My Maurice Jones-Drew Blog

Quarterback

Tom Brady- While there were some other great performances from week at the quarterback position, Brady easily had the best week. He actually had the best week of anyone this whole season. He simply tore apart the Titans secondary. He through for 380 passing yards and 6 touchdowns, almost all of which came in the first half. Oh and not to mention, it was below freezing and snowing. I expect to see this Brady more often.

Wide Receiver

Randy Moss- This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone considering the game Brady had. Someone had to be catching all these passes. Wes Welker, another one of Brady's wide receivers, was the runner up. Moss had 129 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. Maybe this duo will be back to their 2007 form. That would be great for fantasy owners.

Running Back

Maurice Jones-Drew- Most expected him to have a good performance this week, mainly because he was playing the Rams. The Rams have one of, if not the worst teams in the NFL. Jones- Drew was unstoppable in game that was much closer that most expected. He carried the ball for 133 yards and all three touchdowns. He also caught the ball for 45 yards. He has become a work horse since Fred Taylor has left and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Tight End

Zach Miller- He had a great game for the first time all season. He caught his first touchdown of the season as well. As all fantasy owners know, touchdowns are golden. He was targeted 11 times by quarterback JaMarcus Russell, which was 6 more than any other Oakland receiver. Miller had 139 yards and a touchdown. 86 of his yards came on a passing play where he broke several tackles in order to take it to the house. I wouldn't expect games like this from Miller often but maybe this is what Russell needed to get his feet under him.

Matt Messel

The Draft can be intense, grueling, and a little intimidating at times. But there are always multiple opportunities to harass your friends and co-owners over some draft day mistake they make. Just make sure you do not commit one of these very common, almost inevitable Draft Day Blunders. Someone will almost certainly pull off the following bloopers.

Here we go, in no particular order. Someone will ...

draft a player who has retired. (Years ago we had two guys fighting over Barry Sanders TWO YEARS AFTER he retired because they heard some ridiculous rumor.) unknowingly draft a player who is seriously injured. (If you read my other articles, you know that I did that my rookie year in a league many moons ago. Oh well, it happens to us all.) draft a QB RB and WR from the same team. (Don't you just love these morons?) take the maximum amount of time to make a selection in the first round. (I realize you have only had 6 months to prepare, so by all means, take your time. After all, I know your first round pick is a difficult decision.) show up late for the draft, hungover, with zero research, and draft a monster team. (I hate these guys. It is easier to hit the lottery 3 times in a row, but there is someone every year that accomplishes this.) draft players according to their abilities in some scoring system that exists only in their head, vehemently deny they were ever told the rules, complain when someone reminds them they wasted a pick, or picks, and cry allll yeearrr looonnnggg. (Nothing needs to be said here. You know who you are.) not take notes, not look at the draft board, and REPEATEDLY try to draft players that were taken rounds earlier. (This has got to be my pet peeve; these guys are usually blistered drunk by round three. Do they honestly think Terrell Owens is still available in Round 6?) mispronounce every player's name that they utter. (I realize Houshmandzadeh is a mouthful, but you hear it pronounced by sportscasters all the time. And the Chicago RB's name is pronounced "Matt For-tay" not "Matt 40", LT is not LanDainlium, and Maurice Jones-Drew's full name is NOT "Drew Jones, that guy for Jacksonville.") show up with no money, bring no food, (we always bring a covered dish each) bum beer from everyone, blow smoke in your face from borrowed cigarettes, borrow your cheat sheets and research (and then lose them) because $8 is evidently more than they could save up in six months to buy a guide, and generally attempt with every opening of their pie hole to prove themselves a bigger idiot than they were 10 minutes ago. (Don't be that guy. Really.) pay for their smoking hot girlfriend to play, and then spend the entire day picking for her. (No conflict of interest here, huh?)

These by no means are the only faux-pas committed on Draft Day, but are some of the more memorable.
If you would like to share some draft day horror stories with me, I will be sure to use them in future articles. Just contact me at the Email address below. Good luck on draft day, and remember, don't be that guy.

Am I reading this right?

