Tuesday's Tip Drill

Clinton comes through
With parity running so rampant in the NFL these days, its become a rarity when a heavily favored team with good fantasy matchups, does what they're supposed to do and kick the living snot out of the underdog. Clinton Portis, sick and tired of fielding media questions about his long-running touchdown drought effectively silences the critics with 3 TD runs against a Niner defense that rolled into submission after the opening kickoff. If Portis can stay healthy, you have to like his prospects going forward especially in lieu of Brunell's Cocoon-like Pro Bowl caliber play.

Cedric who?
The San Diego Chargers weren't convinced Drew Brees was their long-term answer at quarterback, so they shell out big bucks for rookie Rivers who held out for more/less cash, misses training camp and much of preseason and Drew Brees takes the job and runs away with it, for good. Shake. Rinse. Repeat - for Chicago at running back in 2005. Thomas Jones is not only a stud on the field, he's also a quiet leader in the locker room who has meshed well with other leaders like Muhsin Muhammad. He's scoring, he's breaking the long runs, and he's griding out the tough yards. If I was going to err at having too much talent at either quarterback or running back, I'd choose RB for obvious injurious reasons. But make no mistake about it, Thomas Jones is the feature back in Chicago and that won't be changing anytime soon.

Garcia & Mariucci singin' in a tree
Bye bye Joey Harrington in Detroit. How sweet for Jeff Garcia who left Cleveland with a chip on his shoulder, to return there while making his first start after a tough rehab and pull out a gutty road win for a team that was in dire need of some leadership from the quarterback position. How much mileage a 35-year old Garcia has left to give to the motor city is anybody's guess, but we're certainly going to find out now. Mariucci, a long-time Garcia supporter now has enough hard evidence to put Joey on the pine and put his Frisco friend in for the foreseeable future.

Wizard of Az
Somebody tell Az-Zahir Hakim it's time to get injured, or he's too small to be anything more than a 'slot receiver'. Hakim has gone from waiver wire garbage heap to one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL in a span of 3 games. Short lived success? No question Horn's recurring hamstring injury is the catalyst here, but there are legitimate questions about Horn's ability to be at or near 100% health for the remainder of the season. One thing we know for sure now, as long as Joe Horn is out, you have to consider Az Hakim pretty close to a must-start on a weekly basis. Only Santana Moss has more yards than Hakim over the last 3 games.

And on the 7th week, Steve Smith rests
Why should Steve Smith be mentioned following a week in which he did not even play? Because if I'm the Minnesota Vikings, the prospect of playing Steve Smith after a week of rest and relaxation, would petrify me.

Eli's maturation takes another dramatic, Giant leap forward
Eli Manning has made so many keeper league owners filthy, stinky rich at quarterback for years to come, it's rediculous. It's downright digusting really. Only because I don't own him. That winning throw, the back-pedalling, the defenders in his face, it was iconic in a way that constantly reminds you of the inescapable fact that watching Eli Manning play is like watching a prophecy unfold. What's the sum of it all? What's the end destination? How great can he be? Who knows? But it just seems like everybody around him are actors playing in his story. It's all about Eli right now, and it's darn fun to watch.

"It was phenomenal," tailback Tiki Barber said. "This is what you practice for, and you hope you execute it right. . . . He kept our composure in the huddle. He made the throws when he had to. He made the plays to keep them off balance. . . . That was a clinic on how you run a two-minute drill." The win was sufficiently exhilarating to lead Coughlin to reward his players with a "victory Monday," a day off to go with their regularly scheduled day off...

It's Miller time in Pittsburgh
This just in...Heath Miller is good. Really good. And he's exactly what the Pittsburgh Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger have been looking for to compliment Hines Ward in their passing game. A lot of people questioned how Pittsburgh imagined they could get by without attempting to replace Burress, and worse, figured they could get by with Randle El and some warm stiffs opposite Ward. However, it's become evidently clear now, after 14 catches, 166 yards and 3 touchdowns in his last 3 games, that Heath Miller is their answer. This guy looks like a Shockey clone and practically is. They're both 6'5, and they're 3 pounds apart in weight. Miller's upside is large right now.

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