How We Saw Week 17

I don't remember a regular season week where everything went so closely to what I wanted to happen.  The only way Cleveland AND the New York Jets could make the playoffs was if the Pats beat the Dolphins, the Jets beat the Packers and the Browns beat the Falcons.  All three managed to beat the other team (who all had better records) and, low and behold, I'm still alive in my annual season-long pool with Jim and five other friends.

Of course, this all means that everything will go wrong for me next weekend.

New Orleans pulled off one of the greatest choke jobs I can remember.  In their last three weeks, they lost to Minnesota (at home), Cincinnait and Carolina (at home).  Couple those three losses with the Saints' earlier loss to Detroit, and they lost four games to teams that were a combined 14-46 when they weren't playing the Saints.  In fact, that Minnesota loss was the Vikings' first road victory in 16 tries, dating back to 2000 season.

With all the coaching vacancies that will be out there starting this week, I'll be most interested to see where Denny Green ends up.  No, he couldn't win in the playoffs with Minnesota (or Stanford, for that matter).  But, he knows how to coach and get the most out of his players.  Atlanta would be a great fit for him, but Reeves will likely stay where he is.  Dallas would be interesting, but the Cowboys don't have the offense that Green would like to have.  The Lions are my pick for his next home.  He coached in that division for many years - and with great success.  And, with the 7th or 8th pick, he may be able to figure out a way to get Larry Johnson from Penn State or Miami's Willis McGahee, either of whom would be a great compliment to Joey Harrington.

I love lists and awards; so, here go a few:

Coach of the Year
1) Jim Fassell, New York Giants.  This team should have been out of the playoff hunt in early November.  Instead, they will be playing in January.  When he took over the offensive play-calling, they started scoring points like a real NFL team (except for Week 17, but who's counting);
2) Andy Reid, Philadelphia.  His team faced the biggest injury of the season in the NFL and responded with five straight wins and the #1 seed in the NFC;
3) Mike Sherman, Green Bay.  After retooling his receiving corps, Sherman faced a plague of injuries on the defense and still won the division by six games;
4) Herman Edwards, New York Jets.  He was swift in yanking Vinny Testaverde after just four games, which led to a fast-improved offense; the team's defense got better and better with every week (more or less) going from worst-to-first in the final 12 weeks of the season;
5) Dan Reeves, Atlanta.  The Falcons started 1-3 with some heartbreaking losses.  But, Reeves stuck to the game plan and led the birds back to the playoffs for the first time since they lost the Super Bowl.

MVP
1) Chad Pennington.  The Jets were 1-3 and had scored in the single digits their last three games  when he took over the reigns; they went 8-4 after that and never scored in the single digits again; he also had the highest quarterback rating of any quarterback with at least eight starts;
2) Rich Gannon.  The guy had great numbers and was the key player in the second highest scoring offense this year.  Yes, he had a strong supporting cast, but that's not his fault;
3) Priest Holmes.  Until he injured his hip, he was on pace to break Marshall Faulk's record for touchdowns in a season.  No team relied on one player more to win; had he played the full 16 games and his team made the playoffs, he'd be my #1 pick;
4) Drew Bledsoe.  Last year, this team had three wins; this year, they had eight.  Drew seemed to slump in December, but that looked a lot more like "conservative" playcalling than Drew taking a dive;
5) Terrell Owens. Marvin Harrison had more yards, but Owens had more touchdowns and his team a better record; and, they didn't get to play Houston twice.  Owens was the most feared man on the field in every game he played;
5) Brett Favre.  He may have single-handedly lost a couple games for his team this season, but he also carried that offense at times and is still amazing to watch when he's on.  If he could straighten out his occasional lapses, he could be the best ever.

Hot New Faces
1) David Carr, QB, Houston.  Even if he is gayer than I am, he is still the hottest thing with a helmet;
2) Brian Finneran, WR, Atlanta.  Dark, tosseled hair and guns for biceps make him an obvious choice;
3) Billy Miller, TE, Houston.  I haven't even seen him, but he scored me a lot of fantasy points this season, so I'm all about him;
4) Chad Pennington, QB, New York Jets.  He's been around for a couple years, but is just now getting my attention.
5) Joey Harrington, QB, Detroit.  Totally cool; totally hot.  Too bad he plays for the Lions.

I'm excited for the playoffs.  While I think Jim is right (he's said that a wild card will never go to the Super Bowl again), you have eight teams each with a legit shot at a trip to San Diego. 

I said at the beginning of the season that the Philadelphia Eagles would beat the New York Jets, 24-10, in the Super Bowl.  And I'm sticking by it.

--Coach of the Year: Andy Reid (Philadelphia). Gets his team home field despite playing with his third-string quarterback for six weeks. Runnerup: Jeff Fisher (Tennessee). His team looked dead at 1-4 and wound up with the AFC's second seed.

--Game of the Year: Buffalo 45- Minnesota 39 (overtime, Week 2). For sheer entertainment value, this one was tops. Runnerup: Indianapolis 23, Denver 20 (overtime, Week 12). Watching a snow bowl is always fun.

--Significant Plays of the Year: Cleveland's last-play Hail Mary pass to beat Jacksonville in Week 14. If the pass in incomplete, the Browns miss the playoffs and Denver gets in. Runnerup: Mike Vanderjagt's two 50+-yard field goals in the snow to beat Denver in Week 12. The most clutch kicks I've ever seen in the regular season.

--Homoerotic Moments of the Season: Take your pick--just about any time a player jumps on a teammate who just scored. There was also a great moment Sunday when New England kicker Adam Vinatieri tied the game against Miami. As the kick went through, Vinatieri leaned close to holder Ken Walter with a look of affection in his eye and they lightly bumped heads. It made for a nice fantasy.

WEEK 17 NOTES
--Terrible play-calling doomed the Miami Dolphins, who completed their yearly December swoon with consecutive losses. The 'Fins led New England by three with 2:42 left and had first down at their own 8. Logic would dictate running Ricky Williams, who had gained 185 yards would touch the ball. At the very least, the clock would have run down and the Pats would have had to burn their timeouts. But Miami inexplicably threw two passes,  then had quarterback Jay Fiedler run. New England got the ball back, forced a tie and won in overtime. The loss knocked Miami from the playoffs and no team deserved their fate more. We are spared watching Miami lose by double digits in the playoffs.

--Atlanta also had awful play-calling. Down 24-16 to Cleveland and time running out, the Falcons had second-and-goal from the Cleveland 1. The Falcons' quarterback is the electric Michael Vick and a reasonable person would assume he would do some sort of rollout. But no--two runs by Warrick Dunn for no gain and an incomplete pass and the Browns win.

--Watched the games with Outsports Discussion Board stalwart Sportinlife (real name Brice). We had a great time flipping between all the action. He's quite a renaissance man--football in the morning followed by an art museum in the afternoon.

--The Saints were 5-0 against division winners and 0-3 against last-place teams. Their collapse down the stretch, where they lost their final three games to Minnesota (6-10), Cincinnati (2-14) and Carolina (7-9) was the biggest choke I can remember in the NFL.

Week's Hot Player

Adam Vinatieri ended last season by winning the Super Bowl for the New England Patriots. He closed out 2002 with two clutch field goals that lifted the Pats over Miami, knocking the Dolphins from the playoffs. For the season, he was 27 of 30 in field goals, an amazing 90%. His coach Bill Belichick calls Vinatieri his best player, rare praise for a kicker.