Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Week 12: Meet our new draft pick

What a weekend. First I hit the Turkey Day Hat Trick by picking all three Thanksgiving Day games correctly. Then this little guy made an appearance at 4:46 p.m. on Friday:

Quentin, and he ain't no Jammer

When all was said and done, I was 11-5 in the picks for Week 12. I could have gone 14-2 if only the 49ers could finish and Eli Manning and Rex Grossman would quit trying to outdo each other in regressing the farthest the fastest.

CORRECT PICKS
Miami 27, Detroit 10: Deacon Jones once memorably told Peter Brady that a real man can both play tackle football and sing in the glee club, and that a love of making music doesn't mean you're a pussy. Peter Brady lived that advice, and now he's a buff motherfucker peddling workout scams on TV. Miami Dolphins quarterback Joey Harrington also learned this lesson, for better or worse. You know who hasn't learned it? The Detroit Lions. Detroit, a franchise always in search of newer and deeper lows, reached a new one during Week 12 -- a display of childishness, classlessness and scumminess that was all the more appalling because it came on Thanksgiving Day, before a nationally televised game. The Lions, who host (and lose) a Thanksgiving game every fall, this year were facing the Harrington-led Dolphins. There was no question that Harrington was going to be booed by the Detroit fans. Harrington, whom Detroit made the No. 3 overall pick in the 2002 draft, spent four years with the Lions and wound up saddled with a ridiculously outsized portion of the blame for the culture of losing that the franchise has wallowed in for decades. Hell, Harrington himself expected Lions fans to give him an earful. What he probably didn't expect was that the Ford Field gameday operations staff would bend over backwards to try to mock and humiliate him. Actually, maybe he did expect it. He'd spent enough time with the Lions to know what a cesspool this organization is. To sum up what happened: Before each game, a team decides whether it wants its offense or defense introduced over the PA system. The Dolphins chose to introduce their defense. The Detroit PA crew went ahead and introduced the Miami defense ... and Joey Harrington. Cue the boos. Worse, the music chosen for the introductions was Piano Man, mocking Harrington for his once-featured-on-MNF piano playing. Some teams are poorly run. Some teams are poorly managed. Some teams are awful on the field. But the rat-fuck operation in Detroit tops them all. Is it any wonder that the Lions are the worst team in the league? Is it any wonder that no matter who plays quarterback for the Lions, the result is always the same? And is it any wonder that Matt Millen, the Lions' craven, shitty general manager, the man who makes all the decisions, hires the coaches, picks the players, sets the tone for the franchise and yet blames everyone but himself for repeated failure, is a Ford employee?

Dallas 38, Tampa Bay 10: Romo, shlomo. The best news out of Dallas this week is that Bill Parcells finally gave Mike Vanderjagt the boot. And unlike Vanderjagt, Parcells made solid contact. Thus Vanderjagt completes the quickest transition from unflappable-top-drawer kicker to ineffective-head-case kicker since Martin Grammatica. And who did the Cowboys sign to replace Vandy? Martin Grammatica.

Kansas City 19, Denver 10: If there's one thing common to players and coaches around the league, it's the way they bitch about "the media" drumming up controversies based on unsourced reports. So if you're Mike Shanahan and the subject is your (at the time speculative) pending quarterback change, what do you do when the "media" in question is the league-owned and -operated NFL Network?

New Orleans 31, Atlanta 13: Oh, and fuck you, too ya tool.

Cincinnati 30, Cleveland 0: And here I'd given up on the Bengals.

Baltimore 27, Pittsburgh 0: I've never really liked the Ravens. Fortunately, Joey Porter got me to dislike the Steelers even more.

Minnesota 31, Arizona 26: A game against the Cardinals is just what it takes to make Brad Johnson feel under 50 again. On the other side, Matt Leinart had thrown for over 400 yards, and yet in the 59th minute, all Arizona had on the board was two Neil Rackers field goals, a freak special teams TD and a freak defensive TD. The Cards are back, baby!

N.Y. Jets 26, Houston 11: I guess I can understand why Texas and cities in the AFC East got this stinker, but what did the Green Bay market do to deserve it?

