What about Bob? Glauber's NFL Blog

We're doing our mid-season awards for the Sunday newspaper, and I'd like to hear your thoughts about the best and worst as we make it to the halfway mark. (I know, some teams haven't played eight games yet, but some have, and we are not a patient lot in this country).

So give us your best and worst - or anything in between - in the following categories:

Most Valuable Player
Least Valuable Player
Best coaching job
Worst coaching job
Rising star
Falling star
Best game
Worst game
Most improved
Least improved
Comeback player of the year

I'll limit it to those categories, although we'll add in a few more esoteric ones for the paper. And if you just want to respond to a couple of the categories, that's fine, too.

Fire away.

(We had a couple of wacky rankings last week that led to plenty of great comments, so we figure that the combination of jet lag and general stupidity will lead to a few more this week. But hey, at least we offer a couple more tidbits from our journey to London below. If you just clicked onto the Power Rankings, hit "main" at the top and you'll see the London stuff. Cheers! BG)

1. Patriots (8-0) (1): Are the Patriots too good? Bill Belichick now taking heat for running up the score on Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs. In fact, he’s been accused of running it up the last several weeks. We'll see if Indy has a thing or two to say about that on Sunday.

If you want to weigh in on whether Belichick was write or wrong running up the score, state your case.

2. Colts (7-0) (2): So much for the trap game scenario. Coming off huge Monday night win over Jags, Colts pound Panthers a week before they take on Pats in what figures to be the best game of the regular season and perhaps a preview of the AFC Championship Game. (Note to all my grammar teachers: I know, that was a run-on sentence. I've still got a little jet lag, ok?)

3. Cowboys (5-1) (3): Massive stretch coming up for Pokes after a bye week: At Philly, at the Giants, home to the Redskins before facing the Jets on Thanksgiving. If the Cowboys are gonna stumble, this is where it happens. But at least Tony Romo gets his dough.

4. Packers (6-1) (7): We’ve made this request of Brett Favre before, and now we’ll make it again after some more of his Monday night magic, this time in OT against the Broncos: Please, do not retire. Ever.

5. Giants (6-2) (4): They hold serve against the winless Dolphins across the pond, and get a week off to contemplate their six-game winning streak. Then it’s home to the Boys in a huge NFC East game.

6. Steelers (5-2) (5): Big Ben never loses when he plays NFL games in the state of Ohio. He chalked up another one against the Bengals. (Memo to Black N Gold and Big Ben Is Back: Go ahead and start whining about us putting the Packers ahead of the ‘Lers.)

7. Chargers (4-3) (8): Chargers look like they’re back. All the way back. After dealing with the massive wildfires in southern California, San Diego returns home to rout the Texans.

8. Jaguars (5-2) (6): Somehow, some way, the Jags find a way to beat the Bucs on the road with QB David Garrard out of action (ankle). Quinn Gray does just enough in relief, but it’s the ball-hawking defense that deserves the credit in thisone.

9. Titans (5-2) (9): Vince Young comes back, but is not quite the conquering hero. Had only 42 passing yards in beating the Raiders in a clunker. It’s LenDale White who steals the show with 133 rushing yards.

10. Lions (5-2) (13): The Lions are halfway to making Jon Kitna’s once outlandish prediction of double-digit wins come true.

11. Seahawks (4-3) (10): Mike Holmgren gave the Seahawks the entire bye week off. Let’s see if they’re rusty when they take on the Browns on the road.

12. Panthers (4-3) (11): David Carr gets his job back by default. Vinny hurts an ankle, and Carr is back at QB. Not that it makes much difference, because he couldn’t do much of anything against the Colts’ ever-improving defense.

13. Chiefs (4-3) (16): Chiefs-Packers on Sunday, which is a much bigger game for both teams than might have appeared at the start of the season. Herm Edwards vs. Mike McCarthy. Not quite Hank Stram vs. Vince Lombardi in Super Bowl II, but we’ll take it.

