do it against a struggling Chargers squad. While Minnesota and Kansas City are Detroit's best chance at wins in their remaining games, they barely beat the Vikings in the first go around, and I don't think the Chiefs are a gimme for them either. I think there's a very real possibility that Detroit finishes 6-10, and although 8-8 wouldn't surprise me, the Lions would have to get some very lucky breaks to even reach nine wins.

If Detroit is in that downward spiral, and they do end up 6-10, then general manager Matt Millen will have extended his dubious record of consecutive seasons presiding over clubs with double digit losses - as much an indictment of Millen as it would be of the Ford family.

If you're not part of the solution...

Just one more quick thing regarding Detroit - Offensive coordinator Mike Martz was being hailed for his work with the Lions three weeks ago. The Lions high powered offense was going to propel this team into the playoffs and Martz was going to be a hot commodity for teams looking for a new head coach. Two straight losses and Martz is part of the problem.

This isn't perceptual, it's the truth.

Martz is calling the plays on offense, and this is how he is calling them - over the last two games, the Lions have had 107 offensive snaps (not including punts). Of those, only 19 have been running plays (17.8 % of the plays) for a whopping total of 17 yards (-8 yards on 8 called running plays against Arizona).

Detroit is the only team in the league to have called fewer than 200 rushing plays (197) through ten games for a league last average of 76.9 yards per game. What has Martz's predictable play calling done for the team the last two weeks? It has pitted them against two decent pass defenses that knew they could pin their ears back and just rush the quarterback all day. Some relevant numbers - 3, as in the total number of touchdowns thrown by Kitna over the last two weeks. 5, as in the number of interceptions thrown by Kitna. 7, the number of times Kitna has been sacked over the last two weeks.

Martz is not going to be a HC candidate anywhere this off-season.

The Patriot Way...

Fifteen years ago I remember watching the likes of Tim Goad, Bruce Armstrong, Kevin Turner, Tom Hodson, Scott Zolack, Vincent Brown and a whole lot of other no-names stumble through a 2-14 season fresh off their 1-15 season. Were I sitting at a bar and another Patriots fan told me that New England would one day look like the best team to ever play the game, I would have punched him for mocking my pain.

Yet, here we are.

And here are a couple of thoughts on the dismantling of the competition - past and present - that the current Patriots squad is engaging in...

During last night's game John Madden said that he has never seen a quarterback play the way Tom Brady is playing right now. Nobody - not Brett Favre, not Dan Marino, not Peyton Manning. Just Brady. The numbers back it up.

The Patriots are on pace to break the record for points scored in a season...by a c-note. Brady is on pace to shatter Peyton Manning's record of 49 touchdown passes in a season. And don't be surprised if the following number becomes relevant in the Pats-Jets rematch - 72. It's the most points scored in a game by one team (Redskins over NY Giants, Nov 27, 1966. Final, 72-41). Or this number - 64. That was the most scored by a team (Philadelphia over Cincinnati, Nov. 6, 1934) in a shut-out victory.

Belichick is noted as a football historian, he probably already has these numbers himself.

To give everyone a sense of the Patriots dominance, I really do have to borrow the following tidbit from Peter King over at si.com -

I did some quick math on the Patriots' first-team offense over the past nine possessions, going back to the fourth quarter of the Colts' game, and not including their final possession in Indy, when they were trying to run out the clock and not trying to score. (New England had its bye last week.) The incredible numbers:

Possessions: 9
Touchdowns: 9
Quarters played: 4
Tom Brady touchdown passes: 7
Tom Brady passing yards: 504
Yards per drive: 65.9
Time per drive: 3:21

Even if the Patriots stumble on their quest for perfection, we're still watching history unfold.

One final note on...well, final scores. There are times that I like John Madden, other times that I get really tired of his schtick - but the man knows football, and is old school about it. And he said about the scoring what needed to be said. To paraphrase - it's not the offense's job to stop moving the ball. That job belongs to the defense, and if the offense is putting up 56 points, then the defense isn't doing its job. If they can't stop the offense, then the opponent is supposed to give the team the ball? That's not how it works.

Thanks Madden, it was nice to hear one of the national commentators remind people that the guys on defense are supposed to be earning their money too.

Indicted

Two major indictments were handed down in Major League Baseball this past week. The one everyone knows about, Barry Bonds for perjury and obstruction of justice, and super-agent Scott Boras.

The Boras sycophants have been busy putting a positive spin on the Alex Rodriguez mess, saying that Boras still got his client the biggest contract in the history of the sport...again. The problem with that is that he didn't.

And what makes it worse for Boras is how this went down.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Boras was kept out of the loop by his dissatisfied client on the advice of corporate raider and financial wizard Warren Buffett. For those of you who don't know who Buffett is, think of yourself as a defensive coordinator for a high school football team and Bill Belichick comes along and tells you to ignore your head coach when setting up your football strategy. Not a great analogy, granted, but I think you get the idea.

