"You want to know what's awesome?
Sitting around watching a blowout "Monday Night Football" game -- New Orleans Saints versus Atlanta Falcons -- listening to everyone gush about Drew Brees breaking Dan Marino's record for passing yards in a season and knowing that Brees won't be pulled despite the score, not until he breaks the record.
You want to know what else is awesome?
Watching the Saints drive in their two-minute offense for some reason with the score 38-16 and just a few minutes remaining (yeah, real holistic record there, Drew) and seeing Darren Sproles is on the field the whole time.
Seeing the Saints inside the Falcons' 10-yard line, watching Sproles start his pass pattern, seeing Brees look his way, knowing what's coming next, watching Sproles catch a meaningless TD that sends everyone in the Superdome into paroxysms of glee, and playing against Sproles in the finals of one of my experts league and having the narrowest of leads evaporate on the Saints' final offensive play of the game.
You want to know what ELSE is awesome?
Having to write a column about fantasy football the next morning.
Ah, well. It's been a "fun" season. If by "fun" you mean gut-wrenching, annoying, heartbreaking and murderous. Can't wait to do it all again next year. In the meantime, standard ESPN.com leagues are entering the second week of their finals, also known as Jim Sorgi Week, in honor of the former Indianapolis Colts backup who usually spelled Peyton Manning in Week 17. Many stars will sit, while obscure players will rack up tasty stats. The results will be somewhat random, but let's take a stab at finding a few out-of-nowhere fantasy contributors here at the end.
Standard ESPN League Finds
Kahlil Bell, RB, Chicago Bears (owned in 40.1 percent of ESPN.com leagues). Bell played well versus the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday night, to the tune of a career-high 121 yards on 23 carries, and is locked in as Chicago's starter in Week 17 versus the Minnesota Vikings. Marion Barber is injured and on the outs and won't be on the Bears' roster next season. We saw a glimmer of what Bell could do toward the end of '09, when Matt Forte was playing hurt, as Bell vultured double-digit carries on a couple occasions. But Bell's performance the past couple weeks has been a revelation. Maybe this is simply a limited sample size, and Bell will regress. But in the moment, he might be giving the Bears pause about paying Forte a king's ransom this offseason.
Toby Gerhart, RB, Minnesota Vikings (36.4 percent). Adrian Peterson's injury is a crusher for so many reasons, not least because it almost certainly means the pedestrian Gerhart will be Minnesota's Week 1 starter next season. Some days, that'll be worth something, because Gerhart is a plugger who gets what's blocked and can catch the ball on occasion. But he has minimal evasiveness and only average explosiveness. Sunday, he gets a very difficult Bears defense. He'll have 20-plus touches, which is valuable, but I can't promise he'll do a ton with them.
Chris Ivory, RB, New Orleans Saints (3.1 percent). The Saints are technically still alive for the NFC's No. 2 seed but would need the San Francisco 49ers to lose to the St. Louis Rams. Doubtful. My guess is that Sproles, Pierre Thomas and Mark Ingram get a whole lot of rest in Week 17, and the guy they don't plan on using much in the playoffs, Ivory, carries the mail. There's risk here, but I'd be genuinely shocked if Ivory doesn't easily lead his team in RB touches Sunday."
