Championship Sunday thoughts

By Rick Morris

^ Norv Turner and Philip Rivers are the biggest goats of the day without any doubt whatsoever. Unlike LaDainian Tomlinson, Rivers did not have the good sense to pull himself from the game and Turner did not have the stones to step in and do the job that leaders are paid to execute. How was yesterday's scene any different than Grady Little failing to take the ball out of Pedro Martinez's hands in the 2003 ALCS when his pitcher clearly was gassed? Forget the 2004 baseball postseason, there's your cosmic payback for Boston-area fans yesterday as the shoe was on the other foot. Rivers was in pathetic physical condition, unable to push off at all on his passes. There was so much air underneath his throws that I was half-waiting for the Patriots to signal for a fair catch before making an interception. It is utterly shameful to hold the Pats, the best offense of at least the modern era, to 21 points on their home field and not win the game. Spare me the gaga about Rivers inspiring his team by going out there one leg and not wanting to put the game in the hands of a backup. Phil Simms was just being a homer for the quarterback position when he argued otherwise with no evidence to back up his moronic position. While imperfect, Billy Volek is far better than the average backup and proved his mettle at Indy last week -- and the team wouldn't have folded pathetically in the red zone every time with a quarterback that was physically able to play. I actually like Rivers as a quarterback, but make no mistake that his John Wayne Complex and the gutless non-response of his head coach were primarily responsible for the team's failure to win a game that it should have.

^ Why wasn't the CBS pregame crew on the scene yesterday? Since when is the studio utilized for a Championship Sunday game? CBS doesn't even have the Super Bowl this year -- this was the biggest day of their football season! Fox Sports sent their crew to Lambeau yesterday as they will for the Super Bowl in two weeks. Shame on CBS.

^ Contrary to the final score, the Giants actually dominated the later stages of the game yesterday. How else could Lawrence Tynes miss a game-winning field goal every ninety seconds? Mike McCarthy will have to answer for the fact that he so easily abandoned the ground game. Much like the previous week, you have to give credit to the Giants, but the Cowboys and Packers both made a ton of self-inflicted mistakes. Speaking of which, and my friends watching with me concurred, the game had much more the feel of a routine Week 9 game than a conference title clash. The mistakes, the up-and-down play of so many key performers on both sides -- it just seemed to drain some of the air of urgency out of the contest.

^ Yesterday's game reinforces the notion that even if Brett Favre had pulled off the improbable second Super Bowl win of his career, he still would be no better than a Top Ten quarterback all-time looking in enviously at the Top Five. Few other elite quarterbacks have been great for as long as he has, and few of them have the records that he does -- but few of them have the brutal tendencies that he does to this day of forcing the football and trying too hard to make things happen. You live by being a gunslinger, you die by it also and the flip side of the reality that makes him a folk hero and a legend also makes him somebody that you have to be just a bit conflicted about having at the helm of your team in the clutch.

^ In trying to anticipate the oppressive media crush of manufactured Super Bowl storylines, a few come to mind. Tom Brady will now be carrying on his famous battle with the Manning family against the other brother. Given the fact that New York tends to break down (in large part) with so many fans rooting for the Mets and Jets (the newer franchises in town) and so many fans rooting for the Yankees and Giants (the old-line teams in town), the Super Bowl is going to pit a great many Yankee and Red Sox fans against each other (can we root for Mutually Assured Destruction?). I'm hard-pressed to conjure up a scenario that gives the Giants a serious chance for victory, but I will address the Super Bowl matchup in more detail at a later date.

Championship Sunday preview

By Rick Morris

The inescapable conclusion after last Sunday is that the stunning upsets we witnessed are preventing us from witnessing what could have been a much better Championship Sunday (the thought of this saddens me greatly – it’s one of my favorite days of the year and I love to have my friends over for a daylong feast of gridiron). Indy and New England clearly have established the greatest intra-conference rivalry of the decade, joining the Dallas/San Francisco battles of the ‘90s, the San Francisco/Washington/New York Giants triad of the ‘80s and the Pittsburgh/Oakland struggle of the ‘70s in the pantheon of great back-and-forth struggles. Likewise, Dallas and Green Bay have established a tremendous history both separately and in epic games against each other and both clearly appeared to be on a clear path to the NFC title game. The games we are left with seem to be lacking compared to what might have been.

