Too little, too late; Lidge records clinching out for Phillies

Sorry Mr. Manuel, your closer showed up a bit too late to the Phillies party this season. I applaud the effort of bringing Brad Lidge in to get the last out in a 10-3 game that would win the NL East for your team, but there will be no saving your closer, at least this season.

It would difficult to find a player that took a such a monumental nose dive from one season to the next. Lidge went from the most dominant closer in both the regular season and postseason in 2008, to the man that single handedly gave Phillies fans everywhere heartburn when he came in the game in 2009. So far this season, Lidge has blown 11 saves; that's 11 more than he blew all of last season. 11 blown saves is a huge number in the first place, but add it to the fact that he was perfect in save opportunities last season, and the only question is "what happened"?

The easiest, most obvious, and probably the correct answer, is confidence. Even for a professional pitcher, it has to be next to impossible not to allow some doubt to seep into your mind when the sports media crushes you anytime you give up a hit. In Lidge's case, the talk has clearly gotten to him, and may have cost him his role for the Phillies come playoff time, and possibly beyond. As of right now, Philadelphia has turned to Ryan Madson to fulfill the closer responsibilities while they try to solve the Lidge mystery. Unfortunately, that ship has sailed for this season. It's a bit late in the game to get your go to closer mentally prepared to cap off a game now isn't it? The Phillies problem is now they head into the postseason with a giant question mark at the back end of the bullpen. Unless Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee can pitch a complete game every time out, the Phils are going to need someone to shut down opponents batters late in the game. As of right now, they don't have that guy.

The great tragedy with athletes is that once "it" is gone, it is gone. And the worst part; "it" can go in the blink of an eye. Has this happened to Lidge? Maybe, only time will tell. However, don't expect the Phillies to go very far in their quest to repeat as World Series champs if they trot the regular season version of Lidge out to the mound in a close game.

TUF 10 Shocker: Kimbo still sucks on the ground

It was the biggest fight in "Ultimate Fighter" history. The one everyone would tune in to see. Kimbo Slice's coming out party against an elite level heavyweight. The culmination of months of furious promotion from Dana White and the UFC.

Then the fight happened.

What was billed as the the biggest fight in the show's 10 season history turned out to be a gigantic flop, or should I say, a belly flop. Roy Nelson did exactly what he said he was going to do, and what just about everyone expected him to do, by keeping it standing as long as he could before taking Kimbo down and dominating him. It's usually a nice touch when a fighter calls his shot in a fight (ala Frank Shamrock/Phil Baroni), but in the case of Nelson/Slice, it only served to highlight some massive problems.

The first, and most obvious, problem that was shown was the non-existent ground game of Kimbo Slice. As soon as Roy Nelson took him to the ground, I pretty much put away my scorecard because, barring an abomination of a stand up, the remainder of the round would be played out on the mat. There was a brief moment where Kimbo appeared to almost slip out from under his large gutted opponent, but that was quickly brought to a halt as he was reversed into mount, side control, and ultimately the dreaded "crucifix" position. With his arm trapped by the BJJ expert, Kimbo seemed resigned to ride out the round, taking forty-some unanswered punches before the bell. Round 2 was pretty much a fast-forward version of the first round. Kimbo tagged Nelson early with punches before attempting an ill-conceived flying knee, resulting in a takedown, Americana attempt, another crucifix and the fight ending TKO.

From what has been shown so far the season regarding Kimbo, its tough not to like the guy. He seems like a genuinely nice person with a desire to learn the game, despite his rough and tumble appearance and persona. However, he makes it next to impossible to get excited about him as fighter when you see a performance like the one against Nelson. Everyone in the world knows what he is trying to do in the cage, and can gameplan accordingly. For just about every fight in the foreseeable future, Kimbo will be dead in the water against just about any fighter will even the slightest ground game. If the UFC is going to milk the Kimbo Slice effectively, they are going to have to be very careful with who they match him up with when he does make a PPV card (don't kid yourself, this loss doesn't mean he won't be in the UFC). Off the top of my head, I can only think of 2 or 3 heavyweights that Kimbo could potentially have a fighting chance against (after checking the UFC roster, the number could drop to 1 or 2). Kimbo versus Houston Alexander on Spike TV anyone?

