I'm thinking it might be due to the loss of Mike Smith as D-Coordinator (Head Coach of the Falcons).

You may be right. If so, that shows where a lot of the credit for Jacksonville's success last year belongs.

Smith is a candidate for coach of the year honors. I'm leaning towards Jeff Fischer though.

Titans won 10 games last year, they haven't surprised anyone who remembers that.

Mike Smith and Tony Sparano have led their teams to tremendous turnarounds. A 1-15 team last year has a chance at making the playoffs this year! Fisher is a good coach and all but what he has done this year isn't a huge improvement over last year.

Sparano certainly is in the conversation among several others, but don't base coach of the year solely, or even mostly, on change of record. The Dolphins were 1-15 last year, but much of their turnaround is due to personnel changes, implemented by Parcells (this year they have a QB), and the return of Ronnie Brown.

The NFL's unbalanced schedule also favors the Dolphins. Their division benefits by being hooked up with the NFC West and AFC West. The Bills and Jets also have improved winning percentages, compared to last year. Also, the last place teams of the preceding year get matched up with the other last placed teams of their division in order to make the road easier to be competitive.

I give the edge to Fischer because when he lost his starting QB to injury on day #1 and then the QB apparently threatens suicide, I thought the Titan ship was going to sink, but they raised their play from a team that snuck into the playoffs to a dominating and very consistent team in the league. For the same reason Coughlin has to be considered even though the Giants ended the postseason as the best team in football.

That said, it's still very early to give out the award yet. Coaches should be judged more closely this time of year, and the Titans could finish the year losing two of the next four.

I'd really love for the Titans to lose all their remaining games and the Colts to win all their games.

Well, the Coilts have some easy games coming up against the Bengals and Lions.

Patriots v Bucs the London game for next year.

Good match up that. I hope to be in attendance again!

I thought of you when they announced this game. Good luck in the ticket lottery.

Will you be rooting for the team who's name is based on beating your country in a war or the other team, Yogi?

Ha ha. Very droll as always LN

I have no particular affinity to either of these teams. It is a Bucs "home game" so we may have a plastic pirate ship in the corner of Wembley as oppose to a bunch of old geezers firing muskets into the air every five minutes

Wow... Coles sounds like an asshole!


But not for nothing, since I drafted him, he's 1000% right!

Tony Romo: "Jessicaaaaaaa!!!"

I'm glad the Steelers won, should shut up some talk about the Cowboys going to the Super Bowl.

I really hope Atlanta gets in the playoffs and Dallas doesn't

Titans clenched the AFC south. Usually the Colts have it about now... The 5 year streak ends.

Remember how two weeks ago people, like Mike Lupica were talking about how the Jets were the best team in the AFC?

Coles' comments are hysterical. Is he complaining that the offense is no longer driven through him? When it was driven through him the Jets were 3-12.

Tough week for football in the State of New York. The Giants, Jets and Bills all had bad losses.

Not so bad for the Giants, Klyd.

Yes, they lost, but to a very tough Philly team that's capable of playing with anyone on any given Sunday. They still clinched their division and look to be the number one seed in the NFC. Factor in the Plaxico distraction this week, and a letdown was almost expected. I'm glad they got it out of their system.

Prediction: They'll be very "up" for Sunday's primetime game against Dallas, with the opportunity to pretty much knock them out of the playoffs.

As for Buffalo, they're pathetic. And as for those clowns who had the Jets in the Super Bowl, look at some of my recent posts about that team.

Prediction: Jets fans will turn on Favre faster than you can say, Pass the Wild Turkey, if they don't hang on and win their division.

And what's with Eric Mangini? He looks like a nice kid, but I swear to God, he looks like he's going to cry EVERY single time he addresses the media after a loss.

Good game tonight on Monday Night Football.

Deangelo Williams looked like a beast running against the stout Tampa defense. He broke more tackles in this game than a lot of running backs do in a season. I'm not talking about flimsy arm tackles either (although some of them were).

Antonio Bryant had an amazing one handed touchdown catch where he had to stretch his body out to get. Jeff Garcia was in the process of being tackled when he threw that pass. It kept Tampa Bay in the game in the 4th quarter. Too bad the extra point was missed and the onside kick wasn't recovered. The Bucs used up too much time on that drive with Carolina allowing short passes to the inside.

