Winners and losers: Warner back to MVP form

Last summer, Kurt Warner wondered aloud if an old, grizzled quarterback with a graying beard could be the face of the Arizona Cardinals. Now we’re left to ponder whether he can be the face of the NFL.

With Tom Brady out and Peyton Manning having struggled earlier this year, one has to wonder: Is the 37-year old Warner the best player in the NFL right now?

With 395 passing yards Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals rolling toward a playoff berth, Warner just might be tightening his grasp on the NFL’s MVP trophy … for the third time. That makes Warner the weekend’s biggest winner.

Unlike the New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees, who has scuttled his MVP candidacy with costly mistakes, Warner is playing to near perfection. And he just may be performing better than his astonishing 1999 MVP season, when nobody knew or expected him. Nine seasons later, teams know exactly who Warner is, including a detailed scouting report on his weaknesses.

But that doesn’t appear to be slowing Warner down. As the centerpiece of the league’s second-highest scoring offense, Warner is carving defenses with near perfection. He’s averaging a stout 315 passing yards per game, to go along with his 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions this season. And next week, the Cardinals will host the New York Giants – and the league’s highest scoring offense – in a high powered showdown that could be a preview of the NFC title game.

Surely it will be one of this season’s marquee story lines: The peaking Warner facing the team and the quarterback (Eli Manning) that sent Warner to the bench in New York in 2004. A potential passing of the torch from 2007 Super Bowl MVP to the frontrunner for 2008 league MVP. We can hardly wait.

Here are some of Sunday’s other winners and losers …

• The Denver Broncos
Just when it looked like they were losing control of the AFC West, Denver pulls off back-to-back road wins and keeps the pressure squarely on the shoulders of the San Diego Chargers. The running game actually looked serviceable Sunday against Atlanta with the trio of Peyton Hillis, Tatum Bell and P.J. Pope. Beating the Atlanta Falcons without a single sack and minus defensive starters Champ Bailey, D.J. Williams, Nate Webster and Marlon McCree was miraculous.

• Broncos fullback/linebacker Spencer Larsen
Larsen started at linebacker and fullback – the first time that has happened in the NFL since 2003, and the first time it has ever happened in Broncos history. He also played special teams and racked up seven tackles. There may not be a more physically taxing thing in sports than playing both ways in an NFL game and adding in special teams duty.

• The New York Giants offensive line
I’m betting many NFL fans couldn’t name a single starter in this group, but it might be the best, most balanced line in football right now. It held the vaunted Baltimore Ravens pass rush to only one sack of Eli Manning, who has been brought down only 12 times in 10 games. And it created holes for running backs Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw and Derrick Ward. That trio had 264 of the Giants’ 353 offensive yards.

• Giants cornerback Aaron Ross
He’s been very underrated this season and is rounding into one of the better young corners in the NFL. His two picks, one for a touchdown, against Baltimore were huge momentum changers.

• Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers
He’s cranking it up against bad teams, notching five sacks in back-to-back wins over Oakland and Detroit. Let’s see Peppers do it the next two road games against good quarterbacks in Atlanta and Green Bay.

• The Panthers running game
With quarterback Jake Delhomme looking mediocre for the second straight game, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart carried the team with 250 rushing yards and three touchdowns. This is why you spend two first-round picks on running backs.

• Green Bay Packers running back Ryan Grant
After solid outings against the tough run defenses of the Titans and Vikings, respectively, Grant had his best outing of the season against the Bears. His 145 rushing yards against Chicago helped the Packers dominate the tempo of the game. If Grant is picking up steam, this offense is going to be scary good down the stretch.

• The Kansas City Chiefs and Herm Edwards
The Chiefs lost Sunday and the defense is still bad, but you can see the offense going in the right direction. It looks exponentially better with Tyler Thigpen, and is showing some imagination of late by spreading out the line of scrimmage. Finally the offense is being shaped to its current personnel. Unless there is a Rams-like collapse in the final six games, Edwards is buying himself another season to see what he can do with an offseason of developing the pieces around Thigpen.

• New Orleans Saints wideout Lance Moore
He’s got 268 receiving yards and three touchdowns in his last three games, and looks like the Saints best receiver right now. He’s definitely creating a difficult decision for the Saints, who are overflowing with options in the passing game. Marques Colston is a lock at the No. 1 wideout, but Moore’s development means either Devery Henderson or Robert Meachem could very well be elsewhere next year. With Henderson playing under a one-year contract, the writing is on the wall.

