[Falcons Message Board]

-If you bet every week on just the Giants, Cardinals, Browns, Titans, Bucs, Falcons, Ravens, Eagles and Packers, you’d be 52-21. I don’t know how your gambling has been this year, but my winning percentage isn’t quite that good.

-If you bet every week on just the Colts, Niners, Cowboys, Chargers, Jaguars, Seahawks, Lions, Bengals, Texans, and Raiders, you’d be 29-53, and probably dead broke by week one. Take this into consideration when you make your bets this week; I will.

-If each week you dropped a grand on the Titans, you’d be up about six thousand dollars on the year.

-If each week you dropped a grand on just the Cowboys, you’d be down three grand (and that’s actually very possible you’ve bet on them a good bit; don’t think these last few games have been the only time they’re not covering).

New York Giants: 6-2
Washington Redskins: 5-4
Indianapolis: 3-5
Chicago: 4-3-1
Arizona: 6-2
SF: 2-6
Carolina: 4-3-1
SD: 3-5
Dallas: 3-6
Cleveland: 5-3
Jacksonville: 2-6
Tennessee: 7-1
Tampa Bay: 6-3
New Orleans: 4-3
Kansas City: 4-4
New England: 4-4
NYJ: 4-4
Miami: 4-4
Seattle: 2-6
Buffalo: 4-4
Detroit: 3-5
Atlanta: 5-3
Cincinnati: 3-6
Baltimore: 6-2
Houston: 3-5
Pittsburgh: 4-4
St. Louis: 3-5
Philadelphia: 6-2
Denver Broncos: 3-5
Green Bay: 5-3
Minnesota: 3-4
Oakland: 2-6

2.) New York Giants: There’s a lot of publicity around the fact that Eli gave up a signal at the goal line that led to Pittsburgh stuffing Brandon Jacobs. What’s the big deal? He gave it up, they stuffed him, and the Giants still won by a touchdown on the road.

3.) Pittsburgh Steelers: It was a tough loss at home, and the offensive line has got to do more to stop that pass rush.

4.) Carolina Panthers: We’ll see how well this team plays now that it goes on the road. Of their first seven games, five were played at home where they’re very, very tough to beat.

5.) Washington Redskins: Jason Campbell is finally starting to look like a franchise quarterback. Clinton Portis is having a very quiet 1,500 yard type of year.

6.) Dallas Cowboys: Them being this high is an indication of the NFL just not having many great teams this year.

7.) Buffalo Bills: Tough loss, but this team still seems to hold the keys to the AFC East.

8.) New England Patriots: Unless, of course, this team has something to say about it. The defense is so up and down from week to week, and Matt Cassel is a guy you never know what you’re going to get from.

9.) Green Bay Packers: Always nice to move up in Power Rankings by not even playing that week.

10.) Tampa Bay Bucs: It was a tough loss, but at the beginning of the year Tampa didn’t look at their visit to Dallas and circle it as a W.

11.) Philadelphia Eagles: They got some help from the refs in that one, but a win’s a win.

12.) Arizona Cardinals: This team has to learn how to play on the road. And on the east coast, specifically.

13.) Atlanta Falcons: Maybe they caught a raw deal against Philly — no, they DID catch a raw deal against Philly — but at 4-3, the Falcons have to be impressed with what they’ve done so far this season.

14.) New York Jets: It’s time to face it: These Jets would probably be better off with Chad Pennington. Maybe he doesn’t stretch the field like Favre, but he doesn’t make the silly, stupid mistakes, either.

15.) New Orleans Saints: Big win in London. Losing a home game doesn’t hurt so bad when you win the one on the road.

16.) Baltimore Ravens: Their defense is really, really good. That offense will have to pick up if they’re going to make a run at the playoffs.

17.) Chicago Bears: They’ll be the first team to beat Tennessee. Just watch.

18.) Cleveland Browns: The Browns needed that one against Jacksonville. I still think it’s a long shot for them to make the playoffs, but it keeps their hopes alive.

19.) Denver Broncos: I doubt that defense got any better on the bye week now that Champ and Boss are both out of business.

20.) Jacksonville Jaguars: The bad news is this team lost at home to Cleveland. The good news is they can cushion that fall with games against Cincinnati and Detroit in back-to-back weeks.

21.) Houston Texans: I’ll continue to say that this is one of the most dangerous teams out there.

