These are probably the most real comments you'll see this year:

Tuberville, whose team was shut out of the BCS national title game last season, was asked if he thought the same thing might happen to an SEC school again this year. That got him started on the Bowl Championship Series system and the national media, particularly ESPN.

"It's done," Tuberville said. "The national media, led by ESPN, wants to see Vince Young vs. Matt Leinart in the championship game. It's going to be those two teams unless Texas or USC get upset.

"Last year, they wanted to see the two Heisman Trophy quarterbacks, Jason White and Leinart. After six or seven games, we were out of it.

Tuberville wasn't done either.  Here's what he had to say about ESPN and notably Lou Holtz:

Tuberville spoke out sharply against ESPN and the influence it wields on the college game. He said the opinions ESPN hosts and analysts put out on the airwaves each week tend to shape the opinions of fans and media people around the country.

And he's not at all happy about that.

"ESPN has gotten so much power lately, it's kinda scary," Tuberville said. "And most of their analysts are coaches who haven't won any games. That's why they're there. I think you know who I'm talking about.

"And Lou Holtz gets on there and talks about what a team has to do win that game, and the guy couldn't beat anybody in our conference. These guys will come talk to you and look you straight in the eye and tell you something, then they'll get on the air and say something else.

"ESPN, I'll tell you, I don't have much to do with them anymore."

Tuberville, you've got another fan right here.

Consider me one of those that believe ESPN has gotten way too big and way too influential in how sports, both professional and amateur, have run.  The setup of college football today only makes it worse, because it's ultimately the media and coaches polls that decide who the national championship is.

A lot of people gave Texas's Mack Brown criticism after he appeared to be lobbying for one of the at-large BCS births after the last game of the regular season last season.  But people have to remember; each school receives $14 million dollars for a BCS invitation.  If you're in a conference that has a conference title game, you get approx. $7 million, and if you're in a major conference you might land $2 million for a regular bowl.

Brown can add.  The difference between $14 million and $2 million (Texas was not in the Big 12 title game) isn't chump change, and it could have been the difference on how Brown recruited in the next few years, whether his players stayed or entered the NFL draft, and ultimately if he would have a job a few years down the road.  This is serious business, folks.

The sports media doesn't simply report college football; they help decide who the top teams are.  The BCS uses a number of polls to help come up with the national championship.  There's the USA Today Coaches Poll, as a number of the top coaches cast votes every week; There was the Associated Press Poll, which was done by sportswriters (after last year's Texas debacle, the AP told the BCS to stop using their poll.  They were replaced by the Harris Interactive Poll, which has a mix of former coaches, players, and some sports journalists); and the rest are based largely on statistics and are done by computers, including strength of schedule, quality wins, etc. 

Thus, is there any question that Tuberville is absolutely right?  The national championship game has already been decided, given both teams don't choke.  It's possible that the SEC champion will be undefeated, which means another controversy.  Until it's decided on the field, in a playoff system, nothing will change.  But the NCAA won't fix it until they start losing money, continuing to place bandages on an exit wound.

Last year, I came up with an idea of a playoff system that could definitely allow more regional action within college football, allow an adequate amount of teams with a legitimate chance of winning the national championship without diluting interest in the sport.  Here are the provisions:

- 14 teams.  The top seven from the West, and the top seven from the East.

- Keep the BCS polling system, but change it to two polls ranking the top 15 from each region every week, instead of 25 within the nation.

- Give the top team from each region a bye from the first round.

- Allow the teams to have playoff games in their respective regions, using neutral bowl sites for the playoff games.

- The New NCAA Championship Game would pit the Western Regional Champion vs. the Eastern Regional Champion.

- Allow the individual bowl committees to organize and run the playoff games.

- The BCS committee could decide which bowl sites would host playoff games, as they do the BCS bowls now.

- The major bowls (Rose, Fiesta, Cotton, Orange...am I forgetting one?) get specific dibs on the Regional Championship games and Championship games.

- NO AUTOMATIC BIDS FOR CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS.

If you want to know more about it, click here.  There's a full explanation into each and every provision I made.

It's a dream.  A very good dream for football, but a dream nevertheless.

Another great Sunday for some football. 

With the exception of the big game of the week, which is Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnatti, and possibly San Diego/Philly, most of these games aren't huge.  Some of them are what I'd call "toilet bowl" matchups, which means both teams are at the bottom of the barrel, or the game has a clear cut winner.

