That Wasn't How It Was Supposed To Go!

Do or die week pretty much ended in death for me. The 49ers blew a game against the Titans at home, putting their playoff hopes in serous jeopardy. The Titans had just picked up their first win the previous week, there's no explanation for losing to that team at home. Alex Smith threw two costly picks at the end of the game that led to Titan TDs. Everyone keeps saying that Mike Singletary made the right decision by going with Alex Smith over Shaun Hill at quarterback but I'm not convinced. They say he has a stronger arm and he's more mobile. Ok, he has thrown more TDs in two and a half games than Hill did in five and a half. But all I see is one important number...a big goose egg in the W column.

For all of Hill's deficiencies, he has done one thing in this league and that is win games. Hill was 3-3 as a starter this season, but I wouldn't blame him for the Atlanta loss where the defense just didn't show up ready to play. And in Houston, I realize that Hill didn't have a good first half but he still hadn't thrown any picks. The decision to bring in Smith looked like a great one when he came in and threw three second half TDs but people forgot that it was Smith who threw a costly interception on the Niners' last drive in that game that ended it. Smith keeps making costly mistakes at key points in games. The mistakes that Hill didn't make (Smith has more INTs than Hill this season).  I'm not saying that Smith needs to go back to the bench just yet. I just think people should look at other things besides touchdowns and yards when comparing these two. As a QB you need to win games to be successful.

And that ESPN Page 2 writer Gregg Easterbrook is a complete idiot for suggesting that Michael Crabtree is the reason why the Niners are on this losing streak (this article was on ESPN's front page yesterday http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/091110&sportCat=nfl). Crabtree has already become the number one receiver in this offense and has finally given us a weapon to go to on the outside. And he hasn't said one word. I'm sorry Easterbrook but you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

Well my fantasy team lost as well, dropping me to 5-4 for the season and all but eliminating me from the running for the regular season or total points title. I had a pretty good week with Michael Turner and Tom Brady putting up pretty good numbers for me. But Roddy White did very little because of the Falcons big lead and Kevin Smith's injury kept him from getting enough touches to produce.

I did OK with my picks this week going 3-2...my first week with a winning record in quite some time. I made a nice call on the Cardinals over Bears upset. But it looks like I'm completely wrong about the NFC East, the Giants don't seems to be getting out of the rut they're in and the Cowboys aren't pulling their annual choke job...at least not yet. I'll say I got 1.5 of my 5 fantasy studs right (Ryan Grant, Matt Ryan). I'm still shocked that Green Bay's defense gave up 38 points and lost to the Bucs. I ended up doing better with my fantasy dud predictions getting 3 out of 5 right. Tony Romo took care of the ball much better than expected against the Eagles. And I was right that Hines Ward and Mike Wallace would have better fantasy days than Santonio Holmes, but Holmes still ended up with 93 yds (no TDs) so I can't say he was a dud.

Now for my High Five/Low Five

Best Teams
1. Indianapolis Colts- I don't care that they don't score as many points or beat their opponents by as much as the Saints. The Colts play defense and play it very well. They have allowed the least points per game in the league and have done it without their defensive MVP Bob Sanders who's now done for the year. What's new right? The past two games their offense hasn't been clicking the way it usually does, especially in the red zone. But the defense has come to the rescue both times. The defense can really prove something to the world if it shuts down Tom Brady & Co. this week.

2. New Orleans Saints- For the second time in three weeks the Saints overcome an early double-digit lead to win. The defense came up with another touchdown, their seventh of the season. That is more than the Raiders entire team has for the season and it's tied with the Browns! The one worry on this team has to be the rushing defense. They've allowed Michael Turner and Deangelo Williams to go off in consecutive weeks.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers- Up until the this week, no one has been talking about the defending champs. Their defense has been playing superbly, coming up with another TD against Denver and holding them to just 27 yards on the ground and forcing Kyle Orton to throw three picks (he had only thrown one all season and that was on a hail mary). The offense seems to clicking on both sides too. With their quality wins over Denver and Minnesota, I believe they are the third best team in the league and will be a force in the playoffs.

4. Minnesota Vikings- Since they lost to Pittsburgh I had to put them lower than the Steelers. But they very well could get their rematch with the Steelers in the Super Bowl. With all the flip-flopping in the NFC East it is definitely shaping up to at least look like a Vikings-Saints NFC Championship game.

5. New England Patriots- The Pats have taken advantage of a very favorable schedule over the past few weeks and the Tom Brady-isn't-the-same talks have been silenced. And after last week, the Where's Randy Moss? talks should be quieted as well. But let's see how good this team is this week when they travel to Indianapolis to face their old rivals. The Pats have a chance to eliminate both of the remaining unbeatens with the Saints looming on the schedule in a couple weeks. 

You may be wondering where the Bengals are on this list. I don't agree with their #4 ranking on ESPN's Power Rankings. I feel like they've caught a lot of lucky breaks in their wins, especially their first win over the Ravens. We'll see how they fare in Steeler Town. A win there will change my mind.

Five Worst Teams
1. Cleveland Browns- Their one win was a 6-3 triumph over Buffalo. I'm being extremely sarcastic with the word triumph. It really shouldn't be counted as a win if you don't score an offensive TD. In my book the Browns still are winless. This team is a complete embarrassment. ESPN should've tried to get a flex schedule for Monday Night Football so it could avoid showing what will be one of the worst debacles caught on TV when the Browns play the Ravens.

