Shut Up Already

I've loved watching Drew Brees play football for years. From Purdue through San Diego and now with the New Orleans Saints. When the Chargers selected running back LaDanian Tomlinson and Drew Brees at the top of their 2001 Draft I thought that it was one of the best one-two picks I've ever seen. I've really loved what Brees has done for the people and city of New Orleans. Especially when both needed it most.

I just wish that he'd shut up about his team's bounty scandal. Every single forum that he's on he's ripping the NFL commissioner's office for the bounty investigation and the punishments. He did again this week on, of all places, NFL Network. The investigation certainly wasn't perfect. How could it be? Not one person seems to be able to make the easy distinction between "pay for performance" and a bounty. An interception and a "cart off" are two very different things. You have as many people saying that it happened as saying that it didn't. There's no question that the Saints were doing something shady. They were told to knock it off three years ago and they didn't. That alone is reason enough for every single suspension and fine that the troublemakers received. If there is still lingering doubt watch the 2009 NFC Championship Game. If there was ever a team playing beyond the rules of the game, let alone showing absolute zero respect for their peers, it was the New Orleans Saints that day.

I know that Brees is trying to stand up for his team. Lead his team and support his team. In standing up for his team he's supporting every single thing that his idiot defense did. He's saying that it's perfectly fine for his teammates to bust up his fellow quarterbacks around the league for a few dollars more.

Just shut up and play football, Drew. If defenses around the league did the same shit that your defense did you might not have the chance to play football again.

Throwback Thursday: The 1950s

The 1950s is one of my favorite decades in the history of the NFL. I wasn't around for it but I loved it. The payers, the teams, the games. All of it. Just about the only thing that the NFL of the 1950s lacked was the Minnesota Vikings. Outside of that, it was the best. If I'd been around for the '50s I might have become a fan of the Baltimore Colts. Or the Cleveland Browns. The Detroit Lions? Now, that was a fun team. Maybe the '50s would've done what the '70s couldn't and I would turn to the San Francisco 49ers. With Y.A. Tittle leading the "Million Dollar Backfield" of Joe Perry, Hugh McElhenny and John Henry Johnson, the 49ers were a compelling team. Like the Vikings later, the 49ers of those years couldn't win the big games.

As stated in NFL Films great documentary "The Game of Their Lives", the 1950s brought the NFL from the sandlot to the Super Bowl. It might even have been the last decade that professional football players played for the pure love of the game. It certainly wasn't for the money then. The 1950s turned the national light on the NFL. Every season during the decade saw the attendance at games rise from the season before. Professional football was gaining on, if not surpassing, college football and baseball for the attention of the American public. People were following the Giants, Browns, Packers, Redskins, Steelers, Bears, Lions, Eagles, Colts and even the Cardinals. With the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, the NFL had a west coast presence several years before baseball. The "national" in National Football League finally made some sense.

It's difficult to imagine now that the Lions were once a dominant team. The Browns too. Neither team has done much for decades. Each won three championships in the '50s. They even played each other in three straight title games, 1952-54. People got used to seeing those two teams at the top. Remarkably, the Browns played in seven of the championship games from 1950-57. Missing only in 1956.  Like the Lions and Browns, the Colts had limped along for decades until Peyton Manning entered the game. The Colts won the final two championships to close out the '50s. With three teams winning eight of the championships during the '50s there were a few dominant teams. Each with something of a dynasty. They just weren't the teams that we have grown accustomed to seeing win.

As great as a few of the teams were, it's the players that made the 1950s special. The decade seems especially full of football legends. John Unitas, Jim Brown, Chuck Bednarik, Crazy Legs, Gino Marchetti, Joe Perry, Dante Lavelli, Y.A. Tittle, Sam Huff, Raymond Berry, Bobby Mitchell, Norm Van Brocklin, Emlen Tunnell, Big Daddy, Hugh McElhenny, Frank Gifford, Night Train, Doak Walker, Jim Parker, Joe Schmidt, Lenny Moore, Bobby Layne, Art Donovan, Lou Groza, Ollie Matson, Yale Lary, Leo Nomellini, Andy Robustelli and Charley Trippi. So many more. Incredible football players.

I cherish the 1950s most because that was where talks with my father often began. We could always connect there.

2012 Heisman

It's looking more and more like the 2012 Heisman Trophy will either go to a defensive player or a freshman. One very rarely happens. The other has never happened. It has come down to Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o and Texas A&M redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel. If I had a vote it would be going to Te'o. Notre Dame wouldn't be the #1 team in the nation without their defense. Their defense wouldn't be as great without Manti Te'o. He leads the Irish by example and with his passion. Every time I see Notre Dame play he's making plays. He's always around the ball. I don't think that my Heisman vote, if I had one, would keep Johnny Manziel from winning the 2012 Heisman Trophy. What he has done for Texas A&M is phenomenal. Considering that he's only a freshman, most might say that what he's done is impossible. Johnny Football makes things happen. I don't think that any team in the nation wants to play the Aggies and Manziel right now. He finds a little luck in that his one bad game, a loss to LSU, was nearly two months ago. If he has that game more recently most voters would have moved him aside as many have done with quarterback Collin Klein of Kansas St.

I've heard some say that the Heisman has become a two man race between Manziel and Te'o due more to others like Klein, Oregon back Kenjon Barner and USC receiver Marqise Lee fading at the end of the season. I don't buy that. Manziel and Te'o have stepped up. That has nothing to do with anything that the other players have done or not done. Give the players that have performed when their teams need it the most some credit. Barner may not even be the best player on his own team. Klein has been terrific all season but his 14 touchdowns and 2300 yards pales when compared to Manziel's 24 touchdowns and 3400 yards. Manziel also beat Alabama while Klein was taken apart by Baylor. I like Lee a lot. He's been fantastic for two years but he's hurt by USC's struggles. The wildcard is Ohio St. quarterback Braxton Miller. Leading an undefeated team gets him consideration. An undefeated team that's on probation likely costs him some votes. Klein, Miller and/or Lee will probably join Manziel and Te'o in New York as finalists. I vote for Te'o. I see the Heisman going to Manziel.

Patience

I sure wish that football fans would have greater patience with quarterbacks. Especially young quarterbacks. Developing a franchise quarterback is rarely a smooth process. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder has had more good to great games than poor games this season. For a team that was predicted to find a home in the cellar of the NFC North, Ponder has helped lead the Vikings to a 6-5 record. They are in the thick of the playoff race. He's been far from perfect. One of the greatest mistakes made by fans is to heap all of the blame on the quarterback for a floundering team. Quarterbacks have always received too much of the credit when things go right and too much of the blame when things go wrong. Ponder has a lot that he has to do better. The same is true of his receivers and his offensive line. In this past game against the Chicago Bears, he completed 22 of 43 passes for 159 yards. His receivers dropped at least eight passes. Most, if not all, were pretty easy catches. Ponder put the ball right on the receiver's hands. Those have to be caught. Every single time. Those receptions extend drives. They get the quarterback in a rhythm. Everything is smoother when the quarterback can trust his receivers. It's a team game and everything looks better when everyone is complimenting each other.

This patience can't last forever. It has to pay off at some point. Peyton Manning threw 28 interceptions during his rookie season. Accepting that many mistakes shows a lot of patience. Most quarterbacks experience struggles early in their careers. All quarterbacks have bad games. This is Ponder's first full season as a starter. It was never expected to be pretty every week. It wasn't even supposed to be 6-5 good. I've always felt that he needs this season and next to get a decent read on his abilities to be the quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings long term. That's a fair amount of patience. Most fans have no issues showing that sort of patience to a young receiver or cornerback. Why shouldn't a quarterback receive the same treatment. More is expected of a quarterback. They have to lead, motivate, make decisions, improvise. All in a matter of seconds. All of it takes some time. Some patience.

Week 12 Thoughts

Man, I hate the Chicago Bears.

Bears 28 Vikings 10. The good is that the Vikings get another shot at these clowns in two weeks. The bad is that the Vikings lose 28-10. They could have tied the Bears at 7-4 for the top spot in the NFC North. Now, they are two back and need help in catching up.

Down 28-10 at the beginning of the 4th quarter, the Vikings had a 3rd and 2 from the Bears 8. I have no idea as to how running back Adrian Peterson doesn't get the ball at least once. Instead, quarterback Christian Ponder throws two incomplete passes in the end zone and the Bears have the ball at their own 8. Game over. Even though a field goal there makes it a two possession game, I like that the Vikings went for it on 4th down. I just don't see how Peterson doesn't get the ball. He's the best player on the football field and he was starting to heat up.

Rookie receiver Jarius Wright adds a little spark to a mostly plodding Vikings offense. He got his chance when Percy Harvin hurt his ankle. Having both play making receivers at the same time will open up the offense.

Ponder is probably going to be bashed by a lot of fans but I actually think that he played pretty well. Now, he needs to play better than pretty well but he needs some help. He was really hurt by several drops. Jerome Simpson had three of those drops. Even the interception that Ponder threw to Chris Conte was due as much to Devin Aromashadu's less than eager effort to catch the ball as the throw itself. Ponder needs more help than he's been getting from his receivers.

Rookie safety Harrison Smith and tight end Kyle Rudolph left the game with apparent concussions. Smith, in particular, didn't look like he had a clue as to where he was. The Vikings need both players healthy. Badly.

The Vikings defense was horrible at getting the Bears off the field on third down. That was the biggest difference in the game throughout the game.

