HarleyQuinn

Take these stats for whatever they're worth. Michael Vick in his first 5 Seasons - 2 Playoff Appearances. - 1 Divisional Round Game and 1 NFC Championship Game. John Elway in his first 5 Seasons - 4 Playoff Appearances. - 1 Wildcard Game, 1 Divisional Round Game, and 2 Super Bowl Appearances. Brett Favre in his first 5 Seasons - 3 Playoff Appearances. - 2 Divisional Round Games and 1 NFC Championship Game.

I-AA Playoffs Announced 1st Round Games Coastal Carolina at No. 1 Appalachian State Furman at Montana State James Madison at No. 4 Youngstown State Illinois State at Eastern Illinois McNeese State at No. 2 Montana UT-Martin at Southern Illinois Lafayette at No. 3 Massachusetts New Hampshire at Hampton The NCAA Division I Football Championship, formerly known as the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship, begins with first round games at campus sites on Saturday. The quarterfinals will be played at campus sites on Dec. 2, with the semifinals set for Dec. 8 and Dec. 9. The national championship game will be played on Dec. 15 at 8 p.m. at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, TN.

Does Vick just rifle every throw? That TD pass to Jenkins was a freakin' bullet. I'm surprised the Falcons WRs aren't showing up with sore hands every week.

Lost this week... damn

Just curious, are there any "bowl" games that have been all but confirmed? Like is the Hawaii bowl settled or the Continental Tire bowl or other bowls?

The automatic bids have all pretty much been decided for the I-AA playoffs. Here are the teams that should be featured along with a few key results from this week. #2 Montana b. #15 Montana State 13-7. #7 James Madison b. #24 Towson 38-3. #3 Massachusetts b. Hofstra 22-16. #12 Tennessee-Martin b. Murray State 42-14. #17 Eastern Illinois b. Jacksonville State 28-24. Lafayette b. Lehigh 49-27. Texas State b. Sam Houston State 28-21. Automatic Bids decided Atlantic 10: Massachusetts (unless James Madison's win over Towson pushes them over the edge.) Big Sky: Montana Gateway: Youngstown State (Northern Iowa is leading Illinois State 35-20 with 13:00 left in the 4th.) MEAC: Hampton (Delaware State got upset by Howard) Ohio Valley: Tennessee-Martin (They beat Eastern Illinois 15-9 in their matchup.) Patriot League: Lafayette after beating Lehigh convincingly. Southern: Appalachian State. Southland: McNeese State (Sam Houston State lost. With a win or loss, McNeese State takes this via winning game matchup if they lose anyway.)

Here are some videos of players who will be in the NFL Draft to tide you gazers over. Feel free to provide more videos if you can find them. A * denotes the player is a Junior. Quarterbacks QB Drew Stanton (Michigan State) QB Chris Leak (Florida) QB Kevin Kolb 25 Yard Pass vs. SMU (Houston) QB John David Booty* (USC) QB Tyler Palko 55 Yard TD Pass vs. Cincinnati (Pittsburgh) QB Tyler Palko 37 Yard Pass vs. Cincinnati (Pittsburgh) QB Tyler Palko 51 Yard TD Pass vs. Michigan State (Pittsburgh) QB John Beck TD vs. Utah (BYU) QB Isaiah Stanback 70 Yard TD vs. Arizona (Washington) Running Backs RB Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma)* RB Antonio Pittman (Ohio State)* RB Selvin Young Run vs. Oklahoma (Texas) RB Selvin Young TD Run vs. Oklahoma (Texas) RB Selvin Young Run vs. Rice (Texas) RB Selvin Young Run vs. Ohio State (Texas) RB Selvin Young Run vs. Colorado (Texas) Wide Receivers WR Jason Hill (Washington) WR Paul Williams (Fresno State) WR Ted Ginn Jr. (Ohio State)* WR Limas Sweed TD vs. Oklahoma (Texas)* WR Limas Sweed Catch vs. Colorado (Texas) WR Limas Sweed Catch vs. Texas A&M (Texas) WR Limas Sweed Catch vs. Baylor (Texas) WR Limas Sweed TD Catch vs. Colorado (Texas) WR Johnnie Lee Higgins 85 Yard TD Punt Return vs. UAB (UTEP) WR Marcus Monk TD Catch vs. South Carolina (Arkansas)* WR Marcus Monk TD Catch vs. Auburn (Arkansas)* Tight Ends Offensive Line Defensive Line DE Mkristo Bruce (Washington State) Linebackers Defensive Backs FS LaRon Landry (LSU) CB Leon Hall (Michigan)

