What's lower right now: The Tennessee Titans, Mark Sanchez, Jim Zorn or that father who made up the entire balloon episode just for attention?
Sorry, Kerry Collins, no thumbs up for going 2 for 12 with minus-7 passing yards. (US Presswire)
It's tough, right?
I'll go with the Titans. They are a real disaster, not fabricated like the one the balloon man made.
They've gone from a 13-3 record a year ago -- a team that many considered a Super Bowl contender -- to a team that loses 59-0 to the New England Patriots on Sunday. They didn't even compete.
Did they see the snow and tell their mommies they weren't going outside to play?
It's one thing to fall to 0-6, but it's another to get beat that way and look like you quit. That's the ultimate insult, somebody saying you quit. But it's hard to argue in this one.
The Titans gave up five touchdown passes in the second quarter. The Tennessee defense gave up 12 touchdown passes for the entire 2008 season.
That's how far they've fallen.
Tom Brady finished with six touchdown passes, which means the Titans have now given up 19 this season.
If coach Jeff Fisher weren't so established, he might have been fired on the flight home. Somebody asked me Sunday if I thought Fisher could be in trouble. I doubt it, but this is the type of loss that can lead an owner to think a lot about the man running his team.
The Titans earn one of the many F grades here in our weekly CBSSports.com Grades. Hey, it was that type of Sunday. The other failing grades went to the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks.
The Jets lost at home to the Buffalo Bills. The Eagles lost to the Oakland Raiders, which might be an indication of problems I didn't see. The Redskins lost to the previously winless Kansas City Chiefs and the Seahawks didn't show up at all in their home loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
If quarterbacks earned grades, Sanchez would have received an F. He threw five interceptions, which is why the Jets lost to the Bills. In the past three weeks, he has taken a mighty tumble down the status meter with eight interceptions in three games.
Here are six reasons why: R-O-O-K-I-E.
The Jets might not be as good as we thought three weeks ago. They've lost three consecutive games after opening 3-0. Want to bet Rex Ryan considers making a change?
That's still better than the Redskins. They are 2-4 and Zorn, their beleaguered coach, will be fired at some point. The only thing still to be decided is when.
It wasn't a pretty week for a lot of teams and a lot of players. But the Titans were the worst. The helium is definitely out of their balloon, and it's official. They've crashed hard to the ground.
Chiefs: Their first victory of the season was keyed by the defense. They did a great job stopping the Washington passing game. Ryan Succup was the MVP, making all four field goals. The offense was just OK.
C
1.62
F
Redskins: Does it really make any difference who starts at quarterback? They benched Jason Campbell, but Todd Collins wasn't much better. Clinton Portis needs to get the ball more. The defense played pretty well.
Panthers: They won this game the Panthers way: Ramming it down the defense's throat. DeAngelo Williams ran it for 152 yards and Jonathan Stewart had 110. Jake Delhomme did make a horrible throw to let Tampa Bay tie it and the kick return for a score they allowed shouldn't happen.
C
1.68
C-
Buccaneers: It's hard to believe they used to be known as a defensive team. They can't stop anybody. If not for the interception return for a score and the kickoff return, this would have been another blowout. It might be time to play Josh Freeman. Josh Johnson isn't good.
Steelers: They dominated with 543 yards, but never really pulled away. Ben Roethlisberger put up some big numbers with 417 yards passing to move the ball up and down the field. The defense was better, giving up 197 yards and forcing three turnovers.
B-
3.00
D
Browns: As usual, the offense wasn't very good. You can't win with 197 yards of offense. The pass defense struggled again. At least Josh Cribbs is a player, getting another return for a touchdown.
Saints: Drew Brees did what he wanted. He played pitch and catch all day. And Marques Colston had a big day as well. The offensive line was great in protection against a good front. The secondary was the key on defense. They made some big plays early.
B+
3.72
D
Giants: That was horrible. That's how they show up to play a game for superiority in the conference? That defense didn't even compete. The secondary wasn't even close in coverage. I know there are injuries, but that bad? The offense couldn't keep up.
