What we learned from Sunday's NFL action

One college football note before NFL stuff. So Rich Rodriguez is going to Michigan. That should be perfect. Instead of losing killer games at the end of the season to crappy teams, he'll lose killer games at the end of the season to Ohio State. Good choice Michigan.

Ok, on to NFL stuff.

1. I'm not sure there's anything else Brian Billick can do to get fired. He ended my dream of watching the Dolphins go 0-16, and I'll never forgive him for that. He also should be fired for not going for it on 4th and goal at the end of regulation. What in the hell are you playing for? You're not making the playoffs, just go for it you idiot. It also seems like after the game against the Pats, the Ravens could absolutely care less about this season, and with Billick as their coach I can't blame them. How else do you explain losing to the Fins? If Billick still has a job after this season ends, I'll be real surprised. The loss yesterday should be the final nail in the coffin. By the way, the Dolphins celebrated like they won the Super Bowl after beating the Ravens. Kind of embarrassing guys, you're pros who've won one game.

2. Speaking of teams quitting, I think we can now add the Lions to that list. They didn't even get off the plane in San Diego. Getting beaten 51-14 on the road when you still have an outside shot at the playoffs says "We're planning offseason tee times."

3. I rip on Eli Manning a lot, but I can't do that after what happened last night. His receivers dropped NINE passes, about 6 or 7 of which a physically disabled kid could have caught. Sure there was some wind, but seriously, Brandon Jacobs needs to learn how to catch a damn ball. By the way, Shockey being done for the season also really hurts this team. It also hurts his New Year's plans as well, I'm sure.

4. The Pats actually have a running game. It seemed to me the Pats were, of late, becoming incredibly predictable. Pass, Pass, Pass. Just like those Colts teams from a few years back that kept losing in the playoffs. And Sunday was the best chance for someone to beat the Pats given the elements. But they rode Maroney to victory. I know some people think Maroney is sort of a soft back, but I think it's just that the Pats have ignored him for about half the season. He's more than a decent running back. Still, the Pats might have some trouble in the playoffs if they wind up in a game where it's snowing and the passing game becomes pretty limited. Both the Steelers and the Colts have better running games than the Patriots and could make them pay in such a game.

5. The Browns look prepared to get back to the playoffs. The win over Buffalo was absolutely critical, seeing as the Titans also managed to win to get to 8-6 to stay alive for the wild card. Provided the Browns win one of their last two games, they'll in all likelyhood make the playoffs - and they can clinch if they win next week. If that happends, they should be the second best story in the NFL this year aside from the Patriots' run. Considering the Browns play the Bengals and the 49ers in back-to-back weeks, it may even be safe to say right now they'll make the playoffs. But one major question is, what do the Browns do with Brady Quinn? Romeo Crennel won't be starting Quinn next year with how well Derek Anderson has played this year. Plus, Derek Anderson is no longer on a short leash either. So even if he has a bad game or two, you won't be seeing Crennel looking to yank him for Quinn. Right now, I'm sure the Browns will hang on to Quinn for at least another season, but if Anderson has another good year next year, why not trade Quinn to get some defensive help? The Browns seem to have found themselves in the position the Chargers were in several years ago with Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. And something tells me the Chargers wish they still had Brees instead of Rivers. Cleveland definitely has something in Anderson, and with the way first round QBs have fared in the NFL - pretty much a total crapshoot - there's no guarantee Quinn will be any good at all. I'm on the Derek Anderson train, and my guess is Crennel is too. Unless Anderson craps out next year, I'd look to ship Quinn out in the not too distant future.

6. Matt Moore has to be one of the worst career passer rating QBs to ever start and win a game. He had a career passer rating below 22 heading into Sunday's game, yet passed for over 200 yards with no INTs and his team got the win. Is the NFL really that bad this year that something like this can happen? Yes.

7. The Packers relatively easy win over the Rams seems to say something about how bad the NFC is. I know everyone knows that the NFC is awful this year, but this game seemed to show it in more detail. Favre threw two picks (which seemed appropriate given how he also passed Marino), no receiver had a 100-yard game, Ryan Grant ran for under 60-yards and lost a fumble, and yet Green Bay won pretty easily. Even though Green Bay has a great defense, I still found the end result of the game somewhat surprising. I guess the basement of the NFC really is that bad. But is the top - aside from the Packers game - really that much better? On Sunday the Seahawks took a dive against the Panthers, who had Matt "career passer rating 21.2" Moore starting, the Giants lost at home to the Redskins, and the Cowboys lost to Philly at home too. The Cowboys also haven't looked real good since they beat Green Bay. I know I'm not exactly going out on a limb by saying whoever wins the AFC is going to win the Super Bowl, but right now, that seems inevitable rather than highly likely.

8. Anyone else wonder if Jessica Simpson has something to do with the Cowboys stinking of late? Just throwing that out there.

9. And just to continue on about how bad the NFC is, the Saints have a decent shot of making the playoffs. No team that started 0-4 has ever made the playoffs, but the Saints may do it. If that doesn't explain this entire NFL season in a nutshell, I don't know what else does.

10. The Jaguars took a huge step forward by beating the Steelers yesterday. People have been harping on them a bit for not beating a lot of winning teams, but the Steelers are a seriously legit team to beat. Plus the Jags beat them in Pittsburgh. What's crazy is that the Jags are going to be a wild card team. I sure as hell wouldn't want to play them in the first round. Also, I mention this every week, but it's true - Jack Del Rio can't get enough credit for choosing David Garrard over Leftwich. Just a great move. Garrard has 16 TDs and 2 picks this year. Just a great season for him. No way this team is 10-4 if they had stuck with Leftwich.

11. Even though I didn't watch Thursday's game, I think it's time people start stepping up and apologize to Mario Williams. He wasn't as bad a #1 pick as people made him out to be. He's had a better year than Vince Young and a ridiculously better year than Reggie Bush. I can understand people who say the Texans still should have drafted Vince Young, but at least Mario's play of late makes where he was drafted understandable. It's incredibly hard to find gifted pass rushers like Williams, so the Texans - in the end - may have been smarter than us all. That said though, there's still plenty of time left in all these guys' careers. We'll come back to this debate time and time again.

12. Lane Kiffin may ultimately be a pretty good coach. The Raiders played a real gutsy game against the Colts yesterday. That says something. Anytime you're 4-9 and you come into a game against a team like the Colts and give them everything they can handle, that speaks well of your team and coach. The thing was that a week prior, the Raiders looked like crap against the Packers. They could have just packed it in for the remainder of the season, and with a young coach like Kiffin you can easily see that happening. But Kiffin had them prepared for the Colts and they gave them a real game. It'll be interesting to see what the Raiders can do next year with JaMarcus Russell at QB. This team looks like it's pretty close to becoming relevant again.

13. I think Atlanta may be the worst team in football. And Chris Redman was 4/15 for 34 yards and 2 INTs. That's gotta be, what, a -32.7 passer rating? Atlanta really didn't think anyone could do better than him? Warrick Dunn could have done a better job than Redman. God, the Falcons are horrendous.

-WCK

What we learned from Sunday's NFL action

At least there were some pretty good games on Sunday. Of course, not where I live. Both the Raiders and 49ers were blown out, which is why I went to a sports bar. Because I like to watch real football. Also, that guy on the Steelers, his prediction work out so well. But that was blown out of proportion. The sentence after he predicted the win he said, "If we do X, Y, and Z, then we'll win." Nothing like the media blowing stuff out of proportion.

On to what we learned.

1. As good as the Pats are this year, they could be ridiculously better next year. The fact of the matter is that the Pats have the 49ers 1st round pick for next year. If the 49ers wind up being the second worst team in the NFL, which seems pretty good considering they have someone playing quarterback that I think I repeatedly beat up in high school, then the Pats will have the second pick in the draft. Considering Miami desperately needs a QB, guess who could fall into the Pats lap. Darren McFadden, which would pretty much solve their running game problem. That's scary.

2. Looks like we're going to have 16-0 and 0-16 season this year. The Pats have the Jets, Dolphins and Giants left. We know they're going to beat the Jets and Dolphins. And while some people say they might lay an egg against the Giants because they'll have nothing to play for, I disagree. When you're 15-0, you want to win that last one to make it perfect. The Dolphins, meanwhile, have Baltimore, New England, and Cincinnatti. For some reason, people think they can beat the Bengals. Why? The Bengals still have a pretty good offense that's healthy while the Dolphins have no defense and no offense. Regardless of how bad the Bengals defense is, it doesn't really matter if you're playing a team that can't find any way to score. 16-0 and 0-16 look inevitable at this point.

3. It appears that the Packers definitely have a running game that isn't going away. I kept thinking Ryan Grant was going to crap out at some point, but he hasn't. In fact, he's gotten better. Yesterday he was a one-man wrecking crew carrying 29 times for 156 yards and a score. And who the hell is he? Well, he went to Notre Dame, but I don't remember him at all. He was also undrafted, yet he's running like a first rounder right now. I don't know what to say, except that the Pack desperately needed a running game this year and they found it in Grant, who is the definition of a diamond in the rough.