The sports books have the Indianapolis Colts at 10-1 to win the Super Bowl? And 4-1 to make the Super Bowl? You mean there's still someone out there who'll bet on Indy?

That, my friends, is shocking. There is absolutely no way in the friggin' world the Colts will even make it to Miami, let alone win a title this year. I know experts have harped on the fact that Indy can't stop the run this season. I know you've seen everyone from Maurice Jones-Drew to Travis Henry to Ronnie Brown to Ron Dayne run wild on them in highlight packages over the past couple months. I know you believe Peyton Manning has a seriously tough road ahead of him if he's going to score enough points to overcome this 11-man tackling train wreck that passes for a defense. But I don't think you have a serious enough grasp on exactly how bad this Colts rush defense is.

Not a single team since 1985 has allowed as many rushing yards as Indianapolis. Not. One. Team. That's 652 other possible team-seasons, and the Colts allowed more rush yards per game, 173, than every single one of them. Clearly, that's historically bad. Want to go back even further? In the 16-game era (that is, since 1978) exactly nine teams have turned in worse seasons against the run than your 2006 Indianapolis Colts. Nine. There have been 849 team-seasons played from 1978 forward. In exactly nine of these team-seasons did a squad allow more than 173 yards rushing per game, a percentage of just over 1%. Here are the dirty nine, along with their yards rushing allowed per game, and their final won-loss record:

1978 Buffalo Bills: 201.8 rypg, (5-11)

1980 New Orleans Saints: 194.1 rypg, (1-15)

1978 Baltimore Colts: 188.1 rypg, (5-11)

1981 New England Patriots: 184.4 rypg, (2-14)

1979 Green Bay Packers: 180.3 rypg, (5-11)

1985 Houston Oilers: 175.9 rypg, (5-11)

1981 Seattle Seahawks: 175.4 rypg, (6-10)

1984 Houston Oilers: 174.3 rypg, (3-13)

1983 Houston Oilers: 174.2 rypg, (2-14)

Heck, technically we could even consider the historically bad Houston Oilers' run defense from 1983 to 1985 one team, couldn't we? Regardless, look at those won-loss records. The fact that the Colts actually went 12-4 this year is testament both to the offense's sheer excellence, and the fact that the AFC South is kind of a pathetic agglomeration of football teams. As if this weren't enough evidence that the Colts are going nowhere fast, here are your 16-game-era Super Bowl participants, with their regular-season rush-yards-per-game allowed:

2005 Pittsburgh Steelers: 85.5 rypg over Seattle Seahawks: 114.5 rypg

2004 New England Patriots: 98.3 rypg over Philadelphia Eagles: 118.9 rypg

2003 New England Patriots: 89.6 rypg over Carolina Panthers: 107.6 rypg

2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 97.1 rypg over Oakland Raiders: 90.8 rypg