22.) When you consider it took late game comebacks against Minnesota and Houston — one win that was a miracle — this team could very easily be 1-6.

23.) Miami Dolphins: This team shows up to play every week. Plain and simple.

24.) San Diego Chargers: Was this all Cotrell’s fault? We’ll see. The defense is just plain terrible right now. They can’t stop the run or the pass.

25.) Minnesota Vikings: They better hope they don’t lose the Williams brothers for four games, or their run at the playoffs is probably done before it started.

26.) St. Louis Rams: They’re playing well. Props to Jim Haslett, who has this team looking totally different than those first few games.

27.) Seattle Seahawks: It was a big win for Seattle. But the team is still really bad.

28.) Oakland Raiders: Fire Tom Cable, maybe? I’m sure that’s a pretty good solution, Al.

29.) SF 49′ers: Good to see Mike Singletary won’t tolerate laziness on his team. The GM has wrecked this roster over the last five years.

30.) Kansas City Chiefs: Herm Edwards might be gone by season’s end. They played a tough one against New York, though.

31.) Detroit Lions: They’re more likely to go winless this season, but they get the bump ahead of Cincy because they put up more of a fight last week.

32.) Cincinnati Bengals: Carson probably won’t be in any rush back.

1.) Tennessee Titans: At 6-0, I’m still not thinking undefeated season, and I don’t think the ‘72 Dolphins are shaking in their boots. Of their six wins, the best team they played was Minnesota (maybe Jacksonville, but the jury’s still out on that one).

2.) New York Giants: I hate to be a pessimist at the top of the Power Rankings, but look at the teams the Giants have faced — outside of Washington, their opponents combined record is 7-25. I still think this team is the class of the NFC East, but with Philly dragging and Dallas stalling, that may not be saying much.

3.) Pittsburgh Steelers: It was a thumping against Cincy. With four games in a row against the Giants, Colts and Chargers, we’ll get to see what this team’s made of.

4.) Buffalo Bills: Could this be one of the funnest teams in the league to watch? Quick receivers, a strong runner, and a defense that capitalizes on opporunity. It’s rare a team has one loss and is under the radar, but they’re doing it.

5.) Tampa Bay Bucs: Everyone knows they’ve got a nasty defense. Now that Jeff Garcia is moving the ball downfield, they’ve got the total package to make it to. . . well, Tampa.

6.) Carolina Panthers: Even as a Falcons fan that’s been happy with their surprise, I’ve said all year that Carolina is the class of the NFC. Don’t be surprised to see them march their way to the Super Bowl — good pass rush, strong run, a QB that doesn’t make a ton of mistakes, and a gamebreaker in Steve Smith.

7.) New England Patriots: Losing Rodney Harrison will hurt. But if Matt Cassel can play like that all year, this team will be in the playoffs and one again be a threat to win another ring.

8.) Washington Redskins: The Browns rallied a late comeback. And the ‘Skins offense hasn’t been dominant all year, but they don’t turn the ball over and they don’t give up many points.

9.) Arizona Cardinals: This team pretty much has the NFC West wrapped up.

10.) Atlanta Falcons: At 4-2, this season can’t possibly go wrong. They weren’t expected to win this many all year.

11.) Chicago Bears: It was a nice bounce back win after the heartbreaker in Atlanta. But if that defense doesn’t pick up, it doesn’t matter how well Kyle Orton is playing.

12.) Green Bay Packers: Big win against Indy. Aaron Rodgers is making the fans in Green Bay forget Brett Favre.

13.) Dallas Cowboys: They’re only this high because of the rest of the NFL is a very average league right now. All the talk before the season was Super Bowl — now making the playoffs might be an accomplishment.

14.) New York Jets: How do you lose to the Oakland when your running back averages over 6.5 yards per carry and your defense only gives up 16 points in five quarters? Well, throwing two costly interceptions helps. Another reason fans in Green Bay are forgetting about Brett Favre.

15.) Jacksonville Jaguars: The rest of their schedule gets much easier.

16.) Indianapolis Colts: It’s not often that it’s October and we’re saying the Colts are in a must win game. But with Tennessee next week, it’s a must win game.

17.) Denver Broncos: I know Cutler got hurt. But that defense — my God. Matt Cassel looked like a 6′5″ model-dating-three-time-winning Super Bowl QB back there.

18.) Philadelphia Eagles: Their defense will really test Matt Ryan this week.

19.) Baltimore Ravens: That defense is good. But Joe Flacco still has a ways to go.

