Saying Goodbye to the 2000's In Style

As the end of the decade draws near, so too does the end of a decade of football that will surely go down in NFL lore as one of the greatest in history. The New England Patriots carved out what was probably the first dynasty in the era of free agency, the Steelers reached the record mark of six Super Bowl victories to eclipse the records set by the San Francisco 49'ers and Dallas Cowboys. In a decade of miracle comebacks and amazing victories, I am counting down the most significant trends and events (to me) that have taken place over the past decade.



You Know When You Were An NFL Fan In the 2000's When

7. Two records for consecutive wins were set: The Indianapolis Colts have only last month set a new record for the longest consecutive regular season winning streak, which spanned over two years and 21 games. Indy broke that record against the Jacksonville Jaguars to stay undefeated this season, expanding on a 12 game winning streak started last year. But this week against the Jets they ended their quest for what only one team has managed in this decade: a perfect regular season. The 2007 Patriots made history as the first team to have an undefeated regular season in the history of the 16-game season (the '72 Dolphins undefeated record was still during the time of a 14-game season). In that season, Tom Brady also broke a record held by Peyton Manning, but I'll get to that later.

6. You witnessed the rise of the prima donna receiver: While prima donna receivers have always existed in the league and many arose in the 1990s (see Michael Irvin and Terrell Owens), the increased level of passing has given momentum to a new age of flashy, entertaining wideouts. The aforementioned T.O., the player formerly known as Chad Johnson, and Randy Moss have made their mark on this decade with controversy almost constantly in their wake, whether in their remarks (Owens and Johnson being the most notable repeat offenders) and their antics on or off the field (from Moss "mooning" Lambeau Field and T.O.'s popcorn stunt to Johnson's faux Hall of Fame jacket and customized cleats). The careers of these three receivers have ranged at varying points between good (T.O. before his mouth gets him in trouble and Randy Moss with the Vikings or the Patriots), bad (T.O. in Buffalo, Johnson when he has no Carson Palmer), and ugly (Moss's terrible time in Oakland and the accusations of taking plays off both there and elsewhere). The good news for these three is that they usually walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

5. Your punter is from Australia: Having a punter from down under is not quite a fad just yet, but their style of kicking (which consists of a drop punt that almost hits the nose of the ball) has been brought to national attention due to its undeniable effectiveness. The coffin corner punters of old have been all but wiped out (with Jeff Feagles of the New York Giants being the last such punter of renown) and the Aussies have provided the next breakthrough in punting. While the number of Australians actually in the NFL remains small at only three--Ben Graham of the Arizona Cardinals, Sav Rocca of the Philadelphia Eagles and Mat McBriar of the Dallas Cowboys--their kicking style has permeated throughout the NFL thanks to the efforts of Darren Bennett, a former San Diego Charger credited as the first Australian NFL punter and the first to use the drop kick. From Bennett, many American punters have also picked up the style, and many of them are counted among the best in the league: Mike Scifres of San Diego, Shane Lechler of Oakland, and Hunter Smith (who won a Super Bowl with Indianapolis) in Washington. This may well be on the same magnitude of change as the introduction of soccer-style placekicking, which changed the game in the 1970s and has now become an NFL regularity.

4. The Madden Curse brought misfortune to your favorite player: Ever since Garrison Hearst became the first player to appear on the cover of the Madden football simulation game in 1999, cover athletes for the game have been plagued by poor play or injuries. Thus the so-called "Madden curse" has become a cultural phenomenon over the past decade. In 2005, after Michael Vick's photo graced the cover of Madden, he suffered a fracture in his leg that caused him to miss the first eleven games of the season. Next year's cover athlete Donovan McNabb suffered a sports hernia and missed a large chuck of the season. Shaun Alexander, MVP of the 2006 season and the Madden 2007 featured athlete, suffered a rash of injuries the year after that essentially ended his career. Vince Young made the cover after winning Rookie of the Year honors, but was benched early in the next season for Kerry Collins. Brett Favre, found on the cover of the 2009 edition of the game, had a rough second half of the 2008-09 season after it was revealed that he had torn the biceps in his throwing arm. Even though he didn't miss a game, he ended the season with 23 interceptions (equaling his season total for touchdowns) and no playoff berth. The most recent installment of Madden featured two athletes--Cardinals wideout Larry Fitzgerald and Steelers safety Tryo Polamalu; while Polamalu has been injured for almost all this season, Fitzgerald has struggled to maintain his productivity with inconsistent play from Arizona's quarterback, whether it's been Kurt Warner or Matt Leinart. Thus the curse continues to pervade the league, and I feel for whatever poor soul is on it next year.


