That’s two champions in three years. Of course that by itself doesn’t make one a dynasty, but in the last four years Don has nailed down two titles, one scoring title, finishing as the top seed in the other. Don is 36-23 over the last four years and has had only one losing season since 2003.

Granted, he’s going to have some strikes against him. Some will just call him lucky. He’s won both titles as the 7th seed, and this season he’ll become the first team to finish the regular season below .500 and win the title. However, as a league we’ve been pretty successful guaranteeing that the best teams win the title. Let’s look back:

1999 – Robio: I was clearly the top team. I was the top seed and highest scoring team.

2000 – Robio: I wasn’t the best, but I was the 2nd seed and the second best scoring team.

2001 – Jason: He was clearly the best team that year. The top seed and the top scorer.

2002 – Robio: I was second in scoring, but I entered the playoffs winner of 6 of my last 7 games.

2003 – Rich B: I was clearly the best team in the regular season, but Burrier was clearly the second best.

2004 – Bob: He was only 5th in scoring, but he was clearly the best in the second half. He scored six-straight 1,500-pt games.

2005 – Griff: He had a rough start, but there was no doubt he had the best team going into the post-season thanks to Alexander/Johnson.

2006 – Don: Still the worst champion. He was 9th in scoring and he cracked only 1,300 once in his last seven games in the regular season.

2007 – Matt: He had a rough start, so he managed only seven wins, but with Peterson and LT, Matt was the clear favorite heading into the playoffs.

So how do we view Don’s championship in 2008? He was never a favorite to win it all. Just like in 2006, he needed help just to reach the post-season. This year, he needed both Eric and Rich B to lose in the final week. The one set of stats that stand out to me is, in the 13 regular season games for Don, no one ever had a weekly high or a weekly low; neither him or his opponent. That’s only happened only once before, Matt Neatock in 2003.

Don only broke 1,500 once this season (in the final week), but he also only failed to break 1,000 once this season (week seven). One last stat, this is the second time ever the champion was outscored by his opponents in the season. The other one? Don in 2006.

As for me, I’ll actually be cheering for Jennings tomorrow night to score big, because I don’t want to live with the thought knowing that leaving in Warner for Jackson will be the nail in my coffin. The difference? 345 points. If I had made the right decision I would be up 280 points heading into Monday night.

I sat in front of my computer debating to make the change up until 1PM. In the end, I decided to stick to what had worked all season long, ignoring the facts; Arizona on the east coast, Warner outdoor, Warner in the snow. Costly.

No one stepped up to have a big game. Only Antonio Bryant broke 200 (thanks to a 77-yard touchdown). Andre Johnson killed me as well, catching only two balls in the 4th quarter. If you can’t do it against the Raiders, then you can’t win a title.

Congratulations to Don. I can only imagine that we’re going to have a run of kickers in the 7th round (for the record, Gostkowski outscored Kurt Warner by 204 points). For Don, he did it again with only one running back (thank God for that rule change in 2002). Don did it with a combo of good draft picks and free agent pick ups, along with two solid keepers in Owens and Jennings. He grabbed the Cowboys defense right when they turned elite and Carlson was a top-five tight end down the stretch.