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Coming into this season, expectations were high for the Tennessee Titans. Vince Young was coming off a pretty successful rookie season and team itself had finished the year 2nd in their division and at 8-8. But after six weeks of play, the Titans seem to top the power rankings on just about every sports site and are generally viewed as a team in the upper-echelon of the league.

But are they really this good? Their record is just 3-2, despite all the clutch play they have had. And they are third in their division, behind last year’s champion Colts and the tough-to-beat Jacksonville Jaguars. And Vince Young is battling bruises and other injuries week-in and week-out to keep the team afloat.

Simply put, I think this team gets too much credit because everyone likes the quarterback. Heck, I like Vince Young and I agree he has had his share of clutch performances. But where is his support? The Titans don’t have an elite corp of wide receivers and their running game is nowhere near as effective as Indy’s or Jacksonville’s. And while they have an excellent front line on the defensive side, their cornerback support was greatly weakened by the loss of Pacman Jones.

Look I understand giving credit where credit is due. But when writers start giving credit to the Titans for losses with questions like “If Vince Young hadn’t gotten hurt, don’t you think he’d have found a way to pull out that game against Tampa Bay?”, it is a little ridiculous. They are 3-2 and are in a very tough conference. The playoffs, while not out of the question, still seems like an unreachable goal for the team. Top-ten team? Sure. Top-five? No way.

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Last week, I went through the thirty-two teams in the NFL and picked out the five best. As promised, I will continue to do so on a week-to-week basis. This week’s matchups featured a big time game against my number one and two teams. After watching the game, it became clear what the rankings this week should be.

1. New England Patriots - This team may have the best chance of anyone to go 16-0 and their dominating win against Dallas proved it. They didn’t just beat Dallas, they dismantled them. They took Romo and co.’s best blow and hit back harder. Much harder. In fact, if Tom Brady hadn’t overthrown Moss on a couple of plays where he was wide-open down field, the game never may have been close.

2. Indianapolis Colts - The spot where they, now, rightfully belong. Maybe I took this team for granted. It is easy to forget that before every team in the league realized offense was in fashion, the Colts were trying to win by outscoring opponents. The Colts shouldn’t lose too many games this year, but to move up they have to beat New England again and prove they are number one. Super Bowl wins from last season, again, don’t mean much for the current season.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers - It is funny that every team in the league will get a chance to prove they are better than New England. Pittsburgh stopped the Pats from going 16-0 a few years ago, can they do it again this year? We’ll see.

4. Green Bay Packers - They have a great defense and it is the main reason they are 5-1. But how long can they keep winning with an inconsistent passing game and a non-existent running game? It is a good thing they play in the NFC.

5. Jacksonville Jaguars - There is little not to like about this team. Great run game, good defense, and solid quarterback play. But will they ever be able to jump past the Indianapolis Colts? Not at their current state. But for now, they do round up the top-five teams in the league.

Dropped out - Dallas Cowboys - This may seem a little harsh but the Cowboys proved that they were not on a championship level last Sunday. They gave in to New England in a game that was within their grasp and imploded over and over and over again.

Back next week!

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Before he came to Dallas, Terrell Owens was quite a nuisance throughout the league. His disparaging comments of quarterbacks Jeff Garcia and Donovan McNabb got him run out of San Fransisco and Philadelphia. Even with the Cowboys, Owens played a major role in getting Drew Bledsoe the boot as starting quarterback.

So far things have gone well with Tony Romo. The team is undefeated and running on all cylinders offensively. Owens is involved and has a good amount of catches, yards, and touchdowns. And Romo is playing like a Pro Bowler. And oh yeah, Owens is still getting paid good money to play for the team in Dallas.

But what happens if the team loses a game or two? We all remember the outburst Owens had with McNabb after the team’s first loss in 2003-04. So what happens if the team loses one, two, or even three games? What happens if Romo has another six turnover game and the team doesn’t come back? And what happens if Owens stops getting looks because he is double and triple covered? Can he still keep his cool?

History would tell us no. Its hard to give Owens the benefit of the doubt after all of his past antics. So the Cowboys better have to keep winning and Romo has to make sure that if the team does lose, it isn’t because Owens didn’t get ten to twelve looks. Because the last thing that any team needs, especially the Cowboys, is an unhappy Terrell Owens.

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Going into this season, the San Diego Chargers had all the tools for a long run through the playoffs. They have an elite, if not the best, running back in LaDanian Tomlinson. They have a growing quarterback in Phillip Rivers who was coming off a great first season as a starter in the league. And they had an intimidating defense that carried them to a fourteen-win record last year. The only real difference between the 2006-07 Chargers and the 2007-08 Chargers was the coaching staff. So why is this team 2-3 and losing to inferior talent?

The obvious answer to this question is the coaching staff. Norv Turner has never had a good track record as head coach in the NFL and it is no surprise to most that he is struggling again. But is it really all his fault? It really is a lot to ask from a first-year coach to take a fourteen-win team and improve them. Especially one who faces as much scrutiny as Turner does. While some of the losses may be his inability to adjust and put his players in the wrong place, it would be wrong to give him all the blame.

