InSpin

Detroit -120 vs. Anaheim

The defending Stanley Cup Champions have already had a tough road in the early part of the season. Detroit (7-1-1) has lost numerous players for extended periods of time in the young season, but it has not stopped them from getting off to their usual fast start. Now they will have to do without Johan Franzen for three to four weeks due to an aggravated knee injury remaining from last year's Stanley Cup Finals. The Red Wings have the third most points in the league and have only one loss in regulation on the season and that was the first game of the season against the Maple Leafs. Since then they have only lost one game in overtime and have won every other game in regulation or shootout.

Meanwhile the team that Detroit unseated as cup champions, the Anaheim Ducks, have had a tough time this season until their recent road trip. During their invasion of Canada and Columbus the Ducks flew high winning all four games. This helped even the Ducks record at 5-5-0.

The Wings and the Ducks, winners of the last two Stanley Cups meet in Anaheim as the Ducks come home and the Red Wings continue their five game western trip that took them to Chicago and Los Angeles, now Anaheim and will conclude with a trip to the Western Conference leader Sharks in San Jose and a game in Vancouver before finally heading home.

The Ducks may wish they could stay on the road a little while longer, their success there is as puzzling as their inability to win at home (1-3). Meanwhile the NHL's best road team comes calling as the Detroit Red Wings look to stay perfect on the road (5-0-0)

The typically defensive minded Wings are one of the top scoring teams in the NFL, with 35 goals. But seven of their last nine games have been decided by one goal with many of those going to overtime and shootout.

Goalie Jean-Sebastian Gigure continues to improve as his team improves. In the Ducks last game, a 3-2 to victory Monday in Columbus, Giguere made 30 saves and lowered his goals against to a more respectable 2.86. Detroit net minder Chris Osgood had a sluggish start, but has steadily improved as well. The veteran is now 4-1-1 in his six games played this season with a 3.13 GAA, although he has risen to the occasion against Anaheim, boasting a 12-3-0 record with a pair of ties and a 2.50 GAA in 17 games versus the Ducks.

Last season the Western Conference rivals split their four game series with each team winning once on each other's home ice.

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Cincinnati vs. Houston

The Bengals have a chance this weekend.  When you are 0-7, that means a lot. The winless Bengals travel to Houston to visit the Texans at Reliant Stadium this Sunday. The Texans are wrapping up a solid month at home after Hurricane Gustav skewed their schedule into three road games to start out the year. All told the month respite has been positive for Houston as they have gone 2-1, having won the last two in a row over Miami and Detroit. They could be 3-0 at home this season if they could have held on to that lead in their home opener October 5 against Indianapolis.

The Cincinnati Bengals have a chance in this game simply because they have trends on their side. No one since the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-14) have gone winless and no one has gone 0-16, so odds are Cincinnati will get a victory at some point this season. And why not against Houston whom the Bengals are 3-0 against all time.

Of course trends do not play games and the reality of the situation is the Bengals are a banged up team.

Carson Palmer appears done for 2008. The All-Pro quarterback has missed two games, is out for Houston for sure and it looks as if IR is looming on the horizon. After a throttling at the hands of Pittsburgh 35-7, times may be getting tougher and not better for Cincinnati. If backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will be taking over for the rest of the year, the Bengals offense line better give him more protection or he won’t be starting for very long either. The Steelers sack Fitzpatrick seven times last week. That increased the total to 15 in the four game Fitzpatrick has started. He was able to stay upright enough time to get the ball to Chad Johnson, who caught a season high eight passes and a touchdown last week, but his yards after catch were almost nonexistent, as he recored only 52 yards with those eight catches.

Until just a few weeks ago, the Houston Texans were also trying to find their first win. Three weeks later they are 2-4 and seeing a winnable game at home to go one step closer to .500. Many people saw the Texans as a sleeper in this year’s AFC until Gustav put a kink in their hopes. Houston is in last place and must not only win but hope division mates Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Tennessee start to falter. This may be a too tough of a request as two of those teams made last years’ postseason and the other is currently the NFL’s lone undefeated team. Nonetheless, Houston (2-4) got a little more confidence with their second straight win last week against Detroit and will do what they can do to get back in the AFC race.

InSpin.com

New England -7 1/2 vs. St. Louis

Break up the St. Louis Rams. Are they ready to shock the world again? They can beat the Patriots on the road this Sunday and continue their shocking Cinderella story in which they started 0-4, fired their coach, shocked the Washington Redskins with a thrilling last second victory and really shocked the Dallas Cowboys with an unexpected throttling at the Edward Jones Dome last week.

Jim Haslett appears to have his Rams (2-4) thinking they can beat anyone and they will be able to put that to the test when they visit Foxboro to battle New England in a rematch of the stellar Super Bowl XXXVII matchup.

Weeks ago, the New England Patriots may have had this a week in which they could lick their wounds, go through the motions and come up with the victory, but now they have to deal with the new giant killing Rams.

The Patriots (4-2) look to establish some consistency after an inconsistent start to the season. After beginning the season at 2-0, the Pats have alternated between a loss and a win. Last week they decimated the sinking Denver Broncos 41-7 in Foxboro with an encouraging performance from Matt Cassell who threw 18 for 24 with 185 yards and three touchdowns. With Laurence Maroney now on injured reserve, the Patroits relied on backup Sammy Morris and he did not disappoint. He carried the ball 16 times for 138 yards and a touchdown. This production was all in the first half as Morris sat out the second half with an injury but is expected to play against the Rams. Other encouraging news was New England’s defense seemed to be back when they forced five Denver turnovers. The discouraging news was Rodney Harrison being place on injured reserve due to a torn thigh muscle. As Harrison was carted off the field after his injury Monday night, the 15-year fought back tears and waved to the fans and it seemed the injury will more than likely force him into retirement.

Steven Jackson appeared to return to his prior self as he ran for a season-high 160 yards with three touchdowns against the Cowboys. He also left the game early because of an injury but appears to be ready to go for Sunday.

The teams have met 10 times, with each club winning five times, including New England’s first Super Bowl 20-17 in 2002. The Patriots won the last regular season meeting as well, in 2004 in St. Louis.

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Washington -7 1/2 vs. Detroit

After dropping the opening night game to the defending champion Giants, the Redskins responded with surprising victories against New Orleans, Arizona and road games against division rivals Dallas and Philadelphia. After these four straight wins, Washington came home with the intent of rolling up a winless Rams team who had just changed coaches. Of course that is why they play the games. A late field goal gave St. Louis the 19-17 upset victory. This caused some Redskins’ players to feel they let their guard down and played down to their opponents on that day. Assuming Washington has rectified this with last week’s 14-11 victory over Cleveland last week, pity the winless Detroit Lions, this week’s opponents for the Redskins.

Jason Campbell was steady in the Browns game last week, even though the Redskins (5-2) were held scoreless in the first half. He threw 14 completions on 23 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown. Campbell did not throw an interception again which extends the NFL record of 332 passes which have not been picked off. This has greatly surpassed the old record held by the 2001 Oakland Raiders of 281. Clinton Portis ran for a season best 175 yards last week and looks to duplicate his success against a pitful Lions defense.

Sadly for Detroit (0-6), even when they play fairly well, they still find ways to lose. Two weeks ago, the defense did a stellar job against Minnesota October 12 until late when the Lions saw a 10-2 second half lead turn into a 12-10 loss with late field goal to win in the Metrodome. Last week, the Lions shot themselves in the foot like they have much of this season, but spotting their opponents to large leads and having an impromptu comeback fall just short. It happened in Atlanta, against Green Bay and last week in Houston.  The Texans got out to a 21-0 first quarter lead. Detroit fought back and scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough and the team lost 28-21 to sink to 0-6.

With Jon Kitna on injured reserve with a bad back, the team’s quarterbacking reins have been handed over to Dan Orlovsky. With the departure of Roy Williams in last week’s trade to Dallas, Calvin Johnson struggled in Houston to break double and triple coverage, but was able to make something happen when he did get the ball. The second year receiver had a season low two catches, but had a season high 154 yards largely because of 96 yards on one catch.

Detroit has been miserable against Washington. Since 1968, the Lions are 2-18 against the Washington Redskins, including postseason play. The two wins for the Lions came in back-to-back years in 1999 and 2000, both played in the Pontiac Silverdome. But those victories were sandwiched around a 27-13 Redskins victory in Washington during the 1999 playoffs. That game marked the most recent postseason game involving Detroit.

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Dallas -2 vs. Tampa Bay

If a Dallas Cowboys‘ fan woke up in August dreaming of their 13 win team from 2007 falling to a pedestrian 4-3 in 2008 after losing to a lousy St. Louis team, whom they decimated 35-7 one year ago, and saw an injured Tony Romo riding the pine and Adam Pacman Jones mysteriously missing, they would have brushed away the cold sweat from their brow consoling themselves it was only a nightmare. Sorry to tell you this Tex, but it is really late October and your gridiron heroes have indeed done exactly what you feared.

The Cowboys have experienced more scandals and setbacks than they have victories this season.  Sandwiched between their losses to Arizona and St. Louis, the Cowboys’ lost their starting Pro-Bowl quarterback, their best cornerback and continue to sputter in the hotly contested NFC East standings. Since starting the season perfect in three games and looking as good as last year’s team which stormed through the regular season, Dallas has lost three out of four and two straight. In fact the Cowboys are just a touchdown against the winless Bengals away from losing four straight and having a losing record.

Even though Romo flirted with coming back for the Rams game, which Dallas (4-3) lost 34-14, it appears the team will have to come to terms with the fact that he will not be back until at least the middle of November.

Things do not get easier for the Brad Johnson-led Cowboys as they play host to the NFC South’s number one team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and attempt to avoid a three game losing streak for the first time since 2004. Johnson appeared rusty in his first start since 2006, throwing for three interceptions. Johnson personally knows it will be a tough test going up against a solid Bucs defense since he was the quarterback who propelled the Bucs to their Super Bowl title in 2002. The Bucs (5-2) are second in the league with 12 interceptions and eighth in total defense.

Tampa Bay continues to impress after winning 27-3 win over division rival Carolina in Week 6 and then beating the visiting Seahawks 20-10 in a solid Sunday night outing last week. The Bucs held Seattle to 176 yards and 7 first downs.

The Bucs had a 402-176 advantage over the Seahawks in total yards, and limited Seattle to seven first downs. One thing Dallas may have going for them is while Tampa Bay has dominated at Raymond James Stadium going undefeated in four game, they have struggled to a 1-2 road record thus far and needed a late rally to get by the Bears in overtime at Soldier Field on September 21.

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Panthers -4 vs. Cardinals

Many teams have started 5-2 and it is not that big of a deal. Sure it's a good start to an NFL season, but it is nothing to celebrate about because 5-2 means there are nine games left in the season and the season can certainly turn south. There have been tons of 5-2 teams over the years that have not made the playoffs. Ask last year's Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns.

But for the Arizona Cardinals (4-2), we might as well indulge them a bit. A victory on the road in Carolina Sunday will put the Cardinals at the magical 5-2 mark for the first time in 32 years. Also if they are able to dispatch the Panthers, one of the NFC South’s top teams, on the road after their blowout of division rival New Orleans last week, they deserve to be lauded.

Barring something unseen, a playoff appearance seems pretty bright for Arizona. Seattle and San Francisco seem hopeless and who knows if St. Louis will continue to win or regress into what they were under Scott Linahan. These factors and the fact that the Cardinals have a two game lead in the NFC West seem to indicate that Arizona is on their way to their first postseason berth since 1998 and only their third since 1982.

On top of all of that, the Caridinals have seemed unstoppable in the two weeks leading up to last week's bye. They topped the previously undefeated Bills on October 5 and then welcomed in the Dallas Cowboys and dispatched them in overtime 30-24.

The one thing that may stop Arizona's momentum is their issues on the road. They started the season with a victory in San Francisco, after a brief stop in Glendale with a win over Miami, the Cardinals took to the road for a trip that took them to the east coast to take on Washington and New York Jets in two consecutive weeks. Arizona lost both of those games by a combined score of 80-52. The Cards now find themselves on another cross country trek to Carolina to play the Panthers who have yet to lose a home game.

Winning at Carolina (5-2) won't be easy, though, as the Panthers have won all four of their home games -- outscoring their opponents 108-33. Carolina has not won five straight home games since Sept. 18-Dec. 4, 2005.

For the Panthers, it was the tale of two games the last two weeks. On October 12, Carolina traveled to Tampa Bay and were drubbed by the Bucs 27-3. The team picked up the pieces and came out firing on all cylinders at home last week and dispatched the Saints 30-7.