AFC Championship Game: The Patriots delivered a huge 38-14 beatdown back in September, at least momentarily taking the air out of the sails of a Charger franchise itching for a legitimate rivalry with the Team of the Decade after last year’s crushing playoff loss. In fairness, the Chargers were still adjusting to a new system after massive coaching changes coming into 2007 and were not ready to be pronounced as brutal failures under Norv Turner, as I and so many others did. Nevertheless, they still don’t stack up as well against the Pats as the Colts, who probably also would have lost but probably would have kept it closer. San Diego is banged up, with key injuries at QB, RB and TE – while all of their big-name players will probably participate in some role, the team will suffer mightily for them not being 100%. The Hoodie will be prepared for either Philip Rivers or Billy Volek; don’t be surprised if there is some shuffling between these quarterbacks in a vain attempt to gain a matchup edge of some sort. Ironically, Charger castoffs Rodney Harrison and Junior Seau have been playing very well this year and pose two significant obstacles for their old team. On the other side of the ball, Jacksonville has taken an unfair “20/20 hindsight” rap this week for not pressuring Tom Brady more; frankly, what they accomplished was to avoid a string of humiliating big plays with him decimating their blitz. The cold, hard reality is that it takes more than 11 defenders to shut down the New England offense this year, period. As far as I can tell, the league is granting San Diego no special dispensation Sunday and they will have to get by with the standard 11! The only hope for the Chargers, and it is a very remote one, is for playmaking corners Antonio Cromartie and Quentin Jammer to account for at least three turnovers and for the offense to convert almost every conversion. It won’t happen. New England wins, 38-17.

NFC Championship Game: Call it heresy given the copious amounts of respect coming their way, but I’m still not very impressed with the Giants. The alpha and omega of their defense is a pass rush; that’s it. Giant discard Ryan Grant is the real deal, a legitimate superstar who had his first career-defining game last week in the massacre of Seattle. He has provided the impressive Packer offense with the balance it lacked for the first half of the year and he figures to run all over the New York D. While the fearsome pursuit the Giants can bring will result in a few sacks and knockdowns of Brett Favre, he will nonetheless pick apart the secondary with precision most of the time. Meanwhile, Eli Manning’s recent hot streak should not end with a sudden thud in this game. The Giants should be able to use their rotation to establish the power running game in the snow and keep the Green Bay defense honest. I do look for one or two key interceptions, including a late one to seal the first Packer Super Bowl berth in a decade. Green Bay wins, 27-16.

NFL divisional round closing thoughts

By Rick Morris

^ It was a strange Sunday in terms of the conventional wisdom regarding quarterbacks and coaches. Philip Rivers and Eli Manning have been routinely castigated as chokers during their short careers, but both are still alive going into Championship Sunday (although I am waiting for FDH Lounge Dignitary Nate Noy to call or email me claiming that Billy Volek's appearance in the game was actually the real reason the Chargers advanced). In terms of retread coaches who are not highly thought of by the media and most fans, Norv Turner pulled off a very surprising win and Wade Phillips will have to suffer through a difficult offseason as his Cowboys looked flat on balance and underachieved big-time.

^ Granted, general manager A.J. Smith is looking a lot smarter in San Diego than he did in September. A word to the wise, however for Mr. Smith: you might not want to strut around puffing out your chest saying, "How you like me now???" until the Chargers prove they can stay within three touchdowns of the Pats on Sunday.

^ The Seahawks were exposed as a fraud that took advantage of a weak, injury-riddled division. They need to retool offensively, starting with the run game, in order to make any kind of legitimate Super Bowl run next year.

^ T.O. is right; the Cowboys did lose as a team. But given the scrutiny that he was under for last year's playoff choke and his fade down the stretch this year, Tony Romo had to know that his Mexico junket with Yoko Romo was going to put him in an unacceptable position and he did it anyway. I have no sympathy for him.

^ What shapes up as the most fascinating and possibly consequential coaching decision of the offseason looms in Dallas, as Jerry Jones will have to turn over the ship right now to heir apparent Jason Garrett in order to avoid losing him. Did Bum's Son lose enough luster down the stretch and in this shameful loss to make a change even remotely feasible?