A ridiculous pass interference penalty on Antoine Winfield as he was defending Bears receiver Brandon Marshall didn't help. It led to a gift touchdown for the Bears. At worst, it should have been a no call. In reality, Marshall should have been called for interference. The game got a little desperate for the Vikings after that.

Early in the game, Marshall turned a 7-yard  pass completion into a 7-yard loss. It was one of the worst examples of running after the catch that I've ever seen.

Despite that comical play, Marshall played great. The Bears incredible success on third down was mostly due to Marshall showing great hands and concentration on several contested receptions. He had about a dozen catches and at least healf of them converted third downs. It was especially annoying to see Marshall doing all this against the Vikings with a great big smile. He was smiling way too much. I prefer to see him all pissy like he was against the San Francisco 49ers last Monday.

I was hoping that the Bears offensive line would be letting defenders run free like they did against the 49ers. They decided to actually block yesterday. I think that they just made a greater effort to block for Jay Cutler. After what he went through last week, I think that backup quarterback Jason Campbell is going to hate watching this game film.

Bears receiver/returner Eric Weems is an ass. I didn't care much for him when he was with the Falcons. He's even worse with the Bears.

Adrian Peterson was great. Again. He went over 100 yards for the fifth straight game. The loss and a fumble will stick with him longer than any of the great things that he did. He's carrying the team right now. The Vikings need to get Harvin back on the field. As great as Peterson has been the Vikings need other players to match his effort. Harvin does when he's in but to get back in the playoff race Ponder, Rudolph, John Carlson, Simpson, the line have to step up. The defense has to stop teams on third down.

I've seen teams winning the coin toss defer to the second half more often. I like that strategy. I don't care about any statistical study of the strategy. It's about what you feel comfortable doing. I like getting the ball to start the second half.

49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick looks great about 2.5 games into his NFL career. I can't help but feel bad for Alex Smith. He's always had the pressure of being the first overall pick. Going to a terrible team that shuffled coaches and offensive coordinators as a matter of routine made any kind of progress difficult. Smith led the 49ers to the NFC Championship game last year. He was playing well before his injury. He deserves to start. So does Kaepernick. You start the quarterback that gives you the best shot to win each week. I think that's Kaepernick. It seems that Jim Harbaugh does too. That's why I feel bad for Smith.

I still hate seeing Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma play each week.

49ers running back Kendall Hunter and receiver Kyle Williams were carted off the field on the same play. It should be no real shock that Vilma was involved in both injuries. I don't trust his intentions, at all, when he's on the field. I think that actually playing football is secondary to him.

I love watching the 49ers linebackers play each week.

Were the replacement officials back this week? There was the ridiculous pass interference call against Antoine Winfield. 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree was called down when nothing but the soles of his feet were touching the turf. The worst was when 49ers receiver Randy Moss threw the Saints Malcolm Jenkins to the ground about 10 feet from the official. Those were only in the games that I saw. They were the kinds of calls that make you wonder if the offending officials were even watching the game.

Tremendous gesture by the Indianapolis Colts cheerleaders that shaved their heads in support of leukemia research. Colts mascot, Blue, challenged the cheerleaders to go through with the shearing if he was able to raise over $10,000 for cancer research. He did his part and the cheerleaders did theirs. Head coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this season. His fight and the way everyone associated with the team has rallied around him has been truly inspiring.

And the sprinklers went on in Miami in the third quarter. The Dolphins scored 17 points on their own wet field to beat Seattle 24-21.

I think that the New York Giants handled their bye week much better than the Vikings.

Next week is bad news for the Green Bay Packers.

Game Day Thoughts

Lots of college rivalry games yesterday. I sure wish that the Cal-Stanford Big Game wasn't wasted in October. It's not right. For some reason, the Cal decision makers don't like bringing the students to a game on Thanksgiving weekend. I know that the Cal players would like another shot at ending the season in a better way than they did.

ESPN announcer and former Buckeye linebacker Chris Spielman said that playing in the Ohio St.-Michigan game was his greatest honor in his football career. It just shows how important these rivalry games are to the players. Especially this game.

I always enjoy the Grambling-Southern game. The Bayou Classic. A lot of people watch for the Battle of the Bands at halftime but the game is usually a lot of fun. I love that Doug Williams returned to the scene of his college playing days to coach Grambling. Southern won this year 38-33.

Congratulations to Notre Dame. That team has fought all year.

If you enjoy defensive football you enjoy watching Notre Dame play goal line defense. But, I still think that Stanford got that touchdown in overtime.

I like Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o more each time that I see him play. The Minnesota Vikings could use a middle linebacker like Te'o.

I'm not sure what ABC was thinking when they compared the defensive statistics of Charles Woodson and Manti Te'o. They were just trying to compare Te'o to the last defensive player to win the Heisman. It's impossible to compare the statistics of a corner and a linebacker.

Looks like it's up to Alabama to determine Notre Dame's opponent for the National Championship.

The Minnesota Vikings visit the Chicago Bears today. Unfortunately, Vikings receiver Percy Harvin's ankle will cause him to miss another game. I was hoping that the bye week would provide the time for him to heal. The Vikings need Harvin for a run at the playoffs. In his absence, I sure hope that receiver Jerome Simpson finally breaks out. His speed and athletic ability was supposed to provide some play making opposite Harvin. So far, Simpson has done very little.

Adrian Peterson is putting the Vikings on his back. I am no longer able to find the words to properly describe the running of Peterson. The last four games have been the best that I've ever seen from him. That's saying a lot as he has been amazing since that first game against the Atlanta Falcons in 2007. He's averaged over 150 yards in his last four games and he's done it like he has so much more in reserve. Like he's just getting started. The next six games could be something really special. He's on pace for over 1800. I think that Eric Dickerson's record of 2105 is in jeopardy.

The Vikings-Bears obviously highlight this weeks schedule of games. I'm still looking forward to the San Francisco 49ers-New Orleans Saints game in the afternoon and the New York Giants-Green Bay Packers this evening. Fun games.

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamuknog Suh is an idiot. I thought that Albert Haynesworth was absolutely out of his mind. Suh is far worse. He has to be suspended for his latest stunt of kicking Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub in the jibblies. Suh's repeated idiocy and his complete lack of remorse is a clear indication that his career will be short. Lions head coach Jim Schwartz doesn't seem too interested in doing anything about this disaster of a football player. His inaction is part of the Suh problem. The way Schwartz is going he won't be around long either. Someone has to get Suh to simply play football. He's repeatedly shown that he can't control himself or even cares to. Schwartz doesn't seem to care. He just wants to pout.

Go Vikings!!!

Cal Coaching Search

I'm stunned, maybe hurt, that Cal Athletic Director Sandy Barbour has yet to solicit Flea Flicker advice on her search for a new Golden Bear coach. If she were to call, I'd suggest she first go after Boise St. head coach Chris Petersen. I have no sure fire evidence that he's at all interested in leaving Boise. I'm hoping that his northern California roots are a pull. He's a UC Davis alum and started his coaching career there. He might want to come to the big campus in Berkeley. I'm hoping that the potential of a Pac-12 school adds to that pull. Former coach Jeff Tedford showed through some excellent recruiting classes that Cal come bring in top high school football players. Petersen has been at Boise St. since 2001. The last six as the head coach. Maybe he needs a change. I think that he does. Chris Petersen and Cal could have a bright future.

If Petersen wants to keep coaching on that stupid blue field and has no interest in coming to Berkeley, I have a couple more suggestions. I like Vanderbilt coach James Franklin and Louisville coach Charlie Strong. The work that both have done in such a short time is remarkable. The defensive background of Strong is really starting to grow on me. Any one of Petersen, Franklin and Strong would be an excellent hire for Cal.

One thing that bothers me about this situation is that if Cal were to hire any of the three it would be a real blow to Boise St., Vanderbilt or Louisville. All three schools feel that they are in great shape with the coaches that they have. They are. Suddenly they are left without their coach. Most Cal fans don't really care about that but they should. No one in Berkeley liked it when Arizona St. swept in and stole Bruce Snyder from Cal in the early '90s. Then again. when the San Francisco 49ers pilfered Steve Mariucci a few years later. It's an unfortunate aspect of college football. Your great new coach is going to be the great new at another school soon. Or in the NFL. There's always seems to be another step up that a talented coach can take. Cal certainly isn't Notre Dame, Alabama, LSU or Michigan. Many people wouldn't really see Cal as big step up from Boise St., Vanderbilt or Louisville. It is but Cal's football past really wasn't too hot before Tedford. It's been over fifty years since Cal last reached the Rose Bowl. The potential for greatness in Berkeley is there. It just hasn't been reached. Hopefully, one of Chris Petersen, James Franklin, or Charlie Strong will see that potential too. I really hope that Sandy Barbour doesn't do something stupid before talking to me. I got some ideas.

Peanut and Melton

With this being Chicago Bears week for the Minnesota Vikings I figured that it would be a fantastic time to mention two often overshadowed players on that Bears defense. Despite what Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers did to them this past Monday night the Bears still field one of the best defenses in the league. Linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs and end Julius Peppers usually get most of the attention. Most of it is deserved but it often overshadows the outstanding play of cornerback Charles "Peanut" Tillman and tackle Henry Melton. It takes all of my great love of football to stomach appreciating anyone that plays for the Chicago Bears but I do appreciate the way that Peanut and Melton play football. Personally, I think that both are playing football at a level, right now, that is higher than their more publicized teammates.

