There are enough storylines in Monday’s big game to keep a room full of writers busy for months. We grabbed two of the lesser talented ones and got them to go over some of the main points bettors are talking about.

Who is the better quarterback right now: Tom Brady or Drew Brees?

Grewal: Brady is playing awfully good right now. He’s shaken off the rust he was showing at the start of the season, and his offensive line is giving him all kinds of time.

I’m still going to go with Brees. For all the stats that Brady has the edge in, Brees has the most important one: wins.

Carey: Tom Brady. Period. The three-time Super Bowl Champion has about 300 more yards but only two fewer touchdown passes and three fewer interceptions, all while averaging nearly seven more pass attempts per game than Brees. The New England offense is much more reliant on Brady – the Patriots average about 40 fewer rushing yards per game and has scored seven less rushing touchdowns – plus the team plays in cold weather, not a dome.

Brees is slightly more explosive, but don’t let ESPN highlight packages fool you, Brady still is the best, even if the donkeys on “Around the Horn” are sick of talking about him.

Is this game more important to the Saints or the Pats?

Carey: The Saints need this game more. New Orleans is undefeated, but leads the Vikings by a mere game for the top seed in the NFC. The Saints playing at home in the Superdome is key to a successful playoff run. Meantime, New England has the Little Sisters of the Poor to beat up on in the AFC East, and likely won’t face another potential playoff team until Week 16 or 17. The Saints being favored by a single point shows they have a slight edge at home and the books believe they want this game more.

Grewal: Gotta agree with that. This isn’t just about the overall standings in the NFC and it’s not about continuing an undefeating season.

All of New Orleans’ big wins this season don’t look so big anymore. This is a statement game for the Saints. If they don’t win this one, we’ll all be questioning how good Sean Payton’s boys really are.

Will either defense show up and make some stops?

Grewal: The Pats and the Saints get out to big leads just about every week, which means each team’s secondary is tested every Sunday.

I’m a little worried about all wounded defensive backs New Orleans has but I think you’ll see some stops and maybe even a few three-and-outs.

Carey: Fans of low-scoring, ball control, grinding games should stay away from this matchup which features a total of 56.5. If either defense steps up, look for it to be the Saints.

The team’s secondary has been hit hard by injuries, but New Orleans still has a league-high 20 interceptions and allowed a meager nine touchdown passes, the third-fewest in the league.

New England should do a few things early to confuse Brees, but by the middle of the fourth quarter, it will become obvious that whoever has the ball last will win.

Final score predictions

Carey: New England 38, New Orleans 35

Grewal: New England 28, New Orleans 24

By ASHTON GREWAL AND DAVE CAREY

Brees, Brady, Who is the better quarterback right now? is a post from: AroDrive

This is a very exciting time for the NBA, the young talents in different teams are begining to show promise and this has helped their teams climb very fast on the power rankings.

No team has showed more promise than the high flying Atlanta Hawks (Atlanta Hawks flying high and Beating down the competition) lifting them to the top of the power rankings last week.

The Hawks, Bucks, Suns, Magic and Blazers are packed with young talent and playing up tempo basketball and are all ranking very high on the power rankings.

But the king of the hill this week are the Lakers, after a slow start they have finally hit their strides again with the return of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum continues to improve, the Lakers are beginning to look like NBA champions again and for week 4 are king of the hill.

Here’s a complete list of the NBA Power rankings for week 4.

2009-10 Power Rankings: Week 5
RANK (LAST WK)		TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (5)	Lakers	10-3	Rare misread by us. Pau has been back for only two games, but the Lakers’ overall health suddenly must seem dreamy to Boston and loads of other teams. Playing 17 of your first 21 games at home can’t hurt, either.
	2 (1)	Hawks	11-3	Can’t bust on them too hard for losing to the injury-hit Hornets when the Hawks responded to the high jinx potential of their historic promotion to No. 1 by first sweeping past Portland, Miami and Houston at home.
	3 (3)	Suns	11-3	The best part about the Suns’ start is that the schedule sets them up for a big second-half surge if they can get through a few more weeks in decent shape. Fifteen of their first 22 games are roadies; only one bad loss so far.
	4 (10)	Magic	11-3	Vinsanity seals a big victory in Boston, Dwight gets Stan to ease up on his negativity and Jameer’s latest injury is softened by Rashard’s return. Conclusion? We definitely dropped Orlando way too far last Monday.
	5 (2)	Nuggets	9-4	Updating one of my favorite stats of the early season, it’s time to tally up the havoc Melo is wreaking: 476 minutes played; 396 points scored. Works out to one point every 1.2 minutes based on my amateur math.
	6 (7)	Mavericks	10-3	The schedule hasn’t been the toughest, but the Mavs have had several injuries early and are just one late free throw in New Orleans away from an 11-2 start, all with Nowitzki supplying the only consistency.
	7 (6)	Cavaliers	10-4	Good to see young (and athletic) Hickson get an extended shot and seize the opportunity. Not so good, from the Cavs’ perspective, to hear LeBron publicly lament the fact that Charlotte beat Cleveland to Stephen Jackson.
	8 (4)	Celtics	10-4	The Spurs, at least, have the handy rationalization of being wracked by injuries. The slow-moving Celts have been a lot healthier by comparison, which makes this 4-4 malaise since their smothering 6-0 start so curious.
	9 (8)	Trail Blazers	10-5	Back to the bench for Andre Miller … for a couple of reasons: 1. Roy’s game seemed squeezed even when the Blazers’ three-PG lineup went 6-0. 2. Portland’s famed depth just ain’t the same with Batum and Outlaw out.
	10 (12)	Bucks	8-3	B-Jennings is the first rookie with six 25-points-or-more games before Thanksgiving since someone named Michael Jordan in November 1984. And you wonder why Scott Skiles can’t get any pub for the job he’s doing.
	11 (11)	Rockets	8-6	The forthcoming docket for the gutty little Rockets: Dallas at home Wednesday, San Antonio at home Friday and then a trip to Oklahoma City on Sunday. A week doesn’t get more Southwestern-y than that.
	12 (20)	Jazz	7-6	D-Will is back and five straight home games loom after a 3-0 week that included a hex-snapping win in San Antonio over the short-handed Spurs. Methinks this could end up being Utah’s best stretch since early March.
	13 (9)	Heat	8-5	It used to be routine to refer to the Cavs as the LeBrons. Why, then, aren’t more folks calling this team the D-Wades? (Follow-up bonus factoid: Miami’s eight wins came against teams with a composite record of 32-57.)
	14 (13)	Thunder	7-7	Sunday’s lesson from the Lakers dropped OKC’s record to 10-43 in its past 53 games against teams that showed up with a winning record. But you have to believe that mark won’t look so one-sided by season’s end.
	15 (15)	Spurs	5-6	Even when Popovich is working so hard not to overextend his stars — Duncan is averaging just 32 minutes per game, followed by Parker at 27.3 mpg and Manu at 23.4 — San Antonio has seen injuries galore already.
	16 (14)	Bulls	6-6	The bad news: Chicago’s annual circus road trip looks as murderous as ever. The good news: Derrick Rose had the look of a full-speed Derrick Rose on Saturday night in Denver for maybe the first time this season.
	17 (16)	Raptors	6-8	The Raps are nervous enough about a porous defense that too frequently cancels out Bosh and Bargnani’s ongoing offensive prowess. Hearing Bosh complain publicly about media disrespect doesn’t bring much comfort.
	18 (26)	Hornets	6-9	Byron Scott, truth be told, began the season with little chance of survival. But his reluctance to play Collison and Thornton — rookies who, with Peja, just sparked wins over Phoenix and Atlanta — sealed B-Scott’s fate.
	19 (19)	Kings	5-7	No Kevin Martin or Tyreke Evans in Houston and still Sacramento hangs in all the way to the final minute on the back end of a back-to-back. One more example of why we refer this scrappy group of kids as Rockets Lite.
	20 (17)	Pacers	5-6	What drags a team back down to Earth after ringing up 113 points on Boston with Murphy, Dunleavy and Foster all out? The driving force in Indy’s case was blowing a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter in New York.
	21 (22)	Warriors	4-8	The Dubs can’t relax now that Jack’s gone. Not when a W over Portland was preceded by L’s at Cleveland and Boston. And not when stops in Dallas and San Antonio are next before a home date with the Lakers.
	22 (18)	Pistons	5-9	You can rationalize Detroit’s 0-4 trip out West when you factor in the quality of the opposition and the Pistons’ injury woes. Harder to explain or accept is the fact that Will Bynum has been steadier than Rodney Stuckey.
	23 (25)	Clippers	5-9	The Clips followed up their good win in OKC by dropping winnable games in New Orleans and Memphis. Let’s see if they can build on a good home W over Denver … especially with Eric Gordon coming back from injury.
	24 (24)	Wizards	3-9	Anyone else having trouble figuring out which Gilbert we should expect these days? Is he talking? Not talking? Shooting? Just passing? Yes on Hibachi? No on Hibachi? Isn’t that a lot of personas for a three-win team?
	25 (21)	Bobcats	4-9	Fearless prediction: Stephen Jackson will not be in Charlotte at season’s end. The Bobcats still won’t score enough or win enough with Jack to persuade them not to re-shop Jack before the Feb. 18 trade deadline.
	26 (27)	Grizzlies	4-9	If we did Irony Rankings, Memphis would be a top-three lock. Grizz owner Michael Heisley mandated the signing of Iverson to be the first box-office draw in franchise history … and A.I. left without playing a home game.
	27 (23)	76ers	5-8	After six losses in eight games as well as the loss of Speights to injury, Philly is forced to focus on its one ray of promise: Elton Brand averaged a long-awaited 20 points, 10 boards and 4 blocks in the past three games.
	28 (29)	Knicks	3-10	This is where they draw the line? After a decade of stupefying Knicks madness and dysfunction, Iverson is the guy they won’t sign? Would have actually made the rest of the Knicks’ season fun. Or at least watchable.
	29 (30)	Timberwolves	1-12	It must be worrisome for the Wolves, to say the least, that they’ve played almost into Thanksgiving and somehow Ricky Rubio has tasted victory in the NBA only one fewer time than fellow Wolves lottery pick Jonny Flynn.
	30 (28)	Nets	0-13	L-Frank won his first 13 games as an NBA head coach after replacing Byron Scott. And now Frank’s in the midst of an 0-13 start in what is virtually certain to be his final season in New Jersey. Did someone say full circle?

2009-10 NBA Power Rankings: Week 5 (A-List Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

Maybe is too early, maybe you don’t like him. Ok, you Hate him.

No matter what your sentiment are about Brett Favre, you can’t deny he’s having the best season of he’s career and the best season of any player (not just quarterbacks) in the NFL right now.

He’s passer ratings 112.1 is tops amongst al quarterbacks, Total Yards so far: 2,482, 21 TD to 3 interceptions, Yes 21 to 3, yes, it’s Brett Favre. But all those stats don’t really compare to the Vikings 9-1 record. This is a Team with Adrian Peterson and for most part of the season so far they’ve been winning on the bionic hands of Favre.

So are these numbers deserving of the ultimate individual award: the MVP of 2010?

Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Adrian Peterson, Andrew Johnson have all made legitimate cases for consideration and they all have more games to prove they are deserving.

