First Half Review

This is part one of my two part midseason review. Today I will focus on the past nine weeks. Tomorrow I will discuss what will happen in the next eight. Here are some of my awards and my power rankings. Just a note, I think these power rankings are pretty stupid, especially in professional sports. But since most power rankings have Dallas over the Redskins, I feel compelled to do my own. How can you have the Cowboys ahead of the Skins if they both have the same record and the Redskins won the only meeting so far? That is just plain stupid. Anyway, here’s what I think of the season so far…

First half MVP: LaDainian Tomlinson. The trendy pick is Steve Smith. Hard to argue against him. But Smith would be third in my MVP voting, behind Tomlinson and Shaun Alexander. Without Smith, the Panthers would probably be around .500. Without Tomlinson, the Chargers would be lucky to have won two games at this point. Of the 30 touchdowns the Chargers have scored, LaDainian has been involved in 18 of them. He has 13 rushing, 2 receiving and 3 passing. What other player in the leagues has at least one touchdown in all three categories? The answer…none. He is currently on pace for a 1,500 yard rushing/50 catch/500 yard receiving/27 touchdown season. He is the most versatile player in the league. Alexander gets my second place vote because he means more to the Seahawks than any other player means to his team…except, of course, Tomlinson. Alexander already has 949 yards through eight games, which puts him on pace for a 1,900 yard season. He also has 14 rushing touchdowns. And while Tomlinson has already played nine games, Alexander has put his numbers up in eight. But Alexander is not much of a receiver (only seven catches for 32 yards) and he has a bit of a fumble problem. This is why Tomlinson gets the slight nod. Here are my top 5 candidates.
1. Tomlinson
2. Alexander
3. Steve Smith
4. Carson Palmer
5. Santana Moss

First half defensive player: Dwight Freeney. Who else could you reasonably put here? I guess Freeney’s teammate Robert Mathis, who leads the league in sacks (9). But as many have pointed out, Mathis is just capitalizing off all the attention that opposing offenses pay to Freeney. Hard for Freeney to put up serious numbers if he is getting triple-teamed every play. But his effort allows teammates to make plays, making Freeney the catalyst and the defensive player of the first half.
1. Freeney
2. Zach Thomas (102 tackles)
3. Brian Urlacher (only player in Top 10 in both sacks and tackles)
4. Mathis
5. Deltha O’Neal (6 INT’s)

Most surprising team: Denver Broncos. Many expected the Broncos to be good, but not 6-2 good. In fact, if it wasn’t for a collapse against the Giants a few weeks ago, the Broncos could be 7-1. Their offense is third best in the NFL and tops in the AFC. Jake Plummer isn’t making mistakes, Rod Smith is playing like his old pro-bowl self, and the Tatum Bell/ Mike Anderson combination is the most effective in the league. One weakness: a 22nd ranked defense. That must improve if the Broncos look to challenge the Colts.
1. Denver
2. Cincinnati: like Denver, everyone expected them to be good, just not 7-2 good
3. Seattle: I didn’t think they would be running away with the NFC West at the midway point
4. N.Y. Giants: Eli Manning improved more than most thought he could. Needs more consistency on the road
5. Washington: C’mon, y’all thought they’d be 2-6 right now…didn’t you

Most disappointing team: Arizona Cardinals. Everyone wants to talk about Green Bay and Minnesota. What happened to everyone on the Cardinals bandwagon at the beginning of the year (how in the world can anyone expect the Cardinals to ever be good)? I guess I was the only one who never got on and never thought the Cardinals could actually compete. But that still makes them a disappointing team. With the talent they have on the offensive side of the ball, their remaining fans should expect better than a 2-6 record and the 15th ranked offense.
1. Arizona
2. Baltimore: what happened to that Super Bowl run everyone was talking about in September?
3. Green Bay: injuries have hurt them a lot, Brett Farve throwing a lot of interceptions has hurt them more
4. Philadelphia: Terrell Owens and I will have the same amount of touchdown catches in the final eight weeks
5. Detroit: how can a team with that much talent on offense be so bad?
6. Minnesota: seriously, what did you expect from the Vikings after they traded Randy Moss

