Now, I feel like I knew what I was talking about by moving Tom Brady up to #1. The man is simply a man possessed this year to win a title. I mean, it’s been, what? Five years since his Pats did win. Yep. Those guys are in a zone. Here are the weekly power rankings…..

1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—In a blizzard, Brady completed 27 of 40 passes (67.5%) for 369 yards, 2 TDs and zero picks. Against the Bears’ defense. Someone needs to check to see if Brady actually IS human.

2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—He’s only played 10 full games, but his overall numbers are sick—averaging 251 yards per game passing, and another 48 yards per game rushing, with 17 passing TDs and 7 more rushing, with only 4 interceptions.

3. Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs—The fact that the Chiefs didn’t have Cassel available last Sunday and got blown out in San Diego is the pure definition of MVP.

4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—At what point do we start paying attention to Brees and his Saints?

5. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Here come the Chargers. Sorry, Todd Haley, they are gonna find a way to spoil your postseason aspirations.

6. Matt Ryan/Roddy White/Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons—Sure, they have the best record in the NFC, but Ryan’s numbers aren’t quite backing up MVP vote consideration, so I thought it made sense to group these three together for now.

7. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—Leads in rushing yards (1330), rushing scores (13), and is right behind LeSean McCoy in receiving yards for running backs (504) with 2 more TDs. Just sick, and it’s only too bad the Texans can’t play defense.

8. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—He leaves the game, the Packers lose to the Lions. See # 3—Cassel, Matt. Same situation.

9. Trent Cole, Philadelphia Eagles—Leads all DE’s in solo tackles (46) and has 9 sacks, but for some reason he doesn’t get much love.

10. Justin Tuck/Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants—Tuck leads all DE’s with 46 total tackles and has 9 sacks; Osi has 40 tackles and 10 sacks. No wonder these guys have been knocking quarterbacks silly.

“This series is brought to you by T.G.I. Friday’s, where every Sunday means Food, Fun & Football! Hut, hut, hut!”

The Scores Report has teamed up with T.G.I Friday’s to promote the action in Week 15 of the NFL. Here’s a look at Sunday’s top games.

The Top-5 Games of Week 15:

Eagles (9-4) @ Giants (9-4), 1:00PM ET
It’s gut-check time for Eli Manning. The Giants’ defense is playing extremely well of late and their running game is picking up major steam. But Manning has been terribly inconsistent this year and has reverted back to some old habits (i.e. throwing off his back foot, releasing the ball late, etc.). The Giants are averaging –0.2 turnovers per game this year and that’s a trend that will have to halt over these next three weeks if they don’t want to miss the playoffs. On the other side, the Eagles must figure out how to better protect Michael Vick because he’s taking too many hits. The Giants’ front four will be relentless on Sunday, just as they were in Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago. The winner of this game holds its own destiny in the race for the NFC East crown.

Jaguars (8-5) @ Colts (7-6), 1:00PM ET
One would have thought the records for these two teams would be reversed when they met in Week 15. And actually, nobody expected the Jaguars to have eight wins at this point and the Colts to have six losses but here we are. The Jags are in control of their own destiny in the AFC South. If they can beat Indy on Sunday, they’ll win the division and then they can use these next two weeks to try and gain better playoff positioning in the AFC. If they lose, then the division will be flipped on its head and then it becomes a foot race over the next two weeks. In terms of a game plan, you couldn’t find two teams more on the opposite side of the spectrum. The Colts want Peyton Manning to take advantage of Jacksonville’s vulnerable secondary, while the Jags will run Maurice Jones-Drew at the soft interior of Indy’s defensive line. But if the Colts jump out early, will they force the Jags to throw?

Saints (10-3) @ Ravens (9-4), 1:00PM ET
Both of these teams are expected to make the playoffs but that doesn’t make this game any less meaningful. The Saints are still one game behind the Falcons in the NFC South and the Ravens are one game behind the Steelers in the AFC North. Baltimore would love to prove that Houston’s fourth quarter rally on Monday night was a product of a complacent offense and a tired defense, but you know Drew Brees and Sean Payton will attack the Ravens’ secondary early and often. Baltimore needs to get Ray Rice and its running game going in order to leave Brees and the Saints’ explosive offense on the sidelines. Even though Joe Flacco has posted good numbers this season, the Ravens don’t want to turn this game into a track meet because they’ll lose. We should find out a lot about these two teams on Sunday.

