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Nobody wants to play the Ravens. Although the Tennessee Titans out gained the Ravens 391 yards to 211 yards, they lost the turnover battle three to zero, and thus lost the war. As expected, the game was a low scoring affair, and the score was the same as in their first meeting, with the exception that this time the Ravens had the lucky # 13 instead of the Titans. Chris Johnson got started the scoring for the Titans with an 8 yard run in the first quarter. The Ravens answered with a 48 yard pass from Joe Flacco to Derrick Mason. That is the way the score stayed until the fourth quarter when Matt Stover kicked a twenty one yard field goal to give the Ravens a 10-7 lead. On the Titans next drive, they appeared to be heading for a go-ahead score, but Alge Crumpler fumbled when he was hit by two Ravens and the Ravens recovered the ball at the one yard line. The Titans held the Ravens, and the Ravens had to punt from their own end zone. The Titans were able to drive down for the tying score. But the Ravens would not be denied. Joe Flacco led the Ravens down the field, and Matt Stover kicked a 43 yard field goal to give the Ravens the lead. The Titans could not get a first down on their final possession, and they turned the ball over with twelve seconds remaining. Flacco took a knee, and the final seconds ticked off of the Titans season. The sixth seeded Ravens will either go to Pittsburgh or San Diego for the AFC Championship Game.
The Boston Celtics are not only losing; they are losing big. Lebron James scored thirty eight points to lead the Cavaliers to a 98-83 victory over the Boston Celtics. The Celtics now have the third best record in the Eastern Conference, behind the Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic. All three teams have twenty nine wins, but the Cavaliers only have 6 losses while the Magic have 8 and the Celtics have 9. Earlier in the season, the Celtics looked unbeatable. In fact they were, winning a team-record nineteen straight. Either the law of averages or the other teams caught up with them, because they have looked average at best over the past several games. Kevin Garnett had a solid game with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Rajon Rondo contributed 13 assists, but it was not enough to overcome Lebron, who had seven rebounds and 6 assists to go with his thirty eight points.
The Dallas Cowboys seem to be on a mission of ridding themselves of their problems. First, it was by firing Special Teams Coach Bruce Read. Today, the Cowboys ended their failed experiment with Pacman Jones. Pacman brought far more problems to the team than he did production. He played average at best, and he was only able to play in nine games, missing four games due to a suspension and other games due to injury. Pacman's career is probably over, because no team will be willing to take a chance on him, despite his immense talent. Jerry Jones has a history of taking on troubled players, perhaps because he gets them at a discount, and he is always the shrewd businessman. Jerry Jones, however, has said he is going to change, and he is wasting no time. One of the changes that he is apparently going to make is to rid the team of distraction, and Pacman was definitely a distraction, even more than Terrell Owens, and that is difficult.
Donovan McNabb was 23 of 34 for 300 yards and a touchdown as the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Minnesota Vikings to advance in the playoffs to meet the Giants next week at the Meadowlands. The Eagles out gained the Vikings 350 yards to 301 yards.
The Eagles got the scoring off with two David Akers field goals of 43 and 51 yards. The Vikings took the lead on a forty yard touchdown run by Adrian Peterson. David Akers gave the Eagles the lead back with a 31 yard field goal. Asanti Samuel extended the lead to 16-7 with a 44 yard return of a Tarvaris Jackson interception. Adrian Peterson brought the Vikings to within two just prior to halftime with a three yard touchdown run. Brian Westbrook, who was contained on the run by the Vikings defense, gaining only thirty eight yards on 20 carries, caught a short pass from Donovan McNabb and turned it into a 71 yard touchdown run, which effectively sealed the win for the Eagles. David Akers kicked a forty five yard field goal with two minutes remaining to finish the scoring. Donovan McNabb has made tremendous strides since he was benched earlier in the year. The Eagles are a dangerous team, and they will give the Giants all that they can handle next week.
Darren Sproles ran 22 yards for a touchdown in overtime to give the Chargers a 23-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card Round. Darren Sproles went from goat to hero in this game. Late in the Third Quarter, Darren Sproles fumbled the ball into the end zone and it was recovered by the Colts, when it appeared that the Chargers were going in for the go-ahead touchdown. Darren Sproles gained 326 All-Purpose Yards after taking over the full-time running back duties from LaDainian Tomlinson when Tomlinson was unable to continue due to an injured groin after rushing the ball 5 times for 25 yards and a touchdown. The MVP of the League, Peyton Manning, finished the game 25/42 for 310 yards and one touchdown. Sportgreat's choice for MVP, Phillip Rivers, was 20/36 for 217 yards, zero touchdowns, and an interception. Peyton's numbers were better, but Sportgreat's MVP lives to play another day, thanks to Darren Sproles.
