What if you were told that the New England Patriots would have the highest point differential in the division after three weeks? No surprises. What if you were then told that they were in a share of last place with the Miami Dolphins, under .500 for the first time in almost a decade? Somehow, all of this is true. Whether blamed on the replacement officials, injuries to key offensive starters, or Tom Brady’s broken nose, the Patriots are 1-2. After a disappointing 31-30 loss to Baltimore, the Patriots need to go back to the drawing board before a divisional showdown next week.

For the second straight week, the Buffalo Bills took it to an overmatched squad, defeating the Browns in a hostile Cleveland environment by a final score of 24-14. After a week one debacle against the Jets, the Bills have quietly put together an impressive couple of weeks. However, the victory was bittersweet; C.J. Spiller, the offensive juggernaut of the early season, went down with a sprained shoulder. The injury doesn’t seem to be severe, but with starting running back Fred Jackson already nursing an ankle injury, the Bills’ backfield may become an issue.

This week’s divisional matchup saw the New York Jets narrowly edge the Miami Dolphins 23-20 in an overtime contest. Both teams looked offensively challenged and undisciplined. The Jets capitalized on a missed Miami field goal in overtime. In fact, the Jets had an overtime field goal of their own blocked, but Nick Folk was given a second chance and booted the game winner because Miami head coach Joe Philbin called a timeout on the previous play.

Adding insult to injury, Miami lost Reggie Bush to a sprained knee ligament. There was no structural damage, so the Dolphins will have their greatest offensive threat back this season. The same optimism could not be felt by Jets fans. All-pro cornerback Darrelle Revis suffered a torn ACL and is likely out for the season. At 2-1, the Jets have reason to believe they will be fine, but Revis is the most important player on the team, and Antonio Cromartie and Kyle Wilson will have a lot of ground to cover without Revis out there.

Next week, Miami travels to Arizona to take on the undefeated Cardinals, the Jets host the 49ers at Metlife Stadium, and Buffalo and New England match up in a divisional showdown.

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The only thing the Houston Texans (3-0) did wrong on Sunday was not allow quarterback Matt Schaub to go home with his entire left ear intact. Other than that, they took care of business the way they had it planned all week.

On a high hit handed out by Denver linebacker Joe Mays, which warranted a flag, Schaub severely cut his left ear and had to come out of the game for a play. It turned out that a chunk of the lobe actually fell off.

“I felt fine,” Schaub said. “I just lost a piece of my ear. I was bleeding and my helmet came off. So, I had to come out for a play, but I was fine.”

Schaub threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns, Arian Foster tallied 105 yards on 25 carries and the Texans held on late to clinch their third consecutive win to open the season, defeating Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos (1-2) on the road, 31-25.

“We knew that we had to try to get the ball downfield because they had a lot of people committed to the run,” said Texans head coach Gary Kubiak. “We did what we had to do to win, convinced them that we had to make some big plays and they did.”

Houston responded to Denver’s quick five points at the outset with a 60 yard Andre Johnson touchdown to gain a 7-5 lead at the 6:38 mark of the first quarter.

They never trailed again from that point on.

A three yard touchdown pass to Foster and 52 yard strike to receiver Kevin Walter later, the Texans had extended to a 21-5 advantage less than midway through the second quarter.

By halftime the Broncos were not done, though, as they were able to cut it to a 10 point game with two field goals before entering the locker room.

A dominant third quarter by the Texans in which they outscored the Broncos 10-0 put a considerable amount of distance between the two at 31-11.

It appeared to be over, but Manning, as he has always done, would not go down without swinging.

Manning found his old battery mate from his Indianapolis days, Brandon Stokley, for 38 yards and a touchdown to trim the deficit to 31-18 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the fourth.

Another Manning touchdown pass with exactly three minutes left to go gave the Broncos an opportunity to win the game if they could find a way to come up with a much needed stop.

But that didn’t happen, as Schaub found Johnson down the left sideline on a critical 3rd and 5 in Houston territory. They were eventually forced to punt, but by that time the Broncos were left on their 14 yard line with just 20 seconds on the clock.

They tried to pull off a lateral-laced miracle as the clock struck zero, but to no avail.

“Second week in a row we lost by six points,” said Broncos head coach John Fox. “It’s the second week in a row we started very slowly. Different side of the ball this time.”

“We have to learn from this game, address it, be honest, everybody needs to be accountable and try to improve forward,” Manning said. “It’s not the ideal situation. Everybody would love to be 3-0. That’s not the way it is right now.”

While Manning and his new crew are still trying to find themselves, Schaub and the Texans just keep rolling along, even if pieces of body parts are literally being torn off.

Said Kubiak of Schaub’s performance, “Boy, he played like a champ today.”

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Once news broke that Josh McDaniels was re-hired as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, most assumed that he would be joining the team next year, not next week in a divisional playoff matchup against the quarterback he once drafted, Tim Tebow.

Although current coordinator, Bill O’Brien, agreed to become the new head coach at Penn State last Saturday, it was determined that he would still retain the role of New England’s offensive coordinator throughout this postseason. McDaniels, who had previously held the position for the Pats from 2006-2008, was chosen as his replacement shortly after and will shockingly serve the coaching staff as an offensive assistant beginning Saturday night with a trip to the AFC title game on the line against the Broncos.

Adding a new coach right before a huge postseason showdown is already an interesting move to begin with, but considering the fact that McDaniels brought in Tebow and coached Denver from 2009-2010, it is raising even more eyebrows across the league. Many are outraged by the idea of McDaniels possibly being able to provide New England new information about Tebow specifically.

That concept should not be too large of a concern, though. New England did an excellent job of containing Tebow’s heroic antics, handily defeating Denver on the road 41-23 back in Week 15, without McDaniels’ assistance.  Tebow threw for just 194 yards that day, as the Pats were able to easily overcome an early deficit.