As they did in their postseason years of 2004 and 2005, the Panthers have ridden their tough defense to many of their victories. Carolina is third in the NFL in defense. They will face a tough Cardinals team that leads the league in scoring with nearly 30 points per game.

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Bills -1 vs. Dolphins

Buffalo has come out of the gates with their best start in 13 years, yet they still fight for respect and notoriety within their own division. The sans-Brady Patriots, the Favre-led Jets and even the improving Dolphins have commanded more respect than the Bills.  For Buffalo to improve to 6-1, they can shove that down one of their better known division rivals' throats, their first AFC East matchup of the season. This week they travel to Miami to take on the last place Dolphins.

Many of the cynics of the Bills, who are one game ahead of New England, state that they have not really played any solid teams yet.  With the exception of Jacksonville, they have not beaten a team with a winning record in 2008. Last week they topped San Diego at home 38-17, but the Chargers have had their share of problems this season. Buffalo is the only team in the NFL to not play a game within their division as we enter Week 7. They will certainly be tested the next few weeks as the last half of the year will be heavily peppered with AFC East opponents for Buffalo, including the next three. Buffalo was 4-2 against the division a year ago, but they know that division records rarely mean anything year to year, however the Bills are hoping to extend their dominance over Miami. They have won seven of the last eight contests.

Trent Edwards appeared healthy after the concussion he sustained in Arizona on October 5. The second-year signal caller broke Jim Kelly's franchise record for completion percentage against San Diego by successfully hitting on 83.33 percent of his passes for 261 yards and a touchdown.

Miami has hit the skids after a hopeful stretch in their schedule. After losing the opening game to the Jets at Dolphins Stadium, the heavily underdog Dolphins headed to New England and promptly crushed the Patriots 38-13 in Week 2. After a bye, Miami dispatching San Diego 17-10, but has since lost its momentum by dropping back-to-back games to Houston and Baltimore.

Despite Miami's recent losses, veteran Chad Pennington continues to play with a quiet confidence. In last Sunday's 27-13 setback to the Ravens, Pennington completed 24 of his 35 passes for just under 300 yards with a touchdown and a pick. Pennington currently ranks fourth in the league with a solid 68.6 completion percentage.

InSpin.com

New York -14 vs. Kansas City

The New York Jets (3-3) have struggled this year to fine consistency. The Kansas City Chiefs have just plain struggled. Luckily for the preseason overly-hyped Jets, they can expect to gain a little more consistency this weekend. Why? Because they play the Chiefs in Giants Stadium.

If you think the Chiefs (1-5) were a bad team last week, wait until you see the team they will be fielding this week which will feature a third-string quarterback, Tyler Thigpen, and an inactive All-Pro running back, Larry Johnson.

Johnson was inactive for injury in last week's home debacle against the undefeated Titans, losing 34-10.  This week a healthy Johnson will be inactive for an injury to the crime blotter. Kansas City Police have been investigating an allegation involving the star running back, in which he allegedly told a woman he would kill her boyfriend and spat in her face. The Chiefs admirably took the preliminary action of sitting Johnson while the NFL ponders a possible suspension.

This makes Thigpen's job that much harder as he will be handing off to Kolby Smith, who was ineffective a week ago gaining only 20 yards on 10 carries, with 19 of those yards coming on one run.

Former Jets coach Herman Edwards will face his former team for the second time in less than a year and will attempt to win his second game against them despite all of Kansas City's set backs. Kansas City topped the Jets 13-10 in overtime in a game also played at the Meadownlands.

Make no mistake, this was not a good week for the Jets either. It began with New York's inability to win a third straight game with an incredibly disappointing overtime loss in Oakland. Then during the week, each day was full of the news about Brett Favre sharing news about his former mates with one of their division rivals.

Foxsports.com reported that Favre had lengthy phone conversations with Matt Millen and Detroit Lions coaches giving them a tutorial on the Green Bay Packers' offense prior to the teams' Week 2 game. Favre spent much of the week denying the report, while Fox stood behind the report and the Lions did not issue a denial. This came after Favre's poorest performance as a Jet. He threw for two interceptions and only compiled 197 yards. The bright spot for New York was running back Thomas Jones who had 159 yards on 24 carries.

The series of original AFL teams is basically a draw.  Kansas City leads 16-15-1.

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Philadelphia -9 vs. Atlanta

"Welcome home Matt Ryan, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Ryan, a hometown Philadelphia boy, should not expect a heroe's welcome as his Atlanta Falcons travel to the City of Brotherly Love for Sunday afternoon battle at Lincoln Financial Field.

Certainly any love Philly fans may have for a local boy who has made it will evaporate around 1pm Sunday.  After a promising start to the season the 3-3 Philadelphia Eagles find themselves the losers of three of their last five games and find themselves in last place of the competitive NFC East. The Eagles need this game to take advantage of slumping Washington and Dallas and climb back into the heart of the playoff race. To do this, Philadelphia, who is in the upper echelon of the NFL in sacks, more than likely has a game plan probably involves planting the local boy into the turf.

Philadelphia is actually coming off a win in their last time out, two weeks ago. Before last week's bye, the Eagles scored 23 late points to beat the 49ers in San Francisco 40-26. Philly hopes this is the game that will get their season turned around.

Meanwhile the surprising season in Atlanta continues, largely on the play of rookie quarterback Ryan. The Exton, Pennsylvania native and alumni of Philadelphia's Penn Charter School has noticeably picked his game up recently. He has thrown for four touchdowns against one interception over the past four games, three of which were Atlanta victories. The Falcons will look to claim a road victory to extend their winning streak to three games. Last week Atlanta enjoyed a week off after an energizing last second field goal win over Chicago, 22-20, on October 12. The win over Chicago was the second straight impressive victory, after the Falcons beat the Packers in Lambeau. Atlanta probably wishes for NFL realignment with placement in the NFC North. The Atlanta Falcons have feasted on the division this season, going 3-0 against Detroit, Green Bay and Chicago with one more game at Minnesota on the horizon.

Odds are San Diego is upset they let Michael Turner get away. With Ladanian Tomlison's injury issues this year, the Chargers have had virtually no running attack. Not so in Atlanta as Turner is third in the NFL with 597 yards and six touchdowns.

Bye weeks have been good for Andy Reid and his Eagles. During his tenure he has never lost following a bye in nine seasons. The team is getting healthier as running back Bryant Westbrook and receiver Kevin Curtis are hoping to go. For Curtis it will be the first time he has hit the field all season long, which should greatly help Donovan McNabb and the Eagles' offense.

The Eagles have not lost to the Falcons in Philadelphia since 1988 in four contests including two postseason games in 2002 and 2005.

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Nittany Lions -2 vs. Buckeyes

Ohio State has arrived. The team has struggled through many of their contests this year and seemed listless in most of them. This all changed last week when the Buckeyes traveled north to meet the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans were in a three way tie with Ohio State and Penn State and any hopes they had at being in a two-way tie for or sole possession of first place was sunk about midway through the first quarter. Ohio State (7-1, 4-0) played their most complete game of the year and dominated in every aspect of the game as they stomped Michigan State 45-7 in East Lansing.

Over in Happy Valley at roughly the same time, a similar story was developing. Not that Penn State (8-0, 4-0) was playing their first complete game of the year; they have had many of those, but that they took their frustrations out on an opponent. This time it was the Michigan Wolverines who they had not beaten since 1996. Michigan stormed out to a 17-7 lead and it seemed the Wolverines were going to once again come in as an inferior opponent and destroy another Penn State season. Coach Joe Paterno stated before the game that Michigan was not in their heads, but it appeared early on that they were firmly in the Nittany Lions heads. Penn State turned on the burners in the second half and did not allow Michigan to score as they lit up the score board for 39 straight points on way to a 46-17 rout.

This game is a matchup of the top Big Ten teams and the number three and nine teams in the nation will go along way in clearing up the Big Ten picture as well as the national title picture. While Penn State put a stop to one streak by finally beating Michigan, they must buck a couple of other trends to keep their undefeated season going. The Nittany Lions have not won a road game against a top ten team in ten tries. In addition, Penn State must win in Columbus for the first time since 1978.

For the Lions to win, Daryll Clark, an Ohio native, must be his best. He has been most of the season as he is the conference's second-highest rated passer and has tossed and ran for 19 touchdowns. Clark has done a stellar job, but it is a possibility he could be riding the pine if it were not for Ohio State's signal caller.  Chances are if Pennsylvania's own Terrelle Pryor had chosen Penn State over Ohio State, he would be the starting quarterback in Happy Value, much like he is in Columbus.

Pryor had his best game of his young career last Saturday in East Lansing. Coach Jim Tressel had Pryor on a short leash because of his recent struggles, but he appeared to solidify the starting position with 116 yards through the air, 72 yards on the ground and a touchdown pass.

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Jayhawks -1 vs. Red Raiders

One of the more interesting matchup of this weekend's college football schedule which is chalked full of interesting Top 25 matchups, is the game which will take place in Lawrence, Kansas when the undefeated and eighth ranked Red Raiders of Texas Tech head north to battle the Kansas Jayhawks Saturday at noon.

Texas Tech (7-0, 3-0) is riding high as they are undefeated this late in the season for the first time since 1976. Cynics will point to the easy schedule Texas Tech has played so far, not having played another Top 25 team, but the Red Raiders will get the chance to silence everyone with a road victory over the 23rd ranked Jayhawks in Memorial Stadium. They will also get that same chance the next four weeks. Texas Tech can certainly control their own destiny and perhaps find themselves in the BCS Championship game if they can get through Kansas, then number one Texas, number seven Oklahoma State and number four Oklahoma. If a team gets through that daunting schedule, they should just crown them champions there and then! Of course Texas Tech is saying all the right things and will say they are preparing for each game one at a time.

Kansas has grown accustomed to matching up with ranked teams dating back to last season. This season has been no different, albeit still as difficult. On September 12, Kansas lost a tough road game to then-number 19 South Florida and were spanked by Oklahoma 45-31 last week.

Kansas will look to avoid two straight losses for the first time since a four game losing streak in 2006 and look to buck the current trend of nine losses in their 10 meetings with Texas Tech, their only victory coming in 2001.

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Tigers -1 vs. Bulldogs

Georgia and LSU have both had to climb back up after horrendous blowout losses this season. Each team has had a few weeks since those losses and they have achieved wins to put them back into SEC and BCS contention. One thing is certain though, the loser of the game between the SEC powerhouses will have their hopes derailed. This intriguing matchup not only matches two of the top teams in the conference but also number 7 at number 13 Saturday afternoon in Baton Rouge.

Perhaps the pressure of being a preseason number one team for the first time in school history was too much for Georgia (6-1, 3-1) who appeared shaky in many of their early season games before losing to Alabama 40-31 on September 27, in which the Bull Dogs feel behind—way behind 31-0.

That game seemed to shake Georgia's confidence as they have sputtered though two wins. Last week Vanderbilt kept the game within striking distance until a late field goal sealed the game for the Bulldogs 24-14. The week prior, a listless Tennessee team was able to keep the affair close until Georgia, with some late scores, pulled away 26-14.

Their opponents for this week, LSU (5-1, 3-1) have had less time to recover from their drubbing by Florida 51-21 on October 11. Much like Georgia, LSU has not played its best football since their defeat. Midway through the fourth quarter the Tigers were down 17-10 and appeared to be heading for their second straight defeat in the SEC for the first time since 2001. But LSU scored on its final two possessions, largely because of the running game to claim a thrilling but flawed 24-17 victory. Charles Scott's move from running back to full back opened the door for more carries for Keiland Williams and proved a lethal duo for the Gamecocks in the fourth quarter last week.

Meanwhile Georgia's running game is nothing to sneeze at either. Knowshon Moreno is the top back in the SEC with 109 yards per contest and 11 touchdowns.  Last week against the Commodores, Moreno rushed for 172 yards, a season best.

This is the Bulldogs first invasion into Tiger Stadium since 2003, when LSU won 17-10, and they have not met since the 2005 SEC title game, with Georgia winning 34-14.

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Crimson Tide -6 vs. Volunteers

Tennessee's miserable season took a week off last week as the Volunteers looked more like the Volunteers with a 34-3 route of Mississippi State. If the home standing Tennessee (3-4, 1-3) can see its way to upsetting second ranked Alabama and beating the Crimson Tide for the third time in a row at Neyland Stadium, it will go a long way to hitting the reset button their season and starting a late season push for a good bowl game.

