Back at you....

I guess you're disappointed with your Eagles, and with their 4-3 record that's understandable. Just keep in mind that two of those losses came in the final seconds and the third, to the Giants, was in OT after the Eagles blew a 24-7 fourth quarter lead. The Eagles have been favored in every game. They have shown they can play with anyone. As a Bears fan they scare me more than any other team in the NFC, with the possible exception of the Panthers.

Were you smoking dope when you wondered whether the Bucs might not be out of it? Just wondering. (I'm also kidding, for the benefit of the humor-impaired).

Re the benching of Drew Bledsoe, the guy who gets a tip of my cap is Joe Theismann. Immediately after the interception near the goal line, when the Cowboys had a chance to take the lead despite being thoroughly outplayed to that point, he said, "That's the kind of bad decision that costs quarterbacks their jobs." How prophetic. I do think it's time for Bledsoe to go, although that may not be the case just yet with Tony Roma being so green.

Bledsoe's sidearm floaters have never exactly been things of beauty and his lack of mobility is a killer with a line as poor as the Cowboys'. On most of the plays when Bledsoe got in trouble the Giants defenders came in untouched. I don't care if you're Michael Vick, you're going to be in big trouble when guys as speedy as Michael Strahan and Lavar Arrington aren't blocked. (Well, Lavar isn't quite as speedy today; too bad).

Re Bears-Giants, I'm sure you heard that game has been moved to the Sunday night game as part of the new broadcast agreement. That's a topic in itself. NBC gets to switch the de-facto game of the week the last half of the season, with the other networks able to protect a limited number of games. I don't know all the rules but suspect we will be hearing a lot more about it now that it's here.

Are the Saints for real? I would love to believe they are, even if it's only for sentimental reasons.

>- And don't be surprised if the Giants hand the Bears their first loss...Giants look like a team on a mission. At some point, the Bears will get soft.
>

The Bears may lose that game to the Giants. More generally, their offense may not be able to do its part when it's down to Super Bowl caliber teams. But they won't get soft. There is not a team in the league, except maybe the Colts, which relishes a rumble with the Bears defense. They give you so many things to think about on every play, pretty soon you're thinking about their game plan instead of yours. I won't crow about the Bears any more after the Monday Night offensive malfunction but I really do consider them a serious contender.

I agree with you about how dull the Broncos are. They have a good defense, which will be even more impressive if they can keep it up against good offenses. I could pull 10 people off a bus and we could stop teams like Oakland, Baltimore, and Cleveland.

The Patriots will not go 15-1. Some people wrote them off prematurely but free agency has weakened them a lot. They have to struggle now.

Agreed again about the Jets. They have cleared the "We don't suck" hurdle and their remaining schedule is softer than -- well, fill in your own analogy <g>.

Are you serious about Nick Saban? IMO he is Exhibit #299 why college coaches, with very few exceptions, don't make it in the NFL. The college style of 50% inspiration and 50% intimidation falls flat with pro players who make $1M+/year. They are way beyond that. After the Fishes' latest loss he b***hed publicly about his players. How's that for not being baited by the media? IMO they are about two weeks away from quitting on him, if they haven't already. See Spurrier, S., Holtz, L., and many, many others. How many elite college coaches can you think of who became elite NFL coaches? OK, Jimmy Johnson. Go on....

Your anti-Colts statements continue to mystify me. They haven't won the Super Bowl, ergo they're dog(meal), is that about the size of it? I respect your NFL knowledge but honestly don't get you here. They sure aren't a yawn. Every game we get to watch Peyton Manning play is a lucky day for us. My opinion -- and that's all it is, an opinion -- is that 50 years from now, when we are gone and the NFL is still inking corporate megadeals, Manning and Brett Favre will be remembered as the top quarterbacks of this era.

Thanks for the food for thought on a chilly late October evening. The World Series is on downstairs and the sound is as muted as the game.

Mike