Jack M Silverstein’s brief thoughts following Super Bowl XLII
check this story out at profootballnet.com: http://www.profootballnet.com/content/view/2134/61 /
WARNING!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Now that the New York Giants’ gripping Super Bowl XLII victory is in the books, you may find yourself involved in a Sports Debate over the coming weeks. Some questions and issues to consider during your debating that you A. should be ready for… B. may use in order to prevent stagnation:
1. Will the Patriots’ loss trigger another decline of Boston-area sports (a la 1986), a particularly cruel twist considering their nearly unprecedented high over the past six years, as well as their nearly unprecedented peak to that high since last September?
2. What does this do to Brady’s standing on The List? Is he above…
a. Aikman? (Jack sez: tie)
b. Bradshaw? (yes)
c. Elway? (yes)
d. Favre? (yes)
e. Manning? (yes)
f. Montana? (no)
g. Young? (yes)
3. What if this is the beginning of Brady as “Super Bowl choker?” What if he ends up having Elway’s career, except in reverse? Wouldn’t that be a trip?
4. How good will Simmons’ column be? I mean, how good? Pretty damn excellent, I say.
5. When you take into account athletic brilliance, game-significance, and play-importance, is it safe to say that David Tyree’s helmet-sticking back-bend catch has joined the top tier of the greatest catches in postseason history? Dwight Clark had “The Catch,” and now Tyree has “The Grab.”
6. Where does XLII rank in Super Bowl history in terms of…
a. impressive upsets?
b. overall game excitement?
7. Forget about the legacy of the 2007 Patriots. What is now the legacy of the Brady/Belichick Patriots?
8. How much will all of the camera/spying poo-cocky be discussed in light of New England’s loss?
9. Here at profootballnet.com, there’s nothing we enjoy more than a good old NFL bull session. And one subject that comes up quite often is QUARTERBACKS THAT HAVE WON ME OVER. We swap stories about Aaron Brooks against the Rams, Jake Plummer in ’98, Jake Delhomme in Super Bowl XXXVIII, and others of the like. Eli Manning has been a certain kind of quarterback for much of his career…if he ends up being that quarterback for the remainder of his career, has this run alone been enough to win you over?
10. Who’s Super Bowl performance was more impressive—Peyton’s or Eli’s?
11. When listing quarterbacks by just their last name from here on, do you think that you will begin qualifying Peyton as “P. Manning?” If not, what more would Eli have to accomplish to seal that for you?
12. Do you realize that since winning Super Bowl XXXIX, Tom Brady has twice failed to win a playoff game in which he had the ball for a game-winning drive? Do you realize?
13. Isn’t it weird that the last time the Patriots were in the Super Bowl, a possession receiver with the number 83 tied a Super Bowl record with 11 receptions, and then the next time they were in the Super Bowl a different possession receiver with the number 83 tied that record?
14. Do you think that Randy Moss choked on the final drive of the game? Did his performance during that final game change your opinion of his 2007 season?
And finally…
15. Where does New York’s final drive rank among potential game-winning Super Bowl drives?
THE BEST POTENTIAL GAME-CHANGING, LATE-GAME DRIVES IN SUPER BOWL HISTORY, IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Team, game Score Time/Yardage Final play
Colts, V 13-13 tie under 2 min, own 48 32-yard FG, O’Brien, :05 remaining
49ers, XXIII 16-13 Bengals 3:10, own 8 10 yards Montana to Taylor, :34
Bills, XXV 20-19 Giants 2:16, own 10 MISSED 47-yard FG, Norwood, :08
Broncos, XXXII 24-24 tie 3:27, opp 49 1-yard TD run, T. Davis, 1:45
Titans, XXXIV 23-16 Rams 1:54, own 10 9 yards to Dyson, stopped at the 1, 0:00
Rams, XXXVI 17-10 Patriots 1:51, own 45 26 yards Warner to Proehl, 1:30
Patriots, XXXVI 17-17 tie 1:21, own 17 48-yard FG, Vinatieri, 0:00
Panthers, XXXVIII 29-22 Patriots 2:43, own 20 12-yards Delhomme to Proehl, 1:08
Patriots, XXXVIII 29-29 tie 1:08, own 40 41-yard FG, Vinatieri, :04
Giants, XLII 14-10 Patriots 2:39, own 17 13 yards Manning to Burress, :35
I hope that is useful. Happy debating.