4. The Vikings are the most dangerous 7-6 team I've ever seen. They also were the most dangerous 6-6 team I had ever seen coming into Sunday. With Tarvaris Jackson playing well, combined with that devastating running attack, this team scares the crap out of me. Right now, Minnesota is sitting 6th in the NFC. But I think they can beat anyone in the NFC, including Dallas. I would not want to run into this team in the playoffs. They also proved on Sunday that even if you can stop Purple Jesus, you've got to stop Chester Taylor as well. The 49ers did a hell of a job on Peterson, and with the exception of one run by Taylor, they did a good job stopping him as well. But that one 84-yeard run by Taylor was a killer. The odds of shutting down both Purple Jesus and Taylor is basically impossible, and when you combine that with Jackson playing well, you've got one dangerous team.

5. The Chargers' win over the Titans should be the kind of victory that gives this team a ton of confidence to win the remainder of their games and make a serious playoff run. Of course, to make a serious playoff run, they have to avoid the Pats, but that's certainly possible given that there are three games remaining and the playoff seeding isn't finalized yet. But the problem with this Chargers team is that they're too unpredictable. I thought their win over Indy would spur them on, but then they lost to Jacksonville the following week. Still, a good win over the Titans.

6. Speaking of the Titans, Vince Young seems to be doing his best Eli Manning impression of late. Last week he was great against Houston, then this week he throws two picks. Is it possible that Mario Williams was actually the right choice as the #1 pick of the 2006 draft? Well, Reggie Bush has been terrible this year while VY has been a pick machine who's killed his team at times. Meanwhile, Mario's had a pretty good year for the Texans. This debate isn't anywhere near over, but right now, the Texans appear to be smarter than most people would probably give them credit for.

7. I can't be the only one that thinks the Giants are winning DESPITE Eli Manning, right? Even though he didn't throw a pick yesterday, he missed a ridiculously wide open Shockey in the end zone. He's got to complete that pass. Plus his QB rating is still below 80 for the season, which is not good. Even funnier is how on a weekly basis we hear announcers talk about how Eli keeps improving and how he's making progress. He's in his FOURTH YEAR! You're talking about him like he's a rookie. He isn't one. If the Giants are smart, they'll draft a QB in next year's draft to either light a fire under Manning's ass or to replace him. Hopefully replace him. Because with a good QB, this team would have the ability to seriously contend every season in the NFC.

8. I love them Cleveland Browns. They've given us quite an exciting season. We've gotten to see Braylon Edwards turn into one of the best receivers in the game, K2 similarly become one of the best tight ends in the game, and we've gotten to see Derek Anderson create a permanent bench seat for Brady Quinn. Not only that, but this season saved Romeo Crennel's job. Which is a good thing. Crennel is a good coach who got stuck with a lousy team when he first arrived in Cleveland. If he hadn't produced this year, I'm convinced he was going to get fired. Now, I think he could have a very long career as a head coach. Anyway, Cleveland's season has basically already been a huge success. And sure, if they make the playoffs they won't go far. But just getting there would be a huge accomplishment.

9. The Colts are the second best team in the AFC, and maybe all of football, but their special teams stink. I know there are arguments out there about how Vinatieri isn't a great kicker. That's debatable. What isn't debatable is that Vinatieri is one of the worst kickoff guys in football. He doesn't get the ball deep, never gets touchbacks, and teams consistently start well past the 20-yard line when he kicks. Combine that with crappy coverage and we start to see a huge weakness in the Colts. Hunter Smith is a bit different. He isn't a bad punter, his coverage team just isn't very good. What this all adds up to is that the Colts have given up 7 kickoffs or punts for touchdowns in the last two seasons, which is the most in football, and that doesn't include Hester's opening kickoff return in the Super Bowl. This is a glaring deficiency for the Colts, and I wouldn't be surprised if it killed them at some point in the playoffs. Remember, special teams was a huge part of what killed them in that horrible loss to the Chargers - a team they could face again in the playoffs.

10. Judging by how Baltimore played last night, I'd say they pretty much spent all their energy in the Patriots game last week.

11. I thought the Lions could potentially revive their season if they had beaten the Cowboys yesterday. And they should have beaten the Cowboys. But like the Lions pretty much always do, they blew it. It's kind of sad to see this team, at one point 6-2, drop 5 straight. But, in retrospect, even if they don't win another game this year, 6 wins will be a pretty good season in Detroit. I think Millen deserves another extension.

-WCK

What we learned from the weekend's football action

That's one bleak future.

I don't think there's a lot of point in talking about college football from this weekend. It's a disaster. And LSU v. Ohio State is ok, I guess. People can argue forever about who should be playing in the national championship, but it doesn't really matter. The truth is there really is no national champion this year. I'm just glad that Hawaii made a BCS game. But they went undefeated against a crap schedule, people say. Yes, but they tried to schedule some big non-conference games - like Michigan. Michigan didn't want to play them. So hey, if no one wants to play Hawaii, and they go undefeated, let's let them play one of the big boys and see how they do, just like Boise State. It only seems fair.

On to more important things, like pro football. By the way, this was not the best of weekends for games. But anyway, on to what we learned from the weekend (and the Thursday game) of pro football.

1. You might as well just write the Dolphins down for 0-16 at this point. An awful lot of people thought that if there was any game they were going to win this year, it was going to be this one against the Jets. Instead, they got blown out in the second half. I honestly can't remember a team anywhere near as bad as the Dolphins in my lifetime. They literally have nothing at this point. No quarterback, no running game, no defense, nothing. I'm not even sure pride can save them at this point, because right now I actually think a hot college team like USC could hang with the Dolphins for a period about a half or three quarters. If people are starting to wonder if a college team could beat you when you're a pro team, you're really awful.

2. Making the forced out of bounds call reviewable would probably be bad for football. Even though I'm mad as hell that Cleveland lost a game that they technically won, making a play like that reviewable puts you on a slippery slope. Because then you could argue that we should also make pass interference and holding calls reviewable as well. That's the problem with the "let's make this play reviewable" argument. Then technically we should make everything reviewable and games would last 5 or 6 hours. Of course, when Cleveland beat the Ravens, they technically reviewed a play they shouldn't have on the field goal. So in other words, the NFL has no clue what the hell it's doing. Truthfully, I've never been totally happy with the whole instant replay deal. I think it's necessary, but it's not infallible, and there are a lot of scenarios where you think to yourself "this really should be reviewable", but you know that if it was reviewable, games would last forever. It's a crappy system that needs reform, but what exactly that is remains a bit of mystery.

3. As much as it pains me to say this, Joe Gibbs has lost it. He's now fully responsible for two Redskins loses and arguably a third. I know the team had its mind on Sean Taylor yesterday, but they had a good chance to win as well, and Gibbs pretty much gave the game to the Bills. What's terrible is that Gibbs is a 3-time Super Bowl champion and made a mistake that is completely inexcusable. I hate to say it, but an awful lot of people know that you can't call back-to-back timeouts. It's not exactly some obscure rule.

4. Just when you think Eli's about to get benched, he manages to survive yet again. Quite frankly, he's horrible. The way the Giants are winning is defense and a good running game. Eli isn't even managing games well. This is winning DESPITE him. That's really all you can say. Imagine this Giants team with Romo. They'd be a lot better than 8-4. Meanwhile, it was interesting to see Rex play pretty well across the line. He played much better than Eli, yet his team lost. It's funny how this game came out. Eli was beyond dreadful except the last two drives but gets the win and survives for another week when he really shouldn't. Rex lost, but it wasn't his fault. I think my brain's going to explode.

5. Purple Jesus is my hero. He had 15 carries for 116 and 2 TDs and made some ridiculous moves in the game. My theory is he magically healed himself last week when no one was watching, because he didn't look like he was ever injured at all. Also, Tavaris Jackson is finally playing like an NFL quarterback, which sure is helpful. Finally might get defenses to stop keying on PJ and Chester Taylor. This team looks pretty good right now, and experts are starting to pick them as the last NFC wild card team. Which naturally means they'll lose their next 4 games.

6. God has left the Lions. They were overachieving earlier this year and now they've returned to earth. Their schedule is also brutal from this point on. But hey, 6 wins is like going undefeated during the Matt Millen era. Might as well give Millen that 10-year contract extension right now, Detroit.

7. There are too many mediocre teams in football. We all know this, but whatever, it needs to be said. I can't remember the last time I saw this many teams hovering around .500 this late in the season. Sure makes for some crappy Sunday viewing - like yesterday.

8. If you don't live in the Bay Area, you're lucky. We had only two day games today - SF v. Carolina and the Raiders v. Denver. And the Raiders game wasn't in HD. It was good to see the Raiders win, and JaMarcus finally get a few reps, but we all know nothing will be going on here until next year. Right now watching the 49ers and Raiders is like going to a funeral. You don't really want to go, but you go because you have to.

I'm getting tired, so the next few will be quick.

9. The Colts proved they are the second best team in the AFC. I really wanted to see Jax win that game to mix things up a bit, but Indy won without Harrison and Freeney, which made this an even bigger win.

10. People should stop assuming Aaron Rogers is some kind of bust. He's behind a QB that basically would be allowed to play even if he was in a wheelchair. Rogers finally had a chance to show what he could do in the Cowboys game, and he proved that he's definitely got something. Hell, I should know, I watched him at Cal for a few years. He's a damn good player. Green Bay is lucky to have a backup as solid as Rogers. Not many teams in the NFL have a backup of his caliber. Plus, he'll be a good replacement for Favre, you know, when Favre retires at age 57.

11. New Orleans, what can I say. You let a third string QB beat you. You suck.

12. I think you could say, right now, that Mario Williams actually was the right pick at #1 for the Texans. Bush has been awful this year, and cost the Saints their game on Sunday, and the jury is still out on VY and his passing ability.