Alabama (7-0, 4-0) will put their undefeated record on the line as they take on Tennessee Saturday night. The Tide knows that their destiny is in their own hands. This week's BCS rankings set them at number two as well and if they win out, they most certainly will play for the National Championship. On paper, Alabama should easily beat Tennessee, but as we all know games are not played on paper.

Alabama has not exactly routed their last two opponents. Last week, they allowed Mississippi to climb back into the game late before holding on to a 24-20 victory. Two weeks before that game, the Tide edged Kentucky 17-14.

Alabama will be missing a key defensive cog this week as nose guard Terrence Cody nurses a sprained knee. This will hurt the Tide, but they have had several impact players which has allowed their defense to become the 14th best in the nation. It should prove as a good matchup as the Volunteers rank last in the SEC in offense by averaging 19 points per contest.

Tennessee's strong point this season has been their defense as well, particularly Eric Berry. The sophomore cornerback returned a 72 yard interception for a touchdown and with the pick he became the All-time SEC interception returner leader with 397 yards.

The Crimson Tide lead the series 45-38-7, including last year's 41-17 rout last season. However Alabama has not posted a victory in Knoxville since 2002 and have not beaten Tennessee twice in a row since 1992.

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Golden Bears -17 vs. Bruins

So far, the season could not have gone worse for UCLA and California. Luckily for the Pac 10 rivals, they play each other this week, so one season will get a slight upgrade.

UCLA (3-4, 2-2) in particular has had a tough and disappointing season, especially after the Bruins upset Tennessee 27-24 in overtime in their opening game on September 1. UCLA then went on to lose their next three games and four of five after that game. And judging from the way Tennessee's season has gone, the victory has lost some of its luster since the massive celebration at the Rose Bowl in early September.  Perhaps the Bruins stopped some of the bleeding last week when they beat Stanford 23-20.

Up the coast a bit, California (4-2, 2-1) has also struggled to establish themselves this season. Predicted for greater things, Cal finds itself outside looking into the top 25. After a grueling opening victory over Michigan State at home and an opening Pac 10 victory over Washington State, the Golden Bears lost their much hyped cross country trip to Maryland 35-27 in a game that was a blowout until a late Bear comeback fell just short. California seemed to right their ship by winning two straight until last week when they fell to Arizona 42-27 on the road.

UCLA tailback Kahlil Bell looks to be ready to go this week despite his sprained ankle. Bell has been splitting time with freshman running back Derrick Coleman. The combination has not been particularly lethal however, as the Bruins rank 116th in rushing offense. Much of the burden has fallen upon junior quarterback Kevin Craft who has thrown for 1518 yards and 7 touchdowns. To be fair to Bell and Coleman, UCLA has been so far behind in so many games that have had to take to the air to attempt to catch up.

Cal has a stellar passing attack of its own, averaging 254 yards per game led by Senior Nate Longshore and sophomore Kevin Riley splitting time under center.

The visiting team has not won in this series since 1999 when California traveled to Pasadena to shut out UCLA 17-0. The last time UCLA won in Berkeley was the year before, 1998, a 28-16 triumph.

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Rays -162 vs. Phillies

Bucking the trend of recent LCS victors with long layoffs, the Phillies rode their ace Cole Hamels to draw first blood with the victory in Game 1 of the World Series. The NLCS MVP Hamels continued his October dominance Wednesday night as he shut down the explosive Tampa Bay Rays to win 3-2. This was the lefthander's fourth victory in the postseason.

On the offensive side, the Phillies were almost equally stymied by Rays starter Scott Kazmir, but were able to push across one more run to win. The bulk of Philadelphia's offense came in the first inning, one of the few innings that Kazmir seemed to struggle though. Chase Utley made him pay when he parked a changeup deep into the right field stands of Tropicana Field. Utley became a part of an exclusive fraternity of now 34 players who have hit a homerun on their first World Series at bat.

The pressure is clearly on Tampa Bay as they prepare for tonight's Game 2. A loss tonight would be devastating for the Rays who face the next three games on the road. The Rays are a cool bunch, however, and have weathered any storm that has come their way. Just over a week ago, the Rays lost to the Red Sox in Game 1 of the ALCS at home and still clinched the series in 7, taking 2 out of 3 games in Beantown. And while Citizens' Bank Park will allow the Philadelphia home town fans to show their love to their National League Champion Phillies as they play at home for the first time since October 10, the Rays may be salivating at the chance to get their offense healthy and tee off in a hitters park, much like they did in Boston.

As much as Philadelphia would love to throw Hamels out on the mound for every game, they will turn to Brett Myers. In turn the Rays will turn to their solid number two starter Steve Shields to be the stopper and gain Tampa Bay a split as they head to Philadelphia for the next three games beginning Saturday night.

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Bruins -200 vs. Maple Leafs

Two ancient rivals renew their battle this Thursday when the Toronto Maple Leafs travel abroad to visit the Boston Bruins. The Bruins have lagged behind the success of their Beantown sports brethren. Six titles this decade for Boston have not included a Stanley Cup and the Bruins have not won the Cup since 1972.

This season has been more of the same for Boston as they have struggled to achieve their 2-1-3 record. The Bruins have hung tough in their losses, but have ultimately lost three of those contests in a shootout, including their last two games against Pittsburgh and in Buffalo. Boston has lost four of their last five, three of those coming in shootouts since starting the season 1-0 with a victory in the Pepsi Center over Colorado.

Toronto (1-2-3) has been in free full since their quality opening game victory over Detroit on the night the Red Wings raised their Stanley Cup championship banner. The Maple Leafs have dropped five straight since besting Detroit on October 9. Much like the Bruins, the Leafs have hung tough in many of their losses, with three of them going to a shootout. Toronto's troubles have a lot to do with the fact that they cannot score.  In their five losses, the Leafs have been held to one goal or less three times and are averaging only 1.83 goals per game this season and that average was greatly skewed by a four goal performance against the Blues on October 13. Their defense has not been much better giving up an average of 3.50 goals per game.

Boston has played a little better on offense and defense but it has not been able to allow them to win in regulation regularly. The Bruins' leading scorer is Marc Savard with his 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists). Boston's net minder Manny Fernandez boasts a stellar 2.62 goals against average.

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Coyotes -110 vs. Capitals

The Washington Capitals continue their western road trip as they drop into Phoenix to visit the Coyotes. The western trip started rather rudely for the Capitals as they lost to the Calgary Flames 2-1 Tuesday night as Mika Kiprusoff stymied Washington's scoring attack by stopping 30 of the 31 shots that the Calgary net minder faced. The lone goal came off the stick of Sergei Federov. The loss dropped the Caps to 3-2-1 and dropped them into a tie for the Southeast Division lead with Carolina.

Phoenix (2-3-0) has gotten off to its usual disappointing start. After winning their first game at home, the Coyotes ventured on a four city road trip which spanned a seven day period. The Phoenix Coyotes won their first road game in Anaheim and then promptly dropped the next three as they visited Chicago, Ottawa and Montreal. Tonight Phoenix returns home hoping for the home cooking that got them their first victory of the season on October 11, taking advantage of a Washington team who have dropped two of their first three home games.

Though pointless in Calgary, the Capitals leading scorer continues to be Alex Semin with 10 points consisting of 6 goals and 4 assists. Jose Theodore has been solid in goal for Washington with a 3.17 goals against average. Meanwhile Ollie Jokinen leads the Phoenix scoring barrage with 6 points, five of which are assists. Shane Doan leads the team in goals with six.

The Coyotes own a slight edge in the series since 1999 with a 4-3-3 record. The teams did not play in the 2007-2008 Season; the last contest went in favor of Phoenix 3-2 on New Years Day 2007.

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Broncos -7 1/2 vs. Spartans

The 13th ranked Boise State Broncos travel to San Jose State for a rare Friday night game this week. The Spartans' may be the Broncos biggest test so far this season as they attempt to stay undefeated against their WAC rivals.

While most people know the 12th ranked Boise State (6-0, 2-0) as the team that plays on that blue field or a perennial BCS-buster or possibly for their high octane offense, however what people do not know, or overlook is that the Broncos post one of the top defenses in the country. The Broncos have allowed a paltry 10.5 points per game which make it the second best team in the nation in that category. That was on full display last week as the Broncos decimated the Hawaii offensive attack by picking off five passes, holding the Warriors to a season low 56 rushing and 288 overall yards, both a Hawaii season low. The offense has also been stellar boasting the 15th best passing attack and 28th best overall offensive squad. Freshman quarterback phenom Kellen Moore has been Boise State's leader of offense by completing 123 of his 170 passes for 1591 yards and 13 touchdowns on only 3 picks.

San Jose State (5-2, 3-0) not only stands in the way of BSU continuing on its BCS path, a loss to the Spartans, who are undefeated in conference play, would greatly diminish the Broncos' chances of winning the WAC. San Jose State has also boasted a tough defense this season by giving up 16 points per contest, second only to BSU in the conference. The squad forced four turnovers and six sacks in a 31-14 road victory at New Mexico State last week.

History is not on the Spartans' side as they have lost nine straight games against ranked teams dating back to 2000. They have also never beat Boise State in eight attempts.

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Sharks -135 vs. Flyers

Things just keep on getting stranger for the Philadelphia Flyers both on the ice and in their scheduling. It is not often that two teams from different conferences play each other in home and home games, especially going from coast to coast, but this is the case for the San Jose Sharks and Flyers as they play each other for the second time five games tonight at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. Nothing can be stranger for the Flyers than they awful start to their season.

After going to the conference finals last season, Philadelphia (0-3-2) remains the lone winless team in the league. They came on so close to their first victory in San Jose Saturday night, but ultimately dropped the game 5-4 in overtime. The loss Saturday not only kept the Flyers winless, but also extended their winless streak against San Jose to eight years. Luckily they will get their chance to tear both of these gorillas off of their backs tonight in Philadelphia as the Sharks (5-1-0) take to the road. Philadelphia's greatest problem this season has been their porous defense. The team has allowed a league worse 22 goals in five games and has a swollen 4.40 goals against average. Starting net minder Martin Biron also has a league worst 5.74 GAA, while backup Antero Niitymaki was better in his start in San Jose, but was peppered with 45 shots, stopping 40 of them in the loss.

The Sharks have had a much easier time this season as they begin a three game road trip to Philadelphia and a trip to play the two Florida teams on Friday and Saturday. The road had been good to San Jose last season, but the Sharks have split their two road games this season. Their most recent road game was in Anaheim as the Ducks shut them out 4-0 even though the Sharks out shot the Ducks 38-20.

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Red Wings -145 vs. Blues

Two old and bitter rivals meet up in St. Louis tonight as the Red Wings travel south to take on the Blues.  Both teams have gotten off to fast starts in the Central Division, with St. Louis holding a surprising early lead in the standings against the defending Stanley Cup Champions.  Surprising because Detroit has won the Central seven straight seasons, while St. Louis has rarely climbed out of the cellar during that same period.

The Red Wings (3-1-1-0) have had their share of injuries in the early part of the season. Henrick Zetterberg has missed games with minor injuries and now Andreas Lilia had to undergo an emergency appendectomy which puts him out of this game, however the defenseman expects to return by Friday. The Wings topped the surprising Rangers in overtime, 5-4, Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena. The win was the team’s first on home ice, but skate into the Scottrade Center attempting to stay undefeated on the road. But something clearly has to give as the Blues are undefeated in three games on home ice.

St. Louis also last took the ice on Saturday and also had to go to extra time to beat their division rival Blackhawks. The Blues bested Chicago 4-3 in a shootout at home. Former Wing Manny Legace looks to continue his dominance this season against his former mates. The Blues’ netminder is 4-0-0 this season with a 2.41 GAA and a .951 save percentage. On the other side of the ice is Chris Osgood who is 2-1-1 with a gaudy 3.25 GAA and a .884 save percentage. Osgood played for the St. Louis Blues during his time away from the Red Wings.

Despite finishing in last place behind the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings, the Blues held their own against Detroit last year. The Wings did have a slight edge in last year’s series, but only by a game, 4-3-1 with St. Louis claiming the last game of the series last season 4-3 in overtime which was also played at Scottrade.

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Devils -140 vs. Stars

A rematch of the 2000 Stanley Cup Final matches the Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils. The Devils claimed the Stanley Cup in six games in that series and will play host to the Stars tonight at the Prudential Center.

The Stars skate into this contest with a disappointing 2-3-1 record after reaching the Conference finals last spring. In their last contest, the Stars were victorious 2-1 at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers and hope for more of the same as they visit the Devils (4-1-0-0). The win in Manhattan snapped the Stars two game losing streak. Dallas goalie Marty Turco looked to return to form against New York. Turco made a mistake early as Markus Naslan fired one behind the net minder only 58 seconds into Monday's game. Turco then shut down the Rangers' high octane offense by stopping 28 shots. This was an improvement on Turco's astronomical 4.70 goals against average entering Monday night.