LN's Formula Rankings

1 Tennessee ^
2 NY Giants v
3 Carolina ^
4 Pittsburgh -
5 Baltimore ^
6 Tampa Bay v
7 Indianapolis ^
8 NY Jets v
9 Arizona ^
10 Atlanta v
11 Dallas v
12 Minnesota -

LN'S Power Rankings

1. NY Giants
They had 1 bad game, still the best team.

2. Tennessee
Clinched the AFC South and First Round Bye in the playoffs

3. Carolina
Deangelo Williams and Johnathan Stewart provide a 1-2 punch as good as Muhammad Ali. My question is which one floats like a butterfly while the other one stings like a bee?

4. Indianapolis
They have won lot of close games this year, the hallmark of the Patriots back when they were winning Super Bowls every year.

5. Pittsburgh
A dangerous team in the playoffs with their ferocious defense. Their offense is questionable at times though.

6. Baltimore
Cam Cameron is definitely a better coordinator than coach.

7. Tampa Bay
Jeff Garcia looks to be guiding yet another team to the playoffs.

8. Dallas
They looked good for 3 and a half quarters...too many divas on this team from the owner to the players and their girlfriends.

9. New England
Defense has been decimated by injuries, still in the hunt for playoffs

10. Miami
Has a chance to win the division one year after going 1-15. Might be the most solid team in the AFC East.

11. Atlanta
Matt Ryan is not just in the running for ROY but MVP too.

12. Ney York Jets
Jekyll and Hyde type of team. Like Denver but with a better defense.

8:33
[Comment From Casey]
Any injury news for Addai?

8:34
PHIL B: He went back in briefly, but we don't know for sure. Tony Dungy made it sound like Addai could be iffy for this week, that he would know more as the week progressed. If the Colts make a roster move on Tuesday or Wednesday, that means either Addai or Chad Simpson probably won't be able to play on Sunday. Personally, I don't mind if they give Addai the week off against Detroit.


....Colts chat at IndyStar.com

Colts signed Najeh Davenport today

I pretty much agree with your ranking except I'd swap Pittsburgh and Indy. Baltimore and TB. And maybe have the Jets a little higher.

Why higher for the Jets? It's strange that they lost to the Raiders and the 49ers, both terrible teams. I think I agree with Longneck, Jekyll and Hyde... I think they should be above Miami, but maybe not Atlanta. I would also bring Tampa Bay down below New England and Dallas.

I think the Jets are better than Miami, and probably better than Atlanta. Tampa Bay is still a very solid team, despite their awful performance last week against Carolina.

Anyone watching the Bills/Jets game? If Turk Schonert and Dick Juron aren't fired for calling that pass play on 2nd and 4, trying to run out the clock with under 2 minutes to play, then I feel sorry for Bills' fans.

That was a great game! But fock Farve for not throwing to Coles more

I still can't believe the Bills called that pass play. The game was over. The Jets had no answer to stopping the Bills running backs in the 4th quarter.

Jeff Fisher must be trying be trying to top Dick Juron. He goes for it on 4th down, instead of trying to kick a 49 yard FG to take the lead with under 2 minutes.

Yeah... a LOT of crazy stuff today. Tennessee's last passing play anyone?

Edit: 4 secs ahead of me lol

This is why I stopped betting on football.

LN's Formula Rankings

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


LN's Power Rankings

1. Carolina
This team is going to be another tough opponent for the Giants Sunday night

2. Tennessee
Lost a squeaker to a Houston team that is better than their record. Fisher usually doesn't make the kind of mistakes he did yesterday.

3. NY Giants
They have lost two in a row and are looking dysfunctional right now. They need to get it together quickly.

4. Indianapolis
The Lions game was closer than it should have been. Dominic Rhodes should be the starter from here on out. Addai is too fragile to be an every down back. After a 3-4 start they have a chance at another 12 win season.

5. Pittsburgh
Questionable call to end the game at Baltimore but after they went 93 yard to get there you can make the argument they would have gotten the rest anyway.

6. Dallas
The defense is playing excellent. The Cowboys have sacked Eli Manning more than the other 12 teams that have played them.

7. Baltimore
Hard to win games scoring field goals instead of touchdowns.

8. New England
Tom who?

9. Miami
I'd love a week 17 showdown in the Meadowlands for the AFC East division with Pennington getting his revenge against the fans who cheered him getting injured.

10. Atlanta
Matt Ryan didn't have a great game but Michael Turner carried them with 152 yards on the ground.

11. New York Jets
Rex Grossman Sr. is Brett Favre's REAL name.

12. Tampa Bay
They should probably be up higher, but then who would I knock down?

Is Matt Cassel legit? Or is he a decent QB on a really great team with a great coach?

I hear alot about him around here because a lot of people want the 49ers to sign him in the offseason. I'm sure every team who needs a QB is thinking the same thing. But I'm wondering if he will be as good on a bad team.