PLAYOFF WEEK 1 REACTION

I think the biggest surprise of Week 1 of the NFL playoffs is the fact that four road teams were the favorites, and 2 of those actually won. Home field advantage in the playoffs is so important, and Arizona and San Diego were able to take advantage of that. But Baltimore clearly overwhelmed Miami in Miami, and Philadelphia beat Minnesota in Minnesota...I feel like anytime you win a playoff game on the road, it's quite an accomplishment.

The real feat, though, is if you can win on the road in Week 2.
A couple of other reactions:

SATURDAY
Atlanta at Arizona
-I totally did not see Arizona winning this game. Good for them - I didn't particularly enjoy rooting against them (I did want to see Atlanta win). But I think their run will be short-lived, coming east.
-The Cardinals do have this working in their favor - it's not like they're heading east for a 1pm game - they have the Saturday night game, so the time shouldn't be a factor, at least. Playing a really good team will probably be a bigger factor.
-My final thought on this game is that it was amazing how fast things swung Arizona's way after the fumble on the handoff at the start of the second half. Everything fell apart for the Falcons fast.

Indianapolis at San Diego
-Definitely the pick of the weekend.
The game was a lot closer than I expected - I really thought San Diego would pour it on the Colts...and they probably would have won in regulation if Peyton Manning had not caught the Chargers napping on that long touchdown to Reggie Wayne.
-I put a lot of stock into the Chargers this post-season - our post-season player pool roster has Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson (both posted 0's on Saturday) - but the game turned out the way I hoped....I think next week's matchup with Pittsburgh is going to also be the best game of the weekend.

SUNDAY
Baltimore at Miami
-I was shocked to see Ed Hochuli as referee in this game, after the start to the year he had. I guess he turned it around after the early errors. I'm also glad, after we saw Hochuli once or twice early in the game, CBS addressed why he was doing the game.
-Chad Pennington has never matched up well against a defense like Baltimore's.
-Speaking of the referees, I had never seen the guy who did the Arizona-Atlanta game before, but he was pretty good. I'm not sure what his name was.

Philadelphia at Vikings
-Maybe I was saving up for next weekend's games, where I'm going to be fully interested from 4pm Saturday through 8pm Sunday, but I really tuned out when this game came on. I watched a little, but I was more concerned with getting stuff done around the house. Again - this will not be the case next Sunday at the same time - I'll be glued to San Diego-Pittsburgh.

I'll have picks by late Friday or early Saturday.

Inspired by the Southern Bureau, I might try to get into some baseball this week. I also might touch on the Jets' coaching situation. Apparently Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski is putting his job on the line just to interview with the Jets. I might advise him that it's not really worth it.

NFL WEEK 17 RECAP

The 2008 NFL season is over.

Congratulations to Chad Pennington on winning the AFC East with the Miami Dolphins. I was reminded watching the game of the Jets' last division championship, which they clinched on the final day of the 2002 season, when Pennington beat the Packers (led by quarterback Brett Favre) at the Meadowlands. I thought that was kind of funny. Anyway, it couldn't happen to a better guy. Of course, Pennington handled it with class...though I wouldn't have blamed him if he had flipped off the crowd on his way off the field. I hope he wins the Super Bowl.

Before we get to the playoffs this week, though, a look at the week's final season:

BEST GAME OF WEEK 17: A couple of games came down to a final field goal - but all involved teams that had most everything wrapped up. I guess the Panthers-Saints goes as the best, because the Panthers earned themselves a bye with the win, after the Saints came back in a huge way in the game, and Carolina still managed to pull off a last-second win.

BEST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 17: The Ravens went out and took care of business - I'll give the nod to either Joe Flacco or Le'Ron McClain - Flacco had 297 yards passing, McClain had 70 yards rushing and scored twice.

WORST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 17: The Dallas Cowboys laid an absolute egg against the Eagles with everything on the line. (The Broncos didn't play much better controlling their own destiny, nor did the Buccaneers, but the Cowboys were the worst.) The Eagles did a nice job, but the Cowboys did worse than the Eagles did well.

BEST GAME IN PLAYOFFS: Next week I think the best matchup might be Eagles-Vikings, though there's something intriguing about that Chargers-Colts game too. I think the Chargers have the potential to be the Colts of two years ago - a very average regular season, getting hot at the right time and making their championship run. This is the same team, after all, that has been a playoff threat then disappointment in recent years - maybe this is the year they turn it around. Not that I want them to...but it might happen.

BEST PERFORMANCE PREDICTED IN PLAYOFFS: There's not much here to predict - this prediction stuff is all over (though I will pick playoff games again starting Friday/Saturday). I will say this though - I'm in a playoff player pool, where you pick players with the hope that they get lots of points and go deep into the playoffs. My friend who I'm doing it with and I were talking about who would be a good quarterback pick, because there's really no obvious choice, the way Kurt Warner has fallen apart and with no other clear cut great quarterback out there this year. It occurred to me this weekend that Matt Ryan might be the choice - because I bet Atlanta upsets Arizona next week, and he puts up good numbers.
-Last Week: I said a 24-10 win by the Dolphins (off by 7 points there), on a 19-23, 279-yard day, 1 throwing, 1 rushing touchdown for Chad Pennington. He was 22-30 for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns. Just another solid Pennington day...and my prediction was close enough for me.

**UPDATE** - Eric Mangini has just been fired by the Jets. I would have fired him last week, after the Seahawks loss, but that was totally reactive. After what I read about Woody Johnson (Jets owner) this morning, I suspect that this was a reactionary move. Maybe they should have taken a week to cool off. I don't love the idea of starting over with a new coach. I just hope a replacement is named quickly...and I hope the other reports recently that Brett Favre did not like playing for Mangini did not factor into this decision.

So here we are again, the Jets looking for another head coach. Same old Jets.

HERE'S HOW IT IS TODAY

OK. So I'm rooting for Chad Pennington today. For one lonely NFL week out of my 30 years on this earth, I'm rooting against the Jets. Strangely, that means I'm rooting for the team I've had a burning hatred for every other year - the Miami Dolphins.

Now, with the strong winds in Buffalo today, anything could happen, and the Bills might beat the Patriots...and if that happens, and a Jets win puts them into the playoffs as a division champ, maybe I'll root for the Jets. But I can't say right now - I need to see what I decide when and if that situation presents itself.

I'm less angry with the Jets now than I was a week ago. I'm very angry, though, with Jets fans. That's much of the reason I want Pennington to win on the Jets' home field, to stick it to the people who cheered when he was hurt a year ago. And that's part of the reason I'm not going to be there - first of all because I'm not going through that hassle of attending a Jets game in New Jersey with zero parking for a team that will most likely lose (though I will do it next week for the playoffs if they win the division), but mostly because I don't want to be around more people booing Pennington.

A COUPLE OF OTHER THINGS:
-I apologize for the lack of images the past few days - I'm not at the home computer, so I'm going sans pictures.

-I thought it was funny the other day that the Southern Bureau suggested I root for the Panthers. Funny because here I am this week rooting for the Dolphins, who the Southern Bureau, if he rooted for any NFL team his entire life it was Miami, and he's suggesting I go to Carolina. For the record, I'm not looking for a new team. But I do enjoy occasionally rooting for Carolina anyway.

