Puff’s Points, Conference Championships

Most of the NFL's pocket passers are entering "old age," with just a few
young guns roaming. We may not see them again on this stage for a while.

Cory Puffett

In less than three weeks there will be just one team celebrating victory. Today, there are four that have finished their celebrations and now look ahead to Sunday.

In the NFC, we have division rivals with young mobile quarterbacks, veteran power running backs and stingy defenses.

In the AFC, old rivals square off once again, the last great ones in a strain of quarterback we rarely see anymore. Brady and Manning will duel for the fourth time in the postseason as they lead two teams that have faced and overcome adversity all year.

I will have plenty more to write and say about those two matchups later in the week. First, let’s get to my thoughts from the past weekend, both in the playoffs and around the rest of the NFL.

1. RGIII-va

I’ve been all over Robert Griffin III this year, voicing my concern and irritation with his apparent “diva” attitude.

On Monday, one of Griffin’s Facebook posts popped up all over Twitter. ESPN and NFL.com then ran stories about it. The status concerned fans’ concerns about his large number of commercials, the sleeve and glove he wears in games, and even his seeming “all about me” attitude.

But that status was posted on Friday. And even to me it didn’t seem out of line. Sure it was defensive, but I can’t blame him for wanting to issue a short statement to his critics.

News stories are supposed to be timely. Three days after the fact isn’t “timely,” not to me at least. And if it isn’t a news story, leave it for the tabloids. We’re in the midst of a very exciting postseason. We don’t need Robert to be in the headlines. Find something better to write about, people.

2. Eagles’ Streak Ends

For four straight seasons, the team that faced Philadelphia in their home opener has gone on to win the Super Bowl. This year it was the San Diego Chargers that played the first regular season game in Lincoln Financial Field.

San Diego was eliminated on Sunday, ending the Eagles’ four-year run of luck for their opening day visitors.

Speaking of streaks ending, the Redskins also had one that will end this season. They had beaten the last three Super Bowl champions during the regular season that they won. Washington beat the Baltimore Ravens last regular season, the New York Giants twice the season before that and the Green Bay Packers in 2010.

If the Broncos or 49ers win the Super Bowl this year, the Redskins streak of playing the eventual Super Bowl champion every season since 2006 will continue. You have to love meaningless stats.

3. Another Coach Hired

The Washington Redskins announced last week that Jay Gruden will be their man, signing the first-time NFL head coach to a five-year contract. That followed a couple other head coaching announcements across the league.

With San Diego now out of the playoffs, the Tennessee Titans wasted no time in announcing Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt as their next head coach.

Coach Whisenhunt last held a head coaching position in Arizona from 2007-2012. He took the Cardinals to the franchise’s first Super Bowl after the 2008 season with Kurt Warner at quarterback. They won the NFC West again in 2009 and lost in the divisional round of the playoffs before winning just five games in two of the next three seasons.

Despite his poor record in five years as Arizona’s head coach, Whisenhunt is very well respected throughout the league.

4. Familiar Faces

The New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers are both making their third consecutive conference title game appearance. In both cases, a lot of credit goes to the coaches.

Bill Belichick turned the New England Patriots into the dynasty of the 2000s. The team had some success in the late 90’s after Robert Kraft took ownership of the team, but three Super Bowl titles in four years cleared the 90’s out of sight and out of mind.

Though it’s been nearly a decade since New England last hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, they’ve been a mainstay at the top of the AFC, and it’s thanks in large part to Belichick’s ability to absorb losses and keep the ship intact.

Jim Harbaugh is quickly gaining recognition as one of the league’s elite head coaches, and he is in just his third year. The former quarterback is the first head coach in the Super Bowl era to take his team to a conference championship game in each of his first three seasons. It becomes even more remarkable given the 49ers’ status as an NFC West cellar-dweller before his arrival.

It’s a few years early, but if things keep progressing as they have, the 49ers might well be known as a dynasty not only from the 80s, but in the 2010s, as well.

5. The Rematches Continue

Three of four wild card games were regular season rematches. Then three of four divisional playoff games were rematches from the regular season.

The trend continues this week as both conference title games feature teams that played each other in the regular season, twice in the case of NFC West rivals San Francisco and Seattle.

So far, the winner of the regular season matchup is 3-2, or 3-3 if you include only the most recent regular season meeting since Denver and San Diego split their regular season series.

New England beat Denver in Foxboro less than two months ago. The Broncos built a sizable halftime lead off of some New England turnovers and a couple nice drives by the offense, but even with the wind at his back Peyton Manning could not keep the ball away from the Patriots and Tom Brady led his team back in the third quarter and ultimately won by three.