^ Peyton Manning seemed to have gotten the big-game monkey off his back once and for all last year when he won the Super Bowl. But Sunday's name, notwithstanding the gaudy statistics, was a losing effort in a game the team never should have blown, and is actually more typical of his career than what we saw last year (as past shockers to Pittsburgh and Tennessee at home in the divisional round can also attest). For all the talk in recent years about Peyton and Tom Brady being the "Marino and Montana" of this generation (meaning that one was a stat freak and another was a consummate winner), we had already seen a lot of cross-pollination this year what with Manning winning a Super Bowl and Brady having one of the all-time great statistical years and a league-record 50 touchdowns. But this game, combined with a possible fourth Brady Super Bowl ring in a few weeks, could serve to separate the two once and for all in the public mind with Brady universally considered better as a whole.

^ Jacksonville did everything they could defensively against the Patriots Saturday night, but frankly they were limited by only having 11 defenders. When a team establishes the run and pass to perfection as New England so often does, the other team is just on its heels throughout. The Jags were kept honest defensively for 60 minutes and with the historic array of weapons at Brady's disposal, Jacksonville couldn't get one or two additional stops to have a plausible chance at success.

^ This is a very controversial opinion, but the Pats game proved definitively who the league MVP is and it isn't Tom Brady, even in his moment of greatest one-game statistical glory. David Garrard, with a collection of wide receivers that an Arena League team would be ashamed to field, had another excellent game and got a chance to display his playmaking skills on a national scale. If the Jacksonville front office stops bumbling in its attempts to acquire legitimate wideouts, the Jags could make a run at the Super Bowl next year.

^ I love Championship Sunday. Along with Super Bowl Sunday, it ranks very high on my list of favorite secular holidays annually. But I am less enthusiastic for this year's offerings after Sunday's surprises. I believe Indy would have still lost to New England, but given a much better accounting for itself and I remain very unimpressed by a Giant team with an up-and-down offense and a pathetic secondary. While a Sunday night game in the snow at the Frozen Tundra will admittedly be cool, a Packer/Cowboy rematch now that Green Bay has a legit running game would have been awesome. Some of the storylines (aside from the tired Patriot Perfection one) will be OK, though: the bad blood between San Diego and New England dating back to last year, Ryan Grant going up against his old team for a shot at the Super Bowl, young guns Eli Manning and Philip Rivers (who were traded for one another on Draft Day in '04) having a chance to meet in the Super Bowl if they can pull big upsets. Still, though, the anticipated matchups would likely have been far better than what the NFL is going to dish out to us.

Another Reason To NEVER Listen To Mr. ROTO

by Jason Jones

It is no surprise that, we at FantasyDraftHelp.com do not think Roto is as talented as he thinks he is. Deep down, the guy is an idiot. This is the same guy that said after T.O. lead the league in touchdowns receptions, that you should NEVER draft T.O. What if T.O. is available in the 8th round? Should we still never draft him? The same nimrod who said always play and/or consider the matchups. Specifically, BENCH ADRIAN PETERSON AGAINST THE CHARGERS, if you don't remember Peterson broke the single game rushing record that day. So, here are even more examples of why ESPN should never not associate their name with his. The following was published, which blows my mind, in the December issue of ESPN the Magazine..."it's been six years since I’ve owned Fred Taylor on any fantasy team, and it will be seven next season. Why? Because in 2001, I declared him dead to me. Never again, I swore to myself. And even though swearing to yourself about fantasy football isn’t the best to keep your friends around, I can’t help it. So it’s time for this year’s version of 'the Dead To Me List'. These guys might produce great seasons in the future, and have lovely personalities to boot, but it doesn’t matter. In my world, they cease to exist"

WOW!!! What a D-Bag. This is the guy that who ESPN goes to when fantasy football questions arise. Millions of fantasy football managers are going to his site and watching his pieces on ESPN television in the hopes of getting solid advice. And this is the guy who each and every year is downsizing the number of players those people will draft. Along with his “umbrella rules” and other rigid ways of thinking are dooming fantasy owners everywhere. Never draft rookie RB’s (Adrian Peterson), never draft rookie WR’s (Dwayne Bowe, 995 yds and 5 td’s with 7 games with more than 4 receptions), always draft RB/RB back to back-you won’t survive if you don’t (my ’07 roster would disagree…T.Brady, R.Moss, C.Johnson, R.Wayne, J.Lewis, A.Peterosn, K.Winslow)… I could go on all day with the ways that ROTO is WRONG, but I’ll let you see what I mean.