13. Nice work on passing Walter Payton, LT. You just made the Hall of Fame.

-WCK

What we learned from Thanksgiving week/weekend football

Due to too much turkey, I didn't get around to writing much about either college football or pro football from this past week/weekend. So I'm just going to do the lazy thing and combine them into one post that's much shorter than normal.

On to what we learned.

1. That both the Eagles and Colts have given the NFL a blueprint for how to slow the Patriots offense. The Colts were able to give the Pats offense trouble by having a devastating 4-man rush that got pressure on Brady which allowed the Colts to frequently drop as many as 6 or 7 guys into secondary coverage. The problem was that the D-line ran out of gas in the 4th quarter and Brady started to get way too much time to pass. On the flip side, the Eagles had Lito Sheppard basically take Randy Moss out of the game. That way, instead of having to always double team Moss, they could frequently blitz an extra linebacker because they knew Sheppard would be all over Moss. The only problem was that just taking out Moss wasn't good enough, as Welker went wild. And he frequently caught passes in the middle of the field during a blitz package. So essentially there are two ways to slow down the Pats offense. One is to have a great 4-man rush that consistently gets pressure on Brady and allows you to drop as many as 6 or 7 guys into the secondary for pass defense. The other way is to have one or two shutdown corners that neutralize Moss/Welker (hopefully both) which allows you to consistently blitz Brady and force him to throw quickly. Of course, if the Pats ran more, they might be able to keep defenses like the ones the Colts and Eagles threw at them a bit more honest. But since the Pats aren't doing that (and I'm not really sure why) then these are really the only two ways to limit the Pats offense. Both the Colts and the Eagles were almost successful in doing their defensive gameplans for 4 quarters. However, both came up a little short. The Colts just kind of ran out of gas, and the Eagles had no answer for Welker, partly because they sold out on the blitz so much and partly because no one could cover him. The question then of course is - can anyone do what the Colts or Eagles did for 4 quarters to beat the Pats? I'm not sure anyone can. This may sound crazy, but one team I'd like to see play the Pats is the Broncos. With Champ Bailey and Dre Bly, two shutdown corners, they might give the Pats offense serious problems. Of course, they don't meet in the regular season and the Broncos might not even make the playoffs. The Packers with a healthy Woodson and Harris might also give the Pats some trouble, but both would have to make the Super Bowl.

2. The Eagles game also gave the NFL a blueprint for how to score on the Pats defense. The Pats don't have a great pass rush. Or at least they sure as hell didn't against the Eagles. Feeley often had all day to throw. If there's one gap in the Pats defense, it's the 10-20 yard in. That was open all night for Feeley, and it was how the Eagles managed to consistently score points. Considering the Eagles had a career-backup QB consistently leading his team up and down the field against the Pats defense, I'd say Andy Reid found a weakness and exploited it all game long. And strangely, the Pats never really adjusted to it. Now, will this weakness still be present in future games? I'm not sure. And I think Belichick will be working real hard this week to fix that problem. But there's no question that the Eagles, at least for one week, really showed a true weakness in the Pats defense.

3. I finally have to man up and say the Packers are for real. They beat a suddenly woeful Lions team, but hey, the Packers didn't create their schedule. Favre's definitely been on point this season, and when you combine that with some of the breaks he's gotten, look out. Plus when I said this team couldn't run worth a damn, they pulled Ryan Grant out from under a rock and he's done a hell of a job. They also have a great young defense and if they hadn't blown that game against the Bears, they'd be undefeated. That's pretty crazy. We'll get to see how legit they are this Thursday (or the five of us who get NFL Network will) when they meet up with the Cowboys in Dallas. I think to stand a chance they need Woodson to be healthy, and that looks doubtful.

4. This may be it for Eli Manning. Even though some people thought he had turned the corner this year, let's be honest. He was turning the corner from being a bad QB to a mediocre QB. Plus, he's thrown at least one pick in all but two games this year. That's terrible. Plus he's below the league average in passer rating. Have our expectations of Eli been reduced to such a level that we'll basically take mediocrity from this guy? I mean, he was the number 1 pick. It's ok to just admit he sucks and move on.

5. I think you can make an argument that Darren McFadden should be the Heisman winner right now. McFadden pretty much single-handedly lifted Arkansas over LSU. And despite some early game turnovers, his second-half and OT performances were truly ones for the ages. He also did what Tebow couldn't do - beat LSU. And McFadden's team only has one more loss than Tebow's Florida. I'm not saying give McFadden the Heisman now. I'm just saying that his performance against LSU - combined with Tebow's injury - made the Heisman race a lot more interesting all of a sudden. And it likely made McFadden the new frontrunner. Maybe.

6. So right now we're looking at a National Championship of Mizzou against West Virginia if both win out. Somehow I'd actually prefer that to one of the two of them losing and seeing Ohio State squeak in. Lord only knows what happens if they both lose. Ohio State v. Georgia maybe? That seems to make even less sense, because Georgia isn't even playing in the SEC Championship game. Man, I have no clue. Either way, it should be interesting.

7. A columnist said after USC beat ASU on Thanksgiving that USC is the best team in college football right now. He may be right. That team is finally completely healthy and playing like they should have been all season. Remember, they lost to Stanford in large part because Booty was playing with a broken throwing finger for most of the game. And they lost to Oregon because Sanchez was at QB. I honestly think USC, top to bottom, is the most talented team in the country. And now they're finally playing like it. Seeing them potentially match up against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl would I think be a bigger game than the National Championship.

8. I'd like to thank the Raiders for ending their 17-straight game skid to AFC West opponents. That's almost unreal when I stop and think about it. And thanks to the 49ers for finally stopping the bleeding at 8 games. That's life in the Bay Area as a football fan. Not good.

And that's it, I'm still messed up on tryptophan from one last helping of leftovers.

-WCK

What we learned from Sunday's NFL action

I just want to say that watching the Patriots blow out opponents is like watching a train wreck. After a certain point, there's really no point in watching anymore, but you can't look away.

Anyway, on to what we learned.

1. Unless Tom Brady suffers an injury of some kind, there's no way New England doesn't go undefeated and win the Super Bowl. The loss of Freeney killed the Colts' chances, the Steelers just lost to the Jets so I can't take them seriously, and the Pats already crushed the Cowboys. And I laugh at you if you even suggest that Green Bay has a chance against the Pats. Let's also remember that the Bills aren't exactly terrible. They had won 4 straight coming into Sunday's game. And the Pats drop 56 on them. Of course the Bills played without our Bay Area friend Marshawn "Applebee's" Lynch. Had he played, I think the Bills would have won. And by "won" I mean "lost 49-13."

2. Las Vegas may just kill the Patriots. If I'm correct, this team is 10-0 against the spread and Vegas is starting to freak out. Which means we'll see one of two things happen in the coming weeks. Either 20+ point spreads on Pats games, or a Tonya Harding attack on Brady's knees by La Cosa Nostra. By the way, what do you think the spread will be for the Pats/Jets rematch? 30? 35? 100? Can't wait to read Simmons' self-righteous piece of crap column that week. And by "read" I mean "take a dump on."

3. Bay Area football is horrible. Every week we're forced to watch the Raiders and 49ers play while games we'd actually want to watch like Cowboys/Redskins are going on that we can't watch. Both our teams are now 2-8, and this week the 49ers lost to the Rams while the Raiders lost to a Purple Jesus-less Vikings. San Fran and the Raiders are now battling to see which team is the second worst in football to the Dolphins. Sweet.

4. The Packers are the Kansas of pro football. I've been hard on the Packers, and have constantly said they'll collapse at some point. Well, that hasn't happened. But the question is why hasn't that happened? In truth, I think it's because the NFC isn't that good and the Packers are a good team. But we don't really know how good. Sort of like how we don't really know how good Kansas is right now. Because let's be honest, who exactly has Green Bay played? Technically, Green Bay has only beaten one team with a winning record at this point in the season - and that's the Giants. Well, they get the Lions and the Cowboys the next two weeks. That should tell us what we need to know about the Packers.

5. We could see an 8-win team win a division. I don't think this will happen, but it could. And that's kind of scary. The AFC West is horrible. When was the last time you could remember a 4-5 team playing a Monday Night game that if they won it they'd be tied for the division lead? Well, Denver has that chance tonight. Meanwhile the NFC West is also pretty bad. Seattle leads it with a 6-4 record, but who knows when Shaun "Professional Wuss" Alexander will be back. I don't even care, Alexander's so awful now, they're probably better without him.

6. Seems like Mario Williams is winning the best draft pick of 2006 contest right now. He had a great game against the once again putrid Saints, getting a sack and forcing a fumble while also making 6 tackles and continually applying pressure to Brees. Meanwhile Reggie Bush was horrendous, losing two fumbles, including one at the goal line. Also, Vince Young has kind of come back to earth, or maybe it's just that people finally realized he can't throw worth a damn. His back-to-back seasons of having a mid 60s passer rating may have something to do with that. Yes, that means he's a worse passer than Joey Harrington.

7. If there's any team you should be rooting for this year, it's the Cleveland Browns. I love watching this team play. They're hungry, they play hard, they have an exciting offense, and best of all, Derek Anderson is making Brady Quinn obsolete. Hell, I'll even say this right here and now. Derek Anderson will be a better QB than Quinn when both their careers are over. Plus Cleveland won the ultimate F-you game against the Ravens on Sunday. Nothing like having the Ravens think they've won a game, have them go into the locker room, then drag them back out again to lose in OT. That was awesome. And by the way, why did Billick kick to Cribbs at the end of the game and in OT? That may have been the stupidest coaching decision this season that didn't involve Mike Holmgren.