Still, that does not justify what New England has attempted to do coming into this crucial game. Hiring someone who once coached or played for your opponent is not a crime in sports. If anything, it is gamesmanship, as we have seen it occur countless times. However, the timing concept in this scenario is absolutely absurd.

Imagine if this happened to your team. With so much at stake in a do-or-die situation, would you not be livid knowing that the team you are battling against has inside information as to what you were trying to do – and that they were able to bring the informant in just days before?

The fact that the NFL allows teams to add unnecessary pieces to their coaching staffs in the middle of the postseason is simply unbelievable. We have never seen anything like this take place in other major sports, so why does this league think that it is acceptable, especially when preparation plays a bigger role than it does in any other sport?

If a team has to have a strict playoff roster set before the end of the regular season, then it should go the same way for coaches as well. The role that they play for their teams needs to be more respected.

Unfortunately, we are not psychics, so we cannot outright proclaim that actions like these really do change the outcomes of games. Instead of giving the fans, players, and coaches alike something to strongly complain about, do not give them the opportunity at all by forcing coaching staffs to remain the same during the postseason.

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Everyone in America has been hearing or talking about Tim Tebow nonstop for the past few weeks. The Patriots were apparently tired of hearing it.

Behind Tom Brady’s three touchdowns, two passing and one running, the New England Patriots put an end to Tebow’s string of late game comebacks and clinched a playoff spot in a 41-23 win over the Denver Broncos.

“It was a really good day for us,” Brady said. “Very emotional game. It was really rocking early. We showed some mental toughness.”

The Patriots were able to bounce back from a horrendous start that saw them fall behind 17-6 as Denver scored on its first three possessions. Denver outgained New England 167 to 4 in the first quarter.

But unfortunately for the Broncos, there was no late game heroics as the fast start eventually turned into a fizzle as they didn’t do anything for the rest of the game. Three late turnovers, something Denver had been limiting during their winning streak, was too much to overcome.

“We did have things going pretty well early, scored on the first three possessions and felt like we were moving the ball good and then we put it on the ground,” Tebow said. “That’s something you can’t do against a great team and Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Besides that, we were right there with them.”

Denver still controls their own destiny, but the road to an AFC West title goes through Buffalo and Kansas City, who knocked off the undefeated Packers ending their 19 game winning streak.

Tebow finished 11 of 22 for 194 yards along with 93 yards on 12 carries for two touchdowns, but was sacked four times.

The Achilles heel for the Broncos seems to be elite passers as they are 1-4 this season against the likes of Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Philip Rivers. Their lack of offensive scoring punch doesn’t seem to allow them to keep up with the quarterbacks who can sling it all over the field.

“He’s still the best out there, in my opinion,” Bailey said of Tom Brady. “And you make mistakes against a guy like that, he’s going to make you pay. That’s pretty much what happened all day.”

Brady finished 23 of 34 for 320 yards the two scores, one of which was to Ochocinco who found the end zone for the first time this season on a 33 yard reception. Brady again was able to pick up his subpar defense which gave up 167 yards on the ground in just the first quarter.

After falling behind the Patriots went into hurry up mode and Brady was able to find Aaron Hernandez from 1 yard out. Hernandez had a career game hauling in 9 passes for 129 yards.

The Broncos made things close late when Tebow scored on a keeper from 2 yards out to pull them to 34-23, but that’s when Tom Brady did what he does best, and led the Patriots down the field on a 80 yard clock draining scoring drive culminated by BenJarvus Green-Ellis’ 1 yard touchdown to put them up for good.

“The more we fight, the better this team gets,” defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. “We knew they were going to come out fighting. They were going to come out fast and explosive. Our main goal was to weather the storm.”

The Patriots finish out the season against Miami and Buffalo as they look to secure the top seed in the AFC and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

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It is another week and another victory as the Packers are again atop the Power Rankings this week. The Ravens stand strong in the number two spot for the third straight week as they continue their quest for a bye in the playoffs. The Broncos find themselves cracking the top 10 after Tim Tebow yet again led an improbable comeback this week over the Bears moving Denver into the lead in the AFC West.

The big winners this week are the Saints, Jets, and Giants. The Saints, while only moving up 1 spot from 5^th to 4^th, got a gift from the Cardinals who beat the 49ers. With the 49ers squaring off with the Steelers, the Saints could potentially move into the 2^nd seed in the NFC. The Jets moved up from 10^th to 9^th, but, thanks to help from the rest of the NFL, the Jets now control their own destiny.

The Giants got a big late win over the Cowboys and jumped from 16^th to 12^th and more importantly are now 1^st in the NFC East with control over their destiny. It’s looking like the showdown at MetLife Stadium in a week between the Jets and Giants might mean a lot for both teams.

The big losers this week are the 49ers, Cowboys, and Bills. The 49ers fell from 3^rd to 6^th with a loss to the Cardinals and, more importantly, could lose the number two seed with a loss to Pittsburgh this weekend. The Cowboys fell five spots from 9^th to 14^th with a heartbreaking loss late to the Eli and the Giants.

After two straight losses the Cowboys are again looking up at the playoff teams. The Bills fell from 18^th to 22^nd after dropping their sixth straight and officially being eliminated from playoff contention. A season that started with so much promise has really taken a turn for the worst and they might end up finishing last in the AFC East.

Rounding out the bottom of the rankings again this week are the Vikings, Rams, and Colts. The Vikings have shut Adrian Peterson down for the season, the Rams are as far removed from the greatest show on turf as can be, and the Colts divisional rivals now have a chance to unleash years of torment by sending them to an imperfect season.

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The San Diego Chargers are finally playing well, while the Buffalo Bills have completely lost their way.

Behind Philip Rivers’ three touchdown passes, two of which went to Antonio Gates, the Chargers kept their playoff hopes barely alive in their 37-10 victory over the Bills Sunday, while eliminating the Bills from playoff contention for the 12^th straight season.

The Chargers have won two straight following a six game losing skid to move to 6-7, but a few minutes after their game ended the Broncos beat Chicago in overtime to move into first place atop the AFC West at 8-5. The Raiders are still ahead of the Chargers as well, despite losing to Green Bay sitting at a 7-6 record.

