Candidates for Most Valuable Player are dwindling. Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon could take a giant leap Monday night if he leads the 8-1 Raiders to their first victory at Denver since 1994.
Tennessee running back Eddie George is the leader of the 8-1 Titans, but voters over the years have leaned to quarterbacks 2-1 over running backs.
Until last week’s surgery, St. Louis Rams runner-receiver Marshall Faulk had the inside track. He would have to make a remarkable comeback to succeed quarterback Kurt Warner, his teammate, who also is hurt.
Minnesota quarterback Daunte Culpepper looked like a long-shot possibility until the Vikings lost their last two games.
The Indianapolis Colts have three candidates: quarterback Peyton Manning, league-leading rusher Edgerrin James and league-leading receiver Marvin Harrison. But losing to the Bears didn’t help any of them. Their schedule gets tougher down the stretch, so one still could emerge.
Denver quarterback Brian Griese, the league-leading passer with Warner on the shelf, would need to get the 5-4 Broncos on a roll to become a long shot, starting Monday night.
Gannon threw for four touchdowns to beat his former team, the Kansas City Chiefs, last week. Elvis Grbac, retained over Gannon, threw for 504 yards but was intercepted twice in the 49-31 loss.
“We have the right quarterback from the Kansas City Chiefs,” Oakland guard SteveWisniewski said. “That’s obvious.”
No big deal: Bills quarterback Doug Flutie, accused by fellow quarterback Rob Johnson of making unattributed disparaging remarks about him last week, knows what it’s like to be on the short end of a controversy.
When Bears coach Mike Ditka acquired Flutie in midseason of 1986, he was labeled the coach’s pet after Ditka invited him to Thanksgiving dinner. Injured Jim McMahon nicknamed the diminutive Flutie “Bambi” and arranged at least one practical joke that steamed Flutie and Ditka.
During warmups before a game, McMahon added a few miniature rubber footballs to the ball bag. Flutie was not amused when the center would occasionally snap a ball to him that McMahon believed was more Flutie’s size.
Flutie denied saying Johnson tries to protect his passer rating by taking sacks and is distracted by wanting everyone to like him.
Asked if he thought Flutie was a good teammate, Johnson said:
“I’m sure he’s a good teammate for the rest of the guys, and he’s fine with them. Obviously he’s real competitive. He’s reaching the end of his career. He probably still wants to play. I don’t blame him for that. But if he was responsible for these comments, I would not consider him a good teammate.”
Said Flutie: “I’m sorry he feels that way.”
Good company: If he catches a touchdown pass this year, Philadelphia’s Brian Mitchell will join former Bear Gale Sayers in rare territory as a scoring threat. Since 1960, only Sayers has scored touchdowns rushing, receiving, and returning a kickoff and a punt in more than one season. Sayers did it in 1965 and 1967. Mitchell did it in 1997 and needs a touchdown catch to complete the cycle this season.
The feat has been accomplished eight times since 1960. The other five players are Philadelphia’s Timmy Brown (1961), Cleveland’s Bobby Mitchell (1961), Green Bay’s Travis Williams (1969), St. Louis’ Terry Metcalf (1975) and Houston’s Billy Johnson (1977).
King of QBs: Who says the quarterback gets too much credit and too much blame? In the Tampa Bay Bucs’ five victories, quarterback Shaun King has thrown 11 touchdown passes and one interception. In their four losses, King has thrown two touchdown passes and six interceptions.
“I say this without a blink. He is one of the five smartest quarterbacks in the league,” said Green Bay safety LeRoy Butler, who faces King this week. “He doesn’t make any mistakes.”
King doesn’t make many mistakes when the Bucs are winning, that is.
Wait for Saints: The New Orleans Saints are 6-3, which means Bourbon Street is ready to party, which doesn’t mean much at all, actually.
The Saints haven’t beaten a team with a winning record. The combined record of their six victims–the Chargers, Bears, Panthers, Falcons, Cardinals and 49ers–is 14-42.
They play the Panthers again this week and then get the Raiders, Rams and Broncos in a row. That would be cause for a parade.
Overworked Ricky: With 232 carries in nine games, Saints running back Ricky Williams is on pace to set the NFL record for rushing attempts in a season. Atlanta’s Jamal Anderson set the record with 410 in 1998. Williams’ average of 25.8 carries a game projects to 412 carries.
Sibling revelry: When Terry Jackson of the 49ers and Willie Jackson of the Saints scored touchdowns against each other last week, they became the first brothers to score touchdowns in the same game since Nov. 30, 1924, when Dutch and Joey Sternaman of the Bears scored in a game against the Milwaukee Badgers.
