Oh, what a great week of football. Congrats Tard, on the Saints .... oh, wait. Yes, those Saints of yours, which I, rightfully by the way, said reminded me too much of the Saints last year. You know, 8-8ish, will win games and lose games with no great consistency. Hmm, they really appear to be the threat now, huh? But, you're right, 14 games to go. I noticed you didn't say, "...to the regular season." Do you just mean that the Saints have 14 more games this season total, including playoffs. Yeah, sounds about right! 
Here's what I think we can safely say right now, the best teams in the AFC are Denver and Buffalo. Indianapolis, as hurt as they are, should be up there if they get healthy. NE still doesn't impress me, although there defense played well. Brett Favre, I'm afraid, is still Brett Favre.
The best teams in the NFC are clearly Dallas, NY, GB, and Philly. I think, truly, anybody who talks about a lack of talent in the NFC is just regurgitating what somebody said 3 years ago. Has the balance of power shifted? Particularly if there are long-reaching effects to Brady's injury, (just ask McNabb, it takes more than 12 months to come back from an ACL, you're not really yourself for 24 months, and then will the Pats talent and age prevent them from being as dominant, and will Moss be that patient). Also, if Indy can't stay healthy as some of their talent ages, and Dungy is packing his bags ... It certainly seems like the talent is in the NFC now.
Is it just me, or the Packers better than last year? No, no, I'm better than last year too.
Dallas and Philly. Well, Tard, what say you know?
Tard will mention that Romo threw an interception and had a fumble in the end zone. Then he will say that that proves that Romo is not a good QB and that Dallas sucks. He will neglect to mention that Romo overcame that to throw for well over 300 yards, and that he had 3 TDs and that he completed passes to 7 different receivers, and that he had a sweet 60 yard bomb to TO and a beautiful rainbow TD pass to Barber.
Some will point to the porous defense of Dallas last night, but will neglect to mention that Dallas held Philly to 7 second half points, and held Philly on the last drive, the most important drive of the game. They will also neglect to mention that Philly actually allowed more points than Dallas did, and neglect to mention that Philly scored one touchdown on a fumble recovery, (that they did not force, just as Dallas did not force Philly's fumble), and that Philly found themselves on the 1 yard line after a bogus pass interference call. So, Philly certainly moved the ball well, that cannot be denied, but Dallas wasn't atrocious. I mean, these were two great teams duking it out. Sometimes defense goes out the window when teams have that much talent. NE and Indy had some great shoot-outs in their playoff games. More than anything, I loved Dallas holding Philly to only 7 second half points. They controlled the game when they had to.
Next week's Dallas at Green Bay game will be fantastic. No matter what, it looks like Green Bay, Philly, the Giants, and Dallas will be the four teams slugging it out in the NFC, and I do like the chances of any of those teams to win the Super Bowl. I think it's pretty remarkable when one can honestly make the case that 3 of the top 5 teams in the league are in the same division. Seriously, if you're ranking the top teams right now, it's those 4, plus Pittsburgh, Denver, and Buffalo. What order do you put those 7 teams in? Buffalo has looked good, against one very good team and one lousy team. Denver looked great against a lousy team and very good against a very good team, so they're kind of the same as Buffalo, you can put them up there, but not necessarily one and two. Pittsburgh play a good team, (Cleveland), fairly close, but in bad weather, and destroyed Houston, and I have no idea if Houston is horrible or okay. The Giants destroyed perhaps the worst team in the league, then looked pretty good against a so-so team in Washington. Philly destroyed that same worst team, and played great against a great team, but lost. Here's what I would say:
1. Dallas
2. NY Giants
3. Denver
4. Pittsburgh
5. Philly
6. Buffalo
7. Green Bay
Green Bay would be higher if they didn't let Detroit get so close at the end, and I'm not totally sure how good Minnesota really is, but regardless, GB still looks very good and putting them at 7 was hard, they could easily be 2 or 3. Hell, if they win next week, which they won't, I think they have to be #1. I think Denver would beat Pittsburgh right now, and Buffalo, and probably Philly.
