If asked to describe this past NFL weekend in a single word, I think it would have to be...

Strange…

Strange because we are seeing new teams rise up in their divisions while perennial powerhouses are falling by the wayside.  Strange because just when we think we have a handle on some teams, they go out and do the complete opposite.  It’s like I am expecting a fastball from a team like the Steelers, and then they toss me a knuckler.  Strange because point spreads are meaningless these days and strange because I officially have no idea what is going to happen next week.

Strange, isn’t it?

Anyway, onto this week’s “Top Ten” brought to you by the annoying part of Peter King’s “Monday Morning QB” on CNNSI.com where he always talks about “Coffeenerdness” and his daughter’s field hockey team.

Number 10

Oh how Herman Edwards must be longing for a miracle of medicine to come along and magically heal Chad Pennington’s wrist.  Man, did Vinny look his age against the Pats.  Was Vinny a great passer?  Without question.  You don’t amass 40,000 passing yards in a career without talent.  But Testeverde just isn’t able to carry a team to victory anymore.  He still throws a beautiful ball, but it has lost a lot of its zip.  Add into all of this the fact that the Jets simply cannot run the ball (mostly because they are playing from behind all the time) and it puts even more pressure on the QB.  Man, tough times for the Jets these days.

Now the Patriots, on the other hand, have rebounded nicely from that week one shellacking at the hands of the Bills.  They have lost their prize free agent pick up, Roosevelt Colvin, for the season due to hip surgery, and that is going to hurt them terribly.  They head to Washington next week to play the Redskins where they will face a suddenly high-powered offense.  Should be a good test for them.

Number 9

Are the Colts for real or what?  They are 3-0 but I am still not sold on them.  The Jaguars team they beat 23-13 this weekend is not a powerhouse by any stretch, and this game was still rather close.  If I were the Colts, I wouldn’t be getting to high on myself just yet, because there are certain signs that spark a little flame of doubt in this team.  First of all, Fred Taylor rushed for 126yds on 17 carries (a 7.4 avg).  Now, Taylor is a good back, but the Jags haven’t run the ball like that all year.  Second, they are not gaining much on the ground.  Edge did have a lot of carries (27), but he only managed 76yds.  For their offense to reach its full potential, the Colts have to gain more than 2.4yds per rush.  Thirdly, I don’t think that anyone is afraid of this team just yet.  They don’t have a swagger, or a confident feel to them, do they?  It seems that they play just well enough to win, and then try to hold on and not manage to lose the game late.

I don’t know, but I think that the Colts will be in tough against an unpredictable Saints team next weekend.  Just a hunch folks.

Now, the Brunell/Leftwich thing is getting interesting.  Brunell’s rating has fallen like a tech stock since week one, and Leftwich has impressed in his limited playing time.  I wonder if we will see more of Byron Leftwich in the weeks to come, with Brunell having a “sore elbow”.

Number 8

Staying in the AFC South, let’s now talk about the Tennessee Titans.  I have them picked as my favorite to win the AFC, but they seem to be stumbling with those lofty expectations bestowed upon them.  They lost to the Colts last week, and then this week, they come out and physically dominate the Saints.  Just how tough were the Titans this week?  Well, consider that Deuce McAllister gained only 8yds on 11 carries, and that would be a good point to start.  The best part about Deuce’s line is that he had a long carry of 7yds in that game, which means, had he not had that carry, he would have gained ONE YARD on TEN CARRIES!  Holy moly that is poor.  The Titans also flexed their defensive muscle on Joe Horn, who, coming off a 10 catches for 111yds last week, was held to a meager 1 catch for 5 yards.  Was Horn hurt or something?  Wow.

Anyway, this Titans team intrigues me now, mainly because they play better when Steve McNair is hurting, and I am looking forward to their next game when they face the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

Number 7

Well, the Vikings are 3-0 and somehow are 2 games clear of everyone in their division.  Are they as good as everyone thinks?  I am not so sure.  I mean, they have only beaten three bad football teams in the Packers, Bears and Lions.  But these three wins were key divisional tilts that have a huge impact in whether or not a team will make the playoffs.  So I am not really sure what to think about this squad just yet.

