Midseason, mediocre

Meaningless categorization of unfounded and unreliable information after eight weeks of NFL football:

Two teams that won't make a playoff splash:

The Tennessee Titans are wonderfully 7-0 for now, but they probably won't end up Super Bowl champs. Jeff Fisher runs a tight ship, and does a good job of bringing a prepared team each Sunday, but at some point they will be challenged. The AFC is not the power house it once was, but it is hard to imagine the Titans carrying this momentum through three more months of football.

Meanwhile, in the NFC there is an equally over achieving squad. Washington has a nice record, and is in the thick of things in the best division in the league. But they have looked shaky more than a couple times, and Jason Campbell has yet to prove himself on a larger stage.

Two teams that might make a playoff ripple:

The Pittsburgh Steelers seem to be, if nothing else, one of the more level-headed teams in the league. They keep getting caught in close games, and even though they lost to New York (N) and Philadelphia, they have played consistent football most of the year. Ben Roethlisberger is a play maker, and can improvise in tough spots, and it doesn't seem to matter who they put in the backfield. Look for them to at least challenge for the AFC title.

In the NFC, things are a little tougher. Carolina, Green Bay and Tampa Bay could all slide into this spot. But Philadelphia has been a bit like the Steelers. They generally bring a solid game, and Donovan McNabb has been there before. If they pressure the quarterback, they are capable of beating any team in the league.

Week 9 game that will disprove all of the above:

This Monday the Steelers will travel to Washington, where they very possibly could be defeated by the stout Washington defense and rush attack. For the sake of this post let's hope the Steelers pull it out.

Most defeated winless team:

Technically, Cincinnati has a worse record than Detroit. They have lost eight games to the Lions 7. But the Lions have done it as only they can. They have been blown out, lost by just two points when Dan Orvlosky stepped out of the back of the end zone against the Vikings, and traded their best player. They did get rid of Matt Millen, but that will do them little good in the next nine weeks.

Most talked-about player most likely to be talked about:

Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Brett Favre.

Most talked-about marginally talented player/Reason nobody should watch ESPN anymore:

Adam Jones. If Matt Murton(who!?) was arguing with his body guard at a bar in Oakland would Peter Gammons have to spend two months outside of the Coliseum? Apparently, just because Pacman has a couple punt returns for touchdowns he is worthy of daily national media attention. Poor ESPN reporters...

Offense that already existed but is being talked about exhaustively:

Wildcat. So the running back takes a direct snap and runs with it... Seen it. about 4,000 high schools run this. It just happened to work a couple times, and win the Miami Dolphins a couple games. La-di-fucking da! That's all I have for that one.

Houston at Minnesota

The 3-4 Houston Texans present an interesting match-up for the Vikings. Minnesota has mostly been playing to their opponents so far: Shootouts with New Orleans and Chicago, nail-biters with Green Bay and Carolina, and a horrific penalty-ridden game against Detroit.

Houston is a tough team to categorize. Their defense is pretty much middle of the road in all areas; they do OK against the pass, are 21st against the run. They do give up points though, as opponents are averaging over 26 a game. On offense, they are on of the best teams at throwing the ball. Andre Johnson is a huge reason for this, as he is basically dominating every defense he faces. Oddly, he leads the league in catches and yards, and has only two touchdowns.

The Vikings will again control the run game on both sides. The Texans have not been impressive against the run, and will have to stack the box if they hope to contain Adrian Peterson. Peterson has been facing eight and nine man fronts all season and is still among the league leaders in rushing, though it has come with more carries than last year. If continues to be patient, and take the four and five yards that are given him, he should have another 100-yard game. It doesn't need to be said that the Vikings have one of the best rush defenses in the league. Kevin and Pat Williams will still be in the line up this week, so expect Houston to go to the air.

Andre Johnson is capable of pretty much anything at the wide receiver position. He can work any part of the field; he is as dangerous in the red zone and on deep balls and he is efficient on slants and mid-range routes. His most impressive skill is his hand strength. In a one-on-one fight for the ball, he is the best receiver in the league. Randy Moss might out-jump you, Terrell Owens might break your tackle, and there are plenty of receivers fast enough to run away from you, but Andre Johnson is another thing. He takes the ball out of defenders hands. He can catch the ball in any body position, and in that sense almost reminds you of Cris Carter. 

