There is about 1/3 of the regular season left to play. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

That is a long time in the NFL. Lots of things will change. Five weeks ago the Titans were a laughing stock, now they are a wild card contender. At that time the Broncos looked as good as the Saints, look at 'em now.

So where are the Pats? They have a two game lead in the division with no elite teams left to play. Only a complete meltdown can deny them the playoffs. They still have an outside shot at #2. Cincy and the Bolts play each other so there's one or the other tied with us. The Bengals have to go to the Vikes as well, and the Chargers have to visit the Boys. But the Pats have to win all 5 remaining, which is doable, but they face 5 teams that can beat them if they play like crap.

There are issues but none so horrendously obvious as this young defense just going into a brain lock at times against high powered offenses. Can they sort that out in 5 games? That is the question. A defense that can stop Manning for 3 quarters obviously has the talent. We will see if BB can make them get their act together.

Just don't be jumping to conclusions yet about the Colts, Saints or Pats. A lot can change with 1/3 of the season left.

Only Indy is in a better position to get a bye in the playoffs than the Pats. The Pat's schedule looks very good for getting the #2 seed. And Indy will go one and out as usual, so the AFC Championship should be played at the Razor.

Only two teams can claim top 4 status in both total offense and total defense. They would be the Pats and Indy.

Yes, the Pat's D is still not what it was in the recent Dynasty years. It has been unreliable for a few years now. But it is much better to have a young unreliable D than an old one. Young just gets better. The transformation of this defense overnight while still maintaining a high level of performance is an astounding feat from BB.

Again, Brady and Manning dominate the NFL. They are living legends.

BTW, Matthew Stafford is having a better year than Jake DelHommo.

Not a big deal. The Pats lost by 1 point on the road to an undefeated Indy team. Yeah, they choked at the end, but it's a work in progress to be clicking by the end of the regular season. The rest of the schedule is a cake walk compared to the other top AFC teams.

I see the rookie phenom Sanchez is playing himself out of the league. What does Big Mouth have to say about that? Ratgini is doing terribly in Cleveland. What were the Browns thinking when they hired that low-life?

Brady is on pace to throw about 34 TDs. Considering he has picked up the pace after a slow start, flirting with 40 is not out of the question.

Wonder how Richie Rich is liking being 2-7 in Oakland? He probably doesn't care; the money's the same, win or lose.

Speaking of money grubbing, our old friend Peon Branch has 22 catches in 7 games. He has averaged 38 catches and 10 games a year for Seattle so far. Bet they wish they had that #1 back they gave for the greedy little cretin.

Is JaMarcus Russell the worst #1 overall pick in draft history? Who is worse, him or Vince Young?

Seems the league has fined Adalius Thomas five Gs for his hit on Edwards in the thrilling Patriot's highway robbery of the hapless Bills Monday.

I know some of you were thinking the call was BS in the first place, but the league knows better. The obvious release of Mr. Edwards by Mr. Thomas when he was whipping him down does not seem to have impressed the sage wise fellows at the league that he was trying to prevent pile driving the defenseless quarterback into the turf like a tent stake.

I felt the call could have gone either way, but I don't think the play actually meets the description of the rule. Well, the league is pretty much a joke these days with their "rulings", having about a 50/50 shot at not being completely anal in their surmising.

So, AT will have to skip a night or two out on the town to make up for the big fine.

With the departure of Mr. Seymour the Patriots find themselves with few players left that have the Three Rings. I can only think of Brady, Faulk and Light. Hey, do the Raiders need a LT? I know a guy with the three rings I would love to see cast into The Silver and Black Lake of Burning Fire for his sins against Patriot's Nation along with Seymour. But I digress.

I have been clamoring for a few years now that this team had too many guys flashing gaudy jewelry and some of them should be jettisoned in favor of hungrier players of the 2001 variety. This was met with a considerable amount of derision from my fellow fans. Seems they became attached to these guys no matter how much their incentive had fallen off.

But I am optimistic. It seems the Pats are finally heeding my wise pronouncements and cleaning house. Don't get me wrong. I fully appreciate the contributions of a guy like Teddy. He was awesome. He was the epitome of what this team was about. But time marches on. And new Championships must be won.

