After 6 weeks I can say definitively..

...that these are the top 10 teams of 2010. I ranked my top 10 teams heading into training camp in this post back in June.

I ranked the teams by talent, but I also followed that post with a playoff bracket. Remember, this was back in June when nobody else had the balls to even name a Superbowl pick. Some of the top 10 teams, notably the Saints, aren't on my playoff bracket. It's hard to do a complete evaluation before the season has begun. 6 weeks in it's a little more clear.

Here I will combine my top teams and playoff bracket all in one. How about top 12 teams? All will see the post season IMHO. Before I even list them, the Giants, Saints, Bears, Chiefs and Patriots will not be on this list. Chill.

#1) The Pittsburgh Steelers: They beat Atlanta and Tennessee with out a QB. Wow. With Polamalu healthy they are a force to be reckoned with. I give them a slight advantage over the Jets because their QB and coach both have SB rings. But, the past doesn't help you win next weeks game, it just gets you a little more respect.

#2) The Mighty New York Jets: Complete team all around with an excellent coaching staff. We live and die with our offensive coordinator. When he is in rhythm he has unlimited weapons. When he is trying to be a superstar play caller he can cost us games. We NEED Shonn Greene to come alive and balance our ground game. Fear Revis and Croamrtie when healthy at the same time.

#3) The Indianapolis Colts: They have struggled a great deal so far in 2010. Peyton Manning is their QB. Do I need to say more? They are probably about equal talent wise to the Packers and Ravens, but #18 is what always has and always will set them apart. The Jets and Steelers are only ahead of them because they have far superior defenses.

#4) The Green Bay Packers: They may be the most well rounded team, but you have to win games to be at the top of this list. 3-3 doesn't cut it. The Ryan Grant injury has been downplayed. Not too many people paid any attention to it. If they can find a solid RB, I stand by my pick of them representing the NFC in the SB. Wow, one NFC team in the top 5.

#5) The Baltimore Ravens: Finally Flacco and Rice are starting to produce (my fantasy team thanks you). This is a squad that is simply built to win playoff games. Once Ed reed is back... watch out. I expect a different outcome the next time they meet the Steelers.

#6) The Minnesota Vikings: Moss, Peterson, Favre, Harvin, Shiancoe and soon Rice???? Sorry, but they are in the playoffs... if Favre still has a heartbeat. Not sure why the defense has been so lackluster, but they should figure it out.

#7) The Atlanta Falcons: They have one of my favorite coaches and a legitimate QB. Their backfield is solid, but Ryan needs one more solid target other than White and Gonzalez. My SB picks are Green Bay and the Jets, but if I had a sleeper it may be....

#8) The Tennessee Titans: CJ2K, Young and Britt are starting to gel. They also have the best back up QB in football the best defense no one is talking about. The Texans and Jags are pretenders, Jeff Fishers group are contenders. Run the ball and play great defense... anyone seeing a pattern here?

#9) The Dallas Cowboys: Yeah, I said it! If this seems like a long shot, wait until you see #12. I am sticking to my original assessment. They are a top 5 team talent wise, I think they will somehow make a run and sneak their way in. They are just so much more talented than the other NFC teams they will be fighting against. Come on Wade, this is your last chance to live up to big Daddy... go for it! And for God's sake, give Felix Jones some more touches.

#10) The San Diego Chargers: Simply by default. The Chiefs and Raiders are garbage. Oakland actually released in the press that their 'entire roster was on the block' as the trade deadline approached and passed. The Broncos are just too beat up. They were ravaged in the offseason and now they are even worse. So, AJ Smith and his dysfunctional family limp into the playoffs. Anyone remember that dude who use to play RB there? And that other DB who made the probowl a few years back. Smith dumped both of them... are they still in the NFL?

#11) The Washington Redskins: I picked them to make the playoffs in June and I am sticking with this one too. I like what I have seen so far. Shanahan gives them an identity. The only question here is McNabb's health. If he keeps ticking, they make the post season. Sorry G-men and Philly. I think the Giants will implode and that whole QB situation is very tricky in the city of brotherly love. The old saying goes "if you have 2 starting QB's then you don't have 1". The Skins have 1.