The 49ers and Seahawks split their regular season series, Seattle blowing out San Francisco in Week 2 at CenturyLink before losing a close one at Candlestick late in the season. Colin Kaepernick has yet to overcome the 12^th Man and I’m not holding me breath that it will happen this week.

6. Experience vs. Youth

This storyline is going to dominate the two weeks leading into Super Bowl XLVIII, so let me be the first to point out that no matter who wins this weekend’s games, the Super Bowl will see a veteran traditional pocket passer on one sideline and a young gunslinger who won’t hesitate to scramble your defense to death on the other.

It will be an exciting and rare opportunity to see two eras, two leagues almost, clash at the highest level. Even if it means Tom Brady lifting a fourth Lombardi, I have to say that I’m hoping the traditional style wins out. We may not see a quarterback of that breed playing on this stage again for a long time.

7. Power Rankings

Yeah, I know, I couldn’t come up with three other interesting things to write about that didn’t involve previewing this weekend’s games. And I’m saving that for Thursday.

Last week only one team beat a team ranked higher than them in my power rankings, and that was New England, but their ranking measurement was less than 0.02 points worse than Indianapolis, so I’m pretty pleased with how they turned out.

I’ve recalculated my rankings for the four teams that remain, so here are my conference championship power rankings:

1. Seattle Seahawks (1.102)

2. San Francisco 49ers (1.405)

3. Denver Broncos (1.545)

4. New England Patriots (1.827)

So based on these numbers, we should expect to see both home teams win. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if it happens on the NFC side. It’s a little more dicey in the AFC.

Tomorrow I will write about the four remaining teams and their histories in the conference championship. Thursday I will preview both games and my official predictions will come on Friday.

2012 Week 17 Preview: Redskins vs Cowboys

The Cowboys/Redskins rivalry began before Dallas even got
the expansion team and is one of the best in the NFL.
Photo credit to Dallas Observer Blogs.

The Redskins’ playoff hopes hang in the balance, but not as much as the Dallas Cowboys, at least not currently – by game time, they may be on equal ground.

The Cowboys will win the NFC East with a victory. A loss knocks them out of the playoffs.

Likewise, the NFC East goes to Washington with a win, but they will need Minnesota and Chicago to both lose their matchups in order to get in with a loss to Dallas.

This is the first time Washington and Dallas will meet for a Week 17 matchup in which the winner clinches the division title, but they are no strangers to meeting in intense circumstances.

The Redskins/Cowboys rivalry is one of the most intense in all of sports. Some even go so far as to say it is the most intense in the NFL. They have met twice in the NFC Championship Game, and the Redskins won both meetings, going on to lose to the ’72 Dolphins and beat the ’82 Dolphins in those Super Bowl appearances.

NFL.com counted down the Top 10 games in their rivalry. Both NFC Championship meetings made the list, and you can see the other eight games here.

But those games are history. All that matters now is tomorrow’s game and the matchups within it.

Washington’s secondary has overachieved the past few weeks, but in the Thanksgiving matchup, Dez Bryant torched the Redskins with 8 catches for 145 yards and two scores. His thumb isn’t 100% but I expect him to be a major part of Dallas’ game plan Sunday.

On the Cowboys’ side, their defense has had to patch up a lot of holes with half of their defensive starters missing the past several games. So far they’ve done a good job of doing so, and their performance against New Orleans, up until the final few minutes, is why I give them a chance to shut down a Washington passing attack in which RG3 may or may not be at full strength.

The problem is that Washington also has an excellent run game – tops in the league, or near the top at least. If RG3 is healthy, that adds a lot to it, but Alfred Morris seemed to do all right for himself last week despite Philadelphia’s linebackers not having to worry about which rookie would be carrying the ball on any given play.

Washington’s offensive line has been one of the best in the NFL, for the first time in decades. Usually, that would not be enough for me to give them the edge over Dallas’ defensive line, mostly because of DeMarcus Ware. But Ware has been battling injury all season. He has still put up impressive numbers, but he has not been quite as intimidating a force as in past seasons.

I give Washington the edge in this one, but I expect it to go down the wire, which is the way it should be for a game like this between these two teams. This one ought to have Redskins and Cowboys fan alike on the edge of their seats until the clock reads 0:00. Anything less would be a disappointment.

