Roy Halladay
Was Last Seen: On J.P. Ricciardi's trade block
It was only about 2 months ago that Roy Halladay was the hottest commodity at the trade deadline and was being touted as the best pitcher in baseball. Since the time of the unbelievably foolish move to dangle Halladay and then not move him, the 'Doc's "best pitcher in baseball" moniker has taken a bit of a hit. Halladay went 2-4 in August with an ERA over 4.50. Anyone who says that having the prospect of competing for a World Series put in front of you only to be thrown back into the mediocre end of the pool doesn't mess with a player's head needs only to look at Doc for proof. Safe bet to say that Ricciardi is regretting not moving his ace now that his value has taken a serious hit.
Jake Delhomme
Was Last Seen: Leading the Panthers to the Super Bowl/losing said game
Is "nose dive" too strong a term for the descent that has befallen Carolina's shot caller? The disappearance of the Panther's QB has been made more well known after his atrocious showings in his last 2 games (1 TD, 9 INT's) but to be honest, this is nothing terribly new about his performance. Outside of his Super Bowl season, Delhomme's stats are nothing eye catching, unless you have an affinity for mediocrity. Steve Smith can only make so many plays to bail him out. Eventually (like now) teams will figure it out and the bench becomes a frightening reality for a player who was almost a Super Bowl champion.
The entire St. Louis Rams team
Was Last Seen: On a highlight reel involving the Patriots
Train wreck, plain and simple. Since the time of the "greatest show on turf" years it's been a struggle for the Rams to maintain visual contact with .500, let alone a return trip to the Super Bowl. Marc Bulger has completely lost whatever game he had and Steven Jackson just cannot make anything happen for this team. Poor Steve Spagnuolo. Guess you never know what you had until it's gone.
Charlie Weis
Was Last Seen: Taking first place in the "Who Wants to be the Next Bob Stoops?" competition
Remember when Coach Weis was the brilliant mind behind the wonder child of the NFL, Tom Brady? I'll give you some time think about it, because it took me awhile too. What's the rule of thumb when your team is leading late in the game (let's say 2:30 minutes for arguments sake)? Correct answer: run the ball to burn the clock/make the other team use their timeouts. Charlie Weis answer: Throw the deep on 2nd and 3rd down and run a grand total of about 20 seconds off the clock. That's what we call a "hero or goat" scenario. Which one do you think he came out as against Michigan? (please, no jokes about what other barnyard animals he may or may not resemble) Jimmy Clausen is not Tom Brady, and the play calling late in the game should be devised as such.
Carson Palmer
Was Last Seen: Leaving his knee/career in the arms of Kimo Von Oelhoffen
He's the only one on this list I kind of feel bad for. Palmer single handedly made the Bengals a playoff team (let that soak in for a minute), only to go down with a knee injury in the first series of their first game. That's got to hurt, in more ways than one. Now, the former USC standout has struggled to not only make an appearance on the field for any significant stretch of time, but perform at the high level he once did. Even against the absolutely brutal (in a bad way) Denver defense in Week 1, Palmer failed to record a touchdown and tossed 2 picks. Maybe he should have let Ochocinco stay with him over the summer. There would be no trouble finding him that mouth in tow.
Ohio State's ability to win big games
Was Last Seen: In the vicinity of a notorious robbery
And 2nd place in the "Who wants to be the Next Bob Stoops" competition goes to......Jim Tressel and his Buckeyes! For those who may not get the running joke, Stoops' Oklahoma squads are notorious (true or not) for being next to non-existent in big games. Ohio State really wants that crown, and have been playing as such in recent years. Title game against Florida - blowout loss. Title game against LSU the next season - beating. Early season game against USC last season - blowout loss. Early season game against USC this season - straight up choke job. Say what you will about how the Buckeyes played against the Trojans, they gave that game away in spectacular fashion. The 1992 Houston Oilers think that they choked. You've got USC's true freshman QB backed up inside his own 20, on third down and long, AT HOME and you let them drive down the field for over 6 minutes to win the game? Call a spade a spade, and a choke a choke.
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