Who Rocked?
Do you believe in fairytales? Michael Vick for MVP? Who had a dollar on that when the curtain went-up on this season? Not me, unfortunately. The Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback – yes, starting quarterback – has been on electric form. Following his historic 6 TD performance (4 passing, 2 rushing) on Monday night against the Redskins, Vick led his new team to victory over the New York Giants to take the lead in the NFC East and replace the champs of ’07 as the NFC faves for postseason glory. Here’s an interesting, and pertinent, stat: the Eagles have won every game that Vick has started and finished. Wow. Can you see Will Smith on the Eagles’ pregame VT at Superbowl XLV yet? I can almost smell the freshness…
The New England Patriots just keep getting the job done (except for that stinker of a loss to Cleveland). I like their subtlety and think they will be one of the teams to beat come January. I could see them having to settle for the fifth seed, though given the Jets’ loud-mouthed prolificacy. If they manage to edge the East they will likely take top-spot and from that position they are fearsome – no one wants to go through Foxboro to get to the Super Bowl, and if they are No. 1 I don’t think their journey will end until Texas.
Smash! The Bills can score points! If only the season were twice as long the upstate New Yorkers might have a chance of causing an upset. Forgive me, I’m getting carried away, but the Bills have been impressive the last two weeks, finally catching the break their play deserves albeit against lesser teams.
Jason Garrett has done something to the Cowboys. Two wins out of two is a record that should have stood next to the big blue star of Arlington after the second week. Now it means very little given the unlikelihood of 9-7 being enough to crack the postseason, and in fact serves only to placate the furious fans, addled owner and to boost the hopes of their stand-in coach of pinning down the job proper next term. I like the Cowboys’ spirit. They are not the worst team in the NFC by a long stretch, but will miss the playoffs – a real shame.
Whose Chances were knocked?
The Vikings are all but out of the playoffs. They now share the same record as the Cowboys, who are travelling in the opposite direction under Jason Garrett. Brett Favre might be wishing he’d stayed retired. With every pick he throws, he further consolidates his embarrassing record as the QB with the most interceptions in NFL history. He is a hero of mine and I hate seeing him playing banged up. 10-6 might have been enough to get into the playoffs via the back door, but 9-7? With the Giants and Bears closing in on that total already the Vikings have run-out of wiggle room. It’ll be a long offseason for the purple machine.
No one likes to get shut-out, especially after looking like you’d turned your season around. Although the 49ers got lucky in that every other team in the NFC West lost, further cementing the division of my beloved Cardinals as the worst in pro football, they are running out of games to make up for their poor start to the season. I still think they’ve got the talent to top this division, but they’d better get a move on – time is running out.
Houston just keep sinking. The Texans looked one of the league’s brightest teams a few long weeks ago, and now they are back where they didn’t want to be, staring at the Colts backside. Fortunately, though, Tom Brady and crew did the Schaub-led Texans a favour by knocking off a slick Indi unit. There’s hope yet but its dwindling with every passing week.
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