Surely, you can make a strong case for any of the mentioned stars, and there are likely another handful of strong candidates. But in a numbers league, Favre is crushing everybody.

Before you scoff at my proposal and litter the world with petty comments about a 40-year old quarterback being an insane MVP nominee, take notice of the facts at hand.

Brett Favre and his Minnesota Vikings are 9-1. That makes for the second-best record in the entire league, with the Vikings only loss coming to the very respectable (and reigning NFL champion) Pittsburgh Steelers.

So, just for argument’s sake, let’s lay down the ground rules.

MVP Qualifications

-Team has to have a winning record

-Player has to be having a great statistical season

-Player has to be MVP of own team before being considered for league

Check, check, and check. Again, you can debate for Peterson, but without Favre, at least considering the magical performances his team needed to win in a few games, this team would have a very different identity.

Alas, I digress.

Favre is second in the league with 21 touchdown passes, just one away from Drew Brees.

Favre is second in the league in completion percentage (barely), falling just .1 percentage shy of Peyton Manning at 69.7 percent.

Favre also ranks in the top 15 in passing yards, yards per completion average, attempts, and completions.

He ranks near the middle of the league in sacks taken, and leads all starting quarterbacks who have thrown over 200 passes in 2009 with just three interceptions, while also losing just one fumble all season.

While all these numbers are great and easily put Favre in the conversation of being MVP for the fourth time, it’s his passer rating that leaves the greatest impression.

His 112.1 passer rating is tops in the league, beating out Drew Brees by seven points, and Manning by 10.

Enough now? Well, after looking at Favre’s team record, his stats, and his performance rating, it’s very logical to still, once again, point back to Manning and Brees being very close to Favre in the main categories, while also having their teams at 10-0.

But we’re not taking everything into consideration, are we?

That little thing that Favre always got in trouble for (turnovers), aren’t weighing him (or his team) down this season, while Manning and Brees have both thrown nine interceptions a piece, and Brees has lost four fumbles on the season.

And if this information hasn’t proven Favre’s case, consider the manner and style in which he and his team have performed over the course of the season:

-Favre’s game-winner against the San Francisco 49ers

-His happy-go-lucky style of play

-His two emotional wins over his former team, the Green Bay Packers

While everyone is promoting Tom Brady, Cedric Benson, and others for Comeback Player of the Year, and many others are looking over Favre for the MVP consideration, I suggest a serious glance at old number 4 for both.

Lets all be sincere, every one believed that Favre was going to make the Vikings regret the public pursuit and thought at this time of the season be hearing all about how the surgically repaired arm and he’s age is beginning to show on the field. Well, here we are and Favre looks younger and stronger than half the quarterbacks in the league right now and ranked amongst the top 3 in the league.

This alone should be enough to guarantee Favre MVP status for 2010 season.

Now your turn, what do you think?

by kevin roberts and Tuviere

The Case for Brett Favre MVP 2010 is a post from: AroDrive

The Boston Celtics, Cleveland Caveliers and Orlando Magic all share one thing in common — and it’s not their love of dance theatre — but, rather they are all looking up at the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference standings.

In an age where young guns have transformed into seasoned veterans and baby birds have learned to fly, one team has dared challenge the East’s natural pecking order.

The Hawks, a team universally considered to finish no better than fourth in the conference and second in their own division, have gotten off to a blazing start to begin the season 10-2 and forced the league to take notice. They sit atop NBA.com’s and ESPN.com’s weekly power rankings.

The national media descended upon Atlanta on Wednesday night to watch the Hawks dispatch their latest victims, the Miami Heat (7-4), at Philips Arena by a final of 105 – 90. It provided Atlanta with its sixth straight victory, and fourth consecutive game in which they held an opponent to under 100 points.

“Guys have figured out that when we play defense at a high level we’re tough to beat,” said forward Marvin Williams, now in his fifth season with Atlanta.

Tough defense, indeed. And it has started with the team’s top two players, all-star guard Joe Johnson and starting power forward Josh Smith.

In recording his second straight 30-point performance, Joe Johnson has had a hand in limiting his All-Star counterparts, Brandon Roy and Dwayne Wade, to only 17 and 15 points in consecutive victories over the Portland Trail Blazers and Miami Heat.

“Atlanta forces me to be more of a jump shooter,” said Heat guard Dwayne Wade after a frustrating night in which he shot only 6-of-18 from the floor and didn’t take his first free throw attempts until the game’s final quarter of play.

“They did a good job of forcing me out of the paint. You have to be smart when you play them, because they are a very athletic team and they will meet you at the rim.”

Josh Smith has been just as effective energizing both the team and the crowd with his dazzling array of high-flying jams and jaw-dropping blocks. He has pleased many a fantasy owner, filling up the stat sheets and offering plenty of material for the highlight reels.

Now, although Smith may still take the occasional ill-advised jumper, reminiscent of one from a six-year old at a local carnival, by and large, his play has been under much better control.

Watching from the bench, rookie point guard Jeff Teague gets one of the better views in the house.

“He plays so hard,” Teague said in a postgame interview. “The things he [does] on the floor, like blocking shots and rebounding and [other] things he doesn’t get credit for … I always try to pump him up when he comes off the floor to let him know that somebody’s seeing what he’s done and that we appreciate it.”

Said Johnson about the stellar play of his teammate, “We’re a tough team to beat when he’s playing like that. When he’s rebounding, playing defense and diving down in the paint for dunks and layups, it makes the defense collapse. That’s leaving guys like me and Mike [Bibby] open for shots.”

With Wednesday night’s 16-point, 14-rebound, seven-assist and two-block performance, Smith recorded his second consecutive double-double, and fourth in the last five games.

The accolades are coming from far and wide, and for longtime Hawks’ fans, this may take some getting used to.

Said Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra after last night’s contest, “Against an athletic team like this, you have to really keep your turnovers down. Otherwise, they will capitalize on it. They have long athletic defenders that do a good job of defending the paint.”

It’s not easy to forget just how far these Hawks have come. Three starters (Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams) and the head coach (Mike Woodson) still remain from the team that won only 13 games all season five years ago.

“I’ll never forget those 13 wins,” said Woodson. “I’ll never forget walking into the locker room and seeing those faces, knowing we couldn’t win many games.”

Oh, how things have changed.

After wins in Boston, at home and on the road against Portland, an early season rout of Denver, and most recently, the Miami Heat, this team realizes that it has a great chance to win every night it takes the floor. Through trial and error, they have learned how to play basketball.

They are no longer just an “athletic and talented” band of misfits. With the additions of veterans like Mike Bibby, Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith, and the natural process of their own maturation for players like Josh Smith, Al Horford and Williams, this team is as deep and well-rounded as any you’ll find in the league.

Said Crawford when asked about what he’s witnessed as an outside observer from afar, “They’ve grown. They’ve gotten better [as individuals] these last couple of years, and they’ve put some pretty good pieces around them.”

In their 10 victories this season, the Hawks have used a lethal combination of energy, athleticism and effort to outscore and frustrate their opponents.

“I can’t ask for anything better,” said Woodson. “I couldn’t be more proud of a group of guys that made a commitment when they came into camp this year.”

We are far from knowing who really is the best team in the East, and the sudden emergence of the Atlanta Hawks only complicated the matter. But we should all take notice that they have, at the very least, entered the conversation.

Will they stay there, is what remains to be seen.

By ATLien

Atlanta Hawks flying high and Beating down the competition is a post from: AroDrive

The Colts remain on top of the NFL Power Rankings – Week 11 (The A-List Edition) just as I predicted last week (Click here to see our week 11 rankings predictions) The Colts – Patriots game answered all the questions as to why we here at A-List think the Colts are better than the New Orleans Saints.

The Colts though might no be on top for long as they face critical injures to key positions on their defense and desperately needs to get healthy, but at the end the Colts will have something to say about who goes to the Super Bowl.

The Bengals swept the Ravens and the Steelers and are now have an easy schedule (relatively) the rest of the way, Chad Ochocinco will definitely have more chances to get fined as the games become easier.

And congratulations to the Redskins I sincerely never thought they had it in them, but then again, it’s the NFL.

Here are the break down for week 11:

2009 Power Rankings: Week 11
	RK (LW)	TEAM	REC	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Colts	9-0-0	At an odd crossroads of being undefeated and having a lot of issues to work through at the same time.
	2 (2)	Saints	9-0-0	The formerly unstoppable Drew Brees has six touchdowns and seven interceptions in his past four games.
	3 (3)	Vikings	8-1-0	They haven’t been 8-1 since 1998.
	4 (4)	Bengals	7-2-0	Marvin Lewis is the front-runner for NFL Coach of the Year.
	5 (6)	Patriots	6-3-0	The AFC road to the Super Bowl is going through Indianapolis, thanks to Bill Belichick’s fourth-down decision.
	6 (5)	Steelers	6-3-0	They will take out last Sunday’s frustrations on the Chiefs this weekend.
	7 (10)	Cardinals	6-3-0	Cardinals can improve their road record to 5-0 with a victory over the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome.
	8 (12)	Chargers	6-3-0	They’re lined up to take the division lead if they can win at Denver.
	9 (7)	Broncos	6-3-0	Unraveling at the wrong time, facing a rematch with San Diego and with backup QB Chris Simms at the helm.
	10 (8)	Cowboys	6-3-0	The Cowboys took a Lambeau Leap backward in the NFC East race by losing to the Packers on Sunday.
	11 (14)	Ravens	5-4-0	They need a big second half to earn a wild-card spot.
	12 (11)	Eagles	5-4-0	Here’s hoping that the concussion problems don’t cause an early end to Brian Westbrook’s great career.
	13 (13)	Texans	5-4-0	In their one chance to show off in prime time — on ESPN’s “MNF” vs. the Titans — the Texans need to slow Chris Johnson.
	14 (9)	Falcons	5-4-0	Matt Ryan has one more interception through nine games (12) than he had in 16 games last season.
	15 (16)	Packers	5-4-0	A strong rebound win over Dallas after the embarrassment in Tampa.
	16 (15)	Giants	5-4-0	The bye week and losses by the Eagles and the Cowboys allowed the Giants to climb back in the division race.
	17 (22)	Jaguars	5-4-0	Bills’ porous run defense, meet Maurice Jones-Drew.
	18 (17)	Dolphins	4-5-0	The short week might not allow RB Ronnie Brown to recover from a foot injury, but Ricky Williams gets prime-time attention Thursday at Carolina.
	19 (20)	49ers	4-5-0	The Week 11 game against the Packers recalls fateful 2005 draft featuring Alex Smith, Aaron Rodgers.
	20 (21)	Panthers	4-5-0	This is a new team in recent weeks and I think Carolina should be ranked quite a bit higher than this.
	21 (18)	Jets	4-5-0	Things are so bad for the Jets nowadays they can’t even let Maurice Jones-Drew score when they want.
	22 (23)	Titans	3-6-0	A fourth win in a row would do a lot to help ruin the Texans’ season.
	23 (19)	Bears	4-5-0	The Bears have lost four of their past five.
	24 (26)	Redskins	3-6-0	Who knew that Hunter “The Punter” Smith could turn into Hunter “The Passer” on a touchdown pass?
	25 (25)	Seahawks	3-6-0	They played hard and tough at Arizona, but the lack of pass rush proved costly against Kurt Warner.
	26 (24)	Bills	3-6-0	At least the Terrell Owens’ sideline blowouts should keep the second half of the season interesting.
	27 (28)	Chiefs	2-7-0	In the midst of an ugly season, a win over the Raiders still feels awfully good.
	28 (27)	Raiders	2-7-0	In the midst of an ugly season, a loss to the Chiefs still stings.
	29 (31)	Buccaneers	1-8-0	Josh Freeman has made the Bucs competitive for now, which stands as an improvement. (Sando)
	30 (30)	Rams	1-8-0	Steven Jackson is now averaging better than 100 yards rushing per game for the improving Rams. (Sando)
	31 (29)	Lions	1-8-0	Finally some good news for the Lions — they play the Browns this week.(Chadiha)
	32 (32)	Browns	1-8-0	It’s hard to imagine Eric Mangini ever fixing this mess.