-I'm actually rooting against them today, now that I bring it up, because I want Atlanta to win the NFC South. One of my favorite stats in sports right now is that the team that finishes last in the NFC South one year wins the division the following year. And if Atlanta wins and Carolina loses, that will happen again.

Enjoy the final regular season week of the 2008 NFL season. And good luck, Chad Pennington.

NFL WEEK 16 RECAP

One more week - and there are some good games to watch next week. But first, the recap of the penultimate week of the season:

BEST GAME OF WEEK 16: The Chiefs-Dolphins game was pretty good - lots of scoring in tough conditions. The Giants-Panthers was also very good (though due to the circumstances of the Jets game I didn't really enjoy it) with a lot on the line. Games like the Colts-Jaguars, Bears-Packers, and Bills-Broncos weren't bad either.

BEST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 16: I'm going to avoid talking about all the teams who had a chance to do something to help themselves when it came to the playoffs in Week 16 and failed - there are a lot of them (Jets first and foremost). Instead, I'm going to highlight the Atlanta Falcons, who no one expected anything out of, and came into Week 16 needing a win for the playoffs, and got it. That makes them the best performance of the week.

WORST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 16: I don't care that it was snowing, I don't care that it was another east coast one o'clock game. The Arizona Cardinals don't deserve the playoffs any more than the Jets do. Throw Kurt Warner's 30-yard effort in with the big-picture 47-7 loss to the Patriots.

BEST GAME IN WEEK 17: With lots on the line it can either be Jets-Dolphins or Chargers-Broncos. So help me if the Broncos lose and the Chargers get into the playoffs. That would upset me as a Jets fan. The Patriots-Bills game will probably intense too.

BEST PERFORMANCE PREDICTED IN WEEK 17: I'm going to go with my heart again, and predict a huge playoff-entering performance from Chad Pennington. I say 19-23 for 279 yards and 1 throwing TD, 1 rushing. Dolphins, 24-10.
-Last Week: Way off with Kurt Warner and the Cardinals.

WEEK 16 LIVE BLOG

11:48am - I've just decided the conditions today are right for a live blog. There are some interesting situations in today's Jets game (a 4 o'clock start...ugh) - Brett Favre vs. Mike Holmgren, Thomas Jones vs. Julius Jones - and then there's the looming playoff situation. The Jets will be playing in snowy conditions in Seattle, most likely, and the Patriots will be doing the same against the Cardinals in Foxboro. And I hear it will be extremely cold in Kansas City where the Chiefs will be hosting the Dolphins. So it will be an eventful day. I'll watch it all. And I'll write about it. After I get in from my first round of shoveling for the day.

12:10pm - Wow. That's a lot of snow. There's going to be a lot more shoveling today than I thought. Maybe I'll give you a picture later.

I'll set another scene here without a picture...but I'll still paint the image for you. All season I had been wearing a Jets t-shirt with my Jets fleece pants on Sundays for Jets games. After the two losses to San Francisco and Denver, though, I was going to switch things up, and with guests coming over last week I wasn't going to wear the fleece pants anyway. So I went with the t-shirt, jeans, and a Jets hat. That worked out, barely. I'm sticking with that outfit today - hopefully it's still lucky. I can't invite the guests back - they're back in New York. I've also been wearing my Jets sweatshirt for shoveling, so if things aren't going so well maybe I'll switch to that in the second half.

12:25pm - Here's your almost-live picture of the snow, still falling heavily:
Should be similar conditions for the Patriots-Cardinals game...at least the start of it. I think by the end of the game this will be freezing rain and everything will ice over.

1:15pm - I've fed the baby, so at least I'm not totally neglecting my parental duties today. And so much for the Jets getting any help - the Patriots are already up 7-0, and it took the Dolphins all of 18 seconds to go up 7-0 versus the Chiefs. They followed quickly with a turnover, then they had a turnover negated by a penalty. The Cardinals look terrible in the snow...looks like the Jets are going to just have to win their final two games no matter what.

1:41pm - Kansas City is showing signs of life. But to be honest, I don't think any of that matters. The Jets can't clinch this week. So I guess it'll look nice if the Jets are 10-5 while the Pats and Dolphins are 9-6, but the truth of the matter is the Jets need to win their final two games. Period. It doesn't matter what happens with the Dolphins and Patriots.

2:00pm - So a Dolphins win hurts the Patriots, does nothing for the Jets. A Dolphins loss helps the Patriots, does nothing for the Jets. What a weird week.

2:33pm - Update on the wardrobe - I'm really cold in just a t-shirt, so I'm going with the sweatshirt. Hope I don't cost the Jets a win.

Here's something good I just thought of - it's going to be bad weather in Seattle, but Brett Favre played his entire career in Green Bay, so he's got to be unaffected by it, no?

2:45pm - Out to shovel the next foot of snow that's fallen since I last shoveled three hours ago.

3:18pm - I hope the Jets are seeing what the Patriots are doing to the Cardinals (similar to what the Jets did to Arizona the last time I live-blogged, incidentally), and go out and do the same thing to the Seahawks in about an hour. There's no reason the Jets should lose today.

3:55pm - I am enjoying this Dolphins-Chiefs game. And I think since the Jets control their fate by playing the Dolphins next week, I'd rather see the Dolphins win, putting the Patriots in the tougher spot. And I need a fantasy touchdown from Ronnie Brown. So go Miami!

4:16pm - The Jets got three on their opening drive. Came close to getting a touchdown...but I'm encouraged by how they've moved the ball. The thing that scares me is that the Jets have done that on opening drives most of the season, then they go flat. So they need to keep it up.

The weather in Seattle, by the way, doesn't look all that terrible.

4:30pm - The weather is getting worse. That Seattle crowd is loud, even when the Seahawks are terrible. Good for them.

4:37pm - Through one quarter, 3-0, Jets. And I'm not feeling any less nervous.

5:01pm - My daughter may be a lucky charm. Twice I've had her yell 'Defense' at the TV, and twice it's resulted in the Seahawks fumbling (the last two drives). This last fumble came inside the 5. I will definitely be using this to my advantage.

5:22pm - I'm so friggin' angry. 7-3 Seahawks at halftime. The Jets haven't been able to move the ball since the opening drive. And the Seahawks are moving the ball pretty well. This game scares me a lot.

5:44pm - Another round of shoveling under my belt. Haven't even begun to try to dig out the cars (still coming down pretty steadily, by the way). This will be good therapy after the game, though - win or lose. I will need a distraction from the way the Jets make me crazy.

6:05pm - It's the end of the 3rd quarter, Seahawks up 10-3. I feel like I'm going to throw up...and now it's time for dinner.

6:19pm - A delay of game on a field goal...the Jets are lucky to still be down 7 right now with the ball. But they need a touchdown on this drive.

6:24pm - 6:48 to go in the game, and the Seahawks are playing like they're trying to wrap up a playoff spot. The Jets look awful. Like they have the past month. I'm so disappointed.

6:32pm - This is it - 3:06 left, the Jets have it at about their own 10. If the Jets don't get a touchdown, they can kiss their playoff hopes goodbye. And I just might root for Chad Pennington to beat them and make the playoffs next week.

6:37pm - It's not fun being a Jets fan. Disappointment after disappointment. I hope Pennington embarrasses them next week.

LOOMING....LOOMING...