They are supposed to have a good test coming up against a supposedly tough 49ers team, but with the Niners struggling, no one is sure what to make of that match up.  If the Vikings do win that game, they deserve to be placed in the upper echelon of teams, however, if they lose, they return to being a middle of the road team who isn’t quite sure of itself.

Now normally a team who is 1-2 should be doubting itself right now, but not the Detroit Lions.  Nope, everything is peaches n cream in Motown folks.  After two years of utterly inept play, the Lions are starting to compete in games and are even starting to surprise some teams.  They can thank one man for that, and we all know who it is (no, it’s not Matt Millen).  Steve Mariucci.  Mooch has brought more than his great coaching skills to Detroit, he has brought an infections attitude of confidence and winning.  Jeez, it sure is a good thing that the Niners fired him last year… he sucks.  He has a talent stricken team at 1-2, while his supposedly loaded former team, the 49ers, are mired in inconsistency and boast an identical record.

But I’m not bitter or anything…

Number 6

Speaking of the 49ers…

What a sorry offensive performance they put forth on Sunday.  How does a team who runs the ball as well as the Niners do only manage to gain 75 total rushing yards?  Especially considering that their opponents were the worst ranked team against such an attack?  Terrible… just terrible.

I will admit that the Niners’ offensive line is more than a little beat up, and that can have an adverse effect on offensive production, but I would think that there is more wrong with this team than just that.  Bumps in the road are expected when a new head coach comes in, so a lot of Niner faithful are hoping that is just the case here.  But to not manage to get into the endzone once?  Man…  This Niners team is really underachieving at this point and they have some tough games coming up.  Things better take a turn for the better or it could be a long season for this Niner fan.

I also have to applaud Kelly Holcomb’s effort in this game, even if it did come at the expense of my favorite team.  He turned an ankle early and managed to tough through it; even though the Niners were bringing some serious pressure at him all game long.  Then to stand in there and make that gutsy (yet lucky, if you ask me) throw to Andre Davis to put the Browns ahead, that was something special.  I can imagine that in the back f his mind he was wondering if he would still have a job if the Browns didn’t win that game.  Good effort.

As a side note, is anyone else annoyed by the fact that Andre Davis actually has “Andre Davis” on the back of his jersey?  I find this distracting and bothersome, in an “XFL” sort of way.  Do any of you?  Now I realize that there is an “Andra Davis” in the team, but I think his jersey only has “A. Davis” on the back.  I don’t know, maybe its not that big of a deal, maybe I’m just in a bad mood or something.

Number 5 – Hot Routes

-          Jamal Lewis is the man right now.  He is making Kyle Boller’s job a whole helluva lot easier, now isn’t he?

-          Are the Falcons going to tank behind Doug Johnson?  It looks that way.

-          The Bengals are getting closer and closer each week to winning a game, and the suspense is killing me!  Good to see Jerome Bettis play well for the Steelers this week.

-          The Giants had better learn how to put teams away when they need to, they can’t afford to depend on the outcome of a coin-toss to determine their season, even with coach Fassel being something of a gambling man.

Number 4

Are we seeing the decline of the mighty Brett Fav-ruh before our very eyes?  Wow, things are not looking good for the Pack right now.  They have fallen to 1-2 and while they were playing on the road, in the blazing Arizona heat, that is still no excuse for losing to a Cardinals team whom everyone thought would be nothing more than a punching bag this year.

What is up with the Packers?  Man, this team looks lost out there, and I am not even sure what is the cause of it all.  Is it coaching?  Is it leadership?  Who knows?  All I do know is that the Packers will not be a huge favorite when they head to Chicago next week for a game that suddenly has become a whole lot more interesting.

For their valiant effort in this game, I think the Cards deserve some credit, I mean; they were serious underdogs in this game.  Jeff Blake set the tone with a tough 1yd rushing TD, and his troops followed suit and refused to be pushed around by the Packers mystique.  Good job Cards, now if you manage to upset the Faulk-less Rams next week, you can proclaim this season a success.

Number 3

How many teams are afraid of the Chiefs right now?  This team is just killing people these days.  They literally have it all rolling right now.

Scary running game?  Check

Steady passing game?  Check.

Stellar Offensive Line play?  Check.

Unparalleled special teams?  Check.

Swarming, confident defense?  Check.

