Posted by Will Brinson & Ryan Wilson

National Choker's Day is over, and it's time to break down a hefty slate of Week 4 NFL action. Joining us as always for the "the Detroit Lions are still somehow undefeated" talk is Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.

Before MDS hops on, though, we break down whether or not Madonna is a good choice for the Super Bowl halftime show, wonder if the Steelers offensive line can keep Ben Roethlisberger healthy through the season, debate whether Tony Romo's a choker or not, question if the Eagles can make the playoffs and Matt Hasselbeck's rejuvenation.

We also break down which teams with winning records are contenders and which are pretenders.

Hit the play button below to listen (and did we mention that you should subscribe to the podcast via iTunes?). If you can't listen to the podcast below, download it here. And if you'd like to keep working while listening in your browser, pop that puppy out in a new tab here.


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Posted by Will Brinson


Sunday was no fun for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger -- the Texans smothered him all day long, sacking Roethlisberger five times en route to a 17-10 win at Reliant Stadium.

And to top it all off, Roethlisberger suffered a sprained ankle and was seen leaving the locker room in a walking boot.

Presumably, the injury was suffered when Roethlisberger took a late, low hit from rookie J.J. Watt -- the penalty gave Pittsburgh one last shot to win the game, as Roethlisberger was intercepted on the play and Johnathan Joseph returned it for a score.

The injury to Roethlisberger is concerning for the Steelers, and not just because he's a pretty important piece of the cog. It's also concerning because the Steelers offensive-line woes appear to be a bigger problem than they were a year ago, and if Roethlisberger becomes less mobile, his effectiveness is severely limited.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

You might recall that small, little-read magazine article this past offseason in which Steelers linebacker James Harrison made a few disparaging remarks about Roger Goodell (he called him a “crook “and a “devil” and said he “wouldn’t piss to put him out” if Goodell happened to find himself on fire) and ripped his teammates Ben Roethlisberger and Rashard Mendenhall for their Super Bowl performances.

I’m sure you remember that Men’s Journal story actually, but you might not recall that Harrison also ripped Texans linebacker Brian Cushing, saying he was “juiced out of his mind.” In response, Cushing said he would pray for Harrison.

Now that the Steelers are playing the Texans on Sunday, you probably expect Harrison to try to smooth things over with Cushing, the same way he did with his teammates and with Goodell. Obviously, you don’t know Harrison very well.

Harrison said he will not, in fact, apologize to Cushing for his comments in the magazine article.

“I don’t need to,” Harrison said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. “It’s not on my mind.”

To be fair, Cushing was suspended four games in 2010 for a positive steroid test, so Harrison wasn’t necessarily incorrect with his assessment. But maybe he should acknowledge that he was a bit incendiary with his comments. Even if he doesn’t want to apologize for them.

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Vick may not have a gripe with the refs, but Flacco and Roethlisberger do. (US PRESSWIRE/Getty Images)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

Mike Pereira, the former NFL VP of Officiating and current FOXSports.com analyst, didn't take kindly to Michael Vick's comments earlier this week suggesting that officials were quick to protect some quarterbacks more than others.

Of course, Vick, the Eagles QB, made these observations shortly after getting roughed up by the Giants. A day later, he admitted that "I was kind of out of character and being too candid in that aspect. Ultimately, I have respect for the referees and their decision to make calls. You won't hear me complaining about it no more."

During a radio appearance Monday, Pereira called Vick's initial remarks "ridiculous," adding that "[I]t took me back to my job in New York when I worked for the league, and it was a constant complaint by the Eagles, whether it was McNabb at quarterback or whether it was Vick. They clearly complained more than any other team.”

Well, three days later and Pereira's still smarting -- he devoted an entire column to disproving that officials play favorites.

Regarding the myth that "The NFL protects its big-name quarterbacks," Pereira writes: 

"Well, I guess you are right — if you feel that the top three QBs in the league are Jason Campbell, Jay Cutler and Colt McCoy. Statistics from the 2010 season, combined with the first three weeks of the 2011 season, show that the Raiders’ Campbell ranked No. 1 in drawing roughing the passer penalties, getting 1.46 for every 100 passes. The Bears’ Cutler drew 1.28 and Cleveland's McCoy 1.20. Oh, and by the way, next in line was the Panthers’ Jimmy Clausen at 1.0."

