Sean Payton has climbed into the top spot this week after his team had a riveting come-from-behind win in Miami, and by come-from-behind we mean they were trailing 24-3 late in the second half and won the game 46-34. That means for the rest of the game, they score was 43-10 New Orleans. Just sick.

1. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Sorry Josh McDaniels, but while you were on bye Payton’s team had a remarkable comeback against the Dolphins on the road. They appear to be the 2007 Patriots, and for that we have to give the coach top props.

2. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—We know the Broncos upset the Cowboys and Patriots, but the next two weeks they face Baltimore and Pittsburgh. We’ll see if the boy wonder is still sitting pretty after that.

3. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The rookie coach is still waiting for his first loss. Good for him.

4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Okay, so the Vikings are human. However, I think Childress’ investment will pay off this weekend in Green Bay.

5. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—Regained confidence by thrashing the Bears and remained tied for first with the Steelers in the tough AFC North.

Honorable mention: Bill Belichick, Patriots; Mike Smith, Falcons; Gary Kubiak, Texans; Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals

Okay, so we can finally separate Josh McDaniels and Marvin Lewis after the former beat San Diego to reach 6-0 and the latter lost a tough home game to Houston. Here is our current power rankings for NFL Coach of the Year:

1. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—Seriously, 6-0? The schedule keeps getting tougher, but it doesn’t seem to faze this team or their confident coach. Dude is a mini-Belichick, the first “offspring” to be worthy of that title.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—After beating the Giants to reach 5-0, we can start talking about the very real likelihood of the Saints reaching the Super Bowl for the first time, and this guy is a big reason why. It’s still amazing that he managed to pay his defensive coordinator a quarter mil of his own cash to lure him, but it seems to have been worth it.

3. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—Just like his QB, you can’t fault Caldwell for the bye week.

4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Now 6-0, there should be no question that Childress did himself and the city of Minnesota a huge favor bringing back #4. He sure wasn’t going to be 6-0 with Tarvaris Jackson, was he?

5. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—A tough win against the Bears, and this team is not fading any time soon. Really, the Falcons and Saints are two of the best teams in the NFC and it should be interesting when they meet.

Honorable mention: Tom Coughlin, Giants; Bill Belichick, Patriots; Marvin Lewis, Bengals

The general consensus surrounding the New England Patriots these days is that the sky is falling.

Tom Brady doesn’t look the same.

Bill Belichick can’t win without his coveted videotapes.

The entire defense is a mess.

It’s true – the Patriots are in trouble. Brady didn’t look comfortable last week as the Jets’ defense used multiple looks to confuse him at the line. He generally looked confused and befuddled as Rex Ryan sent extra defenders from all angles and for Brady to look confused and befuddled is a telltale sign that things aren’t right in New England’s world.

But doubting Brady and Belichick when their backs are against a wall is about as smart as taking anything Skip Bayless says to heart. It’s just not wise to write off the Pats, especially coming off a loss.

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Along with the odds and over/under totals, here’s a look at some of the marquee matchups for Week 3 in the NFL.

Falcons (2-0) at Patriots (1-1), Sunday, 1:00PM ET
This will be a great test to see where both of these teams currently lie. The Falcons are 2-0 with wins over two struggling 2008 playoff teams, while the Patriots could very easily be 0-2 right now. Behind quarterback Matt Ryan’s (108.5 QB Rating) great start, Atlanta’s offense is gearing up for big things this season, but the defense is giving up 5.1 YPC and just lost starting DT Peria Jerry for the year. New England has its own defensive problems without middle linebacker Jerod Mayo and Tom Brady still hasn’t looked comfortable on his surgically repaired knee. It would be unwise to doubt Bill Belichick and the Patriots, but the Falcons would go a long way in proving that they’re a legitimate Super Bowl contender with a win at Foxboro.
Odds: Patriots –4.

49ers (2-0) at Vikings (2-0), Sunday, 1:00PMET
Who would have thought that the only matchup this week featuring two 2-0 teams would be the 49ers at Vikings? San Francisco’s defense has been solid in the first two games, yielding less than 300 total yards per game and limiting opponents to only 13 PPG. But neither Arizona nor Seattle posed the rushing threat that Adrian Peterson and Minnesota will provide this Sunday. This will be a great test to see where Mike Singletary’s team is and whether or not the Niners are legitimate playoff contenders. Can Shaun Hill beat the Vikings through the air if/when the Williams Wall takes away Frank Gore?
Odds: Vikings –7.

