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Comments November 14, 2006
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1 (1)
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Colts
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9-0
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It may not have been a model performance akin to last week’s win in New England, but Indianapolis remained
perfect with a narrow, 1 point home victory over Buffalo. However, talk of an undefeated season could be premature
with tough games remaining at Dallas, versus Philadelphia, at
Jacksonville, versus Cincinnati, and versus Miami (could you imagine the scene?)
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2 (2)
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Broncos
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7-2
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Denver scored a comeback win versus Oakland despite 3 interceptions thrown by Plummer.
If the season
ended today, Denver would own a first round playoff bye.
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3 (4)
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Bears
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8-1
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The Bears grabbed a road win against the Giants, which is now Chicago’s only victory against a team that currently has
a record above .500. So Chicago got a bit of a monkey off its back…
And wouldn’t you know it, the Bears
returned another missed field goal attempt for a touchdown.
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4 (3)
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Ravens
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7-2
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After giving up 26 first half points to Tennessee, Baltimore shutout the Titans
the rest of the way, coming back from down 19 to get the win. At 7-2, the Ravens are in complete
command of the AFC North.
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5 (8)
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Chargers
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7-2
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San Diego improved to 7-2, scoring 42 points in the second half to surmount a 21 point deficit in Cincinnati.
The Chargers’ schedule hasn’t been too difficult, so we made them earn this top 5
spot with a couple of more wins than it might normally take to climb here.
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6 (5)
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Giants
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6-3
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New York couldn’t hold a halftime lead versus the the Bears. In the Giants’ defense,
they were playing shorthanded without Strahan, Umenyiora, and Toomer.
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7 (6)
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Patriots
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6-3
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New England fell at home to the Jets, losing
back to back games for the first time since 2002. A streak that covered over 3 1/2
seasons (57 games), missing the record held by San Francisco by just 3 games.
Starting safties Rodney Harrison and Eugene Wilson did not play.
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8 (7)
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Saints
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6-3
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New Orleans was dealt a loss at Pittsburgh in an offensive showdown. It was the second time in three weeks the Saints
allowed 35 or more points.
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9 (14)
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Seahawks
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6-3
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Seattle took command of the NFC West with another last second win over the Rams.
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10 (16)
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Panthers
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5-4
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Carolina got back above .500 with a win over Tampa Bay. There’s not a large power ranking differential between the
5-4 teams… For example,
even though Carolina lost to Dallas, they beat Baltimore and New Orleans, so the spacing is as tight as can
be. Not to mention the Panthers beat the Buccaneers twice, while the Buccaneers beat the Eagles, although barely.
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11 (9)
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Jaguars
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5-4
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Jacksonville lost to Houston for the 2nd time this season. If the heavily favored Jaguars could have won those
games, they would be 7-2. Instead, they’re 5-4. And while it’s gut wrenching to rank a team
in the 11 spot that has lost to Houston twice, the Jaguars have wins against both the Eagles and the Cowboys, so
hold a slight edge over the pair.
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12 (11)
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Eagles
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5-4
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Stallworth returned to action and Philadelphia beat the Redskins by 24 points.
With the Giants losing to Chicago, the Eagles picked up a game in the NFC East.
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13 (15)
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Cowboys
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5-4
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Dallas improved to a game above .500, blowing out the bottom ranked Cardinals.
Romo is playing well. Although the Cowboys had an overall winning record with
Bledsoe too, with the majority of their losses during that 1 1/4 year period coming versus top ranked teams
in extremely close games, reminiscent of the way the Cowboys lost to Washington last week.
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14 (13)
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Chiefs
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5-4
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Kansas City drew the wrong week to travel to Miami.
But at 5-4, the Chiefs are still in the playoff hunt. Especially with
two games remaining versus the Raiders.
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15 (20)
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Jets
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5-4
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The Jets got a huge road win in New England and are suddenly in the hunt for
the AFC East title.
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16 (10)
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Falcons
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5-4
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Atlanta’s inconsistent play continued in a home loss to Cleveland. But at 5-4, the Falcons
are still in the chase for the AFC South division title.
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17 (12)
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Bengals
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4-5
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Cincinnati blew a 21-0 home lead to San Diego.
After starting the season with 3 wins in a row, Cincinnati has dropped 5 of 6 games.
The Bengals are giving up an
average of 29.4 points a game at home, and with a record below .500 playoff hopes are fading as fast as
their power ranking.
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18 (17)
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Rams
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4-5
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St. Louis suffered another last second loss to Seattle. The Rams also lost Orlando Pace for the season in the
process. Coach Linehan took points off the board to attempt a 4th and 1 conversion, which proved costly as the
Rams’ playoff hopes took a major hit with the loss.
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19 (21)
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Steelers
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3-6
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Pittsburgh beat the top 10 ranked Saints. However, it was the 3rd time in 4 games the Steelers allowed
31 or more points.
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20 (23)
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Bills
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3-6
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In their 1 point loss in Indianapolis, Buffalo dropped its 3rd game of the season by just 3 points or less.
That’s how close the Bills are to being alone in first place in the AFC East (as one of their narrow defeats was by
2 points to the Patriots). Instead,
Buffalo is tied with Miami at the bottom.
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21 (24)
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Packers
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4-5
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Green Bay got an important road win in Minnesota. But to get back to the .500 mark this week,
the Packers must hand New England their 3rd straight loss. An event which most football fans would say carries a low
probability of occurring.
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22 (18)
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Vikings
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4-5
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Since climbing to the top 10 for one week, Minnesota has gone into a nose dive.
This week’s loss was at home to Green Bay, as the Vikings’ offense continued to struggle.
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23 (25)
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Dolphins
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3-6
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The Dolphins beat the Chiefs at home. The win was Miami’s 2nd in a row, both of which have
come against teams with records above 500.
But with six losses on the books, it’s going to take
a near miracle to make the playoffs.
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24 (22)
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Buccaneers
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2-7
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Tampa Bay played a tough first half in Carolina before succumbing to the more motivated and playoff hunting Panthers.
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25 (26)
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Browns
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3-6
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The Browns grabbed their second road win of the season with a victory in Atlanta.
But Cleveland’s schedule is as tough as they come. So any future wins might be few and far
between.
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26 (19)
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Redskins
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3-6
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Washington wasn’t very competitive in a 24 point road loss to division rival Philadelphia.
Portis broke a bone in his hand. Jason Campbell will make his first NFL start next week at
Tampa Bay.
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27 (27)
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49ers
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4-5
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Suddenly the 49ers are tied for second with the Rams (technically ahead as they beat the Rams in the first meeting).
Of course, the 49ers have yet to play the Seahawks. San Francisco will face
Seattle this week at home in an effort to claim the .500 mark.
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28 (30)
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Texans
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3-6
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Any team that beats Jacksonville twice in one season is deserving of props… However, even with a
sweep of the Jaguars , Houston is still 3 games below .500.
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29 (29)
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Titans
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2-7
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Tennessee played a tough game versus the Ravens, and normally would move up in the rankings
for giving Baltimore such a go. But with so many bottom dwellers coming up big in week 10,
there’s little room to move the Titans up.
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30 (28)
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Lions
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2-7
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Detroit became the first team in 2006 to lose a home game to San Francisco.
Why is this notable? Because coming into the game, the 49ers had given up at least
34 points in each of their road games. This week the Lions scored 13.
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31 (31)
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Raiders
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2-7
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Oakland intercepted Plummer 3 times and held a halftime lead, but the Raiders were unable to
emerge with a win at home against Denver.
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32 (32)
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Cardinals
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1-8
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Arizona became the first team to lose 8 games in 2006, falling at home to Dallas.
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