The Devils have old, reliable Martin Brodeur as their goalie and continue to reap the rewards. Brodeur has played all of New Jerseys' five games and has lost only one of those contests.  He boasts an anemic 1.56 GAA, including a 4-3 shootout victory, in which Brodeur stopped all shots before him, over the Capitals Saturday night. The Devils will be one man down for the next three to four weeks when Bobby Holik broke his pinkie in the Washington game. Meanwhile news on Brian Rolston is better after being injured in last Thursday's 1-0 win in Atlanta.  X-rays were negative on Rolston's sprained ankle and is currently day-to-day.

Since the 2000 Cup Final, the Devils lead the series 5-2-0.

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Falcons -5 vs. Lobos

It has been an interesting season for the New Mexico Lobos so far in 2008 both on and off the field. It began with the word that the NCAA was putting the program on three year probation for fraud. Then they lost their starting quarterback for the season early on. The sanctions, which were announced about 10 days before the season began, along with Donovan Porterie's injury, seemed to cast a pall over the early part of the season. New Mexico (4-4, 2-2) started the season 0-2 and lost three of their first four contests until seemingly righting the ship recently by winning three of their last four, including an incredible 70-7 drubbing of San Diego State last Saturday. This Thursday they travel to Colorado to take on the Air Force Academy and hope to continue to turn their season around.

Air Force (5-2, 3-1) has been solid since the beginning of the season by winning five of their first seven games, including a thrilling on point victory on the road in Las Vegas against UNLV, 29-28.

Look for these Mountain West rivals to have a running game clinic Thursday night. Having passing attacks which rank 112th and 118th respectively New Mexico and Air Force rely heavily on their running game, and why not? The Lobos have the 15th ranked rushing offense in Division I and the Falcons' have them bested with the third best ground game. In fact Air Force runs for an astonishing 300 yards per game. New Mexico has been particularly poor in offense with the exception of the rushing game this season. The Lobos lit up the scoreboard for 70 points last week, but still only hold the 61st best school in points scored.

The Lobos may be in a culture shock for this game as the warm-climate team is facing a game with forecasted kickoff temperatures in the high 30's to low 40's, which will only get colder throughout as the game progresses. The climate may have something to do with the fact that New Mexico has not won in Falcon Stadium since 2000. The team did claim last year's contest in Albuquerque 34-31.

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Mountaineers -3 vs. Tigers

The Auburn Tigers‘ disappointing season continues this Thursday after taking last Saturday off. Auburn will travel to Morgantown to take on another disappointing team, albeit not to Auburnian levels, West Virginia.

The teams’ pause from their conference schedules for a rare midseason non-conference tilt. In fact the two traditional college football powerhouses have never met before this Thursday’s game.

The last time out on October 11, Auburn dropped a home game to Arkansas 25-22 to drop their record to 4-3 which dropped their conference record to a debilitating 2-3. After beginning the season at 3-0, the Tigers’ lost to the other SEC Tigers’ and have now dropped 3 of their last four.

West Virginia has taken a different route to their 4-2 record. After winning their first game, the Mountaineers lost two games in a row to seemingly inferior opponents. Since their 1-2 start West Virginia has won three straight and is currently perfect in the Big East. A loss to Auburn would not be as damaging as if they were to drop a conference game, but the Mountaineers want to continue their winning ways, Big East opponent or not.

West Virginia has won all four of their games in Morgantown this season, while Auburn has only taken to the road twice thus far, splitting those games. This game may be won in the trenches as neither teams’ offense has been particularly stellar this season, although the Mountaineers, under the power of running back Noel Devine and the scrambling skills of quarterback Pat White rank 14th in the nation in rushing offense. But their passing game has been awful at times, currently ranked 115th. In fact Pat White has thrown for only 160 more yards than he has run for this season.

Auburn has not been much better throwing the rock as they rank 103rd in passing. Unlike the Mountaineers who have their running game to fall back on, the Tigers’ rank only 70th in passing offense.

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Phillies -111 vs. Rays

In a prefect world from a ratings standpoint, these teams would not be playing in the Fall Classic. It was apparent that baseball and its media outlets would have loved a Cubs-Red Sox, a Cubs-White Sox or a Dodgers-Red Sox matchup. Even though Philadelphia is one of the largest television markets in the country, the fact that they are not the national draw Fox had hoped for. Perhaps even worse are the Tampa Bay Rays who just now have a growing fan base in their home town. Either way these are the teams that earned a trip to the World Series and neither team nor their fans should or will apologize for making it.

Both teams are scrambling to be known as the underdog. Most of the year they were. Philadelphia was not picked by most to win their division for the second straight season nor were they given much of a chance in the postseason. Tampa Bay was doubted every step of the way through the regular and postseason. Yet here are both teams.

The best of seven series begins with Game 1 Wednesday night in St. Petersburg. The series will shift to the City of Brotherly Love for the first time since 1993 for Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 5 Saturday through Monday. If needed, the series will then return to Tropicana Field for Game 6 and 7 on October 29 and 30.

Game 1’s pitching matchup has not yet been set because the Rays are still deciding what their World Series rotation will be.  One thing is clear, however, Phillies’ ace Cole Hamels will take his three postseason victories and 1.23 ERA to the hill. Hamels won the LCS MVP for his excellent work.

Going into the series, both teams are healthy and it is hard to give one of the teams an edge, although the underdog mantra both teams claim actually belongs to Philadelphia as Las Vegas has determined the Rays as the favorite. And with recent history, it is easy to see why this is the case. Last year the Colorado Rockies steamrolled through the end of the regular season and the postseason to win 21 of their last 22 games.  Sweeps of the Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks kept the Rockies resting while Boston battled back from a 3-1 deficit against Cleveland to win the American League Pennant in 7 games. The Rockies seemed to have lost their edge and momentum while the Red Sox were fresh and won the World Series in four. A similar situation emerged in 2006 when the Detroit Tigers swept Oakland in the ALCS and had a week long wait for the Cardinals to wrap up their series victory over the Mets. The heavily favored Tigers seemed out of synch, committing errors and slumped at the plate as St. Louis topped them in five games. The Phillies took the field last a week ago Wednesday which will give them the same time off as the Tigers and Rockies, while the Rays played Sunday night.

With Hamels taking the mound, the Phillies look to turn the tide on the recent trend and steal at least one game on the road before going home for three games in Philadelphia.

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Owls -3 vs. Bobcats

The absence of a World Series game tonight has opened the door for a rare Tuesday night college football showdown tonight in baseball-mad Philadelphia. Two struggling teams from the Mid-American Conference meet at Lincoln Financial Field tonight as the Ohio Bobcats travel east to take own their conference rival Temple Owls.

Ohio (2-5, 1-2) looks to continue their season turnaround as they attempt to win their third game in four tries. The Bobcats started the season a disappointing 0-4, even though they gave state rivals Ohio State a run for their money in the second week of the season as they led the Buckeyes at half time and added an early second half touchdown before ultimately surrendering the lead and eventually the game 26-14. Wins over Kent State and VMI sandwiched between a 41-20 thumping in Kalamazoo against Western Michigan has given Ohio some hope that their season may now be on the right track, especially against a Temple team whom the Bobcats’ blasted 23-7 in the teams’ first meeting last season in Athens, Ohio.

In their second season of playing football in the MAC, Temple (2-5, 1-3) has struggled against their new conference rivals as well as in their non-conference schedule.  The Owls started the season with a convincing 35-7 victory over Army, but followed that win with five losses in six games. Their only win during that time came on the road against Miami of Ohio, 28-10 on October 4.

If Temple hopes to win this contest, they must stop Ohio’s offense because their own offense has been lackluster throughout 2008. The Owls have the 113th best scoring offense, rank 115th in the nation in total yards, 101st in passing yards and 108th in rushing yards.

Meanwhile the Bobcats’ offense ranks in the middle of the pack, however they have been putting up big numbers on offense, but it has not helped them win more than 2 games.

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Buckeyes -3 vs. Spartans

Could this be the year of the Spartan in the Big Ten? With national pundits claiming the conference is weak and their bitter rivals from Ann Arbor losing to MAC schools for the first time ever, the time is now for Michigan State football. But first they have to get by a usual road block for them: Ohio State.

After a cross-country trek to take on California in the season opener, Michigan State (6-1, 3-0) suffered a hard-fought loss. Since then they have not lost, winning six straight games and jumping to number 20 in the nation.  Winning seven will be historically tough for the Spartans, since they face the 12th-ranked Buckeyes (6-1, 3-0) who they have not beaten since 1999 and the fact that Michigan State has not won seven straight games in 30 years.

Everyone knows the tales of woe coming out of Columbus. Their lone loss was at USC, but the crushing defeat seemed to cast a pale over their season despite winning four straight since. Ohio State has yet to have a convincing victory this season and that trend continued with last week's 16-3 victory against Purdue in Ohio Stadium.

Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor is still looking his young age as he threw for less than 100 yards and only picked up 27 on the ground. The Spartans (6-1, 3-0), meanwhile, are playing better than most expected.

There are a couple of intriguing matchups in this contest, including Spartan coach Mark Dantoni taking on his former employer and mentor Jim Tressel. In addition there is pre-season Heisman favorite Chris "Beanie" Wells taking on the nation's top running back Javon Ringer, who is firmly in the running for the trophy.  Wells fell out of contention after missing four games after suffering an injury in Ohio State's opening win. Ringer, an Ohio native picked the Buckeyes as his top destination for college, but was ultimately passed up.  Ringer has rushed for 1112 yards and 14 touchdowns and will look to take his revenge out on his former favorite team. Last season in Columbus, the Buckeyes shut down Ringer, as he was held to 49 yards on 18 carries, while Wells was the shining star rumbling for 221 yards on 31 carried in a 24-17 Ohio State win.

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Crimson Tide -12 vs. Rebels

In March, you have the team that has "Cinderella slippers" on and gets hot and beats up on the big boys.  These are always great stories, but rarely does a team consistently beat higher ranked teams during a college football season. While one team has not been able to pull this off this season, there have been several big boys going down and Alabama is on upset guard alert versus Mississippi.

An upset of the surging Crimson Tide (6-0, 3-0) may be a tall order for the Rebels who have not pulled off too many upsets of their next door neighbors over the years. Out of 56 meetings, Mississippi has only won 9 times and tied twice.  Alabama leads the series 44-9-2, has won four straight and 20 of the past 23 in the lopsided series. Even more incredibly, Mississippi (3-3. 1-2) has only won once in Tuscaloosa in 1988.  But Ole Miss fans are hoping that the team has turned the tied against the big boys of the SEC since their 31-30 upset of the Florida Gators in Gainesville three weeks ago.

Further hope for the Rebels is the fact that the last time the Tide took the field, they did not exactly look like the second best team in the country.  In their slim 17-14 triumph over Kentucky, Alabama turned the ball over three times and committed a season high 10 penalties resulting in 92 yards lost.  One bright spot in the game against the Wildcats was Glen Coffee, who ran for 218 yards rushing and a touchdown.

For Ole Miss, the only hope they have in this game is to hold on to the ball. They lost their last game two weeks ago at home 31-24 against South Carolina in large part due to three turnovers. Over the past five games, they have turned the ball over 15 times.

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Longhorns -4 vs. Tigers

In probably the best matchup of the week, the Missouri Tigers travel southwest to take on the Texas Longhorns Saturday night in Austin.  As great of a matchup as it will be, a number 11 taking on the top team in the nation, it could have been so much better. Early in the day, after Texas played an incredible game to upset the then number one team in the nation, Oklahoma, it appeared that this matchup could possibly be number one versus number two. Alas, Missouri did not live up to their end of the bargain as they were upset by Oklahoma State 28-23 in Faurot Field.

Texas (6-0, 2-0) certainly benefited from the losses of previously undefeated teams last week, including Missouri. The Longhorns were able to leap from number five to number one and is the top team in the regular season for the first time since 1984. After an easy schedule throughout the first half, times are getting tougher for the Longhorns, beginning last week with Oklahoma in Dallas and continuing this week with the Tigers (5-1, 1-1) in Austin.

They will face Heisman Trophy candidate Chase Daniel, who completed 39 of 52 passes for 390 yards, still stellar numbers, but Daniel only reached the end zone once and threw three key second half interceptions.  The Tigers will attempt to get back on track and salvage the Big 12 North title.

The Longhorns signal caller certainly did not struggle last week or this season for that matter. Colt McCoy has completed 79.4 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns and only three interceptions this season.