You need a team from Sweden just for the babes, Kinetic.

Philadelphia - 23 Baltimore (4.5) Buffalo N.Y. Jets New Orleans (3.5) (1.5) Indianapolis Miami (3.5) Green Bay Oakland (3.5) Pittsburgh St. Louis Tennessee Tampa Bay (3.5) Detroit (6.5) Seattle San Diego N.Y. Giants

Whee... here's my attempt. Trade WR Jerry Porter to the Detroit Lions for G Rex Tucker. Trade QB Aaron Brooks to the Buffalo Bills for a 4th round draft pick. Draft Picks by Round 1st: Offensive Tackle 2nd: Offensive Guard 3rd: Running Back 4th: Offensive Tackle 4th: Center 5th: Defensive Tackle 6th: Defensive End 7th: Tight End They bolster their offensive line with G Rex Tucker and 4 rookies along with a much needed TE. For Free Agency - Sign QB Shaun King. Capable when he was a starter and can be the #3 QB for the Raiders. - Sign TE Daniel Graham. Considered a top notch blocker in the NFL and can make catches at times as well. Will definitely help on the offensive line. - Sign WR Shaun McDonald. Will be a solid #4 WR for the Raiders and can slide into the #3 role as well. - Sign OG Eric Steinbach. Versatile player who's played at G, T, and C and can be revolved on the line if needed. Bolsters and adds depth. - Sign CB Nick Harper. Willing tackler and able to help stop the run game. Adds depth for the secondary and can be a ballhawk at times. - Sign DE Justin Smith. Very solid sack artist with the Bengals and the Raiders could definitely use the pass rush skills. - Sign SS Tony Parrish and shift Schweigert to backup for depth. Parrish has shown he can tackle and be a ballhawk in the same season (2002 - 2004). My team would look like this... Note: I don't know who on the Raiders would be RFA or UFA with the exception of Sands. - QB: Andrew Walter, Marques Tuiasosopo, and Shaun King. - RB: LaMont Jordan, Reshard Lee, Anthony Thomas (free agency. capable power running back, could be a solid depth pickup) and 1 Rookie. Justin Fargas and DeJuan Green would both be cut. - FB: Patrick Pass (free agent signing, cheap and decent safety valve/blocker). - WR: Randy Moss, Ronald Curry, Alvis Whitted, Shaun McDonald, and Johnnie Morant. - TE: Daniel Graham, Courtney Anderson. Randal Williams and James Adkisson would both be cut. - OT: Robert Gallery, Langston Walker, Chad Slaughter and 2 Rookies. - OG: Eric Steinbach, Rex Tucker, Barry Sims, and 1 Rookie. - C: Jake Grove and 1 Rookie. - DE: Justin Smith, Lance Johnstone, Tyler Brayton, and Bryant McNeal. - DT: Tommy Kelly, Warren Sapp, and 1 Rookie. Terdell Sands gets lost to free agency. - LB: Darnell Bing, Thomas Howard, Grant Irons, Kirk Morrison, and Robert Thomas. - CB: Nick Harper, Fabian Washington, Chris Carr, and Carlos Francis (move from WR to CB). - S: Tony Parrish, Derrick Gibson, Michael Huff, and Stuart Schweigert. That squad has 46 players on it, allowing for 7 more players to be added at sparse positions (CB, S, FB, and TE probably). Also, fire Art Shell. Hire Bronco Mendenhall (BYU Head Coach) as the head coach and let him mold his own staff together.