8. Miami's awesome march to 0-16 continues. Nice work in knocking out McNabb and giving yourself a chance to get a win. Not so nice job in letting A.J. Feeley beat you. At least Miami finally let Ted Ginn Jr. run a punt back for a TD without blocking someone in the back. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

9. The combined age of QBs in the Packers/Panthers game was 82. The combined age of QBs in the Steelers/Jets game was 49.

10. Indy looks like they're in a lot of trouble. Adam Vinatieri is starting to miss field goals he never misses, Peyton is struggling more and more without Marvin Harrison, and we all know the loss of Freeney is eventually going to hurt them. This team, even though it's 8-2, is starting to look a bit like it's on the ropes. They were pretty lucky to get by the Chiefs on Sunday. And something tells me that even when Harrison comes back, he's not going to solve all their problems.

11. Indy should be on the lookout for the Jaguars. With Garrard back, this team suddenly looks like a real force again. They can catch Indy, and they play them in two weeks. It's also worth mentioning how valuable Garrard is to this team. He's an incredibly intelligent QB who is mobile and makes excellent decisions. He still hasn't thrown a pick yet this year. As I said, with Indy reeling, the Jags might be able to grab ahold of the division in two weeks.

12. Carson Palmer's favorite new receiver is Antrel Rolle.

13. The Steelers continue to frustrate me. I thought they were the one team left that might be able to knock off the Pats. No longer. This team can look so good some weeks and so bad some other weeks. Their three loses are to the Jets, the Cards and the Broncos. Ugh. There's no way they beat the Pats.

-WCK

What we learned from Saturday's college football action

I must be starting to get numb to all the upsets in college football, because even though two top 5 teams went down this week it didn't seem all that crazy. It seemed totally normal. Of course, this week's two top 5 losses by Oregon and Oklahoma weren't really upsets. Considering both teams essentially played without their starting QBs, it's no real surprise they both lost.

By the way, the picture above is of the real Washington Husky. A few years back (not in '94 as the pic suggests) the dog was so exhausted after a Cal/Washington game at Cal that it had to stop for some water outside a Cal fraternity. The owner left the dog in the frat's care while he went to get his car to pick up the exhausted dog. When an opportunity like that presents itself, one's gotta take advantage of it. Luckily, Dwyermaker got the pic of the Husky rocking the Cal cap. Regrettably, Cal got steamrolled by Washington on Saturday. It's all the dog's fault. Bad dog.

Anyway, on to what we learned.

1. You shouldn't let players play on a torn ACL. I couldn't believe that Oregon actually allowed Dixon to play in the Arizona game when the coaching staff and medical staff knew he had torn his ACL in the ASU game. Unreal. Of course Dixon wanted to keep playing, but players always want to keep playing. That's when a coach and a medical staff have to step in and say "no way." Not only because a player could do further damage to his knee (which happened), but because schools have an obligation to look after these guys and not just play for the buck. Remember, this isn't the pros (technically). Instead, Oregon got greedy and with a national championship just over the horizon, they rolled the dice and gambled. They played the "Well, Dixon said he could play" card. Now who knows how bad Dixon's knee is and what his future may be. And I can't stress this enough: Everyone involved in the decision to let Dixon play should be fired, period. That means Belotti, that means the medical staff, and anyone else involved. What Oregon did by letting Dixon play was unethical and goes well beyond a simple irresponsible decision. It was a calculated move that took advantage of a kid who desperately wanted to keep playing when he clearly shouldn't have been. It seriously wouldn't surprise me if Dixon's family eventually sues Oregon over this. They'd have one hell of a case.

2. Lose your QB and your season goes down the toilet. That's nothing new, but that's what happened to Oregon, and now it's happened to Oklahoma. At least Oklahoma didn't stick Crawford back out there again. I realize injuries are a natural part of football, but it's real clear that if a starting QB gets knocked out of a game, a team's season usually ends right then and there. And that's not good. Granted, there's no way to solve this problem, but it just seriously sucks that both Oregon and Oklahoma are out of the national championship picture because their QBs got injured. Don't any of these teams have any blue-chip QB backups? At least Michigan had Mallett.

3. Even though Ohio State beat Michigan pretty soundly, we should do everything possible to keep them out of the national championship. I don't think they'll get there anyway, but with how things have gone this year, who knows. Ohio State is a team that does two things well - they run the ball and play defense. But their passing game is suddenly real suspect. Imagine Ohio State against LSU in the championship. Considering Boeckman's recent struggles and the fact that Matt Flynn really isn't that good - and those two guys would be going up against great defenses - we might see a 0-0 game that goes to overtime.

4. Lloyd Carr has no choice but to retire on Monday. It already looked like he was going to do that anyway, but this loss to Ohio State just cemented it. He's beaten them once in 7 years, and that just isn't going to do it. I actually think Michigan fans will have a more favorable view of Carr when they look back on his time as head coach than they do right now. And that's because he won a national championship for Michigan in 1997. That'll always smooth things over a bit.

5. We might as well just give Tim Tebow the Heisman now. Dixon was his only real competition and now that Dixon's done, well, there's really no one else. Plus, the fact that Tebow is now the only QB to ever throw for 20+ TDs and run for 20+ TDs (which is astounding when you think about it) is something voters can't ignore. It really doesn't matter how many loses Florida winds up with this year, Tebow's clearly got this thing in the bag.

6. Nick Saban losing to UL Monroe was awesome. Alabama's now 6-5, which means the school is paying Saban nearly $700,000 per victory right now and they may not even make a bowl game. The fans are mad, the boosters are mad, and Saban's probably got a turd on his front lawn right now. Even more fun is that UL Monroe is a very, very bad team. They started out the year 0-4 and lost to North Texas. In fact, they're the only team North Texas has beaten this year. Great hire Alabama, great hire indeed.

7. It's officially time for Kansas to step up. This team has played a pretty easy schedule all year, but at least they've taken care of business. The only thing that concerns me is their two wins over Colorado and Texas A&M, both very close games. Those aren't great teams. I honestly don't think Kansas can beat both Mizzou and Oklahoma in back-to-back weeks, but at least Kansas will be tested. Can't say the same thing about Hawaii.

8. Speaking of Hawaii, they better step up as well. They play Boise St. on Friday. Hopefully Colt Brennan's brain will finally be back in place after that brutal hit he took against Fresno St. last week. I'm not sure where to place Hawaii if they beat Idaho St. It would be their only real victory over a legit opponent - which probably means the Toilet.com Bowl for Hawaii. Hey, they deserve it. Schedule some better non-conference games next year Hawaii, then we'll talk.

9. Despite their win Saturday, West Virginia continues to frustrate me. After their 2005 campaign, a lot was expected from them. But for the last two years it's looked like WV is going to go undefeated, and then they always drop a game against a legit opponent that they really should win if they want to be considered for the national championship. I don't want to see them in the national championship. The Big East isn't a good conference and I just can't help thinking that WV has somehow underachieved these last two years but gets rewarded anyway. Example: After USF suffered their first loss, a close loss to Rutgers on the road, they were ranked lower than WV. Why? Because people think WV is better than it really is. And I have no idea why. They consistently choke away at least one game a year for seemingly inexplicable reasons. That isn't the kind of team I want in the national championship.

10. Hopefully this year will be the one where the calls to start a playoff system finally begin to seep into the NCAA's brain. There are so many possible scenarios that could occur in the next two weeks it's ridiculous to even think about. What if Kansas beats Mizzou but loses to a two loss Oklahoma in the Big-12 Championship? What if LSU loses the SEC championship? What if Hawaii goes undefeated? What happens if Arizona State wins out by beating USC and Arizona? What if the Dolphins were demoted to the WAC? Quite frankly, it's insane to even try and make sense of all this. Which, of course, is why we need a playoff. Now, I realize even with a playoff, people will still be complaining about who did and didn't get in. But it'll at least shut up some of the criticism. The BCS system is only amplifying it.

11. Mike over at What It Is wanted to know what we thought of BC's win over Clemson. I actually was impressed. Anytime you can go on the road against a legit opponent with a statistically great defense (although overrated because Clemson plays in the weak ACC) and beat them, it's a good win. However, you could also say Clemson lost this game. First by having that receiver drop what would have been the game winning catch (and it was a pretty routine catch, he just dropped it) and then taking that dumb sack that took them back just enough for their kicker to come up just short at the end. Credit BC for the sack, but you know what, that receiver lost the game for Clemson. And since I talked about the ACC in this post, I might as well get some words in on it. It's a dreadful conference, period. That was always my concern with BC. If they went undefeated in the ACC, would they be good enough to legitimately play in the national championship? My answer was always no, and about 80% of people probably would have agreed with me. Luckily, we don't have to worry about that, since BC lost to Florida St. and Maryland in back-to-back weeks. My stance on the ACC is this: go undefeated, and then maybe you should be considered for the national championship. Lose a game, forget it. And that's because you're the worst power conference in America.

-WCK

What we learned from Sunday's NFL action

After 10 weeks of football, there only seem to be a handful of great teams in the NFL. The Pats, Colts (despite Sunday's loss), and Cowboys. Maybe you can throw Green Bay and the Steelers in there, but I'm not going to do that. Plus there are two divisions that are clogged up with mediocre teams, the NFC South and the AFC West, and one division clogged up with horrendous teams, the NFC West.