NFL Power Rankings – Week 11 (The A-List Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

There’s no question that the NBA Power Rankings for week 4 has presented a great deal of question as to who is the best team in Basketball.

3 teams have presented themselves as not just the best but road warriors, given how Denver has dealt with seven road games … and J.R. Smith’s seven-game suspension … and what it just did to the Lakers they made a case to be number 1.

Then the Hawks after matching Cleveland’s win in Orlando with their own breakthrough in Boston, it’s time to toss it out there: How much more must the Hawks do before we all start saying that the East elite runs four teams deep?

But we went with Phoenix because excluding its two games against the teams that appeared in June’s NBA Finals — both on the second night of a back-to-back — Phoenix is a pretty passable 9-0. And only four of those games were at home.

From every angle you look at it this Phoenix suns team is more than just a flash in the Pan and is bringing back the excitement of watching high octane offenses and we here at A-List love it.

The surprise of the season so far has been the troubles of the Lakers, but they will bounce back and take hold of the top spot in no time .

Here are the rest of the teams:

2009-10 Power Rankings: Week 3
RANK (LAST WK)		TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (4)	Suns	9-2	Excluding its two games against the teams that appeared in June’s NBA Finals — both on the second night of a back-to-back — Phoenix is a pretty passable 9-0. And only four of those games were at home.
	2 (6)	Hawks	8-2	After matching Cleveland’s win in Orlando with their own breakthrough in Boston, it’s time to toss it out there: How much more must the Hawks do before we all start saying that the East elite runs four teams deep?
	3 (5)	Nuggets	7-3	Can’t emphasize enough how torn we were on whom to award the top spot, given how Denver has dealt with seven road games … and J.R. Smith’s seven-game suspension … and what it just did to the Lakers.
	4 (1)	Celtics	8-3	Seeing Cleveland lose two of its first four home games was disorienting. But seeing 3-happy Boston get swept on a Friday/Saturday back-to-back, capped by a 113-point pummeling in Indy, was just as staggering.
	5 (2)	Lakers	7-3	The Lakers, like their old pals from Boston, are faced with their first losing streak of the season. The view, though, is clearly more troubling for L.A., now that Kobe has his own groin injury to go with Pau’s bad hammy.
	6 (9)	Cavaliers	7-3	Things change fast around here. One successful two-game swing through Florida and suddenly Cleveland — after the supposed crisis of a 0-2 start — is the only NBA heavyweight that can say last week was a good week.
	7 (7)	Mavericks	7-3	The latest indefinite loss of Josh Howard and their wasted chance to beat short-handed San Antonio were undeniable setbacks. But the Mavs will take that 7-3 mark given how up-and-down they’ve been. Gladly.
	8 (10)	Trail Blazers	8-3	Four W’s in a row on the road is four in a row on the road. Even when the opposition is a combined 9-32. But Portland also can’t deny that its trip to the ATL will give us a much better read on that new three-guard alignment.
	9 (8)	Heat	7-2	How cruel was the ending Miami inflicted Saturday night on the poor Nets? It was Jersey’s fourth loss already by three points or less … and only the ninth 3-pointer banged home by D-Wade in 36 attempts this season.
	10 (3)	Magic	7-3	Probably time for us to hush our fawning about the Magic’s depth. They get Rashard back this week and look like they need the boost … although defense has been the real disappointment. Which is Dwight’s department.
	11 (12)	Rockets	6-4	You watch the Rockets win on the Lakers’ floor and you hear that they’ve scored 100 points or more in nine straight games for the first time since 1995-96 and you understand why there’s hesitation to rush T-Mac back.
	12 (21)	Bucks	5-2	Who cares that three of the Bucks’ wins came against teams with a combined record of 5-25? Milwaukee is suddenly synonymous with NBA excitement for the first time in forever. All because of one little lefty.
	13 (14)	Thunder	5-5	OKC’s defense/length/athleticism seen in San Antonio suggest this team can handle seven roadies in nine games just fine . . . except that it bookended that win with an L in Sacramento and a home L to the Clips.
	14 (11)	Bulls	5-4	The next time the Bulls score 100 points (or even 95) will be the first time this season. But there are some gaudy numbers in Chicago if you know where to look. Joakim Noah, for example: Six straight double-doubles.
	15 (15)	Spurs	4-4	Yes: It was fair to expect a smoother start from the Deepest Team of the Duncan Era. No: Can’t believe those same slow-starting Spurs beat Dallas without two of their three best players for the second season running.
	16 (15)	Raptors	5-5	The most galling part about Sunday’s narrow loss in Phoenix — besides wasting the latest good game in Chris Bosh’s best-ever start — is that the Raps’ much-maligned D made the Suns work so hard to get to 101.
	17 (24)	Pacers	4-3	We’re with you, Pacer People. We watched your squad deliver another early season beatdown of the Celts — just like last season — and we’re hoping this doesn’t mean Indy is destined to peak in November. Again.
	18 (16)	Pistons	5-5	The good news: Gordon, Charlie V, Will Bynum and Big Ben have kept the Pistons competitive. The bad news: Trading Prince — one of the options they have to bring in some size — is a lot tougher if Tay has a bad back.
	19 (25)	Kings	5-4	Fitting that Houston was the victim when the Kings extended their miraculous, shocker-of-the-season start to 5-4. Sacramento’s scrappy play without the injured Kevin Martin strikes us as very Rockets-esque.
	20 (20)	Jazz	4-6	The Jazz have regressed to the point, especially defensively, that a comfortable win in Philly and a near-win in Cleveland — both with Deron Williams attending to a difficult family matter — add up to big progress.
	21 (18)	Bobcats	3-6	Five times in nine games, Charlotte hasn’t made it to 80 points. With MJ making a rare courtside appearance Saturday night? The Bobs scored 74. Hopefully their trade gamble on Jack gives us something else to discuss.
	22 (27)	Warriors	3-6	Isn’t the Jack trade alone worthy of this bump? Something else we firmly believe: Nellie is not going to walk away from his $6 million salary to drop to a consultant’s wage, nor will the Dubs pay him $6 mil just to consult.
	23 (17)	76ers	4-6	The spotlight on Brand’s struggles is about to get brighter with Philly losing Speights. For it means Elton should start getting fourth-quarter minutes again, which could get him going … or heap more pressure on him.
	24 (19)	Wizards	2-7	The Wiz are 1-0 in the presence of the committee (of one) and 1-7 (with six straight L’s and countless injuries) since. Scant consolation: Boykins just had a better Wiz debut than Michael Jordan: 20 points to MJ’s 19 in 2001.
	25 (22)	Clippers	4-7	Did the Clips cool any heat under Mike Dunleavy’s seat by winning Sunday at OKC? Better question: How has Dunleavy lasted into his seventh season working for Donald Sterling, who used to fire coaches for sport?
	26 (23)	Hornets	3-8	Byron Scott gets the rest of this season’s $5 million salary no matter what. Jeff Bower loses Chris Paul in his debut as an NBA head coach … and the Hornets have holes aplenty with CP3. Who would you rather be?
	27 (28)	Grizzlies	2-8	Full disclosure here: I want Iverson to come back soon purely and selfishly to see the Griz try to accommodate Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, Hasheem Thabeet, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Iverson and now Jamaal Tinsley.
	28 (29)	Nets	0-10	Indy at home Tuesday night. Milwaukee on the road Wednesday night. And a big Saturday lunchtime showdown with the equally punchless Knicks. Surely winless New Jersey can win one of three games this week. Right?
	29 (30)	Knicks	1-9	In the midst of four full days off after a humbling home loss to Golden State, we can come up with only one thing going right for the Knicks: Dare we say they’re not the only team that missed on Brandon Jennings.
	30 (26)	Timberwolves	1-10	This is only the fifth time ever three teams started 1-9 (or worse) in the same season. I didn’t expect the Wolves to be in Knicks/Nets territory, but you can’t be surprised looking at their team without Love and Jefferson.

2009-10 NBA Power Rankings: Week 3 (A-List Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

So it’s not a fluke. This Brandon Jennings fella can play. Let’s get ready to go overboard here. You couldn’t possibly have been in the Bradley Center here on Saturday and not felt that you were seeing something utterly different.

Jennings is not just working on becoming a very good player, a solid rookie in a very solid rookie class. He is rising above all that. He’s becoming a star. Rookie of the Year? Pshaw. We may soon be thinking of him as a possible All-Star.

If his numbers through the first six games of the season weren’t evidence enough — he averaged 20.7 points, 5.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds — what he did to the Warriors on Saturday night should pretty much solidify the kid’s status. He shook off a 4-for-13 first half (10 points) to light up Golden State for 29 points in the third quarter, the most points a player has ever scored against the Warriors in a quarter.

He finished with 55 points, using that 12-for-13 third quarter to vault the Bucks to a come-from-behind win. The 55 are a rookie franchise record, beating the old mark of 51 held by Lew Alcindor. They also are the most points scored by an NBA rookie since Earl Monroe in 1968.

“I was standing there in perfect offensive rebounding position every time,” center Andrew Bogut said. “But they kept going through the net.”

Jennings, of course, sent a minor shockwave through basketball by skipping out on a commitment to Arizona and instead playing pro ball in Italy last year, then joining the draft in 2009. He put up pedestrian numbers in Italy, struggling to earn playing time among the Euro pros, and in doing so managed to slip to No. 10 in the draft. He wasn’t even sure he was going to go that high — remember, he declined to go to the green room at Madison Square Garden on draft night because he wasn’t sure where he’d land and he did not want to wind up on camera as teams passed over him.

There will be much made of Jennings’ path to the NBA, and whether other players can thrive the way he has by going overseas. But that’s not really the point. Fact is, Jennings is unique, his game is uniquely styled to thrive in the NBA. “I learned a lot by playing overseas,” Jennings said. “But here, there is a little more one-on-one, I can do the things I do better.”

And it’s clear that the Bucks will reap the rewards of the things Jennings can do, for a long time. He has proven to be a much better shooter than scouts thought, and his ability to run a team is comparable to that of a 10-year veteran. The Bucks are 5-2 now, currently holding the No. 4 slot in the East. Jennings still considers himself a point guard before a scorer, and coach Scott Skiles was quick to point out that, even in Jennings’ unconscious third quarter, Jennings was still just doing his job. “He wasn’t forcing anything, even considering he is a rookie,” Skiles said. “It’s hard to say this when he has 29 points in a quarter, but it’s not him being greedy. He was just playing basketball out there.”