PEACE
Sincerely, Jack M Silverstein, The Faulty Predictor
(strolls into coffee shop, wearing a suit) Greetings. Greetings and salutations. It's a beautiful day for a Conference Championship...(pauses, drums on table)...Let's play two!
First, in the American Football Conference…
It stands to reason that when you move to a new city, you will grow to either greatly like or terribly dislike the sports teams affiliated with that city. And so it is no surprise that my intense dislike of the Indianapolis Colts began in the fall of 2000, my freshman year at Indiana University. The year before, I’d enjoyed them from a distance. 1999 had been a season of firsts in Indianapolis. Peyton’s first Pro Bowl season. Marvin’s first 1000 yard season. Edge James’s first NFL season (and the first rookie to lead the league in rushing since Eric Dickerson in ’83). It was also the franchise’s first division title in 12 years, their first 10-win season in 23, their best record since the Merger.
But most of all, they seemed fun. The last Colts team I’d enjoyed was the ’95 club. They work black shoes and they had Marshall Faulk and they’d somehow turned Jim Harbaugh into a veritable folk hero, and a terrific quarterback to boot. Now they were back, the Golden Boy at the Q and an exciting rook running the ball, James fresh off his double catapult-job into our histories, first with his eye-widening performance in the Micron PC Bowl and then through the Colts’s surprising decision to select him ahead of Ricky Williams. The Rams weren’t the only team in ’99 that rode a surprisingly spectacular offense to a season of similar results. How could you not enjoy the new fantasy machine of Manning, James, and Harrison? They were a good one.
But then I came to Bloomington, and the whole thing flipped. I was surrounded by Colts fans and Colts coverage. The Bears were brutal in 2000, so we never got the games. Too young to drink, I had to listen to the games on the internet, though fortunately my dad was good enough to record them and send me the tapes. They arrived every Tuesday.
I soon found everything about the Colts annoying. The 2000 team was a mediocre 10-6. They blew a playoff game in overtime to the equally uninspired Dolphins. They played on turf. They played no D. Five years later, a year removed from graduation, I found myself back in the state, Indy-proper this time. That was the season the Colts began 14-0. A personal nightmare for me, annoying and sticky. I was contributing columns for NUVO, and when I wrote a story in October about why Colts fans should be excited about their team’s season (and its newfound defensive prowess), I was torn apart by readers who told me as impolitely as possible to return to Chicago and my 2-3 Bears.
Fifteen and a half months later, I sat in my living room and watched Peyton Manning and the Colts win their first Super Bowl…by running the ball and playing stout defense…all while adjusting to the first rainy game in Super Bowl history…against my Bears, no less.
And now this—the Colts flaking out at home against San Diego, thus preventing the third AFC Championship since 2003 between Indianapolis and New England, the only AFC playoff game anyone really, really cares about. Absolutely obnoxious…
If there is a bright side (and there always is a bright side), it is the fact that San Diego’s advancement in the playoffs makes the Patriots’s advancement to the Super Bowl that much more likely.
Which brings us to…
Can the Chargers upset the Patriots en route to their first Super Bowl appearance in 13 years while sending New England home with their first and only loss of their season?
Well of course not.
But, hang on. What if Billy Volek plays?
Still not happening. But if Volek does have to play, it may not be the worst thing for the Chargers. Volek has spunk, and spark. Plus he’s a flinger, among my favorite kinds of quarterbacks. He’s the type of QB that seems capable of pulling off an astounding upset, the kind that would involve something like a second half with three TDs and 200 yards, Volek flinging the go-ahead to Chris Chambers from 34 yards out on a play-action pass on third and two, a ####ed-up Tomlinson gutting it out as the decoy while the injured Rivers waives his towel, the Chargers taking revenge for New England’s mocking of Shawne Merriman’s dance after their playoff game a year ago…
But even that scenario is impossible, because the Patriots are way too good, and there is absolutely zero chance that New England—17-0 and winners of three Super Bowls—are going to drop their first game of the season before getting to Super Bowl XLII.