The first time that I can recall seeing Peanut was at the end of his rookie season of 2003. The Bears had enough faith in their young corner to have him cover Vikings receiver Randy Moss all by himself late in the game. Protecting a 3-point lead Tillman knocked the potential game winning touchdown pass away from Moss. Nearly every person that saw it was shocked. None were more shocked than Moss. He didn't think that any corner in the game could cover him. Let alone a rookie. I've been very much aware of Tillman ever since. Corners come in all shapes and sizes and styles of play. The shutdown corners like the Jets Darrelle Revis and the Broncos Champ Bailey usually get all of the attention. Corners that are solid in all phases of the game like Tillman and the Vikings Antoine Winfield should get more of that attention. Not to anything away from Revis and Bailey, they are fantastic football players, but I love watching Tillman coming up and being a factor in the run game, forcing fumbles, blitzing and blocking kicks. He does all of that and blanket receivers in the passing game. There often seems to be dozens of Tillmans playing at one time. Peanut is all over the field simply making game changing plays. Great football player.

I was very intrigued by Henry Melton when he was entering the 2009 NFL Draft. He played half of his college career at Texas at running back. For a football player that is now a shade under 300lbs, that is a big man carrying the football. He was actually effective as a back, gaining 625 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2007. I'm not sure what he would have been as a running back in the NFL. He certainly would have been a load for a defense to handle. I know what he is as a defensive tackle. He's awesome. He disrupts an offense like few interior defensive linemen in the league. Maybe like no other interior lineman. He's still very young at 26. It's scary that he's still learning the nuances of playing the position. He'll get better. I don't like it but I can appreciate it. The Vikings interior offensive line have a tough task in front of them on Sunday.

Throwback Thursday: Vikings Forever

Thanks to the world of podcasts I have all kinds of access to Minneapolis radio programs. It's a beautiful thing. The postgame call-in shows can be a bit trying after a Minnesota Vikings loss but for the most part these programs are a real treat. One of my favorites is Vikings Forever with Mark Rosen. He interviews Vikings players of the past. This past week his guest was running back Dave Osborn. This was especially interesting as I have never before heard him interviewed. Osborn played for the Vikings from 1965-75. The final years of his career were my first years as a fan of the Vikings. I've really only seen him at his best in game replays and highlights but I most certainly know Dave Osborn's impact on the history of the Vikings. All Vikings fans should. He and Bill Brown formed one of best running back tandems in the NFL in the mid-late '60s. Chicago Bears Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus said that Osborn and Brown were the toughest duo that he ever faced. Together and individually they were tough, physical runners. They were also two of the first backs to routinely catch passes out of the backfield. It was interesting to hear Osborn talk of his own playing career and his time with those great Vikings teams. He really is under appreciated as Minnesota running backs go. His backfield buddy Brown is honored in the Vikings Ring of Honor. As is Chuck Foreman who ended up replacing Osborn in the running back rotation as a rookie in 1973. Even Ted Brown, Darrin Nelson and Terry Allen are probably better known to most Vikings fans of today. It's old timers that know Dave Osborn. More should. He's in a group that includes Grady Alderman, Jeff Siemon, Ahmad Rashad and Ed White from the Vikings first two decades that deserves induction into the Vikings Ring of Honor. All will likely make it one day. It was great to finally hear Dave Osborn speak. To get to know him as more than just #41 on the football field.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Thank You Coach Tedford

Cal fired head coach Jeff Tedford yesterday. I'm a little conflicted in how I feel about this. Tedford completely changed the football environment in Berkeley. His eleven years were the best years of Cal football in my lifetime. His success brought about the Memorial Stadium renovations and construction of athletic facilities to bring Cal out of the 19th century and into the 21st. It's unfortunate that Tedford won't be around to take advantage of the place that he built. I became a little less conflicted when I learned that the graduation rate of Cal's football players had dropped to 48%. Last in the Pac-12. Far behind Stanford's 90%. That's not acceptable. The last few years have been a little rough. Really rough in comparison to Tedford's first 7-8 seasons. For all of the football thrills that you brought to Berkeley, many thanks Coach Tedford.

Now, who gets the keys to the Cal football program. This will be the hire that stamps the career of Cal Athletic Director Sandy Barbour. She's done an excellent job so far. The level of nearly all of Cal's athletic programs has risen since she came to Berkeley. The people involved with the five sports that were cut and then saved might see things differently but Cal is contending for titles in more sports than ever. Right or wrong, football counts most. If I was making the calls, I'd immediately try to pry Chris Petersen from Boise St. or Gary Patterson from TCU. Both are long shots but I'd start there. I'm not sure if it's true but I saw that Oregon and Cal are the jobs that would tempt Petersen. I'd immediately be on a plane to Boise to find out the truth.

My more realistic short list of candidates starts with Vanderbilt's James Franklin. He's turned around an always lagging program in the brutal SEC. Vanderbilt might also be the only school in the conference that requires the football players to actually attend classes. After Franklin, I like:

Sonny Dykes-head coach at Louisiana Tech
Gary Andersen-head coach at Utah St.
Bob Diaco-Notre Dame defensive coordinator
Frank Solich-head coach at Ohio

As a wild card, I'm curious about any interest that former Cal coach Steve Mariucci might have in returning to his first head coaching gig.

Whatever happens, I hope that current running backs coach Ron Gould remains. He's been at Cal even longer than Tedford. He's done a fantastic job with Cal's backs. So much so, that I'm curious if he has head coaching dreams. Some football coaches just want to coach and not have to deal with all the extra stuff that comes with being the top guy. He's an energetic, charismatic, effective football coach.

No matter what happens it should happen soon. The window for high school recruiting is closing fast.

No Reed

I was surprised to hear that the NFL suspended Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed for one game for being too physical. Unless he successfully appeals, he will sit out Sunday's game against the San Diego Chargers. I was surprised because I've never thought of Reed as one to inflict excessive violence. I've never thought of him as an headhunter. Reed was penalized for unnecessary roughness in the Sunday night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on a hit to the head of receiver Emmanuel Sanders. The NFL found that to be the capper on a run of vicious hits by Reed. I don't get it. Apparently this is his third hit on a defenseless player in the last three years. While the league is doing the right thing in trying to limit helmet-to-helmet hits specifically and unnecessary hits in general, three questionable hits in three years just doesn't strike me as excessive. In the case of Reed those hits can be as much a result of the speed of the game as intent. I would have guessed that a safety like Brandon Merriweather would earn a suspension long before Reed. Many of Merriweather's are simply stupid. He's trying to injure. He lines up his hits. Reed is trying to play football and bring the ball carrier to the ground. I'd suspend Merriweather for being an idiot before suspending Reed for playing football. The fines, in the $20,000+ territory, have gotten steep and they rarely seem consistent. One hit passes the NFL fine judges. Another doesn't. From every angle they look the same. Consistency is my biggest issue with the penalties and the fines. This suspension of Ed Reed looks more like the NFL making a statement rather than applying justice. Free Ed Reed!

Week 11 Thoughts

A football Sunday without the Minnesota Vikings always seems lacking but it's kinda relaxing.

It seemed that the Green Bay Packers ran the ball more in the first quarter against the Detroit Lions than they have in entire games. The Packers offense is obviously going to be so much more explosive if they can get that ground game going. James Starks is a tough runner. Too bad he can't seem to stay healthy for long.

I sure wish that the Vikings had a receiver like Calvin Johnson. Who doesn't? They could really use a big, physical receiver that you can just chuck the ball up to and have a better than decent chance that he comes down with it. The Vikings certainly had that with Randy Moss so long ago. They had it with Sidney Rice more recently. They need it now. It was hoped that rookie Greg Childs would be that guy but he tore the patella tendons in both knees during training camp. Hopefully, he can come back but the search continues.

Wow, Packers kicker Mason Crosby has the "yips." Fortunately for him, his team still won the game.

The Packers are starting to find more ways to get the ball in the hands of receiver Randall Cobb. In particular, they are lining him up in the backfield and handing it to him. On a team loaded with playmakers, Cobb might be the most dangerous.

The Packers got a big break when the officials decided not to call corner Casey Hayward for pass interference in the end zone late in the game. What could have been at least three plays from the 1-yard line and a possible touchdown ended up being a short field goal with that non call. In a four point game, those missed four points were huge.

Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairly sure likes to celebrate himself. It seems that on every tackle he acts as if he's saved the world. He and fellow dumbass Ndamukong Suh could be one of best tackle combinations in the game. Unless they start focusing on football they'll never get there.

There were three overtime games among the early games. I guess that all were a surprise in that the underdog had double digit leads in regulation only to have the favorites come back and force overtime. All would carry that momentum into the extra time to victory. The Houston Texans had to score fourteen fourth quarter points against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed a touchdown and two-point conversion in the last minute to tie the Carolina Panthers. The Dallas Cowboys needed a last second field goal to tie the Cleveland Browns. Great games from struggling teams. Great resolve from teams needing wins to maintain playoff hopes.

The Texans became the first team in NFL history to score twice in overtime.

I approve of the new overtime rules. It's not perfect but it's better than sudden death.

Jaguars rookie receiver Justin Blackmon finally had his breakout game against the Texans. 7 catches for 236 yards with an 81-yard touchdown.

Not to be outdone by a rookie in the same game, Texans receiver Andre Johnson had 14 catches for 273 yards. His 48-yard touchdown in overtime won the game.

It's no surprise that with receiving numbers like that Texans quarterback Matt Schaub and Jaguars quarterback Chad Henne had huge games. 527 yards and 5 touchdowns for Schaub. 354 yards and 4 touchdowns for Henne. Schaub's 527 tied Warren Moon for second most in league history. Norm Van Brocklin's 554 yards way back in 1951 is still the record.

