SB Nation - Sidney Rice

Primer: Cincinnati Bengals (9-3) at Minnesota Vikings (10-2)

Kirkendall — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:00:26 -0000

Game: Cincinnati Bengals (9-3) at Minnesota Vikings (10-2)
Series Leader: Series tied, 5-5
Streak: Bengals have won two of the past three
Coaches vs. Opponent: Lewis: 1-0. Childress: 0-0
Broadcast: CBS (12:00 PM CT): Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf. Westwood One Radio: Kevin Kugler, Mark Malone. SIRIUS: 129 (Cin.), 122 (Min.). XM: 107 (Min.).
SB Nation: Daily Norseman
NFL.com: Game Center
Weather: Dome
Uniform: White
Television Coverage: Many states. Check the map [506]

Cincinnati Bengals

With a win, head coach Marvin Lewis (55-53-1) will surpass Paul Brown (55-59-1) for second most wins in team history (Sam Wyche: 64-68).
Bengals look to go undefeated against the NFC North -- they went undefeated against the NFC North in 2005.
Against the NFC North in 2009, Carson Palmer has nine touchdowns, four interceptions and a 111.6 passer rating.
Cedric Benson only needs 31 yards rushing for his first career 1,000-yard rushing season.
Bengals are 5-0 when Benson rushes 25 times or more and averages 135.4 yards rushing per game in those five games.
Chad Ochocinco looks to record his third consecutive 100-yard receiving game against the NFC, averaging 115.3 yards receiving in those games.
Chad only needs 90 yards receiving to record his seventh 1,000-yard receiving season in his career.
Jonathan Fanene recorded his first pick-six last week.

Minnesota Vikings

In four career starts against the Cincinnati Bengals, Brett Favre is 3-1.
Favre has recorded 1,799 yards passing, 16 touchdowns and only one interception at home this season for a passer rating of 119.1.
Since entering the league in 2007, Adrian Peterson has rushed for 4,204 yards -- by far, most in the league.
In four home games against the AFC, Peterson is averaging 184.5 yards per game and four touchdowns.
Chester Taylor recorded 139 yards rushing in his only start against the Bengals, while with Baltimore, on December 5, 2004.
Wide receiver Sidney Rice leads the NFC with 1,036 yards receiving.
In his past four home games, Rice has 25 receptions for 555 yards and two touchdowns.
Percy Harvin leads all NFL rookies with eight touchdowns (six receiving, two on kick return).
Tight End Visanthe Shiancoe is second among tight ends with nine touchdowns and looks to record a touchdown in his fourth straight.
Jared Allen has 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in his past two games.
Since 2004, Allen has 70 quarterback sacks. Most in the NFL.

TEAM RANKINGS

Offense	Bengals	Vikings
Total	331.9 (18th)	383.8 (5th)
Scoring	21.2 (16th)	29.9 (2nd)
Third Downs	41% (12th)	47% (3rd)
Rushing	133.9 (6th)	123.6 (11th)
Rushing TDs	9 (t-16th)	13 (t-9th)
Passing	198.0 (21st)	260.2 (9th)
Passing TDs	16 (t-16th)	27 (2nd)
Sacks Allowed	22 (t-8th)	25 (t-12th)
20-yard Passes	31 (21st)	42 (9th)

Defense	Bengals	Vikings
Total	293.2 (4th)	311.4 (8th)
Scoring	15.6 (1st)	19.4 (10th)
3rd Downs Allowed	33% (1st)	33% (3rd)
Rushing	81.8 (2nd)	84.2 (3rd)
Rushing TDs	6 (t-6th)	3 (t-1st)
Passing	211.5 (12th)	227.2 (21st)
Passing TDs	13 (8th)	18 (t-18th)
Sacks	29 (t-9th)	40 (1st)
QB Rating	73.7 (7th)	91.2 (24th)
20-Yard Passes Allowed	33 (t-13th)	41 (t-25th)
Interceptions	14 (t-6th)	9 (t-22nd)

Special Teams	Bengals	Vikings
Kickoff Return	21.8 (25th)	24.3 (t-8th)
Punt Return	11.8 (5th)	9.4 (t-12th)
Punting (Net)	43.8 (22nd)	37.9 (17th)
Punts Inside the 20	20 (t-13th)	19 (t-16th)

2009 STATISTICAL INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Carson Palmer	Stat	Ranking
Quarterback Rating	85.0	18th
Yards Passing	2,547	17th
Touchdowns	16	t-13th
First Downs	129	15th
Average Yards/Att	7.0	18th
Completions	222	17th
Interceptions	10	t-18th
Times Sacked	22	t-17th

Cedric Benson	Stat	Ranking
Yards Rushing	969	7th
Attempts / Game	24.1	1st
Touchdowns	6	t-14th
First Downs	45	8th

Chad Ochocinco	Stat	Ranking
Receptions	62	19th
Yards Receiving	910	12th
Touchdowns	6	t-12th
20-yard receptions	14	t-8th
First Downs	48	t-7th

CAREER AGAINST THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS

Carson Palmer

Date	Result	Comp.	Att.	Yards	TDs	Int
9.18.2005	W 37-8	27	40	337	3	1

Chad Johnson

Date	Result	Rec	Yards	TDs
9.18.2005	W 37-8	7	139	1

Cedric Benson

Date	Rushes	Yards	TDs
10.14.2007	18	67	0
12.3.2006	9	60	1
1.1.2006	9	35	0
10.16.2005	3	2	0

The Vikings Red Zone Review, Sponsored by Comcast

Gonzo — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:00:40 -0000

by Ross D. Franklin - AP

4 days ago: Minnesota Vikings' Chester Taylor kneels on the ground after being stopped short of the goal line in the second quarter during an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. The Vikings had to settle for a field goal on the drive. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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I'm going to start moving this feature up to earlier in the week in an effort to allow us to move on to the next game more quickly. So, with our weekly look back at the Vikings' red zone performance, here's this week's installment of the Vikings Red Zone Review. As always, the Vikings Red Zone Review is brought to you by the good folks at Comcast. Comcast brings you the NFL Red Zone channel every week, and it's your way to keep in touch with all the biggest plays from every NFL game week in and week out. It's great for fantasy players, or for the late games when you're not sure which game you want to view while celebrating the Vikings' latest conquest. The Red Zone Channel is your season ticket for every single NFL game, and nobody brings it to you like the folks at Comcast.

What kind of performance did the Vikings put together in the red zone last weekend? Let's have a look and find out. After all, with the kind of performance that the Vikings put together against Arizona, you could probably expect that this wouldn't take very long.

Vikings Red Zone trips - 2
Vikings Red Zone scores - 2 (1 TD, 1 FG)
Red Zone touchdown percentage - 50%

Speaking of not taking very long, it didn't take the Vikings long at all to find the red zone, as they did so on their very first drive. Benny Sapp forced a fumble from Tim Hightower on the Cardinals' second play from scrimmage, and the Vikings were immediately in business at the Arizona 47. Brett Favre and company immediately went to work, as an Adrian Peterson carry and a 5-yard catch by Percy Harvin gave Minnesota a first down, and an 11-yard completion to Sidney Rice gave them another. The Vikings moved into the red zone as Favre hit Bernard Berrian on a 3rd and 4 to get the ball to the 15, and a couple of plays later Harvin took a handoff down to the 3 to set up first and goal. From there, Favre dropped back and found Visanthe Shiancoe near the left sideline. At first, the referees ruled that Shank was out of bounds, but Brad Childress threw the challenge flag. After further review, it was decided that Shiancoe did make the catch and get both feet in bounds, giving the Vikings a touchdown. The 10-play, 47-yard drive took 4:25 off the clock and gave the Vikings an early 7-0 lead.

And after that, unfortunately, the Vikings' only other red zone appearance of the evening came just before halftime. After the Cardinals went up 14-7, the Vikings took over at their own 32 after a short kickoff that was fielded by Jeff Dugan. Minnesota immediately moved into Arizona territory on a 21-yard reception by Adrian Peterson, and Favre hit Harvin, Peterson, and Chester Taylor to get the ball close. An 11-yard carry for Peterson. . .his best of the night. . .took the ball to the Arizona 11, but the Vikings couldn't punch the ball in, and had to settle for a 25-yard Ryan Longwell field goal to cut the deficit to 14-10.

Minnesota's only other score came on a 31-yard pass from Favre to Percy Harvin to cut the final score to 30-17 and make the game appear closer than it had actually been.