14. Saints (3-4) (23): Don’t look now, but Saints have won three straight and are right back in the NFC South race.

15. Buccaneers (4-4) (14): Jeff Garcia hadn’t thrown an interception the first seven games. Then he served up three against the Jags as Tampa blows a golden opportunity to beat a Jaguars team without Garrard.

16. Redskins (4-3) (15): Ouch. Joe Gibbs absorbs the worst beating of his career in New England. But the schedule is kind to coach Gibbs. Skins are at Jets on Sunday.

So we wake up after flying all night, and check out our buddy Neil Best's blog, and we see he takes a shot at us right off the bat with this line:

"I really hate to do this two days before the end of the month, what with trying to wrap up another trouncing of Glauber in the monthly page views race and all of the developments going on in Baseball City."

Wow.

And not even a link to our blog, which is a sure sign that Best is starting to get insecure now that he's on the top of the blogging world. It's almost as if he's pouring it on when he's ahead 45-0 in the fourth quarter.

Not that we're really that far behind Best's page views; in fact, we should be setting a new personal high this month. Then again, we don't get to comment on baseball, football, basketball, hockey, AND Imus and Suzyn Waldman, so we don't have the world at our computer like Best.

But we're fine with Best puffing his chest on this one. Go right ahead. After all, he spent the weekend blogging in the basement in his jammies. We spent it in London.

(UPDATE: Best appears to be on one of his blog binges today, and will probably finish up with 20 posts or so. I do worry about this man listening to talk radio so much of the time. He has turned into one of those "house-bound agorophobes" that Imus used to refer to.)

I wanted to save this one until my trip back home from London was complete, for fear that if I wrote about it before flying, it might happen again.

Stapler was an eyewitness to this unfortunate situation a couple years ago, when we went to cover the Giants in Oakland. On the trip out west, I had a window seat on an otherwise packed 737. With about 10 minutes to go, no one is in the seat next to me, and I figure this is my lucky day.

Nope.

Stapler and I see a 20ish guy who looks as if he hasn't showered in a week walk my way, and - yep - he sits next to me.

Turns out I was wrong about thinking he hadn't showered in a week. It was more like a month.

The smell was so overpowering, I thought I'd pass out. It was like being trapped inside Jerry Seinfeld's car after the parking attendent at the restaurant left a stench that was so putrid and long-lasting that Jerry had to sell the car.

Ok, 7 hours of hell begins now.

On my way back to Heathrow yesterday afternoon following a whirlwind trip across the pond to cover Giants-Dolphins, I passed a man playing the saxophone in the tube (subway). Not a unique sight, certainlyThen I noticed a sign near the escalator: "No Busking. 200 £ fine." Now there's an interesting word.

I asked a local what this meant, and he said it meant that it was illegal to play music or sing in the tube.

Hmmm ... wonder how that'd go over in the New York subways.

FYI: It appears there are some "buskers" in London who are allowed to play. A cursory glance at the history of "busking" in London suggests that "busking" was once strictly illegal anywhere in the underground. But it appears some pretty vocal street protests back in 2001 prompted the authorities to allow the practice.

Now, "buskers" must simply register with the local authorities, and they're can then perform for money. I'm not totally up to speed on this situation, but if you'd like more info on the "buskers" situation in London, here's a link to start you on your way.

Despite missing a 29-yard field goal in the fourth quarter of yesterday's 13-10 win over the Dolphins, kicker Lawrence Tynes will not be released by the Giants. Tom Coughlin just said so a few minutes ago in his press conference at the team's London hotel.

"Lawrence has been our kicker from the first game ... we're 6-2, and we're sticking with him," Coughlin said.

Tynes nailed a 20-yard field goal in the first quarter and kicked a 41-yarder in the second quarter on his other two attempts.

... TC said cornerback Kevin Dockery's shoulder injury isn't serious, based on X-ray results. No other major issues injury-wise.

