$.01-- Tebowmania lives. Again. Cut and paste from last week, and the week before that, and the one before that, and most of the last two months. This is seriously getting out of control. Down 10-0 with a little over 4 minutes remaining, I bet there wasn’t one football fan in American that didn’t believe the Broncos were going to win the game. Judging from the message boards and Facebook feeds, nobody outside of the city of Chicago had any doubt the Broncos would come back. I know I didn’t. This one had a different sort of feel to it. It sure felt like the Bears sensed the inevitability as well. Denver even made some crucial errors that left the door open for the Bears, what with the failure to recover the beautiful Matt Prater onside kick and some gutsy big overtime gains from Caleb Hanie. Marion Barber made two huge mistakes. First, running out of bounds to stop the clock and give the ball back to Tebow with just enough clicks to set up Prater for a 59-yard field goal that would have been good from 69. Then in overtime as the Bears were slicing and dicing the Denver defense, their hot knife ran into a rock when Barber fumbled along the way to breaking free for a sure touchdown. If it were a movie script, a screen doctor would deem the course of events too cheesy, too unreal, too surreal to ever have credibility in a football flick. But it happened. Again. Next week brings the Patriots, the epitome of the Evil Empire with The Hoodie and Mr. Perfect Tom Brady. Over the past week I’ve been watching the Star Wars saga with my 6-year old son Layne, and he is really into The Force and the powers of destiny and inherent good overcoming all evils. He’s also become a big Tebow fan, and the parallels are not lost on me. If ever there was a sports equivalent of Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader, it is next week’s game. It’s also interesting to look at Tebowmania through the eyes of a 6-year old. Layne understands football enough that he knows first downs, knows that 3rd and long is a passing situation, and knows that Jay Cutler is the Bears normal QB but he hurt his thumb. He doesn’t know the Tebow back story, the Florida glory or his outwardly passionate faith. He loves Tebow and believes he has The Force, or something like it, at his command. He thinks Tebow cannot lose and that the drama is funny. I am taking a cue from Layne and I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the Tebow movie, trying not to read too much into it other than it’s a great story with a great hero. $.02-- The Thursday night game had two major developments going forward. The most obvious is Ben Roethlisberger’s stupid/heroic effort on a wounded foot. Roethlisberger left the game for a while with a leg injury that looked gruesome. Amazingly he returned after halftime, severely hobbled but apparently feeling good enough to risk torpedoing the rest of his season in a game where it was obvious very early that the Pittsburgh defense was good enough to win 7-3. In western Pennsylvania, ballads of heroism and bravery are no doubt being composed to honor Big Ben and his triumphant performance while near-mortally wounded. Parents will name their children in his honor and generations of men will laud the great day where their dying general came from the shadows of amputation to vanquish the hated Browns. I found it the actions of a damned fool being enabled by a coach that knows better. Charlie Batch was not pretty in relief, but Batch is a smart and capable enough veteran to not lose the game for the Steelers. And there was no way the Browns offense was going to beat them. Big Ben moved like my dad a couple weeks after his hip replacement surgery, almost falling over with every step. Aside from risking further injury to his ankle or foot, throwing with bad mechanics to compensate is a great way to wreck a shoulder or an elbow. A prime time game at home, playing with the lead against a dismal opponent is not the place for Ben’s ballsy display. Everyone knows he’s among the toughest quarterbacks ever; this was a poor decision by Mike Tomlin to allow Roethlisberger to play injured. The Browns offensive ineptitude has to factor into the decision, and the other thing I took from this game is the final assurance that I needed to see that Colt McCoy is just not an NFL starting-caliber quarterback. I feel genuinely bad by saying that, because I love so much about McCoy: his leadership, his tenacity, his attitude, his accuracy on short throws. But McCoy lacks two absolute must-haves. His arm is weak; his fastball lacks heat and when he does unleash it he loses control of his pinpoint accuracy. McCoy also has not shown any ability to read coverages or throw his receivers open. No, the Browns do not have much talent at receiver, but McCoy seldom helps them out. One characteristic that every good NFL quarterback possesses is the ability to make average receivers into viable weapons. Tom Brady has made a career out of it, as have Matt Hasselbeck and Jay Cutler on a lower level. McCoy has not shown one iota of ability to raise the collective level of play of those