So, the Vikings' offense made two trips into the red zone this weekend, giving them 45 for the year. In those 45 trips, they've scored 24 touchdowns (53.3%), gotten 15 field goals from Ryan Longwell (33.3%), and been held scoreless six times (13.3%). The Cardinals, on the other hand, made four trips into the red zone, but only got one touchdown in those four trips (after a huge punt return by LaRod Stephens-Howling). That means that Viking opponents have found their way into the red zone 28 times this season. They've allowed 11 touchdowns (39.3%), 11 field goals (39.3%), and kept their opponents scoreless six times (21.4%).

If the Vikings want to get on track next week against Cincinnati, they're going to need to make a lot more trips to the red zone, and convert those trips in the manner we've become accustomed to seeing.

Grading The Defense: Arizona Cardinals vs Minnesota Vikings

Andrew602 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:10:29 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

Arizona Cardinals "defensive end" Darnell Dockett has emerged as one of the best defensive lineman in the league and that didn't stop against the Vikings on Sunday.

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Facing an offense featuring Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian, and Visanthe Shiancoe is not easy task, but the Cardinals defense rose to the challenge and out played the Vikings offense Sunday night. The defensive line was stellar, limiting the best running back in the league and pressuring Brett Favre behind a very good offensive line. The secondary limited the Vikings quick receivers and intercepted two of Favre's passes. Let's take a look at each part of the defense.

Defensive line: The defensive line of the Arizona Cardinals was relentless on Sunday, often pressuring Brett Favre and forcing early throws. They added 3 sacks to their team total and Favre and offense was never in sync because of that. Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell continue to dominate at their respective positions and Dockett is not far from heading to another pro bowl. The best part of the game was the fact that the Cardinals front three were able to consistently pressure Favre and slow the run without having to bring added pressure from the linebackers. If the Cardinals can continue this success and mix up their defensive schemes, they'll be one of the toughest teams to beat come playoff time.

Linebackers: The Arizona Cardinals linebackers all played through injury yet you couldn't tell looking at their performance. A huge step forward for this unit was stopping Adrian Peterson, also known as "All Day". Peterson carried the ball 13 times and only recorded 19 rushing yards. One of his carries went for 11 yards which means Peterson had 12 carries that went for 8 yards(ouch!). The biggest surprise came from Karlos Dansby, who dropped into coverage as a safety several times throughout the game. One of those times payed off, as Dansby intercepted a desperation throw by Favre.

Defensive backs: The Cardinals secondary redeemed themselves after the 99 yard game winner in Tennessee. They blanketed some of the quickest receivers in the game and kept Favre from finding his favorite target Sidney Rice(7,72) as much as he would've liked. Perhaps the most improved aspect was their ability to stop a Vikings comeback. In the second half of the game, the Vikings were forced to abandon the run and pass the ball more. The Cardinals secondary didn't let up, stepping up on 3rd downs and also forcing two picks out of Brett. The secondary also beefed up on run support, often swarming the line of scrimmage after every hand off.

My defensive grade: A

Final Thoughts: The last touchdown of the game was more of a garbage time play, but either way, the Cardinals defense dominated Vikings in every which way. They were fearless against the run, and forced Brett Favre to make more mistakes then he had all year. What grade did you give the defense and why?

Poll

How would you grade the Cardinals defensive effort on Sunday?

Back Away From the Panic Button, Vikings Fans

Gonzo — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:21:03 -0000

See this? Way too early to think about pressing it. (Picture via Dr. Tedi Koehn)

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The 2008 Arizona Cardinals.

The 2007 New York Giants.

The 2006 Indianapolis Colts.

Those three teams have a couple of things in common. The first is that they all went to the Super Bowl. Two of those three teams, the Giants and Colts, won the Super Bowl in the years listed. But that's not the main thread that connects them. . .not for the purposes of this post, at least.

Each of those three teams went on to represent their conference in the biggest game of the year. . .and they each had a game late in the season where they got their butts collectively handed to them in a manner that made people wonder if they were legitimate contenders or not.

Remember Minnesota's trip to Arizona last season? Tarvaris Jackson threw four touchdown passes, Adrian Peterson ran wild, and the Vikings blasted the Cardinals to the tune of 35-14. . .and that wasn't even the worst loss the Cardinals suffered that month, as they went out the next week against the New England Patriots and got hammered by a score of 47-7. But, lo and behold, five weeks after the loss to the Patriots, there they were, representing the NFC in the Super Bowl, and were two minutes away from winning the whole ball of wax.

How about the 2007 Giants? Does the Vikings' trip to the Giants Stadium that year ring any bells for anybody? Going into the game without Adrian Peterson, the Vikings got a 60-yard Jackson to Sidney Rice touchdown on the second play from scrimmage, intercepted Eli Manning four times (returning three of them for touchdowns), and throttled the Giants 41-17. But the Giants just kept on going despite the blowout, and a couple months later they went to the Super Bowl and derailed what would have been the only 19-0 season in NFL history by knocking off the Patriots. The 2007 Vikings? 8-8, and watching the playoffs from home.

The 2006 Colts? In Week 14, they lined up against their division rivals from Jacksonville. . .and got thrashed in every conceivable way. The Colts gave up 375 rushing yards. . .yes, three hundred and seventy-five yards allowed on the ground. . .en route to a 44-17 pummeling by the Jaguars. And it's not as though the Colts were resting starters by that point or anything. . .Peyton Manning threw 50 passes (with no touchdowns), but the Colts allowed Maurice Jones-Drew to gash them for 166 yards and two scores, and Fred Taylor chipped in another 131 yards and a touchdown. Even something named Alvin Pearman tossed in 71 yards and a score. But, again, on the first Sunday in February, there was Manning and company holding the Lombardi Trophy aloft and telling everyone they were going to Disney World. The Jags finished 8-8 and missed the post-season.

Yes, the Vikings got handled by the Cardinals last night, and everyone saw it. The Cardinals are, in my opinion, the best team Minnesota has seen all season, and they played like it. Still, even with the loss to the Cardinals, the Vikings are 10-2 on the year. . .the only two teams that have better records are New Orleans and Indianapolis. That's pretty damn good. Their schedule the rest of the way isn't terribly menacing, and they still have a two-game advantage on everyone else in the NFC for the conference's other first-round bye for the post-season party. . .a party that they will, undoubtedly, be attending. I'll concede that we're not getting home field at this point, but a first-round bye would still be nice.

Even after last night, the Minnesota Vikings are one of the NFL's best teams. There are four regular season games and, hopefully, a first-round bye for the Vikings to solve this problem. Hopefully Antoine Winfield will be back soon. . .and if he's available if we see the Cardinals again, I think things might be a little different. . .and the Vikings can get back to what they do best, which is pound the opposition and win football games.

One loss, no matter how big or how seemingly one-sided, is reason for panic. Last night's thumping by the Cardinals is no exception to that rule. The bigger story is the loss of linebacker E.J. Henderson, and hopefully there will be some news on him later on today. As soon as we hear anything, we'll let everyone know.

The Vikings Red Zone Review, Sponsored by Comcast

Gonzo — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:34:56 -0000

More photos » by Jerry Holt - AP

11 days ago: Minnesota Vikings running back Chester Taylor (29) scores in the second quarter past Chicago Bears' Danieal Manning (38) during an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Star Tribune, Jerry Holt)

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Since we're going to be, as the kids say, waiting all day for Sunday night, let's kill some time by taking a final look back at the Vikings' complete and utter domination of the Chicago Bears by reviewing their performance in the Red Zone. And, as always, the Vikings Red Zone Review is brought to you by the good folks at Comcast. Comcast brings you the NFL Red Zone channel every week, and it's your way to keep in touch with all the biggest plays from every NFL game week in and week out. It's great for fantasy players, or for the late games when you're not sure which game you want to view while celebrating the Vikings' latest conquest. The Red Zone Channel is your season ticket for every single NFL game, and nobody brings it to you like the folks at Comcast.

What kind of performance did the Vikings put together in the red zone last weekend? Let's have a look and find out.

Vikings Red Zone trips - 6
Vikings Red Zone scores - 6 (4 TD, 2 FG)
Red Zone touchdown percentage - 66%

A pretty good performance for the Vikings in the red zone last week, but it still could have been better.

