Top 5 Fantasy Football QBs for ’09-’10

Unless you happened to draft Drew Brees in the first round last year in your league, you probably didn’t see much consistent production until late in the season.
Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in his first game. Roethlisberger was practically a nobody all season. Palmer missed much of the season. Manning struggled after having off-season surgery.
Interestingly enough, those who drafted the likes of Rodgers, Rivers, Cutler, or Warner had much success throughout the season and were probably able to scoop these QBs up in later rounds.
It looks as though this year will be more of the same when it comes to QB production, so look to get a top quarterback on draft day.

The Green Bay Packers: Only Three Plays From NFC North Title in ’08

As we head towards summer and long days of grilling food and getting tan, the pundits gear up to the coming 2009 NFL season.

I hear so many fans touting the Minnesota Vikings as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. I also hear mant non-Packer fans suggesting that without Favre-vader that the Packers are a 6-10 team with no chance of reaching the Super Bowl.

Yes, the Vikings were 10-6. Yes, the Bears were 9-7. Yes, the Packers were a lowly 6-10.

However, if a mere 3 plays had gone the other way, the Packers would have been the team hosting a plyoff game last January and not the Vikings.

And this all means nothing now. As a friend of mine once said, “Yeah, and if my grandmother had balls, she’d be my grandfather.”

But to illustrate just how close this division was in 2008, and should be again in 2009, I’ll show how over 17 weeks between 3 different teams, the 6-10 Packers were only three plays from winning the division.

The Ten Worst Run NFL Franchises

In the NFL the owners ask a lot of the fans. The personal seat licenses extortion, ten buck beers, seven buck hot dogs, six buck sodas, full priced exhibition game tickets, twenty five buck Made in China team caps, seventy five dollar made in Indonesia game jerseys, thirty dollar parking, and tax payer funded stadiums to name just a few perks.

They ask for all that and more. Each year, every year, Gang greed wants more.. More, more, more. But fans of certain franchises always get less, less, less.

Some teams seemed doom. Whether cursed by the ghost of Bobby Layne, just destined to be team ruled by pettiness due to some rogue DNA rolling around the owners brain, or just plain incompetence and bad luck some teams always seem to be on the losing end.

So while the NFL and its billionaire boys club prepare to go the mattresses with tiny Delaware and its dreams of a state sponsored sports betting, while the always hypocritical NFL rolls out lottery ticket games, lets look at the franchises that give their fans the worst bang for their buck.

 

1. Detroit Lions

Its been almost fifty years since Bobby Layne blew Motown in a huff and the Lions have been mostly lusterless ever since.

Beside George Plimpton, Barry Sanders, and the brief bright light of Billy Sims there has not been much to excite Lion fans since.

Its beating a dead cat but what have the Fords been worst at football or Ford Motors? Both seem dead in the water and Motown might be an American ghost town soon.

The Los Angles Lions? It has a ring to it. The Hollywood Lions?

 

2. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals broke into a pair of Super Bowls in the eighties but its been a two decade dead spell since. A dead spell broken by a string of spectacular arrests and failed teams.

Owner Mike Brown is considered to be one of the cheapest owners east of the Bidwells, and the Bengals always suffer from a short scouting staff and an inability to develop quality players or sign key free agents.

Superman used to have an enemy known as Bizarro who was an evil opposite version of Superman formed by a laboratory experiment gone horribly wrong. That is the Bengals in comparsion to their division rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

What direction would the Bengals have taken if they had hired assistant coach Bill Walsh all those years ago? Would Ken Anderson be wearing a few Super Bowl rings right now?

Owner Paul Browns mania prevented the Bill Walsh hiring and  Walsh always wondered why. So do the Bungle faithful.

 

3. Cleveland Browns

The city and franchise have not been the same since Marty Schnottenheimer decided to play prevent defense against John Elway on what become known as “The Drive”.

The there was the sad sequel “The Fumble” then  the tragey “The Modell Move” and since then team returned its been mostly flat line football.