It's amazing that those fantastic receiving games of Blackmon and Johnson are still 100 and 63 yards short of Flipper Anderson's 336 yard game in 1989.

New New England Patriots corner Aqib Talib sure made a nice introduction to his new team. He returned an interception 59 yards for a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts yesterday. The Patriots have been looking for playmakers in the secondary for a while. If Talib can stay out of trouble the Patriots may have found their man.

I really like the rookie passing combination that the Colts have with Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton.

Players really need to realize the situation on the field. The Chargers went for it on 4th and 14 on the Broncos 46-yard line with about 9 minutes to play. Broncos safety Jim Leonhard probably thinking only of his own stats intercepted the pass. It resulted in about a twenty yard loss in field position for his team.

Denver Broncos pass rusher Von Miller is a frickin' beast! He might be the best in the game at getting to the quarterback.

After a 1-4 start, the New Orleans Saints are 5-5. Nice recovery.

I love watching Ed Reed play football.

It's surprising, maybe only to me, that there are only six weeks left in the 2012 regular season.

Next week is bad news for the Bears!

Game Day

Entering this week's games, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has gained more yards than 22 teams. I'm going to miss him today. The Vikings have their bye.

Orthopedic surgeon to the stars Dr. James Andrews did the reconstruction of Peterson's knee. He said that the running back's ligaments looked like those of an infant. This is remarkable considering the wear and tear that Peterson has put on that knee in all of his years of football. Andrews thought that he'd seen all there was to see inside of a human joint. He'd never seen anything like the ligaments of Adrian Peterson. It's another indication of the physical freak that is Peterson. He's not of this world.

With my football options open today, I'm most interested in the Green Bay Packers-Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts-New England Patriots games in the morning. From the slim pickings in the afternoon, I'll check out the San Diego Chargers-Denver Broncos game and then, of course, the Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers game in the evening. Good stuff. Even if the Vikings are away.

Sometimes I wonder if the NFL fine judges even watch the plays in question. Vikings middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley was fined for a supposed helmet-to-helmet hit on Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson. It was obvious from every single angle that Johnson came down, due to gravity, on Brinkley's helmet. Basically, Brinkley was fined $21,000 for standing on the field. And wearing a helmet. When you're flagged and fined for not causing a helmet-to-helmet there's really a flaw in the system.

RIP NFL Films announcer Jeff Kaye. He started at NFL Films in 1985, shortly after the death of the legendary "Voice of God" John Facenda. If you didn't know Kaye's name you've certainly heard his voice.

Missed viewing the Cal game again because of Directv's idiot ways.

Perhaps Directv saved me some pain as Oregon St. completely dismantled Cal to the tune of 62-14. Nice end to a severely disappointing 3-9 season. Go Bears!

USC likely wants a mulligan on this season. They started in the top 5 but started falling almost immediately. Quarterback Matt Barkley was everyone's Heisman favorite and now he isn't even in the conversation. With Robert Woods and Marquis Lee at receiver, Barkley should be just about unstoppable. Crosstown rival UCLA chopped USC down yesterday. It's a real shame.

Speaking of easy to hate Pac-12 teams, it's sure fun to see Oregon stopped on 4th down. Cal did it last week. Stanford did it a couple of times last night. I love seeing that cocky offense stopped.

It was great to see Oregon fall to Stanford. So great to see.

Stanford beating Oregon was not as big an upset as the betting line made it seem. Oregon seems to get really frustrated if they're not rolling up points. I've seen it in the close games that Cal's had with them in recent years. If Oregon isn't blowing teams out they just want to take their ball and run home.

Now, it looks like Stanford and UCLA will play two games in a row. Next week they end their regular seasons. After that they could be playing in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

UCLA is an interesting team. I'm not sure what happened to them when Cal thrashed them. I think that was simply an example of Cal still being mostly healthy and UCLA just finding their way. Of all the coaching changes in the Pac-12 this past offseason, the Bruins hiring Jim Mora Jr. worried me the most. It was great for UCLA and bad for the rest of the conference. He's an excellent coach. I'm wonder how interested he is in getting back to the NFL.

Not only did #2 Oregon lose, so did #1 Kansas St. Notre Dame is certainly happy. Alabama might be happier.

Here's to a fantastic recruiting class for Cal.

Tedford's Bears

Cal is sitting at 3-8 heading into the final game of their season against #15 Oregon St. This is, by far, the worst season of head coach Jeff Tedford's Cal career. Definitely from a wins and losses perspective. Which is usually the only measuring stick for a coach. The Bears had a few scattered moments of something decent this season. When they defeated a decent UCLA team and a struggling Washington St. team earlier in the season Cal looked like they might make a run to a very low tier bowl game. Instead, they haven't won a game since that Washington St. game over a month ago. The losses have come more frequently the last few years. This will be Cal's second losing season in the last three. Cal fans and backers aren't happy and all of them are pointing at Tedford. His job is in jeopardy. Many want him gone. I think that he should stay.

Jeff Tedford is on the hot seat mostly because of his own success. 5-3 in bowl games. 7-4 in the Big Game. The Big Game and the Rose Bowl are the most important results for most Cal people. Tedford hasn't gotten a shot at the Rose Bowl but eight bowl teams in eleven years is the best run in over 100 years of football. Unfortunately, three of the losses to Stanford in the Big Game have come in the last three games. If Tedord wasn't 7-1 prior to those games, he would have been fired before he left the football field. Cal fans have been spoiled. The first eight years under Tedford were dynamite. 10-2 in 2004 and final ranking of #9 in the nation. 10-3 in 2006 with a Pac-10 title and a #14 ranking. It was beautiful in Berkeley. The stands have been packed since Tedford came to town. I'm pretty sure that Cal fans have forgotten what the '80s and most of the '90s were like. An empty stadium and pathetic play on the field. As a Cal student in the mid-80s, I saw as many wins in three years as Tedford brought in just one. He has completely changed the football environment at Cal. A losing season is a shock. Before him, losing was the norm and many people didn't care. That alone is probably the biggest change that Tedford brought. People in Berkeley care about football now.All of this led to the recent stadium renovation and the construction of the shiny, new athletic facilities. None of that would have happened with Keith Gilbertson or Tom Holmoe leading the program. Cal finally has the facilities to compete with Oregon, USC and the rest in recruiting. It can bring the players to Berkeley and it can help them better prepare for Saturdays in the fall. Cal's facilities might have looked spectacular in 1930 but they were laughable to high school football players today. Even yesterday. Tedford's the reason for the renovations and he deserves the chance to see what he can do with them.

Cal has to find a quarterback that can play consistently. Tedford earned a reputation for developing quarterbacks. The passing at Cal has been pathetic since Aaron Rodgers in 2004. Tedford squeezed a decent season out of Nate Longshore in 2006 but that was fleeting. Bill Walsh probably couldn't have a done a thing to straighten the aim of passes thrown by Kevin Riley, Brock Mansion and Zach Maynard. As Cal's quarterbacks have become increasingly erratic since 2006 the losses have mounted. With an injury this season to starter Zach Maynard, junior Allan Bridgford has a shot right now. He had some decent moments at the end of the Washington game and against Oregon. Maybe he can get something going heading into next season. Personally, I'd like to see one of Kyle Boehm, Zach Kline or even incoming freshman Jared Goff start next season. There's something about Kline, in particular, that intrigues me. I saw a few of his high school games and he seems to have a spark to him. I'd just like to see what Tedford can do with a talented quarterback. No matter who lines up under center for Cal next year I think that Jeff Tedford should be the coach. The new facilities have leveled the playing field a bit. If he can't bring the program back in a year or two with what he has now then I can see the need for a change but he's earned some time. People care about football in Berkeley now and Tedford's to blame.

Byes

With the Minnesota Vikings finally on their bye week, I've been thinking about the NFL's bye weeks. They've been doing this since the 1990 season. I didn't much care for them at first. So, I absolutely hated when the NFL made the ridiculous decision for each team to have two bye weeks in 1993. Ridiculous! In those early days of byes I didn't really think about these weeks off from a player's perspective. How could I?  I couldn't understand the need for a week off because they never seemed to have a need before. They'd been playing the same demanding game for 70 years. I saw it only as a way for the NFL to bring in more TV money by adding an extra week of games. I'm sure that was the reason all along. The NFL is always looking for ways to extract more money from their fans. I never thought that the players could use a week off at some point in the middle of the season. It became obvious through their own words that they loved having a week off. A time to heal. A time to recharge. A time to get away even for just a couple of days.

It's unfortunate that with 32 teams these bye weeks take place over approximately eight weeks. That range presents problems. Some teams get their breaks so early that the time off is somewhat wasted. Anything around weeks four or five is just too early. The season has barely started. Maybe it works if the team has gotten off to a horrible start. Maybe if the team is hit with injuries early. It's usually best when the bye week is around the middle of the season. This season the Vikings are part of the last group of teams to get their bye week. They get it at a great time. Receiver Percy Harvin is rehabbing an ankle injury. They need him. Really need him. The Vikings final six games are pretty brutal. They face both the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears twice. They face the Houston Texans. Five of the six games are against three of the best teams in the league. The sixth game is against the physical St. Louis Rams. This week is a great week for a bye week.

