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I hope Brett Favre doesn't play for a fifth team... that'd be too spread out.

There are still 2 undefeated teams left.

Colts
Saints

My rankings
1. Saints -Way to beat Tampa Bay...now can you do it against New England?
2. Colts -Offense was ugly (3 turnovers) but the defense was sexy!
3. Vikings -These Guys are looking good.  Before long I may have to move them above my Colts even if the Colts Don't lose
4. New England - God win to climb back into it.  Way to put fourth and 2 behind you.
5. San Diego - Denver who?  A statement win by a surging AFC West Team!
6. Arizona - 3 wins in a row but losses to Carolina and San Francisco hurt them.  Can they give the Vikings some competition in week 13?
7. Cincinnati -If you are going to lose, you picked a good week to do so with everyone in your division following suit, but really?  The Raiders?
8. Dallas - a W is a W but that was a real ugly win.  No bonus points for Dallas.  I still think they are posers in a weak division.
9. Pittsburg -Two in a row hurts, and losing big Ben to a concussion does not bode well for their wild card chances...
10. Green Bay - They won two in a row, but I dont think anyone is convinced that they really top 10 worthy, they just happen to be less worse than everyone else


Out of the top 10:

probably down to at least 15. Denver - If 3 in a row was VERY bad news....  what do you think 4 in a row means
-. Tennesee - Pending Monday nights game, I may demote Green Bay


Some Random Comments about this week:

Cincinnati seems to play to the calibre of their opponent.  What they need to do is just schedule undefeated teams to play.  But my real problem with that game was not their abysmal offense but the fact that with 30 seconds to go the Kick returner decided to RUN IT OUT OF THE END ZONE AT ALL!  Seriously, I think that kick returners should play smarter ball.  Too many of them run it out of the end zone only to get tackled at the 15 yard line when they could have had it at the 20 (and more time on the clock) or in this case ACTUALLY RETAINED POSESSION OF THE BALL.  Take a knee and win it in overtime.  Stop trying to be a hero and be a team player.

Colts defense looked mighty fine.  And that run game looked pretty good as well now that both Addai and Brown are back in the game...

I think the Steelers are hurt more by Ben's concussion than the Cardinals are by Warner.  Leinart ought to be able to run that offense pretty well, but this may spell the end of Warners career unless he can bounce back quickly.

The NFC East... Oh how you surprise me.  I picked the Giants to win the Division and probably the NFC Championship and now we have three teams tripping over themselves trying desperately not to suck worse than Washington.  These teams are the model of INconisistency.

Miami is quietly taking care of buisness and is poised to take a shot at an AFC Wildcard spot.

What is going on in Denver?  This is more surprising than Denvers 6-0 start.

Was T.O really making Touchdown Celebrations today?  What does he really have to celebrate?

Picking the Wild Card in the NFC looks like it will be hard this year.  Green Bay is surging but can they hold up?  Atlanta is falling but will it continue?

One last thing to consider, the play WORKED, but Faulk dropped the pass.

But how about them bengals!?!? Seriously how pathetic? What a dumb kick return... he should be fired NOW.

Okay okay okay... what I meant was, the play up until the catch worked perfectly. The RB was open and passed the first down line. Saying that it was a horrible decision because Faulk dropped it I don't think is a valid point. Otherwise Favre shouldn't have thrown to Taylor against the Steelers. No one was mad against that call. Both plays played out well but failed because of a mistake on the RB's part.

Part of making the right call is to know that you cannot control every factor involved in a given play at a given time in a given game on any given Sunday. That's why you don't call a QB sneak when you have more than a yard to go. That's why you punt on 4th and 2 from your own 28 when you're winning by 6 with two minutes left and your opponent only has one timeout.

I agree.  I also agree that coaches should go for it more on fourth and short, but not at the end of the game on a short field.  My ideal fourth and short situation is somewhere between the 50 and the 35 yard line in my opponents territory.  That is where the fourth and short situation has the most to gain and the least to lose.  In those situations, by going for it and losing you lose only the 20-30 yard field position advantage that you would have gained via punting and by going for it and gaining you play psychological warfare on the opponents defense that anything on the other side of the 50 is 4 down football.  That really takes the air out of their sails when they make a stop on 3rd and short only to be told that they arent done yet, they have to do it again.

But fourth and short deep in your territory is a tremendous risk.  In this case the reward would have been great too, but I still would have punted.


And yes.  If I were a special teams coach I would have my return men take a knee more often in the end zone.  I would tell them that if they take a football out of the end zone then they better make it past the 20.  If they dont, then they owe me a thousand dollars for every yard they cost the team. If you see a hole, then take it, but to run out of the end zone hoping to recreate the magic you had against the steelers the week before where you were the only touchdown scored by your team in that game, is a selfish play.  Take the knee, and give Palmer the extra seconds you would waste running down (likely only making it to the 20 at best given the number of defenders that were there) and let your offense make plays.  At worst you go to overtime and win it in overtime.  THe bengals have been in overtime before and held their own on defense (just ask Donovan McNabb).  That play will make the boneheaded play of the week.  Oh, he made the highlight reel for sportscenter all right, just not the one he wanted too.

Poll: Which Ohio NFL team failed more yesterday?

The Bengals, who fumbled a kickoff to give the game to the Raiders?
The Browns, who committed pass interference on a Hailmary to give the game to the Lions?

I'd say the Bengals, simply because of the height from which they fell. I'd say it is worse for a 7-2 team that is contending for a bye in the first round of the playoffs to make a mistake and fall to a 2-7 team, then it is for a 1-8 team to make a critical mistake against another 1-8 team. The Lions/Browns game had zero implications for playoffs or anything, but it was still pretty much epic fail.

I don't know if beating the Lions could qualify as redemption, minor or otherwise.

The Browns scored 24 points and led by three touchdowns after the first quarter.  They did not score another touchdown until, what, six minutes left in the game?

Browns fail super-hard for letting THAT lead slide away against THAT team, and showing zero ability to adjust either on offense or defense, whereas the otherwise hapless Lions did both.

I agree partly... but you don't make calls based on the fact that it could go wrong. You make a call based on if it will PROBABLY work. And it should have. Poor execution.

I disagree completely. 

"Probably" is not good enough in that situation.

then every play is a probably. there's just no way you can get around execution. everybody makes mistakes.

Which only proves my point that Bill's call in that situation was the wrong call. "Probably" is good enough after you pass midfield, and in many other situations. "Probably" was not good enough on 4th and 2 from your own 28 when you are winning by 6 with only two minutes left and your opponent only has one timeout.

It seems that neither of you are willing to accept that the situation matters in these kind of decisions. I will never agree with your philosophy, so you may as well let it go.

Well if you are trying to go the "numbers don't lie" route, then first take a look at the government's accounting records, then visit a man named Madoff.

So the Onion had a great quote today that sums up the incident pretty well:

"Poll: 3.1% of NFL coaches would go for it on 4th and 2 on their own 28."

The accompanying article was actually rather humorous.

You know, that's pretty amazing if not coincidental.  3.1% of NFL coaches would also go for it on 4th and 26 against the Packers in a playoff game.