After an Adrian Peterson fumble halted a promising opening drive, the Bears and Vikings exchanged three and outs, and the Bears punted again, pinning the Vikings on their own 4-yard line. From there, the Vikings offense went to work. Brett Favre converted a big third down when he hit Sidney Rice for 14 yards on 3rd and 6. He continued to spread the ball around, hitting Chester Taylor twice for 27 yards out of the backfield. Peterson mixed in a 15-yard run and an 8-yard run, and Favre converted another big third down by hitting Bernard Berrian to take the Vikings down to the Chicago 6. After some questionable play calling, including Favre taking a 14-yard sack on first and goal from the 1 (following a Chicago PI penalty in the end zone), the first play of the second quarter saw Favre drill a bullet to the 2009 Offensive Rookie of the Year. . .that's Percy Harvin. . .and the Vikings went up 7-0. The Minnesota drive went 96 yards in 13 plays, and took 6:52 to complete.

After the Bears managed to luck their way into their one touchdown drive of the afternoon, the Vikings went to work again from their own 20. Harvin didn't get to return the kickoff because of a touchback, so the Vikings let him start the drive off with a 35-yard run to put the ball into Chicago territory. Favre then hit Berrian for 7, Rice for 11, and Harvin for 4 to move the ball to the Chicago 10. After a three-yard run by Peterson, Favre rolled to his right, dumped one off to Chester Taylor, and #29 did the rest as he dove into the end zone for another Minnesota touchdown. The extra point put the Vikings up 14-3. That Minnesota drive moved 80 yards in 8 plays, taking 4:06 off the clock.

The Bears fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which the Vikings turned into a 52-yard Ryan Longwell field goal. On the Bears next drive, Chicago's awesome, incredible superstar quarterback Jay Cutler threw a pass that got picked off by Cedric Griffin. The Vikings couldn't take advantage, and punted the ball back to Chicago. Cutler's second INT of the afternoon came on the subsequent drive, on a pass that was deflected by E.J. Henderson into the arms of Jared Allen. The Vikings started out at their own 30, and Favre immediately hit Visanthe Shiancoe for 21 yards to move the ball into Chicago territory. He then hit Berrian twice for 16 yards, and then lofted a beautiful pass to Rice, who got pushed out of bounds at the Chicago 2. After a touchdown pass from Favre to Shiancoe was nullified for Bryant McKinnie being downfield, Shank managed to get the touchdown anyway, as Favre found him on third and goal from the 6 for the score. The drive moved 70 yards in 7 plays, and only took 40 seconds to accomplish. It also put Minnesota ahead 24 to 7 as they went to the locker room.

After a Chicago field goal gave the Bears their final points of the afternoon, the Vikings took over at their own 33, as the Bears decided they were too scared to kick to Percy Harvin. Harvin again made them pay for it, catching passes of 12 and 22 yards from Favre to move the ball into Chicago territory. After a fumble by Peterson that was correctly challenged by Childress, Favre hit Shiancoe for 19 yards, and appeared to have another touchdown pass to Chester Taylor that was taken off the board by an unnecessary holding penalty downfield on Berrian. From there, the flags started to fly, and the referees desperately tried to level the playing field for the completely overmatched Bears. After all was said and done, the Vikings had to settle for a 37-yard Ryan Longwell field goal to make the score 27-7. The 12-play, 48-yard drive took 4:59 off of the clock.

Big third down conversions were the story of Minnesota's next drive, as Minnesota started from their own 27. You know it's going to be a productive drive when even Naufahu Tahi gets into the business of converting third downs, which he did with an 8-yard reception. On the next third down, Favre hit Bernard Berrian for 18 yards. Then, on another third down play, Favre found Percy Harvin for an outstanding 31-yard catch that put the rookie over the 100-yard mark for the first time in his young career. Unfortunately, the drive stalled when the Vikings reached the 2, and they had to settle for a 20-yard Longwell field goal. The drive needed to eat up the clock, and the drive did just that, as they took 7:36 to move the ball 71 yards in 13 plays. It also made the score 30 to 7 in favor of the Vikings.

Favre only completed one pass on his final drive of the afternoon, hitting Berrian again for eight yards. The rest of the drive was the Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor show, as the best 1-2 running back tandem in the NFL combined for 35 yards on 6 carries on the drive. A big pass interference penalty aided the Vikings as well, giving them 25 yards and putting the ball deep into Chicago territory. Harvin even mixed another carry in for 10 yards, and that one put the Vikings inside the Chicago red zone again. To cap off what had been a fairly tough afternoon, Peterson walked in from five yards out for a touchdown. Chris Kluwe, unfortunately, bobbled the hold on the extra point, so the final margin of victory for Minnesota ended up being 36-10. The final Viking drive went 68 yards in 8 plays, taking another 5:09 off of the clock.

So, to update our tally, for the season the Vikings' offense has entered the opposing red zone on 43 occasions. They've come away with 23 touchdowns (53.5%), 14 Ryan Longwell field goals (32.5%), and have only come away scoreless six times (14%). The Bears only entered the red zone once. . .and they were lucky to have that many. . .and managed one field goal. So, the Vikings have allowed their opponents to enter the red zone 24 times this season, allowing them to score 10 touchdowns (41.7%), as well as eight field goals (33.3%). On six occasions (25%), Minnesota's opponents have left the red zone empty-handed.

Here's hoping that the Vikings can improve on all of those figures during Sunday night's clash with the Arizona Cardinals.

Time for the Road to the NFC Championship to Take a Detour

ericj69 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:58:09 -0000

After Sunday night's game, they'll need to stick these outside of University of Phoenix Stadium if people are looking for the road to the Super Bowl.

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The Arizona Cardinals, defending NFC Champions, are well on their way to winning their second consecutive NFC West title this year.

If you would have read me that sentence two years ago, I would have told you to send me the link to the rest of the article from The Onion, since it was obviously a joke. (If you had read me that sentence in 2001, I would have just assumed you knew nothing about the NFL since Arizona was obviously in the NFC East. You hypothetical dumbass from the past.)

But it's true. Arizona somehow made the Super Bowl last year. The same team that Tarvaris Jackson torched for an easy Minnesota 35-14 win in Arizona last year. And even after Vince Young gave Matt Leinart an acid flashback of the 2006 Rose Bowl last week, the Cardinals are still perched atop their division by two games. (Note: I totally didn't mean to make the lame "Cardinals/perched" pun there, but I'm not surprised that I accidentally did.) Technically, the road to the NFC Championship still runs through Glendale, AZ.

But only until Sunday night, if everything goes well for the Vikes. A win for the Purple means the road to Super Bowl XLIV takes a detour away from Arizona.

If the Vikings prevail in the desert, they'll guarantee that Arizona would get the third seed in the NFC at the very best, assuring the Cardinals will have to go on the road to make it back to the Super Bowl. (Yes, I realize they won a road game to get there last year, but they still won the NFC Championship at home. Just stay with my flimsy detour theme here. I posted a picture of a sign and everything.)

But just like creating real detours, we shouldn't expect this one to go smoothly. Yes, Favre is exponentially better than T-Jax. However, we're not the only team that has a Social Security-eligible quarterback that's still playing well. I know Kurt Warner missed last week's game, but I'd be surprised if he didn't play based on what I've heard this week. We have a strong core of receivers in El Sid, Percy, B-Twice, and Shank. But Larry Fitzgerald is still the best receiver in the game (you can mention Andre Johnson here, but he's tied with Fitz at the very best). Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston are nothing to sneeze at either. If ever there was a game for Antoine Winfield to make his glorious return to the field, it's this one.

And would you look at this--the Cardinals even brought a little bit of a running game this year. They even average more than 2.3 yards a carry! Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower aren't greatest backfield committee ever (that's Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen, of course) but they've added a dimension to Arizona that wasn't really there last year.

Most of us know that stopping the Cards' offense will be tough. But what about the D? From what I've seen of Arizona and learned from the guys over at Revenge Of The Birds, they're better than the numbers show. They're 24th in total yards, but still in the top half of the league in points allowed and tied for fourth in sacks. Defensive lineman Darnell Dockett could give our line some trouble. Karlos Dansby leads the team in tackles and will be a tough test for our running game. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is not only annoying to type out, he's also annoying to play against. If Favre can't duplicate his zero-interception November, DRC is always a threat to take picks back to the house. I'd still take Minnesota's defense over Arizona's any day, but it doesn't mean we'll be able to duplicate the easy day in the desert we had last year.

While it would be nice to take another step towards Dome-field advantage, it would also be good to get another victory against a winning team. The only issue the critics have taken with Minnesota this year is "who have they played?" To be honest, the critics have a point. As Bill Simmons said today in his article:

Combined record of the nine teams they've defeated this season: 39-71. Let's give them 2009 Winston Wolf Memorial "Don't Start Sucking Each Other's Popsicles Yet" status.