Puff’s Pick: Washington Redskins over Dallas Cowboys

Monday Night Football Afterword: Redskins vs Giants

Rober Griffin III tries to high-step out of a tackle on an
electric run in the second half. Photo credit to Washington Times.

It took a little bit of luck – an early missed field goal by Lawrence Tynes – and a lot of luck – a fumble that almost wasn’t by Robert Griffin III that bounced right into the hands of Josh Morgan, who took it for a score – for the Redskins to defeat their division rival on Monday night. Luck did not make it any less of a statement game for Washington.

The mantra of the defense seemed to be ‘bend, but don’t break’ all night long. For many defenses, this is not the way you want things to go because it means time of possession favors your opponent. In Washington’s case, it was the best philosophy to take. They gave up a lot of yards. They held Eli Manning to 280 passing yards, but New York eclipsed the Redskins’ rush yards allowed per game before the third quarter ended. But as New York’s field shrunk, Washington’s defense tightened, giving up just one touchdown and forcing four field goals, three of which Tynes connected with.

The low scoring of the Giants was enough for the Redskins to pull out the win as Kai Forbath continues to be perfect on field goal attempts this season and RG3 threw a touchdown pass in addition to the fumble-touchdown in the first quarter.

The best part for the Redskins? The victory came on a national stage. With San Francisco’s loss to the Rams and no shortage of doubters when it comes to the Falcons, the Giants seemed primed to take their place as the favorite among NFC playoff contenders. Now the NFC East is, once again, wide open with the Redskins and Cowboys trailing New York by just one game.

As a Redskins fan, the fourth quarter is a dreadful time to be leading. Washington has always become too conservative, but yesterday the Redskins took a shot downfield and converted a first down near field goal range. They ran the ball after that, but it was refreshing to see a running back push through a pile to gain six yards on 3^rd & 3. Alfred Morris finished the game with well over 100 yards and has topped 1,000 yards on the season. Griffin III has broken Cam Newton’s record for rushing yards in a season by a quarterback.

The Redskins have beaten their last three division opponents since their heartbreaking loss in New York. They still have the Eagles, who they blew out, and the Cowboys, who they outran, left on their schedule in addition to a showdown with the Ravens next week and the Browns later in the schedule.

The Giants also have to face the Ravens and Eagles, but they will have two challenges in the next two weeks against the Saints at home and the Falcons in Atlanta, leaving a very real possibility for the Redskins, or the Cowboys, to sneak away with a division title in a year neither was popularly expected to contend.

Thanksgiving Football Afterword

The Lions have played every Thanksgiving
since 1945 while the Cowboys' series
began in 1966.

What a day. I love Thanksgiving. After all, you can’t beat the three F’s – Football, Football and … Football. Oh yeah, family and food are somewhere in there.

The early game was as odd as it was exciting. The Texans are the first team since 1994 to play two overtimes in a five-day span. They are also the first team to win both of those games.

Justin Forsett's (28) elbow is clearly down and his knee
appears to be, too. Photo credit to The Kansas City Star.

The win came after two missed field goals in overtime, one by each team. But the odd moment came in the third quarter. With the ball on the 19-yard line, Matt Schaub handed the ball off to Justin Forsett, who took it 81 yards to the house, the longest run in Texans franchise history. The only problem was, seven yards into the run, both his elbow and knee touched the turf. It wasn’t obvious at first, and the officials did not blow the whistle. But it was a scoring play; it would be reviewed, right? Well, it would have, and the officials would have corrected their mistake through the review, as they have the opportunity to on every scoring play – because officials do make mistakes occasionally. Why didn’t they? Jim Schwartz threw his challenge flag, that’s why. He had thrown it before Forsett even got to the end zone. But, by rule, if a coach illegally challenges a play that is automatically reviewed, the play can no longer be reviewed because the team may not benefit from an illegal challenge.

Had Forsett not scored, there is no telling what would have happened. The fact that Houston won, even though the rules were followed perfectly, left a bad taste in my mouth about this game.

Pierre Garçon has spent much of the
season hurt, but provided a spark on
Thanksgiving. Photo credit to star-telegram.com

The middle game in the Thanksgiving lineup was a homecoming for Robert Griffin III as he met the Cowboys for the first time in his career. Dallas led 3-0 at the first break, but four second quarter touchdowns, three of them passes by RGIII, gave Washington a 28-3 lead at halftime. As we’ve seen so often in these matchups, Dallas came back and looked like the Redskins might be on the edge of a total collapse, but the offense stayed strong and scored just enough to win. After a late Dallas field goal brought the score to 38-31, Dallas attempted an onside kick, which was recovered immediately by DeAngelo Hall who ran all the way to the 1, where he slid down rather than scoring to go up by two touchdowns with just a few seconds left.

