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If you guessed piling bags of money into his own private armored truck and logging the directions to Julius Peppers’ house, you’d probably not be too far off. According to Don Banks, that’s the likeliest landing place for the best of a reduced free agent class. Knock us over with not surprise.

For the rest of Don Banks’ guesses, head here to si.com for a good read. His hunches? Karlos Dansby to the Giants, Darren Sproles to the Washington Snyders, and the Ravens trying to fix their receiving corp with Kevin Walter and Terrell Owens among other guesses.

That was a rather epic Colts/Pats game last night. Even for those two teams who have played a series of memorable games this decade. And this one will be remembered for Bill Belichick’s riverboat gamble late in the fourth quarter. Especially because it backfired rather spectacularly. No second-guessing on this one, people were first-guessing all over the place. 4th and 2 on your own 28 up six with two minutes to go? You do that on Madden ‘09. You don’t usually see that in an NFL game. Course, if it had worked…genius! At any rate, on to the chattering heads, where that decision and other NFL items are on the plate:

—Don Banks at si.com with Snap Judgments and this amongst other items:

There are no bigger frauds in football than Rex Ryan’s big-talking Jets (4-5), losers of five of their last six games after that 3-0 start. And let me quickly remind everyone that I had fully bought into New York before it got off to a fast getaway, predicting in the preseason it would be an AFC wild-card qualifier. Missed that one.

Ryan keeps talking up his team, but it sounds like so much hot air now that the Jets have lost three consecutive home games to AFC opponents Buffalo, Miami and Jacksonville, none of whom played the Jets with a winning record. The Jaguars were the latest opponent to expose New York’s once-boastful defense, rolling up 347 yards against the Jets and their shoddy tackling, including 139 on the ground. Mathematically, the Jets remain in the AFC wild-card picture. Realistically, they’re done for the year. That loss to Jacksonville was basically an elimination game. And don’t look now, but New York is headed to New England next week. The Patriots, no doubt, have a bit of revenge on their minds.

Uh, yes. Revenge. That and the need to get the taste of the late loss to Indy out of their mouths would appear to make that one a looming bloodbath for the Rex Ryans next week. And if that comes to pass, 4-6 is dead ahead. I will be tuning in this morning to see if Mike Greenberg lights himself on fire on Mike & Mike. Again, after the first three weeks of the season on that show on Monday devolved into a four hour Jets talk show, this development is kinda amusing. In fairness to the Ryan, losing Kris Jenkins on defense as the anchor in the middle and Leon Washington on offense has been pretty damn crippling. Still, injuries have to be overcome if you want to be elite. And the Jets don’t appear to be.

—Clark Judge at sportsline.com with Judgements and this thought among others:

Bill Belichick’s thinking. I’m sorry, but I can’t help but pile on. You don’t give Peyton Manning the football at the New England 30 with two minutes left and dare him to score. But Belichick did. He’s supposed to be smarter than everyone else in this business, but what he did with two minutes left makes absolutely no sense. By taking the risk, he delivered a loud and clear message to his defense, and it went something like this: I DON’T TRUST YOU! At least, he didn’t trust it to stop Peyton Manning. “You have to trust and believe in your players,” said former Patriot Rodney Harrison, now with NBC. “This is the worst coaching decision I’ve ever seen coach Belichick make.” That took guts, Rodney. But you’re right.

I don’t know what guts that took, I am relatively sure Harrison wasn’t due to be at the Belichick house for Thanksgiving dinner. As for the call, maybe he really doesn’t trust his defense. I guess the problem, potentially, is that now they know it. At any rate, the call also said a lot about just how damn good Peyton Manning is right now. Go ahead and ship him the league MVP trophy. If his presence on the sidelines causes such a call, and a lot of folks are defending it, that says as much about Manning’s greatness this year as it does about the call itself. That going for it there is even an option is about Manning.