The recycled New York Jet Wonder Child wants to can the franchise quarterback from South Bend before he has a chance to prove he’s another bad Brown. Its a big bet by a magic man who should little magic on Broadway.

The team lacks direction and talent and its Super Bowl less streak will continue well into the twenty teens and beyond.

But the 1940’s and the Jim Brown era were quite a run. And quite a long time ago. Best thing for Browns fans to do now is to block arch betrayers Art Modell’s Hall of Fame hopes.

The Hall of fame isn’t for rats is it?

 

4. Arizona Cardinals

A Super Bowl appearance doesn’t erase the curse of the Bidwells. Long known as one of the worst owners in any professional sports the fanatically frugal Bidwells won’t let the Cardinals success stand long.

Like the Phoenix their city is named for expect this bird to rise from the ashes only once very five hundred years or so.

The Bidwell’s would bring down any franchise in any sport in any country.

 

5. Kansas City Chiefs

While his Daddy HL Hunt was digging oil and talking John Birch blues and his brother Bunker was cornering the silver market Lamar Hunt was given the Chiefs to play with

And they played well in the 1970’s. But its been a long sad, slow decline since the days of Lennie Dawson, Willie Lanier, Buck Buchanan, and Hank Stram.

Under the mismanagement of Herman Edwards and Carl Peterson the Chiefs ended up a very boring team, very losing team, with little talent and less reason to spark any hope in the hearts of Chief fans.

Its cold in Missouri at football games in winter time and Kansas City desperately needs to do something positive for its besieged, and worse bored, fan base.

 

6. San Francisco 49ers

Shopping mall Godfather Eddie Debartolo liked to try to bribe corruptible Southern Governors and to bet big on his team but at least he wanted very badly to win.

And win the big one. Never again will we see an owner willing to stockpile his team with so much high priced talent.

The salary cap won’t allow an owner to import the entire  starting defensive line of the San Diego Chargers as back ups or stash Steve Young on the roster after slipping a fellow owner a million in cash as Eddie D once did..

But at least Eddie D wanted to win the York’s don’t seem to care. The lack of Fast Eddie D has laid this once proud franchise low.

 

7. Oakland Raiders

I like Al Davis. He’s done more for football then any modern era owner but the old pirate needs a first mate who can pick talent, pay coaches contracts, and negotiate trades.

Al has lost his magical mojo.

Mehopes he gets his mojo back but the pirate king is aging and the players he picks aren’t playing at a high level anymore.

John Madden phone home? Help Mad Al find his mojo.

 

8. Dallas Cowboys

Like Lamar Hunt old Dallas Cowboy owner was the scion of a Big Oil Dallas Daddy.

But Clint, unlike Hunt, was a wild one who loved his booze, pills, powders, cheerleaders, and Cowboys.

But unlike Jerry Jones Clint hired Tom Landry, Gil Brandt, and Tex Schramm to run the football end of things while he funded the fun times until his bubble burst.

Jerry Jones thinks he is Tom Landry, Tex Schramm, Gil Brandt, and Clint Murchison Jr. ruled into one all knowing football being.

The Cowboys have not been the same since Jimmy Johnson left. When was the last time the Cowboys won a playoff game?

Jones seems like he has more fun running a free wheeling circus rather then a football team so Cowboy fans ought to enjoy Jessica Simpson new reality TV show which will feature their starting quarterback in a starring role.

Would Roger Staubach do that? What would have Tom Landry said about that?

Who knows? But the circus is in town and fans better pluck up the big bucks to see the show.

The last time fans in Dallas town were being held up like this was when Clyde Barrow was running about West Dallas with a wild woman, bootleg booze, and a trunk full of stolen guns.

Anyone want to buy any naming rights for the ball park?

 

9. Washington Redskins

Even in his eighties Old Redskin billionaire owner Jack Kent Cooke liked his wild, wind shield riding, drug toting, brown eyed South American ladies and he loved his Redskins.

He left his Redskins in the able hands of Joe Gibbs and Bobby Beathard. To current owner Daniel Snyder the Redskins are but a big toy to boost his ego and build his bank account by fleecing the Redskin faithful.