“Until they say we’re done, there’s always a chance,” said safety Eric Weddle, “Even if we were done, we’d be playing our hearts out.”

The Chargers will have to win out and hope they get some help from other teams to have a shot at winning the AFC West, but it won’t be easy as the Ravens, in a divisional race of their own, are up next for the Chargers.

For Buffalo, this marked their sixth straight loss and the final nail in the coffin on a season that started out with so much promise. The Bills started 5-2, but haven’t won in over a month and a half.

“I think the last few weeks we made some progress. Today obviously we took a step backward,” Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said. “We didn’t do anything well.”

Both teams came into the game desperate for a win to keep their seasons alive and the Chargers put their foot on the gas pedal and never let up.

Rivers finished with 240 yards on 24 of 33 passing and running back Ryan Matthews continued his good running with 114 yards on 20 carries.

The Bills tried to make it a game when Rivers fumbled a ball that was recovered by Bryan Scott in the end zone for a touchdown that pulled the Bills close at 16-10, but San Diego kept their composure and with a successful fake punt by Weddle, the Chargers were able to punch it in on Antonio Gates’ two yard reception.

“We had a very small window to make that a game and we didn’t stop that drive when they faked the punt,” Chan Gailey said. “We didn’t stop that drive and we couldn’t get anything going offensively consistently.”

After the touchdown on Buffalo’s first play, Fitzpatrick was picked off and it was returned by Steve Gregory for the touchdown to make the score 30-10 and seal the game.

Fitzpatrick finished the game 13 of 34 for 176 yards and two interceptions a far cry from the numbers he was putting up at the beginning of the year.

San Diego will need some help from other teams if they hope to make the playoffs trailing in the AFC West. Their schedule also doesn’t lend itself to them as they face the Ravens, Lions, and Raiders to finish the year. The Bills, now looking to play spoiler have the Dolphins, Broncos, and Patriots remaining on their schedule.

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The debate surrounding Tim Tebow is one that virtually every NFL fan is all too familiar with. Even those who have come to Tebow’s defense have acknowledged most of the flaws in his game, ranging from his shoddy accuracy to his obscene tendency to run with the ball, rather than being a traditional NFL quarterback.

Bashing Tebow is obviously nothing new or original, but there is some additional insight that should be noted. Most of this insight can be found when one goes back to the time when the Denver Broncos originally decided to name Tebow as their starter. At the time, the Broncos were 2-5 and found themselves at the cellar of the AFC West.

Many may also remember that naming Tebow as the starting quarterback happened to coincide with the Broncos trading wide receiver, Brandon Lloyd, to the St. Louis Rams. Although the Broncos deny it, the trade was presumably made due to the fact that Lloyd had previously been somewhat outspoken about his lack of confidence in Tebow.

It is reasonable to assume that such a trade would improve team chemistry, but the fact that the player they traded happened to lead the league in receiving yards last season might lead one to deduce that the Broncos are especially confident in Tebow as their franchise quarterback.

Going back to the status of the Broncos’ season upon making Tebow the starter, the Broncos found themselves at 2-5 and still a viable candidate in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. With this in mind, the only rationale the Broncos’ front office could possibly have had behind trading a great receiver in order to start a bad quarterback is that they knew that both managerial decisions would increase their chances of finishing the season with the worst record in the NFL, allowing them to snag the first overall pick in the 2012 draft.

This may sound like a bit of a stretch, but it very well could be the only feasible explanation. It is safe to assume that the Broncos were and are aware that Tebow makes a poor NFL quarterback, considering they had all of training camp and the preseason, along with the two games he started last season, to catch on to his talent.

In spite of this, the Broncos elected to sit Tebow in favor of Kyle Orton, and no team is going to settle for mediocrity over their first round pick, unless they truly have no confidence in that first round pick’s potential. Obviously, at this point, with the Broncos in the hunt for a playoff spot at 6-5, the chances of obtaining the first overall pick in the 2012 draft have diminished for the Broncos.

However, at the time of the decisions to start Tebow and trade Lloyd, the possibility of finishing with the NFL’s worst record was well within range for the Broncos. Being able to possibly correct their mistake in the 2010 draft by giving themselves an opportunity to draft the highly touted Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck in 2012 makes this whole process a subtle act of brilliance.

It is not surprising that the Broncos continue to start Tebow, even after their chances of obtaining the first round pick have been replaced by chances of making the playoffs. It would be very difficult to justify trading Lloyd if they were to inexplicably bench him in the middle of a playoff race.

The fact that Tebow has managed to put together a few game-winning drives has only made it easier to justify starting him. What needs to be clear that Tebow has been given far too much credit for his clutch performances. One need not forget that Tebow still played poorly for three quarters prior to each of his dramatic comebacks.

While these comebacks have admittedly been impressive, they were still contingent on the much improved Broncos defense keeping the game close enough for Tebow to exercise his supposed ability to win against all odds. Unfortunately for Tebow, playing poorly for fifty minutes will not always allow enough time for the quarterback to carry his team to come from behind win.

Regardless of what the true intentions were behind starting Tebow, it should be clear that his style of play cannot adapt well to the NFL. When looking at things from a fundamental standpoint, anyone who watches Tebow closely enough can see that he makes several off-target throws throughout each game.

The only saving grace that he has is the zone read option that the Broncos have installed into their offense, which Tebow utilized to great success at the University of Florida. Tebow seems to have been running the ball very well whenever the option is called, but this should not be confused for any hint of potential to adapt his style of play to the NFL.

While the zone read has been a fairly decent change up to opposing defenses so far, the wildcat appeared unstoppable by comparison when the Dolphins started the fad in 2008. If NFL defenses can grow accustomed to stopping the wildcat, there is no doubt that they can do the same with the zone read.

It will interesting, not only to see what the future holds for Tebow as a Denver Bronco, but also what the future holds for Tebow’s status in the NFL as a whole.

