Colts Pats Colts Pats Colts Pats Brady Brady Brady Manning Manning Manning Colts Pats Colts Pats Colts Pats Playoffs Playoffs Undefeated Colts Pats Bill Belichick Colts Pats Tony Dungy Colts Pats Moss Colts Pats Marvin Colts Pats Super Bowl Colts Pats Spygate Colts Pats Home Field Advantage Colts Pats Colts Pats Colts Pats.
Everything else.
Get used to it. With the Red Sox' quick dispatching of the Rockies and the long, slow train to the NBA Finals just barely turning its wheels, Colts/Pats is the hype machine perfect storm.
And because that's all everybody else is writing about, I'm going to go ahead and push up the mid-season recap and exclude everybody from the Pats and Colts. There are 30 other teams in the league, and, for these next 1,000 words or so, it's all about them.
The bests and mosts, worsts, and leasts:
Five Best Story Lines:
Derek Anderson, Braylon Edwards, and the resurgent Cleveland Browns
The rejuvenation of Brett Favre (breaking Dan Marino's TD record and the Packers are 6-1)
The developing comeback of the Saints from 0-4 to NFC South champs
The resilience of the Buffalo Bills
Return of the Living Dead (Kurt Warner, Daunte Culpepper, Vinny Testaverde)
Five Worst Story Lines:
Rex Grossman vs. Brian Griese
Travis Henry (nine kids by nine women and a possible year-long drug suspension)
Year one of the Bobby Petrino/post-Michael Vick era in Atlanta
The pre-mature death drums on Norv Turner (I repent)
Spygate (Can't leave it out; It's the defining story of the year)
Five Most Pleasant Surprises: Lions, Packers, Titans, Giants, Chiefs (especially on defense on those last two)
Five Biggest Disappointments: Bears, Bengals, Broncos, Rams, Dolphins (I knew those last two would stink, but damn)
Top five MVP candidates not named Tom Brady or Peyton Manning:
Jared Allen, DE, Kansas City (8 sacks in 5 games; completely transformed this Chiefs defense after a two-game suspension to begin the season)
Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota (740 yards rushing with a 5.8 average and 5 TD; 11 catches for 187 yards and a TD)
Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh (15 TD and 6 INT, 65% completion; Gets the nod over Tony Romo because he didn't throw 18 interceptions against the Bills)
LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, San Diego (527 yards rushing with a 4.3 average and 6 TD; 25 catches for 210 yards and a TD; 1 pass TD)
T.J. Houshmandzadeh (58 receptions for 629 yards and 9 TD)
Best Coaching Job: Romeo Crennel, Cleveland
Worst Coaching Job: Eric Mangini, NY Jets
Best Rookies (Offense): Peterson; Dwayne Bowe, WR, Kansas City; Marshawn Lynch, RB, Buffalo; Joe Thomas, LT, Cleveland; Joe Staley, RT, San Francisco; Selvin Young, RB, Denver, James Jones, WR, Green Bay
Best Rookies (Defense): Patrick Willis, LB, San Francisco; Jon Beason, LB, Carolina; Eric Wright, CB, Cleveland; LaRon Landy, S, Washington; Eric Weddle, S, San Diego; Amobi Okoye, DT, Houston
Best Rookies (Special Teams): Nick Folk, K, Dallas; Mason Crosby, K, Green Bay; Daniel Sepulveda, P, Pittsburgh; Yamon Figurs, KR, Baltimore; Jacoby Jones, PR, Houston
(If anybody knows a place to find special teams tackles, I'd love to see it.)
Most Productive Free-Agent Signings: Donnie Edwards, LB, Kansas City; Napoleon Harris, LB, Kansas City; London Fletcher, LB, Washington; Sean Mahan, C, Pittsburgh; Jeff Garcia, QB, Tampa Bay; Patrick Kerney, DE, Seattle; Shaun McDonald, WR, Detroit; Kevin Curtis, WR, Philadelphia (Maybe the Rams should have kept one of those last two.)
Least Productive Free-Agent Signings: Joey Porter, LB, Miami; Ashley Lelie, WR, San Francisco; Adam Archuleta, S, Chicago; Drew Bennett, WR, St. Louis; Jason David, CB, New Orleans; David Carr, QB, Carolina; Ahman Green, RB, Houston; Joey Harrington, QB, Atlanta
Coaches most in danger of being fired before the end of the season: Scott Linehan, St. Louis (I don't think it's going to happen, but this is the worst Rams team since they moved to St. Louis, including the Tony Banks years. That's going to be hard to survive.); Brian Billick, Baltimore (After last year's warning from the owner and the messy Jim Fossil divorce, a late-season tank might be the final straw.)
Five most damaging injuries: Andre Johnson, WR, Houston; Orlando Pace, LT, St. Louis; Jake Delhomme, QB, Carolina; Jonathan Ogden, LT, Baltimore; Mike Brown, S, Chicago
And because this is a column that recaps the previous Sunday, a brief recap of the ugliness that was Week 8:
Detroit 16, Chicago 7: Maybe the Bears should give that Grossman kid a chance.
Indianapolis 31, Carolina 7: The Panthers are 0-3 at home, 4-0 on the road. Weird.
Jacksonville 24, Tampa Bay 23: The Bucs have out-gained the Jags and Lions by a combined 350 yards over the past two weeks and lost both games.
New Orleans 31, San Francisco 10: In a world without Pats/Colts, Drew Brees' 31-of-39 for 336 yards and 4 TD is the headline of the weekend.
New England 52, Washington 7: It's like they got bored just throwing to Randy Moss all the time, so now they're going to everybody else. I can't wait to see how that Pats offense matches up against that Colts Tampa 2 with Bob Sanders the x-factor all over the field.
(Sorry. Won't happen again.)
San Diego 35, Houston 10: If I told you Team A had a 130-yard and 13-minute time of possession advantage over Team B, who would you think won the game?
(The Chargers were Team B.)
Buffalo 13, NY Jets 3: Chad Pennington finally lost his job. Next up, though probably not until after the season, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. His play-calling stinks.
Tennessee 13, Oakland 9: The Titans won an NFL game with six completed passes. What is this? 1951?
(Philip Rivers only completed 7 for San Diego, Quinn Gray 7 for Jacksonville, and Eli Manning 8 for the Giants. Like Young, all three won the game.)
NY Giants 13, Miami 10: I am shocked a game in England would be rain-soaked, soggy mess. Absolutely shocked.
Cleveland 27, St. Louis 20: On the road, the Browns committed 14 penalties for more than 100 yards and allowed nearly 400 yards to the opposing offense. And they won. Are there any rules of winning that apply anymore?
Philadelphia 23, Minnesota 16: If your game plan involves the words "Brooks Bollinger," you are going to lose.
Pittsburgh 24, Cincinnati 13: The Steelers should have won by more. They feel like a 12-win team who goes one-and-done in the playoffs.
Green Bay 19, Denver 13: First play of overtime, Brett Favre throws the bomb. Classic.
Seth Doria is a writer based out of St. Louis. For the only daily column that mixes sports, politics, and entertainment news in one, visit The Left Calf.
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