To win, Missouri will have to fit the trends. Texas has dominated the series which began in 1996, 5-1 and have won four straight by an average of 23 points.

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Sooners -20 vs. Jayhawks

With last week's fabulous Red River Shootout now in the history books with Oklahoma on the short end of the stick, the team looks to regroup this Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma. While their hopes of a perfect season were dashed at the hands of rival Texas 45-35, the Sooners (5-1, 1-1) still seem to hold their own destiny as they set their sites on a Big 12 Championship and the possibility of still achieving a spot in the BCS Championship game in January. After all two years ago, Texas nipped Oklahoma but the Sooners rebounded to claim the Big 12 crown and last season saw a two-loss LSU team clinch the national championship.

Pollsters took into account Oklahoma's loss to a top five team and only dropped the Sooners to number four. The Sooners will welcome another ranked team, number 16 Kansas for a second straight tough test, this time on the friendly grounds of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

There was no bigger surprise in 2007 than Kansas and they are continuing their success in 2009. The Jayhawks (5-1, 2-0) only blemish was a close loss to number 19 South Florida on September 12. Stalled in the middle of the top-25, a victory on the road in Norman will go along way to placing Kansas back into national title contention. This will be no easy feat though. In addition to coming off a tough loss to an arch-rival, Oklahoma has won 21 straight games at Memorial Stadium.

Kansas should be in for an aerial offensive attack by the nation's fourth ranking scoring offense.  The Sooners average an astounding 523 yards per game and 47 points per game. Last week Sam Bradford threw for 387 yards with five touchdowns on two interceptions. The onus was clearly on Bradford last week as Oklahoma's ground game sputtered to 48 yards on 23 attempts.

Kansas knows they must make hay on offense since the Sooner defense struggled so mightily last Saturday, giving up 438 yards. The Sooners will also be missing middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds who is gone for the season with a right knee ligament tear.

This is the teams' first meeting since 2005 when Oklahoma bested the Jayhawks 19-3 for their fourth straight win in the series. Kansas last beat Oklahoma in 1997.

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Hurricanes -3 vs. Blue Devils

The Duke Blue Devils football team is in unfamiliar waters.  The team is over .500 at the midway half of the season. The team is 3-2 and 1-1 in ACC play and will take on conference rival Miami Hurricanes Saturday afternoon in Durham, North Carolina. Duke will attempt to win their first game against Miami in four attempts since the Hurricanes moved from the Big East to the ACC prior to the 2005 season.

Miami (3-3, 0-2) continues to struggle to find an identity this season, much as they have for the last half of this decade. Last week, the Hurricanes seemed listless and lifeless in a close clash with Central Florida, winning 20-14. With apologizes to Knights' fans, Miami may have had a bit of an emotional hangover as they clashed with bigger in-state rival Florida State the week before, losing a late lead and the game 41-39 to the Seminoles.

Miami will have to get their offense into gear to beat the Blue Devils and have a say in the ACC this year.  They rank 110th in total offense with an average of 289 yards per game. The team looks to get a lift with the expected return of two cogs in the offense. Running back Javarris James and right tackle Reggie Youngblood appear healthy and ready to go Saturday.

There was a time when Duke would be considered an instant win on an ACC opponent's schedule, but the Blue Devils have turned the page on their program and hope they can finally compete for a bowl game this season. Duke is coming off a humiliating 27-0 loss to Georgia Tech that reminds people of the Duke of old, so it is important they attempt to dictate the play to Miami on their home turf and attempt to achieve the upset.

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Eagles -3 vs. Hokies

Virginia Tech may well be the cardiac kids of 2008. In their six games so far this season, four of those games have been decided by 5 points or less. But Tech has risen to the occasion, going 3-1 in those games. The first of those games was a 27-22 opening game loss to East Carolina, but the Hokies, left for dead after that game by many pundits has won five straight.

Do not expect the nail-biting finishes to take a week off this week as Virginia Tech (5-1, 2-0) takes on rival Boston College (4-1, 1-1) this Saturday night in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Last season the teams' met twice and both times the outcome was in doubt late in the contest. The Eagles won in the teams' regular season contest in Blacksburg last season, only to see the Hokies return the favor in the ACC Championship game in December.

The feeling of home comfort may be missing from Alumni Stadium for BC on Saturday. That is because Virginia Tech has only lost one ACC road game since jumping ship from the Big East in 2004. Fortunately for BC fans, it is of note that VA Tech's only loss was in Chestnut Hill, a 22-3 BC drubbing in 2006.

Sophomore Tyrod Taylor has emerged as a star since taking over for struggling senior Sean Glennon earlier this season. While the quarter back is averaging just 99.0 yards per game passing with one touchdown pass, he is averaging 67 yards per game with his feet and has reached the end zone this way twice. But because of their quarterbacks' throwing issues, the Hokies are 113th in passing.

While Matt Ryan tosses touchdown passes for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, the Eagles have passing issues of their own, ranking only slightly better than VA Tech at 89. But Boston College hopes their passing attack is finally breaking out of its shell. Against North Carolina State in the Eagles' last game, senior quarterback Chris Crane threw 34 completions on 51 throws for 428 yards, two touchdowns threw the air and three scores on the ground in BC's 38-31 triumph. For his heroics, Crane was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week.

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Yellow Jackets -2 1/2 vs. Tigers

Clemson's nightmare season continued this week with the resignation of coach Tommy Bowden in a rare coaching move in the middle of a college football season. The 3-3 Tigers, who lost to Wake Forest last week 12-7, have been one of the most disappointing teams in the country thus far and it will remain to see if they will right the ship with Dabo Swinney as the interim head coach or fold after the loss of Bowden.

That test will begin this week when Clemson plays host to the high-flying Georgia Tech, winners of their last three. For pollsters, Georgia Tech's 5-1 record is not good enough to garner a place within the top 25, but the Yellow Jackets hope a victory in Memorial Stadium will put them on the map.

The Tigers have lost two straight after winning three straight and seemingly making a season out of the 2008 campaign after the disastrous opening loss to Alabama. Prior to Coach Bowden's resignation, he benched inconsistent starter Cullen Harper in favor of freshman backup Willy Korn. New coach Swinney upheld his predecessors' decision and Korn will indeed start versus Georgia Tech. Clemson's biggest worry Saturday is Tech's rushing offense which is currently ranked 8th in the nation, led by junior running back Jonathon Dwyer.

Georgia Tech bested the Clemson Tigers in their last contest one year ago in Atlanta, 13-3 but the Yellow Jackets were blown out 31-7 on their last trip to Clemson in 2006. Both teams look to improve on their ACC Conference marks which sits at 2-1 for Tech and 1-2 for Clemson.

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Broncos -23 1/2 vs. Warriors

On the eve of the first BCS rankings of the season, the Boise State Broncos want to be heard. They do have to get past Hawaii Saturday night before basking in the glow of being a potential BCS-buster. Memories are fresh in Bronco player and fans minds of Hawaii hurdling Boise State on the way to their BCS bowl last season. Poor defense ultimately sealed the Broncos' fate last season, but in 2008 it has been the secret to their success.

Boise State (5-0, 1-0) ranks seventh in the nation in scoring defense and have allowed a paltry 11 points per game. This is heads and tails better then the output in the loss to Hawaii last season, in which the Broncos surrendered 39 points to a Colt Brennan-led Warrior team. Case in point, last week's victory over Southern Mississippi. Boise State held their opponents to seven points, which was quite a feat as Southern Mississippi was considered the 17th best offense in the nation.

Hawaii is a team in transition. Most of the time this season, the team has seemed inconsistent and searching for their identity after losing Brennan to the NFL and iconic coach June Jones to SMU at the end of last season. The Warriors have had some big wins this season, however. They beat a Fresno State team, who was ranked at the time, on their home turf. This marked the first time ever that Hawaii has beaten a ranked team on the road. Another upset on the road of a good team, especially an undefeated rival, will go along way for the latest incarnation of the Hawaii Warriors to find themselves.

For Hawaii to win in Boise State, they much buck the trend of the all-time series. Hawaii has only won three of the teams' nine meetings. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. Saturday night in Boise.

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Seminoles -11 vs. Wolfpack

North Carolina State attempts to turn their season around as they battle their conference rival Florida State tonight in Raleigh. The Wolf Pack will hope home cooking and rabid fan support will push them to the upset victory.

NC State (2-4, 0-2) looks for their first conference victory Thursday, but will face a tough test against Florida State's stout defense.  The Seminoles (4-1, 1-1) are rolling after two straight wins, the last of which came nearly two weeks ago against state-rival Miami, 41-39. The defense certainly cracked in the game against the Hurricanes, but hopes to rebound against a Wolf Pack team ranking 113th in total yards, 78th in passing and 118th in rushing yards. Junior quarterback Harrison Beck has had his struggles this season to say the least, throwing for 2 touchdowns against 6 interceptions. His ineffectiveness has led to platooning and being replaced in many of NC State's contests early this season by freshman Russell Wilson.  Wilson has been steady in sporadic work, going 51 of 90 with 532 yards on 4 touchdowns against only 1 interception.

Over on the Seminole's sidelines, the quarterback has also had his struggles. Sophomore signal caller Christian Ponder is throwing at less than a 50 percent clip with 706 yards and 7 touchdowns. Ponder may be salivating to get back on track against the Wolf Pack who have given up 38, 41 and 24 points in their last three games (1-2) and have yielded an averaged of 28.3 points in the 2008 campaign.

No team has held a large edge in the series as of late. The last ten matchups have resulted in 5 wins for each school. This will be the third time the teams have meet up on a Thursday night, with the Wolfpack besting the 'Noles in the last contest at Carter-Finley Stadium in 2006.

InSpin.com

Colorado -130 vs. Philadelphia

Two winless clubs skate onto the ice in Denver's Pepsi Center Thursday night as the Philadelphia Flyers travel to the Rocky Mountain State to take on the Colorado Avalanche in this early season, inter-conference battle.

The Flyers have started their season in very disappointing fashion after finishing in the final four of the league's playoffs last spring.  The Montreal Canadiens may have gotten a small amount of revenge on Philadelphia (0-2-1) by beating them Tuesday night.

The Flyers ousted the heavily favorite Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Semifinals from last year.  The Canadiens kept the Flyers winless by coming from behind with four goals in the third period to claim a 5-3 win.

One of those goals was off of Scottie Upshall's stick into the Flyers goal.  The only bad thing about that for the Flyers was the goalie Upshall's shot caromed past was also wearing the black, orange and white sweater.  Thus is the life of the Flyers in the early part of the 2008-2009 Season.

Philadelphia Flyers will not receive any notes of condolences from the Colorado Avalanche who continue to have struggles of their own.  Unlike the Flyers who have managed a shootout loss, worth 1 point, thus far, the Avalanche are still searching for their first point of the season as they struggle at 0-3-0.  The last time out the Avs suffered a defeat at the hands of rival Calgary Flames 5-4.

Fans of the team are growing restless with an aging Colorado team and a front office not moving fast enough to improve the team.  Last season the Avs ranked 22nd in the NHL in penalty killing and the team did nothing to address that discrepancy.  In this young season Colorado has yielded 5 goals in 12 power play chances.

The teams drop the puck 9 pm Eastern time Thursday night.

InSpin.com

Horned Frogs -2 vs. Cougars

Times are good in Provo, but one ominous roadblock stands in the Cougars' way in extending the nation's longest win streak and that is tonight's game against the upset-minded TCU Horned Frogs.

On the line for BYU Cougars, in addition to their 16 game win streak, is 7-0, which would happen for the first time since 2001 and number nine in the polls. 2001 was the year in which the Cougars' won their first 12 contests.

BYU's high-flying offense will be in for a true test in Fort Worth, as TCU boasts the nation's top defense. BYU (6-0, 2-0) hopes their last game's offense output was not a preview of what they will display tonight. Last week in a hard fought victory against New Mexico, the offense was held to a season-low 21 points and gained 70 yards less than their 2008 average.

The Frogs are screaming, "remember us?" There is one way for TCU to get respect and that is to knock off number nine in a Thursday home game on national television. After all, TCU's only loss was in Norman to the Sooners who were the number two team at the time. The last time out TCU's stellar defense held Colorado State to a touchdown in a 13-7 victory.

The defense especially swarmed in the second half, achieving a mindboggling statistic in the process by holding the Rams to negative 49 yards. The defense will have its first challenge since Oklahoma tonight with Max Hall. The BYU junior signal caller ranks as one of the top quarterbacks in the country with 1,852 yards and 20 touchdowns.