Throwback Thursday: Vikings Defensive Coordinators

Whenever I see Mike Tomlin walk the sidelines as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, I often think of his one year as the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator. That was 2006. Freshly hired Vikings head coach Brad Childress hired Tomlin to be his defensive coordinator. As soon as I saw Tomlin in action I knew that he wouldn't be in Minnesota very long. He was young and energetic. He had a presence that demanded attention. You wanted to follow him. The players loved him. He would be a head coach soon. In 2007, the Pittsburgh Steelers were looking for a head coach to replace the retired Bill Cowher. The Steelers don't hire coaches very often. They're thorough and they make sure that they get their guy. They were looking for only their third coach since the late '60s. All indications were that guy would be one of current Steelers coaches Ken Whisenhut or Russ Grimm. That ended when Tomlin entered the process. He was hired shortly after his interview. With a Super Bowl championship already and a yearly contender, it's obvious that the team got their guy. Tomlin's too brief Vikings career reminds me of Tony Dungy's too brief Vikings career of twenty years ago. When the Vikings hired Dennis Green to be their head coach in 1992, Green quickly hired Dungy to be his defensive coordinator. Dungy's impact on the Vikings defense was immediate. He wasn't going to be in Minnesota for very long. It turned out to be four years. The floundering Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Dungy to change their ways. He certainly did. The Buccaneers became talented and contenders quickly. For a team with a history that was mostly pathetic, not quite winning it all wasn't enough. Tampa Bay fired Dungy after the 2001 season. The team that he built and coached won the Super Bowl the very next season. Dungy landed on his feet with the Indianapolis Colts. His Super Bowl championship in 2006 with the Colts showed that he could, in fact, win the big one. So, two former Vikings defensive coordinators would go on to win Super Bowls with other teams. Very sad.

As a Vikings fan, I loved that Tony Dungy and Mike Tomlin were the defensive coordinators of the team. As a Vikings fan, I hated that they left for head coaching opportunities. Opportunities that I'd hoped would come with the Vikings. It's not that I didn't like Dennis Green and Brad Childress as the Vikings head coaches at those times. Green had a very efficient coaching career with the team. He didn't have much success in the playoffs but he did a great job of getting them there. Still, I had a feeling that Dungy would succeed as an NFL head coach and I did hope that success would be with the Vikings. It was far too early in Childress' career to truly judge his coaching chops. He was only on the job for a year when Tomlin moved on. Tomlin's departure did lead to Childress hiring Leslie Frazier as defensive coordinator. My hope is that Frazier is the defensive coordinator that didn't get away. That he will bring to the Vikings the success that Dungy brought to the Colts and Tomlin brought to the Steelers. He certainly seems to have the team moving in the right direction.

Free At Last

On this past July 7th, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was arrested on what seemed to be ridiculous charges. He was enjoying an evening with family and friends at a nightclub in Houston. That was shattered when he was hauled away for resisting arrest. The puzzling thing from the start was that it was never clear what he was being arrested for when he allegedly resisted the arrest. Even beyond that mystery, no one in the nightclub saw Peterson do anything requiring an arrest. Let alone resist it. The nightclub hired off duty police officers as security and two of them really wanted to see Peterson arrested.

So, here we are. Peterson's lawyer, Rusty Hardin, came up with a solution to get the charges dropped. He decided to have a grand jury decide whether the case against his client should go forward. He was willing to let Peterson testify without a lawyer present with 12 citizens and a prosecutor because both knew that Peterson had done nothing wrong. The prosecutor agreed to the approach and Peterson flew to Houston on Monday night. On Tuesday morning, the two police officers, an employee of the club, and Peterson testified separately. Peterson met with the grand jury for about 25 minutes. Approximately five minutes after he left the room the grand jury decided that the case should be dropped.

Hardin pointed out that three "red flags" made him confident that Peterson would be exonerated. First, several employees of the club insisted that Peterson had done nothing wrong. Second, four of the six police officers who were on the scene said that they didn't see anything. Third, none of the patrons who were present in the club at the time of the incident were quoted as corroborating the arresting officer in the police report.

Officially, the charges will be dismissed today.

I don't get how two idiots, in the name of the law, can just up and arrest a person just because they want to.

Belichick Deals

With newly acquired cornerback Aqib Talib getting ready for his first game as a member of the New England Patriots, Jason Cole of Yahoo took a look at the ten best deals that Bill Belichick has made. The Patriots head coach is shrewd trader. He collects draft picks routinely. He often takes a chance on talented but sometimes troubled football players, like Talib. Sometimes it works like it did with Randy Moss. Sometimes it doesn't like it didn't with Chad Johnson and Albert Haynesworth. His gambles are rarely expensive.

Here's how Yahoo sees the ten best Belichick deals:

1. Randy Moss for a 4th in 2007.

2. Wes Welker for a 2nd and a 7th in 2007.

3.Shipping Drew Bledsoe to Buffalo for a 1st.

4. Shipping Tebucky Jones to New Orleans for a 3rd and 7th in 2003 and 4th in 2004
    -then dealt the 3rd to Miami for a 2nd in 2004
    -dealt that 2nd to Cincinnati in for Corey Dillon
    -essentially traded Jones for Dillon and a couple picks which was pretty much larceny
 
5. Shipping Terry Glenn for a 4th in 2002.

6. Shipping Moss to Minnesota for a 3rd in 2010.

7. Ted Washington for a 4th in 2003.

8. Shipping Richard Seymour to Oakland in 2009 for a 1st in 2011.

9. Shipping Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel to Kansas City for a 2nd in 2008.

10. Deion Branch for a 4th in 2011.

Belichick has an accurate eye for the right time to trade a player. Just before the player is about to fade. While nearly all of his trades are efficient it's the way that he moves draft picks that are often the most interesting. I think that this trade for Talib could work out great for the Patriots. You might have to go back to Ty Law to find a Patriots corner as talented as Talib.

Week 10 Thoughts

On this Veteran's Day and every day, a big THANK YOU to all those in the military for all that you do.

I can't believe that it's already week 10. It seems like I was just getting ready for that Vikings-Jaguars game.

I enjoy my Sunday morning pregame routine. Best served when the Minnesota Vikings play the early game. Which is usually the case. I start it all by feeding and walking the pugs. Then I turn to three Vikings programs courtesy of Fox Sports North. "Vikings: Beyond the Glory" at 8:00. "Vikings Game Plan" at 8:30. "Vikings Country" at 9:00. If I'm on schedule, I have about 30 minutes to get settled for the Game at 10:00. I miss nearly all of the marathon NFL Network pregame show but that's mostly a recap of everything that's been talked about all week. I prefer the Vikings concentration from my shows.

The Vikings really needed this 34-24 win against the Detroit Lions. They've been struggling and they really needed to go into their bye week with smiles. They return to action with an extremely brutal final six games. They have all four of their games against the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. Add in games at Houston and at St. Louis and you have a real tough path to the playoffs. Four of the six are on the road. Five of the six are against three of the best teams in the league. Simply brutal. If the Vikings make the playoffs they will have been seriously tested.

Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder's 54-yard strike to rookie receiver Jarius Wright on the fifth play of the game might have been the Vikings most significant play in several weeks. Ponder might have found his missing confidence and as a result the passing game came alive. Wright caught a short touchdown pass a couple plays later. Ponder needed this. He was efficient. Completing 24 of 32 passes for 221 yards and 2 TDs. Magical numbers compared to anything that he's done in about a month.

It was great to finally see Wright in the lineup. It's too bad that it took Percy Harvin to be out for Wright to be in. Hopefully, the Vikings can find a way to get both speedy receivers in the lineup at the same time. Wright provided a spark yesterday.

If Wright provided a spark, tight end Kyle Rudolph started a fire. In Ponder's recent struggles Rudolph has disappeared. He's too much of a weapon to not be active in the passing game. He had 7 receptions for 64 yards and a 20-yard touchdown against the Lions. Not a ton of yards but important yards. Most converted first downs.

Receivers Jerome Simpson, Devin Aromashodu, and Michael Jenkins all made contributions. Even tight end John Carlson made an important, drive extending 11-yard reception. Ponder was throwing to everyone, including himself. He mistakenly caught his own deflected pass for a loss of 15 yards. In all, Ponder completed passes to 10 different players, including himself. That's spreading the ball around.

Ah, Adrian Peterson. He's a beast. I love that he's a Minnesota Vikings football player. 171 yards on 27 carries with a 61 yard TD against the Lions. He might be having his best season. He seems to be running wiser. I don't know if that's from working, growing and learning in his rehab from the knee injury. There's something different. And better. Over 1100 yards in ten games.

I don't have the actual numbers but I'm fairly certain that Peterson sees far more 8 and 9 man defensive fronts than any back in the league. I've seen the Chicago Bears concentrating on Peterson for five years now. Ever since he tore them apart for 224 yards as a rookie in 2007. Last night the Bears used standard fronts against the Texans and Arian Foster for most of the night. Part of it was likely due to Texans quarterback Matt Schaub being able to take advantage of such an emphasis to stop the run. Brett Favre's great run in 2009 was the only time during Peterson's career that the Vikings have had a quarterback that could consistently take advantage of defenses that stacked to stop Peterson. Hopefully, Ponder becomes that kind of quarterback. He's already so much closer than most that lined up under center for the Vikings.

Despite giving up 24 points, the Vikings defense played well. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for over 300 yards but most were in serious catch up mode late in the game. Coming into this game, the Lions had been running the ball well. The Vikings stopped that. The Lions offense is scary. They can score points in bunches and a three score lead in the fourth quarter didn't feel comfortable. Stafford never seems to panic and with Calvin Johnson as a target no lead feels safe. The Vikings defense closed out that offense.

Johnson is a monster. The Vikings seemed to have him in control and suddenly he's over 200 yards and a nice lead is gone. Great, great football player.

Nick Harris was punting and Jason Hanson was kicking when leather helmets were worn.

