The Week That Was Week 8 in the NFL

Where's the outrage? Where's the public outcry? Where's the demand for justice?

ESPN reports that eight NFL players tested positive for a banned substance. All eight will probably be suspended. But, no one cares. Well, I should say, no one cares as much as if this happened in baseball.

What fueled baseball's steroids purge was that marquee names, and not just any marquee names, but the biggest names in the sport (McGuire, Bonds, Clemens) were all caught or made to look unfaithful and untrustworthy by the entire steroids saga the last six years.

Here, the biggest name to get caught so far with any type of performance enhancer was the San Diego Chargers' Shawne Merriman. That was two years ago. Merriman admitted fault, took his suspension and came back to the Chargers without any fanfare.

No one cared.

And maybe what makes baseball's steroids scandal more glamorous is the fact that those stars of the game have vehemently denied any allegations. For the most part, in the NFL, anyone who's tested positive has taken his suspension.

So, the NFL has eight players who just tested positive and no one cares.

To the rest of the week:

• Aaron Rodgers > Favre, for this week (and only because Rodgers had a bye and Favre threw three picks).
• Ugh...the Patriots are back in first place.
• Welcome back Brian Westbrook.
• Boy does Dallas (and T.O.) miss Tony Romo.
• The West Coast team's need to learn how to suck it up when they're on the East Coast.
• Drew Brees is good.

Extra point:

I'm tired of waiting for the Chargers to turn it on. Actually, I'm waiting for that defense to turn it on.

Did Wade Phillips really mean that much? Did Merriman really mean that much? Apparently so.

The team has played uninspired under defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell. It might be the same scheme, but something just isn't clicking.

Added with the loss of the firey Merriman, the defense looks awful.

The Bolts have eight games left. The team is 3-5. To match the record they had last year means they'll have to go undefeated after their bye week. To win the division, I imagine, they'll have to win seven more games.

What happened to this team? All the talent in the world and it plays as if they've proven something already. It seems like they go through the motions, especially on defense.

The Chargers are still electric on offense. Hopefully, this bye week recharges San Diego's defense.

So Who's The Favorite Now?

I don't remember where I saw it or where I read it. But I did see it. I did read it. And it went something like this: Because of Brett Favre, with Tom Brady out for the season, the New York Jets are now the favorites to win the AFC East.

Say what?

First, I don't know if there's a favorite out east anymore? New England was the prohibited favorite to defend its AFC East crown, but with Brady sidelined, obviously the Pats aren't favorites. But then, I don't think anyone is in that division. I think New England, the Jets and Buffalo all have a shot of winning the division. Miami not so much.

But to say that the Jets are the favorites? C'mon. And all this after the Jets (who by the way won only four games last year) inched by a team that won one game last year.

And the Bills? Let's just say that that offense is beginning to gel a little quicker than most thought. And, Marshawn Lynch is brining the hyphy, while Trent Edwards is showing how good of a quarterback he can be if someone just blocked for him just once.

Second: just because of Brett Favre the Jets are going to win the division? Please. What is with this love affair with Favre and (most) of the media. Maybe it comes from the fact that during the summertime, when baseball's beginnings are too far away in the rear view mirror and baseball's postseason is too far ahead to see over the horizon, that the media actually loved to cover Favre and his soap opera in Green Bay.

I have to say that's it. Because the Favre I saw Sunday was a Favre that took too many risk, and just prayed for this to go right. Maybe that's another reason people love him. He doesn't care. He's that epitome of the gunslinging cowboy, out to do good with a reckless abandon. But if you asked me, in this generation's NFL, you don't want a quarterback who'll just throw it up and hope someone catches it. You want efficiency. Yes, Favre stats seemed efficient, but if you watched his play, it looked nothing like the new breed of NFL quarterback that is prevalent today.

That miracle play he made, when he just threw the ball up on 4th and 13, that pass could have easily been intercepted. Easily. But it's Favre and he's magical. We know.

And maybe that's what the media people like. He's different. Different in a sense that he's "old school," though no one has said that about him.

But one person doesn't make a team (cliche, I know, but it works), especially in football. And, in this generation's football, I'm sorry, but the quarterbacks aren't the true focus anymore. Yeah, there's the whole leadership and star power that still comes to NFL qbs, and yes, a few teams still use the passing game as their centerpiece of their offensive attack, but it's the running game that dominates.

I don't care how good your passing game is, if there's no attack on the ground, then there aren't any wins, especially in the playoffs. And, so many teams are no beginning to use this dual back threat, having as many as two or three backs as the featured guy, all being different and giving offensive attacks a different look.

It's now up to the quarterbacks to "manage" the football games and not go out and win them.

And for that reason, I don't think the Jets can be labeled "favorites." I still don't think their in the top half of that division. The Pats and Bills look mighty fine, and guess what, they both have good running games.

Show me a Jets running game, and I'll show you a winner.

Oh, and by the way, Aaron Rodgers sure looked good tonight.