Amazing.

A federal judge Tuesday blocked Georgia from enforcing a new state law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

In issuing the preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy said the law amounts to an unconstitutional poll tax because the state is not doing enough to make ID cards available to those who cannot afford them.

The requirement "is most likely to prevent Georgia's elderly, poor and African-American voters from voting," Murphy wrote. "For those citizens, the character and magnitude of their injury — the loss of their right to vote — is undeniably demoralizing and extreme."

Let's make this clear:  there isn't one person in Georgia that couldn't afford to buy a $20 ID card.  Not one.  If they can buy a television, if they can buy video games, or cookies and snacks at the grocery store, or any of these things, they can DEFINITELY buy an ID card in order to vote.  Considering most states issue Driver's Licenses and ID's that last from four to six years, it's not as if they are going to buy it every other month.

The state forces stores to check ID's for alcohol.  The feds forces banks to check ID's - and often more - when you make withdrawals and other bank transactions.  Yet we are talking about a franchise where people have fought and died for for hundreds of years, and I'm just as able to pick any name, register, and vote under that name as I am with my own.

For a sitting federal judge to tell the nation that eliminating voter fraud is akin to a poll tax is morally and intellectually dishonest.  This is a shining example of the need for high qualifications and intellectual standards for presidential nominees: this judge has no business being on the bench.  This is more than a difference of opinion; it's a lack of common sense and a failure to interpret law.

Poll taxes were used to purposely keep poor people from voting, and they were issued at the time of registration or when you got to the precinct.  These were added with the grandfather clause, which was an exemption for anyone whose grandfather or ancestors had the right to vote.  Nevertheless, the poll tax was accessed on people in order to vote only.  An identification card, which almost everyone needs nowadays, isn't just to vote.  Even then, the Georgia Legislature has set up a program to allow people to get ID cards for free if they can't afford them.  Thus, that defeats the purpose of a supposed poll tax, correct?

I ran a little check on Harold Murphy...He's the cousin of long-time former Georgia Democratic House Speaker Tom Murphy, which could explain how he got the job in the first place.  An AJC writer wrote about how the Speaker was able to secure a reservoir onto their property, which overlapped against 1,000 acres of property that their family owned.  According to the article, the property value rose greatly, and the state would have to compensate the family if the property was ever flooded.  Murphy was defeated in 2002, and the Republicans took over the Legislature.

He presided over the infamous Georgia crematory case, where hundreds of bodies were exhumed and essentially left unburied behind the woods from the crematory by the owners instead of being cremated.  However, he approved a deal keeping the families from filing civil suits against the crematory's owners, and instead allowed them to sue the insurance company!  And get this one...Murphy also allowed a whites-only affirmative action plan to stand in Alabama, where white applicants were given preference at HBCUs, such as Alabama State. 

- You know what's the biggest slap in the mouth a football team could get?  Having your opponent spot you 17 points in the first quarter, and winning by 17 at the end of the game.  Martz had to love that while he was sitting in that hospital bed.

And please, I don't wanna hear the "if Martz was there/Bulger didn't get hurt" sorta references.  If Martz was there, they would have probably lost worse, because he wouldn't have let Stephen Jackson run the ball (which helped led them to two of those first quarter scores).  Bulger would have helped, but the comeback was inevitable.  Besides, it was Bulger's fault that he got hurt anyway.

- I suppose that makes Indy the best team in the league.  The question is, who's number 2?  This year is starting to look like a free for all, where everyone has a legit chance for a Super Bowl win.  Last year it was New England, Philly, Pittsburgh, Indy, and everyone else.

- Well, it looks like Phillip Rivers will get his wish.  I can't see the Chargers being stupid enough to trade Drew Brees at this moment in time.   My only gripe is that they went on and made a trade before the deadline.  At least he could have gotten to a team that might have needed him (Detroit, Jets, Bills, Ravens, etc).

- When you try to act like you're the biggest dog in the club, you better be able to back it up.  Else, you find yourself in the hospital slurping food through a straw.

I'mma expound on this in a post later this week, when I talk about the NBA's idiotic dress code.

- Shanahan deserves props.  Like I said last week, I didn't believe he'd coach Denver after this season, but the way he's stepped up and made that defense into a cohesive unit probably makes him the frontrunner for Coach of the Year.