As of June 2006, Fortune Magazine called Buffett the world's second richest man, valued at over $44 billion. According to various sources, in spite of increasing his net worth to an estimated $52 billion, he is believed to be the third richest person behind Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, and Microsoft mogul Bill Gates.

This man's companies either control, or hold significant stock shares in GEICO, Coca Cola, Anheuser Busch, Wal-Mart, American Express, Nike, Outback Steak House, Dairy Queen, M&T Bank, Wells Fargo, Fruit of the Loom, and Jordan's Furniture. That only scratches the surface of Buffett's holdings.

This investor's advice to A-Rod essentially amounted to, "Boras can't be trusted with your money to get you the best return on investment. Get him out of the loop."

The only positive thing to come out of this for Boras is that, due to his contract to act as A-Rod's agent, he still gets a cut of the deal.

The negative, and this is big - this could hurt the ability of Boras to attract new clients. Other agents competing with Boras to recruit top flight young talent will be able to ask them, "do you want this guy representing you? One of the most respected financial geniuses in the world advised A-Rod to get him out of the negotiating loop for the last contract - essentially told the best player in baseball that this guy was poison to his chances of the highest paying contract in baseball history?"

Let the fall-out begin.

The Seven Deadly Sins

Pride and Lust -

Barry Bonds was indicted on perjury charges yesterday.

Dave over at the Coffin Corner already has this pretty well covered, but I did want to cover a few things in regards to this.

According to the AP report, Bonds started taking the cream, clear, and anabolic steroids the year after the "magical" steroid induced home-run race between Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa in 1997. Pride and lust took over. It wasn't enough for Bonds to be considered among the best players in baseball. He wanted everyone to call him the best period.

He clamored, yelled, and screamed for the love of the fans and the louder he yelled, like a five year old pitching a fit, the more we looked at him as a petulant little child. He lusted for our approval, and couldn't get it outside of his home stadium.

Now he has a federal prosecutor to deal with - those with the 95 percent conviction rate. And that's after those who settle without going to court.

I've run the numbers before, and it turns out that people that beat the rap in federal court comes to somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 out of every 1000 cases. Five. This is what pride and envy has gotten Bonds.

Of course, comically, Bonds has threatened to boycott the Hall of Fame. With the way this is coming down, don't be surprised if he never gets there.

Gluttony and Greed -

Alex Rodriguez and Scott Boras rolled the dice believing that they could get $350 million over the next year from some chump. Boras called that figure a starting point for negotiations, meaning he believed that he could have gotten his client more than that. The positive spin that is put on this is that A-Rod has signed, consecutively, the two biggest contracts in the history of Major League Baseball.

However, it can't be overlooked that Boras overestimated his client's worth by a minimum of $80 million, and possibly more. That translates to $8 million per year or a total of 29 percent of the overall contract's average annual worth. That's a huge mistake.

Envy -

As the Patriots batter their way closer to an undefeated season, the 1972 Dolphins from Don Shula down through the players are handling the threat to their record with something considerably less than class and aplomb. If anything, Shula is coming off as envious of what is happening, firing preemptive strike after preemptive strike - pretty much calling the Patriots season tainted and claiming his 1972 Dolphins as the best team ever.

I find it funny that someone whose own team was fined a first round pick for tampering talks about someone else doing something outside of the rules, and then claims that his team - one that played the third weakest schedule in the history of the NFL during the Super Bowl era - was the "best ever."

I respect what the Dolphins accomplished, but let's face it, they did it against the weakest competition of any Super Bowl winner - and to start shouting "look at me, we were better," does nothing but tarnish the 'Phins' legacy.

Sloth -

Adam "Pacman" Jones applied for reinstatement to the NFL and was turned down. Part of Jones' enforced off-season during which Roger Goodell told the troubled corner that a shortening of his suspension would be based on how he handled the time he had off.

Jones, who has had to perform community service in relation to one of his many arrests, gave inner city kids in Atlanta tickets to his pay per view wrestling event in the hopes of satisfying his community service requirement. For a guy trying to show his employers that he's working to do the right thing, that's about as lazy as it gets.

Wrath -

The fans outside of New England are angry. It is frustrating to be a fan of sports in other cities, and I do not fault the fans out there for that (but at least talk intelligently about the teams - don't just sit there and yell "they suck," it belittles you and the team you root for). The Red Sox wrapped up their second World Series title in four seasons, and look like they will be the team to beat in the AL East for at least the next couple of seasons.

The Patriots are in the middle of what could be a run at history, the Celtics are off to their best start since 1972, the Revolution is on the verge of a possible championship, the Bruins look like they might be able to contend, and Boston College is looking like a lock for a bowl game in spite of recent struggles.

There have been a lot of comparisons to New York and the Yankees, but let's face it - no city, not New York, not San Francisco, not Atlanta, not Dallas, has ever played host to such a serendipitous convergence of excellence from its sports franchises.

And that seems to have pissed off the rest of fan-nation.

C'est la vie.

