Under Review: Week 15

Five NFL questions. We all drank a bunch of Mountain Dew and ate Twizzler's right before we answered these so this is pretty long. We were hopped up. It's like a 5th grade girls slumber party up in here.

Give me one thing you liked about the Vikings fifth straight win and one thing you are worried about going into the last games.

Dogg: One thing that I liked is that we lost the turnover battle 4-1 but still managed to come out with a W. You don’t see teams win ballgames with a turnover ratio like that often so it was nice to see that we could overcome some of those mistakes and battle through it. One thing I’m worried about is the turnovers we made. TJ looked like he was trying to do too much with the football and that’s not his game. Tuck the ball away and either take the sack or run with it. He’s quick and strong so I would like to see him elude players more and run for positive yardage. Overall it was good seeing that we don’t have to play well to win games but come playoff time that will change.


Q: I think that the main thing you've got to like about last night's game is simply the fact that we won. As Dogg kept saying during the game, "typical Minnesota team: doesn't show up when they need to." As Minnesota sports fans, we're used to seeing our teams break our hearts. In recent Vikings history, we've seen this exact scenario play out where we battle to get into the playoff picture only to get knocked out by a horrible team like the Cardinals. The fact that we battled through an absolutely brutal game and still got the W is a major plus.

I'm a bit concerned with AD's play again this week. I know he's still using that brace and his knee isn't 100%, but he really didn't look very good. Consider that of his 78 yards, 31 came on one run late in the game and his numbers aren't exactly impressive. Also keep in mind that said run came on a botched play, as did his second touchdown, and it's even more concerning. He still has flashes of the AP we've grown to love, but he's definitely not there yet and we need him to be ADRIAN PETERSON! if we are going to win in the playoffs.

Fuzz: I liked are all Purple uni’s we sported in front of the whole nation on Monday night. Really cool. We looked like a bunch of Barney’s frolicking around the field. Awesome. In all seriousness, it was our defense. I know we were playing against an under achieving Bears team with a Javier Bardem look-a-like as their QB but our D is playing championship contending-in your face defense right now. The last five games we’ve given up like 13 points a game. That’s a great sign.

"No Country for Old Men" star Javier Bardem aka Kyle Orton

The thing that worried me is two-part but it mostly involves Tarvaris Jackson. The first part is that teams are really stacking the line to stop All Day from beating them. He still had 80 yards and two scores but is having a harder time breaking free. That brings me back to the second part that involves T-Jack. What worried me is that T-Jack had a bit of a set back in his maturation process and now teams will try to follow that same game plan that San Fran and Chicago did, which is: Put all your eggs into the stop the run basket and let T-Jack beat us game plan. Our teams success, our running success, our offense success still hinges on T-Jack playing smart and beating the other team on crucial situations like when they have eight in the box.

Any concerns for Dallas or are they still the cream of the NFC?

Fuzz: No concerns from this cat. I still think they are the best team in NFC. Obviously the only other team that contends with them is the Packers and Dallas beat them already this year. They both have two losses with one bad loss each. Green Bay to Chicago and now Dallas to Philly. As long as they don’t mess up here the last two weeks they’ll still have homefield throughout the playoffs and will be just dandy. The real question is who is better between Jessica Simpson and Carrie Underwood? Everyone, including me, is sick of the story that Simpson at the game affected Romo’s play.

But I’m not sick of who’s the better catch between Blond Bombshell Jessica Simpson and Blond Biscuit Carrie Underwood? Wow, this is like picking between a Peanut Buster Parfait and Cookie Dough blizzard at DQ. Tough choice but I’m going with Underwood. Simpson has that lunatic father that I would want to run through a wood chipper like in the movie “Fargo” after about two months so I'm going with Carrie.

Dogg: I think Dallas is fine but they better get T.O. the ball next week otherwise he’s not going to be a happy camper going into the season finale / playoffs and that’s the last thing they need right now. Also, run the football a little bit. It’s cold and rainy in New England last week and they even gave Maroney 26 carries. Give Barber and Jones the ball if Romo is struggling a little bit. Both are good RB’s so let the field open up a little bit for Romo to go to work. Pass, pass, pass isn’t going to win this team a title.