- My frontrunner for MVP?  LaDamian Tomlinson.  I really can't think of anyone else more deserving, except possibly Shaun Alexander.

- Some funny shit I heard on Fox Sports Radio:  Jim Mora said Bill Bellichek was pissed after his son, Falcons coach Jim Jr. pulled a stunt in Week 5 by listing Michael Vick as probable all week before downgrading him to questionable on Saturday, which tricked the Patriots into preparing as if Vick was going to play.  So in retaliation, Bellichek listed all of his injured players as probable for Sunday against Denver.  Too bad it didn't work.

Yeah; I was able to watch the fight on Saturday night.  Here are some of my thoughts:

- Brinkley got outboxed again, but Bosante didn't get the decision. Bosante was definitely robbed, because Brinkley didn't win the second round-on.  Bosante could have made it even more lopsided had he not been scared that he was going to get knocked out.

- Manfredo was definitely better in the second fight, and I thought he won five of those rounds, but I think Atlas was atrocious in calling the fight. There were a lot of times where Mora was getting some good flurries off and Atlas was actually hyping Manfredo! I was wondering whether Manfredo slipped Atlas some cash on the side.

- Speaking of Teddy Atlas, tell him to get off of his boxing elitist drivel.  If you left it to him the only ones that would be involved in boxing whatsoever would be boxers.  They would be the ones writing about it, doing broadcasts of it, and running the show.  Garbage.  He played that same game with Max Kellerman when he first started with ESPN, despite Max having a boxing show in NY for years.

- The guy that fought Gomez didn't deserve to get stopped. I would say he didn't have a chance to win the fight, but after the other two decisions he actually had a chance.  I still say Gomez needs to get in better shape, though.

- if Mora is going to become a better fighter, he needs to learn what a jab is. He's got those long arms; use them. On top of that, he isn't a power puncher, although he gave Peter all he could handle in the 5th (before punching himself out).  But Freddie Roach has done a good job with Manfredo, and he was able to get the better of the inside game better than Mora more often than not.

- Sorry Burnett, but if this was to gain interest for next spring, you failed.  This left a bad taste in everyone's mouths.

Before I go on, lemme say this:  I don't watch a lot of baseball, hence I didn't see the disputed out from last night's NLCS.  As a fellow official (I'm not an ump), I know how it feels to blow a call.  All officials have at some point in time, and continue to do so.  It must suck to do it in the playoffs, though.  Hopefully he can shake it off and have a fine career, as he's doing something that I hope to do one day...become a sports official in the pros.

---

Now on to football. 

- Injuries continue to plague the NFL, as two of the top QB's in the league went down.  Michael Vick didn't play due to injuries sustained in the Vikings game last week, and Ben Rothlisberger went down with a hyperextended knee after a Chargers lineman popped Ben's shin with his helmet.

Vick's knee must be pretty serious, as he missed one of the Falcons' biggest games this year, and it resulted in a close loss to the defending world champions.  A lot of people think Jim Mora pulled a "Bellichek"; letting the Patriots think Vick was going to play and plan their defensive scheme around him before downgrading him, which left the Patriots unprepared for Matt Schaub.  If that was the case, then it worked, because Schaub had a pretty decent game:  18-34, 298, 3 touchdowns.  Gee; when's the last time Vick put up passing numbers like that?  And note:  that was in a comeback effort.  A pretty impressive one too.

Rothlisberger's knee, according to the Steelers, isn't that bad.  They're even claiming he could play on Sunday, but if I were them I wouldn't take that chance.  I have two reasons:  first, Jacksonville has a great front line that will put pressure on him from time to time, and the Jags did a great job covering the Cincinnati Bengals' young receivers.  Second, it's better to let him rest and take a week off, because next week they are facing the Bengals in a game that could decide the AFC North.  If you're going to come in with a disadvantage, it's better to do so against a non-divisional opponent and not risk your QB being put on the shelf longer than he should.  Let Charlie Batch earn that minimum contract.

- Mike Tice and Jim Haslett both should have been gone last year.  Making excuses for them this year doesn't make up for their screwups in the past.  It just makes the owners look stupid for not taking care of the situation before it got to this point.  The same goes to Mike Martz, although I sincerely hope he does get better.  His health is more important than football.