A win on the road over the 7-4 Cards would give us a little more credibility heading towards the playoffs.

Unfortunately, the detour from Arizona might go south to New Orleans even if Minnesota is victorious on Sunday. I'm sure most of you saw the Saints absolutely disassemble the Patriots on Monday night. The Saints offense is formidable to say the least, but that's not what worries me most about N'awlins. That Superdome crowd was absolutely BONKERS the entire game. Could you imagine them in an NFC Championship Game with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance on the line? My ear drums are throbbing just thinking about it. Let's hope the Saints drop a couple games down the stretch so we can show them how loud the Metrodome can get in late January. But first thing's first--let's start the construction for the detour on Sunday!

Prediction: Vikings 31, Cardinals 24

The rest of my Week 13 NFL picks (home team in CAPS):

COLTS over Titans: These teams are six games apart in the standings, yet they may be the best two teams in the AFC right now. The Titans make an intriguing upset pick here--until you realize it's still Vince Young vs. Peyton Manning. Young is a winner, but he still throws like Uncle Rico.

Texans over JAGUARS: Would you ever pick either of these teams to win a game if your life depended on it? This game could a blowout either way and I can honestly say I wouldn't be surprised. Let's just move on before I change this pick like I already have six times.

Broncos over CHIEFS: The Chiefs as a team are as broken as Tiger Woods' Escalade. But don't tell that to Jamaal Charles, your 2009 Late-Season Fantasy Pickup From A Terrible Team MVP!

STEELERS over Raiders: The Steelers are on a three-game losing streak. If you had to pick an NFL team to play at home to break a three-game losing streak, wouldn't just about everyone pick the Raiders? I sure would.

Saints over REDSKINS: Yeah, that whole "Detour to Minnesota" theme of my column isn't going to get any help from Washington this week.

BENGALS over Lions: My Eliminator pick of the week--still alive at 12-0! If the Bengals lose two games in the easiest stretch of scheduling ever (Oakland-Cleveland-Detroit), they should be relegated to the UFL.

BEARS over Rams: Two weeks ago, the Seahawks came to the Dome and got pounded. They got to play the Rams the following week. Last week, the Bears came to the Dome and got embarrassed. They get to play the Rams this week. Call it the "NFL Scheduling Mercy Rule".

PANTHERS over Buccaneers: Jake Delhomme is out this week. Does that help or hurt Carolina's chances? Really, I'm serious. I've never even heard of Matt Moore until this week, but I can't imagine he'd be any worse.

Eagles over FALCONS: No Matty Ice for Atlanta this week. Which means they'll have to switch to McNabbelob Golden Light.

Chargers over BROWNS: I literally ran out of jokes to make about the Browns. So instead, I'll treat you to the best NFL theme song ever:

As a bonus, I'll also treat you to the Charger cheerleaders:

There--I bet you've forgotten all about those rotten Browns by now!

GIANTS over Cowboys: It's December. You know what that means Cowboy fans! Time for some melting down!

49ers over SEAHAWKS: Meh. I just need Vernon Davis and Frank Gore to have big weeks for me to clinch the regular season title in one of my fantasy leagues. So I'm picking San Fran.

Patriots over DOLPHINS: The Patriots don't lose two games in a row. I think it's a league rule or something.

Ravens over PACKERS: I have a bunch of Packer fan friends that are heading to Lambeau for this game. Please oh please, Baltimore, ruin their day for me!

Last week: 11-5

Season so far: 123-54 (including getting Thursday's game wrong)

The Vikings Red Zone Review, Sponsored by Comcast

Gonzo — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:01:21 -0000

by Carlos Gonzalez - AP

18 days ago: Minnesota Vikings receiver Sidney Rice (18) fends of Seattle Seahawks Marcus Trufant to score on a 34-yard touchdown catch and run in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Star Tribune,Carlos Gonzalez)

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Once again, it's time to take a final look back at the Vikings' most recent conquest by reviewing their Red Zone performance. And, as always, the Vikings Red Zone Review is sponsored by the good folks at Comcast, who bring you the NFL Red Zone channel every Sunday afternoon. Whether you're killing time waiting for the Vikings to play a late afternoon game (like we will be this weekend) or unwinding after celebrating another Vikings' victory, the Red Zone Channel can take you around the league for all the best action around the National Football League. It's great for tracking your favorite fantasy players, too. For the best way to see all the action around the NFL every Sunday, there's nothing that beats the NFL Red Zone Channel.

So, how did the Vikings do in the Red Zone against the Seahawks? Well. . .you could say they did alright.

Vikings Red Zone trips - 3
Vikings Red Zone scores - 3 (3 TD)
Red Zone touchdown percentage - 100%

After a. . .yawn. . .terribly exciting first quarter that concluded with no scoring, the Vikings jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the second on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre to Percy Harvin. The Vikings finally made a visit to the red zone midway through the second quarter. Starting from their own 30, the Vikings put together a drive largely aided by Seattle penalties. The scoring drive was 70 yards, and 35 of it came courtesy of two personal foul penalties and a defensive offsides call. The second personal foul, a tripping penalty on Seattle safety Deon Grant after a 24-yard reception by Sidney Rice, set the Vikings up with first and goal at the Seattle 8-yard line. After one of Favre's three incompletions on the day, he found Visanthe Shiancoe, who had lined up wide left, on a slant into the end zone to put the Vikings up by two touchdowns. That Viking drive moved 70 yards in six plays, taking 2:32 in order to complete.

Minnesota found themselves back in the red zone again almost immediately, as Seattle return man Ben Obomanu fumbled the return on the ensuing kickoff, and after an 11-yard pass to Harvin on third and two, the Vikings were at the Seahawks 15-yard line. Adrian Peterson moved the Vikings down to the 5, and two plays later, Favre found Bernard Berrian for a three yard score, his third different touchdown pass of the day to his third different receiver. It put the Vikings up 21-0 and they were cruising. The drive moved 34 yards in six plays, and took 3:34 off of the clock.

After the teams came out of the locker room at halftime, the Vikings and Seahawks exchanged punts. With the Vikings starting out at their own 11-yard line, the Vikings made their way downfield. Everyone got involved in the act, as Favre found Harvin for a 25-yard strike on 3rd and 9, and that was immediately followed up by a 13-yard sprint to midfield by Adrian Peterson. A mix of the best running back in the NFL and a couple of short passes kept the drive moving, and Favre hit Shiancoe for a 13-yard reception to move the ball into the red zone again. Another pass to Shiancoe moved the ball down to the 7, and from there, Favre avoided the Seattle rush, scrambled to his right, and lofted one high for Sidney Rice, who outjumped all the Seahawk defensive backs and came down with Favre's fourth TD pass of the day, a 7-yarder to make the score 28-0. #4 was nearly perfect on the drive, completing 6-of-7 passes for 67 yards and the scoring pass to Rice. Overall, the drive covered 89 yards in 12 plays, taking 6:37 to accomplish.

That was the last Red Zone trip for the Vikings on the day, as their final touchdown came on a 34-yard pass from Tarvaris Jackson to Sidney Rice.

With their perfect Red Zone performance against the Seahawks, the Vikings have made an even 40 trips into the Red Zone this year. On 22 of those 40 trips, they've come away with touchdowns, a 55% pace. They still have 12 Ryan Longwell field goals (30%), and on six trips they've come away with no points (15%). Defensively, the Seahawks managed to reach the Red Zone twice, and came away with one touchdown and one field goal. That means the Vikings have allowed opposing teams into the Red Zone 25 times, and have allowed 11 touchdowns (44%), surrendered eight field goals (32%), and held their opponents scoreless six times (24%).

Here's hoping that the Red Zone success can continue this next week against the Chicago Bears.

Week 12 Preview: Bears (4-6) at Vikings (9-1)

SackMan — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:57:24 -0000

More photos » by Andy King - AP

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The Bears will display their pitifulness on national TV once again, when they visit the Vikings Sunday afternoon at 4:15pm ET on FOX. Over the course of the remainder of the season, the Bears figure to win one game that they're not supposed to win. However, I highly doubt it's this one.

Week 12 Recap

The Vikings: Brett Favre and the purple machine kept rolling last week, when they humiliated the the Seahawks in the Metrodome 35-9. Favre set another personal mark with a career high 88% completion ratio on a 22-25 afternoon.

The Bears: Jay Cutler and company shot themselves in the foot again... letting a winnable game vs the Eagles get away. Only this time, Cutler waited until the final possession in the 4th quarter, with the game on the line, to throw his first INT of the game. Kudos Jay... way to keep us in suspense.