While we’re kicking around sportsline, Pete Prisco isn’t down with the call either. At all.

—John Clayon at espn.com with Last Call and this notion:

The Falcons, who fell to Carolina 28-19, are making too many mistakes at critical times. Matt Ryan threw a second-quarter interception on a long pass to Michael Jenkins, increasing his interception total to 12. After Ryan threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Justin Peelle to cut the Panthers’ lead to 21-19 early in the fourth quarter, coach Mike Smith made a debatable decision to go for the two-point conversion. The effort failed. Then Ryan got a little too greedy with 3:59 remaining in the fourth quarter by going deep to Jenkins from the Panthers’ 49 on a first down. Cornerback Richard Marshall intercepted the pass. Three plays later, Jonathan Stewart broke open the game with a 45-yard touchdown run. The Falcons’ offense seems lost when Michael Turner isn’t breaking long runs. Turner suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and couldn’t finish. There is some speculation it might be a high ankle sprain, which could sideline him for a couple of weeks. The Falcons were out of sync after that.

The Falcons are 5-4, and basically are battling the NFC East runner-up for a wild-card spot. Sunday’s loss puts more pressure on them. Atlanta plays the 5-4 New York Giants next Sunday in Giants Stadium. On Dec. 6, it hosts the 5-4 Philadelphia Eagles. If the Falcons don’t fix their problems, they could lose to both teams, and subsequently lose playoff tiebreakers down the road.

It’s not like Atlanta doesn’t have weapons on offense aside from Turner. Roddy White has been damn good at WR, as has Tony Gonzalez at TE. Too many mistakes from Matt Ryan have not helped. And, at 1-4 outside of the Georgia Dome, they have been an atrocious road team. That doesn’t bode well for a game that will shape the season for both teams next week in New York against the Giants.

—Bucky Brooks at nfl.com with capsule looks at each game including this:

The Bengals’ defense hasn’t exactly flown under the radar, but the unit’s sensational performance against the Steelers is another example of the outstanding play that has become a trademark of the group. The Bengals held the Steelers to 226 yards of offense and relentlessly pressured Ben Roethlisberger. Cincinnati relied on a mixture of five-man pressures to complement its standard four-man rush to keep Roethlisberger on the move. While those four-man rushes involved some stunts and twists, the Bengals didn’t blitz much, which allowed the team to commit more defenders to coverage and keyed their surprising suffocation of the Steelers’ passing game.

It’s a testament to good drafting several years ago of physical defensive lineman who are starting to come into their own that the Bengals finally have a defense worthy of their division. When Antwan Odom went down, I figured they were about to get gashed again up front. But relative unknowns like Frostee Rucker and Jonathan Fanene have risen to the occasion and been smart and physical a the point of attack. For years I have watched Pittsburgh and Baltimore replenish their fronts with 3rd, 4th, and 5th round types and been jealous. Finally, Cincinnati appears to have joined that party.

As for my thoughts on the day, ntyc, read on:

—Whatever the merits of Kyle Orton vs. Jay Cutler, there is no doubting the merits of Kyle Orton vs. Chris Simms. That would be Orton, in a landslide. With Denver’s fast start all of a sudden teetering with home games dead ahead against the fiery hot Chargers and desperate Giants, they better hope that Orton can go. Simms’ second half of 3 for 13 for 13 yards was positively Jamarcus-esque.

—Speaking of Jamarcus, benched again in Oakland, and this time Tom Cable thinks it may stick. Damn. His weekly stat line was one of the fun things about Mondays this fall. For the record, in case he doesn’t go against Cincy next week, that was a 9 for 24 he put up against KC for 67 yards. His replacement? Bruce Gradkowski, who was 4 of 8 for 46 yards. Course, Gradkowski threw two picks, and Russell had none, so Russell had that going for him. Oakland is back in the qb market next April…

—Does Jeff Fisher’s stubbornness at sticking with Kerry Collins get remembered in light of how well Tennessee is playing now that Vince Young is back under center? And, weird how focusing the offense on Chris Johnson is paying dividends…

—Looking at the highlights montage on SC, it would appear that an eruption of Mt. Owens is imminent.