Anyway, on to what we learned.

1. San Diego needs to find an offense, fast. Even though they beat the Colts last night, when your entire offense revolves around Darren Sproles and Antonio Cromartie, you're in trouble. The fact is the Colts should have won that game despite Manning throwing 6 ints and not having two of his biggest receiving threats. This was about the ugliest victory the Chargers could get and it showed in full detail how awful their offense has become. And quite frankly, it all starts with Rivers. Rivers seems to be continually regressing as a QB and can't seem to throw the ball with any consistency or zip. He's also underthrowing receivers regularly. His poor play has killed LT's running game and it's neutralized the receivers and Gates. What makes all of this strange is that Norv Turner, while a horrible coach, is a great offensive coordinator. He's the reason why the 49ers offense is so bad this year, because he left to coach San Diego. But how does a guy who's so good in the booth as an O-coordinator have such a terrible offensive team as a head coach? Especially when San Diego had a powerful offense last year and hasn't really changed personnel. It's mind boggling. Actually, it's just Norv Turner being Norv Turner. The lesson, as always, is never, ever, ever hire this man as your head coach.

2. Speaking of horrible quarterbacks, somebody needs to put down Steve McNair. He's beyond terrible. All the INTs, all the fumbles. It's become expected at this point in time. Plus you know you suck when a crowd cheers when you get benched for Kyle Boller. That can't be stressed enough - Baltimore fans cheered when Boller came in. Might want to pack it up after this season Steve.

3. Vince Young is starting to teeter in the direction of becoming a disappointing player. Deep into his second season, it's becoming apparent that VY may unfortunately be the second coming of Michael Vick, just without the dogfighting (I hope). As in, he's a QB that can keep you alive with his feet, but when push comes to shove, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a pass. The simple fact is that you can't go real far in this league unless you have a QB who can consistently complete passes. And right now, VY can't do that. Not to mention that in yesterday's game he threw his first TD pass in a month and a half - while throwing two picks.

4. Miami may have lost their one shot at winning a game this year. They could have beaten the Bills, but instead caved in during the 4th. Granted they still have the Bengals and Jets on their schedule, but the Bengals are getting better now that Chris Henry is back and the Jets may have found something in Kellen Clemens. If you're Miami, you've gotta win when you've got a chance. You can't wait for some supposedly good matchup. By the way, I didn't mention the fact that the Dolphins play the Pats in their second to last game because it doesn't matter. New England's third team could still kill Miami.

5. Just when I thought the Saints had finally turned things around, they fall back to earth. In fact, the Saints may be the perfect example of the NFL this year. As in the league is filled with a bunch of teams that seem to transform from Jekyll to Hyde on a weekly basis and hover around the .500 mark. Although the truth is that the Rams really never should have been 0-8. Their problem was that they had multiple injuries combined with a braindead coach. They've at least solved one of those two problems now, so I'd expect them to at least win one or two more games before the end of the season.

6. The Lions also fell back to earth on Sunday. I thought they'd beat the Cardinals, but instead I found myself questioning whether they'd even get to 8 wins after the game. This team has a brutal schedule remaining with tilts against the Giants, Cowboys and two games against the surprising Packers. 10 wins suddenly seems like a real stretch after this buzz killing loss to the Cards.

7. I'd like to welcome Rex Grossman back. He's still a horrible quarterback who seems unable to understand certain elements of the game, but it's not like Griese is much better. Rexy had a good game against the Raiders, but remember, they're the Raiders. Wait until Rexy lines up against the Giants in three weeks - if he's even still starting then.

8. The Cowboys definitively proved they're the best team in the NFC, even though everyone already knew that. Romo continues to be impressive and TO has been on a roll of late. Dallas's defense may not be great, but their offense incredibly potent. That said...

9. Green Bay is starting to become impossible to write off. They're going to win their division, but the real question now is how far can they get with no running game? It's never good when your team's leading rusher heading into week 10 has 203 yards and is on the IR list. But who knows, maybe the Packers found a diamond in the rough in Ryan Grant. Although I doubt it. That said, the Packers play in the NFC, so having a running game may not even be that important. The truth is we'll learn a lot about the Packers when they play the Cowboys in 3 weeks. All I know is that this team seems to be riding a wave of luck, like when two Vikings defenders nailed each other on Favre pass that should have been picked off but instead wound up in the hands of a Packers receiver. That isn't going to happen all year for Green Bay. Like my two days in Vegas last week, eventually your luck runs out and you double down on an 11 and get a 2.

10. How is it possible that we had a team in the NFL that hadn't thrown a TD pass to a receiver until yesterday, yet the team still had a winning record? Yeah, the Redskins hadn't thrown a TD pass to a receiver until yesterday. How that's possible is beyond me. But it says something about the NFL this year, and that is that a lot of teams are pretty mediocre.

11. The Steelers are a confusing team. They blew away the Browns on total yardage, but barely won yesterday. They've also lost two head scratching games this year to Arizona and Denver. Sure those were both road games, but those aren't good losses at all. I keep wanting to put the Steelers into the up echelon of NFL teams with the Pats, Colts and Cowboys, but I can't do it. Hell, Green Bay might even be better than them. Well, maybe not.

12. Did the Carolina/Atlanta game even air on TV? I know I saw I highlight of it somewhere I think, but I may have been hallucinating. God what a season, Vinny against Joey. That's about as awful as it gets.

-WCK

What we learned from Saturday's college football action

I'll tell you one thing we learned right away. That Ohio State fans cry when their team loses. Hardcore man. And by "hardcore" I mean "total losers who need to calm the hell down."

On to the other stuff.

1. Illinois may have helped us avoid a total BCS meltdown. While no one is happy with the BCS system, at least it's pretty clear that the two best teams in the country - LSU and Oregon - are now at the top of it. You could debate for hours which team is more deserving of the #1 ranking, but it's basically irrelevant. If both LSU and Oregon win out, we'll get the SEC against the Pac-10 in the National Championship. And considering those conferences have easily been the two best conferences in the nation this year, that scenario would make for one highly watched National Championship. A lot better than the potential Ohio State/BC matchup that was sitting on the table a few weeks ago.

2. However, all this may change if Kansas runs the table too. I really like the Fighting Manginos, but I'm not a believer yet. What will make me a believer is if Kansas beats Missouri in two weeks. Then they'll likely face Oklahoma in the Big-12 Championship, and if they win that game, well then you've gotta let them play in the National Championship. I think the odds of Kansas beating both Mizzou and Oklahoma are slim to none, but hey, if they do it, they deserve to be in the National Championship.

3. Speaking of interesting scenarios, USC may just get back to the Rose Bowl yet again after being left for dead two weeks ago. If Oregon goes to the National Championship, and USC wins out by beating ASU and UCLA, they'll go to the Rose Bowl. Even more ridiculous is that if Michigan beats Ohio State, they'll go to the Rose Bowl again as well. Imagine that. The two schools that suffered the worst upsets in college football history this year may face each other in the Rose Bowl. I'm not sure if that should make me excited or really angry.

4. Where'd that vaunted Ohio State defense go? I didn't think Ohio State was the best team in the country heading into this weekend at all, but I certainly thought they were pretty damn good, primarily because of their defense. But allowing Illinois to drain more than 8 minutes off the clock to end the game, while allowing QB sneak after QB sneak. What the hell? That was atrocious. If you can't prevent an 8 minute drive when you desperately need the ball back, you have no business being in the National Championship. Maybe Ohio State's defense has just benefitted from playing in a crappy conference this year.

5. While I may have been surprised by Ohio State's loss, I wasn't surprised by Boston College's loss at all. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, BC has played a weak schedule and they'd be beaten down regularly if they played in the SEC or Pac-10. What makes this loss even sweeter is we had a commenter in the past rail us for calling BS on BC when they were the #2 team in the country. After two losses in a row I don't think that commenter is going to be quite so chatty now.

6. Arizona State is still overrated. They should never have been ranked #4 in the country and they should have dropped lower than #9 after having gotten thoroughly roughed up by Oregon. They haven't beaten anyone of note except a Cal team that has folded faster than Superman on laundry day (thanks Simpsons). Plus they played a UCLA team yesterday that can only be described as massively schizophrenic. And UCLA didn't have it yesterday, thanks to having their 19th string QB at the helm. ASU is going to get crushed by USC next week and won't be going to the Rose Bowl.

7. After saying last week that we should all pay attention to UCONN, they get crushed by Cincy. Which means we can all stop paying attention to them.

8. I'd like to nominate the John Parker Wilson blind heave into the endzone that was returned for a TD just before halftime as this season's worst INT. That was crushing beyond belief for Alabama, and also awesome to watch. I could watch that clip on repeat for hours. There's nothing better than watching Nick Saban lose, and watching him lose in gut-wrenching fashion is even better. I also like how Miss St. and Alabama now have the same record. Keep it up Saban.

9. I'd say something about Hawaii being undefeated, but I can't remember anything about their game against Fresno except this ridiculously vicious hit that Brennan took. Doesn't seem to be an illegal hit, it's just that Marcus Riley got 20 yards of unimpeded steam built up before he decked an unsuspecting Brennan. Something tells me Ty Detmer will be leaving a big check in Riley's locker. [Thanks to Wizard of Odds and UH Bows for the clip]


10. That sure was a great way for the U to leave the Orange Bowl. Nothing like getting shut out 48-0 against a team that can't seem to win unless they give at least 200 fans heart attacks for being unable to win by more than 2 points.