The Texans might be able to move the ball on Sunday. The game will come down to red zone efficiency. The Vikings defense, even on bad days, does well in the red zone. A few teams, like the Saints, have put up big yardage games against the Vikings, but haven't really scored much on offense. The Texans will have to score touchdowns when they get into Vikings territory.

The Vikings offense, meanwhile, struggles to score touchdowns themselves. They have moved the ball well in every game this year. They have not translated that to points. They will also need to finish drives. It will be interesting to see if they start to throw some fades down near the goal line. This has not been a popular play for Brad Childress, even though the Vikings have a wonderful history with the play(most notably with Carter and Moss, though even Marcus Robinson was a touchdown machine as a Viking). Sidney Rice is finally healthy and is a great threat in the red-zone. He is tall and can jump, and has demonstrated excellent catching ability in the past.

The next nine games will be interesting at the safety position. Madieu Williams will make his first start as a Viking this week, replacing rookie Tyrell Johnson. If Williams makes the impact expected of his—covering deep balls and using his speed to open up Darren Sharper to move around the secondary more—the Vikings pass defense should improve greatly. Tyrell Johnson has played well so far, but is a rookie, and has made rookie mistakes. He is not ready to be a full-time starter, and has held Sharper back from being able to play his aggressive style. Sharper is at his best when he can take risks and roam the field, a he could beside Leroy Butler and even Dwight Smith. Still, if Williams does prove himself this season, the Vikings will be OK with losing Sharper to free agency at the end of the year. Johnson has shown enough potential to instill confidence that he will thrive playing more of a strong safety role, with Williams behind him.

I expect Minnesota to win on Sunday, with their home crowd behind them. They should be able to control the ball and wear down the Texans defense. If they can pressure Matt Schuab, they might be able to keep Andre Johnson from making a huge impact. 

Steelers, Ravens Face Tough Road to Playoffs

How opportune for the NFC North, to draw the NFC East and AFC South in the same season. Each team in those two division has at least three wins already, and at least three of those teams are among the top five in the league in most power rankings (NY Giants, Tennessee, Washington).

While the Cincinnati Bengals(0-8) are a complete mess, and the Cleveland Browns(3-4) are struggling to stay afloat after a terrible start, both Pittsburgh(5-2) and Baltimore(4-3) have fought their way to winning records through eight weeks. Conventional wisdom at the point would probably tell us that Pittsburgh is the clear favorite; I'm not really going to argue with that, or even try to challenge it at all. The interesting thing about this division is that both the Steelers and Ravens are in the middle of one of the most hellish schedules I can imagine.

Here's where the two stand so far:

Pittsburgh has already played won three divisional games, including one against Baltimore. They also beat a tough Jacksonville team. Their sole losses came against stalwart NFC East opponents: the Ny Giants and Philadelphia. Baltimore, meanwhile, is 4-0 against teams with losing records, and 0-3 against teams with winning records. They lost to Pittsburgh, Tennessee, and Indianapolis in consecutive weeks. They do have two divisional wins under their belt.

Here is what they have coming:

Pittsburgh will go on the road to face Washington, New England, and Tennessee, and will host the inconsistent but talented Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers. Their remaining divisional games are at Baltimore and home for Cincinnati and Cleveland. Baltimore will travel to face Cleveland, Houston and the Giants in consecutive weeks. That ridiculous road stretch is followed by one home game, against Philadelphia, and then another road trip, this time for a division rival Cincinnati. Their final four games: Washington, Pittsburgh, at Dallas, home for Jacksonville.

So while Pittsburgh is surely a better team than Baltimore so far, and holds a game lead in the division, it will really come down to how they play against other opponents. And neither team gets a break the rest of the way. Cincinnati isn't a scary foe, but a divisional game in the NFL is different, even against an 0-8 team.

On another schedule topic, the 0-7 Lions have a really good chance to go defeated the rest of the way. Their final nine games feature nine teams with at least three wins. Their four road games all figure to be bad losses: at Chicago, Carolina, Indianapolis, and Green Bay. Their only hopes may be against either the 3-4 Jaguars or the 3-4 Vikings, both games at Ford Field.