One last note -

Am I the only person who sees the irony in the fact that three years ago the Ravens drafted a young quarterback in the sixth round named Derek Anderson, yes, the same Derek Anderson who has led the Browns to second place in the AFC North, and had a chance, in spite of a bad game, to maneuver the team to a tie for first against the Steelers last week, while the Ravens can't find a quarterback that can do jack. How does that happen with an "offensive genius" like Brian Billick? How does someone like that so grossly underestimate the talent at the team's keystone position?

I don't know how good Anderson is going to be, but let's face it, he's better than anything the Ravens have.

RoY and QB Rankings

A quick shout out to Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia for winning Rookie of the Year honors. Pedroia garnered 24 of 28 first place votes for 136 points, while Tampa Bay's Delmon Young was second, receiving three of the remaining four first-place votes and a total of 56 points, and Kansas City pitcher Brian Bannister received the remaining first place vote and a total of 36 points.

Neither Daisuke Matsuzaka nor Hideki Okajima showed up in the voting. I will grant that Bannister put up a better ERA and WHIP than the Dice-man, however, pitching 165 innings in Kansas City without the pressure of a pennant race is not really the same thing as pitching 204 2/3's in Boston...ever. I'm not saying that Bannister didn't deserve at least consideration for the honor, because he did - I just believe that his 3.87 ERA in Kauffman Stadium isn't necessarily significantly better than a 4.40 in Fenway.

But the real shame here is Okajima receiving no consideration. It's almost like a sick joke. This is an award voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), the guys who are supposed to know baseball inside and out. The prevailing attitude among this group is that a reliever doesn't play enough to merit this sort of consideration - the same reason that relievers seldom win the Cy Young, even if he gave the best performance of any pitcher on the season.

The reason this is a tragic joke? Without Okajima, the Red Sox are sitting at home in October watching someone else win the World Series. He was, arguably, the most important piece in the Sox championship run, bridging the gap between the team's starters and Jonathan Papelbon in dominant fashion for almost the entire season. Essentially, this he is what the team has been missing since 2004. At the very worst, his name should have come up.

Field Generals...Colonels...Majors...Captains, so on and so forth...

After some of the comments, I wanted to talk a little bit about the quarterbacks in the league. This is my own personal ranking based on a number of criteria - I considered who I would pick if I were starting a franchise right now, but that wasn't the be all and end all. I looked at personnel and what the quarterbacks have had to work with, longevity, potential, and their ability to win with what they have been given. Here goes...

The elite -

1. Brett Favre - Last year he would have been a little farther down the list as I really did believe that we were looking at the last gasps of a guy eying retirement. However, throughout his career the Green Bay QB has done more with less than any quarterback in the history of the game, and he's doing it again this year. He has played with only one sure-fire Hall-of-Famer, and that guy played defense (Reggie White).
2. Tom Brady - The question the pundits have always asked is what would this man do with the tools that Peyton Manning had at his disposal. For the first time in Brady's career he has a wide receiving corps that rivals any that Manning has had since he came into the league. What's he doing? Currently on pace to shatter every single season quarterbacking record in the books (at least the non-dubious ones).
3. Peyton Manning - I know there will be those out there that accuse me of being a homer for putting Manning behind Brady, but consider the following - many of the national writers are excusing Manning's performance this past weekend because of the many Colt injuries, however, I think we're finally seeing what Manning could have done had he and Brady swapped teams/tools. We know what he's capable of while driving a Ferrari, let's see how well he handles a Mustang. For those of you that want to say the Patriots were never as decimated, I give you the 2004 edition - rookie at center, right guard in his first NFL season hadn't played football since high school, they started Brandon Gorin at right tackle because starter Tom Ashworth was lost after six games (the then third-year man was out of the league by the end of his fourth season) - essentially 60 percent of the O-line had never played together before - number one draft pick TE Ben Watson was lost for the season, their top receiver from two of the three previous seasons was lost to the defensive side if the ball due to injuries to Ty Law, Tyrone Poole, Gus Scott, and Asante Samuel, leaving Brady with top receivers David Givens, David Patten and Bethel Johnson. Between offense and defense, the Pats at one time or another were starting back-ups or rookies at eight spots (nine if you include nickel corner). Now it's time to see if Manning can step up and make the people around him better. The game against the Chargers was not a good start.
   

Up and Coming -

1. Ben Roethlisberger - Before I put Big Ben among the elite, I want to see more consistency from him. Yes, I know he was injured this year, but even in the year that he helped the Steelers to a Super Bowl title, he was never the one taking the team on his shoulders when times got tough, and when you look at the game that he played in the SB, it can be argued that Pittsburgh won in spite of him rather than because of him.
   
2. Carson Palmer - A year ago he would have been behind Brady and Manning. This year, I'm just not completely sure if he's improving or regressing, and it's hard to tell with the team with which the Cincy braintrust has surrounded him. One thing we do know is that he's got the arm.
   