Things that scare the dickens out of me between now and the end of 2008:

1) Clowns
2) The off-chance I'll run into Santa Claus (Christmas is sometimes like Halloween to me)
3) That December 28th game with the Dolphins


The first two are my own little issues. But that last one, I know I'm not alone on. And there are a lot of people jumping on that bandwagon. But I'm no Johnny-come-lately when it comes to that December 28th game. I've been banging that drum for a while.

And don't say I'm falling into the Seattle trap. I know my Jets. They very well could lose Week 16 in Seattle. But I'm a Jets historian - they're more likely to win in Seattle and then lose to the Dolphins in Week 17.

Of course, I'm hoping they don't....but I can't get too excited.

And here's the number one reason this Dolphins game scares me - seems lately they've gotten away from the Wildcat formation, the one that helped them upset the Patriots in Week 3 of the season. The one they didn't really start employing until then. Meaning that the Jets haven't seen it yet (they played the Dolphins in Week 1). And since the Dolphins have gone away from it recently, it might come as a surprise when they start using it again...Week 17....against the Jets.

If the Jets had trouble stopping the run against Buffalo, and against Denver, and against San Francisco, with the back coming out of his traditional spot in the backfield, what chance do they have against the Wildcat?

So that's what scares me most about the Dolphins. Not to mention the fact that when I first mentioned the Dolphins game scaring me, I envisioned a spoiler scenario for Chad Pennington and Miami. Not a situation where they would actually stand to win the division by beating the Jets.

So I'll be wearing out the Sunday Ticket this Sunday. Miami-Kansas City. New England-Arizona. And Jets-Seahawks at 4. I never count on the Jets making it easy...but I never thought just a month ago that it would become this hard.

NO MORE CUSHION

It doesn't matter who the head coach is, it doesn't matter who the quarterback is. It doesn't matter, really, who any of the players are. Year in and year out, the Jets are so frustrating to root for.

They looked like they were sleepwalking out in San Francisco on Sunday...not a good sign considering they have a similar trip to Seattle coming up in two weeks. (And that Seattle game looms threateningly [as do all of the Jets' remaining games], because I thought they'd beat either the Patriots or the Jets. They barely didn't beat New England, so I don't think that bodes too well for the Jets. Seattle is just a tough place to play...I don't know that both New England and the Jets go there and win. Uh-oh.)

As I mentioned last week, I have a bad feeling about all of the Jets' remaining games. And with Sunday's game a 4 o'clock start, I had too much time to dread the game. And I got to reading and thinking. And in the Sunday paper it said the game was the first for the Jets at San Francisco since 1998. And I remember that game like it was yesterday. It was the season opener - Glenn Foley was quarterback for that game and one more before he got injured and lost the job to Vinny Testaverde. It was a shootout - tied at 30 going into overtime. I think Foley threw for 400 yards.

The Jets backed up the Niners in OT, before Garrison Hearst ripped off the longest overtime touchdown run in history - what was it, 96 yards? So thinking about that made me feel even worse about this game, even though there's really no connection at all.

The past two weeks have just been terrible. Bad penalties (Eric Barton last week against Denver...he's in my doghouse. I still hold a playoff 4th down roughing the passer penalty against San Diego against him.). This week Kris Jenkins jumped offsides on a 4th and 1. That's something the Niners should be doing against Brett Favre - not the Jets against Shaun Hill.

And what the Jets have done is stretch themselves to the limit of this tiebreaker they own. With the Patriots and Dolphins winning, the three teams sit at 8-5. The Jets, by virtue of their division record, have the advantage over both teams.

But all that does is put them at the top of the standings for now. The reality is, the Jets have no wiggle room. They control their own destiny, but they have to take advantage, and the only way to do that is to win their final three games. They can't rely on external help - they just have to win.

I can't believe I even mentioned the possibility of a first-round bye. The Jets are starting to look like they'll need to win three playoff games if they are going to make it to the Super Bowl....if they make the playoffs at all.

REFLECTIONS ON WEEK 12

This is not to be confused with the recap of Week 12, which will come tomorrow. But rather, it's a quick touch-base, based on what I wrote last week, about the teams the Jets (and Jets fans) need to worry about.

Titans: Well, the Titans just aren't very good. They're good, but they're not your typical 10-0 type of team. They're kind of like the Jaguars have been the past couple of years, where you see them in the playoffs, and you wonder how they went 12-4...a solid team, but they're not going to win the Super Bowl. Not sure they'll win a playoff game. They might still get the number-one seed in the AFC, though.

Steelers: The Steelers have a tiebreaker over the Jets, so they're still the number two seed right now. And they're kind of up and down - because their quarterback is so up and down. They're the playoff-tried team that probably poses the biggest threat to the Jets the rest of the way (assuming, as I will throughout this entry, that the Jets do what they need to do).

Broncos: I'll still worry about them until I see the Jets beat them next Sunday with my own two eyes (the Jets do not have a history of success against Denver), but I'm not too scared of them. I wrote about them earlier in the year as having one of the seemingly easier schedules in the league, and they haven't done much better than .500 with that schedule. So I think that pretty much sums things up about the Broncos.

Ravens: Until proven otherwise, I'm going to maintain that the Ravens' big win was more a reflection of the disaster that the Eagles have become than an accurate portrait of Baltimore. I think the Ravens are more the team that led 10-7 at the half (good, but not great), than the team that outscored their opponent 26-0 in the second half. But that win has them sitting pretty this week.

Patriots/Dolphins: A big win for New England, beating Miami. The Patriots also helped out the Jets by handing the Dolphins their second division loss. The Patriots moved themselves a notch ahead of Miami, but that can change back next week.

Colts: I think the Colts may have finished off San Diego Sunday night, and they're certainly playing themselves back into contention the past couple of weeks. Still, they're not looking like they used to look.

Bills: The Bills won a game they had to have, but they might have sealed their fate by losing to Cleveland last week.

RIP: Jaguars, Chargers: The Chargers, sadly, might still have a shot at their division, but I think they're done. The Jaguars are no longer a team to worry about - just playing out the string of a very disappointing season.

CONTROLLING THEIR DESTINY

I've been talking a lot about how the Jets can get their first-round bye, and I've also been trying to temper my enthusiasm, because we are still talking about the Jets here.

But every way I look at it the news is good.

Even with the Jets travelling to Tennessee to play the 10-0 Titans.

And this is the story of why you want to be in a spot where you can control your own destiny, and not have to rely on help.

If the Jets take care of business in December (2 away vs. the NFC West, 2 home vs. Buffalo and Miami), especially in the division games, they won't have to worry about much else.

They are 3-1 in the division right now, with their only loss coming to New England. The Patriots are 2-2 in the division, losing to the Dolphins and Jets. And the Bills, even if their Monday night loss to Cleveland didn't cripple them, are still on the outside looking in because of their 0-3 division record.

And believe it or not, for Jets fans, it will end up being better for the Jets if the Patriots beat the Dolphins on Sunday, bringing the Dolphins' division record to 2-2. Because even if the Jets lose to the Titans, and they fall into a tie with the Patriots for the division lead, the Jets own the tiebreaker. And they will, right up until the end of the season.

And the Patriots have the tougher schedule the rest of the way...so it probably wouldn't be a tie for long.

But it's nice to know that even if they match the Jets down the stretch - they won't be able to pass them.