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Tim Tebow was the definition of a star athlete during his four years at the University of Florida. He won the Heisman Trophy and three BCS Bowl Games. Two of them were national titles that came in just a three year span.

These are the facts that his supporters point out when they make their case as to why he will be a successful quarterback in the NFL. When labeled by many of his fans, both former and current teammates and coaches, peers, competitors, and even some of his critics as a football player, one simple word often comes to mind – winner.

He won in Gainesville and in 2011 he has won four of his first five starts as the Broncos quarterback. However, it would appear reasonable to note that Tebow’s inability to consistently throw the football at a high level is not enough to lead a championship caliber NFL team, no matter how much of the ‘it factor’ he may have.

So many people want to see him fail for a number of reasons – he is lowering the standards of performance at the position, he wears his religion on his sleeve, and he has this never-ending optimism about his job no matter what the critics say about him. A vast amount of viewers have also lost hope because — this is the NFL.

Not to say that FBS football is a walk in the park, but Tebow’s mechanical flaws at this level don’t display promise for translating into a great degree of success. Several NFL analysts such as former quarterback Trent Dilfer of ESPN agree that his throwing motion is severely prolonged and it’s an advantage to all eleven defenders he’s up against.

Lineman have that extra second or so to get to him, defensive backs have that slight moment to get a jump on the football, and linebackers will have that slim instant to either adjust in coverage or continue their pursuit of him. If that isn’t enough, his accuracy has been atrocious. He has completed only 44.8% of his passes this year, when an NFL quarterback is expected to be at the very least in the fifties, but more preferably the sixties.

He’s missed a number of wide open receivers, he’s constantly overthrowing those who have their man beat downfield, he’s throwing behind them when they create small windows that need to be hit, and for a young man with extremely muscular arms – he tends to underthrow and short-hop his teammates much too often.

‘He wins’ is what his believers always claim. They believe that that’s all that matters. But take a look at who the Broncos have beaten and the fashion in which they did so. The Dolphins couldn’t recover an onside kick late and gave up the game tying touchdown in a prevent defense, Carson Palmer was making his first start for the Raiders, the Chiefs allowed him to complete 2 passes the whole game, and the Jets had to fly cross-country on three days of rest coming off an emotional loss to the Patriots.

The competition will improve. And is it realistic to believe that this option-style offense will continue to win games?  The NFL has tended towarda a predominantly passing league over the last few years, and not only are defenses expected to catch up as they always do, but being a runner will also put Tebow in more situations where he is likely to get injured. Just look at Michael Vick and the numerous injuries he’s suffered throughout his career.

Even Tebow’s own bosses don’t show confidence in him. John Elway, former Super Bowl winning quarterback for the Broncos and current Executive Vice President of football operations for the team continuously denies that Tebow is the future of the organization when asked after every game. Head coach John Fox also admitted that the quarterback would be “screwed” if he had to run a traditional offense.

With all that being said, it doesn’t appear that Tebow will have long-term success in this league unless he finds a way to become a truly efficient pocket passer. People had the same doubts about Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton before this year’s draft, and now he is completing exactly 60% of his passes. The transformation is possible, but is all dependent on Tebow’s physical ability and mental commitment.

However, unless that happens, the future doesn’t seem too bright in Denver.

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The New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs have connections with each other. From the GM of the Chiefs, Scott Pioli, to the currently injured quarterback of Kansas City, Matt Cassel, to the defensive coordinator for Kansas City, Romeo Crennel. The one thing they don’t share is success on the football field.

The Patriots are coming off a crucial road win against the Jets to gain sole possession of first place in the AFC East and sweeping the season series with New York. The Chiefs have dropped two straight after winning four in a row, but without their starting quarterback, they will have to turn to Tyler Palko to keep them in the hunt for the AFC West.

For the Chiefs, they might not be getting Cassel back anytime soon. Coach Todd Haley said Cassel suffered a “significant” hand injury against the Broncos last Sunday and potentially could miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on Monday. Palko has only thrown 13 passes in the NFL and will be leading the Chiefs for now.

“Tyler is the next in line, and he’s done a terrific job, like I said, of keeping himself ready,” Haley said. “That’s what the No. 2 quarterback has to do, because you don’t know. At a moment’s notice, you could be in there playing, just like any other position.” The Patriots, on the other hand, are sitting pretty atop the AFC East after responding well against the Jets behind Brady’s 329 yards and three touchdowns.

Brady will look to continue that against a defense ranked 22^nd overall giving up 364.3 yards per game. ”No matter what happened last week, whether we won, lost, at home or on the road or in London, it doesn’t matter. Once that game is over, we have to put it behind us,” Belichick said.

“Now it’s about preparing for Kansas City, what they do, what their schemes are, what their players are, what their tendencies are in certain coaching decision situations that we’ll have to make.” Brady has not faced the Chiefs since the season opener in 2008 in which he was knocked out for the year, which led to Cassel starting for the Patriots and eventually getting traded to Kansas City.

“In order to make plays, you have to run good routes, you have to make good throws, you have to pass protect against one of the best pass rushers that we face in (Tamba) Hali,” Brady said. Hali has 6 of the Chiefs 9 total sacks, but even with pressure from him Brady should be able to find his tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

The Patriots offense has never been the problem; the problem lies with the defense that played very well against the Jets. Defensive end Andre Carter had four sacks against the Jets and, if he can keep that going, the battered Patriots secondary could have an easier time.

Cornerback Devin McCourty who suffered a shoulder injury in the game against New York will likely be out for a few weeks and safety Patrick Chung is questionable this week. Without those players, the Patriots may not be able to match up against wide receiver Dwayne Bowe who has 19 touchdowns since 2010.

Coach Bill Belichick isn’t counting on a significant drop off from Cassel to Palko. “I think that Palko can do everything that he needs to do from what Matt has done,” he said. “I wouldn’t expect them to deviate too far from what they like to do.” This is a must win for both teams.