—At 5-4, Green Bay is right back in the thick of the Wild Card race in the NFC. And that is due in no small measure to their defense finally showing back up. As much heat as Aaron Rodgers has taken for his high sack total (and he should), the bigger issue in Green Bay has been that the Packers defense has been, by and large, very bad this year. Shutting out Dallas from 58 minutes, though, that was noteworthy.

—Any team in the NFC who is 4-5 or better is very much alive for the Wild Card thanks to Philly’s latest gag and Atlanta’s continued troubles. Lovie Smith of the 4-5 Bears should send gift baskets to Andy Reid and Mike Smith.

—As for tonight’s game, given how angry Baltimore is, and how really not good Cleveland is, it is hard to come up with a scenario where that game is in doubt into the second quarter. Give me the Ravens in a 30 – 10 or so romp.

The Saints and Colts grind toward perfection. The Texans once again come up painfully close to joining the kids at the big boy table. The Giants lose the cover of the Yankees. The Packers continue their passive aggressive quest to see Aaron Rodgers maimed. On to the national types:

—Don Banks, per usual, to the head of the class with this thought amongst many others in Snap Judgments at si.com:

I’m starting to think Carson Palmer owns the Ravens. He’s now 8-3 in his career against Baltimore, and the Bengals quarterback looks like he’d love to play the Ravens every week. No fear. No hesitancy. Just execution. Palmer was even better than his 20-of-33, 224-yard day would indicate.

Hey, thanks for belatedly noticing, Don Banks. Coming into yet another week where for some reason that kind of seemingly pertinent stat was widely ignored, under Palmer, yes, the Bengals have been very tough against the Ravens. I am kinda hoping that might be remembered when those teams take the field again in 2010. When Palmer is healthy, the Bengals have a chance against most any team in the league. As for Ced Benson’s continued resurgence? His second 100+ yard day of the season against Baltimore makes him the first back to do that against the Ravens in a season since Jerome Bettis in 1997.

—Clark Judge at sportsline with Judgements and this thought:

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why Tom Coughlin says he was “misunderstood” when he termed his team’s meeting with San Diego a “one-game season.” If you take that stand, then lose — which the Giants did — what does it mean for what follows? It means you’re toast, which is why Coughlin sought to clarify those remarks.

He did what now? I missed that quote heading into Sunday’s game. Good luck spinning that in the aftermath. As for the loss, Coughlin and his offensive coordinator earned it. 1st and goal from the four with a three point lead and two minutes to go, and three uninspired play calls later they settled for a field goal. One, you may want to throw it there. Two, the we-pound-you-regardless meme took a hit when they couldn’t pound it in while not throwing it. And that against a Chargers front who has not been all that stout this year. The heat in NY will be high today. As it should be.

—John Clayon at espn.com with Last Call and this note:

The Wildcat seems to have run its course in Miami. The formation is effective at times, but it doesn’t produce victories. The novelty is over. The Dolphins lost to the Patriots 27-17, and once again, the Patriots contained the Wildcat. The Dolphins tried to confuse the Patriots by putting quarterback Pat White in an option formation. That worked for 52 yards on four plays — including a touchdown — in the first half. In the second half, it produced 8 yards on four plays. Over the past three weeks, defenses have found ways to keep up with the Dolphins’ imagination. The Dolphins’ worst moment of Sunday’s loss came on a second-and-8 at the Patriots’ 44. Quarterback Chad Henne was split out at wide receiver. Ronnie Brown took a direct snap and got the ball to Henne, who was sacked for an 11-yard loss, which put Miami out of field goal range with the Patriots leading 24-17.

