I walked into the Chicken Shack (a restaurant in Murfreesboro, TN) on Tuesday for lunch. This eatery is one of Steven Chappell’s favorites and mine as well because they just downright have good food. The chicken is great but don’t be afraid to try the rest of the menu. The owner is a diehard Cowboys fan and this was my first time seeing him since the Cowboys choked away their playoff chances. The first thing he did when I walked into the restaurant was flap his arms as if he were a bird, signaling his congratulations to my Atlanta Falcons for making the playoffs. Now that’s service with a smile!
Here is my official endorsement: The Chicken Shack is the official eatery of The Lowedown 365. I’m not talking just food and sports. I’m talking good food, intelligent sports conversation, and good prices. What else can you expect from a restaurant that has actual field turf from Texas Stadium?
Anyways, on my way out I asked the question of who they (the owner and one of the chefs) thought should be the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. By this time, they had already announced Matt Ryan as the NFL’s Rookie of the Year so I was pretty high on him. The names that came out of their mouths, however, were a little more of the usual and one that completely confused me. Just to note, the owner did say that he thought Matt Ryan should win MVP so that’s two votes for Matty Ice.
The chef made it a point to say he wasn’t sure but he knew Matt Ryan WASN’T the MVP. In fact, he wasn’t even the MVP of his own team. His vote went to Falcons’ running back Michael Turner as the Dirty Bird of the Year. He has a point, although not one that I hold very high. It’s hard to dispute a running back that finished one yard shy of 1700 for the season. In Turner’s first game, he broke the franchise single-game rushing record with 212 yards on the day. In the last game of the season, he almost matched that performance by rushing for 208 yards. As impressive as those performances are, they get a slight downgrade when you mention they were against the 0-16 Detroit Lions and the 2-14 St. Louis Rams.
The other person that was mentioned was Peyton Manning. Now my belief in all professional sports is that every league has a security blanket player. Those players are the one that are consistently good so if you vote them as MVP, then no one will really disagree with you - unless someone is just heads and shoulders better than the rest. Those players are:
NBA – Tim Duncan
MLB – Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter (Used to be Barry Bonds)
NFL – Peyton Manning
Now I do admit that Manning’s stats were impressive this year considering the fact that he didn’t have a leg to stand on (literally) or much of a team surrounding him. If this were the NFL Player of the Year, Manning would win it hands down. But it is not a player of the year trophy. It’s the most valuable player to his team! Matt Ryan is the most valuable player to his team. A year ago, the Falcons had their franchise quarterback entering federal prison, their coach left in the middle of the season, and their entire organization was without leadership below the ownership. In fact, the ownership was even in question. It’s amazing what one offseason did.
The drafting of Ryan was controversial considering there were fans that weren’t, and still aren’t, over the Mike Vick era. Ryan ignored the criticisms and led his team into the playoffs and if it wasn’t for a Jon Kasay last second field goal for Carolina, the Falcons would be the NFC South champions and taking this week off.
Matt Ryan brought much needed leadership and stability to a franchise that was desperate for some. Picture this, the Miami Dolphins finished last season with only one win to the Falcons’ four. They acted as if the Falcons were going to be this year’s Detroit Lions but Ryan would not allow it. Considering where the franchise was a year ago, Matt Ryan is hands down the MVP of the Falcons and the MVP of the NFL (with Peyton at a close second). In fact, my top five looks like this.
1. Matt Ryan, QB Atlanta Falcons
2. Peyton Manning, QB Indianapolis Colts
3. James Harrison, LB Pittsburgh Steelers
4. Adrian Peterson, RB Minnesota Vikings
5. Thomas Jones, RB New York Jets
…..The NFL’s wild card weekend begins tomorrow and the home team has to travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals. It scares me to death as a fan to see the Falcons facing such a down team because this could always be the week the Cardinals could turn it all around. I’ve been a fan of this team all my life so it could happen. So here are my picks for the weekend.
Falcons over Cardinals 31-17
Chargers over Colts 27-26
Ravens over Dolphins 13 – 9
Vikings over Eagles 21 – 17
….Finally, it’s a sad state of affairs that fans of the Cardinals and the Vikings might be forced to only get online or radio updates of their playoff games if ticket sales don’t kick up by this afternoon. Both teams are subject to being blacked out because their games are sold out. Is there a brave corporation out there that can save the day by 2:30 p.m.?
I’m headed to Atlanta for the weekend. Keep spreading the word about the blog and go Blue!
This is a pretty close MVP race this year. I REALLY don't think Peyton deserves it, though. Here are my picks:
ReplyDelete1. James Harrison
2. Michael Turner
3. Adrian Peterson
4. Chad Pennington
5. Kerry Collins (May be a homer pick, but he really helped the Titans to 13-3 more than most people give him credit for.)
I endorse this column and its selection of restaurant as the official eatery of this blog.
ReplyDeleteJust as the Falcons had an unreal turnaround so did the Dolphins so either Chad Pennington or Joey Porter has to get some consideration for MVP. I don't think either should win but they have to be up there. It was just announced, literally as I was typing this, that Manning won it, and I agree. He got healthy midway through the year when they were 3-4 and he didn't lose again. He did it despite a mediocre defense that becomes a sad defense when bob sanders isn't on the field. Simply put, he's the best, and yes he's the safety pick for the NFL but there's a reason for that. He's so valuable to his team every year that unless someone else really steps up you have to give it to him. Did Matty Ice step up? Definitely. But if he doesn't have the running game in Turner and Norwood he would've been toast. So to me its Manning one, Ryan two and apparently the AP agrees.
ReplyDeleteManning could light up sub-.500 teams. MVP! No. He struggled in the tough part of the schedule at the beginning of the season, but when the schedule became cake, he waltzed right through it. That isn't deserving of MVP. Even Kerry Collins was considered for MVP when he played similar teams. He just played them early and Peyton played them late. It worked in Peyton's favor.
ReplyDeleteThe player of the year voting is a joke. Let the players and coaches decide. Not the media.