Big Matchups in the I-AA Game of the Week: #15 Montana State @ #2 Montana to decide who gets the automatic berth in the Big Sky. Other Big Games... *** denotes Playoff Implication Game #10 New Hampshire @ #22 Maine #7 James Madison @ #24 Towson*** (Will Towson keep the streak of low end 20's getting slaughtered?) #6 Illinois State @ #20 Northern Iowa*** #19 South Dakota State @ #4 North Dakota State Other Playoff Implication Games Hofstra @ #3 Massachusetts #23 Delaware State @ Howard [#12 Tennessee-Martin @ Murray State Tennessee State @ Eastern Kentucky Jacksonville @ #17 Eastern Illinois]** All play in same conference. Lehigh @ Lafeyette [Texas State @ Sam Houston State Nicholls State @ McNeese State]** All play in same conference.

Hey, MIB. I found the numbers for average (I assume) TOP per game. San Diego Chargers lead with 32:50 in 9 games. Indianapolis Colts are at 29:52 in 9 games. Philadelphia Eagles are the worst time at 27:07 in 9 games. Also you're pretty much dead on with the sucky defense is the reason the Colts D sucks. All my quick perusing of stats backed it up. It is interesting that the Colts are 2nd to the Steelers in yards per play though on offense.

Isn't some of the low TOP on offense accountable to the ability of Peyton and the Colts O to score in quick drives? Against the Bills their scoring drives were; 5:13 in 9 plays, 6:49 in 13 plays, 4:30 in 9 plays. Against the Patriots their scoring drives were; 4:43 in 9 plays, 4:29 in 8 plays, 2:28 in 6 plays, 2:35 in 8 plays, and 2:47 in 8 plays. Against the Broncos their scoring drives were; 8:08 in 14 plays, 6:06 in 11 plays, 1:54 in 6 plays, 1:22 in 3 plays, 3:23 in 8 plays, 3:19 in 7 plays, and 1:47 in 8 plays. Just the past three games, the Colts have had 11 drives that lasted less than 5:00 minutes in length (73% of their scoring drives). This will no doubt cause their own defense to suffer more because it leaves them on the field longer and gives them less time to rest between breaks. If anything, I'd argue that a better run D would make Peyton's numbers even more gaudy than they already are.

If Colston boosted his stats during garbage time, one can argue that Brees did so too, thus nullifying him for any MVP talk...

My argument... WR Marques Colston in New Orleans. He leads the league in receiving yards and is tied for the lead in TDs as a rookie out of a I-AA college that not many people had ever heard of. Even I wasn't as aware of him as I should've been (I'd heard of him but didn't think he'd be the stud he's been). Among players with 40+ catches, he's tied for 3rd with Reggie Wayne in YPC. He's been the biggest reason for the Saints success and deserves his props.

Naiwf brought up Roethlisberger's struggles... He's had 7 games of 30+ attempts in his career. He has a TD to INT ratio of 7:18. Roeth has gone 1 - 6 in those games. He's also seen a dip in YPA from 8.9 the past two seasons to 7.8 for the 2006 season. In three games this season, he's thrown 37+ times. Cincinnati they lost 28-20, Oakland they lost 20-13, and Denver they lost 31-20. The games where he's been asked to control and throw less than 30 times... Kansas City: 16/19 for 238 yards, 2 TD, and 0 INT. Steelers won 45-7. Atlanta: 16/22 for 238 yards, 3 TD, and 0 INT. Steelers lost 41-38. New Orleans: 17/28 for 264 yards, 3 TD, and 0 INT. Steelers won 38-31. The Steelers defense also has allowed 28+ points in four games this season, two of which (Atlanta and New Orleans) Roethlisberger did not throw an INT. Kind of obvious to state but the Steelers really are predicated on the success of Willie Parker and the running game. In the above three games Parker ran for 133 yards, 109 yards, and 213 yards. If the Steelers want to win, they clearly need to ride Parker and their defense needs to come up bigger. The more pressure Roethlisberger has on his shoulders (and any QB really) to win a game on their arm, the greater they'll lose. I could see Pittsburgh going 4-3 to wrap up the season but it will be a tough stretch overall, especially playing Baltimore twice. I could see wins against Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, and both games vs. Cleveland.