Brian Billick, guess what?  You're on the hot seat too.  And with the way the Steelers and Bengals are playing, you're not going to get off anytime soon.

I don't think I have to mention Dom Capers, do I?  I have some sympathy for him, because he was the Panthers' first coach.  But damn, he's going to get David Carr killed.  How he's still walking upright is an amazing feat in and of itself.  Dude's got guts, but I would have forced a trade or something.  I can't stand for my QB to take shots on Madden.

- A word to Joe Gibbs:  I know you're the grandfather of the NFL, and you have the Redskins ripe for a playoff bid this year.  But cmon...either play Arrington or cut him.  The guy deserves another chance, and the Skins aren't helping themselves by keeping him on the sidelines.

Hell; the way the Panthers' D has been playing, we can surely use him.

- Speaking of the Panthers' D, it's amazing how things can change within a week.  Chris Gamble was the big hero by batting down a Bret Favre pass during the Monday night game last week, and on Sunday he stunk up the field.  It took Marlon McCree to save the Panthers this week, getting two picks off of deflections.  One of those was in the endzone before halftime, which saved the Panthers from getting into a bigger deficit.  McCree was a good pick up by the Panthers.

- Tampa Bay is in trouble.  Their Cadillac is just coming out of the shop, and they face a Dolphins team that will see the return of Ricky Williams to go along with Ronnie Brown.  Cadillac hopes to play Sunday, and they will need him if they don't want to lose two straight. 

- The Pats aren't out of the fire yet, as they have to travel to Mile High for arguably the Game of the Week.  I would have bet during the preseason that Shanahan would be in the hot seat by this time.  Now they have the second best record in the AFC.  Not bad.

And if anyone hasn't noticed, that offensive line is gelling again for the Pats.  Brady threw 350 on a decent Atlanta defense.  G'luck Champ (Bailey, that is).

I'll have some more thoughts later in the week. 

This really ticks me off:

North Carolina State basketball player Gavin Grant may be deported as an illegal immigrant.

Eyewitness News has learned that Grant was detained last week by campus police and immigrations officials, amid allegations that he was smuggled into the country, from Jamaica, as a child.

NC State officials are saying they believe Grant will be able to play with them this winter, but that's far from the point.

Alright, so he have a kid that's playing college basketball, presumably on scholarship, trying to get his degree and make something of himself.  Meanwhile, North Carolina has over 300,000 illegal immigrants, with the majority of them being Mexican.  Yet, the feds want to ship this kid back to JAMACIA, of all places.

It would be one thing if the feds actually enforced immigration law evenly, but as Michelle Malkin and others can attest to, they don't.  Hence, you have a kid who is a relatively high-profile basketball player at State (he was supposed to start this season) being cherrypicked by the INS, when they could probably go on the other side of the city and detain as many illegal immigrants as they wish.

And note:  this is only a few months after the North Carolina General Assembly proposed a measure that would have given illegal immigrants in-state tuition if they lived here over a year and graduated from an NC high school.  It took the wrath of a couple of local talk radio hosts in Raleigh to draw enough outrage to shelf the proposal.  However, former Gov. Jim Hunt and other supporters are still lobbying for it to be passed.  Hence, how many of those recipients were going to get detained and deported?

The answer:  little to none.  And it isn't as if they don't know where to look.

Let's hop to it.

First, I'm having a hard time deciding who the top teams in the league are.  In the AFC, your guess is as good as mine.  Right now my guess is Pittsburgh, with the Steelers and the Chargers having a possible AFC Title matchup this week. 

New England has fell off the map, getting hammered by LaDamian Tomlinson last week like no team has done since they won their first Super Bowl.  It doesn't help things that they have to go to the Georgia Dome this week and face off against a run-dominated Falcons.  They could go under-500 for the first time in years.

But what about the NFC?  Donovan McNabb has put up better numbers than anyone in the league so far.  His QB rating is over 100, he's thrown for over 1300 yards, and he's got 11 passing touchdowns.  And note:  most of this came after that Monday night stinker he had in Week 1 AND with injuries that could eventually get the best of him and put him on the shelf.  Then there's Atlanta, which could solidify their argument by beating the Patriots, after handing the Eagles their only loss in Week 1.