(Then, who knows about Carolina, they might be pretty good. New Orleans has the talent, but they've got to do more to impress me. Indy has to get healthy. If NE plays well against some good teams, then we'll see. Beating KC by 7 and beating the Jets doesn't inspire me. Tampa isn't for real. Minnesota has a long way to go. Jacksonville is hobbled. Tennessee might be really good, but if Young comes back healthy they're still not inspiring.)
Go Cowboys!
Here's what I think we can safely say right now, the best teams in the AFC are Denver and Buffalo. Indianapolis, as hurt as they are, should be up there if they get healthy. NE still doesn't impress me, although there defense played well. Brett Favre, I'm afraid, is still Brett Favre.
The best teams in the NFC are clearly Dallas, NY, GB, and Philly. I think, truly, anybody who talks about a lack of talent in the NFC is just regurgitating what somebody said 3 years ago. Has the balance of power shifted? Particularly if there are long-reaching effects to Brady's injury, (just ask McNabb, it takes more than 12 months to come back from an ACL, you're not really yourself for 24 months, and then will the Pats talent and age prevent them from being as dominant, and will Moss be that patient). Also, if Indy can't stay healthy as some of their talent ages, and Dungy is packing his bags ... It certainly seems like the talent is in the NFC now.
Is it just me, or the Packers better than last year? No, no, I'm better than last year too.
Dallas and Philly. Well, Tard, what say you know?
Tard will mention that Romo threw an interception and had a fumble in the end zone. Then he will say that that proves that Romo is not a good QB and that Dallas sucks. He will neglect to mention that Romo overcame that to throw for well over 300 yards, and that he had 3 TDs and that he completed passes to 7 different receivers, and that he had a sweet 60 yard bomb to TO and a beautiful rainbow TD pass to Barber.Some will point to the porous defense of Dallas last night, but will neglect to mention that Dallas held Philly to 7 second half points, and held Philly on the last drive, the most important drive of the game. They will also neglect to mention that Philly actually allowed more points than Dallas did, and neglect to mention that Philly scored one touchdown on a fumble recovery, (that they did not force, just as Dallas did not force Philly's fumble), and that Philly found themselves on the 1 yard line after a bogus pass interference call. So, Philly certainly moved the ball well, that cannot be denied, but Dallas wasn't atrocious. I mean, these were two great teams duking it out. Sometimes defense goes out the window when teams have that much talent. NE and Indy had some great shoot-outs in their playoff games. More than anything, I loved Dallas holding Philly to only 7 second half points. They controlled the game when they had to.
Next week's Dallas at Green Bay game will be fantastic. No matter what, it looks like Green Bay, Philly, the Giants, and Dallas will be the four teams slugging it out in the NFC, and I do like the chances of any of those teams to win the Super Bowl. I think it's pretty remarkable when one can honestly make the case that 3 of the top 5 teams in the league are in the same division. Seriously, if you're ranking the top teams right now, it's those 4, plus Pittsburgh, Denver, and Buffalo. What order do you put those 7 teams in? Buffalo has looked good, against one very good team and one lousy team. Denver looked great against a lousy team and very good against a very good team, so they're kind of the same as Buffalo, you can put them up there, but not necessarily one and two. Pittsburgh play a good team, (Cleveland), fairly close, but in bad weather, and destroyed Houston, and I have no idea if Houston is horrible or okay. The Giants destroyed perhaps the worst team in the league, then looked pretty good against a so-so team in Washington. Philly destroyed that same worst team, and played great against a great team, but lost. Here's what I would say:
1. Dallas
2. NY Giants
3. Denver
4. Pittsburgh
5. Philly
6. Buffalo
7. Green Bay
Green Bay would be higher if they didn't let Detroit get so close at the end, and I'm not totally sure how good Minnesota really is, but regardless, GB still looks very good and putting them at 7 was hard, they could easily be 2 or 3. Hell, if they win next week, which they won't, I think they have to be #1. I think Denver would beat Pittsburgh right now, and Buffalo, and probably Philly.
(Then, who knows about Carolina, they might be pretty good. New Orleans has the talent, but they've got to do more to impress me. Indy has to get healthy. If NE plays well against some good teams, then we'll see. Beating KC by 7 and beating the Jets doesn't inspire me. Tampa isn't for real. Minnesota has a long way to go. Jacksonville is hobbled. Tennessee might be really good, but if Young comes back healthy they're still not inspiring.)
Go Cowboys!
