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Hache Man · 12-26-06, 03:10 PM

No McNabb? No Problem
I should probably have some sort of profound, thought-provoking introduction today, what with yesterday being Christmas and all. Instead, I'll simply point out that I spent Christmas afternoon watching Jeff Garcia direct the Eagles to a road win over the Cowboys, propelling Philadelphia into the division lead There are any number of ways to describe how wacky this season has been, but that one sentence does a pretty good job all by itself.

Philadelphia was in the midst of dropping to 5-5 when Donovan McNabb went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 11. Garcia stepped into the starting lineup and has gone 4-1, with four straight victories following a blowout loss to the then-powerful Colts in Week 12. During that four-game winning streak, Garcia defeated Carolina, and then won on the road against division rivals Washington, New York, and Dallas.

If you wrote the above scenario into a movie script—with Garcia playing the role of Steamin' Willie Beamen, I suppose—people would laugh at it. Yet with a win against the reeling, hapless Falcons in Week 17, the Eagles would head into the playoffs as the NFC's No. 3 seed, likely allowing them to host the equally reeling and hapless Giants in the opening round.

From there the Eagles would travel to New Orleans and then, most likely, to Chicago. That's certainly not a favorable path to the Super Bowl, but it's a whole hell of a lot more of a path, period, than Eagles fans thought they had when McNabb went down. Teams with first-round byes are always the favorites to reach the Super Bowl, but thanks to a sub par conference the Eagles look like as good a bet as a No. 3 seed can be.

While Lions, Browns, and 49ers fans walk around all day muttering "Jeff Garcia?!" to themselves, here are some other notes from around football …

* I'm generally of the opinion that Terrell Owens gets a relatively bum rap from fans and the media, but even I've got to admit that he should just shut up at this point. After Monday's loss to Philadelphia, Owens complained about his lack of involvement in Dallas' passing game, saying he specifically needs to get the ball thrown his way "early in the game." That's fine, of course, but when the ball did come Owens' way in Week 16, it was dropped as often as it was caught.

Owens has 15 official drops on the year, many of the ugly variety. I understand that it's popular to be an outspoken wide receiver and Owens is certainly at the forefront of that simultaneously annoying and amusing movement, but at some point you can't criticize everyone else when you're screwing up big plays consistently. Given Owens' consistent complaints and the Cowboys' late-season decline, it seems somewhat unlikely that he'll be back in 2007.

* Sammy Morris started Monday night, but Ronnie Brown quickly took over in the backfield after coming off the bench late in the first quarter. Despite not playing since Week 12, Brown looked fantastic while rushing for 110 yards on 18 carries, including six runs of 10-plus yards. As disappointing and injury-wrecked as Brown's much-hyped "breakout" season has been, he'll top 1,000 rushing yards if he can simply duplicate his 110-yard effort against the sieve-like Colts in Week 17.

In a dozen games, Brown has 893 yards and five touchdowns on 220 carries, plus 266 yards on 32 catches. Over a full 16-game schedule, that works out to 1,550 total yards and seven touchdowns. Brown certainly hasn't had the type of production many—myself included—expected of him as a sophomore, but given the mess of a quarterback situation in Miami, the Dolphins' shaky offensive line, and his own injury problems, it's not a bad second year.

* Much like Brown, Edgerrin James' season will look better in retrospect. James found zero running room behind a horrible offensive line early and was completely phased out of the game plan in Week 12 against Minnesota, but has 398 rushing yards and three 100-yard efforts in four games since. With 105 yards on 29 carries Sunday, James became the first Cardinals runner to top 1,000 yards in eight seasons. Seriously.

James' per-carry average of 3.4 yards is still brutal and he hasn't had nearly enough chances at the goal line, but he's certainly headed in the right direction going into 2007. Arizona's offensive line improved significantly as the year went on and there's reason to think James can take a big step forward next year. That probably means 1,250 yards rather than the monster years he had in Indianapolis, but after watching him put up 20-carry, 40-yard efforts throughout the first half, James' fantasy owners would take that.