Patriots vs. Raiders, Panthers vs. Bears, Steelers vs. Texans, plus three more of the must-see games for Week Four. Get predictions from the expert hosts of Inside the NFL.

We don't recall Vick specifically stating that big-name quarterbacks got special treatment, but regarding the list above, the reason Campbell, Cutler and McCoy led the league in drawing rougher-the-passer penalties last season is because they got hit more than most other quarterbacks. Campbell and Cutler are known to hold the ball a long time and McCoy was a rookie trying to decipher NFL defenses on the fly. Oh, and the Raiders, Bears and Browns were among the league's worst pass-blocking teams. According to FootballOutsiders.com, Oakland ranked 26th in adjusted sack rate (defined as "sacks per pass attempt adjusted for down, distance, and opponent"), Chicago was 32nd and Cleveland was 23rd. That's an important distinction Pereira somehow overlooked.

Pereira continues: "What about Tom Brady and Peyton Manning? Let me look down the list, although it might take me a while since they both are way down there. Brady does get more protection than Manning, that’s for sure. Brady has drawn 0.16 roughing the passer calls per 100 attempts compared to 0.15 for Manning. That, for Brady, is one call in every 625 pass attempts, while for Manning it is one call for every 679 attempts."

Pereira's right: Brady and Manning rarely benefit from roughing the passer penalties. There's a simple explanation, too: they're the beneficiaries of good offensive lines and they, along with Drew Brees, get rid of the ball quicker than anybody else in the league. Adjusted sack rate bears this out: In 2010, the Colts were first, the Patriots were sixth. Again, this is probably worth mentioning.

But what about the quarterbacks who play behind atrocious o-lines but also rarely get roughing-the-passer calls? Those are the guys who might have legitimate beefs with the officials, right? 

Joe Flacco
2010 Ravens adjusted sack rate: 25th
Roughing-the-passer-calls per 100 pass attempts: 0.00

David Garrard
2010 Jaguars adjusted sack rate: 24th
Roughing-the-passer-calls per 100 pass attempts: 0.00

Ben Roethlisberger
2010 Steelers adjusted sack rate: 29th
Roughing-the-passer-calls per 100 pass attempts: 0.20

Alex Smith
2010 49ers adjusted sack rate: 30th
Roughing-the-passer-calls per 100 pass attempts: 0.48

While Vick, on average, might get the calls other quarterbacks get, Flacco, Roethlisberger and Smith would be right to wonder why they don't.

Finally, something the Ravens and Steelers can agree on.

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Second-year WR Antonio Brown is now $7,500 lighter in the wallet. (US PRESSWIRE)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

This is, well, interesting. The NFL has fined Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown $7,500 for a low block. Not a horse-collar tackle, or an illegal chop block or unsportsmanlike conduct, but going low to block an opponent.

The act in question happened just before halftime of Sunday night's Steelers-Colts game. Indianapolis safety Joe Lefeged intercepted Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger near midfield, and during the return, Brown went low to take out a Colts defender, which is illegal (low blocks are prohibited during a change of possession). We just didn't know that the league was now fining people for it.

You can see it below, near the end of Lefeged's runback.


Brown told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he was trying to protect himself. "I just took him out before he got me," he said.

Whatever he was doing, he's now out $7,500. The Steelers' 2010 sixth-round pick is making $405,000 this year, so the league has his attention. "That's a lot of money," Brown said. "I can't be giving that away."

In related news, the NFL still appears to be arbitrarily meting out punishments, which only makes it more difficult for players to know what they should be doing.

By the way, if we're Brown, we're making fellow second-year wideout Emmanuel Sanders pay half the fine. If Sanders had touched Lefeged down while he was on the turf just after the interception (instead of going out of his way to avoid Lefeged), there wouldn't have been a runback.

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Posted by Will Brinson


Sorting the Sunday Pile takes all of Sunday's NFL action and figures out the most important storylines for you to digest. Send your complaints, questions and comments to Will Brinson on Twitter. Podcast is coming tomorrow -- this week's edition of SSP is brought to you in tardy fashion by the Ford Fusion that hauled your writer home at 3:00 a.m. ET Sunday.

Group exercises are, for the most part, ridiculous. I trust you! You trust me! How groundbreaking.  

But play along for 30 seconds and repeat after me: "the Bills and Lions are undefeated."