The second problem that was brought to my attention as a result of last night's fight was a problem with MMA in general. Since Herb Dean stepped in to stop the bout last night, MMA forums, blogs and news sites have exploded with hatred towards Dean for stopping the bout, and Roy Nelson for how he got the bout stopped. It appeared that while Kimbo was trapped in Nelson's crucifix, he wasn't taking any significant damage from the punches he was being hit with. However, the precedent in MMA is that if a fighter is not "intelligently defending" himself from punishment, the ref has to step in an stop the bout. Despite not actually being in the unified rules for MMA, it is generally accepted that this is the standard for how a stoppage should be judged. One could make the case that the fight should have been stopped in the first round based on the concept of "intelligent defense", because clearly Kimbo was unable to do so. What Herb Dean did correctly in the first round was determine that despite taking a multitude of shots, he was never in any danger. What changed in the second round, at least in my eyes, was the clock factor. With about 3 minutes remaining in the round, it was clear the Kimbo was not getting out from under Roy Nelson. His hips were flat on the mat and he was barely moving at all, leading Dean to stop the bout.

Was it a good stoppage? Under the circumstance, absolutely. Could the bout have continued? Again, absolutely. Should people be up in arms about it being a terrible stoppage because Nelson was simply pitter-pattering his way to victory? Well, yes and no. Fans should not be upset with what Nelson did, which was basically exploit an unwritten rule of the sport, or Herb Dean for stepping in on Kimbo's behalf. The real focal point should be the ambiguity of the rules justifying stoppages. This fight was strikingly similar to the second bout between Matt Hughes and BJ Penn in the way that it played out. The major difference is that it was very clear that Penn was unable to defend himself while trapped by Hughes, as well as taking heavy, and effective, unanswered shots to the face. If you need a model for how to handle a situation like Kimbo/Nelson, look no further than that fight.

Before calling a halt to a fight, the ref needs to judge not only if the man taking shots is defending himself, but exactly how much damage is being delivered by the fighter on offense. Obviously it can be difficult to judge just how much trouble a fighter is in, but experienced professional referees should be able to properly assess the situation and act accordingly. Otherwise, you will have a situation where a fighter can, as Nelson seemed to imply earlier in the episode, simply slap his opponent in the face fifty times in a row and the ref will have to stop the fight based on "intelligent defense".

My final problem is more of personal problem than anything else. I've always tried not to be that guy who simply bashes Dana White because it's the fun thing to do. The truth is, I've got great respect for the man and what he has done for the sport. The man found a niche on a small cable station and turned a fledgling sport, into a increasingly mainstream sport; mostly thanks to "The Ultimate Fighter". What bothers me, or bother me last night at least, was his reaction to Nelson's victory. During the very public mini-war between the UFC and promoter Gary Shaw's EliteXC company, Dana constantly berated Shaw for his promotion of Kimbo Slice and how he reacted like a child to his stunning loss to Seth Petruzelli. Now, with Kimbo dropping a bout under the UFC banner, how does Dana react? He belittles Nelson's performance in victory and props up what very little Kimbo showed in defeat. In his post fight comments, Dana told the cameras that the punches Nelson was hitting Kimbo with were what he "lets his daughters hit him with". No, Nelson wasn't overpowering with his showing, but he did display the ground skills that earned him his black belt and made him a champion in the IFL. With those comments, Dana sounds like a whiny fanboy who just watched his main draw for TUF 10 get dominated on the ground after flashing about :30 seconds of stand up ability. Hmm, where I have seen/heard something like that before....



Oh yeah, when Shaw's son (the guy next to Hulk Hogan) acted the same way when Kimbo got stopped in EliteXC.

I don't think Dana White has a problem with Roy Nelson per se, I just get the overwhelming feeling that he was fired up about the man he went out on a limb to bring in to the UFC laying a complete egg in his debut. Although, his venomous words towards chubby heavyweights has become a bit of a trademark for the UFC's president. Just search "Dana White" and "Fedor Emelianenko" at the same time, you'll see what I mean.

Mid-week Fight Breakdown: Kimbo vs. Roy Nelson

The UFC's flagship program "The Ultimate Fighter" has been struggling in recent years to regain it's the popularity it initially had with TUF 1. Well, this week might just be the shot in the arm the show needs to get it's swagger back. Internet knockout artist, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, will be taking on the rotund former heavyweight champ of the IFL, Roy "Big Country" Nelson.