2. Detroit Lions- After the first few weeks of the season I thought the Lions were a decent football team. Of  course they always find a way to underachieve. Losing to the Rams at home is awful and almost placed them as my worst team in the NFL. Congrats Lions, you're only the second worst team in the league.

3. St. Louis Rams- Sunday's game against the Saints should be funnier than any South Park episode. Bet on the Saints now...the line is only 14. New Orleans should win by 50.

4. Tampa Bay- The Bucs have the best win of this bunch, a 10-point victory over the Packers. Maybe this kid, Josh Freeman is the franchise quarterback they've been looking for since...oh wait a minute the Bucs have never had a franchise QB. No, Brad Johnson doesn't count. Well at least they had hall-of-famer Steve Young as their QB for a brief time. Very brief.

5. Washington Redskins- I really don't see the Skins winning another game for the rest of the season. The only winnable one is at Oakland, but that's not easy considering Philly lost there. So the standard is set...you gotta be 2-14 or worse to get the first pick in next year's draft. I'm sure at least one of these team will do worse.

Five Worst NFL Broadcasters Currently on TV

Currently is the key word here because there are plenty more I'd like to add to the list including Emmitt Smith and Bryant Gumbel who were wisely let go.

1. Cris Collinsworth- To me it really doesn't matter if Collinsworth says anything intelligent or not. His voice is too annoying to listen to. And he laughs at his own corny sarcastic jokes. The world is really missing John Madden right now.

2. Keith Olbermann- I can't stand listening to him do highlights on NBC. His jokes are over everyone's head and the one's I do get aren't funny. And all he does is continue to make these jokes that get an uncomfortable silence from the other anchors who don't know how to react.

3. Tony Dungy- Stuttering Stanley!...Stuttering Stanley! It's hard to believe that this guy led a football team to a championship. He's so unauthoritative and can go through one sentence without stumbling. He looks uncomfortable and frightened on camera. What makes it worse is that Dungy, Olbermann and Collinsworth are all on NBC's coverage of Sunday Night Football. What a horrible combination.

4. Dan Dierdorf- Mr. Obvious has nothing intriguing to say and he doesn't belong on CBS's number two broadcast team.

5. Tony Siragusa- I'm not a big fan of how Fox uses the Goose on their broadcasts. They basically have him as a second color commentator and he'll talk during the play sometimes. Then they'll show him watching a monitor thats on the sideline instead of watching the action on the field when it's right in front of him. And I think he talks about food more than football when he's on the air.

MVP Candidates
1. Drew Brees- Brees continues to lead this offense of nobodies to success. Seriously, besides Reggie Bush, who isn't even one of the top options in this offense who highly touted coming out of college? Marques Colston...7th round draft pick,  Devery Henderson...2nd round pick who did  nothing before Brees came, Lance Moore...undrafted free agent. Brees has made these guys into great receivers and that's why he's the MVP of the league right now.

2. Peyton Manning- Brees and Manning really are 1A and 1B for MVP and may end up getting a split for the award. I give Brees the edge just because of Manning's performance the past couple weeks. He's only thrown one touchdown against two average defenses. And he has Dallas Clark, the best tight end in the league this year, and Reggie Wayne, probably the best receiver in the NFL this year.

3. Ben Roethlisberger- My top three MVP candidates come from the three best teams on my power rankings. Big Ben is probably the best QB in the league outside of the pocket. His ability to extend plays has won them games this season. With an on-off running game it's Roethlisberger the former game manager  who will lead this team to another division title.

4. Cedric Benson- He continues to carry the Bengals on his shoulders game after game. He averages almost 25 carries/game. That's the definition of being a workhorse.

5. Brett Favre- This team is practically the same from last year with the exception of Favre and the improvements on offense are immense. Similar to Brees, Favre has made a mediocre-at-best receiving corps look great. We haven't seen him make those patented gunslinger errors of the past either. But it's almost impossible to think he can be MVP with the best rusher in the game behind him and Manning and Brees having the great seasons they're having.

Best Players on Bad Teams

1. Maurice Jones-Drew- There is no player more important to their team's offense than Jones-Drew. He is so dynamic both running the ball and receiving out of the backfield. And for some reason the Jaguars still don't realize the importance of getting him enough touches.

2. Chris Johnson- CJ might be the fastest player in the league. The Titans aren't playing better because Vince Young is in the game...they are playing better because they are finally getting him the ball. He's averaging 6.7 yds/carry and has the most 40+ yard runs in the league. There is no stopping this guy.


3. Steven Jackson- I love the way he runs with his bruising style. He craves contact and injects fear into opposing linebackers even though his team doesn't inject fear into anybody.

4. DeAngelo Williams- Williams has really picked it up in recent weeks...rushing for 548 of his 768 yards in the past four weeks. He almost single-handedly gave the Panthers and upset over the Saints last week.

5. Calvin Johnson- I know he's barely seen the field this year and hasn't done much when he is in. But this guy is the most athletic receiver in the league and if he ever gets out of Detroit, he'll be the best in the league.

Check out the Gridiron Guru later on this week for Week 10 predictions.