The real winner of the MVP Award was Peyton Manning, who won it for the third time, tying him with Brett Favre for most times winning the award. The MVP is not necessarily about stats; otherwise, Drew Brees would have won the award. But, they still have some significance, so here is Peyton Manning's Stats. He completed 371 passes out of 555 attempts for a 66.8 completion percentage. He threw for 4002 yards, 27 TDs, 12 interceptions, and a 95 passer rating. The Indianapolis Colts were 3-4 after losing to the Tennessee Titans 31-21, and their season looked to be in danger, but Manning brought them back to win the final nine games which was good enough to get them in the playoffs as a wild card. Manning actually won the award running away. He had thirty two votes, and his closest competitor had four. My choice for the award, Phillip Rivers, only received two votes. Coincidentally, the Colts play the Chargers tomorrow nigh. We will see who is most valuable .
SportGreat's choice for MVP for the 2008 NFL Season is Phillip Rivers. He finished the season with 34 touchdown passes, which tied for the NFL lead, and his Quarterback Rating was 105.5, which led the league. He also threw for 4009 yards and only threw 11 interceptions. His team, the San Diego Chargers were only 8-8, but they won the AFC West with an 8-8 record, and they won their final four games, including the must win on the last game of the season against the Broncos. The Chargers also scored the most points in the AFC with 439. The Chargers were deemed a disappointment halfway through the season, because they had been in the championship game the previous year, losing to the Patriots. Rivers played with a torn ligament in his knee in that game. The Chargers were 4-8 after twelve games of the season, and it appeared that their playoff hopes were doomed, but Rivers and the Chargers kept fighting, and they found a way to win the last four games of the season. Many of their losses were by only a few points. The total point total of their eight losses was only thirty four points, with their largest margin of defeat being nine points against Buffalo. There are many worthy players for MVP. Many people are throwing out Chad Pennington, and he certainly led a tremendous turnaround in Miami, after being released by the Jets to make room for Brett Favre. Drew Brees had a phenomenal year, falling fifteen yards short of Dan Marino's single season passing yardage record. But taking all things in to consideration, SportGreat chooses Phillip Rivers as MVP of the NFL. Now let's see if Sportgreat's MVP can get it done in the playoffs, and prove that he was the correct choice.
Drew Brees is SportGreats Offensive Player of the Year. He passed for 5069 yards, which was second best all time, falling 15 yards short of Dan Marino's record. He also threw 34 touchdown passes, which tied him with Phillip Rivers for the league lead, and he threw 17 interceptions. He finished with a 96.2 quarterback rating. Unfortunately, Drew's team, the New Orleans Saints, finished with an 8-8 record, and they were out of the playoffs. In terms of offensive production, however, Drew Brees was top dog in SportGreats book. Stay tuned for more awards in future posts, including SportGreats choice for Most Valuable Player.
SportGreats Defensive Player of the Year for the 2008 NFL Season is Demarcus Ware. DeMarcus had an NFL leading 20 sacks. He also had 84 tackles, 69 of which were solo. He forced six fumbles and recovered one. He was a terror to opposing offenses throughout the year, and he recorded a sack in every game, except against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles. Demarcus received tough competiton from one individual, James Harrison of the Pittsburg Steelers, who may receive the nod over Demarcus from the "Award Givers." Harrison had 101 tackles, 67 of which were solo. He had 16 sacks, seven forced fumbles and one interception. Ware and Harrison are two great football players. I chose Ware over Harrison using the following simple formula. I took their solo tackles, assists are too vague and in many cases not significant. I then added their sacks, forced fumbles, and interceptions. Using this formula, Ware's number was 69 20 6 0=95. Harrison's number was 67 16 7 1=91, so by a slim margin of four points, Demarcus Ware is SportGreats Defensive Player of the Year. It may be not be the best way to make a choice, but unlike most sport authorities who deliver the "Real" awards, I at least give you my logic for making my decision.
With the NFL Regular Season ending on Sunday, it is time to start passing out the awards. We will start with rookie of the year, and it was not an easy choice, because several rookies had good seasons, and two rookie quarterbacks in particular, Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan, had outstanding years and led their teams to 11-5 records and berths in the playoffs. The winner out of these two, however, is Matt Ryan. He gets the nod because he had a slightly better statistical year, and he was the leader of a team that turned 180 degrees from where they were headed a year ago. Matt Ryan completed 265 of his 344 passes for 3440 yards, and he threw 16 TD passes and only 11 interceptions. He also finished with an 87.7 rating. Joe Flacco threw for 2961 yards, 14 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and he had a 80.3 Quarterback Rating. Honorable Mentions go to running backs Steve Slaton of the Houston Texans, who gained 1282 yards to lead all rookies, and who averaged 4.8 yards per rush. Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans gained 1228 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry in helping lead the Titans to the #1 seed in the AFC.
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