[Falcons Message Board]

It’s the last time we’ll be discussing the NFL until a Bengals player gets arrested in the offseason.

How’d your team do over the weekend? I’ve got lots of different opinions from lots of different people. Click here and you can see how Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline rates the picks; click here to see how Larry Weisman, writer for USA Today, breaks down all seven rounds. Clifton Brown, writer for Sporting News Today, has his take here; for Yahoo! Sports, go here.

I’d give you Todd McShay or Mel Kiper, Jr., but they’re douche bags and charge you $39.95 a year for their services — if I could charge everyone $39.95 to be completely wrong about how a player will turn out, I would. McShay isn’t that bad, but Kiper’s looked like a weatherman with some of his recent predictions.

Enjoy the grades. They mean nothing. At the end of the day, Calvin Johnson has to catch Matthew Stafford’s passes, and DHB wasn’t a stretch by Oakland until he officially busts in Oakland. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I’m counting down to September. Fall, you couldn’t get here soon enough.

An interesting note: The Cardinals, who made the Super Bowl, have the 27th hardest schedule, or sixth easiest next year; the Minnesota Vikings, who won their division and played a first round playoff game at home, have the second easiest schedule. The Patriots, who missed the playoffs, have the third easiest schedule.

You can see all teams here. With the addition of Jay Cutler, and with the easiest schedule in the NFL, it looks as if the Bears might have an easy ride to the playoffs next year.

[ESPN]

Jason Taylor played his entire career with the Dolphins, and then went to the Washington Redskins last year, where he had 29 tackles, one forced fumble, and 3.5 sacks. Channing Crowder and Joey Porter, both currently with the Dolphins, have expressed interest in him coming back.

[ESPN]

And where would he like to go? Well, other than somewhere other than somewhere that isn’t the locker room after your team wins the NFC Championship, he’d like to go to Miami, as Pro Football Talk reports.

Boldin is from there, played his college ball at Florida State, and apparently wants Chad Pennington’s noodle arm to be what’s responsible for finding him deep moving forward.

[Pro Football Talk]
[Fan IQ]

That said, via The Big Lead, here’s some guys that impressed, and some guys that didn’t. A couple of notables on my end, from what I’ve seen on NFL Network:

Pat White, QB/WR: He ran an unofficial time of 4.49 in the 40, and then it was adjusted to a 4.55. He also jumped a solid nine feet in the broad jump, which is real important once you’re actually in the game. I know I often see guys stand in place, squat, and leap as far forward as possible. Like I said: Great gauge at talent.

Darius Heyward-Bey, WR: This guy was being talked about as a second rounder, but after running a 4.3 flat, he’s probably going to end up cracking the top 15. Michael Crabtree is still “the guy” when it comes to receivers, but Heyward-Bey is sure creeping up.

Derrick Anderson, WR: This is the guy that I think will be a solid NFL player — probably a good number two receiver — but his 4.58 40 will have schools not paying attention to whether or not he can run a route and catch the ball, and just say he’s too slow to play.

Beanie Wells, RB: I can’t tell if a 4.59 40 is good or bad for him. On one side, it’s slower than most strong safeties. But he’s 235 pounds, and at that size, how fast do you want him to run?

[The Big Lead]
Getting Listy With The Combine

This isn’t my place to vent about the Falcons and how they got screwed, because to be honest, they were simply outplayed. Matt Ryan finally looked like a rookie, though his offensive line, receivers, the ref’s inability to call an offsides, and his defense didn’t do much to help him out.

Darren Sproles, on the other hand, single-handedly beat Indianapolis, going for 328 all-purpose yards and the final touchdown to end the game in overtime.

Meanwhile, in Miami today, the Dolphins didn’t show up. Chad Pennington, who threw only seven interceptions all year, threw four today, one that was picked by Ed Reed for six.

Minnesota is currently trailing the Eagles at home 16-7, but are driving and look as though they’ll at least get a field goal before the half expires. If Minnesota wins, they’ll face the Panthers next week and the Cardinals will get the Giants (update: Minnesota just scored; 16-14, Eagles). If the Eagles win, they’ll go up to the Meadowlands to face off with New York, and Arizona will play the Panthers in Carolina.

The Ravens will face the Titans next week, and San Diego will head to the Steel City to take on the No. 1 ranked defense of the Steelers. Should be fun to watch. Enjoy the rest of today’s games. Go Vikings; although I’ve got no reason to want them to win, I just think they’re a more balanced team to make a run.

“I know it’s an individual award, but … truly, in my opinion, a team award,” said Manning.

“It’s been the most rewarding regular season that I’ve been a part of in my 11 years, and I have to believe a lot of the other players and even coaches might feel the same way.”

Manning won the award by a landslide, with Chad Pennington of the Dolphins and Michael Turner of the Falcons tying for second place (4 votes per piece).

The MVP was well deserved for Peyton, but now he’s got bigger fish to fry. On Saturday, he faces a Chargers team that eliminated him from the playoffs last year, and a team he has statistically struggled against in the past.

Last Week: 7-6
On the Season: 115-100
Locks of the Week: 14-6

Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville Jaguars (+6)
Baltimore Ravens @ Dallas Cowboys (-4)
Pittsburgh Steelers (-2) @ Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins (-4) @ KC Chiefs
Arizona Cardinals @ New England Patriots (-7)
Cincinnati Bengals (+3) @ Cleveland Browns
Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Redskins (+5)
SF 49′ers @ St. Louis Rams (+5.5)
Atlanta Falcons (+3) @ Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints (-7) @ Detroit Lions
Carolina Panthers @ New York Giants (-3)
New York Jets (-4) @ Seattle Seahawks
Houston Texans (-7) @ Oakland Raiders
Buffalo Bills @ Denver Broncos (-6.5)
San Diego Chargers @ Tampa Bay Bucs (-3)
Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears (-4)

To know who deserved to go at every position I’d have to be some kind of NFL machine. As much as I love the NFL, I couldn’t tell you if every guy picked deserved to be there or not. That said, here’s just a couple of snubs that jump out at me.

-John Abraham: He’s probably the biggest snub I see. The guy has 15.5 sacks and is the only reason Atlanta’s defense has been decent (if you look at that roster, their next best defensive player is Curtis Lofton, a rookie, or Lawyer Milloy, a 36 year-old). He had three sacks against the Bucs, and one of them came in overtime to help Matt Ryan and the offense get the ball in good field position to set up the winning field goal.

Brandon Jacobs: Maybe he doesn’t have the stats and yards of the other guys. But the Giants were 11-1 with that guy in the roster, and we all saw Sunday night what happens when that guy goes out. He’s the most important player to his team, and he’s the oil that helps run that offensive machine.

DeAngelo Williams: This one deserves an asterisk, because it’s not like you can take out AP, Michael Turner, or Clinton Portis. But the guy had a killer year.

Haloti Ngata: Big reason the Ravens D is back to being the Ravens D. He anchors that defensive line.

Brett Favre: This isn’t a snub. He actually made it in. How in the hell did Brett Favre make the Pro Bowl? This is another reason the NFL shouldn’t let fan votes. Every no-nothing football fan votes for Favre because they know him. Favre should give his ticket to Matt Cassel.

Calvin Johnson: He’s playing on the worst team maybe in the history of the league. He’s had four different starting quarterbacks. He’s still got 1,165 yards, 10 touchdowns, and is averaging 17.9 yards per catch. He’s Randy Moss, only there’s no players around him. A team would get a steal if they could somehow trade for this guy in the off-season.