#12) The San Francisco 49ers: I just love Singletary, Gore and their defense. Smith kinda' sucks, but with weapons like Crabtree and Davis hopefully they can start winning and beat out the other 3 horrible teams in their division. Again, I guess I am being stubborn, but I just can't see any of those other NFC West teams in the post season. They have only played 1 division game thus far, so a turn around is very possible.

So, to recap...

The Steelers, Jets, Colts and Chargers win their divisions. The Ravens and Titans beat out the Patriots for the wildcard.

The Cowboys, Packers, 49ers and Falcons win their divisions. The Vikings and Redskins beat out the Giants and Saints for the wildcard.

I see The Jets vs. the Steelers/Colts in the AFCCG.

I see The Packers vs. The Vikings/Falcons in the NFCCG

And of coarse, Jets vs. Packers in the big game, with my beloved Jets as the Champions!

My entire playoff bracket on the NFC side has stayed the same since June, even considering the slow start of the Cowboys and 49ers. On the AFC side I have replaced the Patriots and Bengals with The Steelers and Titans.

I never thought the Steelers would get off to such a good start with out their QB, so I counted them out... considering how competitive the AFC is. As for the Titans, I thought that Young was going to be suspended like Big Ben, so I also counted them out as well. Things have changed since the early summer.

Week 6: Jets vs. Broncos.. We get some love from the zebra's... FINALLY!!!

I still can't believe that on 4th and 6 we called such a bad play, and it got such amazing results. With the game on the line Schotty was calling some very questionable plays. On 4th down I would expect a simple slant to Holmes to gain 8 or 9 and regroup. Either the receiver was covered on the quick release, or Sanchez panicked.

Mark scrambled around and proceeded to hurl the ball 50 yards down the field on what we will politely call a 'prayer'. For some reason Denver's DB decided to mug #10, by first crashing into him, and then reaching out and grabbing his facemask and dragging him to the ground as the ball approached. Thank you sir, may I have another? We never get calls like that in those situations, but the officiating Gods were smiling upon us in the mile high city. =)

Mark had his first bad game of the season. I don't really count week one because Rex and Brian had our young QB on a very short leash. #6 threw 3 horrific passes to the opposing team, 2 of which were intercepted. Is it frustrating to watch the maturation of a young signal caller in the NFL? Yes. Is it an important part of building a championship team? Yes. Patience is the another key ingredient.

Overall Mark has done very well through the first 6 weeks. To be honest, he has far exceeded my expectations. That being said, you have to ask the question... what was he looking at when he made those very poor decisions? They weren't tipped passes or even balls that 'got away'. He was simply missing defenders, not even seeing them. The other disappointing thing about his performance was that he was facing mostly second and third stringers from the Broncos. Their defense, which is not very formidable when healthy, has been hit by the injury bug.

We should have simply run the ball on them... play, after play, after play. I think that because of their weakened secondary Schotty decided to take a chance at showing off his offense that has gone from a Honda to a Porche in the past 12 months. Unfortunately Jeff Gordan is not at the wheel here. The overly aggressive play calling by our O.C. almost cost us the game.

Kyle Orton and the Denver receiving corps. is underrated, and our defense did a decent job of holding them in check. Revis looked a bit rusty in the first half, but in the second half he started to look like his old self. If he can get back to form he and Cromartie can do some real damage in this league. And another big shout out to Dwight Lowery making the game winning play two weeks in a row. He recovered a fumble by hustling and always finding a way to be where the ball is. He was all but forgotten about in my book, and suddenly he is making some noise.

On that subject, I have been very impressed with our role players on defense, especially in the secondary. Lowery 26, Cole 34, Smith 33 and Coleman 30 have all been contributing on defense and special teams. Cole and Smith have been with our team since 2006 when Mangini took over as coach. They have grown as players under Rex and are really starting to show what they can do. It's nice to see a great defensive mind like Rex come to town and revitalize these individual players as well as the fans.

Rex is really starting to look like a great find. Other teams sniffed around Ryan when he was a coordinator. His brash attitude scared away other NFL execs', but Mike Tannenbaum was sent on a mission by Woody Johnson. I think our owner was even more disgusted by that fat gum chewing waste of a man Eric Mangini than the fans were.

