Halftime

The NFL season is half way through. As noted in previous posts, the sports scene is in a bit of a lull at the moment. The baseball hot stove will be heating up soon, and then we will be coming down the stretch of the NFL season after that. For now though, I am going to look at how the NFL stacks up at the midway point of the season. I am going to give my three "contenders" of each league to make the Super Bowl.

AFC

1. Indianapolis Colts: The only undefeated team left in the NFL. They are once again the class of the League in the regular season. Their offense seems to score at will, and their defense forces turnovers. They do not look as good as they did last year at this point, but the results are still the same. Their lack of running the ball and stopping the run is a worry though. In close playoff games you need to be able to stop the run to get the ball back and run the ball to keep the ball away from the opponent. They still have time to improve on that though. The quarterback looks as good as ever and the offense is rolling. With homefield advantage through out the AFC playoffs they have to be the hands down favorite to reach the Super Bowl at this point.

2. New England Patriots: This team is exhibit A in a philosophy that I believe in strongly. If your team has a strong coach/QB combo, they will always have a good chance to win in the playoffs. Bill Belicheck is the best head coach in the NFL today and Tom Brady is the most clutch. Bellicheck is a master at defensive schemes and always has his teams prepared. This team has a very good defense from top to bottom. The offense seems to be getting better as the season goes along. The running game is strong and Brady seems to be getting more and more comfortable with his receivers. The bottom line though is that Belicheck and Brady are the key to their fortunes.

3. Baltimore Ravens: This last one is tough. The other two choices are the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers. All three teams have very good defenses and veteran head coaches. Of the three, the Chargers have the best offense, the Broncos have the best coach, but the Ravens are the surest thing. Much of my decision comes down to the fact that I would rather have Brian Billick and Steve McNair than either of the other two coach/QB combos. First off I can not trust Marty Schottenheimer. Secondly, I can not trust Jake Plummer. When you consider those two things, the choice of the Ravens is clear. They have a veteran defense that can win a game for you, and a QB that is as good as they come at driving a team down the field in the fourth quarter. McNair is one of the greatest QBs of all time at looking bad an entire game and then turning into Superman with the game on the line.

The other Playoff teams in the AFC will be the Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers and the Cincinnati Bengals. Jacksonville will be the best team on the outside looking in.

NFC

1. Chicago Bears: This team has an amazing defense. They have playmakers on every level of their defense. It is very tough to run against them and they force turnovers. Their offense is streaky but productive. The QB can be turnover prone, but he can also have huge games. They can run the ball and have wideouts that can make big plays. This team learned a lot in last years playoffs and seems ready to make a big playoff run. My biggest worry is Rex Grossman. He needs to control the game and not force passes against good defenses. If he can play under control this team is hard to beat.

2. New York Giants: This is a veteran club with good leaders on both sides of the ball. Tiki Barder and Michael Strahan have been through many playoff battles and heartbreak. They are guys younger players can look to. Coughlin is a very good coach, who gets overshadowed by his surely personality and overzealous rules. Eli Manning has had a very good year so far, and has shown a habit for coming up big in the clutch. Over the years though the Giants defense has been known to not get big stops when it counts. If the defense can play aggressive and hold up in the fourth quarter, the offense has too many weapons not to be a leading contender to make it to the Super Bowl.

3. Seattle Seahawks: This is a team that has been ravaged by injuries in the first half of the year. Their QB and star RB have missed significant time. They still are leading their division and in decent shape for the playoffs though. They have a lot of guys that was on last years NFC Championship club and a great head coach. Their bigtime players will get healthy in the second half, and goin into the playoffs they will be a team that will be as dangerous as anyone. They have the best Head Coach/QB/RB combo possibly in all of football.

The other NFC playoff teams will be the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, and the Dallas Cowboys.

Random ish

• I think that the MVP is going to come down to Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Two other canidates are Ladanian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson. Last week the Chargers were playing poorly in the first half then they leaned on LDT who exploded in the second half. LJ has played very well for the Chiefs who have won three games in a row without their starting QB.
• Can things get any worse for the U?? By that I mean Miami, not Union....
• As promised, props to "The Chad is Back" for their current seven game winning streak in "The League" fantasy football. You are the hottest team in fantasy sports right now. You better hope that the curse of the #1 seed does not hit you next though....
• New thoughts on the Mets. I was not aware that Jake Peavy may be on the block for less than a premium player, but according to this article he may be....http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/sports/baseball/08chass.html?ref=sports ...In my perfect world now, the Mets sign Matsucki (too lazy to look up his spelling) and trade Oliver Perez (who the Padres still love), Lastings Milledge, and Brian Bannister for Peavy. This would give the Mets a 1-2-3 of Peavy, Glavine and Matsucki, with a chance of Pedro coming back in the second half. In addition they would still have Humber and Pelfrey (top 2 pitching prospects). There are a bunch of second base options, but the biggest obstacle right now appears to be finding a power hitting corner outfielder who is reasonably priced..
• Reading the book Angel of Darkness by Calib Carr at the moment. Very good read if anyone is interested. I read another book of his as well (The Alienist) and this one is similar. I recommend both. They each have to do with a group that is investigating a crime. It is not really a detective novel, but it has to do with the criminals' pattern of behavior and mind. A great part of these books though is that they are both set in 19th Century New York City. The descriptions of it are great. I walk the city streets every day, but NYC is not a place like many European cities that you feel you are walking in history. Reading this book provides a nice perspective on how historic New York really is.
• http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2653700 ...Good to see my boy Reyes can hit in Japan but not in game 7 of the NLCS.....Am I still bitter? Just a little....But I still love Jose (Jose Jose Jose...Jose...JOSE)
• I am getting really lazy about proof reading just to let you all know...

STKAFI