San Diego 21, Oakland 14: I'm not saying the Raiders are better than teams think they are. I'm saying the Raiders aren't as bad as teams think they are. There's a difference, and it nearly bit the Chargers in the ass.

Indianapolis 45, Philadelphia 21: If Edgerrin James had a little Joseph Addai doll, he'd be sticking pins in it. And bet you didn't know the Eagles defense was riding on Donovan McNabb's knee, too, did you?

Seattle 34, Green Bay 24: Tell me again, what's the value of having Jerramy Stevens on your team? Look, no one expects tight ends to make circus catches or outrun corners in the open field. But they do expect that when a tight end gets open and his quarterback puts the ball right in his hands, he will catch it. Further, when he catches the ball, he will hold onto it when hit by a defender. This is, after all, tackle football. Yet Monday night, as always, Stevens dropped one perfect or near-perfect pass after another. On at least two occasions he caught the ball and tucked it away, only to drop it on contact. When he finally did hold onto a couple passes, first for a 2-point conversion and later for Seattle's clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter, he strutted and pounded his chest like the overvalued clown he was exposed as in the Super Bowl.

INCORRECT PICKS
Washington 20, Carolina 17: You know, even when the Redskins manage to claim a decent victory over a respectable (though directionless) team like the Panthers, all I can think of is how sad the situation is. Washington's defense played solidly, and Jason Campbell and Ladell Betts sort of looked like they knew what they were doing back there. Given a little time and a few tweaks, the Redskins could have the beginnings of something. But they won't get any time and there's no way they'll have only a few tweaks. That's because the Redskins are 4-7, which means they won't be going to the playoffs. Which means at the end of the regular season, this roster will be disassembled, again, and anyone who emerged this year as a solid role player with a promising future will be cut loose in favor of a free agent with more name than talent. Then again, the Skins did that last year, too, even though they made the playoffs. See? Sad.

St. Louis 20, San Francisco 17: If NFL games were 59 minutes long, I'd have gotten this one right. That's true often, it seems. We shouldn't get too excited about the 49ers just yet, but they're beating bad teams and playing mediocre ones close. That's the key to an 8-8 record. Considering the way San Francisco has played this century, this is good news.

Buffalo 27, Jacksonville 24: Does anyone care about the Jaguars anymore? One week after dominating the Giants, they roll over for the sorry Bills.

Tennessee 24, N.Y. Giants 21: You can call this an upset if you like, but Tennessee is capable of beating any team in the league -- or losing to any team by three touchdowns. Just like the Giants are capable of losing to any team in the league -- or beating any team by three touchdowns. (On Sunday, the Giants managed to do both.) I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who realizes that Mathias Kiwanuka let Vince Young escape what would have been the game-clinching sack because he was afraid the referee would flag him for roughing the passer. That makes at least two games this year (Bucs-Bengals being the other) in which the outcome hinged on the officials' increasingly insane interpretation of rules intended to protect owners' investment in their quarterbacks. One of the dullest saws in pro football commentary is the complaint that "they coddle QBs so much they should just wear skirts out there," or somesuch. But this is just getting ridiculous. All that said, considering that the Giants went into the fourth quarter up 21-0, the game should never have come down to that fourth-down play. Question: Is there any quarterback who is unraveling even remotely as quickly as Eli Manning?

New England 17, Chicago 13:Answer: Yes, Rex Grossman!