11. Michigan's loss to Wisconsin wasn't quite as bad as some are making it out to be. They played without Hart and Henne left the game in the first quarter. All that matters is the Ohio State game next week to determine who goes to the Rose Bowl. I mean Michigan's National Championship hopes officially ended after losing to App St. anyway, so all they have left is the Rose Bowl and the loss to Wisconsin didn't really change things all that much. It's still win and you're in. Michigan just better hope they have Hart and Henne back next week. Otherwise, Ohio State might as well just book its tickets to Pasadena now.

-WCK

What we learned from Sunday's NFL action

Did Sportscenter think they were going to gain a lot of fans by carrying Terrell Owens's press conference for 10 minutes last night? I honestly don't care what he thinks of Andy Reid's kids. Nor do I think most people.

On to what we learned.

1. Although the Colts didn't win on Sunday, they gave us a blueprint for how to slow down the Patriots offense. The key is a consistent pass rush with minimal blitzing. The Colts, for almost three and half quarters, consistently got pressure on Brady by only rushing 4 guys and not blitzing. This allowed there to frequently be as many as 7 guys in coverage for the Colts and it allowed their safeties to play deep so as not to give up big plays. Even better, because the Colts linemen were getting such pressure on Brady, they had to bring in Faulk to help block, since he's a better blocker than Maroney. That subsequently decreased the number of receivers Brady could throw too, since Faulk had to concentrate on blocking rather than dropping into the flat, and it left the Patriots with a less good running back in the game. New England has been able to abuse teams this year because the only way to beat them is to get pressure on Brady and other teams can't do that without blitzing. So when teams blitz New England, provided the Pats block it up right, that leaves guys like Moss, Welker, and Stallworth all with one-on-one coverage. Needless to say, those 3 receivers are going to win a lot of those battles. Indy's problem was that in the 4th quarter it seemed their pass rushers started to get tired or New England finally figured out how to block the rush, because Brady had more time to the throw in the 4th than he did the entire rest of the day. The key to being a non-blitzing team is that you have to have a great pass rush. Even 7 defenders in the secondary can't stop a QB if he has all day to throw. Problem is the Colts pass rush simply vanished in the second half of the 4th quarter, and that wound up killing them.

2. And just some other thoughts from the game. Wes Welker was an unreal steal from the Miami Dolphins. He was simply huge. A couple of great punt returns, a TD catch, and some critical catches, including the one that put the game out of reach for the Colts. On the flip side, Joseph Addai was awesome as well. By rushing for over 100 yards and turning a short pass into a long TD he did everything he could to help the Colts win, especially when you knew the Pats would be keying on him with Harrison out. Meanwhile, Manning didn't look so good, but I'd attribute that to not having Harrison and Gonzalez being out for most of the game. A rematch of these teams in the AFC Championship with both teams completely healthy would be epic.

3. It's impossible to ignore anymore, the Lions are for real. I thought this game against Denver would be a good litmus test to see how legit they are. And while I know Cutler got knocked out at the beginning of the second quarter, the Lions weren't going to be denied in this game. Plus Shaun Rogers is my hero for that 65-yard interception run back. 44-7 is a statement. And that statement is "We're legit."

4. The 49ers, our team, are officially done for this season. When you lose to the Falcons this season with Joey Harrington under center, you're done, period. You might as well just forfeit the rest of your games.

5. Speaking of teams that are done, the Bengals are as well. Except for them it's different. This team needs to be completely blown up. Marvin Lewis has lost this team, Chad Johnson is injured, their defense is awful - I mean it's a complete nightmare. Might as well just start over, because it sure as hell ain't working right now.

6. Green Bay seems to be a team destiny. How they're 7-1 is an absolute mystery. They have no running game and with the exception of a few amazingly clutch passes by Favre, he hasn't been playing all that well of late. But what they do have is a great defense. And right now, it's sure as hell carrying them. I can't see how this team could go 7-1 in the second half of the season. That lack of a running game is going to eventually catch up to them at some point soon, but hey, it's been a great ride so far. Except for all those announcers consistently slurping Favre. That's been horrible.

7. The Saints are back, and they're going to win their division. Even I thought I was crazy when I wrote a few weeks ago when the Saints were 1-4 that they could still win this division. But hey, here they are at 4-4, just a 1/2 game behind Tampa Bay. And their next three games are St. Louis, Houston and Carolina. Nice. Brees is on fire (last two games almost 800 yards passing with 7 TDs and no picks), Reggie Bush is looking good, and their offense is totally rejuvenated. It's amazing how bad they were at the start of the season and yet how good they've looked the past 2 weeks. Almost inexplicable. Of course, the fact that the Saints have a real shot at winning this division shows just how awful this division and the NFC is.

8. Purple Jesus is pretty damn good. Despite the fact that this game was blacked out where I live in NorCal, which doesn't make any sense, I still managed to catch some of it. Even though everyone knew PJ was going to running the ball on every play, he still ran for an NFL record 296 yards. He also averaged almost 10 yards a carry. Truly amazing. The funny thing is I wasn't sure how good PJ was going to be. Considering there were issues about could he catch passes, combined with his broken collar bone, and how he runs pretty straight up, I was somewhat skeptical. Well, no longer. He's by far the best running back in the NFL so far this year. It'll be interesting to see if he can get 2,000 yards this season. After all, he's their entire offense, so it seems like it's a real possibility.

9. Kellen Clemens may not have gotten the win today for the Jets, but he's definitely the team's future. He also showed some running skills, rushing for 48 yards on 7 carries. The season's already over for the Jets, but that's ok. They'll be able to get Clemens plenty of reps so he'll be ready to go as the full-time starter next year. Maybe he can even save Mangini's job if he plays well the rest of the season.

10. It's great to see Cleveland finally doing well. They've really got an impressive offense and one could make an argument that aside from Randy Moss, Braylon Edwards is the best receiver in the league this season. Meanwhile, there's no question Kellen Winslow is one of the best tight ends in football at the moment. They also seem to have found a real quarterback in Derek Anderson. Each week he keeps producing and each week he looks less and less like a fluke, and he may save Romeo Crennel's job at the rate he's going. It may be a while before Brady Quinn gets any time.

11. Speaking of Anderson, it's apparent no one in the NFL knows how to draft quarterbacks. It's been a total crapshoot with the exception of Peyton Manning. Two of the three best QBs in the game barely made rosters. Tony Romo was an undrafted free agent, and Tom Brady was a sixth round choice. So was Anderson. And you know what, I'd take all three of those guys over Alex Smith.

12. And the quote of the day comes from John Madden: "You ever notice when Donovan McNabb makes a bad throw, it's really bad?"

-WCK

What we learned from Saturday's college football action

With the exception of BC losing, which wasn't all that surprising, not a real surprising Saturday. But we still learned some stuff.

1. Did ESPN mess something up on Saturday? I had to wait for the Michigan game to end before they went over to the Oregon game. How did this happen? Wasn't Oregon/ASU the College Game of the Week? I wasn't in any of the FSN areas either, that still had the rights to the game. And the game wasn't on FSN here in NorCal. What the hell happened?

2. That said, Oregon proved they should move up to #2 in the country. Although ASU was admittedly a shaky #4, they were #4 heading into today and Oregon beat them convincingly. The game wasn't even as close as the score indicated. And Dennis Dixon is now the clear Heisman frontrunner. Meanwhile, while LSU was on the road, they barely won their game against Alabama. And in all honesty, Alabama should have won that game. But to me, Oregon's comfortable win against the #4 team in the country at home is bigger than a close road win by LSU over the #17 team in country.

3. Maybe we should all start taking Kansas a lot more seriously. I haven't paid much attention to them all season, but they got my attention today. They basically scored 76 points in three quarters of play. I don't care that Nebraska sucks, hanging 76 on them is insane. And Kansas went 10 straight drives with a TD. Kansas seems to have all the makings of being this year's Boise State. A team that no one pays attention to that hammers people all year and winds up a in a BCS game - then shocks the world by beating some powerhouse. That seems to be their destiny this year. We should also pay attention to UCONN. They've beaten Louisville and USF, which no longer sounds quite as good as it used to. But they play West Virginia to end the season, so that'll tell us how legit they are.

4. All hail the Naval Academy. For the last 43 years there had been three givens in life: death, taxes, and Notre Dame beating Navy. No longer. What made it even sweeter was that it came at South Bend in triple OT. Even better is that if Notre Dame loses to Air Force, that would mean they'll lose to two service academy teams in a season for the first time since 1944. Man I hope that happens, and you know what, it probably will.

5. Boston College proved to be what we all thought they were, a joke #2 team. I can't remember when exactly, I think it was a week or two ago, someone posted a comment railing us for taking shots at BC. Something about how they had a real tough schedule or something and were the best team in the country. Well, so much for that. The truth is this team got by for so long because they play in a weak conference and didn't have to face V-Tech's starting QB last week. Now they'll be where they belong, somewhere in the middle of the top 25. And also like to thank Florida State for giving us a better national championship.

6. Virginia is either the luckiest team ever or Al Groh is one damn good coach. 5 wins by 2 points. You almost get the sense that this team can't win unless they play in a close game. I'd probably be dead by now if I was a Virginia fan.

