Honorable KK,

They're a real team and I have been enjoying their midseason renaissance right along with you. If it gets to that point, Larry Johnson may be the guy who knocks the Colts out of the playoffs. It's good to see you back on your throne <g>.

Before I start gassing on about the NFL games this week, here is something I read and liked in the NY Times yesterday. It was about the popularity of NFL replica jerseys. Reggie Bush is #1 this season, no surprise given that he's a rookie, and the rest of the top 10 were for the most part the usual suspects. The one that stopped me was Pat Tillman's #40 Arizona Cardinals jersey, seventh on the list. Cool. To me it says something good about our priorities. We love football as a diversion but we still know who the real heroes are.

(Note to cynics: all profits are being donated to a charity that was established in Tillman's memory).

All right, time to gas on <g>.

>Ate too much and drank too much this weekend to do any heavy typing...
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>- It's offical...the Philly Eagles are in rebuilding mode.

Too hasty IMO. They were underchieving but still in the hunt until McNair went down. Getting torched by the Colts last night should not be a cause for panic. Lots of teams get torched by the Colts.
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>- After week 1, I thought the Ravens and Bears looked hungry. The Ravens are even hungrier now. And the Bears are just plain sloppy.
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As Troy Aikman said last night, good defenses will make anyone look bad. The Patriots have a good one and they played very well in an important game for them. The Bears made Tom Brady look equally "sloppy." To me this was the kind of game you hope for in a Super Bowl, even though the outcome was not to my liking. A battle of the titans. I think it could actually be beneficial to the Bears in terms of the real goal, which is winning the Super Bowl. As a longtime Chicago sports fan I am hesitant to say this above a whisper but I genuinely, dispassionately think they are right in the mix. I hope what they took away from last night's game was 1) they can play with anyone; and 2) in the playoffs they will have to bring their A game every time. There will be no style points for losing a close game against a good team on the road. It'll be win or go home. Are they ready?

Along with about 8 million others in the Chicago area, the Bear I am watching most closely is Rex Grossman. Is he ready? So far this season he has been a vertigo-inducing mix of the good, the bad, and the ugly. The past couple of weeks have encouraged me despite the unheroic QB ratings. He has thrown only one intereption against two good defenses, and on that one I give credit to a DB who anticipated well. That happens to every quarterback. At other times he has seemed jittery. I hope someone knocks through the cockiness of youth and convinces him this is his chance and a second chance is not guaranteed.

If you asked me to put down real money today on who will win the Super Bowl, I would put it on the Bears. I hope I'm right.

>- It's only natural that the Panthers and Jags are the mysteries of their conferences - they both came into the league in the same year, 1995, and they're both 6-5.
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I take the Panthers very seriously despite yesterday's stumble against the Redskins.

>- If you missed the Chargers/Raiders game, the Raiders were the victims of a horrible screw-job by the officials. [I'm bitter...a Charger loss would have been great for KC].
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I did miss it and was surprised how close the score was. The Raiders stink, yet again, and the Chargers have been clicking on all cylinders. They are a really fun team to watch.

>- You heard it here first...if the Giants lose to the Cowboys next weekend, Tom Coughlin will be fired by the end of the season.
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No way. The Job-like injury list is his free pass and the Giants are still serious contenders. I don't like him personally, the reddened face and the look of perpetual constipation, but I can't criticize his coaching.

>- Mike Shanahan is making a BIG mistake by bringing in Cutler.
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It's probably past the point of worrying what the Broncos do but I disagree. Jake Plummer has been horrible and has dragged down a team that is otherwise Super Bowl capable. So try something different.

>- I feel for Mike Vick - he shouldn't have flipped a digital f-bomb at the end of the game, but it had to be frustrating watching his team play like amateurs. But I tip my hat to the Saints, who clearly are in it for the duration.
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I missed the f-bomb. I did see some of the game, while Emily tie-dyed a shirt for school in the kitchen sink, and thought he was the biggest part of the Falcons' problem. He can run but he can't pass at an NFL level, and that's why the Falcons are so easy to figure out.

I like the Saints. Drew Brees has been a favorite since he was at Purdue and afflicting Wisconsin every year. He has never had the gun of an arm NFL scouts look for. He isn't tall enough, they also said. But even in college he was doing things with trajectory and pocket placement many pro quarterbacks never learn. To me he is a perfect example of what the scouting organizations miss with their focus on metrics.

>- If the Ravens can walk into Cincy and put a hurt on the Bengals this coming Thursday night, I'll pronounce them the best team in the NFL.
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They are to be taken seriously. Just speaking personally, I hope they lose this game and every other game. I try not to dislike much but I dislike this team. They're thugs in ugly uniforms. Enough said.

>- The ominously-reborn Dolphins are now the team that no one wants to play.

It's a blip. They have talent but not nearly enough.

>- My new super bowl pick...Denver and Baltimore.

We'll give you a mulligan on that one, KK <g>.

I was just going to make a prediction of my own and held back. Whenever I make a prediction I wind up cheering for the prediction and it reduces my enjoyment of the game.

Mike