Jennings is still a rookie, and it’s pretty clear that he has seized the lead — with emphasis — in the Rookie of the Year race. Sure, it is early, and Jennings seems more aware of that than the giddy media and teammates who have been covering him. When I brought up to him after the game that he had passed Lew Alcindor, that his 55 points put him in the rookie company of the likes of Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan, he quickly shook his head and said, “I am not trying to get any individual accomplishments here. I am just trying to help the Bucks win games.”

Still, Jennings said something else after the game that has to make you think this guy is going to be different. When he was talking about the roll he has been on, not just in Saturday’s game but in the first three weeks of the season in general, Jennings brought up high school. “Sometimes it feels like Oak Hill (Academy) out there,” he said.

For Jennings, the NBA is already akin to high school. Rookie dominance seems assured. Stardom is the next stop.
By Sean Deveney

Fantasy owners meet Brandon Jennings, Let the the Hype Machine begin is a post from: AroDrive

Let the hype begin for another giant Patriots-Colts game in November. (Kuharsky) This I believe will be a high scoring match up of Epic proportion and I believe next week the Colts remain the best team in the NFL.

The Colts might be far from Perfect but I still believe they are the Best team in the NFL and the Patriots-Colts game this weekend will prove it.

I have to make a special mention of two teams that seem to be heading in the same direction taking a different paths: Chicago Bears, For a glass half full Jake Cutler is the only bright spot in this team if you could call them a team. After their loss to the 49ERs this weekend it will all come crumbling down on coach Lovie Smith and the high school defense he runs. (too bad, I really feel he’s a good coach but he stepped on too many toes over the years)

The Redskins on the other hand on like Chicago there is no bright spot in this Saga: is time to start looking to what they should do for next season.

Now back to the good: the Bronco’s I still say are a solid team and look for them to bounce back fast.

If the Giants can’t fix their problems during the bye week, their season will go bye-bye.

Here are the NFL Power Rankings – Week 10 (The A-List Edition):

2009 Power Rankings: Week 10
	RK (LW)	TEAM	REC	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Colts	8-0-0	The Colts might be far from Perfect but I still believe they are the Best team in the NFL and the Patriots-Colts game this weekend will prove it.
	2 (2)	Saints	8-0-0	The Saints have the Rams this weekend i look for the Saints to stay undefeated but, then again, it’s the NFL.
	3 (3)	Vikings	7-1-0	Despite coming off the bye, they shouldn’t lose any momentum.
	4 (6)	Bengals	6-2-0	The Bengal I believe are for real but they need to beat Pittsburgh this Weekend to sweep the season series and make a strong case for the AFC North crown.
	5 (7)	Steelers	6-2-0	They’re looking for revenge after their first loss to the Bengals.
	6 (5)	Patriots	6-2-0	With Tom Brady, the Pats are atop the AFC East again. Now the fun begins (Patriots-Colts)
	7 (4)	Broncos	6-2-0	I still say the Broncos are a solid team and look for them to bounce back fast.
	8 (9)	Cowboys	6-2-0	Call me cynic but I still don’t believe all is great in JerryWorld, but their records speak for it self so we rank them high.
	9 (11)	Falcons	5-3-0	Losses by the Packers and Bears are helping the Falcons’ chances for a wild-card playoff berth.
	10 (10)	Cardinals	5-3-0	Halfway to a 10-6 record thanks to four victories in four games away from University of Phoenix Stadium.
	11 (8)	Eagles	5-3-0	Just when you think the Eagles will soar, they fall to earth, as they did against the Cowboys on Sunday.
	12 (16)	Chargers	5-3-0	Late heroics versus Giants could be a springboard for the rest of the season.
	13 (14)	Texans	5-4-0	Too many self-destructive elements to loss at Indianapolis; now the Texans have a bye to mull them.
	14 (10)	Ravens	4-4-0	What happened to that once-vaunted run defense?
	15 (15)	Giants	5-4-0	If the Giants can’t fix their problems during the bye week, their season will go bye-bye.
	16 (12)	Packers	4-4-0	Their loss to Minnesota made sense. The one at Tampa Bay was inexplicable.
	17 (20)	Dolphins	3-5-0	The Dolphins are finding that the tougher schedule after an 11-win season is burdensome.
	18 (18)	Jets	4-4-0	Rex Ryan gave the Jets a week off. Now it’s time for their defense to start inflicting pain.
	19 (17)	Bears	4-4-0	For a glass half full Jake Cutler is the only bright spot in this team if you could call them a team They appear to be ready to fade.
	20 (19)	49ers	3-5-0	Playoffs? Mike Singletary wisely isn’t talking about them after his team’s fourth consecutive defeat.
	21 (23)	Panthers	3-5-0	The Panthers have showed they can be a contending team when Jake Delhomme protects the ball.
	22 (21)	Jaguars	4-4-0	Raise your hand if you had them at .500 after eight games. And no fibbing.
	23 (26)	Titans	2-6-0	With VY at QB, receivers have turned reliable, CJ has gone crazy and the defense has improved greatly.
	24 (22)	Bills	3-5-0	Trent Edwards’ only remaining headache after missing two games is the Bills’ offensive stats.
	25 (24)	Seahawks	3-5-0	The season pretty much will end unless the Seahawks can pull an upset at Arizona, where the Cardinals are 1-3.
	26 (25)	Redskins	2-6-0	What can you say about the Redskins? On like Chicago there is no bright spot in this Saga: is time to start looking to what they should do for next season.
	27 (27)	Raiders	2-6-0	What sort of cures were drawn up during the bye week? Can they work?
	28 (28)	Chiefs	1-7-0	The Chiefs helped cure the Jaguars’ pass-rush problems in their loss at Jacksonville.
	29 (29)	Lions	1-7-0	The Lions have lost 24 of their past 25 games. Ouch!
	30 (30)	Rams	1-7-0	The Rams play a tougher second-half schedule than any team in the NFC West, with the Saints visiting in Week 10.
	31 (32)	Buccaneers	1-7-0	Give the Bucs credit for winning a game against a significantly more talented opponent.
	32 (31)	Browns	1-7-0	What is this team doing on “Monday Night Football”?

NFL Power Rankings – Week 10 (The A-List Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

The time spent as Kerry Collin’s backup through all but the opening game of 2008 and part of 2009 has seemingly made a complete difference for Titans quarterback Vince Young.

Titans head coach Jeff Fisher said Monday the fourth-year signal caller had made the most of the situation.

“This experience has been good for him,” Fisher said. “He’s approaching things professionally. He’s focused. He’s not distracted and he’s excited about each and every play. He wants to do more which is where he should be.”

The 2006 Rose Bowl superstar from Texas showed composure in helping the Titans storm back from a three-point deficit to get their second win of the year 34-27 over San Francisco at Candlestick Park Sunday. The win was also only the second win in 11 tries for the Titans on the West coast since 1999.

Young had no interceptions for the second straight ballgame and completed 12-of-19 passes for 172 yards. Two of those completions came on hookups with wide receiver Justin Gage for gains of 49 and 33 yards. The latter came on the drive where the Titans claimed the lead for good.

Fisher said Young met all the objectives that he demands out his quarterback.

“He was consistent,” Fisher said. “He did exactly what we expected him to do in this ballgame.

“He managed the line of scrimmage. He made his adjustments and his checks. He used his legs. He grasped new concepts that we put in with enthusiasm and he gave players chances to make plays with the football.”

The Titans 2006 first-round selection said he wasn’t pressing as much or forcing the issue.

“I would say I am being more patient,” Young said Sunday after the game. “I am taking what the defense gives me. I am not going to force it if it is not there and check the ball down, or use my God-given talent by running the ball.”

Even though he’s played mistake-free football in his two starts back, Young says he’s still not happy and knows there’s still improvements to be made.

“I am still not satisfied and I am pretty sure my coaches are not satisfied,” Young said Sunday. “We still have a long road to go. Everything went right [Sunday] with the victory, we probably shut it as an offense and as a team. At the same time I am going to take it one game at a time and show my coaches that a year off with what I have been doing is concentrating and paying attention.”

By Jeremy Neighbours

Vince Young Reborn (Time On Bench Paying Off On Field) is a post from: AroDrive

Reggie Wayne might have a tough opponent in Houston Texans but this guy is a beast and will always come through with big Fantasy numbers.

I must say picking Vincent Jackson to start this weekend being he’s going against the Giants defence might look really risky but Philip Rivers has proven the last 8 weeks that when he has no where to go he can always find Vincent Jackson. So go ahead and start him and he’ll give you those well deserved points.

Other notables: Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Randy Moss and Marques Colston

keep these guys on reserve:  DeSean Jackson, Miles Austin and Brandon Marshall

The A-list rankings  are based the following criteria: Pass Yards: 25/1pt, Pass TD: 4pts, Pass INT: -1pt, Rush/Rec Yards: 10/1pt, Rush/Rec TD: 6pts . Recommendations based players health, stats against opponent for the present weekend, opponents stats against the position of the player, players Fantasy Stats past 3 weeks and guts on our part.

The following teams are on a bye this week:
Buffalo, Cleveland, Minnesota, New York Jets, Oakland, St. Louis

Rank	Player	Inj.	NFL Team	Opp.	Fantasy Pts
1	Reggie Wayne		IND	HOU	13.5
2	Marques Colston		NO	CAR	13.4
3	Randy Moss	Pro	NE	MIA	13.2
4	Larry Fitzgerald		ARI	@CHI	13.1
5	Miles Austin		DAL	@PHI	13.0
6	Roddy White	Que	ATL	WAS	12.5
7	DeSean Jackson	Pro	PHI	DAL	12.5
8	Andre Johnson		HOU	@IND	12.1
9	Vincent Jackson		SD	@NYG	12.0
10	Wes Welker		NE	MIA	11.8
11	Donald Driver	Pro	GB	@TB	11.1
12	Brandon Marshall		DEN	PIT	10.8
13	Chad Ochocinco		CIN	BAL	10.6
14	Nate Burleson		SEA	DET	9.6
15	Anquan Boldin	Que	ARI	@CHI	9.6
16	Steve Smith		CAR	@NO	9.4
17	T.J. Houshmandzadeh		SEA	DET	9.3
18	Michael Crabtree		SF	TEN	9.1
19	Steve Smith		NYG	SD	9.0
20	Calvin Johnson	Que	DET	@SEA	8.9
21	Johnny Knox		CHI	ARI	8.9
22	Mike Sims-Walker		JAX	KC	8.6
23	Santonio Holmes		PIT	@DEN	8.6
24	Jeremy Maclin	Pro	PHI	DAL	8.4
25	Santana Moss		WAS	@ATL	8.2

NFL Wide Receivers Power Rankings: Week 9 (A-list Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

Maurice Jones-Drew has been on fire this season, this week he might just make the past 8 weeks look like kids play. The train wreck called Kansas city Chiefs are rolling into town, look for Mr. Maurice Jones-Drew to lead the welcome wagon with a 100 plus yard game.

Chris Johnson and the Titans finally won 1 their reward! Mike Singletary and the 49ER’s. Now it might be a blood bath as 49ER’s will bounce back to win this game but, they will not be able to slow down the machine that is Chris Johnson. So if you have him you might want to start him this sunday.

Michael Turner and the Atlanta Falcons couldn’t be more happier this week, they face the soap opera that is the Washington Redskins (The complete coverage on the Jim Zorn Washington Redskins Saga) I guess I don’t have to tell you to start this guy and any other player you have on the Falcons team, believe me the Redskins have improved nothing and they will not score more than 17 points this sunday.

