Thankful for Football.....

The Shut-Down Corner blogged 77 reasons why he was thankful for football. It's a good list although I don't agree with #53 about Micheal Irvin and for # 63 just look to New York and Darrelle Revis. To see the original 77, click the title to this blog........................... I figured I would complete the list to 100. Here's my additional 23:

100. That the 72 Dolphins still get together and pop champagne showing the bond that old team mates share.

99. Red Zone channel - It’s like having a mental remote and is addictive.

98. That Peyton Hillis can go from an afterthought in college and a throw –in on a trade and become a star.

97. That Ray Lewis is still laying people out.

96. Watching Mark Sanchez develop right before our eyes. That throw to Braylon Edwards was amazing.

 95. That Tampa is in the play-off hunt giving hope for “next year” to the fans of all last place teams.

94. That Chris Henry’s lost life helped save so many others

93. Watching Hines Ward play receiver like he was a linebacker.

92. For Jeff Fisher taking a stand against Vince Young. It’s a team game.

91. That all 5’10” of London Fletcher is still making plays in the NFL. Giving hope to the little guys

90. That Dick Lebeau is still zone blitzing the hell out of folks.

89. For Cheerleader shots during games & and that you can rewind live TV now!

88. “Can’t do it. I want winners”

87. Al Davis’s jump suits (Hey, they’re just funny)

86. Steve Johnson - waiver wire pick-up of the year.

85. For kick-offs to Devin Hester.

84. That my wife joined my fantasy league and beat me in the title game last year.

83. Ed Reed

82. For Josh Freeman - the new Captain Comeback?

81. The Jacksonville Hail Mary. Knock it down! Whoops.

80.  That first Sunday after the Super Bowl when you realize its all over and you can’t wait for it to start again.

79. Watching the game with your Dad and listening to him try to explain how good Gale Sayers was.

78. For Rocky Bleier and all the old Steelers raising money for the Flight 93 memorial.

NFL Power Rankings

1. Patriots - Tom Brady may be the greatest quarterback of all time. He does more with less. He has definitely moved into my all time top 3 (Sounds like a good future blog).

2. Eagles - Big win against the Giants. There was no hang-over from the Monday night game against the Skins.
3. Jets - Mark Sanchez is maturing before our eyes. The last two weeks the team has won because of his play down the stretch. And has there been a more perfect pass thrown this season than the throw down the sideline to Braylon Edwards between the corner and safety? I don't think so. It may be time for Rex to loosen the reins on the kid so there won't be so many close 4th quarter games.

4. Steelers - The Raiders looked like they were in pre-season mode. The Steelers are good but not that good.

5. Ravens - Team did what it needed against a team (Carolina) that is without its starting backfield and with a coach who is on his last leg.

6. Falcons - Big test this week as the team hosts the Pack. A win will go a long way toward solidifying play-off positioning and maintaining the division lead on the Saints and Bucs.

7. Saints - Team is starting to roll again offensively. Key injured players are returning to the line-up just in time for the stretch run.

8. Packers - Team is rolling. Aaron Rogers can take a huge step forward Sunday. The knock on him is that he never wins the big game. A road game against a conference foe that is also in the hunt for home-field advantage counts as a big game.

9. Tampa Bay - The more I see Tampa play, the more impressed I am with Josh Freeman. He is cool under pressure and his team definitely follows him. I can't wait to see what he looks like when he gets more experience and a couple more weapons. He'll be deadly.

10. Chicago - The Bears are an interesting team. At times they can look sloppy on offense and Jay Cutler is always a play away from a crippling interception. But they are great on special teams and very good on defense so they will always be in games. Now if they can just get more production from their running game they could be on to something.

The piss-poor, god-awful 5 worst teams in the NFL right now

5. San Francisco - Last week's game against Tampa was a contest pairing two teams heading in the opposite directions. Tampa is a young team that shows poise, focus and direction. These 49ers exhibit none of these traits. While the team plays hard under Singletary, the team lacks direction.  Singletary just was not experienced enough when the team hired him. The organization would be better served to hire an experienced X and O coach who can utilize the talent they have.

4. Arizona Cardinals - It is said that when you miss on a 1st round quarterback, you set your franchise back 5 years. Well the teamed missed on Matt Lienart and the team is suffering the consequences. There is no Kurt Warner around to bail out the team for that mistake this time. Then they compounded the problem by signing Derek Anderson in the off-season. It's a shame too. I miss watching Larry Fitzgerald play with a competent quarterback.

3. Bills - Their comeback against the Bengals was a thing of beauty. To their credit, this team has played hard all year.  I'm glad that it is finally paying off in wins.

2. Bengals - This team started the season with aspirations of making a run at the Super Bowl. Instead they are challenging for the worst record in the league. Getting blown out by a 1 win Bills team AFTER they were up 28-3 is a new low.

