Last week, we took some shots at our favorite punching bang from SI (Peter King) for his laughable notes on the 2008 MVP race. This week, it seems Peter King has had a bit of a revelation. Maybe he read something here and it sparked a thought in that coffee-stimulated brain of his. Or, maybe someone just dropped a rock on his head just to shake out the cobwebs. Whatever happened, Peter King is finally starting to make some sense:

I think Kurt Warner is rapidly playing himself out of all those nice things -- like a third MVP, like a winning January -- he'd played himself into through the first 10 games of the year. At some point, an MVP has to win a game he shouldn't win. Warner hasn't had one of those yet this year, and though he's played very well overall in engineering the Cards' 7-5 record, he's been downright bad in big games on the road, including throwing interceptions to end the first two drives at Philadelphia Thursday night.

Welcome to the world of the living, Peter! We've been saying for weeks how the Warner for MVP bandwagon was a silly mockery of what the MVP is all about. MVPs come up big in big games against tough teams, especially on the road. Last year's MVP, Tom Brady, won a tough games on the road in Indy and NY. Warner, meanwhile, has nearly made the turnover look like an art form when he plays quality opponents on the road. Again, Warner's resurrgence is a great story, and Arizona fans have every right to root for him. But after Thursday's meltdown, Warner is now officially gone from the MVP radar. Like Washington's Clinton Portis (who was the mid-season favorite before his team started to suck), Warner just hasn't done enough to prove he is the best player in the NFL.

The same is true for Saints QB Drew Brees. Brees was another reason why the Warner for MVP talk was silly. Brees is clearly a better QB than Warner. Yet, with their loss to the Bucs yesterday, Bress knocked himself out of the MVP discussion. His team, likely, will not make the playoffs and no legit MVP-candidate sits home in January. This doesn't take anything away from Brees and what he has accomplished in New Orleans. Without a defense and the continued suckiness of non-running back Reggie Bush, Brees has managed to will New Orleans to respectability seemingly by himself. Brees is a helluva player; a top 5 QB now. He doesn't need an MVP to prove that.

So, with Warner, Brees, and Portis now out of the picture, the MVP race is pretty much a one man race now. Boring, I know. But it is accurate. Hell, it is so obvious, even Peter King gets it now:

MVP Race

1. Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis. OK. You give me an MVP after the debacle weekend of so many candidates. Manning ascends to the top by default, despite engineering zero touchdown drives for only the fifth time in a 10-year NFL career. This is a seasonal award, obviously, because of the Colts being 8-4 and Manning being most responsible.

As we have said for some time, Peyton Manning is the 2008 MVP. No debate. No argument. If you disagree you are wrong and you can go sit in the corner, facing the wall. When known blockheads like Bill Simmons and Peter King finally get it, you know it is so obvious it might as well have flames and sparklers shooting from it.

Now, in typical WTF! fashion, Peter King lists Falcons rookie QB Matt Ryan as the #2 MVP candidate. Look, Matt Ryan is a very good rookie QB, but if he is a legit MVP candidate, I'm no longer watching NFL football and dedicating my blogging Sundays to the PBA Tour. Why not throw Joe Flacco in there as well, Peter! His team is 8-4 and, like Ryan's Falcons, Flacco's Ravens are currently in the playoff picture as the #6 seed. Personally, I feel Jets QB Brett Favre is the #2 MVP candidate. Yes, his team lost to the Broncos at home yesterday. Yes, he played poorly. So what. People have bad games, and the Jets had just finished beating the Pats and Titans in previous weeks. Favre will likely bounce back next week.

The other real, legit MVP candidates are Titans QB Kerry Collins and Giants QB Eli Manning. My arguments for these candidates are simple: Without Collins, Vince Young continues to stink it up in Nashville and the Titans are .500 right now, not 11-1; Without Eli Manning, the Giants have David Carr throwing the football ('nuff said). The fact that niether of these men are on King's MVP radar suggests Peter's two feet are not quite firmly planted in the realm of the totally conscious, but for now we are just happy that he has seen the light regarding Peyton Manning. Baby steps for everything else. Baby steps.

So, why all this MVP talk?

Well, for one, it is cool to talk and write about MVP races. They are fun. Yes, admit it. They are. Remember, football is supposed to be fun, and if you do not see the fun in talking about MVP races, get a pulse. Do they mean anything in terms of who wins it all? No, of course not. Last year's MVP choked big time in the Super Bowl, and was outplayed by a guy who was booed in his home stadium just one month prior. In terms of the ultimate prize, the Super Bowl is way cooler than any regular season MVP award. However, this year the MVP award has an extra layer of drama added to the fun. It was starting to look as if writers were going to give Kurt Warner, a man who will never sniff the NFL Hall of Fame, his third NFL MVP. Only one other player has won three MVPs: Brett Favre. Favre will obviously be a first ballot HoFer, and if he wins his fourth MVP, he will further cement his legacy as one of the greatest ever to play.