Imagine building a team as talented as the 2008 Jets, with Favre as the QB and not even making the playoffs. And, as the season was falling apart, this loser looked uninvolved... on the sideline and in press conferences. I think Woody put Mr. T on notice. Tannenbaum handpicked Man-gi-nah and he fought for Favre. Woody signed the checks and sat home watching other teams fight in the playoffs. I think he told Mike to go out and find the exact opposite of Mangini. He needed to be a motivator and he also needed to be able to jump start our underachieving, overpaid defense. Mission Accomplished!!!

A good headcoach in this league needs to be able to do a few things. He needs to be an outstanding "X's and O's" guy. He may not call the plays, but certain decisions need to be made when the game is on the line, and Rex is one of the leagues foremost experts on defense. Guys like Herm Edwards and Mike Singletary can rally the troops, but are useless when it comes to game-planning and in game adjustments.

They are glorified cheerleaders. That being said, a good headcoach must also be able to get the players to play for him. He needs to work them up so that they would run through a wall for him. Rex also gets a gold star in this category. The brilliant game-planners of our generation have struggled as headcoaches when they have zero personality to go with it. We saw how Belichicks first run went in Cleveland before he had Tom terrific as his QB. Mike Martz and Norv Turner have also flopped as headcoaches for the same reason.

Another very important talent is the ability to recruit talent (as funny as that may sound). Players like LT, Leonhard, Scott and Price signed here exclusively because our coach. Mr. T and Woody are nice guys, but when Mangini was our coach the only way to sign free agents was to wave more money than the next team. Money is always a big part of the overall equation, no matter who your coach is, but Ryan persuaded guys like LT and Jason Taylor to sign very reasonable contracts. Even our hometown heros like Mangold and D'Brick re-upped because of the big man. He did the unthinkable by melting the ice around Revis and got him back in uniform.

Finally, in todays NFL an elite headcoach has to know how to spin things and work the media. Rex is a complete natural at this. He has stumbled a few times because he is just too honest. He uses the media brilliantly to set high goals for his team. He goes out and announces that he expects to compete for a championship, and his players don't want to leave him hanging. They are loyal to him because he is unwaveringly loyal to them. Thats true leadership.

Rex Ryan is starting to live up to the hype... and thats no small accomplishment considering the mountain of hype he brought with him. We are in the winning business, and for the NY Jets business is good!

Week 5: Jets vs. Vikings... You are what your record says you are

The Vikings and Jets have had the same overall team building strategy for the past few years.

Both teams have done anything possible and spent a kings ransom on payroll. Both teams even rolled the dice on #4 Bret Favre. We were smart enough to cut ties after the debacle in 2008. The Vikings have allowed this douche to hold their team hostage for the entire offseason and asked their star players to crawl on their knees to Hattiesburg Mississippi and beg him to come back. He has looked rusty, disillusioned, disinterested and OLD.

On the other hand the NYJ's drafted a young man with a ton of upside and have put him in the best possible position to win. It will be a long time before Sanchez can be compared to the future HOF'er Favre, but when it comes to the basic fundamentals of what it means to be a leader and good teammate #6 has surpassed #4.

Favre did nothing but alienate his teammates during his brief 6 month run as a member of our team, and I will always be in debt, as a fan, to Thomas Jones for having the guts to call Bret out at the end of the disappointing 2008 champaign. He said publicly that if Bret wasn't going to attend every offseason work out, and dedicate himself 100% he didn't belong on our roster. IMHO that is the main reason #4 asked to be released.

It takes a low character franchise led by a guy like Brad Childress to allow anyone to use them like a doormat the way Favre has. All of the other players on the Vikings roster worked their asses off all offseason to try and help their team dominate and make a run for a Superbowl. But, because #4 would rather sit home and watch Gilligans Island during the summer his team is now 1-3. Thats a rough record after the first 25% of the season, but when you have teams like Green Bay and Chicago in your division... well, that may be an insurmountable deficit to overcome.

Enough about that washed up attention whore... let's talk J-E-T-S!

Frustrating play calling again on offense. I liked the overall execution by our O-line and the decision making by #6. LT and Greene are starting to become a formidable duo. It was scary to see #10, #17, #89 and #81 on the field at the same time. I was really disappointed by the dropped passes, but in all fairness it was very wet out there.