It's unfortunate that consideration of defensive ends is often so dependent on sacks. They can be all over the field, tackling the ball carrier, applying pressure, disrupting the offensive timing. If they don't get those sacks, they rarely get acclaim. Despite that complaint, sacks are nice.

It shouldn't be too much of a shock to see the Atlanta Falcons lose their first game to the New Orleans Saints. That rivalry has been terrific for a few years now. The Falcons have been finding ways to squeak out wins recently. They looked prime for that first loss and the Saints can score on anyone.

Saints running back Chris Ivory made a beautiful cut to get away from the sideline and complete a 56-yard touchdown run. Most impressive.

The St. Louis Rams and the San Francisco 49ers put on a great show. Each team scoring in the last minute. The Rams to take the lead. The 49ers to tie it up. The Rams had a stupid procedure penalty that negated an 80 yard pass and run by Danny Amendola that opened the overtime. 49ers kicker David Akers missed a 41-yarder. The Rams had a stupid delay of game penalty that negated a 53 yard field goal. He then missed the 58-yarder. Ties feel pretty empty but that was an entertaining game.

Amendola is a tough little sucker. You love having players like him on your team.

I didn't see all of the game but it looked like 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick did a pretty good job in replacing the injured Alex Smith. He didn't look overwhelmed in his first extended action. Ever since I saw him take apart Cal while he was at Nevada I thought that he had a bright NFL future. He's got some skills.

Gutsy call by Rams coach Jeff Fisher on a fake punt from his own end zone. I've never seen that before. Punter Johnny Hekker completed a 21-yard pass and run to gunner Rodney McLeod. Chris Culliver completely uncovered McLeod to rush in for a punt block and Hekker was simply playing catch with a friend. There were only 49 seconds left in the first half but that was a huge gamble. It fails and the 49ers have an easy field goal or touchdown to end the half. It didn't end up amounting to much as the Rams ran out of time. Another fake punt late in the game was important. Hekker completed his second pass of the day to Lance Kendricks for a key first down. It extended a drive that would end up producing the go ahead touchdown with about a minute to play.

49ers receiver Michael Crabtree has been outstanding the last few weeks. I was beginning to doubt that he'd ever amount to much as his effort has frequently seemed less than interested. He's been playing like that dynamic receiver we saw at Texas Tech. Nice work, Crabtree.

The Texans-Bears game was more than a matchup of two of the best teams in the league. Those two teams are the Vikings opponents for half of their remaining six games. It's easy to say that the game was sloppy and lacked offensive punch. Games like this are often the result when two teams with terrific defenses play each other. The rain and soft field didn't help much. Bears quarterback Jay Cutler left the game with a concussion at the half. There were a lot of things that led to the low scoring affair. The most significant one was the defenses that were on that soggy field.

I have often been critical of Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher in recent years. I think that is mostly due to his level of play being so high only a few years ago. There were several years when he took over games like few players ever have. While he's no longer that player he still makes some plays that you make you go, "Wow." I need to show him the respect that he still greatly deserves. Despite his playing for the Bears.

So, with the Texans sending the Bears to their second loss the Vikings control their own destiny. They just have to win and win often.

Days are happy when the Vikings win. It's a good time for their bye.

Game Day Thoughts

The Minnesota Vikings will likely go into their game against the Detroit Lions today without receiver/running back/ returner Percy Harvin. It's a huge blow but there could be some good to come of it. Quarterback Christian Ponder is struggling. This will force him to discover targets other than Harvin. Tight ends, in particular Kyle Rudolph, have to get open over the middle and at intermediate depths. Big guys present nice targets for a young, struggling quarterback. Receiver Jerome Simpson has to provide a deep threat. He's been hampered with a suspension and nagging injuries. Today will also be the debut of rookie receiver Jarius Wright. He has the speed and shiftiness to make an impact. Most importantly, the Vikings need running back Adrian Peterson to keep doing what he's been doing.

It may be a little early for a game to be a must win, but the Vikings really need to win this game. They have their bye next week. With their recent struggles they need to go into their week off on a high note. 6-4 sounds a whole lot better than 5-5.

The Houston Texans-Chicago Bears game tonight sure looks like a must see. NBC is striking it rich with many of their matchups. No disrespect to the undefeated Atlanta Falcons, the Bears might be playing the best all around football in the NFC. Except for a terrible hiccup against the Green Bay Packers, the Texans have been terrific all year.

The Texans recent evolution has been remarkable. Only a few years ago, they relied on an explosive offense revolving around stars Matt Schaub, Arian Foster, Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels. Their defense, centered around the play making of end Mario Williams and linebacker DeMeco Ryans, was a little better than average. Both were sent packing as Wade Phillips built a swarming 3-4 defense seemingly in a blink of an eye. Now, they are potent on both sides of the ball.

Cal has had some difficulties recently, especially this year. For whatever reason they've managed to play well against Oregon. Perhaps the best Pac-12 team over the past several years, Oregon has really had to fight for their wins against Cal. For a little over a half last night, Oregon had a fight. Then it got out of control. 59-17 out of control. Shocking that it was 24-17 early in the third quarter.

I figured that ESPN announcer Matt "I damn near destroyed the Detroit Lions" Millen was going to ask Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota out on a date before he left Berkeley. There was a lot of love in that booth.

Mariota was excellent. I hadn't seen him play much before last night. Most of Oregon's damage before this game was on the ground. Cal shut the Duck running game down. They forced Mariota to beat them. He did.

Oregon's offense puts so much pressure on an opponent. You can't make mistakes and you have to score touchdowns. A bunch of touchdowns.

Cal quarterback Allan Bridgford, making his first real start, opened things up for Oregon with an interception deep in Cal territory. The rout was on after that.

Cal didn't help themselves much with at least a half dozen personal fouls.

So, USC canned one of the ball boys for deflating footballs for the Trojans game against the Ducks last week. It's considered cheating. They say that it's easier to handle, throw and catch a slightly deflated football.  Unless Matt Barkley and his little boys of Troy have itty bitty hands I don't see any benefit to this. I'd much rather catch a nice full football than a slightly deflated football. Silly USC. As for the ball boy, they say that he acted alone. I really can't imagine the kid doing this without some sort of approval from above. They threw the kid under the bus. Very nice, USC.

Steve Sabol Memorial

Yesterday afternoon NFL Films employees had their own memorial to honor Steve Sabol's legacy. At the ceremony, the following permanent fixtures at NFL Films were unveiled:

1) The address has been officially changed to "One Sabol Way."

2) An "SDS" flag ("Steve Douglas Sabol," better known as "Sudden Death Sabol") was raised in front of the building. It will fly alongside the American flag and "NFL Films" flag.

3) A small tree was planted beside the flags, to symbolize the continued growth of NFL Films.

4) The area outside of the Main Lobby has been renamed "Sudden Death."

5) Behind the reception desk now hangs a photo of Ed and Steve Sabol, along with one of Steve's favorite quotes: "Life is great...football is better."

6) Steve Sabol's parking space, which was originally painted with his name, now has three stars added to represent the Past, Present and Future of NFL Films.

I feel that the best way for the employees of NFL Films to honor the legacy of Steve Sabol is to continue it.

Hall of Fame Votes

Today is one of the voting steps to the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2013. Right now there are 127 nominees. The voters will chop that down to 25 semifinalists today. Peter King of Sports Illustrated is one of the eleven at-large voters. He's often expressed frustration over the voting process. I don't blame him. On his recent podcast he was talking about the upcoming vote. It's not widely known that fans can nominate voters. Due to his frustrations, King has considered resigning and even suggested that fans nominate a replacement. Personally, I think that it would be a mistake for Peter King to walk away. I don't trust many of the 44 voters but he's one that I do. On his podcast he mentioned a couple of former players that have been repeatedly passed over. Former Minnesota Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff and New York Jets defensive lineman Joe Klecko haven't even gotten a whisper in the voting room. Tingelhoff was the league's Pro Bowl center for pretty much the entire 1960s. During Klecko's playing days, Mark Gastineau got all the attention on that Jets defensive line. Klecko was always the tougher challenge and the better football player. Just his mentioning of those players confirms the faith that I have in Peter King. Yes, his is a voice of reason in a room that has little respect for the history of football. Most of the voters are more concerned with politics, trading votes and quotas. When a voter is more concerned with getting certain positions in the Hall than they are with getting the most deserving people in, the voter needs to get the hell out of that room. Some voters have personal issues with certain players that have absolutely nothing to do with play on the football field. If those issues cloud their judgement of football history those voters need to go. Personally, I think that many of the voters just like being among the 44 voters and care little about the responsibility that goes with it. I'd like to see my friends at the Pro Football Researchers Association take over the Hall of Fame voting. If anyone has the proper respect for football history it's this organization. They care. Something has to change. Inducting Cris Carter this year would be a nice start.

Throwback Thursday: Vikings Ring of Honor

I failed miserably when I neglected to mention Matt Blair's well deserved induction into the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor at halftime of the Vikings game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. From 1974-85, Blair was one of the best all around linebackers in the league. He was one of my favorites.

I loved when the Vikings started honoring past players, coaches and administrators in 1998. All teams should remember those that came before. I look forward to the Vikings new stadium that will honor these people and Vikings history properly in a Hall of Fame museum.