3. Your team kicked it to Devin Hester: Despite his removal from his customary role as a return man, Hester is still one of the most feared returners in the league. I don't think any Bears fan will forget his first two seasons in the league, in which he returned a combined twelve kickoffs and punts for scores (not even including the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl his rookie season). Keep in mind that the Bears drafted Hester in the second round specifically for his return ability, and he paid dividends instantly. His contribution was no clearer than during the infamous Monday Night game against the Arizona Cardinals, in which he returned a kickoff for a touchdown to spur the Bears to a 24-21 victory in which their offense scored no points. Let that sink in. Zero points from the epically up-and-down Rex Grossman. Imagine that. As if the game wasn't already a classic, it inspired on of the game's greatest sound-bytes in then Cards head coach Dennis Green's "They are who we thought they were," rant.


But while Hester may be the best punt returner in the league, he has some serious competition for the title of best kickoff returner. Cleveland Browns return man Joshua Cribbs recently set the record for the most career kickoff returns for touchdowns with eight, and continues to thrive while Hester has essentially been replaced on the Chicago special team by fellow standout Danieal Manning. But since there was a period where almost no one in the league kicked to Hester (except for Broncos punter Todd Sauerbrun, who paid for the same mistake twice), he gets the nod from me over Mr. Cribbs as the best overall returner. Congratulations to Cribbs, however, who is now in my opinion the best kickoff returner of the decade.


2. Brett Favre started every regular season game: Since Peyton Manning has also started every regular season game this decade, it would be unfair to not mention him here, but the spotlight deserves to go to Brett Favre, whose streak of consecutive starts remains unbroken in the realm of 285 consecutive games (in a very non-scientific equation, assuming Favre plays half of an hour long game, he has played a total of 5.8 days playing pro football). That's 140 hours of game play, not even counting the rest of the three-plus hour broadcast. That's nuts. After 20 years of pro football, Farve looks more like 60 than 40, and his persisting ability to play at such a high level is miraculous. With surgery to repair the torn bicep in his throwing arm that he suffered last year, Favre has continued his streak with great aplomb and led Minnesota to victory in their division. The Vikings may have lost three of their last four games, but Favre is still having one of his best seasons ever.

1. The record that could never be broken was broken...twice: When Dan Marino set the record for passing touchdowns and yardage in 1982, it was hailed as a record that would never be broken (to put it in perspective, Marino's 48 touchdowns that season equated to 3 a game on average which as any NFL fan should know are miraculous numbers). That was until two lock-in Hall of Fame quarterbacks--Peyton Manning and Tom Brady--came into the league. In 2003, Manning's Colts terrorized opposing defenses with a meticulous and seemingly unstoppable passing game; not only did Manning break Marino's touchdown record, he also snapped Steve Young's record for the highest season-long quarterback rating, which almong with his co-MVP status (shared with the late Steve McNair) proves his tremendous consistency through that season. Their season was ended by the Super Bowl bound Patriots in the AFC Championship game, and seems to have been a changing of the guard. While Manning, who had made his name on gaudy stats and big game meltdowns, won a championship in 2006, the blue-collar mentality was lost to Brady's Patriots, who became reliant on their quarterback's arm. Mr. Brady, who had been praised as the star quarterback with no weapons, had an offensive explosion in 2007 when the Pats decided to resuccitate Randy Moss from his Oakland doldrums. Moss repaid their faith with 23 receiving scores, almost half of Brady's record-breaking 50 touchdown passes. Once again, however, the season for the MVP ended in disappointment as New England fell to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. Their performances also helped to define the explosion of the NFL passing game that has occured through the past few seasons.

MVP Race Down to the Wire

In what will surely be remembered in NFL lore as the era of offensive explosion for quarterbacks, the last few years have signalled the NFL's encouragement of the passing game. This year, the ridiculous amount of passing has come to a head with three juggernauts of the modern game competing for MVP. In case you've been living under a rock for the past fourteen weeks, here's the lowdown on the race for Most Valuable Player (in order of their worthiness in my eyes):

1. Peyton Manning (QB, Indianapolis): No single player means more and does more for their team as an individual than Peyton Manning, whose religious studying habits, thorough football intelligence, and laser-accurate arm have guided them to their current undefeated status. Despite injuries to receiver Anthony Gonzalez, Peyton has made stars out of rookies Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie, who have 100 catches between them for 1332 yards and 11 scores through Week 15. Combined with the always potent tandem of Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark, Manning's high-octane offense has dominated despite being at the bottom of the league in rushing yards. The hallmark of a great player is the ability to execute even when every opponent knows what's coming, and everyone who plays the Colts knows that Peyton is going to get the ball. Most importantly of all, he is still undefeated.

2. Brett Favre (QB, Minnesota): I don't think anyone expected the Vikings to be as dominant as they have been this year, thanks in large part to the stunning play of Brett Favre. The former Green Bay Gunslinger has reformed himself into the Minnesota Miracle Man by taking care of the football and allowing Minnesota's plethora of talent to be unleashed. Sidney Rice and Visanthe Shiancoe have been turned into Pro Bowl players, and Favre's surprising health even at age 40 has defied all odds. And for all the talk of how he has revamped his style of play, Brett has still shown his ability to make the long, game-winning throws. His stats (27 scores and only 6 picks) are incredible, especially at the ripe old age of fourty. His only knocks are his record (they have 2 losses) and the exceptional talent of the Vikings offense; while he may be the biggest piece (with Adrian Peterson as a close second), Favre is still a cog in the Minnesota team.