In fact, the players seem to have a hangover from last season. Many seem arrogant and over-confident that they can waltz into the playoffs. It is an attitude I have seen before, and one that can ultimately destroy a season. The players should know that the fourteen wins they earned last year are gone, in the history books. They started this season at 0-0 like every other team.

To win enough games to make the playoffs, these Chargers have to remember what got them there last year and start playing harder and smarter again. They need to get Tomlinson more carries and put Rivers into comfortable positions. And they have to stop acting as if wins are going to be handed to them on a silver platter.

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No team in any sport, arguably, has had as much success as the Patriots have over the last few years. Because of the competitive nature of football, it is much harder to run a dynasty in this sport than in any other. For that reason, three championships in four years is as impressive of a mark as in any sport. But recently, many Patriot-haters have taken the Bill Belichek cheating scandal out of proportion and used it to degrade the team’s success.

Let me start out by saying that what Bill, and perhaps the team as a whole did, was wrong. Everyone knows that coaches are under pressure to win and will do anything to win. But cheating purposefully in any way is just wrong. If he were any other coach, he probably would have gotten fired over this. But no one would fire a three-time Superbowl winner for a minor cheating scandal.

With that said, this matter has been taken way out of proportion. The Patriots players were not aware of this going on. They should not suffer because of a mistake their coach made. Look beyond the scandal and you will see that the team regularly shuffles players in and out. Would players really keep this cheating a secret if they knew? Eric Mangini sure didn’t when he left the team, why would a player cut by the team for financial reasons?

The point is, if you want to rag on Belichek and call him a cheat, go ahead. It is probably true. But Patriot fans and players had nothing to do with this and the team still went out and earned their championships. The players still go out and play their butts off to win close games. And they don’t deserve to be booed for “cheating.” You can boo them for other reasons, their success, their arrogance, whatever. But don’t be petty and jeer for the wrong reasons. It isn’t worth it.

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For some reason, fans of football seem to love power rankings. Never mind the fact that power rankings are often personal opinion and mean nothing, fans usually take their team’s status in ESPN or Yahoo’s rankings at face value. Some find it insulting to be ranked low. Others feel that vindicated or justified. Here is my opinion of the top-five teams in the NFL right now, after four weeks. Note that I am not going to give teams with more wins an automatic spot like most rankings do.

1. New England Patriots - There really is no question about this right now. Their passing offense is so lethal that it is feasible for Tom Brady to finish the season with a 130+ passer rating and for Randy Moss to catch 25+ touchdowns. And their defense, aided by Adalius Thomas, is as good as ever.

2. Dallas Cowboys - No offense to Colts fans, but the Cowboys have been very impressive and seem to only get better from week to week. Owens is happy, Romo is consistent, and the team is undefeated. Factor in the fact that no other NFC team seems to be in their class, and the Cowboys have to be riding as high as any other team right now.
3. Indianapolis Colts - Recent injury problems and close wins are what drop the Colts from the usual spot of two to three. Having Peyton Manning surely makes the Colts contenders every year, but he can’t do it by himself. It may not be a very bold statement to make, but I doubt the team starts 9-0 this year.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers - Consider that through four games, this team has only given up 47 points. Yes they lost to Arizona, but they were also facing two previous coordinators motivated to prove they deserved the job in Pittsburgh.

5. Green Bay Packers - This is not meant as a slight to the Packers or Brett Favre. But no running game is going to hurt this team eventually. Outside of their 35-13 blowout of the Giants, the Packers have won each of their games by one touchdown or less. While their start certainly is impressive, it is not nearly as dominant as the Steelers’ has been…even when one factors in the fact that Pittsburgh has a loss and that the Packer’s don’t.

So those are the rankings. Hopefully no one is too insulted by them. The truth is, again, that these rankings are just my opinion. From now on I will revisit this issue every week.

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Over the course of the past six years, no team has faced more ridicule and has fared worse than the Detroit Lions. As a fan of the team, I know this from personal experience. Not only has our talent been mediocre, at best, resulting in many, many losses, our coaching staffs and front office have been generally incompetent. How else do you explain us having no more than six wins in a single season over this period?

But forget about Joey Ballgame being a bust or the four first-round WRs drafted over the last five years. These Lions have been, so far, pretty good. While the defense is still far from championship-caliber, the offense has clicked from the get go. Kitna and his talented receiving corp seem to having timing routes down perfectly and Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson open up the deep ball every play.

Most of all, the Lions have shown that, unlike in past seasons, they can come back from deficits and bad situations and win. Against Oakland, the team squandered a big lead before rallying for multiple scores to seal the game. Against Minnesota, the team overcame losing Kitna for a half and missing a game-winning field goal try before overtime. And verses the Bears, the team overcame three quarters of horrendous play, a back-breaking 97-yard touchdown return by Hester, and a couple of bad turnovers to win.

Three wins right now does not guarentee the playoffs or Jon Kitna’s guarentee of ten wins, of course. But the way the Lions have fought to win games they would have lost in past years is impressive. Add in the fact that the NFC seems weak, as usual, and the playoffs are not an unrealistic goal if all continues. Before we start booking playoff plans, however, remember that the team did start 3-1 in 2004 too.

But if Detroit keeps playing like this, ten wins are not out of the reach. You can reach the playoffs by outscoring the opposition and the Lions certainly have the tools to do that.

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