Don't miss your chance for football betting at BetUS.com. As America's #1 sportsbook, BetUS offers the most up-to-date betting lines & odds for all your betting needs.
Gravy On The Keyboard Quarterback
Authored by Andrew Perna - 28th November, 2006 - 1:35 am
With John Herrera standing to his right dressed in black and appearing not unlike an undertaker, Lane Kiffin sat down at the podium for Sunday's postgame news conference.
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!
RealGM Search
The gravy and touchdowns were flowing heavily this holiday weekend, with the debut of the NFL Network’s Thursday night game and a schedule chalk full of intense battles, week twelve in the NFL was one to remember. With the league heading into an important five-week stretch before the postseason, and many fantasy regular seasons coming to an end, I figured I’d try a little something different in this week’s Keyboard Quarterback.
The weekly five highs and lows that I have been providing since the 2005 season have been reduced to three apiece. I figured this would allow the more exciting and influential stories to be highlighted, rather than keying in on a total of ten different points. I felt that was getting to be too much with sixteen games on the schedule in most weeks, which means that nearly every game would be commented on.
Don’t worry, my weekly fantasy football diary remains. But, I’ve decided to add a new section to my weekly column. I’ll highlight a few key match-ups to look for in the upcoming week to prepare you for your Sunday o’ Football. I’ve also brought back the statistical analysis I debuted earlier this season, touching on a few of the NFL’s most amazing numbers.
Enough with the potatoes, onto the meat of the column.
Weekly Highs Young Rallies Titans Tennessee rallied from a 21-0 deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the New York Football Giants 24-21 in Nashville. The Titans were led by rookie quarterback Vince Young, who scored three touchdowns in the final fifteen minutes (two through the air, and one on the ground). The win gave the Titans their fourth of the season, and dropped the Giants to 6-5. New York has now lost three straight, and the finger pointing continues.
Addai Runs Wild I just couldn’t help myself. I had to give Colts’ rookie running back Joseph Addai his props. I love this kid. On Sunday Night Football with the legendary Al Michaels and John Madden on the mic, Addai run wild all over the Eagles suspect defense. When the dust settled Addai finished with 171 rushing yards and four touchdowns. In each of his twenty-four rushes he didn’t stop until at least four or five Eagles were piled on top of him, and every time the NBC cameras showed him on the sideline he looked as though he was just doing his job. Style, Consistency, Humility, Professionalism, I just can’t say enough about this guy. Edgerrin who?
Gravy for Romo Dallas quarterback Tony Romo seems like the real deal. He threw five touchdown passes on Thanksgiving in the Cowboys 38-10 dismantling of the once-tough Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Heck, the kid is even rumored to be dating Jessica Simpson. Although, as my cousin said, “I’m not sure anyone really dates Jessica Simpson.” From the beginning Romo has looked a lot like another overlooked quarterback that replaced Drew Bledsoe. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last decade you know I’m talking about New England QB Tom Brady. You have the feeling that each and every week Romo will unravel, but it never happens. If Romo leads the Cowboys to a Super Bowl, I’d pick up Bledsoe real quick, only to bench him midway through the season. It seems to lead to some luck…
Weekly Lows Vick’s Birds For the first time under Jim Mora Jr. the Atlanta Falcons are below .500, and things don’t look like they’ll be getting any better. After a 31-13 loss to the division-rival Saints on Sunday, quarterback Mike Vick flipped the bird to a booing Atlanta crowd. Vick immediately apologized for his lapse in judgment, but the damage was done. His 166 yards on the ground couldn’t make up for his horrendous performance through the air (9-for-24 with just 84 yards). The loss was Atlanta’s fourth straight.
Grossman Gets Grounded The 9-1 Bears went into New England on Sunday afternoon with plans of handing the Patriots their third loss in four games. After five New England turnovers, three in the red zone, it seemed as though Chicago was destined to win. However, QB Rex Grossman was never able to get the once-explosive offense started, finishing with 176 yards and three interceptions on a 15-for-34 performance. The Bears still have a two-game lead over the Cowboys, Saints, and Seahawks in the NFC, but things aren’t going as smoothly in the Windy City as they were early in the season.
