I have no good explanation for this...

Ok,

So I know I pulled a disappearing act after I took off for Phoenix. Do I have good reason for that? Yes. Is it really excusable? Not really. Do I wish I could have kept writing throughout this year? Heck yes. Will this ever happen again? I don't make promises.

There is no point in bothering everyone with the details of my absence from writing this blog. Basically, after a few weeks of not writing, I figured that it would be pointless to come back and keep making picks because the integrity of the picks from the ‘missed weeks’ would be compromised and figured that by the time the playoffs rolled around, I could just start fresh.

The fact remains (whether anyone cares or not) that I continued to participate in the weekly NFL picks pool that my friend runs. I could sit here and tell everyone that I went to jail, and used one phone call a week to make my picks for the pool for entertainment value, but that assumes people read this and/or care. Oh yeah, and there's that whole fabrication thing.

The truth is, I suppose that once I started to creep up into the top standings of the picks pool, part of me thought to myself ‘If I go back to writing the blog to make picks, is that going to mess with what I have going here and screw me out of potentially winning this thing?’ As we all can see by the large gap between posts, this was pretty much the case.

What is important, however, is that in the end I ended up winning that pool with an overall record of 186-70. Is there a way to verify this? Sure, but I will only provide that proof if I'm challenged to do so, because I’m not here to boast about winning the pool, or beating all of ESPN’s experts and its ‘ACCUSCORE’. (All true, by the way)

The point was to get back to the blog, writing, and being a source of information, reaction, and opinion not only for the playoffs, but for the time of the year when almost everyone (except us junkies) takes a break from the NFL: post-Super Bowl.

That’s the plan, at least.

So here I am, back to write for me and like 15 people who might read this.

For now.

How about that 2009 NFL season? It's a sad day to realize that it's behind us.

To sum it up before hopefully writing a small post tomorrow about the upcoming NFL playoffs, here are a five random shots and thoughts about the NFL regular season that we say goodbye to this weekend when the NFL Playoffs begin.

Chris Johnson – While he may not win the MVP award this season (I think it’s pretty obvious that it will be Peyton Manning, rightfully so) I had to start this off talking about CJ2K6 (which is now his new nickname for those who don’t know). What he was able to accomplish this season - setting the all-time NFL record for yards from scrimmage with 2,509 (eclipsing Marshall Faulk’s previous record), becoming the sixth player in league history to rush for over 2000 yards (2,006 to be exact), and mixing in his name with the rest of the league MVP candidates after helping the Tennessee Titans turn around their season to finish 8-8 after starting 0-6 – was truly remarkable. Now the guy wants to race Usain Bolt…Wow.

The Season of Undefeated Teams, Sort Of – For most of the 2009 regular season in the second half of the year, a lot of the talk was dominated by the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints potentially meeting in the Super Bowl with their undefeated seasons in tact...

Well...the Saints lasted until a Week 15 loss at home to Dallas, and have not won a game since (losing at home to Tampa Bay and in Carolina). It was a big story back in Week 15, but all of a sudden people forgot about the Saints because...

The Colts, however, saw their undefeated season end in a little bit of controversy. Up 15-10 in the third quarter against the New York Jets in Week 16, the Colts opted to take out their starters and rest them for the remainder of the game. Enter backup QB Curtis Painter. With a perfect season on the line, the world caught a glimpse of what the Indianapolis Colts would look like sans-Manning, and watched their perfect season end at home. Colt fans (and fans of football alike) were outraged that the Colts threw away a chance at history. Not only did their actions have an effect on their perfect season, but it allowed the New York Jets to essentially back their asses into the playoffs by getting two wins at the end of their season in meaningless games where their opponents brought much less than their 'A' games.