Notice who's missing?  That's right...the undefeated teams.  Sorry, but none of those teams have beaten anyone significant in the first four weeks of the season to say without a doubt they are the best in the league.  Everyone else is battle tested.

The Colts defense have turned in some great performances, but those were against teams that have little to no offense to begin with.  The best offense out of any of those teams is Jacksonville, and Brian Leftwich hasn't been playing up to snuff lately.  But the Colts have a pretty easy schedule during the first half of the season.  They should steamroll over there next three opponents (Niners, Rams, Texans) before they meet up with the Patriots on a cold Monday night.  Then again, the way things have been looking for the Patriots, there might not be a team for them to play.

This week, we'll find out whether the Bengals and the Redskins are man or mouse.  The Bengals have Jacksonville, who still has that great defense from last year, but have struggled on offense.  The Redskins have the Broncos, who have been red hot since dropping their opener to the Dolphins.  The Bengals' offense has been impressing everyone, particularly Carson Palmer.  The Redskins...well, let's just say they've had Lady Luck on their side more than a few times this year.  But hey; I can't think of a better coach to get that luck other than Joe Gibbs.

Tampa Bay is on the fence right now.  Yeah they're undefeated, but a lot of people say instant replay and poor officiating robbed the Lions of a win.  I dunno; I didn't see the play.  But the Bucs are playing close games with teams that they should be blowing out.  It doesn't help things that Cadillac has a flat tire too.  They "should" whup a depleted Jets team this week; but what happens when they have that Florida showdown with Miami next week?  Uh oh.

No; I didn't mention my Panthers today.  I want to stay in a good mood.

Anyway, here are my picks:

Baltimore over Detroit (tossup)

Miami over Buffalo

Green Bay over New Orleans

Tampa Bay over the Jets

Cleveland over Chicago

Atlanta over New England

Rams over Seattle

Tennessee over Houston

Colts over Niners

Dallas over Philly (UPSET SPECIAL!)

Panthers over Cards

Denver over Redskins

Bengals over Jacksonville

And Monday night....Chargers over Steelers

This will probably be my shakiest week yet.  I'm not sure about half of these games.  Baltimore/Detroit could go either way; New England could find a way to beat Atlanta (after all, they DID lose to Seattle); Houston needs a win badly, and Lady Luck could be on the side of the Skins again.  I expect to grimace every time I read the ticker this week.

I wasn't going to say much about Miers here, mainly because I'm not in a particular mood to talk about politics.  If you've had your head stuck in the sand, Miers has been chosen as a Supreme Court nominee.

Who is she?  Your guess is as good as mine.  She's never been a judge at any level, and her greatest claims to fame have been the fact that she's Bush's lawyer and she was the former president of the Dallas bar association.  But there is nothing on record that gives anyone a clue on how she will perform on the court, other than the mention that she's a born-again Christian, and turned Republican shortly afterwards.

That's all nice, if you're simply looking at her personality-wise.  But do these things make her qualified to sit on the highest court in the nation, especially during these times?  When a nominee is chosen, especially by a Republican president, conservatives should not have to guess as to what approach the nominee takes.  It should be made clear as day, and they should be willing to defend that premise against any scrutiny.

Conservative principles are really simple, actually.  The president only needs to ask three questions when considering a nominee:

1.  Will the nominee uphold the principles and the spirit of the Constitution, not only in words but in theory?

2.  Will the nominee promote freedom and individual liberty over government control?

3.  Will the nominee uphold the limits of the federal government - and the federal courts - in accordance of constitutional law and history?

Not only is it the obligation of the president to make sure each and every nominee can answer those questions in the affirmative, but it's the obligation of the president to have enough information that proves this to be true.  After all, America has been burned too many times by justices we thought were going to rule in this manner (Souter, Kennedy). 

Thus, it's not enough for simply trust Bush.  Placing Miers aside for a second, Bush really hasn't given us much to trust him on.  Whether it's the massive amounts of federal spending, signing campaign finance reform (And no; fighting it after the fact doesn't amount to a hill of beans, especially since he failed.  He shouldn't have signed the damned thing to begin with.), prescription drug bill, failure to reform the tax code, failure to privatize Social Security, playing soft against the terrorists in Iraq....I could go on and on and on.  No; we can't trust you.

