Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the season. It's a great time to get together with the family and eat until your stomach explodes. It's also a great time to watch some great football.
As a holiday treat this year, I thought it would be fun to take a look at each of the 32 teams in the NFL and recognize what they should be thankful for this season. Since 32 teams would take forever to read about, I thought I would split it up into three separate parts. I hope you all enjoy and have a happy holiday!
Here we go:
Arizona Cardinals: A former MVP finding his old self
For years, many questioned why Kurt Warner was still in the league. They felt he was too old and wasn't capable of playing the same way as he did back in the day when he was with St. Louis.
I think it's safe to say that Warner looks like his old self this season.
The 7-4 Arizona Cardinals need to win one more game to clinch the NFC West. I will be the first to say that the NFC West is the weakest division in football. The fact that the San Francisco 49ers sit in second place with a 3-8 record is a joke. However, that's not the Cardinal's fault.
Ken Whisenhunt's decisions to start Warner over Matt Leinart has certainly paid off. The 37-year old Warner has posted 3,506 yards passing and 21 touchdowns through 11 games this season. With a dynamic-duo of wide receivers in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, Warner finally seems like he's back to his old MVP form.
Atlanta Falcons: Dynamic Duo of a rookie quarterback and a rookie head coach
Last year, I couldn't imagine what Arthur Blank and the rest of the Falcons franchise felt like. Michael Vick was a player that the Falcons treated like a God. How did he repay them? He thought it would be fun to bet money on dogs fighting each other.
End results: Vick ends up in jail and the Falcons are left without a quarterback. On top of that, the Falcons had to deal with the departure of cornerback DeAngelo Hall and head coach Bobby Petrino in the middle of the season.
Most people thought that the 2008 season would be a rebuilding one for the Atlanta Falcons. Instead, the rookie quarterback and the rookie head coach have their team sitting at 7-4 and the potential to make the playoffs. Blank and the city of Atlanta have to be grateful to have these two on their team this holiday season.
Baltimore Ravens: Flyin' Flacco and a scary defense
Let's be honest, the Ravens are thankful every season for a scary defense. If I ever needed two guys to get my back in a fight, Ed Reed and Ray Lewis would be those two guys. These two guys have helped the Ravens lead a solid defense year after year after year.
The one thing the Ravens have always struggled with is finding a quarterback to lead their offense. Trent Dilfer may have not been the best quarterback in the league when they won the Super Bowl back in 2001.
After drafting Joe Flacco out of Delaware in the 2008 NFL draft, people questioned whether or not Flacco was the right man for the Ravens considering he played for a Divisions I-AA school.
So far, the risk with Flacco has paid off. He may not have the most impressive statistics in the league (1,996 yards passing, 10 touchdowns, and nine interceptions), but he is doing just enough for the Ravens to keep winning. With a 7-4 record coming into this weekend's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, this is one team nobody wants to play against in January.
Buffalo Bills: Finally getting out of their losing funk
After the first seven weeks of the 2008 season, the Buffalo Bills looked like Super Bowl contenders by starting off the season 5-1. Marshawn Lynch seemed unstoppable. Trent Edwards looked extremely comfortable at quarterback. This team seemed like they were going to go to their first Super Bowl since the 1990's.
After that, they went on to lose their next four games in a row to drop their record to 5-5. All of a sudden the Super Bowl-hyped Bills were just trying to find a win in the month of November.
Last week, the Bills snapped their losing streak by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 54-31. The Bills may be in last place in the AFC East, but they are only one game back of the Wild Card and two games back of the division. Every game counts for the Bills in the next couple of weeks, as they have match-ups against the 49ers, Broncos, Jets, Dolphins, and Patriots.
Carolina Panthers: Something old and something new
In 2004, Mushin Muhammad had his best season as a Carolina Panther with over 1,400 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns. When he left the Panthers for the Chicago Bears, he couldn't even record 16 career touchdowns in three seasons with the Bears.
This season, Muhammad returned to the Panthers. Behind him and Steve Smith at wide receiver, the Panthers sit at 8-3 and tied for first place in the NFC South with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The great thing about the dynamic duo of Smith and Muhammad is they have both proved in their careers that they are each capable of being a number one receiver. When teams worry about Smith, the door opens up for Muhammad.
Not only did the Panthers benefit from bringing back an old player back to their team, but their top draft pick has paid off as well.
With the 13th pick in the 2008 draft, the Panthers selected running back Jonathan Stewart out of Oregon. Many people questioned how the Panthers would balance out their running back situation after drafting DeAngelo Williams a few years ago.
So far, the Panthers seem to have one of the best one-two punches at running back in football. The two running backs have combined for fifteen total touchdowns on the year and have run for a combined 1,400-plus yards on the ground. These two backs have carried the team at times when Jake Delhomme was struggling at quarterback. As long as everybody stays healthy, this team can be dangerous come playoff time.
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about 1 month ago
Good article. But, Flacco has 1996 yards, not 1196.
about 1 month ago
good article.... If you rearrange the Bengals record you get 911 which is what they need. They need all the help they can get.
The Bears still need a QB. I'm not sold on Little Kyle, as you called him.
about 1 month ago
good stuff dan. your eagles got a pretty good reason to be thankful last night! happy holidays
about 1 month ago
dan, good job. i enjoyed it.
you're on the money with the falcons. don't forget the ravens have a rookie head coach as well.
the cleveland browns may in fact have two startingg quarterbacks but they still can't manage to win much. kind of ironic for them.
good one on the bengals. heh...
about 1 month ago
Dan, good job! What.....are you saying the Lions don't have anything to be thankful for? Oh yeah, that's right.....THEY DON'T
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