NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

LaDainian Tomlinson leading the orchestra called the Chargers!

Image details: CA: San Diego Chargers Mini Camp served by picapp.com

If you are into Fantasy Football then pay close attention. Mike Harmon of Fox Sports is going to let you in a little secret of his. Go with LT. You know, LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers.

What? You already knew that? How about some of Mike’s wisdom on the subject?

1. LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego
Tomlinson has ranked inside the top 10 in this category in each of his seven NFL seasons. He’s led the pack in three of the past four seasons (third in 2005), as he possesses an amazing ability to avoid lengthy injury issues despite a heavy weekly workload. The change in his blocking block might have some impact, but I believe it’s been a bit overblown. Now, I don’t expect Tomlinson to approach his ridiculous 2006 output (28 touchdowns), but he’s averaged 14.5 touchdowns per year in his six non-record breaking seasons. The No. 1 player on my board will light up the scoreboard frequently in 2008.
2007 Total: 15 touchdowns
Projected 2008 Total: 18 touchdowns

source

So who does Mike rate after LT?

2. Marion Barber III, Dallas
3. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota
4. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville
5. Joseph Addai, Indianapolis
5. Clinton Portis, Washington
5. Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants
Yes, that is 3 number 5’s.

Mike goes right on up to a number 13.

Controversy? No Stephen Jackson! Westbrook, a perennial favorite for fantasy owners, is way down the list. Ryan Grant in a tie at number 8?

Oh well, it is a start.

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

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NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Tom Brady almost perfect

26 of 28. Think about that for a moment.

Ok, here is my question. Name one thing that you can do 26 out of 28 times.

Now go out in your backyard and throw the football to someone that is on the run and try and complete 26 out of 28. It is almost impossible and you are only 10 yards away without some 309 pound guy in your face trying to crush you.

Tom Brady did it to set an all time NFL record, regular season or post season, and Tom did it in one of the biggest games of all time. You see, this game gave the New England Patriots the record of 17 - 0. That ties the Miami Dolphins 17 - 0 record set over 3 decades ago.

There was pressure to win. Not even counting the pressure to win a playoff game against David Garrard and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Final Score - New England Patriots 31 - Jacksonville Jaguars 20.

There was no denying Tom Brady today.

Brady completed 92.6 percent of his passes, breaking Phil Simms record of 88 percent (22-of-25) set in the Super Bowl after the 1986 season in which he led the New York Giants to a 39-20 win over the Denver Broncos.

And Brady did it mostly without Randy Moss, who had only one catch.

He hit all the other receivers — throwing for three touchdowns and 262 yards.

“Tom is terrific,” Seymour said. “He’s a great leader and he does all the little things.” source

Tom Terrific, now there is a new name for Brady.

Phil Simms had a terrific day himself in that Super Bowl against Read more

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Tom Brady says One game, we are only talking about One game

Perfectomundo. 16 - 0.

That is an amazing accomplishment. In order to pull that off the Patriots had to play to the end. Tom Brady, Randy Moss, let’s give them a show and win this game.

Now did the winning all 16 games hurt them?

What do you mean? How could that hurt them?

When first you win it is so good. The winning can create a momentum all its own. In other words, winning begets more winning.

Your confidence as a team and as a player can skyrocket!

But the human mind and the human body can take only so much. Doubts and fatigue start to creep in and they tell you that losing one game would not be the end of the world.

Suddenly team focus changes and you play not to lose. We have seen it, oh so many times before. Has this happened to the Patriots?

Some may be wondering if the Patriots will be rusty off a bye week or taxed after 16-0? Will New England succumb to the omnipresent scrutiny? Are Belichick and Co. thinking about the Colts or flashing forward to the Super Bowl?

The Pats are concentrating on just one thing: the Jacksonville Jaguars. source

Now so far those are words.

A few years ago my beloved Pistons entered the NBA finals with an astounding 64 wins in the regular season. They played the starters heavy minutes all season. They wanted home field advantage in the playoffs.

The playoffs arrived and mentally they were a tired team. The Pistons were more interested in being careful and not losing than exhibiting their usual attacking style of offense. Eventually the Miami Heat and Shaq and Wade eliminated them in the Eastern Conference Finals. All that winning had created a unique mental hurdle.

Can the Patriots avoid or overcome that mental hurdle? Read more

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Maurice Jones Drew likes to go for it!

You will have to admit that you were not picking Jacksonville to win a whole lot of anything this year.

Admit it in now. It helped clear up a lot for me to admit it.

Ahh, that feels better.

Jack’s 3 secrets

So how is Coach Jack Del Rio pulling this off in Jacksonville. After all he got rid of his incumbent quarterback Byron Leftwich and went with David Garrard. That is a heck of a gamble for a usually conservative guy.

Now it is time to reveal Jack Del Rio’s 3 secrets to winning.

1. In the off-season, Del Rio fired offensive coordinator Carl Smith, who had 19 years of NFL experience. Del Rio replaced Smith with Dirk Koetter, a guy who had never coached in the NFL. source

Ok, so one is to get a real offensive coordinator with experience.

2. Del Rio shocked the league when he cut quarterback Byron Leftwich, who had been the starter from the start of the off-season, a week before the season opener and replaced him with David Garrard. That move put Del Rio on the hot seat before the campaign even started.

Now two is to go with the guy that is going to execute what you are going to run, not necessarily the most athletic or even the best quarterback, but the one that will get the job done. Read more