RGIII became the first rookie since at least 1950 with consecutive 4+ passing touchdown games. It was also the first time in seven tries that the Redskins beat the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.

The late game was interesting for about five minutes, during which the Patriots scored 28 points to take a 28-0 lead after going into the first quarter break tied at 0-0. The second half was kind of boring with no more exciting plays to speak of.

Mark Sanchez slams into Brandon
Moore's (65) rear end in the second
quarter. Photo credit to The New York Post.

The slaughter began deep in Patriots territory, when Mark Sanchez threw pass that was undercut by a safety and taken the distance. A couple minutes later, the Patriots had the ball at their 17-yard line and nobody covered Shane Vereen on a swing route and he caught a pass from Brady and took it 83 yards to the house. A minute or so later, Mark Sanchez made a huge mistake by turning the wrong way on a handoff, tried to run with the ball, slammed into his lineman’s rear end, and fumbled the ball when he hit the ground. That turnover was taken the distance. On the ensuing kickoff, Joe McKnight fumbled directly into the hands of Julian Edelman who took it to the end zone.

It was the most bizarre five minutes of football I’ve ever seen, but not nearly as bizarre as the Jets’ meltdown was hilarious.

The Jets build their team to beat the Patriots, and they have now lost four consecutive games to their rivals. If they can’t even beat the team that they focus on throughout the offseason, how do they expect to ever make the playoffs?

Thanks for reading everyone and enjoy the rest of Week 12. I’ll be back Monday with my Sunday Afterwords!

Sunday Football Afterword: Week 11 Early Games

Robert Griffin III became the second rookie QB to post a
perfect passer rating (Drew Bledsoe, 1993). It was the third such
game for a Redskins QB. Photo credit to NY Daily News.

In just one game, Matt Ryan took himself out of the MVP race. Atlanta held off the Cardinals, 23-19, but the fact that the Falcons could win a game in which their quarterback threw five interceptions goes to show that Atlanta is not relying completely on their ‘star’ under center.

Three games went into overtime on Sunday, but, sadly, no more ties. The Buccaneers held off the Panthers in a game that should not have been as close as it was. It took a late touchdown and 2-point conversion just to push the game into overtime, but a wide open Dallas Clark hauled in the winning score on a throw that wasn’t very accurate for having the receiver so open.

In another overtime contest, the Browns gave the Cowboys a run, and Dallas probably should have lost, but ten times the Browns were called for defensive penalties resulting in Dallas first downs. Penalties were the top story of this game and they ultimately led to an overtime loss in Dallas, 23-20.

The Cowboys have a short week as they prepare for their annual Thanksgiving game. This year, they will be playing the Redskins who, fresh off their bye week, exposed every flaw in the Eagles’ game plan to the tune of 31-6. RGIII threw for a career-high four touchdowns, two of them over 45 yards. The Redskins are still an explosive offense, and are not yet out of the playoff race, but it will be tough because one poor game, one loss, will most likely end any chance they have.

The third playoff game of the afternoon was in Houston, where the Texans, arguably the best team in the NFL, hosted division opponent Jacksonville, probably the worst team in the NFL. Not only did the game go into overtime, but it was a shootout that went to overtime. The Texans became the first team in NFL history to score twice in overtime as the teams traded field goals on their opening overtime possessions and the dagger was stuck when Andre Johnson capped off a career day, and by far his best game of the season, with his first and only touchdown catch. The final score was 43-37.

Green Bay didn’t have as easy a time as I expected but still got the win in Detroit. The Lions, like the Cowboys, will have a short week as they prepare for no small task. They will have to defend home field against the Houston Texans. It will be the Texans’ first Thanksgiving game.

Cincinnati took care of the Chiefs, as most of us expected, but the game that really surprised me was in St. Louis, where the Jets handled the Rams, 27-13. Mark Sanchez, yes, our Sanchise who has rarely topped 50% in the completion percentage column in any game this season, went 15/20 for 178 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, the Jets offense did not turn the ball over once. The Jets will play the Patriots in the late game on Thanksgiving Thursday.

Check back later for my Sunday Football Afterword for the four late games. Thanks for reading everyone!

Sunday Football Afterword: Week 7 Early Games

There were eight 1:00 games on Sunday, eight!! That’s a lot, especially when there were only 2 in the early evening slot. But let’s get too all the early action.

