Random Observations:
A Weekly Look at All Things Football
(Parental Advisory Suggested)

Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno has seen a lot of players come and go, and he said that Seattle's Bobby Engram was the best player he'd ever coached. That is about as good as an endorsement as you can get.

Mike Irvin on Randy Moss complaining he wasn't seeing enough balls thrown his way: "Learn how to run routes and play the whole game and you'll see more passes". Well said, Playmaker.

Attorney David Cornwell is quoted as calling Drew Rosenhaus the "Kevorkian of Sports Agents".

I'm telling you (and I've been saying it for quite a while), if Brandon Lloyd could get his mental game up to his physical level (and maybe a semi-decent QB to throw him the ball), he'd be unstoppable.

Falcons' head coach Jim Mora started his press conference after his teams beating at home at the hands of Samkon Gado and company, by stating matter-of-factly "I hate excuses". He then began rambling off excuses on why his team lost the game.

On Sunday, Eagles quarterback Mike McMahon became the first Rutgers alumnus in NFL history to complete a pass to another Rutgers alumus when he found tight end L.J. Smith.

Does it seem odd to anyone else that Larry Johnson now holds the single game rushing record for the Chiefs? Seems even more odd that the guy who held it before Johnson was Barry Word.

I personally don't drink, but I love Miller Light's new commercial where rapper Flavor Flav is introduced as an expert taste witness based solely on his name... yeeaaaah booooyyy!

Okay, seriously, have you ever seen J.P. Losman and Operaman in the same room together? Yeah I didn't think so.

Top Three QB's You Should Have Your Eye On

Going into the playoff stretch, it's important to be on the lookout for quality depth at some of the important skill positions. Quarterback, which many owners tend to neglect, is key come playoff time. While over a long season, the difference between Tom Brady and Drew Brees might be minimal, once in the playoffs, QB play doesn't average out. A big 3 TD game from your QB could be enough to win you a title. On that note, keep an eye on these three guys--undoubtedly floating around waiver wires. They're not necessarily starting material; but they might provide valuable depth:

1) Mike McMahon (Eagles)
With McNabb out in Philly, the other irishman, McMahon, is the man. Though he's started a handful of games in the league, he still strikes me as a bit raw (e.g., low completion percentage). But I still like him for three reasons: (a) He's mobile and makes big plays with his legs (he had 30 rushing yards and a rushing TD last week); (b) the Eagles' pass-happy west coast offense will give him plenty of chances to pass and thus put up points; and (c) he has pretty good matchups during the fantasy playoffs (NYG, at St Louis, at Arizona). Pick him up; he's a solid #2 and depending on your other QB matchups, you could probably start him and get solid points.

2) JP Losman (Bills)
Losman, to me, has turned the corner. You can see things slowly clicking for him. I think by about week 14, he's going to be a viable fantasy threat. He won't explode--but I like him to be in the neighborhood of 250 yards, 2 TD's. Week 15 the Bills play Denver at home--and I can see Losman playing his best game of the year. It would be a foolishly bold move to start him...but no guts, no glory, right?

3) Billy Volek (Titans)
It's only a matter of time before McNair's something or another breaks. Enter Volek. Home games against Houston (wk 14) and Seattle (wk 15) could be 300-400 yard games for him if he gets on the field. My recommendation--as soon as you hear of McNair getting banged up in the slightest, jump on Volek. You could end up riding him to a fantasy championship.

Random Observations: Week 9 Edition
(Prohibited in Utah)

TO (Time Out) for TO (Terrell Owens): The best question asked at the Drew Rosenhaus press conference (which was mistakenly billed as the Terrell Owens press conference) was exactly what I bet Owens himself was thinking. The reporter asked Rosenhaus, "What have you done for [Owens] other than getting him kicked off the team?" The response... "next question". But that's not the lesson. The lesson is next time Michael Irvin says something stupid and a reporter asks T.O. what he thinks, that might be an answer worth considering.

Quote of the Week: Mike Shanahan said he feels a little more comfortable visiting Oakland than in the past saying, "the group of people who used to throw batteries at me is getting a little older now and they don't have the range they used to have".

I Couldn't Make This Up if I Tried: As I'm sure you all know by now, Carolina Panthers cheerleaders Renee Thomas and Angela Keathley were arrested at a Tampa nightclub after allegedly having "relations" in a bathroom stall. But what you might not know is what Keathley listed as her favorite quote--"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away". Also noteworthy, her favorite thing about being a Top Cat: "Friendships".