I understand that Bill Belichick is still smarting from what happened in early September, when the Jets turned him in for spying on their defensive signals.

I understand the chip on his shoulder is huge after the embarrassment of being slapped with sanctions and an avalanche of criticism.

And I understand that he and his team want to show the world that they can win fair and square - and win big, no less.

But running up the score against the Redskins and Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs isn't the way to do it.

Up 38-0 going into the fourth quarter, the Patriots continued pouring it when they should have taken their foot off the pedal. At 52-7, it looked more like a Division I college powerhouse beating up on a Division II weakling. It's not as if Belichick needs to impress the BCS voters.

This was Gibbs' worst defeat. Ever.

"It's one of those things that you hope it wouldn't happen to you," Gibbs said afterward. "It did. It's been a while since it's happened to us. It's been a long time. Our guys are going to have to deal with that."

I like the fact that the Patriots want to be an historically good team. And the way they're playing, you've got to believe that only injuries - or the Colts next weekend - stand in their way of an unbeaten season. But there's a way to do things, and running up the score on a Hall of Famer isn't one of them.

Belichick is a future Hall of Fame coach himself, but there's no use making more enemies on his way to Canton. He has a great team on his hands, and he is a great coach. Let's just hope he goes about it the right way. Beat your opponents. Show no mercy when the game is in question. But when it's out of reach, then either take a knee or run it into the middle of the line.

And if you want to run up the score, then save it for when Eric Mangini and the Jets come to down on Dec. 16. You'd get a pass on that one.

there are still a bunch of Giants' fans. Kind of like a regular road game for Big Blue.

Teams have just run onto the field, and Giants got a pretty big ovation, but Dolphins got huge one.

There was some debate about just how many people would show up for the game - nearly 90,000 tickets were sold, but we heard many ticket brokers were left with a bunch of unsold duckets. Scalpers weren't having much luck before the game. We asked three guys selling tickets what they were asking for, and all said face value or less.

But it is nearly full just a few minutes before kickoff, so the NFL at least got a very good crowd.

Kind of a Super Bowl feel to the game. Led Zeppelin blaring through the loudspeakers (hey, a band I've actually heard of!), and the crowd is buzzing.

btw, Wembley Stadium is simply incredible. Huge, loud, great sightlines. A massive opening in a retractable roof, about two or three times the hole in the Cowboys' stadium.

Watching Giants-Dolphins warmups, and already the field looks a bit dicey. They're obviously not used to 300-pound men running around on this pitch, as they call it here in London. There is an army of guys with pitchforks trying to keep the grass intact. And that's just warmups.

Keep you posted on this.

I think Best is starting to catch on to the fact that he and I can be a high-powered tandem in some sort of medium - blogging, for now - perhaps becoming slightly less famous that Kornheiser and Wilbon.

He linked to our blog post about watching Chelsea soccer yesterday, and how a former Newsday paper boy was involved.

Neil, I don't know how it will work when we become famous, and I don't know how we will split the proceeds. I would say you'd probably deserve a little more, because you are Cornell educated and thus smarter than I am. I think Kornheiser and Wilbon have the same agent, and they split the PTI proceeds 50-50.

(UPDATE: Just caught my man Berger's blog, and he, too, noticed the fact we scored a ticket to the Chelsea-Manchester City match yesterday. The moral in all this: If you are a former Newsday paperboy/girl and you have an interesting story to tell, pass it along! In the meantime, keep checking Berger's blog. The NBA season is starting!)

12 WR Steve Smith
13 QB Jared Lorenzen (3rd)
34 RB Derrick Ward
37 S James Butler
61 T Adam Koets
71 DE Dave Tollefson
75 DT Manny Wright
77 G Kevin Boothe

(I know, Staple would have had this to you by now. My apologies.)

We've been here since late Thursday, and we haven't seen blue sky. Once.

We did see a small orb of light trying to fight its way through the clouds for about five seconds. But that was it. Period.

