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Monday Morning Thoughts

-Jason Garrett and Leslie Frazier.  Not evaluating the jobs they've done in a sense, but do they erase the interim tag for next season?  Both have made questionable choices (no pun intended) and it wouldn't surprise me if both were at the helm next year with a strong finish.

-I thought Oregon State, down 23-10 should have gone for it on fourth and goal from Oregon's five.  Obviously, it's hindsight now but when you're the underdog you've got to take some chances.  I can't see Auburn losing the National Championship game, no matter the spread.  There's so much Cam Newton talk that everyone forgets about their defense.  I'd also back Wisconsin over TCU, no matter the records.  I think Wisconsin has put together a few high-scoring games this year if my memory serves me correctly.

-The Bucs throwbacks were much better than…whatever the Packers were wearing.  I was waiting for Steve DeBerg to be announced as the starting quarterback.

-Worse penalty:  Eric Foster (Indy) for leverage or Pat Sims (Cincy) for offsides?  How much does Barry Richardson get fined/suspended this week?

-If you're drafting for next season today, do you draft Randy Moss inside of the first 120 picks?  I wouldn't.

-Michael Bush makes for a nice pickup; I was surprised that he got four more carries than Darren McFadden.  Remember, it was about this time last year that Bush went off. 

-I caught Saturday Night Live (Adam Sandberg and Kristen Wiig carry that show) and was waiting to see a new rap star – Diddy-Dirty Money.  I found out this was really Sean Combs, Puff Daddy, P-Diddy or the man known as just Diddy.  I'm now thinking of changing my name to K-Piddy.  Maybe Kevin Dirty-Diddy Money.  Or Kevin Ochocinco.  I'll have to think on this as I drink my Ciroc.

-Tennessee has not scored a touchdown in the last 11 quarters.  Their implosion is pretty opposite of what happened last season and I wonder if this makes for an easier decision among the brass with the Jeff Fisher vs. Vince Young debate for next year.  17 years is a long time but there aren't any rings to show for it.

-If you need a laugh, check out some of the college Bowl games this year.  I'm deciding between the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl, the Beef "O" Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl, New Era Pinstripe Bowl and the BBVA Compass Bowl as my favorite name.  Of course, there's my love of the GoDaddy.com Bowl but that's all commercial based.

-I don't think that Jacksonville is a legit team; they seem like a one-and-done if they make the playoffs.  However, I can't help but believe in Maurice Jones-Drew, who now has 655 yards from scrimmage in his last four games since his bye.  I'd be surprised if the Colts make the playoffs now which wasn't a question last year when they were 12-0 at this time.

-Many will look at the Jayson Werth contract and scream blasphemy.  I look at the seven-year $126-million dollar deal and wonder why I didn't play more baseball.  Seriously, what does an almost three-year younger Carl Crawford get now?  Looking at the glass half-full, welcome Domonic Brown.  If you're in a really deep league, grab Ben Francisco. 

-The Cardinals should be banned from Monday Night Football for at least five years and I'm probably letting them off easy here.

-Sons of Anarchy spoiler alert!  Skip ahead if you need to.

Great season finale.  Would have been better and had more people on the hook if they hadn't shown Clay thanking Chief Wayne ahead of the twist.  Where does next season begin?  Do they have it all from jail and go Prison Break or Oz on us?  In my book, TV has gone downhill since The Sopranos, The Wire, The Shield, 24 and Miami Vice went off the air.

-If I get the time over the next few weeks, I want to look into kickers.  In general, field goal attempts have to be at a pretty all-time low this season and I'm not sure why.  On a day were there was a 60 and 54-yarder, there was also many easy ones missed.  Certainly weather hasn't played a huge factor yet but it will.

-Todd Haley finger points and won't shake hand when he loses.  When he wins he acts like he won the Super Bowl.  Classy.  At least he seems to have figured out the Jamaal Charles/Thomas Jones timeshare.

-Great MMA card by Strikeforce on Showtime on Saturday night.  Don't get me wrong; this is the minor leagues of MMA compared to the UFC.  That being said, Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler and Paul Daley all had awesome knockouts.  Note from the "blind squirrel finding the nut": as I said in my Friday blog, none of main fights saw the underdog win.  This is the exception and not the rule in MMA.

-Many were skeptical about Champ Bailey after the Broncos first meeting with the Chiefs.  Yesterday, Dwayne Bowe discovered it's much more difficult to find room when it's a close game and the other team isn't in the prevent defense for the last two-thirds of the contest.  Personally, I won't hesitate to start Bowe next week against SD, even on the road.

-If Todd Heap is out for any amount of time, consider the tandem of Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta to be the poor man's combo of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski.

-It didn't really happen Sunday but you need to take note of the weather conditions going forward.  Public school was cancelled here in Buffalo on Thursday and Friday and methinks we won't be the only one hosting a weather-affected game next week.

-Derrick Mason reminds me a lot of Donald Driver.  Nothing flashy, both are headed to the twilight of their careers yet they (at age 35 plus) continue to produce.  Driver's TD catch was unbelievable. 

-I've gotten into watching "High Stakes Poker" on GSN.  If you could pick a table to watch of six poker pros playing in a cash game, who would you go with?  My list is this in no particular order: Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Jamie Gold and Doyle Brunson.

-Got a rookie with supposed character issues (LeGarrette Blount, Mike Williams or Dez Bryant)?  Throw them on your fantasy team before the season starts.

-Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Who and The Black Eyed Peas.  Who does not belong in this group?  When I see Fergie, I think back to the Seinfeld episode about the girlfriend who looked great in certain light, and not so great in other light.  Anyone else agree/disagree?

-Matt Ryan is not as good away from the Georgia Dome but if the Falcons continue winning, that won't matter. 

-I'm guessing Jim Haslett won't be employed in Washington come February.  Wade Phillips would make for an interesting replacement.  Anthony Armstrong intrigues me going forward.

-Good coaching by Tom Coughlin to not force the passing game and stick with the running game which obviously worked.  The Giants look like an elite team one week and then horrible the next.  That's not a good recipe to make another SB run.  Of course that could all change when Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks are healthy.  I'm guessing Devin Thomas was wide awake when he blocked that punt.

-Carson Palmer handles end-game management as good as Tiger Woods holds a four-shot lead heading into Sunday.  Palmer wasn't the only one at fault here; there was no reason Marvin Lewis couldn't have called timeout from the sideline with 14 seconds left.

-With a plethora of potential head coaching positions open, wouldn't Rob Ryan make for an excellent candidate?  Especially in the AFC East?

-As always, opinions, comments and disagreement are welcome.