20.) New Orleans Saints: Reggie Bush is out for a month, but the Saints have done all right with starters out most of the season. This team is very good at home, but has to learn to play on the road.

21.) San Diego Chargers: I don’t know if the bigger concern is this team’s record, or LT’s inability to get in the open field.

22.) Minnesota Vikings: There’s two games now you might have been able to win had you played decent special teams.

23.) Houston Texans: Matt Schaub is hitting on all cylinders. That defense has a solid pass rush. They were the best winless team four weeks ago, and they might be the best two win team now.

24.) Cleveland Browns: It was a tough loss. But the QB play needs to get better than what happened on Sunday.

25.) St. Louis Rams: After watching their first four games, I never thought this team would win. Jim Haslett is bringing a different attitude to this team, and it’s showing up on the field.

26.) Miami Dolphins: Looks like the Wildcat formation got figured out.

27.) Oakland Raiders: Big win for Oakland. Congrats to Tom Cable, who won’t be there at the end of the year no matter how well he’s doing.

28.) San Francisco: No more Mike Nolan, but it’s hard to blame the guy. He came to a team that was looking to rebuild and drafted the wrong guy. It’s that simple.

29.) Seattle Seahawks: It was an improvement from weeks before, but that’s not saying a whole ton.

30.) Kansas City Chiefs: This year is over. It’s miraculous they won a game; had they not, my money would be on them to finish winless. They don’t play defense, and they’ve got no direction on offense.

31.) Cincinnati Bengals: It’s a countdown to 0-16 and the first pick in April. I don’t think they’ll win it. Not that they’re great; but this next team, they look that bad.

32.) Detroit Lions: If they knew how to play defense in the first quarter, they may stand a chance. But when you’ve been outscored 57-0 in first quarters this year, it says a lot about a team. Sam Bradford/Matthew Stafford will be throwing to Calvin Johnson for a long, long time to come.

Most major sites — ESPN and CBS — have the Giants at No. 1. And while the Giants have looked really, really good, the bottom line is they’ve had a bye week, giving them only four wins, and the Titans haven’t, giving them five wins. That’s where we start this week off.

1.) Tennessee Titans: I bet them at -2, and it took a cheap personal foul that wasn’t a personal foul to help them pull off the win. That said, every Super Bowl winner is often more lucky than they are unlucky.

2.) New York Giants: They clobbered the Seahawks, but it seems like everyone’s been doing that. The reason I’m not ready to jump on the Giants bandwagon and throw them as No. 1: The four teams they’ve faced have a combined five wins. Let’s wait until they play the Cowboys, Eagles and Skins on the road before we get ahead of ourselves.

3.) Washington Redskins: After their Week 1 game, I figured they’d never get this high. How long will the ‘Skins go without having a single offensive turnover?

4.)Pittsburgh Steelers: I haven’t been super impressed with them, but it’s the rest of the NFL that’s been stinking it up that gets them this high. Ben Roethlisberger looks fantastic, but the rest of the team has holes everywhere.

5.) Dallas Cowboys: Terrance Newman, Pacman Jones and Roy Williams may constitute the single worst secondary in NFL history not named the ‘08 Rams and Lions. Pacman’s fast but can’t cover, Newman just can’t cover, and Roy Williams looks like a slow linebacker. It’ll take a lot for this team to make it to Tampa.

6.) Buffalo Bills: I’ll give them a pass since their starting QB went out after only attempting three passes. But that defense that had been good looked awful on Sunday.

7.) Denver Broncos: Can the defense play as well all year as they did against Tampa on Sunday?

8.) Carolina Panthers: I said at the beginning of the year that this was the team to beat in the NFC South. Jake’s back, Steve Smith isn’t punching anyone in the face, and the much maligned defense from last year is putting pressure on the QB.

9.) New England Patriots: I don’t think anyone’s super scared of them this year, but they’re still managing to win without a Hall of Fame QB. I hate to say it, but Bill Belichick really is an evil genius out there.

10.) Baltimore Ravens: They lost to the Titans, maybe the best team in the League, and the Pittsburgh, one of the best teams in the League. In both games, they had a victory only to see it snatched away.

11.) Chicago Bears: If Kyle Orton can pass like he did against the Lions — who am I kidding? Everyone passes that way against them — then the Bears could find themselves back in the Super Bowl.

