For the second straight Sunday, there was no Packers football. Two weeks in a row, and you start to get used to it. The only benefit of not having your team playing, is that it allows you to watch other teams in the league more closely, and when it happens two weeks in a row, well, it gives you an extended look at the league.
If you've been following the NFL closely, it's becoming more and more evident that parity is slowing going away. There are a handful of really, really bad teams, and handful of really, really good teams, and a lot of teams that could beat each other, any given week.
Isn't that the definition of parity? Well, sort of. Unlike in years past, when you got the feeling that any team could get hot and reach the Super Bowl, this season appears to be drawing closer and closer to the way things were, up until the late 90's.
In short, we know who's good this year. We know who's bad.
The Bottom Five:
32. St. Louis Rams (0-5)
31. Cleveland Browns (1-4)
30. Tampa Bay Bucaneers (0-5)
29. Buffalo Bills (1-4)
28. Oakland Raiders (1-4)
Bad, But Not Awful:
27. Kansas City Cheifs (0-5)
26. Detroit Lions (1-4)
25. Miami Dolphins (1-3)
24. Tennessee Titans (0-5)
23. Washington Redskins (2-3)
22. Carolina Panthers (1-3)
Mediocre:
21. Houston Texans (2-3)
20. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-3)
19. Seattle Seahawks (2-3)
18. San Diego Chargers (2-2)
17. Arizona Cardinals (2-2)
16. Dallas Cowboys (3-2)
15. Chicago Bears (3-1)
14. Green Bay Packers (2-2)
Just Better Than Average:
13. Philadelphia Eagles (3-1)
12. San Francisco 49ers (3-2)
11. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2)
10. Atlanta Falcons (3-1)
9. Baltimore Ravens (3-2)
8. New England Patriots (3-2)
7. New York Jets (3-1)
6. Cincinnati Bengals (4-1)
The Top Five:
5. Minnesota Vikings (5-0)
4. Denver Broncos (5-0)
3. New Orleans Saints (4-0)
2. New York Giants (5-0)
1. Indianapolis Colts (5-0)
Turning To College...
The loss to Ohio State was probably just what the Badgers needed. The Bandwagon was picking up too many passengers, and the Badgers weren't nearly as good as most fans and alumni were touting them to be. They're better than they were a year ago, and have a better QB in place than they did last season, but neither of those two statements say much.
All that being said, the loss was absolutely gut-wrenching. You dominate time of possesion and play well on defense, yet still come away losing by three scores. Thats what turnovers will do to you - actually, thats what turnovers do when any team but the Packers generates the turnovers.
Ohio State and Iowa are not top 10 football teams. Penn State is the best team in the Big Ten, and even they are not a top 10 team. The Big Ten is a power conference, only by name. This started ten years ago, when criticism came that their teams were too slow and were getting beaten by faster, SEC schools in bowl games. The problem is, you are what you are. Rather than recruiting secondary speed and talent, like most of these schools have - you're not going to out-recruit SEC squads in this department - get the players that work for your system. If you can block and tackle, you're going to win more games than you lose, even if your opponent is faster than you.
Note to Iowa, when you're ranked, and a top 15 team at that, and defeat an unranked team...YOU CANNOT STORM THE FIELD! Oh, and your crowd's chants of BCS, BCS, BCS, all but asure a loss to Wisconsin next week, or an even worse opponent in the coming weeks.
In my mind, there is little debate to this, Alabama is the best team in college football. The offense is better than it was a season ago, mainly because of an upgrade at quarterback, and the defense is a top 5 defense in the nation. Yes, Florida left points on the field, but if LSU had an offense, they win that game Saturday night.
Rambling Home...
Can you name a broadcaster, as nationally prominant as Chip Caray, who's worse than he is?
Tom Brady is no longer a top 5 QB in the NFL. Not to say he won't return to that level, but he's not there this year. You can tell Tom doesn't trust that knee, just yet.
I recently saw two of the worst movies to be released the past twelve months, Couples Retreat and Observe and Report. Stay away.
Why were the Cowboys and Cheifs both allowed to wear dark jerseys yesterday?
I could probably name fifteen quarterbacks in the league that I'd rather have on my team than Tony Romo.
Last week's wedding episode of The Office was the best episode in some time, but it was still an average episode. That show is on it's last legs.
Excellent job getting the right call on Joe Mauer's double in that Twins/Yankees game on Friday night...oh wait. Remind me again, whats the point of having replay in baseball, when it's only used 10% of the time?
Dear Jonathan Papelbon, F U. Please don't be back next year. Thank you.
Is there any doubt the Angels are winning the World Series this year?
Why do we have to wait until Friday for the ALCS to begin, when both participants advanced yesterday, as in, SUNDAY.
How about that trump card Johana pulled on Wes on The Ruins last week? Wow. The bigger question should be this though, how can two losers who only perform on reality show contests, and never win any of said contests, afford a $300,000 house?
From the looks of it, Nip/Tuck is going to use the fall of the economy in this season's plot lines. Brilliant move, that show was running out of steam fast. Using the failing economy and it's effects on a cosmetic surgery practice is a logical call.
Just a gut feeling, Carlos Delfino will be an excellent addition to the Bucks this year, and a fan favorite.
Chances that Carlos Delfino sucks, fans constantly boo him and he's eventually released before the season is over, pretty good.
Is there a more loathsome TV character than Betty Draper?
Time to eat some crow, the Broncos...are good.
Josh McDaniels wears a hoodie better than Bill Belichick. I bet thats why Belichick didn't even bother wearing one yesterday.
Until next time...