NBA has a problem

Dear David Stern,

You have a problem, a very big problem.

The stars in the NBA are now controlling the future of the NBA, not the owners or GM's. The Stars are telling teams not only that they want to go somewhere else, but they are also telling their owners where they want to be traded. And if you are a small market team, such as Denver, you almost have to comply with your star, because otherwise he will leave the team and leave you with nothing, like Cleveland.

Denver did what they had to do, they traded Carmelo to the Knicks because they knew they would lose him and they may as well get something rather than nothing.

The Jazz did the same thing today. They traded their franchise guy, Deron Williams, to the Nets for a few draft picks and two players. The Jazz knew he was going to leave after next season and GM Kevin O'Connor didn't want to go through an entire season of trade rumors, so he got rid of his star player only because he knew that Deron was going to leave.

So Mr. Commissioner, you have a problem. Your small market teams are dying. This needs to be fixed. It used to be that if your team sucked for a few years that you could turn it around with high draft picks and good management. That is how football works too. But now the stars control the league, so the small market teams that draft these guys get them for maybe 3 or 4 seasons before they want out and want to go to a big market team.

David Stern can fix this. The NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement, or CBA, expires at the end of the season. The NBA can make some changes to ensure that the small market teams can survive, because at this rate it'll only be a matter of years before we see an NBA franchise have to relocate or maybe even close out all together. Owners don't want to spend money into a team that is only going to see a player stay for a few seasons.

Stern can simply look at the NFL. Small market teams, like the Packers, Saints and Colts, have had some staying power with their stars. Stern can add a franchise tag to the NBA, so teams can keep their players.

I don't have many answers for the NBA's problems, but we need to be clear on one thing, the NBA has a big problem. It may sound cool to have a few 'super teams' with lots of all stars, but in reality it is just killing the small guys and in the long run will do more harm than good to the NBA

Thank you, Jerry

Thursday gave me the biggest sports surprise I have ever heard, something I thought I would never, ever see.

Keeping in mind that I am a die hard Saints fan, and up until last season, they had been better known as the Aints, and their surprise run to winning the Superbowl in 2009-2010 doesn't even come close to this.

Jerry Sloan resigned as head coach of the Utah Jazz.

He didn't retire at the end of a season, he wasn't fired. He resigned.

I never thought I would see Jerry Sloan resign. I knew that one day he would retire, I knew that the Miller family would never fire Sloan and I never, ever would think that Sloan would resign, or in other words quit.

So something is missing. This doesn't add up to me. It doesn't feel right.

I watched some video clips of the press conference and I saw a beaten and defeated Sloan. Sure, he may be 68 years old and he has been the head coach for the Jazz since the 1988-1989 season, that's a long time to be in one place.  But Jerry is not a quitter. Jerry is a warrior, he is 'old school', he doesn't put up with crap, he speaks his mind but he is humble at the same time. And most importantly, he is an amazing coach.

Rumors are flaring everywhere that Sloan resigned because of growing contentions with all star PG Deron Williams. Rumors are out there that Deron basically said its either him or me. I really hope this isn't true, because if it is then the Jazz are screwed. If, and I'd like to think it's a big if, If Deron forced out Sloan then all it means is he will be leaving the Jazz when his contract expires at the end of the 2011-2012 season, AKA next season.

There is a lot talk going on about how Deron and Sloan got in a really, really big argument during the game against the Bulls. It appeared to be about how a play was ran. Looks like things got bad at half time and Sloan wanted to either suspend or discipline Deron in some way. Deron didn't like that too much.

To make things even more interesting, Sloan didn't address the media right after the loss like he normally does. Instead he and Kevin O'Conner talked for about 30 minutes before talking to the media. My guess is that that is when Sloan found out that the Jazz had decided to talk a side with Deron and not Sloan.

Jerry Sloan is too good of a guy, too loyal, of a guy to say that the Jazz threw him out. He didn't want to throw his team under the bus, he didn't want to tarnish Deron's reputation and make him seem like a kinda bad guy.

So just because Sloan says he is retiring for personal reasons does not mean that those reasons are Deron Williams and the Jazz telling him his time is up. My guy is just telling me that Sloan was forced out, I just don't see him quitting especially when earlier this week he signed a one year contract extension. It doesn't add up the way the Jazz are saying it.

The only way it adds up is that Sloan was forced out of Utah.