Better than Elway. Better than Montana. Better than Starr. Better than Graham. Maybe better than Unitas.

So, knowing the stakes, giving the MVP to Warner would be kind of a slap in the face to previous award winners. How can a guy who will never get a HoF vote (nor should he) win three friggin' league MVPs? Fortunately, Warner has been re-exposed as the turnover monster he always was, and the person who will likely join Favre as the only other three-time NFL MVP is Peyton Manning. This is the way it should be. Yes, it is boring. We know Peyton is great. Why give him yet another award?

Answer: Because the great ones should always win the awards until someone better comes along. Deviation from that cheapens the award, and Peyton Manning is clearly the best player in this league right now. Once again, Peter King shows us he has a little life after all:

Let me tell you a story. My Sirius NFL Radio partner, Randy Cross, was on a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Atlanta eight nights ago after doing Oakland-Denver for CBS. Frontier has satellite TV at every seat and Cross and his seat neighbor were watching the waning moments of the Indy-San Diego Sunday-nighter. The Chargers kicked a field goal to tie the game at 20 with a minute and a half left. The ensuing conversation:

Seat neighbor: "Overtime.''

Cross, pointing to the time remaining: "The Chargers are toast.''

Seat neighbor: "Why?''

Cross, pointing to Peyton Manning on the screen: "Because of him.''

Eighty-seven seconds later , after another game-winning drive by the master of them, the Colts were walking off the field with a 23-20 win.

Thanks for the story, Peter. Now, do us a favor and hide those power rankings. You do not help your cause by ranking the Steelers and the Cowboys ahead of the Colts. The Colts beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh, and the Cowboys... well, they just suck in general. Beating up on the Lions doesn't magically make them a legit contender again. But whatever. Peter has seen the light regarding Peyton Manning for MVP.

Baby steps with everything else.

Peyton Manning needed the defense to bail him and the offense out... for a change Photo: Gregory Shamus, Getty Images

18 to 88 says something that I've heard mumbled for the last few weeks by many in the media:

Ultimately, the Colts are still and average team on the field that has some kind of special 'it quality'.

I've been pretty clear that I disagree with this assessment. "Average" teams do not walk into Pittsburgh, Minnesota, or San Deigo and beat those clubs. "Average" teams play hot and cold, losing to teams they shouldn't and beating teams they shouldn't due to fluke plays, bad officiating, or just dumb luck. Not to bash them or anything (because they have done some good things this year), but right now the Bears are a pretty "average" team. They are 6-6, having just lost to the Vikings in Minnesota. Again, with a skeleton crew of a team and a one-legged Peyton Manning, the Colts went into the Vikings fjord and came away with a win.

"Average" teams don't do that.

This is a very good football team that is starting to play as they should. Right now, this team is one of the best in football. Don't agree? Fine. Show me another team this year that has won five games in a row. The Giants and Titans come to mind. Last I checked, those were really good teams. Not "average" ones.

Against the Browns Sunday, the Colts offense slipped and slogged their way through a mistake-riddled game. From the first play (a Joseph Addai fumble), you knew this game was going to be a slog fest. Not a slug fest. Slog fest. Tack on a couple of Peyton Manning INTs, a dropped pass in the endzone by Reggie Wayne, and some awful short yardage blocking, and a game the Colts should have dominated turns into a boring, early-afternoon snore.

Then, the Colts defense showed up.

Despite three turnovers by the Colts offense in the first half, the Browns had only 6 points. Jamal Lewis and the Browns running game was held in check, and the Colts pass rush had Romeo Crennel coaching the game scared. But in the fourth quarter, when the Colts needed either their special teams or their defense to bail out the offense, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis came to the rescue. If one of these guys does not make the Pro Bowl, and some Roy Williams-like schmuck does, I might take hostages.

At about the 10 minute mark in the 4th quarter, Derek Anderson dropped back to complete a 3rd and long. Dwight Freeney bull rushed arguably the best LT in football (Joe Thomas) and stripped the ball from Anderson. Robert Mathis found the fumble, scooped it up, and ran 37 yards for a TD. After the extra point: Colts 10-Browns 6.

Game. Set. Match.

All game, the Browns played keep away. Their defense was a soft, Cover-2 shell that gave up everything underneath and allowed nothing deep. They generated zero pass rush and were not entirely stellar stopping the run (though, in the end the numbers looked good). On offense, it was run, run, pass. Nothing fancy. Nothing that took more than 3 steps to execute. It was the type of game plan that if they gave up the lead, especially a TD, they were done. When Mathis waltzed into the endzone, it seems Romeo Crennel took a walrus-sized dumb in his extra large sweat pants.