As much as we love those rings and those who brought them, it's probably a good thing there are so few of them left. The torch has been passed.

Our former receiver, you know, the guy that got the Super Bowl MVP Brady should have got, has not exactly set the world on fire since he held out and forced the Pats to trade him. It seems he will be at best the Seahawks #3 receiver. He was a little expensive for the Seahawks to be a mere 3rd guy. Some are speculating he might be cut because he just makes too damn much money for a #3. I guess he just hasn't done as well without Brady chucking the ball to him. He has missed an average of 5 games a year since he left. I recall saying he was an injury waiting to happen when he created his big bruhaha holdout. That's just how it is for some midgets.

Couldn't happen to a more greedy guy if you ask me.

Maybe the Pats could get him back for the vet minimum. The way Galloway looks Peon couldn't be much worse.

According to The News Tribune Mr. Branch could soon be unemployed.

"Or perhaps Branch could be on his way out.

The veteran will make $5 million this season to be Seattle’s third receive r and the Seahawks have a lot of depth at the position. So they may live with five receivers and let Branch go to keep a player at a different position."

The Peon link.

The folks at AccuScore, the ones who run thousands of computer simulations to make predictions, have our beloved Pats as the second most likely team in the AFC to win their division (the Chargers have no competition in their division) and the most likely to make the playoffs. The stealers are the third most likely and the Colts the fifth most likely to make the playoffs. Our friends the Fish come in seventh with an under 40% chance of making the playoffs. The Jets you say? Well, they are under 10%. They actually think the Bills have twice as much of a chance as the poor Jets. But hey, the Jets have a coach who speaks his mind.

They are predicting the Pats will go about 12-4. That seems a bit pessimistic to me. The stealers and Colts are looking like 10-6 teams to them. I can't really argue with that.

What is perhaps most striking, not to me, but to you other people, is that they see the stealers as nearly 20% less likely to make the playoffs than the Pats. That's not a lot of respect for the champs even considering they beat teams with a combined 28-20 record in the playoffs last year.

And the poor Colts are nearly 30% less likely to make the playoffs than the Pats according to the computer prognosticators.

What does this all mean? WARM UP THE DUCK BOATS, BABY!!!!!

AccuScore Prediction

Well, those guys at CHFF must be awesome doods because they endlessly and completely piss off Colts fans. And that goes far in proving they must be right.

They recently posted an article regarding, "QBs who can 'carry a team'". This measures the success through wins and losses of QBs going back to 1960 in games where they passed the ball an exorbitant number of times. They define this as the QB carrying the team. Only 10 QBs have ever won more than they lost in this regard.

Tom Brady comes out #2 all-time. Bart Starr is #1 but they add the caveat that Starr's games before 1960 are not included and may well drop him down the list a bit. Peyton Manning doesn't make the top 20 and holds a 18-31 (.367) W/L mark under these circumstances. Brady is 17-8 (.680).

We already knew Brady was better. This is just "running up the score" at this point.

Find it here.

Reports say the Raiders are trying to unload Burgess. They want a 3rd and a 4th, but probably will only get a 4th. I say BB should pull the trigger and snap him up for OLB. Even though his contract is has only one year left he could be a good fit for this year. He is a proven pass rusher. He also is 31 and has been injured part of the last couple of years plus is unhappy with his contract (or being a Raider?).

Burgess being traded.

Seems the folks at coldhardfootballfacts.com are claiming the Colt's fans, especially those from Stampede Blue are "more than a little sensitive about their team".

They further explain, "Any word from us, for example, that fails to declare everything and everyone associated with the organization as the greatest ever in the history of mankind elicits an onslaught of angry emails". Wow.

I must say from my personal experience, this is true. Here's a tip..... don't ever talk with them about Peyton Manning sitting on that poor woman's face. NOTHING elicits their ire like saying anything except Saint Peyton is the most awesome everything ever.

So, back to CHFF. It seems they think this hypersensitivity is born from a legacy of having very good teams fail miserably when it's all on the line. (Wonder where they ever got that idea?)

They even conclude by saying, "No wonder they're so sensitive: epic meltdowns have coursed through the veins of the organization now for 45 years". Wow..... again.

Here is the link if you want to check it out.

Cold Hard Football Facts