We're a little more than an hour from kickoff of Giants-Dolphins, and it's stopped raining. For now. Temperatures expected to be in the upper 50's, and there's a chance of showers, maybe on the heavy side as the game progresses.

But as is the case with London weather, it is incredibly changeable.

We will give you the inactives as soon as we get them.

It's the kind of football that they call football here in England. In other words, soccer. While the country will look to Giants-Dolphins later today as a curiosity that may or may not be worthwhile, the real passion here is soccer.

As luck would have it, I got to see a terrific performance yesterday, thanks to a former Newsday paper boy and his two buddies.

... so I'm getting coffee in the hotel lounge yesterday morning, and I see these three guys who are clearly from the U.S. The "New York Yankees" t-shirt on one of them gave it away, as did the New York accents. Obviously, they are here for Giants-Dolphins.

Anyway, I overhear them talking about going to the Chelsea-Manchester City soccer game later in the day. I had inquired with a British soccer writer the day before about how much it might cost to just show up at the game and buy a ticket from someone looking to sell. I was told it would probably cost around 250 pounds, or slightly more than $500.

Alllllrightsir. That's that. It would be a day of tooling around Trafalgar Square or Buckingham Palace or wherever else the "tube" dropped me off.

... really.

I was here many, many years ago, when the U.S. dollar was actually stronger than every world currency. How strong? A two-week trip from New York to London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. Airfare, hotel and transfers: $699.

I am not kidding.

Anyway, Larry Weisman, now of USAToday fame, and I were working at Gannett Westchester-Rockland Newspapers at the time, and we figured we'd never see a bargain like this, so let's go. (No, I did not fall in love with Larry.)

Anyway, we get to London after an overnight flight, and we're in the lobby of the Forum Hotel, trying to figure out the tube system, and it's a bit challenging. We've got a map we're trying to figure out - mostly in vain - and I spot a young lady who is accompanied by one of her friends. They are also on the tour.

She points me in the right direction, and I thank her. We talk a bit, I tell her my name is Bob, and she says - or at least I think she says - "You talk" So I say again, "I'm Bob." Then she says, "No, I'm Jutta (pronounced Utah)." We get a chuckle out of it.

Larry and I then go on our merry way, enjoying the sights and a few of the libations of London, but I can't get this girl Jutta out of my head. Whatever.

We catch up to Jutta and her friend, Jean, a day or two later, and again, I'm smitten. Larry refers to her as "Clifton," because Jutta was from Clifton, NJ.

The four of us got together for dinner in London, and my crush was in full bloom.

... 24 years later, Jutta - known to many now as Mrs. Glauber - is still my girl. And we've added two new beautiful Glauber ladies in the interim. Love to all my girls. Be home soon.

A loyal reader sent us this shot of Eric Mangini, which looks like a younger version of Churchill. Judge for yourself. I dare say that if Mangini starts using the line in press conferences, "We shall never surrender!" then I think we're onto something.

Lots to blog about tomorrow. Will talk then. It's 11:30 p.m. where I'm at. Saw Chelsea smash Manchester 6-0 this afternoon. Will discuss.

BG

I realize the NFL is here to promote the sport, a subject worthy enough to write about for the newspaper.

Still, seeing this picture of the Miami Dolphins posing in front of the Houses of Parliament, a place that makes you think of Winston Churchill and hear his heroic voice bellowing throughout the chambers, just seems a little creepy.

That's it.

Good night. It's around 9:30 p.m. in New York. It's 2:30 a.m. in London. I'm wide awake.

The Giants' rookie receiver practiced Wednesday with no restrictions, did less work on Thursday and didn't practice at all today when the Giants went through a light workout at Chelsea Football (soccer) Club's training facility about an hour's drive northwest of London.

Plaxico Burress (ankle) and Derrick Ward (ankle), who also haven't practiced all week, spent time on the exercise bikes.

(Update fyi on Smith: He had a setback this week with a hamstring strain, so that's the reason he wasn't able to work earlier today. Sorry for any confusion headline might have created.)

