I guess the old adage is true, Just Lou: on any given Sunday any team can win. But I still cannot get over how the Giants lost to the Browns by 21 points. Conventional wisdom says that the Giants should have beaten Cleveland 41-17 or something along those lines. The Browns obviously suck, but had it clicking on that particular Monday night.

If the Browns and Giants played 20 more times, the Giants would definitely win the other 19 games.

If there is such a thing as a good lose, then that was it. The Giants are already under a lot of pressure. People are picking them to repeat, and perhaps even be a possible dynasty. I think the Giants are starting to believe their own headlines a little. The lose to a weak team hopefully opened their eyes that they have to do more than just show up to win.

How is it the Browns get another Monday night game? And do the Browns play the Giants again this year?

That Browns/Giants game still pisses my Daughter off. She's a die hard Giants fan. I think if she has her way she'd walk down the aisle wearing a Giants jersey instead of a wedding dress next year.

The Browns landed 5 primetime games (3 MNF, a Thursday and a Sunday night game) based upon last year's 10-6 record. It happens every year. A team plays well one year, gets the hype and a primetime schedule, and then falls flat on its face.

Mig - the Browns play Philadelphia on MNF next month. No the Giants & Browns are not in the same division and will not play again this year.

So why did they play at all then?

All NFL teams play required games within their division, a fixed number within their conference, and then rotate from year to year with a division within the opposing conference. Every 4 years the Browns play the NFC East, which is where the Giants reside. They've already played Dallas, NYG, and Washington. Then the Browns still have Philly on the schedule for next month. Next season, they'll play another set of teams from the NFC (perhaps the NFC Central).

Thanks Goombah. Did ya get any snow there today?

Tennessee is a very good team. Solid would probably be the best word to describe them. They quietly went 10-6 last year. Jeff Fisher is a great coach, so as long as they are healthy they are a threat.

The Colts played like The Colts yesterday, divisional games are always close. I think they have a real shot at ripping off 6 more wins in a row and finishing 12-4. Won't be good for a division title but would give us a Wildcard home game. Bob Sanders was out, and we allowed a lot of rushing yards again. How can he make that big of a difference? His replacement, Melvin Bullit got another interception. He's a good fill in for Sanders but they need to find a way to stop the run without Sanders.

The Giants are looking good. Maybe playing better than any other team right now. I could see them losing to a divisional opponent in the playoffs though.

I have no clue how the San Diego Chargers can be 4-6 right now. They are a better team than that. They've lost a lot of very close games.

The only team that can beat the Giants right now is the Giants. The reason is, their running game right now is ridiculous. Nobody can stop them. Yesterday's weather at Giants stadium was very bad. Winds were blowing 35+ MPH. Everyone in the stadium, including the Ravens and their #1 rushing defense, knew the Giants were going to run the ball all day, and there was absolutely nothing they could do to stop it. Right now, the Giants offensive line as a whole is the best I've ever seen in my life.

Just a dusting. I, thankfully, live nowhere near the snowbelt.

I do hope that Buffalo is a repeat of last year's weather b/w the Browns & Bills. These were from Cleveland on Dec. 15th.

I couldn't copy and paste these for some reason: Browns vs. Bills last year's blizzard game

The Lions are indeed an infliction on the game of football. Locally, people are actually rooting for them to go 0-16 just to get some sort of record and hopefully shame the owner into selling. I don't think that would help.

This local columnist actually thinks that in the current economy the Fords may be "forced" to sell the team.

http://www.freep.com/article/20081116/COL08/811160434/?imw=Y

Of course this columnist is locally infamous for always being a pessimistic contrarian who just writes negative stuff for the hell of it. There is some local interest in removing the Thanksgiving game from Detroit, in the hopes again of forcing a change in ownership.

They are a great team and have a legit shot of repeating but it's very possible that they falter in the playoffs. Especially to a divisional opponent. More likely the Redskins than the Cowboys. I don't see the Cowboys going anywhere if they even make the playoffs.

The only teams in the NFC I see posing a threat to the Giants are the healthy Cowboys, and possibly the Panthers. I'm not sold on the Panters yet.

Panthers have struggled against Oakland and Detroit, but they have a solid running game, a QB who has taken them to the Super Bowl before, and a good coach so if they can keep it together they can be a threat.

