How We Saw Week 15

Well, I'm in my Fantasy Football finals against Outsports contributor Bill Konigsberg.  The key game for our matchup will be Miami @ Minnesota on Saturday; he has Culpepper and I have Ricky Williams.  He beat me two weeks ago when we each scored the highest points in our division of the season.  Where's Todd Bauman when you need him?

What a disappointment for Atlanta.  Just two weeks ago, they were fighting for the division crown.  Now, they're fighting for the playoffs.  Just 1/2 game behind them lingers the New York Giants.  I'd love to see the Falcons in the playoffs - if only to see what Vick can do with everything on the line (remember, he DID play for the National Championship game his first year as a starter at Virginia Tech).

My Top Five MVP Candidates:
1) Ricky Williams.  He has been the difference-maker in this team that is now poised atop the AFC;
2) Rich Gannon.  The numbers he has been putting up are fantastic; plus, he is the engine that makes that Raiders offense run;
3) Priest Holmes.  See above; substitute "Raiders" with "Chiefs" and inserts "great" in front of "offense;"
4) Terrell Owens.  Marvin Harrison has put up great numbers, but T.O. has had the touchdowns and the swagger;
5) Michael Vick.  Two weeks ago he would have been my number one; he now needs to find it in himself to carry this team to the playoffs.

My Top Five Teams:
1) Philadelphia - They have the league's best record and are 4-0 since their season was declared "over" by many (including me);
2) Miami - Just look at whom they've beaten: Oakland, San Diego, Denver, New England, Indianapolis - three of these five will join Miami in the playoffs;
3) Tampa Bay - Their biggest problem is who will probably be in the playoffs with them (two northern teams and two dome teams); they need home field advantage more than any other team;
4) Oakland - So they're not #1; I knew that.  But, they're as good as any other team in the AFC;
5) New England or Tennessee - another matchup for #5 on Monday Night.

Side Note:  There are two reasons I didn't rank Green Bay, despite their great record.  First, I hate them.  Second, they have the three worst teams in the Conference in their division - and they even lost to one of them.  If they can beat Buffalo and the Jets, they'll be more than deserving of a Top Five for me (but don't hold me to it).
 

--San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens did the gayest thing I’ve ever seen in the NFL. After catching a 45-yard touchdown pass against Green Bay, Owens handed the ball to a 49ers cheerleader and grabbed her gold-lame pompons (click for photo). He then shook them and his booty in unison. “I think in my next life I'll probably be a cheerleader,” he said after the game.

A friend of mine commented: "Garrison Hearst kicked the shit out of T.O. after the game because he thought it was the gayest thing he'd ever seen." Couldn't resist.

--Fox showed Owens before the game, clad only in an all-black lycra bodysuit. He has an amazing body, a fact acknowledge by commentator Cris Collinsworth.

--Philadelphia is now 11-3 and controls the race for NFC home field. If the Eagles win their next two (at Dallas and at the New York Giants), the Eagles will have all their playoff games at home and would be the NFC favorite. The Eagles are lucky to be playing in the crappy NFC East and in the NFC in general. Philly is 10-0 in the NFC and 1-3 in the AFC, a stat that doesn't bode well should they make the Super Bowl.

--The most exciting team in the league? Try Cleveland, who has had nine of its 14 games come down to the last play or last minute. The Browns were at in again Sunday. They blew a 16-0 halftime lead to Indianapolis, falling behind 28-23. They then failed on four chances inside the Colts 10 in the final seconds. The loss likely knocks Cleveland (7-7) out of the playoffs. Too bad; they’re games are never boring.

--Don’t look now, but the New York Giants (8-6) are only a half-game behind 8-5-1 Atlanta for the final NFC playoff spot. With games against Detroit and Cleveland, the Falcons should still sneak in, but they’re making it more interesting than they should have.

--Risk-taking was rewarded in Minnesota’s 32-31 win over New Orleans. The Vikings scored to pull within 31-30 with five seconds remaining and decided to go for two points. Why not? They were 3-10 and had nothing to lose. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper bobbled the snap yet still managed to run in for the conversion and the win.

--Miami’s 23-17 win over Oakland was huge. It left both teams at 9-5 and made the race for AFC playoff spot wide open. The biggest beneficiary was Denver (8-6), which has a huge game next week at Oakland that will be for the division lead.

--It was cool that San Diego’s Doug Flutie got to play in Buffalo, where he had achieved cult status for three years. Flutie’s first pass was a 45-yarder to Curtis Conway and he led them to a 13-13 tie. Buffalo went ahead 20-13 then had to survive a Flutie Hail Mary pass on the last play.

--The New York Jets fell apart in their 20-13 loss to woeful Chicago. The Jets had an awful week—the offense and defense got into a nasty brawl during practice. And a limo driver charged a Jets player dressed as an elf (a 300-pound elf) with breaking his kneecap in a drunken rage. These problems obviously carried over as the Jets laid an egg against the Bears and are almost certainly out of the playoffs.

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