Failed coaches and free agent flops come and go quicker in DC then corrupt lobbyists these days and under Danny it doesn’t seem like it going to get better.

But for the fans it will definitely get costlier.

Why pay more for a product so much poorer then it was two decades ago?

Well it is Washington.

 

10. Chicago Bears

Sure they signed Jay Cutler but its a shameful stain on the teams old name that all its passing records are held by Sid Luckman who retired sixty years ago before passing rules were liberalized.

The Bears owners have a history of cheapness and it all began with the Papa Bear George Halas.

Bronko Nagurski left the Bears in the thirties because pro wrestling paid better then the Papa Bear did. Mike Ditka, the player, once said that Halas threw nickels around like man hole covers. The great Dick Butkus’ career was riddled with bad knees and worst contract disputes.

QB George Blanda was  signed by the Bears for six hundred dollars, a fee Halas hounded Blanda to refund when he made the team, and after long running money feud with Halas Blanda left the Bears for a Hall of fame career elsewhere. Blanda later said Halas was even to cheap to buy him a kicking tee.

The great Bear team of 1985 was dismantled by Halas grandson, Mike McCaskey, who refused to bring in a capable back up QB or USFL stars while releasing such stars as Wilbur Marshall, Willie Gault, and Otis Wilson over contract disputes. 

With Cutler the Bears finally have a capable QB but it might have came four years after their defense peaked.

Don’t expect a Bear to change its coat.

What Is the Toughest Division in the NFL For 2009?

As each season looms, the debate over which division is the toughest intensifies.  We, at PossessionPoints.com, are no strangers to this debate and love to participate in it as well. Here is our preliminary overview of the NFL divisions. We hope it might help you decide who you think should be known as the “Toughest Division in the NFL”.

 

This year, we feel there are surprises on the horizon as the parity between NFL teams is on the increase.  For many people, parity is a bad word meaning mediocrity, but we view it as a positive. We believe fans will see more teams playing up or raising the bar in performance which could lead to some interesting game results down the road.

 

As of now, we still look at the NFC East and the AFC South as the division strongholds.  Most of the NFL experts and analysts seem to view the Giants and the Eagles as formidable threats on both offense and defense, and many of these experts have one of these teams taking the division and possibly going to the Super Bowl.  

 

While we do not argue this point, we do not want to count out Dallas or the Redskins. Both teams had their struggles last year, but both teams managed a .500 or better season. An injection of talent and the elimination of some team distractions may be enough to hoist one or both of these teams into the playoff arena.  With so much potential, this division definitely rates a vote as the toughest in the NFL.

 

In recent years, the AFC South has also become a force to be reckoned with.  It would not surprise us in the least to see the Colts, Titans or even the Texans make their way into the heart of the playoffs.  We know that the Colts have adjustments to handle with the retirement of Tony Dungy and offensive coordinator Tom Moore. However, their new head coach, Jim Caldwell, who has worked for Dungy since his Tampa Baydays, was the first choice of Dungy, and the Colts are trying to bring back Moore as a consultant for the team.  So, the adjustments may not be too difficult to handle.

 

As for the Jaguars, we look at them as a team that has to prove a bit more before we list them in the same class as their division opponents.  However, they take nothing away from the threat that this division holds as they were a playoff team in 2007. If the Jaguars can forget 2008 and return to their 2007 form, the AFC South could well be the toughest division.

 

There is a sound argument to also view NFC South, the AFC East and the NFC South as contenders for the toughest division crown.  With the Panthers, Falcons and Saints in the NFC South, this division may be ready to let loose this season as they did last season. All the teams in the NFC South also had a .500 or better record in 2008.  

 

Now, Bucs’ fans, do not get upset, but we think it is Tampa Bay that may have a tough time bringing this division home.  The Bucs could find themselves playing a very long season this year.  

 

The AFC East gets a boost from the return of Tom Brady to the Patriots’ roster.  If the reports about his strength and agility are true, there is no doubt that the Patriots can be viewed as potential Super Bowl contenders.  We also assume that the Dolphins have the ability to repeat or beat their 2008 performance. Only the Bills at 7-9 were below .500 in this division last season.  

