Week 9 Roundup

Baltimore scored the most points, Cincinnati actually won a game, and Oakland might have played the worst offensive game in history. Those might not have been the biggest highlights of week 9 in the NFL but they were the craziest. I never thought that with a rookie quarterback Baltimore would score the most but Flacco played well and even with giving up 27 the defensive scored a touchdown so I give them high marks as well. Cincinnati beat Jacksonville on the back of two touchdowns from Ocho Cinco. Houshmazilli can breathe a little easier in terms of that guarantee and the really long walk he was going to have to take. He is not out of the woods but he is much closer. Oh yea and Oakland looked awful. -2 total yards in the first half, 10 total passing yards for the game and 77 yards overall. I don't think I really have to say anything so I won't.

On a good note, Pittsburgh looked very impressive last night in a 23-6 romp of Washington, in Washington. The defense was outstanding! I didn't get to see it but the Tennessee/Green Bay game had to have been exciting for no other reason then it went into overtime and was decided on a missed field goal and then a made field goal.

The other supposedly huge game of the weekend was Dallas at the Giants. Wow, if you really believed all the hype, what a huge let down. That is if you are a Cowboys fan. The Giants literally ran them out of the building and probably could have named the score they wanted. Brad Johnson was bad and Brooks Bollinger was worse. That offense is nothing without Tony Romo. The defense really isn't much better then the offense. That team is a big mess and honestly when Romo comes back, I don't see it getting much better at this point. This team will be lucky to make the playoffs. To be honest, its to the point that I may stop talking about them like they are a Superbowl contender and hopefully the rest of the talking heads do the same. This team isn't very good.

So now let's rank the teams that are!

10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - It wasn't pretty but they did go to Kansas City and win. They were behind 24-3 at one point. I have to question if they actually came back and won or if Kansas City lost this. Good enough to keep them in the top 10.

9. Arizona Cardinals - Back in the top 10 after whopping the Rams 34-13. With Boldin back and Hightower running like crazy this offense is awesome! They have a huge lead in the division and I don't see them falling apart.

8. Baltimore Ravens - If the defense can play well the rest of the season and Joe Flacco can stay poised this team could win a wild-card. I don't think they can beat Pittsburgh but they are only a game behind so you never know. Even without McGahee this team is playing very well.

7. New England Patriots - The game was in Indy and when those two teams get together its always heated. This one was really close and if you take out one stupid penalty by David Thomas the outcome might have changed. Belichick might send him back to Wendy's after that.

6. Philadelphia Eagles - Handled there business in Seattle. More touchdowns would have been nice but Seattle never had a chance and that defense is on the right track. If McNabb starts throwing more touchdowns this offense could be really good as long as Westbrook stays healthy. This team is good!

5. Washington Redskins - They lost bad at home and pretty much got dominated. However, it was by the third best team in the league. I don't consider that a terrible loss. It hurts in the division only because the Giants are so good right now but I promise this team will get back on track and has a good shot at a wild card.

4. Carolina Panthers - They got the benefit of the bye week this week. Next week they get who? That's right, they play Oakland and well read above about what's going to happen there. This team is solid and is playoff bound.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers - Great win on the road on Monday night. The injury to Ben is scary but Leftwich did fine replacing him. I wouldn't count on that all the time however so stay tuned on that. Parker came back and did fine. The defense dominated.

2. New York Giants - I keep move them up as long as the Titans keep winning. They dominated the Cowboys however! I don't think its that impressive because I kind of figured that's what would happen. This team is great and may be better then the team that won the Superbowl last year.

1. Tennessee Titans - They won again and even though it may not have been as impressive as the Giants win, this team still hasn't lost. And until they do, they will be Number 1. The running game is great! Chris Johnson should be rookie of the year. The defense is amazing and Kerry Collins is doing what he needs to so that this team stays undefeated.

Week 9 was good and the next 8 weeks are only going to get better. There is so much parity this year! It's going to make for a hell of a show coming down the stretch!


GMs Thoughts:

I would only really argue 2 things. 1...The Ravens have NO BUSINESS on this list. I would easily put the Bucs or Cards ahead of them as well as the Jets and Bills. I think the Ravens are piss poor on offense and only looked good cause they played an even worse team in the Cleveland Browns. 2.....The Redskins are too high. They haven't really looked good since the game against Philly. They have played (and barely beaten) Cleveland and Detroit since and have lost to St Louis and Pittsburgh. The Skins are falling fast and should be lower but still a top 10 team.