NFL Liquor Cabinet Week 10:

For the entire NFL season, we will be breaking down the rest of the NFL not named Green Bay by looking at it like a liquor cabinet. Why did we choose this method? I like to booze and it makes things really easy to determine what's great, average and poor. 

Yes, this is a day late and a buck short probably, but I wanted to write anyways. College Try got shelved for the week so I wanted to at least get a liquor cabinet in there. Enjoy.

Top Shelf
So that's why everyone loved Tavon Austin - There is a reason why we do not overreact with only 10 weeks into the season. Austin had a massive game on Sunday with three touchdowns, two catching deep balls from Kellen Clemens and the other being a 98 yard punt return. This probably shows the incompetence of Brian Schottenheimer more than anything else. It should not have taken this long to have Tavon come to the big stage.

Carolina's defense keeps playing like monsters - I really liked how this defense played against San Francisco. They did not allow a touchdown rather three first half field goals. After that, Carolina shut them down. Niners offense only had 10 first downs with 151 yards and only averaged 2.9 yards a game. We will get to San Francisco in a second, but Carolina's defense is good enough to win some big games this year. They still have New England this week and a couple games against New Orleans. If they dominate New England's offense, people will start really believing this team.

Detroit wins ugly and that's a good thing - Detroit Lions did not really have a great football game. They only scored 21 points. Matthew Stafford had 219 yards of passing, Reggie Bush really did not do much either. Now Chicago's defense is not great, but still the Lions finding ways to win with their offense not playing at full steam on the road is a positive thing for Detroit. They are the class of the NFC North, but I still have reservations about this team. Maybe I am just a hater.

VIVA LA JACKSONVILLE AND TAMPA BAY - Two ends of the spectrum here. I am glad Jacksonville won their game. I should have picked them this week and I chickened out. I think they win a couple more this year. Tampa Bay, good job, but they are still run like idiots. It gets uncomfortable when teams are losing that much truthfully.

Middle Shelf
AFC North is a complete mess - I have no idea who is going to come out of this division, like none. I would probably count Pittsburgh out although they only have six losses meaning they could get into the mix if they keep winning football games. Cleveland could return to .500 and tied for first if they beat Cincinnati this week. Baltimore would only be one game out if Cincinnati loses next week and they win.  I love chaotic situations when it does not involve my team so I hope like hell for another Cincinnati loss this week.

Do not forget Arizona - All the sudden, Arizona is in the mix. Are they beating up on shitty teams? Yes. But that does not matter. Honestly, they could get to 7-4 heading into December with games against Jacksonville on the road and home against Indianapolis, a game that will matter to head coach Bruce Arians (Not saying they will win, but they are a different team at home). Their December gets pretty tough with road games against Philadelphia and Seattle and a home game against San Francisco to close out the year which might loom large. I am not done with Arizona being a potential playoff team.

Still not buying Giants of New York being real life - Swear to Lombardi, I am fully expecting this to bite me squarely in the ass, but here it goes, New York Giants are not a good football team. They beat an Oakland Raider team with a beaten up Terrelle Pryor. Minnesota decided to start Josh f'n Freeman instead of Christian Ponder. I will give them Philadelphia on the road being a good win even if the Eagles cannot win at home which I cannot figure out at all. Obviously if New York beats my football team, I will probably change course a bit.

Manning going to pull a Brett Favre - Peyton Manning took a big time blow to his knee/ankle area at the very end of the game. Manning showed some great displeasure, and you could make an argument, he could have been flagged for his actions as my podcast buddy Mitch Pratt noted today.  None of us but Peyton will know how healthy he will be on Sunday night against a mean Kansas City defense. I do not think we will have our answer until halftime.

Bottom Shelf
Are we sure the Niners are elite? - First of all, I hate the word 'elite' but it is the best way to describe the upper echelon in the National Football League. San Francisco's passing offense is alarming. Colin Kaepernick had one big game against Green Bay, and he did alright against Arizona, but that's it.  Frank Gore nearly rushed for more yards than Kaepernick last week. The Niners head to New Orleans this week, and maybe just maybe people will start noticing this trend.

Um Indianapolis - There are certain games I cannot explain and Indianapolis blowout loss to St. Louis, I cannot explain. I have no idea if this is just a blip on the radar, or if the Colts will continue to regress a bit. I remember calling this team a fringe Super Bowl contender, but fringe Super Bowl contenders do not lose by 30 points.

Cowboys are average again - I feel like Jim Calhoun after Ryan Gomes tore them up when he was at Providence. "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY, I F'D UP."  Dallas is not a good football team. If you can become an absolute shell of your already bad defense when Sean Lee goes out, that means there are more problems than just one significant injury. I also have to believe Lee leads the defensive players in fake NFL WAR.

Overstated my love for Buffalo - Another one where the Calhoun quote could fit. I liked Buffalo because they fight pretty well and do not quit easily.  Well their offense failed to come to play with the return of E.J. Manuel. I am curious to see what happens against New York Jets this week and if the pitchforks start coming at Manuel if their offense struggles again. Granted, the criticism would be undeserving.

Charlie.