Good teams win with a strong run game, great defense, and solid QB play regardless if the QB can throw for 300+ yards or 150+ yards. Why limit the QBs who aren't relied upon to throw 40 times for 300 yards a game? QBs usually play it safe during the playoffs anyway. Were these QBs just along for the ride until the SB came around? Phil Simms in 1986: 136 yards and 90 yards in the two prior games. Jeff Hostetler in 1990: 112 yards and 176 yards in the two prior games. Jim McMahon in 1985: 216 yards and 164 yards in the two prior games. Tom Brady in 2004: 144 yards and 207 yards in the two prior games. Brett Favre in 1996: 190 yards and 222 yards in the two prior games. John Elway in 1997: 170 yards and 210 yards in the two prior games. John Elway in 1998: 182 yards and 173 yards in the two prior games. Steve Young in 1994: 143 yards and 155 yards in the two prior games.

Only two QBs, Ben Roethlisberger (183) and Trent Dilfer (167) averaged less than 190 YPG the season they made the Super Bowl. In ten Super Bowls from 1996 - 2005, most Super Bowl QBs averaged 200+ yards per game with exceptions being made for Jake Delhomme in 2003 (198) and Tom Brady in 2001 (190). 190 YPG still equates to 3,040 yards over a 16 game season. Roethlisberger had five 200+ yard games and one 300+ yard game during the 2005 season. While his attempts were low, he still threw for 275 yards and 2 TD against the Broncos in the AFC Championship game. Trent Dilfer had three 200+ yard games while playing only the 2nd half of the 2000 season (9 games. Tony Banks was the initial starter). Note: Tony Banks averaged 34 attempts per game from Week 1 through Week 8. Dilfer averaged 25 attempts per game. As much blame goes to Billick and the coaching staff as it does to Dilfer and the media for "blowing mediocre QBs" like Dilfer. As far as Dilfer having "nothing" to do with the team's run at the SB, that's just a dumb argument. The Ravens were 5-4 entering week nine. When Dilfer became the starting QB, the Ravens went 7-0 and 4-0 in the playoffs (they were a Wildcard team, which people forget) including a SB victory. In the 2000 playoffs, Dilfer threw for 590 yards, 3 TD, and 1 INT. In the playoffs, teams can't afford mistakes and QBs are key in that regard. If you have a great running game and defense, why throw the ball 35 times and risk more interceptions/fumbles/sacks?

Move to 5-3-1 in the NFC East.

