Monday, January 4, 2010

Mondays Minings

Last day of the regular season and a few notes to lead into the playoffs.

Two running backs have arrived on the scene in recent weeks but I think their prospects are very different. Jerome Harrison most likely fades into fantasy mediocrity next year. Even if he is the starter, which is a big if, he is on a bad team in a division with three top 5 run defenses. On the other hand, Jamaal Charles looks legitimately impressive and is in a favorable division. Moreover, it looks like Haley embraces the feature back philosophy. I think Charles bumps up into that second tier, that 7-12ish group. Over the offseason, I'll be monitoring the moves and events that affect those rankings.

Why does Ed Hochuli have it in for the Titans? After essentially eliminating them from the playoffs with a nocall on a solid 2.5 seconds delay of game by the Ravens on their gamewinning drive, he takes back CJ2K's 62 yard touch down run to move into second all time with the worst holding call since the 05 superbowl.

Elsewhere in the big 6, MJD and Peterson looked good recently, recovering from late season slumps to turn in some impressive games for the fantasy playoffs. 2-6 (SJAX, Rice, Gore, MJD, Peterson) is looking closer than ever. After CJ2K, I'd just as soon pick 6th as 2nd at the moment.

End of Season Rankings(in tiers) going by how they are now, not all season
1. Colts
2. Chargers--big gap in the AFC, if one of the top 2 loses, its a big upset
3. Cowboys

4. Saints
5. Packers
6. Vikings
7. Eagles--the top NFC teams are all pretty close. I could see any of them winning it.

8. Texans
9. Patriots--they tried to beat the Texans, they failed, when it came down to it, they had so little confidence in their offense, they pulled them, scared to fail
10. Cardinals
11. Titans-- Finished 8-2
12. Steelers
13. Ravens
14. Falcons
15. Dolphins
16. Jets
17. 49ers

The Bengals are missing from this list, as the driver of the Bengals bandwagon in the preseason, I will say that they aren't the team they were at midseason. Injuries have destroyed the defensive line and everything has followed from that. They will be back next year.