12.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: I’m still wondering just how sold I am on Brian Griese at QB. One thing’s for sure: Their defense can really play.

13.) New York Jets: They had a bye week, but they looked good a couple weeks back.

14.) Arizona Cardinals: This is one of those teams that looks great at home and lousy on the road. Thankfully for Arizona fans, they’re in the NFC West, so seven or eight wins should do the trick.

15.) Atlanta Falcons: Yes, I’m putting the Falcons this high. No one in Atlanta is saying playoffs this year, but they are relieved that the next decade looks bright for the first time since the franchise came to be.

16.) Indianapolis Colts: Barely beat Minnesota. Barely beat the Texans. These just don’t look like the same old Colts we’ve gotten used to.

17.) Minnesota Vikings: It’s good to see the Vikes can win even if AP doesn’t rush for 150+.

18.) Green Bay Packers: How long before the games are blamed on Aaron Rodgers? Nevermind that he threw for over 300 yards; soon it’ll be his fault as the losses stack up.

19.) Jacksonville Jaguars: Their running game has just disappeared.

20.) Philadelphia Eagles: I’m starting to think this team has been figured out.

21.) New Orleans Saints: Reggie Bush is quieting the people that say he wasn’t built for the NFL. He almost single-handedly won the game, only to watch New Orleans piss it away.

22.) Miami Dolphins: I don’t think the Dolphins will finish better than the Chargers, but given that they beat them, it’s hard to argue that they shouldn’t be ahead of them in the rankings.

23.) San Diego Chargers: Is LT really averaging 63 yards per game? Is the defense really that bad without Merriman?

24.) San Francisco 49′ers: They started to look like they were making the turn. But a young, fast defense is looking its age.

25.) Seattle Seahawks: We knew the offense may struggle. We didn’t know the defense was incapable of stopping anyone.

26.) Cleveland Browns: The clock is ticking for when we see Brady Quinn.

27.) Houston Texans: That was a tough, tough loss. How can you blow a lead like that in less than three minutes: Sage Rosenfels is a guy I wouldn’t want to be right now.

28.) Oakland Raiders: No more Lane Kiffin. The guy had them playing well; let’s see how they adapt to Jim Haslett.

29.) Kansas City Chiefs: It’s not often you can have one win five weeks into the season, lose 34-0, have Tyler Thigpen as your starting QB and you’re still not in position to get the No. 1 pick in the 2009 Draft.

30.) Cincinnati Bengals: This team is playing better than KC, but by record they don’t get the nod.

31.) St. Louis Rams: A bye week spares them the last spot.

32.) Have you seen a team this bad in a long time? I’m younger — 26 — but don’t ever remember seeing an NFL team that was this pitiful. They’ve got too much talent to go 0-16, but it’s hard to dispute that they’re much worse than last year’s Miami team that almost accomplished the feat. No defense at all.

1.) Dallas Cowboys: They put up only 28, but that team could’ve scored at will.

2.) Pittsburgh Steelers: They dominated from start to finish, and I don’t think Houston will be that bad.

3.) Carolina Panthers: Bravo to winning without your best player and against one of the most talented teams in the league. Bravo.

4.) Tennessee Titans: Their starting quarterback went out, they relied on a rookie at running back, and they still dominated Jacksonville.

5.) Chicago Bears: As you can tell, I’m not too into the preseason hype. They were a top four team on the field on Sunday.

6.) New Orleans Saints: They got a strong showing from Reggie Bush, which they’ll need for this offense to function like it did two years ago.

7.) Green Bay Packers: Nice showing by Aaron Rodgers.

8.) New York Giants: The offense will need to get better, but that defense doesn’t look like it lost a step.

9.) Buffalo Bills: It was a beaten up Seattle team, so I won’t jump the bandwagon just yet. Keyword: Yet.

10.) Philadelphia Eagles: Kind of like above, I won’t jump on the wagon yet. St. Louis may be as bad a team that I’ve seen in the NFL in a long, long while.

11.) New York Jets: The offensive line was great. I kept wondering why they weren’t running it more, then I reminded myself they’ve got Brett Favre, who’s the best ever ever ever quarterback ever.

12.) New England Patriots: A win without Brady. If they plan on making the playoffs, they’ll need a lot more of them.

13.) Baltimore Ravens: They shut down what’s supposed to be a good Cincinnati offense, but I’m starting to question just how good it is.