Here is the Vikings Ring of Honor and the year inducted:
Fran Tarkenton 1998
Alan Page 1998
Bud Grant 1998
Paul Krause 1998
Fred Zamberletti 1998
Jim Finks 1998
Jim Marshall 1999
Ron Yary 2001
Mick Tingelhoff 2001
Korey Stringer 2001
Carl Eller 2002
Cris Carter 2003
Bill Brown 2004
Jerry Burns 2005
Randall McDaniel 2006
Chuck Foreman 2007
John Randle 2008
Scott Studwell 2009
Chris Doleman 2011
Matt Blair 2012

Some missing from the Vikings early decades are linebacker Jeff Siemon, guard Ed White and receiver Ahmad Rashad. Hopefully they are invited home soon.

Main Men

There was a time when the NFL players viewed certain players as the league's "main men." They likely still do. These were the elite players that the rest of the league stopped to watch. The best of the best, if you will. I first heard mention of this from players of the '50s. I'd imagine that John Unitas, Jim Brown, Night Train, Emlen Tunnell, Sam Huff, Bobby Layne, Gino Marchetti would be among the players that drew the stares of their peers. Every decade had them. Grange, Nevers, Thorpe, Hinkle, McNally, Hein, Hutson, Clark, Friedman were the guys in the first couple of decades.

I was thinking about this "main men" business while reading the thoughts of some of the Seattle Seahawks players after facing Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. When the they took down the New England Patriots earlier this season the Seahawks kept barking at "main man" Tom Brady well after the game. Against Peterson the words were far different. "I just respect him," defensive Red Bryant said. "It's not every day you're on the field with a running back of his caliber. You hear about Jim Brown, Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders. Adrian Peterson is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I can't come up with enough adjectives to describe how special of a running back he is." The Seahawks have seen elite players such as Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald. Peterson is the only one that left them in awe. "He's a special back," said safety Earl Thomas. "There's a reason why he is who he is." Seahawks coach Pete Carroll called stopping Peterson "a nightmare, to tell you the truth."

The players of the league are the only people that can truly judge who is best among them. They keep this among themselves. It doesn't keep me from wondering who among the best is the best.

Of course, we start with Adrian Peterson.

Quarterbacks: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady
I might burn for football blaspheme for this but I'm not so sure that Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger make this list. Rodgers, if any of them. It's the elite of the elite.

Receivers: Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald
I might be a little biased but I think that Percy Harvin has entered this group. His versatility is so remarkable. He's a legitimate running back when he lines up in the backfield. He's one of the best returners in the game.

Tight ends: Tony Gonzalez
Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham are well on their way

Offensive linemen:  I'm not sure that any linemen stand out enough right now to warrant the undivided attention of their peers. Not like Jonathan Ogden and Larry Allen in recent years. Joe Thomas and Maurkice Pouncey might be there one day.

Defensive linemen: Haloti Ngata, Jason Pierre-Paul, JJ Watt, Jared Allen
Watt and Pierre-Paul have made this level too damn fast.

Linebackers: Patrick Willis, DeMarcus Ware, Ray Lewis, Dwight Freeney
Brian Urlacher may make it but I don't think that he's been consistent enough in recent years. Freeney made it as an end.

Cornerbacks: Darrelle Revis
Champ Bailey may still make it

Safety: Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Charles Woodson

No kickers or punters allowed.

Football Announcers

In their recent issue, Sports Illustrated listed three of the best football announcing teams in the league and three of the worst. It's disappointing that most of the broadcast teams throughout the networks are mediocre at best.

Here are the three best according to Sports Ilustrated:

Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth
Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts
Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock

Michaels and Collinsworth are automatics. They are terrific together and each would make a nice team with anybody if they were ever separated. I don't really know the Fouts and Eagle team very well. I always liked Fouts when paired with others earlier in his broadcasting career. I think that Mayock is fantastic whenever he is talking about football. It doesn't matter if he's on the NFL Network set or in the broadcast booth. He may need further work on his delivery but he has few peers in football knowledge. As Sports Illustrated says, "A viewer always ends up learning when Mayock is around." There aren't many that do that. I also like Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden. Like John Madden before him, I can't help but be entertained by Gruden. His enthusiasm for football is infectious. He may be goofy at times but it stems from his incredible love of the game. The Troy Aikman and Joe Buck team is another that I like. Buck is often annoying but as a team they work.

And the worst:

Dick Stockton and John Lynch
Kenny Albert, Darryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa
Chris Berman and anyone

I greatly enjoyed the Berman and anyone. It's so true. Sports Illustrated specifically mentions the way that Stockton and Lynch butchered the end of the New Orleans Saints-Tampa Bay Buccaneers two weeks ago. I watched the end of that game. It was a controversial ending but a straightforward one for an even moderately knowledgeable announcer. They went off the air without explaining a thing. It was ridiculous. One announcer that really annoys me is Brian Billick. I'm not sure if he even cares about the job. He spent all of, at least, two games referring to Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen as Gerald Allen. Who does that?

It's kind of sad that there are far more poor announcers than good ones. Fortunately there are a handful that actually add something to the game. Maybe the rest should listen more to the best before they approach a broadcast booth. Get better at their job.

Week 9 Thoughts

Well, the Minnesota Vikings wasted an awesome performance by running back Adrian Peterson. Losing to the Seattle Seahawks 30-20. Peterson gained 182 yards.That total is even more remarkable seeing as the Seahawks didn't really have to worry about the passing game at all. Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder really has to get his game together. He doesn't look comfortable at all. It's a team sport and there are some issues with the line and the receivers. With Ponder's lack of comfort in the pocket, the line needs to keep that pocket clear and the receivers need to get more separation. Most importantly, Ponder has to settle down. At the rate that the offense is going their terrific start is going to be wasted. Now 5-4, the Vikings were once 4-1.

The defense gave up 30 points. Well, the offense did the defense no favors when they coughed up a first quarter fumble on their own 17-yard line. Despite giving up an uncomfortable amount of points, I do think that the defense played well enough to win. In particular, they did a better job of tackling than they have in the last few weeks. It could still get better but it was an improvement. Improvement was important as they were facing Marshawn Lynch. He's a beast. He still gained 124 yards but the Vikings got him to the ground on first contact on most occasions. The main thing missing from the Vikings defense and it's been an issue for a few game is forcing turnovers. They've got to get some.

Adrian Peterson is amazing. 182 yards on 17 carries yesterday. It was his third straight 100-yard game. If the passing game had been any kind of a threat, Peterson might have approached his own 296-yard single game record. He had over 140 yards at halftime. Peyton Manning will likely walk away with the Comeback Player of the Year award. The recovery that Manning has made is remarkable but he had well over a year to make it. Peterson came back from a brutal knee injury in about eight months. Every single carry sees his knee attacked by eleven defenders. Manning might be touched about a handful of times each game. I vote for Adrian Peterson. Perhaps even as MVP. Of course, I'm not biased at all.

Seahawks rookie quarterback Russell Wilson played great. The fourth rookie, after Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Doug Martin, to give the Vikings fits. Wilson played with the poise that Ponder has to get to. Wilson was given nice time in the pocket. His threat to run often opened passing lanes. If he can play as well on the road as he does in Seattle, the Seahawks will be a potent team.

It's gotten to the point for me that the Vikings losing to the Seattle is nearly as bad as losing to any of their rivals in the NFC North. Most of it starts with head coach Pete Carroll. He was an ass at USC. He's an ass in Seattle. It's sealed by their fans. Lack of originality annoys me. The fans and the organization brand themselves as the "12th Man" like they invented the term. Texas A&M had been using their "12th Man" years before the Seahawks even joined the NFL. If you're going to grab something like that and make it your own be original. It's a little odd that the Seahawks annoy me like they do as they have Cal players like Lynch and Brandon Mebane and former Vikings Sidney Rice and Heath Farwell. Players that I greatly appreciate. It's a real shame that they have to play for a ridiculous team.

If things aren't going his way, Carroll always looks like he's about to cry.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin backed up his destructive game against the Vikings last week with an even better game against the Oakland Raiders yesterday. 25 carries for 251 yards and 4 TDs. 4 receptions for 21 more yards. Come on! Luck or Griffin will likely win Rookie of the Year but Martin is keeping either quarterback from running away with it.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers hit the mainstream big time with a profile on "60 Minutes" last night. It was probably his biggest moment since his Cal days. Certainly since talking to me at the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach last February.

I see that suspended New Orleans head coach Sean Payton might become a free agent after this season and his suspension ends. Apparently there is language in the extension that he signed last season that could void the contract if general manager Mickey Loomis is suspended, fired or retires. Well, Loomis is suspended with Payton for the their role in the Saints bounty shenanigans. Payton has frequently been linked to Dallas due to his assistant coaching days there and the fact that he lives there. I have a hard time seeing Sean Payton leave New Orleans with the current circumstances there. There's an "us vs them" feeling surrounding the team and the city. He has a close relationship with owner Tom Benson, quarterback Drew Brees, the rest of the team and the city of New Orleans. Despite living in Dallas I can't help nut think that his heart is still with the Saints.

Indianapolis Colts receiver Reggie Wayne is having one of his best seasons and he's had a bunch of great seasons. There was a chance that he'd leave this past offseason. Rookie quarterback Andrew Luck is glad that he didn't. They've been a dynamic combination.

I love watching ball carriers make sudden stops that let the defense fly by as they then carry on. Percy Harvin is great at it. Miami Dolphins back Reggie Bush performed it to perfection on a beautiful touchdown run against the Colts yesterday.

The Cincinnati Bengals has found some success with their cornerback reclamation project. They were greatly hurt by the free agency departure of terrific young corner Jonathan Joseph a couple of years ago. To rebuild they added fading former first round choices Terrence Newman and Nate Clements. Both have rejuvenated their careers and greatly helped the Bengals defense. Newman intercepted Peyton Manning twice.

