What Happened to Eli?

Halfway through the season, everyone was right. Eli Manning was overrated. He wasn't horrible, but he wasn't Peyton.

Then came the final game. Should you rest the starters against the perfect New England Patriots, or play for a place in history. Surprisingly, they started the players, and even more surprisingly took the Pats as far as they could go. They didn't win, mind you, but Eli got his dignity.
He has had only one interception from the New England game till now. Compare that to his 5 INT's in the first 4 games in the season. He has played in some of the most difficult places as well. Tampa Bay (One of the top defenses), Dallas, and Green Bay (in the 21st century's version of the Ice Bowl).

Whats next for Eli if he does do the impossible and beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Sunday? I predict more commercials, date supermodels, and overall, live the life that was meant to be lived as a QB in the NFL. Joe Namath would be proud.

Bucs, Former & Present, Dropping Like Flies

First it was Warren Sapp, now it's Mike Alstott. The greatest players in Buc history are retiring one by one. Both were fan favorites. It wasn't odd to see a #99 or #40 jersey walking around in the Tampa area. Both have lost their luster. Sapp declined after a trade to the Raiders, and the A-train with constant back injuries.

I will personally miss both players, especially Alstott. The question now is, who's next? Former coach, Tony Dungy recently contemplated retirement before he ultimately decided against it. Will it be Derrick Brooks, or Ronde Barber? Or perhaps John Lynch. Who ever the next Tampa Bay Buccaneer to retire is, I know this. Gone are the great players from the Super Bowl. We need our younger players to step up now.

PiPA NFL Reg. Season Review

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)
Best Moment: Week 9, National TV audience. What do you do? Blow the other team out of the water. 5 TD's for Big Ben, over 100yds for Santonio Holmes, and a monster block for Hines Ward.

Worst Moment: Losing to the New York Jets. That's all that needs to be said.

MVP: Mike Tomlin. He brought the 8-8 team that was a huge letdown after SB XL, up two wins and a Division Championship. Not bad for a rookie.

Next Year (Better or Worse?): I say, they'll stay around 10-6. Tomlin will know what to expect, Holmes will be improved. The only downside is their competition. If the Ravens return to form, along with the surprisingly good Browns, this could be a tough division.

Philadelphia Eagles (8-8)
Best Moment: Beating the Cowboys in their own house in week 15.

Worst Moment: Roy Williams horse collar tackle on Donovan McNabb. Everyone was having flashbacks of T.O. getting injured the same way.

MVP: Brian Westbrook. He runs. He catches. He is the most important player on this team.

Next Year (Better or Worse?): I'm gonna go out on a limb and say worse. McNabb is not getting younger, the receivers are not getting better, and fans are not getting any happier.

Miami Dolphins (1-15)
Best Moment: Cleo Lemon's walk-off TD pass in week 15 against the Ravens, giving the Dolphins its first win of the season.

Worst Moment: The other horrendous 15 games. Or Ronnie Brown getting injured.

MVP: The fans. It takes alot of guts to go watch a team who hasn't won a a game in a couple of months. Congrats few Fin fans, there is always next year.

Next Year (Better or Worse?) Better. I mean they can't get any worse. Right? Cause they have draft picks and Ricky Williams will be with them for a full season.... Why don't I feel very confidant in this team?


Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7)
Best Moment: Tie. Michael Spurlock's Kickoff return for a TD. The first in Tampa History.
Ronde Barber Intercepts Jason Campbell in a key situation, that puts him number one in Buccaneer Franchise INT's.

Worst Moment: Losing the season opener against Seatle, which later cost them the tie-breaker against the Seahawks.

MVP: Ernest Graham. Started the season as the 3rd string RB, behind Carnell Williams and Michael Pittman. After both were hurt, he was not brilliant, but effective. After Pittman came back, and the Bucs got Michael Bennett from the Cheifs, Ernest was still the starter.

Next Year (Better or Worse): I want to say better (2 games were lost most likely because of sitting players for the playoffs). But I can't say that, so I'll go with no change.

Jacksonville Jaguars (11-5)
Best Moment: David Garrard's Season. Everyone condemned the Jags for letting Byron Leftwich go. Garrard came, won, and conquered the Steelers.

Worst Moment: Fred Taylor not getting a Pro Bowl position. Never been to a Pro Bowl before. The announcement comes, and he's still not there.

MVP: This is too tough to give it too one guy. Fred Taylor and David Garrard. Taylor had the stats, Garrard didn't make mistakes.

Next Year (Better or Worse?): Better. The Super Bowl's the limit for this team.

Pre-Pre-Season Fantasy Ranking's: RB's

Running Backs

1.) LaDainian Tomlinson (18.3 ppg)
Like most high picks, he started off slow, then gained speed, and continued his fantasy domination.

2.) Adrian Peterson (13.9)
Major question is, can he stay healthy? If he does? Look out! He had 5 games where he had over 20 fantasy points, including two games over 40!

3.) Steven Jackson (9.6)
Once again, it was another big name that was injured. After a fumble ridden first two games, he was out for the next four. Then he rewarded the owners that refused to dump him.

4.) Brian Westbrook (16.8)
Might be ranked a little too low here. Because he is one of the best pass catching backs in the league.

5.) Darren McFadden (R)
Has the possibility to be next years Peterson, or possibly better.

Sleeper(s):
Earnest Graham (10.4)
Didn't seem to affect him at all when the Michael Pittman came back from injury. Let's see what he'll do next year after Tampa has time to shop for another back.

Marshawn Lynch (10.4)
While Peterson got all the publicity, Marshawn was having a ROY-like season, including a 153 yard performance in week 8.