Been asking around a bit about whether folks have heard of Neil Best - the rugby player, that is. Despite our own Mr. Best's repeated attempts at self-aggrandizement over the success of his blog, Londoners have never heard of our Watchdog.

But there is a Neil Best who has dabbled in rugby in these parts, and he's had a solid career. Just not sure he's in the stratosphere of the world's rugby elite.

... by the way, they showed some rugby highlights on the flight over, and these guys are absolutely phenomenal. It's essentially tackle football in shorts and a t-shirt. Makes you wonder whether the Brits will ever truly respect the NFL, because their lads are playing a similar game with almost no equipment. A couple guys wear headgear to ward off the cauliflower ear, but that's it.

It's full speed, in-your-face, run-you-over tackle football.

... not much outcry here about Eric Mangini sticking with Chad Pennington.

... ok, I really need to sleep now.

I don't know whether I'm supposed to be getting up or going to sleep right now. It's after midnight in the east, the Red Sox have just beaten the Rockies in Game 2, and folks in London are starting to get up for work.

In other words, if you are a baseball fanatic in England, you really don't sleep very much. In fact, as I was starting to fade around midnight London time, I was looking for a score on Red Sox-Rockies, and all I kept seeing were highlights from the Red Sox rout in Game 1. I'm like, gimme a score already.

Then I realized that Game 2 hadn't even started! Five hour time difference is a bit of an adjustment.

It's 5:30 a.m. so I don't whether know sleep should I body clock ... um ... like, yeah ... I'm fine, really ... I'm gonna coffee get wake up maybe nap get up sleep room service! ... Whaddya mean I'm sense not making now right I am too just fine ...

Guess the Giants are feeling their own time zone weirdness right about now, too, because they're scheduled to land at Heathrow any minute.

Will catch them at practice about 7 hours from now at Chelsea's soccer club training site. Will let you know any updates. Especially interested to see what's going on with Steve Smith, who was limited in practice yesterday after going full out the day before.

Night night.

Not three seconds onto the jetway from the British Airways flight into Heathrow, and our good friend with the No. 56 jersey welcomes himself to the UK with the following words bellowed as loud as he possibly can:

"Let's go Giants!" clap-clap, clap-clap-clap"

"Let's go Giants!" clap-clap, clap-clap-clap"

You think the locals caught on to the fact that he might have been from the United States?

...

Giants players and coaches due to take off at 6 p.m. eastern. Will arrive at approximately 6 a.m. local time, will catch a few winks, and off to practice at Chelsea Soccer Club's training facility shortly after noon.

Cheers.

You know you're at the right airline gate for the Giants' road trip to London when ... the big burly guy with the Lawrence Taylor No. 56 jersey is waiting for the British Airways flight to Heathrow.

We're headed across the pond for Giants-Dolphins, which might not be much of a matchup on paper, but is certainly worth watching, given the fact it's the first NFL game ever played outside North America.

Like Tom Coughlin has told his players, this is a business trip for the hacks, too, although we'll try and sneak in a few peeks at the sights in between visits to the keyboard. We miss the Stapler, and we hope to fill his shoes as capably as we can on the beat.

We've been around this block a time or two, although the Giants' quarterback at that time was Phil Simms and the best pass rusher was L.T.

In the meantime, cheerie-o.

Fitting that Ken Berger, Newsday's esteemed NBA columnist, should give us a shoutout on the same day that Eric Mangini confounds Jets fans by sticking with Chad Pennington as his QB

After all, Berger covered the Jets for many years before Tom Rock took over - a seamless transition at that, which is no small feat, considering Berger's lofty reputation. Berger and I have slogged through our share of Jets' messes over the years, and he has cracked some of the best one-liners any press room in this great land of ours has heard.

We still miss the guy, but are glad he's getting it done on the NBA beat.