The 49ers’ Jackson scored his first career touchdown on an 11-yard pass in the fourth quarter. The Saints’ Jackson scored his first touchdown as a Saint on a 4-yard pass in the second quarter.
Rude trip: When the Arizona Cardinals travel to Minnesota this week, they will have nightmare memories of the Metrodome. In four visits, the Cards have lost four times by an average score of 39-15. Their exhibition game this year was a disaster, with wide receiver Rob Moore and cornerback Coby Rhinehart sustaining season-ending knee injuries and safety J.J. McCleskey breaking his ankle.
“It has an effect on you when you lose your players,” coach Dave McGinnis said. “We’re all human beings. But our mind-set is not what has happened up there; it is what’s going to happen up there.”
More Top Picks Yoga Mats
Fill of Philly: If the Cowboys had to play the Eagles one more time, they might have to disband. Not only did they lose both games to the Eagles, the Cowboys lost both starting wide receivers–Joey Galloway and Rocket Ismail–to season-ending knee injuries.
In their first meeting in 1999, Dallas receiver Michael Irvin sustained a career-ending neck injury in Philadelphia. In their second game last year, defensive end Greg Ellis broke his leg. Last week safety George Teague broke his foot.
Slick Griese: Denver QB Brian Griese is on pace to erase John Elway’s single-season team marks for passing yards, completions, completion percentage, touchdown passes and quarterback rating. Elway threw for 4,030 yards in 1993. Griese is on pace to hit 4,523. The highest passer rating Elway compiled was 93.0 in 1998, his final year. Griese is leading the AFC at 104.9.
“He’s getting better and better,” coach Mike Shanahan said. “We’ve got a guy who plays with the utmost confidence. He understands what we’re doing; he understands defenses. He works at what he does; he rallies people around him. That’s why he’s been playing like he has.”
The Broncos also boast the league’s most productive receiving tandem. Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey are on pace for 100-catch seasons.
Fan club: After last week’s Broncos-Jets game, Denver’s Smith found Jets receiver Wayne Chrebet near midfield and asked him to mail an autographed jersey.
“He plays with heart,” Smith said. “I love the way that guy plays. He leaves it all out there.”
Cowher no coward: Pittsburgh’s Bill Cowher is a football coach, which means he hates to look ahead. After the Steelers lost 9-7 to Tennessee last week to fall to 5-4, Cowher went out on a limb.
“Cowher came to us after the game and said, `We’re going to run the table,'” safety Lee Flowers said. “And that’s what we intend to do.”
The Steelers were 5-4 the last two seasons and finished 7-9 and 6-10. So taking them one game at a time didn’t help.
DON PIERSON’S NFL RANKINGS
1. Titans–On top and poised to stay there.
2. Raiders–Getting Rich; don’t sell them short.
3. Rams–No Faulk or Warner means gut check.
4. Vikings–After two losses, Cards fall right.
5. Dolphins–Dave One-Stedt in first place.
6. Colts–Already matched last year’s loss total.
7. Giants–A chance to step up against Rams.
8. Jets–Miracle finishes are evening up.
9. Redskins–A week off after two losses stirs doubt.
10. Buccaneers–Wild-card playoff chase is on.
11. Bills–Can’t afford to lose to Bears.
12. Steelers–They believe they can finish 12-4.
13. Chiefs–They come up small in big games.
14. Ravens–Out to prove defense is good enough.
15. Eagles–Who is best team in Pennsylvania?
16. Saints–Big test next week against Raiders.
17. Lions–Gary Moeller takes over winning team.
18. Broncos–With Davis back, playoffs are reachable.
19. Packers–Fluke catches welcome, but chancy.
20. Jaguars–Maybe second season will be kinder.
21. Panthers–Can get to .500 against Saints.
22. Patriots–Belichick returns to Cleveland.
23. Falcons–Dan Reeves welcomes Moeller to head coaching.
24. Cowboys–Nobody to throw or catch; paging Emmitt.
25. Cardinals–They win election for new stadium.
More Top Picks Best Recliners
26. Seahawks–A struggling team can’t find spark.
27. BEARS–Miller’s time, but is it Miller’s team?
28. 49ers–Worse-than-ever defense means no chance.
29. Bengals–Dillon could gain 300 against Cowboys.
30. Browns–May not win another the rest of year.
31. Chargers–Moses Moreno would like to beat Wannstedt