2008 NFL Power Rankings: Week 20
Week 19 Fantasy Performers, Defenses, League Leaders

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (13-4) – Previously: #2 – If I had more than one unit on the Chargers +6.5, I’d be pretty frustrated that the ball unfortunately bounced off of Eric Weddle’s helmet, and a Philip Rivers pass was tipped up in the air and picked off by the Steelers deep inside Pittsburgh territory. I thought the Steelers were going to win, but it shouldn’t have been a blowout.
   
   Speaking of being frustrated, how horrible was that stupid “Punt, Pass and Kick” presentation during one of the games? I swear, I wanted to shoot myself. Just check out my post from the Live In-Games Thread if you don’t believe me:
   
   “Oh no… Noooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT THE PUNT, PASS AND KICK WINNERS OH GOD NOOOO!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!”
   
   The worst thing is, the fans at the stadium actually cheered these kids. I forget which fans did this because I blocked it out of my memory, but whoever you fans are, what’s wrong with you? If the NFL pulled this stunt in Europe, the people in the bleachers would have thrown flares at the kids.
   
   
2. Baltimore Ravens (13-5) – Previously: #4 – I had the Ravens as my January NFL Pick of the Month, but I’m man enough to say that I should have been wrong about that selection. The two untimely fumbles, the botched snaps, all the shady penalties, the delay of game that wasn’t called, the Chris Johnson injury… I could go on and on, but I feel as though I was owed big time for the Lions blowing a 17-0 lead and a potential cover as a 9-point underdog against Tampa Bay in what was my November NFL Pick of the Month.
   
   I’d start thanking the football gods and stuff, but I don’t want to run the risk of being confused with Tom cruise. I said football gods, not dragon gods!
   
   
3. Philadelphia Eagles (11-6-1) – Previously: #7 – The Eagles win and Andy Reid’s fake beard lives on!
   
   If you don’t read Bill Simmons, you may have missed a video he linked to in his column. The following cartoon makes fun of Reid, Romeo Crennel, Herm Edwards and Brad Clueless.
4. Arizona Cardinals (11-7) – Previously: #8 – Arizona going into 8-0 Carolina and winning in a blowout was ridiculous. Something even more ridiculous was Bill Romanowski’s recent proposal to Broncos owner Pat Bowlen to be head coach of the team. Per RotoWorld:
   
   Romanowski, who currently runs a “nutrition” company, sent owner Pat Bowlen a PowerPoint presentation outlining his plan for the team. “I can’t stop thinking about this,” said Romo, scarily. “I’d have literally a full-time person mixing up protein shakes every day.”
   
   When did Romanowski learn how to use PowerPoint? I’m shocked he even knew what a computer was. And what was his outline for the Broncos anyway?
   
   A. Take steroids.
   B. Deny taking the steroids.
   C. Take masking agent for steroids.
   D. Use racial slurs.
   E. Beat up teammates.
   F. Injure opposition on purpose.
   G. Win Super Bowl.
   
   

5. New York Giants (12-5) – Previously: #1 – Amazingly, the Giants are already talking about bringing Plaxico Burress back. It’s astonishing what losing can do to your way of thinking.

Besides, hasn’t Burress suffered enough already? He’s been arrested. He’s been bashed by everyone. He shot himself, so he was obviously in pain. And worst of all, he scored only 1,000 points and the stupid brown dog laughed at him!

6. Carolina Panthers (12-5) – Previously: #3 – I’m going to mention something my old college roommate Dennis brought up on Monday because I completely agreed with him.

Jake Delhomme’s reaction to his five billion interceptions seemed a bit staged. It’s almost as if he threw the game on purpose. I’m willing to bet that someone kidnapped Delhomme’s son, and told the Panthers quarterback that he’d never see his kid again unless he allowed Arizona to win. There is no other reasonable explanation for Delhomme’s performance. In fact, here’s what Delhomme said on the phone:

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you that I only made $3 million this year. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long mediocre career committing turnovers, skills that make me a nightmare for Panthers bettors. If you let my son go now, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you. I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you. And if I don’t find you, I will throw interceptions. I will fumble the ball. And I will lose straight up so you can win your bet on the Arizona money line.”