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jeff Garcia
He has led Tampa to four wins in their last five games, and is keeping them right on the heels of the Panthers in the NFC South. Garcia’s mobility was giving Minnesota’s defensive front fits on Sunday, as he bought himself time on numerous occasions while completing 23 of 30 pass attempts. At 38 years old, his agility is one of the NFL’s most impressive physical feats.

• San Francisco 49ers quarterback Shaun Hill
He’s clearly the future of this team at quarterback. Never mind last week’s impressive helmet-shedding run for a first down against the Arizona Cardinals, Hill’s leadership flows from his control of the offense. Unlike predecessor J.T. O’Sullivan, he rarely looks flustered, and he makes far better decisions under pressure. And you have to love how he’s turning tight end Vernon Davis into an asset in the red zone.

• 49ers running back Frank Gore.
He’s looking as explosive as ever since Mike Singletary took over and made it clear he wanted to be a run-oriented team. Gore is averaging 126 yards from scrimmage over the last three games. And coordinator Mike Martz gets some credit for showing he can call a balanced offense centered around Gore, too.

• Cardinals cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
He had the first two interceptions of his career Sunday against Seattle, picking off a pair of Matt Hasselbeck passes. Rodgers-Cromartie is long and fast and oozing with the same raw athleticism of his cousin, the San Diego Chargers; Antonio Cromartie. The Cardinals may have finally found their big playmaking cornerbacks.

• Cardinals wideouts Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald
If there is a more fearsome pairing at receiver in the NFL, I don’t see it. The duo combined for 337 receiving yards against Seattle. Yes, it was against a poor Seahawks secondary. But with Fitzgerald’s size and Boldin’s brute strength, they can create matchup problems for any opponent, including NFC elites like the Giants and Carolina Panthers.

• The Tennessee Titans
Trailing 14-3 at the half on the road, they outscored Jacksonville 21-0 in the final two quarters Sunday. It showed an impressive resilience in this team. The 10-0 record is great, but they continue to show new wrinkles. Quarterback Kerry Collins is hitting bigger plays down the field, and wideout Justin Gage looks like he’s ready to make a big difference now that he’s healthy.

• The Pittsburgh Steelers defense
It held San Diego’s offense to 10 points and picked off Philip Rivers twice. If the offense can ever catch up to this unit, Pittsburgh could be unstoppable.

• Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco
Good defenses get him moving around in the pocket, and that’s when he makes mistakes. His two interceptions Sunday broke a streak of four straight games without a pick.

• The St. Louis Rams
Last week, they were trailing the New York Jets by 40 at halftime. This week they were trailing San Francisco by 32 after two quarters. When was the last time a franchise fired two coaches before a season was over? Considering how this team has mailed it in lately under Jim Haslett, maybe it’s not a bad idea.

• The Lions’ defense
I understand the offense isn’t helping a whole lot, but the Lions’ tackling was terrible against Carolina. At one point Sunday, DeAngelo Williams managed a three-yard gain despite getting hit in the backfield and bouncing off what appeared to be seven Detroit defenders.

• Fans watching the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Cincinnati Bengals
The eight sacks of Cincinnati’s Ryan Fitzpatrick and four turnovers by Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb made for ugly football. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the offensive drives in overtime were downright inept. And judging by the unfulfilled looks on the faces of all the players afterward, it seemed like a loss for both teams.

• The Chicago Bears
Two losses in a row since Kyle Orton’s ankle injury. Good thing St. Louis is on the schedule next week because this team can’t get anything going on defense. Five total sacks in the last five games isn’t getting it done. And someone wake me when Alex Brown gets a sack again (five games and counting without one).

• Bears wideout/returner Devin Hester
Remember when he was the scariest return man in the NFL? He doesn’t have a single punt or kickoff return for a TD, after registering 11 scores in the previous two regular seasons. You figured expanding his role on offense would hurt his production on special teams. Maybe it would have been more prudent to keep wide receiver Mark Bradley and maintain Hester as a special teams only player.

• Seahawks assistant coach Jim Mora
Considering he’s coached Seattle’s secondary into an absolute abyss, how safe do you think the organization feels about promoting him to head coach? Don’t be surprised if he ends up taking a college job and Seattle opens up a search to replace Mike Holmgren.

• Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck
So much for a triumphant return. While Seattle hung tough with Arizona, Hasselbeck’s three interceptions were the difference. He’ll get better as he shakes off the rust, but his three touchdown to seven interception ratio is ugly. Those numbers aside, Hasselbeck is 33. He’s entering his declining years. The franchise has to draft someone to groom for a few years down the line.