Q: Depending on the severity of Romo's thumb injury, I'd say that I wouldn't be very worried if I was a Cowboys fan. Every team has a game where things just don't go right, especially against a division rival. Granted, it was their second iffy effort in a row, but let's watch their game with Carolina this week before we take away their title as the best team in the NFC. The still have the big guns (Owens, Romo, Witten, Barber), and they could easily rattle off 42 points on Saturday and erase all ill thoughts of them. If they struggle against the Panthers, on the other hand, well...

Is Fred Taylor immortal? Is he getting better? Staying on the running back line give me your two favorite running backs in the league?


Dogg: Fred Taylor always has been a good RB in this league but we all know that his nickname “Fragile Fred” sums up his career. He does have the most rushing yards by any RB who has never made a Pro Bowl but that might and should change this year. They are a running team in my mind which tells me opponents are always sniffing out the run but he has been able to break long runs and also power his way for the tough yards. His talent is probably second to nobody in this league but finally has stayed healthy for an entire season and is showing how good he can be...Two favorite backs in the league are Brian Westbrook and LT. Westbrook because his ultimate display of “team game” last week. There is no other RB in this league who falls short of the end zone in that situation. LT because he’s on my fantasy team and is an absolute fantasy football machine. Being that I consider myself a top 100 fantasy football owner in this country, it’s very important to me that my players perform every week which LT has.

Q: Here's the thing about Fragile Fred: he's not fragile anymore. He hasn't been for a number of years now either. To be honest, I think the fact that he did only play 8-11 games a year for that stretch early in his career has allowed him to still be this good now. He's not as worn out as a running back of his age should be. Add to that the MJD factor giving him some rest and not having to worry a ton about catching the ball out of the backfield, and we really shouldn't be surprised that he's still playing well.

Best or favorite RB's? If we're going fav's here, then my NFC picks are AP and Brian Westbrook. I don't care what you say, I'm a homer and watching Peterson run every week has added years to my life. He's flat out amazing. Westy has been amazing over the last few years, and you have to watch in awe as he catches balls out of the backfield, but still is able to pound it between the tackles as well. Oh, and that clock killing play was awesome too. In the AFC, I'm going with Jamal Lewis and Laurence Maroney. Why?

Well, Lewis because you have to respect a guy who can spend some time in the clink and still run the ball effectively in the NFL (he might even be an inspiration to Mike Vick). And I put Maroney in there because someone has to make him their favorite, and he's clearly not Bellichick's.

Fuzz: Fred Taylor is on steroids. He burned me for four straight fantasy years from 90-94 with his constant nagging injuries, yet 13 years later he’s still putting up monster games. A large needle is in his ass...daily. My two favorite running backs huh? This would have been a different answer last year because All Day Peterson is my first choice. I’ve written about him so many times here so I don’t want to sound redundant but he’s really, really good. Like name the top five players in the league good. My second favorite is Clinton Portis. This one could have gone to a handful of guys because good running backs in the league are a dime a dozen. Most teams have good runners. Portis gets the nod because of costumes like this:



It’s still far enough away to make a conference championship match-up call. Give me the AFC and NFC match-ups. FYI: We will revisit these...

Dogg: SD @ New England and Seattle @ Green Bay

Fuzz: That was really deep Dogg. Thanks for the insight.

Q: AFC: I'm going to be the boring one here and pick the Colts and the Patriots. I know that's not original and I'm not going out on a limb by any means, but I just can't fathom either one losing before they play each other. The NFC is easy: Vikings and Cowboys. Dallas is just way too talented on both sides of the ball to not at least make it to the NFC title game. And once again, you can call me a homer all you want, but if the Purple play in Tampa and then play a revenge game in Green Bay, are you really going to say that it's out of the question that we're in Dallas for the third weekend of the playoffs? I didn't think so.


Fuzz: Looking at the seeds right now in the AFC, I’m going to go with New England and San Diego. You heard right. I think San Diego knocks off Cleveland in the first round and beats Indy at Indy. LT is on a mission right now slicing through opposing defenses way too easily. San Diego vs. NE for a rematch of last years heated playoff game. On the NFC side I can’t see anything but a Dallas & Green Bay match-up. No other team in the whole NFC is even a threat to make the NFC championship game. Well, maybe the Vikings...

One, two or three words to describe Bobby Petrino


Fuzz: Shitbrick.

Dogg: Fucking D-bag

Q: 1) Bitch 2) Fucking Bitch 3) Scared Little Girl (aka Pansy Ass Bitch)