The problem with the Wildcat is that it takes a quarterback out of his rhythm when he’s being shuttled between quarterback, wide receiver and the bench. Henne was 19-of-34 for 219 yards and two sacks. The NFL is a game dominated by quarterbacks who get into a rhythm. The Dolphins continue to lose to those types of quarterbacks. Tom Brady was 25-of-32 for 332 yards. The Dolphins are 3-5. It’s time to rethink the strategy. To win against the good teams and the good quarterbacks, the Dolphins need more than a running game that revolves around the Wildcat.

I don’t know that I agree with this. In fact, I don’t. How were the losses to the Colts and Saints late the fault of that offense? Seems to me that the Wildcat helps mask some real deficiancies in Miami’s receiving corp and gives them a chance to win games they might otherwise not. Hell, even while shoveling dirt on the offense, Clayton notes it got Miami to a score early. Miami wants to fix what ails it? Start with their defense.

Vinny Iyer at Sporting News with his Checkdown column and this note:

Fresh off their second loss to Brett Favre and the Vikings, the Packers couldn’t hold a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and lost to the previously winless Buccaneers by 10. For Aaron Rodgers, sacks continue to be a problem, and Green Bay’s poor protection boosted Tampa’s struggling defensive line. After allowing six more sacks, the Packers are on pace for yielding 74. On defense, they have produced only 13.

Packers fans want to be mad at Ted Thompson? Go right ahead. But make sure the focus of the anger is targeted correctly. Keeping Aaron Rodgers and making him quarterback? The right move. Although points off for trying to control the end of Favre’s career. Putting the line from Unneccessary Roughness in front of Rodgers to block? Simply cruel. With games left at Pittsburgh and home to Baltimore, Rodgers may have traction in his future.

Bucky Brooks at nfl.com with capsule looks at each game including this:

The inability to stop the deep pass continues to undermine the Chiefs’ chances of winning. Kansas City allowed Mike Sims-Walker and Jarett Dillard to slip behind the defense on bombs. Sims-Walker, in particular, delivered two game-changing plays (a 61-yard touchdown reception and a 45-yard catch-and-run) that helped the Jaguars jump out to a 24-6 lead that was ultimately too much for the Chiefs to overcome. The Chiefs have allowed a league-worst 12 completions over 40 yards this season and rank as one of the worst pass defenses. Until defenders stop allowing balls to fly over their heads, Kansas City will continue to have a tough time winning against top teams.

Perhaps. Seems to me that all that little problem needs is a motivational poster…

As for my thoughts, trademarked n.t.y.c., read on:

—Tough ending to what started out as a good day for Matt Stafford, but there remains no question in my mind that Detroit is finally off the quarterback merry-go-round. They have theirs. And if he can stay on the field for these last eight games, he will get the valuable learning season out of the way and Detroit can start to focus their rebuild elsewhere. Like defense.

—Hey! Vince Young! Or, perhaps, more correctly, hey! Chris Johnson! No shock to me that with consistent carries to Johnson the Titans have won two in a row. Young has managed a nice game, but Tennessee’s puzzling refusal to consistently build offensive gameplans around Johnson cost them games in their six-game slide to start the season. At the least, it didn’t help. I still am befuddled over Johnson’s just getting nine carries when Tennessee faced Indy earlier this year. At any rate, focusing on Johnson is a good way to help fix what was ailing the Titans.

—Andy Reid clearly owns David Akers on his fantasy squad. And, as a fellow Akers owner, I am glad he does. Kicking a 52-yard field goal when down by seven with four minutes left in the game rather than trying to get the tying touchdown? Great moments in fantasy entrant. And a dumbass moment in real life coaching entrant.

—One more Bengals note (because I can reminder), the key to their defensive resurgence has been the maturation of the two former first round corners Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph. The ability to leave your corners on an island is a wonderful thing. And, in case you have not noticed, and you probably have not, Leon Hall is crossing over to shutdown corner status. He should be in Hawaii (er, South Beach) this year.