TCU hopes they can get their top dog back under center this week. Andy Dalton injured his knee in the Oklahoma defeat but slated to be back this week.

The series has been owned by BYU 5-2 and have won three out of the four played on TCU soil.

InSpin.com

Pittsburgh  - 135 vs. Washington

Two long-time adversaries resume their rivalry Thursday in Pittsburgh when the defending Eastern Champion Penguins play host to the Washington Capitals. Anytime these two clubs play each other, OLN should be carrying it much like ESPN carries every Yankees-Red Sox matchup.

For the NFL to grow in the United States, it needs to showcase two of its brightest starts who happen to play on each team. Alex Ovechkin and Sydney Crosby resume their personal rivalry, because Many NHL pundits debate which player is better. This is much like NFL fans used to wonder if Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith was the quintessential 1990s running back.

Ovechkin has been a bit dinged up in this young season, but has not missed a game, scoring two goals in the Capitals (4-1-0) five games. Ovechkin better be more worried about competing with a teammate then the Pens' Crosby.  Alexander Semin has stormed out of the gates in the 2008-2009 Season. Semin has recorded 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists), including two goals in the 5-1 drubbing of the Vancouver Canucks this past Monday. Over in Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin and Tyler Kennedy have combined for four points as the standard bearers of the Penguins.

Second place Pittsburgh (2-1-1) has played well, but had better get on their horse if they want to flag down the high flying and division rival New York Rangers who are perfect at 5-0-0.

The Pens are getting healthier, however, as left wing Petr Sykora returned to the ice this past Tuesday in Pittsburgh 2-1 victory over Philadelphia.

The teams meet at the Igloo, A.K.A. Melon Arena Thursday at 7:30 pm Eastern time.

InSpin.com

Boston Red Sox -1 1/2 vs. Tampa Bay Rays

With another win Thursday in Boston, the Tampa Bay Rays will clinch the American League Pennant. Let me repeat that. With another win Thursday in Boston, the Tampa Bay Rays will clinch the American League Pennant. Imagine reading that statement in April without falling on the floor and laughing uncontrollably.

Sure, Tampa Bay was predicted to be better this season, but this much better?  Plus, pundits have been predicting good things for the team formerly known as the Devil Rays for a couple of years now and nothing had happened.

But 2008 has been a totally different year in the Bay area.

And the 2008 ALCS has been totally different than the 2008 regular season for Boston and Tampa Bay. Boston was 1-8 in Tropicana Field this season and Tampa Bay was 2-7 in Fenway Park, but these trends have flipped in the postseason. The Red Sox won Game 1 and nearly stole Game 2 in St. Petersburg, while the Rays have convincingly won both games in Boston thus far.

Every step of the way this season, the Rays have been doubted. They started the season strong, but stumbled shortly after and everyone buried them. They soared in the middle of the season to first place, everyone said it would not last, surely the Red Sox and/or Yankees would catch them. They stumbled down the stretch, letting Boston get back in the race. "That's it," pundits said, "the only hope Tampa Bay has is for the wildcard." They righted the ship and claimed the AL East crown by playing well against the Red Sox in late season head-to-head matchups. Certainly their lack of experience would doom them in the playoffs, especially against the postseason veterans in Boston's lineup, they all said. Each time there has been doubt, the Rays have answered loudly. Their latest loud response was Tuesday's clobbering of Boston, 13-4, to step into the driver's seat of the ALCS by leading 3 games to 1.

Boston is staying calm and saying the right things. After all, everyone knows, the Red Sox overcame a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS just four seasons ago. They were in a similar spot then as well, with the middle games being in Boston and having to stage the improbably comeback primarily on the road.  This will be the case again for the Boston Red Sox as they take it one game at a time, beginning with Game 5 Thursday at Fenway. To get their comeback started, the Red Sox will throw Game 1 starter Dice-K Matsuzaka up against the Rays and hope he will duplicate his success of shutting out Tampa last Friday night to get the series back to sunny Florida.

Meanwhile the Rays hopes of achieving their first ever World Series berth will ride on ace Scott Kazmir, who has been penciled in instead of James Shields, whose turn it was.

InSpin.com

Philadelphia -1 1/2 vs. Los Angeles

Is there any question that baseball playoffs could be sports' most exciting? Monday night's intense and nail biting Game 4 of the National League Championship Series certainly proved the case. Two sources, one somewhat likely, the other not so much, were the heroes of the evening.

First off was Shane Victorino. His two run blast tied the score and set up journeyman Matt Stairs' heroics as he sent another two run homer into the stunned L.A. faithful's lap, giving Philadelphia a lead they would not relinquish thus achieving a stranglehold on the series, 3 games to 1.

The theater pauses for a night for both teams to catch their breath. It will remain to see who will benefit from the night off, but one thing appears certain: both teams can not be ecstatic about the day off.  With such a dramatic late inning victory, the Phillies would probably want to play and try to clinch the pennant tonight. By sitting a night, Philadelphia will certainly lose the momentum of Monday's win. On the other side of Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles probably wants to play ASAP to erase the bitter taste of Monday, while capturing the emotion and stellar play of their Game 3 victory from Sunday night. Neither team will get their way as they wait until Wednesday for the do-or-die Game 5.

Which Dodger team will take the field Wednesday? The pressure is clearly in their corner and this is a team who arguably had the least amount of pressure all season long. Playing in the worst division in baseball, the Dodgers were the best of a sorry bunch and had no real pressure for the division crown late in the season.  In the NLDS, L.A. were monumental underdogs from the first pitch of Game 1 in Wrigley to the sweep-clinching Game 3 victory. Now they face pressure and it will remain to see how they will respond. And before Dodger fans can comfort themselves with the presence of Joe Torre on the bench, know this: with Monday's loss, L.A.'s skipper has lost seven of his past LCS games.

The Phillies are in a great spot. If they lose Wednesday, they travel back to Philadelphia to attempt to clinch in front of their home fans and are 4-0 in the 2008 playoffs in front of those fans. Of course long time Phillie fans will never accept victory before it is bestowed upon them for the many monumental collapses over the years. If they win Wednesday, they will earn a trip to the Fall Classic for the first time since 1993.

Things won't be easy for the Dodgers as they throw their ace and Game 1 winner Cole Hamels up against Chad Billingsley, who was shelled in his last start versus the Phils and lasted only 2 1/3 innings.

InSpin.com

Cardinals -6 1/2 vs. Tigers

The Tigers and Cardinals will be looking at renewing their rivalry this week at the Liberty Bowl.

This match up has been pretty even over the years with Louisville having the slight edge over Memphis winning 21 times in their 40 previous head to head battles on the football field.

Both teams will be coming into this game trying to avoid dropping below the .500 mark with the Tigers at 3-3 and the Cards at 2-2.

Memphis has been on a roll as of late coming off three straight victories after a very slow start at 0-3. Louisville on the other hand has been solid on offense with a balanced attack on both the ground and in the air averaging 200+ yards a game in both offenses areas. The biggest problem for the Cards is holding onto the football as they consistently commit costly turnovers. So far, in only four games this season, Louisville has turned the football over ten times.

Although Louisville has a tendency to turn the ball over, their defense has been suffocating to opposing teams, especially against the running game. In the four games the Cards have played they have managed to force nine turnovers to make up for their mistakes on offense.

Even though this should be a close game, the Memphis Tigers should prevail as they are just the better all around team with a very strong offensive force in quarterback Arkelon Hall. In last week's victory over UAB, Hall was near unstoppable throwing for over 200 yards and four touchdowns. With a quarterback like Hall behind center, the Tigers will improve to 4-3.

InSpin.com

Saints -3 vs. Vikings

It's a tale of two decent teams looking to get a leg up in their respective divisions when the Minnesota Vikings visit the Louisiana Superdome on Monday night.

Both squads are coming off pretty decent games, with Drew Brees passing for 363 yards and two scores, even without Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey in the lineup, in a 31-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers.

By contrast, Minnesota moved the ball well, but three turnovers did them in in a 30-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Gus Frerotte threw the ball 43 times, connecting on 25 of them, for 266 yards, but accounted for two turnovers. Frerotte will start on Monday.

While the New Orleans Saints are listed as three-point favorites, I'll go out on a limb and say Minnesota can get the upset. The Saints' defense is banged up, especially in the interior, with first round pick Sedrick Ellis out for this game with a knee injury, and linebacker Troy Evans listed as probable. Even if those two were in, Adrian Peterson could have a field day. With Peterson pounding away at the Saints defense, Frerotte may not have to chuck it 43 times this game. Brees might have to, though, as the Viking defense is one of the tops in the NFL at shutting down the run game, allowing only 71.8 yards on the ground per game. With the Saints’ offense geared mostly toward passing, this may allow the line to pin their ears back and let the dogs out on a Minnesota line that has allowed 10 sacks in four games this year.

Even though the crowd noise at the Dome can be much, I feel that Minnesota may pull out the win here. It'll be narrow, but if the Viking line is as adept at harassing Brees as they are at gobbling up enemy runners, it'll be a long day in the ‘Dome for the Saints.

InSpin.com

Patriots -3 vs. 49ers

Frank Gore is the man in San Francisco! After years of mediocre seasons in San Fran, the 49ers finally have some playoffs hopes due to their superstar running back having another terrific season.

The Niners aren't a great football team, at least not yet, but they have shown some signs of promise in there first four games of the season. The Patriots on the other hand are not looking even close to the dominant team that almost went undefeated last year.

When Tom Brady went down in the first game for the Pats, the team just seemed to implode on both offense and defense. They aren't a bad team, but they are not the huge threat they were before Brady started watching from the sidelines.

Although Randy Moss may not be having 100+ yards a game and multiple touchdown receptions, the Pats offense can still be very dangerous. With the Buffalo Bills being undefeated thus far, the Pats have to keep winning as this could be the first time, in a long time that New England will not win the AFC East.

After the Dolphins destroyed the defending AFC champs in week three 38-13, New England's offense and defense was been exposed. Every opponent from here on out will try to take advantage of the Pats without Brady taking the snaps.

The Pats are still too talented and rested after the bye week that they should beat up on the Niners on Sunday, but if New England hasn’t corrected their problems the 49ers might have a chance of getting another win.

InSpin.com

Broncos -4 vs. Bucs

A couple of weeks ago this game would have been no contest and an easy victory for a Broncos team that seemed destined to make a Super Bowl run. Denver could still be on its way to Tampa Bay, but after being kept relatively in check offensively against Kansas City last week, they could be in trouble.

Jay Culter could arguably be the best quarterback in the NFL right now. With Tom Brady out for the season and Peyton Manning not playing like Peyton Manning, Culter has the edge in my book. The guy just seems to make the right decision at the right time and is one of the most accurate quarterbacks ever to play the game. The problem is that his defense doesn’t back up the points the young quarterback puts on the board.

The Bucs on the other hand are winning pretty much under the radar. They are not all that great on offense (a lot of turnovers) and their defense isn’t all that special either, but they continue to beat good teams. First it was Chicago and then it was the Packers that fell victim to the Bucs. For some reason ex-Broncos quarterback Brian Griese has this team at 3-1 (3-0 since he took the starting job).

The Achilles heel for the Denver Broncos is their defense. They just can’t stop anyone right now despite having one of the best defensive players in the game in Champ Bailey. If Griese can keep the turnovers to a minimum and keep throwing touchdown passes like he has, the Bucs have a shot at pulling off the upset.

InSpin.com

Giants -6 1/2 vs. Seahawks

Why is it that NFL wide receivers have to be the sporting world's version of a "diva?"

Prior to the season, we had to deal with Chad Johnson changing his name to a spanish numeral only until the NFL told him he would have to buy all the jerseys left in the merchandise closet before he could change his nameplate. This past week Terrell Owens, who we know way too well, stated that he was not receiving the ball enough even though his quarterback threw his way 17 times Sunday.

Now the Giants (3-0) are coping without their superstar, Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress who was suspended for going M.I.A. early in New York's bye week. The Giants are hoping that they can weather the storm of Burress’ absence by taking on an inconsistent Seahawks (1-2) team who are embarking on their second cross-country trek of the early season.

Meanwhile Seattle has had receiver issues of their own this season, but not because of misconduct. Deion Branch and Bobby Engram are set to make their season debut and bolster a struggling Matt Hasselbeck.
Without Burress, Eli Manning can bank on their stellar running attack. Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward have been a lethal combination this season. Jacobs has rushed for 244 yards, while Ward has 177 in spot and relief duty.

The Giants usually steady defense allowed 347 yards to the Bengals, but was able to take down Carson Palmer six times. Palmer was so battled by the Giants he was unable to start last week and looks unable to go this week as well. The Giants have 13 sacks amazingly even without Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora.