The Chiefs are looking to keep pace in the crowded race for the West and the Patriots look to increase their lead over the Jets, who lost on Thursday to Denver, and stay a game ahead of Buffalo who right now owns the tiebreaker having beat the Patriots back in Week 3.

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There is no secret about the game plan when facing a Denver Broncos team led by Tim Tebow. There will be a lot of options and running the ball and virtually no throwing. While it may seem easy to defend, Tebow is 3-1 since taking over the starting job in Denver.

The Jets are coming off a disappointing loss at home to the Patriots that all but killed any chance of them winning the AFC East, and looking to bounce back on a short week when they face the Broncos, who are suddenly back in the race for the AFC West, on Thursday night.

The Jets had a golden opportunity to take control of their playoff destiny and the AFC East, but lost 37-16 to the Patriots and snapped a three game winning streak. The game was characterized by sloppy play, including a missed 24 yard field goal, a muffed punt that the Jets failed to recover three times, a pick six, and a stupid timeout.

Sanchez didn’t show up to play, throwing two interceptions and getting sacked five times. The timeout he called before the half prompted coach Rex Ryan to tell NBC at halftime that it was the “stupidest play in NFL history.” ”There’s plenty of football left to play,” center Nick Mangold said. “We’re excited about the opportunity to get out there Thursday night and, you know, right the wrongs.”

The Jets are facing the polar opposite this week as the Patriots featured a lot of spread offenses while the Broncos are strictly a running team. This might pose some problems for the Jets defense that statistically is better against the pass with their talented cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie. The Jets rank 8^th against the pass giving up 210.8 yards per game.

On Sunday Denver rushed the ball 55 times in its win over Kansas City and had 244 yards on the ground. Tebow only attempted 8 passes all game completing 2, though one of the completions was a 56 yard touchdown to Eric Decker. The Jets faced a season-high 39 pass attempts Sunday against the Patriots holding them to 60 yards on 28 carries.

The Jets are still only rank 15^th against the run giving up 116.0 yards per contest. The Broncos have the 2^nd best rushing attack in football averaging 158.2 yards per game, but have been averaging 246.0 yards in their past three games. ”I think it’s just one more thing for people to prepare for,” Tebow said of Denver’s unique offense.

“It’s not like we went out there and did a lot (Sunday) but it’s something you have to scheme for, you have to prepare for and you have to be sound.” There might be some changes for the Broncos in the backfield, though it likely won’t change how the team runs the ball. On Sunday starter Willis McGahee left the game with a hamstring injury and is listed as Questionable.

Backup Knowshon Moreno also was hurt Sunday suffering a torn ACL which will end his season. Sunday they had to turn to third string tailback Lance Ball who was effective rushing for 96 yards on 30 carries, with Tebow adding 43 and a score on 9 carries. They will turn to Ball and second year back Jeremiah Johnson if McGahee can’t go.

The Jets also look to run the ball, though not to the extreme that the Broncos do. They’re averaging 125.5 yards on the ground in their last four games with Shonn Greene averaging 80.8. LaDanian Tomlinson who was hurt late in the game Sunday will not play this week and the Jets have activated rookie Bilal Powel from the practice squad.

The last meeting between the teams was last year and the Jets won 24-20 with a late touchdown from Tomlinson to seal the win. Tebow was only used as a runner in that game carrying the ball 6 times for 23 yards.

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When looking at this game on paper, you couldn’t find two teams on more opposite sides of the spectrum. The Kansas City Chiefs had won four straight games to put themselves in a tie for first place in the AFC West after a dreadful 0-3 start, and the Miami Dolphins couldn’t win a game.

All that changed on Sunday as the Dolphins layed a beat down on the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The team waited until the final seconds to start celebrating their long-awaited first win of the season.

“I’m just happy for the guys in our locker room,” Dolphin’s head coach Tony Sparano said. “All I’ve wanted to do for seven weeks is see these guys smile.” Matt Moore was 17 of 23 for 244 yards, had three touchdowns and a 147.5 passer rating. This was the first three-touchdown game by a Miami quarterback since Chad Pennington did it in 2008.

Reggie Bush had another great game on the ground. He racked up 92 yards and a score on 13 carries. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall had his best game of the year, snagging eight passes for 106 yards and a touchdown, which added to his already-impressive stats against the Chiefs. He has 52 catches for 689 yards and seven scores in eight games against the Chiefs from his time with the Denver Broncos.

Matt Cassel finished the day 20 of 39 for 253 yards, even though he was facing one of the weakest pass defenses in football that was without cornerback Vontae Davis. He didn’t have much chance to throw the ball as he was under pressure all day, getting sacked five times and having to scramble even more times.

“They executed and we didn’t,” Cassel said. “We were able to put together some drives, but we weren’t able to sustain those drives offensively. We have to do a better job of executing. It starts with me and all the way down the line.”

Kansas City’s only points came on their opening drive when a 14 play 53 yard drive was capped by Ryan Succop’s 43-yard field goal. After that, it was all Miami as they answered with a touchdown later in the quarter when Moore found tight end Anthony Fasano open in the back of the end zone following a nice play action fake.

On the Dolphins next drive, Moore found fullback Charles Clay for two big gains of 21 and 22 yards, and then found Fasano again wide open down the sideline for the 35-yard score to extend the lead to 14-3.

In the third quarter, the Dolphins busted the game open after Moore hooked up with Marshall for 14 yards. Bush was able to bust a 28-yard run for the score. The Dolphins defense was able to snuff out any chance of a comeback with a stop on fourth and goal on the three-yard line.

“This was not the kind of performance we expected or wanted,” Chiefs coach Todd Haley said. “This was a very dangerous team that was playing a lot better than their record. It’s hard to win in the NFL, and they just did a better job than us.” Brandon Flowers put it more bluntly and no so calmly.