With the Colts special teams coverage units containing Josh Cribbs, Crennel knew he had to let Anderson throw the ball. The results were not good. With less than a minute to go on 2nd down, Anderson was sacked by Robert Mathis, who copied Freeney by bull rushing the RT this time. He knocked the tackle into Anderson, which resulted in a sack. Anderson injured his MCL on the play, and sadly his season is over. Back-up Ken Dorsey came in and promptly threw a pick to Antoine Bethea (keeping with the Melvin Bullitt and Bob Sanders tradition of safeties coming up with big INTs to win games this year).

Make no mistake, this was the kind of game I wanted to see from this defense. Despite injuries to Gary Brackett, Freddie Keiaho, Tyjuan Hagler, and playing yet another game without Bob Sanders, the Colts held Cleveland to zero TDs, an average gain of 3 yards per offensive play, 3.2 yards per rush, 64 net yards passing, and generated two HUGE turnovers. Some unsung heroes also emerged, such as DT Antonio Johnson (6 tackles) and DE Josh Thomas (several tough tackles on rushing downs). Announcer Randy Cross said it best: The Colts are the best tackling team in football, and they get after the ball carrier. For all the grief this defense has endured from us fans, the fact of the matter is they have allowed only 4 passing TDs all season thus far.

4.

1, 2, 3, 4.

That is un-freakin-believably-good.

The modern NFL is a passing league, folks. If you can't throw, you suck and will lose a lot of games. If you can't stop the throw by pressuring the QB, you suck and will lose a lot of games. No need to look at Football Outsiders stats to know that. And despite continuing injuries, Ed Johnson smoking his blunts, Quinn Pitcock quitting, and the John McCargo fiasco, this team has managed to play dominate football.

"Average" teams do not allow only 4 passing TDs through 12 weeks.

We don't know what this season will bring. We don't know how the AFC playoff picture will shake out, or even if the Colts will make the playoffs. Yes, they are in the driver's seat and should make them, but take nothing for granted here, people. This team is accomplishing very special things this year. They are tough as nails and do not quit, and they can beat anyone, anywhere, in a variety of ways. This was a tough win against a team that has played our Colts tough historically. Hopefully, now some Cleveland Browns fans can now let go of the silly anger they have for Tony Dungy. The Browns have had some tough breaks this year, but they have good, young players to build themselves around (Thomas, Quinn, Cribbs, etc.).For more on the Browns, please check out Chris and the dogs at Dawgs By Nature.

With this win, the Colts have guaranteed their seventh consecutive non-losing season. As Jim Mora (the last coach to coach these Colts to a losing season) says, Never take winning for granted. This Colts team is starting to find themselves, and we should start noticing that they are far, far better than "average."

Go Colts!

Poll

Week Thirteen Game Balls

• FS Antoine Bethea- 10 tackles, 1 INT
• DE Robert Mathis- 2 sacks, recovered fumble for TD
• DE Dwight Freeney- 1 sacks, 1 FF
• LB Freddie Keiaho- 7 tackles, had to play MLB when Brackett got hurt

  181 votes | Results

Like so many games against Cleveland in the past, the results are a muddy, sloppy, low-scoring, physical game. Personally, I thought Cleveland's gameplan screamed of playing scared. Kellen Winslow, Josh Cribbs, and Braylon Edwards, Joe Thomas... and the Browns tried to play keep away all game long. It came back to bite them in the end because the Colts defense stepped up and made a big play to take the lead and win the game on a Dwight Freeney forced fumble on QB Derek Anderson. Robert Mathis picked up the fumble are ran it in for the game winning TD. In this game, the defense and special teams bailed out the Colts offense.

Colts offense ran the ball pretty well, but the short yardage execution was about as bad as it gets. With no Jeff Saturday and no Ryan Lilja, why in God's name are the Colts running ANYTHING on short yardage, especially against the Browns and their wretched pass defense? Give the Browns credit. They manned up and shut down some big short yardage runs. But, for the life of me, I have no idea why Indy is trying to drive the ball into mammoth DT Shaun Rodgers when Saturday is not the one blocking him.

But whatever. A win is a win. Hopefully, this quells the bad feelings between Browns fans and the Colts. To read up on Browns fans and their thoughts on the game, check out Dawgs By Nature.

Let's hope the injuries to Gary Brackett and Freddie Keiaho are not serious. I also hope Derek Anderson is OK. We don't need ANOTHER Pro Bowl QB going down in this league. The bright side is we are winning the games we are supposed to. Go colts!

Wacky first half, per usual. Here is your second half open thread.