JACK SEZ:
New England 38, Chargers 20
Meanwhile, in the NFC…
Like with the Colts, I am disappointed in the Cowboys for losing to the Giants and thus keeping us from a Dallas-Green Bay NFC Championship. But again, I am most interested in seeing a New England-Green Bay Super Bowl, and by losing in the divisional round, the Cowboys handed the Packers home field in the NFC. Had you told me on December 1st that the Packers would be hosting the Giants for the conference championship, I would have said…
JACK SEZ: Green Bay 34, New York 10
…however, over the past seven weeks, the Giants have managed to turn themselves into a true force of a football team. Since losing 41-17 to the Vikings, New York has put together the NFC’s best record since December, and third best of all 2007 playoff teams:
SINCE DECEMBER 1st
San Diego 7-0
New England 6-0
New York 5-2
Green Bay 4-1
Indianapolis 4-2
Tennessee 4-2
Washington 4-2
Jacksonville 4-3
Seattle 4-3
Dallas 2-3
Pittsburgh 2-4
Tampa Bay 2-4
I will not be surprised if the Giants knock off the Packers at Lambeau. The Giants have the talent to do it. And a Patriots-Giants Super Bowl probably would not be the clunker that Denver-Atlanta was following Atlanta’s upset of Minnesota in the ’98 NFC game. But I still like Green Bay, and here’s why:
1. Favre
2. Eli at Lambeau in the freezing cold
3. Eli in his first NFC Championship
4. Ryan Grant
5. The Packers at home
It’ll be a close one. New York may even lead at the half. But Brady vs. Favre/18-0 vs. The Biggest Little Team in America must prevail!And so…
On the John
Brady at the foul line, a shot on Ehlo…
Originally published at readjack.com on January 17, 2008
When last we spoke, we wondered aloud about the value of the two most-esteemed of modern quarterbacks, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts. Some of us favored one, and others the other, but it was generally agreed that they were without peer. Perhaps McNabb in Philadelphia, but he’d been slipping…
…and so it was always Brady and Manning, Manning and Brady. One had the numbers, the other the rings. One was the artist, the technician, 6’5” with shoulders and cleats, marching to the line like Patton. The other was the leader, the winner, the Little Quarterback that Could, and what he Could was win Super Bowls, three of them in all and only 27.
Manning’s the better quarterback, the better passer. No rings, sure, but give the man a defense, and then you’ll see your Super Bowl. The Brady-People snapped back: Manning’s not the winner Brady is. No way he could lead the 2001 Pats to a title—no way! But give Brady James and Harrison and Wayne…ah. Then you’ll see your numbers.
So what happened? Well, Manning got his defense. And in the 2005 regular season, Manning lead his Colts to a franchise record 14 wins, and in the 2006 playoffs, Manning lead his Colts to a Super Bowl title (in the rain, no less). All the while, Brady and his receiver-light offense scraped out 12 wins, a playoff W on the road over the NFL’s best, and came within five points of topping Manning’s Colts in Indy. Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney, a 35-year-old Troy Brown? Not even Montana had it that sparse.
But then it flipped. New England traded for slot receiver Wes Welker on March the 1st and scooped up speed receiver Donte Stallworth ten days later. The Patriots had upgraded…Brady had the best receiving crops of his professional career…and then they nabbed Moss, lifting him from the Raiders for the low-low price of a 4th round draft pick.
Eight months later, we have our answer.
Manning with a well-rounded team: one Super Bowl championship. Brady with the same: three. Manning with a video game offense: 49 TD passes, 10 picks, and 4557 yards. Brady with the same: 50, 8, 4806…and 16-0.
Advantage: Brady.
And when we say “advantage,” we mean career advantage. We always knew Brady was the better Brady. Now we know that he’s also the better Manning. To quote Jay-Z: “You made it a hot line, I made it a hot song.”
And now we reconvene, and as we do we find a new question waiting for us, because I suspect that “Brady or Manning?” will no longer field the kind of enthusiasm and dissent it once did. No, in my mind, the question is now: “Brady or Jordan?”