Breakdown: We all know the story with Kimbo; he's coming into this fight looking to land some big punches and knock Roy out. Simple as that. From what he showed in his stint in EliteXC, the ground game is basically non-existant to Mr. Slice. Obviously that could have changed in the year since the fall of EliteXC, especially if it is true that he is training at American Top Team in Florida, but expect Kimbo to stick to his bread and butter. The problem is, if Roy can withstand the fury of Kimbo and get the fight to the mat, it's pretty much over. Nelson is a decorated BJJ black belt who holds competition wins over UFC fighters Frank Mir, Brandon Vera, Diego Sanchez, and may have been one horrible stand-up away from an MMA submission win over Andrei Arlovski. The x-factors in the fight will be Nelson's stand up and his chin. Roy does have some good stand up skills, as evidenced by his victory over Brad Imes, but his best bet to win the fight would be to get Kimbo down and work his submission game. I wouldn't put it past Roy to engage in a stand up battle though, with Kimbo seeing as his chin is somewhat of a question mark.

Pick: If Nelson isn't stupid, this is his fight to lose. Theoretically, Roy is better and more experienced than Kimbo anywhere the fight goes. That said, if Kimbo connects, it could be all over the belly rubbing former champ. It's possible, but don't expect it to happen. No Seth Petruzelli type finish, but a pretty decisive victory for "Big Country". Roy Nelson by unanimous decision

The Browns have an Eric Mangini problem, not a Quinn/Anderson problem

(Maybe it wasn't the best idea to mandate daily coach worship sessions in practice)

Eric Mangini announced in a press conference today that he has made one of the most difficult decisions he will ever make. He announced that the Cleveland Browns will attempt to go 0-and-16 with Derek Anderson under center, in favor of 0-and-16 with Brady Quinn.

Hey, it's progress I suppose. At least we found out today instead of 2 hours before game time. Fantasy owners rejoice! Now you can sleep in a couple extra hours and have to worry about picking Anderson off waivers right before kickoff. Although, it might be more beneficial to leave that roster spot empty than to risk negative points.

But fear not Browns fans, hope for this team may be just a pink slip with Eric Mangini's name on it away. Of course, constant change isn't always good for a team that is/was struggling, but in this case, change on the sidelines might just be the miracle cure.

I hated the move when the Browns announced the "Mangenius" as their new head coach. What did Eric Mangini ever do as a head coach that made it impossible for the Browns to resist hiring him? He was under .500 as the head coach of the Jets, and his big claim to fame was beating the Patriots in the regular season (before being absolutely steamrolled in the playoffs). Other than that one 10-and-6 season in New York, his stay with the team was a full fledged mess. Stories were rampant that the players disliked the "Bill Belichick without the results" attitude, and it has apparently followed him to Cleveland. Between fining players thousands of dollars for not paying for water at a hotel, the smoke and mirrors act surrounding his starting QB for this season, and the atrocious 0-and-3 start, perhaps the Browns made a huge mistake this offseason.

Are Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson completely free of blame for the offensive struggles? Of course not; they're being paid millions to lead a fairly talented offense and the fact is, they haven't gotten it done. The same goes for Braylon Edwards, Jamal Lewis, and the other players on offense. But for Mangini to make a change at QB after committing to Quinn before the regular season, he's just asking for even more dysfunction from his offense. Did he fall asleep during the second half of the game against Baltimore? He must have or else he would have seen Anderson lob 3 picks in the second half and fail to lead the team to a score, a far worse showing than Quinn in the first half. To pull a complete about face at QB just 3 weeks in shows a complete lack of faith in his personnel, and an absence of control over his team on the part of Mangini. The locker room may already be turning against him, and make a huge change to the offense so quickly may only serve to push the fence riding players into the anti-Mangini camp.

It goes back to that old saying; "if you have 2 quarterbacks, you have no quarterback". Perhaps it's time to coin a new phrase, "If Eric Mangini is your head coach, you have no head coach".

I want some of whatever Scott Burnside is on

(Know your enemy hockey fans, know him well)

Two days away from the first NHL game (Habs vs. Leafs kids, you know you love it deep down) of the season, I finally got a chance to look at ESPN's preseason team rankings. Needless to say, a close inspection of the 1 through 30 list left me a bit...well...I don't know. I can't call it surprise because that's too light. Can't call it shock because it's something beyond that. Maybe a long string of profanities that starts with "are you" and ends with "insane" could sum up the effect of reading the rankings.

