Thread: The Final Word Power Poll - Week 13

"whackthepack" wrote:

Vikings (23)
Almost buried while everybody worked the angle of the Bears' monumental failure on offense was the fact that Brad Johnson, long considered a rock of stability, threw four picks and was replaced by former Jets back-up Brooks Bollinger, after he threw three interceptions on consecutive series. Even worse, coach Linehan gave no assurance that Bollinger might not be the starter next week. It's what happens when a QB is 38. The season gets awfully long.

When did Brad Childress get fired?
Or did we make a trade for Linehan?

That shows the true thinking genius of Dr. Z.

Powering through the NFL Season
By Bill Simmons
Page 2

...THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN
5. Chicago
I'm a big believer that you can win the Super Bowl with a great defense and a mediocre QB. You can even win with a great defense and a streaky QB. But you can't win with a bad QB. It's never happened before.

Well, Rex Grossman is bad. I don't care if they're 10-2. He's bad. And I'm not just talking about his minus-5 fantasy performance last week, or how he had the lowest QB rating (1.3) for a winning quarterback since the Vikings' Gary Cuozzo in 1971, or how he's turned the ball over 18 times in seven days, or how he's walking off the field like he just gave up a game-winning homer 8-10 times a game. Consider these three things:

A. I had a conversation with someone Sunday night when we wondered if the Vikes would have had a better chance in Chicago had they simply kept kneeling three consecutive times, punting, then relying on Rex to be their offense. We both decided, "yes." This actually happened.

B. Doc Rivers (a Chicago native) weighed in on the QB controversy this week by saying, "Don't change. Don't change! They're 10-2." When Doc Rivers thinks you're doing the right thing, it's time to switch gears.

C. You know when someone is down to a few suitcases left on "Deal or No Deal," including a couple of the big money ones, then one of the models opens the "$1,000,000" suitcase, followed by the contestant going into shock for two seconds and abruptly snapping into, "that's OK, that's OK!" mode even though we know they're absolutely devastated inside? Well, that's how Lovie Smith has been dealing with Grossman's ongoing meltdown. He's in constant "that's OK, that's OK!" mode. Look, I'm not a huge Brian Griese fan, either. But at some point, Lovie is going to run out of suitcases, right?...

...LINGERING LIKE A STALE FART

20. Minnesota
So much for the whole, "if you can run the ball and stop the run, you will win games in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE!" argument. Merrill, Steve, Sean, Joe, Michael, TJ, Howie, Boomer, Dan, Cris ... you guys are no longer allowed to say this. And Shannon, you're no longer allowed to try to say this.

(Important note: Just to clear up the confusion, by definition, Brad Johnson is STILL a game manager ... it's just that he's now managing games right into the ground. Please make a note in your records. Over the past three weeks, how many times do you think Brad Childress has thought to himself, "Maybe I should do what Parcells did and roll the dice with my backup" before remembering that his backup is Brooks Bollinger and shouting an obscenity? Ten? Twenty-five? Fifty?)...

...THE BRUCE COSLET DIVISION

...27. Green Bay
Note to Kiefer Sutherland: I hope you're watching the Brett Favre era closely. We don't want to see Jack Bauer fighting terrorists over the course of 24 hours in the year 2013. We really don't. Wrap it up by the end of the decade. Just trust me. And if you still need some convincing, watch the last four Packers games this season...

...31. Detroit
Let's just hope the Lions name their 2006 highlight film, "Seven Years Of Millen." By the way, hiring Mike Martz to create an offense for Jon Kitna is like hiring Michael Mann to build a one-hour cop drama around Mario Lopez...