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(Note: Cyd is in Florida
with his family for Christmas, so Jim is channeling his
thoughts).
The Titans are
finished.
The Titans are
finished.
Did I happen to mention that
the Titans are finished? What, you didn't see the
other 15 times I've written it this season? (Editor's
note: With the Jets winning Sunday night, the Titans
were officially eliminated from the playoffs, so they are
finished.)
Randy Moss is
the greatest player in the NFL. ... Scratch that--Randy Moss
is the greatest player in the NFL history. ...
Rewrite--Randy Moss is the greatest athlete of the past
2,500 years. (Editor's note: Moss had three catches
for a measly 34 yards as the Vikings were blasted 33-3 by
5-8 Jacksonville).
Yeah, I know Brett Favre
has won three league MVP awards, been to two Super Bowls and
is guaranteed to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I
also know that on Sunday he threw his 30th TD pass of the
season, something he's done for a record six times But, I
dunno why, he's just not that good of a quarterback to me.
Did I really pick
the Saints to be in the NFC Championship game, the Rams to
finish second in their division, the Redskins to win the NFC
East and the Chargers to make a playoff appearance? Must
have been some pretty heavy-duty crack I was smoking.
My five least favorite teams:
5. The KKK. 4. The White Aryan Resistance. 3. Al
Qaeda. 2. St. Louis Rams. 1. Tennessee Titans.
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The AFC playoffs are
virtually set with two weeks to go. Pittsburgh, Oakland and
New England are in. Baltimore, Miami and New York--all
9-5--each need only one win to qualify. Only 7-7 Seattle
still has a shot, albeit an outside one.
In the NFC, St. Louis, Chicago, San Francisco and
Green Bay are in. Philadelphia (9-5) is all but in, while
Tampa Bay (8-6) and 7-7 Atlanta, New Orleans and New York
will fight for the sixth slot.
The Super Bowl I'd love to
see (as would most people not named Cyd): St. Louis
vs. Pittsburgh. Both teams really have it going.
Flaws? St. Louis turns the ball over too much, while
Pittsburgh kicker Kris Brown is really erratic (he
missed two field goals and an extra point Sunday).
Saw some real incompetent
quarterbacking this weekend, with the two worst offenders
being Washington's Tony Banks and Cincinnati's Jon
Kitna.
On a day when Kitna's Bengals played terrific defense
against Baltimore, the quarterback threw the game away. He
was 16 for 39 with three interceptions (two inside the
Ravens' 10-yard line). On one play, the ball was batted in
the air at the line and Kitna went up to knock it down.
Instead, he hit it right to Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis
for an interception.
In Washington, Banks threw no interceptions but could not
complete passes on several key series against Chicago. The
worst were two incompletions on 3rd- and 4th-and-1 inside
the Bears' 5 with less than two minutes to go and the
Skins down by 7. Both Cincinnati and Washington could be
playoff teams next year ... if they get new quarterbacks. Drew
Bledsoe, anyone?
Goat of the day might be San
Diego Chargers safety Rodney Harrison, who has a
reputation as a dirty player. Against Kansas City,
Harrison's roughing penalty of Chief quarterback Trent
Green nullified an interception that would have won the
game for the Chargers. The call was marginal, but it seems
Harrison's reputation may have cost him. Two plays later, a Harrison hold gave
the Chiefs the ball at the San Diego 2-yard line. The Chiefs
scored with 48 seconds left to win 20-17. Two years ago, in
an exhibition game, Harrison took out Green's knee on a
cheap hit that sidelined the quarterback for the season.
Best-looking fan of the day
was this adorable guy in Green Bay wearing a
cheesehead. He was shirtless and it was snowing, so he's
likely not a nuclear physicist.
My personal game of the day
was Atlanta's 33-30 thriller over Buffalo, won
by the Falcons on a 52-yard field by Jay Feeley on
the game's last play. I'm one of two people left in a $900
pool where you have to pick one team to win each week (and
can only take a team once a season). I took Atlanta and had
to really sweat it out, as the Falcons blew a 10-point
fourth-quarter lead. The other guy took Baltimore, so we
play on.
My vote for underachieving
team of the season? New Orleans, with a ton of talent
and only 7-7. The Saints were blasted 48-21 by Tampa Bay.
Saints coach Jim Haslett has done a terrible job
getting his team ready all season, as the Saints have fallen
behind by double digits in most of their games.
Tennessee is playing
well enough to do some damage in the playoffs, but starting
the season 0-3 doomed them.
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Brian
Urlacher of the Chicago Bears cemented his reputation
as one the game's top defensive players in the Bears'
20-15 win over Washington. Urlacher, a middle linebacker,
not only had eight tackles, but he scored the winning
touchdown ... on a pass reception. The Bears, down 13-10
in the fourth, faked a field goal and Urlacher got wide
open to catch a TD pass from holder Brad Maynard.