Where to start? How about this beauty...

- #3. Philadelphia Flyers - WHAT?!?! Let me get this straight. The team that got absolutely railroaded out of the playoffs in the first round last season brings in Chris Pronger and Ray Emery and suddenly they're the 2nd best team in the East? Ray Emery might be the biggest head case in hockey, but his mere presence between the pipes makes Philly a massive favorite in the Atlantic Division? Gotcha.

- #10. Tampa Bay Lightning - ..........................right. So the Lightning go from 3rd worst record in hockey last season to the top 1/3 of teams in one season? What exactly has this team showed that proves that they will compete for the playoffs this season? Tampa Bay is in the same division as Washington and Carolina, both playoff teams from last season. Do you really think this team can leap frog one, or both, of these teams Scotty?

- #14. Los Angeles Kings - OK, now my head is starting to hurt. The team that finished with the same amout of points as the Phoenix Coyotes last season is now better than 5 playoff teams from last season? Someone really loves them some Alex Frolov and Anze Kopitar, and I think I know who it is (see title picture).

- #24. New Jersey Devils - ......huh?....where am I?....did I fall asleep for a few seasons and wake up after Martin Brodeur retired? So in one off season, the Devils go from #3 in the Eastern Conference, to bottom third of the entire NHL. Brodeur was out most of last season and they still had over 100 points! Something is off in ESPN-land.

- #27. Toronto Maple Leafs - That's it, I'm done! I don't even like the Maple Leafs and I'll tell you they're alot better than one spot ahead of the New York Islanders. Brian Burke has that team loaded with physical players in a league, and conference, that is generally lacking for tough guys (save Milan Lucic in Boston). Come on Scott, you can't honestly believe Toronto's going to be the second worst team in the East...can you?

Angels win the AL West; provide moment of the year

This is the type of moment that makes me fall in love with baseball all over again.

After wrapping up the AL West and effectively ending the Rangers minuscule playoff hopes, the Angels took to the clubhouse to kick off the celebration. There was just one thing missing; their fallen teammate. Nick Adenhart. Following a season that was largely clouded by the tragedy of losing the young pitcher in a hit and run accident, the Angels finally had something celebrate. And of course, Adenhart would not be left out of the victory party.

The #34 jersey that accompanied the team everywhere this season, and was hung in the dugout during home games, was on the receiving end of a beer bath that appeared to involve every player ever involved with the Angels franchise. And it didn't end there in the clubhouse. Adenhart wasn't just a teammate to the Angels, he was a part of the team for the entire fan base. In a gesture that was all too approriate, the team continued the celebration in full view of the crowd, right in front of the picture of Adenhart that graces the outfield wall. Chills, absolute chills.

The anchors on SportsCenter said it best; if watching this didn't make the hair on your neck stand up, you should probably see someone about that.

A horrible tragedy that turned into a rallying cry for a devestated team, and ultimately brought about a moment of unbridled joy. Angels fan or not, that is something that all sports fans should feel good about. Good luck finding a better moment than that this year. The only way this could be topped would be another Angels outfield celebration with a World Series trophy in hand.

Knee-jerk Reactions: My Bitter Break-up with Penn State

(The feeling is mutual, coach)

Definitely a fun weekend across the football landscape. Made some good calls, had some monumentally bad ones blow up in my face, but overall, here's what I learned....

1) Never again Joe Pa, never again...: Well, the "Penn State for National Title wagon" was fun to ride while it lasted. First off, did I think had a chance to run the table and go undefeated? Yes. Did I think they would beat Iowa on Saturday? Yes. Would I have advised even my worst enemy to put money on Penn State? Absolutely not. For as supremely confident as I was about the Nittany Lions, my relationship with the team reached a breaking point Saturday night. Daryll Clark, I'm done waiting around for you to turn that corner from serviceable QB to elite dual threat. Since it doesn't appear as if it's ever going to happen, I'll be damned if I'm just going to hang around forever while you wallow in mediocrity. Outside of the pass that went for a touchdown, Clark looked absolutely awful against the Hawkeye defense. Sure, the weather was probably played a small role in Penn State's struggles, but Iowa seemed to have no problem catching Clark's quackers over the middle.