Jets (9-4) @ Steelers (10-3), 4:15 PM ET
Nobody expects Matt Flynn to beat the Patriots on Sunday night so there’s not much sense talking about that game. Plus, the Jets-Steelers matchup offers more storylines anyway. Can Mark Sanchez reclaim the confidence that he’s lost over the past couple of weeks? How will Troy Polamalu’s injury affect a Pittsburgh defense that has played lights out recently? Can the Jets’ defense drum up enough of a pass rush to take advantage of a thin Steelers’ O-line? Can Ben Roethlisberger continue to play well despite having broken bones in his foot? One would expect the Steelers to roll this weekend but more than likely, this is going to be the best defensive matchup on the Week 15 schedule.

Chiefs (8-5) @ Rams (6-7), 1:00PM ET
The Chiefs are still in first place in the AFC West but with the Chargers winning on Thursday night, their margin for error is now razor thin. The Rams were helped by the 49ers losing and could be helped even more with a win and a Seahawks’ (vs. Falcons) loss. But Sam Bradford and Co. need the win first. Matt Cassel is expected to play after missing last week due to an appendectomy and he couldn’t come back a moment sooner. Kansas City was shut out last weekend at San Diego and will need their offense to find its balance again. Jamaal Charles is an emerging star but he needs Cassel and the passing game to help take the pressure off his shoulders. The Rams have been tough at the Edward Jones Dome this year, winning four of their six games at home. They’ll look to take advantage of a Chiefs team that is just 2-5 on the road this season.

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The Chiefs and running back Jamaal Charles have agreed to a five-year, $32.5 million contract with $13 million guaranteed. Charles’ 1,137 rushing yards this season tie him with Chris Johnson and rank him third behind Arian Foster and Maurice Jones-Drew for most rushing yards in the NFL.

The new deal works for both sides, as the Chiefs lock up one of the league’s most dangerous runners and Charles is now able to hit free agency at 28 (two years before the dreaded age of 30 for running backs). Now the Chiefs can turn their attention to locking up outside linebacker Tamba Hali, who is an impeding free agent.

In other Kansas City-related news, quarterback Matt Cassel is listed as doubtful for Week 14. That means Brodie Croyle will start under center for the Chiefs in their important battle with division rival San Diego on Sunday. Croyle hasn’t seen action since Week 13 of last season.

There was a bit of a Peyton Manning sighting last night, as well as a Chris Johnson sighting. But not enough to jump on board here.

1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—With all due respect to Michael Vick, the dude with the long hair made a mockery out of one of the league’s top defenses on Monday night and has a 109.5 QB rating through 12 games.

2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—With two games against an improved Dallas team, one against the Giants and one against Minnesota, it will determine both Philly’s season and Vick’s MVP status.

3. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons—His numbers don’t rank him near Brady, Rivers or Manning, but he is Matty Ice for a reason, and his team is 10-2 for a reason.

4. Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—A mini scoring drought has dropped Mr. White a few spots

5. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—He’s got MJD, CJ2K, JMC and AP chasing him. What is this, Star Wars? No worries, AF1 will hang on for the rushing title these next few weeks.

6. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—Lately, you get the feeling the Saints can just score at will when they need to. They did it late against the Cowboys and the Bengals, led by this guy.

7. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Something’s afoot in San Diego, dude.

8. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—3243 yards, 23 TDs, 9 picks. If the Pack was better than 8-4, Rodgers would be up higher on this list.

9. Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs—The “other” Matty Ice

10. Trent Cole, Philadelphia Eagles—Leads all DE’s in solo tackles (46) and has 9 sacks, but for some reason he doesn’t get much love.

In a game only an Area Football fan could be proud of, the Broncos hammered the clueless Chiefs 49-29 on Sunday.

Matt Cassel threw for a career-high 469 yards and four touchdowns, while Kyle Orton threw for 296 yards and four scores. Neither quarterback was picked off, although it’s important to note that they were playing against air.

Dwayne Bowe’s assault on defensive backfields continued, as he caught 13 passes for 186 yards and two scores. He now has eight touchdowns in his last five games, which is enough to make any fantasy owner who dropped or traded him earlier in the year when he was laying goose eggs want to take a bath with a toaster.

With Kansas City’s loss, the AFC West is now up for grabs. The Chiefs and Raiders are now tied for first place at 5-4, while the Chargers (who we all know will win this juggernaut of a division with a 9-7 record when it’s all said and done) are 4-5. At 3-6, even the Broncos aren’t totally out of the picture if they can string a couple of wins together, and this is a team that gave up 59 points to Oakland three weeks ago.