WHAT TO DO WITH A JETS-LESS SUNDAY

Despite the fears that have been ingrained in every Jets fan as the season winds down (like the teams that are headed for the playoffs only to have the season veer into high draft pick territory...1993 comes to mind) I have one eye firmly on the playoffs this year.

And as such, with a Sunday where I could devote much more of my attention to other teams around the league, since the Jets played on Thursday, I present to you my thoughts on who Jets fans need to worry about for the remainder of the season.

Tennessee: Their win today lifted them to 10-0 - so they will be undefeated when the Jets go to Tennessee next weekend. If Tennessee wins, there's no one the rest of the way who is too tough on their schedule- they might go undefeated the rest of the way. At the very least, they will lock up the number one seed in the AFC by beating the Jets. If the Jets go in there and beat Tennessee (and then take care of business in the rest of their fairly tough schedule - which is no given), I think they have a hold on the number two seed in the AFC. (Goes without saying even if the Titans lose to the Jets, they still have a pretty strong lock on the number one seed.)

Pittsburgh: Boy are they streaky. But by beating San Diego, unimpressive as they looked on offense, I think they present the biggest challenge to the bye week for the Jets (again - last time I'll say it - we're going under the assumption here that the Jets at least win 3 of their final 4 games at San Fran and Seattle and home versus Buffalo and Miami).

Denver: The Jets also have a game against Denver, which doesn't worry me as much as it did at the beginning of the year. I have a suspicion, not having had a look at other games that week, that this will be flexed to the Sunday night 8pm spot, so it'll be in the national spotlight. But I think regardless the AFC West winner is destined for the number four seed in the AFC.

Then there's the wild card:

There are 4 teams in the wild card hunt right now at 6-4 (could be five with Buffalo playing Monday night) - New England, Indianapolis, Miami, and Baltimore. I think one of those teams isn't even in contention for much longer, and since you can't bet against New England and Indy, it's between Miami and Baltimore. I think Miami hangs around this year, and Baltimore fades. So watch those three teams (but don't sleep on the Ravens yet).

There are also the Jaguars and the Chargers at 4-6 - one of them will likely be a non-factor in the next couple of weeks, and one will give the teams at 6-4 a bit of a run. I'm not sure which one, since they've both been such underachievers. But I'm sure they'll put up a fight.

I know it sounds like I'm talking big with the Jets only having a one-game lead over everyone else in the division, and this could all change in a week. Believe me - I'm a Jets fan - I know how fragile this is. But that's the whole point here - we need to account for every possible scenario to make sure the Jets don't fall out of contention. And as noted above, there are quite a few teams to watch every Sunday whose outcomes will affect the Jets. On Sunday, the Jets only picked up a game on the Ravens as teams with winning records all kept up the pace.

And next Sunday, the Patriots play the Dolphins. If the Jets lose to Tennessee, one of those teams will be back in a tie for first place in the division.

It's enough to give me a weekly headache.

NFL WEEK 10 RECAP

Obviously, the best game of the week for me was the Jets picking apart the St. Louis Rams, 47-3. But I'm biased. So we'll take most of that game out of the equation. Here's the recap from Week 10, which ended last night with Arizona beating an inept San Francisco - from what I saw of the highlights at the end of the game, San Francisco managed the clock worse than Herman Edwards with the Jets:

BEST GAME OF WEEK 10: There were a lot of close games, some of which shouldn't have been close. (Incidentally, I picked these games all wrong - I though the Jaguars would barely get by the Lions, and the Chargers would take out their underachieving aggression on the Chiefs. Obviously, I had those reversed.) I guess the best games were Giants-Eagles, though some controversy marred that one (I didn't see the end - just the highlights - was that a Brandon Jacobs touchdown or not?), and the Packers-Vikings came down to a last-second field goal, but that game never grabbed my interest.

BEST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 10: The Jets can't be ignored here - but specifically, Thomas Jones is having a very good year, and he set the tone on Sunday for the Jets against the Rams. He had 149 yards and 3 touchdowns.

WORST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 10: The Panthers won in Oakland despite an awful outing by Jake Delhomme. The QB threw 4 interceptions, was just 7-for-27 overall, and had just 72 yards (one touchdown).

BEST GAME IN WEEK 11: Look no further than Thursday night's Jets-Patriots matchup. Althought another highlight of Week 11 is no more bye weeks - a full slate on Thursday through Monday.

BEST PERFORMANCE PREDICTED IN WEEK 11: I'm going with the Philadelphia defense against Cincinnati. At least 5 sacks, a couple of turnovers, one returned for a touchdown, and quite possibly a shutout.
-Last Week: I said Ronnie Brown would go for 110 yards and a touchdown as Miami beats Seattle 33-14. Brown had a touchdown, and Miami won, but I wasn't very close. It was a 21-19 win, and Brown had just 39 rushing yards (I was closer to Ricky Williams' numbers).

NFL WEEK 5 RECAP

A bye week for the Jets, which meant I was able to give less than 100% focus to more than just the usual 2 to 3 games (that's the kind of respect I show the Jets):

BEST GAME OF WEEK 5: I really enjoyed watching the Miami Dolphins beat the San Diego Chargers, 17-10. It's looking more and more like the Jets were lucky to beat Miami in Week 1, and their loss to San Diego is just going to kill them come playoff time. The Dolphins were very good, and Chad Pennington was typical Pennington. His arm looked strong enough, and he didn't make any mistakes. A great game for him, and a great win for Miami. And there's something really screwy going on when I'm rooting wholeheartedly for the Miami Dolphins - I don't think I hate an NFL franchise more. There's the power of Pennington for you.

BEST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 5: Kudos to the Arizona Cardinals. You want to talk about a bounceback win - after getting embarrassed by the Jets (while still putting up 35 points themselves) they showed they can hang with the AFC East by beating the Bills handily. That's a good win, especially when you consider.....

WORST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 5: ...the Seattle Seahawks absolutely laid an egg in their game against the Giants. I mean, the Giants look better than I think most of us expected - but they crushed Seattle. The Seahawks are supposed to be the best team out of that division....I think they've shown they are not, and the Cardinals, flaws and all, might be.

BEST GAME IN WEEK 6: How about another measuring stick for those aforementioned Arizona Cardinals? The Cardinals play the Cowboys in Arizona. Arizona is coming off a huge win, the Cowboys are coming off a disappointing performance at home against Cincinnati.

BEST PERFORMANCE PREDICTED IN WEEK 6: Following a week where he threw for just 176 yards and no scores, I think Jason Campbell bounces back pretty good for Washington against St. Louis. Campbell is putting together a nice little season for himself, and Week 5 was more the aberration than the norm. That was some win for Washington, by the way, beating Philadelphia. They'll crush the Rams next week to go to 5-1, behind 298 yards from Campbell, with 3 TD's (one rushing).
-Last Week: I said Matt Forte would have a big game. Chicago had itself a big game, beating Detroit 34-7, but Forte had just 36 yards on 15 carries. He did catch 4 passes for 25 yards, with a touchdown receiving and rushing, but that's not really close to the 145 yards I predicted...though I did call for 2 TD's. This was my worst prediction of the season so far.