—If Pittsburgh takes care of Denver tonight, we have a race again all of a sudden in the AFC West. A Broncos loss would put them at 6-2 just one game ahead of the Chargers with a return game to Denver for the Chargers looming. And it says here that Pittsburgh wins tonight, 21-10.

Revenge. Dished cold and all that. The talking heads are on that and other things this morning. To the chatter:

—Don Banks, leading it off as usual, with Snap Judgements and this on the Cowboys’ day:

Believe it or not, the Cowboys’ 38-17 home-field destruction of Seattle on Sunday sets up next week’s NFC East first-place showdown at Philadelphia, with 5-2 Dallas testing its new-found mojo against the 5-2 Eagles. To the winner goes the undisputed grasp of the division’s top spot at the season’s mid-point, no matter what the floundering Giants (5-3) do next week at home against San Diego. Honestly now, a month or so ago, with the Cowboys 2-2 and in a bit of disarray coming off that humbling loss at Denver, did any of us see a first-place battle in the Cowboys’ not-too-distant future? Yes, I see that hand, and you can put it down now, Mr. Jones.

To be sure, the Cowboys didn’t play their best game in trouncing the fading Seahawks (2-5). They left some points on the field, and gave up a good chunk of yardage defensively (Seattle had 308 total yards). But you can also see a team that’s starting to believe in itself, and the Tony Romo-led passing game is finally humming at early 2007 (or better) levels. Dallas scored five touchdowns, and four came from the previously maligned receiving corps: Sam Hurd, Roy Williams, Miles Austin and Patrick Crayton. True, Crayton’s score came on an 82-yard punt return, sealing the deal in the third quarter, but the important point is that the Cowboys’ playmakers are taking turns making plays. And that’s when an offense starts to take off. Romo finished 21 of 36 for 256 yards, and three scores, but the best part of his day was completing passes to 10 receivers, with none having more than Austin’s team-leading five receptions for 61 yards. Gone are those bad old days of the T.O. era, when Romo looked tortured if he didn’t get the ball to No. 81 early and often. Romo is now content to find the open man, no matter who it is, and keep moving the chains. He has gone three consecutive games without an interception, the first such streak of his career.

Yes, that’s a nice run. But let’s be somewhat real here, it’s not December yet, and Romo is in the middle of his November comfort zone. The questions with Romo and Dallas will not be answered this month. Still, wins are wins, and the flaws with New York visible for all to see, no reason why Dallas cannot figure it has as good a shot for the NFC East as the Giants or Eagles.

—Clark Judge at sportsline.com with Judgements and this note amongst others:

Don’t tell me Eli Manning’s sore foot isn’t affecting his passing. He looks like a different quarterback, and while he insists the plantar fasciitis isn’t interfering with his play (“It feels great”) he seems to have trouble stepping into his throws. Manning doesn’t agree, and that’s OK. I wouldn’t expect him to. But his coach at least admits it’s possible. “I’ve seen that a couple of times on the practice field,” Tom Coughlin said. All I know is the guy who was bulletproof the first five weeks has gone in the jar the last three — completing 49.6 percent of his passes, with six interceptions and no passer rating above 61.0. In his first five starts, he hit on 64.4 percent of his passes, with two interceptions and four passer ratings of 104.1 or better — including one perfect score of 158.3. Something is wrong, and Eli needs to get it fixed.