I think that it only pissed off Peyton Manning.

It's hard to not pull for Chuck Pagano and the Indianapolis Colts. Hearing Pagano speak to his team yesterday made me want to suit up and run into something.

Next week is bad news for the Detroit Lions. Come on Christian Ponder! I still believe.

Game Day

NFL Films really knocked it out of the park with their profile of Chris and Stefanie Spielman on "A Football Life." Everything touched by NFL Films is golden but this one was special. The Spielmans's story is a great and sad one. Stefanie Spielman fought cancer for a decade. Chris Spielman stepped away from the game to care for his wife and family. The Spielman's fight, strength and love is inspiring. It's a fight that Chris Spielman continues. Every episode of "A Football Life" is excellent but this truly stands out.

Despite his playing for the Detroit Lions, I always enjoyed the way that Chris Spielman played football. He was a terrific linebacker. He was just one of those players that you couldn't help but admire. All hustle and effort to go with tremendous football instincts.

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o should would look fantastic in a Minnesota Vikings uniform next year. Unfortunately, I think that the Vikings have already won too many games to be in position to draft him.

Oregon  really needs to settle down with the uniforms. Each new one looks worse. I once saw a Cal merchandise store selling Cal gear in red. That's not right. These ridiculous Oregon uniforms are a bit like that. They aren't right. That whole program is a circus.

Oregon and USC didn't play much defense. I might be in the minority but I'd rather watch a game like that played by Alabama and LSU. Oregon's main defense is the incredible pressure that their offense puts on an opposing offense. They put up points so quick that their opponents make mistakes trying to keep up.

That was a great comeback win for Alabama. They also looked mortal.

If nothing else the Alabama win kept Oregon from being #1.

Barkevious Mingo!

The Minnesota Vikings three losses have largely been due to great performances from three rookies: quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III and running back Doug Martin. You never like seeing one player take apart your defense repeatedly. It's especially nauseating for that one player to be a rookie. It's also a small sampling of the remarkable contributions of rookies throughout the league.

Today's Vikings-Seahawks game will be a showcase for running backs Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch. Both are among the leading rushers this season. Both have a brutal running style. Both came through the very strong 2007 NFL Draft. It should be fun.

It's often tough waiting for the Vikings to play an afternoon game. At least it gives me an opportunity to check out a wide selection of morning games. The Cincinnati Bengals-Denver Broncos game likely tops that list.

Everybody in the league stay healthy today. Tomorrow too.

Cal-Washington

Thanks to the idiots at Directv last night's Cal-Washington game was likely the last Cal game that I get to see this year. Thank you very little, clowns.

In the past year, Washington has joined the exclusive group populated by Stanford, USC and Oregon as Pac-12 teams that I truly dislike. Stanford for obvious reasons. Everyone but USC hates USC in the Pac-12. Oregon is simply annoying. Too cocky. Too many stupid looking uniforms. And recently, too good. Washington has joined this group due to the very questionable shenanigans of head coach Steve Sarkisian last winter. Sarkisian raided Cal's coaching staff just days before signing day. Not only did he grab Cal's lead recruiter and defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi, he snaked some of Cal's top recruits. One in particular was stud safety Shaq Thompson. He'd basically been a Cal recruit since his brother SydQuan Thompson played there. A couple others bolted to other schools when Lupoi was no longer coaching in Berkeley. Nothing that Sarkisian did was technically wrong. There was just a total lack of respect. Especially from Lupoi. Cal coach Jeff Tedford had given him his first and lasting shot at coaching. In the end, Lupoi flat out lied to Tedford. Washington can suck it.

But, the Huskies won this game 21-13.

Ugly game. Cal ended their first two drives in or near the red zone with fumbles. That ended up being the game. They did a bunch to lose it after that. They did some things to win it too. Just not enough.

Cal quarterback Zach Maynard is going to get a receiver killed before he's done. He suffered a possible knee injury at the end of the game so maybe he won't. I can't wait for one of Kyle Boehm, Zach Kline or Jared Goff to be throwing passes for the Bears next year. The quarterback position has been a disaster at Cal for too long. Not since Aaron Rodgers in 2004 has anyone consistently thrown the ball accurately. Nate Longshore had some decent moments but it's been pretty bleak for nearly a decade.

Cal receiver Keenan Allen is a fantastic football player. He's junior but I'll be shocked if he doesn't leave for the NFL following this season. Thanks, again, to Directv as last night was probably my last chance to see him play college football. He missed the game due to injury. The bright side to that was the opportunity for a bunch of young receivers. Freshman Chris Harper has played well all year. He was fantastic last night. Highlighted by a brilliant one-handed catch made possible by horrible pass by Maynard. Fellow freshmen Darius Powe and Maurice Harris also had their first extended action. Another freshman Bryce Treggs has also played well in his first college season but missed the last night's game. Cal has some real nice talent at receiver.

They also have super fast back Brendan Bigelow. He's a sophomore. So is tight end Richard Rodgers. Cal has some playmakers coming back next year. The offensive line should be improved. If someone can step up at quarterback, Cal could have something nice on offense. Anything would be an improvement over this mess.

Washington tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins is a frickin' beast. Even on a gimpy ankle he destroyed Cal. They had no answer for him. He's only a sophomore! He'll be in the NFL.

It was a treat to see Sean Hoculi officiate the Cal-Washington game. He's wonderful at making a call on the field. He leaves little doubt. His description of three significant penalties on one play should get an Emmy. He's the son of perhaps the best known official in the game, Ed Hoculi.

Congratulations to former Cal quarterback Steve Bartkowski on his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. He's also the only Cal player to be the first selection in the NFL Draft.

All-NFC North Team

The website Pro Football Focus named their midseason all star teams for each division. Despite being a fairly pointless thing to do, it's a fairly fun thing to do. Pro Football Focus is a very interesting site. Their main endeavor is to numerically grade every player in the league. Even offensive linemen. This is a pretty incredible undertaking. Their only real handicap is that they have no way of knowing the responsibility of each player on each play. Pro Football Focus does a great job with what they have to work with.

Here's the All-NFC North Team as graded by Pro Football Focus:

Offense
QB Aaron Rodgers  Packers
RB Adrian Peterson  Vikings
FB Jerome Felton  Vikings
TE Kyle Rudolph  Vikings
WR Percy Harvin  Vikings
       Brandon Marshall  Bears
T    Matt Kalil  Vikings
      Phil Loadholt  Vikings
G   Rob Sims  Lions
      Josh Sitton  Packers
C   John Sullivan  Vikings

Defense
DE Jared Allen  Vikings
      Brian Robison  Vikings
DT Henry Melton  Bears
      Kevin Williams  Vikings
LB Clay Matthews  Packers
      AJ Hawk  Packers
      Lance Briggs  Bears
CB Charles Tillman  Bears
      Casey Hayward  Packers
S    Major Wright  Bears
      Morgan Burnett  Packers

Special Teams
K   Blair Walsh  Vikings
P    Tim Masthay  Packers
KR Percy Harvin  Vikings
ST  Everson Griffen  Vikings

You'd think that the Minnesota Vikings were running away with the division. Just goes to show how important steady quarterback play is to team success. Besides the very nice representation of the Vikings on this very prestigious team, the selection that really jumps out at me is the Packers' Casey Hayward as one of the corners. He's only a rookie. I haven't seen a lot of the Packers' games but whenever I tune in Hayward is making plays. Half way through his first NFL season and Hayward already looks like the real deal. Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway should be on this team.

Throwback Thursday: Emmitt Smith

Former Dallas Cowboys running back and all-time rushing leader Emmitt Smith was a recent guest on Rich Eisen's podcast. Smith is in the Los Angeles area for a return engagement on "Dancing with the Stars." Even in retirement can't get away from competition. Even if it's dancing. He rushed for over 18,000 yards! He can do whatever he wants in his retirement!

It's difficult to believe that it's been ten years since Emmitt Smith broke the rushing record that was held by Walter Payton, Time is just whizzing by. Smith had some interesting things to say about running with the football while chatting with Eisen. Seeing as Smith ran for more yards than any back before or since he's pretty much an expert on the subject. He mentioned that getting to the sideline can limit a back. All of the fast backs, most backs really, try to get to the edge. They want to get to the sideline and turn up field. No surprise there. Smith said that getting to the sideline takes away many of your options. The sideline becomes and extra defender. It seems so simple but I never thought about it in that way. Smith would rather be in the middle of the field. There he can keep the defense guessing as to his plans. Every direction is open to him. While certainly not slow I think that Smith's speed may have helped in this strategy. He didn't have the speed to stretch the defense towards the sideline. His best running was always straight at the defense. Eisen also talked of Smith's incredible durability. He made it difficult for a defender to get a solid hit on him. Most importantly, he said that he knew when to end the battle. If he had to gain a little more, he'd fight for it. If there was no point he'd call it done and hit the ground. He wouldn't let the defense hold him up so that their friends could hammer him. This makes complete sense. If there's another down to gain what's needed why not use it? Why risk a fumble or injury? I couldn't help but think of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. In his early years, Peterson had some issues holding on to the ball. He fights for every single inch. The fumbling issue was due to his incredible fight. He'd be pushing for more yards while the defense was pounding on him and the ball. He's since fixed the ball security issue but he hasn't given up that fight. It seems foolish to criticize anything about Peterson's running but his physical, even brutal, style has always worried me. I wonder if a little caution now will add a year or two to his career. As it was with Smith, it's a blast to watch Adrian Peterson run with the football. One of his goals has always been to run down Smith. Maybe the best way to do so is to run a little bit like him at times.