The "Big 9" Week 7 Edition

What a crazy crazy week in the NFL. The Redskins, Cowboys and Giants all looked awful. The Falcons and Cardinals come up with huge exciting wins and Cleveland out of no where looks like the Browns of last year. This causes quite a shake up in the big 9.

1 (4) Tennessee Titans 5-0 - Can it really be anyone else at this point? Our top 3 teams from last week all lost to inferior opponents. The Titans remain the lone undefeated team in the NFL. Their schedule also stays weak with a match-up against the Chiefs this week.

2 (1) New York Giants 4-1 - Their defense looked pretty awful last night against the Browns and Eli went back to his old ways of turning the ball over at every opportunity. Still, every tea, has some bumps in the road and the Giants have looked too good over their last 10 games to just collapse.

3 (5) Pittsburgh Steelers 4-1 - The Steelers move up two spots during a bye week. Willie Parker should be back and healthy this week, and the Steelers should have no trouble improving their record to 5-1 against the lowly Bengals.

4 (2) Washington Redskins 4-2 - Of all the games this last week, the one I thought was a certain lock was the Skins over the Rams. However, the Rams looked rejuvenated after a head coaching change and somehow came up with the win. THe Redskins defense is still very good however and they should get in to the playoffs with out too much problem.

5 (NR) Tampa Bay Bucs 4-2 - The Bucs defense looked fantastic on Sunday against what previously had looked like a strong Panthers offense. They look liek the odds-on favorite to win the NFC South, but it won't be easy.

6 (NR) San Diego Chargers 3-3 - The Chargers really could be 6-0 or at least 5-1, they have had some real bad breaks, including one game being taken away that they won fair and square. They still have an uphill battle, but they looked fantastic against the Patriots and I still think they will come away with the AFC West crown.

7 (9) Atlanta Falcons 4-2 - The Falcons-Bears game on Sunday migth have been the best I have seen all year. Matt Ryan looked exceptional, throwing for well over 300 yards and completing a miraculous pass with 6 seconds left to set up the winning FG. The NFC South is wide open and the young Falcons have a real shot.

8 (NR) Arizona Cardinals 4-2 - Another newcomer to the rankings this week. The Cardinals played a great game against the cowboys on Sunday and proved themselves the heavy favorites to win the NFC West. When they get Anquan Boldin back they may have the best receiving core in the league.

9 (3) Dallas Cowboys 4-2 - The cowboys fall 6 spots in this week's rankings, partially because they lost but mostly because Tony Romo will miss the next 3 games with a broken finger. If the Cowboys can win one or two of those games they will still have a shot at the playoffs but things got a whole lot dimmer in one week for Cowboys fans.

Apologies to the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos

NFC Week 6 Roundup

NFC East

Bye Bye Cowboys?

At the start of this season, I like many others thought this could be the year the Cowboys finally broke through and won a playoff game for the first time since 1996. I even picked them to be the NFC's representative in the Super bowl. Through their first 3 games the Cowboys looked to be everything that was promised. Great offense, strong defense, 3 very convincing victories. However the last 3 weeks they haven't looked like the same team. Now there are reports that Tony Romo has a broken finger and will be out for at least 4 weeks. If true the Cowboys could very well be sitting at home this January, considering the division they play in.


NFC South

Hello Falcons?

The NFC South has been one of the most wide open divisions in Football for a long time. Each of the last 3 years, we have seen a different divisional champion. The only team not to win it recently is the Falcons, but they are trying to do something about that. Rookie Matt Ryan seems to have the poise it takes to be a winning QB, and the Falcons keep looking stronger each week.





NFC North

Who will win the North?

The NFC North Division looked like it had a chance to be a very strong division at the start of the year. Everyone loved the Vikings and the Packers were coming off a 13-3 year. The Bears also looked strong early on. Lately through, the division has looked anything but strong. All 3 teams sit tied for first with 3-3 records, while the awful Lions bring up the rear. The Vikings really haven't impressed and the Packers have had no running game at all. If The Bears can get their defense healthy, they could have a good shot to win this division.

NFC West

Year of the Cardinal?

Are the Arizona Cardinals finally going to do it? The team that has had great skill players and a solid defense for a long time now, finally looks poised to make some noise. Kurt Warner is showing flashes of his old past and The Cardinals keep winning games. No one else in the West appears to be even decent, so if the Cardinals can't win the division this year, they may never win it.

The Shocker in the Desert.. Sign of Parity or Just Another Cowboys' Choke?

It's been a crazy season in the NFL so far. It all started in the 1st Quarter of Week 1 when Tom Brady went down and took the juggernaut Patriots with him. Since then it has been a week to week roller coaster of ups and downs for just about every team in the league. Sure, the defending champion Giants are undefeated, as are the surprise Titans, but it's been a free for all with just about everyone else..

The Redskins? They won back to back road games at Philly and Dallas then promptly lost at home to an 0-4 Rams team. Green Bay started the year looking like it would be smooth sailing without Favre only to lose 3 strait before bouncing back on Sunday. Jacksonville, my pick as the best team in the AFC, couldn't take care of business at home against Buffalo and Pittsburgh but managed road wins at 2 of the toughest venues in the NFL, winning in Indianapolis and at Denver. But perhaps the greatest example of the ups and downs in this year's NFL are the Dallas Cowboys.

They were pretty much everyone's pick to represent the NFC in the Superbowl and appeared to be the best team in football after Brady went down but looked erratic in a home loss to the Redskins and then fell apart in crunch time once again Sunday at Arizona.

It was a special teams nightmare for the Cowboys, who allowed a 93 yard kickoff return for a TD on the first play of the game and a blocked punt for a TD in OT on the last play of the game. It was an unbelievable finish for the Cowboys and perhaps evoked memories of a previous Special Teams gaffe when Tony Romo fumbled the hold in a playoff game at Seattle in Jan. of 2007. It just seems like no matter how much talent they have, this team just can't get the job done when it matters. Add in the circus-like cast of characters from T.O. to Pac-Man to Tank Johnson. Dallas has made a living out of taking chances on troubled individuals and it has repeatedly come back to haunt them. More importantly, with this many volatile personalities in the locker room, can this team possibly co-exist for an entire season with this many bumps in the road? Anything is possible, but things sure didn't look good for them Sunday in Phoenix.