Before all of this I thought Deron was a level headed guy, he didn't speak out much, he didn't want to be in all the commercials and everything that most NBA stars want. Usually if you get a guy like that it means he is loyal and wants to win, he doesn't care about off the court fame, only on the court fame. That is one reason why I have come to respect Deron Williams so much as a PG, he seemed like a perfect leader.

But if he forced out Sloan, or played a big factor in forcing him out, then he is just like every other NBA diva out there, only wanting a big pay check and knowing he can get what he wants.

Deron knows that the Utah Jazz organization has placed their entire future into his hands. Literally the entire future of the Utah Jazz are in his hands. And he can walk away next season and go anywhere else he wants.

Deron isn't stupid. He knows the leverage that he has. He knows what he can get the organization to do. And if he used that leverage to get Sloan out as head coach, then the Jazz have made a big mistake.

If this is all true, and please believe me when I say I really hope that it is not, then Deron has no loyalty and is just trying to get what he wants. And when the end of next season comes and he can walk out of Utah he will see how much other teams want him. Most teams will make a pitch to him, they'd be stupid not too unless they already had a franchise PG. Deron is one of the top 3 PG's in the league, my opinion he is number one, and the most important position on the court is PG. Deron will have plenty of suitors, so he can choose to go anywhere he wants.

Deron wants as much as he can it seems. For some reason that is what I am feeling. And if its true then the Jazz will be a team that will not matter after 2011-2012. Lets hope I am wrong.

How will we remember Jerry Sloan? Is it his 1,221 victories, 3rd all time? Or how about he is the only coach to win 1,000 games with one team? How about 15 straight playoff appearances? Or the fact he was coach for 23 seasons in one place, longest tenured coach in North American pro sports?

There is a lot to think about. What will I remember about Sloan? His no nonsense approach to the game. I like that, he doesn't want to give special treatment to players. I love that, he knows that this is a team game and it takes a team to win.

I also love his humility, he never talks himself up. He blames himself when the team loses and praises the players when they win. He doesn't like the spot light. You could tell that during his Hall of Fame induction speech that he was nervous as hell and that he didn't want the attention, even though he was honored and grateful to be inducted.

He never whined or moaned about never winning coach of the year, even though he deserved it on many occasions.

I'll miss seeing him on TV arguing with refs, seeing him yell the F bomb. I'll miss the John Deere hats that he wore to interviews.

I'll miss how good he it at coaching.

I've been a Utah Jazz fan since I knew what basketball was. I was lucky enough to grow up loving Stockton, Malone, Sloan. Good, hard, physical, basketball. No special treatments given out. Its how basketball should be done.

Thank you Jerry.

Conference Championship Disappointments

Sunday morning arrives, there is no football next week worth watching and only one game after that. Its conference championship weekend, some of the best football should be played.

Lets rewind to last season. The Jets and Colts played a close first half before Manning actually played well in a post season game. Even the end result wasn't a close game, the first half made things interesting, especially when you consider the Jets had a rookie coach and QB. The game was still a good one to watch though, both teams had good games.

Then there is the NFC championship game. Even though the Vikings had a myriad of turnovers and miscues, the game was still close and was still fun to watch. We saw Brett Favre go back into gunslinger mode and try to force a throw. Tracy Porter made what most people thought would end up being the biggest interception of his NFL career(Superbowl XLIV proved to be his biggest). The Vikings didn't need to throw in that situation. They were right on the verge of field goal range, if you recall the Vikings were right on field goal range but got flagged for having too many men on the field. The Vikings needed a few yards to have a realistic chance of making a game winning field goal. Favre made me, and every other Saints fan out there, very, very happy by making a poor decision to throw the ball.

Why do I bring up last years two conference championship games? Because they were good games to watch. Even if one of them finished with a score of 30-17, Colts-Jets, both games still had quality football and both games were fun to watch.

This years edition of championship weekend? Sloppy, bad play calling and just boring football to watch. Unless you are a fan of the Steelers or Packers you went to sleep Sunday night confused, disappointed and scratching your head, wondering why the two games today left you unfulfilled.

The Packers-Bears game was boring after the first drive. Green Bay's offense slowed down to a crawl, Aaron Rodgers looked confused, over matched and out of sync. The Bears looked bad on offense. Their QB, Jay Cutler, simply quit on the team with a knee 'injury' and the offense just looked bad. Cutler looked like he quit on his team. Someone should have come up to him ripped the Captain patch off his jersey. Or better yet, they should have just kicked him off the team. Its the biggest game of his career and he finds the quickest and easiest way to give up and take a pass on a game.