Titans (0-2) at Jets (2-0), Sunday, 1:00PM ET
Panic hasn’t set in yet for Jeff Fisher and the Titans, although a loss this week in East Rutherford would make things unsettling in Tennessee. Jets’ rookie Mark Sanchez has looked more like a five-year pro than a quarterback with only two career starts under his belt, but will this be the week that he finally suffers some growing pains? Tennessee’s defense has a way of making opposing quarterbacks look bad, although that certainly wasn’t the case last week when Houston’s Matt Schaub threw a career high four touchdown passes against the Titans. If Fisher’s squad falls to 0-3, the Titans may never recover. On the flip side, if the Jets start 3-0 they’ll set themselves up for making a run at the AFC East crown.
Odds: Jets –2.5.

(2-0) Colts at Cardinals (1-1), Sunday, 8:20PM ET
If you like watching quick-tempo offenses, then the Sunday night game will be right up your alley. The Colts defeated the Dolphins on Monday might despite only running 35 plays, which means Peyton Manning and the rest of Indy’s offense is already in midseason form. The Cards bounced back from their opening week loss to the 49ers by pounding the Jaguars last Sunday thanks to Kurt Warner’s amazing 24-for-26 passing day. Watching Manning and Warner dissect the opposing defense is going to be one of the more intriguing things to watch in Week 3.
Odds: Cardinals -2.5.

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Pundits warned after the Patriots barely beat the Bills on Monday night that it’s ignorant to come to conclusions after Week 1.

Well, it’s only Week 2 and I’ve already come to this conclusion: Bill Belichick’s team has issues. They’re still 1-1 after their 16-9 loss to the Jets on Sunday, but New England is a Leodis McKelvin kneel-down away from being 0-2 right now.

New England’s pass protection might be at the forefront of the Pats’ problems. The offensive line struggled to control the penetration that New York was able to generate throughout the game and the Pats were also unable to pick up a crucial 3rd and 1 at their own 38-yard line trailing 16-9. That’s a telltale sign that the horses up front for the Patriots aren’t getting the job done.

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What more can you say about Junior Seau that you can’t say by listing his accomplishments? In his 19-year career, Seau was a seven-time first-team All-Pro, a 12-time Pro Bowler, the 1992 NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and the 1992 UPI AFC Defensive Player of the Year. He’s amassed 1,826 tackles, 56.5 sacks and 18 interceptions over his career. He was also part of two Super Bowls, including the 16-0 New England Patriots squad.

Recently, Junior teamed up with Combos to help them roll out their “Tackle Life” contest, which encourages people to finish projects that they’ve put on the backburner throughout the years. Head to www.COMBOS.com and in 10-100 words, describe a project you have always wanted to do and how $5,000 will help you do it. The contest is running from September 14 to October 31 and the grand prize is the $5,000 to help you cross that project off your to-do list.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down with Junior to talk about the contest, how he got involved and what project he’s currently had on the backburner. We also couldn’t let him get off the phone without answering some football related questions, which he was more than happy to do. He filled us in on which running back was the toughest to tackle, what current player he would pay the price of admission to watch play every week and what its like to play in Bill Belichick’s defensive scheme.

Junior Seau: Anthony!

The Scores Report: Hey Junior, how are you, man?

JS: What’s happening, brother?

TSR: We really appreciate your sitting down and talking with us today – it’s an honor.

JS: No worries, no worries – let’s do it.

TSR: Talk to me about this Combos “Tackle Life” contest that you’re partaking in.

JS: Yeah, we’re pairing up with Combos’ “Tackle Life” contest and what we’re doing is trying to encourage everyone to get all of those daily duties out of the way. Pick one, visit Combos.com and submit 10 to 100 words on this dream project, which could be anything. It could be building a deck, or painting your house, or building a shed. Whatever it may be that you’ve been putting on the backburner, we’re asking you to write about it and you have a chance to win $5,000 through this program “Tackle Life.”

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Jets’ safety Kerry Rhodes is taking a page from his head coach in calling out the Patriots, saying that he wants to “embarrass” New England this Sunday when the two teams clash in New York on Sunday.

From ESPN.com:

“You go out from the first quarter on, from the first play on, and try to embarrass them,” Rhodes said, according to the New York Daily News. “Not just go out there and try to win, try to embarrass them. Try to make them feel bad when they leave here. We don’t want to just beat them. We want to send a message to them, ‘We’re not backing down from you and we expect to win this game, and it’s not going to be luck, it’s not going to be a mistake.’ ”

Brady, returning from a knee injury that cost him almost the entire 2008 season, was hit only six times by the Buffalo Bills in Week 1’s comeback victory. Rhodes said Brady will be hit far more often by the Jets’ defense, which hit Texans quarterback Matt Schaub eight times in Week 1.

“We will hit him more than six times. I promise you that,” Rhodes said, according to the Daily News.

Rhodes insisted the Jets “won’t play dirty” but that Brady will be vulnerable.

“I’m sure if somebody is around his leg, or he feels pressure below, he’s not going to step into his throw,” Rhodes said, according to the Daily News.

