The NFL is Poop - Week 9

Don’t Hibernate on the Bears Defense wins championships, especially opportunistic defenses that force turnovers. And that is why the Bears are dangerous. The Bears scored 51 points, the highest total for the franchise since 1980. They forced 5 turnovers. Peanut Tillman forced 4 fumbles, breaking his own record. Before you say that this was just against the Titans please remember the Bears defense has scored 7 touchdowns, this season, and only allowed 17. They are +16 in turnover margin. They are 7-1 and their only loss was a game Jay Cutler threw 4 interceptions. And Peanut Tillman has been doing this for years. He has 36 forced fumbles, 32 interceptions and 7 touchdowns. It’s pretty hard for a defensive back to win Defensive Player of the Year, unless he has a large number of interceptions, but if it could happen, this could be the year, and Peanut Tillman could be that player.

Where Did They Come From?
When last we spoke of the Tampa Bay ExpensiveCornPrices they were rushing their opponents on kneel downs in an effort to prove that their effort was for the full 60 minutes. But now we have a better reason to speak of them. They are an offensive juggernaut. They scored 19 ppg game in their first four, and 36 ppg in their next four. A lot of that is because of Doug Martin from Boise State who is averaging 139 yards per game and 6.5 yards per carry over the past 4 games. That includes his incredible 251 yards, 4 touchdown performance against the Raiders. As you fantasy geeks surely know, it is one of the best fantasy games of all time. Only surpassed 3 times, by players who scored 5 touchdowns, Shaun Alexander, Jerry Rice and Clinton Portis, who put up 54 fantasy points in a game against the Chiefs in 2003.

I Hate New York
Eli Manning has given the Giants two Super Bowls. This season he’s led the Giants to some exciting wins. As recently as two weeks ago the New York Post was wondering if he was the best quarterback in the NFL. But one subpar performance has the Post ripping Eli on the back cover. It’s the reason the Knicks and Mets have been bad for so long. The pressures in New York are unbelievable and there is zero patience, even for a guy who has already won two Super Bowls.

Lucky Again
The New York Giants continue to be on the receiving end of some favorable breaks including a horrible call by the officials that resulted in a Giants touchdown. Ben Roethlisberger’s arm was hit by Osi Umenyiora as he pulled it back to pass. It didn’t dislodge the ball though. His arm moved forward while still maintaining possession of the ball. According to the tuck rule, any forward movement of the arm constitutes an effort to make a forward pass. This call was botched by the officials, and upheld under replay (perhaps they thought the ball had been knocked loose), resulting in a touchdown for the Giants. This didn’t cost the Steelers the game, thankfully, because if it had, this would have been the worst call since the Fail Mary.



Game of the Week
Indianapolis Colts 23 Miami Dolphins 20
Both of these teams are surprisingly frisky this season which made for a very interesting contest. This game may be remembered as Andrew Luck’s coming out party. He threw for 433 yards, a rookie record, set by Cam Newton last year. He led his team on two late drives to take the lead. And he converted on 13 of 19 third downs. But even more memorable than that, was this postgame speech by Chuck Pagano, who we now know is in remission, after undergoing treatments for leukemia.



Game of Next Week
Houston Texans at Chicago Bears
Two 7-1 and teams going at it. This should be a fun game. This could easily be the matchup at the end of this column if the damn Falcons would just lose a game.

A Brief Rant About the Redskins
I think the league is starting to figure out RGIII and Kyle Shanahan’s lame offense. Run on first down, run on second down, play-action pass on third down. 25 points in the last 2 games, after scoring more than 20 in every game but one out of the first 7. The Redskins are second in the league in rushing yards. And second worst in passing yards allowed. This is the 21st century, it is a passing league. We have dynamic quarterback and yet we are still trying to play smashmouth football from the 1950s.

Picture of the Week
The NFL honors the military by having fans holds up placards before the Packers-Cardinals game.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Atlanta Falcons 21 Houston Texans 17
The Falcons are not impressive, but they keep winning. Similar story for the Texans but I can't remove either one of them until they lose.