“We got beat,” he said. “We got beat pretty bad by the Miami Dolphins. At home.” The Chiefs look to rebound and keep pace with the Chargers and Raiders against the Denver Broncos who knocked off the Raiders this week. The Dolphins look to keep the good play rolling as they head home to square off with the Washington Redskins.

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The Kansas City Chiefs have been up and down through this first half of the season. They started off 0-3 and looking like one of the worst teams in football. With injuries to starting running back Jamaal Charles, tight end Tony Moeaki, and safety Eric Berry for the season it looked like another long one for Chiefs’ fans.

Then they were able to turn things around and find a way to win for four straight games. The fourth win coming last week against division rivals the San Diego Chargers and move into a tie for first with San Diego and the Oakland Raiders at 4-3 being the first team to ever do so. They look to continue with this momentum this Sunday against the winless Dolphins and should have a pretty good chance.

“The great part about this team is that we continue to keep our heads and continue to work,” quarterback Matt Cassel said. “Our mentality is you just try to get one win and then two wins and three wins. Now we are on a four-game win streak. Everybody is excited about that, but we know there is a lot of season left to be played. We’re happy about where we are at right now.”

The Dolphins season started like the Chiefs, but has continued going south. In the past two weeks they’ve blown chances to get that elusive first win giving up a 15 point lead with three minutes in the fourth to Tim Tebow and the awful Broncos. Then last week they had a 7 point lead going into the fourth and still couldn’t finish it out against the Giants.

“We have to learn to finish,” defensive end Randy Starks said. “Once we do that, it’ll be a different season. In the past we were able to win these games. Right now we haven’t found a way.” The Dolphins want to end this winless streak badly and if Reggie Bush who’s solid game last week could duplicate his performance the Dolphins will have a shot.

That will be a little tougher because C Mike Pouncey may not play having left the game last week with a neck injury. Bush rushed for 103 yards on 15 carries last Sunday. Kansas City is ranked 22^nd against the run surrendering 122.1 yards a game so there is a possibility Bush can still do it.

While the Chiefs rank 20^th in passing defense facing Matt Moore won’t be too much of a challenge and the Chiefs secondary has been forcing more turnovers in the past few weeks. If Matt Cassel continues his good play look for him and WR Dwayne Bowe to take advantage of the Dolphins questionable pass defense.

The Dolphins are ranked near the bottom at 27^th overall giving up 270.7 yards per game. If Cassel gets help from a good run game the Chiefs should be good to go. With the Chiefs having tons of momentum and playing great football the last month they are going to make it five in a row.

They will be too much for the Dolphins to handle at Arrowhead Stadium and should handle business against a winless team. Final Prediction: Dolphins 17 Chiefs 28.

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It’s the team that nobody saw coming. For the past few years, the Bills have been the laughing stock of the AFC East. They were the one team bringing down a division with the power house Patriots and the better than average Jets and Dolphins.

Not anymore. The Bills have quietly been putting together a good team and this year, we are finally seeing just how good this team and Harvard graduate QB Ryan Fitzpatrick can be. The Bills realize this and recently gave him a big contract extension of 6 years $59 million, locking up their franchise man for years to come. That extension is bad news for the rest of the AFC East.

He’s been worth every penny of that, having a career year, and has the Bills sitting in a 1^st place tie atop the AFC East with the New England Patriots at 5-2. He’s ranked 6^th in the league in quarter back, rating at 97.8 for the season. The Bills are third in the league, scoring 30.1 points per game this year.

While only being ranked 13^th overall in passing at 239.6 yards a game, the running game has received a boost from their QB play ranking 5^th overall at 140.6 a game. Running back Fred Jackson, who is having an MVP type season, is fourth in the league in yards with 721 and is ranked fourth among running backs in receiving with just over 350 yards.

He’s tied for first with Matt Forte of runs over 20 yards ranks second in yards per game with 103.0 and is fourth in yards per carry at 5.5, but is second in running backs to LeSean McCoy. DeMarco Murray and Michael Vick are one and two, but have half the carries of McCoy and Jackson. Jackson also has zero fumbles this season so far.

While the Bills defense isn’t one of the better in the league, they still put fear into a team as they lead the league in interceptions with 18 and three touchdowns off interceptions. This defense has potential the potential to be real solid in the coming years if they can keep everyone healthy. They showed this last week shutting out the Washington Redskins 23-0 and racking up 9 sacks in the process.

To the Bills credit, they’ve also been doing this against quality opponents. They’ve beaten Kansas City and Oakland, both who are tied for first with San Diego for the AFC West all sitting at 4-3. They’ve beaten the Patriots once already and beat a good Philadelphia Eagles team who has recently been turning things around after a horrible start.

They took care of business against an obviously weaker Washington team, shutting them out last week. The Bills only losses come at the hands of the Bengals and the Giants. Both these teams are atop of their divisions and have a 5-2 record. The Bills should have more respect than they do.

Consider that the Patriots have a worse defense in football, giving up 424.1 yards a game compared to the Bills who are 385.9, the Patriots are considered playoff contenders and potential Super Bowl threats. The same could be said for the Packers who rank below the Bills in yards per game giving up 391.0 and currently hold the 31^st spot in opponents passing yards per game, yet they’re widely regarded as being the best team in football.

These teams are led by their quarterbacks and Fitzpatrick has proven he can do that. Add to that a more potent running attack than either Brady or Rodgers has and this is a team that can go deep into the playoffs.

If that’s not enough for you, think about the New Orleans Saints team that won the Super Bowl a few years ago. They are very much like this Bills team in that they have a strong quarterback, a high scoring offense, and a defense that isn’t that great, but forces turnovers and scores points.

This Bills team is as good as they’re record and play this season has been. In a quarterback driven league they’ve found their man in Ryan Fitzpatrick. They are proving they can score points with anyone in the league and if teams with good quarterbacks and bad defenses can be in the hunt for the Super Bowl the same should be said for the Bills.

The fan base has been waiting patiently for this time to come and it has come quicker than expected, but not as a shock at all. So the next time you go to dismiss the Bills as a top team in this league, think about what they’re doing and show them some respect.