Wow.  Now, we all know that things will not keep up like this all season, but for right now; I must admit that it is really fun to watch.  This team can get you from any angle, so how are you supposed to defend that?

I am looking forward to a great game next week when the Chiefs face off against the Ravens; the battle of the two best backs in the league right now should make for an entertaining contest!

(Suddenly, I am thinking that the genius behind that Vermeil coached Rams team wasn’t an unknown offensive coordinator; it was probably the head coach.  Ya think?)

Number 2

I bet you anything that London Fletcher, Takeo Spikes and Jeff Posey will have nightmares about the Dolphins #34 running into them time after time, after time, after time, after time.  Holy crap did Ricky Williams get a workout in that Sunday Night game.  I have never seen anyone carry the ball 42 times in a non-overtime game before.  Can you imagine how sore he must have been on Monday morning?  He must be so thankful that they have a bye this week.

How impressive was Williams’ performance?  Well, he gained 153 yards on those 42 carries, while his QB, Jay Fiedler, managed to total only 154yds through the air.  That’s not exactly a balanced attack, but I think they’ll take a win like that any day.

A buddy of mine (a Dolphins fan, the poor fool) said of the game, “The best way to beat a high-powered offense, is to not give ‘em the ball…” and that is exactly what happened in this game.  The Dolphins defense hadn’t exactly been playing up to its potential (big surprise), so a game like this is exactly what the doctor ordered.  The Bills only had the ball for 19:50, that’s for the ENTIRE GAME!  The Dolphins, with their Ricky barrage, had the ball for more than twice as long as the Bills did.  I don’t care how high-powered your offense is, if you don’t have the ball, you cannot score points.  I’m pretty sure that’s a given.

Now, the statistically driven people of the world are going to look at this game and call it a victory for the Dolphins D, and while they did play very well, that is not the case here.  Yes, the Bills did only manage to gain 118 TOTAL yards, but again you have to look back to the time of possession as the deciding factor.

I think this game will be a good shot in the arm for both teams, and should bring back the bitter rivalry between these divisional foes.  For the Dolphins, this game will provide that boost of confidence they need after a shaky start, and for the Bills, this will give them a good idea on where they need to work on defense, especially stopping the run.

Should be an interesting contest the next time these teams face off.

Oh yeah, if anyone is looking for proof that coaches read some of the media attention (both positive and negative) they get?  Consider the fact that people were calling Dave Wannstedt a fool for not riding Ricky in their first game, where he only had 17 carries.  Since then, Ricky has had games where he has carried the ball 34 and 42 times, respectively.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Number 1

Before the season got underway, I was the ultimate Seahawk doubter.  I said time and time again that just because Matt Hassy had a good late run last season, it didn’t mean that he was going to carry that into this season.  I also said that the Seahawks had a sub par receiving corps, and that they were poorly coached.

Wow, was I wrong or what?

The Seahawks are flying right now, and they are really emerging as a power in the NFC.  Their offense is loaded at the skill positions and their defense is playing as well as any unit right now.  Will it last?  Time will tell.  But I do think that they should address two things in their bye week.

Pass rush and pass protection.

Those things can be lacking at this point in the season, but as the season grows on, being able to protect your passer and pressure their passer becomes a huge asset.  Think about it, if Hassy goes down, Seattle turns to Trent Dilfer, which may not be too bad, but he is not the pure passer that Hassy is and chemistry will be lacking.  Also, if they cannot pressure opposing QBs, their secondary could be sliced and diced (remember, they are without Shawn Springs back there).  Seattle is going to face some good QBs in the coming weeks in guys like Fav-ruh, Jeff Garcia and Tommy MadduXFL, so they can ill afford to let guys like that sit back in the pocket and take what they want.  Having said that, the Seahawks were able to contain “The Artists Formerly Know as the Greatest Show on Turf” this past week, so that is a bonus for them.

If this young Seattle team can manage to win their next few games, they will be in great shape for a run at a home playoff game.  Should be interesting.

That about does it for another week here at Zim’s Top Ten, and in case you noticed, I have still been unable to find a suitable spot to include our official mascot in this column.  But rest easy, I have a team of designers working diligently to create a “Zim’s Top Ten” banner and logo.  But if any of you have any ideas, be sure to email me…

Until Next Time…

Zim can be reached at superzim@49ersparadise.cjb.net