College Update: The University of Nebraska was blown out by Kansas University Saturday... in football.

Maybe He Should Have Been a Comedian: Chris Simms was funny talking about Philadelphia, when he said, "I never liked the Eagles. They were always hitting my Dad."

Sunday School: Before the game Chad Johnson said "I am the preacher. 21 (Chris McAlister) and 22 (Samari Rolle) are the congregation. Folks, enjoy the message." Amen, brother.

This Just In: Stop the presses. Call the Hall of Fame. Michael Vick threw for 200 yards Sunday. Well I guess that's settled, now he is the best pocket passer of all times.

Green Lantern Dimmed: I hate to see Wayne Chrebet go out like that. Pound for pound, one of the toughest wide receivers this game has ever seen.

Red Bird Update: It's nearly Thanksgiving and Arizona has the same number of rushing touchdowns as I do.

Marks Brothers: Dan Marino fired a pass to his former WR Mark Clayton after his induction speech at the Hall of Fame this summer. Sunday, the Dolphins honored their Hall of Famers and Marino did the same thing, this time to his other former WR Mark "Super" Duper.

Random Observations: Week 8 Edition
(Come get some)

Hanging Chad: Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson has to be a likeable guy. Case in point: he can challenge guys like Fred Smoot or Al Harris with his "cover" list or pre-game trash talk, but after the game they're hanging out, hugging and smiling. A guy like Steve Smith challenges these guys and they want to meet him out in the parking lot after the game.

Stat of the Week: Uberback LaDainian Tomlinson has more passing touchdowns this season than all New York Jets combined.

Addendum: Chad Pennington leads the Jets in touchdown passes and he hasn't played since September.

God Bless You: The hits just keep coming for New Orleans. Wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim missed Sunday's game after injuring himself sneezing. Yes. Sneezing. I bet there is nothing that would surprise Jim Haslett at this point.

Quote of the Week: "I was afraid if I didn't catch that, I'd get cut". --Jaguars rookie first round pick Matt Jones after catching a wide open touchdown Sunday.

Mrs. Pac Man Maybe: Okay, enough of this "Pac Man" Jones thing. He has to make up for that embarrassing effort on the Joey Porter touchdown. If you've seen any highlights from this past weekend, then you know what play I'm talking about. From now on it's Adam Jones... you have to be good to have a nickname.

Headlines: From The Tennessean, the Nashville newspaper on Wednesday... "McNair's Sack Pain Lingers". Can you print that?!

High Praise: Carolina's Ricky Proehl is the oldest WR in the league. He says that Steve Smith is the best he's ever been around. Proehl has played with Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Muhsin Muhammad, and Joey Galloway, just to name a few.

Say What?: Referee Ron Winter had this announcement on Sunday: "Delay of game - defense. Performing an unnatural act..."

Fumble-itis: New England fullback Patrick Pass fumbled the ball Sunday, dropping the football so he could grab his injured hamstring. I bet--and I'm just guessing--that "grabbing your injured hamstring" is not an acceptable reason for dropping the ball in Bill Belichick's book.

Why they Play the Game: San Francisco 15 Tampa Bay 10

Maddenism of the Week: During Monday night's game, Steelers upback Sean Morey jumped into the neutral zone before the punt. Morey went to college at Brown. John Madden said, "If he's smart enough to graduate from Brown, he shouldn't be jumping in the neutral zone". Hmm... good point, John.

Senior Moment: Does anyone else feel old when the Niners say that they're wearing their "1989 throwback uniforms"? Or is it just me?

Statomatic: If I were to have told you on Saturday that tomorrow, Jason Elam would score seven times, would you believe he'd only have seven points? Yeah, neither would I.

All in the Family: NFL players Chad Johnson, Keyshawn Johnson, and Samari Rolle are cousins.

Go Figure: The Packers have scored 20 touchdowns and held their opponents to 16. They have scored 6 field goals, while allowing 10. The Packers are 1-6.

MC's Weekly Soapbox: I was without cable this weekend because some brainiac crashed into a pole outside a local restaurant. All was well in the end, though, because when my connection to the outside world came back, I was up by 41 points going into Monday night, with my opponent just having Fast Willie Parker to go.

2005 NOLTON League Standings