>>>>My team sucks, and I just had to shell out close to a thousand bucks to fix my car.
>>>>
>>>>That's about all the musings I feel like doing this week...
>>>
>>>
>>>Look on the bright side. Your car will get better.
>>>
>>>I will pinch hit for you this week, although with nothing near complete coverage.
>>>
>>>My hopes that the Patriots will be knocked off are waning. It looked like the Jets had a shot until their late TD was taken away on review (correctly). All that's standing between them and the NFL's first 16-0 regular season are the Dolphins and the Giants. The Fish did win their first game to avoid going winless -- good for them! -- but it's hard to imagine them being much trouble for NE. And the Giants don't exactly inspire fear after laying over and dying for the Redskins. My hope is now that the Pats will go perfect in the regular season and then get knocked off in the playoffs, which in a way would be even sweeter.
>>>
>>>You sure called the Lions right. After their promising start this year the clock must have struck midnight because they have turned back into pumpkins. This week the Chargers beat them 51-14 despite resting their stars in the second half.
>>>
>>>Speaking of the Chargers, watch out for them in the postseason. They are red hot.
>>>
>>>Also back in touch with his roots: Tony Romo. He was awful in a home loss to the Eagles. Give the Eagles credit, they played well, but this was not a game the Cowboys wanted to lose. They now face the realistic chance of a late January date in Green Bay. If her name isn't Ingrid and she doesn't look like the pride of Norway, you don't want a late January date in Green Bay.
>>>
>>>You probably saw Brett Favre was named Sports Illustrated's sportsman of the year. I was surprised it was him and not Tom Brady, if they were going with the NFL this year, but not disappointed. If it's partially a lifetime achievement award, so be it. I can't say enough good things about Favre (who incidentally broke Dan Marino's career yardage record on Sunday). If you have any doubt about the kind of guy he is, read the article that went with the award.
>>>
>>>http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/magazine/specials/sportsman/2007/12/03/sportsman.2007/index.html
>>>
>>>Speaking of football players I admire, Brian Urlacher played like a man possessed against the Vikings on Monday night. The Bears lost yet again but it can't be blamed on the defense. They had zero offense -- no rushing, no passing, no blocking. No Devin Hester rescuing them with kick returns this week. Urlacher has not looked like himself most of this season and the word was it was because of a bad back. The announcing crew said Urlacher addressed that by saying no, it's not the back, I just haven't played well enough; none of us have. What an adult thing for a pro athlete to say! (Earth to Roger Clemens .... earth to Roger Clemens .... are you there? ....)
>>>
>>>The Browns keep rolling. The Browns in the playoffs is almost a surreal thought but it looks like it's going to happen.
>>>
>>>That's about it from me. The floor is now open for others to jump in and plug the many holes in my coverage.
>>
>>As the resident Steelers fan I'll take on the rest of the AFC.
>>
>>The Steelers are stinking it up at the wrong time. The offensive line has sprung the #1 rushing attack in the league but cannot pass protect at all. Looking back through the season, a large number of game changing plays have come after Ben has thrown off a pass rusher and improvises. The defense was not able to stop either the Patriots or Jaguars on 3rd and 4th downs in the 2nd half. Jacksonville had a 20 play drive on Sunday which included 3 3rd and 2 4th down conversions. The special teams have been bad all season. This is a recipe for disaster. They still control their destiny by beating the Rams and Ravens but both games are on the road and I can see them losing.
>>
>>The Browns also control their own destiny, just not their positioning. If they win out against Cincinnati and San Francisco they will be in the playoffs.
>>
>>The Jaguars are looking really solid. They're not at the level of the Colts or Patriots, but I could see them knocking off the Patriots in Foxboro in January if its snowing. If the conditions are clear I believe the Patriots would carve them up just like the Colts would in their dome.
>>
>>Tennessee and Buffalo remain on the outside looking in. Buffalo is much improved this year and may make a run next year. Tennessee needs a little help. They finish up against the Jets and Colts. Both are winnable since the Colts will probably rest their starters as Dungy likes to do.
>>
>>San Diego continued the exploitation of Detroit and is playing very well since they remembered they have LT.
>>
>>Miami won a game and celebrated like they won the Super Bowl. Nice!
>
>
>Thanks for the AFC recap. As you can tell, I see mainly NFC games plus the Patriots and Colts.
>
>I don't blame the Dolphins for celebrating. Who wants to be remembered for being on the worst team of all time?

Ask and you shall receive.

"...many of those old 1976 Bucs don't want company in an exclusive spot as the only U.S. team in a major sport since World War II to lose every game in a season."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/14/sports/nfl.1-189091.php