Some games just plain were not exciting. Baltimore played a lousy game, continued to ignore their all-pro running back by only giving Ray Rice nine carries in the game, and got blown out by Houston 43-13. On the new Total Quarterback Rating system, which rates everything a quarterback does on a scale of 0-100, Flacco scored 0.3, the lowest for any quarterback since 2008. The bright side was that Terrell Suggs was not only back but also phenomenal, but it did little to slow down the Texans attack.

Dallas and Carolina played a close game, but it was also boring. Cam Newton continues to show that he struggles with adversity, and the Panthers ought to just be called the Steve Smiths, because he seems to be the only one out there who knows what he’s doing. The Panthers should have won the game.

New Orleans and Tampa Bay played a very strange game. Drew Brees was rolling in the first half with over 300 passing yards, 4 touchdown passes and one interception on a tipped ball. He had 32 fantasy points in my league at halftime! He totaled 3 more fantasy points in the second half as the Saints went insanely conservative and the Buccaneers led a furious comeback that almost sent the game into overtime if it hadn’t been for illegal touching being called on a Tampa Bay touchdown pass on the last play of the game. I know it’s typically frowned upon to run up the score, but that’s when you’re winning by three scored in the last 5 minutes of the game. When it’s halftime, no lead is safe; we saw that last Monday Night.

I didn’t get a chance to see much footage from the Packers win over the Rams or Minnesota’s 21-14 win over Arizona. Generally I can watch a bit from everything, but eight games at once was a bit much.

The Bills played much better than I anticipated, which seems to be a common trend. They are very streaky. There are teams that do really well one week and then very poorly the next and I learn quickly not to jump on the bandwagon after a good week. Then there is Buffalo. They’ll play very well for a few weeks and I’ll start thinking they’ve gotten things figured out, then they back into irrelevance for a while and we overlook them. They showed up against Tennessee, but, just their luck, Chris Johnson decided to have his second good game of the season and Matt Hasselbeck showed that he isn’t as washed up as many people seem to think.

The Colts played a pretty good game, but so too did the Browns. I can’t sit here and say that Cleveland will be an AFC North title contender in a few years time, because the Browns have an uncanny knack for screwing up their team in the offseason and starting right where they did the year before every year. But Brandon Weeden is playing very well, maybe even better than Andrew Luck the past two weeks. But the Colts have a couple more pieces than Cleveland and were able to pull out an important win.

I don’t think anybody would argue about the most exciting game of the day. The Giants and Redskins squared off in East Rutherford and it was quite a battle. The first half saw the Redskins score on all three possessions (a touchdown and two field goals). The Giants scored three times on four possessions and it was tied at 13 at halftime. The second half was entirely different, but both teams still scored plenty.

Eli Manning threw two uncharacteristic interceptions in the second half, but the Redskins turned the ball over four times in the last 30 minutes, three of them on fumbles. Griffin III’s only interception was on a double clutch that he normally would not have released. The turnovers were enough to doom Washington. RGIII led a drive late in the fourth quarter to give the Redskins the lead, but it was too soon as Manning quickly found Victor Cruz for a long touchdown play. There was still plenty of time for Washington, and they were driving nicely, but Santana Moss fumbled near midfield with about 45 seconds left to play and that was it.

Check back later for my Sunday Football Afterword for the three late games. Thanks for reading everyone!

10 Things You Need to Know: NFL Regular Season Week 6

Hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman had some choice words
for Dallas fans. Read on to see what he said.

‘Like’ The All-Sports Crew on Facebook to keep up with updates! After recording our show and podcasting it, but not appearing live on air, last Wednesday, The All-Sports Crew will be back on WMUC Sports, live, tonight from 7-8.

10.            Alex Karras dead at 77.

Karras was one of the greatest defensive linemen in the 1960s, playing the tackle position for the Detroit Lions. He died Wednesday morning in Los Angeles after suffering from dementia. He was among the few thousand former NFL players suing the league for their past treatment of head injuries.

9.            RGIII to Play in Week 6, Cundiff out for Washington

Robert Griffin III practiced on Tuesday and expects to be ready to go on Sunday when the Redskins host the Vikings and look for their first home win in over a year.

Billy Cundiff, after missing five of six field goal attempts in the last three weeks, was cut on Tuesday. Washington signed former UCLA kicker Kai Forbath as a replacement after working out him, Olindo Mare and Josh Brown.