Now that we're into look-a-likes, a phenomenon we believe is about to vastly increase the page views of all bloggers who dabble in the practice of posting them (fortunately, Neil Best is sticking with his theory that only pictures of pretty women will drive page views), we'll give you the greatest look-a-like in the history of the game.

Berger was there, and so were a few other New York scribes. Barry Stanton, now of ESPN First Take fame, was also there as a witness.

Anyway, it was in New Orleans at Commander's Palace during Super Bowl week. I spotted a gentleman at a corner table, and I realized I had stumbled upon a treasure trove of look-a-like possibilities, all of which were confirmed by those in our group.

They were as follows:

* Steve Zipay, Newsday's Rangers beat man.
* Steve Jacobson, the legendary Newsday columnist who is now enjoying culinary delights all over the country.
* Sean Connery, legendary actor.
* Steve Balboni, former Yankees slugger.
* Hamid Karzai, Afghan president.

There was another whose name I can't recall right now, but I'm sure it will come to me.

(UPDATE: Berger tells us the other look-a-like was either Ghandi or Ben Kingsley, who once played Ghandi in a movie ... or maybe both.)

In a word: wow.

Eric Mangini has refused to listen to the fans and the media, as well as disregard the poor arm strength and interceptions. Chad Pennington is still his guy.

At 1-6, Mangini evidently still feels the Jets have something to play for, and that Pennington gives him the best chance to win.

Either that or else Kellen Clemens really stinks in practice.

I mean, what else are you supposed to think when you see Mangini so unwilling to give a spark to his team that he's not allowing the quarterback he drafted last year to be Pennington's eventual successor to come off the bench?

This season is lost, and there is almost zero chance of the Jets making a comeback to be in playoff contention. So why not see what the kid has before the record falls completely apart?

The Bills are willing to go with rookie Trent Edwards as their starter after a promising series of starts in place of the injured J.P. Losman, but Mangini is making things very tough on his club by not at least considering the idea of throwing Clemens in there.

Can't imagine how ornery the fans are going to be for this one. If the Jets stink out the joint against the Bills, then G*&$&# Stadium - as Tom Rock so cleverly refers to GIANTS Stadium - is gonna be a mess.

A reader wondered aloud whether the NFL's new plan to streamline the first two rounds of the draft will actually interfere with teams' ability to make the right decisions on draft day.

In other words, by reducing the time allotted per pick from 15 minutes to 10 minutes in the first round, and from 10 minutes to seven minutes in the second round, will the thought process for teams be somewhat compromised?

In a word: no.

Realistically speaking, teams make their first-round selections well in advance of the 15-minute time limit used up to now. For instance, the Raiders used all of their 15 minutes for the first overall choice in the 2007 draft, and wound up selecting quarterback JaMarcus Russell
out of LSU.

But the team had already told Russell before the draft began that they were taking him. Bottom line: Teams know which players they are going to pick - especially in the first round - long before the time limit expires. And if a player is taken off the board that they would have selected, then they have a fall-back candidate in place well before the draft.

Will it make a difference in trade talks? Doubtful. Even there, it's rare that a deal goes right down to the wire. And don't forget Giants-Chargers in 2004. The Chargers had already picked Eli Manning and the Giants had taken Philip Rivers, and the teams still got a deal done after the fact.

With Dolphins coach Cam Cameron facing the Giants this week, and with baseball playoffs in full swing and lots of Tim McCarver face time (he is by far the best analyst going, if Neil Best will allow me to comment on a media item), we figured it's an appropriate time to break out the look-a-like.

We took some grief from Judy the Jets fan about Kurt Warner and George Michael, but we stand by our call.

As I wrote in today's newspaper column, Laveranues Coles has stepped up at a critical time for the Jets. It's when this team needs "a mensch" the most, and Coles has filled the role quite nicely.

It's been interesting to watch Coles grow as a football player and a human being. I remember when he was first drafted by Bill Parcells and Al Groh in 2000, he had the biggest chip on his shoulder of a player I've ever seen. He wanted desperately to prove himself after being kicked off the Florida State team for several off-field infractions.