NFL WEEK 3 RECAP

First, a word on the Jets. They play the Chargers tonight, out in San Diego, where they have had an inordinate amount of success in recent years - winning games you might not have expected them to (the blowout win that started the Jets' streak under Pennington in 2002 and the playoff win in 2004 come to mind).

I don't know that the Jets will have that same kind of success under Favre. But I do know that a Jets win will bury San Diego at 0-3 in a very tough AFC. And that would be awesome.

Luckily, since the baby was born this weekend, I do not have to worry about waking up for school tomorrow...so I'm up for the entire Monday Night football game. And the Mets-Cubs, of much more immediate importance (the rest of the week will focus on the Mets). Here's my Week 3 recap:

BEST GAME OF WEEK 3: OK - I didn't see all of the football games on Sunday, with the new baby and all. I did see a lot, just not my usual hectic watching of many channels at once (I had guests, and we watched most of the Giants and most of the Mets games. The channel-flipping isn't for everyone.). But the best of Week 3 just might have been Jacksonville beating Indianapolis on a last-second field goal, 23-21. The Colts looked much better Sunday than they had, especially in the second half, and Jacksonville looked impressive marching down to the win. To be honest, there were a lot of close games on Sunday, but none that were great. I think this was the best of those.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN WEEK 3: I think this would have to be the Miami Dolphins. First of all, they said all week they were going to attack the first-time starter, Matt Cassel, then they came out and did it. The Jets' defense sat back and waited for him to beat them. The Dolphins went out and got him. Good for them. But even more than that, they used a creative offensive game plan to put up some points, and then they blew the Patriots out. If the Dolphins had been that creative on offense against the Jets in Week 1, they would have blown the Jets out too. Chad Pennington managed the game well, but it was Ronnie Brown who torched the Patriots' defense, and shares the credit with the Miami defense for the upset win.

WORST PERFORMANCE IN WEEK 3: Again, a lot of close games in Week 3 - and a lot of them shouldn't have been close. But I think the worst performance was the Pittsburgh offense against the Eagles. You have to give the Eagles' defense credit, because they put up some great numbers (2 forced fumbles, one interception, 9 sacks). But Ben Roethlisberger looked like the bad-decision-making Roethlisberger of a couple of years ago instead of the one who put up impressive numbers last year, and Willie Parker ran for just 20 yards. All they managed was 6 points on two field goals. The Steelers should never be the team that scores the lowest amount of points in the NFL in a given week...but they were in Week 3.

BEST GAME IN WEEK 4: Bye weeks start next week, so there's a smaller schedule...and nothing is jumping out at me in a huge way...but I'm thinking I'll keep an eye on Minnesota at Tennessee. The Titans are 3-0. The Vikings are lucky to be 1-2 - the Panthers looked bad on Sunday, and sort of handed the Vikings one. The Vikings were everyone's (except me) favorite dark horse entering the season, and now Gus Frerotte is their quarterback. A win and everyone's back on their bandwagon. The Titans now have Kerry Collins instead of Vince Young, and a 4-0 start would put some distance between them and second place. Tennessee is a tough place to play. I bet the Titans win. Also, the Bills should go to 4-0 in St. Louis.

BEST PERFORMANCE PREDICTED IN WEEK 4: Carolina, as I mentioned above, looked bad against Minnesota. Jake Delhomme was 17-29 for 191 yards. I think he and the Panthers rebound in a blowout of Atlanta, in Carolina. I'll go with 265 yards and four passing touchdowns for Delhomme in a 38-13 win.
-Last Week: I gave you Eli Manning for 320 yards and 3 TD's. I also went extra and gave you the Giants, Bills and Patriots going to 3-0. I should have stayed away from New England...and the Bills and Giants games were much closer than I expected. Manning was good, but his receivers didn't have the days I though they would - he had just 1 touchdown and 289 yards.

WHAT A DAY!

Wow, did it feel good to have a full day of NFL Football. All that other stuff I wrote about on Sunday as taking place took a back seat to the football games. That was fun. Some good games, too. Here's my weekly recap:

BEST GAME OF WEEK 1: It might not have been the best game overall, and I certainly didn't watch the whole thing, but I saw the final couple of minutes of the Panthers-Chargers game, and I think it gets the award.

As you saw in my picks, I'm a believer in Carolina this year. I just didn't think they'd come out and win this game, in Week 1, in San Diego, without Steve Smith. But they did. It can only get better for them.

Also, on their final drive, they looked great, but when it got to fourth down, I didn't think they'd get it in the end zone. Just a great pass from Delhomme, a great catch, and a tough loss for the Chargers. No sympathy from me, though...and I'm sure no sympathy from Patriots fans.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF WEEK 1: This disappointment part won't appear every week, but I mentioned Patriots fans, so I had to mention Tom Brady. That's really too bad. I don't wish injury on anyone - let's get that out of the way first. I hope this doesn't come out sounding wrong in writing, but I also don't feel bad for the Patriots or their fans. Brady has seemed invincible for so long that it was incredible to see him limping off the field. I couldn't believe it. And it's really too bad. As I've said many times before, he's hard not to like. I'm sure the Patriots will be fine, and win their share of games without Brady...but they won't win it all. He's just too important to them. And now Patriots fans will get a taste of what it's been like to root for the Jets, with replacement quarterbacks, for much of the past few years.

BEST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 1: For a team, it's got to be the Falcons, because no one expected what they did. But for an individual player, it's got to be Michael Turner, going for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns as the feature back for those Falcons. Turner was great backing up LaDainian Tomlinson, and you had every reason to believe he was going to put up good numbers for Atlanta. But with their question marks everywhere else, it's fair to have not expected that much that soon. I wonder if they'll keep that up and become that surprise team out of the NFC South that comes out of nowhere to make it deep into the playoffs....

WORST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 1: The Colts looked pretty sorry Sunday night, huh? I mean, the Bears played pretty well, but the Colts looked like they finally lost that step that you've been expecting them to lose the past couple of years. It could just be rustiness, with Peyton Manning coming back from surgery. But I'm not so sure...that looked like the Colts could be in for a long season.

BEST GAME IN WEEK 2: The Jets-Patriots game was on the schedule for so long looking like a measuring stick game for the Jets - just how good would they be? Now, it's a measuring stick game for Matt Cassel - sure, he beat the Chiefs....but can he win a divisional game?

There are a couple of other games to watch for - next Monday night, with the Eagles against the Cowboys, and Sunday night, where the Browns play the Steelers. The Steelers looked so good, and the Browns looked so bad in Week 1. If the Browns put up another stinker, people will be bailing from that bandwagon in droves.

BEST PERFORMANCE PREDICTED WEEK 2: Perhaps this is wishful thinking from a desperate (after one week) fantasy owner, but based on what I saw from Matt Forte on Sunday night, I think Adrian Peterson will slice up the Colts in Week 2. I'm going to say 150 yards, two scores, and at least one long one - maybe a 75-yarder.

A WORD ON THE JETS: I need to comment on the Jets-Dolphins game. That was the most entertaining Jets game I've seen in at least four years. Even the long stretches where nothing was happening were interesting.

Brett Favre is the reason why. He set the tone by going long for Cotchery early on, made a smart play on the fourth down toss up to the goal line that ended up being a Stuckey touchdown, and didn't make any mistakes.

