All season long people have made excuses for the Saints as to why they are not a serious contender for the Super Bowl.

The victory over the Falcons when the Superdome was re-opened was credited to the emotion surrounding the event. The early success was the result of an easy schedule, even after an impressive victory over the Eagles. Then, when they fell into a slump and lost three of four, most people thought there's the Saints we remember. But these are not the same Saints we remember. This is a team that has responded with three straight victories.

The latest came against the new darling of the NFC, the Dallas Cowboys. Sean Payton called a flawless game plan and the Saints rolled over the Cowboys on national TV. His knowledge of the Dallas schemes and tendencies gave him an advantage that he exploited the entire game.

Coach Payton has developed an offense that allows all the skill players to make plays. We all know about Deuce McAllister, Joe Horn and Reggie Bush but everybody on the offense has a chance to be a part of this offense. Marques Colston has burst on the scene but how many coaches would have trusted a 7th round rookie early in the season to play the role that Marques has played? Terrance Copper has been a great addition along with Devery Henderson and now Jamal Jones.

Every player is a viable option on every play. Just ask Mike Karney who put up three TDs on the Cowboys after not scoring a TD his three previous seasons in the league. When a team has multiple threats to defend, it puts a tremendous strain on the defense. The Saints have the deepest set of skill players in the league.

Put that together with Drew Brees, a QB that has a chip on his shoulder, and you have a recipe for success. The Saints have rallied around the difficult experience of last season and no longer appear to a team of destiny, they are just a good football team. The NFC South has placed a team in the conference championship game every year since the realignment.

The Saints, obviously, are the only team not to represent their division. If they fill that role this season it won't have anything to with destiny, it will be because they earned the right.

Michael Vick showed his frustration with the Falcons season after the game last weekend. His obscene gesture to the fans was an example of what can happen if you lose control of your emotions and a demonstration of the extreme pressure that comes with being a QB in the NFL.

No other position is scrutinized so thoroughly and no position bears the burden of the blame of losing like the quarterback. Michael is the franchise player of his team. He burst on to the scene and handed the Green Bay Packers their first playoff loss at Lambeau and followed that up the with a trip to the NFC championship game. 

Expectations couldn't be higher for fans in Atlanta and the pressure could not be greater for Michael. The Falcons started out 6-2 last year and then faded to 8-8 and after going 5-2 to start this season the are under .500 for the first time in Jim Mora's tenure as Head Coach. So what is the problem.

The point of discussion continues to be about whether or not the Falcons can win the Super Bowl without having a legitimate passing game. Michael Vick's athletic ability is unmatched at the QB position but that does not mean he will be a Super Bowl champion. History has shown that the quarterbacks that have played the position similarly to Vick have struggled to win a championship.

Randall Cunningham and Fran Tarkenton never won the big game and Steve Mc Nair came close but fell a yard short. Stave Young is the only QB that is in the top five in rushing yards that has won a Super Bowl and he had Jerry Rice. Michael Vick, like all QB's, needs a supporting cast around him.

This season his offensive line has not protected him well and his receivers have continuously dropped balls at critical times. That being said I feel the Falcons will not win a championship until the they find a way to upgrade their passing game. They need to be able to get chunks of yards throwing the ball down field and until they are able to do that I don't think they can win a Super Bowl. 

The big plays that come when Michael pulls the ball down need to be a part of the offense not the key to the offense.

There are several things going wrong for the Falcons offense this season and Michael Vick's struggles in the passing game are one of them. But because he is the QB it will always be the first one that fans look at.   

The push for the playoffs begins this weekend.

Teams have positioned themselves all season to get to the point after Thanksgiving to have something to play for down the stretch.

The Dallas Cowboys sent a message on their traditional Thanksgiving game by pounding the Buccaneers. They have won three consecutive games for the first time since Bill Parcell's first year as head coach and would have a five game winning streak going into the stretch run if they didn't give the game away to the Redskins.

The obvious reason for the improved play is Tony Romo as the starting QB. He is 4-1 as a starter, has provided mobility which has helped the offensive line and has been outstanding in the second half. But I think his greatest contribution to the team cannot be measured in statistics.

We all remember how unhappy coach Parcells looked earlier in the year. He had been through a training camp in which he was constantly asked questions about the health of T.O., started the season off poorly and then had to deal with Terrell's attempted suicide/accidental overdose. He appeared to be a beaten man on the Cowboy sideline.
The change at QB not only has provided better play on the field but seems to have improved the chemistry of the team.

Tony Romo has fun playing the game and his enthusiasm has been contagious throughout the team. The intangibles of a quarterback are an overlooked aspect of playing the position. Tony has lightened the mood and for the first time in a long time the Cowboys are having fun playing football. He gets another shot at the Giants with a 10-day rest going into the pivotal division game for the inside track to the NFC East title next weekend at the Meadowlands.

