In today’s Three and Out: Maurice Jones-Drew has a timeline for his recovery; Alex Smith talks Norv Turner and the Panthers want continuity for Cam Newton.

Every year many of us gather around the TV to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life,” a lovely Christmas tale where George Bailey is given a second chance on life after a visit from a guardian angel. And many of you are likely a little morose after your team has failed to reach the playoffs in 2012. Well, consider me your Clarence as I show you why there is reason for hope with your favorite team. And without further ado …

As the season draws to a close, many teams are left searching for answers as they prepare to watch the playoffs from home. But what many teams really need, is a heavy dose of the truth as they look toward the 2013 season. In honor of the 20th anniversary of A Few Good Men, here are five teams that are entitled to know the truth about themselves, but just might not be able to handle it.

We are just in Week 12 and people are already starting to jump ship. And that’s just Fireman Ed, who is leaving his role as the face of Jets’ fandom. Or as I like to call, “the story I’m the least interested in.”

Seriously, this has become a thing?

Enough of this nonsense, let’s get to the Unexpected (and expected) from Week 12.

Not sure what Chad Henne is smirking about here, he knows he plays for the Jaguars, right? He instantly looks like every bad guy from a movie based in college. He could easily be the president of the Alpha Betas and quarterback at Adams College if they ever want to do a remake of “Revenge of the Nerds.”

You’ve heard this before, but this is why you always play your studs. Calvin Johnson has led the world this season in being tackled at the 1-yard line. No, seriously. Elias passed along this note before the start of NFL Fantasy Live on Sunday which said Megatron had been tackled at the 1-yard line after four of his catches. And each time, the Lions ran the ball in each time, and did not go to Johnson.

I have no idea what any of that means, but it’s just awesome to look at. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the weird, wild and wacky stuff from Week 8.

There is special place in sports hell where real-life and fantasy disappointment run concurrently. Please allow me to share one of these stories.

After a quick one-day stop in San Diego, we made the three-hour drive to Oxnard, Calif., to watch the Cowboys practice for a few days. It wasn’t a bad drive, especially considering we stopped and grabbed In-N-Out burger on the way.

What happened in San Diego? Let’s go…

I’m spending the day in San Diego, as glorious a training camp setting as you could possibly imagine. What an awesome place. We went live on NFL Network with their practice and taped a bunch of one-on-one interviews. Of course, one topic was the return of Turner, who at one point last year looked like a goner. Instead, a 4-1 run to end the season gave him (at least) one more season.

The title of this post says “Live from Tahoe,” but that’s not entirely true. I’m actually on a plane flying back to Dallas… so this’ll be the last one of these. Still, we have plenty of material collected in Lake Tahoe to last a few days. One of those centers around former star pitcher David Wells, a celebrity who played in the tournament. We visited with him earlier. Anyway, Wells is a San Diego resident and a big Chargers fan. And while so many seemed frustrated with the team’s decision to bring back coach Norv Turner after another year of mediocrity, Wells wasn’t among them. Nope, not even after missing the playoffs again. No doubt, these comments will drive a few Chargers fans […]

Wide receiver Chad Ochocinco will work out for the Miami Dolphins this week. Could this be his chance to return to fantasy relevance?

Mike Goodson is a possible handcuff for oft-injured Darren McFadden in Oakland … and he could be a nice sleeper, too.

Chargers coach Norv Turner says he expects Ryan Mathews to have a breakout season. Super, well then give him the ball in the red zone.

Happy Monday everybody. Now that your NCAA tournament brackets are worthless, let’s turn your attention back to football.