Quick Numbers:

112.1: Brett Favre's QB rating on the year.
875: Receiving yards for Sidney Rice... 4th in the NFL.
3.3: Matt Forte's YPC on the season.
18: Interceptions for Jay Cutler... at least he's leading the NFL in one category.

When the Vikings have the ball.
I'm going to be real brief with this one. They're 9-1... they have the best RB in the league, a HOF QB, and plenty of weapons. We know who they are... there's nothing they don't do well. Let's move on.

The key match-up for the Vikings: G Steve Hutchinson vs the Bears LBs
Hutch is one of the best run blocking guards in the NFL... and he gets to the second level and clears the way for Purple Jesus. Bears LBs have to find a way to shed his block and make a tackle to keep this game from getting out of hand.

The X factor on offense for the Vikings: WR Percy Harvin
The rookie is a playmaker. Period. He's comparable to Devin Hester, except he's way more in tune with his role on offense.

When the Bears have the ball.
This offense seemingly gets worse every week, as nobody has played with any consistency the entire year, except for perhaps Frank Omiyale... who has consistently sucked and found his way to the bench. Let's see if Ron Turner finally figures something out, and gets Jay Cutler moving out of the pocket with regularity, where he can minimize the weakness of the O-line, and force defenders to commit in coverage.

The key match-up for the Bears: LT Orlando Pace vs DE Jared Allen
The Vikings D leads the NFL in sacks, and Allen's a beast... enough said.

The X Factor on offense for the Bears: WR Devin Hester
Hester has put together a personal highlight reel vs the Vikings over his career... so, maybe he'll add on to it this Sunday.

Side notes from the NFC North:

Vikings: They're leading the division at 9-1, and licking their chops to kick our butt.

Lions: Matthew Stafford is proving to one tough SOB, and has the makings of a leader. This division is going to boast a nice group of QBs.

Packers: Speaking of tough SOBs, Aaron Rodgers takes a lickin, and keeps on tickin. He's now been sacked 44 times, but it hasn't stopped him from being one of the league's best.

The Case for Brett Favre as 2009 NFL MVP

Gonzo — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:10:33 -0000

by Jerry Holt - AP

Will this man be tipping his hat to the folks that vote for the MVP award after this season is over? (AP Photo/Star Tribune,Jerry Holt)

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Yes, I know that we've only played ten games this season, and I know that this might come off as being a bit premature. And I know that this is going to be met with cries of my bias towards players on my favorite team and all that other fun stuff.

But if the 2009 NFL season were to end today, I find it hard to believe that anybody but Brett Favre would be named the NFL's Most Valuable Player. (I'll take "Things that I never thought would cross my keyboard" for $400, Alex.) After all the drama, the hand-wringing and the whole "will he or won't he" saga that played out over the weeks leading up to the season, it's possible that Favre is having the best season of his career in a season where he reached 40 years of age.

Thus far, all discussions of the MVP award have focused on three main names. . .Favre, Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. Yes, Brees and Manning have been having great seasons thus far, obviously, and as of now both of their teams are still undefeated in 2009. But look at the numbers. There's no way that you can definitively say that either of those guys has been better than #4 through the first ten games of the year.

	ATT	COMP	PCT	YDS	TD	INT	QBR	Sacks	Fumbles (Lost)
Drew Brees	320	218	68.1	2,746	22	9	105.8	13	8 (4)
Brett Favre	310	216	69.7	2,482	21	3	112.1	21	1 (1)
Peyton Manning	388	271	69.8	3,171	21	9	102.7	8	2 (0)

Despite the slow start that Favre got off to, he has significantly picked up his game as the season has progressed. He has as many touchdown passes as Manning in 78 fewer attempts, and only one less than Brees in ten fewer attempts. His interception percentage thus far (less than 1%) is significantly better than that of Brees (2.8%) or Manning (2.3%). In addition, Favre has played ten games this season, and has played turnover-free ball in seven of those ten contests. Conversely, Brees has turned the ball over at least once in seven of the ten games New Orleans has played so far, as has Manning for Indianapolis. Obviously, since their teams are undefeated, they were able to overcome those turnovers and lead their teams to victory, but Favre's turnover total has been absolutely ridiculous thus far.

Even in the three years he was named NFL Most Valuable Player, Favre threw 13, 13, and 16 interceptions. This year, he's on pace to throw. . .five. The record for the fewest interceptions thrown by a QB that started all 16 games in a season is four by Steve DeBerg of the 1990 Kansas City Chiefs. I'm not sure if Favre can maintain the level he's currently at. . .after all, it could easily be argued that two of his three interceptions thus far came on passes that should have been caught (by Bernard Berrian against the 49ers and by Chester Taylor against Pittsburgh). . .but it's something to keep an eye on the rest of the way.

"But Favre has Adrian Peterson," the naysayers will tell you. My response to that objection is simply "so what?" Six other teams had the chance to draft Adrian Peterson. . .it's not Minnesota's fault that they figured out that, sometimes, the obvious decision really IS the best one. Besides, judging by the way teams have been defending the Vikings thus far in 2009, it appears as though they're still under the impression that the Vikings are starting Gus Frerotte at quarterback. Despite the fact that Favre has been tearing apart defenses this year, Viking opponents have still insisted on stacking the line of scrimmage instead of devoting men to coverage, because they're scared to death of the best running back in the NFL (as well they should be). The difference is that this year, Favre is taking advantage of those coverages and finding open targets all over the field. After the first eleven weeks of the season, the Vikings are the only team in the NFL with six different players with more than 25 receptions. . .Sidney Rice (50), Percy Harvin (36), Visanthe Shiancoe (33), Bernard Berrian (32), Chester Taylor (27), and Peterson (25).

(By the way, off the subject of Favre. . .how great is it that Peterson is averaging 100 yards rushing and more than one TD per game, and everyone seems to be asking "What's wrong with Peterson?" The kid has set the bar so high, it's damn near ridiculous.)

"Oh, but Favre has been so lucky this year," the naysayers will tell you. Sure, the pass to Greg Lewis against the Niners was something that Favre pulled completely out of his posterior, we know that. The only problem with this argument is that, over the course of a season, lots of teams get lucky along the way. . .look no further to a little more than a week ago, when Manning's Colts were the beneficiaries of one of the dumbest coaching decisions I've ever seen. That dumb decision gave them a chance to win. Back in Week 7, the Saints found themselves trailing the Dolphins by 21 points down in Miami. But Brees rallied his team in the second half and, even though his stats that game were pretty bad (three interceptions and a lost fumble), he led a bunch of scoring drives and led his team to victory. Heck, you could make the case that the Vikings' lone loss this year came as the result of bad luck (garbage tripping penalty on Jeff Dugan, screen pass bouncing off of Taylor's hands, and so forth).

Winning a championship in the NFL is like winning a big poker tournament. . .as anyone that's ever won a big poker tournament will tell you, you don't win without coming back from the dead a few times. The Vikings have done that this season, sure, but so have the Saints and the Colts, and they did it on the strength of the guys behind center.

"But Favre has all that talent around him," the naysayers will tell you. Seriously, are you going to tell me that the Saints and/or Colts are that devoid of talent compared to Minnesota? Of course not, because such an assertion would be ridiculous. Yes, the Vikings are a highly talented team, but this brings me to one of the things that Brees, Manning, and Favre all have in common. . .they make the people around them better. Before this year, nobody outside of Viking fans and South Carolina alumni knew who Sidney Rice was. Now, under Brett Favre, he's a household name. And remember all the junk about Percy Harvin when the Vikings drafted him, about how his hands weren't that great and that he couldn't run routes? Yeah. . .don't hear a whole lot of that any more, do you? Brees has played portions of his time in New Orleans without Marques Colston, without Reggie Bush, without Deuce McAlister, and with a spate of other injuries. For crying out loud, Manning is putting together the season he's currently having with two of his main targets being a couple of guys named Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon. Did YOU know who either of those guys were six or eight weeks ago? I won't lie to you. . .I didn't.

There are quarterbacks that elevate the game of those around them, and those that need to have their game elevated BY those around them. Favre, Brees, and Manning are examples of the former. . .we'll see a shining example of the latter when we the Vikings host the Bears on Sunday afternoon.

Obviously, Brees, Manning, and Favre are all having outstanding seasons this year. They quarterback three of the top teams in the league, and are all definitely going to be factors in the post-season. While the numbers are the same, there's one thing that, in my opinion, separates Favre from the other two quarterbacks in this debate.

