NFL Division Power Rankings

Alright, so football has been just amazing all around both the college and the pro game have put on unbelievable performances every weekend out this season. So while I was breaking down some college film earlier this week I of course came across the debate of which is the best conference in college football today. Well, that idea got me to thinking about what is the best division in the NFL? If you have to rank the divisions how will they break down? For those who ever wondered, I have the answers right there.

1) NFC East: Best division in football. The NFC will have three representatives and the fourth team will more than likely be .500 or better.


New York Giants: The defending Super Bowl champs are not a fluke, and they have proved that to this point of the season. They have steamrolled everyone they played this season with the exception of the Cincinnati Bengals.


· Washington Redskins: The hottest team in football, and they are now the darlings of the NFL. They should be able to maintain this pace as long as Jason Campbell remains flawless.


· Dallas Cowboys: Their preseason star has faded with a couple of lackluster performances. Nonetheless this is still a great team that will make the playoffs.


· Philadelphia Eagles: I have lost all faith in this team. And till Andy Reid is removed as head coach they will continue to be an underachieving 8-8 or 9-7.


2) AFC East: Since 2002 this division has been dominated by the New England Patriots. Now with Tom Brady’s injury, the arrival of Brett Favre and the emergence of the Bills, this division has become a solid conference from top to bottom.


· Buffalo Bills: The Bills suffered their first lost of the season on Sunday. However, the bigger lost was Trent Edwards suffering a concussion and missing the majority of the Sundays game and now he will be day to day going into the future.


· New England Patriots: The New England Patriots are without Tom Brady, but they are a solid team, and probably still a playoff team. It will be interesting to see how this team reacts to a season full of adversity.


· Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins have found life. They are playing with pride and they are playing hard because they know that Bill Parcells will fire them if they don’t. I also love the Wildcat offense and I think it provides an amazing wrinkle to a game plan.


· New York Jets: Brett Favre is here, and this team is about as up and down as anyone in the NFL. They are much improved from last year, but the Jets still have plenty of work to get done if they want to be an elite squad.


3) NFC South: The NFC South is a difficult division to read. However, at this point it has more teams playing at a high level and therefore beats out its AFC counterpart.


· Carolina Panthers: Jake Delhomme is back and healthy and it is making a world of difference. Add in the fact that the Carolina Panthers have put together an impressive duel threat coming out of the backfield and you have a good NFC team.


· Atlanta Falcons: This team has bounced back from everything last year and they are playing good football with Matt Ryan at the helm. They won’t stay at the top of the division all season, but at this point they are a heck of a good choice.


· New Orleans Saints: The Saints are 2-3 but they have too much talent to be as bad as they are. Stupid mistakes have cost them two games already this season. Once they eliminate those errors this team will be back in the saddle.


· Tampa Bay Bucs: I just don’t like this team. They have problems at quarterback. Brian Griese is not the answer, everyone else and their brother is in the Gruden doghouse. It looks like Chuckey’s magic is failing.


4) AFC South: This division has the ability to jump up the rankings very quickly and that mainly hinges the possibility of the Indianapolis Colts getting their act together.


· Tennessee Titian: The Titians are a very good team. Their defense is amazing. And as long as they are playing and executing at this level on both sides of the ball, then Vince Young needs to stay on the bench and out of the way.


· Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jags are struggling to get things together, but they are on the cusp of being something special. Any team that has a defense as good as there is and a balanced running attack they need to be considered a threat.


· Indianapolis Colts: The Colts are injured and they are getting old. Its official this is a team that goes old in front of us. They may have another run left in them, but I would not bet on it.


· Houston Texans: This team has been a horrible disappointment. In addition they are holding this entire division back.


5) NFC North: This division is the perfect example of mediocrity. No team in the division is standout, but they are all pretty good.


· Chicago Bears: In typical Chicago fashion, this team manages to win games and get the job done despite having a bad offense. Matt Forte has had a couple good games though.


· Green Bay Packers: They are in the midst of a three game skid, and Aaron Rogers is trying to establish himself. I just have a sneaking feeling that his shoulder injury will end up haunting the Packers all season.


· Minnesota Vikings: They had a great gutsy win on Monday Night Football. And the Vikings are trying to figure everything out. They will likely miss the post season, but at least they will know going into April that they need to draft a QB.


· Detroit Lions: This team is horrible. The coach is horrible, the owners are horrible and the players are horrible.


6) AFC North: If there was ever a division that I would predict to drop on this list, I would have to say it is this one. Even the top team in this division is weak due to injuries.


· Pittsburgh Steelers: This team is being held together by athletic tape and Big Bens heart. While that is good, I just don’t think it can take you all the way.


· Baltimore Ravens: I actually like this team. Flacco is going to be a good quarterback. The defense is still strong. They just need some experience on both lines.


· Cleveland Brown: Well I guess Derrick Anderson remembered who he really was. And I doubt that Brady Quinn will be any better.


· Cincinnati Bengals: Palmer is hurt, they have no running game, and Chad Johnson seems to have lost all interest in football. Nice!


7) NFC West: This division just barely edged out the AFC West. For the past five years the only thing propping this division up has been the play of the Seahawks and now that has gone down the toilet.


· Arizona Cardinals: As long as they are at home and don’t have to travel to the East Coast this is a dangerous team. Too bad that won’t happen.


· San Francisco 49’ers: They need a quarterback. Lucky for them they play in a bad division and are able to hide many of their true flaws.


