NFL Power Rankings

I skipped last week’s rankings due to the holiday, but we’re back with them this week. Again, it’s New Year’s eve, so most people are getting ready to get drunk and hope some girl gets tipsy enough to kiss them at midnight. Therefore, the rankings will be fast and furious this week. And since most of us will be waking up with a raging headache and hangover on Friday, let’s hope Mike Leach isn’t around to ban us to a dark equipment shed.

Oh, and before the rankings, a really good article written by former major leaguer Doug Glanville on the whole culture of athletes and struggling to handle the money, power, fame and women that come with being a pro athlete.

So on to the rankings with no categories this week........because it's almost time to start drinking away 2009. Happy New Year everyone.

1. Chargers - Playing better than anyone else in the NFL. They have to scare the Colts right now.

2. Colts - Yes, they gave it up easier than Alyssa Milano to a pro baseball player, but the Colts remain dangerous as long as they have #18 under center.

3. Eagles - They are the hottest team other than San Diego…..but it is the regular season. Do they have the mental make-up to succeed in the playoffs? And can Andy Reid not mess it up?

4. Saints - So do they play their starters in a meaningless game to regain some of their mojo and risk exposing Drew Brees to Julius Peppers? Remember, Peppers is playing for a new contract now and ask Brett Favre if he appears to be motivated.

5. Cardinals - Arizona has a chance to steal a first round bye if the Eagles and Vikings lose this week and the Cardinals beat the Packers. Otherwise, they will host the Packers next week again. Can Beanie Wells be the difference maker in the playoffs?

6. Packers - Practically the only team in the NFC without a chance to get the #2 seed, the Packers are playing well and have a shot to make it through the conference entirely on the road. Would the Pack like another shot at Favre?

7. Patriots - I would say the “Randy Moss is dogging it” train has jumped the tracks at this point. The biggest concern in New England is why Laurence Maroney keeps fumbling on the goal line.

8. Vikings - Lost in the whole “Favre & Childress Peeing Contest” is the fact that Adrian Peterson has a serious fumbling problem. He runs hard, but also runs loose with the balls…….insert your own Tiger joke.

9. Bengals - They will know before they kick off on Sunday night whether they have a shot at the #3 seed or if they can rest their starters and play the Jets again the following week. They have been the biggest surprise in the league and have the running game to be a factor in the playoffs.

10. Cowboys - They ended up .500 in December this year, which is a huge improvement. However, if they don’t win a playoff game, will Wade Phillips be back next year? I’d guess he’s as out as Claye Aiken.

11. Ravens - They can play their way into the playoffs by beating the lowly Raiders. If they can’t beat Oakland, they don’t deserve to be anywhere near the playoffs.

12. Steelers - I think the past two weeks were the “hell” that Mike Tomlin wanted released at the beginning of December. Unfortunately, when they got smoked by Browns, it put them in a whole where they are now begging for a lot of help to make the playoffs.

13. Texans - The Texans seem as comfortable at 8-8 or 9-7 as Kelly Brook does in a bikini. If they beat the Pats, they finish over .500 but is that enough to save Gary Kubiak’s job?

14. Panthers - They are finally playing like everyone thought they would at the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, Jake Delhomme put them in a hole to start the year that they couldn’t get out of by the end of the year.

15. Jets - The most fortunate team in the league with gifts from the Colts and potentially from the Bengals to push New York into the playoffs. What’s the over/under for the number of INTs by Sanchez on the road in the playoffs? 4 or 5?

16. Titans - Chris Johnson has a great chance to hit 2,000 yards for the season and an outside chance to break Eric Dickerson’s single season record. It’s still not enough to get the MVP.

17. Falcons - They should be motivated this week to get to 9-7 which would be the first time in franchise history (since 1966) they would have back-to-back winning seasons. Doesn’t that sound amazing that Atlanta has NEVER had consecutive winning seasons?

18. Broncos - Are they going to fire Mike Shanahan again after this late season collapse? They were better than they were last year, but still have a ton of holes.

19. Dolphins - This team overachieved considering the lack of receiving playmakers and weak defense. At least they learned Ricky Williams still has plenty in the tank.

20. 49ers - It has to be the quarterback, right? They have a playmaker RB and a playmaker TE and now a playmaker WR in Crabtree. They have a great middle LB in Patrick Willis. They have turds playing QB.

21. Giants - The defense let them down this year, which means there is no chance Bill Sheridan comes back for a second year as d-coordinator.