Speaking of bad football, the Seahawks crushed the Cardinals 36-18 on Sunday. The win, coupled with a Rams’ loss to the 49ers (23-20 in overtime), puts Seattle back in first place at 5-4 in the NFC West. If you can find a worse division in football, let me know.

Sam Bradford put together a nice drive late in the fourth quarter to push the game into overtime. Of course, had St. Louis’ defense held on to a 7-point lead with about six minutes remaining in the game, the Rams wouldn’t had needed Bradford’s heroics. The Rams remain winless on the road this year.

Troy Smith has given the 49ers new life at quarterback. He completed 17-of-28 passes for 356 yards and one touchdown, while compiling a 116.7 QB rating. He also had a couple of touchdowns wiped off the board because of penalties. Despite their back-to-back wins, San Francisco remains a poorly coached team and Mike Singletary’s in-game management should continue to draw criticism from the media.

By halftime of Sunday’s game between the Chiefs and Colts, Indianapolis fans must have had that pit in the middle of their stomachs – the same one they’ve had in two of the Colts’ first four games.

In the Colts’ two losses this season, the Texans and Jaguars were able to run the ball at will against Indy’s soft defensive interior. At halftime on Sunday, the Chiefs had already rushed for 84 yards and thanks to a monster effort by Tamba Hali and the rest of KC’s defense, the Colts only led by a field goal.

But the much maligned Indianapolis front seven finally got it together and held Kansas City to just 30 yards rushing in the second half. The effort allowed the Colts to leave the RCA Dome on Sunday with a 19-9 win despite a lackluster effort by their offense (most notably Ryan Diem, who spent most of the afternoon impersonating a revolving door for Hali to get to Peyton Manning). They also held Thomas Jones to just 19 rushing yards on eight carries.

Of course, it’s much easier to stop the run when you know the other team can’t throw. Matt Cassel and the rest of KC’s passing game was once again non-existent so the Colts knew if they could mount up against the run, they would come away with a win. But regardless of the Chiefs’ passing woes, Indy’s run defense took charge for the first time all year.

The Colts are going to need this kind of effort from their run defense all season.

This was supposed to be the day that we figured out whether or not the Chiefs are for real. Their 3-0 record spoke for itself, but with wins over the Chargers (who have struggled on the road), Browns (who have struggled closing out games) and 49ers (who have just flat out struggled), nobody could say for sure whether or not Kansas City’s record was a farce.

And if you ask me now, I’d say I still don’t know.

Teams usually don’t frustrate Peyton Manning the way the Chiefs did today and lose. Peyton completed 26-of-44 passes for 244 yards in the Colts’ 19-9 victory, but he was also picked off once and spent most of the afternoon being tormented by Tamba Hali. Romeo Crennel (who has always had success against Manning) put together an impressive game plan and held Peyton to only 5.5 yards per pass.

But the Chiefs’ defense couldn’t overcome the stink that is Matt Cassel and the rest of KC’s offense, which includes receivers Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers, as well as offensive coordinator Charlie Weis.

Cassel, who has struggled every week thus far, completed just 16-of-29 passes for 156 yards. The running game, which rushed for 84 yards in the first half, could only generate 30 yards in the second as Thomas Jones could only muster 19 yards on eight carries.

The Chiefs’ defense is good enough to keep this team in contention every week. But unless they get a remarkably better effort out of Cassel and the rest of the offense, what transpired today at the RCA Dome will probably be the norm.

After picking all the games in Week 1, last week was the first time I limited my predictions to only four games. And after a 2-1-1 Sunday – I’m hot! On fire, really…

The Packers and Bengals were winners in Week 2, while the Raiders (thanks to a backdoor cover by the Rams) were losers and the Redskins (thanks to being jerk-faces and blowing a lead against the Texans) were a push.

Here are my top 4 predictions for Week 3 in the NFL:

Steelers at Buccaneers +1.5, Sunday, 1:00PM ET
This game looks a little too good to be true. The Steelers’ defense has been lights out early in the season and despite their 2-0 record, the Bucs still have plenty of issues offensively. So take the Steelers and lay the measly 1.5 points right? Well first of all, don’t tell me what to do. Second of all, something smells funny to me. For the third week in a row the Steelers will try to run the ball 60 times out of the 60 offensive plays they run and lean on the defense to create turnovers so they can eek out another field goal-riddled victory. The problem is that Tampa is playing with a ton of confidence right now and are catching Pittsburgh at the right time. For starters, Charlie Batch will once again start under center, limiting the Steelers’ effectiveness on offense. This is also the second time in as many weeks that Pittsburgh has to play on the road and also has a huge divisional game coming up next week against Baltimore – which oh-by-the-way is a week before Big Ben returns from his suspension. This is a classic look-ahead game for the Steelers, who get caught with their pants down. (Uh, okay that was probably in poor taste given the Roethlisbathroom situation. My apologizes.)
THE PICK: BUCCANEERS +1.5

