My apologies for the quick copy and paste post, but this was worth a read. Some of it I agree with completely, some I think is pure horse manure (Mike Martz, ugh!). To my loyal readers reader, I will have my usual, long winded, why do I bother to read this drivel, match-up analysis and picks tomorrow. 'Til then enjoy this little tid-bit...

NFC East

By far the biggest surprise has been the New York Giants. I thought they would have one or maybe two wins by game six. Instead, the intensity of Tom Coughlin has produced on field performance.

A disappointing surprise has been the Dallas Cowboys. They are nowhere near as good defensively and Bill Parcells made a mistake in not drafting Steven Jackson. Instead they selected an already injured Julius Jones.

The Washington Redskins defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, is making an impact and Clinton Portis really is not. Most would have thought that the opposite would have happened.

With the Philadelphia Eagles, there have been no surprises at all. This may be the best football organization not located in New England.

NFC North

The Detroit Lions are the surprise team to me. If Ben Roethlisberger does not win rookie of the year, how about Roy Williams? You can compliment all the so-called skill players you want, but the Lions are a better team because of their offensive and defensive line improvement.

Green Bay Packers are no surprise, except for their Tennessee Titans game on Monday Night Football. I do wonder how much longer Brett Favre can separate his personal and professional life. He only has so much emotion to work with.

Minnesota Vikings with Daunte Culpepper is a surprise, but remember the support that he's getting from Mewelde Moore. When you can find a starter from the 4th round in the draft, you elevate an entire offense, especially the quarterback.

I think the Chicago Bears will surprise people later in the year. I am sure they did not anticipate using Craig Krenzel at quarterback by game seven. On a more positive note, Thomas Jones has been solid at running back.

AFC South

Watch out for Brian Griese and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Personally, I really didn't have a lot of faith in him but he may have found the perfect mentor in Jon Gruden.

In the exact opposite, the Atlanta Falcons are having a good year, but quarterback Michael Vick is not. By Week 10 or so, this West Coast Offense and his skills should begin to mesh, if not, the NFL's greatest athlete may need to sit down for a game or two.

With the Carolina Panthers, losses in free agency in combination with injury have made a Super Bowl participating team look very average.

The temptations of Bourbon Street seem to take the most talented players of the New Orleans Saints and diminish their skills to the average.

NFC West

The Arizona Cardinals are my surprise team of the year. I was going to write all about how real they are, but I've yet to see them on T.V. Arizona is turning it around because of head coach Dennis Green.

The St. Louis Rams have no surprises in that they throw to win, and run to kill the clock. I have immense respect for Mike Martz but I do question that penalty assessment in the Miami Dolphins game.

With the San Francisco 49ers, check out the next seven games on their schedule.

For the Seattle Seahawks, their November 14th game at St. Louis will probably determine whether the Seahawks finish first in the division or even make the playoffs at all.

AFC East

The Buffalo Bills are not a surprise to me at all. Their training camp had all kinds of side issues not related to football and consequently they never got it together offensively.

With the Miami Dolphins, I think they still can win six or seven games because they're too good on defense. Now that they're out of the playoffs they will play with a nothing to lose mentality and that's dangerous.

The New England Patriots are the class of the NFL and will continue to be, but I also really like the New York Jets. Lost in the loss to the Patriots last week was the fact that the Jets held New England to only 13 points, which is a season low for the Patriots.

AFC North

I think the Baltimore Ravens are a surprise because Brian Billick has yet to develop a dominant quarterback. I would not be surprised as all to see Anthony Wright as the starter by Week 10.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are starting to look like the obvious choice in the division. Ben Roethlisberger beats the Patriots, then he will be considered the next Terry Bradshaw. The biggest surprise has been Troy Polamalu at strong safety. For a team to win consistently their number one draft picks must come through as soon as possible and Polamalu in his second year is doing just that.

The Ohio teams - the Browns and Bengals - can go either way. Cleveland competed extremely well against Philadelphia and Cincinnati beat a Denver team that was going into the Monday Night Game as the number one ranked defense and the number four rated offense. Both Ohio teams should be confident in the last two thirds of the season.

AFC South

This is my favorite division. I don't know how the Jacksonville Jaguars do it, but with four wins inside the last minute of a game, you have to ask whether the wins come from skill or luck. I understand the mentality of winning the close games, but the Jags are the Carolina Panthers of 2003. Carolina won seven games by three points or less last year.

Another team on the rise are the Houston Texans. Considering their youth at so many positions the Texans are going to be good for a long time.

I expect the Colts to continue to win again starting this Sunday in Kansas City and would not be surprised if they won their next eight games.

The Tennessee Titans are a mystery to me. Did the absence of Javon Kearse mean that much to the pass rush? What about Eddie George to the team leadership? The Titans are a good team that are not playing up to their talent level, except for the Green Bay game of course.

AFC West

The surprise in this division is the San Diego Chargers. The disappointments are the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. The known quantity is the Denver Broncos.

I still think that Denver will win the division. The question is whether or not the Chargers make the playoffs. They play the Chiefs on November 28 and the last game of the season, January 2. If San Diego can continue to improve in the next month, then both games can be competitive.

Oakland reminds me a little of New Orleans, lots of talent everywhere but something is missing. Maybe the Raiders are missing a dominating running back, like Ricky Williams.

Then there is Denver. I'm am not a fan of any particular team, but I do enjoy watching the Broncos just a little more than anyone else. Rod Smith is the most undervalued receiver and in general, football player there is.