The Weak Ender

Have there been two more perplexing teams in the NFL right now than the Baltimore Raven and Carolina Panthers who meet on Sunday? Raven is 4-1, but the team just can't score, no matter who the quarterback is. Is there a least impressive 4-1 team than Raven?

Alright, St. Louis. But people expected Raven to make the playoffs.

Maybe Brian Billick should try to make a trading-deadline deal for Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper who could likely be landed for a couple of seventh-round draft picks and some Stacy Keibler Raven cheerleading trading cards.

The Panthers have been playing so badly this season, you should probably check to see if any of the stewardesses on the team charter are pregnant. The team is often the victim of injuries to which, at some point, you have to question the training staff and conditioning drills of the team. Like they need some Erin Brockovich to investigate the club's training site and stadium. Maybe the team�s headquarters are built on top of an old Indian burial ground, at which point hiring Craig T. Nelson as coach might not be a bad idea.

• The St. Louis football team is off to a tremendous start. And those who picked them as a sleeper team are busy patting themselves on the back. St. Louis plays Seattle (twice), San Diego and Carolina in four of the upcoming five weeks. Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. Anybody remember Rich Brooks in 1995?

• Everybody is getting worked up over the Buccaneers team page that has a spoof of "Deal or No Deal" in its intro. (The Bucs staff has been doing stuff like this for years.) The cartoon is sort of funny, and it is not as objectionable as some people have made it out to be. However, if your quarterback had say, lost his spleen during a game, maybe you wouldn�t be so cavalier about jokes like this. Just saying is all. Thanks to Flash and Sports By Brooks.

• The NFL picks were horrible last week, so bless anybody with the good sense to go the opposite way. But take this advice, the Saints will cover at home against Philadelphia this week. Ah hell, take the Saints to win this thing.

• As your college football expert, take Boise State without even looking at the spread. Boise could be at (-100) and that is still a good bet. The Broncos have been unbeatable against the spread in recent weeks, and like they do in Las Vegas, don't bet against a streak. Unless of course you are one of those card-counters who sees doom and gloom around every corner. You don�t mess with a streak even if you "feel" that a team can�t keep doing it forever. Make Boise State steer you the wrong way.

• Kurt Warner indicated that he might step down this year if he continues to be a back up. Warner has just been unable to catch a break since leaving St. Louis a few years back. The Giants were cruising towards a playoff berth when they benched Warner in favor of the Messiah. Then he goes into Arizona with a clueless Dennis Green. It�s a shame because Warner would seem like a better alternative to the quarterbacks situations in Denver, Miami and Dallas who could use a winner. On a side note, the Wade Blogs has a note on the top No. 13 players of all time.

• Somebody pointed out that Corey Lidle would likely be alive if the Yankees were still in the playoffs. You just knew that they would get around to blaming A-Rod for Corey Lidle's death. Yeah, if A-Rod hadn�t choked in the playoffs again, Corey Lidle would still be alive. You people are sick.

• The baseball playoffs have been fun. Not having the Yankees or the Red Sox out of the playoffs really eases the anxiety level of watching the playoffs and rooting against them. Luckily there is no anxiety about waiting for Tony LaRussa to win a title as he gets his smug ass handed to him. You know what would have made it better? If the Mets had kept Kris Benson, meaning the camera would be trained on Anna Benson sitting in the stands.

AND FINALLY
Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens said this week that he has yet to find his rhythm with the team thus far. That is kind of hard to imagine seeing that he spent most of the preseason on an exercise bicycle. Catching errant passes from Drew Bledsoe takes a lot of getting used to.

There also seems to be a lot of debate lately asking which receiver you would rather have�T.O. or Randy Moss. The enigmatic Raiders receiver sure has more upside, but his penchant for quitting is kind of troublesome. There are those Randy apologists who will reason that Randy is only quitting because the Raiders are so horrible. That is true. But does that also mean that Moss will be giving back all of that money he is earning from the Raiders? Hardly.