7. Ohio State may actually be the best team in the country after all. Although Wisconsin hung around for 3 quarters, Ohio State annihilated them in the 4th. That's two weeks in a row that they've stuck it to ranked teams. I kept wondering how they'd do once they finally started playing semi-legit competition. Well, they've answered the bell. I'm no longer sure they'd lose to LSU or Oregon. I got no problem if they make the national championship.

8. However, Michigan may get in the way. Sure they started the season off terribly, but they've definitely righted the ship. Their win over Michigan State may not have been impressive, but a win's a win. Plus, they get Ohio State at the Big House this year. And with a chance to ruin Ohio State's perfect season, bury the two early season losses, and go to the Rose Bowl, I think Michigan is going to give them a seriously tough time.

9. Darren McFadden seems intent on reminding Heisman voters that he's still alive. Arkansas hasn't had a great season, and that's definitely hurt him, but nothing says Heisman like an SEC-record 323 yards rushing. Of course, South Carolina gave up 541 rushing yards in total so I might have been able to run for 100 yards in that game, but whatever. Welcome back to the race Darren. And speaking of the Heisman and running backs, here's someone you should pay a lot of attention to - Knowshon Moreno of Georgia. All he's done this year is rush for the most yards in school history as a freshman since some guy named Herschel Walker played there. Moreno will be in the top 3 for the Heisman next year and could win it his junior year.

10. What happened to Colt McCoy this year? He's been pretty awful. He's lucky to have Jamaal Charles show up every 4th quarter to save his butt. I have a feeling he'll turn it around next year, but it for whatever reason, he ain't got it this year.

-WCK

What we learned from Sunday's NFL action

Not the best of Sundays. A horrifying number of blowouts today, capped of course by that ridiculous Pats/Skins game. In addition, a ton of less than inspiring games - like Cleveland/St. Louis. And here in the Bay Area, we had to watch the Raiders lose a snoozer followed by the 49ers getting destroyed. Sweet.

Anyway, on to what we learned.

1. The Patriots are ultimately going to get someone injured at the rate they're going. I'm not going to get into the "did they run up the score" question. Because they did, no question. Running a pump and go when you're up by 38 in the 4th quarter and then later going for it on 4th down is running up the score. But you know what, the Skins could have played better defense as well. But the better question to ask here is why did Belichick leave his starters in so long and risk getting them injured? Michael David Smith at the Fanhouse alluded to this and he's right. Imagine Brady getting hit in the knees in the 4th when the Pats are up by 38. Man, Belichick would be hung by Pats fans. The fact is that the Pats really should take their first-string guys out when they're blowing someone out - not to be nice - but to prevent them from getting injured. Either on freak plays or on not so freak plays when some opposing player decides to take a cheap shot.

2. John Kitna is smarter than an awful lot of us. Kitna said the Lions would get 10 wins this year, they're now half way there. I'm still not 100% sure they'll get there, but I didn't see them winning more than six games this year, so what the hell do I know? Besides, they've beaten the Bucs and Bears in back to back games. The truth is that they play in what is quickly becoming a pretty weak division. And I say that because if anyone thinks Green Bay is going to keep winning with no running game as it gets colder out - forget it. Color me impressed Mr. Kitna.

3. Brian Griese is still a pretty bad QB. I always believed that the Bears had to make a change from Rex, but I was never really excited by Griese. And for good reason. Nothing like throwing 4 picks against the Lions, 3 of them in the end zone. Yikes. The fact is the Bears have no one really to play QB, they're defense isn't nearly as good as it was last year, and Cedric Benson sucks. He's horrible. The Bears will become yet another Super Bowl loser not to make the playoffs the following year.

4. St. Louis and Miami, I like your chances of going 0-16. Both these teams lost close games on Sunday, but whatever, they still lost. Also St. Louis lost Steven Jackson yet again and Miami is quickly becoming the Isiah Thomas Knicks of the NFL. What's even better is that these teams don't play each other, so both could go 0-16. That's probably pretty unlikely, but if I had to bet on one of them to do it, it'd be Miami.

5. It's officially time to revoke Mangenius's nickname. He'll now only be known as Mangini. He's about the only person in the world who wanted to stick with Pennington these last few weeks and needless to say, it hasn't worked out so well. And losing to the Bills, well, that SHOULD be the final nail in the coffin for Pennington. As we said last week Mangini, your season is over, might as well see what Clemens can give you.

6. The Chargers look like they're back. Basically stealing Chambers from the Dolphins was absolutely huge. It just can't be stressed enough how great a deal that was for the Chargers. That gives them a very legit receiver to take some of the defensive pressure off of Gates, and man did it work on Sunday. This team looks primed for a big time run and in all likelyhood we'll look back at that Chambers deal and say that's when things came together for this team.

7. Even though Norv's a bad coach, he's a great O-coordinator. And man, oh man do we miss him in SF. Our 49ers are abysmal on offense right now and it's easy to see why. Every week teams stuff 8 or 9 guys in the box against the 49ers to stop Gore and dare whoever's at QB to beat them. That's it. And it's working really well. The simple fact is that the only difference between this year's offense and last year's offense is Norv. Same QB, same RB, same TE, same O-line. Different O-coordinator. It's hard to say it's anything else.

8. I don't expect England to start liking our football anytime soon after Sunday's game. The Giants and Dolphins combined for 187 passing yards, 7 fumbles, and two missed field goals. Yes it was played in the rain and on a slicker than normal surface, but seriously, if Goodell wants to attract more fans he better provide a better game for them.

9. The Jags/Bucs was the best game of the day. I watched it, and yet I still can't figure out how Quinn Gray wound up being on the winning team. I know it was defense, but still, I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that Quinn Gray helped lead the Jags to victory, while Alex Smith is totally inept.

10. Tom Brady is no longer the best dressed man in America. That hat he wore in the post game interview - bizarre and horrible.

-WCK

What we learned from Saturday's college football action

I'm shocked, shocked, that an ASU fan would flash the shocker while he's on TV for about 5 seconds. It's not quite Thunderlabia, but it'll do for an ASU student. Of course later in the night, a panning shot of the student section showed everyone giving the shocker. ASU fans, all class. By the way, if you want to know our thoughts on ASU, we believe Ned Flanders said it best: "Apparently it's easier to get into heaven than Arizona State."

On to what we learned.

1. Ohio State may not be the best team in country, but they at least proved they're worthy of the #1 ranking. Going into Happy Valley and beating down Penn State was what Ohio State needed to do in my mind to prove to people they're a legit #1, and they did that. Even more impressive was that this game was never close. I'm still troubled by the fact that Ohio St. has played some serious cupcakes this year, but this was a big test and they passed it. The only team left that seems to have the ability to beat Ohio St. is Michigan. I can't believe I'm even saying that.

2. Oregon proved today that they belong to be in the same discussions as LSU for National Championship consideration. Oregon hung on to beat an extremely talented USC squad and should have beaten them by more if they hadn't had a few stupid turnovers. The amazing thing about Oregon is that they're literally one play away from being the undisputed #1 team in the country. That fumble into the end zone at the end of the game against Cal may be the difference between them playing in the National Championship and some other BCS bowl game. Regardless, this team's offense is truly something to reckon with, even though they've had a few injuries and a suspension. They can run, pass, and stretch the field in a way I haven't seen any other offenses do this year. Dennis Dixon is like a thin Vince Young and Jonathan Stewart is an absolute workhorse. It'll be tough for this team to make it into the National Championship game, but if they do get in, look out. If this team can put points up on the board against USC's defense, they can put points up on the board against any defense.

3. Speaking of USC, when do we bring out the official "Pete Carroll is a bad coach" chant? This team is ludicrously talented and now they could easily finish their Pac-10 schedule with 3 or more losses. How does this happen? Well, it happens when your coach isn't good at getting everything out of his players. If you think I'm being too critical, look at the Stanford game. The only way you lose a game like that is if you're coach doesn't prepare you for it. When Carroll had that incredible 3-year run from 2003-2005, everyone thought he was the greatest coach since sliced bread. But since losing the National Championship to Texas, a game USC really should have won (to take nothing away from Vince Young), USC has lost some truly head scratching games. The loss to UCLA last year that took them out of the National Championship was pretty terrible and the Stanford loss was about 10 times worse. Oregon totally deserved to beat USC yesterday, but still, there's something wrong with USC. And I think it's Carroll. I think he's a great recruiter, but a lousy coach. Which shouldn't be much of a surprise considering he was a lousy pro coach.

4. If you want our thoughts on BC, we wrote about that on Friday. We weren't real kind to BC.

5. The SEC and Pac-10 are too tough for their own good. Watching Kentucky lose to Miss St. followed by Florida losing to Georgia was pretty surprising. And in addition to that, Tennessee beat South Carolina. Meanwhile, watching Cal lose to UCLA and Arizona St. in back to back weeks (mainly due to Longshore's bad ankle) also speaks volumes about the strength of the Pac-10. And on top of that Arizona St. is in first place in the Pac-10. But you're nuts if you think Arizona St. is going to go through the Pac-10 undefeated. They have to play Oregon, UCLA and USC the next 3 weeks. They'll lose 2 of those games, maybe all 3. By my estimation, the Pac-10 has 6 very legit teams (out of 10) while the SEC has unreal 8 (out of 12). These teams match up against each other every week and absolutely bludgeon themselves to death during the course of the regular season. You should get a badge of honor for making it out of either of these two conferences with only one loss.