Manning and Brees were supposed to be this good. Favre, on the other hand, was supposed to be done for. After all, even the most twitterpated of Favre lovers couldn't possibly have imagined him putting together a season like this, especially after missing all of camp and all the other things that the media massively overhyped going into the season. The reports of a "schism" in the locker room because of the Favre signing turned out to be a bunch of garbage, as #4 has been roundly embraced by his teammates and, by and large, by the Minnesota community. Sure, most people thought he was an improvement over Tarvaris Jackson. . .and I say that as a guy that still thinks Jackson has a future in this league. . .but there was nobody out there that could have predicted the heights that he could potentially take the Vikings to on the NFL stage.

Again, there are still six games left to be played in the 2009 NFL regular season, and this talk might be premature. But if you weigh everything and look at the league MVP race, I honestly thing Brett Favre is in line to win an unprecedented fourth trophy. Whether it's because of overall performance or the impact that they've had on their team, Favre is the MVP in either sense.

Whether you agree or disagree, it's certainly something that makes for a good debate at this point.

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:00:20 -0000

Happy Tuesday, friends. It's a short week, with another game on Thursday night, so there's no time to mope or feel sorry for ourselves. In their scheduling wisdom, the NFL took away our right to do so - and I, for one, am glad. The Giants can be beaten, with sound play, but we'll get to that eventually. For now we'll put this week to bed and move on quickly. Ready.... BEGIN!!!!

1. I am approaching one full year as a staff contributor to MHR, having joined at the beginning of December 2008. It's been quite an interesting year, and my relationship to the team has kind of changed in an unexpected way during that time.

I first discovered MHR in April 2008, right before the draft. It, and SBNation, have come a long way since then, but the basics were the same; MHR is a respectful, knowledgeable community which discussed all things about their team. I was inspired to join such a community, and I started posting some FanPosts (which were still called Diaries only a year and a half ago).

Unlike a lot of staff members, I wasn't asked to fill a specific role, so I had to figure out what mine would be. I had always done some around the league stuff, but I wanted to find a delivery formula that would work well on a Broncos site. I debuted ST&NO on January 12, 2009, with the following opening:

As we enter the re-loading season, I felt like I needed to establish a fun new recurring feature. HT has MHR University, and Broncobear has the always excellent Tales from the Sunny Side. Styg is heading up some great draft coverage, which has a fun name, which you'll be hearing about very soon. Nick has some statistical analysis pieces which will be coming, and Zappa will continue to be Zappa, intermittently unleashing jolts of Broncos fan brilliance. And the Guru, when we form like Voltron, the Guru is the head.

So where does that leave me? Well, I was thinking a couple days ago, as I listened to Enter The Wu-Tang and shoveled a foot of snow, that two things I can consistently provide are shallow thoughts, and nearsighted observations. Since this is a Broncos blog, I'll focus on our team, but I'll also include some league-wide thoughts, for keeping-up-with- the-Jones purposes. Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations. What else could be needed on top of that? Maybe just some more cowbell.... Did anybody bring a cowbell?

Well, ST&NO has grown, and I have too. As I was sitting on my couch Sunday, watching the debacle against the Chargers, I realized that I wasn't yelling and cursing as much as normal. I didn't get that excited, and I have to say, upon some reflection, that I have been less excitable about the Broncos this season than ever. For the first 6 games, I had a hard time finding new ways to express my pleasure with the situation, and for the last 4, I have had trouble doing the opposite thing.

All I can figure is that my role in writing for this site has subtly and gradually forced me to become more of an objective analyst, and less of a passionate fan. I think the change largely has to do with my relationship with and attitude toward reporters.

I like to beat up on NFL reporters, because I think that most of them only have a surface-level knowledge of what is going on in a football game. The Broncos have a couple of good reporters, in Lindsay Jones and Jeff Legwold, and I never take any shots at them. I actually have tended toward staying away from taking deserved shots at the Denver-area Woody Paige bloviator class, because I don't want to spend the site's goodwill with the Denver media; it's John's to spend, not mine, after all. (Woody going after Kyle at BroncoTalk made me briefly lift my moratorium in the comments section of Horse Tracks the other day.)

Here's a summary of my general attitude toward football reporting. I think there is relatively little value in the reporting of news, at the national level. When Lindsay Jones reports on what happened at the facility every day, there is value in that. When Chris Mortensen hears 10 minutes before Jay Glazer that Chris Simms will start, who cares? Everybody was going to find out soon enough anyway, so what's the difference who had it first?

The real value, to me, is in the analysis, which is why I devote my time and effort to being a good analyst. While I am not a journalist, I do admire the journalistic principle of objectivity, and I think that in reconciling my criticism of national NFL reporters with my long-held policy of non-hypocrisy, I have become more objective. If I am going to beat them up for not knowing the technical aspects of the game as well as me, I can't be less objective than them. Something like that.

I remember last spring sitting in a bar with some co-workers for a happy hour, and seeing Woody's face come on Around The Horn. I told this girl I work with, Trudy, that I competed with him in the marketplace of ideas, and that I kicked his butt, on the merits. Well, I really don't think of Woody as my competition anymore, for a lot of obvious reasons. (Like, for example, he can't compete with me.) Due to the established nature of my content, I feel like I am competing with national guys, like Peter King and Gregg Easterbrook, even if this platform is Broncos-specific.

So, the point of this is that I was struggling with what to say in a general way about Sunday's game, when I don't have the deep feelings that most of you do, and that I would have had a year ago. I feel like I imagine Tom Jackson to feel; I'm very disappointed at the result for my affiliated team, but at the end of the day, I have the rest of the football landscape to worry about, too, and I have to get on with the business of being an objective analyst. I am still coming to grips with this change, and I am not really sure what the ancillary implications are for me. This may be one of these existential crises like we're seeing with Team Edward or Team Jacob. (I have a lot of 20-something women among my Facebook friends, so, trust me, I know.) See here for a funny breakdown of that Twilight sitch-ee-ation.

(Big up my man Justin Dazet for finding that. Justin writes a blog that gets into gaming and other stuff, and a San Diego area column on Geek Culture. Check him out if you're into that sort of thing.)

Momentarily, I will get back to the business of breaking down the game details, like I always do, but I thought I should at least explain why there was no impassioned, emotional screed today about the Broncos.

2. Information From My Eyes - Chargers at Broncos

a. First things first. I am going to tell you why Kyle Orton didn't start the game. He couldn't take snaps from under center and drop back effectively. It's that simple. The injury that he has prevented it. If you can only play in the shotgun, your running game is severely limited, from the perspective of the direction you can run. Josh McDaniels said this without really getting detailed, but this is what he meant.

Orton took a few snaps under center, but he really labored with his footwork, and it hindered the timing of the running game, and the Broncos could only really run to the A and B gaps. When the QB is playing slow, it makes the whole offense play slow, unfortunately.

b. The Broncos came out running the ball like they meant business. They could do that with Chris Simms under center, but Simms obviously never held his end of the bargain as a passer. When Orton came into the game, it wasn't conducive to running the ball, and neither was Orton's ability to retreat from center.

c. Knowshon Moreno scored a Touchdown, and ~~Ron~~ Nuclear Winter's crew blew the call. When I saw who the referee was, right after kickoff, I tweeted;

I am sure Moreno's play was a TD by virtue of relative positioning. To wit, Russ Hochstein's knee was across the goal line, and if his knee caused the fumble, which it clearly did, then the ball had to be across the goal line. That play was an absolute killer, because with a TD at the end of the half, the Broncos are right back in the game at 13-7. The energy of the game had momentarily shifted to the Broncos, and just like that, it was gone.

d. I was very disappointed with the defensive scheme, as I have been the last several weeks. The Broncos have really changed from an aggressive defense to one which is reading and reacting, and I don't like it at all. In the game at San Diego, the Broncos had great success pressuring the A gaps, and I saw very little effort to do that Sunday. They also got Elvis Dumervil in favorable matchups against the terrible Jeromey Clary, and again, there was none of that. Clary was even injured, and they didn't seem like they wanted to go after him. The Broncos need to get back to what made them tough on defense.

e. A little noticed good thing about Sunday was kickoff and punt coverage. The Broncos never let Darren Sproles hurt them in the return game, and both Josh Barrett and David Bruton made outstanding plays in downfield coverage.