Hasslebeck hopes to avoid hitting the turf on Sunday. This way his now plentiful receivers core will be able to work their magic. Engram, Branch and Koren Robinson should all be back and able to spread the Giants secondary to the max. Of course not getting sacked may be tough for Hasslebeck against a Giants team on pace to break the Chicago Bears single season sack record.

InSpin.com

Packers - 5 1/2 vs. Falcons

All was well in Cheeseland for the first two games. Dominating performances against division rivals Minnesota and Detroit, albeit a little scare in Week 2 against the Lions, the Packers looked like the class of the division and maybe one of the contenders in the NFC. Two tough losses later and the 2-2 Packers are looking like a team in some hot water. Their bitter rivals, the Bears have played better as of late and the health of their quarterback is now in doubt. Those are words Packer fans are not used to hearing.
Aaron Rodgers expects to play through his shoulder injury in order to get the Packers back on track. Green Bay looks to avoid a third straight loss for the first time since the 2006 campaign.

Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said Rodgers intends to play this weekend despite suffering a shoulder injury in Green Bay's 30-21 loss at Tampa Bay last Sunday. Rodgers hurt his throwing shoulder in the third quarter when he reached the ball out trying to get a first down and was tackled hard. He initially thought he separated the shoulder, but the Packers (2-2) are calling it a sprain.

A more pressing concern for the Packers is the decline of rushing production. The team's net rushing yard total has declined in each of their four games. Ryan Grant had only 20 yards on 15 carries last Sunday as he too plays through an injury, this time a hamstring injury.
With all the bad news the Packers have faced this week, they do have some good news: The Falcons are coming to town.

Atlanta (2-2) is not a good road team to say the least. The Falcons have lost both of their road games in 2008, five straight and nine of the last 10 on the road dating back to last season. The wicked road took them to Carolina last week and their souvenir was a throttling by their division rival. Matt Ryan was neither solid nor spectacular, but Michael Turner whom the Falcons have been relying on more and more this season stumbled to only 56 yards rushing.

Even with their road woes, the Falcons do have some positive history at Lambeau Field. Atlanta's last visit to Green Bay was at the Falcons' 27-7 playoff victory on Jan. 4, 2003.

InSpin.com

Colts -4 1/2 vs. Texans

No team is in more need to get back on track then the Indianapolis Colts. It is not that there season can’t be rescued, but if they don’t get their high powered offense back to dominant status, it definitely could be.

At 1-2, the Colts haven’t looked this bad to start the season since Peyton Manning was a rookie. It is not just that they look bad, but Manning is just not playing well thus far. Usually Manning is in command, controlling the offense and keeping the defense completely clueless, but he is really struggling coming back from being injured for the first time in his football career.

As for the Houston Texans, despite their 0-3 record, things are starting to come together. There first three games were against really tough opponents, (Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Jacksonville) especially on defense.

Last week against Jacksonville, the Texans finally were able to get their talented offense back on track. Even though they lost in overtime 27-30, Matt Schaub looked efficient for the first time this season tossing three touchdown passes.

With Peyton Manning taking the snaps for the Colts, Indianapolis always has a great chance of winning the game no matter who the opponent. Coming into the matchup against the Colts on Sunday, the Texans will give the Colts a run for their money, but Manning will get his team back to the .500 mark.

InSpin.com

Eagles - 6 1/2 vs. Redskins

The NFC East has arguably become the most talented and most competitive division in the NFL this season. Every single team in the NFC East is playing great football right now. All four teams (Eagles, Cowboys, Redskins, and Giants) are legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

Over the first four weeks of the season we have been witness to some awesome performances from the four teams in this division. After seeing how all these teams have performed early on, it is almost a forgone conclusion that the team to represent the NFC will come out of the NFC East.

The Redskins are coming off an unlikely victory over the Dallas Cowboys which will have them riding high coming into this heated rivalry against Philadelphia. The Eagles on the other hand have played nothing but tough opponents to start the season with only one game against the winless St. Louis Rams being an easy win for Philly.

The Eagles are the stronger team of the two as theire very good on both sides of the football. Washington has a balanced ground attack with Clinton Portis and their air attack is coming along gradually with Jason Campbell, but the Eagles stronger on the defensive end which gives them the clear advantage in this matchup.

InSpin.com

Cowboys -17 vs. Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals may be in the wrong place at the wrong time as they head to Irving, Texas to take on the Dallas Cowboys.

The Bengals (0-4) are still seeking their first victory of the season and will probably need an A+ effort from everyone in order to obtain it in Dallas. This may be exceedingly tough if quarterback Carson Palmer misses his second straight start. Palmer is questionable and Ryan Fitzpatrick is waiting in the wings to start again.  Bengals' fans may be sending Palmer a get well card, seeing as how Fitzpatrick threw for three interceptions and lost one fumble in Cincinnati's 20-12 loss to Cleveland in the semi-yearly Battle of Ohio. It did not help Fitzpatrick that Cincinnati has no running attack. Chris Perry is not cutting it, in the wake of Rudi Johnson's departure, so much so that the Bengals are negotiating with former Chicago Bear and first round bust Cedric Benson.

Meanwhile the Cowboys (3-1) are an angry bunch. With a home loss to their arch rival Washington Redskins still sticking firmly in their craw, the Cowboys are bent on revenge and the Bengals may just be the sacrificial lamb they are seeking. Terrell Owens opened his yammer minutes after Dallas' 26-24 loss Sunday to say he was not getting the ball enough, even though Tony Romo threw his way 17 times versus Washington, connecting with the receiver on seven of those passes. Like him or not, Owens almost always backs up his belly aching and griping with a stellar game the next time out and he always rises to the occasion in matchups against other top receivers in the game, such as this week's opponent, Chad Johnson (A.K.A. Ocho Cinco). Regardless of T.O. getting the ball or not, Romo and Jason Whitten continue to be a dynamic duo with 7 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown going to the Pro Bowl tight end.

The Bengals next take on the resurgent New York Jets in New Jersey while Dallas Cowboys will travel to the desert to take on the Arizona Cardinals.

InSpin.com

Buckeyes - 1 vs. Badgers

Coming into the season, most people thought that Ohio State and Wisconsin would be the class of the Big Ten and this game on Saturday would decide who received roses on January 1st, or to an even better BSC game. Things have not gone as planned for the Buckeyes and Badgers as they prepare for their tilt in Madison.

While each team has only one loss, neither has been very impressive in their wins this season. Ohio State (4-1, 1-0) had struggled with inferior opponents before and after their much-hyped tussle with USC and we all know how that game turned out. The scores of Ohio State's wins tell a different story, as most of the final results were blowouts, but anyone who watched the games knows it was a struggle for the Buckeyes. This is highlighted by the fact that Ohio State has failed to cover the spread in any of the games they have been favored in this season. Of course the folks in Columbus would say this is because Chris "Beanie" Wells has been injured and Terrelle Pryor has been getting on the job training. The reality is that the Buckeyes have been listless with or without Pryor and Wells. The Badgers are the best team Ohio State has played East of the Mississippi, so perhaps the Buckeyes may yet find that vigor.

What a difference a half makes. The Wisconsin Badgers (3-1, 0-1) were well in control in Michigan Stadium last Saturday. Leading 19-0, it seemed Wisconsin would win in Ann Arbor for the first time since 1994 and have some momentum going into their showdown against the Buckeyes. Alas, this was not the case. Buoyed by unusual boos echoing through their stadium, the Wolverines took advantage of a Badger team in cruise control to score 21 straight points as they hung on to win 27-25. As bad as the fourth quarter was for Wisconsin, they were an illegal procedure call away from sending the game into overtime.

Watch for Wells to dial it up a notch against his first quality opponent of the season, while Wisconsin tries to rev up their offense against a questionable Buckeye defense.

With Penn State looking like the class of the conference, this is a must win for these two teams to stay in the Big Ten race.

InSpin.com

Cincinnati U -3 1/2 vs. Marshall

In a somewhat an even match up between Cincinnati and Marshall, the Bearcats will have the slight advantage over the Thundering Herd when they go head to head on Friday night.

Although the Bearcats are favored to come out on top Friday, Marshall could easily make this a competitive football game as both teams are trying to establish an identity on offense. Cincinnati is 3-1, but they were barely able to get past Akron last week with a game winning field goal in a low scoring affair 17-15.

One could argue that Marshall has faced more a formidable opponent thus far, especially after last week’s loss to West Virginia, but the Herd was held to only three points. A big reason for the Herd's lack of points on the board against West Virginia was the inconsistency of freshman quarterback Mark Cann who completed less than half of his pass attempts to reach a measly 119 yards.

With both of these teams struggling to get in the endzone it may very well be who has football in the end will be the won to win the football game. Edge goes to the Bearcats, but don’t be surprised to see Marshall get the win.

InSpin.com

Cougars -29 1/2 vs. Aggies

The BYU Cougars are looking good! At 4-0, BYU is coming into their match up against Utah State with boat full of confidence and all the momentum they need to improve to 5-0. It may quite literally take a miracle for Utah State to even get the slightest chance of making this a competitive game.

It has been seven years since the Cougars have cracked the nation's top ten list, but they finally got back sitting comfortably at #7. Not only have Cougars gotten back in the elusive top ten in the country, but they are also being involved in talks of a possible BCS championship run.

As unpredictable as college football can be there are almost never guaranteed victories no matter what the odds, the USC Trojans learned that the hard way in last week's embarrassing loss to Oregon State. With that being said, Utah State will have their opportunity to get on top of the Cougars, but if they miss their window, BYU's offense will tear them apart.

Look for Cougars' quarterback and Heisman hopeful Max Hall to have a huge game through the air as BYU cruises to an easy victory over the Aggies.

InSpin.com

Titans -3 vs. Ravens

Two surprising teams meet this Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The Tennessee Titans (4-0) have seemingly done everything right this season, even after everything appeared bleak when quarterback Vince Young went down in Week 1. The Titans have weathered the storm of Young's injury, demotion and drama and have done nothing but win-and win impressively. In fact the Titans have never been 4-0 before this season. Veteran backup Kerry Collins continues to impress. He has been stellar yet unspectacular, but has ridden Lindale White and a solid defense to their impressive start. Tennessee comes off a big, and quite easy, victory over the Minnesota Vikings, 30-17.

The Baltimore Ravens (2-1) were predicted to be one of the doormats of the NFL, particularly the AFC North, however the team has hung tough in the standings and on the gridiron with the division-leading Pittsburgh Steelers.  The team played very well this past Monday against Pittsburgh, responding to every punch the Steelers doled out. They were able to take Pittsburgh to overtime before a Jeff Reed 46-yard field goal sealed the Ravens' fate.  Joe Flacco continues to impress in his rookie campaign.  He was 16 for 31 with 192 yards and a touchdown on Monday night.  While not up to their Super Bowl winning heights, Baltimore's defense has been solid, ranking 14th in the league.

The key matchup will be the Ravens front seven versus the Titans offensive line. The Titans are number one in the NFL in allowing the fewest sacks, while Baltimore's defense ranks fifth in sacks.  Tennessee has won four straight games against the Ravens and is hoping to win a tough road game in Baltimore before heading to a very winnable road game in Kansas City. Meanwhile Baltimore would love to hand the Titans their first loss before they head to Indianapolis to take on the Colts.

InSpin.com

South Florida -13 1/2 vs. Pittsburgh U

After surprising the country last season with a top 10 ranking, South Florida is relevant yet again!

Just when you thought you would never hear from the South Florida Bulls ever again, they pop back up at number 10 in the top 25 rankings with an impressive 5-0 record.

The Bulls will be looking to get even higher in the ranking this week with a win over Pitt. Even though the Panthers are underdogs in this game, they haven’t looked all that bad this season with a 3-1 record coming into their match up against USF. A win over South Florida would definitely give Pittsburgh a shot at breaking into the top 25 ranking.

After last season’s disappointing loss to the Bulls 48-37 at home, the Panthers will be looking to freshman running back LeSean McCoy to lead the way for Pitt on Thursday. Even though last season McCoy was a huge threat coming out of the backfield with seven 100+ yard games he will have his work cut out for him against one toughest run defenses in the country as South Florida is ranked fourth in run defense. In the three games McCoy has played this season he has failed to reach the 100 yard mark.

Although South Florida will most likely improve to 6-0, the Panthers have a good chance at pulling off the upset due to the lack of consistent numbers from USF quarterback Bill Stull. In Stull’s first year as the starting quarterback he has only two touchdown passes in the four games he has played.