8.            Playoff Picture

Week 5 just ended, so why not go ahead and start looking at the playoff picture? I’ll tell you why: because it’s ridiculous!! Anything can still happen, and some of the teams that are on the edge right now will go on 8-game losing streaks and fall way out of contention. Why else? Well, because everyone is still technically in contention right now. Not one team is mathematically out of the playoff hunt.

All the same, it is fun to look at which teams would be in if the season were to end today. Houston would have the highest seed in the AFC with Baltimore earning the other bye. Pittsburgh would play in San Diego and Cincinnati would play in New England for the wild-card games. In the NFC, the other undefeated team, Atlanta, would hold the top seed and Minnesota would be the other team straight through to the divisional round. The Cardinals would host San Francisco and Chicago would visit Philadelphia for the wild-card playoffs.

7.            Fantasy Disappointments

There were plenty of fantasy disappointments this week, so I’ll just list a few that stood out to me.

• Joe Flacco had only 6 points against the Chiefs, but that’s what happens when your team doesn’t put the ball in the end zone.
• Andre Johnson was nowhere to be found on Monday Night, making just one reception for 15 years – 1.5 points in my PPR league.
• After a breakout performance against Houston, CJ3K came crashing back down, carrying 15 times for 24 yards and a fumble against Minnesota. He had 0.5 points in my PPR league for one short reception.
• Mike Wallace, the Steelers receiver, had just 2 points in my league. 

6.            Fantasy Surprises

• Drew Brees had a great, 34 point game on Sunday Night, but we’re used to that. His receivers, though, usually don’t have those scores because he spreads it around so much. Marques Colston caught all three of Brees’ touchdown passes and got 35.5 fantasy points.
• Reggie Wayne had a huge game, playing through emotions and cramps to 33.5 fantasy points.
• When you think of QBs who can put up 30+ fantasy points, you don’t think of Alex Smith, but he scored 33 this weekend.
• Aaron Rodgers scored 27 fantasy points this weekend, and though that shouldn’t be surprising, considering he’s done to poorly so far this year, it’s cause of excitement.

5.            Games to Watch

Like last week, I’ll be more specific on why these are the biggest games to watch in my predictions post tomorrow.

• Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• Detroit Lions at Philadelphia Eagles (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)
• Minnesota Vikings at Washington Redskins (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)
• Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers (Monday, 8:30 p.m.)

4.            Power Rankings

For the sake of space, I will list just the top 6 and the bottom 6 here. You can see the rest on NFL.com.

1. Houston Texans	27. Kansas City Chiefs
2. San Francisco 49ers	28. New Orleans Saints
3. Atlanta Falcons	29. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Baltimore Ravens	30. Tennessee Titans
5. Chicago Bears	31. Oakland Raiders
6. New England Patriots	32. Cleveland Browns

A lot of teams get to stay at or near the same place this week. The top 4 all stayed the same, as did the bottom 3. Several teams moved one or two places, but there were a handful that got huge jumps…or huge drops. The Dolphins jumped 6 places, as did the Rams and Steelers, but no one jumped more than the 8 spots the Colts did after their home defeat of the Packers. For that loss, the Packers dropped 9 spots, five more than any other team – the Broncos, Chargers and Bills all lost five places.

On the NFL.com Power Poll, the Texans are still #1, but no longer unanimously. No, the Falcons didn’t steal votes, the 49ers did - one vote. The Texans took 12 of 13 and still sit on the top of the pyramid. AFC teams hold seven of the bottom eight spots.

3.            New England Patriots

The Patriots used a big win over Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos to vault themselves into the top 6 of the NFL.com Power Rankings. Other than a couple of turnovers that nearly let Manning lead his new team to a victory, the Patriots played a brilliant game with a brilliant game plan. The defense struggled slightly at times, but played well, and the offense moved the ball efficiently, making the still-solid Broncos defense look like amateurs.

2.            Houston Texans

The Texans continue to lead the NFL.com Power Rankings and Power Poll, and it’s getting to where there is only so much I can find to write about them. This week, my topic is injury. Brian Cushing is out for the season, so don’t hold your breath for a perfect season. The Texans haven’t even gotten into their NFC schedule, where they play the North division. I don’t think they’ll beat the Packers, Bears and Vikings. And they’ve got plenty of tough opponents left in the AFC. Still, this is a team to be feared, and they have a target on their back now. This is a new position for Houston to be in.

1.            Troy Aikman Spits the Truth!

Troy Aikman had some strong words for Dallas fans. I’m not from there, so I can’t tell you for sure, but it certainly seems to be about right from my vantage point. Read about it here and tell me what you think.