Matt Forte this week will have a tougher defense to run against Arizona Cardinal but they will not be able to stop him, so go ahead and start Forte. But, don’t go bet on the Bears to win.

The following you should have on reserve: Ray Rice, Cedric Benson and Marion Barber.

The A-list rankings  are based the following criteria: Pass Yards: 25/1pt, Pass TD: 4pts, Pass INT: -1pt, Rush/Rec Yards: 10/1pt, Rush/Rec TD: 6pts . Recommendations based players health, stats against opponent for the present weekend, opponents stats against the position of the player, players Fantasy Stats past 3 weeks and guts on our part.

The following teams are on a bye this week:
Buffalo, Cleveland, Minnesota, New York Jets, Oakland, St. Louis

Rank	Player	Inj.	NFL Team	Opp.	Fantasy Pts
1	Maurice Jones-Drew		JAX	KC	18.5
2	Frank Gore		SF	TEN	18.4
3	Chris Johnson		TEN	@SF	15.9
4	DeAngelo Williams		CAR	@NO	15.4
5	Michael Turner		ATL	WAS	15.3
6	Ray Rice		BAL	@CIN	14.1
7	Matt Forte		CHI	ARI	13.8
8	Rashard Mendenhall		PIT	@DEN	13.3
9	Ronnie Brown		MIA	@NE	12.3
10	Ryan Grant		GB	@TB	12.3
11	Pierre Thomas		NO	CAR	12.2
12	Clinton Portis		WAS	@ATL	11.7
13	Kevin Smith	Que	DET	@SEA	11.6
14	Brian Westbrook	Que	PHI	DAL	11.3
15	Joseph Addai		IND	HOU	11.0
16	Jamaal Charles		KC	@JAX	10.9
17	Julius Jones		SEA	DET	10.8
18	Cedric Benson		CIN	BAL	10.5
19	Ladainian Tomlinson		SD	@NYG	10.3
20	Brandon Jacobs		NYG	SD	10.1
21	Marion Barber	Pro	DAL	@PHI	9.9
22	Ahmad Bradshaw	Pro	NYG	SD	9.5
23	Chris Wells		ARI	@CHI	9.3
24	Ricky Williams		MIA	@NE	8.9
25	Mike Bell		NO	CAR	8.9

NFL RunningBacks Power Rankings: Week 9 (A-list Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

Hate him, Love Him Brett Favre is with out a doubt top 3 quarterback in the NFL this season. The bad news, he’s got a bye week.

So to the boys squaring off this sunday:

Peyton Manning might have a tougher opponent this week with the Texans coming to town, but the colts are at home so you can count on Manning to put up more touch town passes than he did last week. Come on people is Peyton Manning (The perfect one of the Manning Brothers)

Speaking of Eli Manning, you might want to start Philip Rivers if you have both as he has shown in the passed 4 weeks that he is a Fantasy superstar. Look for Philip Rivers to put up more big numbers against the dwindling NY Giants defense.

Kurt Warner I know he had a very bad game last sunday (Ok, he had a horrible game) but he will bounce back against the Bears, The Chicago Bears are a very BAD Team.

Below are the rankings of the 32 QuarterBack’s and stay away from starting these guys:  Jay Cutler, Tony Romo you can have them on reserve.

The A-list rankings  are based the following criteria: Pass Yards: 25/1pt, Pass TD: 4pts, Pass INT: -1pt, Rush/Rec Yards: 10/1pt, Rush/Rec TD: 6pts . Recommendations based players health, stats against opponent for the present weekend, opponents stats against the position of the player, players Fantasy Stats past 3 weeks and guts on our part.

The following teams are on a bye this week:
Buffalo, Cleveland, Minnesota, New York Jets, Oakland, St. Louis

Rank	Player	Inj.	NFL Team	Opp.	Fantasy Pts
1	Peyton Manning		IND	HOU	22.2
2	Aaron Rodgers	Pro	GB	@TB	21.2
3	Tom Brady	Pro	NE	MIA	20.8
4	Drew Brees		NO	CAR	20.5
5	Ben Roethlisberger		PIT	@DEN	18.7
6	Philip Rivers		SD	@NYG	17.9
7	Matt Schaub		HOU	@IND	17.5
8	Donovan McNabb		PHI	DAL	17.2
9	Tony Romo		DAL	@PHI	16.8
10	Jay Cutler		CHI	ARI	16.8
11	Kurt Warner		ARI	@CHI	16.6
12	David Garrard		JAX	KC	16.3
13	Matt Ryan		ATL	WAS	15.6
14	Eli Manning		NYG	SD	15.5
15	Joe Flacco		BAL	@CIN	15.5
16	Carson Palmer		CIN	BAL	15.0
17	Matt Hasselbeck	Pro	SEA	DET	14.3
18	Alex Smith		SF	TEN	13.8
19	Matthew Stafford	Pro	DET	@SEA	13.0
20	Matt Cassel		KC	@JAX	12.8
21	Kyle Orton		DEN	PIT	12.6
22	Jake Delhomme	Pro	CAR	@NO	11.9
23	Jason Campbell		WAS	@ATL	11.7
24	Chad Henne		MIA	@NE	10.7
25	Josh Freeman		TB	GB	10.4

NFL Quarterback Power Rankings: Week 9 (A-list Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

The Colts remain on top the NFL Power Rankings week 9 (A-List Edition) for only one reason, they are the most complete team in the NFL. Even with an off game for Peyton Manning (By Peyton Manning standard) the Colts found a way to win.

The Saints have proved week in and week out that they are the most thrilling team in the NFL. But they really need work on the defensive end as they are going to need perfection for them to go perfect for the season.

What can we say about Brett Favre and the Vikings, even with the loss at Pittsburgh they still look like the second best team in the NFL. Look for them to rise our list in the coming weeks.

Every one seems to be jumping on the Cowboys band wagon again, well here’s a reality check: they beat the Seahawks  people, the seahawks are a bad team and the cowboys still facing locker room issues as overrated wide receiver Roy Williams is beginning to cry so watch the cowboys fall apart this weekend to the Eagles.

Here’s the rest of the rankings:

2009 Power Rankings: Week 9
	RK (LW)	TEAM	REC	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Colts	7-0-0	Another week, another victory for the most complete team in the NFL through Week 8 and they proved they can win even with a semi off night for Manning.
	2 (2)	Saints	7-0-0	No doubt this team is good, really good. Now they face some semi easy teams starting with the Texans, can this team go undefeated.
	3 (4)	Vikings	7-1-0	Brett Favre and the Viks have looked like the No. 1 team in the NFL all season with a bye week lets see what they pull out their sleeves the rest of the way.
	4 (3)	Broncos	6-1-0	The bounce-back game after the first loss is another tough one: home against Pittsburgh.
	5 (5)	Patriots	5-2-0	Enjoying a bye after a romp in London, the Patriots didn’t have to do anything to open up ground in the AFC East.
	6 (6)	Bengals	5-2-0	They can make a statement the next two weeks with games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
	7 (7)	Steelers	5-2-0	A week off shouldn’t slow their momentum after four straight victories.
	8 (12)	Eagles	5-2-0	The young legs of LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson have the Eagles’ offense soaring.
	9 (9)	Cowboys	5-2-0	I still don’t believe the Cowboys are a good team. And without Terrell Owens they still have a receiver crisis with Roy Williams.
	10 (14)	Ravens	4-3-0	They’re celebrating a big victory over Denver, breaking a three-game losing streak.
	11 (11)	Falcons	4-3-0	Despite recent troubles, the Falcons seem like a strong wild-card candidate from the NFC.
	12 (13)	Packers	4-3-0	Aaron Rodgers is starting to show signs of his season-long beating.
	13 (10)	Cardinals	4-3-0	The Cardinals take a 3-0 road record to Soldier Field, where a victory would help their cause immensely.
	14 (17)	Texans	5-3-0	The upcoming trip to Indianapolis is only the most significant game in franchise history. (Kuharsky)
	15 (8)	Giants	5-3-0	The Giants entered Week 8 with the league’s top-ranked defense, but it played like No. 32.
	16 (16)	Chargers	4-3-0	They could be catching the struggling Giants at just the right time.
	17 (18)	Bears	4-3-0	Like everyone else, they loved seeing the Browns on the schedule.
	18 (15)	Jets	4-4-0	If the Jets were to win a national lottery, the winning ticket would fly out of their office and land with the Dolphins.
	19 (20)	49ers	3-4-0	Opening up the offense could be tougher with left tackle Joe Staley on the injured list for six weeks.
	20 (19)	Dolphins	3-4-0	After a week in which Ted Ginn was grim, his two kickoff returns for touchdowns have Dolphins fans wearing grins.
	21 (21)	Jaguars	3-4-0	A home date with the unattractive Chiefs is not going to be the game that ends the blackout run.
	22 (22)	Bills	3-5-0	The best part about the Bills’ bye week is that no one will get a chance to see the Bills’ offense.
	23 (24)	Panthers	3-4-0	It’s amazing how good the Panthers can seem when Jake Delhomme throws to his own guys instead.
	24 (23)	Seahawks	2-5-0	A home date against the Lions should let Seattle feel good about itself again, if only for a week.
	25 (25)	Redskins	2-5-0	No consultants were hired during the bye week, so things were quiet in D.C.
	26 (29)	Titans	1-6-0	The 49ers likely will offer significantly more resistance than the Jaguars did.
	27 (27)	Raiders	2-6-0	What can the Raiders do during the bye week to improve the state of things?
	28 (28)	Chiefs	1-6-0	The Jaguars’ limited pass rush could give Matt Cassel time to find some big plays.
	29 (26)	Lions	1-6-0	A loss to St. Louis is a step in the wrong direction.
	30 (32)	Rams	1-7-0	No one in the league is playing more commendably than Rams running back Steven Jackson.
	31 (30)	Browns	1-7-0	It’s about time somebody got fired for this disaster.
	32 (31)	Buccaneers	0-7-0	This is officially the worst team in the league now that the Rams have finally won a game.

NFL Power Rankings – Week 9 (The A-List Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

Heading into the 2009 NFL season, there were a few QBs who stood at the top.  None of them were Brett Favre.  But he keeps coming back for more.

The guys at the top of the fantasy listings were players like Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees with a sprinkling of Tom Brady. Brett Favre was a mere afterthought, and not even picked in some of the leagues on ESPN.

After all, he’s old (40), and he was joining a Vikings team that hadn’t hadn’t exactly been lighting it up through the air for the last 4 seasons.  The thought of starting a QB on a Brad Childress offense was disgusting to most fantasy owners.  But, after 8 weeks of the NFL season, Brett Favre is having, arguably, the finest start to a season in his long career.  The numbers are also translating into great fantasy football numbers as well.

Fantasy totals for each of Brett Favre’s 18 seasons:

As you can see from the above, Brett Favre is having one of his finest seasons, both record and fantasy points wise.

If you take a look at Weeks 3 – 8, Brett Favre is leading the NFL in passing fantasy points (using a 1 pt per 25 yards passing, 4 pt per TD, -2 per INT system).  Partly due to lack of bye, but mostly due to great numbers from week 3 – week 8.

The 2009 Brett Favre is the real deal and should be plugged into your starting lineup if he isn’t already.