Vikings: They thought they had an easy one when it was 27-10 in the fourth quarter, but they almost gagged. Their defense struggled big time against the pass. Adrian Peterson had another big game and Brett Favre had a good day with three scores.
A
3.14
C+
Ravens: What has happened to that defense? The Vikings did what they wanted, and then when they had the lead the Ravens couldn't hold it in the end. Joe Flacco had a great day after a slow start.
Jaguars: If not for the mistakes, this would have been a lot easier. The two David Garrard interceptions and a Maurice Jones-Drew fumble made it closer. Those two had good games, aside from those mistakes. The defense held the Rams to 262 yards, so not too bad.
F
2.18
C-
Rams: The big play was the interception return for a touchdown by Leonard Little that gave the Rams a late lead. But the defense couldn't hold it, and they lost their 16th straight. The defense got pushed around and the offense didn't do enough. That's how you lose games.
Packers: Aaron Rodgers had a big day throwing it, but this game belonged to the defense. The Lions did nothing all day long. The Green Bay defense needed a game like this. Getting a shutout is a bonus.
B-
2.78
D
Lions: Daunte Culpepper was terrible. Believe this: They miss Matt Stafford. They need to hope his knee injury isn't that serious. Their pass defense remains a major problem. It will be a long season.
Texans: Matt Schaub carved up the Bengals for 392 yards and four touchdowns. He was sensational. The defense, which has struggled, had a good game. It shut down the Cincinnati running game, which was key.
C
2.33
D
Bengals: So much for basking in their success. The defense had a really bad day, and it was compounded by the season-ending loss of Antwan Odom (Achilles). They couldn't stop the Houston passing game. Their offense couldn't get Cedric Benson going.
Cardinals: Where did that defense come from? It was dominant. They limited the Seahawks to 128 yards and dominated the time of possession. Kurt Warner did the rest for the offense.
B-
2.48
F
Seahawks: That was vulgar on offense. They couldn't do anything. I guess Matt Hasselbeck being back doesn't cure all. They're missing too many bodies up front. The defense couldn't get off the field.
Raiders: The defense had a good game. Richard Seymour had two sacks and was dominant. The corners played well. JaMarcus Russell was better. The big 86-yard touchdown throw to Zach Miller was the difference.
F
1.20
F
Eagles: This one hurts. They will be criticized for not running it enough. They passed it 46 times, but could score only nine points. Donovan McNabb was just OK. The defense gave up one big play, but it proved to be enough.
Bills: You have to give this injury-plagued team credit for finding a way here. The defense had six interceptions, two by rookie Jairus Byrd. They toughed it out, even when their starting quarterback went down.
D-
2.00
F
Jets: Mark Sanchez is really regressing. His five interceptions were the reason the Jets lost this game. He made some really bad throws. That canceled out a big rushing day, especially for Thomas Jones (210 yards). They had over 300 yards rushing.
Patriots: In the snow, Tom Brady threw six touchdown passes, five in the second quarter. Amazing. The defense did the rest against a bad Tennessee offense.
B
3.07
F
Titans: How low can it go? The offense turned it over five times. Wow. The defense wasn't much better. They are the worst team right now. Will they win a game? It's not easy to say yes, is it?
Falcons: They won this with great red zone defense. Without it, they lose. The no-huddle offense got them going in the second half. Matt Ryan was a bit off with his two picks.
A
2.94
C
Bears: They self-destructed. They have to score when they get inside the 10. They made too many mistakes. The defense played a solid game, but it goes to waste.
Broncos: What about that second-half defense? San Diego didn't convert a third down. They got after Philip Rivers. Kyle Orton was steady with two touchdown passes and no interceptions. Eddie Royal won the game with two returns for touchdowns.
3.66
C-
Chargers: They can't cover kicks or punts, their defense lacks any pass rush and they don't run the ball on offense. That's not a recipe for winning games. Rivers took a beating in the second half, and the offense went to sleep. Anybody see Shawne Merriman? Anybody?