3. Drew Brees (QB, New Orleans): It's hard to imagine that the man who was leading the league in touchdown passes coming into Week 15 being third on an MVP list, but I honestly think this is where Brees belongs. Sure, his team is undefeated, but the Saints' starting lineup is much less compromised than the Colts' and Brees lacks Brett Favre's argument for age (not only that, but Brees was already established in the Saints offense while Favre came out of his second retired stint just after the end of training camp). But give Mr. Brees some credit; he is a superb playmaker who has willed his team to many improbable and superb victories. But that being said, he's not my pick for MVP.

These three front-runners aside, other quarterbacks who have not even entered the MVP conversation are also playing extremely well. After a rocky start to the season with a terrible offenseive line, Favre's replacement Aaron Rodgers has finally begun to click with his line and is beginning to live up to the hype they established in the preseason. Philip Rivers may well by leading the hottest team in the NFL in the San Diego Chargers, who beat Dallas last week and continue to play inspired offense despite starting their third-string nose guard. All of these deserve whatever props come their way, and possibly more; in any other year, those two (or sensational tailback Chris Johnson, who needs only 125 more rushing yards in each of his next three games to reach the benchmark of 2000) could be the talk of the league.

Saints and Colts Stay Unbeaten...But It Won't Last

While the New England Patriots have lost two straight games for the first time in years and the Minnesota Vikings suffered their second loss of the season to Arizona, things are still looking peachy for Indy and New Orleans. Both are sitting on 12-0 records, both have MVP-caliber quarterbacks in Peyton Manning (who has already won 3) and Drew Brees (who was only a couple of completions shy of Dan Marino's passing yardage record last year) respectively, and both have defenses that come up big when it counts despite giving up pretty large chunks of points (the Saints are ranked 16th in points allowed this season, and while the Colts come in at 2nd in that category they have a tendency to fall behind early despite having the league's 4th ranked offensive attack).

The defenses aren't the only ones that are at their best in the clutch. Manning and the Colts have made fourth-quarter comebacks look easy this season (before last week's contest against the upstart Tennessee Titans they had had five straight come-from-behind victories). Not wanting to be left out, the Saints defeated Washington last week in a wild 33-30 overtime win. I was gunning for the 'Skins to win that game, but as luck would have it their tragic comedy of errors continued against the one team I hoped they would not make a mistake against (I could barely resist throwing something at my television when I saw Kareem Moore fumble the football after intercepting a pass and allow Saints receiver Robert Meachem, who was also the player who stripped Moore in the first place, to carry it 42 yards for a score).

These two teams have proved me wrong so far, but I said it weeks ago and I'll say it again: The Colts and Saints will NOT go undefeated. Sure, the Saints schedule is looking easier and easier from here on out, with the Cowboys as their only credible opponent remaining (I refuse to include the Atlanta Falcons while Matt Ryan is injured). Even so going undefeated is the most difficult to do in the NFL because the quest to perfection paints a large bullseye on the backs on those teams. The toughest part of the season for an undefeated team is at the end, when the talk of being perfect is at full volume. If you'll remember, the undefeated 2007 Patriots had some of their closest games in the final half of the season, against teams that they were expected to crush (including a Ravens group that went 5-11 that year). After pulling out wins against Baltimore and another nailbiter against Philly, the Pats closed out the regular season with a 38-35 victory against the New York Giants. While it cemented their perfect regular season, it was also a sign of things to come, and the once-dominant playoff Patriots were sunk 17-14 by those same Giants in the biggest game of the year. The one loss on their 18-1 mark that year came in the only game that really mattered: the Super Bowl.

While the Pats may have gone undefeated, I am still convinced that this year's contenders won't be so lucky. While the Saints may have avoided a loss by the skin of their teeth last week, the fact remains that the 'Skins have played some terrible football this season (their 3-9 record is evidence enough of that), and to put up such an inspired performance without their best player (Clinton Portis) is an omen of what awaits New Orleans down the stretch. Look for whoever beats them to not have many wins.

As for Indy, they have enough problems as it is without the talk of being perfect. They are dead last in the league in rushing with a dismal 87.7 yards per game, and without the arm of Peyton Manning this team could easily have a .500 record right now. With Bob Sanders sidelined for the season, the defense is far from impenetrable. It just helps when none of the teams in their division have a competent attack across the board. They host Denver next week, so look for the Broncos and their revitalized offense to give the Colts some trouble. After that, they have to go away to Jacksonville (who will more than likely solely be playing the role of spoilers) and then come back to Lucas Oil Stadium to play the Jets on Thursday Night Football. But the place (not necessarily the team) that I think may give the Colts the most problems is Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, where temperatures are absolutely frigid in January.

The last thing we need is another team going undefeated, let alone two. As much as I love Peyton Manning, I will be praying that he plays great but the Colts lose, and then I'll just have to root for whoever plays the Saints.