Week 16
12/23/05
- It is likely a foregone conclusion that Cincinnati linebacker
Odell Thurman will win the league's defensive rookie of the
year award. Thurman, picked in the 2nd round of the draft, has
proven to be an excellent playmaker with five interceptions,
four forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a touchdown. He is
also an excellent tackler and hasn't embarrassed himself playing
middle linebacker. However, it says here that San Diego's Shawne
Merriman will prove himself to be the best linebacker selected
in the 2005 draft. With his team in a must win game against
the undefeated Colts, Merriman wreaked havoc on the Colts passing
game all day, with two sacks and a key 4th down stop outside
of the pocket on Colts quarterback Peyton Manning on a busted
play. Despite missing the Chargers first game and not starting
until the seventh week of the season, Merriman has accumulated
nine sacks and two forced fumbles. Simply put, Merriman has
improved by leaps and bounds since the beginning of the season,
has tremendous quickness and power as a pass rusher and looks
like he is quickly becoming a defender that opposing offenses
will have to game plan around.
- The Bears can't seem to win any respect, despite their 10-4
record. However, with the playoffs only two weeks away, it's
time to look at this team a little more closely. Here are some
key statistics on the surprising Bears: 9-1 in their last ten
games, 7-1 at home including six wins in a row at Soldier Field,
the team's defense has a reasonable opportunity at giving up
the fewest points ever in a 16-game season (they are at 151
points against and the 2000 Ravens gave up 165) and they are
currently the second seed in the NFC. With road games remaining
at Green Bay and Minnesota, the Bears will likely hold onto
the second seed (the Giants finish at Washington and at Oakland
while the Panthers have Dallas at home and Atlanta on the road)
and, should that happen, figure to be a tough match-up for whomever
they face. Throw in the added confidence of having Rex Grossman
leading the offense and the return of playmaking safety Mike
Brown to the line-up and the Bears certainly look like strong
contenders to come out of the NFC.
- Here's the latest update on the self-proclaimed "best running
back in football", the Bills Willis McGahee. No 100-yard games
since October 30th and his touchdown last week against the Broncos
was his first since October 16th. However, for all the negative
press McGahee has received it's worth noting he is unquestionably
the Bills most talented offensive player and there can be little
doubt he has not been used properly by head coach Mike Mularkey
and offensive coordinator Tom Clements. In the Bills four wins,
McGahee has averaged 27.5 touches while averaging only 19.3
touches in their ten defeats.
- The AFC's Pro Bowl quarterbacks this year were the Colts
Peyton Manning, Tom Brady of the Patriots and Carson Palmer
from the Bengals, a trio of players that will make plenty of
appearances in Hawaii over the next several years and arguably
the most talented trio ever to represent one conference at the
Pro Bowl. Here's a thought: barring injury to one of these three,
who will be the next AFC quarterback other than these three
selected to the Pro Bowl? D
- Look for the Browns to sign back-up interior lineman Mike
Pucillo soon after the season ends. A Bills cast-off that never
found a spot in Buffalo, Pucillo was signed to be a back-up
guard but had to step into the starting line-up because of injuries
to starting guards Cosey Coleman and Joe Andruzzi. After filling
in capably there, Pucillo is now being called upon to step in
for center Jeff Faine, who is out for the season with a torn
biceps injury. Much like his former boss Bill Belichick, Browns
coach Romeo Crennel values versatility and it's likely he will
want Pucillo on next year's squad.
- Rams defensive end Leonard Little finally broke out of his
sack slump this past week against the Eagles recording two sacks,
his first since October 9th. Little missed two games due to
the death of his brother, however the main reason for his inability
to get to the quarterback has been the inability of the team's
other defensive linemen to generate any pressure on opposing
quarterbacks. Anthony Hargrove, the team's 3rd round pick in
the 2004 draft, was expected to develop into a pass rushing
threat but has been a huge disappointment. The team's trio of
1st round defensive tackles, Ryan Pickett, Jimmy Kennedy and
Damione Lewis, has generated only five sacks, although Pickett
has been a force against the run, registering 59 tackles. Look
for the team to once again address this situation in the draft
and for Lewis to be with another team in 2006, the result of
his lack of production as well as an untimely punch to the groin
of an opponent that angered the team's management.