around him. He is nothing more than a career backup that makes an excellent teammate. I hope for the fans’ sake that GM Tom Heckert and President Mike Holmgren can see that. $.03-- Dallas and New York waged a Sunday night war for control of the NFC East. ran away, winning the battle as the team with the less egregious secondary. In a game that featured eight lead changes, several long pass plays, a safety by Jason Pierre-Paul, some of the worst snapping ever seen, more ponderous coaching, the Cowboys losing Demarco Murray for the rest of the year (unofficially), and a last-second blocked field goal--also by Pierre-Paul--the Giants now control their own destiny in what is now unquestionably the 3rd best division in the NFC. The pass defenses in this one were tough to watch. Receivers from both teams were routinely wide open down the field, fostering a whole lot of animated sideline meetings between toasted secondaries and befuddled coaches with no wits left. Not that the run defenses were much better; both Felix Jones and Brandon Jacobs needed less than 18 carries to bag over 100 yards. But the story was Eli Manning engineering another great 4th quarter comeback, enabled by some awful Dallas defense. Manning threw for exactly 400 yards and he needed every one of them. Hakeem Nicks was uncoverable all night long, but Manning also found a lot of Jake Ballard and Victor Cruz to keep grinding and seize back the lead. He even made an absolutely perfect strike that Mario Manningham dropped (shades of OSU/Michigan a few years back) that would been his third TD pass. The Giants absolutely believe and trust in Eli, and once again he delivered. I still don’t consider Manning elite, but he’s at least made it a worthwhile argument. On the flip side, what a devastating loss for the Cowboys, a loss that could have some long-term implications. Jerry Jones watched in disgust as his team blew yet another double-digit 4th quarter lead, their third such choke job this season. As it seems most every television network believes Rob Ryan is coaching the team and not Jason Garrett, he would be the most obvious scapegoat. His inability to cobble together anything close to an effective pass defense is nothing new for Ryan, yet he continues to get rock star coach treatment. Garrett should probably polish up his résumé too, because Mr. Jones did not spend one billion dollars building a stadium that never sees a home playoff game and is so kind to the Giants, who have never lost there. Jones and former Titans coach Jeff Fisher are good friends, and Fisher could parlay that into a very lucrative new job in Dallas next year. $.04-- The Atlanta Falcons demonstrated the kind of heart and desire that should invigorate their fans going forward. After a lackluster first half where Matt Ryan looked a count slow and the defense couldn’t answer for Cam Newton, Coach Mike Smith earned his money. Atlanta dominated the second half, proving they will not give away their playoff aspirations without a huge fight. As a result, Atlanta now sits in the driver’s seat for all the NFC Wild Card teams at 8-5. It was not easy. Cam Newton and the Panthers controlled the first half with a combination of big plays and punishing line play. The Carolina defense recorded a safety by sacking Ryan in the end zone and bottled up a flat Falcons offense despite being without several regular starters. It looked bleak for the Falcons, who could not protect Ryan nor slow down the Carolina offense very well. I don’t know what Mike Smith said to his team, but it worked. The Falcons played much more precise and focused football in the second half, and they took advantage of a young team that doesn’t know how to finish a game. Cam Newton threw one of the ugliest INTs you’ll ever see, and Ryan found the holes in the Panthers secondary repeatedly. I loved the aggressiveness to put the game on ice, following up a missed Olindo Mare field goal with a deep cross to Julio Jones, who broke a weak tackle and scampered to the end zone. That is how you close out a game, Mr. Newton. The Panthers tried to be game as spoilers, but the Falcons would not have it. A win Thursday night against the lowly Jaguars and the Falcons all but have the top Wild Card wrapped up, when at halftime of this game you had to wonder if they would even make it. Mr. Smith goes to the playoffs. $.05-- Congratulations to the Houston Texans on making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Their stirring comeback win in Cincinnati clinched the AFC South title and set the city on fire. Okay, technically that was a chemical plant explosion Saturday night, but this city is gaga over its Texans right now. Local stores quickly sold out of AFC South division champs gear, several thousand fans greeted the team back home at Reliant Stadium, and all the local newscasts led with at least 10 minutes of Texans. Sunday’s win was a major accomplishment. The Bengals were at home and playing for their own playoff lives, and Cincy took the lead in the first quarter and looked to be in control. Houston faced 80 yards and two minutes to go, with no Andre