I can see that Schotty is a rhythm play caller and the dropped passes threw him out of sync. Our drives kept getting shut down on 3rd down and we had to settle for 5 field goals, even after Brad Smith returned the ball 80 yards on a kickoff. I am a big believer in momentum and how it affects NFL games. Smith answering Favre and Moss's TD hook up was the game winning play for me. It deflated the Vikings sideline and electrified the stadium. I really wish Mark and Schotty could have got the ball in the endzone after that. D'brick also looked like a number four overall draft pick... for the first time ever. Jarred Allen is the most dynamic pass rusher in football and he was a complete non-factor last night. Great job big boy!

Our defense is looking like the #1 squad in the league, even though we are not statistically. Some are calling our secondary the best in the league but I don't feel that way. They are good, but Kyle Wilson is looking like a daisy fresh rookie. He blows more coverages than he gets right. Revis was probably at about 75% last night. By the time the playoffs start we may be the best secondary, but as of today we still have more work to do. We also need to get healthy.

Our Team MVP's after 5 games are obvious... but I will point them out anyway. Cromartie is not just a physical freak but he is playing with a fire and passion. Rex's style of defense fits him very well. Sean Ellis is also playing mad. He looks intimidating out there and continues to get to the QB constantly. David Harris is another player who always seems to be wherever the ball is. He is not and never will be a superstar, but he is a very important reason why we are 4-1. I hope we find a way to pay him and keep him here.

On the offensive side of the ball Sanchez, Keller and LT have been outstanding. However, as the season progresses I think Cotchery and Brad Smith will join them in the spotlight. I am a die hard fan of #89 and I think he will start seeing a lot more touches in the coming weeks. If you put your 3rd best corner or a LB on him he will light them up all day.

I don't think we are the best team in the league at this moment, but if we win the next game and head into the bye 5-1 I may be prepared to crown Rex and the gang. The real question now is will we play down to our competition this week, or maintain our high standards? Can we stay up and motivated, on the road, against a team we are suppose to beat?

Week 4: Jets vs. Bills...... Ellis, Taylor and Thomas continue to dominate

Not to toot my own horn, but in my post back in July entitled "Six players we live and die with" I focused on 'The Big Kat', Mr. Sean Ellis. Please take a moment and see how I predicted his impactful play and why I saw him as a much more important part of our defense than Darelle Revis. In four games Ellis has been disruptive to say the least and has already racked up 3 sacks including a forced fumble.

I also had an interesting post about a month ago right before the season opener simply entitled "Leadership". I am not LT's biggest fan, and I wasn't thrilled when we signed him. But as training camp and the preseason progressed I changed my tune...

"My only hope is that somehow LT starts the season the way that C-Mart did back in 2004. Most people had started to write Martin off and he came out of the gates on fire. If Tomlinson helps us win those first few games his voice will start to resonate in the locker room. It's a long season and the Jets are an unpolished group heading into the season opener. Sometimes soldiers have to be in a real battle to learn how to fight........... LT has really shown burst and ferocity on the field and looks and sounds like a hungry player off of it. He not only gives off the impression that he is focused and prepared for a big 2010 campaign, but he also seems to be having a lot of fun. I hope he can bring all of that to the huddle on gameday"

Who predicted his resurgence and how it would affect the Jets? This guy =)

I also tried to calm the Jets nation after our lackluster season opener assuring everyone that bleeds green that Sanchez and Schotty would figure it out. #6 now has a QB rating of over 100 with 8TD's zero INT's and is starting to look like the leader REAL Jets fans believed he was all along. Going back to the 2009 post season Sanchez has thrown only 2 INT's in 7 total games... and one was a tipped ball. He doesn't need 40 TD's and he doesn't need 4,000 yards. He just needs to make plays on third down and throw it to the open man. With the return of Holmes there should always be someone open.

The most interesting thing about the addition of Santonio is that all of our WR's can now play their ideal roles. Holmes is a #1 wideout, combining his speed, elite route tree, amazing hands and innate ability to make the big play. Braylon Edwards is the perfect #2 guy. He has things that you can't teach like height raw speed. He has been a #1 his entire career and now he will most likely start seeing the #2 CB and single coverage from opposing defenses. Thats a scary thought. Jericho Cotchery is the perfect slot receiver now he can do what he does best. I am sure Dwight Freeny could do well as an OLB, but he is a future HOF'er because the RE position in a tampa 2 is the ideal spot for him. Thats my point.