MARK’S POWER RANKINGS

1. Indianapolis Colts (8-0): as I’ve been saying since week one, this team should be everyone’s super bowl favorites
2. Carolina Panthers (6-2): started with shaky loss to New Orleans, but have been dominant ever since
3. Denver Broncos (6-2): like Carolina, started with shaky loss to Miami; have been dominant ever since
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2): a lot of their second half will depend on the health of Big Ben…would like to see them win by bigger margins, too many escapes this season
5. Cincinnati Bengals (7-2): need to beat Pittsburgh to move in front of them in the rankings…Carson Palmer is on his way to a Hall of Fame career (but I could have told you that years ago)
6. Seattle Seahawks (6-2): I keep hearing that this team is going to fade. But is there a better pure rusher than Shaun Alexander?
7. Atlanta Falcons (6-2): to get deep in the playoffs, the defense is going to have to improve and T.J. Duckett must get and stay healthy
8. Kansas City Chiefs (5-3): Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson make this team dangerous down the stretch. And I’d rather have Dick Vermeil calling the shots more than just about any other coach in the NFL.
9. New York Giants (6-2): prove to me that you can win on the road (no, San Francisco does not count), and I’ll move you up
10. Washington Redskins (5-3): the Redskins have looked good in every game except one…against the Giants. Like New York, must find way to consistently win on road (although I love watching those Skins-Boys highlights from week two).
11. Dallas Cowboys (5-3): loss at home to Redskins is going to cost them later in the season. They may have the toughest second half schedule in the league
12. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-3): I have probably been overrating this team since the beginning of the season, so no reason to stop now. Can’t keep playing teams like the Texans close.
13. Chicago Bears (5-3): I know, they’ve taken advantage of a soft division. But at least they’re winning, unlike Detroit and Green Bay. Have very easy second half schedule.
14. San Diego Chargers (5-4): why does everyone put this team in the top 10? They could easily be 3-6. They find ways to lose more than they find ways to win.
15. New England Patriots (4-4): like the Bears, they are going to take advantage of a soft division and easy second half schedule. Otherwise, they would be ranked in the 20’s.
16. Oakland Raiders (3-5): they have been close in so many games. Like the Chargers, they invent ways to lose. Without Norv, they would actually be contending in the AFC. Will finish with at least seven wins because of their schedule
17. Philadelphia Eagles (4-4): no T.O. means that you should look for Donovan McNabb’s numbers to plummet. What moron actually thinks they will be better without Owens (every moron on ESPN apparently)
18. St. Louis Rams (4-4): I’m still not sold on this team. Stephen Jackson is going to be a star, but will the Rams give him enough carries to make a difference? Also, to many injuries to key players (Bulger, Holt, Bruce, etc…)
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-3): their quarterback is Chris Simms…enough said
20. Miami Dolphins (3-5): they have a good running game and a good defense. They will be a tough spoiler in the second half.
21. Minnesota Vikings (3-5): might they have a second chance with Brad Johnson? I doubt it.
22. Buffalo Bills (3-5): J.P Losman didn’t work out. Real shocker there (note the sarcasm)
23. New York Jets (2-6): despite not having a quarterback that would be competitive at the college ranks, they continue to fight and play close games.
24. Cleveland Browns (3-5): three wins is already one more than I thought they’d get all season
25. Arizona Cardinals (2-6): offense is fun to watch at times, but the defense is tough to take. Always seem to play tough in the desert in the second half of seasons.
26. Tennessee Titans (2-7): Steve McNair deserves better. Pac Man Jones does not.
27. Detroit Lions (3-5): Your telling me they have Roy Williams, Kevin Jones, Mike Williams, Marcus Pollard, Charles Rogers…and they can’t even compete in the NFC North? Pathetic.
28. San Francisco 49ers (2-6): are there really four teams worse than the 49ers?
29. New Orleans Saints (2-7): I think they stopped trying after that Giants Stadium fiasco. By the way, how far has Aaron Brooks regressed the last three seasons?
30. Houston Texans (1-7): unlike the two teams below them, they at least put forth a solid effort. They simply have no talent outside David Carr and Andre Johnson, and are overmatched week in and week out.
31. Baltimore Ravens (2-6): this team really thought it could win the Super Bowl with Kyle Boller as the quarterback? HAHAHA. Even Chris Simms is better. Look out though, Ray-Ray is getting mad, which could mean higher murder rates.
32. Green Bay Packers (1-7): when the Packers won consistently with talented teams, Brett Farve got all the credit. So why is Farve getting none of the blame for this sorry team?

Tomorrow I’ll break down the second half of the season.