Johnson, and rookie QB TJ Yates finishing up his second career start. I don’t want to read too much into it, but I get the feeling TJ Yates might have just usurped the starting quarterback job from Matt Schaub going forward. One of the lingering knocks on Schaub is that he is very good when it doesn’t count but shaky when the team has needed him the most. I find that overblown but try telling that to the chronically flustered fans that dominate the four (!) local sports talk radio stations. Yates is proving unflappable, and his teammates are feeding off his composure and confidence. He has now won two games in a row, beating the Falcons and Bengals. On 3rd and 15 on the final drive, Yates hoofed out a 17-yard run that saved the day. He smartly underthrew a ball that forced a pass interference call to set up the final touchdown. He did it without Johnson, without much help from Arian Foster, and up against one of the league’s better defenses. Don’t be surprised if TJ Yates is starting in Houston for a long time, especially if he can produce a playoff win. $.06-- I give Jets Coach Rex Ryan a lot of crap, but he has his team playing its best football when it means the most. The Jets destroyed the inferior Chiefs in a game where they made the statement they needed to send. The message: Overlook the New York Jets as a playoff contender at your own peril. New York has clawed its way up to 8-5, taking advantage of the soft spot in their schedule. In the last three weeks they have downed Buffalo, Washington, and now Kansas City. You might be thinking these were games they were supposed to win, but that’s the whole point. They are winning the games they are supposed to win to make themselves a playoff contender. There are a lot of other teams that stumble in games they are supposed to win, and the Jets are avoiding the pitfalls. They are doing it by getting back to playing fundamentally sound football. The offensive line has been very good, doing everything Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer needs to run his ball control offense. Mark Sanchez had another solid outing, completing over 60% of his passes with two TDs and no interceptions. The Sanchize also ran for two touchdowns. They didn’t get into a slopfest with the Chiefs, who committed 11 penalties for 128 yards and had two others declined; New York had 4 flags for 22 yards. The secondary around Revis Island is playing more consistent, though that takes a blow with Jim Leonhard going down. This style suits the Jets well, and it should continue to produce victories. Next week sees them fly to Philly to play the sloppy but dangerous Eagles. If they can vanquish Vick, then it’s really time to believe these Jets are a major threat in the incredibly up-for-grabs AFC. $.07-- If you fancy yourself a draftnik, pay attention to this one because it is pertinent in terms of how not to develop a quarterback. Jaguars rookie QB Blaine Gabbert is going through a very draining year. Of all the first round QBs in the last draft, Gabbert was universally decried as the one that needed to sit and learn the most. Yet he was thrust into the starting job early on, with his alleged veteran mentor (David Garrard) sent packing. His QB coach was himself a rookie, as Mike Sheppard was previously the wide receivers coach for the Bengals. In the middle of Gabbert’s rookie season, the head coach gets fired and the offensive coaching staff reshuffled. Sheppard is now back to coaching receivers and Dirk Koetter is the new QB coach as well as serving as Offensive Coordinator. The Jaguars are as bereft of wide receiver talent as any team I can ever recall; de facto #1 Mike Thomas is a #4 on most rosters, and is on pace to lead the team with just over 500 receiving yards for the season. At least they have a running game and aren’t making Gabbert throw the ball 35 times a game. Other than that, Jacksonville is so badly mangling and mishandling Gabbert that it will surprise no one if he flops, even though he had a very strong game Sunday against the pathetic Bucs. There is a quarterback very similar to Gabbert in the upcoming draft, Ryan Tannehill of Texas A&M. Much like Gabbert, he is tall, strong-armed, athletic, and brimming with potential. Also like Gabbert, he is not ready to take over an NFL team in his rookie season. Tannehill was a wide receiver into the middle of the 2010 season before desperation forced then-coach Mike Sherman (in case you missed it, he got fired last week) to turn his way at quarterback. Tannehill responded by showing a great deep ball and a quick understanding of the offense. The Aggies had a strange, disappointing season that will cause some evaluators to be unduly negative on Tannehill. To be fair, he tended to throw interceptions at the worst possible time, and finding holes in the zone is a work in progress. But in just 19 career starts--more than The Sanchize had at USC--Tannehill demonstrated the physical abilities to be an excellent NFL thrower and much of the poise, leadership, and intelligence to do it as well. He just needs more time to develop and to learn the finer intricacies of the