Even the good though, comes with the feeling that there still might be some "Same Ol' Jets" mixed in...The ending of that game was torturous. While it was hard to be terribly disappointed because Chad Pennington looked so good in leading the Dolphins back, the Jets sat on the lead in typical "Take this game and win it" fashion.

Still, they won. And their chances of getting to 2-0 are looking a lot brighter.

ALL OVER THE PLACE

I have lots of things on my mind this morning - I'll throw them all at you here:

Let's start with the Tampa Bay Rays. As I've been saying for a while, they're not going anywhere. The Yankees have had a couple of pretty poor weeks, so they're looking like a long shot to overtake the Rays, and the Red Sox are now without Tim Wakefield, who will miss a couple of starts - it just seems like the stars aren't aligning for them this year. I'm not sure they will even hold onto their wild card lead...but that's another story for another day.

It makes sense with the Rays - they've had this young team that has been on the cusp for a few years - if they only had some pitching, people would say. Well, now their pitching is performing. But here's what I don't understand about Tampa Bay - I get that they have Scott Kazmir, James Shields, and Matt Garza, good pitchers all. But what has gotten into Edwin Jackson? This guy has been awful his entire career - first, as a reliever, with 23 appearances and a 5.45 ERA. Then last year in his first as a starter, 5-15 with a 5.76 ERA. This year he is now 9-7 with a 4.07 ERA. Has it just taken this many starts for him to be comfortable as a starter? Or is he having one of those flash-in-the-pan seasons? I mean, Kazmir had the good stretch earlier this season where he was dominant for 6 or 7 starts in a row, but Jackson has been way more consistent recently. I totally buy into the Rays this year...I just don't know what to think about Edwin Jackson.

Now the Mets - this is their week to make hay. They start this afternoon with a makeup day game against the Pirates at Shea, before hitting the road for the rest of the week - going to Washington then Pittsburgh (a wraparound series ending Monday). That has to be 6 wins. Has to be.

Pittsburgh has given the Mets trouble in recent years, which is why I'm not automatically throwing a 8-0 out there...and also, the bullpen is bound to blow a game this week.

So 6-2, 7-1 - that would allow the Mets to take over first place - especially while at the same time the Phillies are on a west coast swing and the Marlins will have their hands full with St. Louis and Chicago.

So Friday night I was kind of interested in the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. The Wife had it on, I sat for five minutes, and it bored me. I couldn't even tell you which part I was watching because it just didn't register in my head. I kept thinking, "I'd rather watch baseball." So I put on baseball, and didn't tune back in to the Olympics until the swimming Saturday night.

Now all I keep hearing is how wonderful/exhilarating/just plain cool the Opening Ceremonies were. How could this be? Wouldn't I have been able to tell if it was going to be exciting? Is it just that it got good towards the end (4 hours after I watched) when they lit the cauldron? And that the ending was so good that people forgot how torturous the rest of the show was (like women who give birth forget all the uncomfortable aspects and just remember the joyous parts)? Someone help me out here, please.

Finally, the Chad Pennington mystery is over - he's a member of the Miami Dolphins. This is kind of like the football gods screwing with me. I hate the Dolphins. Most of that is Dan Marino residue - I guess I really don't hate them anymore...I probably dislike the Patriots more these days - but I love seeing the Dolphins lose. The Patriots is more of a recent thing - for so long they were harmless, usually joining the Jets in awfulness year to year. But the Dolphins were rivals. And I hated them.
But now I'll be rooting for them 14 out of 16 games a year. I really hope Pennington wins with them, except when they play the Jets. And the cool thing about football is I can root for Pennington to do well against the Jets, you know, 14-20, 200 yards, and throw no touchdowns or interceptions. Maybe a bunch of dropped balls, so he's not even to blame when the Jets beat them, then he can do really well in the other games.

Miami is really the best-case scenario for Pennington - he'll play right away while teaching young quarterbacks at the same time.

In Jets camp, meanwhile, Laveranues Coles is apparently stewing about the loss of Pennington. Listen, I love that Coles is so attached to Pennington...but he's got to get over it and enjoy the fact that he will have a monster season running downfield for Favre bombs. And I think he will - he told the media last week that he just needed time to get over it.

Jerricho Cotchery took the opposite approach - I don't know if it was a veiled shot at Pennington or not (I'd like to lean towards 'not'), but he commented on how hard Favre threw. He said Vinny Testaverde threw hard, but Favre's ball was "definitely the hardest ball I've had thrown at me in a long time." Just realize, Jerricho, that the difference in the speed of Favre's throws compared with Pennington's is about the same as the difference in their accuracy at certain points in the game. I hope the receivers are ready for that.

MY THOUGHTS ON SUPER BOWL XLII

I wanted the Giants to win the Super Bowl, and prevent the Patriots from going 19-0. That, more than anything else, motivated my pick of the Giants over the Patriots. But I did believe that the game would be close - I did think that the Giants were capable of keeping the Patriots from scoring a lot of points, and if they did that, that they would have a shot at winning Super Bowl XLII.

But when the Patriots scored with about 3 minutes left, and the Giants were facing fourth down, and later third and long, I thought it was all over. And it was hard to get too disappointed, because as much as I believed the Giants could win the game, I never really expected that they would.

As soon as the game got underway, the Giants' chances started looking up - they controlled the clock in the first quarter, keeping the Patriots' offense off the field. Advantage: Giants.

Then the Patriots held them to a field goal. Advantage: Patriots.

The Giants had a tremendous pash rush, and Tom Brady got knocked down more than in any game I ever saw him get hit. Advantage: Giants.

The Patriots were still able to get in the end zone. Advantage: Patriots.

In the back-and-forth fourth quarter, the Giants looked like they would win, then lose, then they started getting breaks (breaks which usually go the Patriots' way), and they were able to pull it out. I never expected that they would. Going back to August, I thought the Giants would be awful this year. I thought Tom Coughlin would be gone. I thought the players would hate that he was back. I thought the Jets would have a more successful season - by a lot. There are a lot of things I was thinking as the game ended - here are my thoughts:

-I don't think this is why they lost (or at least, the number one factor of why they lost - it was probably a factor), but the Patriots got out of character this week. They were cocky. They don't get cocky - it's part of what has made them so successful. They had a target on their back, which said 18-0. To go around like they were going around Arizona the past week or so made that target grow bigger and bigger, in my opinion. Two pieces of evidence to support my theory:
1) When another team makes a prediction, or says something, a la Plaxico Buress saying the Giants would win 23-17, the Patriots usually let it go, and say, our actions on Sunday will speak for us. But Tom Brady (Brady of all people!) responded to Burress' comments, saying something like, "He thinks we're only scoring 17 points!?" In reality, they got 14.
2) I've mentioned this before - but Bill Belichick was downright charming with the media the week leading up to the Super Bowl. I have no distinct memory of previous media days, or the weeks leading up to his previous Super Bowls, but I don't remember Belichick talking so much to the media ever. He was talking about his summer plans, how successful the season was, etc. Almost like he was trying to make sure his image for the 19-0 team was a positive image. After the Super Bowl, we saw the real Belichick - one word answers, ornery, uncomfortable to interview. I don't really blame him - but it's his job to talk to the media, win or lose. He doesn't handle that too well in general, let alone after a Super Bowl loss. And the week leading up to the Super Bowl was really out of character. And I think a lot of the Patriots were out of character leading up to the Super Bowl.

