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Bill Belichick the coach of the New England Patriots finally ended his silence on the twin taping controversies that affected his team and denied that he had told anyone to tape the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough before the XXXVIst Super Bowl and apologized for all the attention which had been generated by Spygate.  He also said he couldn’t pick Matt Walsh out of a lineup and said that he had never seen another team’s practice filming film before playing that team and further added that the Patriots do not film their own practice sessions.  Walsh is the person who is reportedly taped the practice session and also happens to be a former employee of the Patriots.

Scott Pioli, the vice president of player personnel for the Patriots also told the Boston Globe that Walsh was fired in early 2003 because he recorded a conversation between himself and Pioli without the latter’s knowledge.

Walsh’s attorney, Michael Levy on the other hand said that Pioli’s story is a complete fabrication and an attempt to smear Walsh’s character.  Levy has also said that Walsh is in possession of certain tapes and is willing to turn them over if the NFL guarantees that he will be protected from lawsuits or any other legal action. Commissioner Roger Goodell said that offered Walsh a deal that required him to tell the truth and return anything that he got by methods that were not proper in return for indemnity but Walsh was unwilling.

Belichick apologized saying that he had misinterpreted the rule as prohibiting taping which could be used during the same game. He apologized for the trouble caused and for not contacting the league and clarifying the practice with them.

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The Washington Redskins have been making their coaching staff which is headed by Jim Zorn stronger with a few more additions.  Sherman Smith who makes the move from the Tennessee Titans has been hired as offensive coordinator for the Redskins.  Smith had been the running backs coach to the Titans since 1995 and had also been assistant coach for the last two seasons.  Smith said that the make reason behind making the move was the opportunity to be reunited with Zorn. Zorn and Smith had played together for the Seattle Seahawks in the late 70s and the early 80s.

Smith had received the offer when he visited Washington on Tuesday and then went back to Tennessee to consider his options. He will join the Redskins at the NFL combine next week.

Stump Mitchell is the other addition to the new coaching staff.  He follows Jim Zorn from the Seahawks where he has been running back coach since 1999 and has worked with Zorn since 2001 with the Seahawks.  He will also have the title of assistant head coach at the Redskins.

Zorn expressed happiness at his inclusion and said that he was aware of his teaching methods and believed him to be an excellent teacher.  The deal with Mitchell took place before Smith joined the Redskins and together they complete a very solid looking coaching staff.

After talks with many coaches which didn’t quite reach anywhere, the Redskins were still looking a week ago when Steve Spagnuolo of the New York Giants withdrew from the race for coach. After many offers to many top names in the business, it appears that the Redskins have finally put together a combination which knows each other and has respect for each other’s game and methods.

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Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings was named the 2007 Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the year today. In the 2007 season Peterson broke every Viking rookie rushing record and even set the NFL record for rushing yards in a game with 296 in the game against San Diego on the 4^th of November.

He was at the top of the NFC and second in the NFL in rushing yards with a total of 1,341 yards which is part of a total which also happens to be the second highest Vikings yards in a season.

He helped the Vikings along to scoring a new team record for rushing yards in a season with 2,634 yards and together with Chester Taylor who had 844 yards set a new team record for rushing yards by a tandem with 2,185.

He also had 2,021 combined net yards which ranks him second in Vikings history after Herschel Walker who set the record with 2,051 in 1990.

This year nearly 440,00 votes were polled for the Rookie of the Year Award between the 3^rd of January and the 28^th and this overtook last year’s total of 363,500. Peterson was one of the five finalists who were short listed to receive this award, the others being Dwayne Bowe of the Kansas City Chiefs, running back Marshawn Lycnh of the Buffalo Bills, offensive tackle Joe Thomas of the Cleveland Browns and linebacker Partick Willis of the San Francisco 49ers.

Each of the finalists were chosen for their outstanding performances through the year and the winner was selected through public voting as is the custom. This is the sixth time Pepsi is sponsoring the NFL Rookie of the year award and the 3^rd time running Diet Pepsi will present the award to the winner.

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One’s loss is another’s gain. The Dallas Cowboys will now benefit from the Cleveland Browns’ loss. Todd Grantham who was fired unexpectedly earlier this month by the Browns has now found work with the Dallas Cowboys. He will now fill the post of defensive coordinator in the Cowboys camp.

He has been coaching NFL teams for nine seasons and has been with the Cleveland Browns for the last 3 years under Romeo Crennel.  He is also known to be comfortable with the 3-4 line up that Wade Phillips the Cowboys coach uses as it is the one used by Crennel and also the Texas Rangers.

Phillips said that it was important that Grantham was familiar with the strategies employed by the Cowboys but it was the fact that he had so much experience that worked in his favor.

Though the Browns did not have a very good defense record, Grantham’s dismissal still came as a surprise to most. Under him the Browns’ defense record was 30^th in total yards in 2007, 27^th in rushing defense, 26^th in sacks, 24^thin passing defense, 21^st in scoring defense and 14^th in interceptions. But towards the end of the season the Browns’ defense in games had improved noticeably.