James averaged a Jamal Anderson-like 26.5 touches over the first eight games of the season, but managed just 2.8 yards per carry. Even ignoring the forgettable, odd game against Minnesota, James has averaged 23.5 touches per game during the second half. However, over that same six-game span he's picked up 4.3 yards per carry, topping a four-yard average in five of the six games. Give him some semblance of a consistent passing game and a little blocking to work with, and James can still get the job done.

Two-Minute Drill: Daunte Culpepper reportedly confronted ESPN's Steve Young outside the television booth after Young questioned Culpepper's work ethic and attendance for team meetings on the air Monday night … With 205 yards Sunday, Peyton Manning became the first player in NFL history with seven 4,000-yard seasons … Inexplicably, Detroit News columnist Mike O'Hara wrote that he'd "bet on" Matt Millen returning in 2007, which makes it even sadder that the planned walkout by Lions fans Sunday reportedly resulted in about 100 people leaving … Rex Grossman revealed that he's throwing downfield less often in an effort to cut down on turnovers … Not to be outdone by Owens, Deion Branch has six drops in the last two weeks alone … With Seattle clinching the fourth seed regardless of their Week 17 outcome, expect Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselbeck, and company to get plenty of rest.

Red Zone: Reports out of New York suggest that Michael Strahan re-injured his sprained foot Sunday … Michael Turner's hip flexor could keep him from getting a big workload when the Chargers likely sit their starters in Week 17 … Fred Taylor's (hamstring) status for the season finale sounds uncertain at best, making Maurice Jones-Drew a great fantasy option again this week … With Charlie Frye (hand) and Derek Anderson (shoulder) out, Ken Dorsey will be thrown to the Texans on New Year's Eve … Coach Romeo Crennel denied a report that Braylon Edwards played with a dislocated thumb Sunday, meaning he can't use that as an excuse for his two drops … Javon Walker (wrist) reportedly underwent X-rays Sunday night, but the injury is not expected to be serious.