Stumbler(s):
Reggie Bush (7.8)
If you went by advertisements, he would be right there with Peyton. That, however, is not the case. Fantasy owners are coming to the sad realization that Reggie Bush may be overrated.

Edgerrin James (10.8)
Decent year, but how long is this gonna last in Arizona?

Rookie:
Jonathan Stewart, ORE
After McFadden there is a decent sized drop off in running backs. If he plays like he did in the Sun Bowl, he's a key waiver pickup.

Pre-Pre-Season Fantasy Ranking's: WR's and TE's

It may be early to be thinking of fantasy football, but that way, no one remembers by idiotic predictions!

Wide Receivers

1.) Reggie Wayne (12.4 ppg)
If Peyton comes back to his 2004 self, stat-wise, it will be because of Reggie Wayne. Marvin Harrison is no longer the go-to-guy in Indy (see below).

2.) Randy Moss (17.5 ppg)
Key to my formula, flip Patriots with Colts.

3.) Braylon Edwards (13.3 ppg)
QB issue in Cleveland might be key for Edwards.
Derek Anderson? Another good year.
Brady Quinn? Who knows?

4.) Terrell Owens (13.6 ppg)
All depends on the Dallas- T.O. marriage. Call me doubtful, but things looked this good in Philly at one time too!

5.) Larry Fitzgerald (11.8 ppg)
Can outshine Anquan Boldin any day, question is, will Matt Leinhart shut up?

Sleeper(s): Dwayne Bowe (7.8 ppg)
Injury's slowed him some last year, but did just fine when he did play. He was a waiver must pick up, this year, he'll actually get drafted.

Santonio Holmes (8.7 ppg)
The big play possibility that left with Antaawn Randle El.

Stumbler: Marvin Harrison (1.8)
My, how the mighty have fallen. 12 games without a point, thanks mostly to injuries, but even when he did play he was sub par. No games over 100 yards and one touchdown all year! His two best games gave owners just 14 and 8 points in weeks one and two.

Rookie: DeSean Jackson, CAL
Have you seen some of his highlights?

Tight Ends

1.) Antonio Gates (9.1)
He was very inconsistent to say the least. Case in point, weeks 8-17 went like this: 21pts, 1, 2, 11, 22, 0, 11, 0, 2, 6. But with Phillip Rivers maturing (hopefully) means that Gates will return to his Drew Brees Era stats.

2.) Jason Witten (9.2)
This dude's crazy. If you like guys who can produce big numbers, and play without a helmet, he's your man.

3.) Tony Gonzalez (8.7)
Does this guy ever get worse with age? Ever?

4.) Kellen Winslow (8.3)
Pretty consistent player all year, scoring 8-12 points week in and week out. He'll be a fantasy power for years to come

5.) Owen Daniels (5.1)
All that stands in his way is an injured Matt Shaub.

Sleeper:
Alex Smith (3.1)
Sorry, I had to put a Tampa player somewhere.

Stumbler(s):
L.J. Smith (1.4)
The stats never caught up with the potential.

Alge Crumpler (4.3)
Quarterback situation in Atlanta aren't getting better at all.

Rookie:
James Hardy (IND)
If you saw Penn State play the Hoosiers, you know he can flat out dominate in the air. That's against college players, will he be able to duplicate it in the pros?

Pre-Pre-Season Fantasy Ranking's: D's and QB's

It may be early to be thinking of fantasy football, but that way, no one remembers by idiotic predictions!

Quarterbacks

1.) Peyton Manning (16.8 ppg)
He will come back! Forgetting his time-consuming commercials, he will focus on passing Brady as the number 1 fantasy QB.

2.) Tom Brady (23.6 ppg)
I think its almost impossible to repeat the year he had in '07. But I wouldn't put it past the Pats.

3.) Tony Romo (17.7 ppg)
Note to Tony: Keep your personal life off the field. Still, pretty solid pick.

4.) Derek Anderson (15.2)
No matter who he plays for next year, this season was not a fluke.

5.) Drew Brees (15.3 ppg)
After a very bad start, some owners actually dropped him. Needless to say, they regretted it. Can't say the same about Reggie Bush

Sleeper: David Gerrard (10.9 ppg)
Similar situation to Derek Anderson, maybe a late round pick.

Stumbler: Phillip Rivers (10.5 ppg)
Had some bright spots, but one two many weeks of negative points.

Rookie: Matt Ryan

Defenses/ Special Teams

This is one of the hardest positions to find a consistent contributor (Chicago anyone?) to your team. Any pre-draft rankings are worth nothing. So here are just 5 somewhat safe picks

1.) Chargers

2.) Bears

3.) Seahawks

4.) Vikings

5.) Buccaneers



* All ppg (Points per Game) are based on
TD pass=4
25 yds =1
Int= -2
TD rush= 6

Who To Watch for in the Playoffs

The College Bowl season is winding down, High School football is long gone, the football season is nearly complete. The one bright spot left is the NFL Playoffs. Here are a couple of guys I watching to see what they'll do.

Eli Manning: He had 251 yds, and 3 TD's against the Patriots, better than the other Manning had against New England (225 yds, 1 TD). Can he keep this hot streak alive, against a struggling Tampa team?

Tom Coughlin: If he losses in the first round, is that it for him?

Jeff Garcia: He hasn't had a real full game in a while? Will the rust shake off easily?

Jessica Simpson: Will she attend the Cowboy's next game?????

Fred Taylor: Can he shred the Pittsburgh Defense for the second time since week 15?

Pittsburgh Defense: Will they be shred by Fred Taylor?

Najeh Davenport: He's got some pretty big shoes to fill. Shoes that ran for the 4th most yardage among Running Backs, even while missing the end of the season with injury. Can Davenport become steady enough for the win?