6. It looks like SEC teams are starting to figure out Florida. And by figure them out, I mean they're just keying on Tebow. He's literally their whole offense. And when you combine that with the fact that Florida only has about 6 total plays, they aren't really a hard team to prepare for. This isn't Tebow's fault at all by the way. It's Urban Meyer's fault. He hasn't done anything to take the pressure off of Tebow even though he promised to do that weeks ago. Now Tebow has taken way too many big hits and has that bruised shoulder - which is only worse after yesterday. And they've now got 3 losses. You can put all the blame on Urban Meyer.

7. The Heisman race just got incredibly cloudy. Most people going into this weekend had Tebow as the Heisman frontrunner. Then Florida lost. That would have left space available for Andre Woodson, but he had already lost to Mississippi St., officially putting a stake into the heart of his Heisman campaign. I have no clue who in the hell is going to win this thing any more.

8. Kansas is sort of good, maybe. I mean they're 8-0, but who've they beaten? Pretty much no one. But whatever. I'd love to see them go undefeated just to cause a nationwide riot against the BCS system.

9. Bill Callahan continues to dig his own grave at Nebraska.

10. I don't know anything about UCONN at all. But maybe I should start paying attention.

-WCK

What we learned from Sunday's NFL action

During the Niners/Giants game, I was informed that the game following it would be Cowboys/Vikings. Considering Sunday's slate of extremely crappy games, that was a pretty good matchup. Yet when the Niners game ended, Fox cuts off and goes to the Niners post-game show called The Point After. So instead of watching a game featuring the NFC's best team and the current rookie of the year, I get a show recounting the beatdown the Niners took from the Giants. I don't know who was responsible for that, but you can go to hell.

1. The Patriots seem hell-bent on destroying every team in the league. They put on an absolute clinic in the first half against the Dolphins. And why were people saying the Dolphins might surprise the Pats in this game? I realize the Pats have always had trouble against the Dolphins, but the Dolphins are horrible this year. The Pats could have gone through the motions and won that game. It also looks like Brady is seriously mad that a lot of people said Peyton Manning was definitively the best QB in football after he won the Super Bowl last year. I wouldn't be surprised if Brady rips Manning's head off during their matchup later this year. Brady looks like a man possessed with becoming the best QB ever, and he might do it. Now, another question is, was putting Brady back in during the 4th quarter classless? I don't really think so, considering Cassell had just thrown an INT returned for a TD to put the Fins within 21 with 10 minutes to go. But the truth is it doesn't matter what I think at all. It matters what the Dolphins think. And considering these teams play each other again - it could be an interesting rematch. Would I be surprised if Brady gets his bell rung? Not really.

2. As crazy as it sounds, the Saints may actually get back in the playoff mix. Since Tampa Bay lost today, and Carolina has the excellent tandem of Testaverde/Carr, I actually think the Saints can do it even though I wrote them off last week. They play my inept Niners next week which could get them to 3-4 and put them right back in it. Granted they have to go play the Jags the week after that, but whatever. Their division is terrible. I think it also says something about the NFC that an 0-4 team can actually still get back in the playoff picture. And it's not good.

3. Tom Coughlin probably won't be fired at the end of the season if the Giants keep playing like they are. That's because since starting out 0-2, the Giants have won 5 straight and their defense has gone absolutely nuts. Osi Umenyiora is playing like the reincarnation of LT. Of course the question is how will the Giants do in the second half? They've been horrible in the second half in recent years. But right now, everything's clicking. Maybe Coughlin just finally pulled that stick out of his ass (Tiki Barber?). Whatever it is he did, it's working.

4. Considering the Dolphins and Rams don't play each other, we could have two teams that go 0-16. I'd actually be excited to see this happen. It's not every year you can see a team go winless, and it's arguably harder to do than go undefeated. I don't think it'll happen, but both of these teams are seriously awful. I can't see either of them winning more than two games.

5. The Eagles aren't going to make the playoffs. That game between the Bears and Eagles was huge on Sunday. Two teams desperate for a win, and the Bears got it. Plus in two weeks the Eagles have to play the Cowboys. Yikes. Combine that with the fact that the Giants have now won 5 straight, the Redskins are 4-2, and man, it's over. Not to mention that McNabb can't run anymore, he has no receivers, and Andy Reid is challenging Mike Holmgren for the title of stupidest coach of the year through Week 7.

6. Speaking of sucking, it's probably time we take the Mangenius title away from Mangini. Despite the whole world telling him he needed to go to Kellen Clemens, he stuck with Pennington. And as a result they lost to the Bengals. You're not going to the playoffs, you might as well go to Clemens now, at least see what you've got.

7. I should say something about the Chiefs/Raiders game because I watched it, but I don't care. It was like watching paint dry.

8. The Steelers are impossible to figure out. On their good weeks, they look like a team that could at least challenge the Patriots for a few quarters. But then they lose games to Arizona and a Denver team that easily could have been 0-5 entering Sunday night's game. Sure Denver was playing at home, but so what? The Steelers should beat them. I have no clue with this team anymore. They're like the UCLA of pro football.

9. Watch Monday night's game. It'll be good, I hope.

-WCK

What we learned from Saturday's college football action

Parity - or as I saw it on one site earlier today: parody - is definitely making itself felt in college football. Let's get to what we learned.

1. Announcers and talking heads like to blow stuff way out of proportion. In the LSU/Auburn game the announcers, and later Mark May (who's an idiot by the way), went nuts about LSU going for the touchdown pass. May even went so far as to say that LSU would have lost had the ball been tipped. Yeah that's possible, if the ball had been tipped about 5 times. I don't know what the hell everyone else was watching, but when the ball was caught by the receiver, there were still 5 seconds on the clock. Had he dropped it, the refs would have reviewed the play and reset the clock to 4 or 5 seconds left (as Rece Davis pointed out to May). And it'd be an incomplete pass so the clock would be stopped. And LSU still had a timeout. I mean, am I missing something here? Why did everyone have their panties in a knot? Miles knew exactly what he was doing and announcers and color guys are still idiots.

2. Oklahoma is not the best one loss team in the country. They were listed this past week as the best 1-loss team by both the AP and USA Today polls. The BCS (rightfully) had LSU ahead of them. As many of you who read this site know, I have almost no respect for the Big-12. And Oklahoma's performance on Saturday did nothing to change that. They let doormat Iowa State hang around the whole game. That better cause the jackasses involved in the AP and USA Today polls to drop them down. Both LSU and Oregon should move ahead of Oklahoma.

3. Speaking of Oregon, they might be the best team in the nation behind LSU. I'm not saying Ohio St. isn't deserving of being #1 currently, but are they the best team in the nation? No way in hell. Oregon, playing without a litany of players on offense due to injuries and suspensions, still rushed for an unreal 465 yards and annihilated the Huskies in the 4th quarter. If Oregon hadn't made two awful and totally avoidable late game turnovers in Eugene against Cal earlier this year, they would have won that game. And they'd be the #1 team in the country right now, ranked ahead of Ohio St. due to the strength of their schedule.

4. Notre Dame should probably seriously consider firing Weis at the end of the season. Because despite getting absolutely pummeled 38-0 by USC, the worst thing is that USC didn't even play that well. And the last time Notre Dame got blanked this badly at home Al Capone had just been sent to Alcatraz. Plus Weis has had a number of top flight recruits walk out on the program, including 4 sophomores (ie: he's lost control of the team). And he clearly made a mistake by starting Clausen too early and having his brains beaten out. And it isn't helping that he's now suddenly switched to Sharpley. Man, this team is an absolute shitshow. And it couldn't have happened to a more arrogant, know-it-all prick. I'm loving every minute of it.

5. Trick plays are awesome. Saturday's most intriguing trick play came courtesy of Colorado when the QB faked trying to retrieve a fumble and then hit a wide open tight end for a TD. Great play.

6. Tim Tebow will likely play in the NFL, but it sure as hell won't be at quarterback. Yes he threw for 4 TDs today, but I have yet to see him throw a tight spiral, he doesn't play in a pro-style offense, and he's not consistently accurate (despite some good passes on Saturday). And speaking of not playing in a pro-style offense, hell you could teach a monkey the Florida offense in about 30 minutes. It's basically 8 plays. Tebow does have a very strong arm, but when you looked at who he was facing today - Andre Woodson - the difference between those two guys is night and day. Woodson's a pro QB, Tebow isn't. Period. Of course the question is what would Tebow play then? Well, he's too big and not shifty enough to be a running back at the pro level. And he's too slow to be a wide receiver. I think he'd be a pretty good TE. And unless he becomes a better passing QB in the next two years, that's exactly what he's going to have to be if he wants to play in the NFL.

7. The team that best represents this bizarre college football is UCLA. They were a team that many picked to do some serious damage in the Pac-10 and they started out great. Then they got crushed by a horrible, horrible Utah team. Then they righted the ship for a few games, totally blew some people out...then got waxed by Notre Dame. WTF? Then they follow that piece of shit performance up by beating Cal - who was at full strength. Talk about a roller coaster ride. UCLA is the absolute Jekyll/Hyde team, just like the college football season.

8. Football in the state of Florida isn't what it used to be. Florida State and Miami played on Saturday, which always used to be an epic matchup. Instead, I didn't even know the game was going on. Man, that's just sad.

9. Bill Callahan might as well start digging his own grave.

10. The Big-10, not so good. Congrats on having two teams this season lose to former I-AA schools. You might actually be a worse conference than the Big-12.

-WCK