So the first game was a dud. Despite the fact that it was a 'close' game, it never really felt like the Bears had a chance in the game after halftime, and the Packers offense looked flat and out of rhythm. I had a feeling the Packers-Bears would be low scoring, and that's fine, low scoring games can be very exciting, however, when the game is just sloppy and full of missed chances, its almost painful to watch.

But I thought to myself, things will get better, the Jets-Steelers will be a good, tough, physical game. Both teams have strong running games, amazing defenses and QB's that can manage games pretty well. These teams played earlier in the season and it was a close 5 point game. However, I was sorely disappointed.

The Steelers had a very impressive opening drive, they ran the ball perfectly and ended up with a TD and taking 8 minutes off the clock. As the game progressed the Steelers went into 'lets see how many times we can run the ball in a row and still move the chains' mode and the game became very boring. I'm not saying there has to be tons of big passing plays to make a game fun to watch, but when its nothing but run, run, run and bad tackle, bad tackle, bad tackle it makes it boring. So after the Steelers go up 24-0 I stop watching for a moment, just angry by the lack of quality in the game. The Steelers then decided to play some awful football in the second half as the Jets started playing decent football. The game ended up  being a 5 point game, however it never felt that close.

The Jets never seemed to have the killer mentality in the game, they seemed like they knew they had lost, but only cared about making the game not be a total blow out. The Steelers played pretty poor on both sides of the ball, however their offense looked really bad. But the Steelers ended up winning thanks to a big first half lead.

I didn't have very much vested in this weekends games, I'm not a big fan of any of these teams, I hate the Steelers and Jets. I mean, I like the Packers and the Bears are ok, but there wasn't a team I was rooting for hardcore. I was more looking forward to some good football. I did not get that, I got some bad and sloppy football.

Come Superbowl sunday I'll be cheering for the Packers, I like their QB and I hate the Steelers, but more importantly, I'll be cheering for a good game to finish off this disappointing season.

NFL Surprises

So earlier this week I talked a lot about the teams that disappointed us this season, and looking back, there are a lot of them. However, I think we can find just as many surprising teams this year. Lets hope we can, its more fun to write about the good rather than the bad..

Starting in the AFC lets talk about the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2009 they finished 4-12, despite adding Matt Cassel to be the teams new QB. However, Todd Haley just needed another year, and maybe some help from coordinators Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel, who were added this offseason.

Matt Cassel has found his groove in KC

Whatever the reason is, the Chiefs made huge improvements this season. They finished 10-6 and won the AFC West, securing themselves a spot in the playoffs. The Chiefs were also the last team to lose a game this season. I Didn't predict they would play all that well, and I'm glad I was wrong. I really like the look of the Chiefs right now. They feel like the Patriots back in the day. They have a lot of the same people, Weiss, Crennel and Scott Piolo, who is front office executive, all worked with the Patriots and helped build that dynasty.

It also helps when you sign Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel, both played in New England.

They have shown some moments of inconsistency, so I'm not seeing them going very far this postseason. But to go from 4-12, to 10-6 is a huge accomplishment and they deserve a lot of praise. And if the Chiefs can fix some problems on offense, they seem to lack some firepower some games, they could be a force to be feared in the coming seasons.

Although the Oakland Raiders didn't win the division or make the playoffs, they still had a pretty solid year. They finished 8-8, going 6-0 in their division. Having a .500 season isn't usually a great thing for team, but when you have had a record setting 8 seasons with at least 11 losses, getting 8 wins is huge. This is the first time since their Superbowl season in the 2002-2003 season that they have not had a losing season. Their defense played a lot better, and they had a lot of help in the running game from Darren McFadden, who had a probowl caliber season, even though he didn't make it in.

Oddly enough, the Raiders did not keep head coach Tom Cable. They decided to let him go, even though the team is starting to build up momentum and play better. Maybe they fired him because they think they can do better with someone else?

Or maybe they fired him because the Raiders only won two games outside of they AFC West. The Raiders are the first team in the divisional era to go undefeated in their division and not win it.

However the Raiders have some solid things going for them, their defense is playing better, they have a solid running game and they are young.

Switching over to the NFC, we'll find a lot more surprises as the NFC seems to be on the rise after several years of futility in comparison to the AFC.

