Mike McCarthy: 'You see Eric, we are up here, and you guys are way down here.' (US Presswire)
That's what we had in the NFL this past weekend, and I'm blaming the bottom of the league.
There is a lot of garbage down there.
Sift through the mess that is in that NFL waste disposal and you will find the St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs and others among the rotting food and smelly garbage.
The bottom of the NFL smells worse than Elizabeth, N.J. That isn't good.
What having so many bad teams does is leave us with Sundays like we had this week, which was just bad.
Now we know why Pete Rozelle dreamed of parity all those years.
Think about the early games. We had Colts-Rams, Packers-Browns, Patriots-Bucs, Chargers-Chiefs and Texans-49ers.
Get your blood flowing, did they?
The late games brought us Raiders-Jets and Panthers-Bills, bad matchups and bad games, and we had bad games featuring Bengals-Bears and Cowboys-Falcons.
Look at that slate. The imbalance of the league is not a good thing. It brings on a batch of bad games every week. Of the 12 games Sunday, one -- Houston-San Francisco -- was decided by less than seven points.
One?
Those poor blokes in England probably threw up their fish and chips just watching the Patriots blow out the Bucs. Let's hope nobody upchucked the "bangers and mash."
You sure you want the NFL, London?
For that reason, I gave all the teams at the bottom -- and you know who you are -- failing grades this week in our CBSSports.com Week 7 Grades for bringing the level of play in the NFL down and for making Sunday the worst one yet.
Patriots: Aside from two interceptions, one in the end zone, Tom Brady had a big day. He had three touchdowns, but the defense dominated here. Brandon Meriweather had two picks, one returned for a touchdown to lead that unit.
A
3.10
F
Buccaneers: Josh Johnson clearly isn't the answer at quarterback. He was picked three times and really struggled, save for a throw or two. The pass defense, a season-long problem, was that again. They might not win a game.
Colts: The passing game wasn't as explosive, but it didn't need to be. Peyton Manning was still more than functional. The defense got a pick for a score by rookie Jacob Lacey and pressured Marc Bulger much of the day.
B+
3.27
F
Rams: They aren't good enough to compete with the Colts right now. Marc Bulger struggled. Steven Jackson did run the ball well, but that's about it for the highlights.
Steelers: They didn't do a heck of a lot on offense, but with two defensive returns for TDs it didn't matter. The defense came up huge in the fourth quarter with those two scores. The explosive passing game never seemed to get it going.
B+
2.96
C
Vikings: 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. The defense played a good game, shutting down the Steelers' big-play passing game.
Chargers: The defense, which has struggled all year, dominated against a bad Kansas City offense. Philip Rivers was good again, but that has been the one constant with this team. They had to have it, and they did.
C-
2.38
F
Chiefs: It was as bad as the score. Matt Cassel isn't very good right now. He was picked three times. The line can't block, which doesn't help. Rivers did what he wanted in the passing game. Horrible.
Texans: They looked dominant in the first half, but went to sleep in the second. Same for their passing game, which moved the ball well in the first half, but they couldn't get it going in the second. Owen Daniels had a big day with seven catches for 123 yards and a touchdown.
A
2.43
C
49ers: At least they found out Alex Smith is the quarterback who should be playing. He played well in the second half and nearly rallied them. The defense continues to have trouble with the pass.
Packers: Who doesn't get credit? They did what they wanted. Aaron Rodgers had a big day, Ryan Grant ran it well and the defense shut down the Browns all day long, including twice inside the 5. It was almost too easy.
A
3.02
F
Browns: Man, they are bad. They can't pass it. They can't run it and they can't stop anybody. It gets worse by the week. Could Eric Mangini be one-and-done?
Jets: Can they get any better against a bad team? They ran it down the Raiders' throats all day, rushing for 316 yards. They also played great defense, starting it by forcing a turnover on the game's first play. Mark Sanchez didn't have to do too much.
F
2.81
F
Raiders: Why did we think they were going to show up here? JaMarcus Russell finally played himself onto the bench, but it didn't get much better. The defense was road graded. What a disaster.
Bills: They won this game with four takeaways leading to 17 points. The offense didn't do much, but it didn't need to do anything. The defense stole the show.
B+
2.10
F
Panthers: They continue to struggle on offense. Jake Delhomme is a turnover machine. The defense actually played well, but it received no help from the offense. This is a damning loss.
Saints: Coming back from 24-3 down says a ton about this team. That's character. That's talent. Drew Brees threw some picks, but he regrouped to get his team going again. The big plays were the two defensive returns by Darren Sharper and Tracy Porter. They were sloppy at the start.
A+
3.55
C+
Dolphins: You can't give away defensive touchdowns and expect to win against a team like the Saints. You must take care of the football. For a half, they looked great. Then it came apart. Chad Henne will have days like this in his first season as a starter.
Cowboys: Tony Romo and Miles Austin both had good days for the second consecutive game. Romo lit up the Atlanta secondary and Austin had 171 yards and two scores. The defense was the difference here, sacking Matt Ryan four times and pressuring him all afternoon. Patrick Crayton's punt return for a touchdown sealed it.
B-
2.90
C-
Falcons: They struggled to get the offense going, and Ryan was hurried all day. The pass defense, which is a concern as they move forward, didn't slow Romo. It's tough playing a team on the road coming off a bye.
Bengals: Carson Palmer threw five touchdown passes and Chad Ochocinco caught two of them to get the passing game going for the first time this season. Cedric Benson had a huge day against his former team with 189 yards and a touchdown. The defense picked off Jay Cutler three times.
D
2.86
F
Bears: That was horrendous. They didn't even compete. Jay Cutler wasn't good. The defense was worse. The Bengals did what they wanted on offense all afternoon long. It had to burn the Bears to see Benson run wild like he did.
Cardinals: The Cardinals defense came up big in this one. The pick by Adrian Wilson in the second half to set up a touchdown was the big play. Kurt Warner made some big throws, despite taking heavy pressure.
A
2.62
C-
Giants: The offense couldn't get anything going and the turnovers were killers. The pass defense still has lapses that really hurt. Eli Manning just didn't seem to get into a groove.
Eagles: They had trouble on offense again. The line is bad, which makes it tough to get anything going. The defense, aside from the two big plays, actually played pretty well. The play-calling change didn't matter. It's about players.
F
2.77
D
Redskins: The two big plays on offense by DeSean Jackson were the difference. He is special. The offense didn't do much other than those plays. The Will Witherspoon interception return for a touchdown was big. A solid game.
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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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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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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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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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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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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(POLL)
The Pats were up 38 - 0 with 1:16 to go in the 1st half. They still had Brady in the game when they took the field. They lined up with 5 WR's in the shotgun formation. They remained in the shotgun with 5 WRs for the entire drive. They went no-huddle and even used a timeout. As we know, they scored another TD to go up 45-0 with 17 seconds left in the half.