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Utah -11 1/2 vs. Oregon State

Coming off one of the biggest wins in school's history over PAC 10 powerhouse USC, Oregon State will be looking at keeping up there winning ways against another tough team in Utah.

Even though Oregon State took down the best team in the country last week, their opposition has not gotten any easier as they are about to face a Utah team ranked at #15 in the country and off to their best start in four years at 5-0.

Not only does Utah have the best offense in the Mountain West Conference, but the Utes also have the best defense making them equally dangerous on both sides of the football.

Although the Beavers have all the confidence in the world after beating top ranked USC and defeating Utah in their season opener last year, but the Utes will not be an easy victory by any means.

In order for Utah to slow down the surging Beavers they will have to stop their freshman running back. Jacquizz Rodgers was the thorn in the Trojans side last week as they just couldn’t bring down the freshman as he rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns in 27-21 victory over USC.

The rookie will have his work cut out for him yet again as the Utes are ranked 5th in the country in run defense. If the Utes limited the production of Oregon State’s star freshman then Utah should improve their already impressive record to 6-0.

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Memphis -3 1/2 vs. UAB

On Thursday night the Memphis Tigers will try and get to that elusive .500 mark against Alabama-Birmingham.

The lethal combination of Memphis running back Curtis Steele and quarterback Arkelon Hall should play a big part in this game. Steele is coming off one of his best games rushing for 203 yards last weekend against Arkansas State and Hall continues to be consistent at quarterback as he ranks 12th in passing yards in the country right now.

Memphis comes into this match up with a good chance of coming out on top as UAB has had trouble on defense stopping quarterbacks production through the air. So bad in fact, that the Blazers are third worst team in the country in giving up passing yardage. If Arkelon Hall keeps playing the way he has, expect a big day from him.

Not only can UAB not stop anyone from scoring, but their production on the offensive side of the football is just as bad. In only two games against Division I opponents the Blazers quarterback Joe Webb has thrown five interceptions. The kid may be good with his feet racking up 423 rushing yards, but if he can’t get it done in the air the Blazers will always be in trouble.

With Memphis clear advantage on both sides of the ball, the Tigers should get a win in Alabama on Thursday night and get back to being a .500 football team.

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Jaguars -4 vs. Steelers

One of the most overly used clichés in sports is to describe a banged up team as a MASH unit. Save the self-righteousness about sports clichés because if any situation called for that cliché, it is the current state of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It will be quite amazing to see just how the Steelers (3-1) will field a team and who will be wearing the black and gold this Sunday night in Jacksonville. DT Casey Hampton, DE Brett Keisel are out and LB Donovan Woods is doubtful. In particular, running back will be awfully thin as Willie Parker is expected to miss his second straight game and rookie back Rashard Mendenhall out for the season. Mewelde Moore will be the Steelers featured back this week and the team is exploring possibly bringing Najeh Davenport back in after throwing him on the scrap heap after last season. Sadly for Pittsburgh, this game is on Sunday night instead of Monday night. They have now won 15 straight Monday night contests besting the prior streak of the Oakland Raiders' who won 13 straight games in the 1970s.  This past Monday, Jeff Reed drilled an overtime 46-yard field goal to lift the Steelers to victory over the Baltimore Ravens despite the numerous injuries.

The Jaguars (2-2) are not a much healthier bunch, but they seem to be righting their ship after their disastrous 0-2 start. Coming off an overtime victory of their own, 30-27 over the Houston Texans, Jacksonville will look to keep their momentum going. David Garrard, the wunderkind of the 2007 season, is steadily improving after a couple of disappointing early season performances. Garrard threw for 236 yards with one touchdown in the win against the Texans.

The Jaguars and the Steelers know each other while, having faced each other regularly while both teams claimed residence in the now defunct AFC Central from 1994-2001. As bad as the Jaguars were in many of those years, they always seemed to be able to beat Pittsburgh, holding a 6-4 lifetime mark against them.  The Jags have won four straight in the series, including a contest held in the snow this past January.

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Boise State -24 vs. Louisiana Tech

For quite some time now Boise State has been cream of the crop in the WAC (besides Hawaii last season) and this season is no different. Coming into their matchup against Louisiana Tech on Wednesday the Broncos have a perfect 3-0 record and will be looking at gaining some ground in the their first conference game of the season.

After seeing the WAC title slip out of their hands last season, Boise State is hungrier than ever to reclaim the title which they have won five times out of seven seasons they have been in the league.

Coming off an impressive win over Oregon last week, the Broncos stole the Ducks number 17 ranking in the top 25 giving them some good momentum going into Wednesday’s conference match up with Louisiana Tech.

If freshman quarterback Kellen Moore can keep up his impressive play from last week (386 yards, 3 TDs) against the Ducks the Broncos will almost certainly improve to 4-0 this season and take control of their conference once again.

With a win on Wednesday it will be seven straight victories over Louisiana Tech and an amazing 53-4 record against WAC opponents.

Odds are definitely against Louisiana Tech here, but just like the upset of USC by Oregon State last week, you just never know what can happen in college football.

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Angels -1 1/2 vs Red Sox

This series will be baseball at its best!

On paper, the Angels should just destroy the Red Sox. As of right now, the Angels are arguably the most talented team in baseball. The Angels seem to do no wrong, but if the Red Sox are anything, it is resilient and unrelenting in the post season.

Angels' manager Mike Scioscia has his boys playing better than ever! From K-Rod being the most dominant closer in baseball right now to Vladimir Guerrero playing like the AL MVP and Mark Teixeira being a gift from God for the offense. It is truly difficult to find fault when it comes to Angels' baseball. They are just as solid as it comes.

Although the odds are against them, the Red Sox are no stranger to adversity. Whether it is injuries, players in slumps or Manny Ramirez's of the world causing problems in the clubhouse, the Sox always seem to find a way to keep winning.

With Ramirez being traded to Los Angeles after an ugly divorce with the Sox and JD Drew playing in the Boston lineup still in question for the post season the Red Sox are still an incredibly talented team. The defending champs have it all from quality pitching, David Ortiz's bat and a lineup full of role players and potential MVP candidates. No matter the circumstance it is hard to count the Red Sox out of contention.

The way the Angels have dominated everyone they have faced this season they should kick Terry Francona's title defense to the curb with relative ease, but if any team were to end the Angels seemingly destine World Series campaign it is the Boston Red Sox. The boys from Boston can flip the switch at any given moment and turn into an unstoppable force causing all sorts of problems for the Angels.

This series should be a classic! Make sure you get the popcorn ready because these kinds of playoff series are what make baseball worth watching.

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Cubs -160 vs. Dodgers

The playoff matchups don't get better than this one! The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs have finally gotten their clubs out of mediocrity into World Series contenders again. The past few seasons have been pretty forgettable for both teams, but they finally look like they are ready to take the next step and make an impact in the post season.

All it takes is a glance at the Cubs payroll and one would think Chicago should take win series hands down (only the Yankees dish out more dough), but with Manny Ramirez putting the Dodgers back on the map by resurrecting the offense and hopes for a championship, Lou Piniella and his Cubbies might be in trouble.

Both teams have huge advantages coming into the NLDS. The Dodgers have Joe Torre who has won 4 World Series rings and has as much post season experience as anyone. Lou Piniella on the other hand also has a ring and his fair share of playoff experience. Each squad looks very promising and when they play at the top of their game they are as good as anyone.

The difference maker in this NL match up will be Manny Ramirez. When Manny is being Manny he is as tough an out as they come. Some say Alex Rodriguez is the best right handed batter today, but many underestimate Manny's ability at the plate which in my opinion is unmatched in the MLB today.

Along with the rest of the compelling matchups in this year's playoffs, this one could be the most entertaining. The Dodgers should come out on top in my opinion. They are too talented and lead by two proven winners in Torre and Ramirez. If the Dodgers fall apart early in this series like they have done in the past, then the Cubs might have a chance at breaking that 100 year streak under Piniella.

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  Phillies - 200 vs. Brewers

The MLB season is officially over and the rough road to the Fall Classic is about to get underway with some pretty intriguing post season matchups. The division series that might be one of the best in recent memory will be the battle between a couple National League heavyweights in the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies.

This five game series should be one of the most entertaining this post season as both teams have seemed to hit their strides coming into the playoffs. Ryan Howard is playing like the MVP of old at the plate and CC Sabathia is at the top of his game as the Brewers ace on the mound.

Although the Brewers have gone through some changes at manager, which happen seemingly only a moment ago, the team is riding an emotional high after rallying to get into the post season on the shoulders of their best acquisition ever in Sabathia.

The Phillies will also be pumped up and ready to go in this division series against Milwaukee as they look to prove that they are as talented as their lineup suggests. The Brewers may have their superstar pitcher playing at a high level, but one could argue that no one has played better in September than Phillies own MVP hopeful Ryan Howard.

This series will be a close one and could quite possibly go the distance if both teams play up to their full potential. The Philadelphia Phillies should pull this one out as the Brewers' best players may be a little too fatigued to keep up with a rested Phillies squad, but if history has taught us anything, it is that any thing can happen in the playoffs.

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Bears -3 1/2 vs Lions

It is the tale of two teams heading in opposite directions in this NFC North tilt of old and bitter rivals.

On the upswing are the Chicago Bears (2-2), who come into Ford Field for their one o'clock game with some new vigor and determination. After dispatching the Philadelphia Eagles this past Sunday night, the Bears realize that perhaps their only stumbling block to the division championship this year could be themselves.  With the health of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers up in the air, not to mention his team's two game losing streak, and the Minnesota Vikings continued struggles, the Bears realize that they just might be the class of the division and will only lose if they beat themselves. The Bears feel their defense is up to their 2006 standards, if not better, and have excelled at the end of their Week 4 game, rather than folding in the fourth quarter like they did in their two losses this season.

Their opponents on Sunday hope that they fit into the NFC North equation somehow. The Detroit Lions (0-3) return from their bye week hoping they did enough to bale out the sinking ship. The Lions finally parted ways with embattled General Manager Matt Millen last week and are prepared to move forward. Just how they will move forward will remain to be seen. The Lions are dead last in defense and ranked 26th in offense and it is hard to imagine Millen's firing, while a good thing in the long run, will change these statistics.

This could be a mismatch in the making, depending on which Chicago Bears team shows up in Detroit. If the Bears team from Week 1, Week 4 and the first three quarters of Weeks 2 and 3 show up, they should not have a problem. Their defense should be able to force Jon Kitna into making his usual mistakes and turnovers while Chicago's much-maligned offense should have some success against the Lions defense.

Be weary of crowning the Bears the winner too quickly, however. This may be a trap game for Chicago. After winning on national television over a good Philadelphia team on Sunday night, they head on the road to take on a seemingly listless Lions team with nothing going for them. The Bears have been the one NFC North foe Detroit has had success against in recent years. They swept Chicago in the team's two games last season and are 4-2 against the Bears in Detroit since Ford Field opened in 2002.

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Cardinals -1 vs Bills

While most people look forward to exiting the desert, the Arizona Cardinals are looking forward to returning to it. It has been a long time since the Cardinals have been at the University of Phoenix Stadium and they have certainly taken their lumps along the way.

In Week 3, the Cardinals (2-2) were riding high after their victories over San Francisco and Miami to start out the year.  Most people assumed that the Cardinals would continue their assault and start the season 3-0 for the first time since they were in St. Louis. Of course, the Cardinals being the Cardinals, this did not happen.  They ran into a Washington Redskins team with a large chip on their shoulder and ran into their first loss. Coach Ken Whisenhunt took the unorthodox approach of remaining on the East Coast following the Washington loss because of last Sunday's matchup against the New York Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  Saving a cross country trip home and back again would make sense, especially in these economically depressed times, but apparently Whisenhunt's players did not appreciate the gesture as they allowed an amazing 6 touchdown passes to a previously uninspired Brett Favre in a 56-35 loss to the Jets.

Following the Cardinals west are the unbeaten Buffalo Bills (4-0). The Bills 31-14 come from behind throttling of the Rams cost St. Louis Coach Scott Linehan his job. Keeping the Rams plight in mind, it was perhaps Buffalo's most complete and convincing victory of the season or at least since the season opener against Seattle.  It would seem that quarterback Trent Edwards statistics have gotten better in each game this season, something that is likely to increase against Arizona's mediocre defense.  Buffalo's concern going into this week is the health of cornerback Terrence McGee, who injured his knee in the Rams' game and whose status is still up in the air.

Perhaps the Cardinals grew tired of hotel living and yearn for home cooking. They won their only home game this season convincingly over the Miami Dolphins, who would later dispatch the Patriots and were 6-2 at home last season.

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