People always say that you can’t compare apples to oranges. I always disagree, claiming that they are both pieces of fruit. I then choose oranges. Granted, Brady vs. Jordan is much more difficult, but if we can make the apples-oranges leap, then perhaps we can find some honest, meaningful way to compare a 21st Century quarterback against a 20th Century two-guard.
As a basketball player, Michael Jordan was primarily two things. He was an individual aberration, and he was a champion, the ultimate team-leader. He wasn’t the gold standard; he was the Michael Jordan standard. And it was this specific excellence that cemented his reputation as the man most trusted to win when winning seemed least likely.
And that’s what Brady’s got. This isn’t about 4th quarter comebacks; that stat has always felt more like a novelty than a definitive measure of quarterback as leader. What Brady and Jordan possess is a faith-inducing quality, a feeling among spectators that their ability to take complete command of their abilities at just the right time is better than anyone else’s, that all things being equal, a team led by Brady or Jordan will beat a team led by anyone else.
Three seasons ago, I was undecided as to Brady’s Hall of Fame credentials. Three years later, I’m comparing him to the greatest team sport athlete of my lifetime. How did it happen? For me, it began when Brady dragged his undermanned Patriots to the AFC Championship. Trailing by three, Manning drove the Colts 80 yards, Joseph Addai scoring the go-ahead with 62 seconds remaining.
“Well, that’s it,” I said. “They just killed themselves. Brady’s got way too much time.”
Earlier that day, the Bears had advanced to the Super Bowl, and I was sitting there, terrified of one man. And when that one man threw a game-ending interception, I was shocked.
Maybe it was a bit too much to ask of Brady to get that team past Indy on the road. But that’s what I expected. It was the Jordan. And then came this 2007 season, and the game that solidified it was the season finale against the Giants. With the Patriots trailing 28-16 in the third, and 16-0 on the line, I received a text from a Boston-native friend of mine. “Anyone nervous?” My response was immediate: “Not at all. Brady’s got this. He’s the new Jordan.”
And now here we sit, Brady and his Patriots preparing for their fifth AFC title game in seven years, the quarterback eyeing his fourth Super Bowl…but that’s enough from me. Chances are you’ve heard this one.
COACH STREAK two postseason appearances in
last three years and eight in his last 13 years of coaching
QUARTERBACK Philip Rivers
QB in the
POSTSEASON 1st appearance
OFFENSIVE
LEADER LaDainian Tomlinson
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Donnie Edwards
KICKER Nate Kaeding
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES All
KEY PLAYER L. Tomlinson (6 NFL
seasons)
KEY PLAYER
STREAK two appearances in last
three seasons
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Tomlinson
currently in Tecmo Super Bowl mode…other significant playmakers: Gates,
Merriman…went 14-2
THE WORST
THINGS I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Rivers
entering his first postseason in first season as starter…Schottenheimer PS
record is not the best
Baltimore
RAVENS
COACH Brian
Billick
COACH STREAK four postseason appearances in
seven seasons with a Super Bowl win
QUARTERBACK Steve McNair
QB in the
POSTSEASON fifth PS app. in last
eight seasons including SB loss
OFFENSIVE
LEADER Steve McNair
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Ray Lewis
KICKER Matt Stover
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES At least one
KEY PLAYER S. McNair
(12)…and R. Lewis (11)
KEY PLAYER
STREAK McNair: see above…Lewis: 4
in 7 years including SB W
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Built
for the playoffs…Ray Lewis is top tier...McNair, Jamal Lewis, Mason, Heap,
McAlister, Reed, Suggs, Rolle, and Stover all have significant playoff
experience…Bart Scott and Adalius Thomas are awesome…they run and defend…their
QB will help them win playoff games…they went 13-3
THE WORST
THINGS I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Offensive
is dull…coach is potentially explosive (in a bad way)
Indianapolis
COLTS
COACH Tony
Dungy
COACH STREAK eight straight seasons in
postseason and nine of last ten
QUARTERBACK Peyton Manning
QB in the
POSTSEASON five straight seasons in
postseason and seven of last eight
OFFENSIVE
LEADER Peyton Manning
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Dwight Freeney
KICKER Adam Vinatieri
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES At least one
KEY PLAYER P. Manning (9)
KEY PLAYER
STREAK see above
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Still
have the best offense in the NFL…have nowhere to go but up in terms of heart