Week 9

New York Jets at Buffalo: I have a hunch that Brett Favre is going to throw a few picks. Buffalo does well against lesser teams. Bills 24-17.

Detroit at Chicago: One of these weeks Detroit is going to break out, and surprise(embarrass) somebody. Probably not in Chicago though. Bears 31-10.

Jacksonville at Cincinnati: Jacksonville needs this game, and the Bengals come up at a nice time in the schedule. Jags 24-16.

Baltimore at Cleveland: I have been down on the Ravens quite a bit. I think they will over come the Browns offense and win a third straight game, 20-17.

Green Bay at Tennessee: Been dead wrong about the Packers nearly every week. The Titans look real though. Titans 30-21.

Arizona at St. Louis: Uhhhmm. Rams 34-28?

Houston at Minnesota: The Vikings do best against teams with losing records, which means they will be down in the 4th quarter, and barely win. Vikings 24-23.

Tampa Bay at Kansas City: The Chiefs continue to show flashes, but they just can't complete games. Bucs 27-13.

Miami at Denver: Jay Cutler should be able to move the ball this week, and as long as Miami doesn't rush for 250 yards, the Broncos should be able to out duel them. Broncos 34-27.

Atlanta at Oakland: It will be interesting to see if Matt Ryan has one terrible game this year. Falcons 24-10.

Dallas at New York Giants: Unfortunately, this game is going to come down to Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger, and that means the Cowboys are going to lose. Giants 31-21.

Philadelphia at Seattle: The Seahawks are still terrible, sorry. Eagles 28-13.

New England at Indianapolis: This could either way, since both teams are Jekyll and Hyde. Pats 27-21.

Pittsburgh at Washington: The Steelers schedule is brutal. The only good thing for them is that Baltimore's might be even tougher. Steelers over Washington 20-13.

Blind Rankings

Note: I only saw one game this week, the Chiefs at Jets. Nonetheless:

1. Tennessee Titans: Can't question them anymore. They've passed every test so far, and are already a lock for a playoff spot.

2. New York Giants: In the first match-up of super-powers, the Giants came out ahead.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers held their own, but they could use a back up long-snapper.

4. Carolina Panthers: They've won two in a row(6-2). They also lost to Tampa Bay(5-3), so this division should be interesting right to the end.

5: New England Patriots: There is something to be said about a team going 5-2 with Matt Cassell making his first six starts ever. Or maybe it says something about their coach.

14. Chicago Bears: Bye week, weeeeee.

16. Green Bay Packers: They seem to play to the level of their opponents, so who knows what will happen when they visit Tennessee?

21. Minnesota Vikings: They can't lose Kevin and Pat Williams. It won't hurt to have Madieu Williams back, though

28. Seattle Seahawks: Not impressed with either of their wins so far.

29. San Francisco: Not impressed with them period.

30. Oakland Raiders: Still showing some sparks of talent and potential, at least.

31. Cincinnati Bengals: They'll win a couple this year, I promise.

32. Detroit Lions: They'll lose quite a few more, I promise.

Michael Silver is still high on the NFC North. Nobody has ranked the Lions above 32 in weeks.

ESPN.com:G.B.-11, CHI-12, MIN-23, DET-32

CBS Sportsline: G.B.-9, CHI-16, MIN-25, DET-32

Jeff Sagarin(USA Today): CHI-8, G.B.13-, MIN-15, DET-32

Michael Silver(Yahoo!):G.B.-8, CHI-10, MIN-17, DET-32

FOX Sports: CHI-8, G.B.-14, MIN-23, DET-32

Darius Rucker, CMG

Darius Rucker is spilling his guts at Country Music Goodness. I'm just the medium through which it flies. 

Week 8

There some really intriguing match-ups this week. As usual, it will come down to which inconsistent team shows up and which one lays an egg. Who knows this year?

Tampa Bay at Dallas: Brad Johnson has to start again this week. Brooks Bollinger is number two in Dallas. Please refer to this 2006 Vikings-Bears game, when BB filled in for BJ after four interceptions. Note that neither quarterback finished that game. Bucs 20-9.

Washington at Detroit: Don Banks thinks the Lions just might go winless this season. I'm not sure about that, but they will be 0-7 in a few days. Washington 31-17.