Cowboys +2.5 at Texans, Sunday, 1:00PM ET
This is another game people are probably licking their chops at: a 2-0 Texans team playing at home against a pitiful 0-2 Cowboys team? And I only have to lay 2.5 points? Sign me up. The problem is that the Texans are another team (kind of like the Steelers, but even more so) that is due for a letdown. They’re coming off two emotional wins (one over their biggest bully and the second in come-from-behind fashion) and now come home to face a Cowboys team that is reeling. And the problem with reeling teams is that you’re probably going to get their best effort because they’re desperate for a win. There’s no doubt the Cowboys should be focused and with Houston missing left tackle Duane Brown (suspension), it could come this weekend. I don’t expect the Texans to score over 30 points again like they did the last two weeks and DeMarcus Ware could have a huge day pressuring Matt Schaub with Brown out. I like Dallas to get the straight up win.
THE PICK: COWBOYS +2.5

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On paper, the AFC West is definitely one of the weaker divisions in football. The Chargers remain the team to beat, while the Broncos are just trying to make it to their opener without losing another starter to injury.

But the West usually produces a surprise or two along the way (i.e. Denver last year), so don’t count out the Broncos, Raiders or Chiefs before the season starts. All three of those teams come with some glaring weaknesses, but it’s not like the Chargers are the picture of perfection.

Here’s how I see things shaking out in the AFC West in 2010. Be sure to check out the link entitled “2010 Question Mark” under each team’s preview, which is a breakdown of one or two potential weaknesses that could derail that squad’s hopes this season. (If the links aren’t available now for some teams, check back because they will be before the season starts.)

1. Chargers

What to Like: After finishing fifth in the league in passing yards per game (271.1) in 2009, the Chargers should once again be explosive through the air. Losing Vincent Jackson is a major blow, but adding a pass-catching back like Ryan Mathews in the draft was a nice coup. Philip Rivers returns after compiling a 104.4 QB rating last season and developing into one of the best signal callers in the game. Again, the loss of Jackson hurts, but Malcolm Floyd is ready for a breakout campaign, Antonio Gates returns as one of the top pass-catching tight ends in the NFL and the team recently acquired Patrick Crayton from the Cowboys. Brandyn Dombrowski has also looked good filling in for Marcus McNeill, who continues to holdout while seeking a new contract. Defensively, free safety Eric Weddle is coming off a great ’09 season, while Shaun Phillips and Stephen Cooper remain steady at their linebacker positions.
What Not to Like: Is there anybody left that GM A.J. Smith hasn’t pissed off? This team managed to lose its top wideout and is close to watching its best offensive tackle (McNeill) holdout well into the season. Defensively, Shawne Merriman is back but who knows how productive he’ll be after a poor showing in ’09, while Larry English failed to impress last season as well (albeit as a rookie). The defensive line lost their top run-stuffer when Jamal Williams was released and Luis Castillo has been living off his reputation for the last two years. The entire defensive line, in fact, is arguably this team’s biggest weakness. The secondary, outside of Weddle, has a ton of question marks as well.
Keep Your Eye On: Malcolm Floyd
The 28-year-old out of Wyoming will finally have his opportunity to shine now that Jackson is gone (or rather, not playing). He’s been Rivers’ favorite target so far this offseason after finishing fourth in the league last year in yards-per-catch average. If he can build off the nine-catch, 140-yard performance he had in Week 17 last year (while Jackson was out), then Floyd could be another dangerous weapon in the Chargers’ arsenal.
The Final Word: If there were another team in this division that I thought had a remote chance of overtaking the Chargers, I would probably have them winning the division. But because the West is so weak this year, the Bolts should have no problems winning 10-plus games and claiming the division again, even though they have a several weaknesses heading into the new season. Whether or not they advance in the playoffs is another story. The key is Rivers, who is an exceptional talent that has proven he can carry this team during the regular season. But the playoffs are a different animal – he’s going to need help and while Mathews looks like he has all the tools to make him a solid young player, relying on a rookie is always a dangerous proposition. Defensively, this team has way too many question marks and unless guys like Merriman or English step up, I think they’re going to struggle at every level this year. A division crown looks to be on the horizon, but so does another one-and-done showing in the postseason.

San Diego Chargers 2010 NFL Question Mark: Defensive Line

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