3. Tony Romo - Another that I'm not completely sold on. What happens when one of the children that Dallas has at receiver reverts to their problem child ways? Terry Glenn, and Terrell Owens have a pretty spotty history. How does Romo handle it if and when one of these guys reverts to form and has a hissy fit? That will go a long way to showing us where he's really at.
   

The Jury is Out -

1. Derek Anderson - Streaky and erratic, but impressive when on. Ugly against Pittsburgh this weekend, consistently throwing behind receivers on five yard in-cuts that was tantamount to missing on center screens.
   
2. David Garrard - Appears to have potential, but to me he looks like a carbon copy of Byron Leftwich. Maybe a little more consistent than Leftwich, and with marginally more mobility. But only time will really tell.
   
3. Jason Campbell - Is showing signs of progressing, but has thus far been unable to beat quality teams. The only team with a winning record that Washington has been able to beat has been Detroit (6-3, and to be honest, looking at Detroit's remaining schedule, the idea that they could finish as bad as 6-10 or 7-9 is not unrealistic). Sure he's young and this is part of the growing process, but until he's able to come up big against somebody with a winning record other than Detroit, Redskins fans should forget about the playoffs this season.
   
4. Jay Cutler - He has the physical ability to make any throw. Potential doesn't always lead to success in this league, and it wouldn't be the first time Shanahan has drafted a QB with an elite arm (Brian Griese had a cannon, but not the head). It's still too early to tell which way Cutler will go, but the potential is certainly there, and that's the only reason I have ranked him ahead of some of the others in the next category.
   

Comfortably in the middle -

1. Drew Brees - Part of the continuing deterioration between Shottenheimer and AJ Smith was Shottenheimer's belief that Brees should have been kept and should have been starting over Rivers. Last season he did more with less than Rivers and he did it with the hopes of a region riding on his back. One of the most touching moments in sports this year was the reception the people of New Orleans gave the Saints upon returning from the playoff loss in Chicago.
   
2. John Kitna - Kitna is having a career year in Detroit under Mike Martz. The question is whether or not they can sustain for the remaining seven games against competition significantly harder than what they had in the first nine. That said, Kitna was always a better quarterback than he was generally given credit for, and there's a reason he's almost always been the guy keeping the seat warm for the young rookie. However, he has also almost always made it difficult for a coaching staff to justify benching him for unproven talent. If there's a guy that epitomizes the words, "pretty good, but not great," it's been Kitna.
   
3. Kurt Warner - Statistically, he still puts up good numbers. Unfortunately he's been doing it for years on teams that don't exactly excite those that like to watch good line play. While I'm not really a fan of Warner's, I believe that in many ways he's a lot like Drew Bledsoe - a big, fairly immoble guy who can still win if he has a decent line in front of him.
   
4. Matt Hasselbeck - I never saw in Hasselbeck what Mike Holmgren saw in him. He's solid, dependable, and not a whole lot else. Should he be a starter in the league? Certainly. However, I don't believe he could have made the Pro-Bowl were it not for a lack of talent at the QB position, particularly in the NFC over the last couple of years.
   
5. Eli Manning - I think he's made strides this season, but I'm still not sold on him. Too often he can disappear for large periods of time in important games, and his performance in London, the weather not withstanding, against a struggling Dolphins team was not one that builds confidence for the future.
   
6. Matt Schaub - I think Schaub could still go in either direction. If the Texans continue to block for the pass the way they have been (btw, Mr. Schaub, welcome to the wonderful world of what it feels like to be David Carr), then Schaub should just reserve a room at the local hospital so he can be treated for the concussions that will be coming his way.
   
7. Joey Harrington - I'm not a Harrington fan, but I think that he takes way too much heat for the failings of the Detroit Lions during his tenure in the Motor City. No, Harrington is not a great quarterback, and even in my rankings here he is 17th overall, marking the top of the bottom half of the league's regulars, but given the right situation, I think Harrington still has the potential to make a solid career.
   
8. Damon Huard - Irony, thy name is Huard. Huard, who is a middling starter and the best option the Chiefs have had for the last two years, was recommended to take over Dan Marino's starting position by Marino himself as he was going into retirement. Then coach Dave Wanstedt gave the job to Jay Fiedler instead. It's no coincidence that both Wanstedt and Fiedler are out of the NFL, but Huard is still chugging along. With John Beck's start this weekend, it will mark the franchise's 12th starting QB since Marino's retirement in 1999.
   

Heading in the wrong direction -

1. Kyle Boller - The former first round draft pick has never successfully convinced anyone that he's any better than a back-up. Dangerous territory for Ravens fans whose oft-injured starter, Steve McNair, is once again on the bench with an injury. For a team whose head coach is supposed to be an offensive guru, it's nothing short of amazing that he, along with the front office, has been unable to identify a quarterback who could still play at a high level in the NFL.
   
2. Philip Rivers - Rivers is still young enough to turn it around, but he is definitively regressing from last season. My bet is that AJ Smith still thinks it's about the talent picks and not the way the talent is coached.
   
