Extra Points: Week 10

CONTRADICTORY SIGNS
Warrick Dunn is one of sport’s great humanitarians. He’s been the NFL Man of the Year; he’s been The Sporting News “No. 1 Good Guy;” he runs a sweeping program that helps single mothers buy homes. Teammate DeAngelo Hall, on the other hand, is a punk. He’s publicly dissed his coach, got suspended for atrocious behavior on the field, and is a shameless trash-talker. So if you, Joe Fan, happen to encounter the Falcons team at a hotel on a road trip or at the stadium and you want an autograph, you’d be advised to intrepidly approach the magnanimous Dunn and avoid the menacing Hall at all costs. Right? Wrong. According to the collectors’ magazine Tuff Stuff, Dunn “has never been a big fan of signing autographs...[He] will usually ignore pleas from fans.” When the columnist approached Hall, however, the cornerback “was as nice as he could be...he stood around and made sure he signed for everyone waiting.”

THE GREAT UNKNOWNS
Jesse Chatman of Miami, Ryan Grant of Green Bay and Selvin Young of Denver have two things in common. (Other than the fact you don’t know who they play for — which is why we included their teams.) Each made the second start of his NFL career on Sunday. And each rushed for more than 100 yards. The league’s rushing stats have been peculiar all year. We’ve got two rookies (Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch) among the top-five ground-gainers, and another player (LenDale White) in the top 10 who’d never started a game before 2007. Meanwhile, hoards of fantasy players are in suicide watch over this disappointing dozen, all of whom were likely premium picks: L.T. (seventh), Larry Johnson (16th), Fred Taylor (21st), Shaun Alexander (24th), Warrick Dunn (25th), Reggie Bush (27th), Frank Gore (30th), Lawrence Maroney (31st), Julius Jones (32nd), Steven Jackson (35th), Ahman Green (47th) and Rudi Johnson (48th).

BUMP AND RUN
Extra Points’ recurring installment of slapdash observation and imprudent opinion:

Good news or bad? None of Shayne Graham’s seven field goals that comprised all the points for the Bengals in their win over Baltimore were longer than 35 yards. Another way to look at this is that their drives stalled at the Ravens’ 16, 1, 5, 17, 17, 3 and 15. On two other occasions, Cincy got inside the 35 without scoring.

45 of the 53 plays the Lions ran in their loss to the Cardinals were passes. Their longest rush of the day was four yards, and their other seven totes netted minus-22.

We were recently nosing around the web and found a list of the five most likely 2007 first-round draft busts as adjudged by a prominent football handicapping site. They were Brady Quinn, three players who are now solid starters (Sidney Rice, Ted Ginn Jr., Jamaal Anderson) and some guy named Peterson. That prediction can’t be great for credibility.

QUOTABLE
“Everybody loves to use that selfish word and make it a negative. Man, it’s very much so a positive. You’ve got to want it. You’ve got a different type of breed that plays this game. I’m a different type of breed.” — Chad Johnson

“Some ribs, some chicken.” — Fred Taylor, asked what 270-pound QB Quinn Gray brings to the table.

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