Brett Favre quarterback Fantasy King? (The numbers say it all) is a post from: AroDrive

If you’re tired of reading about Brett Favre, I’ve got bad news for you.

Like him or not, Favre’s pasting of the Packers in Week 8 is just the backdrop for what should be considered one heck of a comeback season. Not to get all John Madden on you, but Favre is playing incredible football these days, and a letdown doesn’t seem to be on the horizon.

Through eight weeks, Favre is on pace for 32 touchdowns, six interceptions and 3,850 passing yards. Moreover, he’s completed 68 percent of his passes, which would easily be a career-best for a single season if he was to keep it up. Favre has fit right in with what the Vikings are doing offensively and has developed an impressive receiving corps while playing behind a good offensive line handing off to one of the best running backs in the league today.

Throw in a good defense to give Favre some solid field position from time to time and a dream schedule, and you’ve got the makings of a great Fantasy quarterback. This is something we knew had the potential of happening before the season, but not with this much overwhelming proof.

Kudos to those of you who own Favre in your leagues. Whether he’s your full-time starter, situational starter based on matchups or your De facto backup, you’ve secured a gem for the rest of ’09.

But you also have some decisions to make.

Favre was started in 44 percent of CBSSports.com leagues in Week 8. Even in a year flooded with capable Fantasy quarterbacks, that seems low. The guy currently ranks fifth among passers in standard-scoring leagues (he might be sixth after Drew Brees gets through the Falcons on Monday) and has put up at least 20 Fantasy points (standard-scoring leagues) in four of his last six games. Every single Favre owner has to decide whether he’s going to be a benefit for his or her Fantasy team, or a piece to trade for a valuable starter.

The best way to go about determining this is to see how he matches up with other quarterbacks in the league. Even with his big game in Week 8 and his previous outings, there are some quarterbacks you just can’t start him over. Likewise, there are some quarterbacks who you might think you can’t start him over, but should.

Decisively better than Favre: Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers. No rocket science here as these guys are expected to put up big stats regardless of their opponent week in and week out. The same actually can’t be said about Favre, who earlier this season leaned on Adrian Peterson to shoulder the load in three of the Vikings’ wins and put up nominal stat totals in those games. Of course, the Vikings have leaned on Peterson just as much in other games while Favre puts up great numbers. Conclusion: If you own Favre and one of these quarterbacks, you should trade Favre.

Better than Favre, for now: Philip Rivers, Tony Romo. Based on how they’ve been playing, there’s no reason to believe pulling these guys for Favre would be a wise move. Romo is red hot and while Rivers has been hot and cold, his schedule going forward should result in a lot of passing. Conclusion: If you own Favre and one of these quarterbacks, you should trade Favre.

As good as Favre: Jay Cutler, Donovan McNabb, Matt Schaub. You might be surprised to see Schaub on this list. The only reason why he’s even here and not on one of the other lists is because tight end Owen Daniels is lost for the season with a torn ACL. Daniels made up roughly 20 percent of the Texans’ passing offense, and with him out Schaub will struggle to find the going so good. With two of his next three games against the Colts’ star-studded secondary, he might start underperforming. As for Cutler and McNabb, they’re more unsettling than anything else. If you punt on Favre and stick with McNabb or Cutler, you’re leaving yourself open to one of their trademark games where they turn the ball over a bunch or can’t connect for a ton of stats. We’ve seen games like those from both of them recently, and neither one has a great schedule to finish the season. Conclusion: If you own Favre and one of these quarterbacks, play the matchups unless you get a great offer for one of your quarterbacks.

Not as good as Favre: Joe Flacco, Carson Palmer, Matt Ryan, Kurt Warner. Don’t even think twice about it — these quarterbacks have their strengths but they’re also prone to bad games. They are in no way locks to put up big numbers each week and are at best guys you might consider as quality backups for Favre. Conclusion: If you own Favre and one of these quarterbacks, either trade the other quarterback or keep him as a backup/situational starter.

Everyone else pales in comparison to Favre as far as Fantasy Football goes, and I doubt anyone would fight me on that.

Let me share one last reason to trade Favre right now: The Vikings are on a bye in Week 9. Very rarely can you trade a stud to a desperate Fantasy owner on his bye week, but Favre is an exception simply because the owner getting Favre might rationalize that he’ll use him starting in Week 10 and plug in someone else until then.

And one more note: Favre’s owners have two weeks to trade him — his value isn’t going anywhere between now and his next game (vs. Detroit) as part of a three-game homestand starting in Week 10.

Fantasy & Reality

Quick observations about the misconceptions (Fantasy) and truths (Reality) during the week’s action.

Fantasy: Frank Gore will struggle at Indianapolis. Remember in Swingers when Mikey lost $200 of his $300 bankroll on his first hand of blackjack, then Trent compliments him when he eventually cashes out for $120? “Nice, baby, you’re up twenty bucks!” Trent said, “I mean, not counting what happened on the first table.” That’s how I feel about Gore after Week 8. Take away his 64-yard touchdown run and he had 70 total yards on 17 touches. Nothing special — but that’s not what counts in Fantasy Football, and now I feel like Mikey.

Reality: DeAngelo Williams will run on the Cardinals. I doubt Panthers offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson reads my stuff, but after bashing his playcalling last week I must say he got it right this week, leaning on his run game to crack the Cardinals. And see what Jake Delhomme can do when his run game is up to par? If they didn’t have to play the Patriots, Vikings and Saints twice, I wouldn’t write off the Panthers.

Fantasy: Kyle Orton will expose the Ravens’ secondary. Great job by the Ravens as the defense took away Orton’s time to throw deep by sending pressure and keeping their cornerbacks close to the Broncos’ receivers. And it’s a bad time for the Broncos to get exposed like this — the Steelers come to Denver well rested in Week 9. It’s going to be hard to trust Orton in that matchup, especially if he plays without right tackle Ryan Harris.

Reality: The Titans secondary got healthy and improved in the process. We weren’t sure if cornerback Cortland Finnegan would play for Tennessee, nor were we sure he’d be an asset for them. But the play of Finnegan and DB Vincent Fuller, both coming back from injury, along with journeyman Rod Hood all contributed to David Garrard’s struggles on Sunday. Worse yet, Mike Sims-Walker went from hero to zero after his two-catch, three-target day. Don’t hesitate to start him next week vs. the Chiefs, though.

Fantasy: Donovan McNabb won’t shine against the Giants. McNabb seems to go through these inexplicable stretches where he’s woefully inconsistent. Last year it happened at about the exact same time as this year when his stats mostly sunk over a five-game stretch before perking up in November. But in 2007 he kicked tail in four October games before a stinker in his fifth, two games before getting hurt for the season. The key in this matchup was that he simply was on target when he took his downfield shots. Having two possessions inside of 2:00 in the first half didn’t hurt things, either.

Reality: Peyton Manning: Zero touchdowns. Matt Schaub: Zero touchdowns. Jay Cutler: Zero touchdowns. Rams kicker Josh Brown: One touchdown. Joseph Addai: One touchdown pass. Some things just cannot be explained.

Strategy Session

I have major Texans issues — Owen Daniels is out for the season and Steve Slaton is in the dog house. Help?!

Let’s start with Daniels as his situation is more concrete. He has reportedly torn a ligament in his knee, an injury that requires season-ending surgery. And just like that, the No. 1 tight end in standard-scoring leagues entering Week 8 is worthless.

And as I mentioned earlier, Daniels took up 20 percent of the Texans offense: 21 percent of Matt Schaub’s completions went to Daniels and just over 20 percent of Schaub’s yards were made up by Daniels. Those stats will be tough to replace in Houston, but Joel Dreessen will be the first to get a chance. Dreessen has five catches for 52 yards this season and the four-year veteran has a career 9.0 yards per catch average. It’s not a stretch to suggest that he’s not the best possible replacement for Daniels in Fantasy leagues.

We’re fortunate to be in a season where many tight ends are putting up good stats, so Daniels’ Fantasy owners probably won’t have to look past the waiver wire to find help. Dustin Keller was blackballed from many rosters before coming back to life against the Dolphins for 76 yards and a touchdown on eight catches. Consistency is obviously an issue for him but there’s no doubt that he’s an athletic pass-catching tight end — he’s even in the top 12 in targets at the position. Todd Heap, Zach Miller and Kevin Boss are also candidates to replace Daniels. One guy to target in trade: Jermichael Finley of the Packers (assuming he’s not a free agent) — his value is low because he’s hurt and the Packers have a very good schedule down the stretch.

Now let’s move to Slaton, who many Fantasy owners started in Week 8 with grand visions of … oh, I don’t know, say over 150 total yards and three touchdowns? The Texans rolled up the Bills’ awful run defense, but it was Ryan Moats who came in after Slaton fumbled his first carry and never looked back.

Apparently Gary Kubiak doesn’t play Fantasy Football. Or, he does and he has Moats on his team.

Moats is the kind of running back I typically drool over: Small, shifty, great acceleration, good enough hands. But he’s injury prone. Think Brian Westbrook, which is pretty much dead-on accurate since that’s what the Eagles thought when they drafted him out of Louisiana Tech in 2005. But they sent Moats to the curb after injuries kept him sidelined, and he latched on with the Texans late last season as a kickoff-return candidate before bursting on the scene on Sunday.

The Texans have two options after their Week 8 win: Lean on Moats exclusively or split his reps with Slaton. Moats sure looked great against the Bills, and he might even put up a big game against Indianapolis next week. But because of his injury-plagued past, my hunch is that Slaton will still earn a piece of the rushing workload so long as he doesn’t cough up the football.

That hurts Fantasy owners more than it helps because if there is indeed a split, then both Moats and Slaton won’t be any better than, say, low-end No. 2 Fantasy rushers. Throw in Chris Brown, who saw seven carries against Buffalo, as a potential touchdown vulture, and Houston’s entire run game has become a muddled mess of New England-esque proportions.

As Jamey Eisenberg wrote on Sunday, trading Slaton isn’t an option because you can’t get anything for him. Cutting him seems harsh. Starting him seems too risky. Benching him is just about the only option you’ve got. That, and doing whatever you can to add Moats to your roster. If there’s one thing favoring Slaton, it’s that he’s healthy and he’s proven to be a good running back in the past. He just has to control his fumbling.

Ultimately, I have a bad feeling that the Texans’ high-powered offense is in for some long Sunday afternoons.

Parting Shots

• Five interceptions later, Kurt Warner knows what it’s like to be Jake Delhomme.

• Chris Johnson and Maurice Jones-Drew total more rushing yards (405) than Brandon Jacobs, Ray Rice, Joseph Addai, LaDainian Tomlinson, Ronnie Brown, Kevin Smith and Beanie Wells combined!

• The Panthers run defense might be allowing a touchdown on the ground per week since their bye, but they’ve allowed a total of 207 rush yards through that span (three games). They’ve improved there, but they’ll get tested next week at New Orleans.

• The Rams won in spite of the dumbest safety since Dan Orlovsky accidentally ran out of the end zone. One reason why: Steven Jackson. He’s had six games with 100 total yards or more in his last seven — on a team with little to no other offensive weapons to help him.

• Welcome back to Earth, Sidney Rice.

• Calvin Johnson’s knee must be seriously messed up.

• I’m not going to say it again, but if you’ve been keeping up with us and you have Matt Forte, you know what you have to do.