2001 New England Patriots: 115.9 rypg over St. Louis Rams: 85.9 rypg

2000 Baltimore Ravens: 60.6 rypg over New York Giants: 72.3 rypg

1999 St. Louis Rams: 74.3 rypg over Tennessee Titans: 96.9 rypg

1998 Denver Broncos: 80.4 rypg over Atlanta Falcons: 75.2 rypg

1997 Denver Broncos: 112.7 rypg over Green Bay Packers: 117.3 rypg

1996 Green Bay Packers: 88.5 rypg over New England Patriots: 93.9 rypg

1995 Dallas Cowboys: 110.8 rypg over Pittsburgh Steelers: 82.6 rypg

1994 San Francisco 49ers: 83.6 rypg over San Diego Chargers: 87.8 rypg

1993 Dallas Cowboys: 103.2 rypg over Buffalo Bills: 120.1 rypg

1992 Dallas Cowboys: 77.8 rypg over Buffalo Bills: 87.2 rypg

1991 Washington Redskins: 84.1 rypg over Buffalo Bills: 127.8 rypg

1990 New York Giants: 91.2 rypg over Buffalo Bills: 113 rypg

1989 San Francisco 49ers: 86.4 rypg over Denver Broncos: 98.8 rypg

1988 San Francisco 49ers: 99.2 rypg over Cincinnati Bengals: 128 rypg

1987 Washington Redskins: 104.9 rypg over Denver Broncos: 126.1 rypg

1986 New York Giants: 80.9 rypg over Denver Broncos: 102.6 rypg

1985 Chicago Bears: 82.4 rypg over New England Patriots: 103.4 rypg

1984 San Francisco 49ers: 112.2 rypg over Miami Dolphins: 134.7 rypg

1983 Los Angeles Raiders: 99.1 rypg over Washington Redskins: 80.6 rypg

1982 Washington Redskins: 105.1 rypg over Miami Dolphins: 142.8 rypg

1981 San Francisco 49ers: 119.9 rypg over Cincinnati Bengals: 117.6 rypg

1980 Oakland Raiders: 108.1 rypg over Philadelphia Eagles: 101.1 rypg

1979 Pittsburgh Steelers: 106.8 rypg over Los Angeles Rams: 124.8 rypg

1978 Pittsburgh Steelers: 110.9 rypg over Dallas Cowboys: 107.6 rypg

Average rush-yards-per-game allowed by all these teams? 100.5 yards per game. Average rush-yards-per-game allowed by the winners? 95.3 yards per game. And the losers? 105.7 yards per game. (It's worth noting that the team who allowed fewer defensive rush yards per game in the regular season has won 20 of these Super Bowls, and lost only eight.) The worst team against the run ever to play in a Super Bowl in the 16-game era? The '82 Miami Dolphins (142.8 rypg), and that was in a strike year, with only nine regular season games.

Give it up, Indy. There is no way.

How crazy was that Boise St. game over Oklahoma? I'm still smiling. Were you watching? Could you believe the great Boise St. plays? Clearly, Oklahoma didn't cover...did that make it a successful game, business-wise, for the books?

BoDog Bookmakers, BoDog.ws : Considering everything that took place in the last 3:00 of regulation and overtime, the Fiesta Bowl was one of the best bowl games in recent memory. I think every TV in the building over here was on the game, and all eyes were definitely mesmerized by the heroics of Boise State. The hook-and-lateral play on 4th-and-18 clearly shocked the Sooners, and the 4th-and-2 TD pass with Zabransky in motion had Oklahoma scratching their heads, which ultimately made for a profitable situation for the house, and a little bit of glory and history for Boise.

Nick Saban is apparently out as Dolphins head coach after just two seasons, and on his way to Alabama. What do you think this means for Miami and for Alabama?

BDB, BoDog.ws : Well, for Miami it means starting back at square one. It was Saban who brought in Daunte Culpepper, and whoever the new coach is will need to solidify the quarterback position as his first priority. It may be a tricky role to assume, especially considering Ricky Williams may be back in the fold for Miami. Finding a good balance between him and Ronnie Brown will be a key for the new man's success. On the other hand, for Alabama it means they get the high-profile, highly-paid coach they've been looking for. We'll have to see how long it will be before Alabama gets back to the top of the SEC. However, with Saban's coaching skills and knowledge of the conference (since he previously coached at LSU), he should be prepared to bring Alabama back to national prominence.

Where is the betting public coming down on the college football National Championship game...in favor of Ohio St. or Florida? And how is the handle?

BDB, BoDog.ws : Leading up to the Ohio State vs. Florida game, the action has been balanced, with almost an identical wagered amount on both sides of the ball. Right now, the handle is low, but the majority of our action comes in the 48 hours prior to the game. We expect the action to come fast and heavy once the other bowl games are complete. Once the public starts to bet, the house expects to be a big fan of Florida.

I'm surprised the Colts are a seven-point favorite over the Chiefs. How many rushing yards do you think Larry Johnson will have in that game? And which of the Wild Card games do you think will see an underdog win outright?