Ah yes. The foot. Had forgotten about that. Week one of the foot injury was the beatdown of the Raiders. The following weeks of the foot injury were against NFL varsity teams. And that’s when the issues have been. So, foot? Or playing varsity defenses? And IF it is the foot, well, what up, Tom Coughlin? Didn’t the Giants used to have a running game? What of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw? If you quarterback is playing dinged, can’t you protect him and control the game by running? Issues all over the place for the Giants. They owe a debt of thanks to the Yankees this morning for distracting the local populace a little with some goodness…

—John Clayton at espn.com with Last Call and this note:

Ravens solve Broncos: The Ravens were the first team to unravel the mystery of the Denver Broncos, who had their six-game winning streak snapped in a 30-7 blowout in Baltimore. In many ways, the Ravens’ defense had a perfect game plan. Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton doesn’t throw the ball long. Entering the game, he had only 16 passes that went longer than 21 yards in six games. The Ravens kept one safety deep in coverage and designed their pass defense to keep Denver’s receivers in front of it. “We blitzed a lot more with a safety playing high,” Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth said. “It puts pressure on the secondary but it also put pressure on the quarterback. The way to beat that is screen and hitches, but we did a good job of coming to the ball.” Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis said the key was keeping receivers Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal in front of the defensive backs and rushing three and four defenders to stop them. It worked. Orton passed for only 152 yards; according to ESPN Stats & Information, Orton completed only 4 of 10 passes for 17 yards when the Ravens brought extra pressure. On offense, the Ravens negated the ability of Denver’s defense to make second-half adjustments by coming out in a no-huddle and working at a tempo that wore down defenders. Joe Flacco completed his last 14 passes for 159 yards.

Yeah, nice gameplan from Baltimore, although I think this one boils down to something simpler. Baltimore needed this one desperately to avoid falling to 3-4 and kissing the division goodbye, while Denver at 6-0 and three plus games clear for San Diego, didn’t need it so much. Desperate good teams will be beat non-desperate good teams more often than not. As for Baltimore’s defense being “back” as I am sure I will here a lot of this week in locally here in Baltimore, we’ll see. In their next four weeks they have a return engagement with Carson Palmer, as well as games against Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers on the slate. Those quarterbacks will get the ball downfield more than Cutler did yesterday.

—Bucky Brooks at nfl.com with capsule looks of the week and this note:

The Panthers’ success on the ground against the Cardinals, who entered as the league’s top-ranked rush defense, was a surprise when considering how Jake Delhomme had struggled. With that in mind, the Panthers faced steady diet of eight-man fronts designed to stop DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart early on. However, the tactic failed miserably as Carolina rushed for 270 yards on 44 attempts and dominated the game. The key to the success was the use of a slot formation against Arizona’s eight-man front. By placing both receivers on the same side of the formation, the Panthers were able to draw a defender outside of the box on the two-receiver side due to the threat of a pass to Steve Smith. With fewer defenders able to commit to stopping the run, Stewart and Williams found soft spots when running to the tight end side.

What the hell, Arizona? Just as I was buying into the “new” Cardinals, you unleash that? It’s one thing to lose to Carolina, it’s another to do it while letting the Panthers run all over your previously number one against the defense run defense. I will chalk this up to “overlooked them” after the big win against the Giants, but, yuck. You can thank the football deity you hang out in the execrable NFC West for allowing you to get away with crap performances like that.

As for my thoughts, trademarked ntyc, here they be:

—I feel bad for Packers fans this morning. This whole thing came about because of their front office’s stubborness, really. But it had to be a craptacular feeling watching Favre return and throw four touchdowns for the Vikings. If Favre stays healthy (a big if), still no reason to see Minnesota as anything other than a Super Bowl contender in the NFC.

—Browns fans owe Buffalo a note of gratitude. I am still not certain how Buffalo lost that game to them a few weeks back, but it may be what keeps Cleveland from 0-16. And that’s including me acknowledging the games Cleveland has left with Kansas City, Detroit, and Oakland. Of all the lost franchises in the NFL right now, Cleveland may be the most puzzling. They have had a boatload of high draft picks over the years, and have hit on so very few of them. Organizational failure from the top down. And, while we’re here, the insistence on continuing to start Derek Anderson? Now it’s weird. It made sense to give him a look a few weeks back, but he’s been historically awful since. Unless he’s playing the Bengals (who he for some reason just loves lining up against), he should be in the locker room. They need to go back to Brady Quinn, if only to make certain they should be drafting a qb next April early.