Haha, but no seriously. This is happening. The idea that bad NFL teams become good and the idea that good NFL teams become bad isn't shocking. It shouldn't be. It won't ever be absolutely mind-blowing, because this is what happens in today's NFL -- some teams get good, some teams get bad and some teams just happen to become the first team in NFL history to mount consecutive comebacks of 18 or more points.

Parity is what drives this league. No one doubts that, no one thinks that's weird, and no one should. There'll be some regression to the mean, and it'll probably happen to the really good teams who are only really good through a few weeks. When it does, please don't act like it's any weirder than what went down in a b-a-n-a-n-a-s Week 3 of NFL action.

1. Young guns
Two of the top three passers from Sunday's action -- Joe Flacco and Matthew Stafford -- are excellent examples of the young crop of quarterbacks that are blossoming early in 2011.

Questions surrounded both Flacco (Can he beat the Steelers?) and Stafford (Can he stay healthy?) and, three weeks into the year, they're answering their critics. Flacco struggled against the Titans in Week 2, but the Ravens did a fantastic job of bouncing back from a subpar Week 2 to point out to everyone that they're elite.

I watched the games Sunday with my NBA counterpart, Matt Moore (yes, the link's ironic, thanks, I know), and at halftime of the Vikings early beatdown of Detroit, he pointed out that the Lions bandwagon was derailing.

He was correct at the time, but the Lions stormed back on the strength of Stafford's arm, winning in overtime to move to a surprising 3-0.

If Stafford stays healthy and Flacco keeps developing like he has thus far this year, we're going to be re-ordering the list of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and both these guys will be joining the upper echelon sooner, rather than later.

Look, the list of truly "elite" quarterbacks will continue to feature the names you know: Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning.

Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger are also there, but we're seeing a new "generation" of quarterbacks starting to come into their own, as guys like Flacco, Stafford and other recently-drafted quarterbacks really start to generate some press.

And it's happening in a year when passing attacks are at an all-time high, which is only going to make the game better.

2. What do you know about pressure, Tom?
There's an ample number of awesome young quarterbacks in the NFL right now, but two very familiar names -- Brady and Brees -- are tops in the league when it comes to passing. Brady in particular is lobbing up some pretty ridiculous numbers right now; he leads the league in passing yards with 1,327, the most by a quarterback through three weeks in NFL history.

Only 22 people in the history of football have thrown for more than 4,500 yards in a single NFL season. 14 of those have happened in the past 10 years. (As we've noted, it's a passing league.)

So can Brady break Marino's record? Well, yes, he most certainly can. Remember that Marino, during his record-setting season, didn't surpass 400 passing yards in a single game until Week 5.

He's on pace for a stupid 7,077 yards for the season, although we have to assume he'll regress off that pace a little bit.

Just for fun, though, let's imagine Brady completes his schedule by passing for the exact same number of yards that his remaining opponents have allowed per game through three weeks. (Yes, there are several problems with this calculation, but just play along.)

Based on the remaining 13 games and the teams' respective yards per game allowed via the pass, Brady would pile up another 3,072 yards, which would give him a total of 4,399 yards for the season.

Conversely, Brady "only" needs to average another 289 yards per game to match Marino's record from 1984. That's not easy, per se, but it's certainly possible. And given how badly New England's own pass defense has been this season -- they're dead last in yards allowed -- it may be required too.

3. Hit the Snooze Button
Look, this is a world where Eli Manning is criminally undervalued -- the man referred to himself as "elite," tried to prop up his game, and everyone wanted to trot him out to the guillotine. No big deal though, you guys, because Eli doesn't need to show up and throw beautiful passes to Brandon Jacobs for 40-yard touchdowns. (Pardon the interruption, but FTC rules require that I write "OH GOD" in big letters again at this juncture so you'll be aware that the Apocalypse is coming soon to a city near you, by the way.)

The Giants are, somehow, not terrible. And while I might be [metaphorically] drunk on Tom Coughlin's team having watched them play in a Giants bar, it's pretty damn hard not to be impressed with what they've done this year. Last week's win over St. Louis was the single-worst blowout victory I've ever witnessed and, no, that is not a compliment.

This Sunday was an entirely different ballgame. Despite the face that actually fielding a defensive roster should be an impossibility, the Giants showed up to Philadelphia, generated a ton of pressure on Michael Vick, and barnstormed their hated division rival en route to a win that gives the NFC East more of a jostle than a trip to Sterling Archer's tumbler.