San Diego at New Orleans: could go either way, any way. Saints 41-31.

Buffalo at Miami: The Dolphins have snuck up on a few teams with the "Wildcat" offense, but Baltimore seemed to have in under control last week. Buffalo continues to win any way they have to. Bills 24-21.

St. Louis at New England: The Patriots are the most up and down team in an up and down league, so it is near impossible to guess what will happen when the Rams come in, hot off two big wins against good teams. I'll go with Bill Belichick, 27-24.

Kansas City at New York Jets: Ah, the long-awaited Chiefs-Jets match up. Uh.. Jets 34-20.

Atlanta at Philadelphia: Flip a coin. 

Oakland at Baltimore: There is no doubt that the Raiders play hard every week, but Baltimore should win this. Ravens 20-10.

Arizona at Carolina: Flip a coin.

Cleveland at Jacksonville: Jaguars 27-17. By the way, if three of your players have staph infections, and you are suspending them for talking about it, there is something terribly, terribly wrong.

Cincinnati at Houston: Probably will be one of the more exciting games this week. Texans 31-27.

New York Giants at Pittsburgh: Probably the best match-up so far of the NFL's elite. Neither team will suffer much from a loss here, but it is a chance to assert themselves. I love the Steelers balance, and I love Plaxico Burress on 3rd downs. I'll go with the home team, 27-20.

Seattle at San Francisco: Not sure I care... 49ers 31-21.

Indianapolis at Tennessee: There is no reason why the Colts can't win this game... if they actually show up this week. Tennessee is due for some humble pie, but the Colts aren't the team to serve it up. Titans 34-21.

Rankeroo

No changes in the top seven this week. They didn't all win, but none lost. The middle continues its muddled ways, and the bottom has a few new-comers. Excitement!

1. Tennessee Titans: Another big win. How will they handle the up and down Colts?

2. Pittsburgh Steelers: They play a consistent and balanced brand of football, something that most teams could learn from this year.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Like the others in the Top 5, they took care of business.

4. New York Giants: Too bad they lost to such a bad team. They'd still be in the top spot otherwise.

5. Buffalo Bills: I was wrong about this team. Will they continue to prove me wrong?

13. Chicago Bears: A win's a win, but they have a lot of work to do if they want to get out of the wildcard round.

17. Green Bay Packers: I need to see more. Two dominating wins in a row, though.

22. Minnesota Vikings: Huge day on offense, but you can't win when you give away points.

28. Cleveland Browns: They are better than the four teams below them, but they just aren't going to win a lot of games this year.

29. Kansas City Chiefs: One week they show some fight. The next they get completely embarrassed.

30. Seattle Seahawks: Another team that just isn't very good.

31. Cincinnati Bengals: There's a lot of fight in this team, considering.

32. Detroit Lions: With Roy Williams gone, they have nothing to even remotely scare opposing teams. Calvin Johnson can't do it all.

Experts: Silver continues to love the NFC North (at least relative to the rest of 'em).

ESPN.com: G.B.-10, CHI-13, MIN-22, DET-32

CBS Sportsline: G.B.-11, CHI-18, MIN-24, DET-32

Michael Silver (Yahoo!): G.B.-9, CHI-13, MIN-17, DET-32

Jeff Sagarin (USA Today): CHI-6, G.B.-16, MIN-17, DET-32

Quite Wrong

Every week, I'm bound to get a few predictions wrong. Sometimes they will be really wrong. 

Prediction: Dallas will beat St. Louis 24-13.

Reasoning: The Cowboys are simply a better team, and will be able to outplay the Rams in all facets of the game, even without Tony Romo.

Reality: Brad Johnson was awful. The Cowboys could have played a solid game in all areas and still not have overcome Johnson's ineptitude. But they didn't even play a solid game. They were awful all around. Marion Barber even tarnished a nice effort with an early fumble. Marc Bulger can still throw the ball, and he has a couple threats at the wide receiver position. Rams won this one 34-14.

Prediction: Miami will beat Baltimore 27-24.

Reasoning: Baltimore is old. they haven't really put together a complete game all season long. 