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The New York Giants were able to pull a victory on Sunday against the winless Miami Dolphins, but from watching the game, you’d think the Giants didn’t even care about the game. If it wasn’t for Eli Manning, the New York headlines would read something much different had the Dolphins gotten their first win in MetLife Stadium.

Manning’s 25-yard touchdown throw to Victor Cruz with just under six minutes left in the game helped the Giants to escape with a victory, and move to two games ahead of the Cowboys and Eagles in the NFC East, moving the team to 5-2.

“The pressure was there just to get the win,” Giants guard Chris Snee said. “No one was concerned about ‘Oh, we’re going to lose to a winless team, or we were going to lose.’ We thought we were still going to win the game and that’s just the confidence we have, and that stems from Eli.”

Manning was the lone bright spot. He ran 31 of 45 for 345 yards and two touchdowns, bringing the Giants back from 11 points down in the first half. With every passing week, he’s starting to show the leadership many thought was missing, as well as the ability to put the team on his shoulders when they aren’t there mentally. Four of the five wins the Giants have had this season have come in the fourth quarter.

“We knew coming in it would be a tough battle,” Manning said. “A lot of games have come to the fourth quarter, and we knew it would be a tough road. They did a lot of good things defensively, ran a lot of different blitzes. We didn’t run the ball real well today, and we had to throw the ball more than we wanted to. But we’re capable of doing that.”

This loss is just another notch on what is going to be coach Tony Sparano’s last season as the Dolphins head coach. It follows last week’s disastrous game when the Dolphins blew a 15-point lead and lost in overtime to Tim Tebow and the Broncos

“We went toe to toe with them, swung hard. We didn’t win. It’s not acceptable,” Sparano said. Matt Moore played a semi-decent game, going 13 of 22 for 138 yards and one interception. He also had five carries for 31 yards and a touchdown on the ground. However, he was sacked on the final two drives four times, and his one pick sealed the game for the Giants.

Steve Slaton and Moore scored on one yard runs to finish the Dolphins first two drives. After that, they were only able to get a field goal from Dan Carpenter as the Giants defense stepped things up in the second half.

Reggie Bush had his best game as a Dolphin. He rushed 103 yards on 15 carries, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Dolphins from giving away another game, and continuing the league-long winless streak.

The Dolphins head to Kansas City next week to square off with the surging Chiefs who are on the hunt for the AFC West. This is a game the Dolphins have a chance to win and finally get that first victory of the season. However, they will have to show up for the full four quarters and not just the first three.

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The NFL trade deadline isn’t like that of baseball and basketball where we see names and players flying everywhere for team’s attempts to either dump salaries or gear up for the playoffs. Being that football is so much more of a team and system sport, it’s very hard for players, especially key position players, to join a new team and get integrated in the system quickly.

However, that didn’t stop the Oakland Raiders, who sit at 4-2 in a race for the AFC West, from trading for a quarterback to replace the injured Jason Campbell who’s out 6-8 weeks with a broken collarbone. The QB they landed is Carson Palmer from the Bengals. Palmer, who was once the Bengals franchise quarterback, has been “retired” this season.

He wanted to be traded but the Bengals said no, forcing Palmer to opt for retirement rather than finish out his contract. This was an ugly PR battle between the Bengals owner Mike Brown and Palmer, who were taking jabs at each other in the media at the beginning of the season.

Brown said they wouldn’t trade Palmer and agreed to let him sit at home as the Bengals went and drafted TCU’s Andy Dalton. Dalton has been playing well as the Bengals also sit at 4-2 and it might have factored into Brown’s decision to let Palmer go. However, the main reason was probably that Oakland made an offer he couldn’t refuse.

In return for Palmer, the Bengals get a first round draft pick in 2012 and a conditional second round pick in 2013 that could become a first round pick if the Raiders make it to the AFC title game this season. To many, this seems like a very steep price to play for a QB who many deem to be past his prime and who has been sitting at home, thus far this season.

However, given the Raiders options — either using backup Kyle Boller or sign a free-agent QB — none of whom are very good, they decided to go with the ‘win now’ approach. The Raiders are excited to get Palmer and he represents a dramatic upgrade from Campbell. The question now becomes how quickly he can get up to speed.

“I just know if I was on the streets for a while I’d need about, myself personally to knock the rust off as a defensive lineman, I’d need personally about three weeks to get back into form,” Richard Seymour said. Palmer has been named the starter for their game this weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Coach Hue Jackson worked with Palmer in Cincinnati and said much of the terminology is similar which should help speed up Palmer’s ability to learn the playbook. Palmer and receivers Darrius Heyward-Bey and Jacoby Ford have been staying after practice to get extra reps, in an attempt to have some sort of chemistry when they hit the field this Sunday.

“It’s just a matter of the timing, he has to get that down and get used to the offense and has to get used to new receivers,” Ford said. “Whenever we can do that we’ll be clicking on all cylinders.

The Raiders paid a high price to get Palmer, but if you ask anyone in the Raiders organization or their fans, I’m sure they will tell you that for a team who hasn’t made the playoffs since 2002, when they lost in the Super Bowl, they’d take a trip to the AFC Championship or Super Bowl over a few draft picks any day.

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The San Diego Chargers and Punter Mike Scifres came to terms on Wednesday on a five-year contract extension that will keep him a Charger through 2015. Worth just about $19 million, his new contract gives him $10 million in guaranteed money and secures his job as one of the NFL’s top-tier punters for years to come.

“For me, it’s knowing that I’m going to be here,” Scifres told the Associated Press. “I didn’t get to that free agent period, my contract didn’t run out. And that’s the important thing for us, to keep this team together. This team is capable of so much.

Look at this locker room. It has unbelievable things written all over it and I’m just happy to be a part of it still and for the next five years… This is the place I started and this is the place I want to finish, and now it’s possible.” Scifres, San Diego’s fifth-round pick in the 2003 draft, has been one of the NFL’s deadliest punters, being selected as a Pro Bowl alternate in six of his eight years in the League.