He turned into a terrific receiver, and even after he forced his way out of New York in a trade with the Redskins, he soon realized that the grass wasn't any greener in Washington. He didn't like playing for Hall of Fame head coach Joe Gibbs, and soon lobbied to get back to New York. He told me over the summer that he wants to finish his career in a Jets' uniform.

It's another reason he has turned into the Jets' stand-up guy in a season gone wrong.

Team, record, last week’s ranking

1. Patriots (7-0) (1): History in the making?

2. Colts (6-0) (2): Peyton Manning & Co. do their part to make sure Colts-Pats on Nov. 4 is battle of the unbeatens.

3. Cowboys (5-1) (4): Cowboys recover from home drubbing to Pats and hold serve against Vikes.

4. Giants (5-2) (7): Giants’ defense best in the business at rushing the passer. Eli Manning getting better by the week.

5. Steelers (4-2) (3): Black N Gold won’t be puffing his chest about the Steelers this week. Not after losing shootout in Denver. Big Ben is Back won’t be talking trash, either … but we are glad he’s back.

6. Jaguars (4-2) (5): Jags not only lose to Colts – badly – but may lose QB David Garrard a week or two with a sprained ankle.

7. Packers (5-1) (6): A huge one awaits Pack after a bye week: at Denver on Monday night.

8. Chargers (3-3) (8): Chargers forced to move practice to Arizona because of smoke from southern California wildfires. They come off bye to face the Texans at home.

9. Titans (4-2) (13): No Vince Young, no problem. Kerry Collins and kicker Rob Bironas combine to beat Texans on the road. Bironas leads the way with eight field goals.

10. Seahawks (4-3) (15): Now that’s more like it. After dispiriting loss at home to Saints, Seahawks come back to thrash division rival St. Louis. The defense smokes Marc Bulger on his return to the lineup from broken ribs.

11. Panthers (4-2) (11): Vinny T. or David Carr? John Fox not saying which QB plays against Indy. Then again, the way the Colts are playing, it probably doesn’t matter.

12. Broncos (3-3) (19): Broncos come off bye rested and ready and get the offense going against what was supposed to be a dominant Steelers unit. As Black N Gold and Big Ben Is Back will tell you, it ain’t so dominant.

13. Lions (4-2) (16): Jon Kitna is 4/10ths of the way there to coming through on his prediction of double digit wins this season.

14. Buccaneers (4-3) (9): Jeff Garcia turns the ball over twice, and the Lions cash in both times for touchdowns. Now it’s home to Jacksonville.

15. Redskins (4-2) (14): Ugly, ugly win by Redskins, who do just enough to get past mistake-prone Cardinals at home and hover near Giants and Cowboys.

16. Chiefs (4-3) (17): Chiefs have beaten the Raiders nine straight times. Man.

Courtesy of our blog pal Jeff Peckerman:

If you read very carefully on Neil Best's blog, he admits that he is not always fully clothed when he blogs. (search "shorts" and you'll find it)

We've accused Best of blogging in his jammies in the basement, and while we're fairly certain that is the case - at least some of the time - Best does admit today that he wears gym shorts and a t-shirt while blogging.

Best has been very kind in his frequent references to our blog, and we're very appreciative. It's a record-setting month for both of us in terms of page views, so it's all good.

Some of Neil's loyal readers have even crossed over into our blog, thanks to his shoutouts. Our very own NKR, who is kicking our tail in the "Beat Bob Glauber" football picks contest - then again, who isn't kicking our tail in the the contest? - as well as the immortal Charlie Chilkoot - have pointed the ol' mouse in our direction on occasion.

(I know you're all wondering if the picture on this post is actually of Neil Best. I'll leave that to your imagination.)

(Again, this blog plays to my incurable adolesence, so please forgive me. I'm laughing. So is Neil ... I think. Hope you are, too.)