break potential…now have Vinatieri
THE WORST
THINGS I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Defense is just plain brutal…no
Edge to grind it out…inexperienced running backs…offense is best at producing
big numbers, but not necessarily good at producing wins...the Manning Face
(thank you Bill Simmons)
New
England PATRIOTS
COACH Bill
Belichick
COACH STREAK four straight and five in last
six including 3 SB W
QUARTERBACK Tom Brady
QB in the POSTSEASON same as Belichick
OFFENSIVE
LEADER Tom Brady
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Tedi Bruschi
KICKER Steven
Gostkowski
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES At least one
KEY PLAYER T. Brady (7)
KEY PLAYER
STREAK see above
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Still
have the game’s best coach and best quarterback…lots and lots and lots of
postseason and Super Bowl experience...terrific one-two combo at running back
THE WORST
THINGS I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Harrison is
injured…receiver talent is minimal…no Vinatieri…no stand out Vinatieri replacement
New
York JETS
COACH Eric
Mangini
COACH STREAK first season
QUARTERBACK Chad
Pennington
QB in the
POSTSEASON three postseason trips in
last five seasons
OFFENSIVE
LEADER Chad
Pennington
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Jonathan Vilma
KICKER Mike Nugent
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES Probably none
KEY PLAYER C. Pennington (7)
KEY PLAYER
STREAK see above
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Pennington
has gotten them into the postseason three times…won three in a row to make the
playoffs…Leon Washington is pretty swift and crafty
COACH STREAK fourth playoff appearance in
last six seasons
QUARTERBACK Trent Green
QB in the
POSTSEASON two of last four
OFFENSIVE
LEADER Trent Green
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Ty Law, I suppose
KICKER Lawrence
Tynes
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES none
KEY PLAYER T. Green (13) see above
KEY PLAYER
STREAK see above
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Herm
Edwards seems to be good at getting his teams into the playoffs…Larry Johnson
is playing very well…have one of the league’s best backup QB’s, just in case
THE WORST
THINGS I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Nothing spectacular…Johnson has
amassed an #### load of carries…potential 3rd or 4th
quarter QB controversy…no defensive standouts
In the National Football Conference…
Chicago
BEARS
COACH Lovie
Smith
COACH STREAK two straight postseason
appearances
QUARTERBACK Rex Grossman
QB in the
POSTSEASON second straight
postseason
OFFENSIVE
LEADER Thomas Jones
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Brian Urlacher
KICKER Robbie Gould
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES all
KEY PLAYER B. Urlacher (7)
KEY PLAYER
STREAK three PS trips in last six
seasons (would’ve been more if management had not been entirely inept)
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Special
Teams is pretty much without peer…arguably the league’s best defense…certainly
the NFC’s best defense…strong running game…Urlacher, Briggs, Tillman, Vasher,
Hester, Ayanbedajo, Jones all excellent play makers…showed potential as one of
league’s most explosive offenses…found a way to win 13 games even with
occasional shakey quarterback play…won despite losing Mike Brown and Tommie
Harris
THE WORST
THINGS I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Worrisome quarterback
situation…John Tait and Jason McKie have been hurt, as have Peanut and Todd
Johnson…Tank and everything surrounding Tank…Mike Brown and Tommie Harris still
out
New
Orleans SAINTS
COACH Sean
Payton
COACH STREAK first season
QUARTERBACK Drew Brees
QB in the
POSTSEASON two postseasons in three
seasons
OFFENSIVE
LEADER Drew Brees
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Scott Fujita
KICKER John Carney
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES at least one
KEY PLAYER D. Brees (6)
KEY PLAYER
STREAK see above
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Very
strong offense…Brees, Bush, McAllister, Colston, Horn, and Henderson
all legit offensive play makers...have the great story edge going for them
THE WORST
THINGS I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
No defensive standouts…rookie
coach…turf team
Philadelphia
EAGLES
COACH Andy
Reid
COACH STREAK six of last seven including SB
L and three NFC L
QUARTERBACK Jeff Garcia
QB in the
POSTSEASON thee postseasons since
2001
OFFENSIVE
LEADER Brian Westbrook
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Jeremiah Trotter
KICKER David Akers
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES at least one
KEY PLAYER J. Garcia (8) and B.