THIS WEEK: 11-5
SEASON: 107-69
(60.8%)
(2005 through Week 10: 118-58)



KA-POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 12
Down and Distance's exclusive KA-POWER RANKINGS are back for their second year. The product of a simple formula, the rankings have predicted 10 of the last 16 Super Bowl winners. Further, 14 of the last 16 Super Bowl winners finished the regular season No. 1 or No. 2 in the KA-POWER RANKINGS system. Unlike with other, lesser rating systems, no opinion is involved in formulating these rankings. None. Teams are ranked on a centigrade scale, with 100 representing the NFL's strongest team and 0 its weakest. Don't like where your team is ranked? Blame science. (Key: W12 = This week's ranking. W11 = last week's ranking. POW = KAPOW-ER centigrade score)
W12W11TEAMPOWW12W11TEAMPOW
11 Bears 100.001718Vikings 39.47
22 Patriots 85.861814Steelers 38.57
35 Ravens 83.231923Jets 34.30
43 Chargers 80.622020Rams 33.17
56 Cowboys 77.242117Falcons 31.63
64 Jaguars 70.882222Bills 30.62
79 Colts 65.442325Redskins 25.68
813Bengals 56.672424Lions 19.41
98 Broncos 56.212526Packers 19.17
1012Saints 53.792628Titans 18.64
117 Eagles 51.872721Browns 17.45
12T10Chiefs 51.862829Cardinals16.82
13T10Giants 47.52293049ers 15.74
1419Dolphins42.903027Texans 14.58
1515Panthers42.883132Raiders 4.86
1616Seahawks41.353231Bucs 0.00
Teams eliminated this week from Super Bowl championship consideration (what?): Jaguars, Giants, Panthers. Teams previously eliminated: Raiders, Titans, Lions, Dolphins, Cardinals, Redskins, Browns, Bills, Texans, Buccaneers, 49ers, Steelers, Packers, Bengals, Vikings, Rams, Jets, Eagles, Falcons.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Week 11? These go to 11

Still waiting for our little one. Four days overdue now. He's gonna have some explaining to do.

CORRECT PICKS
New England 35, Green Bay 0: Another man's pain isn't really funny, but the circumstances can be. Filling in for dented iron man Brett Favre, who has started 251 straight games, Aaron Rodgers broke his foot after 32 whole minutes and is out for the season. Hey, that indignity is considerably more amusing than the one visited on the Packer defense.

Pittsburgh 24, Cleveland 20: Ben Roethlisberger discovers that when you lead your team to a stirring comeback victory over a (vastly inferior) historic division rival, people will let slide the fact that you were the one responsible for digging the hole so deep in the first place. Who said he didn't have anything to learn from Eli Manning?

Tampa Bay 20, Washington 17: The worst possible thing that could have happened to the Redskins on Sunday would have been for them to win the first game of the Jason Campbell era. Instead, the loss to the walking-dead Buccaneers might -- I emphasize might -- signal to the front office that while quarterback play has been a problem this season, it hasn't been the problem. What's been the problem this season? The front office! Just like every season.

Carolina 15, St. Louis 0: The Panthers outgained the hapless Rams 411 yards to 111 and controlled the ball nearly twice as long, yet still won by only 15-0. This is why no one fears a kitty-cat with teal fur.

Kansas City 17, Oakland 13: I know it was just Trent Green's first game back, and the Chiefs wanted to ease him back into things, but you can't expect to make the playoffs out of the stacked AFC West if, when facing the Raiders at home, you play the duckie for all but the last couple minutes.

Miami 24, Minnesota 20: The Joey Harrington-led Dolphins have "won" three consecutive games. The only way that could be more amazing is if Harington had played much of a role in winning them. But as Kyle Orton can tell you, this sure beats working.

Chicago 10, N.Y. Jets 0: Bad Rex. Good win!

Baltimore 24, Atlanta 10: Good Vick. Bad loss!

Arizona 17, Detroit 10: I can understand why the network had to serve Arizona and Michigan this shitburger, but what did Toledo, Ohio, ever do to Fox?

Dallas 21, Indianapolis 14: It's the matchups, people. Were I a Colts fan -- and every night I thank the big commissioner in the sky that I am not -- I'd be less concerned about a 7-point loss to Dallas on the road than I would about 1-point victories over Tennessee and Buffalo at home. The consensus appears to be that the Colts needed this loss as much as the Cowboys needed this win. Like it'll matter.

INCORRECT PICKS
Cincinnati 31, New Orleans 16: It's never a good sign when a quarterback throws for 510 yards, especially when 145 of them come on drives that end in interceptions: two in the end zone, and one brought back for a touchdown.

