We are the champions. On
Oct. 28, my flag football team, the Philip Marie Giants,
lost a heartbreaker and fell to 3-2. That was the last time
we suffered defeat. The team ran off seven straight wins to
take the New York Gay Football League Autumn 2006
championship. This one was very special.
My team wasn't the most
talented. But we had size, we had smarts, we had heart, and
the players were all dedicated to getting better. From week
1 to the championship game, no team improved more than we. I
quarterbacked the team and utilized Jim's basic philosophy
of offense: If you can involve everyone, the other team
won't know whom to stop and the team becomes unstoppable.
Our final three opponents had lost a total of three games
the entire season, and one of them was undefeated. But each
of them we pounded with a slow-moving offense that kept the
chains moving over and over and over again. The score of the
finals was 32-25.
The worst thing that
could have happened to the Bears.
That's what Monday night's game was. Bears quarterback Rex
Grossman had a quarterback rating of 114.4 (his best outing
since Oct. 29 against the 49ers and his third best of the
season), effectively quieting the calls for Brian Griese to
replace him and likely locking up his position as the Bears
starter for the rest of the season. Bears fans should have
been hoping for three interceptions and a loss. The Bears
simply aren't going to win the Super bowl with Grossman at
quarterback. I don't know that they'd win it with Griese,
but Grossman simply isn't consistent enough to go through
three winning teams, including the AFC's best, without
having a complete brain fade; and a 1.3 rating against
Seattle or New Orleans or Baltimore or Indianapolis isn't
going to cut it.
Romo: legend no more? The best part of the weekend
may have been the hush that has fallen over the "Tony Romo
is the new Staubach/Montana/Brady" talk that got simply out
of hand after his 4-1 record as a starter. On Sunday night,
he got upstaged by Drew Brees, who has truly earned the
accolades he has gotten this season. Romo's rating for his
two-interception performance was 58.8, only slightly better
than his 58.1 last week. On the other side of the ball,
Brees' five-touchdown performance earned him a
damn-near-perfect QB rating of 140.8.
Romo has a pretty light schedule ahead. He faces the pass
defenses of Atlanta (ranked 31st), Philadelphia (7th), and
Detroit (21st), the last two at home. So, all those talking
heads should have plenty of time to crown Romo the "greatest
quarterback in the history of football" again before the
playoffs start.
Then there were two.MVP. Just four weeks ago,
the name on everyone's tongue for league MVP was Peyton
Manning. But after his team lost three of its last four
games, in part due to Manning's poor performance (in their
three losses, he has thrown 3 TDs and 5 INTs), his is a
distant memory. Now the MVP race seems to be down to two
former teammates.
It's going to be tough for voters to choose between the
Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson and the Saints
quarterback Drew Brees. Both of them are having absolutely
incredible years. Tomlinson is first in the league in
scoring (and he set an NFL record for touchdowns with three
weeks left to go!) and second in rushing yards. Brees now
leads the league in passer rating (101.2), TD passes (25)
and passing yards (4,033). If he averages 351 yards passing
over the final three games (he has averaged 310 so far), he
will set the single-season passing record for yards.
ROTY. Rookie of the year
is also likely down to two. With a 6-4 record as a starter,
and having bested both Manning brothers in back-to-back
weeks, Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young should run
away (pun intended) with the honor. New Orleans Saints
rookie wide receiver Marques Colston, who will get 1,000
yards receiving and may grab 10 TDs, will likely give Young
a run for his money. Bears DB Devin Hester, who returns
kicks and punts, is a dark horse candidate after setting an
NFL record for punt/kick returns for scores on Monday night.
Best chances of winning the Super Bowl.
Baltimore (4:1). I still say a great defense can fix a
lot of ailments, especially when you have a serviceable
offense. The Ravens are the scariest team in football right
now.
San Diego (6:1).
Marty Schottenheimer hasn't won a playoff game since 1993. I
think he consistently loses in the playoffs because he gets
teams to overachieve, and it catches up to them in the
playoffs. I think this team is exactly the same, and they'll
blow it again.
New Orleans (8:1).
After losing to the Bengals, the Saints have kicked the crap
out of three straight NFC opponents, two of them on the road
against teams with winning records.
Cincinnati (8:1).
Things are clicking for the Bengals right now. I don't think
we've seen their best football yet.
New England (10:1).
Every team is so deeply flawed, I'll take the team that's
flawed, but has won three championships with flaws.
Out of the top five:
Indianapolis (every team I the AFC
playoffs will have a solid offensive backfield); Chicago
(they just can't win it with Rex Grossman at QB); Dallas (I
don't believe in Tony Romo just yet).
Jim is watching the games from
Jakarta this week. He'll be back next week with comments.