With the death of a chief justice and the retirement of an associate justice, Bush has been handed yet another opportunity that very few presidents have ever had; the chance to nominate two (and possibly three, as some are saying Souter may retire next) Supreme Court justices.  This could decide whether the Supreme Court continues to be the statist monarchy that eliminates the freedoms of the American people one court case at a time, or it moves toward being an entity that limits its rulings within the scope of the Constitution.  The Surpreme Court's future can and will decide the future of America, and it's too important to allow a nominee who has little qualifications and no track record.

Bush defenders are saying the qualifications question threatens future presidential nominations, as he should have the right to choose whoever he wishes.  Good.  Just because the president could nominate whoever he wishes doesn't mean he should.  For example, let's say I'm an NBA coach, and I'm facing the Miami Heat.  I could place my 5'11 backup point guard to man up on Shaq.  Should I do it?  Only if I have something against the kat, and am trying to get him killed.  If I'm trying to win the game, however, I'm going to put the biggest and most capable guy on my squad to play defense on him.

And that's what conservatives want.  Guessing games should be left to the kids; we want the biggest dog we can possibly get on the Court.  We want a Janice Brown, or a Priscilla Owen, and if we can't get that, then we want to have someone with the ideals and philosophy of those two.  Let the chips fall where they may.  When another Kelo case comes up we don't need to wonder what side a stealth nominee will be on.  Not only should we expect them to vote it down, but to provide a legal opinion so convincing that not even the most legally sound leftist could penetrate their arguments.

Thus, every conservative senator should vote Miers down.  This is nothing against her personally, but the conservative bloc doesn't have the time - nor should they have the patience - to play guessing games with stealth nominees.  Conservatives deserve better, and their senators should demand more.  It's time Bush started taking conservative issues seriously instead of throwing bones to us as if we're dogs.

After I finished my piece last week highlighting some of the issues going on in college football, I received a response from a fellow blogger about one of his favorite players.  Casey Lartigue, a guy who's work I've read (and cited) stemming from his days at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, decided to challenge some of my beliefs on Ron Mexico...ur, I mean Michael Vick.  Lartigue believes I made these comments because I subscribe to a supposed "manual", which is a belief of what all quarterbacks (or football players, for that matter) should look and play like. 

However, Lartigue misses the point by a mile.  While he cites this post as proof of me subscribing to the "manual", in the very next breath I note two known scramblers (although they are having to cut down on their scrambling these days) in Donovan McNabb and Daunte Culpepper.   And since he read this post just last week, I'm sure he noticed my compliments of Ben Rothlisberger, who is far from being a typical pocket-passing quarterback.

You see, it's not about a manual; it's about balance.  Football is a game of being able to draw up a better play and executing it better than the other team.  You use all of your qualities in order to win.  I'm sure if you asked players in the league, they'll tell you that you need to have more than one redeeming quality in order to become a top player in your position.  If you're a one-dimensional quarterback in the NFL, you're soon going to meet up with a team that will neutralize your strengths and knock your block off. 

One of the amazing feats of Michael Vick that Lartigue reminds us of comes during the Divisional playoffs, where the Falcons mangled the St. Louis Rams 47-17 in order to move on to the NFC Title game.  Lartigue notes that Vick "only ran" for 81 yards in that game (he actually ran for 119), yet the Rams were so worried about Vick's running ability that it opened up opportunities for Warrick Dunn (who is a good back), who carried the ball for 142 yards.

Now that might sound like a great feat, considering it came within the playoffs.  But remember what I said:  Football is about balance.  After all, there's 11 other guys on that field that are trying to stop you on defense.  And a quick look at the Rams defense shows that during the 2004 regular season, they gave up 136 yards per game on the ground and ranked 29th in rushing defense.  In other words, the St. Louis Rams couldn't stop a parked car.

As Lartigue correctly noted, I stated that Vick will use his feet to get him out of trouble.  But in the next sentence I stated:

The good thing for Atlnata (sp) is that the Rams don't have a front line or linebacker set that can even catch him on two-hand tag.

And yes, I didn't think it would be a blowout.  However, how it happened wasn't surprising.  Anyone who has paid attention to the Rams in the past two seasons know this isn't a team that was going to stop the Falcons from running the ball.  And thus, they got their blocks knocked off.

