NFL Monday Memo
Giant of the week: Eli Manning, QB. He couldn’t have picked a better time to have one of the best games of his career. Four TDs and only one INT against the unbeaten Patriots.
Jet of the week: David Harris, LB. The rookie has been one of the few bright spots all season. He had 11 tackles and a sack in the Jets’ OT win against Chiefs, increasing his season tackles total to 127. 
Offensive player of the week: Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Cardinals. He had a whopping 11 catches for 171 yards and two TDs in the Cardinals’ win over the Rams. If and when this Cardinals team ever puts it together, Fitzgerald will be a key contributor.
Defensive player of the week: Jyles Tucker, LB, Chargers. The rookie had three sacks of Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell, including one in the endzone that he recovered for a touchdown. The Chargers’ win moved them into the No. 3 seed.
Special teams player of the week: Andre Davis, KR, Texans. He scored not one, but two touchdowns off kickoff returns in the Texans' win over the Jaguars. Bears return man extraordinaire Devin Hester returned another punt for touchdown yesterday and set the single-season record with six return TDs. But he'll have to settle for our All Pro vote instead of the weekly award. Somehow, we think All Pro is just a tad more valuable than the Monday Memo mention.
Comeback of the week: Patriots 38, Giants 35. One of the best games of the season as Patriots complete unbeaten season. They rallied from 28-16 third-quarter deficit with 21 unanswered points.
Dominating performance award, Part 1: Redskins 27, Cowboys 6. With a playoff berth on the line, Redskins thump their divisional foes at home and cap remarkable late-season surge to get into the tournament. Joe Gibbs has the magic after all.
Off the scrap heap award: Todd Collins, QB, Redskins. Collins fills in for the injured Jason Campbell and leads the Redskins to the playoffs. Not a bad way to finish out a contract. Looks like he'll hit it big in the off-season.
Dominating performance award, Part 2: Cardinals 48, Rams 19. Kurt Warner beats up his old team with three touchdown passes. Not bad for a guy who was ready to hang it up a few years ago but decided to keep playing.
Fade to black award: Vikings. They held their playoff fate in their hands a little more than a week ago, but a huge home loss to Washington last Sunday took that away. They finished it off with a 22-19 loss to the Broncos yesterday.
Rookie fade award: Adrian Peterson, RB, Vikings. Peterson is still our offensive rookie of the year. But he and his team have to be concerned by his fade down the stretch. In his last four games, he had a combined 144 yards.
Red hot award: The Chargers. They won their sixth straight and head into the playoffs on a roll. Their win over Oakland clinched the No. 3 seed. They’ll host the Titans in the wild card round.
Sympathy award: To all Browns fans, who had to watch helplessly as the Colts lost to the Titans and thus ended the Browns’ playoff hopes. Cleveland could have avoided this scenario by beating the Bengals last week, but such is life. It doesn’t help that the Colts pulled Peyton Manning in the first half. Don’t think Tony Dungy will be too well received in Cleveland these days.
Final word: Happy New Year to one and all.
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Comments (5)
Should be interesting theater come Sunday at the Q. The regular season game between the Titans and Chargers was full of hijinks and was pretty much a disaster for both teams, though San Diego pulled out a big win.
Meanwhile, can you provide some insight as to what Tom Brady was eating on the sidelines before the big game Saturday? There was a shot of him where he appears to be taking a bite of something that a teammate is holding. Do you have the game on DVR for a review of this?
Can't figure that last one out, CC. I am told that Brady is a freak about nutritional stuff - plenty of protein shakes and protein bars - so it could have been something along those lines.
It is a further measure of his greatness that he can actually eat something that soon before a game. Most players would probably be barfing it up by kickoff.
You're probably right, but I was looking for something a little more conspiratorial in nature.
it was not food, it was ammonia packs they were sniffing, they put them in a gatorade cup and inhaled.
Thanks for the info Don. That was what I saw. Here's a link for more details:
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/020305/sup_17863663.shtml