position, like using his eyes to control the safety or setting his balance when he throws on the run. Everything that is wrong with Tannehill, much like Gabbert, is coachable to various extents. But Gabbert got cheated on that department, and the team that takes Tannehill must not make the same mistakes the Jaguars did with him. I sense that could be problematic, as Tannehill projects as a top 25 pick and teams have shown a remarkable lack of discipline and long-term vision with utilizing their first round quarterbacks. $.08--5 NFL Quickies: 1. If you need further proof that Aaron Rodgers is the best football player on the planet, consider that he got Ryan Taylor into the end zone. Taylor was a 7th round pick out of North Carolina, where he only started at tight end after two other guys ahead of him got hurt. Taylor only had 12 catches before the final three games of his college career and was never expected to be more than a special teams guy, if he ever made it past a practice squad. He’s only playing for the Packers because Andrew Quarless suffered a career-threatening knee injury last week. No matter to Rodgers, who has now seen 16 of his teammates score this year. 2. In the Arizona/San Francisco game, the Cardinals challenged the prior play just as the Niners were snapping the ball on a beautifully executed fake field goal. But the replay equipment malfunctioned so the play stood as called, a reception by the Niners. After the ridiculous delay, David Akers missed the field goal, perhaps a result of him getting absolutely blasted on the fake. The very next play, John Skelton hit Early Doucet for a long touchdown that gave the Cardinals a 7-6 lead when they probably should have been down 13-0. 3. Don’t look now but the Cardinals have won 5 of their last 6, notching impressive wins over Dallas and San Francisco the last two weeks. Their defense has been very good, but what makes it truly curious is that much of the success has come courtesy of backup QB John Skelton. Starter Kevin Kolb has been injured much of the time, leaving this game after just one pass. Skelton was clearly better than counterpart Alex Smith today. And I’m still not buying the Niners; I have a sinking feeling they peaked early and cannot sustain all that early success. 4. Detroit beat Minnesota but it was not pretty. The penalties continued to plague the Lions, and they nearly surrendered a 21-0 lead to a backup QB. Thank goodness the Vikings stuck with Christian Ponder as long as they did, because if Joe Webb had played the full game at QB for Minnesota they would have won beat Detroit by two touchdowns. Still, the Lions are now back in control of their own playoff destiny and I’ll happily take that. 5. Washington scared New England a lot more than they should have. I blame the confusing FedEx Field setup. They played the Army/Navy game there on Saturday and the end zones still featured those words instead of the usual Ethnic Slurs colorations. That didn’t stop Rob Gronkowski from scoring two more times, giving him an NFL tight end record 15 touchdowns this year. It also featured two of the worst examples of the rampant overprotection of quarterbacks you will ever see, which should be no surprise coming from Jeff Triplette’s ongoing embarrassment of an officiating crew. $.09--College/Draft Quickies: -- USC tackle Matt Kalil created some buzz this week by strongly hinting he was returning to the Trojans next fall. While he did file the necessary paperwork to get evaluated by the NFL advisory committee, he also reportedly rebuffed a couple of agents and seemed overly willing to profess his dedication and commitment to Lane Kiffin when asked. Kalil is a top 10 lock, perhaps as high as #2 overall, should he come out. It will be interesting to see what decision he makes, as more top shelf prospects do seem more inclined to enjoy the college experience for an extra year lately. -- In that vein, Notre Dame LB Manti Teo declared he is going back to South Bend for another season. Some saw Teo as the top inside backer in the draft, but I applaud his decision to return to school. He can improve his ability to react quickly and not get caught over-pursuing plays, plus he also gets to enjoy another season as a demigod in a place where that really means something. -- One player whose stock is dropping like a rock is Oklahoma QB Landry Jones. Since losing top wideout Ryan Broyles, Jones has failed to throw a touchdown in three games and has looked both weak-armed and wild in doing so. His inability to manage even light pressure is alarming, and more than one scout I’ve talked to recently has expressed their disappointment with Jones. One regional scout that has dissected every game of Jones’ career told me he has a 4th round grade on Jones and it’s only that high because he did look better when given better talent around him. -- Speaking of Broyles, the record-setting wideout will not be able to work out before the draft after suffering a torn ACL late in the year. Before the injury the scouts I talked with had a 2nd or 3rd round grade on him, worried that he was a bit of a tweener as