- The Panthers concern about the team's running game has been
well documented, with the main problem being Stephen Davis'
inability to fully recover from microfracture surgery. Less
publicized was the fact Rod Smart, the team's main kick returner,
was also coming off knee surgery and experiencing difficulties
in his recovery, ranking near the bottom of the league in return
average. Looking for a spark in the return game to help offset
the team's poor running attack, the Panthers inserted Jamal
Robertson for Smart and it's likely he will retain the position
for the balance of the season.
- The Dolphins lost starting center Seth McKinney for the balance
of the season with a knee injury but the team likely views this
as more of an opportunity than a loss. McKinney, the team's
3rd round pick in the 2002 draft, has not proven to be anything
more than a journeyman and it's unlikely he will return in 2006
as anything more than a backup, essentially following a long
line of busted Dolphin draft picks. His injury affords the team
an opportunity to see what former guard Rex Hadnot, picked in
the 6th round of the 2004 draft, can do at the position. Hadnot
was a center in college and brings more size to the position
than McKinney.
- Fourteen games into the season and the Arizona Cardinals
have yet to have a 100-yard rushing game. Don't mistake that
for a 100-yard rusher, that's 100 yards as a team. As the league
as evolved, the old saying that the run sets up the pass is
now largely untrue. However, when your rushing attack (yeah,
right) is as pathetic as the Cardinals, it hurts the team in
many areas, particularly in the red zone and in protecting leads,
although that hasn't been much of an issue for the team in 2005.
Nonetheless, it's obvious that opposing defenses do not stack
the line to defend the run when the Cardinals are inside the
10-yard line. Other indications of the Cardinals lack of explosiveness
in the running game: quarterback Kurt Warner led the team in
rushing in one game this season, Marcel Shipp leads the team
in rushing with only 352 yards, J.J. Arrington has the team's
only two rushing touchdowns of the season, the team's longest
run from scrimmage was only 32 yards (one of two runs longer
than 20 yards for the entire season) and the team's most rushing
yards from a player in a game is Arrington's 59 yards against
the 49ers (one of only two individual rushing performances of
greater than 50 yards).
- Is there a team that's going to have a more interesting off-season
than the Jets? With running back Curtis Martin looking injury
prone this season and coming off knee surgery entering 2006,
quarterback Chad Pennington looking doubtful for at the least
the beginning of next season and current left tackle Adrian
Jones expected to be moved back to the right side, the team
will enter the off-season looking for upgrades at arguably the
three most important positions on a team's offense. With the
team unlikely to finish with the 1st pick in the draft and the
opportunity to draft Reggie Bush (a potential no-brainer given
Martin's questionable status), there can be little wonder the
team is already leaking that it would not be opposed to moving
down from their expected 3rd or 4th position in the 1st round
in order to acquire additional selections in next year's draft.
- In case anybody had any delusions that Joe Vitt would replace
Mike Martz as the Rams head coach in 2006, Vitt did everything
he could to erase that possibility with his performance on the
sideline this week against the Eagles. With starting running
back Steven Jackson not available due to injury and the team
trailing by one point late in the fourth quarter, Vitt went
with 3rd string running back Arlen Harris in the backfield rather
than eventual Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk. Faulk, who totaled
87 yards in 16 carries during the game, seemed like an obvious
choice but Vitt reasoned Harris was the better option because
of his blocking ability, although Faulk was largely renowned
as the best blocking back in the league a few seasons ago.
- Here's to Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet who has called
it a career after a frightening concussion forced him to hang
up his cleats. Chrebet never put up huge stats, posting one
1,000 yard receiving season, but it's safe to say he was truly
adept at making clutch receptions that resulted in first downs
and kept many drives alive. It had to be deflating for a defense
to watch a diminutive, rather slow receiver keep drives alive
by catching so many passes at the 1st down marker. There couldn't
have been too many times that announcers had to comment that
Chrebet failed to run a pattern to the 1st down marker, a common
mistake of many receivers in the league.
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