If the Cowboys beat the Giants and continue to build momentum during the remainder of the season they could establish themselves as the team to beat in the NFC. I wonder if there is any room left on the Cowboys bandwagon?  

Let's face facts.

The Buccaneers offense is bad. They are the lowest scoring offense in the NFL, even worse than the Raiders. They have not scored a touchdown in two games. There are some reasons for this. There starting QB is on IR but they went two games without scoring a touchdown when he was in the lineup. They are starting two rookies in the offensive line. However, left guard Dan Buenning was a rookie and left tackle Anthony Davis was in his second year when the Buccaneers went 11-5 and won the NFC South last season.

Could the reason the offense is struggling so much be related to the defense? For the past decade the Bucs have been in the top 10 for defense. This year they stand at 22nd. They allowed 306 yards rushing to the Falcons and 506 total yards to the Eagles. They did score two TD's in the Eagle game to help pull out the unlikely victory but that has been one of the missing elements for the defense this season.

The Buccaneers live and die by creating turnovers and right now they are on life support. They have already equaled the number of games without a turnover this season compared to last season. So why is Tampa's vaunted defense not the same this year? I believe the success this group has experienced for the past 10 years has finally caught up to them. When you have success other teams want to have your players and coaches. The attrition that Tampa has suffered over the years is starting to hav e an impact.

Sure they have lost great players like John Lynch and Warren Sapp but I think the coaches they have lost are the biggest reason. Look at the list of coaches who have moved on to bigger and better opportunities. Herm Edwards took the Jets back to the playoffs and Lovie Smith has what many think is the best team in the NFL this season in Chicago. The Bucs were able to weather the storm even with the loss of those key elements of there staff but last year was just too much. Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli left to become the coach of the Lions and defensive backs coach Mike Tomlin left to be the defensive coordinator of the Vikings. But the Bucs were prepared for this.

They had Raheem Morris to step in for Mike Tomlin if and when he left. OOPS! He took the job as defensive coordinator at Kansas State during the season last year. No problem, we have Joe Woods to step in. Darn! Mike Tomlin took him to Minnesota to be his defensive Backs coach. I am not saying that the new coaches the Bucs have won't be successful but they have some pretty big shoes to fill. This will take time. And during that time the offense better realize that they need to play better because right now they do not have the luxury  of starting on short fields.

I am not sure if Tampa Bay can rely on the defense to have the type of performances they have become accustomed to and while they wait to find that out they need to start getting the ball to Cadillac Williams.

The steroid issue has become a major topic of disccussion this year.

Floyd Landis had his Tour de France victory taken away and Major League Baseball is still trying to recover from the problems they have faced regarding the issue of performance enhancing substances.

Now it is the NFL's turn to deal with this issue. In the last two weeks three players have been suspended for testing positve for banned substances.

The most well known player is 2005 Defensive Rookie of the year Shawne Merriman. Shawne tested positive for nandrolone, an anabolic steroid more commonly known as deca-durabolin. As people read the articles regarding this incident it would be easy to come to the conclusion that Shawne was trying to cheat the system and gain a competitive advantage by taking steroids.

This situation is not that simple.   First and foremost Shawne must take responsibility for his decision to use a supplement not certified by the NFL. In 2000 a policy was put in place that has a principle of "strict liability" as it's cornerstone. This means that an athlete is responsible for what is in his or her body. To help the players in the NFL the league has established an agreement with EAS, a manufacturer of sports supplements.

The NFL established standards for EAS to follow to prevent any potential positive tests to occur while using their products . They stopped manufacturing the products they were previously making that could result in a positive test such as androstenedione.  Other companies were offered the same opportunity but refused to abide by the standards established by the NFL.

A study conducted by the International Olympic Committee in 2001 found that almost 15% of the 634 supplements tested contained banned substances. It appears it is possible to test positive for a banned substance by taking an over the counter supplement.   The sports supplement industry is a multi billion dollar per- year business and yet there is no regulation.

The FDA cannot agree on whether supplements should be classified as a food or a drug and therefore have not stepped in to establish a standard in the industry.

If the politicians in this country are concerned about the ramifications that athletes can have on the youth of our society in regards to the use of steroids it is time to clean up this industry. The NFL has provided an opportunity for players to use supplements safely without the threat of the negative side effects of anabolic substances and the embarrassment of letting down their teammates, fans and the kids to whom they are role models for. 

The FDA and the other agencies involved need to stop talking about what to do and come up with a comprehensive plan to assure the efficacy of the products in the supplement industry.