BDB, BoDog.ws : The Kansas City/Indianapolis line opened with Indy as a seven-point favorite. So far, sharp bettors have not caused the line to move. Sportsbooks across the board seem to be holding steady at seven points in the early days leading up to the game. The betting public should keep this line steady, as enough people know of the weakness exhibited by the Colts run defense. By all accounts, Larry Johnson should have a career game against the Colts. The bruising running back averages 26 carries a game, and this number should increase into the 30s going up against the worst run defense in the league. Kansas City will need to ride Johnson to win this game. In order to defeat Indianapolis, you have to keep Manning off the field as much as possible. The best way to do this is to control the clock with a solid, time-consuming run game. The Colts can only hope that 2005 Pro Bowl safety Bob Sanders is able to return from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, which has kept him out of 12 games this season. Sanders has been seen practicing the past few days, and is expected to start so long as the swelling in his knee can be controlled. Coach Tony Dungy has stated that Sanders can't solve all of the team's defensive problems. However, when he plays, the Colts are clearly a different team. The defense plays quicker, more aggressively and with more confidence. In terms of total yardage for Larry Johnson, if he can get 25+ carries in the game, it can be reasonably expected that he puts up 130+ yards, depending on the impact of Sanders. Unfortunately, the Wild Card game that could see an underdog win is Dallas in Seattle. With injuries depleting the starting cornerbacks for Seattle (both Ken Hamlin and Marcus Trufant are out), Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn are in a good position to have big games. Seattle will be hard-pressed to stop the Dallas air attack, especially on the big plays. This could potentially lead to an unfortunate upset for the 'Hawks.

Adrian Peterson
Adrian Peterson gave the Sophomore Slump a vicious stiff arm as he won the NFL Rushing Title in 2008. He ran for 1760 yards on 363 carries (4.8) with 10 TDs. He added 21 receptions for 125 yards. He topped 100 yards ten times and was held under 76 yards just once. Talk about steady production. Despite having two monster games as a Rookie (224 & 296) he topped 75 yards just seven times. His consistency improved dramatically. What I like about AP is how he holds himself accountable. He really takes his "shortcomings" seriously and works hard to improve. I fully expect him to be an even more complete back in 2009, which should be scary for opposing Defenses.

The Vikings face Cincinnati, Carolina, and Chicago in the fantasy playoffs. Cincy has a much-improved Defense (on paper), but he should still be able to have his way with them. Carolina could prove to be tough. Chicago isn't the same Defense as it's been in the past, but they should present a challenge, especially at home. AP should get off to a fast start facing Cleveland and Detroit in Weeks 1 & 2 and St. Louis in Week 5. He should dominate Detroit in Week 10 and Arizona in Week 13.

AP will go 1 or 2 in most leagues. Standard scoring he'll probably be #1 while PPR leagues could push him to #2. I think he's even better in 2009 rushing for 1800 yards and 14 TDs.

Michael Turner
Michael Turner more than proved he was capable of stepping out of LT's shadow to be a feature back. Early in the season he was inconsistent. He would dominate bad Defenses [Detroit, KC, GB (injuries), Oakland, Denver] and get bottled up by good ones [TB, Carolina, Chicago, Philly]. Something happened in Week 12 though as he destroyed Carolina for 117 yards and 4 TDs. He became a machine putting up solid games against everyone he faced, including TB and a tough Minnesota run D. He had 100+ yards and/or a TD in his last nine games.

There is some cause for concern though despite the monster numbers (1699 yards, 17 TDs). He had 376 carries last year. That is a lot for a back even if he didn't have much mileage prior to the season. Historically, RBs with such a huge workload see a dip in production the following year. I'm already calling for his TDs to reduce because of the addition of Tony Gonzalez, who is great inside the 20. He'll face a tougher schedule this year with games against Miami, New England, Dallas, Washington, NY Giants, Philadelphia, and the Jets, along with two games against Carolina and Tampa Bay. His fantasy playoffs schedule consists of matchups with New Orleans, the Jets, and Buffalo, which isn't terrible. Despite the likely dip in production I still think Turner will be a top 3-4 back. I'm expecting 1700 total yards and 13 TDs.