Let's move past the Giants, though, because they're the same thing that we knew they were, we just undervalued the properties they own. The Eagles are in much worse trouble than New York, simply because everyone assumed that if you have a really talented but sometimes injured quarterback and combine him with a marquee-worthy defense that secretly sucks up the middle, you don't have to worry about the rest of your problems.

Then the season happened, and the Eagles, as it turns out, have a terrible offensive line and a pretty bad combination of linebackers and safeties. Vince Young's belief that this is the "Dream Team" was fun to mock in the offseason, but it's downright comical at this stage.

Vick and Nnamdi Asomugha drew the headlines in the offseason, and DeSean Jackson plus LeSean McCoy make any team a viable threat to win any week just based on offensive explosiveness. But just like the Miami Heat, the Philadelphia Eagles offseason signings might have masked some serious positional-skill issues that will only become more exacerbated when depth starts creeping in.



4. A Hue-gh Win
The only way that the weird scene of a rookie Raiders coach dominating a third-year, Super Bowl-guaranteeing guy is if, well, the Raiders won. And they did. And people predicted it -- this actually happened. The absolutely weirdest thing is that it somehow managed to go Hue Jackson's way, as opposed to Rex Ryan's.

With a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, Mark Sanchez threw a touchdown pass and in classic New York-style, Derek Jeter-fashion and the Jets shortened the lead to seven points. It had all the stink of a Ryan win, which is, frankly, a compliment. You can't lose well in the NFL -- just ask Cam Newton! -- and people will question your every move. But if you win and you're not that good at it, it's OK.

Jackson's got Oakland doing some fun, funky things on offense right now, as if Darren McFadden's pump-faking a throw nine yards in front of the line of scrimmage while running an option end-around of sorts doesn't make that obvious.

He's an aggressive attacker, and can do creative things with all the speed that the Raiders have drafted in recent years, but Jackson also knows that using Oakland's physicality and letting McFadden do what McFadden does best -- pile up yardage by the ton -- is how Oakland can remain a viable playoff contender all season long.

5. Ponder This
Are the Vikings that bad or are the Lions that good? The answer is likely the second one, but the Vikings aren't that bad, and it's not fair to say that just because they choked away a trio of halftime leads.

Here's the thing that people will miss -- the Vikings are a not good team in the middle of a rebuilding project they don't know about.

There are problems with the Vikings. Adrian Peterson is an epic talent somehow surrounded by an aging cast parading as a group of guys that are, in the NFL environment, "making a last run." The truth of the matter is that Peterson is the definition of sublime when it comes to running backs, and the rest of the Vikings just aren't that good.

On the bright side, at least they didn't do the double disservice of trading up for a quarterback AND trading further picks for a veteran who is, despite his reputation, quite clearly a one-year rental.

Which is where things get problematic -- I asked Rich Gannon last week if he thought the success of Newton and Dalton cranked up the pressure on teams like the Vikings, who drafted Christian Ponder this past year, to play their rookie.

"I don't think so," Gannon said. "I don't think the plan in Minnesota will change unless they continue to lose and all of a sudden that whole process will be expedited. I think there's more pressure now, certainly moreso now than there was 10 years ago to develop that position and have a guy play right away and be successful. Days of what they did even with Aaron Rodgers, I don't know if we're going to see as much as that. I think they're paying these guys so much money that it's like, let's get these guys on the field.

"The problem is they're not always ready to play."

And that might be the case with Ponder in Minnesota, especially if he looks as overwhelmed as he did during the preseason. On the other hand, if Ponder steps in and looks even remotely good after/if this season's lost for Minnesota, it'll do wonders for the scrutiny on Leslie Frazier.

6. What about the Packers?
Detroit won, so we shouldn't discount them for the sake of chatting about the Vikings. But the real NFC North story is the Packers, who dominated the Bears on Sunday, winning by double digits against their biggest rival for the first time in three years.

Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes, all to Jermichael Finley, and this is precisely why everyone should be very scared of Green Bay again in 2011.

Finley is an absolute terror who is nearly impossible to defend near the goal line and, really, anywhere else on the field. The Packers won the Super Bowl without him, of course, and if he's healthy this year, Green Bay's offense is only going to be more difficult to defend than it was in 2010.

What's interesting is how Rodgers and Mike McCarthy have done a fantastic job of making sure that Greg Jennings and the other wide receivers stay incorporated, though Finley's obviously a much bigger part of the passing game than he was last year.

Jenning really struggled early on in 2010 and only blew up after Finley went down (and after he'd made mention he wasn't thrilled with how many targets he was getting). The transition to the 2011 version of the offense featuring Finley's been much more seamless, and that's reason to fear the Packers again this season.

They're the defending Super Bowl champion and arguably the best team in the NFL right now, and yet, why aren't we talking about them much?

7. Not running away from anyone now
There's very little sympathy for Kenny Britt around the NFL. Dude racked up more tickets this summer than "my friend" at college piled up.

Aside from that clown's reputation, it's important to note that when stupid people do stupid things a stupid amount of time, we take notice. Britt drew tons of attention this summer for his off-field antics, and he should have. Somehow he skated out of a suspension, but karma appears to rolled his way, as he'll likely miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL and MCL.

Britt shredded his knee on a screen pass, fumbled the ball, and carted off the field in a Week 3 win against the Broncos.

The worst part about this saga is that Britt somehow had the "Dwayne Bowe circa 2010" look about him, making plays, looking like a top NFL wide receiver, and generally wrecking the same havoc on the NFL that he wrecked on the legal system this summer.

Without him, the Titans offensive gameplan is an entirely different ballgame, especially considering that the corpse of Chris Johnson can't do a whole lot without providing more than three yards a carry. Look, Matt Hasslebeck deserves tons of praise for doing what he's done with what he's had to do while, um, doing what he do.

That being said, this is a Titans team that's begging to lose it's offensive identity in 2011. The biggest curiosity they face isn't so much "how the hell are the 2-1?" so much as it's "how they hell are they scoring points at a pace to make them less terrible than the Chiefs?"

Between the two questions, one is substantially better, and one question -- hint: it's about Kansas City -- is one you don't want everyone asking about your team. Yet Tennessee continues to survive. Maybe that's the way Mike Munchak's regime will win, and that's fine.

But expecting an exact repeat of Jeff Fisher's reign just because Munchak worked for Fisher but didn't necessarily retain all the offensive firepower seems like a stretch.

8. The Camwagon
As you probably know by now, when the word "Cam" gets dropped, it's time for some bragging. Well kudos first go to me for predicting that Cam Newton wouldn't have the monster game everyone expected when he beat -- yes, Cam won! -- the Jaguars on Sunday.

Before you strain your elbow giving some much-deserved pats, though, you should know that I have a weather app on my iPhone.

Speaking of weather, if someone tells you that Newton won a game, make sure you point out that he did it in the most terrible fashion ever. The Panthers might have come out victorious, sure, but did he throw for 400 yards? And was there a double rainbow? No sir there was not.

Ergo, the only answer is that Cam is absolutely terrible at controlling the weather and therefore not a winner. This is actually a thing that someone at your office will probably try and say.

Here's the truth though: Newton was really bad on Sunday, horribly inaccurate with his passes and very much looking like a rookie. The Panthers won 16-10, but they should have won 60-10, even with the weather. Blaine Gabbert, in his first career start, gifted Carolina a safety in his first career drive, and the Panthers somehow never managed to capitalize the opportunity.

Then all of a sudden there was a monsoon in Charlotte, the exhibition matchup became a legitimate great game and Newton was in danger of "not being able to step up." Or something. Everyone will find an excuse. Know this, though -- the Jaguars are a sneakily decent-sounding 1-2 and they're a terrible team. This is despite the career-high 185 yards (through the first two weeks anyway) that Maurice Jones-Drew has compiled.

Another nice day from MJD and a start from Gabbert masked what should have been one really team blowing out another much worse team. Jack Del Rio, this last sentence is for you, sir.

9. Just Wing It
Enjoy saying this now, because there's a strong chance you'll never say it again: "The Bills nearly left too much time on the clock when they scored." Fred Jackson streaked for the end zone to put Buffalo up a touchdown (Again! Against the Patriots!) and give Tom Brady a shot at what Tom Brady does.
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Instead, instant replay ruled Jackson down, the Bills got the ball just shy of the Patriots end zone, and were able to melt the clock down before kicking a game-winning field goal. The really wonked out thing here is that the scoring replay change was perfect for Buffalo.

We've watched enough football to know what happens if you hand this Brady character the pigskin with two minutes remaining and down a few points, right? Watching Brady eviscerate a pass defense en route to a comeback win is still exciting and thrilling and something everyone should do before they die, but it's borderline cliche.

Instead, the Bills flipped the narrative on us, won the damn game and are the leaders at the two-thirds of one-quarter mile-marker for the 2011 NFL season in an AFC East division that didn't have a single bit of prediction promiscuity at the top.

Yes it is early and yes we've seen the Bills storm out of the gates hot before, but there's something afloat in Buffalo's water these days and it's not Spalding's Baby Ruth bar.

10. Houston, We Have … No I'm Sorry I Can't Make That Joke
While we're taking a magical ride on the jump to conclusions mat, let's go ahead and assume that the Texans are terrible at defense and that they are much closer to the 2010 abomination we know, understand, love and play fantasy people against than they are the 2011 would-be division winners.

Except that's silly.

It's not silly to point out that there are a lot of teams who cannot "stop the pass" -- quotations are necessary here because in case you're not reading this regularly, the NFL woke up and decided to chunk the ball down the field with collective regularity.

Arian Foster missing is not the problem, of course. It's still defense for Houston, who appeared on the verge of justifying the Wade Phillips 3-4 hype before coughing up 40 points to New Orleans. But before we freak out and judge this team let's again remember that it's Week 3, again remember that this is Drew Brees commanding a very efficient and very dangerous offense, and let's, most importantly, remind ourselves that it's a baby-stepping process.

Houston wasn't becoming an elite defense overnight, and much less so in a lockout-shortened season. Losing to the Saints is tough, but they're still taking this division, and once they're playing against rookie quarterbacks, it will probably be on the strength of their offseason signings on defense.

While we're here, and because it's too important for muffed punts, Darren Sproles is the most important offensive signing of 2011's free agency. Yeah, I'm doing the knee-jerk thing, but this guy is making a difference in the Reggie Bush role for Sean Payton's offense.

The awkward thing is that he's just flat-out better than Bush at every facet of the game. That's not to rip Reggie, who probably needed to move on anyway, but it's an important reminder that sometimes it's not signings with the big, bold lights that really make the difference once people start playing football.

Pop-culture referencing Jim Irsay tweet that's sure to drive Colts fans insane of the week
"After 9 days,I let the horse run free..cause the desert had turned 2 sea"

Irsay's referencing "Horse With No Name" by the band America. Except he decided to do so a day after refuting his own statement that Peyton Manning wasn't playing this season.

Muffed Punts
Leftovers from Sunday's action ...
- A Fox Sports bar in the Charlotte airport made the decision Sunday night to shut off their televisions because a bunch of airport patrons were crowded around the outskirts of the restaurant, watching the Colts-Steelers game. It was the most obstinate, pig-headed display of customer service I've ever seen.
- If you go to New York City and need a good spot to watch some football, the Cornerstone Tavern in Manhattan is pretty freaking fantastic. Good food, nice beer selection and tons of televisions. Also, it's like the unofficial place for Florida Gators to go, so there's that.
- Alex Henery has been a bright spot for the Eagles, by the way. Kid comes in as a rookie, replacing a legend like David Akers, and is producing on some crucial kicks.

Worth 1,000 Words


Hot Seat Tracker
So here's something fun -- Sportsbook.com has odds for the first NFL coach to be fired. We'll include them in parentheticals.

• Tony Sparano (-120): Sparano's 0-3, the Dolphins can't seem to score and Chad Henne isn't progressing as we thought he might after the first week. Losses at the Chargers and the Jets over the next three weeks make him the favorite to get canned first.
• Todd Haley (+180): A decent effort against the Chargers on Sunday at least should give Haley a bit of comfort that he can hold onto his job. Plus injuries are a nice excuse.
• Jack Del Rio (+350): Speaking of nice excuses, the weather in Charlotte on Sunday really helped out Del Rio, because it gave the Jaguars a chance to win against the Panthers. Jacksonville recovered five (!) fumbles and still couldn't pull out a win.
• Leslie Frazier (+400): Yeah, I was as surprised as you to see him here and I'm only including him because Sportsbook did. Oh, right, and because the Vikings have been outscored like 6,456 to six in the second half so far this season.
• Jim Caldwell (+1000): It's hard to imagine the Colts canning Caldwell if he continues to keep games close, having lost Peyton Manning. There's  no reason for a midseason firing unless there's a particularly viable candidate out there.
• Random note: It's just crazy that Tom Coughlin was in this spot less than seven days ago. Oh NFL, you're so nuts.