How 'bout them Bears? Chicago has a pretty solid team and Jay Cutler seems to playing up to expectations for the first time in his career. The Bears have shown that they can play a tough physical game with good defense and a running game. They can also play well in shoot outs and let Cutler go into his gunslinger mode and shred defenses.

Cutler has to be happy with Martz.

I can't state how big the hire of Mike Martz as offensive coordinator has been for the Bears. For those of you who don't know, Martz was the offensive coordinator, and later became head coach, for the Rams from 1999-2005 and built 'the greatest show show on turf'. This offense, at the time, was the best by far. Having him as the OC has added so much firepower to the Bears offense.

Earlier this year I predicted that the Bears would not be a good team with Jay Cutler, he had a pretty bad 2009 season and has a bad reputation as being a punk. However, he has played very well so far this season and is on the path to establishing himself as an elite QB. I still don't like him and haven't been the biggest fan of the Bears, but they have been a big surprise this season. Lovie Smith was on the hot seat entering this season, now it looks like his job is safe as his team has the #2 seed in the NFC playoffs.

The surprise that I'm the happiest to see has got to be the Detroit Lions. Despite the fact that they finished with a 6-10 record, normally a record for a team that is not all that good, the way the Lions have played has been very impressive. Most of their losses were very close and very well played games. They were robbed of a win in week one against the Bears when WR Calvin Johnson appeared to have a game winning touchdown. However after he got up the ball came out and was ruled incomplete.

That is just one example of how hard they have played. They finished the season on a 4 game winning streak, the first 4 game winning streak since 1999. The team has a lot of youth and is playing hard under head coach Jim Schwartz. 2009 first round draft pick Matthew Stafford has struggled with injuries all season long only playing in one full game all season. He has shown a lot of promise in his short appearances and if he stays healthy the Lions seem to have the building blocks necessary to build a contending team.

The Lions have been awful for a very, very long time and finally seem to be at the point where they can turn the corner and begin to not be a walking mat for other teams. I for one am glad to see them play well and hope they continue to improve.

I still think they need to change to this jersey

I thought the only way the Buccaneers could start winning again would be to switch to their old 'orange creme' jerseys that they use to have. Most people hate those jerseys, but for me they are my second favorite all time of any team(second to my Saints of course). But the Buccaneers proved me wrong and put together a 10-6 season, they missed the playoffs but still had a decent season. A lot of people out there are going to say that the Bucs had a very easy season and they only beat one team with a winning record, which is all very true. The only team they beat with a winning record is the Saints who rested their starters in the middle of the game. But 10 wins is still 10 wins, they made some serious improvements and Josh Freeman has played very well as a QB and their running game was pretty solid. I'm not sold on them being a contending team yet, they are still looking for that signature win to help define them as a team, but they are in the right direction.

How about a team going from 1-15 to 7-9 the next season and be one game away from winning the division? That's the story of the 2010 Rams.  Last season they looked pretty awful, had poor defense, bad offense, besides all pro RB Stephan Jackson that is, and seemed to be reeling as a team all together.

However, give Steve Spagnuolo another year with the team, a new QB for the franchise to build around and playing the awful NFC West, and the Rams put together a pretty solid season and have a lot to look forward to in the future. Sam Bradford has looked pretty sharp for a rookie QB playing on a team that went 1-15 last season. I've been really impressed when I look at his numbers, 3,500 passing yards, 18 TDs 15 INTs and completed 60% of his passes. Pretty solid numbers I'd say. Look for the Rams to get better on defense and work with Bradford to throw the ball more and throw the ball deeper.

The Biggest surprise this season for me has been Michael Vick. Today all I have talked about has been teams, but Vick has surprised me, and so many others that I have to mention him here. I was worried that the Eagles would take a serious turn for the worst when they handed the reigns to Kevin Kolb to be the starting QB. I don't think he had proven much before he got the job. Then he got hurt and Vick 2.0 came in and stunned everyone.

It was probably the best injury that Andy Reid and the Eagles have ever had. Vick has shown that he still has his quickness and speed that he had when he played with the Falcons, but he has added something he didn't have before. A legitimate passing threat. This season Vick was able to sit in the pocket and throw the ball very accurately and has helped the Eagles have a pretty stellar season.