Maurice Jones-Drew
Maurice Jones-Drew finally gets a chance to prove that he can be an NFL feature back. Given what he's done in a somewhat limited role, the fantasy world is salivating at the thought of what he could do in an expanded role. Naturally there is some risk in taking a player who has never had 200 carries in a season, but that can be viewed as a plus since he hasn't put on a lot of mileage. Despite his 5'7? stature he is quite durable. That's because he packs 208 pounds of muscle on that frame. He is a bowling ball with great moves and quickness. What's more impressive is his nose for the end zone. Mojo has 40 TDs (34 rushing, 4 receiving, 2 return) in his three years. He also is extremely gifted at catching the ball out of the backfield. He has had 40+ receptions every year, including a career high 62 last year. He should benefit greatly from a healthy Offensive Line, which was the main reason behind Jacksonville's disappointing 2008 season.

This year Jacksonville has some nice matchups agaist Arizona in Week 2, St. Louis in Week 6, Kansas City in Week 9, and Cleveland in Week 17, which doesn't help most fantasy owners. His fantasy playoff schedule consists of Miami, Indianapolis, and New England, which is less than desirable. Of course a RB with MJD's versatility has the ability to produce against anyone.

Mo-Jo will likely go in the top three picks in most league, perhaps #1 overall in PPR leagues. I fully expect him to meet his lofty expectations. I'm putting him on 2000 total yards with 14 total TDs.

Matt Forte
Like most of the top Running Backs this year, there are some question marks with Matt Forte. AP likely has to deal with a gunslinger taking over at QB. MJD has never had more than 200 carries so it's unknown how he'll deal with an increased workload. Michael Turner had a ton of carries last year, something that historically has been bad for the following year production. Matt Forte's questions are similar to AP's. What will the addition of a proven QB mean to his production? With Jay Cutler under Center, will Forte lose carries? Likely. Though his ability to catch the football (led all RBs with 63 receptions last year) will keep him heavily involved in the Offense. Will his presence open up the running game by keeping Defenses honest? Likely. Though I don't expect Forte's production to suffer from Cutler's arrival.

The main thing Forte had going for him was consistency. He only failed to reach 10 fantasy points in one game (8.5 in Week 4 against Philly) during the typical fantasy season (He had 7.5 in Week 17). He scored a TD in 10 of the first 16 games. He didn't have monster games, but he delivered every week. Despite playing in an Offense with limited skill position players, Forte had 1715 total yards and 12 total TDs.

He has a fairly friendly fantasy schedule early on facing Detroit in Week 4 (unfortunately the second meeting is Week 17), a three-game stretch in Weeks 7-9 against Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Arizona, and Week 13 against St. Louis. His fantasy playoff schedule is brutal, which makes him a candidate to sell high. He faces Green Bay, Baltimore, and Minnesota. His pass-catching ability should help, but that's a tough schedule at the worst possible time.

Though he could struggle down the stretch, he should still be good for 1700 total yards and 10+ TDs. Barring injury he'll be selected in the top four picks with a slight bump in PPR leagues.

The Jacksonville Jaguars came into the National Football League in 1995. Over the years they have had some great players play for them including Fred Taylor, Jimmy Smith, Maurice Jones-Drew, Tony Boselli, and Tony Brackens. The team has also had some very good players play for them at the quarterback position. Here is a look at six little known facts about the quarterbacks of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

- Through the 2009 NFL season, Mark Brunell is in fourth place on the Jacksonville Jaguars all time rushing yards list with 2,219. This places him behind Fred Taylor, Maurice Jones-Drew, and James Stewart. It puts him just ahead of Stacey Mack and fellow Jags quarterback David Garrard.

- The longest run from scrimmage ever by a Jacksonville quarterback went for 41 yards and was done by David Garrard.

- Mark Brunell was sacked 333 times during his time as quarterback of the Jaguars, no one was ever sacked more often than that.

- In 1996, Mark Brunell led the NFL with 4,367 passing yards, 272.9 passing yards per game, and 7.8 passing yards per attempt.

- Steve Beuerlein played 14 seasons in the NFL for six different teams. In his one season with the Jaguars in 1995 he put up the worst win-loss record of his career as a starter by going 1-5.

- The wide receiver who Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich threw the most touchdown passes to was Jimmy Smith. His 13 touchdown receptions from Leftwich are nearly double the second place player on the list, Ernest Wilford with seven.