AT

Week Thirteen: Indianapolis Colts (7-4) at Cleveland Browns (4-7)
Location: Cleveland Browns Stadium- Cleveland, OH
Kick-off Time: 1:00pm Eastern
Broadcast: CBS
SB Nation Co-Blog: Dawgs By Nature
I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. I spent most of the Thanksgiving, and much of the last few days, entertaining relatives from out-of-town. I didn't even get a chance to watch much football on Thanksgiving (and considering all the games were pretty much blowouts, it looks like I didn't miss much).I don't think that will be the case with this Sunday' games as several teams are fighting to stay in the playoff picture, including the Colts and Browns.
The Browns are without Brady Quinn for the season, and are now back to starting Derek Anderson. Anderson was a Pro Bowler last year (and rightly so), but this year his production has fallen off due in part to his receivers dropping easy balls. Cleveland's LBers and secondary also haven't helped their offense, allowing teams to score a lot of points and put the offense in catch-up mode in several games.
Despite the Browns' record, this will not be an easy game. Bob Sanders will once again sit for the Colts, and Jeff Saturday is probably out until the playoffs (if the Colts get there). This likely means Cleveland will look to ram Jamal Lewis and Jerome Harrison down the defense's throat. They must suck it up and stop Cleveland's rushing attack, forcing Anderson to throw more (which will turn Indy's pass rush against him). 
Though it was a holiday week, the Cleveland fans did some nice crossing-blogging. There is still some rather silly hatred between Browns fans and the Colts due to the last game of the regular season last year (when Dungy sat most of his starters, barely lost to the Titans, and as a result knocked Cleveland from the playoffs). I'm sure a few fans are thinking "revenge." Why? I don't know. I guess it is easier to blame others instead of holding your own team accountable for its failures. Last year, if Cleveland fans expected the Colts to risk injury to Peyton Manning or Bob Sanders in a meaningless game just so their team can squeak into the playoffs, then they are deluded and there is no hope in reaching them with reason and logic. The reality is both teams need this game to stay in the playoff picture. That is really all it boils down to. "Revenge" is just silly talk for fans projecting their anger outward rather then pointing the finger at the coach and GM. For a Browns fan's take on the game, check out Dawgs By Nature and writer ChrisPokorny. Chris has been blogging for SB Nation as long as I have, and is as rabid about the Browns as I am about the Colts.
Here is to a good, clean game between two storied franchises. Go Colts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Like many of you (I'm sure), I'm spending much of the day getting ready for family to come over. I've been rearranging furniture, cleaning, and cooking since about 7am. This year we are making turkey (just for others because I am a vegetarian... but I can still kick your ass!), stuffing, salmon, scallops, greens, apple crumble, and mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy. I'm also stocked up on beer, beer, BEER and when the early game comes on (Titans at Lions) I'll peek in to see if Detroit is making a game of it.

Oh, and don't forget to set your fantasy rosters!

From us at Stampede Blue, we wish you a very happy Thanksgiving. If you are traveling, be safe. If you are cooking, feel free to share recipes below the fold (nothing unmanly about sharing a fried turkey recipe, is there?). And no matter what you are doing, give thanks.

This is your open thread for the early game. Enjoy.

You just knew that Brady Quinn's #1 fan (mgrex30) had this game circled on his 2008 Notre Dame calendar since the NFL schedule came out. And when Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel made the switch from Derek Anderson to Quinn a few weeks ago, that high pitched squeal you heard was mgrex30. I wouldn't be surprised if he wore his Quinn Notre Dame jersey everyday leading up to the game. I bet it smells... kinda like Charlie Weis' coaching ability kinda smells.

Sorry, but I think Weis is a boob. Just my opinion. ND is much too great a place to waste on Charlie Weis.

Sadly, mgrex30's dream of Brady Quinn running for his life from Dwight Freeney this Sunday was dashed to bits yesterday when Fox Sports Jay Glazer reported Quinn was placed on IR due to his broken index finger (tip to Marked Hoosier). Derek Anderson, the benched one, is now the QB again.

Prior to Quinn's injury, he was playing well. It was always my opinion that Cleveland made a mistake re-signing Anderson. They had drafted Quinn in the first round, and one does not draft first round QBs to have them sit. They either got it or they don't, and wasting valuable cap dollars on a QB like Anderson was not a smart move for Browns GM Phil "F*@k you" Savage. I think Cleveland fans realize this because they are not stupid. Don't get me wrong: Anderson can be a good QB, especially when his WRs catch the friggin ball, but having so much money invested in two QBs is not a recipe for success.

Anderson playing does not make this game any easier. He is more than capable at getting the ball to his playmakers, and he is playing to audition his skills for teams that could want him again this off-season.