NFL bits

By Eric Wilbur

2 minutes to read

Just a few NFL notes hurtling toward the weekend.

  • NFL MVP? Drew Brees in a slam-dunk, right? Maybe. ESPN’s Mike Sando breaks down the candidates, and both Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger have really good arguments for the award this season. But who are we kidding? If Brett Favre doesn’t perform his annual choke, the MVP will be handed to him. Even if he does, he’ll still be a candidate up to the very end.

    Wait, I thought for a moment baseball writers were voting. Never mind, it’s Brees.

  • The Indy Star’s Bob Kravitz has a Colts-Pats rivalry glossary, including expected digs at the usual suspects. Loved the entry on Reche Caldwell though: “In 2007, was given the key to the city of Indianapolis. Dropped it.”
  • Boy, to be a Chargers fan living in Southern California. Live more than 10 miles from the stadium, and you’re apt to be watching Packers-Cowboys Sunday afternoon in lieu of your hometown team. Not sure I’ll ever figure out NFL TV distribution rights.
  • Non-football related, but Eliot Spitzer will be speaking today at a Harvard ethics forum. I got nothing.
  • Everybody has seemingly been asked, and apparently nobody is interested in signing Larry Johnson. On that note, I’d be surprised to see him lining up in the backfield for the Patriots next weekend vs. the Jets, but not shocked.
  • It’s not quite Tom Brady wearing an “NY” hat, but newly-signed linebacker Pat Williams said he was pleased to join the Patriots, “the Yankees of football.” Way to go, Pat.
  • The Indy Star’s Philip B. Wilson won’t be goaded into saying anything inflammatory about the Patriots on Boston airwaves (unless you pay him). Instead, he breaks down everything you need to know in his blog:

    Give me a break. You want one of us to say the Patriots stink? Well, they don’t. You want one of us to give you a take on this game? It should be a lot of fun. Two old AFC rivals getting it on Sunday night, national television, such an entertaining stage. You want me to say who has the edge? Well, the Colts are 8-0 and at home and the Patriots are 6-2 and trying to keep their hopes alive for a run at the AFC’s No. 1 seed. The Colts have the edge, based on record and location, but come kickoff, it’s a coin flip. I predicted on our Sunday Matchup at IndyStar.com that the game would go to overtime because both teams seem so evenly matched. Want to know my prediction, it’s there for the world to see. Check it out.

    We looked for it, but became strangely fascinated with this odd game on the site where football players (dressed presumably as Patriots) get tossed at targets around the field of play, resulting in busted limbs and crooked necks, their lifeless bodies strewn across the screen. I’d bet Kevin Everett wouldn’t approve.

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