14.) Atlanta Falcons: Yes, they’re 13th. They’ll never be higher than this, but Ryan was efficient, the defense was good enough, and the ground game was incredible.

15.) Arizona Cardinals: Good move starting Kurt Warner. San Fran’s learning it was a bad move hiring Martz.

16.) Denver Broncos: Don’t get too excited. This was, after all, the Raiders, despite all the shopping they did this off season.

17.) San Diego Chargers: Not good losing at home, but that’s Norv for ya.

18.) Indianapolis Colts: Ditto. But they’ll get it together, and I’ve got more faith in Peyton than I do in Phillip.

19.) Jacksonville Jaguars: If they’re going to win, their line will have to hold up better than it did, and that isn’t likely, given today’s news that two offensive starters will miss lengthy periods of time.

20.) Minnesota Vikings: Tarvaris Jackson has to learn to throw the ball.

21.) Tampa Bay Bucs: It was a tough loss, but they played well.

22.) Cleveland Browns: They just didn’t have the defense to match up with Dallas.

23.) Kansas City Chiefs: They played the Pats close, and even without Brady, it deserves some credit.

24.) Washington Redskins: They may want to revise this new west coast offense. It wasn’t a lot of dinks and dunks, and it wasn’t working.

25.) Miami Dolphins: A close game, a young team, hard to knock ‘em on the job they did.

26.) Seattle Seahawks: They need a receiver really, really badly.

27.) Houston Texans: They were outmatched and unprepared, but at least they got a good game from Mario Williams, who started the season with two sacks and a forced fumble.

28.) Cincinnati Bengals: Awful, awful, awful. I’m done throwing this just on Johnson. When is Carson Palmer going to step his game up?

29.) SF 49′ers: Mike Martz just isn’t a great offensive coordinator anymore. He doesn’t have Bruce, Holt, and Faulk in their primes. It’s that simple.

30.) St. Louis Rams: Very, very bad play. That offensive line needs to learn how to block.

31.) Oakland Raiders: You’ve got the national spotlight, and you completely shit the bed. Anyone else notice D-Hall get burnt by rookie Eddie Royal time after time, then blame the coaching on “simply not being prepared?” Across the nation now, but nothing’s changed since this guy was in Atlanta.

32.) Detroit Lions: They lost to my Falcons, but I’m not such a homer that I can’t admit my team sucks. Going down 21-0 to Atlanta probably won’t happen again this year, and maybe even this decade.

Since you can read the title, yuo’ve figured it out: Spreads are coming a little early today, because tonight the Bears and ‘Skins kick off a game that 1/4th of the nation will be able to see. At any rate, here’s how I’m doing.

Last Week: 8-7
On the Season: 90-74

-Bears @ Redskins (-3): The Bears seem incapable of tackling just about everyone, and if it wasn’t for Devin Hester’s miraculous returns last week, couple with Mike Shannahan’s stupidity kicking to him, the Bears would have been buried by halftime. Joe Gibbs retardedly called timeout last week. I don’t think he’ll retardedly kicked to Devin Hester. Twice. Take the ‘Skins to cover.

-Panthers @ Jaguars (-10): The Panthers were able to beat the Niners, which was good. Unfortunately, they’re playign the Jags this week who a.) have a better defense b.) have a better offense c.) have a better record and d.) don’t have Trent Dilfer guiding their team. That’s four reasons to take the Jags. I’d give you eight more, but this thread is limited. Jags cover, win in a blowout.

-Cowboys @ Lions (+11): I can’t believe I’m taking the Lions. They’ve pretty much fallen off the face of the earth, or at least the face of the playoffs, and the Cowboys are demolishing people. But the Lions are at home, and whenever a team goes in a tailspin like they have, making you think it’s the perfect time to bet against them. . . well, funny things happen. Roy Williams is out, John Kitna’s looked terrible, they can’t run, they can’t play defense. Everything says take the ‘Boys. Betting doesn’t follow logic. Lions don’t win, but they cover.

-Dolphins @ Bills (-7): They lost 40-13 to the Jets. I don’t think I need stats beyond that.

-Giants (+2.5) @ Eagles: The last time these two met, McNabb got sacked 32 times and the Eagles got killed. McNabb’s back after missing two games, and this is probably one he’ll wish he’d've sat out. Did I mention the Giants are getting two-and-a-half? Easy money. G-Men cover.

