The only way to get a unbiased ranking system is to do it by math. Finding the correct formula is hard the hard part. I've been working on this one that combines points scored/allowed, yards gained/allowed, 3rd down %(both offense and defense), and record(times 3); with all of these being compared to the rest of the teams. 


1. New England Patriots - perhaps the big wins over tenn and tb have them a little too high but they are solid and playing great

2. New Orleans Saints- They've had big wins over good teams and its not just the offense getting it done, schedule looks easy rest of the way

3. Indianapolis Colts- a close win over the niners, now lets see how they fare against houston, a win and the division is locked up

4. Minnesota Vikings- Favre Peterson and that d line, mixed with young talent this team looks in control. Now they get a week 9 bye to rest up for the 2nd half of the season

5. Denver Broncos- they've been getting the job done against good teams, esp in the 2nd half. everyone is still trying to get a gauge on them, pittsburgh should tell more

6. Baltimore Ravens- at 4-3 they won when they had to now let's see if they can make some noise in the division

7. New York Giants- losers of 3 straight, of course those teams were the saints, Cardinals, and Eagles. Next up SD, lets see if that secondary is any better.

8. Philadelphia Eagles- big game vs Dallas for early control of the nfc east after taking out the giants.

9. Dallas Cowboys- Tony Romo 8 td's 0 int's in last 3 games(kc, atl, sea) something tells me that will change this week

10. Green Bay Packers- 10 looks high for this team but its really not, 2 losses came against minnesota

11. Pittsburgh Steelers- come off their bye to play at denver, Troy's health down the stretch is key

12. Houston Texans- Can the darkhorse kick off the colt?

13. Cincinnati Bengals- they have been solid, a win against baltimore would bode well

14. New York Jets- go into the bye at 4-4, if they want a sniff at the playoffs they need to take at least 5 most likely 6-7 of the next 8

15. San Diego Chargers- alright its the second half the season time to start playing or Turner is gone. Must win at New York after the giants have dropped 3 in a row, can you say unhill

16. Arizona Cardinals- are 4-3 going to play the Bears, should be a close game with the loser's playoff chances taking a blow

17. Miami Dolphins- well they can beat the jets, a trip to New England looks mighty difficult

18. Chicago Bears- time for cutler to show he was worth the trade

19. Atlanta Falcons- the division race is over, time to look at the wild card, focus on winning games and the rest will take care of itself
 
20. Carolina Panthers- can they pull off the 10+ points underdog upsets in back to back weeks, unlikely. The hard schedule is taking its toll

21. Washington Redskins- the D is great(ranked 5th, my ranking have them 3rd) hard to believe they haven't lost by more than 10 though with that inept offense

22. San Francisco 49ers- they are only a game out of the division and has 2 close losses in the same number of weeks, a win at home against tennessee is needed

23. Seattle Seahawks- that wasn't pretty in Dallas, this team needs to rebuild, time to draft a qb and a left tackle, along with a secondary.

24. Jacksonville Jaguars- that was ugly against tennessee, time for a bounce-back week against KC

25. Buffalo Bills- go into the bye at 3-5 wondering what happened in the 4th quarter. Hey TO got a TD

26. Detroit Lions- they need Calvin Johnson on the field, its hard enough for them to win anyway but without him its impossible

27. Tennessee Titans- They found a W(which was figurable after the bye) and revenged the loss the jags put on them earlier this season. They found the runnning game, lets see how Fisher had them prepared for the trip to the west coast. The qb wasn't the difference but a change was needed after how the season has gone.

28. Oakland Raiders- Bye week, hey they can't lose. I vaguely remember a defensive player saying they would make the playoffs, perhaps he thought he was still a patriot

29. Kansas city Chiefs- A winable game this week vs jacksonville, jobs are in jepordy, and don't just blame twitter

30. St Louis Rams- snapped that 17 game losing streak just in time for the bye. An extra week before they can start a new streak...

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- here comes another blowout, i say they don't win a game this year, the schedule has a lot to do with it but so did the coaching and qb and linebacker changes this offseason, this team was destined to fail.

32. Cleveland Browns- why did they bring this team back? wholesale changes are needed
 

Happy to see Riley Dodge under center, with this offense and the defense we have I feel like we have a shot at the conference. Coach Dodge will finally pay off, it took him time but it always does when you try to turn things around at the college level.

Montgomery looks even better than he did last year as he finishes on 17 attempts for 148 yards. Riley added 13 attempts for 68 yards to accompany his 23 of 33 passing for 216 yards with a td and a pick. The team picked up 512 yards and allowed 308. 

They had 2 turnovers and had 9 penalties called on them for 54 yards.  

