Cat Cries

The Jholes and their fans are hopping mad. They think that Fred Taylor was shafted. For some reason, the their ire has centered on Joe Addai instead of on Willie Parker, who despite leading the NFL in rushing (due in large part to his league high carry totals), has questionable value. I realize that Taylor has put together four good games in a row (after 10 mediocre ones), but as we delineated the other day, this really shouldn’t be an issue. Taylor isn’t good enough. He’s a part time back who rips off a few big runs and lots of empty ones. He is made better by splitting carries with MJD.

Some have intimated that Dwight Freeney wasn’t deserving of his status as #1 vote getter in the AFC. That’s true of course, since he hasn’t played for about six weeks now. He was, however, having a tremendous season before he got hurt, and the pass rush has suffered without him (though in fairness it’s impossible to get a read on this defense when it’s constantly without multiple starters). I’m not defending the fans, mind you, they should have stopped voting for him when he went down. That’s not his fault, though.

Who would ever have thought the Colts would win the Super Bowl and get FEWER players sent to the Pro Bowl. Glenn’s retirement and Freeney’s injury stole two who would have been rubber stamped in, but it’s still interesting what a sham the whole thing is.

One Boston commenter questioned Manning’s selection in a Boston paper (just some idiot not worth linking to). Really? He’s got better numbers this year than Tommy ever had. If Manning doesn’t belong, then Brady never did till now.

I’m still mad about Gary Brackett. He’s the MVP of this team this season.

The Chargers have 9 Pro Bowlers? Norv Turner must be the worst coach ever…oh wait…

I know it’s sort of a boring topic, but week 16 of the NFL is typically this way for these Colts. Nothing to talk about until the playoffs. And you know what? That’s not a bad thing.

CHFF may be nasty, but they are not wrong about Gary Brackett. I also appreciate them not tooting the Fred Taylor horn.

Michael Smith is dead on about Dungy. We’ve been saying it all year, but it’s nice to get the echo.

Demond Sanders: Thanks to anonymous for posting this great article about the MVP award. Can’t I say I agree with the author’s final conclusion, but I appreciate the research and outside-the-box thinking. Lemmings is indeed an appropriate word for most NFL experts. Manning has been great this season, but, unlike past seasons, he hasn’t been the only glue keeping the Colts together. Guys like Gary Brackett, Bob Sanders, Raheem Brock, Reggie Wayne, Jeff Saturday, and obviously Tony Dungy deserve a lot of the credit as well. I think it would be disingenuous to argue that anyone besides Moss or Brady deserves the MVP. The truth is Manning is much more interested in matching Brady’s second Super Bowl MVPs.

Deshawn Replies: I believe in consistency when it comes to arguments. I thought that Manning deserved the MVPs he won over fools who wanted Brady to win with vastly inferior numbers, and I’m not going to play that game this time. I agree with the author that Moss is more valuable than Brady this year, and I believe Manning to be more valuable to than Brady as well, but would not vote it that way, because my belief is not proof. My NFL MVP Ballot would read:

1. Moss
2. Gary Brackett (SHUT UP! I LOVE HIM)
3. Brady
4. Manning
5. Favre
6. LT (the Chargers would be LOST without him)

In a vacuum, I think Manning is both better and more valuable than Brady (even this year), but in the real world, I believe stats have to count for something, so in the name of consistency, I’ll put him ahead this season. Ultimately, however, the Moss factor cannot be over estimated. If the Pats replace Moss with any other receiver in football, no matter how good, Brady would return his typical 90 rating with 25/15 and 3800 yards. As the weather has neutralized Moss, we’ve seen Brady’s numbers start to slip. If he was not present at all, they’d fall back to where they’ve always been.

Has it really come to this? Arguing Manning and Brady again? Ugh. January can’t come soon enough.