Kickers don't get a whole lot of respect, but David Akers is the man. He scored 166 points on the year, the fourth most in NFL history, and highest ever for a full-time kicker (only LaDainian Tomlinson, Shaun Alexander and Paul Hornung have scored more).
And in the RotoWire Steak League, a major reason I'm eating a free steak (and shrimp and salad and soup and dessert and beer and wine and booze) is Akers, who scored 170 points in our format, 23 more than the next highest kicker and about 45 more than the average one.
Victor Cruz had two catches for 17 yards on four targets during the season's first two games when he was the team's fourth receiver. In the 14 games since, he has 80 catches for 1519 yards. Prorated over a 16-game season, that's 1736 yards - which would be third in NFL history behind Jerry Rice, Isaac Bruce and Charley Hennigan, and keep in mind Cruz started just seven games. Cruz also averaged 11.7 yards per target, easily the most among the league's 31 100-target receivers, and the best mark among such receivers in the last decade. (Jordy Nelson, who had a ridiculous 13.3 YPT, had just 95 targets). Oddly, Greg Jennings, who played just 13 games and averaged 9.6 YPA despite having a QB with 9.2 YPA, made the Pro Bowl ahead of him.
Matt Stafford and Eli Manning have both thrown for more yards this season than Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner or Dan Fouts did in any year of their careers.
The whole speculation about what Colts management would do down the stretch - tank for Andrew Luck or win for pride - turned out to be pretty irrelevant.
I've heard a few people (Bill Simmons was one) argue that Matt Flynn's monster day (520 yards, six TDs) is an argument for Drew Brees over Aaron Rodgers for MVP. I'd take it a step further - the Packers should make the two compete over the bye week to see who starts against the Giants-Falcons winner.
Seriously, though, unless Flynn did this for 3-4 games and then showed himself to be mediocre in some other system, I can't see how anything he did diminishes Rodgers' historic season.
As for Brees, he broke the record, but he had 657 attempts, getting 8.2 YPA. That's lower than Eli Manning's 8.4 and miles away from Rodgers' 9.2. Moreover, Brees threw 14 picks to Rodgers' six, and the Saints didn't even get a first-round bye. Finally, as good as Rodgers' setup is, I'd easily prefer a dome, Sean Payton as head coach, Darren Sproles and a tight end that can catch.
Only two backs in the league had more than 300 carries, Maurice Jones-Drew (343) and Michael Turner (301). Jones-Drew was the league's only 1,400-yard rusher. And its only 1500 and 1600-yard rusher, too.
The Texans-Titans finish was perfect, as Houston was a three-point dog, and the decision to go for two sealed the cover. After the false start penalty, the decision was laughable, and the bad snap perfectly apropos. Of course, had Oakland and Denver (both favored) won, I think it would have sent Tennessee to the playoffs.
Had the Chiefs beaten the Raiders last week, they would have won the AFC West.
The Pats spotted the Bills 21 points, then covered an 11-point spread by 17.
79-910-7 is a pretty solid line from a second tight end. But 90-1327-18 (including a rushing TD) is madness. Rob Gronkowski now has 27 TD in two seasons and won't turn 23 until May.
Larry Fitzgerald's career YPC is 13.9, but somehow he got 17.6 this year, a career high by nearly three yards.
The Ravens and Niners are two of the sleepier No. 2 seeds in recent memory. It's easy to dismiss them, but the Saints-49ers line will be three or less, and should the Ravens make it to New England, it would almost certainly be less than six. The Ravens have bigger playmakers in Torrey Smith and Ray Rice, but the Niners might actually have the better QB.
I've been rooting for Tebow all year, but 6-of-22 for 60 yards and a pick, and six carries for 16 yards and a fumble at home with a possible playoff berth on the line is something out of the book of Job.
The Giants pass rush is peaking right now as Osi Umenyiora is finally back, Justin Tuck looks healthy and Jason Pierre-Paul is a monster. There are a lot of parallels with the 2007 team as it too was awful defensively for most of the year. Right now Tuck is like Michael Strahan, Pierre-Paul is like Tuck and Osi is Osi. The 2007 team also played the undefeated Patriots tough at home down the stretch, and this team played the then undefeated Packers equally tough.
While the 2007 team were underdogs on the road in Tampa during the Wild Card round, their next two games shape up similarly to 2007's should they get through. While this year's Packers are very good, they're not all that different from the dominant 13-3 Dallas team they played, and the Saints (13-3) aren't so much better than that year's 13-3 Packers. And should they get by those teams, they might wind up meeting Tom Brady in the Super Bowl again.
Of course, they could very easily lose to Atlanta, too.