As we approach the midseason and the good teams finally start to show their colors, we look at early candidates for the MVP award along with a few other awards as well.
A QB controversy is brewing even worse in Washington than initially expected, as well as some surprise cuts and pickups that could shape the playoff race already.
It definitely isn’t 2009, that’s for sure.
Taking a look down in Washington, there’s been a QB controversy going on that they’re doing their best to try and cover up. In case you missed it, Washington head coach Mike Shanahan pulled QB Donovan McNabb out of the game at the final 2 minutes of the game to put in inconsistent backup QB Rex Grossman to lead the 2 minute offense against the resurgent Lions on the road. With the amount of pressure the Detroit defensive line had brought all day, you figure you’d want the experienced QB in when the game’s on the line.
Not according to Mike Shanahan.
Needless to say, Rex fumbles the ball, which was recovered and run in by Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate Ndamukong Suh for a touchdown. When questioned about the benching of McNabb, Shanahan’s “first” excuse was that Grossman knew his offensive system because of his prior year’s experience with offensive coordinator and son Kyle Shanahan. After waiting a day and asking again for a more clarified explanation, Mike says that McNabb’s athleticism wasn’t up to par and he didn’t think he was athletic enough to run the fast paced offense. Does this sound as bad to you as it does to me?
This sounds like Shanahan was trying to send a message to Donovan for being careless early in the game with the ball. While I understand you can be upset because of bad play earlier in the game, you need to have your best 11 men on the field, especially when the game hangs in the balance. Instead of giving it the best shot you can, you’ve essentially driven your QB away from you and almost completely disrespected him in front of the team and the nation.
This situation happened in Philly before when McNabb was still with the Eagles. It didn’t end too well. McNabb was highly upset, he proved that he was still a capable QB and one of the much higher performing in the league, and essentially was apologized to by the Eagles organization in the form of a raise with no contract extension.
Shanny looks like he’s driving his players away from him with his “my way or the highway” mentality. Mike will not bend for players; he’s a very strong believer in his system, as he should be. It won him a couple rings in the late 90’s. He also had one of the top QB’s in the history of the game under center as well. If Mike keeps this up, he might lose another Hall of Fame QB from his current roster and drive the team away from believing in you.
**This parity-driven season has really made for some wild games and even wilder results week in and week out. The worst team in the league ironically doesn’t have the worst record. Buffalo right now sports the worst record at 0-7 but has played 5-2 Baltimore, 5-2 Kansas City, and 6-1 New England all down to the wire before losing by 4 points or less.
I think the worst team in the league right now has to be a toss-up between the Carolina Panthers or the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas lost its starting QB for most of the season, if not the rest. Carolina has switched QB’s between Matt Moore and Jimmy Clausen and still cannot figure out which one will give them the best chance to win. Dallas looks like they’re just getting dressed and walking out on the field. They aren’t playing with any fight or hustle, and it was demonstrated against a 25th ranked Jacksonville passing offense when they made Jaguars’ QB David Garrard look like an elite QB, throwing for 4 TD’s and running for another.
Carolina has so many injuries, plus they have absolutely no consistency on either side of the ball and it’s breaking them down every snap. There seems to always be a good amount of confusion and their “Slash and Dash” combination of Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart isn’t nearly as effective due to lingering injuries with them as well. Couple in the fact that both head coaches for Dallas and Carolina look like they won’t be returning, and you can essentially close the book on the 2010 season for both of these teams.
**Since we know who the worst is now, who would we say is the best? Well, this is another toss-up but I am more willing to spread the love around between a few teams. Let’s start with New England.
Tom Brady has this young bunch of no-name receivers playing at a great level. Belichick does an amazing job of finding non-descript talent and plugging them into a system that helps them show their best qualities and its working perfectly for them with New England having the best record at 6-1. Their rookie 2 Tight Ends and RB/slot receiver/whatever you want him to do player named Danny Woodhead is making the Pats look like geniuses in talent evaluation. Woodhead was a free agent pickup from the Jets’ practice squad. I’m willing to bet that Rex Ryan is cursing up a storm every game he watches against New England.
Speaking of Rex, I have to give the Jets a very serious consideration in this category. They did drop a winnable game at home against the Packers this past week, but I’m not holding it against them. This is a very opportunistic defense with one of the league’s best ground games and a young QB who’s being much smarter with this decision making. Ladainian Tomlinson looks like the 2006 version with the burst he has coming out of the gaps and his cuts to make defenders miss looks just as fresh as when he was 26. This looks like the second coming of L.T., and he’s got to love every moment of this.
Another team out of the AFC who looks to make things difficult when the playoffs come around is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Although Big Ben has looked a little shaky and still seems to be getting adjusted back under center, that defense looks like it’s well adjusted to beating teams up every Sunday. I think they saw a desperate New Orleans team last week that took advantage of some loose hands which led to the big difference in the game, but I’m not counting them out by any means. This defense is hitting hard, they play the pass well, and are leading in most defensive statistics. As long as Mendenhall can keep running the way he is, Ben limits his mistakes, and let that defense be the menacing group that it is, you’ll see them making noise in January.