Reality: Baltimore didn't dominate this game, but they pushed Miami around. They held the Dolphins rushing attack in check, and Joe Flacco protected the ball. The Ravens took this one 27-13, and the game wasn't really in question during the second half.

Prediction: San Diego will beat Buffalo 27-13.

Reasoning: The Chargers looked very good in stepping over the hapless Patriots last Monday night. Buffalo has looked a little shaky in beating some less-than-impressive teams.

Reality: The Chargers lost the turnover battle 0-3, and mustered only 263 yards. Buffalo looks good at home, and they don't appear to be slowing down as they head into a rough patch in the schedule. The Bills won 23-14.

Same old

There are two things that almost all poorly-coached teams have in common: Bad special teams play, and loads of penalties. Yes, that's you Brad Childress.

I never understood his challenges. Or his play-calling. Or his time-management. But these things seems minor after you watch the Vikings continue to give points to other teams. 14 free points from the Vikings special teams, gift-wrapped and handed to the Bears. Awful. Just awful. 

The Vikings offense somehow managed to score 41 points, without any help from great field position, and turn the ball over four times. Really? The Bears got 14 points on freak special teams plays, a last second field goal in the first half after a squib kick, and a scoring drive of six yards following an interception. That is the second six yard touchdown drive by a Vikings' opponent this year (Titans). That is frightening. 

This team is so difficult to watch. And it is something new every week. Sometimes it is excited, sometimes it is impressive; most of the time it is depressing. Childress cannot be the head coach of the Vikings next season. I understand that firing him right now is not going to do anything. This team is already doomed, whether they start over at Week 8 or let Childress stick it out. Unless you can get Bill Cowher to come in this week, it is a pointless move. 

For a team that (supposedly) has so much talent, they sure play ugly, and they sure play inconsistent. The only thing that can be said for this team is that they play hard. There is no quit and they hit the hell out of opposing players. Some were questioning all the money the Vikings put aside for free agents Bernard Berrian and Jared Allen. Well, they are both putting out now, and the Vikings still are finding ways to lose, and are still barely winning the games they do pull out. Adrian Peterson isn't breaking games open but you cant ask for anything else from him. The defense is stuffing the run. 

It is all about turnovers and terrible special teams. When Mike Tice coached the Vikings the special teams was perfectly boring. There were no blocked field goals, no touchdown returns. But they also contained opposing returners, punted well, made field goals. Special teams were not determining the outcome of games, either way. This year, Chilress' third with the Vikings? The Packers' punt return for a touchdown, for all intents and purposes, won them a Monday Night Football showdown with the Vikings in Week 1. Reggie Bush returned two punts for touchdowns in a game the Vikings barely won. And then this week against the Bears.

There's really nothing else to say. They'll probably go 8-8 and just miss the playoffs. I'll take that over being a Lions or Bengals fan, but it is going to sting.

Week 7

San Diego at Buffalo: Two teams that could go in very different directions in the coming weeks. Chargers 27-23.

Minnesota at Chicago: Adrian Peterson is really cranking out some yardage considering how stacked the line of scrimmage is with defenders. Vikings 20-17.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati: The Bengals won't stop fighting. The Steelers will still beat them, 31-21.

Tennessee at Kansas City: The Titans have one more "easy" one before their schedule toughens up. Titans 20-7.

Dallas at St. Louis: Brad Johnson just has to play it safe. Cowboys 24-13.

Baltimore at Miami: Miami should be able to outlast the aging Ravens, 27-24.

San Francisco at NY Giants: Good chance for the Giants to bounce back from Monday night. Giants 30-10.

New Orleans at Carolina: These teams' momentum is going in opposite directions, but I like Carolina to slow down the Saints offense enough to win 28-24.

Detroit at Houston: Houston wins a nail-biter, 28-27.

NY Jets at Oakland: Brett Favre is a turnover machine. Also a touchdown machine; Jets 34-17.

Indianapolis at Green Bay: Colts offense is getting hot, they win this one easy, 31-21.

Cleveland at Washington: Washington gets back on track, 24-13.

Seattle at Tampa Bay: The Seahawks are terrible. Bucs 35-20.