22. Jaguars - Maybe they could hire Mike Leach to run their offense and bring in Tim Tebow to play QB? Just a crazy thought……..but it sounds pretty good, right?

23. Bears - Cutler finally breaks the primetime jinx against the Vikings. I texted my brother after the Vikings scored to make it 23-7 and suggested it was time for the Cutler back-breaker INT. He responded that it would likely be from inside their own 35. Within one minute, Cutler rolled out and from his own 33, threw an INT that allowed the Vikings to really get the offense going and eventually forced overtime.

24. Browns - Could Big Show Holmgren fire Mangini if they end the season on a 4 game winning streak? Is the Mangini program finally working or are the players just playing harder to audition for next season?

25. Bills - Will the Colts subject Manning, Wayne & Company to the cold in Buffalo this week? Will the Bills be able to beat the Colts second string? Does anyone care? I don’t.

26. Redskins - At long last, the circus that has been the Redskins season is finally almost over.

27. Raiders - Tom Cable completely threw JaMarcus Russell under the bus when he admitted that better quarterback play earlier in the year could have saved their season. That’s about as brutal as the allegations that Lindsay Lohan’s dad kicked his ex-girlfriend in the baby-maker. Seriously, dude? What the…….?

28. Buccaneers - Nice job by Raheem Morris to cost themselves a better draft pick in the past two weeks.

29. Seahawks - They shouldn’t even bother showing up this week because they didn’t last week in Green Bay. Just let the University of Washington play the Seahawks game because they have a legit NFL QB in Jake Locker.

30. Chiefs - Coach Todd Haley said he didn’t flip off the fans, right? Pretty sure the fans deserve to flip him off for enduring this season in Kansas City.

31. Lions - The bright side is that it won’t take much to start the decade better than they ended this last one.

32. Rams - Sadly, they haven’t locked up the top pick in the draft yet to guarantee them Ndamukong Suh.

Quick Hits

It’s pretty obvious that the players at “The U” believe you get to the NFL by rushing the QB and tackling running backs - not by covering TEs. They didn’t cover any of the Wisconsin TEs all game, and got burned for it as Wisconsin beat Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl last night. The game was proof that at Miami, swagger is valued, and intelligence is not - the Hurricanes continually fell prey to every play action fake and misdirection running play. I’m pretty sure most of the Miami team would struggle to spell “The U” if you gave them 3 guessses. And Miami’s quarterback Jacorey Harris? Looks like a carbon copy of Terrell Pryor (Ohio State), Juice Williams (Illinois), Andre Woodson (Kentucky), Brad Banks (Iowa) or Kordell Stewart (Colorado). All great athletes that can’t play quarterback. A nice win for a young Wisconsin team to get to 10 wins and likely start next season in the top 15.
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Facts we know in the Texas Tech - Mike Leach - Adam Jones - debacle: (1) Jones was disciplined for lack of effort in practice, (2) Jones got a concussion, (3) He was put in an equipment shed for 3 hours, (4) his dad, ESPN’s Craig James, complained to the Texas Tech administration, and (5) Mike Leach is due a $800,000 bonus if he’s still the coach on Thursday, 12/31.

From there, the versions of the story depend upon who is telling the story and it has more changes than the Charlie Sheen-Brooke Mueller altercation. Supposedly Coach Leach was “punishing” James by forcing him to sit in the dark shed for 3 hours. Leach & the Texas Tech trainer said that since James needed to stay out of bright lights due to the concussion, it was good for him to stay in the shed. At the end of the day, it seems pretty obvious that James was a slacker, his dad was overreacting, and Leach should have had the kid in the training room, not isolated in some equipment shed. Everyone is in the wrong on this one.

Leach has always been entertaining and quirky (remember his “fat little girlfriends” quote?), but probably went over the line with this one. But memo to the James family - couldn’t you come up with a better way to handle this? Did you really need your daddy to whine to the administration? Couldn’t you and your dad have a meeting with Leach and the coaching staff away from the spotlight to figure it out? And if you’re not happy, then transfer. All of these seem like better options than making it the lead story on ESPN, separating James from his teammates (many of whom probably like playing for Leach), and putting a stain on his potential future pro value (if he had any to begin with). Just seems like a situation where neither side really thought through their actions very well.
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Everyone is all riled up about the Colts laying down for the Jets on Sunday. Yes, the Colts laid down easier than one of the Kardashians for a pro athlete. Coach Jim Caldwell followed the Colts philosophy that was given to him by Bill Polian - get prepared for the playoffs. The Colts earned the right to do whatever they wanted in the final two games by winning their first 14 - they don’t owe the league, the history or the fans anything. They earned the right to throw Curtis Painter in at QB, where he was more rattled than a Tiger Woods voicemail.

