Here are one writer’s thoughts on Week 13 of the NFL season while wondering how Norv Turner remains employed if San Diego loses on national television to the 3-8 Jaguars, a team that axed its coach earlier this week.
Does a quarterback make the team…
Many armchair quarterbacks – perhaps only half-jokingly – have been suggesting that Peyton Manning should win this year’s MVP award in light of the complete disaster that the Colts have become in his absence. That argument picked up steam on Sunday when Indy, a team that won at least 10 games in nine straight seasons entering 2011, needed a furious fourth quarter rally to cover a 20.5 point spread against New England. If I’m not mistaken, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Jeff Saturday, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis are still members of this team. Did everyone get old at the same time? Is head coach Jim Caldwell in over his head? Does the Manning-for-MVP campaign have merit?
…or a team make the quarterback?
On the other end of the spectrum is Sam Bradford, like Manning a first overall pick that was inserted into his team’s starting lineup from day one. Bradford was brilliant in his rookie campaign, throwing for 3,512 yards and 18 touchdowns while, most importantly, giving Rams fans quite a bit of hope for the future. St. Louis was a consensus pick to win the NFC West this year after falling a tiebreaker short last season. However, Bradford appears to have regressed badly this season, which may be the result of the dearth of injuries that have piled up around him. Besides battling a high ankle sprain himself, Bradford has lost both of his tackles, Rodger Saffold and Jason Smith, and his top two receiving targets, Danny Amendola and Mark Clayton, for the season while stud running back Steven Jackson (quad) and tight end Lance Kendricks (foot), a promising rookie, have been limited. Forgive the pun but given the Rams’ offensive injury situation, which truly has reached epic proportions, it’s fair to give Bradford (and Coach Steve Spagnuolo) a pass.
It’s time to face it, Wade Phillips is the best defensive coach of the last decade.
The Houston Texans entered Sunday down to third-string, rookie quarterback T.J. Yates, a late-round pick out of the University of North Carolina. With a loss and a Tennessee win in Buffalo, Houston’s lead in the AFC South would slip to a single game. Sunday’s showdown with Atlanta was exactly the type of game the Texans would’ve lost in years past. But this year is different. With Wade Phillips coaching up Houston’s defense, the Texans don’t have to win weekly shootouts, instead relying on a devastating running game to wear down opponents and a suffocating defense to slam the door shut. Phillips, much maligned as a head coach despite an 82-59 record, has transformed Houston’s 30th-ranked unit into the league’s best despite the season-ending injury to Mario Williams in Week 5. Like he has at previous stops with Simon Fletcher (Denver), Marcellus Wiley (Buffalo) and DeMarcus Ware (Dallas), Phillips has turned linebackers J.J. Watt , Connor Barwin and Brooks Reed into ferocious pass rushers. Since 1998, Phillips’ defenses have finished in the top half of the league every year but one. It’s due time that the “Son of a Bum” gets some credit.
The future of the Denver Broncos looks bright…and it’s not just because of Tim Tebow.
Yes, Tim Tebow silenced a lot of critics by leading Denver to 35 points and a come-from-behind win over Minnesota on Sunday. And yes, Tebow did throw for a season-high 202 yards and two touchdowns. However, executive vice president of football operations John Elway and Broncos brass must have been equally as encouraged by the fact that both of Tebow’s scoring tosses went to second-year wideout Demaryius Thomas. Left tackle Ryan Clady is once again displaying the talent that led to his All-Pro selections during his first two years in the league, but seemed to go missing after he injured his patellar tendon playing basketball in spring 2010. Von Miller, the second overall pick in April’s draft, has registered 10.5 sacks in one of the most impressive rookie campaigns in recent memory. Best of all, the Broncos mailed playoff ticket invoices to season ticket holders on Monday, something that seemed unthinkable before the youth movement, led by Tebow, took over in Week 5.