• Am I late to the Willis McGahee Fantasy value funeral? He’s legitimately worth cutting. What a shocking decline.

• Green Bay fans: You got your first taste of what everyone else around the league has been eating for the last 17 years — losing to Favre. How’s it taste?

• Last week we had four 300-yard passers and eight 100-yard receivers. This week, one 300-yard passer and two 100-yard receivers. It was just that kind of week.

• If I were the Chiefs and Larry Johnson called out my head coach like he did, he wouldn’t play for me again. Now I realize that the bigger offense was his use of a homosexual slur, but the disrespect he showed Todd Haley last week is unacceptable, especially if Haley plans on hanging around Kansas City for the next several years. With the season lost and the team turning to younger talent anyway, I’d deactivate Johnson each week for the rest of the season. I hope the Chiefs are thinking the same way, because if they’re not, they’re sending a pretty bad message to the rest of the roster.

The 40-year-old surgeon (Fantasy & Reality) is a post from: AroDrive

Tights ends the big guys with great hands and Owen Daniels the past few weeks he’s been a force to reckon with and this week against the Bills will be a good game for him so start him.

The game of Week 8: Vikings vs Green Bay promises to be a thriller and Visanthe Shiancoe the gentle giant will have all day to run down the middle on Packers defense as they will have their hands full with Perterson and Favre.

Antonio Gates the king on our list can’t wait for Sunday to come and neither should you, it’s Oakland baby and Gates will give you those numbers.

Tony Gonzalez might have a tougher opponent than the other top guys on our list but this guy is a stud and keeps putting up big Fantasy numbers so i’ll start if I have him.

The A-list rankings  are based the following criteria: Pass Yards: 25/1pt, Pass TD: 4pts, Pass INT: -1pt, Rush/Rec Yards: 10/1pt, Rush/Rec TD: 6pts . Recommendations based players health, stats against opponent for the present weekend, opponents stats against the position of the player, players Fantasy Stats past 3 weeks and guts on our part.

Rank	Player	NFL Team	Bye Week	Age	Yrs Exp.	Projected Fantasy Points*
1	Antonio Gates	SD	5	29	6	168.4
2	Dallas Clark	IND	6	30	6	162.6
3	Tony Gonzalez	ATL	4	33	12	142.6
4	Brent Celek	PHI	4	24	2	137.3
5	Jason Witten	DAL	6	27	6	134.1
6	Chris Cooley	WAS	8	27	5	123.3
7	Vernon Davis	SF	6	25	3	118.7
8	John Carlson	SEA	7	25	1	108.1
9	Owen Daniels	HOU	10	26	3	107.9
10	Greg Olsen	CHI	5	24	2	107.0
11	Heath Miller	PIT	8	27	4	100.7
12	Jeremy Shockey	NO	5	29	7	97.7
13	Kellen Winslow	TB	8	26	4	97.4
14	Visanthe Shiancoe	MIN	9	29	6	94.0
15	Marcedes Lewis	JAX	7	25	3	89.6
16	Dustin Keller	NYJ	9	25	1	89.5
17	Jermichael Finley	GB	5	22	1	88.0
18	Todd Heap	BAL	7	29	8	83.8
19	Ben Watson	NE	8	28	4	81.4
20	Kevin Boss	NYG	10	25	2	75.8
21	Zach Miller	OAK	9	23	2	74.7
22	Dante Rosario	CAR	4	25	2	70.0
23	Tony Scheffler	DEN	7	26	3	66.2
24	Sean Ryan	KC	8	29	5	65.1
25	Brandon Pettigrew	DET	7	24	R	59.5

NFL Tight Ends Power Rankings – Week 8 (A-List Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

These guys you need to start: is no secret Miles Austin is hot and if you have him this week will be no different against  Seattle at home.

New Orleans has a formidable offense, they are yet to prove they can stop the passing game so Roddy White under the Monday Night Football stage on ESPN will come to play for you so I say start him you’ll get your points.

Larry Fitzgerald is a lock to put up the numbers on Sunday don’t believe me! ask the Giants. Carolina Panthers can’t stop any one so this should be a blood bath and Mr. Fitzgerald should see the end zone more than once in this game.

Andre Johnson no doubt is a premiere fantasy god and this week he’s got semi easy one against the Bills, the only problem they are on the road but we still believe he will deliver the numbers. So go Ahead and start him.

The A-list rankings  are based the following criteria: Pass Yards: 25/1pt, Pass TD: 4pts, Pass INT: -1pt, Rush/Rec Yards: 10/1pt, Rush/Rec TD: 6pts . Recommendations based players health, stats against opponent for the present weekend, opponents stats against the position of the player and guts on our part.

The following teams are on a bye this week:
Cincinnati, Kansas City, New England, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Washington

Rank	Player	Inj.	NFL Team	Opp.	Fantasy Pts
1	Roddy White		ATL	@NO	14.0
2	Larry Fitzgerald		ARI	CAR	13.8
3	Reggie Wayne	Que	IND	SF	13.0
4	Andre Johnson	Pro	HOU	@BUF	12.8
5	DeSean Jackson	Pro	PHI	NYG	11.9
6	Marques Colston		NO	ATL	11.8
7	Mike Sims-Walker		JAX	@TEN	11.7
8	Vincent Jackson		SD	OAK	11.0
9	Steve Smith		NYG	@PHI	10.9
10	Donald Driver		GB	MIN	10.4
11	Miles Austin		DAL	SEA	10.0
12	Anquan Boldin	Que	ARI	CAR	9.9
13	Brandon Marshall		DEN	@BAL	9.5
14	Sidney Rice		MIN	@GB	9.2
15	Steve Smith		CAR	@ARI	9.0
16	Johnny Knox		CHI	CLE	9.0
17	Jerricho Cotchery	Que	NYJ	MIA	8.7
18	Eddie Royal		DEN	@BAL	8.5
19	Greg Jennings		GB	MIN	8.1
20	Derrick Mason		BAL	DEN	7.8
21	Austin Collie		IND	SF	7.8
22	Braylon Edwards		NYJ	MIA	7.7
23	T.J. Houshmandzadeh		SEA	@DAL	7.5
24	Nate Washington	Pro	TEN	JAX	7.5
25	Nate Burleson		SEA	@DAL	7.4

Rank	Player	Inj.	NFL Team	Opp.	Fantasy Pts
1	Roddy White		ATL	@NO	14.0
2	Larry Fitzgerald		ARI	CAR	13.8
3	Reggie Wayne	Que	IND	SF	13.0
4	Andre Johnson	Pro	HOU	@BUF	12.8
5	DeSean Jackson	Pro	PHI	NYG	11.9
6	Marques Colston		NO	ATL	11.8
7	Mike Sims-Walker		JAX	@TEN	11.7
8	Vincent Jackson		SD	OAK	11.0
9	Steve Smith		NYG	@PHI	10.9
10	Donald Driver		GB	MIN	10.4
11	Miles Austin		DAL	SEA	10.0
12	Anquan Boldin	Que	ARI	CAR	9.9
13	Brandon Marshall		DEN	@BAL	9.5
14	Sidney Rice		MIN	@GB	9.2
15	Steve Smith		CAR	@ARI	9.0
16	Johnny Knox		CHI	CLE	9.0
17	Jerricho Cotchery	Que	NYJ	MIA	8.7
18	Eddie Royal		DEN	@BAL	8.5
19	Greg Jennings		GB	MIN	8.1
20	Derrick Mason		BAL	DEN	7.8
21	Austin Collie		IND	SF	7.8
22	Braylon Edwards		NYJ	MIA	7.7
23	T.J. Houshmandzadeh		SEA	@DAL	7.5
24	Nate Washington	Pro	TEN	JAX	7.5
25	Nate Burleson		SEA	@DAL	7.4

NFL Wide Receivers Power Rankings – Week 8 (A-List Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

This is Kick off week for the NBA and is Kick off week for the A-List’s NBA players power rankings.

For now we give you the top based on off season trades and signings.

Lebron James is a triple double waiting to happen hence he claims the number one slot, cleveland I believe will be worse than they were last year as they didn’t go out and try to get a slashing point to take some of the scoring burden off the King. That said, Lebron will have another monster year and Fantasy owners will be happy.

Kobe Bryant’s lakers look to be set to repeat this year as NBA Champions, this means Kobe as MVP and Scoring Title (At least in the top 3). He will always put up big numbers unlike lebron, this guy never has a bad night. So if is scoring you need i’ll take Kobe over Lebron.

Mr. everything CP3 (Chris Paul) he’s team might be just good enough to make the playoffs this year but CP3 will fight in every game to get a W, so Fantasy owners can be rest assured he will deliver.

Here’s our Top 10, let us know what you think

NBA Top 10 Players 2009 – 2010 (A-List Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

The game of  week 8 stars the best running back in any league Adrian Peterson at Packers and you can bet peterson will have very good numbers as the Packer will dare the Vikings to run the ball and defend the passing game, they are not loosing this game with Favre throwing the ball. So if you do not have this beast (Adrian Peterson) go out and buy him or start him if you lucky enough to have him.

Matt Forte is a lock for a very big game this Sunday as Cleveland rows into town, he’s numbers will be pro bowl like so go ahead and start him.

LaDainian Tomlinson is ripe for a big game, he’s not been happy the past couple of weeks not being the number choice thanks to Mr. Choice. Against the Raiders on Sunday there will be enough plays to give Tomlinson the 100 yards game that had eluded him all season.

Other Notables: Marion Barber, Ray Rice and Steve Slaton are set to have big games. Here are the top 50 Running backs in the NFL:

Running backs
#	Player	Team	Bye	Opponent	Stock
1.	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota	9	at Packers
2.	Maurice Jones-Drew	Jacksonville	7	at Titans
3.	Steve Slaton	Houston	10	at Bills
4.	Ronnie Brown	Miami	6	at Jets
5.	Steven Jackson	St. Louis	9	at Lions
6.	Ray Rice	Baltimore	7	vs. Broncos
7.	Matt Forte	Chicago	5	vs. Browns
8.	Chris Johnson	Tennessee	7	vs. Jaguars
9.	Michael Turner	Atlanta	4	at Saints (Mon.)
10.	DeAngelo Williams	Carolina	4	at Cardinals
11.	Kevin Smith	Detroit	7	vs. Rams
12.	Frank Gore	San Francisco	6	at Colts
13.	Thomas Jones	N.Y. Jets	9	vs. Dolphins
14.	LaDainian Tomlinson	San Diego	5	vs. Raiders
15.	Marshawn Lynch	Buffalo	9	vs. Texans
16.	Joseph Addai	Indianapolis	6	vs. 49ers
17.	Ricky Williams	Miami	6	at Jets
18.	LeSean McCoy	Philadelphia	4	vs. Giants
19.	Marion Barber	Dallas	6	vs. Seahawks
20.	Ryan Grant	Green Bay	5	vs. Vikings
21.	Pierre Thomas	New Orleans	5	vs. Falcons (Mon.)
22.	Knowshon Moreno	Denver	7	at Ravens
23.	Brandon Jacobs	N.Y. Giants	10	at Eagles
24.	Beanie Wells	Arizona	4	vs. Panthers
25.	Darren Sproles	San Diego	5	vs. Raiders
26.	Shonn Greene	N.Y. Jets	9	vs. Dolphins
27.	Ahmad Bradshaw	N.Y. Giants	10	at Eagles
28.	Tim Hightower	Arizona	4	vs. Panthers
29.	Justin Fargas	Oakland	9	at Chargers
30.	Jonathan Stewart	Carolina	4	at Cardinals
31.	Jamal Lewis	Cleveland	9	at Bears
32.	Reggie Bush	New Orleans	5	vs. Falcons (Mon.)
33.	Julius Jones	Seattle	7	at Cowboys
34.	Felix Jones	Dallas	6	vs. Seahawks
35.	Mike Bell	New Orleans	5	vs. Falcons (Mon.)
36.	Correll Buckhalter	Denver	7	at Ravens
37.	Fred Jackson	Buffalo	9	vs. Texans
38.	Chester Taylor	Minnesota	9	at Packers
39.	LenDale White	Tennessee	7	vs. Jaguars
40.	Willis McGahee	Baltimore	7	vs. Broncos
41.	Michael Bush	Oakland	9	at Chargers
42.	Jerome Harrison	Cleveland	9	at Bears
43.	Tashard Choice	Dallas	6	vs. Seahawks
44.	Jason Snelling	Atlanta	4	at Saints (Mon.)
45.	Chris Brown	Houston	10	at Bills
46.	Glen Coffee	San Francisco	6	at Colts
47.	Justin Forsett	Seattle	7	at Cowboys
48.	Garrett Wolfe	Chicago	5	vs. Browns
49.	Mike Hart	Indianapolis	6	vs. 49ers
50.	Le’Ron McClain	Baltimore	7	vs. Broncos