-Tom Brady, on the other hand, is a class act. He really is, as football players go. He stood there post-game, answered all questions, didn't cut interviews short like Belichick did, and he gave decent soundbites. I understand it must be hard to do that after a tough loss - as a fan, if someone tried to interview me after a tough loss, I'd kill them. But that's not my job. It's the job of Belichick and Brady, and Brady handles it very well.

-Eli Manning's throw to David Tyree, which Tyree made a circus grab of against his helmet, after Manning eluded the defense, which looked to have a sack, is exactly why "In the Grasp" should NEVER be called in the NFL. I hate it. I understand it's meant to protect the quarterbacks, so they don't get slammed to the ground....but let them play. One of the most amazing plays in history happened as a result.

-Did you notice in Peyton Manning's booth, on one of the later replays, the girl standing next to Manning, after Eli threw the go-ahead touchdown, when Manning is cheering, that the girl was dying to give Peyton a high five and Peyton wouldn't even look at her? That was pretty funn.

-Again, I never watch Super Bowl halftime shows, so maybe I'm missing out - but I thought Tom Petty sounded awesome. I couldn't believe that he sounded so album-quality during halftime of the Super Bowl.

-If I was a fan of either team, I might have had a heart attack. That fourth quarter was way too exciting. I don't mean to make light of it, though - I wouldn't be surprised if some people did feel light-headed in that game. I can't even imagine if that were the Jets how I would have handled it. I get way too emotional in those situations.

-I know this sounds unbiased coming from a Jets fan, but this was not the greatest Super Bowl upset of all time. That conversation has to begin and end with the New York Jets over the Baltimore Colts. If not for Super Bowl III, Super Bowl XLII might never happen. You need to understand the history of the AFL-NFL merger to know how big that win was by the Jets...and though the game was a snorefest, it was the most important snorefest in history.

-About the only drawback in my mind is the fact that now the 1972 Dolphins are vindicated. But I think I can deal with that, because I've dealt with it all my life. I think I still hate Miami more than New England...but the gap is narrowing.

Here's my final word on the Patriots' 2007 season. For about half the season, they were one of the greatest teams of all-time - probably the greatest. But towards the end of the year, they became just a very good football team, even an excellent football team. But a beatable football team - not really the invinceable 16-0 team their record showed them as. Teams were getting close to beating them. Unfortunately for them, they lost in the worst spot imagineable. At 8-0 or 9-0, they were dominant. In the second part of the season, they were just another good 7-0/8-0 team. And 7-0 teams sometimes lose in the playoffs. The Patriots have been ripe for the picking for the last couple of months. On Sunday, they got picked.

THE DOLPHINS ARE REALLY BAD

JETS 40, DOLPHINS 13

I can't say I was rooting for the Jets this week...but I am glad that they didn't become the one win on the Dolphins' record.

It's hard to remember now, because of how poorly the Dolphins have played in recent years, but there's no one in football I hate more than the Dolphins. I would love for them to be the team that matched Tampa Bay's mark of futility by going winless for an entire season.

And when you see a team give up 40 points to the Jets, you have to figure they're not going to beat anyone the rest of the way. Thomas Jones hadn't been able to get in the end zone all season...he did against the Dolphins.

In 12 games, the Jets have now scored more than 30 points just three times. Once was against the Cincinnati Bengals, who have an awful defense, and still managed to find a way to stop the Jets and win the game. The other time (besides Sunday) was the other time the Jets played the Dolphins, a 31-28 Jets win.

The Dolphins could win a game this year. They still have to play Buffalo, Baltimore, New England, and Cincinnati. Desperate teams sometimes accomplish major upsets...I don't think Miami will beat the Patriots, but they could upset the Bills or Ravens. The other side of that, though, is no one wants to be that team that loses to the Dolphins...exhibit A was Sunday in Miami. If the Jets can do it, and put up 40 in doing so, the Dolphins don't have a chance against anyone else.

One last point about the Jets before we get back to the hot stove talk the rest of the week: One positive thing out of this season has been the different throwback uniforms teams have worn. While some have been misses (the Eagles come to mind), the Jets have been a hit, wearing the gold and blue of the New York Titans (the name the Jets had before they became the Jets). (On a personal note, and in the interest of full disclosure, yellow and blue are also my favorite colors.) Each team wore the throwbacks a couple of times this year - I think the Jets are done, because they also wore the Titans uniforms against the Giants in October. I noticed last week the Browns had numbers on their helmets - I think that was their throwback edition. Anyway, I love those types of things. Here's a look at the highlight of the Jets' 2007 season - the uniform of a team that no longer even exists (it's my blog, so I choose to show a picture of Kellen Clemens getting sacked. Petty? Yes.):

PLAYOFF PREVIEW

Reportedly overheard in Jacksonville from a Patriots coach after the Patriots clinched the division by beating the Jaguars.

"Take that, Eric Mangini - We're division champs!"

I saw that a couple of weeks ago in the Boston Globe. That's not the way the World Champion New England Patriots behave. That sounds like a team I'd like the Jets to be facing in the playoffs....a little too concerned about what's going on elsewhere.

Those were my initial thoughts when I read that quote in the Globe. Now, of course, the Patriots get Eric Mangini and his New York Jets at Gillette Stadium in Round 1 of the playoffs. Take that, Eric Mangini.

I actually feel the Jets match up well against the Patriots (you didn't think differently, did you?). The Jets beat the Patriots in Foxboro already this season. The negatives, of course, are that you're giving Bill Belichick and his staff a third game against you - if he doesn't have you figured out by game 2 (which it's hard to say he didn't - he had the Jets figured out the first time they met this season), he'll have you figured out by game 3. And the Jets beat the Pats in the muck and mud at Gillette the first time around - now there's the Field Turf, and Tom Brady is something like 22-1 all-time on turf (and the Pats haven't lost at home since the field has been installed).

That said, I can say the reverse - Eric Mangini sure seemed to have the Pats figured out the last time these two teams met. The Jets did exactly what they needed to do - put pressure on Brady, and rough him up, and force him to make mistakes or throw bad passes. They need to do that again this week.

It's going to be some kind of game. The Patriots are about a 9-point favorite right now. I'm not going to publish my pick until the end of the week, but I will say that I think that's ridiculous. The Patriots will not beat the Jets by 9 points. As a matter of fact, I don't think they'll beat them at all. Take that, Patriots fans.

SABAN: I am proud to say that I didn't believe for a second that Nick Saban would stay with the Miami Dolphins and pass on the Alabama job. Do you know why? Because coaches are liars. I don't care that he couldn't pass up that money. I don't care that he was pestered for two weeks about it. I care that he flat-out said he had no interest in coaching Alabama, and was going to stay with the Dolphins. But I learned my lesson from Herman Edwards last year - just because Nick Saban (or any coach) says they won't leave doesn't mean they won't leave. I shouldn't care. I really shouldn't. (I actually prefer to see the Dolphins in turmoil, so I should enjoy this, and part of me does.) But he lied. He flat-out lied. I would rather he said something like, no comment, and I won't comment on that until the season is over. But instead, he lied something awful, saying he had no interest, and wouldn't be leaving. I think that makes you sound like a worse person than you are, because you're going back on your word.