—Big “quiet” win for Houston yesterday in Buffalo, in exactly the kind of game they usually lose. On the road, against a team they should beat in November, has in previous years been a recipe for failure. Perhaps Gary Kubiak is finally pushing the right buttons for that team. His benching of Steve Slaton after a Slaton fumble was bold, and Ryan Moats ran like his hair was on fire when given a chance in Slaton’s stead. At 5-3, they are going to be Wild Card relevant late into the season. 10 wins remains a possibility for them, and they own an important head to head tie-breaker over Cincinnati.

—So the Titans re-discover Chris Johnson and get a win? I have always thought Jeff Fisher an outstanding coach, but his misplacing Johnson after week two this year was as big a reason the Titans were 0-6 before yesterday’s win as anything else. If he will keep feeding Johnson, Tennessee will win several more games this year, even with Vince Young being the one handing the ball off.

—The Lions, still the cure for what ails teams, non-Washington division. The Rams, playing to avoid 0-16, frankly, did what they had to do, which was ride Steven Jackson to a win. At the least, now St. Louis can play without worrying about the history books. As for Detroit, they would probably like to get everyone healthy and o the field at some point this year. Finally got Matt Stafford back, and still can’t put Calvin Johnson with him.

—The Chargers are still only Wild Card relevant at this point, and I am having a hard time buying them for that, when they continue to struggle with teams like the Raiders. Eight point wins at home over Oakland are puzzling for a team with San Diego’s talent.

—As for tonight’s game, Atlanta needs this one fairly badly, as a loss would give them three and put them into the Wild Card scrum with Chicao, Green Bay, and most of the NFC East. They may be desperate, but New Orleans is simply better. Saints 31 Falcons 24.

…that the NFL’s Week 3 Pre-season winners were:

—The Packers and Aaron Rodgers who are absolutely decimating their opponents this pre-season. Can they carry it forward? I think Aaron Rodgers is for real, and, yes, so is Green Bay. Don’t sleep on their defense either, which is active and forcing turnovers at a noteworthy rate, even for fake games.

—PJ Hill, the latest unknown find in the Saints’ backfield. Writes Banks:

Just as they did a couple years ago in discovering the undrafted Pierre Thomas, the Saints might have found themselves another gem of a collegiate free-agent running back in P.J. Hill. The former Wisconsin Badger carried 12 times for 83 yards and a couple touchdowns in that slaughter of the Raiders on Saturday, and now has scored three times in New Orleans’ three preseason games.

—Early signs are also good in New Orleans on their re-constructed defense. And with a little defense, that is probably the favorite in the NFC South.

Losers from Pre-season Week 3? He’s got some:

—Carolina, where their defense has looked the opposite of New Orleans’ this pre-season, in that Carolina isn’t stopping much of anyone.

—Diva receivers Brandon Marshall and Michael Crabtree for obvious reasons.

—Chan Gailey. Because, you know. Fired. After three pre-season games. I type that and remain amazed.

News, notes, and other stuff of interest as the NFL’s off-season Super Bowl approaches:

—This is weird from the National Football Post:

A general manger told me that he expects Cleveland to trade Brady Quinn this week but he’s not sure what team he will be heading to. The prevailing feeling in the NFL is that the Browns like Mark Sanchez and have spent considerable time getting to know everything they can about him.

I, ah, what? That would be a really strange lateral move, in my view. Let’s write that one off to “noise”.

—It’s a few days old now, but in case you missed it, Joe Posnanski’s musings on the evolution of the draft at si.com are worth your time.

—Don Banks finally, grudgingly, moves Matthew Stafford to the Lions in his latest mock draft. Welcome to reality, Don. But Banks has a twist, he drops Aaron Curry all the way to pick eight. I must say, if Curry is sitting there at six, he doesn’t get past the Bengals.

