Pigskin Pigout VI

With the NFL season winding down, college football awards coming out, and the Steelers' remaining games effectively and mercilessly rendered meaningless, there's a lot to talk about when it comes to football. Here's a few things that caught my eye recently...

-I've said before that there is still a lot of good to take from Pitt's regular season even though it ended with two heartbreaking losses. Today added two more things to the list, as the Associated Press released its list of 2009 All-Americans. Freshman tailback Dion Lewis was named to the second team (behind Heisman finalist Toby Gearhart and Heisman winner Mark Ingram), and senior tight end Dorin Dickerson was named to the third team.

Lewis is the only freshman found on the entire length of the list after a season that saw him rush for 1,640 yards (third in the nation) and 16 touchdowns (tied for 10th). With Ingram's Heisman victory this year and Tim Tebow's two seasons ago, the ridiculous roadblock that kept sophomores from winning the Heisman for years has officially been shattered and Lewis will have a legitimate shot at at least being named a finalist for the award if he builds on this season and Pitt promotes him well this summer. Of course, those guys played on teams with much better records than Pitt's 9-3 this year, so the team's record will need to improve as well.

Dickerson's selection comes on the heels of being named the first-team All-American by the Football Writers' Association over the weekend, and after being named one of three finalists for the John Mackey Award for the best tight end in football (Florida's Aaron Hernandez eventually won). Dickerson racked up 508 yards on 45 catches and had 10 touchdown receptions this season to lead all tight ends in the nation. To put his season in perspective, Dickerson's All-American selection is the first for a Pitt tight end since Mike Ditka in 1960. You can read some of my previous thoughts on Dickerson's season and background here.

Pitt and its new All-Americans have more work to do when they face North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl on December 26 in Charlotte, but that post can wait for another day.

On behalf of all the Unsportsmanlikes, we join Pitt fans everywhere in offering our congratulations to Dion Lewis and Dorin Dickerson, two outstanding players who had two very special seasons.

-The Steelers are will not be a part of Pigskin Pigout this week as nothing has changed since my post last Friday. You can read my thoughts on them here.

-Switching over to the rest of the NFL, who said anything about a sophomore jinx? The two most exciting players in the NFL might just be two second-year guys: Titans RB Chris Johnson and Eagles WR DeSean Jackson. Both of these players have speed to burn and flair to spare.

Johnson is the NFL's leading rusher with 1,626 yards through just 13 games. With eight straight 100-yard games and three more games remaining on the schedule, he has a great shot to break the illustrious 2,000 yard mark. Johnson has three runs of over 80 yards and is likely the fastest and most feared player in the NFL right now on the offensive side. The Titans are only 6-7, but if their record were just a few games better Johnson would be a shoo-in for MVP. Fantasy owners beware though--the smallish Johnson is a sure bet to break the dreaded 300 carry mark this year as he has 272 already.

Jackson might be just as explosive, but he gets fewer touches by the nature of his position only. He is coming off of a spectacular performance on Monday night against the Giants in which he caught six balls for 178 yards and a touchdown and also returned a punt 72 yards for another touchdown in the Eagles' 45-38 win. Despite missing a week 12 matchup with a concussion, Jackson is currently 13th in the league in receiving yards with 947 and has 10 total touchdowns (one rushing, two punt returns, and seven receiving). But Jackson's talent and big-play ability is highlighted most by his league-leading 18.9 yards-per-catch average and his NFL record-tying eight touchdowns of at least 50 yards.

Some say these guys dance a bit too much, but the NFL after all is about entertainment first and both of these guys deliver in waves whenever they touch the ball. Johnson appears to be on top of his game right now while the still-learning Jackson has the looks of a star in the making. I know I won't be missing either of these guys the next time their teams play in prime time, and you shouldn't either.

Quick, name two coaches who won't be in the Super Bowl this year. I did what? What hint? Where?

-Much has been made of the San Diego Chargers' recent streaks of 8-0 in their last eight games, and 16-0 in their last 16 games played in December. People ask me, "How about your frauds of the decade now, Dan?" Well, it's a one word answer: Yawn. What a terrible stat that is. Should I care about Dallas' record in September too? What matters is games played in January and February, and the last time I checked the Chargers lost their last game in January and haven't played in a Super Bowl since Stan Humphries was relevant. Check back with me in two months, all of you on the Chargers' bandwagon. And just a reminder: their coach is still Norv Turner.

How'd the game go, Carson?

-Finishing up with another fraud team, the Cincinnati Bengals were thoroughly handled 30-10 by the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, and it's not even like they turned the ball over an egregious amount (once) or got killed in time of possession (32:15 to 27:45 favoring Minnesota). They just simply did not make a play all day long, and Carson Palmer failed to crack 100 yards passing despite completing 15 passes. Where's all that talk of Marvin Lewis as coach of the year now? The Bengals, to put it flatly, do not have what it takes in terms of talent, coaching, or experience to beat an elite team in the playoffs. Hell, I think they'll have trouble beating any team. If the season ended today, they'd be playing Jacksonville at home, a team more experienced than them in postseason play. That matchup has a very good chance of holding up and if indeed it does I would be surprised if Cincinnati was favored by more than 2 1/2. So between the Bengals' best shot in years looking like a sure bet to not be good enough, the defection of Brian Kelly to Notre Dame, and another sub-.500 season in store for the Reds, it is indeed a horrible time to be a Cincinnati sports fan. Like always.