f. The Chargers defensive backs got away with playing through the bodies of Denver receivers several times. The Broncos were a lot sloppier than San Diego, but not to the point where the penalty disparity should have been as wide as it was. It seems to me that teams which have "physical" labels like San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore get away with mugging a lot of WRs, and not just with crappy officiating crews like Nuclear Winter. It's like how you might call a foul playing an indoor basketball game at the Y, but you wouldn't call the same thing playing streetball.

g. Speaking of penalties, I want to know what the unsportsmanlike conduct was against Marcus Thomas and Ronald Fields on those two kicking plays. It seemed to me that they just hit the long snapper, though it was hard to tell from the TV angles on the recorded Short Cut. Those seemed like Nuclear Winter ticky-tack calls.

h. Andre' Goodman had a hard time dealing with the size of Malcolm Floyd on Sunday. Chris Chambers has done very well in Kansas City, but Floyd is a much tougher matchup for a guy like Goodman.

i. I put a great deal of the Broncos' recent offensive struggles on the absence of Ryan Harris. They haven't been able to protect nearly as well as they did in the first six games. That's not exactly meant to be an indictment of Tyler Polumbus, who is fine as a backup OT and special teams player. It's just recognizing the fact that Harris is one of the best RTs in the game. The timing of the offensive struggles aren't coincidental. It looks like Harris is still hurt, but let's hope he can play on the other side of the Giants game.

j. Again, the gap discipline took a vacation in the second half of the football game. Peter King thinks the defense of the first six games was a mirage, which is dramatically oversimplifying the case. They have still been quick and active for big stretches during the losing streak. It's just been less common to see them sustain it for 60 minutes lately. D.J. Williams (again) and Andra Davis both had pretty bad days in the gap discipline department.

k. I was fine with the onsides kick call, even if it didn't work. It was a good situation for it, because the Broncos were going to lose anyway without a big play.

3. Information From My Eyes - Other Games

a. Again, Thursday seems like it was a long time ago. I was very impressed with the play of Ricky Williams in the absence of Ronnie Brown. I haven't liked the play of Williams so much, maybe ever. The Dolphins didn't do much of their Wild Cute Marine Mammal stuff, but they ran very well from traditional formations, against a Carolina defense which is usually stout against the run. The direct snap stuff is good because of Brown, who has a rare instinctiveness for the options it provides. The Dolphins were smart to go back to the handoff game with Williams.

b. I still don't like Chad Henne's tattoo, but he had a very steady game. He's improving as a player every week, and I give the Dolphins a lot of credit for taking it slow with him, and developing him in an intelligent way. Tony Sparano doesn't receive a lot of acclaim, but I have been very impressed with the coaching job his staff has done for two years now.

c. The Dolphins have started ST&NO Favorite Sean Smith at RCB all season, and are now starting Vontae Davis at LCB. They have done a great job, and they really more than held their own against Muhsin Muhammad and Steve Smith last Thursday. Both guys are very talented, but again, it's a testament to the coaching they are getting from Todd Bowles, the Dolphins Assistant Head Coach and Secondary coach. I fully expect Bowles to get a head coaching job this offseason, even though nobody in the reporter-o-sphere is talking about him.

d. I criticized Joey Porter's play last week, but the benching seems to have motivated him. He was dominant, with two sacks and two other tackles for losses. It helped that Jordan Gross was hurt, but Porter looked much better than I have seen him this season, regardless of the matchup.

e. I watched a great deal of the Green Bay-San Francisco game, and I came away thinking that Aaron Rodgers has it better than Alex Smith from a protection standpoint, which isn't saying much at all, obviously. San Francisco has a pretty good LT in Joe Staley, but he's been hurt for a few weeks now. Smith couldn't do anything at all for most of the game Sunday, because he was getting hit the second he got to the top of his drops.

In the second half, with the score getting lopsided, the Niners smartened up and just put Smith in the shotgun, where he is most comfortable. He responded with 3 TD passes and made the game look like it was closer than it was. I continue to think that Smith is more than good enough to win with, if he gets protection. When you evaluate what he does in a vacuum, he's doing the right things way more often than not.

f. I have heard a lot of criticism of Aaron Rodgers lately, but he continues to look like a top-notch passer to me. He is gaining 8.2 yards per pass attempt, with 19 TDs and 5 INTs this season. He has also run for more yards than any QB in the NFL, and 3 TDs. I also tend to think you have to evaluate Rodgers in a vacuum, and other than holding the ball a little too long sometimes, he doesn't do much wrong. The last couple weeks, he's been getting the ball out quicker, too.

g. The loss of Al Harris is really going to hurt the Packers badly. It severely limits their ability to use Charles Woodson in the wide variety of roles that they liked to use him in. Woodson has often covered TEs and is a great blitzer. He's played as well as any defensive player in the NFL this season, and now the Packers may need to use him more on the outside.

I actually think the loss of Aaron Kampman is pretty negligible for them, despite his big name. He hasn't adjusted well to playing OLB, and his tallness has hurt him. By coming from a standup position, Kampman hasn't gotten the leverage he used to play with. He needs to move on to a 4-3 team where he can play on the strongside again. He's about the best in the NFL at that, after Mario Williams.

h. I can't believe the Jaguars are 6-4, but they are. When they win, they have been getting good play from David Garrard and Mike Sims-Walker, which they did on Sunday against Buffalo. Garrard is an interesting guy, because he seems young, but he isn't. He's actually 31, and he's probably reached the prime of his career. He's good enough to take a team to the playoffs, obviously, but do you build around him? I kind of feel the same way about Garrard as I did about Jake Plummer at the end of 2005, though I think Garrard is a little better player than Plummer was.

i. A guy who has been an outstanding player for a few years, without getting any credit, is Kyle Williams for the Bills. He was dominant on Sunday. Williams is kind of a short, stout DT, who does a great job getting penetration from a 3-technique position. He's never been a big sack guy, but his ability to shoot gaps has disrupted a lot of running games.

j. It's funny how many ST&NO favorites become really good players in the NFL. Percy Harvin hasn't gotten a lot of credit, because the media is busy loving on Brett Favre, but he's become a good NFL receiver quickly. A lot of Mel Kiper's said Harvin didn't run a lot of routes at Florida, but he was always open when he did. It was clear to me that he'd be able to separate with quickness as he learned NFL technique. His technique is improving quickly, and he's a handful. Along with Sidney Rice and Bernard Berrian, he's part of a really dangerous receiving corps. I can't think of a lot of groups I'd take over them, actually.

k. Joseph Addai has never been a favorite of mine, but he's playing better than ever lately. I still think that Donald Brown is going to be the better player, but Addai seems to have found some confidence and toughness that I never perceived in him.

l. The AFC has had a lot of outstanding safety play this season, but if I had to pick two starters for the Pro Bowl, they'd be Melvin Bullitt and Bernard Pollard. Bullitt got some notice for stopping the 4th and 2 last week, but he has been terrific in replacing Bob Sanders. Tampa 2-teams need a quick safety who can get from a cover-2 shell to the box very quickly, and Bullitt has done it as well as Sanders ever did.

Pollard was cut by Kansas City, and I just didn't get it. Maybe Scott Pioli was paying him back for last season's hit on Tom Brady? Pollard has been spectacular at times for the Texans, and has really been the star on the back end that they've never had. (No, Dunta Robinson is not a star; he's only paid like one.)

Brian Dawkins, Ed Reed, Jairus Byrd, Antoine Bethea, Kerry Rhodes, Brandon Meriweather, and Reggie Nelson would be battling it out for the last Pro Bowl spot, but I am sure about the top 2, as of today.

m. Laurence Maroney is doing a decent job of re-establishing his reputation as a solid RB. He has had the knock of not being particularly tough, kind of like Addai, but Maroney has been picking up a lot of tough yards lately. Take away the goal-line fumble against he Colts, and he's been really good.

n. Mark Sanchez looked confused almost the whole game on Sunday, against a New England team that knows how to confuse a QB. Sanchez is a classic example of what happens when teams get some film on you and know what you're going to do. I don't think it's time to bench him, like the average Peter King is calling for, but it would definitely behoove the Jets to figure out what Sanchez is comfortable doing, and sticking to only that stuff.

o. I can tell you right now, the Lions had a fantastic draft in 2009. Matthew Stafford, Brandon Pettigrew, and Louis Delmas all look like future Pro Bowlers. MHR favorite Sammie Lee Hill has been a solid starter at DT, and DeAndre Levy has been solid starting at WLB, since Ernie Sims as lost for the season, too. The guy I might like best, actually, is sixth-rounder Aaron Brown, a RB from TCU. He caught a TD pass on Sunday, but where he looked really dangerous was on kickoff returns. He's very explosive looking. I think Derrick Williams will eventually be a useful player too, and that makes 7 hits in one draft class. It's exactly the kind of performance that their opponents from Sunday (the Browns) need.

p. Speaking of he Browns, I have some thoughts. It sucks to lose like that, on an untimed down, but if I was a Browns fan, I would feel a lot better than I did a week ago. Brady Quinn had his best day as a pro, with 4 TD passes, and a 5th one dropped. Sure, he wasn't pressured a lot, when Detroit didn't blitz, but he looked like he was in command, and the offensive game plan looked like Brian Daboll trusted Quinn, finally. Mohamed Massaquoi and Chansi Stuckey did a very nice job making plays down the field.