Tennessee 31, Philadelphia 13: All the attention paid to the sad injury to Donovan McNabb obscures the sad reality that the Eagles were well on their way to losing this game before No. 5's knee went pop. The Dolphins, Colts, Redskins and Ravens have already learned this year that you look past the Titans at your own peril. Combine the Eagles' similar lack of focus with their now-standard operating procedure of spotting an inferior opponent the lead, and it'll be another cold, idle January at the Linc. It seems the window of opportunity has finally slammed shut on the Eagles' blunt (5 fumbles) fingers.

Buffalo 24, Houston 21: What does J.P. Losman have in common with Michael Vick? Both were first-round picks. Both spend significant chunks of the season bobbing around in the toilet, then surface from time to time with a solid game. That's about it, really. Sunday was Losman's turn to play reasonably well. He threw three touchdowns, four if you count the interception brought back for what was nearly the TD that cost the Bills the game.

San Francisco 20, Seattle 14: Though Shaun Alexander is back, the Seahawks still--OH MY GOD. The 49ers have won three straight and are now one game behind Seattle in the NFC West.

San Diego 35, Denver 27: If the Chargers can beat the Broncos in Denver, with their two steroidal freaks sitting out, then the AFC West is San Diego's to lose. Speaking of losing games or starting jobs ... I know I can't put all the blame for the Broncos' choke act on Jake Plummer's slumped shoulders, but the guy is a total wreck back there.

Jacksonville 26, N.Y. Giants 10: It was clear going in that the holey Giants defense was going to have some problems with the Jaguars offense. And sure enough, David Garrard on Monday night moved Byron Leftwich a bit closer to the starting job in Minnesota for the 2007 season (mark my words). What I foolishly assumed, however, was that New York's mostly healthy offense, with all its high-performance parts, would keep this game close enough to pull out in the end. The most dangerous part of any vehicle, of course, is the nut behind the wheel, and Eli Manning was by turns too tight, too loose and just not there at all. Your typical analyst watches a performance like Manning's against Jacksonville and declares that Eli looked as if he didn't care that he was killing his team. I can't read minds. All I'll say is that it looked as if Eli didn't notice that he was killing his team, at least until it was too late. And that may be the essential difference between the Manning boys: Peyton can throw three touchdown passes and still won't appear particularly happy. Eli can throw three interceptions brought back for touchdowns and still won't appear particularly upset.

THIS WEEK: 10-6
SEASON: 96-64
(60.0%)
(2005 through Week 10: 105-55)



KA-POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 11
Down and Distance's exclusive KA-POWER RANKINGS are back for their second year. The product of a simple formula, the rankings have predicted 10 of the last 16 Super Bowl winners. Further, 14 of the last 16 Super Bowl winners finished the regular season No. 1 or No. 2 in the KA-POWER RANKINGS system. Unlike with other, lesser rating systems, no opinion is involved in formulating these rankings. None. Teams are ranked on a centigrade scale, with 100 representing the NFL's strongest team and 0 its weakest. Don't like where your team is ranked? Blame science. (Key: W11 = This week's ranking. W10 = last week's ranking. POW = KAPOW-ER centigrade score)
W11W10TEAMPOWW11W10TEAMPOW
11 Bears 100.001715Falcons32.80
23 Patriots 82.191818Vikings 32.03
32 Chargers 75.691920Dolphins30.92
44 Jaguars 70.992019Rams 26.75
55 Ravens 69.562123Browns 23.26
66 Cowboys 66.142225Bills 23.13
77 Eagles 56.592321Jets 23.11
88 Broncos 56.542424Lions 19.17
99 Colts 55.662526Redskins18.58
T1012Chiefs 44.232622Packers 15.22
T1010Giants 44.232727Texans 13.50
1211Saints 44.062830Titans 10.78
1314Bengals 43.032928Cardinals10.73
1413Steelers42.51302949ers 10.28
1517Panthers39.893132Bucs 2.46
1616Seahawks32.813231Raiders 0.00
Teams eliminated this week from Super Bowl championship consideration (what?): Jets, Eagles, Falcons. Teams previously eliminated: Raiders, Titans, Lions, Dolphins, Cardinals, Redskins, Browns, Bills, Texans, Buccaneers, 49ers, Steelers, Packers, Bengals, Vikings, Rams.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Week 10: Everyone's a loser