3. Marc Bulger - After the saber-rattling for a new contract this off-season, Bulger needed to come in and perform. He hasn't. I wouldn't be surprised if the people of St. Louis rose up and put his head on a pike in front of the gateway to the west, the Arch of St. Louis, nor would I blame them.
   
4. Chad Pennington - He is what he is, and he's never been anything different - a smart quarterback with a wet noodle for an arm. Until recently you could at least count on him to play well enough so that he wasn't beating himself, he wasn't making the mistake that would cost his team. That hasn't been true this year.
   
5. Donovan McNabb - It could just be the knee injury, but I'm not completely sure that McNabb has ever completely recovered from the physical and emotional beating he took in the Super Bowl and during the subsequent year. Both he and Andy Reid have, during the course of his career, held him to a ridiculous standard, putting the team totally and utterly on his shoulders when it would have been wiser to let the runners help shoulder the burden. As such, I think that Reid has burned through McNabb in much the same way that Bill Parcells burned through Joe Morris.
   
6. Steve McNair - Ever since his last year or so in Tennessee it was obvious the injuries had taken their toll and his body was no longer able to function at the top levels needed of an offensive field general. Each year he's been in Baltimore, he's looked progressively worse.
   
7. Trent Green - Five simple words - "time to hang it up." Green was a solid quarterback for a number of years, and a stat machine, but he hasn't been the same since the concussion last year in KC, and he's on the way to an early case of dementia or Alzheimer's if he comes back. The future is now in Miami, and Trent Green is not a part of it. If Green is the opening day starter next season for the 'Phins, then Wayne Huizenga needs to do the good people of Miami and Trent Green a favor and fire himself, sell the team, and leave it in the hands of someone not running it into the ground.
   
8. Brian Griese - Marginally better than the man who started the season for the Bears, but has never won anywhere, why does anyone really think that he's going to be a significant improvement over Grossman. He has all the physical tools, he's just never had the head.
   
9. Rex Grossman - Possibly the biggest head case starting regularly at QB over the last season and a half, Grossman, like Griese, has the physical tools, but has yet to show he has the head to use them with anything approaching consistency. Grossman has alternately been the best or the worst quarterback in the league, and there was/is never any telling which Grossman was/is showing up for the game.
   

Not even on the map -

1. JP Losman - It's hard to be on the map when you lose your job to a rookie that couldn't win games in college. Losman has a lot of potential but has been wildly inconsistent since being anointed the Bills starting QB (remember, he didn't outplay Bledsoe, he was cheaper and more mobile...really an indictment of the Bills ability to put together a solid offensive line).
   
2. Vince Young - Teams are defending Young the way they defended Michael Vick, forcing him to be a quarterback and look for receivers from the pocket. The result has not been pretty for the second year QB. I believe I mentioned some time ago that this was what defenses were going to do to him. Until he can consistently burn teams from the pocket, we'll be watching the second coming of Michael Vick (sans the off-field issues).
   
3. Alex Smith - Going the wrong way fast. Is there a possibility that the 'Niners will be looking for their QB of the future for the second time inside of five years in the next draft or two?
   
4. Cleo Lemon - Sure, Lemon has a higher QB rating than either Young or Smith, but what matters more? The ability to put up decent passing numbers, or the ability to help your team get into the win column? And now he's on the verge of being benched.
   
5. Tavaris Jackson - Has just been brutally bad whenever I have seen him. If weren't for the running game, this team would be down with Miami.

I'm sure I'm missing someone here, but this is the list as I see it - for example I don't have any of the Panthers QB's. But that is a whole separate issue.

Let the arguing begin.

Pats spend off-weekend relaxing, Shula calls bye tainted.

It was either that or, "Shula notes Pats failed to win over weekend, unaware they were on their bye."

Currently the AFC East is a hotbed of perfection. Possibly for the first time in the history of the NFL, the same conference is hosting two teams in pursuit of a record with a goose-egg. The Patriots are 9-0, with their toughest competition likely coming from the Steelers, and maybe the Giants.

The Dolphins, the one-time paragon of winning with a 14-0 regular season back in 1972, are fighting for another perfect season - they're seven losses away from 0-16. Of course the perfect season that the 'Phins is a dubious honor to say the least.

Miami likely has four chances out of their final seven games to avoid becoming the first non-expansion team to go an entire season without a victory, and the first team since the NFL expanded to a 16 game slate. Those four games? A rematch with the Jets (1-7), and games against the struggling Ravens (4-5), Bengals (3-6), and Eagles (4-5).

I have my doubts that Miami can go into Buffalo and beat the Bills, or go to Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers, let alone go to New England and pull out a win there.

Sure, there's a reason for the term, "any given Sunday," and an upset could happen. However, I'm guessing that the Dolphins will be the underdog in every game remaining on their schedule, so even if they beat the Ravens, it will technically be considered an upset.

U-G-L-Y

Last night the Chargers won ugly, the Colts lost ugly, Tony Dungy coached ugly (that time-out to argue a penalty was mind-bogglingly stupid, and ended up costing the team at the end of the game), and the Colts special teams - from top to bottom - were ugly.