Denver at New England: The Patriots need a quarterback. Where's Flutie? Broncos will score too much, 38-24.

dirty, stinking, rotten dishes

To make a new start, for the last time

And take her seriously, herself Seriously

To leave his dishes in the sink

And let them begin to accumulate

The mold of their love affair

And the stench of their future

If she leaves tonight, or Wednesday morning

She'll only end up somewhere else

And he'll still dirty all the dishes

Leaving a mess for someone new

The shoulder to blame is hers alone

And lonely she waits for him to see

When the plates and forks are spotless

He can only continue to eat

Away the feelings that once projected

Her happiness, her happy with herself

And if he comes home to a darkness

She'll only be in some new town

And he'll still dirty all the dishes

She'll just wash them somewhere else

Todd Snider, Peace Queer, Mega Force

Another review on countrymusicgoodness.com: Todd Snider's Peace Queer was released today.

Rankings

After Week 6 there is further proof that the NFL has turned into a mush of mediocre teams. Whether they are mediocre relative to each other or the NFL of 10, 20, or 30 years ago, I'm not sure. But there sure aren't any clear cut favorites so far, and only a couple teams are out of it.

1. Tennessee Titans: The bye week was good to a couple teams. The Titans should go into their Monday Night Football match up with Indianapolis 6-0.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers: Three of my top five teams had byes this week. Shows how quickly things change.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Very impressive win, even if I think the Panthers have been overrated so far.

4. New York Giants: Not a good loss, but the Giants still are in control of a tough division.

5. Buffalo Bills: At five for now, but they could have a losing record a month from now. Next four games: SD, at MIA, NY Jets, at NE.

18. Chicago Bears: The Bears could open a nice NFC North lead if they can take care of Minnesota and Detroit at home in their next two games (with a bye sandwiched between).

19. Minnesota Vikings: A win is a win in this league. They are right there in the middle of things, with some big divisional games coming up.

20. Green Bay Packers: Good job taking care of a lesser team. That is something that shouldn't be taken for granted in the NFL.

28. Oakland Raiders: The Saints needed a win, and they took out some frustration on the Raiders

29. Seattle Seahawks: Hard to imagine things getting much better for this team.

30. St. Louis Rams: Good win, but I'm not moving them up yet. I still remember their September.

31. Cincinnati Bengals: They look pretty good for an 0-6 team, but they still are 0-6.

32. Detroit Lions: Score was close, which is a step in the right direction. But they only gained 212 yards, and couldn't maintain drives.

The Experts:

ESPN.com: G.B.-19, CHI-20, MIN-21, DET-32

CBS Sportsline: G.B.-16, CHI-21, MIN-22, DET-32

Michael Silver (Yahoo!): G.B.-14, MIN-15, CHI-16, DET-32

Jeff Sagarin (USA Today): CHI-8, MIN-18, G.B.-22, DET-32

Darius Rucker “Learn To Live” Capitol/EMI

Check out my review of Darius Rucker's new album, Learn to Live, on countrymusicgoodness.com.

Again, let us not forget the final score

For the second straight week, the Minnesota Vikings won an incredibly ugly game. After turning the ball over three times and have a field goal blocked in the 4th quarter, Minnesota snuck past Detroit on a Ryan Longwell field goal, 12-10.

Typically, the media is writing this win off. The Vikings are not a popular team this year. They were predicted to be one of the better teams in the league, and have shown that, more or less, they are just another middle-of-pack group. ESPN.com's headline for the game said the game was won on a questionable call, while the same site's Last Call claimed the Vikings were outplayed for a second straight week.

If you read my post last week concerning the Saints-Vikings Monday Night Football match up, you understand that I don't really buy that the Saints "outplayed" the Vikings. And this week, I feel even stronger that the Vikings were not outplayed. Although the Lions definitely showed up on Sunday, the Vikings basically dominated most of the game, stopping now and then to hand over the ball or fail on a scoring chance. Please refer to the game's box score for the bulk of the substantiation for my argument. Note that the Lions had eight first downs and only 212 total yards. And, yes, most of it came on one play, but Frerotte did throw for 296 yards.