I mentioned that the Browns need a good draft; they have 11 picks as of right now, and they need to hit on the majority of them. If I were their new football czar, I wouldn't draft a QB in the first round. I would give Quinn a full year with better talent (and coaching), and see what I have. My target would be Russell Okung, an OT from Oklahoma State, who I'd play on the right side. The Browns' current right side is flat-out awful. I'd be bringing in 2 good RBs, since they have zero right now. They need a Correll Buckhalter-type of free agent, and a second-round pick like a Jonathan Dwyer from Georgia Tech. One of their 3rd-round picks would go for a TE who can catch, like Ed Dickson from Oregon. With 2 new RBs, a TE, and a RT, all of a sudden, you have a solid group of players on offense.

Offense has to be the priority, because their 5 TDs on Sunday matched their previous total in 9 games. They aren't really that far away from being league-average, and I only used 3 of 11 picks in this hypothetical situation. The Browns could be 8-8 or 9-7 next season, if they make the most of their offseason opportunities. I can see it now; Todd Bowles wins coach of the year for them, after going from 2-14 to 9-7.

q. The Texans just continue to lose heartbreakers. Matt Schaub made plays, again, and gave his team a chance to win, again. And then Kris Brown blew it, again. I feel really bad for guys like Schaub, Andre Johnson and Mario Williams, who bring it every week. I'd hate to see these circumstances cost Gary Kubiak his job, but they just might.

r. I was going to talk about how everybody needs to slow down on the Vince Young hype train, but he justified the hype Monday night. Repeatedly, he picked up 3rd downs with his legs, and his throwing was pretty good too. He particularly threw a pretty ball that Nate Washington didn't come down with. He looked like he did at the University of Texas. You heard it here first; the Titans are going to beat San Diego by 2 TDs in a few weeks.

s. Trent Dilfer is a really terrible analyst, and I don't get the Steve Levy and Matt Winer combination with him. Usually, there's one anchor type to serve up softballs to the analyst. It's a weird setup. Back to Dilfer, I think the guy is just about always wrong.

t. Right after I typed that, ESPN went back to the Stuart Scott-Matt Millen-Steve Young set, and they proceeded to blame Matt Schaub for Kris Brown's missed field goal. Epic FAIL. All the guy could do was what he did. He moved his team down the field in 45 seconds, and set them up with a shot at a makeable kick. How in the world does that fall on the QB that they lost the game? That is just too idiotic for words

4. As promised, here is the rationale for why the Broncos can win on Thursday night. The Giants are extremely susceptible to getting beaten down the field, since they lost their starting Free Safety, Kenny Phillips. They are getting Aaron Ross back into the swing of things at CB, but he hadn't played all season, prior to this past Sunday.

With their shakiness on the back end, the Giants have blitzed a bit less than in past years, particularly in the A gaps. Tyler Polumbus will need some help on Justin Tuck, when they're matched up, but I expect the Broncos to be able to protect Kyle Orton reasonably well.

The Giants, meanwhile, aren't getting much from their running game lately. I also believe that their WRs don't pose a huge threat against Champ Bailey and Andre' Goodman. David Diehl will almost certainly struggle against Elvis Dumervil, because he's a natural LG playing LT. I feel pretty good about the defensive matchup, really.

This game is no lock, obviously, but it's one which the Broncos can win if they execute, stop taking bad penalties, and take care of the football. John Bena had it exactly right Sunday night. The Broncos can't beat good teams if they make mistakes, and the Giants are a good team. A victory is very plausible, though, if they do what they need to do.

5. I have cited several reasons lately for cutting ST&NO a little short, and I have another one. I got a bit sidetracked from writing, because of some big news in my family, which led to some calling, texting, and emailing, but not much writing.

On Monday night, my brother Chris911's wife Ana gave birth to their first child, Elizabeth Danielle Bartlett, at 7:36 Pacific Time, in Los Angeles, CA. Elizabeth weighed 5 pounds, 12.5 ounces, and was 17 1/4 inches long. Mother and baby are doing well. It occurred to me that I was in a good position to write the first birth announcement. Please join me in congratulating Chris and Ana on the birth of the newest little Broncos fan.

Since I am decidedly not in the having kids business, I took some time to live vicariously through them, and try to feel their excitement. Now, I am going to get back to living vicariously though myself, though. Y'all know how I do...

6. I am hitting the road for Connecticut on Tuesday, right after this story posts, to go eat some turkey, take a hellified tryptophan nap, and find a bar with NFL Network. My main reason for going, though, is to play in the 38th Annual Erb-Orsini Bowl in my hometown of Norwich, CT. I am only 32, so it predates me, but I have played in a number of them over the years. I said I would try to go back east for it last year, but it was snowing all across Pennsylvania, and I decided at the last minute to stay in Cleveland. I wasn't feeling 600 miles of driving in snow. This year, I wanted to show up and play, and the weather is cooperative. I have too much work to do to take the time, but I am going to work on Wednesday from a Tim Horton's restaurant.

The Erb-Orsini Bowl is a touch game, but it's been pretty physical and competitive in the past. The picture below is from the 2004 game. I am on the left. On the right is my brother John. He laid out for a pass early in the game, and was shaken up. His shoulder hurt, and he said that he didn't want to catch any more passes, and that he'd just stay in and pass-block, so he did just that. Thirty-six hours later, after not saying anything more about the topic, he decided to go to the hospital. Turned out, he had broken his shoulder. It's kind of the Bartlett way to suffer in silence, really, which is owed to being half Irish.

The keeper of the flame is the guy in the midde, my long-time friend Tony Orsini. Tony, as it happens, is a huge Giants fan. He's such a huge fan, actually, that he and his dad spent thousands of dollars to go to Arizona and get tickets for Super Bowl XLII against the mighty Patriots. Against that 16-0 team, i would have never spent that kind of coin, but he did, and he was rewarded. (To me, when I heard about it, it sounded like that time in 7th grade when I bet Pete Lacombe 5 bucks that Denver would beat San Francisco, straight-up, in Super Bowl XXIV, even though my allowance was $2 per week at that time. That was an all-time dumb call.)

On Thursday morning, I am hoping for a good Erb-Orsini Bowl, where I make some big plays, and on Thursday night, for our Broncos to beat Tony's Giants. Do any of y'all have good Turkey Bowls to play in? Let's hear some tangential Thanksgiving football stories. You might as well get with me on this meandering, because you never know where we might end up when the carousel stops.

7. Retired for John Elway.

8. The Buffalo coaching search is interesting. We know they've reached out to Mike Shanahan, and word materialized Monday night/Tuesday morning that Bill Cowher was contacted, and that he declined to be considered. Ralph Wilson is 91, and he wants to win now. Unfortunately for Buffalo, he is relatively cash-poor, and the team probably doesn't stay in his family when he dies, due to estate taxation. If it leaves his family, it almost certainly leaves Buffalo, which is a rapidly declining city.

If I were a coach looking for work, I would consider Buffalo unattractive for those reasons, as well as for the fact that they don't have a QB or any real quality on the O-Line. They have 2 good RBs, the fantastic Lee Evans, some good CBs and a good young safety in Jairus Byrd and pass rusher in Aaron Maybin. Paul Posluszny is solid, and Kyle Williams is very good, as I mentioned. The cupboard is not totally empty talent-wise, but it's a serious personnel challenge in a boring, economically depressed cold-weather town. The only thing they have on Cleveland, in terms of attracting free agents, is marginally better-looking uniforms. I expect that the Bills end up hiring a first time Head Coach, after being spurned by Shanahan and others.

That's all I have for this week, friends. I am off to get on the road for the East Coast. I won't see any comments until 10 or 11 hours from now, but I will check them out when I get where I am going, and will answer the ones that need answering. Have a great week, a great holiday, and a great Football Thursday. Go Broncos!