Kirk Ferentz is a total sadist by the way. Until about the 7 minute mark of the 4th quarter, his Iowa team was letting Penn State twist in the wind, giving them false hope they had any chance to win that game. Appreciate it Kirk; I could have gone without the roller coaster moment of Evan Royster breaking a big run, only to fumble the ball away. It's over for good between myself and this squad (at least until I come crawling back for more emotional abuse next year). Big loss for Joe Pa's squad, but it might be even worse for the much maligned Big 10. However, take heed all of you conference elitists...

2) The Big 10 is no worse, or more overrated, top to bottom than the Big 12: Yeah, I'm going to go there. Before I even start with this rant that will irk just about everyone I know, I'm going to backhand the next person that answers the question "what is the best football conference in college football?" with anything other than the SEC. They have the #1 team, Florida, the #3 team, Alabama (#2 in my personal top 25 just because Texas hasn't played anyone yet. Try not to schedule so many pillow fights outside of conference play next season Mack Brown) and to call the conference as a whole "stacked" really doesn't do it justice. Even the bottom of the conference (Kentucky, Arkansas) give the upper echelon of the conference fits. Anyway, onto the Big 10/Big 12 debate.

I will grant the Big 12 this, they've looked good this season on the whole. What I will not grant you is that the conference as a whole is on a different plane of existence than the Big 10 as an undeniable fact, because it's not. Here's a quick breakdown that supports my claim...

- The Big 12 has 5 teams ranked in the top 25. The Big 10 has 4
- The top 10 teams in the Big 12's combined record is 30-7. The top 10 in the Big 10's combined record is 27-7
- The Big 12 has three 4-0 teams (one 3-0 team in Texas A+M). So does the Big 10.
- Notable wins for the undefeated
Big 12
- Kansas - def. Southern Miss. 35-28. Their best win was UCF)
- Missouri - def. Furman(?) 52-12. Combined opponents W/L is 5-10
- Texas - def. Texas Tech 34-24. Tech previously defeated Rice and North Dakota)
Big 10
- Iowa - def. Penn State 21-10 on the road with Penn State ranked #5
- Michigan - def. Notre Dame 38-34
- Wisconsin - def. Fresno State 34-31 OT. Played close games with Boise State and Cincinnati

Did I miss something or do these facts seem to support my theory?

Can/will this all change before the end of the season? More than likely. But to make the wild claim that the Big 12 is somehow this all powerful conference and the Big 10 is a top heavy, big name version of the WAC this early in the season is irresponsible. Wait until conference play to start before you start jockeying for that 2nd (or 3rd depending on how the Pac-10 shakes out) best football conference title.

3) Cal's dismal showing against Oregon reinforces my "Game of the Year" theory: After the first week of games, I predicted that USC at California would be the best game of the year. Well, after watching the Ducks absolutely drub Cal by 39 points, (nice prediction Colin Cowherd, apparently Masoli can throw the ball) it seems all the more likely that it will be true. Unless you're the Tennessee Titans, desperation usually leads to a measured amount of on-field success. After losing to Oregon, if Cal has any aspirations to win the Pac-10 and be in the Rose Bowl, they absolutely must beat USC on Saturday. The Bears get the Trojans in their house with their backs against the wall. Jahvid Best and his teammates will come out swinging; will USC be able to weather the onslaught and finish Cal off yet again?

4) Kentucky may be the most important team in college football this season: The first time I saw the replay of Tim Tebow's injury against the Wildcats on Saturday, I wasn't watching the actual knockout hit. Unfortunately, I was totally mesmerized by Urban Meyer on the sidelines shouting "no, no, no" with the look of a man who is watching his National Title meal ticket about to get run over by an unblocked freight train. Kentucky hasn't been all that great since Andre Woodson left, and probably won't be in the foreseeable future. However, if "Superman" has any lingering effects after being drilled against Kentucky, they may have provided the most important moment of the year. Just about everyone has, or had, Florida penciled in to their National Title game before this season. If the Gators, or more importantly Tebow, don't play well and drop their next game against LSU, everyone is going to be thinking back to that moment when Tebow hit ground as the single most important moment of the college football season. A lot of one loss teams have new found hope for a National Title berth thanks to a middle of the road SEC team.