1. Fred Taylor-Never draft Fred Taylor because he was injured most of 2001. I go one further, Fred Taylor was hurt most of his career, but depending on the value as the draft continues Fred Taylor may become very tantalizing. If Fred Taylor is available to be your 3^rd RB, by all means it makes sense to draft him. If you want to say that you don’t think it’s wise to draft Taylor, say that its because he splitting carries with the guy who will eventually replace him, not because you have a stick up your ass about something that happened 7 years ago. S***, I had Randy Moss in 2006, that didn’t stop me from drafting him in the 3^rd Round in 2007. And why? Because I am not an idiot like ROTO.
2. Shaun Alexander-He claims that this decision was made solely on his performance (or lack there of) against Cleveland in week 9. Again, and ROTO is famous for this, “focused on the wrong details”. If you don’t think Shaun is worth the risk, at least come up with more than one game (or at least 2 and a half quarters) to arrive at that decision. Look, Shaun is not the Shaun of even 2005. Seattle does not have a contingency plan at RB for the long term. They are going to have to rely on Alexander until a replacement can be groomed. And they will not get one drafting where they are (at least not one that will be ready until 2009-2010). Now if they sign a guy like Michael Turner in Free Agency, then maybe the Shaun Alexander issue will be a more urgent one to consider.
3. Laurence Maroney-The Patriots scored 355 points in the first 9 games and Maroney didn’t get in the endzone once. LOOK DIPS*#@!! This is a great example as to why ROTO doesn’t know D@#%. Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, and Ben Watson. The first time Brady truly had a dangerous WR core to pass to. There was a great possibility that they wouldn’t even get to the red zone. Its just like playing madden. If you’re good enough, you can lead the league in scoring and never get inside your opponents 30 yard line. Some day soon, Maroney may be a top 10 RB in the league. I can only hope I am in a league with ROTO and wax the floor with him. At this rate, he’ll be turning down 5 players out of every 12 picks.
4. Cedric Benson-Look, Benson has been a huge disappointment. I can’t really look down on someone who doesn’t feel confident that Benson can carry a team. But to say you write him off for good, is just asinine. Maybe some day Benson gets his head out of his conceited ass. Maybe some day he will realize that getting picked in the top 5 doesn’t extend to you anything. Never is a very close minded approach, especially in Fantasy Football
5. Norv Turner-HOLY S@#$. “It’s any player he’s touched as a head coach or coordinator”. This basically says that JaMarcus Russell, and more importantly Tomlinson, Rivers, and Gates are no longer worthy of being drafted in any Fantays league. He must not have thought this one out, ROTO, you can’t be this stupid.
6. Santana Moss-I think at this point he is just trying to fill the space left on the page. Does anyone believe that Santana Moss is a legit #1 WR? You better not. This is more about ROTO not properly evaluating than it is hating on Santana Moss. Santana Moss may be the best shifty slot receiver in the game if they’d ever use him correctly. In Washington, they have to work him like a #1 because he is the best they’ve got. Put Santana Moss on the Patriots and not Welker or Stallworth. His stat line would definitely be worth having on your fantasy team. Conversely, give Washington a legit #1 WR (6’2 or taller, 205-230lbs, 4.4 40 or better) and even ROTO will have to reconsider his take on Santana Moss. Oh, and this just pissed me off…”Every time he (Santana Moss) drops a pass, a Jets fan gets his wings.” Who the F@#$ are you? Why the Jets? A Cowboy fan getting wings at least makes sense in a drug-induced stuper. And I am now dumber for having spent any time on that stupid It’s A Wonderful Life reference.

I’m done. I can only focus on “The Talent-Less Mr. ROTO” for so long. My head hurts.