a wideout, not big enough to play outside and not shifty/fast enough to make a living in the slot. Now that they’ve seen how badly he was missed in the Sooners offense, one scout told me he has warmed to Broyles and wouldn’t be surprised to see him still go in the 50-65 overall range. That’s about where I’ve had him all along, so maybe the knee injury won’t hurt him so much. Provided he makes a full recovery by next fall, of course… -- I’ve been asked about Wisconsin RB Montee Ball more than any other player in this draft. I gave an extremely verbose breakdown on the RealGM NFL Draft message board, but here is the abridged version: the college touchdowns are nice but don’t mean much, his time in the 10-yard split and 40-yard dash are the difference between top 40 overall and top 100 overall. What frustrates me a little is that there is another back in this draft that is a near carbon copy of Ball, Temple’s own Bernard Pierce. They are almost the exact same size, run with a similar pad level and footwork, and both produces a freakish amount of touchdowns (Pierce had 25 in two fewer games than Ball). Ball has a little better burst through the hole and appears better at blitz pickup, but any honest tape evaluation will give scouts eerily similar breakdowns. It will be interesting to see where each is drafted and how much more hype Ball gets playing in the Big Ten than Pierce did playing in the MAC. I’ll say this though: if either played in the SEC, they would be appearing in every fly-by-night mock first round. $.10--Non-football random thoughts: -- I think the NBA denying the three-team trade involving Chris Paul, Pau Gasol, et al is a complete embarrassment. The league owns the Hornets, which were trying to deal Paul away before he leaves after the season via free agency. It wasn’t a “fair” trade, but fairness is relative when you are going to get nothing in return six months from now. Now the Hornets have agreed to deal Paul to the other Los Angeles team, the Clippers. They’re getting back just about the same level of compensation as the first deal. Where is the outrage? Where is Dan Gilbert firing off yet another immature, hastily composed manifesto railing against turning the rest of the league into the Washington Generals? Why is David Stern not fighting this deal, a move that appears to increase the New Orleans payroll as the league desperately trolls for anyone that has any interest in buying the money pit? -- Dwight Howard has demanded a trade out of Orlando, with a Paul-like list of major markets as his desired landing spots. I hope the Magic do find a deal, but not with the Nets, Knicks, or Lakers. Just as Paul is exiled to the perennial losing Clippers, it would serve Howard and the rest of the league’s megastars very well to send him to Milwaukee or Washington. It’s striking how quickly Orlando has plummeted from being a choice destination for stars to a place that Howard cannot wait to flee. -- The over/under on Joe Paterno’s remaining life span: 6 months. Already in treatment for lung cancer and suffering the indignity of being shamefully dethroned from the only thing he’s ever done in life, the 84-year old Paterno fell and broke his pelvis for the second time in the last year or so. I’ll respectfully take the under. -- Kudos to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for getting it right, for once. If ever a band was a first-ballot lock, it was Guns N Roses. The Rock Hall obliged, and the most significant rock band of the last 25 years goes in on the first attempt. It’s a pretty strong class, also featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beastie Boys, Small Faces/Faces, underrated Donovan, and someone called Laura Nyro. Four out of five ain’t bad, especially with the headliner like GNR. Now put Ozzy Osbourne, The Cure, and Iron Maiden in next year and I might actually end my boycott against attending the Hall! -- To quote my friend Marcus Qualls, “Good job Ryan Braun not getting caught juicing”. The National League MVP failed a test for PEDs, which calls into question his MVP status and the whole feel-good vibe around the Brewers strong season. Braun is appealing the positive test result, but if it stands he should be stripped of the MVP. -- Albert Pujols to the Angels?! Didn’t see that one coming. They’re grossly overpaying for past results from a player that is starting to show the signs of decline, but it’s hard to argue he doesn’t make them at least the co-favorite (with the Yankees) to win the AL for the next 2-3 years. They also signed Rangers ace CJ Wilson to be their #4 starter, making their own rotation absolutely filthy while gravely wounding their division rival. And Dan Gilbert thinks the NBA is unfair to lesser markets… -- Three years ago the thought of Lindsay Lohan posing for Playboy would have made me very excited. Now it’s like, why would I pay for that? Just go away already. -- My top 3 Christmas movies: 1. Christmas Vacation, 2. Bad Santa, 3. Polar Express. The worst? Fred Claus, which might be the worst movie ever not featuring Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell.