Well, after saying he wasn't ready to play the Raiders inserted JaMarcus Russell into the game against the Broncos at an odd time. Josh McCown had led the offense down the field twice pretty well, but Russell has completed two of his first three passes for 29 yards.

His first throw, a sideline dart, was a great catch by Jerry Porter, who barely scratched his toes inside the line and in bounds.

Anyway, enjoy. 

This was funny, I thought:

"The Steelers' favorite official fun fact about the adornments on the Heinz Field scoreboard, says it all:

"'If the Heinz ketchup bottles were filled with Heinz ketchup, they would contain 1,664,000 fluid ounces each. If both bottles were emptied, the entire football field would be covered in three-quarters of an inch of ketchup.'

"If? Isn't that what happened Monday night?"

And speaking of Olbermann, for those of you who dislike -- as one of my favorite radio friends calls it -- the four-letter network, you might want to read this criticism of ESPN by Phil Mushnick.

As if the possibility hadn't crossed anyone's mind until yesterday, Sunday's blowout loss by the Dolphins to the Jets -- the one team left on their schedule that looked like a possible win -- was possibly the final nail in what could be history.

Oh-and-16.

Say it again. It just doesn't look right. If there were a dominant college team right now -- my Mizzou Tigers sure aren't that -- we'd be starting up the whole, Hey, can USC/Ohio State/LSU/St. Bartlesburg Tech beat the Dolphins?

So many things have gone wrong, it's hard to count. Their best offensive player, Ronnie Brown, lost his season to injury. That was unfortunate. Their criminally underrated linebacker, Zach Thomas, has lost his edge to age. In ten years, I will write a Thomas-for-the-Hall column, even though that won't end up happening. And we've even seen a decline in Jason Taylor, their amazing defender, though he was spectacular yesterday. Sometimes it seems like he's the only guy with pride over there, though I am sure that's not the case.

Those things are semi-out of the Dolphins' control. The rest of their problems can be blamed squarely on themselves.

They traded away their two best receivers, Wes Welker and Chris Chambers in an era where it's becoming clear that you need two guys guys (or more) at the position. I didn't mind the Chambers deal because he wasn't a part of the future. But the Welker deal, in retrospect, was pretty bad. Isn't it funny that the Patriots knew the Dolphins' personnel better than they did? So they got Samson Satele, who is playing OK -- big deal. I am not impressed with that swap.

And why the man crush on Trent Green? Everyone and their brother knew the Dolphins were not going to win more than six games this season? I can see the desire to get a veteran quarterback to go with your younger guys. But why a concussion-addled Green? I warn people not to undervalue draft picks, even fifth-rounders. And more than that, you shift gears, make this guy your starter and waste valuable development time. Plus, they spent money on him. I love Trent Green, don't get me wrong. But I love Trent Green four years ago.

The defense was getting old. Management overlooked it because that group kept the team afloat last year. The offense was bland and unimaginative. So they drafted a punt returner with the ninth pick in the draft. Sure, Ted Ginn has been slightly better at this point than I thought he'd be. But they have two guys, Ginn and Lorenzo Booker, who are essentially the same guy.

And John Beck has yet to throw a TD pass in his first 91 dropbacks. Any time, John. And with Beck, you can't talk about the future. He has to be ready now. He's 26. By the end of next training camp, he'll be 27. This is no rookie we're talking about. He's seven months younger than Eli Manning. That's scary.

There are so many people to blame, it's silly. The Dolphins have a big mess, and they have no one to blame but themselves. And what's sad is that their consolation might be the top pick in a draft with no clear-cut No. 1 guy -- at least not that fits their needs. Do you draft Darren McFadden with the top pick? Whither Brown? And if recent history has told us anything, it's that running backs can be found just about anywhere. So unless you're getting Adrian Peterson's doppelganger -- and I am not 100 percent certain McFadden is -- then you DO NOT take him No. 1.

The Dolphins will lose in Buffalo. The Bills have a lot of onions. They are 6-3 in their last nine and are doing with with zero talent. The Ravens might be down, but they are not losing to the Fish. Their one big weakness is pass defense. Lucky for the Ravens, the Dolphins can't throw it. The Patriots might beat Miami by 100. Ok, 60. And OK, maybe, maybe, the Bengals are cooked after last night and perhaps they come into Miami -- Chad Johnson's stomping grounds with New Year's thenext night, uh oh -- flat with the real possibility of their coach, Marvin Lewis, getting whacked. Boy, isn't that going to be a sad game?

Otherwise, 0-16 looks more real every day.

Enjoy it. My question is, what will those '72 idiots do if the Patriots go 16-0 and their precious team goes 0-16? Better yet, in a real test of their loyalty, will they still celebrate a Patriots loss if their team doesn't win a game? That would make it 19 losses in a row, dating back to last year. Oh, it will be interesting to watch, no question. 

If you watched last night's very entertaining game between the Ravens or Patriots, you likely emerged from it thinking one of two things.

Either the Patriots have been exposed and surely will lose a game -- either during the regular season or the playoffs -- or they now are more likely to run the table than ever.

I tend towards the latter, but maybe not how you think. I believe the Patriots will be shocked today when they look at the video and see how much they were beaten at the line of scrimmage. Who has run the ball like that, at least for the first three quarters, against them in the last 3-4 years? And with the world saying they are lucky to be alive after that game, I am sure it will motivate them even more. These guys thrive on the negative stuff. The problem with the first two months of the season, they had no negative stuff. Everything was gravy.

Every year they have won a title, they have had some serious scares.

In 2001, they had huge road wins at the Bills and Jets down the stretch and won their three playoff games by a combined 13 points. All were in serious doubt at one point.

In 2003, they overcame the Lawyer Milloy thing, won a couple of luck-is-what-you-make-of-it games, pulled off the miracle at Mile High and survived perhaps the goofiest Super Bowl of all time.

The next year, in 2004, was perhaps a smoother ride, though the Patriots did weather a thumping in Pittsburgh, returning to beat the Steelers in the playoffs, as well as a shocking late-season loss at Miami.

These guys thrive on pressure. The one time it didn't happen was last year's playoffs at Indy. I think they have several goals in mind this season, and I bet 16-0 is lower on the list. But don't think they wouldn't want to make it happen. There's only one more road game left, so it's entirely doable. Beat Pittsburgh on short rest at home this weekend, and there's no reason why they can't. And everyone wonders what Bill Belichick will do ... come on. They have preached 60 minutes all year long. There is NO way they will back down to rest a few veterans in the final game. At New York? Against the Giants? What better place for Belichick to make history. We're still a long way from that, but they are going to play every remaining minute of this season as if it's the last.

That said, I am not entirely convinced they are going to waltz to a title. The AFC race has become interesting again, with several teams coming back to form, most notably those Colts who seem to have something on the Patriots that few other teams do. And the Cowboys are a much better team than what they were on Oct. 14.

As my friend Ken Bikoff always said, sometimes in jest but none more true than now, there's a lot of football left. 

I thought I would chime in on the Heisman for a  minute. Here’s my top five in order:

1. Tim Tebow
2. Darren McFadden
3. Sam Bradford
4. Chase Daniel
5. Chris Long

Notice I left off Colt Brennan, Dennis Dixon, Matt Ryan, Pat White and others. The award is intentionally ambiguous, going to the most outstanding player in college football. Does that mean most valuable? No, not necessarily. Is it the most talented? Well, no. It merely is given to the guy who was, you know, outstanding.

Tim Tebow didn’t have a bad game this season. He had several excellent ones. The LSU game was as close to a mediocre game as he had all year, and he frustrated the Tigers in the first three quarters. Tebow led a Florida team that lost more than any team in the country heading into this season. He ran for at least one TD in every game and threw for one in every game, too. He had only seven interceptions in 317 attempts. He was his team’s leading rusher, despite every opponent knowing he’d be bullying his way through the line. Since when can a sophomore not win it? To those who don’t vote for him based on his class: shame on you.

McFadden is a close second. He too was the focus of opposing defenses, though guys like Felix Jones opened things up. McFadden ran for a lot of yards and had two Heisman-like performances: against South Carolina (321 rushing yards) and LSU (206, three TDs). I didn’t like the up-and-down stats much, though. He struggled against Auburn (17-43-0), Florida International (19-61, though he had four TDs) and, to a lesser degree, a better Mississippi State team (28-88-0 with a 57-yard TD catch). But he started strong and finished strong. I bet he has a big bowl game against Missouri. He’s a super talent who I think is a notch — but not a big one — below Adrian Peterson as an NFL talent. But that last fact doesn’t matter, at least it shouldn’t, for this discussion. For all of Arkansas’ problems with coaching and quarterbacking, McFadden was a consistent beast for the most part. Those few hiccups leave him in second.

Why isn’t Bradford getting more attention? Because he’s a freshman? My gosh, look at his numbers: 2,879 yards, 70 percent completions, 34 TDs and nine interceptions. And he led a very good OU team to the Big 12 championship. What else do you want? Two things should keep him from winning — his nightmare game against Colorado (8-for-19 passing, 112 yards, TD, two INTs) and getting hurt against Texas Tech, both games that the Sooners lost, costing them a title chance. But shouldn’t the Tech loss have shown just how good this guy is? OU was lost without him. Completely lost. He will be in New York next year, but he should be there this year. When will voters get over the whole freshman and sophomore thing?

I put Bradford ahead of my boy Daniel, who has been spectacular all year minus the two OU games. In the first one, he had two picks but otherwise was strong: 31-for-37 passing for 361 yards. But the Sooners got to him the last game. Still, the guy is the lifeblood of a stunning Mizzou offense, and I am not even saying that as a graduate. Anyone who has seen them has come away impressed unless last Saturday was your only chance to see them. I implore you: drag your butt out of bed on New Year’s Day and watch the McFadden-Daniel showdown. That is going to be fun. Daniel will be a finalist next year two, all things being right in the world.

Chris Long is my five because he was a dominant force in every game this year, and it’s completely stupid that defensive players get overlooked. Shame on the voters for not paying attention to both sides of the ball. Long gets a tackle and one other blocker on every play, and he still gets in the backfield. If he’s not making sacks (14 of them), he’s deflecting passes (seven), making tackles in the backfield (19 for minus-132 yards), forcing fumbles, blocking a kick and even returning an interception 25 yards. He carried a mediocre UVA team on his back.

I am sorry, but Brennan does not deserve this award. No player who throws five interceptions against Idaho and four more against San Jose State (those WAC teams won a combined six games) should get the award, even if he throws for 70 TDs (Brennan had 38). And that’s the thing: The hype is actually too much. For all that June Jones says about Hawaii not getting respect and that tired old argument, they are all over the Internet and TV. Brennan, in fact, is the country’s most overhyped player. I hope he has a nice career, I really do. But I think he’s terribly flawed. And he missed most of two games this season and didn’t come close to matching his 2006 numbers. You’d never know based on the way ESPN makes him out.

The other guys all have flaws in their résumés, too. I think it’s a two-horse race. Or at least it should be.

So if the Patriots beat the Steelers, who collects from Anthony Smith? I don't have any problem with the guy "guaranteeing" a win, but I put the word in quotes because, what is he giving up? What is he backing that guarantee with? That's why athletes who say this stuff are stupid. Smith should say, "I am so confident we'll win, I'll wear a Tom Brady jersey all next week if we don't."

Now, that's a guarantee.

And look at what he said! It wasn't even a guarantee, per se ... check out the major hedging (the underlining is my emphasis):

"Yeah, I can guarantee a win. As long as we come out and do what we got to do. Both sides of the ball are rolling, and if our special teams come through for us, we've got a good chance to win."

So you're guaranteeing a win ... if the offense and defense both play really well and the special teams out-perform the Patriots. Wow, Jim Feist, you're blowing my mind here!

I just think they are empty words. Not that Smith and the Steelers can't win this game; they most certainly can. But it's not like anyone is going to talk about this story or ask Smith why he and his team didn't do their part if they lose.

Now, the Jon Kitna-Cowboys rivalry -- that I can dig. I love guys who directly call other guys' manhood and pride into question. But Kitna calls everyone out. The media, his teammates, other players' teams. At least he's consistent. And what is he putting on the line, you ask? Everything. Predicting 10 wins is a lot more bold than one win. Calling out your own boys for not being on the same page can cost you your job. And calling out Cowboys players -- NFL fines be damned -- can cost you your head.

That's risking something, Tony Smith! 

To whomever calls the timeouts for the Ravens:

It's 9:12 p.m., Central time. You are down many points, 34 in fact. Please throw the ball more.

Love,

Eric the sportswriter 

(Updated at 9:15, 30 seconds after the end-zone interception) P.S. Not with Boller.

The Week 16 Washington at Minnesota game on Sunday, December 23 will be played at 8:15 P.M. ET on NBC, the Miami at New England game that day will move to 4:15 P.M. ET on CBS, and the Tampa Bay at San Francisco game moves to 4:05 P.M. ET on FOX, the NFL announced today.

In case anyone is interested:

The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) applauded the strong and appropriate sentence received today by NFL quarterback, Michael Vick, as he appeared before Judge Henry Hudson in Richmond, Va. Vick, who pleaded guilty in August 2007 to federal charges against him and three other co-defendants in a dog fighting-related investigation, was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison, which is at the higher end of the federal sentencing guidelines of 18 to 24 months. In addition, his sentence is followed by three years’ probation, during which time he cannot own nor have anything to do with dogs other than to provide support to humane organizations.

“This is a significant moment in the history of animal cruelty prosecution,” said Ed Sayres, president & CEO of the ASPCA, “and sends a clear message to criminals everywhere that this kind of gross and barbaric cruelty to animals will not be tolerated. We applaud all the agencies involved for their remarkably integrated, swift and thorough investigation and prosecution of this case-which we have been honored to have assisted in-which gives us some comfort that those animals who suffered and died did not do so in vain.”

Earlier this year, Vick pleaded guilty to conspiring to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities (“Travel Act”), and to sponsoring a dog in an animal fighting venture. Effective immediately, he will serve 23 months, less the time he has already served after surrendering himself early. Two of his co-defendants, Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips were sentenced to 18 and 21 months respectively on November 30. The fourth co-defendant, Tony Taylor, will be sentenced on December 14.

The ASPCA has assisted Federal authorities in their investigation from the beginning of this case, with Dr. Melinda Merck, forensic veterinarian with the ASPCA, assisting in the excavation of the graves and examination of the remains. Later, the ASPCA’s Executive Vice President and Science Advisor, Dr. Stephen L. Zawistowski, CAAB, led a team of animal behavior experts in evaluating the dogs seized from Vick’s Virginia property by federal officials.  Following that, the ASPCA-led team made recommendations to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Attorney’s office regarding their disposition, and worked closely with the Guardian/Special Master of the dogs, Rebecca Huss, on their disposition. Due to the sensitive nature of the evaluations and the ongoing criminal process, further details are not possible at this time.

For more information on the ASPCA, to learn more about staying alert to animal cruelty, or how you can join the fight against it, please visit www.fightcruelty.org.
 

You won't get any "shame on you" entries here. That's not right in my book. Bobby Petrino is what he is: a college drifter. The fact that he was at Louisville for four years before taking the Falcons' job is the one shocker of his career, but it doesn't negate the fact that he tried (in vain) to be wooed by about eight other schools in that time.

So knowing that, I blame the Falcons. They either failed to do their homework on Petrino or they turned their blinders on, thinking that the glitz and allure of an NFL would appease their glad-eye giver. Once a flirt, always a flirt, right ladies?

I always like Arthur Blank and Rich McKay when I hear them speak, but I thought this was a strange hire when they made it. Now, I had no idea that Petrino would bolt after 13 games, but does it shock me? Nay. Enjoy your coach, Arkansas. He might be there long enough to see Darren McFadden (think he's leaving?) and Felix Jones get drafted in Round One before he starts thinking, "Hmm, I hear Seattle is beautiful in the summer ..." 

What a backwards organization. Who wants this job? I feel bad for Emmitt Thomas, who one generation ago was a very intriguing head-coaching candidate. He interviewed for a number of jobs but never got one. Now his reward, years past his head-coach hiring wheelhouse, is this. Unfair, I tell you. If he can salvage anything out of this situation -- like Wade Phillips did, finishing 2-1 a couple of years ago -- I will praise the man up and down and to no end.

But there is no way he'll be the head coach after Dec. 31. No, the Falcons will try to cover up their missteps by overspending for Marty Schottenheimer or Bill Cowher and putting this nightmare to rest. It won't happen. The actions of the last year and a half -- clearly, the Michael Vick stuff was partially beyond their control, though the big contract they gave him was not -- have set this franchise back five years minimum. Would one of those guys even want this job? That's a stretch.

So no, I don't blame Petrino for doing what he always does: look for something better. (I guess he just wasn't that excited about coaching Brian Brohm again.) I blame the Falcons, who hired a guy with a very good college playbook and an undeniable insecurity. Sure, he'll never work in the NFL again with his latest Shangri-La, crossing the powerful Blank in the process, but what solace do the Falcons take from this wrist slap? Not an ounce.

They weren't duped, undercut or finessed. No, they were just blinded by the plain facts any simple, pre-hire investgation would have revealed. Nobody's fault but yours.

And in case anyone is interested, the Wanderlust Bowl -- Petrino vs. Saban -- is next September 20 in Fayetteville.