No time to mince words, just be blunt: it was a rough week for the Top Ten. Three of last week’s top ten lost, and three more snuck away with wins in the most absurd of ways.

The Patriots and Cardinals fell out of the rankings this week. The Patriots lost to the Steelers by a wide margin at home. In a sentence, they offense got shut down and the defense failed to show up. It was almost expected though; defense has been the Patriots’ problem all season long.

For the Cardinals, they just got outplayed by the Eagles. In the process, they lost yet another chance to clinch their division. Though, I must admit, it would be kind of fun to see a team get into the playoffs at 7-9.

The two new arrivals this week, taking over the spots of the Pats and Cards, are the Cowboys and Falcons. Both teams have won eight games and are fighting for the second wild card position in the NFC. Unfortunately, both will likely end the season with better records than the winners of the NFC North and NF C West.

The full list is after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

Just some thoughts on Sunday’s games… since we can all agree that, even with a Monday Night game on the horizon, sitting around Sunday and not seeing your team play is just plain boring.

… Good teams are struggling. The Cowboys lost. The Broncos lost (Actually, I might not call the Broncos a good team, lucky, really. Still good enough by record). The Bills, Chargers… everybody’s having issues. Even the Eagles are having issues separating from the Bears.

…. Passing games are “in” this season. Running games aren’t being used the way we’re used to seeing. Look at the numbers around the league… Favre and Warner in a shootout. Drew Brees. Romo and Jason Campbell. It’s just pass-happy everywhere you look.

… Speaking of Favre and Warner, were their games enough to convince anyone else that we need to do further research into the side effects of those little purple pills? Also, Favre appears to be aiming for his age in terms of touchdowns this year. Favre will turn 39 in just a few weeks. 39 TDs would match his career total.

… Thanks to the pass-happy league, a truly powerful running game is even more valuable and will prove even more important as the season goes on. Larry Johnson ran all over the Broncos (nearly 200 yards). And look back over the Chargers win… they exploded thanks to Tomlinson’s 4th quarter.

… There is nothing uglier than two bad teams playing bad football. Dear CBS, why did we have to watch the Browns-Bengals game? Folks say Ravens game are boring and ugly to watch. I always argue that there is an element of beauty in watching a great defense do it’s best… even if it doesn’t make for high-scoring football. But if you want to see truly horrific football, watch a pair of 0-3 teams go at it with a back-up quarterback in one offense and a man desperately clinging to his starting job in the other.

… At 1-3, it’s hard to see why the Vikings were such a favorite in the NFC this season. Not just the NFC North, but the NFC-period. Then you look around more and see that the Lions are 0-3, the Packers are 2-2 and the Bears will be, at best, 2-2 at night’s end. Maybe there is hope. But for some reason, I don’t think Gus Frerotte nor Tavaris Jackson will do much to help their situation.

… Steve Smith is a freak. In case you missed it, I’m sure you’ll be able to find his 56-yard TD reception on ESPN and NFL.com within hours.

… Herm Edwards is a moron. I used to respect the man in New York because he made some things happen despite slow starts. But what he’s doing in Kansas City baffles the mind. Following a great upset of the Broncos, you’d think he’d learn that Damon Huard and Larry Johnson know how to win some football games. But something tells me that next week, Johnson will be back down to 15 carries and Huard will be ’spelled’ by any number of no-name rooks.

… The Bills are 4-0. Next week they play the Cards and, I predict they will be 5-0. But, I honestly doubt their ability to make the playoffs.

… The 49ers are still looking like the best team in the NFC West. That’s pretty cool for the 49ers. And pretty sad for the NFC West.

I’ll be interviewing Arizona Cardinals tight end Ben Patrick tonight. Patrick was signed to the Arizona Cardinals practice squad last September, after being cut from the roster less than a week earlier. He was promoted to the active roster on October 29. Patrick finished the 2007 season playing in 8 games with 3 games started with 7 receptions for 73 yards, including a long of 21 yards, for two touchdowns. If you have any questions for Ben, email them before 7:00 pm EST.