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Keyboard Quarterback: End Of The Run
Authored by Andrew Perna - 18th December, 2007 - 7:50 am
The crispness is back in the air, and that can only mean one thing: It’s football season! Risdon offers his picks for Week 1 and which teams will make the playoffs.
Baltimore wants Flacco to be their QB of the future. But the Ravens feel they have no choice but to start him now because Boller and Smith are unavailable. Wrong!
Among Marshawn Lynch, Calvin Johnson, LaRon Landry and Thomas Howard, there are no shortage of young players that are poised to explode this season.
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The Eagles saved a little face on Sunday with their win over the rival Cowboys, just the second loss of the season for the NFC East champions. Philadelphia’s defense pestered Tony Romo all afternoon long, holding him to the least productive game as an NFL quarterback.
The win, the Eagles’ sixth of the season, kept their slim playoff hopes alive momentarily. The Vikings' win over the Bears on Monday Night Football ended their postseason chances. Had they put the finishing touches on any of the four leads they squandered earlier this season, they’d be sitting pretty heading into the final two weekends of the season.
What stood out most during Sunday’s win over the Cowboys, in addition to Donovan McNabb’s workman-like performance, was Brian Westbrook’s decision to take a knee one yard short of the end zone in the final moments at Texas Stadium.
Scoring a touchdown would have given the Cowboys the ball back, with the chance to score and recover an onside kick. Westbrook ended the game with the selfless act because Dallas had no timeouts left in their arsenal. Westbrook didn’t take all of the credit for the move, admitting that offensive tackle Jon Runyan told him to avoid the end zone on the final drive.
Either way – the Eagles stand as only the second team to defeat the Cowboys this season.
The Downs The First Down…Two NFL Network Airings I’m getting mighty tired of this whole NFL Network business. Millions of fans around the country missed two games in Week Fifteen: Houston’s win over Denver and San Francisco’s victory over Cincinnati. This coming week we’ll miss the Pittsburgh-St. Louis game on Thursday and the Dallas-Carolina battle on Saturday. What gives? The league needs to settle with the many cable companies around the country or broadcast on a national network. It’s not like CBS, FOX, NBC and ESPN pay the NFL peanuts for the rights to air the rest of the games.
The Second Down…Miami Wins! It took four months, but the Miami Dolphins finally posted their first win of the 2007 season on Sunday, beating the Baltimore Ravens in overtime at home. I’m happy not only for the Dolphins’ players and staff but their fans as well. No one wants to deal with that kind of disappointment week after week in the uber-competitive world of professional sports. It was a 64-yard pass from Cleo Lemon to Greg Camarillo that won the game in overtime, setting off a South Beach celebration of epic proportions.
The Third Down…SpyGate Battle The battle between Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini, I mean the New England Patriots and New York Jets, turned out to be a much-better game than expected. Maybe it was the unfavorable weather conditions, or the fact that these two teams meet at least twice a year, but the Jets hung with the undefeated Patriots for a majority of the game on Sunday. Tom Brady was held without a touchdown for the first time this season in the team’s 20-10 win. Brady has 45 touchdowns on the season, four shy of Peyton Manning’s record, with games against the Dolphins and Giants rounding out the year.
The Fourth Down…Jaguars-Steelers Neither Jacksonville nor Pittsburgh have clinched a playoff berth yet, but both could seal the deal if the cards fall their ways in Week Sixteen. The Jaguars’ 29-22 victory over the Steelers was one of the more-entertaining games this season, and I’d love to see these teams do battle one more time in the AFC playoffs. They have several intriguing matchups including Fred Taylor/Willie Parker, David Garrard/Ben Roethlisberger and their many defensive playmakers (Troy Polamalu, James Farrior, Rashean Mathis and Sammy Knight).
The ‘Who The Heck’ Statline of the Week… Miami Dolphins’ WR Greg Camarillo: 3 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.
My Keyboard Prediction for Week Sixteen Washington @ Minnesota, Sunday 8:15PM EST The Vikings have emerged as one of the NFC’s best teams with a late-season push that has them eyeing the postseason. A win over the Redskins in primetime would likely lock up a Wild Card berth for Minnesota, ending Washington’s hopes in the process. The deadly running combination of Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson has been key, but their ball-hawking defense is just as responsible for their second-half surge.
The Keyboard Prediction: Minnesota 30, Washington 6
My Fantasy Diary… The 2007 season has ended for The Drew Crew.
Due to unforeseen circumstances and a few ill-advised decisions, The Woodpeckers were victorious over The Crew in Week Fifteen, 87-71.
The Woodpeckers enjoyed a season-high in points from Laurence Maroney, whom Bill Belichick used effectively against the Jets. I find it ironic that the Pats would have a hand in keeping my hands off the East Coast Pigskin League title. Ben Roethlisberger, Donald Driver, Bobby Engram and Vernon Davis all had above-average days as well for the ‘Peckers.
In the end, I still could have managed my way to a win despite my opponent’s productive day, but I overanalyzed once again.
My quarterback situation was in question right up until the kickoff of the NFL’s games on Sunday. I had Eli Manning, David Garrard and Kurt Warner to pick from and, of course, ended up going with Manning. In actuality I didn’t pick Manning from the three but opted to bench Warner and Garrard.
Warner had a favorable matchup against the Saints, but his bum elbow and the declining health of Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald kept me from starting him. Garrard, one of fantasy football’s steadiest options, was facing a tough Steelers’ defense in poor weather. Manning was going against a banged-up Redskins' defense in relatively good weather for this time of year.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Both Garrard and Warner tossed three touchdowns while Manning threw more incompletions than we’ve seen in the NFL in over forty years. Just terrific.
I could have overcome Manning’s disappointing effort had Joseph Addai given me the kind of production I had been accustomed to this year. Addai managed just 44 rush yards against the Raiders’ defense, his second-worst tally of the season. He failed to reach the end zone as well, dooming me well before Sunday’s action was complete.
Nate Burleson and Santonio Holmes continued my futility at wide receiver, totaling 54 yards between them. Meanwhile, Anquan Boldin and Dwyane Bowe, whom I chose to bench, had productive days (83 and 64 receiving yards respectively). I benched Boldin because he was only supposed to play on a few snaps due to injury and Bowe because his production had taken a hit in each of the last three weeks.
I now have to wait 37 weeks for a real fantasy football matchup that matters...
Lord, please be with me.
My Fantasy Football Record for the 2007 Season: Eliminated From: 10 of 12 leagues
Week Fifteen (Playoffs): 2-2
Eliminated From: 8 of 12 leagues
Week Fourteen (Playoffs): 1-1
Week Fourteen (Regular Season): 5-2
Week Thirteen: 3-9
Week Twelve: 5-7
Week Eleven: 6-6
Week Ten: 4-8
Week Nine: 5-7
Week Eight: 6-6
Week Seven: 6-6
Week Six: 10-2
Week Five: 5-7
Week Four: 9-3
Week Three: 7-5
Week Two: 6–6
Week One: 8–4
Overall: 88 wins and 81 losses