Well, now this is strange. In your typical week this season, I manage to predict all the gimme games correctly and whiff on the difficult matchups. In Week 10, however, I got most of the gimme games wrong -- as did nearly everyone else -- but was perfect on the tough matchups. I have no idea what I'm doing anymore. Wait, yes I do: At one point I had lost or was behind in nine of the 10 early games, and I actually started rooting for my picks to lose. From that point on, I was unbeatable. Next week I start charging $100 to root against your favorite team.

We're still waiting for our baby boy to show up, so let's make this quick.

CORRECT PICKS
San Diego 49, Cincinnati 41: First thirty minutes: Bengals 28, Chargers 7. Final thirty minutes: Chargers 42, Bengals 13. Can't anybody finish?

Baltimore 27, Tennessee 26: First twenty minutes: Titans 26, Ravens 7. Final forty minutes: Ravens 20, Titans 0. Can't anybody finish?

Philadelphia 27, Washington 3: Hey, someone finished! The Redskins learned the hard way, yet again, that when you "find a way to win" that doesn't involve outplaying the other team -- as they did last week against the Cowboys -- it's indicative of exactly nothing. The locals have been howling for the Jason Campbell era to begin but, really, would it make any sort of difference? Probably not. Hey, Campbell's starting next week!

Indianapolis 17, Buffalo 16: The Colts are going to need shovels if they continue playing down to the level of some of these opponents, but "it is what it is." For the second straight year, Indy is 9-0. But while in 2005 they won those games by an average of 14 points, this year they're winning by an average of 7 (take out the Texans game, and it's down to 5). Hell, even the stiffs on the '72 Dolphins won by 15 a game.

Denver 17, Oakland 13: I've never seen a good game that ended 17-13 or 27-10. This was no exception. Denver was supposed to win, but God, not like this.

Dallas 27, Arizona 10: This week's least surprising result.

Seattle 24, St. Louis 22: Hoo-boy. Four straight losses for the Rams. That'll learn me to say that St. Louis could take back the division.

Pittsburgh 38, New Orleans 31: The Saints are definitely for real, and they'll be playing in January as a result. The Steelers are definitely sloppy and unfocused, and they'll be home in January as a result. But in this game, a close match that went back and forth all afternoon, the difference was the Saints making the kinds of mistakes (hold onto the ball!) that have killed the Steelers all year. I picked the Steelers to win, but not like that.

Chicago 38, N.Y. Giants 20: Forget the 108-yard missed-FG return by the Bears' Devin Hester. This game was already over by then. In ended late in the first half, in Chicago territory. The Giants had the Bears backed up, 3rd-and-22 from their own 28. New York was this close to staking its claim as the team to beat in the NFC. Then Thomas Jones, just trying to gain a little more room for a punt, gains 26 yards. Big Blue goes Big Brown all down its leg, and the momentum moves to Chicago.

Carolina 24, Tampa Bay 10: Well, I should think so.

INCORRECT PICKS
Houston 13, Jacksonville 10: David Garrard: All he does is win! As much as the Texans are capable of owning anyone, they own the Jaguars. In five years in the league, Houston has swept a season series three times; twice, it was against the Jaguars. They've shut out an opponent just once: the Jaguars. They've won a game by 20 points just twice: both times, against the Jaguars. They're 6-4 against Jacksonville, 15-48 against the rest of the league. The Texans stink, and the Jaguars are their leedle beaches.

San Francisco 19, Detroit 13: Taking nothing away from the 49ers, who are clearly improving -- after all, in the past couple years, they couldn't even be counted on to beat bad teams -- but who in Detroit thought that Jon Kitna was going to be the answer? What was the question? Forget I asked.