• The Jacksonville Jaguars defensive line
Remember when the Jaguars could generate a pass rush with its front four? Well the line hardly has any playmakers anymore. It had one sack against Tennessee, and there isn’t a single defensive lineman with more than two sacks through 10 games. Jacksonville had better hope the No. 8 overall pick, rookie defensive end Derrick Harvey is better than his 1½ sacks this season suggest.

• The Steelers’ offense
It needed a big day to get the fan base off the backs of coordinator Bruce Arians and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. While Roethlisberger put up a solid 308 passing yards and running back Willie Parker added 115 rushing, the inability to finish drives looked bad. Three field goals isn’t going to get it done against a team like Tennessee.

• The San Diego Chargers’ playoff hopes
Falling 4-6 with the loss to Pittsburgh and seeing Denver moved to 6-4 means desperation time. The season may be determined in the next two weeks with Indianapolis and Atlanta heading to San Diego. On the bright side, the defense had four sacks and looked much more aggressive. You just have to wonder if maybe it’s too late.

 

The number of consecutive quarters the Oakland Raiders have gone without an offensive touchdown.

 

(FIVE THINGS I LOVED AND FIVE THINGS I LOATHED)

Loved: Hearing the Fox crew covering the Detroit Lions vs. Carolina Panthers game recognize that Lions quarterback Daunte Culpepper was wearing two armbands containing offensive plays. The crew hammered on it several times as a poignant example of Culpepper’s challenge in picking up Detroit’s offense since joining the team two weeks ago.

Loathed: Watching Colts players drop five Peyton Manning passes in the first half of Sunday’s game against Houston. You could feel Manning’s frustration beaming out of the television. It’s troubling to see veterans like Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Joseph Addai all dropping passes over the last two weeks.

Loved: ESPN’s Sunday Countdown feature on Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. The emphasis on the coin flip the Falcons won at the league’s scouting combine – allowing Atlanta to draft No. 3 overall – was an interesting an angle to take. And the follow-up analysis on Ryan and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was solid.

Loathed: At the suggestion of a few emailers, I made sure to check out Kenny Mayne’s satirical “Mayne Event” on “Sunday Countdown.” This week it was on the lack of respect for the undefeated Tennessee Titans. Other than a few funny lines from Titans coach Jeff Fisher, it was a dud. And how’s this for awkward: When they cut from the feature to ESPN’s studio crew, nobody had so much as a smile on their face. You know it’s bad when you can’t even make the guys on your own team laugh.

Loved: Seeing Denver Broncos rookie running back Peyton Hillis score a pair of rushing touchdowns on Sunday. Hillis is the third former Arkansas Razorback to score a rushing touchdown this season, joining Oakland’s Darren McFadden and Dallas’ Felix Jones. How did Arkansas go 8-5 last season with three future NFL players in its backfield?

Loathed: The “Crunch Time” analyst competition on “The NFL Today” on CBS. The participants – Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe, Bommer Esiason and Bill Cowher – spend too much time interrupting each other and don’t provide much depth in reasoning. Other than the “Fan Vote” feature, which allows fans to text in their vote on issues, it’s a lot of wasted air time.

Loved: The NFL Network’s “Playbook” lead-in to Sunday’s games. It’s packed with information and film. I particularly liked this week’s analysis on the DeAngelo Hall signing in Washington while the crew was breaking down the Redskins/Cowboys matchup. I also like the emphasis on some individuals in the “Cold Logic” feature – like Sterling Sharpe talking about Detroit Lions wideout Calvin Johnson, and Sharpe relating the time in his career when he was the best player on some bad Green Bay teams.

Loathed: Seeing Colts safety Bob Sanders miss yet another game. I love the way he plays the game, and his impact on the defense is undeniable. But this will be the third season in Sanders’ five NFL campaigns in which he has missed at least six regular season games. Since coming into the league, he has played 43 of 74 regular season games.

Loved: Seeing Carolina running back DeAngelo Williams carry the football. His bouncing and spinning and hard running has made him worth the price of admission the last three weeks, averaging 7.3 yards per carry in that span.

Loathed: Watching Minnesota defensive end Ray Edwards’ late hit on Tampa quarterback Jeff Garcia. Edwards wasn’t even close on the hit, and it would be shocking if he wasn’t assessed a fine. Edwards’ type of hit is what gives the league legitimate ammunition to limit hits on quarterbacks.