vince-young-is-the-manVince Young threw for 387 yards Sunday. He rushed for eight yards. He orchestrated a game-winning 99-yard drive in which he converted three fourth downs – all with his arm, not his feet – in the final two minutes (video of “the drive” below). Even though Matt Leinart was on the opposite sideline, this wasn’t the Rose Bowl Redux. This was Vince Young looking like an NFL QB who can hang in the pocket, identify a defense, and deliver, instead of panicking and taking off on the run.

The “analyst” who has a history of trashing him, ESPN’s Merrill Hoge, has no choice but to go on TV today and point out what an outstanding performance this was. Tiger Woods may even send Young some patron or perhaps a fruit basket for wiping him out of the headlines for a few hours yesterday afternoon. A thank you note is in order to Kobe Bryant.

When you factor in all the extracurricular stuff Young has been through in the last year – the benching, the cocky quotes to Esquire, the “questionable” shirtless photos, the brief-yet-bizarre runaway/gun quagmire … this 99-yard game-winning drive has to be one of the better NFL stories this season. We’re not going to go overboard here and say Vince Young is “back” or “going to be an elite NFL QB.” That would be silly. In this somewhat improbable Titans 5-game winning streak, Young had been good for four games; Sunday, he was excellent.

In the preseason, we predicted he’d be starting midway through the season. We had no clue he’d have a game like this. Yes, it helps to have an outstanding line that has paved the way for Chris Johnson to become an MVP candidate who could rush for 2,000 yards. But it’s not like Young’s receivers are considerably better than the ones Jay Cutler is throwing to. Marginally better? Yes. But it remains one of the weaker receiving corps in the league.

Reality is likely to set in for Young next weekend against the Colts. It shouldn’t diminish from Sunday’s stellar performance.

MVP rankings (the last non-QB, non-RB to capture the award is Jerry Rice in 1990):

1. Chris Johnson, Titans
2. Brett Favre, Vikins – Upon closer inspection, and after receiving a deeply heartfelt email from a reader, we’ve moved him up.
3. Drew Brees, Saints
4. Peyton Manning, Colts
5. Jared Allen, Vikings

alicia-sacramone-dating-brady-quinn-cleveland-brownscarrie_prejean-girlfriend-kyle-boller-st-louis-rams

Hot Girlfriend = Improvement on the Field?

Kyle Boller, whose relationship with beauty queen Carrie Prejean is now in the open, had perhaps the best game of his pro career Sunday – 282 passing yards and a touchdown in a loss to Seattle. He nearly had a long TD run but was ruled down at the one-yard line.

Brady Quinn, whose relationship with gymnast Alicia Sacramone is now in the open, performed … admirably? … in a 16-7 loss to the Bengals. He had a touchdown run. He didn’t thrown an interception of fumble against the top scoring defense in the league, which probably should qualify as a moral victory.

The Jets Are Not Going to the Playoffs

Obligatory note on our favorite team – this “playoff” chatter is quite comical. The Jets are not going to the playoffs. Mathematically, they remain alive, but they lose a tiebreaker to two teams also in the hunt – Miami and Jacksonville. (And they own a tiebreaker against Houston and Tennessee.) We’ll continue to root for the Jets and against any AFC team that has a shot at the playoffs. But we’re realists, and it just isn’t happening. Two questions, though: 1) When was the last time you’ve seen a defender get two interceptions (Kerry Rhodes), but not make a tackle? 2) Why isn’t Vernon Gholston playing? Is the plan to let him rot on the bench forever? Is Rex waiting for the season to officially be over before putting him back on the field? Can’t Rex at least insert Gholston on random 3rd and long situations and just turn him loose?