Tuesday Afternoon WILL Linebacker: Some intelligent commentary on pro football

"This was the best crew that we have had in the last 20 crews I have graded." -- Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, who showed his sarcastic side when commenting on the referees whose botched calls gave Denver a controversial victory over San Diego.

... And we thought Week 1 was totally nuts.

Sure, there were some great fourth-quarter comebacks, but what will stick out from Week 2 -- and be its everlasting legacy (like that?) -- will be Ed Hochuli's botched call that gave the Broncos another shot at scoring the game-winning touchdown against the Chargers, who open this season with two heartbreaking, last-minute defeats.

That tainted win helps the Broncos vault up into the Just-Totally-Made-Up NFL BCS^TM rankings. With that in mind, let's take this week's gander at how the NFL power rankings would look like if it were like the BCS (well, kinda ... it has much less computer-generated controversy, only a couple user errors here or there).

Important note!: The Just-Totally-Made-Up NFL BCS^TM rankings include three very basic components: overall win-loss record, how good teams did against other good teams, and my own profound opinion. Each component will count one-third (more or less or so) of a team's overall Just-Totally-Made-Up NFL BCS^TM score in the Just-Totally-Made-Up NFL BCS^TM standings.

Here are the latest Just-Totally-Made-Up NFL BCS^TM rankings of the season (just the top 12, or the number of teams that would make the playoffs if the playoff teams were based totally on the Just-Totally-Made-Up NFL BCS^TM formula, which isn't really a formula at all because we're not that good at math and don't trust a computer with a sketchy Firewall) ...

1. New York Giants (Trend: -) -- Now riding a 12-game winning streak in non-home games (including three playoff wins, and that win in Super Bowl XLII).

2. Dallas Cowboys (Trend: +) -- Aaron Rodgers' next test: Facing the talented Cowboys in front of another national TV prime-time audience.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (Trend: +) -- Proved on Sunday that they are still the class of the AFC North.

4. Philadelphia Eagles (Trend: +) -- Big game for the Just-Totally-Made-Up NFL BCS^TM rankings on Sunday ... Pittsburgh at Philadelphia. Or, just a big game period. You decide.

5. New England Patriots (Trend: +) -- How demoralizing is Sunday's loss against the Patriots for the Jets? They spent a small nation's gross national product on high-priced free agents this offseason, trade for future Hall of Famer Brett Favre, then see their principal rival's super-duper star quarterback go down to a season-ending injury, only to go on to lose to his replacement, who just happened to be making his first start since high school.

6. Green Bay Packers (Trend: +) -- It appears Packers management knew exactly what it was doing when it told Favre "thanks, but no thanks, we're cool with Aaron Rodgers" when the all-time passing leader opted to unretire just ahead of training camp.

7. Buffalo Bills (Trend: +) -- Beat two 2007 playoff teams to open this season. Unfortunately, they can't make it three straight, since the Raiders come to town in Week 3.

8. Denver Broncos (Trend: +) -- Referee Ed Hochuli to Chargers coach Norv Turner on Sunday, "Umm coach, uh, oopsy daisy?"

9. Indianapolis Colts (Trend: +) -- It took approximately six quarters, but it appears that potent Colts passing game is back on track. Here's some visual evidence.

10. Carolina Panthers (Trend: +) -- Carolina is now 2-for-2 on fourth-quarter comebacks.

11. Arizona Cardinals (Trend: +) -- Not long ago, this perennial doormat was a regular in the category below.

12. Tennessee Titans (Trend: +) -- Started a season 2-0 for the first time since 1999, which, just happens to be the last -- and only -- time the Titans advanced to the Super Bowl.

Teams in danger of relegation if the NFL were like European soccer ...

30. Miami Dolphins -- Made the Arizona Cardinals look like legitimate Super Bowl contenders on Sunday.

31. St. Louis Rams -- At least they still have Torry Holt.

32. Kansas City Chiefs -- Got blown out by the Raiders. Let's repeat this for effect: Got blown out by the Raiders. Again: Got blown out by the Raiders.

Week 3 predictions

Falcons over Chiefs
Bills over Raiders
Bears over Buccaneers
Vikings over Panthers
Patriots over Dolphins
Giants over Bengals
Titans over Texans
Redskins over Cardinals
Broncos over Saints
49ers over Lions
Seahawks over Rams
Browns over Ravens
Colts over Jaguars
Eagles over Steelers
Cowboys over Packers
Chargers over Jets

Week 2 record: 11-4
Overall record: 20-11