Vick 2.0 is better than ever

I'm really happy for Vick to, I never really liked him when he was in Atlanta. He seemed to rely way to much on his physical gifts and didn't try to work hard or improve his passing game(sound kind of like Vince Young doesn't it?). He was always the last one in for practice and first one out. Now it is just the opposite, now he is working as hard as he can to make himself a better player.

Even better than his on field success, has been his off field success. Vick did some pretty horrible things, please don't think that I'm saying what Vick did is ok in anyway. I love animals, especially dogs, and was happy to see him get some jail time, because what he did was super bad.

However he has paid his debt to society, and it was a pretty big hit he took. He lost everything, over 100 million dollars and who knows how much in future contracts and endorsements. He was away from his kids for two years and saw himself become a villain. He literally saw his life crumble before him.

The Eagles gave him a chance to make something for himself again and he took full advantage of it. He is playing the best football of his career right now, and if Tom Brady wasn't having an incredible season, Vick would most likely be the MVP of the league.

Way to go Vick, way to give us a good story of how people can change their life.

Regular Season Let Downs

The playoffs are coming up this weekend, everyone is excited and is talking about matchups and who has the best chances of playing in Dallas. But I think before we get into that we need to look back at the season that was. It was a long and very chaotic season, lets take a trip down memory lane and look back at the season that just ended.

First lets look at what we expected would happen this season before it all started.

Everyone thought that the Saints and Colts would be strong teams this year, and they have been. I think more people people expected more out of these two teams. I know I did, but its unfair to have expected more. Both teams were destroyed by injuries, both played pretty tough schedules and yet both ended up winning a good amount of games and made the playoffs.

The Saints offense hasn't been nearly as prolific as it was last year, Drew Brees has thrown a lot more interceptions than he ever has in his career, and the running game has been crippled with injuries. Combine that the Saints secondary has been hurt for most of the season, and you would be surprised that the Saitns won 11 games and look like the second best team in the NFC.

What happened to Indy? Injuries happened. The Colts have been hurt by injuries more than the Saints. Peyton Manning hasn't had a lot of good receivers to throw the ball to, his running game support has been subpar, even by the Colts standard, and the offensive line has been banged up.

A lot of this has to do with age. The Colts are getting a lot older as a team and there are still signs that show that a decline is looming. However, Manning is still an elite quarterback who wants to win in big games. Even though Mannings post season record is a subpar 9-9, he will still give opposing defenses problems. The Colts may be on the decline, but expect them to give teams big problems this offeseason.

Now lets talk about some of the dissapointing teams from this season and maybe see what went wrong. A lot of teams had big let downs this year, some were on pretty epic porportion. Of course, it doens't help when your owner makes a gurantee that your team will be hosting the Super Bowl.

It also doesn't help if your only plan for a QB is to have three of your players fly down and convince a 41 year old QB to play, despite the fact that he has shoulder problems and will have missed all of training camp.

So what exactly happened with the Dallas Cowboys? They have tons of talent on both sides of the ball, especially the defense. They have a strong running game and some solid WR's. So what happened? I think it was a lack of mentall toughness. Some games it looked like the team just quit. It also doesn't help that the Cowboys get more media attention than any other team in the NFL. And when your teams starts off 1-2, then follows that up by losing the next 5 games, trouble is bound to happen. Despite a poor 1-2 start, the Cowboys still should have played hard, I mean it was only week 4 they still had plenty of time to fix things and make a run for the playoffs. But time and time again it looked like they just quit, on both sides of the ball. They didn't run the ball when they should have and made other poor play calls.

So I think things boil down to coaching. Wade Phillips is a great coordinator, however he lacks what it takes to be a head coach. He can't be mean and tough enough on his players, he is more of their friend than coach. That tactic works great as a coordinator, but when you are the head coach, the big boss, you can't be soft. You can't be a complete jerk like some coaches have been, *cough* Tom Coughlin *cough* but you have to be tough. The Cowboys have played better since Jason Garrett took over the reigns, they seem to try and have some heart when they play. But the big problem for the Cowboys this season? Coaching.

So I'd have to say that the Cowboys had the most dissapointing season of any team in the NFL this year, but the Minnesota Vikings came in a close second. Just look at what they had going for them entering this season. A top notch defense, the best RB in the game, a QB who although turns 41 during the season, is coming off his best season as a pro, and you were one bad throw away from playing in the Superbowl. So it would be foolish to think that the Vikings would miss the playoffs right?