Tweaked my formula a tiny bit, think it's better.

LN's Power Rankings

1 Tennessee -
2 NY Giants -
3 Carolina -
4 NY Jets -
5 Arizona ^
6 Tampa Bay ^
7 Pittsburgh -
8 Baltimore v
9 Atlanta ^
10 New England ^
11 Philadelphia v
12 Miami ^

Philly fell 5 places with their tie, they shouldn't be in the list at all and as time goes on I don't think they will be.

Cowboys and Colts are just outside the list and creeping up.

The Jets #4?
The Steelers only #7?
Arizona playing in the joke NFC West #5?
Philly in last place in the NFC East, 0-3 in the Division, ahead of Dallas and Washington?

This is strictly from a formula and not my opinion at all.

The formula stinks.

Any formula that has a last place team that has lost to every team in the division without winning a single division game, still ahead of 2 of those teams, is messed up.

The conspiracy theorists are out:

There have been assertions that the officials in the San Diego/Pittsburgh game kept the winning margin low to prevent the Steelers from covering the spread. The Steelers, favored by 4, won 11-10. I don't buy it, but the circumstances are interesting.

The controversial play that was upheld as a Steeler touchdown on the field when Polamalu returned a fumbled lateral, was oddly overturned by the officials on the field after a hurried on-field conference as the teams were lining up for the obligatory extra point. There was no logic behind overturning the call. While I don't think there was a conspiracy, I certainly don't buy the referee's postgame explanation that there was confusion about an illegal forward pass because there was no flag on the field and this was not mentioned among the officials while the play was being reviewed upstairs.

Also, the Steelers, one of the less penalized teams in the league, were flagged 13 times for 115 yards (the most penalties they had in over 6 years), and the Chargers only had 5 yards of penalties. Of interest is the pass interference penalty that set up the only TD of the game for SD. The pass was sailing in the opposite direction, in which the receiver was cutting and did not appear catchable. But 5 of the penalties took away Steeler first downs, and one (on the winning drive of the game) was a phantom holding call on Hines Ward.

There was another holding call on a would-be TD that would have beaten the spread, but that call was certainly proper.

It was also reported that an unusually high percentage of gambling money was placed on the Steelers; it was the highest percentage of the year at about 65%. The lines generally guarantee a 50/50 split, which guarantees a profit for the bookies, so Vegas was apparently looking at this game with more interest than any other.

I think the most interesting stat is that the Steelers had no turnovers and controlled the ball 36 1/2 minutes and doubled the Chargers, who had 2 turnovers, in rushing and passing yards, yet needed a last minute field goal to win. I therefore have to conclude that the disparity and timing of penalties, whether legitimate or not, played a major factor in keeping the game close.

Again, I don't buy a conspiracy, absent more definitive proof. You can probably dissect a lot of games to imply wrongdoing.It was an interesting game though.

If you look closely at the head official in that Steelers game you'll notice that he has an uncanny resemblance to one of the "tramps" arrested in Dealey Plaza.

Is anybody else here just blown away that an NFL player (now it sounds like plenty of them) did not know that a regular season game could end in a tie? I still have a hard time believing Donovan McNabb is that stupid and made such a ridiculous statement.

Even more idiotic is Hines Ward, who stated that he did not know that a regular season tie could happen when he actually played in the last NFL tie in November 2002. How could he not know about a significant scoring rule in which he actually participated?!!

I do not expect that every rule is known by every player in the NFL. However, for the money these players make, they should know all of the rules pertaining to scoring and the game clock. Even more ridiculous is that McNabb, while claiming not to know the rule, never sought clarification from his coaches during the game. I'm sure Andy Reid thought his QB knew this basic rule, so I do not hold Reid as much to blame as McNabb.

That is just unbelievable!

Maybe it's because Philly has awesome RBs?

Not as awesome as Brandon Jacobs.

Well Duh, that's why the Giants are #2.

Philly (+71) has a bigger point differential than Washington (-1) and Dallas (+1), and they have 1 less win than those teams.

They're still in last place, and lost to both teams.

Giants lost to the Browns, should the Browns be #2?

The Browns do not have a better record than the Giants. The Cowboys and Redskins have a better record than the Eagles.

It was just a fluke. It'll never happen again.(According to my Daughter)

The answer could be yes depending on your definition of "#2".