 The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Week 12) Another wacky week of NFL football. How about Philly almost pulling the biggest upset of the season so far up in New England? Or Brett Favre completing 20 passes in a row for the first time in his career… in his 17th season! There was also Eli Manning getting owned by the Vikings’ defense. Let’s also not forget about the lowest scoring game in like 60 years between the Steelers and Dolphins. Despite the low score, I still found the game entertaining. If nothing else because I know how much I love playing football in the mud and can only imagine how much better it is when you get an NFL paycheck with it. Unfortunately this week also brought the NFL, and especially the Redskins family, a sad loss with the death of Sean Taylor. Personally, I’m in shock more than anything else. Taylor was in top physical shape. You’d think a shot to the leg, even if it hits an artery, wouldn’t kill someone so fit. I mean if Tony Danza can survive a ski mobile accident, why can’t someone like Sean Taylor pull through? It’s one thing when you see a young athlete with so much promise throw it all away with drugs, alcohol, or dog fighting. It’s so much more saddening when you see a gifted man like Sean Taylor who was winning the battle with his demons get his opportunity cut short by some thug who solves their problems by robbing and killing. To also hear about the evidence pointing towards a pre-meditated killing makes me so mad I don’t know what to do. OK, I’m done venting.Without further ado, this week’s rankings… Blondie (The Good) 1. New England Patriots: All I can say is, “Game on.” Philly proved the Pats are mortal. They had the perfect game plan but couldn’t quite execute it to perfection which is what you will have to do to beat the Patriots. 2 (tie). Dallas Cowboys: Let this Thursday’s game against the Packers determine home field advantage for the NFC. 2 (tie). Green Bay Packers: At the high level both Dallas and Green Bay are playing, I can’t favor one over the other so I’m glad the schedule permitted these two to figure it out on the field. 4. Indianapolis Colts: The other main event of the week is this Sunday’s match of Indy vs. the Jags. Should the Colts win here, they can move into the space occupied by the loser of the Packers/Cowboys game. 5. Jacksonville Jaguars: If the Jags beat the Colts on Sunday they will be in a tie for first place in the AFC South and have a strong chance to snag the # 2 seed in the AFC. 6. Pittsburgh Steelers: Ordinarily beating a winless team by a late 4th quarter field goal at home would be grounds to fall in the ranking but Heinz Field was a complete mess Monday night. Both teams played in the horrendous condition and the Steelers still found a way to win. Good enough for me. 7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Gruden has these guys playing some sick defense. I’d watch out for Jeff Garcia’s back though. How long he can take those hits will determine how far the Bucs can go. 8. Cleveland Browns: Good to see the Browns back in the playoff hunt. Now that they are actually playing some defense, Jamal Lewis is running effectively, and considering Pittsburgh’s tough schedule down the stretch, the AFC North title isn’t a pipe dream. 9. San Diego Chargers: If San Diego can win 4 out of their last 5 games, they should be able to clinch the AFC West. 10. Seattle Seahawks: With no real running attack the ‘Hawks are having to resort to Matt Hasselbeck’s arm. He’s my fantasy QB so that’s more than fine with me! 11. NY Giants: After the 6-2 start I’m sure most of us were waiting for the Giants’ annual implosion. The disgraceful performance against Minnesota might be the straw that broke the Giants’ back. Angel Eyes (The Bad) 12. Philadelphia Eagles: Even though they lost, Philly has to be proud to say nobody in the NFL played the Pats harder than them… with AJ Feely at the helm no less! 13. Tennessee Titans: The Titans have had a few miserable losses lately but Jeff Fischer claims Albert Haynesworth will be back this week. If that’s true I can’t let them slide that far. 14. New Orleans Saints: The Saints can gain some ground with a win over Tampa on Sunday. If they lose however, they can kiss this season goodbye because the Bucs aren’t losing in the regular season the rest of the way. 15. Chicago Bears: Devin Hester is still the cream of the crop in a year with many outstanding kick returners. 16. Denver Broncos: For the love of God, why would you keep kicking to Devin Hester when you know he’ll burn you every time? 17. Arizona Cardinals: Huge game from Kurt Warner. Shame to see him lose the game from a safety. 18. Minnesota Vikings: We knew their defense was tough against the run, but they made Eli Manning look like a 3rd string rookie and not the franchise QB he’s supposed to be. 19. Washington Redskins: I don’t know how the Redskins are going to focus on football after the Sean Taylor tragedy. But here’s where good coaching comes in. If I’m Joe Gibbs, I’m telling my team that I know it hurts, but we all have a job to do. Are we gonna feel sorry for ourselves and let this season slip away? Or are we going to take this pain and turn it into a fire to run the table in the NFC and treat every guy we hit on the field like the piece of crap that shot Sean in his house? Don’t quit. Sean would never let you quit. 20. Detroit Lions: While the Lions still own the NFC’s last wild card, if gambling were legal, I’d bet mucho dinero they don’t make the playoffs. 21. Buffalo Bills: Here’s a team that is only winning one or two more games this season. The game against the Redskins will either see the Bills taking it to an emotionally drained team, or the Bills getting devastated by a newly motivated Redskins team. 22. Kansas City Chiefs: Losers of 4 in a row, the Chiefs may have played themselves out of playoff contention. Good to see they may have a star in rookie Kolby Smith though. 23. Houston Texans: There’s more than a good chance Houston won’t win again this season. But at least they can actually look back and see huge improvements from past seasons. 24. Cincinnati Bengals: Cincy had an impressive win on Sunday. According to Chad Johnson, they are finishing 9-7. OK Chad. But that means beating the Steelers in Pittsburgh this Sunday. A place where you haven’t had much success. Do you know something we don’t know? Tuco (The Ugly) 25. Baltimore Ravens: I’m not going to bet whether Baltimore wins or loses against New England. No, I want to put my money down that they don’t score one touchdown. 26. St. Louis Rams: Once again Gus Ferrotte has found a way to break his team’s heart. To lose the game on a fumble at the goal line with so much anticipation on the play was pretty much the most anti-climactic moment this season. 27. Carolina Panthers: I wonder how Dennis Dixon or Matt Ryan will look in Carolina blue. 28. San Francisco 49ers: I don’t care if they beat the Cardinals. This team is still useless. 29. Oakland Raiders: Despite being 3-8, the Raiders can start to see a light at the end of the tunnel. It appears that Justin Fargas can be a feature back. You have your quarterback of the future set up in JaMarcus Russell, and your defense is consistently formidable. Once they get the discipline and execution down, who knows they might go 8-8. 30. NY Jets: Is there an awkward silence in the Mangini house when that Verizon Razr commercial where Eric Mangini throws his phone into a truck comes on? 31. Atlanta Falcons: At least for the first quarter against Indy, it looked like they were going to make a game of it. Then Peyton Manning showed them what a real NFL quarterback looks like. 32. Miami Dolphins: How surreal was it to see Ricky Williams carrying the ball on Monday night? Maybe he can donate some grass to the Pittsburgh grounds crew.
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