7. Tennessee Titans (13-4) – Previously: #5 – Nice job resting your starters, Jeff Fisher. Way to not learn anything from Indianapolis’ postseason failures over the years. It’s worth noting that teams resting their starters are just 7-7 straight up and 3-11 against the spread in their first playoff game since 2002.

But enough about that… Let’s discuss the UPS-sponsored so-called “national championship” that FOX broadcasted on Thursday. I have a number of things to say about this:

1. First of all, this wasn’t the national championship. If you noticed, FOX always called it the “BCS Championship Game.” There is no national championship in college football. The greedy, slimy, money-grubbing college presidents simply hired a company to designate one of the bowl games its “national championship.” The winner of this game doesn’t become the national champion unless the idiot AP voters (more on them later) and coaches put them atop their polls. If enough people voted for Utah, the Utes would have justly been crowned national champions without even playing in that UPS-sponsored fraud of a game.

2. Oh, and as far as I’m concerned, the Utes are national champs, and will be noted as such on this Web site going forward.

3. And speaking of those idiot AP guys, one of the voters said something completely ridiculous during the week. I don’t have a name on this moron, but when he was asked if he was going to vote Utah No. 1, he answered, “I don’t know, I never even saw them play.”

Wow! And guys like this are responsible for naming college football’s alleged champion? The University of Utah should file a lawsuit immediately.

4. FOX’s presentation of this UPS-sponsored game was awful. I don’t know who was doing the play-by-play, but he was one of the worst announcers I’ve ever heard. For about three minutes, he was confused by what down it was. He said, “It looks like Oklahoma’s going for it on fourth down… and… they didn’t make it! Florida takes over on downs… But wait… Oklahoma’s offense is lining up again… Uh…”

It’s worth noting that Oklahoma went for it again and couldn’t convert on fifth-and-goal at the 1. Epic fail.

5. I’m really tired of people hating on Tim Tebow. I don’t know if it’s jealousy or what, but the kid does philanthropy work as a mere college student for crying out loud! We have other athletes who drive drunk, rape women, rob banks, shoot people (and sometimes themselves) and do nothing but eat cheeseburgers all offseason (paging LenDale White). All Tebow does is try to make the world a better place (oh, and take pictures with hot, well-endowed women). I hope he proves all of his doubters wrong and becomes a successful NFL quarterback.

8. San Diego Chargers (9-9) – Previously: #6 – One word to describe San Diego’s loss: Frustrating. Read all about that in the Pittsburgh write-up.

There is a sixth thing that irked me about the UPS-sponsored so-called “national championship:” Charles Davis.

The man is a menace. Matt McGuire has always hated Davis, and I never knew why – until the Florida-Oklahoma game on Thursday night.

I found Davis so annoying that I decided to interview him for this Web site!

ME: Hey Charles Davis, thanks for joining me. I think you’re the most annoying person who has ever walked the planet, but hopefully my feelings change after this exclusive interview.

DAVIS: “Thanks Walt! This is an interview, you’re going to ask me questions and I’m going to answer them.”

ME: That’s exactly right, but I think my readers already know that.

DAVIS: “Did you see the game on Thursday? Tim Tebow, quarterback for the Florida Gators, he won his second championship in his collegiate career.”

ME: Yes he did. How do you think he’s going to do in the pros?

DAVIS: “I talked to Urban Meyer, head coach of the Florida Gators, and he said that Tim Tebow is going to be an exceptional quarterback at the next level.”

ME: Well, I would have expected Meyer to say that. What do you think?

DAVIS: “I talked to Bob Stoops, head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, and he said that Tim Tebow is not going to thrive in the NFL. He said he’ll have some struggles at the next level.”

ME: Huh? Didn’t you just cite someone who said Tebow’s going to be awesome? Why would you cite a completely different opinion? What do YOU think?

DAVIS: “I talked to a hot dog vendor at the game, a part-time student at the University of Miami, and he told me that Tim Tebow might be good in the NFL, but he doesn’t know.”

ME: What!? Why are you quoting a hot dog vendor? Just give me your damn opinion!

DAVIS: “I talked to Tim Tebow, quarterback of the Florida Gators, and he said that he doesn’t know how Tim Tebow will play at the next level, but he’ll continue to work hard.”

