A 2011 NFL “Year in Review”

So maybe you didn’t win your fantasy league. Maybe you didn’t even make it to the fantasy playoffs. Or perhaps you’re hoisting your invisible fantasy trophy over your head right now. Whatever the case, this was surely a season full of highlights, lowlights and anything & everything in between for the NFL.

Next year we’ve got some hot rookies looking to stay gold in their upcoming sophomore seasons. Andy Dalton, Tim Tebow and Cam Newton saw the most success among all rookie QB’s. While Dalton and Tebow have their teams poised to make a run at the playoffs, Cam and his Panthers will be watching the games from whichever couch they feel is best. Still, Newton has had a season that will go down as a great one for a rookie quarterback. He’s rushed for 14 touchdowns and thrown for 20 more. Not too shabby for a 22 year old Heisman winner from Georgia I’d say.

Some key season ending injuries were no doubt the cause of much frustration within the fantasy ranks this year. Early on, Jamaal Charles went out for the season against the Lions. This was a crushing blow not only to the Chiefs team, but to his fantasy owners that expected top notch numbers out of him this year. While the Chiefs have had many multi-faceted problems this season, the loss of Charles was definitely worth a mention as it took out their entire running game.

Darren McFadden has essentially missed the last 9 full games with an injury of his own. Although he hasn’t been put on injured reserve, he might as well have been, as his fantasy numbers went from stellar, to non-existent in his absence. This opened the door for Michael Bush to step up and have a solid season in place of McFadden. Those owners lucky enough to pick up Bush in place of McFadden weren’t totally devastated at the injury, but surely missed the excitement that Darren had to offer with his running style.

And then there’s the Colts playing their season without their perennial all-pro, Peyton Manning. To say it’s been disastrous would be an understatement, although the Colts have managed to string together a couple wins in a row. Some think this could potentially (with a capital P) save coach Jim Caldwell’s job. If they can pull off a victory in the final game of the season, Caldwell could have even more breathing room as it relates to his job, but surely won’t make any new Colt fans in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. The question then remains: if the number one pick in the draft is lost, would the two or three victories be worth it? Manning mentoring Luck probably wouldn’t be such a bad way to go. As history has shown, many of the QB greats have grown under the wings of superstar predecessors. But don’t pack your bags for Indianapolis just yet Mr. Luck, this game has a funny way of surprising us.

DeMarco Murray showed us all a reason to be legitimately excited about drafting him early next year. He lit up the Rams earlier this year for over 250 yards on 25 carries. Yeah, he soon became the Cowboys’ featured back for the rest of the season (until he got hurt of course). A solid runner, Murray gave Dallas plenty of optimism and reason to believe their running game can be a force to be reckoned with for some time to come.

I’m sure you know, but in case you live underneath a rock, Drew Brees just broke Dan Marino’s single season passing record of 5,084 passing yards set in 1984. Brees now has a total of 5,087 passing yards on the season, and if he plays in it, still has one game left to add on to that number. The record breaking game in New Orleans vs. the Atlanta Falcons was delayed for a few minutes while Brees and his team mates were allowed to relish in the historical moment. If you’re anything like me, you were thinking [finally a record broken without controversy by someone that doesn’t use performance enhancing drugs and that is actually likeable]. Apparently Marino himself is okay with his record falling to this particular player. Upon the record being broken, Marino is quoted as tweeting “great job by such a special player.” A humbled Brees later gave much credit to his team mates for accomplishing this feat. While addressing his team mates in the locker room after the game, Brees stated, “there may be only one name that goes into the record book, but it’s all about you guys.” If that’s not the definition of humility and class, then I don’t know what is. Congratulations Drew.

And in what is arguably the biggest story in the NFL this year, Tim Tebow has grabbed fans of this league by the collar and is staring intently into the eyes of his haters. You can dislike him all you want, plenty of people already do regardless of his performance. But one thing is certain: you can’t deny his dedication to winning or question his intensity. Tebow might be gaining publicity by treading in water that many choose to never disturb, but at the end of the day we’re still talking about him, and that’s the point. Publicity is publicity. Love him or hate him, the whole country is talking about him and that bodes all kinds of well for Mr. Tebow and his pocket book in the future. How’d you like to be his agent right now? In all seriousness, the bottom line here is clear, Denver owes a great deal of its success this season to that Tebow guy. And to briefly touch on the taboo-portion of this Tebow debate, the integrity of this league should never be compromised by one individual and his personal beliefs, regardless of our own thoughts about them. Tim Tebow is a good football player and that’s why we watch him.

