NFL Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous NFL thoughts and observations.

Are you in a fantasy football league? Was Peyton Manning one of the top 3 picks in your league? Is the person who drafted Manning now trying to trade him? If he wasn't yesterday - after last night's 6 interception performance I bet he's thinking about it today. In a season where Manning has been without Marvin Harrison - it's amazing how pedestrian his numbers have become. It should also be noted that Manning set the Colts record for interceptions in a game last night. Not even Jeff George managed to throw six picks in a game for the Colts... If you combined the totals from for the QB's in the Atlanta / Carolina game, the Minnesota / Green Bay game, and the Denver / Chiefs game - then you would get the exact same number of total interceptions as Peyton Manning threw all by himself.... Is it me or is Gunther Cunningham's defense in Kansas City masking just how bad a coaching job Herm Edwards is doing for the Chiefs? The Chiefs would be wise to ditch Edwards at the end of the season and bring back Marty Shottenheimer... The record for the remaining opponents for the Bills is 35-28 (but if you took out Miami it becomes 35-19). I've said it before - if Dick Jauron manages to lead the Buffalo Bills to an 8-8 record this season then he should be unanimous coach of the year... I wonder if the Dolphins have Sunday December 2nd circled on their calendars? They play the Jets at home that day and its got to be their best chance to win a game this year... The Cleveland Browns are one game back for a Wild Card playoff spot and right now I'd say they are the team you would not want to play in the first round of the playoffs.... Craphonso Thorpe? That's your real first name? I'd go with Fonzie if I were you but then again with the number of dropped passes you had last night maybe the other nickname is appropriate... Just saying but Stephen Gostkowski is 11-12 (92%) on field goals this year. Adam Vinatieri meanwhile is 16-20 (80%)...

San Diego Chargers

The Chargers went 14-2 last year which was good enough to get coach Marty Schottenheimer fired. This year they have Norv Turner at the helm. So basically they went from a head coach with a reputation for not being able to get the job done in the playoffs to a head coach with a reputation for not being able to get the job done at all.

The Cold, Hard Football Facts thinks that San Diego will repeat as champs of the AFC West. I'm not so sure.

Bodog lists the over / under for wins for San Diego at 11 wins but the Pro Football Prospectus (put together by the guys at Football Outsiders) projects the Chargers to 8.6 wins but the Broncos to 8.7 wins.

I think the San Diego offense regresses a bit under Norv Turner and I'm not sold on their defense. My guess is 10 wins which may or may not be good enough to win the AFC West. The big thing to watch is how they bounce back from a loss. There is real potential for the Chargers to go 8-8 and miss the playoffs. All it would take is one or two injuries and one questionable late game decision by Turner for the wheels to fall off the bandwagon..