 

If the Patriots’ return to their 2007 dominance, they can make it more difficult for other teams in their division to get to a .500 or better season.

 

The Jets may join the club of teams that start rookie QBs with a new head coach. It worked for Atlanta and Baltimore last season, so why not this season? With so much potential waiting to be unleashed from these AFC East teams, this division might turn out to be the toughest of all.

We have to admit that we think the toughness of the NFC North is compromised by the presence of the Detroit Lions.  Yes, they have the No. 1 draft pick and yes, their future looks brighter.  But it is a long road from 0-16 to the playoffs, no matter what you are paying your new quarterback.  We do look for the Lions to improve, but we are doubtful of their ability to make the playoffs.  

 

With that said, the NFC North has some of the toughest competition around with the Bears, Packers and Vikings who are all capable of bringing home a division championship. The most likely suspects for the division title for us at this point are the Vikings or Bears who will no doubt benefit from the addition of Jay Cutler.

 

So, as of now, we see that five out of the eight divisions have a clear shot at winning the “toughest” moniker, but let’s see how the remaining three divisions – the AFC North and the AFC and NFC West fare.

 

We know that the AFC North includes not only the Super Bowl Champs, the Pittsburgh Steelers, but their strongest opponent, the Baltimore Ravens as well.  Both of these teams will most likely be playoff bound again. However, when your division includes the Bengals and Browns who both have a ton to prove this season, it’s hard to seriously see this division as the toughest. 

 

The AFC West has many questions to answer this year.  We do believe that this division is the Chargers to lose.  We do see improvements with the Raiders and Chiefs but these improvements are probably not enough to make this division the toughest in the NFL.  

 

The Broncos are now without Jay Cutler, and they also have a new head coach in Josh McDaniels. It is hard to tell if a team will gel with a new quarterback and a new head coach.  So, while we see a great deal of potential in this division, we think it is premature at best to say that this division is the toughest.

 

Last but not least is the NFC West.  Okay, the Super Bowl runner-up, the Arizona Cardinals are in this division, but we have to consider the Seahawks, who were perennial champs prior to last season, as a team to consider for the division crown.  We said before last season started, that the coaching situation would undo the Seahawks’ season and that proved true.  However, with Jim Mora on the sidelines for all of last year, the transition for this team should be complete.  We are looking for the Seahawks of old to make a return. 

 

In the NFC West, we also are anxious to see how the 49ers perform in their first complete season with Mike Singletary.  Will his high-motivation coaching tactics continue the success he saw with the 49ers last season?  Another team that could be on the upswing are the Rams.  If their new head coach Steve Spagnola can work the wonders with the entire Rams team as he did with the Giants’ defense, who knows what lies ahead?

 

Well, that is our preliminary look at the divisions and the positive and negative components of each.  Again, what surprises us the most about this season is the increase in parity that exists throughout the league.  In our view, parity can only add to the excitement of the game. We are anxious for the 2009 season already.

 

(If we were to rank the divisions in 2008 based on how teams did in our Performance Ranking the final ranking would be:

NFC East

AFC East

NFC South

AFC South

AFC North

NFC North

AFC West

NFC West)

An Early Look at the 2009 Jacksonville Jaguars

In great anticipation of the 2009 season, let’s take a look at the current Jacksonville Jaguars team with the understanding that roster changes can and most likely will happen before the start of the season.

The positions most in question: Wide Receiver, Tight End, Defensive Line, and Linebackers. The Jaguars had a solid 2009 draft, and went conservative in free agency. How will it all shake out? Let’s see….

Top 5 Steelers Defenders of All Time

In Pittsburgh, the limelight has always shined on the defense. Tough defense has been the symbol for 6 Super Bowl championships, the most of any franchise in the modern era.

Of course there was the infamous “Steel Curtain” of the 1970’s, most famous for their 1976 season in which the Steelers defense held opponents to just 28 points and 2 touchdowns in the final 9 games of the season. They went on to win all 9 of these games, 5 of which were shut-out victories. 8 of the 11 starters on Pittsburgh’s defense were named to the Pro Bowl that season.