· Seattle Seahawks: The running game fell out the bottom on this team a few years ago, and now the rest of the team is following. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, Holmgren is on his way out and could care less.


· St. Louis Rams: Well there’s always next year. Maybe then they will actually take rebuilding this team seriously.


8) AFC West: This division was once one of the best in football, and now it sits at the bottom. Mainly because the two bottom feeder teams are horrible.

· Denver Broncos: The Broncos are the biggest fraud in the NFL today. Their defense is horrible. Hopefully for them, last weeks performance is a sign of a new beginning and they can begin to turn things around.


· San Diego Chargers: This team is different. Something is not right with them, and it starts with L.T. He is not the back that he was just a few short years ago. It seems that he has caught a cause of Sean Alexander syndrome.


· Oakland Raiders: As long as Al Davis runs the team, this team will continue to be a bottom feeder and hold the entire division back.


· Kansas City Chiefs: At this point I just believe that Herm Edwards is not a very good coach. Also what happened to Larry Johnson? 190 yards one week, 7 the next, how does that happen?

Is it Time to Believe?

It feels just a little odd. I sat there, 5 or 6 High Lifes deep, in all my bloated and buzzed glory, confident, with two men on, in the top of the 9th facing a respectable Matt Kemp and just one out. Brad Lidge, a fatefully perfect 41 for 41 in save situations this season, and 3 for 3 in the post season, was desperately trying to nail down the win. The Phillies were in what can only be described as defense (Brunlett in left, Feliz at third, replacing Burrell and Dobbs respectively) trying to protect Lidge as much as possible.

I was confident. Fat. Happy. Fine with the outcome. Fine with the situation.

That isn't Phillies baseball. That isn't Joe Carter, that isn't Rolen to Morandini to Brogne, that isn't Dougie deep in center...But that's the old Phillies, that's old Baseball

That's The Vet.

I'm absolutely stunned. A series many predicted to be a classic. A series many are expecting (even Phils backers) to go seven games is yielding a 2-0 Phillies lead. Maybe I'm just falling into their trap. Maybe I'm being suckered into a Dodgers 3 game sweep at home, before the Phillies take game 6 and we watch a helluva battle for the 7th game.

Or maybe it's just time to *gulp* believe...

TGIF Daily "Linkin' Logs" (10/10/08)

If you're like me, you just watched the market open lower than Carlos Ruiz's batting average and are thinking "shit, there goes retirement." As a financial professional (of some kind) myself, I admit it's disconcerting, but my layman's suggestion is to keep in mind the trader's mantra: "buy low and sell high." In case you didn't know already, things are pretty low right now and odds are you'll be able to sell higher later. Obviously, I have no amazing stock tips, but I can tell you that many companies are severely undervalued and folks like Warren Buffett, who just dropped $5 Billion into Goldman-Sachs know it.

In other, better news, the Philadelphia Phillies snuck up on the Dodgers and stole a 3-2 game, on the power of a 2-run Chase Utley bomb and a solo shot by Pat Burrell in the sixth. What's most interesting about this Phillies run is that they keep doing it against the best pitchers. Offensive teams do now thrive in the playoffs. Sure they got hot here or there (see last year's Colorado addition), but generally those teams walk off with a wimper in the biggest spots when they need the biggest hits. But these Phillies seem to be able to hit 'em off the big guys; Grand baller Gallardo, untouchable Sabathia and now sinker baller Lowe have all yielded runs and the biggest (Sabathia and Lowe) devestating long balls to the Phillies boppers, namely Pat Burrell.

Out of all of this, Pat is the most unique character. Once a maligned streaky hitter who faded in the brightest lights, Pat the bat is now ramping it up at the biggest moments of his career and the Precarious Pat Problem seems like a distant memory (and maybe something I was a little wrong about...sorta). Of course, Should Burrell continue this trend and maybe even lead the Phillies to a world series you have to wonder where Burrell, a future free agent, will sit. With Ryan Howard bopping league leading home runs and RBIs and Cole Hamels anchoring a staff that has pitched incredibly well when it counts bothup for arbitration this offseason (and both probably due large pay days) Burrell simply doesn't fit in the Money Pit's plans. For once, Phillies fans may actually want Pat to stay in reverse of all of those years of asking him to leave.

On a quick side not, what's the deal with McCarver and Buck totally making fun of Carlos Ruiz. First I heard McCarver saying "He's really good at sucking up balls" and later Buck adds "He's a really good receiver." Look, he's batting .219, I get it, but you don't need to make fun of the guy too. What's more distressing is Chris Coste, he gets little to no playing time behind the plate; its like he banged Charlie Manuel's wife of something.

• Long Live Sarge...and his sweet hats
• Awful Announcing sits down with Curtis "I'm not in the playoffs...but I am on TV!" Granderson
• Poetry about fall baseball...like Arizona Fall League Baseball...I guess...
• I'm actually just curious of Goodell will spin this to somehow keep Adam Jones all nice and shiny for his boss...Jerruh Jones...
• Even Billionaires are effected by this Financial issue. Mark Cuban thinks the Cubs are overvalued (and we all know they are...duh!)
• TheBigLead's hockey roundup...now with more Red Wings Mocking
• Dusty Baker finally found a pitching staff he can handle
• And Finally, via Deadspin, 2 guys who think Magic Johnson faked AIDS (Not HIV, but full blown AIDS) Everyone knows he cured them with money...duh