-Raiders @ Packers (-10): You know it’s a crazy NFL year when there’s 10-point spreads riddled across the board. The Raiders have shown improvement under Lane Kiffin, and Justin Fargas has looked like a solid running back. But that offense of the Raiders can’t keep up with that offense of the Packers. Raiders rank sixth against the pass. It won’t matter. Take Green Bay to bounce back, cover the double-digits.

-Steelers (+10) @ Patriots: The Pats haven’t covered the last two weeks, and they’re starting to look vulnerable to the run, and pretty much everything that goes with being accountable on defense. Past that, the Eagles drew up a blue-print of how to rattle Tom Brady and make that offense look mortal. Last week the Ravens ran all over them, but just couldn’t pass it. This week the Steelers will do the same, and they’ll pass it. I’m going out on a limb: Take the Steelers to cover, win. Say good-bye to the perfect season.

-Chargers (PICK EM) @ Titans: It’s a PICK game, and the Titans, outside of last week, haven’t looked very good recently. The Chargers are starting to realize that they do, in fact, still have LT on their team, and he’s actually getting to touch the ball. I’m not saying Norv is going to take this team deep into the playoffs. But I like ‘em in this game.

-Rams @ Bengals (-6.5): Consider last week’s win Gus Frerotte’s last. The Bengals are actually having things come together now. That defense is still terrible, but it shouldn’t matter much against the Rams. Bengals cover.

-Bucs (-3) @ Texans: I hate picking the Bucs because, to be honest, they just don’t look that good on paper. But they keep winning, and they keep covering. That’s all I need to wet my betting whistle. Tampa covers.

-Cardinals (+7) @ Seahawks: A game between two teams that no one can really predict. I really think this game may be a push, and whenever I think push, I go with the underdog. Follow my gut instinct: Cardinals don’t win, but they cover.

-Vikings (-9) @ 49′ers: Really? Lock it up. Vikes cover, AP runs for 700 yards.

-Browns (-3.5) @ Jets: Really: Lock it up. Browns cover, Braylon Edwards catches 10 touchdowns.

-Chiefs @ Broncos (-6.5): Is there a more unpredictable team in the league right now than the Denver Broncos? Betting on them is painful, because you never know what Jay Cutler is going to show up. Since they’re at home, I’m guessing it’ll be the good one. Broncos win by a touchdown.

-Colts (-9) @ Ravens: The feeling here is that the Ravens played the Patriots so closely, so they’ll probably play the Colts in a close one, too. I haven’t forgotten about the previous 11 weeks, though. The Colts defense is better than the Pats defense, and that offense, with the return of Marvin Harrison, is just as good. Colts cover the nine.

-Saints @ Falcons (+3.5): One of the worst MNF games in recent memory. But I’m feeling the Falcons.

We often see power rankings for just about every sport offered up on ESPN. So I started thinking to myself: Why not have power rankings here? On ESPN, they’re always wrong, boring and, generally, stupid. And these? They won’t follow those guidelines.

There will be weekly power rankings, but not from a “My Team’s Better Than Your’s” type of thing. They’re going to be power rankings based how the team did against the spread: Whether they covered, how much they won by, etc. I’ll have the teams ranked from 1-10, and then the bottom three; if a team’s not in the top ten, don’t bet on them. Period. Next to the team’s name, you’ll see their overall record against the spread. The Power Rankings are decided on more than just their overall record — it’s also decided on how easily your team covered the spread. We gamblers know the heart attack that awaits watching these games, and betting on teams that have covered by the second quarter is always a nice feeling.

Oh, and I should mention that Week 1 isn’t counted in this. Week 1 is a week to never bet — that’s the week to watch as many teams as possible, see how good or bad they are, then bet for week 2. On we go.

1.) Patriots, 2-0: They’ve scored 38 points every game they’ve played. The spread was 16.5 last week, which had me nervous. . . in the first quarter. They may get complacement for a quarter or two, but Tom Brady and Randy Moss is way too lethal to not bet on right now. Last week’s ranking: 1.

2.) Pittsburgh Steelers, 2-0: Another team that’s blowing people out right now. Their ground game is good, their defense is incredible, and they’ve got just enough of a passing game to keep you honest. Outside of Ben Roethlisberger running into the back of a car without a helmet again, this team should contend for a Super Bowl, and win you a lot of money on the way. Last week’s ranking: 5.

