Sorry for the delay, people. A bit of a rough go getting out of snow-socked Buffalo. Read below to see why being a sportswriter isn't always the glamorous life you might think:
Giant of the week: Ahmad Bradshaw, RB. I don’t know which I like more: his 88-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that sealed the Giants’ win, or his prediction in the huddle that he would take it to the house. Bradshaw finished with 17 carries for 151 yards and had the longest touchdown run of the season. 
Jet of the week: Jerricho Cotchery, WR. With Laveranues Coles no lock to return next season, Cotchery could end up being the go-to guy. He led the Jets with eight catches for 152 yards in an otherwise nondescript loss to the Titans.
Offensive player of the week: Peyton Manning, QB, Colts. Just another day at the office for Manning, who went 28-of-35 for 311 yards and three TDs.
Defensive player of the week: Kawika Mitchell, LB, Giants. With the game still in doubt, Mitchell was all over the Bills’ backfield pressuring Trent Edwards and creating havoc. He finished with two sacks and a 20-yard interception return for touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Special teams player of the week: Nick Harris, P, Lions. We normally reserve our special teams player of the week for a dynamic returner or kicker. But with no dominant performances in either category (unless our unfortunate experience with the PT Cruiser caused us some short-term memory loss), we will honor the Lions' punter, who had four punts inside the 20 and have a net average of 42.6 yards against the Chiefs. Kansas City's best starting field position for the entire game was their own 30.
Dominating performance award, Part I: Bears 35, Packers 7. Chicago had nothing to play for, other than the fact the Bears despise the Packers, regardless of when they play. The Bears made Brett Favre look awful and ruined the Packers’ hopes of securing homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
Dominating performance award, Part II: Jaguars 49, Raiders 11. You knew it was going to be a long day for the Raiders when Fred Taylor socred a 62-yard rushing touchdown the first time he touched the ball.
Touching moment of the week: Kevin Everett returning to the Bills for the first time since suffering a temporarily paralyzing injury in the regular season opener. Players were openly weeping while he met with them before the Giants’ game. God bless this man.
Costly injury: Terrell Owens suffered a high ankle sprain in the Cowboys’ win over Carolina Saturday night. He still has three weeks before his first playoff game, but if he’s not at full strength, the Cowboys’ offense will suffer.
Now that’s the Joe Gibbs I remember award: For the first time since Gibbs returned to the sidelines, the Redskins looked like the magnificently coached team they once were when Gibbs fashioned a Hall of Fame on his first go-round. Washington thumps Minny on the road, and the Redskins’ playoff hopes live on.
Quote of the week: “It wasn’t embarrassing. It was mortifying, if I can use that word.” Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha cornerback the team's blowout loss to the Jaguars. Of course you can use that word. We love it when football players use words normally found only in a thesaurus. And with Tiki Barber now retired, there aren’t many left.
Statistical anomaly of the week: Lance had a decent one with Tom Brady throwing two picks and the Patriots not scoring in the second half and still winning 28-7. But how about this one: The Lions were held to just 12 first downs, went 3-for-11 on third downs, had just 99 yards passing, and lost the time of possession battle 32:05-27:55. They beat the Chiefs, 25-20.
Dumbest player of the week award: Warren Sapp, DT, Raiders. He received three consecutive unsportsmanlike penalties within seconds of each other after berating officials during a 49-11 loss to the Jaguars. Three straight unsportsmanlike penalties followed by an ejection! Why the penalties for just talking? Well, we’re assuming Sapp was telling the officials to perform a physical impossibility instead of wishing them Happy Holidays.
Coaching second guess: Eric Mangini for accepting a penalty and thereby taking a field goal off the board. Three plays later, Chad Pennington threw an interception in the endzone. Doesn’t get any more basic than this: Never, ever take points off the board. (Not even when you’re 3-11 and out of it, Hookslide.)
Unfortunate sportswriter moment: Leaving the hotel in Buffalo this morning for the airport, we started the rental car and then got out and wiped the snow off. When we went to get back in the car, it was locked. Motor running. An hour later, hundred bucks for the locksmith, who tells me he gets calls for this kind of moment with this kind of car – a PT Cruiser - all the time. The good news: This car is no longer manufactured. Frantic trip to airport … several cuts in the security line … made the flight, baby!
Final word: Happy Holidays, everyone! Merry Christmas. Happy Chanukah (retroactive, of course). Happy Kwaanza. Happy Festivus. Happy New Year.
Comments (6)
Heard you on the show formerly known as Cold Pizza this morning. Didn't know you were currently dealing with being locked out of your fancy pt cruiser.
anyway, since i was listening carefully being the fan that I am. I thought I might grade your performance. Stumbled just a little out of the gate with the Kevin Everett talk, I thought maybe you could have gotten to the point quicker. But the rest of your work on the bit made me a proud what about bob? blog reader. Blew the other guy out of the water. plus I could be overanalyzing the Kevin Everett part too.
thought you would like to hear a listeners opinion, cause it was cool to see our local guy on espn.
Brad D:
Thanks for the critique. Always appreciated. I could probably avoid those stumbles, but I refuse to read what I have to say. A bit of a high-wire act, but eventually, it gets out.
Thanks again for listening/watching.
BG
Where do you find the time?
Hey, are we not getting a special teams player of the week on today's Monday Memo? I demand a refund!
Ok, I know I'm a homer, but can I nominate Todd Sauerbrun for dumbest player of the week, even though he's been mercifully cut? So much for second, third, and fourth chances. Travis Henry can't be far along in this department.
Lance:
Thanks for the reminder - and the dumb player awards. We put in a special teams player just for you.
I love your monday morning memo, along with all your articles on Newsday and your blogs. Thanks for the holiday wishes, pls also remember to wish me Happy Eid. Cheers.
Kashif:
Thanks for the reminder, and glad you enjoy our little corner of the world! Happy Eid to you and yours! Be well.
BG