—Wah. An article about how draftniks are slighting an Ohio State defender? Why ever would that be? Hmmm…the mind reels. Pick James Lauernitis at your own risk, NFL teams. And don’t expect Pro Bowls to follow.

—Scout.com with their top 25 prospects, mock drafts aside.

—This mock draft from scout.com gives Michael Oher to the Bengals at #6 overall. That is not going to happen.

—The latest collected mocks at sportsline include one that, like Don Banks, drops Aaron Curry down to pick eight. Again, I just don’t see him getting past the Bengals at #6 were that to happen next Saturday.

—The other big change in draft thinking over the last four days have been the indications that Seattle is interestd in Mark Sanchez to begin the eventual replacement process for Matt Hasselback. If so, that will end a lot of the trade up intrigue for Sanchez.

Odds and ends from NFL Combine chatter:

—The always excellent Don Banks at si.com on what faces the Lions (and others at the top of the draft) when it comes to the usual default choice there—qb:

“There are plenty of hesitations within the league when it comes to expecting early results from a highly rated junior quarterback, and the track record of such picks is less than comforting. Yes, Ben Roethlisberger was the exception to the rule in 2004. But for every Big Ben — and there’s only one — there have been an Alex Smith, a Tim Couch, a Ryan Leaf, a Heath Shuler or an Andre Ware.
…
Most NFL coaches and personnel men characterize ‘09 as a down year for quarterbacks in the draft, and there’s a good chance for the first time ever the first four off the board will all be juniors: Stafford, Sanchez, Kansas State’s Josh Freeman and Ball State’s Nate Davis. While Ryan and Flacco both led their teams to 11-5 records and trips to the playoffs as rookies, the bar of expectation is being set considerably lower for projected first-rounders Stafford and Sanchez.

Sanchez will enter the NFL with a meager 16 career collegiate starts at USC, where he did at least spend four seasons after red-shirting his first year. Stafford was a three-year starter for Georgia, but he also just turned 21 two weeks ago. To expect either one of them to pull a Ryan or a Flacco later this year seems to me a flight of semi-fancy”.

Fair enough. And tough luck for a Lions team that it is a down year for quarterbacks in yet another year where they desperately need a franchise quarterback.

—In case you missed it, here is si.com’s take on the top 10 prospects at each position heading into the Combine.

—Nice read from Peter Schrager at foxsports.com on what he considers the top questions heading into the Combine, including:

“Who will be this year’s small school breakout star?

Last year, Leodis McKelvin (Troy) and Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie (Tennessee State) were small school stars who made names for themselves with standout combine performances. Names to watch at this year’s combine? Cal-Poly wide receiver Ramses Barden, Liberty running back Rashad Jennings, Abilene Christian wide receiver Johnny Knox, Stillman defensive tackle Sammie Lee Hill, Jackson State cornerback Domonique Johnson and Hartwick quarterback Jason Boltus.”

Rodgers-Cromartie was a revelation in the playoffs for any who had not caught his act in the regular season for the Cardinals. And, of course, it will be axiomatic that at some point in the Combine the patron saint of small school players, Jerry Rice, will be invoked by one of the talking heads as they wait the latest measurables from the small school hopefuls.

—An early mock draft? Version 4.0 at foxsports.com is here. They have Michael Oher, the Michael Lewis subject Ole Miss tackle going second overall. They give Mark Sanchez to the Lions, which is about 17 spots higher than I have heard he is currently slotted.

—At sportsline.com, for example, Clark Judge is raising the warning flag on Sanchez. It’s a one-year starter thing. As a Bengals fan who suffered greatly through the one-year college starter high draft pick to professional bust Akili Smith era, I understand the warnings.

The NFL Network has their usual wall to wall coverage at 11:00 am est Saturday and Sunday as the Combine wraps up over the weekend. Head here for the schedule. The sweat will be in glorious HD.