Westbrook (5)
KEY PLAYER
STREAK Garcia: see above…Westbrook:
four since 2002
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Made
it back to the playoffs without McNabb…Westbrook has finally put together a
1000 yard rushing season
THE WORST
THINGS I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
No McNabb…defense
is not great
Seattle
SEAHAWKS
COACH Mike
Holmgren
COACH STREAK four postseason appearances in
a row and 11 of 15 seasons including SB W and two SB L
QUARTERBACK Matt Hasselbeck
QB in the
POSTSEASON four straight postseasons
including one Super Bowl
OFFENSIVE
LEADER Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun
Alexander
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Probably Lofa Tatupu
KICKER Josh Brown
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES at least one
KEY PLAYER M. Hasselbeck (8)
KEY PLAYER
STREAK see above
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Made
it back to the playoffs after losing Super Bowl…one of only three teams working
on streaks of four straight playoff appearances or more…great running game…very
good defense…great QB/coach combo
THE WORST
THINGS I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Just not a great
team
Dallas
COWBOYS
COACH Bill
Parcells
COACH STREAK two in last four
QUARTERBACK Tony Romo
QB in the
POSTSEASON first postseason in first
season as starter
OFFENSIVE
LEADER Tony Romo
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Roy Williams
KICKER Martin
Gramatica
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES probably none
KEY PLAYER T. Owens (11)
KEY PLAYER
STREAK four postseasons since 2001
with three teams including SUPER BOWL loss
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Terrell
Owens as the potential to takeover a game
THE WORST
THINGS I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
First year QB on the road…Parcells
seems like he doesn’t care…T.O. could implode…defense is injured
New
York GIANTS
COACH Tom
Coughlin
COACH STREAK two in a row
QUARTERBACK Eli Manning
QB in the
POSTSEASON same as Coughlin
OFFENSIVE
LEADER Tiki Barber
DEFENSIVE
LEADER Michael Strahan
KICKER Jay Feeley
HOME PLAYOFF
GAMES none
KEY PLAYER T. Barber (11)
KEY PLAYER
STREAK four postseasons since 2000
including SUPER BOWL loss
THE BEST THINGS
I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Tiki
has Jerome Bettis 2005 potential…three other offensive playmakers in Shockey,
Plaxico, and Eli
THE WORST
THINGS I CAN SAY ABOUT THEM
Coughlin could go crazy…the
Manning Face Part Deux…Shockey could go crazy…Strahan is hurt…Plaxico could go
crazy…a generally mediocre club
1(1) Chicago Bears, 4-0, 78 total points (6 first place votes)
2 (2) Indianapolis Colts, 4-0, 69 (2)
3 (3) Baltimore Ravens, 4-0, 65 4 (NR) New England Patriots, 3-1, 44 5t (7) Philadelphia Eagles, 3-1, 29 5t (NR) Atlanta Falcons, 3-1, 29 7 (4) Seattle Seahawks, 3-1, 28 8 (3) Cincinnati Bengals, 3-1, 24 9 (NR) Dallas Cowboys, 2-1, 23 10 (8) San Diego Chargers, 2-1, 19
Dropping out: New Orleans (6th last week), Jacksonville (9th), Denver (10th)
Others receiving votes: Carolina (12 total points), Jacksonville (11), New Orleans (3), Pittsburgh (3), Denver (2), Washington (1)
Poll voters: J. Silverstein, T. Chuck, A. Stevens, M. Johnson, H. Bach, Z. Mayfield, E. McO'Donnell, J. Yeshivawitz, R. Dennis
NOTES: The Bears finished first last week, and I was a bit apologetic. No apologies this time around. Hot damn! Also...
This poll is open to all users of foxsports.com. Hopefully we'll be able to branch out some, and get more voters. Following next Monday's Baltimore-Denver game, send me your votes at atomicstevens@yahoo.com, or post them on the Blip. Otherwise, stay tuned...