NFL Running Backs Power Rankings – Week 8 (A-List Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

Like the BCS, style points count. So do geeky, black-and-white stats such as touchdowns and quarterback rating. Wins and losses? Definitely. Leadership? Uh-huh.

When it comes to my weekly NFL Quarterback Rankings – if I had one of those little encircled R’s to signify a trademarked idea, it’d go here – the criteria is everything, nothing and all that’s in between.

Past performance and future potential is considered, but mostly – like college football’s weekly Top 25 – it’s an attempt to identify the quarterbacks you’d most like to have starting for your team in this game, this week, right now. Injuries, obviously, significantly plummet value. A clever new TV ad might bump a player a notch.

At the bottom of the list it was hard to decide between JaMarcus Russell (who i believe should not be in the NFL) and the Skin’s Jason Campbell (who’s play is just nothing short of horrible), but the raiders have won more games and Mr Russell has had some quarters in a game where he looked like he might just know how to play Quarter Back. Campbell on the other hand does not even have 60 seconds of watchable football, hence he leads our list from behind.

Guys you want to Buy or Start this week: Payton Manning has proven over and over again that he is one of the greatest of all time, he’s numbers are out of this world and he competes with Drew Brees (he has slowed down considerably since game 3 of this season when he was putting up eye popping numbers but he’s numbers are still amazing at as week 8 and look for him to be better on monday night football), Brett Favre, Phillip Rivers and Mr. Tom Brady for the number one spot.

Other notables: Kyle Orton has done every thing asked of him and he’s numbers show it and the Broncos are undefeated and so will you if you have him, while Mr. Jay ‘am a star’  Cutler of the bears can’t stop passing the to the opposing team. He’s numbers will improve this weekend Cleveland and Derek Anderson rolls into town any one can beat this team (except the Redskins).

So here goes for all you Fantasy geeks out there:

32. Jason Campbell, Redskins (-).

31. JaMarcus Russell, Raiders (-5).

30. Marc Bulger, Rams (+1).

29. Derek Anderson, Browns (-).

28. Josh Johnson, Buccaneers (+2).

27. Kerry Collins, Titans (+1).

26. Matthew Stafford , Lions (+1).

25. Jake Delhomme, Panthers (-1).

24. Shaun Hill Alex Smith, 49ers (-4).

23. Trent Edwards Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bills (+1).

22. Matt Cassel, Chiefs (-1).

21. Chad Henne, Dolphins (+1).

20. Mark Sanchez, Jets (+5).

19. Matt Hasselbeck, Seahawks (-).

18. David Garrard, Jaguars (-).

17. Jay Cutler, Bears (-2).

16. Donovan McNabb, Eagles (-).

15. Matt Ryan, Falcons (-4).

14. Joe Flacco, Ravens (-).

13. Matt Schaub, Texans (+3).

12. Carson Palmer, Bengals (+1).

11. Eli Manning, Giants (-5).

10. Tony Romo, Cowboys (+2).

9. Kyle Orton, Broncos (-).

8. Kurt Warner, Cardinals (+3).

7. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers (+2).

6. Aaron Rodgers, Packers (+2).

5. Brett Favre, Vikings (-3).

4. Phillip Rivers, Chargers (-).

3. Tom Brady, Patriots (-).

2. Drew Brees, Saints (-).

1. Peyton Manning, Colts (-).

So let me know what you think of our Rankings.

NFL Quarterback Power Rankings: Week 8 (A-list Edition) is a post from: AroDrive

Drew Brees looked across the line of scrimmage and liked what he saw.

It was the Saints’ defense, trying to make each practice of training camp as miserable as possible for New Orleans’ star quarterback, the offensive line, the running backs and receivers.

Along the way, they all got a little tougher — and better, Brees said.

“It was fun for me to kind of watch those guys develop, watch those guys come together and kind of form that new attitude,” Brees said Monday. “You kind of just saw that culture changing over there. … It was intense and I think in the end what ended up happening was they made us better, and I felt like we made them better.”

At 5-0 and coming off their impressive 48-27 dismantling of the previously unbeaten New York Giants, the Saints look as if they’ve come a long way from the squad that put up gaudy passing numbers but still lost 17 games over the previous two seasons — a team that many defined by the term, “finesse.”

“I think we have had that reputation for the last few years,” Brees said. “We’re trying to get rid of that label because I don’t think it applies.”

Certainly, the Saints can still air it out, as Brees demonstrated with 369 yards passing and four touchdown throws against the Giants on Sunday. Yet the Saints also have outgained opponents on the ground consistently, and their defense has gone from giving up too many big plays last season to making them week after week this season.

The Saints came out of Sunday’s game as the fourth-best rushing team in the NFL, averaging 159.6 yards. They outgained the Giants 133 yards to 84 on the ground.

“That says a lot about the guys that we have up front blocking and the guys that we have running the football,” Brees said. “It says a lot about our defense and their ability to rise to the occasion and defend against a very good rushing offense, a really good offense in general.”

Saints running backs Mike Bell, Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush have combined for 712 yards and seven rushing TDs through the first five games.

The Saints’ defense, which ranked 23rd in 2008 in total yards allowed, has moved into the top 10 under new coordinator Gregg Williams. The unit also has 11 interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Both fumbles came on sacks and both led to touchdowns.

The Saints also have forced two turnovers while covering kicks, both by reserve cornerback Malcolm Jenkins.

New Orleans has a league-leading 15 takeaways, which have led to seven touchdowns and a field goal.

Payton made the hiring of Williams a priority last winter after the Saints missed the playoffs despite leading the league in offense. Williams said one of his goals was to inspire the defense to play with attitude and to try to win every practice.

Williams said he hoped that approach also affected the way the Saints’ offense played, from their focus on protecting the football to the way they block in the running game.

“Our offensive line’s had to defend themselves out in practice,” Williams said. “All of a sudden our offensive line’s pretty nasty. … It’s a habit that you teach every single day. It’s an attitude you teach every single day. I get way too much credit for X’s and O’s.”

Payton said he was not surprised his team was 5-0. The team learned a lot of hard lessons during the past two seasons and is putting that experience to use now, he said.

“What’s important is … looking closely at yourself without dusting it under the rug,” Payton said. “We try to be critical of ourselves and pay close attention to what wins.”

Payton also didn’t want to make too much of the fact that the Saints have played 300 minutes this season without trailing, and have won each game by at least 14 points.

Rather, he wanted to make sure the team is ready for that time when they finally fall behind.

“You’re not going to go 16 weeks the same way that some of our games have unfolded,” Payton said. “We just have to keep working to get better.”

Saints really tough on both sides of the ball is a post from: AroDrive

For the last few years, the debate over best quarterback in the NFL has included only two names: Brady and Manning. Even last season, while Drew Brees was carving up secondaries and falling just fifteen yards shy of Dan Marino’s single season passing record. In fact, this time last year Drew had already thrown for 273 yards more than he has so far this season.

Yet only now that his team is winning in impressive and convincing fashion – the Saints have clawed their way to the top of the NFC South with a perfect 5-0 record so far this season — is the rest of the football world realizing what Saints fans have known since 2006: The former Boilermaker is among the best.

Unfortunately for Brees, this league applauds success as a team and the ability to win championships as much, if not more, than stellar individual performance; that’s understandable, respectable and the reason we love this game so much. But is it really fair to fault the guy because he hasn’t been fortunate enough to be surrounded by equal talent? Just check the stats.

The Saints may have only been able to achieve mediocrity in recent history but consider that without Brees, the results would surely have been even worse. Remember that this debate is about the quarterbacks themselves, not the teams they play for. With all things being equal, Drew is without question the best quarterback in the league. If it takes a few more wins for the country to realize that, so be it.

Drew Brees the Best no Doubt is a post from: AroDrive

Today’s Ravens-Vikings game served as an important reminder for fantasy owners: Always start premium talent over tough matchups.

Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson (pictured) and Baltimore’s Ray Rice totaled 360 yards as a battle between two vaunted defenses turned into a shootout won by the Vikings, 33-31. The teams combined for 874 yards of total offense, and may have cost fantasy owners a couple of points if they started either of these normally reliable defenses.

Peterson didn’t find the end zone, but led the Vikings with 143 rushing yards on 22 carries, and chipped in four catches for 23 yards. Meanwhile, Rice rushed for 77 yards and two scores on 10 carries, but also caught 10 passes for 117 yards to lead the Ravens in receiving. Again, talent trumps matchups.

Peterson wasn’t alone in burning the Ravens’ D. Brett Favre overcame a tough matchup to throw for 278 yards and three TDs with no turnovers, while Sidney Rice led the Vikings with six catches for 176 yards. Rice and Favre seem to be developing a chemistry, making Rice worth a look next week even against the Steelers.

Two of Favre’s TD passes went to TE Visanthe Shiancoe (4-48), who has now scored in three straight games. With Favre under center, Shiancoe makes a nice fantasy play every week. Bernard Berrian was held to just three catches for 18 yards, but scored on a 4-yard strike to Favre. Berrian has been inconsistent all season and makes a risky play next week against Pittsburgh.

Percy Harvin (2-10), who was questionable, reinjured his shoulder on a kick return late in the game. His status is uncertain, but he won’t make a strong play next week because of health and matchup concerns.

Joe Flacco had another nice game for the Ravens, throwing for 385 yards with two TDs and no turnovers. He hooked up with Derrick Mason (7-97) and Mark Clayton (3-57) for touchdowns, and is proving to be more than just a bye-week option.

Meanwhile, Willis McGahee continues to cool off from his hot start, rushing just seven times for 3 yards. He now has 12 rushing yards total in his last three games. It’s safe to say Rice has stolen the show in Baltimore, and has become an every-week fantasy play because of his involvement in the passing game.

Peterson, Rice shred vaunted defenses is a post from: AroDrive