To round out my top 4 teams, I need to finish it off with the Baltimore Ravens. Similar to Pittsburgh, this defense is playing at a very high level. What most people thought would be this team’s weakness, the secondary has virtually locked down passing teams and it’s only getting better with S Ed Reed back in the lineup now. Ray Rice is running like a man possessed, and Flacco is taking full use of the stacked receiver group that he’s got at his disposal. Expect to see them hanging around in January when the weather gets nice and cold, the way the Ravens love to play.
**Taking a look around the league at the midway point, there’s definitely some standouts early for MVP of the league. Let’s look at a couple players right now that are making the best case for themselves:
· Peyton Manning – You almost never want to take this man’s name out of the conversation every year. Each year he’s playing at a level that makes other players great achievements look average. He’s leading the league in TD/INT ratio with 15/2 and completing around 66% of his passes. He is the only 4 time MVP in the history of the NFL, and it looks like he’s well on pace to making it 5 times.
· Tom Brady – Tom’s individual numbers aren’t as good as Peyton’s with him having 12 TD’s to 4 INT’s, but his contributions to his team and working with a similar no name receiver group like Manning are having him in close contentions. Not to mention, his team leads the league with the 6-1 record right now. He’s doing his part to make this team better and they very well can finish the season out at 12-13 wins.
· Roddy White – Atlanta has been making some noise in the NFC, but they’ve definitely not been getting the attention that Indy, New England, and New York Jets have been getting. Has anyone seen what Roddy’s doing so far? He’s on pace to have close to 1,700 yards and 12 TD’s. That’s insane to hear what he’s doing so quietly. He’s averaging over 107 yards a game, including having 201 yards last week against Cincinnati.
· Clay Matthews – I’m not sure if he’s going to get the league MVP, but he definitely deserves some honorable mention. This guy is all over the field like a man possessed, and has racked up an amazing 9.5 sacks so far, giving him a chance to join the 20 sack season club or even challenge for the single season record set by Michael Strahan with 22.5 sacks. He’s got some stiff competition right now for MVP, but I am almost ready to just hand him the Defensive Player of the Year award right now. One of the best players the Packers have drafted in a very long time.
**I wanted to also hit on the Comeback Player of the Year award, just because 2 big names stand out right now that deserve some honorable mention. Both of these players have seen the limelight in this game and know what it’s like to have the world at your feet and then be written off as a thing of the past.
– Michael Vick – He’s definitely got my respect, along with many coaches and players in the league for his resurgence. Had he not got hurt and missed a couple games, I think he’d be the prime talk right now around the league for what he’s become. His arm strength still looks great, his mobility looks to be completely back, and his accuracy actually looks improved. Granted he hasn’t played in the past few weeks because of a rib injury, but he should be back this Sunday against Indy at home. If he’s able to pull this win off, this would be a huge vote of confidence for him in the running.
– Ladainian Tomlinson – The fact that he’s racked up over 500 yards already plus 5 TD’s and he’s sharing carries with primary back Shonne Green is amazing. He looks to have that burst again. He said this is the healthiest he’s been in the past few years. Don’t forget this is also the best offensive line he’s been behind in the past 5 years as well, but when he hits the open field, he looks as nimble and fast as he did when he was listed in his prime. If he keeps this up, he’s going to give voters a very tough decision to make at the season’s end.
**We’re going to try and give this another shot after finishing out .500 on my picks last week in the Screamers and Sleepers. I apparently gave Dallas too much credit and David Garrard cemented my faith that Dallas will bury themselves the rest of the season. Let’s see if we can turn this week around!
SCREAMERS!!!!!
Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders
Yes you’re reading this correctly. Can you believe that the Chiefs/Raiders game actually has a meaningful impact on potential playoff spots and control for the AFC West? Who’d have thought…Either way, Oakland has been flat out stomping people out the past couple weeks at home. Kansas City has been playing great defense and running over 200 yards a game which has made them so competitive. I believe that stops this week running into an Oakland defense that “is playing without abandon” according to Tom Cable.
Oakland wins this one in a defensive brawl 17-12.
Indianapolis Colts at Philadelphia Eagles
Andy Reid has never lost after a bye week. I’m not necessarily sure he’s seen a guy like Peyton Manning though after the bye. Michael Vick will be returning under center which could make this a very interesting matchup since Vick is a natural mismatch against any defender. This game will be a great one with only 1 or 2 turnovers making the difference. I’m going on a limb with this one.
Philadelphia takes advantage of one rookie mistake by the young receivers and wins this one in a close score 28-27.
Sleepers…
Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers
Dallas, you lost my faith after dropping a sure dud against the Jags at home. You had a chance, and you blew it. Green Bay meanwhile won a great hard-fought game at the Jets and restored a lot of confidence in their team and their fan base. They bring that fire home with them and make this an ugly game.
Green Bay rolls the Cowboys 35-14.
Chicago Bears at Buffalo Bills
I think this will be more of a sleeper game because it’s going to be very sloppy. However, the outcome will not be good for Chicago. They can’t protect Jay Cutler at all. Buffalo doesn’t exactly have a massive pass rush, but they can sling the ball in my opinion better than Chicago. Cutler’s good for 1 or 2 picks and I think that’s all it takes to get Buffalo their first win at home.
Buffalo finally gets into the win column 31-27.
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