12-26-06, 03:10 PM	#1
Hache Man Moderator "Seven Days Without Gambling Makes One Weak" Join Date: Aug 19, 2005 Location: Orlando, Florida Posts: 62,331	Fantasy Football News 12/26/06 No McNabb? No Problem I should probably have some sort of profound, thought-provoking introduction today, what with yesterday being Christmas and all. Instead, I'll simply point out that I spent Christmas afternoon watching Jeff Garcia direct the Eagles to a road win over the Cowboys, propelling Philadelphia into the division lead There are any number of ways to describe how wacky this season has been, but that one sentence does a pretty good job all by itself. Philadelphia was in the midst of dropping to 5-5 when Donovan McNabb went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 11. Garcia stepped into the starting lineup and has gone 4-1, with four straight victories following a blowout loss to the then-powerful Colts in Week 12. During that four-game winning streak, Garcia defeated Carolina, and then won on the road against division rivals Washington, New York, and Dallas. If you wrote the above scenario into a movie script—with Garcia playing the role of Steamin' Willie Beamen, I suppose—people would laugh at it. Yet with a win against the reeling, hapless Falcons in Week 17, the Eagles would head into the playoffs as the NFC's No. 3 seed, likely allowing them to host the equally reeling and hapless Giants in the opening round. From there the Eagles would travel to New Orleans and then, most likely, to Chicago. That's certainly not a favorable path to the Super Bowl, but it's a whole hell of a lot more of a path, period, than Eagles fans thought they had when McNabb went down. Teams with first-round byes are always the favorites to reach the Super Bowl, but thanks to a sub par conference the Eagles look like as good a bet as a No. 3 seed can be. While Lions, Browns, and 49ers fans walk around all day muttering "Jeff Garcia?!" to themselves, here are some other notes from around football … * I'm generally of the opinion that Terrell Owens gets a relatively bum rap from fans and the media, but even I've got to admit that he should just shut up at this point. After Monday's loss to Philadelphia, Owens complained about his lack of involvement in Dallas' passing game, saying he specifically needs to get the ball thrown his way "early in the game." That's fine, of course, but when the ball did come Owens' way in Week 16, it was dropped as often as it was caught. Owens has 15 official drops on the year, many of the ugly variety. I understand that it's popular to be an outspoken wide receiver and Owens is certainly at the forefront of that simultaneously annoying and amusing movement, but at some point you can't criticize everyone else when you're screwing up big plays consistently. Given Owens' consistent complaints and the Cowboys' late-season decline, it seems somewhat unlikely that he'll be back in 2007. * Sammy Morris started Monday night, but Ronnie Brown quickly took over in the backfield after coming off the bench late in the first quarter. Despite not playing since Week 12, Brown looked fantastic while rushing for 110 yards on 18 carries, including six runs of 10-plus yards. As disappointing and injury-wrecked as Brown's much-hyped "breakout" season has been, he'll top 1,000 rushing yards if he can simply duplicate his 110-yard effort against the sieve-like Colts in Week 17. In a dozen games, Brown has 893 yards and five touchdowns on 220 carries, plus 266 yards on 32 catches. Over a full 16-game schedule, that works out to 1,550 total yards and seven touchdowns. Brown certainly hasn't had the type of production many—myself included—expected of him as a sophomore, but given the mess of a quarterback situation in Miami, the Dolphins' shaky offensive line, and his own injury problems, it's not a bad second year. * Much like Brown, Edgerrin James' season will look better in retrospect. James found zero running room behind a horrible offensive line early and was completely phased out of the game plan in Week 12 against Minnesota, but has 398 rushing yards and three 100-yard efforts in four games since. With 105 yards on 29 carries Sunday, James became the first Cardinals runner to top 1,000 yards in eight seasons. Seriously. James' per-carry average of 3.4 yards is still brutal and he hasn't had nearly enough chances at the goal line, but he's certainly headed in the right direction going into 2007. Arizona's offensive line improved significantly as the year went on and there's reason to think James can take a big step forward next year. That probably means 1,250 yards rather than the monster years he had in Indianapolis, but after watching him put up 20-carry, 40-yard efforts throughout the first half, James' fantasy owners would take that. James averaged a Jamal Anderson-like 26.5 touches over the first eight games of the season, but managed just 2.8 yards per carry. Even ignoring the forgettable, odd game against Minnesota, James has averaged 23.5 touches per game during the second half. However, over that same six-game span he's picked up 4.3 yards per carry, topping a four-yard average in five of the six games. Give him some semblance of a consistent passing game and a little blocking to work with, and James can still get the job done. Two-Minute Drill: Daunte Culpepper reportedly confronted ESPN's Steve Young outside the television booth after Young questioned Culpepper's work ethic and attendance for team meetings on the air Monday night … With 205 yards Sunday, Peyton Manning became the first player in NFL history with seven 4,000-yard seasons … Inexplicably, Detroit News columnist Mike O'Hara wrote that he'd "bet on" Matt Millen returning in 2007, which makes it even sadder that the planned walkout by Lions fans Sunday reportedly resulted in about 100 people leaving … Rex Grossman revealed that he's throwing downfield less often in an effort to cut down on turnovers … Not to be outdone by Owens, Deion Branch has six drops in the last two weeks alone … With Seattle clinching the fourth seed regardless of their Week 17 outcome, expect Shaun Alexander, Matt Hasselbeck, and company to get plenty of rest. Red Zone: Reports out of New York suggest that Michael Strahan re-injured his sprained foot Sunday … Michael Turner's hip flexor could keep him from getting a big workload when the Chargers likely sit their starters in Week 17 … Fred Taylor's (hamstring) status for the season finale sounds uncertain at best, making Maurice Jones-Drew a great fantasy option again this week … With Charlie Frye (hand) and Derek Anderson (shoulder) out, Ken Dorsey will be thrown to the Texans on New Year's Eve … Coach Romeo Crennel denied a report that Braylon Edwards played with a dislocated thumb Sunday, meaning he can't use that as an excuse for his two drops … Javon Walker (wrist) reportedly underwent X-rays Sunday night, but the injury is not expected to be serious.