Vinnie Iyer at the Sporting News was busy trying to put the best spin possible on this loss from the Colts standpoint. He notes that the Colts should not be counted out because of two losses in a row. He's right about that. What he is wrong about is that Manning played like a champion - in spite of playing poorly.

The Colts lost because of a variety of reasons - Manning being one of them. Special teams (Adam Vinatieri left six points on the field), and, as previously mentioned, Dungy and some poor coaching decisions.

When a quarterback throws six interceptions, you can't absolve him of responsibility in a loss.

What this did remind me of - the old argument about swapping the teams of Brady and Manning to see how well each would have done. I seem to remember a couple of years back (2004) that the Patriots went 14-2. Their leading wide-out was David Givens with 874 yards. Reggie Wayne already has 870 with seven games left. Leading receiver for Pats tight ends that year was Daniel Graham with 364 yards, if Dallas Clark (405 yards) remains out, Ben Utecht could still top 300 yards receiving. Joseph Addai (pace for 1400-1500 yards) is comparable to Corey Dillon (1635).

Manning was brutally bad - and the argument that the Colts O line is banged up. The Patriots were starting former Tampa Bay practice squader Russ Hochstein whom Warren Sapp famously said couldn't block Tony Kornheieser. The team started corners Randall Gay and Earthwind Moreland, and used wide-out Troy Brown as their nickel corner. In spite of losing weapons to an injured defense, losing protection (line-men), and losing Ben Watson for all but one game of the season, the Brady never looked as bad as Manning did yesterday.

I think we have our answer as to who does the most to elevate his team to the next level.

* Asterisk, and I'm not talking the European comic book character

"The Spygate thing has diminished what they've accomplished. You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They've got it.
"I guess it will be noted that the Patriots were fined and a No. 1 draft choice was taken away during that year of accomplishment...
"That tells you the seriousness or significance of what they found. I guess you got the same thing as putting an asterisk by Barry Bonds' home run record."

-Don Shula, New York Daily News, November 11, 2007

Welcome to the NFL's version of Grumpy Old Men.

Sure, Shula doesn't directly say that the Patriots accomplishments should have an asterisk next to them - but he comes as close as possible to saying it. Sure, the intention was there to cheat - but the camera man was nailed pretty much in the first quarter of the first game of the season, giving them no opportunity to cheat.

Yes, he backed off that statement later in the week, but still referred to the theoretical undefeated season that the Patriots are possibly on their way to as "tainted."

Let's really consider the implication of Shula's statement - he implies that a team caught violating NFL rules in order to gain a competitive edge should, in essence, come with a footnote in the record books.

Herein lies the questions that creates -

Does that mean that the 1972 Dolphins deserve an asterisk? After all, the Dolphins were penalized a first round draft pick only a year earlier for tampering by a much more lenient commissioner than the current for hiring Shula away from the Colts. In Shula's words, that tells you the seriousness of the offense.

This doesn't consider the fact that the '72 'Phins played the weakest schedule of any champion during the Super Bowl era (opponent winning percentage of .365), and had an average margin of victory around 15 points. Patriots opponents through the bye have had a winning percentage around .480, and the average margin of victory has been in the neighborhood of 23 points. Maybe one, or both of the above deserve to be noted in the record books.

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Steve Courson, a key member of the team opening holes for Franco Harris and protecting Terry Bradshaw, admitted in 2000 to steroid use on a team where rumors of use were wide spread. Courson noted certain players that would not touch them, like Jack Lambert, but he in no way absolved everyone. Without knowing how long, or how pervasive the steroid culture was in the Steelers locker-room, then don't we as fans, have to assume - like some have suggested about the Patriots - that all of the Steelers titles were tainted?

Former Raiders coach John Madden famously said, "Everybody says the Raiders cheat...OK, we cheat. So, what are you going to do about it?" Does that mean that there should be an asterisk next to everything that the Raiders accomplished under Madden? Not only is it an admission that the team cheated, but he dared anyone to do anything about the fact that his team cheated.

Nobody brings up the fact that the Denver Broncos were in violation of the salary cap both years they won the Super Bowl (last time checked, spending more money than the other teams that are staying under the cap would create an unfair competitive advantage). In addition to that - Mike Shanahan had the gall to send someone to San Diego to tape practices from a hill adjacent to the Chargers practice facility. This isn't like some sideline taping, this is paying extra for a hotel and airfare to illegally scout an opponent's practice.

The Colts? Nobody outside of Indianapolis is buying the CBS glitch excuse. Bettors point out that the network would benefit from closer spreads in the final score by keeping ratings higher throughout the game. Sites from other teams have questioned the validity of the NFL's findings. This doesn't even take into account the fact that Bill Polian, the Colts general manager, pretty much had the way the rules of the game were enforced, because the teams he put together were unable to get over the hump in the playoffs without the extra help? Does that deserve an asterisk?