So instead of the Rams, let's turn our attention to a team that's much more appropriate and would have been a better challenger....say, Tampa Bay.  The Bucs are undefeated this year, but last year they finished 5-11, and were only 19th in rushing defense.  However, they always have Vick's number, because they have a decent linebacker corp that can run with Vick on the sidelines and can keep him contained in the backfield.

In their second game last year, Vick threw 27 passes - well above his regular average.  Why?  Because he could only get off eight rushing attempts and the Bucs' defensive line was able to keep Duckett and Dunn contained.  This also led to two fumbles, two picks, and five sacks on the day for the Bucs onto a 27-0 victory.  Now, Vick still ran pretty decent for a quarterback for a QB that day - 81 yards - but his passing game is lacking, and once Tampa Bay took away Vick's one strength, he was exposed.

And that's nothing new for that team.  Tampa Bay's Super Bowl year saw them smack Vick around twice.  In a 20-6 Bucs victory in October 2002, Vick's line was 4-12 for 37 yards and he ran for only one yard.  The next week, against the Giants, Vick didn't play.  Why?  Because the Bucs put him on the shelf.  Later that year in December 2002, the Bucs won again, 34-10.  Vick only carried five times for 15 yards in that one.  And note; the Falcons made a playoff run that year, breaking Green Bay's home playoff streak...in the snow.  So they weren't lightweights.

In 2003, Vick was on the shelf for 3/4ths of that year due to an injury during preseason, so he didn't play the first game against Tampa Bay.  The second one saw the Falcons win 30-28, but that was from the Falcons secondary picking off four Bucs passes in that ballgame.  Vick did run the ball 12 times....but only came up with 39 yards to show for it.  Atlanta had led that game 27-7 at halftime before the Bucs made their comeback.

Last year, Vick finally got the numbers he wanted on the Bucs, with the 24-14 victory last November.  But that's the only time he's been able to maintain speed with the Bucs, and three weeks later he was shut down.

Indeed; one of the reasons why the Eagles were able to have their way with the Falcons in the NFC Championship Game was due to middle linebacker Jerimiah Trotter sitting back about 4-5 yards off the line of scrimmage and being an effective spy on Vick.  That gave the rest of the defense time to close in on him.  Once the Eagles led by double digits, it was over, because then the running game had to be abandoned.  The Falcons didn't have a chance.

Now if every team was like the 2004 Rams, then there wouldn't be much to talk about, as far as opposition goes.  But Atlanta faces the red-hot Bucs twice, they face Carolina (although our front four looked like we need to start hitting the track more often after last night) twice, they face the Patriots this week, and they've already faced the Eagles in a game that was lacklusture for both teams offense-wise (14-10).  What's going to happen when the run isn't an option?  And guaranteed; it will not always be an option.

Compounding that question is the fact that Vick has had two leg injuries this year that took him off the field.  Vick was hurt in the Seattle game and last Sunday against the Vikings; two teams who aren't known for their defense.  It's one thing to have a sore muscle, but those are debilitating injuries that will affect your performance on the field.  Vick uses his legs more than any other part of his body.  It's one thing for your left arm or shoulder to be hurting (I think Vick throws with his right; I don't see him throwing enough to ever notice).  It's another for a leg to be the problem, especially if you are a rusher.

It's funny, because yesterday Daunte Culpepper came out and said he has back problems.  Donovan McNabb has a hernia.  Both of them have cut back on their scrambling over their career and have focused on their passing games more.  Culpepper has not been good this year, but last year he put up numbers that would have made him MVP if it wasn't for Peyton Manning's unbelievable year.  In the first four weeks, McNabb has put up the better numbers than anyone in the league.  Why's that?  Because both have realized that in order for them to be able to compete in this league, they had to adjust with age.  Their passing stats have gotten better and they became effective leaders.  Lartigue mentions Randall Cunningham in passing, but just like McNabb and Culpepper have done, Cunningham had developed a balanced game:  5 seasons with over 3000 yards, including the 1990 season in which he threw for over 3400 and rushed for almost 1,000. 

Will Vick adapt too?  Only time will tell.  Maybe he will get that Moss or Owens like Culpepper and McNabb were able to attain, and will help him create a decent passing game.  Until then, he's a sitting duck.  And there's no telling when that trigger will be pulled.

CORRECTION:  I said Lartigue stated Vick ran for 81 yards in last year's Rams/Falcons game.  He actually said he passed for 81 yards, which is correct.