And so, the debate between chasing history or playing every game to win versus doing everything to enter the playoffs as strong as you can continues to be a subject of debate around the league. (Note: This will more than likely be a subject of discussion in the off-season because we will see just how these strategies employed by teams actually work out for them in the post-season)

The Unfortunate Passing of Chris Henry – On December 17, 2009 the NFL experienced tragedy when Cincinnati Bengals WR Chris Henry died after reportedly jumping out of his fiancée’s moving truck following a domestic dispute. The news was reported that Henry has suffered a life-threatening injury the previous night, and in the morning word was released that he was pronounced dead the following morning. Henry was 26 years old, and if anyone has been watching football in the last three weeks they know that inspired or not, the Cincinnati Bengals are not the same team without him.

Dude, My Head Hurts – One of the running themes this year seemed to be the increasing number of concussion cases across the league. It prompted the league to change its policy on how concussions are to be dealt with stating, “Once removed for the duration of a practice or game, the player should not be considered for return-to-football activities until he is fully asymptomatic, both at rest and after exertion, has a normal neurological examination, normal neuropsychological testing and has been cleared to return by both his team physician(s) and the independent neurological consultant.” The old standard, established in 2007, said a player should not be allowed to return to the same game if he lost consciousness. The list of players who suffered concussions in 2009 is a lengthy one, including Kurt Warner, Ben Roethlisberger, Brian Westbrook, Jamal Lewis, and Clinton Portis.

Troubles in Paradise – The NFL is never without it’s stories regarding teams that were up and then down, and vice versa. This year, there was more than a handful of noteworthy nose-dives and internal drama.

After a 6-0 start to the season, the Denver Broncos finished off the year 2-8 - watching the red hot San Diego Chargers fly by them in the AFC West standings - and missed the playoffs. It was by far the worst nose dive of any team in the NFL this season. Remember those images of Josh McDaniels fist pumping to the crowd when they beat New England in Week 5? This is the same guy that heading into a must-win game decided to bench two of his best weapons in the passing game (WR Brandon Marshall and TE Tony Scheffler) while another one (WR Eddie Royal) was missing the game with injury. Did anyone see any fist pumps last week?

Not too far off were the Jacksonville Jaguars, who managed to roll out 4 straight losses to end the year after being 7-5 and in control of their own destiny to make the playoffs. The Jaguars were probably the league’s toughest team to predict this year, and when the chips were on the table managed to choke, again. A lot of people speculate that there is a good chance that this will prompt the firing of head coach Jack del Rio. I'll see it when I believe it. Knowing this team, they will go ahead and spend their first draft pick on Tim Tebow. Stay tuned.

The New York Giants started off the season with five wins, but back then some may have pointed to the fact that all of those wins came against teams that had not won a game before facing the Giants. In the end, the G-men ended off the season 3-8, and finished 3rd in the NFC East division with an 8-8 record. The Giants capped their disappointing season with two embarrassing losses. The first came at home in the last game they will ever play in Giants’ Stadium (a 41-9 loss to Carolina). and the following week, the Giants lost on the road in Minnesota 44-7. They have since fired their defensive coordinator and they may not stop there.

Speaking of the Vikings, all things looked great in Minnesota early in the season until reports were coming out about a rift between head coach Brad Childress and QB Brett Favre. Basically, the report said that Favre was unhappy that Childress had wanted to take Favre out of their game at Carolina in Week 15, and that it was speculated that Favre had been checking out of run plays all year long ignoring the plays called by the coaches. So, after being in a position to possibly overtake the Number 1 seed in the NFC, two road losses in Carolina and Chicago in Weeks 15 and 16 ended that dream. As a result, the Vikings were in jeopardy of even losing the second seed and a bye in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Fortuantely, the Giants came to town and bent over like the town slut. As a result, the old man and his Vikings managed to earn a first round bye after Dallas beat Philadelphia in their Week 17 tilt for the NFC East title.


All in all, it was another great NFL regular season, and the playoffs should be just as good. Tomorrow I hope to do a quick write-up on some playoff storylines and picks for the weekend.


- Deacon Touchback