Of course, there are so many names that can go on a list like this. With so many Hall of Famers coming out of Pittsburgh over the years, it can be tough to narrow it down to just 10, but I am setting out to do justice to some of the greatest names to ever play for Pittsburgh.

Patrick Crayton: The Forgotten Cowboys Receiver

With all of the discussions about Terrell Owens leaving the Cowboys and all of the talk around receiver Roy Williams quest to replace Owen’s numbers, many have forgotten about a productive receiver in Patrick Crayton.

Does anyone remember Crayton? Anyone remember Crayton, once the darling of that ’04 draft, when he, no more than a seventh-rounder from tiny Northwestern Oklahoma State, made this team and then turned into a reliable third receiver in 2006, catching 36 passes—four for touchdowns?

Don’t forget the Cowboys thought enough of Crayton to sign him to a four-year extension on Dec. 27, 2007, guaranteeing him $6 million on a $14 million package which could increase to $16 million depending on escalators.

Yes, don’t forget about 2007, Cowboys fans.

That was the year, quarterback Tony Romo, in his first full season as a NFL starter, rewrote the Cowboys’ single-season passing charts, throwing for more yards, more touchdown passes and completing more passes than any other Cowboys quarterback, including those two now residing in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

That was the year the Cowboys totaled their most touchdowns (54) and most points (455) since the 1983 season. That was the year the Cowboys won 13 games, matching the most in club history (1992).

And there was Crayton, catching 50 passes for 697 yards (13.9 avg.) and seven touchdowns. And this on a team with tight end Jason Witten catching 96 passes (seven TDs) and Terrell Owens catching 81 passes (15 TDs), along with Marion Barber (975) and Julius Jones (588) combining for 1,463 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns.

So let’s not be surprised if Patrick Crayton has a breakout year in 2009.

Let’s not forget him either, but let’s hope opposing defenses do.

Jim Mora: In Line for NFL Coach of the Year Honors?

Jim Mora is in prime position to capitalize on Mike Holmgren’s nightmare of a season in 2008. Will he be able to capitalize all the way to NFL Coach of the Year honors? I think so, and here’s why.

You remember last season; no need to recap the weekly revolving door at wide receiver, the Pro Bowl quarterback who was sidelined with a career-threatening chronic back issue, an offensive line decimated by a variety of injuries, or a solid defense that was just too tired at the end of every game to be effective.

This year, the Seahawks are returning with a healthy core players—many of whom took this team to the playoffs in 2007. There are a few key additions and upgrades, however.

 

Offense

The offensive line has never been the glamour position on any football team, but these big guys are often the prime reason for success or failure of any offensive scheme.

Walter Jones is still one of the premier left tackles in the NFL. This year, he and a healthy Mike Wahle will team up to reinvigorate the left side that made the blind side of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck vulnerable and did little to help the running game last season.

Jones will return to the Pro Bowl, and Wahle will play at an equal level, but probably won’t make it to Hawaii.

Rookie Max Unger should push either right guard Rob Sims or center Chris Spencer for a spot on the line, and right tackle Sean Locklear is solid.

With the change to a zone-blocking scheme, the ‘Hawks will be able to take advantage of their versatility along the line.

Hasselbeck should see a return to the Pro Bowl with a healthy back and a stable of quality receivers. Running back Julius Jones is primed for his best season ever, and T.J. Duckett is a reliable short-yardage man.

Second-year back Justin Forsett will see considerable playing time, and his quickness at hitting holes should work well with the zone-blocking scheme.

Big-name receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh will be a reliable option for Hasselbeck, and will put up big numbers this year—maybe Pro Bowl numbers. Deion Branch should do well with some of the attention being shifted to “Housh,” and Nate Burleson will finally live up to the expectations that everyone had when he came from the Vikings.

Tight end John Carlson should really have a breakout season this year, although most Seahawks fans already know that Carlson is the real deal. Can you say Pro Bowl?