N.Y. Jets 17, New England 14
Miami 13, Kansas City 10
So which is more surprising: the Dolphins' two-game winning streak, considering their level of play in the first half of the season, or the Patriots' two-game losing streak, considering they hadn't dropped consecutive games since 2002? Well, the Pats' losses were to rivals, both recent (Colts) and traditional (Jets), and you just never know what's gonna happen in rivalry games. The Dolphins, meanwhile, beat the Bears and the Chiefs. Despite what happened in 1985, before any of us were even born, there is no Dolphins-Bears rivalry. Sorry. Maybe Miami caught Chicago sleeping. It happens. But you'd think that the Dolphins' surprising win would have given the Chiefs a heads-up, but with a Herm Edwards-coached team, you never know what you're going to get. Moving on, the idea of Joey Harrington winning two straight is at least as surprising as Tom Brady losing two straight. So in the final analysis, I guess I'll go with the Dolphins' streak as the more surprising.

Cleveland 17, Atlanta 13: Here's a two-game streak that isn't terribly surprising: consecutive putrid performances from Michael Vick. On Sunday, he was 16-of-40 for 197 yards, 1 TD and two interceptions. Plus, he fumbled the ball away with the game on the line without even being touched. Vick had two good games in a row before tanking vs. Detroit and Cleveland, so maybe that's it for the year.

Green Bay 23, Minnesota 17: I think this is three straight Vikings-Packers games that I've blown.

THIS WEEK: 10-6
SEASON: 86-58
(59.7%)
(2005 through Week 10: 94-50)



KA-POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 10
Down and Distance's exclusive KA-POWER RANKINGS are back for their second year. The product of a simple formula, the rankings have predicted 10 of the last 16 Super Bowl winners. Further, 14 of the last 16 Super Bowl winners finished the regular season No. 1 or No. 2 in the KA-POWER RANKINGS system. Unlike with other, lesser rating systems, no opinion is involved in formulating these rankings. None. Teams are ranked on a centigrade scale, with 100 representing the NFL's strongest team and 0 its weakest. Don't like where your team is ranked? Blame science. (Key: W10 = This week's ranking. WK9 = last week's ranking. POW = KAPOW-ER centigrade score)
W10WK9TEAMPOWW10WK9TEAMPOW
11 Bears 100.001721Panthers 36.08
22 Chargers 80.501816Vikings 36.06
33 Patriots 73.311918Rams 34.72
45 Jaguars 69.552020Dolphins 30.93
54 Ravens 68.972122Jets 29.71
67 Cowboys 68.542223Packers 29.49
710Eagles 68.172325Browns 26.14
86 Broncos 67.862424Lions 23.64
99 Colts 62.172526Bills 22.64
108Giants 53.692619Redskins 20.96
1111Saints 52.832732Texans 14.78
1212Chiefs 45.932827Cardinals9.03
1315Steelers44.36292949ers 8.99
1413Bengals 41.153028Titans 3.88
1514Falcons 41.083131Raiders 1.41
1617Seahawks37.613230Bucs 0.00
Teams eliminated this week from Super Bowl championship consideration (what?): Bengals, Vikings, Rams. Teams previously eliminated: Raiders, Titans, Lions, Dolphins, Cardinals, Redskins, Browns, Bills, Texans, Buccaneers, 49ers, Steelers, Packers.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Week 9, PDQ

Another week, another detestable 6-8 record. You know, just once it'd be nice for NFC teams to aspire to something besides an 8-8 record. My son is due any day now, so we'll keep this short.

CORRECT PICKS
Baltimore 26, Cincinnati 20: The CBS microphones caught one of the head coaches in a profanity-laced tirade (1 "god-damned," 1 "fucking"). The crazy thing is, it wasn't even Marvin Lewis.

Jacksonville 37, Tennessee 7: After the Jaguars beat Houston next week, it's going to be next to impossible for Jack Del Rio to put Byron Leftwich back in. I'm not saying he shouldn't.

New Orleans 31, Tampa Bay 14: Every week I'm going to remind Jimmy Johnson that after seeing Bruce Gradkowski play all of one half, against the Saints in Week 4, he said Gradkowski may have taken Chris Simms' starting job for good.