Even though DeAngelo Williams fumbled the ball late in the game against the Saints and effectively ended it, don't put the Panthers loss on his shoulders. This one comes back to the offensive coordinators play-calling and trust or lack-there-of in Jake Delhomme. If Delhomme had shown earlier in the season that has was accurate in throwing the ball down-field then the play-calling would not be so c
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Wow, there is a whole lot of anti-Prisco sentiment on this site, some justifiable, but a lot of it just plain off-based. The poor guy talks about how he's claimed all along that the Bengals are for real, and then you see a ton of people saying otherwise. Have any of you posters actually read his columns? There are a select number of jouranlists out there who have said that th
I personally don't see anything wrong with running up the score, especially when a team is at home. Give the fans something to cheer about, scoring touchdown after touchdown. In reality they were getting an offense, that was terrible the week before, reps to gel. That kind of work can be invaluable. I don't feel a team should have to change the way their offense plays i
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Seriously, did you want them to go for it on 4th and 11 from the Dallas 32? Were you watching the game? The Eagles O-line was not going to hold up on an obvious passing down like that. At least with the field goal, the Eagles got to kick the ball, and if the D mans up and stops somebody then they get the ball back with 2 minutes left with a chance to run the 2 min offense.
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The Saints fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter at home and looked flatter than a discarded, stepped-on beignet you might find on Bourbon Street. I was a bit surprised when the the Panthers went up 14-0 on the Saints, but they have shown the ability to score quickly, so this wasn't likely to be a problem unless the Panthers' D could stop them for 4 quarter
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The grades for the Tampa Bay - Green Bay game show once again the Pete must be using the "Prisco Curve" to grade the teams rather than grading according to a standard based on the NFL as a whole. He seems to grade teams based on how HE thinks they SHOULD have played rather than how the game actually went. How can one team get an "A" (Tampa Bay) and the other get an "F"
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Nothing happened new. It is plain garbage and has been for a while now Pete! They just have an idiot coach that hassent accepted the fact that his famed "cover 2" defense was solved like 2 years ago in the NFL. They HAD a defensive cord that understood this and tried to make tweaks to it (Ron Rivera) but O'l Lovie run him out after the SB year so he could put his buddy at defensive
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Please buy Nfl Sunday Ticket, or watch the highlights anywhere, at Espn, Nfl Network. But please watch the games, obviously you don't know what you are talking about, you just read some stats and puts them down however you think it happened. I know you are a hater of some teams, or maybe you don' hate them, and you just don't accept what they are. Pl
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Okay Brett Favre, be upset with the Packer organization; but you have some unfinsished business with the Packer fans. You need to apologize to them for what you put them through for 4 years. You said that you went to the church prayed before the game in Minnesota? Well, you'd better stay there all weekend in Green Bay, because there is no place else to hide from the people tha
I would like to know why all you people that bash prisco everyday read his articles. If they are that bad then why do you not only waste your time reading them, but why do then have to post about it? Go to espn or foxsports and don't post on here and waste my day by having to read your posts. That being said no sports writer is perfect. Yes prisco does not like farve and I think h
Huh... I will never understand how Prisco grades some of these teams. What's the purpose of having Power Rankings and GPA if they don't match... or even close at times? He has the Cards at 9th in his power rankings and at a 2.24 GPA... Meanwhile he has the 49ers at 22nd in his rankings with a 2.39 GPA... His entire article is talking up the Houston Texans who rank a solid 2.50 GPA accor
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First off, I am not a Giants fan, but it is funny to see so many people jump off their band wagon. They continue to do what they do best...run the football.
The Giants will be fine. The defense has had some woes, and the passing game isn't what people would have hoped for. The Giants will still win the division because the can run the ball so well. As winte
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Some of the things Prisco writes to try justify his grades is absolutely fiction. I mean what part of his colon does he pull this stuff from. Here is an example from the Vikings/Steelers grades.
The two big turnovers were the difference. Brett Favre had those. The offense had trouble for much of the game. They couldn't get Adrian Peterson going. Th
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