NFL NETWORK: Thanks to DirecTV, I have the NFL Network. I've been meaning to post about the Thursday/Saturday night games for a while. Bryant Gumbel is awful as a play-by-play guy. Awful. And Chris Collinsworth is fantastic as a color guy. I can't believe I used to not like Collinsworth. I have no idea why...he's very good. Here's an example of his great color work though - last Saturday, early in the Giants game against Washington, Tiki Barber is just starting to slice through the Redskins' defense, and Collinsworth says, "If the Redskins don't put 8 men up on the line of scrimmage, Tiki's going to run for 200 yards." On the next play, Barber rips off a 55-yard touchdown run. Collinsworth says, "Maybe 300." It was great - Barber finished with 234 yards rushing. Good work, Chris.

The other thing about the NFL Network, though, is they are playing these recaps of the greatest Super Bowl champs of all time. I have no opinions on the order in which they play these, but I've seen 2-and-a-half of the shows, and they are fantastic. I watched a little of the 1970 Chiefs, the entire 1996 Packers, and the 1990 Giants. The deal is, they have three figures from the team tell the story of the team. It's just great. I want to try to watch them all, but I don't know if I have the time. If you do, make sure you do it.

HEADED FOR THE PLAYOFFS?

Jets 13, Dolphins 10 (NYJ: 9-6, MIA: 6-9)

That wasn't pretty. It wasn't as dominant as it should have been. But it was exciting, and it was a 'W', so the Jets are one win away from the postseason.

I can't really believe I'm writing this, considering the way this season should have gone. It should have been a rebuilding type of year. I thought the Jets may have pulled out a .500 record, based on Chad Pennington coming back, healthy for the first time in two years, but I didn't think they'd sniff the playoffs. Here's what I wrote in August/early September:

Chad Pennington is back to his old self, I guess. He's throwing the ball well, and has all but won the starting quarterback job back, which is very exciting. That alone gives Jets fans hope that the Jets might not be as bad as everyone thinks - Pennington knows how to win. I'll leave it at that.

The Jets are definitely going to be an improved football team this year, and I think they'll be better than a lot of people are picking them to be (I've heard 4-12 again, or 5-11). I think there's a chance the Jets could squeeze out 8 wins, maybe even 9. The problem is their schedule is tough. And I think once the Jets figure out what they have in Cedric Houston, their running problems will be solved.

Not sure what I was thinking about there with the "tough schedule" part - maybe because of their division. But now the Jets face a "win and in" scenario next week - beat the Raiders, and they're in the playoffs.

As I wrote here, I thought the Jets would beat the Dolphins on Monday night. But watching the game Monday, it was the type of game that you felt would end in heartbreak for the Jets. Scoreless through the first half. Then a 3-0 lead quickly turned into a 7-3 deficit. But Chad Pennington showed why the Jets have to be considered a threat if they get into the playoffs - because he led the team right back down the field to a 10-7 lead, then again to the game-winning field goal. Leon Washington was huge, too, showing incredible bursts and moves to gain some big yardage. Parts of that game, though, especially when the Dolphins brought in the backup quarterback, had "Typical Jets loss" written all over it.

Now there are other worries. The Jets should beat Oakland, at home, next week. It is certainly an easier task than when they had to beat the Raiders, in Oakland, in 2001, in order to make the playoffs. (They did, then lost the playoff game back in Oakland the following week.) This Raiders team is nowhere near as good as the rest of the NFL - this shouldn't even be a contest. (The good news is that the NFL's flex schedule did not make this game the Sunday nighter on New Year's Eve, so I will be going to the 1 o'clock game to cheer the Jets into the postseason.) The problem is, the Jets have a history of losing games they should win...especially when something huge is on the line.

One positive - that hasn't happened in a while. In 2002, the Jets needed to beat Green Bay at home to win the AFC East - they did, and they blew them out. The Jets haven't choked away a playoff spot since 2000, so that's good news. I'm sure Eric Mangini will have the team properly motivated, considering his playoff experience recently with New England.

And then it's playoff time (hopefully). If the Jets make it, they'll likely draw New England or Indianapolis. The way Indy has played recently, the Jets could win that game, and they've already showed they can beat the Patriots in New England. This could be an exciting playoff run. (There's an outside chance it will be Baltimore, but they'd probably have to lose and a couple of other things would need to happen. That might actually be the toughest matchup for the Jets.) I can hardly wait.

TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS

The Jets need help this week. But I think they'll get the help they need this week, and then it's on them next week to win and get into the playoffs. Here's what I mean:

The Jets need to win both of their games, and finish 10-6. So they should really only be worrying about themselves (not something we have to worry about this week, since Monday night they are the last game beind played on the weekend). There are 3 other teams entering today's play at 8-6 - Cincinnati, Denver, and Jacksonville. (We're not going to worry about the 7-7 teams, because they need a ton of help, and they shouldn't factor in with the Jets winning both of their games.) Cincinnati and Denver are playing each other today. So one of those teams is going to be 8-7, one at 9-6. Jets fans, it doesn't matter who you root for in that one, as long as the winner of that game also wins next week, and makes the playoffs along with the Jets.

The Jaguars have a chance to really mess with the Jets' chances. They are playing the Patriots. All the Patriots have to do is win one of their final two games to clinch the division (they play at Tennessee next week, so it isn't totally out of the question that they may lose these two games...but it's highly unlikely). I think the Patriots win today, effectively ending the Jaguars' hopes (they play at Kansas City next week, but they would need a lot of help to get in, and if everything works out the way I'm rooting for, I don't see that help coming). But there's a chance the dominant Jaguars team that has showed up in certain weeks this season shows up today, upsets the Patriots, and throws a wrench in things.

So, if the Jets win this week, there's a chance they'll be 9-6, along with Denver or Cincy. And the other Denver/Cincy team and the Jaguars would be 8-7. So the Jets would only need to win at home next week against Oakland and get into the playoffs. To recap, Jets fans should be rooting for the Pats this week - write off the division. If it turns out the Patriots lose today, we'll re-evaluate next week's games...and be rooting big-time for Tennessee, and a division championship. Because if the Patriots lose today, that means the Jaguars win, and then the Jets will need a little help next week, I think.

As for Monday's game, I think we're past the days where the Jets choke in big games. (Unless the opponent is Buffalo, whcih, thank goodness, it's not.) I think the Jets will beat Miami something like 27-13, setting up a big weekend next week. (The other factor in the Dolphins game is that the Dolphins had some trash talk going on after the Jets' win over them earlier this year, saying stuff like, "we're the better team". The Jets haven't forgotten that - it's come up in the papers this week. That's good that the Jets are using that as some motivation, too. (Although the playoffs should be all the motivation they need, it never hurts to add a personal slight.)

PICKS: It's been a while, but since the season is almost over, I'm updating for you the standings in the johnnyjets pick 'em league:

1. Cuz: 115

2. Dave in Brighton 106

3. The Wife 105

4. Justin in NYC 105

5. johnnyjets 103

6. Southern Bureau 87 (I think he's given up)

Let's also keep in mind, though, that The Wife forgot to put her picks in one week, costing her big time. So her score is still with a 0 for one week. Pretty impressive.

Finally, this picture I came across earlier in the week, showing that for the Jets, it's not just about the football - it's about reaching out to that younger fan and establishing a connection that will last a lifetime: