Week Thirteen Observations

1. Thursday night football, Jets vs Bills, was a showdown of the two worst starting quarterbacks in the league. As bad as Mark Sanchez and Ryan Fitzpatrick are, Kellen Clemens is worse. The Jets would be a clear-cut playoff team if they had a quarterback.

2. Paul Posluszny is a nice young player when he’s not injured.

3. Matt Millen is a damn good color commentator. He seems to know everything about everything. You can see how he became Detroit’s GM, but you can’t see why he sucked so badly at that position.

4. In a meaningless game against the Rams, Jay Cutler played one of his best games of the season. He was kept on a short leash.

5. Meanwhile, opposing quarterback Kyle Boller played one of the worst games any quarterback has played this season.

6. I thought Tennessee's 4th down fade play to Kenny Britt was one of the worst calls of the season. They called a timeout to think it over, too. You have Vince Young's legs, you have Chris Johnson, you have capable tight ends, and you call a static finesse pass play from Young to a rookie wide receiver. Made no sense.

7. The Chiefs have at least one good player in their front seven, 26 year-old DE Tamba Hali. He had ten tackles and three sacks against the Broncos.

8. Oakland's win in Pittsburgh, the biggest upset of the season, was not a fluke. The Raiders didn't get lucky. Oakland's last drive had a few wild plays, but overall it was an even game. The Raiders with Bruce Gradkowski are just not that bad a team. All season long the Raiders were better than the truly horrid dregs of the league in every area, but their quarterback kept letting them down. Quarterback is no longer a huge weakness for the Raiders - and they are no longer a punchline.

9. Shane Lechler is overrated. His finesse punting is nothing special.

10. Ben Roethlisberger has cost the Steelers a couple games with Cutler-like bad decisions in the red zone.

11. The Saints winning in Washington, on the other hand, was one of the flukiest wins of the year (unless you are a Redskins fan and saw this one coming the whole game). The Redskins had

• a dropped interception,
• a punt hitting a blocker which was recovered by the Saints for a turnover
• a missed 23 yard field goal,
• and this - the wildest play of the season

If any of these things don't happen, the Redskins likely win the game.

12. With Fred Davis and Chris Cooley, the Skins will be a little too rich and redundant at tight end in 2010. The Skins should trade Cooley in the offseason for an offensive lineman or draft pick(s).

13. Sign me up for Devin Thomas in fantasy 2010.

14. I've always felt Sammy Morris is New England's best runner. When he's healthy, he breaks more tackles than Laurence Maroney or Kevin Faulk.

15. Davone Bess is one of my favorite players, because his game is all about smarts and hard work. Physically, he is one of the least gifted wide receivers on an NFL roster. He is neither large nor fast. But he has good balance, runs great routes, and catches most everything thrown his way. The Dolphins are in a weird situation with their wide receivers. They have four young guys with different skill sets - Bess, Ted Ginn, Brian Hartline, and Patrick Turner. Greg Camarillo is also in the mix. The problem is, none of these guys are gamechangers and it doesn't appear any of them ever will be. The Dolphins have found ways to use all these guys, but they will never be a top-flight offense without a legitimate WR.

16. Miami's management of the clock is shaky. I am leaning Sean Payton over Tony Sparano for Coach of the Year.

17. Jacksonville's crowd is officially the worst in the NFL.

18. The 7-5 Jaguars have not beaten a team with a winning record this season and have a scoring differential of -48 on the season.

19. Rex Grossman has attempted only nine passes on the season, but those were enough to cost the Texans a must-win game they should have had in Jacksonville. He could also cost Gary Kubiak his job.

20. Houston just keeps inventing new ways to lose critical games in gutwrenching fashion. A Chris Brown INT in the end zone was the latest culprit. Chris/Kris Brown have cost the Texans 2-4 games.

21. I’m telling you guys, Josh Freeman and Josh Johnson are the same player. Any talk that Freeman takes care of the ball better than Johnson was put to bed on Sunday.

22. Tampa Bay had 469 yards of offense and scored six points against the Panthers.

23. Antonio Bryant made the catch of the year against the Panthers, but nobody was watching. I can't find it on youtube.

24. Dan Fouts is driving me nuts. Please, please get rid of him, CBS.

25. Leroy Hill got away with pass interference on San Francisco's Delanie Walker on fourth and goal.

26. Linebackers can't handle Vernon Davis. This season it has become clear why Davis was one of the highest drafted tight ends in NFL history. You don't usually see underachieving "athletic" players suddenly blossom in the NFL (and Davis did drop a touchdown Sunday), but it does happen. Vernon's quarterback, Alex Smith, is another example. Both Davis and Smith will be intriguing fantasy options in 2010. The most stunningly effective fantasy players of the season:

13. Cedric Benson
12. Aaron Rodgers
11. Mike Wallace
10. Mario Manningham
9. Johnny Knox
8. Percy Harvin
7. Ricky Williams
6. Ray Rice
5. Steve Smith Giants
4. Vernon Davis
3. Mike Sims-Walker
2. Miles Austin
1. Sidney Rice

27. Frank Gore has had a high-variance season, and I'm not sure why. Usually scatbacks see big swings in their production, not hosses like Gore.

