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NFL Week 7 COY Power Rankings

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

NFL Week 7 MVP Power Rankings

There was some shifting in the ranks after Week 6 games, and now we have three Vikings in the Top 5. Here is how we’re seeing things now, subject to change again after this weekend!

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—We can’t let Peyton slide down just because he didn’t play last week. And he’s likely to stay here with the Rams looming on Sunday.

2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—After dissecting the Giants’ stingy pass defense on Sunday, it’s safe to say Brees and his Saints are not only for real, but they are legitimately the top dog in the NFC and maybe in all of football.

3. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—He’s done nothing to let us think he’s not worthy of MVP consideration. 278 yards and 3 more TDs against Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and company is Favre’s latest line.

4. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings—He hadn’t rushed for 100 yards since the opener against Cleveland, but Peterson managed to bust through for 166 all-purpose yards against the Ravens and he took over the NFL’s rushing lead from Cedric Benson, who laid an egg against Houston.

5. Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings—Check out this year-to-date stat line—27 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, one fumble return for a TD and one safety. The dude is a one-man wrecking crew on an already stout defense, and this makes three Vikings contending for MVP.

Honorable Mention–Cedric Benson, Bengals; Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Andre Johnson, Texans, Steve Smith, Giants, Tom Brady, Patriots

Florida overcomes Starkville, beats Miss State

Nobody should be surprised at the outcome in Starkville on Saturday night. No. 1 Florida (which has struggled in Starkville since its last win there in 1985) got a great effort from its defense, but the Gators struggled at times offensively and Mississippi State gave them a fight before finally falling 29-19.

But if Florida was looking to silence its critics, it certainly didn’t do even tonight to accomplish that. Outside of gaining 88 yards on 22 carries and one rushing touchdown, Tim Tebow wasn’t very good. In fact, one could argue that the only reason this game was close was because Tebow kept the Bulldogs in it by throwing two interceptions that Miss State returned for touchdowns. (He also took a truck load of sacks by holding onto the ball too long.)

Even though the Gators only held on to a 13-10 lead at halftime, this game was never really in doubt. The Bulldogs were horrid offensively and couldn’t sustain drives. Again, the only reason they were even in the game is because their defense gave an outstanding effort and managed to produce two touchdowns.

That said, did Florida do enough to remain No. 1 in the BCS standings? Before you say no, remember that Alabama wasn’t that impressive either. The Tide needed a blocked field goal to hold off Tennessee at home, as they too struggled offensively. No. 3 Texas might have an argument after routing Missouri 41-7 on the road, but it’s highly unlikely that the conservative BCS voters would make a move like that and rank the Longhorns No. 1.

Chances are that Florida will find itself atop the BCS standings for a second consecutive week. But for the second consecutive week, the Gators weren’t all that impressive either.

Iowa shocks Michigan State in final seconds

Even those that think they’re the most overrated team in college football have to admit how remarkable the Iowa Hawkeyes have been this season.

No. 6 Iowa stayed perfect on the season thanks to an improbable 15-13 win over Michigan State on Saturday. Both teams struggling generating any kind of offense until less than three minutes remaining when Iowa took a 9-6 lead on a 20-yard Daniel Murray field goal.

The Spartans then marched up the field (thanks to a great hook-and-ladder call) and scored on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Blair White with only 1:37 remaining in the game to put MSU up 13-9. Iowa answered back with a drive of its own, capping it off with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Ricky Stanzi to Marvin McNutt on a 4th and goal as time expired.

Iowa is 8-0 on the season and in all but one of those wins (a 35-3 rout of Iowa State), the Hawkeyes battled some kind of adversity. Whether they’ve been trailing at the start of the game, at halftime or late in the fourth quarter, Iowa has found a way to win and for that, voters must keep them ranked high.

I would be willing to argue with anyone who said Iowa isn’t impressive. Are they dominating opponents? No. Are the playing top-notch teams every week? No. Should they have probably suffered a loss at this point? Yes, if not several. Did Michigan State choke several times on the final drive? Absolutely.

But isn’t the point of the lame, stupid, idiotic BCS system to win games? Isn’t the point to treat every week like it’s a playoff game where victory reigns supreme? It’s not like the Hawkeyes play in the Big East or the Mountain West – they play in the Big Ten, where Ohio State has made a living off playing in BCS games or the national championship with one or no losses.

Iowa could lose next week and be dropped so far down in the polls that they would need a sniper lens just to see the top. But for now, they’re undefeated, are the team to beat in the Big Ten and will continue to be in BCS contention.

Jed Hoyer hired as next Padres GM

Hoyer

Jed Hoyer, who joined the Red Sox in 2002 and was one of the co-general managers during Theo Epstein’s brief absence, has been named the GM of the San Diego Padres.

The 35-year-old Hoyer emerged as a favorite immediately after Padres CEO Jeff Moorad fired Kevin Towers during the last weekend of the regular season.

Moorad has said he wants a more “strategic approach” from his GM. Towers was known more as a seat-of-the-pants GM who built four NL West winners during his 14 seasons as GM, and had his 1998 club reach the World Series, where it was swept by the Yankees.

oyer will face the same obstacle Towers faced through the years – a payroll significantly smaller that baseball big hitters. The payroll for next season will probably be in the $40 million range.

This is the second time Moorad has hired a Red Sox assistant GM. When he ran the Diamondbacks, Moorad hired Josh Byrnes as general manager in October 2005.

Hoyer was hired by the Red Sox as assistant to the GM following the 2003 season. He was later promoted to assistant GM, and later was given the title of senior vice president.

Good luck, Jed. With a $40 million payroll set for next season, nobody is expecting much. Personally, I’d use that money to flee to South America.

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