A few days late passing it along here, but Tom Curran and I talk painful Divisional Round memories, then look at what underdog has the best chance to win this weekend and whether Joe Flacco is getting a little too much credit.
The Fantasy Fix is producing a year-end awards spectacular, the second annual Fixies, and needs your help! Okay, it might not be that spectacular. But we definitely need your help voting for a few of our awards. The two awards are below; thanks for watching all year and look for the show with the help of your input soon.
The first award is Most Frustrating Weekly Decision. The players who screwed you either way: You played them when they stunk; you sat them when they played well.
The second award is the Shanahan award given to the most annoying backfield situation. This should be fairly self-explanatory. Thanks for all your help.
While T.O. could get cut, and it would make sense on some levels, there still isn't a lot of proof behind it. Stephen Jones is reportedly is in the camp of people who think it would be good to cut him for team chemistry. It sounds like offensive coordinator Jason Garrett doesn't want him around. Matt Mosley thinks Owens is "probably" gone, which is surprising.
Cutting Owens, however, will actually cost Dallas a bit of money against the cap. his roster bonus isn't due until June, so there isn't much Getting rid of aging high priced talent for chemistry reasons makes sense to me, but it goes against everything we know about Jerry Jones. It still sounds like a longshot.
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Brandon Jones, once a favorite in these parts, played just well enough to get another chance to start in Tennessee. He led the wideouts in catches and has to be favored over Justin McCareins after the latter's embarrasing performance against the Ravens. Bo Scaife should also be back.
Some people are surprised about Bill Belichick's glowing, personal comments about Pioli, but they shouldn't be. For one, Belichick isn't shy about praising the few people that get his unbending respect: Randy Moss, Mike Vrabel, Tom Brady, Mike Shanahan, etc. And as Belichick said, Pioli was one of his best friends for almost 20 years and the person Belichick probably feels is as responsible for the Patriots success as anyone, including Brady and Bob Kraft. At nine years, Belichick/Pioli were the longest running coach/personnel man combo in the league.
As a Patriots fan, I feel pretty confident Josh McDaniels will be a good head coach. I never felt that about the three wisemen: Mangini, Weis, and Crennel. But I'm almost sure Pioli will turn the Kansas City franchise around. He had plenty of autonomy in New England and Belichick/Pioli learned to think as one anyhow. Pioli will bring his successful framework and system of acquisition to Kansas City, a team that never had a long-term vision. Now he just needs to find a coach.
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Mike Lombardi has inside knowledge of what "program" Pioli will want to run. He thinks Kirk Ferentz of Iowa would fit, but Ferentz may not be willing to go pro.
The elephant in the Titans locker room: What are they going to do with Vince Young next season. This is among the toughest quarterback decisions I've ever seen.
Kerry Collins doesn't want to be a backup anymore, and has essentially said he'd rather retire than be a backup again. The Titans want Collins back, presumably as the favorite to start. But a two-year, $4 million contract with incentives is not starter money. They shouldn't really promise Collins anything, but Mike Lombardi thinks Collins will get the starting job in writing. Wow. They should probably look hard at available free agents, including their own Chris Simms, but Jeff Fisher's loyalty to Collins will probably carry the day.
This Titans team was built to win now. They outplayed Baltimore and had a great chance to win it all in a wide-open year. I felt bad for Jake Delhomme Saturday, but I felt worse for Jeff Fisher. This could have been his year, and a future of Young/Collins contains no promises.
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I wrote this in column form, but I'm planning to post a big set of links here every weekday during this offseason. It will usually be in the late morning, but could be early afternoon if other work interrupts. This blog could use some structure/direction and that's a start. Not sure if I like the Skinny Posts tag enough to keep it. May try a different name. Let me know what you think. Your links are after the jump.
As someone who will also be carded well into my thirties (which start in a month. woo!), I can empathize with Josh McDaniels. My advice: kill the buzzcut and don't shave every day.
McDaniels' first presser was pretty dry, but not bone dry like Belichick and Romeo Crennel. You'd expect McDaniels to be uptight during his first presser when he isn't allowed to give them in New England. He has the reputation of a much friendlier personality.
"I think you'll certainly see me bring a little bit of a different vibe. I can smile," McDaniels said.
Just using the word vibe is a different vibe. But fantasy leaguers, players, and Broncos fans ultimately don't care about his pressers. They want production. I have no doubt McDaniels can come up with creative weekly game-plans and maximize Denver's awesome talent: Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, and Ryan Clady.
When the wind blows, Eli does too. It is a problem for Manning and the Giants that his passes seemed to flutter so much in the usual Meadowlands winds. Maybe they are better off going on the road in the off-season. That wind is one reason to avoid Jets/Giants quarterbacks in fantasy leagues.
Tony Dungy is retiring, but offensive Coordinator Tom Moore is not. And that ends the discussion of whether Dungy's retirement will hurt the Colts in fantasy leagues. Many deserved tributes will be written about Dungy in the next few days, and I'm looking forward to his 5PM presser to hear him reflect on his last 13 wildly successful years as a NFL head coach.
But Moore runs the offense, with a hearty assist from assistant quarterback/thespian Peyton Manning. The Colts offense has some big questions this off-season. Assuming Marvin Harrison is cut, who fills the third receiver spot? How can they fix the offensive run blocking? Who will be brought in to team with Joseph Addai next season and is Addai still the starter?
The answers to those questions will impact fantasy leaguers more than Dungy's retirement. Jim Caldwell will take over for Dungy and has a background in offense, but is unlikely to tinker with the system that works so well.
Deion Sanders has been saying throughout the last few weeks that Donovan McNabb could care less about Eagles fans and probably still wants out after the season. This has riled up some people in Philadelphia, but it hardly seemed far-fetched. Given a chance to comment after Philly's win Sunday, McNabb essentially said that Sanders was on point. (Skip to 2:35 if interested).
"You know what Deion. Continue on with what you are saying. I'm having a ball."
McNabb is probably going to want a new contract after the season, and a Super Bowl trophy would be one hell of a negotiating tool. Even during the best of days , the McNabb Eagles have an edge to them. It's working.
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This is why outsiders don't like the Philly media. Phil Sheridan starts his column with this line: "The impossible suddenly looks probable."
Tear them down all year, then hand them the title with two very difficult games to go. Vegas currently lists Philly as 11-5 to win the title, which sounds about right. Pittsburgh is the favorite at 3-2. And I nailed three of the final four teams!
Eagles Nation is using their good fortune as a reason for some well-reasoned introspection.