1. Panthers - Andrew Luck awaits them as next year's presumed number 1 pick.

NFL Power Rankings

1. Patriots - Impressive win vs the Steelers. Tom Brady and company definitely have Pittsburg's number. Now they get to face their long time rivals the Colts.

2. Eagles - I do not have a sufficient enough vocabulary to describe the performance that Micheal Vick had Monday night. He looks every bit like a great pocket passer now. Add that to his unparalleled athletic ability and you get a player that can simply crush an opponent. Simple fact. When Vick is healthy. The Eagles offense has been unstoppable this season. He's healthy so the Eagles are my number 2 team.

3. Jets - Bill Parcels always says you are what your record says you are and the Jets are 7-2. The grinded out a victory against the Browns. They don't have to be pretty, they just have to win.

4. Falcons - Last week, I said that if they beat the Ravens then I'd be a believer. Well I lied. I still don't believe in them. However, I can not justify ranking them any lower.

5.  Colts - This team keeps finding ways to win. Bengals gagged last Sunday but as Parcels says,.....

6. Saints - Rested from the bye and looking to make a late season push.

7. Ravens - Seems like this team can beat the good teams but can't come through against top 5 level opponents.

8. Packers - Can take a big step towards wrapping up the division by putting away the struggling Vikes next Sunday. Should be rested from the bye.

9. Giants- When they win they look great. When they lose, it is ugly. The looked horrible against the Cowboys. Couldn't cover, couldn't tackle, couldn't pass protect. Mercy!

10. Tampa Bay - I could have went with the Bears here. Its a toss up really. The Bucs make fewer mistakes though and I like the way the team plays under Morris. Raheem has to be Coach of the Year at this point. No one thought this team would win more than 3 games this season.

The piss-poor, god-awful 5 worst teams in the NFL right now.

5. Bengals - Can you say under-achievers? This team has entirely too much talent to only have two wins. Carson Palmer has regressed. I think he has not recovered mentally from his knee injury. He looks very skittish in the pocket.

4. Dallas Cowboys - It took Wade Philips getting canned for this team to show up and play. Wade handled his firing with class and is still rooting for the team. Perhaps the team can continue to play up to their capabilities and make the 2nd half of the season interesting.

3. Lions - This team is struggling to rid itself of its losing atmosphere. They have more talent than the Bills and had chances to win but the team just couldn't seal the deal. They need to take that next step forward.

2. Bills - The Bills finally got their first win. The 2008 Lions are popping champagne as the will remain the only 0-16 team in history. Seriously though, I am glad they got a win. Every team deserves to win at least 1 game. Plus this team plays hard every week.

1. Panthers - They are running on fumes. Nearly all of their talented players are injury. They will struggle to stay in games the rest of the year.

My All-time team - Cornerbacks

Here are the starting cornerbacks on my team.



Some players just grasp your attention the first time you see them play. Deion Sanders was just such a player for me. I am not a flamboyant person and I normally do not like excessive celebrations. However, I watched his games intent on seeing him high-stepping down the sideline. He talked a big game and he backed every bit of it up.  During tonight's game between the Falcons and the Ravens, Prime Time was inducted into the Falcons Ring of Honor. While he got his start in Atlanta, his best season was the 1994 season with San Francisco in which he was named Defensive Player of the Year. That year, he set the standard for conerback play. While Deion was not a physical tackler, he was a true shut-down corner who was a pick-six waiting to happen.




The other starting corner is Rod Woodson. Since I have Sanders at one corner, I figure I need a more physical corner opposite him. Woodson brought the wood. He laid out receivers and running backs. You have to be physical to play for the Steelers and Rod fit the bill. He also was excellent in coverage. Furthermore, he owns the record for the most interceptions returned for touchdowns. He was a great player and earned his spot on my team.


Niclebacks:

Dale Carter - Tough, physical and a tad dirty. Exactly my type of player

Charles Woodson - Great ball skills and a good guy. Great returner and donated 2 million UM for pediatric research.

The piss-poor, god-awful 5 worst teams in the NFL right now.

5. Lions - Detroit has a losing record even though they have scored more points than they have given up. They are close to getting it turned around. Too bad they paid 70 million for a quarterback who is brittle as 90 year old. Next week Stafford will probably break his hip.

4. Broncos - That trade with Cleveland worked out real well. You got a third string quarterback while the Browns got a starting running back that just put up 200 yards on the Patriots. And you gave them 2 draft picks too didn't you? Yeah, talk about getting fleeced.

3. Bills - The Bills clearly have the least amount of talent in the league. But they are playing with heart unlike our number 1 team on this list. They are gonna get a win sooner or later.

2. Panthers - Pathetic on offense. And now either rookies Jimmy Clausen or Tony Pike will QB the rest of the way. It's gonna be ugly. They have been out-scored by nearly 100 points already.

1. Dallas Cowboys - Who would have thought that this team would be this bad? Cowboy haters everywhere are rejoicing. Too much talent to be this bad. And the Giants are up next. Wade Philips said "Thank God" when he got fired I'm sure.