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

College football season kicks off soon ... and then some totally random thoughts

It's such a great time of year to be a fan of the sports stuff. Baseball pennant races are heating up, the kickoff of Week 1 of the NFL season is just a week away, and college football starts its season this weekend. With that fun in mind ...

You didn't ask for 'em, but here are our college football picks for this weekend:

No. 13 Wisconsin over Akron
No. 3 Southern California over Virginia
No. 5 Florida over Hawai'i
No. 6 Missouri over No. 20 Illinois
No. 18 Tennessee over UCLA
No. 7 LSU over Appalachian State

FYI, there will be no Appalachian State-type upset of a major college football powerhouse this year. That was a once-in-a-lifetime, lightning-doesn't-strike-the-same-place-twice type of occurrence. With that in mind, let's go out on a limb ...

Upset pick of the week: Utah over Michigan

And our totally random college football pick of the week: Sacred Heart over Assumption College

Some other random thoughts on sports ...

Who is FOX going to put on prime-time TV in October when the New York Yankees fail to make the playoffs?

Was watching the Best Damn Sports Show Period (yes, it's still on the air) last night at one of our favorite local watering holes and Petros Papadakis was on talking college football. Seeing Papadakis (Photo, he's the dude on the left) makes me realize just how far Southern California football had come in just a very short period of time. Just a few years ago, Papadakis was a running back for the Trojans. Here he's looking more like LenDale White after a trip to the Ponderosa buffet than Reggie Bush.

Apparently, Brett Favre isn't on God's fantasy football team ...

This year's championship fantasy football team

"The darkest secret of fantasy sports? Nobody in the world cares about your team but you. Nobody!" -- FOXSports.com frequent contributing columnist Peter Schrager in "Fantasy football rules to live by this season."

Yes, nobody wants to hear about your fantasy team.

Please, no watercooler talk should revolve around how the Seahawks pulling Julius Jones for T.J. Duckett in a goal-line situation screwed you from winning your fantasy football game. All you'll get is an uncomfortable nod of the head and a polite listener attempting to change the subject to something else, like what Rachel Ray's got cooking in the kitchen today.

We don't care about those unwritten rules of owning a fantasy team (well, we do, but not so much in this here forum). This is "Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff" and we do whatever we feel like.

With that philosophy in mind, we present the team that will win the NFL.com fantasy league this season ...

Pos Round Player
QB 6 (#64) Favre, Brett (QB NYJ)
RB 1 (#9) Portis, Clinton (RB WAS)
RB 3 (#33) Turner, Michael (RB ATL)
WR 2 (#16) Colston, Marques (WR NO)
WR 4 (#40) Johnson, Calvin (WR DET)
WR 5 (#57) Cotchery, Jerricho (WR NYJ)
TE 10 (#112) Daniels, Owen (TE HOU)
K 15 (#177) Longwell, Ryan (K MIN)
DST 11 (#129) Seahawks (DST SEA)
RS 9 (#105) Rodgers, Aaron (QB GB)
RS 8 (#88) Williams, Ricky (RB MIA)
RS 7 (#81) Driver, Donald (WR GB)
RS 13 (#153) Walter, Kevin (WR HOU)
RS 12 (#136) Keller, Dustin (TE NYJ)
RS 14 (#160) Packers (DST GB)

Yes, we have Brett Favre AND Aaron Rodgers!

Inside the Favre-McCarthy talk the other night

Just in case you were curious, here's how the conversation between Brett Favre and Packers coach Mike McCarthy went down the other night ...

McCarthy: What are you doing here?

Favre: I came to play football, but not for your team.

McCarthy: Dude, seriously, you're old, and that final pass you threw in the NFC title game ... despicable!

Favre: It was cold, and dark, and scary, and it was hard to see which player was playing for what team.

McCarthy: Dude, seriously, you have to leave.

Favre: But I have that itch coach, but you can't scratch it.

McCarthy: Leave, please.

(Five hours pass ...)

McCarthy: How many times do I have to tell you to leave?

Favre: At least one more time, coach.

McCarthy: Leave, or I swear we'll trade you to the worst team imagineable, the New York Jets.

Favre: I dare you!

Is Packer coming a backer?

"I'm pretty boring really." -- Brett Favre.

Big news in the world of football today ...

Brett Favre is back!

Back reportedly apparently possibly contemplating a heroic return to the gridiron.

"Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff" got to the bottom of this big sports news story, speed-dialing Favre on the old text message machine*.

Here's what transpired:

Greatest Pro Bowls ever: R U? Or R U not?

Brett: Not...LOL! ;-)

* This text message conversation did not acually happen, though it could have if "Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff" actually had Favre's cell number.

Check back for further updates on this Favre situation.

Until then, let's pass some time by presenting a top 10 list of highlight videos to remember ol' No. 4 by ...

10. Favre does some wild improv in playoff game

9. Favre watches 'Super Bowl Memories with Steve Sabol' before Super Bowl XXXI

8. Favre says 'put it in the old vice!'

7. Favre's first Super Bowl TD pass

6. Favre's last postseason victory

5. Favre beats Broncos in OT on MNF

4. Favre's first comeback, way back in 1992

3. Favre's emotional MNF victory

2. Favre sets new career TD record

1. Favre leads Packers to Super Bowl XXXI win