Under current rules, the Cowboys dynasty of the mid-1990's would never have been able to maintain any sort of continuity in regards to winning because players like Michael Irvin, and Nate Newton, just to name a few, would have constantly been suspended for their criminal activities - and this doesn't even take into account the coach (Barry Switzer) getting nailed trying to bring a hand-gun on a plane. Should that be a footnote?

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what has happened over the last 40+ years in the NFL. I haven't even touched on things like the Detroit Lions gambling scandal in the 1960's, rumors of steroid and amphetimine use with the Cowboys of the 1970's, and countless other little and big scandals throughout the history of the NFL.

Where do the footnotes end? Why doesn't camera-gate go away like all the previous scandals?

One simple reason.

We live in the information age. Like me, everyone has an opinion, and anyone with access to the Internet has the ability to keep any story alive.

Ten years ago, this story would have been dead already. For those of you who don't believe it would have been, once again, check out the Broncos issues and how long those were a big deal. Now, we have news 24-7, and producers that pander to what they think sells.

And let's face it - scandal sells. Even one that was put to rest months ago.

Running it up...

Through out this season there has been a lot of the Patriots running up the scores on teams. Let's really look at this, game by game. One quick note before breaking down the games - Through the Redskins game 20 of Brady's 30 TD passes have come in the first half. The first half! Almost 70 percent of the team's aerial damage was done long before the fourth quarter even started. As a matter of fact, only six of those td passes came in the fourth quarter and five of those were with more than eight minutes on the clock. Only once (the sixth game) was the touchdown thrown with less than 8 min - v the then highly regarded offensive machine in the Bengals (a 14 point lead became 21 with 3:18 on the clock when Brady completed to Moss in the end zone). It wasn't until more recently that everyone realized the Bengals just aren't that good on offense this year. -

Jets, 38-14

With two minutes left on the clock, the Patriots were up by 17 points. A quick touchdown followed by an on-sides kick could put the ball back in the Jets hands with well over a minute left and down only by ten. So, was Heath Evans running the ball in with two minutes remaining running thee score up, or was it icing the game?

However, in this case, with two minutes left, I will grant that this can be considered running up the score.

San Diego, 38-14

The Patriots have been knocked for passing late in games when the contest is out of reach. In this game the team played the highly regarded, then "most talented" team in the league. With 3:18 left, the Patriots ran the ball in from three yards out with career back up Sammy Morris. Like the Colts and the Bengals, the Chargers were expected to have a high octane offense coming into this game. With close to three and a half minutes left, and weapons like Antonio Gates and LaDanian Tomlinson on the other sideline, no coach would consider a two score game out of reach.

Running it up? No. Sealing the deal? Yes.

Buffalo, 38-7

Yeah, they ran it up in this game. There was no reason to throw the deep pass into the end zone to Moss in the fourth quarter already up 31-7 against a team that showed no signs of life after the first quarter. The Pats certainly could have just started handing the ball off and have Matt Cassel in by the start of Q4.

Cincinnati, 34-13

See the introductory paragraph. Against an offense initially considered to be potent, making the game a three score game with more than three minutes left was just prudent. I seem to remember the Colts engineering a 24-point comeback on a Monday night not long ago with only a little more time than 3:18 left on the clock.

Running up the score? I think not.

Cleveland, 34-17

Running it up? Not even close. With a minute left and the Browns in possession of the ball, the Pats had a ten point lead. One big play and an on-side kick and the Browns could be one touchdown, or one field goal away from a tie game - or even one score from winning with possession of the ball. Instead, the Pats D forces the turnover and Randall Gay runs it into the end zone to open an insurmountable lead with about 40 seconds left.

Dallas, 48-27

Outside of the Redskins, these guys have been some of the biggest whiners about the Pats running up the score. Of course going into the fourth quarter Dallas trailed by only a touchdown. Brady lofted his final touchdown pass with more than 12 minutes to go. With ten to go, Dallas kicked a field goal to make it a two score game again. Sure, with four minutes to go, Gostkowski kicked a field goal, increasing the lead to 14 points.

What everyone seems to get upset about is that the Patriots rushed for a touchdown with 19 seconds left. What nobody mentions is that Dallas could have let the clock run out, but Wade Phillips called a time out in hopes of getting the ball back. What nobody mentions is that the vaunted Dallas defense couldn't keep a running back signed off the Patriots practice squad just days earlier out of the end-zone.

Running it up? Borderline at best. When a coach is trying to get the ball back for one final score, you don't just take a knee and give it to his team, you make the team earn it. Dallas couldn't earn it. So, no, I don't put this in the "running it up" category.

Miami, 49-28

After what happened to the Patriots in the playoffs last year, I don't buy this as running it up either. Think about it - you go into the locker room with a 35 point lead. You call off the dogs in the fourth quarter only to see your lead shrink by 14 points in less than five minutes in the stadium that has been your team's personal house of horrors since you took the job. Suddenly that 21 point lead with more than ten minutes left looks kind of tenuous.

What do you do? You slot your A-team back into the game and put one final nail in the coffin - which happened with more than eight minutes left.