Well the Vikings missed the playoffs, they weren't even close actually. They finished 6-10, 1-5 in the NFC north. Thats just bad, I mean I know the Vikings had a lot of injuries, but still...6-10. Thats bad, that is just awful. Favre looked lost and old on the field. the defense looked slow, the offensive line looked pitiful.

Then there are the issues regarding the character of the team. Even if you forget about the whole Randy Moss problem, there were way too many problems for this team. Former head coach Brad Childress lost his locker room and lost his team. Its a good thing he got fired, the team was on the brink of chaos.

The Texans had me fooled, and fooled badly. Before the season started I thought that this would be the year that the Texans would finally make it to the playoffs. They have a great QB, the best WR in the game and I thought they'd have a solid D. Then week one, they surprise the defending AFC champion Colts. And they did it with a strong running game. So with their big passing game, a solid running game and confidence after beating the Colts, why would anyone think they wouldn't contend with for the postseason?

They end up going 6-10, blowing 4th quarter leads and dissapointing the entire fan base. Reports are out that they plan to keep head coach Gary Kubiak. I don't agree with that, the Texans lost a lot of games when they should have contended for the post season. A big dissapointment for sure, and sadly its not even in the top three of the past season.

What about the Bengals? Or the 49ers? In fact, the whole NFC West has been dissapointing. I can't believe there is a team with a losing record that is in the playoffs. I mean I don't know which is more dissapointing, the Bengals or the entire NFC West.

The Bengals won the AFC north last season and a lot of people thought that Carson Palmer had finally made his return to glory. If you recall he tore his ACL against the Steelers in the 2006 playoffs and hasn't been the same since. You figure with Palmers comeback, the Bengals defense getting better and their running game gaining momentum that they'd contend for a playoff spot right?

Well they follow this hype with a 4 win season and the Bengals will probably clean house and start from scratch during the offseason. I don't blame them either, I've always like Carson Palmer, but its clear that he is just an average QB. Marvin Lewis has never been that great of a coach, he brings in trouble players and has a hard team keeping players working hard.

Want a mind boggling let down? How about the San Diego Chargers? They finish the season having their offense and defense rank in the top two. They have Phillip Rivers, one of the elite qb's in the league and they play in the AFC West, which is a pretty easy division. Yet they somehow turn all of that into a 9-7 season and miss the playoffs. I don't know exactly how, but they did. Their special teams was simply awful, it cost them at least 3 wins. They had an average running game, and seemed to struggle in short yardage situations. Each team has weaknesses, so you can't expect the Chargers to be perfect, even if they have so many great players. So the problem is coaching.

We are seeing a lot of problems with coaches this season, it is becoming more and more evident that if you do not have a great head coach you will not win games, period. Look at teams like the Patriots, Saints, Eagles, Steelers and Ravens. They all have great coaches, and their teams win. They can overcome injuries and player problems. Look how Bill Belichick did this season. He lost Randy Moss, had to deal with some injuries and a very young defense. Yet with his coaching, and the best QB in the league, they look like the team to beat. Sean Payton has had to deal with tons of injuries this season, and last season as well, and has gotten his team to the playoffs both seasons. Norv Turner simply is not that great of a head coach and should be fired. He has tons of talent and can't win when it counts. If the Chargers can justify firing Marty Schottenheimer in 2006, he had a 14-2 record and lost in the divisional round, then the Chargers can easily justify firing Turner after four seasons that have mostly been filled with disappointment.

The 49ers fired coach Singletary, which is sad because he is a great coordinator, just not a good coach. What got him fired was how badly he handled the QB situation. Alex Smith has never had consistency in the NFL, I'm not saying that as an excuse, he isn't that great of a QB. But it hurts his confidence and momentum when there are so many changes. The Niners have one of the best TE's in the league and a tough running back. Its too bad that there defense has under performed and they can't get a QB to deliver.

Staying in the NFC West, how about the Cardinals? The win a playoff game last year, lost two players on offense, Kurt Warner to retirement and Anquan Boldin to the Ravens, and suddenly they look awful on offense. For any people our there that are doubting Kurt Warner's Hall of Fame credentials just look at this seasons team and how badly they performed, especially passing the ball, compared to how good they were last year with him under center. If that still doens't convince you that he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, then do all of the sporting community a favor and never watch sports again, because you are clearly a fool.

Later this week I'll discuss the surprised of the season as well as what the playoffs have in store for us, so come back this week