4) Calm down everyone, we've seen this Brett Favre story before: Did Favre make a good throw against the Niners? Yes. Was Greg Lewis catch better than the throw? In every way possible. Should the media be falling all over themselves with the "Brett Favre is back and taking the Vikings to the Super Bowl" talk? Not at all. We love moments, and tend to forget everything else that happens leading up to that moment, or immediately after that moment. Lost in the love fest after Greg Lewis' incredible play (I don't care how it's being labeled. Greg Lewis' toe tap catch>>>Brett Favre's throw) is the fact that Favre was 24-46 passing with a pick. Most people would call that a mediocre performance, maybe worse because of the caliber of QB we're talking about. But, since he made a good throw at the end of the game, no will remember all that other stuff. I know, the only thing that counts is the W, but let's not get ahead of ourselves with the Super Bowl talk. We've seen this show before, most recently with Favre and the Jets last season. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that season ended well for either party involved.

5) Who called the end to the Lions' woes? This guy!: What a fun weekend. First, I was told that if looked hard at the facts, I would see Greg Paulus is more important to Syracuse than Tim Tebow is to Florida. When I respectfully disagreed, i.e. walked away before I started laughing hysterically in the kids' face, I was told I knew nothing about college football. Next, I was labeled an "idiot" by an old man in Members Only jacket at a casino for claiming that the Detroit Lions over the Redskins was the easiest game to pick in the NFL that weekend. Granted, I got alot of dirty looks from people when I said this, but the old man was the only one to legitimately take offense to my pick. Guess he's a relative of Jim Zorn or something. Realistically, what did Washington bring to the table that screamed "STAY AWAY FROM THIS GAME" when the Lions were +6 1/2 at +210 at game time?

Were they going to beat them with offense? Absolutely not; Detroit is serviceable on defense and the Redskins are straight terrible on offense. I'm not sure if Jason Campbell will ever play well for Washington again after being dangled out as Jay Cutler bait. Was Washington going to stop the Lions' offense? No; why would anyone think that? Because they held the RAMS to 7 points? The fact is this; the game against Washington was put up on a tee for Detroit, and they nailed it for a ground rule double. Not exactly a home run because they tried their best to pull a Detroit Lions and give it away, but they did win the game. And even if they were going to lose, did I miss the memo where Washington is some unstoppable scoring machine that can cover a 6 1/2 point line with ease? This team was in the red zone all day against St. Louis the week before, and came away with 3 field goals.

The massive losing streak had to end at some point, I just knew it would be this week. How's that "personal betting pattern" (he really said this after calling in two bets on horses at Saratoga that were 3/2 and 5/2 favorites in their respective races. Way to go out on a limb, genius) now old man? Looks like pretty easy money from my perspective.

6) About those Steelers, maybe they really do need Troy Polamalu: All the talk coming out of the Week one game against Tennessee was that they Steelers were deep enough in the secondary to tread water while Troy Polamalu is out with an injury. Care to reconsider that position? I'm not innocent in this whole situation, seeing as I basically said that the Steelers would repeat with ease after they beat the Titans, but maybe we all misread how problematic the loss of Polamalu would be. Pittsburgh now sits at 1-2, having lost to a Chicago team that was reeling after horrific performance in Green Bay and a Bengals team they had down 20-3 at one. What has the common thread running through both of these losses? Massive letdowns in the defensive secondary. Jay Cutler carved up the Steelers corners and safeties on two consecutive drives that led to the tying and winning scores. Then, against Cincinnati, the Bengals converted on 2 consecutive 4th and long situations with under 2 minutes to play. You think Brian Leonard makes it to that 1st down marker or Andre Caldwell makes that TD catch if #43 is stalking the secondary? I vote no.

7) New Orleans found a running game. Uh oh...: If I told you that Reggie Bush was the third best running back on an NFL team, what would you say? I'm going to guess either "You're crazy" or "Wow, that team must have some really good running backs". Lucky for me, the latter is the more logical choice. Drew Brees went without a TD pass against the Bills...and they still won by 20 points! Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas are perfect examples of how scrap heap players that get inserted into the right situation can become Pro Bowl-ers almost immediately. With the threat of Brees burning your secondary, and laughing at your pitiful attempts to stop him, always a possibility, there's always going to some room for the running backs to gain some yardage. They've shown passing prowess, a solid defense, and now a multi-dimensional running game. The Saints are the kind of team defensive coordinators have nightmares about.

8) Has there ever been a worse 3-0 team than the Denver Broncos?: Seriously, I don't know. Has there? Because if there has, I must know of this team.