Just wrapped up Eric Mangini's press conference at Weeb Ewbank Hall.

In answer to your question: The coach has not decided whether or not to bench Chad Pennington. Or if he has decided, he isn't willing to share it with anyone.

He talked about this being a process or some sort of coaching gobbledy gook, so no word just yet.

The hunch here is he waits until tomorrow and tells the QBs.

The hunch here is he tells Kellen Clemens he's the starter.

Jet of the week: Laveranues Coles, WR. Eight catches, 133 yards and a touchdown. He was the only consistent player on the field for the Jets in what could be Chad Pennington’s final start.

Giant of the week: Brandon Jacobs, RB. Yes, Osi Umenyiora had that 75-yard touchdown return off a forced fumble, but Jacobs anchored the running game with 107 yards and a touchdown. Life after Tiki Barber: so far, so good.

Player of the week: Tom Brady, QB, Patriots. He won the award last week, and we just can’t not give it to him again. Six more touchdown passes, on pace for a record-setting 61 as the Patriots’ roll to 7-0 and make us wonder whether an unbeaten season is in the cards.

Team in trouble. Raiders. At 2-2, it looked like they might think about an outside shot at a playoff berth. But after two straight divisional losses, including a home defeat yesterday to Kansas City, it looks like same old Raiders for now.

Dominating performance award: Seahawks 33, Rams 6. After embarrassing themselves at home last week against the Saints, the Seahawks bounce back and retake command of the NFC West.

Special teams play of the week: Dallas defensive end Chris Canty swatted away a potential go-ahead field goal in the third quarter by the Vikings, and Pat Watkins returned it 68 yards for a touchdown as Dallas outlasted Minnesota at home. Dallas is 6-1 for the first time since 1995, the last year they won the Super Bowl.

Special teams player of the week: Rob Bironas, K, Titans. He made an NFL record eight – eight! – field goals, including a 29-yarder as time expired in Tennessee’s 38-36 win over the Texans.

Comeback player of the week: Brian Griese, QB, Bears. Griese connected with Muhsin Muhammad for a 15-yard TD pass with nine seconds left to lift desperate Chicago over Philly 19-16. Word is the Giants are sending Griese a dozen roses for beating divisional rival.

Kick save and a beauty award: Broncos K Jason Elam kicks his third game-winning field goal, this one against the Steelers in a barn-burner Sunday night in Denver.

Bad to worse award: As if things couldn’t get any worse for the Dolphins, their lone bright spot this season, running back Ronnie Brown, suffered a knee injury and might be done for the year.

Rookie of the week: Trent Edwards, QB, Bills. Looks like Buffalo has settled on Edwards as their quarterback of the future. He led the Bills to a 19-14 win over the Ravens and deemed J.P. Losman an afterthought. Look for Losman to be dealt or released during the off-season.

Emerging player of the week: LenDale White, RB, Titans. The Titans have been waiting for White to get over weight and motivational issues, and they hope that patience is paying off. He led the Titans with 107 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Stat of the week: Further proof that turnovers kill. Bucs QB Jeff Garcia didn’t have a turnover all season until Sunday against the Lions. He fumbled twice, and the Lions scored touchdowns after both in a 23-16 Detroit win.

Coach on the hot seat: Scott Linehan, Rams. A rare back-to-back choice in a league that rarely sees teams fail to win a game after seven weeks. Linehan is flirting with a mid-season firing in just his second year on the job.

Streak of the week: The Chiefs beat the Raiders for the ninth straight time. It’s the longest winning streak a team has ever had against the Raiders.

Next week’s games:

Giants vs. Dolphins, London, England
Bills at Jets
Lions at Bears
Raiders at Titans
Browns at Rams
Eagles at Vikings
Steelers at Bengals
Colts at Panthers
Texans at Chargers
Jaguars at Buccaneers
Saints at 49ers
Redskins at Patriots

Bye: Chiefs, Seahawks, Cardinals, Cowboys, Falcons, Ravens