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2001 Fourth Quarter fantasy awards

Kordell Stewart has already set career highs for completions and completion percentage this season. AP

By Bob Harris, Special to CNNSI.com

As we head into Week 17 it's time to hand out the fourth installment of my quarterly 2001 Fantasy Awards.

You know the drill by now: These awards honor those players who have, for better or for worse, distinguished themselves above all others over the period in question -- in this case the fourth quarter of the NFL season (Weeks 13, 14, 15 and 16) -- in the following categories: (this year's First-, Second- and Third-Quarter honorees appear in parenthesis under the appropriate category)

Fantasy MVP

Fantasy Flop

Ambush Award

Top Comeback Player

The Candy Bone Award

So, here you have 'em. My 2001 Fourth-Quarter Fantasy Award winners:

Fantasy MVP: Marshall Faulk, RB, St. Louis Rams

How many titles do you suppose he single-handedly wrapped up with that one?

Not that he was a one-game wonder. Not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the former San Diego State star carried the ball 102 times for 462 yards with six touchdowns and added another 167 yards and three TDs on 23 receptions. His worse single-game output during that span came against the Saints on Dec. 23 when Faulk was held to a meager 105 total yards from scrimmage and just one touchdown.

Faulk's overall totals are just as impressive. Despite missing two games with a knee injury, the veteran superstar still ranks second in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage. A combined rushing/receiving total of just 79 yards in the season finale against the Falcons will make him the fourth player in league history with four straight 2,000-yard seasons. He also trails league leader Priest Holmes by 79 yards. But Faulk also heads into the closer with a league-high 122 points and last Sunday he joined Emmitt Smith as the only two players with back-to-back 20-touchdown seasons. That gives him 58 touchdowns since joining the Rams in 1999, tying Eric Dickerson for the franchise record -- a record that Dickerson needed five years to set. Plus, with 109 career touchdowns, he's tied for ninth with Barry Sanders on the NFL career list.

Others considered for Fourth Quarter MVP honors were Faulk's teammate Kurt Warner and Philadelphia signal caller Donovan McNabb.

Fantasy Flop: Tim Brown, WR, Oakland Raiders

Over that span, Brown has been held to 21 catches which he's parlayed into 183 receiving yards. The resulting average of less than nine yards per catch represents a substantial drop off from his season average of 13 yards per grab. Worse yet, Brown has failed to find the end zone even once during that span.

By golly. ... That ain't workin'.

Ambush Award: Dominic Rhodes, RB, Indianapolis Colts

Thrown into the fray when franchise back Edgerrin James blew out a knee in Kansas City on Oct. 25, Rhodes heads into this week's regular season finale in position to become only the sixth running back in team history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

But Rhodes has been especially effective over the last four weeks, carrying the ball 83 times for a whopping 465 yards -- that's 5.6 yards per carry -- and four touchdowns. He added another 65 yards on 12 carries over that span.

And that ain't bad for a rookie out of tiny Lane College. Which reminds me; with 963 yards on 202 carries -- and nine TDs -- for the season, Rhodes has already set a new NFL record for most rushing yards by an undrafted free agent running back.

Top Comeback Player: Kordell Stewart, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers

He's hit 87 of 117 attempts (an impressive 74 percent completion rate) for 1,024 yards with eight TDs with four interceptions -- all four of which came during last week's loss to the Bengals. Stewart added another 113 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. In my opinion, the 109.1 passer rating Stewart compiled over the last four games -- compared with his season-long rating of 84.4 -- is indicative of the way the former Colorado star raised his level of play over the last month.

For the season, Stewart has completed 258-of-426 passes (60.6 percent) for 3,037 yards with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also has rushed 92 times for 499 yards (5.4 avg.) with five touchdowns.

Also in the running this quarter was Arizona QB Jake Plummer, who is finally proving he has more than just the intangible skills coaches have been pushing since his rookie season.

The Candy Bone Award: Fred Taylor, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

I'd love to spread this one around a little bit, but the snail-like pace of Taylor's rehab -- combined with head coach Tom Coughlin's stubborn refusal to give up on his star back are hard to ignore. In fact, Coughlin’s insistence on listing Taylor as questionable on a weekly basis since early in November has essentially served as a weekly slap in the face for every Fantasy owner who burnt an early draft pick on Taylor, convinced this would be the year their guy finally got put his injury woes in the review mirror.

Suckers!

Here's the deal: If Taylor, who rushed for 1,223 yards as a rookie and last season stacked up nine straight 100-yard games -- the third-longest streak in NFL history, doesn't hit the field this week, he'll have missed 24 of the first 64 regular-season games of his four-year career due to injury.

But then again, he's listed as questionable this week and Coughlin still hasn't ruled out the possibility of Taylor getting in a carry or two against the Bears.

There you have it. Check back next week when I'll announce my final 2001 Full Season Fantasy Award winners.

Bob Harris is Editor and Webmaster of the TFL Report and Senior Editor for Fantasy Sports Publications

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