The real question is if Caldwell can now get his players to channel the disappointment and anger they feel - because let’s face it, they all wanted to go for the undefeated season - and use that energy to fend off the Chargers and Patriots to get to the Super Bowl. They’re going to need it because the Chargers are playing better than anyone else in the league and the Patriots appear to be rounding into form.
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The last week of the NFL season has a ton of compelling storylines as teams jostle to get into the playoffs or better their seeding. The only teams that are locked in their spots are the Colts, Chargers and Saints. Everything else is up for grabs. In the NFC, the 6 teams are known, but 3 of the teams could still end up with the #2 seed. In the AFC, there is a mess with a mix of scenarios based on who wins and loses. But the Jets and Ravens can play their way in by beating the Bengals & Raiders, respectively. If the Patriots beat the Texans earlier in the day, the Bengals will have nothing to play for and will likely rest their starters against the Jets. That would mean that the Jets, after losing at home to the Falcons (without Matt Ryan or Michael Turner), would benefit from back to back games against back up competition to get into the playoffs. It’s not their fault - you play the cards you are dealt. Kind of like when you’re at an all-you-can-eat buffet and you have to make a minimum of three trips…..unless you’re Rex Ryan and you make seven trips.
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Interesting link on the most and least profitable teams to gamble on during the decade. I think it’s just a reminder that the lines are always slightly skewed for the big market teams. The Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers and Cubs are among the worst teams to bet on. The first three of those teams have had great overall success, and the Cubs, well…….they suck.
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My weekly NFL Rankings will return either tomorrow or Friday while I recover from my hangover and watch a ridiculous amount of college football.

Hitting the Links

Cliff Lee was an absolute monster last night. Could he have been any calmer? Dude silenced the Yankee bats with 10 strikeouts, showed complete indifference catching that pop-up, and then grabbed a grounder behind his back just for fun.

Mike Leach is not impressed with the “talent” in Lubbock. And he even went as far as blaming the Red Raiders loss on his team’s “fat little girlfriends.” Awesome. Although judging by this picture, I guess none of the football players are dating anyone from the dance team or the cheerleading squad.

This is a story that puts sports in perspective a little bit – Ryan Clark of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Clark has a blood disorder that attacks his organs at high altitudes. It happened twice in the past, including in 2007, when he had to have his spleen removed and lost 40 pounds after a game in Denver. The Steelers are back in Denver this week. Why would he even consider playing? Even if the doctors clear him, is it really worth the risk?

Is Chase Utley auditioning for a cameo on Vampire Diaries? I mean, I know the whole vampire thing is all the rage right now with True Blood, Vampire Diaries, and the Vampire’s Assistant, but still. What is with the awkward, slicked-back thing he has going on? At first I thought it was just wet, sweaty hair, but seeing him in the cold at Yankees Stadium with that same plastic hair helmet, it’s obvious it’s on purpose. And it’s not good.

The Redskins have banned their “fans” from bringing signs into the stadium. Just another signal that the entire franchise is a mess. Remember the proud maroon and gold franchise when they were winning with Joe Gibbs, John Riggins, Doug Williams, Timmy Smith, Art Monk, Ricky Sanders and Gary Clark? What a fall from grace. If I were a Skins fan, I’d prefer to have a funny sign blocking my view than have to watch Sherm Lewis calling “B-71” and “G-18” instead of football plays.

Seriously – think we’ve taken the whole PC thing a little too far? Penn State is the latest place where people are over-sensitive and ridiculous.

Jimmy Kimmel slapped Sabrina the Teenage Witch around after she got booted from Dancing with the Stars.



I’m not a journalist, and I don’t pretend to be one. But if this is what you cover, do you actually put “journalist” on your resume? Your job is to report on what the First Lady is wearing? Who cares? And what kind of description is “swirly printed?” I’m not saying………… I’m just saying.

It’s a rough time to be a sports fan in Charlotte. The Panthers are going to stick with Jake Delhomme at quarterback despite the fact that he’s thrown 18 INTs in his past 7 games. This guy thinks he should keep his starting job and get a chance at atonement. Really? Wasn’t this season supposed to be his chance to atone for his game against Arizona last year? So at least Charlotte sports fans can turn to the Bobcats for the start of the NBA season. Uh-oh. The Bobcats put up 59 points, an NBA record low for an opening game in the shot clock era, in getting smoked by the Celtics. When does college basketball start??