1. Mattew Stafford
2. Jason Smith
3. Aaron Curry
4. Eugene Monroe
5. Brian Orakpo
6. Michael Crabtree
7. B.J.Raji
8. Michael Oher
9. Everette Brown
10. Andre Smith
11. Michael Johnson
12. Chris Wells
13. Rey Maualuga
14. Malcolm Jenkins
15. Robert Ayers
16. Tyson Jaskson
17. Mark Sanchez
18. Peria Jerry
19. Josh Freeman
20. Aaron Maybin
21. Jeremy Maclin
22. Vontae Davis
23. Brian Cushing
24. Sen'Derrick Marks
25. Hakeem Nicks
26. Percy Harvin
27. James Laurinaitis
28. William Beatty
29. Darrius Heyward-Bey
30. Duke Robinson
31. Knowshon Moreno
32. Alex Mack

 Let's face it Qb's are the new Wr's. They are emotional and always want the ball, they just can't complain though cause they touch it every down.

After seeing the Favre fiasco last year and now the McCulter debate fresh in our minds one has to put how much these two qb's are similar. Both have huge right arms and can make all the throws. Both tend to force throws they probably shouldn't make. Cutler will put up huge numbers over his career with his type of play. On any given sunday he could throw 400 yards but at the same time 4 int's.

Can you blame McDaniels at this point. He has a system offense he needs a system qb to run it. Cutler isn't the guy. Cutler is a young Favre. He can win it for you but he could lose it just as easily. McDaniels needs a Cassel, Quinn, or Sanchez to run the show. He needs a qb that has limits but understands those limits. Cutler/Favre are guys that believe they can do it all, which in some cases pays off but others backfires.

This should have been over weeks ago. Cutler should have set down with McDaniels got everything out then went about business. Cutler has taken this too far. He is acting like a teenage girl who caught her boyfriend checking out another girl. Instead of trying to talk it out he has decided to break ties completely. Yes McDaniels was wrong and perhaps stupid if he wanted Cassel over Cutler, but Cutler is insane for letting his emotions get him to the point of no return.

Recievers are scruntinized when they say they want the ball. Boldin and Owens are prime examples. Neither have off the field issues and both produce great numbers and help their teams win. Is it wrong for a player whom excels to want to help more? These guys don't complain win they are winning, look at Randy Moss. These guys are used to winning. They won in high school, they won in college, they go to the NFL and see when they don't get the ball as much the teams tends to lose. I would complain. They are no different from running backs that say we should have ran the ball more. Yet running backs seem to get a free pass.

Which is a worse influnce on a team: Your Qb taking off to Cabo during the season, Your Wr having a meeting with the offensive coordinater about play-calling, or a player asking to be traded and not showing up for mandatory workouts. I believe taking a trip before the most important game of your life is the worst message a player can sent to his teammates followed by a player holding out.

The great debate is what do you need for your team to be successful? Do you need the players coach that can pat you on the back or do you need a guy who will yank your face-mask hard enough that would get players ejected? Both have led to multiple titles, but which one is easier and more productive.

Players coaches: Players love to play for these guys, but results seem to be limited. It works if they can come in and have success early on in the coaching tenure, but if failure happens early it seems like the players stop playing for these guys. Look at the Bucs when they had Dungy, they could always get to the Divisional round, but could never make a strong title push. When Dungy was dumped for Gruden, the players responded and won the title. Dungy went on to have the same success with Indy, but it took many more years before he broke the barrier. Amazingly both coaches exited this year but on completely different ends. Dungy was able to retire with respect and Gruden was given a dis-honorable discharge from the Bucs.

Drill sergeant coaches: These guys are only liked when results are shown and once they win a championship they normally get too settled in and too satisfied with their accomplishments that their fire and will to win runs out. A year or two after they win a championship they should move on to another team. These guys are all about setting goals and once they are reach there is nothing else for them to do. Again look back at Gruden. He came, he won, he settled. The same thing can be made about Cowher. He wanted a superbowl victory and got it, he didn't repeat so he left. Parcells is the best example of all. These coaches can turn one place around but once they win thats it. If they do it quickly there is no reason to stay. Turning a 4-12 team into a superbowl team is accomplishment, but taking that team to just to anything less the year after normally marks the end for the coaches tenure.

Players coaches are always going to be players coaches. They can try to be tougher on guys because it's not their nature. What you see is what you get.

Drill sergeants on the other hand can always back off. This normally shows acceptance to players. Players feel like they have bonded to this coach almost like a son. Do you think Brady will ever play for anyone else now that he has been with Belichick. No he is his kind of guy he sees the coaches' acceptance and is very comfortable in his situation.

What is the better method?

 While neither method is perfect and I do think a team will have more success by always switching from one back to the other I perfer the get in your face style coaches. Reasoning, they simply produce more. 6 of the last 8 superbowls were won by coaches who don't put up with players that think they are bigger than the team. Coincidence, not at all. Look through-out the history of the game. Lombardi, Landry, Shula, Noll, Walsh, Parcells, Johnson, Belichick---all multiple superbowl winners, all coaches that don't put up with players above the team.

I just want to be on record stateing that I like Arizona 23-17 tonight. I think Arizona will be able to handle Pittsburgh's D and Warner will throw for over 250 yards. In his 2 other super bowl apprearences he is 1 and 2 on the all-time super bowl lists for yards in a single game. I also think after the win tonight he will retire before next season.