 

Defense

The defense should be improved with the addition of big bodies in Cory Redding and Colin Cole, along with the development of Brandon Mebane. Mebane showed last year that he is ready for the spotlight. Defensive end Patrick Kerney should see his sack numbers return to normal form with the additional bulk and talent at tackle.

The linebacker corps will create opportunities for every other part of the ‘Hawks defense. The trio of Lofa Tatupu, Leroy Hill, and rookie Aaron Curry is fast, versatile and simply put, on paper, the best linebacker trio in the NFL.

Tatupu is the leader of the crew, but Hill may be the one who does most of the heavy work. Curry is an amazing athlete, and it will be interesting to watch his development in the NFL.

The addition of Ken Lucas gives Seattle the size it needs at cornerback to team with Pro Bowler Marcus Trufant. Josh Wilson and Kelly Jennings will do well in nickel and dime packages.

The safety position is one area that the Seahawks have been vulnerable, but this year, with additional pressure on the quarterback, free safety Brian Russell shouldn’t be left on an island to defend receivers indefinitely. Strong safety Deon Grant should continue to be a solid contributor.

 

Final verdict

The Seahawks had a solid team last year that was ripped apart by injuries; that core team returns and looks to be better with a few key additions.

Jim Mora had the fortune of stepping into a talented Atlanta Falcon team and was rewarded with a deep playoff run. Mora will have the same situation in Seattle this season with the added benefit of a division that is still open for the taking—a ready-made playoff team that is poised for a run at the Super Bowl.

This all spells NFL Coach of the Year for Jim Mora and a return to happy days and sunny skies in Seattle.

Not Quite Time To Give Up on Laurence Maroney

It’s not hard to find critics of Laurence Maroney in New England. Despite being just 24 years old and entering only his fourth season in the league, Patriot fans everywhere are ready to toss him aside for aging vets Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris.

There is no denying that Maroney is injury-prone. He’s missed 18 games so far in his young career due to injury (with 13 of those coming last season).

However, the reality of the situation is that starting running backs in the NFL will almost certainly go down with injuries during the season, it’s usually just a matter of how many games they miss.

Fred Taylor has started all 16 games in a season just twice in his lengthy eleven year career; Morris has missed 13 games in the past two years alone. Clearly Maroney is not alone in his struggle to stay healthy; life as a running back in the NFL isn’t always easy.

It was revealed recently that the reason for Maroney’s placement on Injured Reserve last season was a broken bone in his shoulder.

According to the Boston Globe, he broke the bone in Week 2, missed Week 3 action against Miami, attempted to play the week after the Bye in SF but could not and was shut down for the year.

A broken shoulder bone is not likely to be a problem that will continue to bother Maroney; it should heal itself completely for 2009.

In his rookie season, torn rib cartilage was the culprit, as it kept him out of two games late in the season.

2007 saw Maroney suffer a groin injury that sidelined him for three games early in the year. These injuries are frustrating, but do little to affect the longer term status of Maroney’s health. 

So when Maroney is healthy, is he worthy of being a starting tailback on one of the top teams in the league? I say yes. On just 388 career carries, Laurence has 1,673 yards, good for an average of 4.3 ypc.

That number is equal to the career ypc averages of Willie Parker, Marion Barber and Stephen Jackson. Now of course, Maroney’s 388 carries are a small sample size, but that’s not all due completely to health.

Despite being the Patriots top back in 2007 and missing just three games to injury, he had just 185 carries in the Patriots pass-happy spread attack.

The league’s leading rusher that season, LaDainian Tomlinson, had a whopping 315 carries. Maroney averaged just .2 yards less than Tomlinson that season, but ended with over 600 rushing yards less.

Am I saying these two were of equal talent in 2007? No, but I am saying that we will never know for sure of Maroney’s true potential in the current offense the Patriots run…something I’m sure many fans (including myself) may not have a problem with.

There is one specific span of games that stick out in my memory and force me to stand by #39. Late in the perfect season of 2007, the Patriots found themselves in a dogfight with the hated New York Jets, a team that many expected the Pats to lay 50+ points on in revenge for “Spygate Tattling.”

