| “LT” leads the NFL with 24 touchdowns |
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| Written by Matthew Russell | |
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Well it was an exciting time in the NFL over the past two weeks. The largest story in the league right now is LaDainian “Touchdown Machine” Tomlinson. He leads the league with currently with 24 touchdowns, and no one in the NFL is even close the elusive Chargers running back. The next closest person on the list is Kansas City’s Larry Johnson with 15 touchdowns. Even more amazing is that LT does not just run for touchdowns, he catches them and he even throws them. He has 48 receptions this year and three of them for touchdowns, and he is two for three passing for 20 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground he is possibly the most feared back in the NFL. He currently ranks third in the NFL in rushing yards and fifth in carries. He has as many or more touchdowns than 19 of 31 NFL teams.
In one of the oddest stories around the league, the Dallas Cowboys cut Mike Vanderjagt, who is statistically the most accurate kicker in NFL history. Vanderjagt was brought in to solve the Cowboys problems with consistency at the place kicker position. Before this year he had missed only seven field goals in the last two years, and he was a perfect 37 for 37 in 2003. He is 230-266 for his careerwith an 86.5 percent accuracy rate. This year, however, Vanderjagt has already missed five field goals, which puts him with in three misses of his of the worst year of his career. The man they brought in to replace him is the most accurate kicker in the NFL this year, but that is only because he is one for one, a 20 yarder, on the year. Martin Gramatica was so good that for a portion of his career that he earned the nickname “Automatica Gramatica”, but that part of his life is gone. Since he went to the Pro Bowl in 2001 and helped Tampa Bay win a Super Bowl in 2002, he has connected on only 28 of 46 attempts. He was cut by the Patriots in the preseason. In case you folks do not have a calculator handy that is about 61 percent. So Bill Parcells decided it would be a good idea to replace a guy who is having one of the worst years of his life and still kicking 72 percent with a guy that is kicking 61 percent over the last two years. Not only that but Vanderjagt has only missed two times from inside 40 yards this year, and has made his only attempt of over 50 yards. One of his misses came on a blocked field goal where one of his linemen missed an assignment. In 2003 and 2004, the last time Gramatica played an entire season, Automatica was any thing but, especially from long range. He was 2-4 from beyond 50 yards, 4-13 from 40-49 yards, and a dismal 6-12 from 30-39 yards. Vanderjagt has only missed seven, including this year, from 30-39 yards in his entire nine year career as a starting kicker. So forgive me for being a little skeptical as to how Gramatica is going to be an improvement over Vanderjagt. Monday night’s game should have sent a loud message to defenses around the league. That message was sent by the MVP from last year, Shaun Alexander, as he shredded the Packers for 201 yards on the ground. In the second half the Seahawks found their groove as Alexander and Matt Hasselback finally made their comeback from the injury complete. Other significant happenings in the NFL this week included the Patriots downing the Bears to make the Colts the only one loss team in the NFL. The Patriots followed the formula that has seemed to be fairly effective. The Bears really only have two weaknesses one is that their offensive line is sub par, and the other that is directly dependent on the first is that Rex Grossman is prone to making mistakes when he is under constant pressure. So the Pats kept pressure on Grossman by overpowering the Bears o-line and forced him into making mistakes. Then the Patriots did what they do best: win. Last but never least, here’s to Vince Young. Young led the Titans on a fourth quarter 21 point comeback against the Giants. It marked the best comeback in the NFL since 2003 and the largest comeback by a rookie since John Elway. Pacman Jones was huge, as he had two interceptions and a pivotal 23 yard punt return that set up a scoring drive for Young. Young finished the game with a career high 249 yards passing and two touchdowns and he ran for another. All three of Young’s touchdowns came in the fourth quarter. On a side not Pacman Jones once tagged as one of the largest disruptions in the NFL has not talked to the media since October. |
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