Jake Plummer Even after leading the Broncos to a respectable 7-4 record through the teams’ first eleven games, Denver quarterback Jake Plummer will take a seat on the bench this Sunday. Mike Shanahan will start rookie Jay Cutler against the Seahawks this week. It’s a gusty move for a team that’s in the thick of playoff contention, but one that has also been a long time coming. I don’t know if I agree with it, but I’m not making the decisions. Good luck Jay!
Andrew’s Believe it or Not Bengals’ receiver Chad Johnson totaled more yards in weeks ten through twelve (573) than he had in the season’s first nine weeks (482).
Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees hasn’t passed for fewer than 300 passing yards since mid-October.
Colts’ running back Joseph Addai ran for more touchdowns on Sunday night (4) than he had all season (3).
Chargers’ running back LaDainian Tomlinson has scored more rushing touchdowns (21) than all of the NFL’s other thirty-one teams.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have only three more sacks (14) than Carolina defender Julius Peppers (11).
Tony Romo has the highest passer rating in the NFL (110.8), and holds a ten point lead over Peyton Manning.
Houston’s Andre Johnson leads the league in receptions (84), and holds a sixteen reception lead over the Jets’ Laveranues Coles.
Terrell Owens’s former Philadelphia teammate Brian Westbrook has only one less reception than the enigmatic Dallas receiver.
Your Week Thirteen Viewing Guide Ravens-Bengals, Thursday 8:00 PM EST With Baltimore an impressive 9-2, Cincinnati will need a big game from its offense in order to keep them in AFC playoff contention. A loss would all but eliminate the Bengals from the postseason picture, and might send Ocho Cinco into T.O. Land.
Vikings-Bears, Sunday 1:00 PM EST A win would lock up the NFC North for the struggling Bears, but a loss might send them spiraling even deeper into confusion. At 5-6, Minnesota shouldn’t be overlooked, but it’s a game that Chicago shouldn’t have much problem winning. Along with Indianapolis, the Bears could become the first team to clinch their division this weekend.
Cowboys-Giants, Sunday 4:15 PM EST A win would give Dallas a two-game lead heading into the season’s final four weeks in the competitive NFC East. With the Redskins long gone, and the Eagles McNabb-less the race has come down to the Giants and Cowboys. Despite New York’s recent struggles a win would tie things up between the two teams. This is the most meaningful game on the week thirteen schedule.
Seahawks-Broncos, Sunday 8:15 PM EST A win is important to Denver in order to keep pace in the AFC Wild Card race, and could also be to Seattle if San Francisco posts a win against New Orleans. We will also get our first look at rookie quarterback Jay Cutler. ‘Must-See-TV’ has returned to NBC.
Panthers-Eagles, Monday 8:30 PM EST If the Giants end up beating the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, a win would pull the injury-depleted Eagles to within a game in the NFC East. In all likelihood the swarming Carolina defense will be too much for Jeff Garcia, and Brian Westbrook will peter out in the fourth quarter after getting somewhere around 50 touches in the Eagles first 55 plays. Regardless, it’s Monday Night Football and men around the world are obligated to watch.
My Fantasy Diary… It doesn’t happen too often, but following week twelve a good taste was left in the mouths of my fantasy football teams. I got much-needed wins in several of my nine leagues, and posted an encouraging 6-3 record. Apparently, my teams like to turn things on towards the end of the season, when they either count or their already way out of contention.
My biggest win came in my new main focus, the Nichols College IV League. After starting the season 0-3, I’ve battled back to .500 at 6-6. I’m in the thick of playoff contention with one week remaining in our regular season. I even have an outside shot of winning my division, as I’m one game back from the leader, Team O’Brien (7-5).
The most heart-breaking loss occurred in the RealGM Writer’s League, where I fell to NFL writer Jeff Risdon by 0.77 points! Not even a single point! The loss dropped my team, The Cunning Linguist to 7-5, and my playoff hopes are now in jeopardy.
Heading into week thirteen my combined twelve week record stands at 52-56. That’s not all too bad consider how poorly I began the season, and it looks as though I’ll make the playoffs in about half of my leagues. More news on that shortly as week thirteen is the final week of the regular season in several of my leagues.