Fortunately for New York, Tom Brady went cold in that ballgame, completing only 51 percent of his passes for 140 yards and no touchdowns. Unfortunately for the Jets, however, they had no answer for Laurence Maroney.

Carrying the ball 20+ times for just the 2nd time all season, Maroney racked up 104 yards on the ground with a touchdown and kept the perfect season alive. The following week against a historically bad Dolphins team, Brady threw 2 INTs and completed only 54 percent of his passes.

While Maroney’s performance was not as necessary as it was a week earlier, that didn’t stop him from churning out a career-high 156 yards on the ‘Phins.

The following week, in the final game of the season, Maroney put up unspectacular rushing yardage, but his two touchdowns were key in a 38-35 Patriots win.

The playoffs didn’t slow Laurence down; as he rushed for 244 total yards in the two wins over Jacksonville and San Diego, averaging over 5 yards a carry.

His 122-yard performance against San Diego once again saved the season, as “Tom Terrific” threw three picks to the Charger secondary, while the Pats escaped with a 21-12 win.

New England got away from their running attack again in the Super Bowl, as Maroney had just 14 carries and was never given a chance to get things going.

Last year was marred by the shoulder injury that essentially erased all but one game of his season; so we were unable to see if Laurence’s play would carry over.

Maroney now understands the importance of a big 2009 season. He is motivated by talk of his “softness”, his soon-expiring contract and the recent of addition of Fred Taylor…but most importantly, he is healthy.

If he stays that way (a big if) and he’s given enough carries this season; we may soon hear the same people who are screaming for his departure now, begging for a contract extension come next off-season. 

Fran Tarkenton Was Right About One Thing About Brett Favre

I read what Fran Tarkenton had to say about Brett Favre. The next day, I listened to a very entertaining discussion between Tarkenton and Paul Allen, a radio host for a sports talk radio station in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, and the radio announcer for the Vikings.

Paul Allen was listening intently to Tarkenton, respectfully disagreeing with some things, and agreeing with others. But one comment Tarkenton made turned the discussion into an argument.

Tarkenton simply said that Favre couldn’t play a full season anymore. Allen’s rebuttal was that in the first 11 weeks of last year, there were few better quarterbacks than Favre.

After Tarkenton reminded him that there wasn’t an 11-game season, Allen reminded him that Favre was hurt the rest of the year.

The fact that Favre was hurt was Paul Allen’s defense for the remainder of the interview, forgetting to mention that maybe the Jets would’ve been better off having someone, anyone, other than Favre be the quarterback at that point.

There’s one problem with Paul Allen’s argument: In the last four months of December combined, Favre has thrown 13 touchdowns and 31 interceptions.

Yes, that number was 31.

Not only am I a nice guy, but I am a Favre fan as well. So, i’m going to remove 2005, when the Packers were just a bad team all around, and 2009, when Favre was hurt, from those numbers.

In December of 2006, Favre threw 4 touchdowns, compared to 8 interceptions. That’s a 2-1 ratio, right on the button.

In Favre’s magical, some said best year of his career 2007, he threw 6 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Not as flat out bad as 2006, but still mediocre at best.

The 2007 playoffs were a perfect example of Favre’s late-season play. Against Seattle, he looked brilliant in a 42-20 win.

Against New York the next week, he looked horribly erratic, with most of his passes too high, a few yards behind or in front of the receivers, or hitting the ground at their feet.

Anyone who watched Favre as long as I have (his whole career) felt the interception in overtime long before it happened.

As much as I love Brett, the circus that is his retirement saga has to end. I’ve actually learned to respect Brad Childress for wanting an answer now, instead of allowing Brett to let it go as long as he wants to.

But we’ll all sit and wait, again. We’ll hear about how much better the Vikings will be with a first ballot Hall-of-Famer as their quarterback, without mentioning that the Hall-of-Famer in question is already past the twilight of his career.

Until we all learn to let him go, and realize that players don’t play forever, the better off we’ll all be.

And nobody has to realize it more than Brett Favre.

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