He takes the place of Kacy Rodgers who was one of the 4 Cowboy coaches along with Paul Pasqualoni, Todd Bowles and Tony Sparano who left in a mass move to the Miami Dolphins. Though this position has been filled, the Cowboys are still looking for a secondary coach and a line backers coach.

What is left to be seen is whether Grantham is able to strengthen the Cowboys’ defense or whether his fate this time around too will be much the same as with the Browns.

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The New York Giants trampled all over the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in the ninth-straight win. This is the first time the Giants have beat the Cowboys in three games this season. The Giants who began the season 0-2 are now one win away from glory. They will next face the Packers in the NFC Championship game at Green Bay on Sunday.

The Giants owe a bit of their victory to Eli Manning who turned in another trademark efficient performance with two touchdown passes and one amazing 46 second touchdown drive just before half time. On the same day however Eli’s older brother Peyton who plays for the Colts ended his season as the Colts were eliminated from the playoffs.

The Giants’ defense also worked well this game and Tony Romo and Terrell Owens didn’t trouble the Giants very much all through the game. Even after the Cowboys got the ball with seven minutes left in the game they couldn’t capitalize much. The two penalties by the Cowboys helped no doubt and then Romo underthrew Owens and the Giants were sniffing victory.

This is the first time since 2000 that the Giants have been in an NFC Championship Game. The Cowboys were absolutely certain of their win that their owner gave each player 2 tickets for their family and friends for the final. The performance showed the team as a strong cohesive unit and they were just too good for the Cowboys on the day.

Manning said that the team was excited about the opportunity they have got and that they would give it all they had to keep it going as long as they could. With the defense in place and Manning coming up with some really special performances in the past few weeks, the Giants look like they could give anyone a run for their money.

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Eli Manning’s first career playoff will ring warning bells in the Dallas Cowboys camp. During the 24-14 wild card win over the Buccaneers, the Buccaneers’ defense was more bothered about Brandon Jacobs. This mistake was fatal to their chances in the game and Manning made them pay dearly. Jacobs struggles but Manning made merry.

He played an excellent, mistake-free game in his usual fashion against the team that is acknowledged to have the best passing defense and completed 20 of his 27 passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions, with a completion rate of 74.1%, the highest in his career.

This feat came in a playoff game where people had doubts about Manning’s match winning ability and this made it even more important for the team as well as Manning’s career. The Giants (16-11) will now face the Dallas Cowboys (13-3) on Sunday. The Giants in two attempts have been unsuccessful at beating the Cowboys this season. 

In those two games though Manning was at his best. He completed 68% of his passes with five touchdowns and three interceptions. He however saw a slump in his game until the end of 2007 when he came up with a great performance against the Patriots with four touchdowns.

Manning went about the game in his usual efficient and clinical manner and in spite of Jacobs not performing he got them that extremely important victory that still keeps them in running for the Championship. The team will be hoping that he keeps it up for Sunday’s big game against the Dallas Cowboys who have been superb this season.  The Giants’ defense has been a bit of a problem for the Giants but the team is confident that they will be able to overcome the difficulties and make their way into the finals of the Championship.  

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Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis was where, supposedly, the best regular season game in the NFL was played. Both the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts were undefeated heading into Sunday’s big game. And the result? A hum-ho game that had a pretty good ending but proved nothing not already known. With that said, lets move on to this week’s power rankings as usual;

1. New England Patriots - They beat Indianapolis and that alone will keep them secure in their top position. 9-0 is not an easy mark to achieve. With that said, the game on Sunday revealed major problems in their run defense and showed that a good secondary can stop Tom Brady and the passing game. I can’t imagine the same effort they put in last weekend would win them a playoff game against the Colts.

2. Indianapolis Colts - Sure they lost their first game but they also outplayed the Patriots for all but ten minutes of the game. Consider that Manning only had two wide receiver options for most of the game and still managed to keep his team in the game. It isn’t much of a stretch to believe that Marvin Harrison and a healthy Anthony Gonzalez could have helped the team score more than twenty points.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers - Pittsburgh is playing as well as anybody in the NFL right now. They didn’t just beat Baltimore on Monday night, they destroyed them and exposed all of their weaknesses. With that said, do you really think New England or Indianapolis would have given away two winnable games (Arizona and Denver) like this team did earlier in the season?

4. Dallas Cowboys - I know Green Bay was ranked four last week and won, but no one was more impressive than Dallas was (outside of maybe Detroit) in the NFC last week. They annihalated the Eagles, pushed their record to 7-1, and proved they can get it done in all aspects of the game.

5. Green Bay Packers - Look there is no question that the team is somewhat over-performing right now, but come playoff time Lambeau is going to be a huge advantage. The Packers shouldn’t get too cocky, however. The aforementioned Detroit Lions are only one game back and have two shots to knock off this team coming up.

