Upset of the Year, No-Show of the Year, Midseason Awards and much more
As NFL regular seasons go, the one we thought we might not have in 2011 (see lockout, protracted) hasn't been half-bad. But it is almost half gone. So as November arrives, it's time for our annual midseason review...
• STORY OF THE YEAR -- The proliferation of turnaround teams, and the potential end of some long playoff droughts: Buffalo, Detroit, Cincinnati, Houston and San Francisco all finished either in last place or a game out of it in 2010, but each of those five teams would make the playoffs if the postseason opened today. The Bills (5-2) and Lions (6-2) have the league's longest active playoff-less streak, both having last qualified in 1999. The Texans (5-3) have never made the postseason since launching their expansion effort in 2002, and the 49ers (6-1) last went to the playoffs that same season. When you factor in 4-3, second-place Oakland (no playoff trips since 2002), the 12-team postseason field has a chance to be infused with some new blood in 2011.
Rams shock Saints, Eagles thump Cowboys, Steelers stand firm
Week Eight in the NFL was really spooky. I almost forgot it was Halloween, the time when all the weirdoes come out to play and, as a consequence, weird things happen even in the NFL.
For instance, the St Louis Rams were winless when they went up against the high flying New Orleans Saints. Not only that — the Rams starting quarterback, Sam Bradford, was again sidelined by injuries and was being replaced by back-up QB AJ Feely.
So we all predicted the scenario whereby the Saints, coming off their 55-point mauling of the Indianapolis Colts last week, would probably dish out the same treatment to the Rams. So we all picked the Saints to win. But this is the NFL, and the ball isn't even round, so predicting where it will bounce is a tricky business.
The Rams, behind the superb running of Steven Jackson who piled up 159 yards rushing and two touchdowns, beat up the Saints 31-21. Poetic justice maybe? Sooner than I expected. If you recall in the column last week I said the Saints' humiliation of the Colts would come back to haunt them. This defeat by the Rams may just be the first installment.