3.) Green Bay Packers, 2-0: I hate doing this, because this is probably a team I’ll be too scared to bet on all year long. But they’ve been under-dogs every week, and every week they’ve come out on top. I didn’t see them beating the Chargers, but sooner than later we’ll all adjust to Norv’s losing ways. Last week’s ranking: 3.

4.) Dallas Cowboys, 2-0: That offense is good. That defense is going to cause a few heart attacks, but thankfully last week featured a game against Rex Grossman. Last week’s ranking: 4.

5.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2-0: I wrote off their win against the Saints as a fluke. They were three point favorites against the Rams, which I thought was insane. They’re likely under-dogs the next few weeks, which could be a good time to bet them. Last week’s ranking: 7.

6.) Arizona Cardinals, 2-0: This ranking will go away since Leinart’s been named the starter. They were ‘dogs against the ‘Hawks and won, and were 8 point ‘dogs against the Ravens, and nearly pulled it off. Last week’s ranking: Unranked.

7.) Cleveland Browns, 2-0: They may have lost, but they covered. It’s a painful bet to make — you’ll have to somehow justify with yourself that you’re actually betting on the Browns — but it’s one that’s been paying off. Last week’s ranking: 8.

8.) Tennessee Titans, 2-0: It’s so hard for me to bet on a team that I feel has a shaky defense, quarterback, running back, and receivers who would take the word “shaky” describing them as a compliment. And the guy who makes that team decent is going to suffer the Madden Curse eventually. So bet while you can. Last week’s ranking: 9.

9.)Houston Texans, 1-0-1: It was a push. So they at least haven’t let anyone completely down yet. Last week’s ranking: 2.

10.) Raiders, 1-1: The only team with one loss to sneak into my top ten — there were no more teams who are perfect against the spread — and this is a team that will consistently be a big ‘dog when they have a legitimate shot of winning. Last week’s ranking: 10.

Bottom Three:
1.) Notre Dame. Still.
2.) Buffalo Bills. They’re getting beat up regularly.
3.) BeliGate. So much for the Pats only winning because they were cheating.

Oh, and I should mention that Week 1 isn’t counted in this. Week 1 is a week to never bet — that’s the week to watch as many teams as possible, see how good or bad they are, then bet for week 2. On we go.

1.) New England Patriots, 1-0: Anytime you bet on a who’s up 24 points at halftime when they were field goal favorites — and they also happen to be coached by Bill Belichick and guided by Tom Brady — you can pretty much spend that money before you get it. So long as Tom Brady and Randy Moss are healthy, coming within 10 points of this team may be difficult.

2.) Houston Texans, 1-0: They were nearly seven point dogs, and they blew the Panthers out in Carolina. It’s hard to put them this high up — they are the Texans, after all — but I almost think that’s their intrigue — they’re a team that’s been so bad for so long that Vegas may take a while to pick up on their real potential.

3.) Green Bay Packers, 1-0: Read the above.

4.) Dallas Cowboys, 1-0: They just signed Tank Johnson, which should help their questionable defense. That offense is stacked — scoring points shouldn’t be much of a problem for Romo N Co.

5.) Pittsburgh Steelers, 1-0: For the second week in a row, Pittsburgh was never in danger of not covering their spread. This game was 19-3 by the beginning of the second half, and you were cashing your money faster than Big Ben could wreck his face into the back of a car.

6.) Washington Redskins, 1-0: They were touchdown underdogs playing in a city that’s hard to win in. I don’t want to completely jump on the Jason Campbell bandwagon, so far, so good in Washington.

7.) Tampa Bay Bucs, 1-0: They probably won’t have this spot for long. But being a four-point ‘dog and smacking the Saints the way they did earns them some recognition.

8.) Cleveland Browns, 1-0: Again: Read above.

9.) Tennessee Titans, 1-0: They’re 2-0 overall, 1-0 against the spread, and they’ve got Vince Young. Even if you bet on them and they get down, the game never seems over when he’s got the ball.

10.) Oakland Raiders: Yeah, not your traditional power rankings. But they were a heavy underdog and would’ve won the game had the Broncos not called that last second timeout. They’ve got a good defense, and Lane Kiffin — young as he is — actually seems to be coming around with the offense a little.

Bottom Three

1.) Notre Dame: Yes, I’m aware they’re not in the NFL.

2.) Philadelphia Eagles: McNabb needs to keep in mind his receivers aren’t eight feet tall. Could be a long season for the Philly Faithful.

3.) The Bengals: They gave up 51 to the Browns. The Browns.