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An interesting week of football ended with two undefeated teams set to face off, one top-five team winning a close contest in London, and the surprising Detroit Lions completing half of Jon Kitna’s bold prediction of ten regular season wins. Every team in last week’s top-five won in week eight, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be shake-ups in the rankings. So, without further ado;

1. New England Patriots - If the Patriots beat Indianapolis by a ridiculous margin, would anyone bet against them going undefeated the rest of the way? Seriously, we all knew New England was good. But they’re not just good, they’re unbelievably good and constantly unhappy with their results. Even after a 52-7 thrashing of the Washington Redskins, the team still acted like their season was over when their kickoff went out-of-bounds.

2. Indianapolis Colts - The defense is definately improved. But I think Marvin Harrison better get into uniform for Sunday’s game. There is no way New England will be lit up by Reggie Wayne on his own.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers - Two reasons why the Steelers move up over other teams that won. One, they play in the AFC which everyone knows is the superior conference in the NFL right now. And two, they beat a division rival, a desperate one, handily on the road. That is the mark of a good team.

4. Green Bay Packers - All season long we’ve heard about how Favre can manage the game better than ever. Well guess what…he can still hurl the ball too. His long touchdown pass to win the game in overtime was right on target to Greg Jennings. And while many moan about the team’s running woes, it isn’t that hard to see a team win in the cold months with a great defense, quarterback, and home field.

5. New York Giants - Yes they won their sixth game in a row and yes the trip to London surely affected their play. But a three-point win over one of the worst teams in the league was not impressive, no matter where the venue was. The Giants should have been able to manage more than thirteen points with all the weapons they have.

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I’m going to hold off doing a top-five this week until the Monday Night Football game is actually over. The Packers are a member of the current top-five, but are probably going to have to win to stay among the NFL’s elite.

Every season, a couple of teams come out of nowhere to make surprising post-season runs. Last year, the New Orleans Saints and the New York Jets weren’t expected by any to make the playoffs. Yet they did. The year before the Redskins used their small and speedy wide receivers and an excellent defense and running game to claim a playoff spot in the NFC. Why does this happen every year? Well it certainly isn’t just luck.

Teams that have the worst records the year before have easier schedules than teams that do make the playoffs. That is a fact. The Patriots are stuck playing elite teams like the Colts every year while the Lions always have soft games against the Cardinals and the Raiders. In addition, teams with losing records are more likely to improve their team through free agency and the draft than teams that made the post-season are. All these factors combine will almost always result in one to two surprising teams per year.

With that said, here are the top-three surprising teams in the NFL this season.

1. Detroit Lions - Everyone was laughing when Jon Kitna boldly predicted ten wins before the season. Well seven games in, the team already is halfway there. The Lions have a terrific passing game and talented, young running backs who can provide balance. But the real x-factor this season has been their defense, which has produced the most turnovers in the NFL. Detroit has a winning formula brewing.

2. Cleveland Browns - Almost quietly, the Browns have been a pretty good team this year. Derek Anderson has made fans forget who Brady Quinn is and their high draft picks are finally paying off. The problem? They play in the AFC where they have little chance of making the playoffs.

3. New York Giants - I don’t know why but just about everyone wrote this team off before the season. Heck I did too. They lost their star running back, they were coming off a so-so season where they got into the playoffs by sheer luck of playing in a bad conference, and they had seemingly written off their too-tough coach. And they started the season by losing two in a row. But lately they have looked like the class of the NFC and have rolled off six straight wins. Who could have predicted that?

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Week 7 was an odd week in the NFL. The only match-up between winning teams was played by the Detroit Lions and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But what should have been an easy week for the league’s elite turned out to be quite the opposite for many good teams. With that said, here are the new top-five rankings.

1. New England Patriots - I’m not sure which Tom Brady stat is more ridiculous at this point. He has twenty-five more touchdowns than interceptions. He is on pace to throw over sixty scores and is only getting better from week to week. And his passer rating is close to 140. At this point the Patriots are demoralizing and destroying every opponent they face and it hard to imagine them losing to anyone.

2. Indianapolis Colts - The only other undefeated team in the NFL also solidified their position in the top-five with a surprisingly easy win over Jacksonville. At this point, it looks like both the Pats and Colts are on cruise control until they have to face each other in two weeks.

3. Green Bay Packers - There is no reason to drop a team in the rankings for having a bye week.

4. New York Giants - No disrespect to the Cowboys, but the Giants are officially the hottest team in the NFC. They brushed off an early 0-2 start to win five in a row and put themselves back into the playoff picture. With a London game against Miami next week, the winning should continue into their bye week.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers - Was a close loss to Denver enough to drop the Steelers out of the top-five? It might have been if the Cowboys or Titans won in a more impressive fashion on Sunday. But as it happened, both teams squeezed out games that they should have won easily. So we’ll treat the loss to Denver as an abnormality for now. But the team better impress next week.

Dropped out - Jacksonville Jaguars - If you want to be considered a serious power within your conference, or division, you have to do better than this team did on Monday night. Playoff teams should be able to do better than a 22 point loss at home to a divisional record.

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