N.Y. Giants 14, Houston 10: I can't decide which I liked better: Total ass Jeremy Shockey having his head all but caved in at the goal line, or total ass Jeremy Shockey dropping yet another sure TD catch as a result.

San Diego 32, Cleveland 25: It shouldn't be so damned hard for as good a team as the Chargers to put away as sorry a team as the Browns. Unless the Chargers aren't so good or the Browns aren't so sorry, or a sliding scale of the two.

Seattle 16, Oakland 0: Oakland gives up nine sacks, Randy Moss drops everything thrown his way, the Raiders' only noteworthy play was a knee to the balls, and the Seahawks only win 16-0? I've just got a bad feeling about this.

CORRECT PICKS
Miami 31, Chicago 13: The come-from-behind victory over the Cardinals proves that even when they don't play their best, even when they turn the ball over six times, the Bears still find a way to win. They're gonna go undefeated!

Kansas City 31, St. Louis 17: The Chiefs are always tough to beat in Missouri.

Detroit 30, Atlanta 14: Remember, we were all supposed to think Michael Vick had turned the corner based on his performance against Pittsburgh (now 2-6) and Cincinnati (4-4).

Buffalo 24, Green Bay 10: Remember, we were all supposed to thing the Packers had turned the corner based on their performance against Miami (now 2-6) and Arizona (1-7).

Washington 22, Dallas 19: Bill Parcells gave his whole team mono.

Denver 31, Pittsburgh 20: Ben Roethlisberger keeps throwing those passes up there as if the laws of physics apply differently when you're the defending champion.

San Francisco 9, Minnesota 3: There's disappointment, but not really shame, in getting shut down by the New England defense on a Monday night. There's really nothing but shame in getting shut down by the San Francisco defense on a Sunday afternoon.

Indianapolis 27, New England 20: I turned on the radio today only long enough to hear Colin Cowherd, the most superfluous blowhard in all of sports talk, argue that until Peyton Manning wins the Super Bowl, he's always going to say Tom Brady is the better quarterback. What a startlingly original line of thinking. What a cutting-edge argument. What a controversial stance.

THIS WEEK: 6-8
SEASON: 76-52
(59.4%)
(2005 through Week 9: 86-44)



KA-POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 9
Down and Distance's exclusive KA-POWER RANKINGS are back for their second year. The product of a simple formula, the rankings have predicted 10 of the last 16 Super Bowl winners. Further, 14 of the last 16 Super Bowl winners finished the regular season No. 1 or No. 2 in the KA-POWER RANKINGS system. Unlike with other, lesser rating systems, no opinion is involved in formulating these rankings. None. Teams are ranked on a centigrade scale, with 100 representing the NFL's strongest team and 0 its weakest. Don't like where your team is ranked? Blame science. (Key: WK9 = This week's ranking. WK8 = last week's ranking. POW = KAPOW-ER centigrade score)
WK9WK8TEAMPOWWK9WK8TEAMPOW
11 Bears 100.001719Seahawks 36.49
22 Chargers 85.041817Rams 35.03
33 Patriots 76.901922Redskins 30.01
44 Ravens 72.572024Dolphins 29.09
59 Jaguars 72.322120Panthers 28.98
66 Broncos 67.792221Jets 27.98
75 Cowboys 63.792318Packers 26.31
87 Giants 63.132425Lions 25.24
98 Colts 62.802523Browns 23.40
1010Eagles 59.892628Bills 21.81
1111Saints 57.502726Cardinals14.24
1216Chiefs 47.382829Titans 12.66
1313Bengals 44.57293249ers 5.29
1412Falcons 42.913031Bucs 4.01
1514Steelers38.853130Raiders 0.65
1615Vikings 36.493227Texans 0.00
Teams eliminated this week from Super Bowl championship consideration (what?): Steelers, Packers. Teams previously eliminated: Raiders, Titans, Lions, Dolphins, Cardinals, Redskins, Browns, Bills, Texans, Buccaneers, 49ers.