Chasing Andrew Luck (All odds mine)
Dolphins (1/2): They're almost assuredly going to be 0-5 through six weeks. That should be good for morale.
Chiefs (3/1): Somehow they've already played the easy portion of their schedule!
Colts (2/5): What to watch here is whether or not Indy thinks Peyton Manning can play more than two or three years.

MVP Watch
I'm sticking with my boy Matthew Stafford for now -- hard to argue with him considering the Lions are undefeated, he's second in the league in passing touchdowns (nine), fifth in passing yards and has only thrown two picks. Obviously Tom Brady's a good choice but if the season ended today, he'd get the Offensive Player of the Year award and Stafford would get my nod for MVP. Aaron Rodgers is certainly in the conversation as well.

Posted by Will Brinson

We mentioned earlier Thursday that Raheem Brock was one of several defenders fined for a violation of "The Carson Palmer Rule" (hitting a quarterback below the knee; Tom Brady actually deferred the nickname).

Brock wasn't thrilled with his fine and tweeted on Thursday that he plans to appeal, primarily because he believes he was tripped into Ben Roethlisberger's leg on the play.

As you can see to the right (and yes, I'm aware it's not the zoom-iest of screenshots -- watch Brock fall into Ben's knee right here), Brock may have a case.

But the best part of this appeal? Brock might be emailing Commissioner Roger Goodell a link to an SB Nation article in which Brian Floyd of the local Seattle SBN site, breaks down exactly how Brock was tripped.

"Here's a snapshot of me getting tripped into the QB by the oline----> [Link] about to send this in to appeal this 15k fine!" Brock tweeted on Thursday.

The post is, for all intents and purposes, just the video of the play plus the picture you see to the right. But that's all Floyd needed in order to make the point here, because Brock wasn't intentionally going after Roethlisberger's knee.

When you see the replay of the hit, you can tell that Brock didn't maliciously go after Ben and that the back judge also didn't really have a great view when he threw the flag.

But the guys at the NFL office obviously had enough time to look at the play, and they decided to fine Brock anyway. So it'll be interesting to see whether or not they consider his appeal seriously.

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Posted by Will Brinson

On Sunday, both Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger took some terrifying hits to the knee -- Roethlisberger's was more serious, but Brady's was reminiscent of the Bernard Pollard hit in 2008 that ended Brady's season.

The gentlemen responsible for those hits -- Antonio Garay and Raheem Brock, respectively -- were fined $15,000 each by the NFL on Thursday. Adam Schefter of ESPN first reported the fines.

"I'm glad I had a knee brace on," Brady said earlier this week on the Dennis and Callahan show on WEEI, via the Boston Herald. "That’s scary when you’ve been through those before. It got me in a good spot, and I’m glad the knee brace took the brunt of the force. Why I never wore a knee brace before, I have no idea. Why every quarterback doesn’t wear one on their left knee, I have no idea, to be able to withstand those."

Brady called the knee injury "The Carson Palmer Rule" -- he pointed out that he has his own rule, which involves tucking and should never be mentioned while touring around the city of Oakland -- as Palmer was knocked out for the year by the Steelers with a knee injury in the playoffs way back in 2005.

It was Pittsburgh's Roethlisberger, though, who appeared to suffer a similar fate Sunday. Ben was hit from behind by Brock and lay on the ground in pain, eventually returning to the game before limping to the locker room at halftime.

Apparently Roethlisberger is fine, and will require no knee brace this Sunday.

Derrick Morgan got nailed with a $7,500 fine for a late hit on Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco Sunday -- Morgan was flagged for unnecessary roughness at the time, after Flacco fumbled the ball, recovered it on the ground and was touched by a different Titans player just before Morgan hit Flacco.

The defensive end plans to appeal the fine and said that a Ravens offensive lineman even told him the penalty was a bit much. Don't expect anything similar for Brock or Garay, who put the season of two of the NFL's most-popular quarterbacks in jeopardy.

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