ME: That’s it… That’s it! I can’t take it anymore. You have no opinion on anything. You just quote other people and state the obvious. Well, here’s something obvious from me: You suck. Royally. This interview is over. Adios, Charles Davis!





Run Defenses:
Yards per carry (YPC) allowed to running backs is the best way to determine a defense’s strength against the run, as opposed to rushing yards per game.

1. Steelers (3.4)
2. Ravens (3.4)
3. Vikings (3.4)
4. Titans (3.5)
5. Giants (3.6)
6. Jets (3.6)
7. Eagles (3.7)
8. Bears (3.7)
9. Bengals (3.8)
10. 49ers (3.8)
11. Cardinals (3.9)
12. Patriots (4.0)
13. Jaguars (4.0)
14. Chargers (4.1)
15. Seahawks (4.1)
16. Saints (4.1)
17. Dolphins (4.1)
18. Redskins (4.1)
19. Bills (4.1)
20. Colts (4.3)
21. Cowboys (4.4)
22. Buccaneers (4.5)
23. Texans (4.5)
24. Raiders (4.5)
25. Packers (4.5)
26. Panthers (4.6)
27. Browns (4.7)
28. Falcons (4.8)
29. Broncos (5.1)
30. Chiefs (5.2)
31. Rams (5.2)
32. Lions (5.4)

Pass Defenses:
Yards Per Attempt (YPA) is the best tool to measure a defense’s effectiveness versus the pass:

1. Steelers (5.6)
2. Eagles (5.9)
3. Titans (6.0)
4. Ravens (6.0)
5. Redskins (6.3)
6. Bears (6.5)
7. Panthers (6.5)
8. Colts (6.5)
9. Packers (6.6)
10. Cowboys (6.7)
11. Buccaneers (6.7)
12. Bengals (6.7)
13. 49ers (6.7)
14. Giants (6.7)
15. Chargers (6.8)
16. Cardinals (7.0)
17. Bills (7.0)
18. Jets (7.0)
19. Dolphins (7.0)
20. Saints (7.1)
21. Falcons (7.1)
22. Vikings (7.2)
23. Raiders (7.3)
24. Patriots (7.3)
25. Chiefs (7.3)
26. Browns (7.4)
27. Texans (7.6)
28. Seahawks (7.7)
29. Broncos (7.7)
30. Rams (8.2)
31. Jaguars (8.3)
32. Lions (8.8)

2008 NFL Playoff League Leaders: Passing Yards

Philip Rivers: 525 yards. 3 TDs, 2 INTs.

Donovan McNabb: 517 yards. 2 TDs, 3 INTs.

Kurt Warner: 491 yards. 4 TDs, 2 INTs.

Peyton Manning: 310 yards. 1 TD, 0 INTs.

Joe Flacco: 296 yards. 1 TD, 0 INTs.


2008 NFL Playoff League Leaders: Rushing Yards

Willie Parker: 146 yards. 2 TDs.

Edgerrin James: 130 yards. 1 TD.

Darren Sproles: 120 yards. 2 TDs.

Tim Hightower: 99 yards. 1 TD.

Willis McGahee: 94 yards. 0 TDs.


2008 NFL Playoff League Leaders: Receiving Yards

Larry Fitzgerald: 101 yards. 1 TD.

Derrick Mason: 149 yards. 1 TD.

Antonio Gates: 146 yards. 0 TDs.

Darren Sproles: 136 yards. 1 TD.

Justin Gage: 135 yards. 0 TDs.


2008 NFL Playoff League Leaders: Sacks

Jared Allen: 2 sacks.

Dwight Freeney: 2 sacks.

Robert Mathis: 2 sacks.

Bert Berry: 2 sacks.

Antonio Smith: 2 sacks.

Terrell Suggs: 2 sacks.

LaMarr Woodley: 2 sacks.


2008 NFL Playoff League Leaders: Interceptions

Ed Reed: 2 INTs. 1 TD.

Asante Samuel: 2 INTs, 1 TD.

Ralph Brown: 2 INTs, 0 TDs.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie: 2 INTs, 0 TDs.



2009 NFL Mock Draft

Week 19 NFL Picks

Matt McGuire’s 2009 NFL Mock Draft

2009 NFL Mock Draft Database

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