On a positive note, Minnesota's defense continues to look like one of the best in the league. Kevin Williams had one of the most incredible individual performances by a defender in recent memory. Four sacks from the tackle position? Unreal. David Herron filled in admirably for E.J. Henderson (when he wasn't limping off the field), but there does seem to be a difference in the rush defense since the middle backer went out. With Henderson on the field, outside runs were getting strung out, and E.J. was tackling runners behind the line of scrimmage. With Herron, the same plays are being strung out, and the runner is gaining two or three yards. Most teams would love to have that "problem." Nonetheless, it is a credit to Henderson to note that he was a huge part of why teams struggle so much to run against Minnesota.

Watch any NFL game and notice that some of the most frustrating plays for a defense are 3rd down conversations. And notice, also, that a lot of conversions come on dump offs to running backs. Five or six years ago the Vikings defense gave up an infuriating number of first downs this way. Today, I have no qualms saying the Vikings are the best team in the league at containing running backs catching the ball out of the backfield. It may seem an unsubstantial angle on the game, but these plays keep drives alive and sometimes pick up huge chunks of yardage. But the Vikings linebackers are so quick, and the defensive backs such able tacklers, that even in short yardage situations, teams have no guarantees against this defense.

The Vikings probably should not feel great after this win, but they should feel great about being 3-3. The reality of the situation is that no matter how ugly it was, the outcome was a victory, and they can only look forward to next week. I expect both Minnesota and Chicago to show up next Sunday, and for the first time in almost a month, the Vikings to eliminate the sloppy plays that are weighing them down.

Completely Uninformed Peak at Week 6

Another week full of tough games. It seems likely that there will be a lot of upsets and a lot of teams with winning records losing this week. 

Chicago at Atlanta: I like Atlanta's run game here, especially on the turf. Kyle Orton might continue his run of good quarterbacking this week, but Atlanta will score too much, and win 30-20.

Baltimore at Indianapolis: Baltimore looks pretty good, and their defense is crazy good, but they are old. They can't finish games. Indianapolis 23-13.

Detroit at Minnesota: Detroit is due for "sneak-up-on-you" game, but Minnesota has some momentum and might actually be able to run past Detroit's version of eight men in the box. Vikings 27-13.

Oakland at New Orleans: The Saints need to bounce back from that Monday night heartbreaker, and even though the Raiders are talented and were playing well before Lane Kiffin was fired, New Orleans should be able to put a win together, 34-17.

Cincinnati at NY Jets: Another barnburner for the Jets, and although the Bengals have played tough, Favre still has some 4th quarter magic in him. Jets 41-35.

Carolina at Tampa Bay: Could be the best game of the week, especially for fans of defense. Carolina is getting a lot of props, but the Bucs seem like a nicely balanced team. Bucs 20-16.

St. Louis at Washington: Washington should be able to keep the intensity up at least this week against the awful Rams, 24-7.

Miami at Houston: The Texans are tough to gauge, as they have played hard in all four losses. Dolphins 24-10.

Jacksonville at Denver: Denver's offense could rip Jacksonville's secondary, but the Jaguars seem to have a knack for coming through in must-win situations (at least in the regular season). Jags 31-27.

Dallas at Arizona: Ignore all the crap about Dallas you heard this week. Kurt Warner will turn the ball over three times this week. Cowboys 31-17.

Philadelphia at San Francisco: I don't trust the 49ers, and I always like desperate teams. Eagles 35-10.

Green Bay at Seattle: Green Bay loses even when Rodgers has strong games. Seattle has injuries everywhere. Flip a coin: Seahawks 20-17.

New England at San Diego: I rarely pick against the Patriots, but San Diego has a quarterback. Chargers 24-21.

NY Giants at Cleveland: Giants stay undefeated, 31-24.

The Vikings Won, by the way

In the 24 hours since Minnesota topped New Orleans 30-27, the national and local (Minnesota) media have agreed on one thing: The Saints gave this one away. Consensus seems to be that the Vikings watched some freak show of blocked field goals and punt returns go on around them, then stepped in with 15 second left so Ryan Longwell could come in and boot the game-winning field goal.

Well, I see it a little differently. Although the Saints did blow a 4th quarter lead, how did they even get to that point? Let's not forget that before Reggie Bush returned two punts for touchdowns, the Vikings had a 20-10 lead and the game had essentially turned into back-and-forth punts. The Saints had a couple of nice drives in the first half, but only turned two into scores, a 47-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown to open the game, and 34-yard possession that ended in a long field goal. 