As far as I am concerned the main X-factor facing the long term success of our offense in 2010 is Greene. #23 finally made an appearance this week with 117 yards. It's exciting that LT is playing like it's 2006 again... but he can't touch the ball 20+ times a week and be fresh for the post season. We will need him in the post season if we plan on making a run. Greene needs to start carrying the load with his young legs if our running attack is going to remain as the best in the league (technically we are #2 but I am sure we will end up as #1 just like last season).

We dominated the worst team in football and I don't take that for granted. Week after week I have noticed steady improvement in our run blocking, pass blocking, and overall precision on offense. The defense has been very impactful, led by the aforementioned Ellis as well as Thomas who had a FF this week, and Taylor who recovered the fumble. These three players have been simply amazing and the thought of Revis and Pace being added to the mix this week is exciting.

Now we have to face a one of the most talented teams in the league, who is underachieving, and a bit desperate. Favre disrespected our entire team by faking a retirement, asking us to release him and then running off to Minnesota. He made it clear that he felt that his new team is far superior to the Jets. He also threw our GM and former coach under the bus by telling the media that we forced him to conceal an injury (in an attempt to make an excuse for his horrible performance at the end of 2009 when he ran out of gas).

Rex is playing it very politically correct, praising Favre for being such a legend, but trust me... our defense has a score to settle and I hope #4 gets the beating he deserves.

Brady and the Pats steal another win...

The Pats and Dolphins just faced off on MNF in what should have been a shoot out to decide 2nd place in the hotly contested AFC East. The Pats won by almost 30 points and the game was simply unwatchable.

Let me start off by saying that I am a life long Jets fan and obviously a Patriot hater. But, there is no team in the entire league I hate more than the Dolphins. I am going to point out a few, very significant plays where the referees changed the momentum and coarse of this game. I will be defending the Dolphins (who got robbed) and if anyone thinks that I am being unfair because Tom Brady is a douche, just remember who's side I am taking here.

The game was just starting the second quarter and the Dolphins are leading 7-3. Ricky Williams breaks off a huge run and after his 3rd juke he had a clear shot to the endzone. That would have made the score 14-3 and the Dolphins would have complete control of the game. Instead the final Patriot defender, who missed the tackle badly, sticks out his right leg and BLATANTLY trips Williams. No flag and not a word from the studio commentators even after the second replay. He tripped the guy in the open field and prevented the TD. Another play is forced and immediately Henne throws his 2nd INT. That (ill-advised) pass should have never been necessary.

Now it's 7-6 and the 2nd half kickoff is in the air. #19 Tate takes the ball from the endzone and starts heading up the field. He follows a lane along the sideline. #39 of the returning team BLATANTLY and very obviously blocks a Miami player in the back and springs Tate for a 103 yd TD. The kick return was replayed 3 times. The first time showed the return after the illegal block, the second was cut off right before the block happened and the last replay actually edited out the illegal move by showing the beginning and end of the play, conveniently omitting the middle. This TD should have been called back but instead it completely changed the game.

Later in the 3rd quarter Cameron Wake, the young CFL transplant who has been making some serious waves as the newest elite pass rusher in the AFC, bullrushed the patriots LT. His whole existence is about protecting Brady's blindside. Wake got an amazing first step and the savvy tackle knew he had no choice but to grab him and hold on for dear life. It was another BLATANT penalty, and it was the right choice by the linemen. It is more important to protect your franchise than to worry about getting called. The ref threw the flag and after a conference the head referee decided to make him pick it up and announced "there was no holding on the last play". The replay showed exactly what the original ref called... unmistakable HOLDING. Again, not a word from the guys in the booth.

That last play may seem insignificant, but it is a microcosm for what is wrong with the NFL and it's select few superstars. Players like Tom Brady are not allowed to lose in key games and the outcome is controlled by a few, very significant calls and non-calls by the officials. Tom Brady needs to be in the post season as far as the NFL is concerned. If anyone thinks that they would have let the Pats slip to 3rd place in the AFC East, and let their golden child start to become an after thought, you are fucking nuts.

The 2010 Patriots are simply garbage. They stole the game against the Bills and another against the Dolphins. Their secondary is inexperienced and weak, as is their backfield and defensive line. Teams that are built like them win 3 games all year, and somehow they are 3-1 after four. It must be the genius of Mr. Belichick.