Here are the potential Automatic Bids for the Playoffs. Lots of close races. Leagues to watch = Big Sky, Ohio Valley, Patriot, and Southland. Atlantic 10: Massachusetts (7-0 conference), James Madison (6-1 conference), or Maine (5-2 conference, outside shot looking in). All three teams have conference games and it's really down to Massachusetts and James Madison. JM plays a tougher opponent in Towson while Massachusetts plays 1-6 Hofstra. Massachusetts should take the automatic bid. Big Sky: Montana (7-0 conference), Montana State (6-1 conference), or Portland State (6-2 conference, outside shot looking in). Montana and Montana State square off in conference play with the winner of that game likely deciding who gets the automatic bid. Gateway: Youngstown State (6-1 conference) or Illinois State (5-1 conference). Illinois State with a win could tie Youngstown State at 6-1. Youngstown State won their game during the season 27-13 so Youngstown State should take the bid here. MEAC: Hampton (7-1 conference) or Delaware State (6-1 conference). Delaware State with a win could tie Hampton at 7-1. Hampton beat Delaware State 29-14 in their season matchup so Hampton will likely take the bid here. Ohio Valley: Eastern Illinois (6-1 conference), Tennessee-Martin (5-1 conference), Tennessee State (5-1 conference). All three teams have one conference game left. If Eastern Illinois loses, that gives Tennessee-Martin a chance to take the bid. If both EI and TM lose, Tennessee State has an outside chance at grabbing the bid. Patriot League: Lehigh (5-0 conference) or Lafeyette (4-1 conference). Lehigh and Lafeyette play each other in a huge game. If Lafeyette wins, that could give them the automatic bid. Southern: Appalachian State (7-0 conference) has locked up the automatic bid. Southland: Sam Houston State (4-1 conference) or McNeese State (4-1 conference). Both teams are playing conference opponents who are 2-3 in conference play. If one team wins and the other loses, the winner likely clinches the automatic bid. If both teams win or both teams lose, McNeese State will likely take the bid because they beat SHS 31-18 during the season.

*****Big News - Villanova upsets #4 James Madison 21-20 with a TD with 1:21 left in the game. - Eastern Kentucky upsets #8 Tennessee-Martin 31-28 with a 39 yard FG with 1 second left. *****Here are your I-AA stars of the day! Done by position... RB Scott Phaydavong (Drake): 27 carries, 216 yards. RB Willie Cashmore (Drake): 19 carries, 101 yards, and 5 TD. RB Justise Hairston (Central Connecticut State): 31 carries for 217 yards and 3 TD. RB Mike McLeod (Yale): 30 carries for 181 yards and 4 TD. RB Todd Harris (St. Francis, PA): 28 carries, 283 yards, and 2 TD. RB Chris Fletcher (Austin Peay): 27 carries, 197 yards, and 3 TD. QB Ricky Santos (New Hampshire): 23-32 for 271 yards with 2 TD and 1 INT. 12 carries for 132 yards and 3 TD. QB Chris Hanson (La Salle): 28-36 for 322 yards with 3 TD. 7 carries for 16 yards. QB Josh Dudash (Stony Brook): 26-43 for 369 yards with 5 TD and 1 INT. 5 carries for -1 yard rushing. QB Jeff Terrell (Princeton): 32-47 for 445 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT. 9 carries for 27 yards and 1 TD. WR Laurent Robinson (Illinois State): 6 catches, 169 yards, and 1 TD. WR Brendan Circle (Princeton): 12 catches, 178 yards, and 1 TD.

Some I-AA updates... Towson is just beating up on #25 Richmond 31-7 with 3:15 left in the 4th quarter. Liberty is beating up #24 Charleston Southern 34-7 with 8:45 left in the 3rd quarter. #13 New Hampshire made a statement annihilating Rhode Island 63-21... oof. #7 Illinois State also pounded Indiana State 42-20, making their own statement as the season begins to wind down to the playoffs. Thoughts - Can anybody be consistent at the #20-#25 spots? Seems like there's a newly ranked #25 every friggin' week.

Rock on... looks like I get the New Orleans/Pittsburgh 4 PM game. Gonna be fun to watch Bush.

I-AA team Western Kentucky is moving to the I-A Sun Belt Conference. They'll become bowl eligible for the 2009 season. They won the 2002 I-AA Championship and had 10 straight winning seasons. Their record this season is 5-4 overall (4-2 conference).

Philly - 20 Tennessee Indianapolis (12.5) N.Y. Giants (2.5) Atlanta (7.5) Green Bay Houston (1.5) Kansas City New Orleans N.Y. Jets (1.5) San Diego Detroit (6.5) Washington (9.5) Denver (7.5) Dallas Seattle (3.5) Tampa Bay