The Saints only drive in the game that went for more than 55 yards was a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended with an interception. What the Saints offense did was put up a bunch of numbers: 320 yards total, 15 first downs, and they won time of possession by 5 minutes. Guess what? It means nothing. 

Stats are important in professional sports. They are how we measure teams and players and their performances. But if you can't recognize that the Vikings defense did what they had to do to win this game, which, yes, included taking advantage of mistakes by the Saints, you are blind. The Saints certainly gave the Vikings a lot of chances in this game—turnovers and penalties, namely—and the Vikings took advantage of pretty much every single one. A blocked field goal turned into a touchdown after a penalty and a dropped pass. A pass interference turned into the game-winning field goal. 

Go watch all 14 NFL games next weekend. What you will see are a bunch of near-interceptions, near catches, near drops, near fumbles, etc. On Monday night, the Vikings just happened to do an incredible job of capitalizing on all of these. Ben Leber scooped up a bobbled ball, Antoine Winfield caught a blocked punt in mid-air.

Also, let's talk about Jared Allen. People are disappointed because he has no numbers. Well, if you watched the Vikings defense in 2006 and 2007, you know a couple things: Overall, it was pretty good; its pass defense got exploited a lot; it never pressured the quarterback. And if you did watch those two teams it should be pretty obvious that this year's defense is a lot better than those two. And Jared Allen is a huge part of that. Drew Brees was not on the ground that much. But he was in the eye of a storm last night. 

The Vikings defensive line has not been great at all times this year, but they cause a hell of a lot of chaos. There are people everywhere when the ball gets snapped, and quarterbacks are getting hurried and hit. We all would like to see more sacks, but there is no denying that the line is as disruptive as it has been in decades.

So, for those who like stats, I'll throw you a bone. In Week 3, the Carolina Panthers had 45 yards of offense in the second half, punting three times and never scoring. In Week 4, the Tennessee Titans gained 67 yards in seven possessions in the second half, hitting a field goal on a 33-yard drive, and moving 6 yards for a touchdown after a Gus Frerotte interception. New Orleans did manage 99 yards in the second half Monday night, most of that coming on one pass. 

In those three games the Vikings have held their opponent scoreless in 14 of 17 second half possessions, with the average scoring drive moving less than 18 yards. To me, that adds up to some stellar second half defense (and bad field position), right when it is needed. And it's not like the defense has put the team behind in those games. Tied 10-10 against Carolina at half, down 20-10 against Tennessee, and up 20-10 Monday in New Orleans.

To wrap it up, don't tell me the Vikings didn't have a part in winning this game, and how about a little credit to the Vikings defense, which is playing a lot better than the "numbers" might indicate.

Rank Me

1. New York Giants: Domination is the word that comes to mind. Seattle isn't great, but that is quite the big win.

2. Tennessee Titans: They probably should have lost against Baltimore, but 5-0 teams find a way to win, and they did that.

3. Washington Redskins: Four straight wins against some pretty good teams.

4. Dallas Cowboys: 4-1 is 4-1, no matter what others' expectations were for this team.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers: Carolina is getting a lot of attention, but the Steelers look pretty complete.

11. Chicago Bears: Doing things right, and winning. Let's see how they do against some better teams.

17. Minnesota Vikings: Defense has had some incredible second halves, Gus Frerotte is doing enough.

20. Green Bay Packers: We've seen them play too well to write them off after three straigh losses.

28. Cleveland Browns: Bye week is nice.

29. Cincinnati Bengals: Some really gritty, tough losses.

30. Houston Texans: Winless teams find ways to lose.

31. Detroit Lions: Terrible.

32. St. Louis Rams: They still look bad, even with a bye.

The Experts:

ESPN.com: CHI-10, MIN-19, G.B.-21, DET-31

CBS Sports Line: CHI-12, MIN-17, G.B.-18, DET-31

Michael Silver (Yahoo!): CHI-10, MIN-16, G.B.- 21, DET-31

Jeff Sagarin (USA Today): CHI-10, MIN-17, G.B.-21, DET-31

FoxSports.com: CHI-10, G.B.-21, MIN-22, DET-32