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The Good

This was going to go into the “Bad” section until I read that a “minor miracle” appears to have occurred.

In case you haven’t quite heard the story, during the kickoff following the halftime of the Bills-Broncos game last weekend, Tight End Kevin Everett lowered his head to make a tackle. That tackle turned into a helmet-to-helmet collision with Domenick Hixon.

Besides twitched Kevin Everett remained mostly motionless for about 15 minutes and was loaded, immobilized, into an ambulance. Unlike so many similar scenes, Everett did not give the customary thumbs up.

As of Monday, the outlook on his situation was bleak. A surgeon even said he felt that the Tight End would probably never walk again. He said the injury was potentially life threatening and was at best “catastrophic.”

However, as of Tuesday evening the outlook had changed completely. Apparently, Everett has regained voluntary movement in his arms and legs.

The reversal has been dramatic. When I first read about this story I thought this was a horrible situation. Now, it appears this may be a miracle. Kevin Everett, if he has indeed regained motion in his arms and legs could literally be walking in a matter of months. Will he ever play in the league again? Absolutely not.

The injury will be a weak spot for him the rest of his life. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has to walk with a cane the rest of his life. That, however, is far better than what they were suggesting on Monday.

I heard a report about some kind of special gel being applied to him soon after the injury. Upon searching the Internet I haven’t found any mention of it, so if someone finds a link please leave it.

Whatever the case if Kevin Everett is able to walk again then it will be good for him and his family.

The Bad

The Browns, the Browns, the Browns. We all knew they were bad heading into the season but did we really think they would be this bad?

After getting simply smacked by the Steelers, the Browns traded their starting Quarter Back. Two questions:

1. Does anybody really think Romeo Crennel will be coaching this team next season?

2. What are the odds on the Browns going 0-16?

Officially, Derek Andersen was the number two QB and it can be assumed is the starter for next week. However, there are rumors that Brady Quinn could be preparing to make his Browns debut.

Personally, I’m not sure it will really matter. The Browns look so bad on both sides of the ball they should be bumped back down to NCAA Division I-AA (or whatever the hell they call it now).

The Browns epitomize “bad” and every coach on that team should be looking for a new job. I wouldn’t be surprised if Romeo Crennel is gone by week 6. The Browns should be looking at Bill Cowher, Marty Schottenheimer, Jon Gruden, Denny Green, or even Bill Parcells and preparing to make the first pick in the 2008 draft…wait…never mind, the Cowboys should be preparing for that.

The Ugly

A couple weeks back I commented on how the “Patriot Way” was a bunch of garbage.

Now, the Patriots have proven that you can pretty much take what little belief remained in the Patriot Way and flush it down the toilet. Turns out, not only are Patriots’ players cheaters, so is the entire organization.

Now, I think Rodney Harrison’s infraction was fairly minor but a serious blow to a team and organization that claims itself righteous. The bigger blow, by far, has to be allegations that the NFL believes the New England Patriots videotaped the Jets sidelines in an attempt to steal signals.

This isn’t the first time the Patriots have faced these kinds of accusations. Last season Packers officials made a Patriots employee who didn’t have the proper credentials put away his video camera. This incident has done nothing but fuel the fire of LaDanian Tomlinson’s hatred fro the Patriots as he said the following, “I think the Patriots actually live by the saying, ‘If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.’”

And apparently there’s been worry of the Patriot Way for a while now. In this article from Boston.com, the Packers had received the heads up before hand, “‘From what I can remember, he had quite a fit when we took him out,’ Packers president Bob Harlan told Mortensen. ‘We had gotten word before the game that they did this sort of thing, so we were looking for it.’”

The popular theory in New England is that a vast right-wing conspiracy has been launched by the “Man-Genius.” Another popular excuse is that “lot’s of other teams are doing it” and a fan interviewed during the Fox 25 News at 10 on Tuesday night uttered the exact phrase LT mentioned: “If you’re not cheating you’re not trying. Go Pats!” Needless to say, Patriots’ fans appear to be shrugging off the mantle of class that they had placed on their team and smiling with that “whatever” look on their faces.

The Patriots have been heralded by fans and commentators alike for “doing it the right way.” Now, it appears not only are they like every other team, maybe they're even worse. The Patriot Way may be the way of cheaters everywhere and prove that the best way to the top is to screw everyone else in your way.

Their titles can not be taken away, neither can the fact that they’re a great team. But all the success has a taint now and in the history books many asterisks’ will appear next to their victories.

The #1 complaint among Ravens fans about their team and the #1 criticism from those who root for other teams is that they have no quarterback. When they won the Superbowl in 2000 many said that quarterback Trent Dilfer had benefited from Jamal Lewis 1300-yard season and the stellar defense.

After that they let Dilfer go (agreeing that he had simply ridden the defense) and brought in Elvis Grbac. After one season with him and another with Chris Redman the Ravens decided to use their pick on QB Kyle Boller. Of course, we've all seen how that's turned out. Any time there's actually a "battle" for the starting job with Anthony Wright then there's something wrong.

Now, they've traded for Steve McNair to "battle" for a starting job with Kyle Boller. If there's even a consideration that Boller may be the starter over McNair (barring injury) than everyone in the Ravens organization should be forced out and the team should start over from scratch.

It seems that this season Baltimore has made a serious effort to upgrade its offense and its defense. They seemingly have responded to Ray Lewis' cries for a big man by drafting Haloti Ngata to shore up the defensive line and their running attack by simultaneously re-signing Jamal Lewis and up-and-comer Mike Anderson.

Before the 2005 season the Ravens tried to upgrade their receiving corps by signing Titans' star Derrick Mason and drafting Mark Clayton out of Oklahoma. However, their Quarterback continued struggling. These struggles, combined with Jamal Lewis taking care of himself in his contract season, allowed defenses to stack against the run and the Ravens were effectively dead in the water.

Now though, I think this has all changed. They have someone who is still a good QB (most definitely better than Boller) and one of his old pals (Mason) for him to throw to. Todd Heap also adds another receiving threat and after a year of play Clayton should show improvement as well.

Jamal Lewis doesn't have a contract to worry about for next year and the new threat of McNair should help open up the running game. Anderson proved to be a good Running Back in a two-back system and should flourish as well. But the Ravens are competing with the Superbowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, upstart Cleveland Browns, and the playoff caliber Cincinnati Bengals.

So the question now is, how much better does Steve McNair make the Ravens? How much does he have left in the tank? People have been criticizing him the past few seasons after his 2003 co-MVP performance. As for me, I think the Steelers should be worried about these Ravens. They're still a dominant defensive team and have the tools on offense to get the job done. This year, the two horse race may be between Baltimore and Cincinnati and Pittsburgh may be on the outside looking in.