28. Julius Jones might be the least intimidating starting tailback in the league.

29. San Francisco should have beaten Seattle. They have a better team. Myriad mistakes including poor clock management in the last minute cost the Niners the game.

30. Brady Quinn puts up just good enough numbers against bad defenses (Detroit, San Diego) to make the Browns consider him for the future instead of going in a new direction.

31. There aren't a whole lot of ways to describe Philip Rivers other than "good." OK, maybe "douchebag." "Chode" works too.

32. I can't believe a team with a defensive line as bad as San Diego's is 9-3.

33. Giants 31, Cowboys 24 was an old-school Giants result, but if you watched closely, their level of play was not what it was earlier in the season. The defensive line was better than it has been in recent weeks, but the running game, specifically the running backs, are not where they were at the beginning of the year.

34. Sometimes it all comes together for the Arizona Cardinals. The finesse passing game is unstoppable when functioning properly. It's easily disrupted, which is why the Cardinals sometimes look so terrible. Arizona doesn't have a "secondary" offense to fall back on, like the Saints have developed this year, but in the right situation, they are like the Saints. Arizona has a better running game than last year as well as a better defense. It's unlikely they will make another Super Bowl run, but the chances of it happening are higher than they were last year at this time. A hot Cardinals team is capable of taking out the Saints or Vikings in the playoffs.

35. The big trend this week in the NFL was the pop-up kickoff, the high-arcing pooch that usually lands around the 30 yard line. I have no clue why so many teams went to the pop-up this week, or would ever use it. There is a chance that it could be mishandled by the blocker that has to field it, but usually it just gives the receiving team better than average field position.

36. Domonique Foxworth is having a rough year. I don’t have the numbers, but I would imagine he’s been burned more than any other corner in the league this season. Don’t feel sorry for Foxy though – he’s being paid kindly for his troubles.

37. Everybody knows Baltimore’s cornerbacks stink, so they do everything they can to attack them and avoid the front seven. They need Ed Reed back there to strike some fear into opposing quarterbacks, but they really need a good young corner to rebuild the secondary around. Trouble is, they also need wideouts. And those linebackers aren’t getting any younger. And…

38. Todd Heap’s inability to exploit AJ Hawk in pass coverage was one of the keys to Green Bay’s castration of Baltimore on Monday night. The Ravens need to get hold of a tight end as well. Ozzie Newsome will have his hands full this offseason.

39. The more I see of Ryan Grant the less I like. Expect the Packers to use a high pick on a running back in April.

40. I am no college football expert, but my from my vantage point, Ndamukong Suh is the obvious choice for the Heisman Trophy. He is the most talented player in college. He does more to change the game than anyone else. He and Nebraska's kicker/punter extraordinaire Alex Henery are the only good players on the team, yet they are top 25 and almost knocked off undefeated Texas for the Big XII Championship despite no contributions from anyone else. Suh is the consensus top prospect for the 2010 NFL Draft. There are no obvious candidates who play offense. Suh had twelve sacks as a nose tackle and led the team in tackles as a nose tackle despite constant double teams. He is the most dominant defensive player I can remember coming out of college. Everybody knows he is a better overall player than Tim Tebow, Mark Ingram, Toby Gerhart, and Colt McCoy. I mean seriously, who had a bigger impact on that Big XII Championship, McCoy or Suh? We all know Texas wins at least ten games every season no matter who their quarterback is, and Alabama might still be undefeated without Ingram. But Nebraska is just a boring also-ran without Suh. So give him the damn trophy already.

Goat of the Week: Shaun Suisham, Washington (now unemployed)
Defensive Breakout Player of the Week: Jamar Williams, Chicago
Offensive Breakout Player of the Week: Devin Thomas, Washington
Defensive Coordinator of the Week: Bill Davis, Arizona
Offensive Coordinator of the Week: Russ Grimm/Mike Miller/Ken Whisenhunt, Arizona
Defensive MVP of the Week: Darrelle Revis, New York Jets
Offensive MVP of the Week: Philip Rivers, San Diego

Power Rankings:

32. Cleveland (32)
31. Detroit (31)
30. Tampa Bay (30)
29. St. Louis (29)
28. Kansas City (28)
27. Buffalo (26)
26. Carolina (23)
25. Chicago (24)
24. Seattle (25)
23. Oakland (27)
22. New York Jets (21)
21. Jacksonville (22)
20. Atlanta (19)
19. Washington (20)
18. Houston (16)
17. San Francisco (18)
16. New York Giants (17)
15. Miami (15)
14. Tennessee (14)
13. Denver (12)
12. Baltimore (7)
11. Dallas (10)
10. Arizona (13)
9. Philadelphia (11)
8. San Diego (8)
7. Pittsburgh (5)
6. Green Bay (9)
5. Cincinnati (6)
4. New England (4)
3. Minnesota (2)
2. Indianapolis (3)
1. New Orleans (1)