As a writer, I love this kind of smack talk. But I don’t think it’s wise for Rhodes (or anyone else for that matter) to give the Patriots any extra motivation on game day. That said, New England is coming off a short week and its defense didn’t play well without Jerod Mayo on Monday against Buffalo. Mayo won’t play this week, so maybe the Pats are primed for the taking.

The Jets backed up Rex Ryan’s offseason talk last week in Houston, so maybe they’ll do the same for Rhodes this Sunday against New England.

After 13 seasons in the NFL, New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi has decided to hang ‘em up.

From ESPN.com:

“I’m 36 years old,” Bruschi said at a news conference. “Your body doesn’t heal as quickly.”
Bruschi’s performance declined last year and he was playing with the second unit on defense this summer. He missed much of training camp with an undisclosed injury but played in two of the team’s last three exhibition games.
Coach Bill Belichick, usually stoic, choked up as he discussed Bruschi.

“How do I feel about Tedy Bruschi?” Belichick said. “He’s a perfect player.”

Bruschi’s reaction?

“That’s something you’ll never hear during your career,” he said as he and Belichick laughed. “To have him say that to me is probably the best compliment he could ever give me.”

Over his career, Bruschi compiled three Super Bowl rings, five 100-plus tackle seasons and was a Pro Bowler in 2004. He also won the 2005 Comeback Player of the Year Award after suffering a stroke in February of that year.

Leadership doesn’t show up on the stat sheet every Sunday, but Bruschi certainly led the team in that category almost every year he played in New England. He was the consummate pro and his success after in ’05 was inspirational considering he thought he was done playing after the stroke.

Comment fodder: Is Bruschi a Hall of Famer? I would say he probably comes up just short of that honor, but he’ll definitely go down as one of the better players in Patriots history.

Jets head coach Rex Ryan isn’t afraid to speak his mind and apparently isn’t afraid to take a couple swipes at a rival head coach who has three Super Bowl wins on his resume either.

From 670 The Score:

Ryan said during a radio interview a few months ago that he didn’t come to New York “to kiss Bill Belichick’s rings.” He explained Tuesday what he meant, and might have provided more bulletin board material.

“When I said that about Belichick, I’m just letting him know I’m not intimidated by him,” Ryan said.

“He’s got the same position I have. We’re both head coaches in this league. He just happens to have a hell of a lot more Super Bowl wins. I don’t have a win. I understand that, but we’re not going to tiptoe our way through this thing.

“You don’t line up and beat a Bill Belichick-coached team by tiptoeing in there.”

Comments like these are exactly why Jets players have come to love and respect their new head coach. It’s hard not to want to play for a guy who isn’t afraid to speak his mind and let the proverbial bullies of the AFC East know that he and his team won’t be intimated.

That said, Ryan has yet to win a game, while Belichick has compiled 153 victories, three Super Bowl titles and is a two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year winner (2003, 2007). While Ryan’s attitude is brash and refreshing, he probably should be a bit more diplomatic in what he says in his first year.

Belichick has a way of humbling fellow head coaches and while he’ll never play the quote game with Ryan through the media, I’m sure he has taken stock of what Ryan has said.

Don Banks of SI.com did a cool feature in which he ranked all 32 teams based on their performance this decade.

1. New England
Regular season: 102-42, .708
Playoff wins/record: 14-3
Super Bowls won/appeared: 3 out of 4
Playoff seasons: 6
Winning seasons: 8
Losing seasons: 1
In the past six seasons, the Patriots have won an astounding 77 games in the regular season (one shy of 13 per year), and 11 more in the playoffs. And let’s not lose sight of the fact that Bill Belichick’s 2001 no-name club authored one of the most remarkable Super Bowl upsets in history. If the 2007 Patriots had just been able to close the deal against the Giants, the only debate would be whether that New England team is the NFL’s greatest ever, not whether the Patriots are the best of the current decade. Alas, the Pats are one miraculous David Tyree helmet catch away from all of that.

He’s top five consists of the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Eagles and Giants, which is hard to argue with. The Patriots won three of the four Super Bowl appearances they played in, while the Steelers won both of theirs. The Colts made the playoffs eight times this decade and won the Super Bowl in 2006. Even though the Eagles didn’t win their Super Bowl appearance in 2004, they had seven playoff seasons and seven winning seasons.

Giant fans might be a little upset that their team didn’t get a higher ranking than No. 5 after producing one of the best upsets in SB history (if not the best), but they were stomped in their other SB appearance of the decade and had three losing seasons, which was the most of any teams in the top 5. Banks’ ranking was fair.

Not surprisingly, the Lions ranked dead last in Banks’ rankings and there’s little debate that they’re the worst team of this decade.