Everyone can shut up for a week at least after watching the NFC North go 4-0, atlhough the Bears win over the 49ers was quite possibly the worst football game every played, besides the 108 field goal return for a touchdown by Nathan Vasher at the end of the first half. Without this play, the Bears would have been trailing 3-0 at halftime. Pretty much tells you why they won't be cracking the top 10 anytime soon. That is unless they beat Carolina this week. Then maybe I'll consider it.
As for the state of the Eagles, and my perspective on the Terrell Owens saga, check out my latest article on Sports Central.
Now onto the rankings of the ten best teams in the NFL...
1. Indianapolis 9-0
A nice easy win for the Colts against the Texans. The Colts have beaten the Texans four times this season already, and the teams will square off again three more times. I guess the NFL really wants to see the Colts get home field advantage this season. Or maybe the Colts are just lucky that the two bottom teams of the AFC South are absolutely terrible this season (Houston and Tennessee). Oh by the way Peyton Manning is back to being one of the best fantasy quarterbacks, and Edgerrin James is still getting 25 carries per game. Pretty good combination. The Colts defense will get another test at Cincinnati this week. Is this the week they lose? Probably not, seeing as Cincy won't be able to stop James.
3. Pittsburgh 7-2 (3)
Pittsburgh might be good enough to move up to number two if Ben Roethlisburger is healthy and is able to continue playing at a high level. Pittsburgh had a small scare against Cleveland, falling behind 7-0 in the first quarter. Of course, Pittsburgh responded with 27 unanswered points behind solid quarterbacking from Charlie Batch, and an impressive effort on defense. Cleveland didn't score again until the fourth quarter, picking up two garbage touchdowns. If Tommy Maddox has to start this week against Baltimore they could be in trouble, wait...nevermind. I could start at quarterback this week and lead them to a win against Baltimore.
4. Denver 7-2 (4)
The Broncos didn't exactly dominate against the lowly Raiders, but they did pull off the win. Every team won't play its best game every week. The defense came up with big stops when it needed to, and the Raiders did the rest, blowing all the opportunities Denver gave them. Plummer didn't look as good, throwing what should been a sure interception, but the story of Oakland's season has been the lack of execution (and getting screwed by bad calls, which wasn't the case in this game). I have a feeling Denver is about to hit a losing streak, but probably not this week against the Jets. Perhaps at Dallas on Thanksgiving.
5. Seattle 7-2 (5)
Shaun Alexander is having an incredible season. His 165 yards rushing carried Seattle to an easy win. As the Rams attempted to come back, as they always have to do against Seattle, it was Alexander who ran for a first down on third and short and then broke into the endzone to seal the game. Although Alexander's effort was impressive, I was most impressed with Seattle's defense, especially their ability to stop Steven Jackson, who had carried the Rams to two consecutive wins. Seattle held Jackson to only 70 yards on 17 carries. Seattle's defense came up with a huge stop early in the game when St. Louis lined up for a short field goal, and chose to ran a fake instead. Seattle stuffed the play, seized the momentum, and have solidified themselves as the team to beat in the NFC. The only question now is what seed Seattle will get in the playoffs, as they have already wrapped up the NFC South, as they are four games ahead of the Rams.
6. Dallas 6-3 (7)
The Cowboys somehow pulled out a miraculous win at Philly on Monday night. The Cowboys looked terrible for 56 minutes, then got its shit together just in time to beat the reeling Eagles team. Maybe we can chalk the poor performance up to Bill Parcells burying his brother that day, maybe.. I think the Cowboys will bounce back, but they could be on their way down. I want to see a strong statement this week against the Lions.
7. Cincinnati 7-2 (9)
The Bengals were on bye, so the only significant thing to report is that Chad Johnson didn't guarantee a win this week against the Colts. He wanted to, but his coach probably told him he wouldn't be playing if he did. Instead he guaranteed he wouldn't be stopped against Indy. Seems to me he should have guaranteed he would do a good job run-blocking, because Cincy needs to run the ball well to win this game. If they can, they will win, but I don't think they will. Pittsburgh goes up a game in the division, and the Bengals start focusing on the wildcard.
8. Carolina 7-2 (10)
Carolina was locked in a low-scoring battle with the Jets, then the Jets remembered they were the Jets and started sucking again. Too many injuries on this team. Meanwhile, everyone can shut up about how much better the AFC is than the NFC. Meanwhile Jake Delhomme is doing what he did with Muhsin Muhammed last year with Steve Smith this year. Can anyone guard this guy? I thought a broken leg was supposed to slow you down (he missed all of last season with a broken leg) Apparently not in his case. Delhomme still is making mistakes, but is making enough passes to overcome them. A matchup with the statistically best defense (Chicago) in the league will say a lot about the Panthers/
10. (tied) New York Giants 6-3 (8)
Who would have thought that both Atlanta and New York lost home games to the Packers and Vikings respectively. Well, seeing as the Giants defense looked really good (except for the one drive at the end of the game), giving up only 3 points, I will list them first ahead of the Falcons. The 3 return touchdowns (kickoff, punt, and interception) by Minnesota was embarrasing to the Giants. Eli Manning threw 4 interceptions against a defense that had 7 interceptions in its first 8 games. Manning looked terrible and as off-target all day. Please, please, someone else agree with me so I don't have to hear how he has matured so much as a quarterback in such a short time. I am so sick of it. Is anyone else wondering how the Vikings shut down Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey? I'm calling it right now: Philly 21 New York 20. Things even out in this world, sometimes.
Speaking of which, check out my opinion on the Eagles
10. (tied) Atlanta 6-3 (6)
Um, Michael, what's up now with your passing skills. You did throw for 200 yards, but it was all in garbage time, when the Packers had control of the game, and were giving your receivers a huge cushion. The Falcons killed themselves with three lost fumbles, and the Packers were due to catch some breaks as Samkon Gado fumbled twice, but the Packers recovered both. Oh yeh, he also ran for 100 yards against what was supposed to be an improving defense. Atlanta's run defense is terrible, and apparently if we're judging Michael Vick the way he wants us to (on wins and losses), he is not a good quarterback. If he gets credit for when the defense shuts down the other teams, he always gets credit for when Roddy White fumbles. So for now, two monumental upsets keep the Giants and Falcons deadlocked at number 10.
As always any questions or complaints, or letters of admiration should be directed to lbpimp47@hotmail.com
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