1. Pittsburgh Cmon Guys You Know There The Best
2. Indy Suspect D But, They Can Score As Many As They Need To Win
3. New England Been There B4, Knows How To Win
4. Philly Class Of The Nfc, Owens Can Get Them To The Super Bowl( Where The Steelers Will Kick There Azz!)
5.minny/atlanta Teams With Really High Hopes Early But Just Cant Get It Done!
2. Indy Suspect D But, They Can Score As Many As They Need To Win
3. New England Been There B4, Knows How To Win
4. Philly Class Of The Nfc, Owens Can Get Them To The Super Bowl( Where The Steelers Will Kick There Azz!)
5.minny/atlanta Teams With Really High Hopes Early But Just Cant Get It Done!
1. Pittsburgh (10-1). First half in Pittsburgh: Clinton Portis, four carries, six yards. And we thought the Steelers' run-defense goose was cooked with the loss of nose man Casey Hampton.
2. New England (10-1). Not enough to vault the Pats over the Men of Steel, but every team remaining on Pittsbugh's schedule has at least five wins. New England plays one-win (San Francisco), two-win (Miami) and three-win (Cleveland) teams down the stretch, along with the Jets and Bengals. Pittsburgh finishes at Buffalo. New England hosts the Niners in the finale.
3. Philadelphia (10-1). Teams shouldn't be clinching divisions three days after Thanksgiving, when there's still fresh turkey soup, the best leftover in history, in my refrigerator. There are 35 days till the end of the regular season, and the Iggles have clinched the NFC East. Get out your bag of motivational tricks, Andy Reid. You'll need 'em.
4. Indianapolis (8-3). Geez. Peyton Manning's even good on TV. Could he be bad at something? Gardening, maybe? Rotisserie baseball?
5. San Diego (8-3). "I think this is the third-best team in football," Merril Hoge said on EA Sports NFL Matchup. Drew Brees threw for 378 in Kansas City. Another step on the road to goodness.
6. Atlanta (9-2). I feel bad about moving San Diego ahead of the Falcons. But as you can see, not too bad. It's that the Chargers have risen, not that the Falcons have fallen.
7. Green Bay (6-4). Najeh Davenport practiced hard the other day. What a godsend it would be to have him at 88 percent tonight.
8. Denver (7-4). Probably playing for their playoff lives this week at San Diego.
9. Minnesota (7-4). I ran into Daunte Culpepper after the win versus Jacksonville. "Nice to see you, Mr. King," he said.
10. New York Jets (8-3). In their last 34 offensive drives, the Jets have two touchdowns and 22 punts.
11. Baltimore (7-4). More uneven Bollerball.
12. Jacksonville (6-5). It would be hard to overstate how impressed I was with Byron Leftwich against the Vikes. What presence, especially in the shotgun. Spread 19 completions among three tight ends, two backs and four wideouts. I don't remember which seatmate in the press box -- Jarrett Bell of USA Today or Ed Werder of ESPN -- said this to me at one point yesterday, but what a point it was: "The Cowboys drafted Terence Newman over this guy."
13. Buffalo (5-6). I'm going to say something ridiculous right now. The Bills have a really nice chance to finish 9-7. Last five: at Miami, Cleveland, at Cincinnati, at San Francisco, Pittsburgh.
14. Cincinnati (5-6). Lone November loss was a five-pointer to the Steelers.
15. Houston (5-6). Let's be honest. The Fine Fifteen ends at 14 this week. I just like how the Texans rallied against Tennessee.
sportsillustrated.cnn.com
2. New England (10-1). Not enough to vault the Pats over the Men of Steel, but every team remaining on Pittsbugh's schedule has at least five wins. New England plays one-win (San Francisco), two-win (Miami) and three-win (Cleveland) teams down the stretch, along with the Jets and Bengals. Pittsburgh finishes at Buffalo. New England hosts the Niners in the finale.
3. Philadelphia (10-1). Teams shouldn't be clinching divisions three days after Thanksgiving, when there's still fresh turkey soup, the best leftover in history, in my refrigerator. There are 35 days till the end of the regular season, and the Iggles have clinched the NFC East. Get out your bag of motivational tricks, Andy Reid. You'll need 'em.
4. Indianapolis (8-3). Geez. Peyton Manning's even good on TV. Could he be bad at something? Gardening, maybe? Rotisserie baseball?
5. San Diego (8-3). "I think this is the third-best team in football," Merril Hoge said on EA Sports NFL Matchup. Drew Brees threw for 378 in Kansas City. Another step on the road to goodness.
6. Atlanta (9-2). I feel bad about moving San Diego ahead of the Falcons. But as you can see, not too bad. It's that the Chargers have risen, not that the Falcons have fallen.
7. Green Bay (6-4). Najeh Davenport practiced hard the other day. What a godsend it would be to have him at 88 percent tonight.
8. Denver (7-4). Probably playing for their playoff lives this week at San Diego.
9. Minnesota (7-4). I ran into Daunte Culpepper after the win versus Jacksonville. "Nice to see you, Mr. King," he said.
10. New York Jets (8-3). In their last 34 offensive drives, the Jets have two touchdowns and 22 punts.
11. Baltimore (7-4). More uneven Bollerball.
12. Jacksonville (6-5). It would be hard to overstate how impressed I was with Byron Leftwich against the Vikes. What presence, especially in the shotgun. Spread 19 completions among three tight ends, two backs and four wideouts. I don't remember which seatmate in the press box -- Jarrett Bell of USA Today or Ed Werder of ESPN -- said this to me at one point yesterday, but what a point it was: "The Cowboys drafted Terence Newman over this guy."
13. Buffalo (5-6). I'm going to say something ridiculous right now. The Bills have a really nice chance to finish 9-7. Last five: at Miami, Cleveland, at Cincinnati, at San Francisco, Pittsburgh.
14. Cincinnati (5-6). Lone November loss was a five-pointer to the Steelers.
15. Houston (5-6). Let's be honest. The Fine Fifteen ends at 14 this week. I just like how the Texans rallied against Tennessee.
sportsillustrated.cnn.com