Washington, 52-7

In fairness to the pundits, Belichick ran the score up in this one. After this game there was a lot of speculation about payback. Of course no one mentioned that this score probably was payback - the only other time that Belichick faced Gibbs as head coaches was back in 1991, Belichick's first year coaching the Browns. Gibbs' Redskins put a 42-17 thrashing on big bad Bill's Browns.

The pundits are right, coaches should beware of payback. Just ask Joe Gibbs.

Running the score up? Yeah...yeah they did it in this one. Somehow, I don't feel too bad about it.

Indianapolis 24-20

If not for 13 points gifted to the Colts by the refs on imaginary pass interference calls, there would potentially be talk of the Patriots late scores as running it up. Yet, against an explosive offense like Indy's, shouldn't a team try to score as much as possible?

The bottom line - as football fans we might be witnessing something historic with the Patriots. The team might be on the way to an undefeated season, along the way they might set all sorts of offensive records - points scored in a season, touchdowns by a quarterback, yardage by a quarterback, most consecutive games throwing three touchdowns by a qb, average margin of victory, and those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

If the team does so, they will prove to be the most dominant team of all time. The 1972Dolphins can put any spin they want on it, but on their way to their Super Bowl, they faced only one winning team during the regular season and their opponents had a combined winning percentage well below .400, and an average margin of victory of 15.3 points. The Patriots have faced four teams with winning records including likely playoff contenders Dallas and Indianapolis. The Pats have faced teams with a winning percentage of .479 - close to .100 points higher than the foes of the Dolphins, and the Patriots are beating that higher quality competition by close to a 23.1 point margin.

Somehow, this team has become the bad guys of the NFL. Excellence is a sin. Nobody vilified the high scoring Vikings or the "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams. We live in a society in which all participants in youth sports are given trophies, actual competition with a goal of winning is avoided because it might be psychologically damaging to our children. Is it any surprise now that when a team excels, that it gets bashed for trying to be the best?

Ultimately, these guys are paid to play at the highest level. If they themselves have a problem with teams scoring on them, then stop them. It's what they're paid to do.

Weekend musings...

Welcome to the Animal Shelter...

Peter King had it right - the Patriots won yesterday in the fourth quarter on 13 key plays, twelve of them came from the Animal Shelter - Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, and Randy Moss - the other was a great catch-and-I-won't-be-denied-run by scatback Kevin Faulk.

Welker, Stallworth and Moss all made big plays, with Stallworth and Moss catching deep balls to set up touchdowns from Welker and Faulk. Why the "Animal Shelter?"

Stallworth generated almost no interest in the free-agent market, Moss was had for a fourth round draft pick, and Welker, Miami's leading receiver last year and an undrafted free-agent, was tendered the minimum offer from the 'Phins. Like the dogs at an animal shelter, these were the unwanted, and now they're the best receiving corps in football and an integral part of why the Pats are heading into their bye week at 9-0.

Those top three receivers are likely to account for more than 3,600 yards combined at the end of the season. Moss already has 924, Welker is at 651, and Stallworth is at 453. That translates into a season long pace of 1643 for Moss, Welker projects at 1157 and Stallworth at 805 (a total of 3605). That doesn't include another estimated 1300, to 1400 yards in receiving from the rest of the team.

While it's likely that the aerial show will experience some drop-off as the team begins to fight the elements in Foxboro, the idea of a 5,000 yard passing season is not completely out of the realm of possibility. With struggling teams like the Jets, 'Phins, and Eagles still on the schedule, don't be surprised to see a whole bunch of dismantlings a la the first eight games of the season.

What should bother the Colts when they watch film this week, after handed a loss by the Animal Shelter, is that this is what is going to show up on the film - Brady had an off day, throwing at times away from the open man and into coverage. They will see a game in which at least one of their touchdowns was aided and abetted by a phantom call by the referees. They will see a game in which they had to carry their "more physical" defenders off the field twice in the final minutes. They will see a Peyton Manning, circa 2004 instead of circa 2006.

Anyone else hearing strains of that classic "Welcome Back" by John Sebastion.

See you boys in the Razor in January.

Double Standards...

Isn't it time to drop the modifier "fighting" from the now 1-8 Fighting Irish?

Right about now I would like to hear about Ty Willingham filing a lawsuit against the Irish for his dismissal. To wit - in Willingham's three seasons, the Washington alum was fired with an aggregate record of 21-15, with only one losing record (5-7 in 2003). Willingham was dismissed after a 6-5 regular season. Currently, Charlie Weiss is presiding over a 1-8 regular season, putting his current record at 20-12 with three more losses likely on the schedule.

If they fired Willingham after a winning season just for missing a bowl game, not giving him an opportunity to develop the talent he recruited (does the name Brady Quinn mean anything to anybody?), why should Weiss get the same benefit of the doubt as he guides the team to what is likely to be a one win season?

As much as I hate seeing anyone play the card, personally, I have to believe that race played a part in this with Willingham being the only African-American head coach in the history of Notre Dame.