That’s the bottom line. His religious faith has nothing to do with it. He can believe anything he wants, but it’s our responsibility to keep our focus and discussion about his on-field play, not his off-field beliefs. Now if Tebow can offer the same courtesy in return and when asked a football question, comeback with a football, not religious based answer, then all will be balanced in the equation. And besides, the guy isn’t deliberately offensive, nor is he breaking any league rules. He just chooses to very openly speak his mind about his faith. This may or may not turn out to be a problem for him, but that depends on his ability (or lackthereof) to constantly keep his word filter on full blast. Everyone knows that based on general respect for others, it’s an unspoken rule to only go so far with religious talks, especially when in the media spotlight like Tebow. I’ve yet to witness him crossing that line, and even if he tried to, rest assured the Bronco’s PR person would quickly remind him of that proverbial boundary. The fact remains, the Tebow story is an intriguing one by any definition, regardless of your take on the guy. He has become a favorite topic for media outlets, a conversation piece among friends and a surprising new addition to the list of “must watch players” in this league, and he’s done all this whether we like it or not. We have to at least respect that.

So, before the season started, what if someone had told you that the Chargers, Eagles, Colts and Bears would be eliminated from playoff contention, and the Jets, Giants and Cowboys are one week away from sharing the same fate? And what if they told you the Texans, Bengals, Broncos, Raiders and Lions were all either in the playoffs or one week away from getting there? And suppose they told you the 49ers would be nearing a 13 win, first round bye type of a season, would you have believed any of that? Well the time for believing is now.

Heading into the final week of the season, here are a couple of key games to watch as well as a full breakdown of all playoff scenarios:

Dallas Cowboys (8-7) @ New York Giants (8-7)
This is for all the marbles. Whichever team wins takes the reigns as champions of the NFC East. Both teams have had up and down seasons, with all the reason in the world to hold their heads up even if ousted from the post-season. The bright spots have outweighed the dark this season for these two teams, despite less success than originally predicted. And what’s more exciting than two division rivals duking it out for a playoff spot on the final game of the year? This is one you won’t want to miss!

Baltimore Ravens (11-4) @ Cincinnati Bengals (9-6)
If you’re Cincinnati it’s simple, win and you’re in. Baltimore on the other hand has a few scenarios that could play out for them. If they win and the Patriots lose, they’ve got the number one seed in the AFC and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. If they win and the Patriots win as well, they will secure the second seed and a bye in the first round. A Steelers loss will also clinch the division for them. This is a crucial game in determining many AFC post-season matchups.

49ers – clinch a first round bye with

• Win, or
• Tie and Saints loss or tie, or
• Saints loss

Saints – clinch a first round bye with

• Win and 49ers loss or tie, or
• A tie and 49ers loss

Patriots – clinch home field advantage throughout with

• Win or tie, or
• Ravens loss or tie and Steelers loss or tie

Steelers – clinch division and first round bye with

• Win and Ravens loss or tie, or
• A tie and Ravens loss

Steelers clinch home field advantage throughout playoffs with

• Win and Ravens loss or tie and Patriots loss

Broncos – clinch division with

• Win, or
• Tie and Raiders loss or tie, or
• Raiders loss

Raiders – clinch division with

• Win and Broncos loss or tie, or
• Tie and Broncos loss

Raiders clinch wild-card berth with

• Win and Bengals loss and Titans loss or tie
• Win and Bengals loss and Jets win

Bengals – clinch wild-card berth with

• Win or tie, or
• Jets loss or tie and Raiders loss or tie, or
• Jets loss or tie and Broncos loss or tie

Jets – clinch a wild-card berth with

• Win and Bengals loss and Titans loss or tie and Raiders loss or tie, or
• Win and Bengals loss and Titans loss or tie and Broncos loss or tie

Titans clinch a wild-card berth with

• Win and Bengals loss and Jets win and Raiders loss or tie, or
• Win and Bengals loss and Jets win and Broncos loss or tie, or
• Win and Jets loss or tie and Raiders and Broncos win

Confused yet? Don’t worry, the playoff picture will come into focus after this weekend. Whether your team is still in the race or out of contention, we trust you will still be glued to your TV’s…there’s not much better than post-season football in the NFL.

Enjoy the games and have a safe and happy new year!