Averaging a team-record 46.7 yards per punt last season, Scifres’ sensational play has always been undermined by the abysmal performance of the San Diego Special Teams, specifically the blockers. His line allowed four punts to be blocked and one to be deflected, effectively decreasing his net average to 30.8 yards.

However, desperate measures were taken to prevent such poor play from happening again. After missing the Playoffs last year, the Chargers fired Special Teams coach Steve Crosby and hired Rich Bisaccia as the replacement. “It’s a new season, a new group of guys and everybody’s upbeat and can’t wait,” Scifres said.

“Coach Bisaccia came in here and everybody’s bought in to what he’s trying to do. In the preseason we showed that we have a bunch of guys that are dedicated to making our special teams better, and we get a chance to start Sunday.” The Special Teams situation looked no different in the season opener versus the Minnesota Vikings, as Percy Harvin took a kick return the full distance for a touchdown.

And to make matters worse, the Chargers’ reliable kicker, Nate Kaeding, went down with an injury, but Scifres, once again, proved his worth by stepping in and splitting the uprights with a 40-yard field goal. San Diego went on to earn a victory in Week 1; 24-17. With their high-power offense and stingy defense, the San Diego Chargers have high expectations for the 2011-2012 season, and with Punter Mike Scifres’ job being secured, they will remain one of the NFL’s most well-rounded teams for years to come.

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The AFC West hasn’t seen one team dominate for a significant amount of time since the days of John Elway. Those days are long gone now and the division has become significantly more competitive. Kansas City burst onto the scene last season, finally getting back to the playoffs under second year coach Todd Haley. Though they were the story of the division by far, San Diego and Oakland saw quite productive seasons, and Denver has finally figured out who will hopefully be their quarterback of the future. So whose the favorite in 2011?

Oakland Raiders: Oakland has had a solid defense over the past few years. Led by star defensive back Nnamdi Asomugha, few teams were able to torch the Raiders, allowing them to keep games close squeak out eight wins while fighting for a wildcard spot. Unfortunately Asomugha will now hit free agency and Oakland has virtually zero chance of resigning him. They will surely have a gaping hole, one which will need to be addressed immediately. They should be able to lean on Darren McFadden on the offensive end who has finally lived up to the hype he had out of college. He put up 1157 yards and seven rushing touchdowns last year in a tandem backfield with Michael Bush who had eight touchdowns himself. The throwing game hasn’t been the same since the days of Rich Gannon, but if Oakland can control time of possession and play well on the defensive end, they should be able to stay in contention. Besides, nobody wants to play them in Oakland. Those fans are flat out crazy.

Denver Broncos: I find myself at a loss about what to say here. I was never the biggest Kyle Orton fan. He never put up great stats when he was winning in Chicago, but he seemed to find a way to get it done. Someone flipped a switch when he got to Denver by making him throw for almost 7,500 yards in his two seasons as starter. The Broncos should not have won only four games last season. Underachieving doesn’t even begin to describe what they did, but maybe in a way it was a blessing. Toward the end of the year they were forced to turn to highly touted draft pick Tim Tebow. The thought probably was that if he didn’t get a chance now, he might be stuck as a backup for quite a while. He performed fairly well in his short time and proved that he could lead a team the same way he did for so many years at Florida. All the fuss about Tebow’s mechanics? Throw it all away if he can win games. If he can match the results that he had as a Gator remains to be seen, but new coach John Fox seems to have faith in him. Fox has always brought a defensive mind to his teams, and Denver should be no different. We will surely see some changes in the Broncos next season, and I’m sure much improvements on an abysmal 2010.

San Diego Chargers: Well since we’re talking about underachieving, San Diego seems appropriate. How they can be the best offensive and defensive team in the NFL and yet still end up only 9-7, and miss the playoffs at that…wow. Complete inconsistency in finishing games, this team just seemed to forget how to win. Antonio Gates had gotten out to an incredible start to 2010 but was bitten by the injury bug which surely had a gigantic impact on the win column. In fact they saw many of their receivers go down throughout the year, and were without Vincent Jackson for much of the year due to suspension, but there should be no excuse. Philip Rivers still found a way to throw for almost 5,000 yards yet again, so I’m not sure if the receivers really were the problem. There’s not really much to say about them. They don’t need to address very many issues, they don’t need to change very many schemes, they just need to go out and win the games. I wouldn’t be shocked if they had the best record in the league next season, but I also somewhat expect more of the same for them. There’s only one way to shake a reputation of choking: win.

Kansas City Chiefs: Todd Haley is inspiring. Jamaal Charles is a beast. Dewayne Bowe is a touchdown machine. Matt Cassel is…well…adequate. Why did everyone sleep on Kansas City last year? The roster was most definitely there, and now everybody knows it. Maybe that will be a disadvantage for them, having higher expectations going into this year, but I doubt it. This team grew up a lot last year, their young players, namely Charles came into their own and carried this team to the playoffs. If they can add a few pieces they should be able to meet their next goal of notching a playoff win or two. The fear for fans is that they’re one of those “one hit wonder” type of teams, and will be once again overtaken by the Chargers eventually. I don’t think this is true after watching the job that Haley was able to do in close games to get his team over the hump, but I also don’t have all that much faith in Matt Cassel. They need to prove themselves again this year to put their stamp on the division and prove 2010 wasn’t a fluke. 10 wins should be the benchmark for this squad, and hopefully a playoff victory.

The Chargers have the talent, the Chiefs have the chemistry, the Broncos have the poster boy, and the Raiders have the 150 year old owner who will surely do something to mess up the one decent season his team has had in a while. I’d like to see Kansas City win the west again because who doesn’t like an underdog? The tough thing for this division is that the AFC is so competitive all-around that it would be shocking to get two AFC West teams into the playoffs in one year. Divisional games will be dog fights, and I for one, can’t wait to see what happens in those late afternoon games this season.

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