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Stroke victim and All-American hero Teddy Bruschi had 50 tackles (all for loss) including 10 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 5 interceptions and 5 touchdowns in the Patriots’ victory over the Bills Sunday night.  He also managed to play an astounding 80 minutes, even though there are only 60 minutes in a game.  Amazingly, between plays he also sped to burning orphanages and saved sick orphans from raging infernos, including Fluffles, the adorable little kitten that’s little 3 year old Emma’s only reminder of her parents, who got killed by terrorists while saving the free world in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He saved Emma too, don’t worry.  He suffered another stroke at halftime, but on his way to the hospital in the ambulance, he jumped out to save some lepers being attacked by the same terrorists that killed Emma’s parents.  He then decided to forget about going to the hospital for the stroke he just suffered, and returned in time for the second half kickoff.  This is how it seemed anyway as each time ESPN went to commercial; a montage of Bruschi was shown as the song ‘Hero’ was played. 
Contrary to what some may believe, Bob Kraft does not treat his objects… sorry, I meant ‘players’ that well at all.  He’s chosen Bruschi as a poster child, as some sort of marketing ploy to make players think that he cares.  His flaunting of not having a liability waiver signed is ridiculous.  If something happens to Bruschi, there’s no way he or his wife can sue the Patriots, they have doctors clearing Bruschi to play, in addition to having Bruschi make the decision all on his own.  He’s stated as much repeatedly, thus giving Kraft his liability waiver, although not in writing; it’s on video which is just as good.  So with this, Kraft can continue acting like he cares about his employees, and Bruschi in particular, all for his ad campaign on how compassionate he is to his toys… sorry again, I meant ‘players’.  Sign for less than you’re worth and papa Kraft will take care of you like he did for Bruschi!  Nice slogan. 
I’m a firm believer Bruschi should have just stayed out the rest of the year, as so many players have when dealing with an injury, and played next year with a full off season of conditioning.  I guess the Patriots were just really scared about losing this season, and needed to get something positive going.  I do respect Teddy Bruschi, don’t get me wrong, and I think he’s one of, if not the best LB in the game, I thought his absence was going to hurt the Patriots a lot this year.  It’s just that I don’t agree with his return in midseason, just because things aren’t going well for the team.  Safety first. 
Oh, and by the way, the Bills outplayed the holy Patriots soundly.  If it weren’t for a gift pass reception, which for some absurd reason was not overturned during replay to the astonishment of all, they would not have won, even though Bruschi had all those ‘hits’.  What exactly constitutes a hit?  What an odd stat to keep track of.  Once he gets to 100 hits he has another stroke?  I’m sorry if this sounds a lot like Patriot bashing, but when you read constantly about other media sources gushing over them, no matter what they do, good or bad, I need to vent sometimes. 

No Huddle
And the Chicago Bears lead the NFC North.  That’s right, the Bears led by rookie Kyle Orton.  This goes in large part thanks to their great defense, and Thomas Jones.  Jones is running like he’s got something to prove.  This may be in large part due to the fact that Cedric Benson is waiting in the wings.  Although drafting Benson with such a high pick when the Bears could have used something else doesn’t seem like a smart move, this may in fact be a good pick due to the impact it has had on Jones.  Or maybe he would have run well regardless.  No one really knows. 

I’ll wait another week before judging Garcia; the Bears are too good on defense to think Harrington could have done anything better. 

5 interceptions by Brett Favre and a bonehead move to end the game while trying for a comeback.  And yet I’m afraid that everyone will brush off his horrible game to either Brett just being Brett, or his bad supporting cast, or they’ll ignore it and hype how he almost made a comeback… when the real story should be about how he’s lost it.  End of story.  He used to be great, he isn’t anymore, and that’s life.   Deal with it.  I think Favre realizes it, but why can’t his media boyfriends understand? 

Culpepper always seems to have one good season, then one bad season.  Last season he played great, so it makes sense that this season should be bad.  To make things worse, he may even be gone for the season.  This all just means that next year may be an MVP season for Culpepper. 

I know the NFC North is still up for grabs, but maybe firing Tice now and getting a new guy in to weed out any problem players for next year isn’t a bad idea.

To: All members of the Washington Redskins. Re: You have a game against your division opponents the New York Giants on Sunday at 1pm.  That was the memo the entire Redskins team never got and is why they didn’t show up against the Giants. 

Wellington Mara’s granddaughter, who sang the national anthem before the game was really hot.  I’m not sure how old she is, but I’m hoping over 18.  Otherwise I retract this statement.  I seriously doubt that the Giants played any harder just because Mara died.  He was an old man that most of the Giants probably never met and really don’t care about.  They beat up the Redskins simply because they were the better team. 

I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t like the San Diego (Super) Chargers.  This season has been tough so far for them, and yet they could easily be considered one of the best teams in the league despite their record.  Toughest schedule in football for sure, much harder than the Patriots’ schedule, which everyone seemed to yell about early on in the season. 

Another TD pass for Ladainian Tomlinson.  This play is genius because it keeps the CB from coming up to help tackle Tomlinson in future games, which will end up netting him some big gains. 

More consistent play from Jake Plummer has really helped the Broncos.  They dismantled the Eagles.  McNabb started out horribly.  He needs to get fixed badly.  But I’m afraid it’s too late in the season for that, especially with the NFC East race so tight now.   

Offensive Player of the Week: Tiki Barber for rushing over 200 yards. 

Defensive Player of the Week: Back to the Giants for their team performance embarrassing the Redskins and shutting them out a week after they beat up the hapless 49ers. 

Top Ten:
1. Indianapolis Colts – Heading into a huge contest vs. the Pats on MNF. 
2. Pittsburgh Steelers – I’m going ahead and predicting they’ll beat the Ravens on MNF.   
3. Seattle Seahawks – Still best in the NFC.
4. Denver Broncos –Bouncing back against the Eagles.
5. San Diego Chargers – They don’t have the record, but they’re a great team. 
6. Atlanta Falcons – 3rd in my top ten with a bye week to relax. 
7. Cincinnati Bengals – Moving up but should have beaten the Packers by more.  
8. Dallas Cowboys – Back in the top ten. 
9. Jacksonville Jaguars – They’ll move up by playing easy teams in the coming weeks.
10. St. Louis Rams – They beat a good Jags team while missing many players.