The Weak Ender

The Weak Ender, printed early so ESPN's Bill Simpson can use it to make his picks.

The Redskins cheerleaders are so hot ... (how hot are they?) ... Michael Strahan said that he would go straight for them.

Seriously.

In a move more contrived than Troy Aikman doing a commercial where a girl repeatedly sacks him, Strahan announced that the Skins have the hottest cheerleaders in the NFL. But Stahan picks women like A.J. Smith picks coaches so can we really trust him? After some judicious research, the Redskins cheerleaders aren't bad.

Props to Sports By Brooks for the find.

RAIDER WEEK
Some people never seem to learn.

Everybody seems ready to deem the Chargers ready to challenge for the AFC again after their thrashing of the Broncos last week. But this only sets up a huge Norv-like meltdown this week against the Raiders. Sure, the Raiders have lost 15 consecutive games against the AFC West. But Norv was responsible for the bulk of them. Norv also had a habit of losing to the Cowboys when he was the coach of the Redskins. No, this game has the perfect set-up for a Chargers meltdown. The Chargers nearly gagged this game at home last year, and even though Lane Kiffin isn't the next John Madden, he isn't Norv Turner.

Say what you want about Marty Schottenheimer, but he knew how to beat the Raiders. Marty was 27-7 against the Raiders. He couldn't win a playoff game, but at least he knew how to clean up against his rival. Something that could not be said for Norv.

BTW, how big was last week's game at Denver? That victory probably saved the lives of more than a few Chargers fans. Think about it. Had the Raiders -- who are already in first place -- rolled in here against a 1-4 Chargers team ... well Raiders fans would have been real stabby with a crowd majority. Now the split will likely be about 60-40 in favor of the Chargers, instead of the 80-20 it would have been in favor of the Raiders if the team had lost in Denver. Look for Chargers fans fatalities to be only in single-digits.

THIS WEEK'S GAME OF THE CENTURY
Don't bother getting excited for the Patriots vs. Cowboys game. This one is going to be a runaway for the Patriots. Road team winners on Monday Night Football don't normally perform well the following week. A trend that will be compounded when you play one of the two good teams in the NFL. This game would be tough for Dallas -- especially given the way they won -- if they were playing New Orleans. They have no chance to win against the Patriots. Let's not forget that Wade Phillips also has a propensity to gag in the big games, too. This one is set up perfectly for Hoody, who hasn't had to play a decent team yet this season.

But that won't stop the talking heads from scratching their heads and wondering what went wrong for the Cowboys, as they were blown out. Peter King will sit there dumbfounded, trying to figure out how the Cowboys could have lost so bad. If you can't see this Cowboys loss coming, then maybe you shouldn't be paid to talk about the NFL.

• What do you figure is the over/under on the number of drops for Terrell Owens? Randy Moss will miss this head-to-head competition going away. When did T.O. turn into this limp-wristed pansy, a glorified version of Brandon Lloyd? This was a guy who recovered from a broken leg and almost made Donovan McNabb a winner. Now he's as jumpy as Michael J. Fox on a Red Bull bender.
  

• But before we crown the Patriots (donkey), let's remember this is a really old football team. The injuries haven't set in just yet. Moss started his Raiders career with a bang, as he looked unstoppable in his first five games. But then he pulled up lame with some injury and that was that. The Patriots have avoided the injury bug so far, but the hammer is going to drop soon.

• If there is one concern about the Kurt Warner Machine is that he has thrived in that relief role. How is he going to react if he gets pounded over a full game? That's a legitimate concern. Warner played great in the first game last season, but after he got knocked around a few times, he lost his job to Matt Leinart. However, that might not be too much of concern because Arizona quarterbacks have only been sacked five times this season. The Cardinals will win the NFC West if the protection holds up. If not, it's Tim Rattay time. Enough said.
  

• The St. Louis Football Team has been bellyaching about their injuries, and true, they have had some key injuries. But look at the Chiefs and the team the SLFT plays this week, Raven, who also has been stung. The only problem is that those teams have found a way to win a game, while the SLFT has found ways to lose.

• How come Randy Mueller is not getting any criticism for making the worst hire outside of Turner? What made him think that Cam Cameron was a good hire? Hiring a former NFL coach in college makes sense. Pitt and Nebraska thought they were probably getting the next Pete Carroll when they hired the Porn Stache and Bill Callahan. They didn't. But what did the Dolphins think they were going to get when they hired a coach who failed at Indiana? Maybe Joey Porter should start talking about that.

• The Bears just ought to let Devin Hester drop back at quarterback and let him run wild. Or better yet, they could put Brian Urlacher behind center and use him the same way that Florida uses Tim Tebow.

• The Brett Favre interception record has lost some luster because he notched the touchdown record first.

• The Panthers will likely start Vinny Testaverde. Bring back the XFL. The NFL needs a feeder league, especially for the quarterback position. And th teams need to commit to it, too. Because the quarterback situation in the NFL is just awful. Like Damon Huard is cleared to start in Kansas City and people are happy about this.

SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALL RIGHT
Or maybe it's Sunday night. Boise State will play host to Nevada on Sunday night, in a game that should be much more exciting than the NFL tilt happening at the same time. And if given a choice, yours truly would rather be watching that game. But that's not the only WAC game playing on an off night, as Hawaii -- led by Heisman hopeful Colt Brennan -- will get Friday night all to itself. Obviously the WAC is trying to get a few votes for Brennan, but that would assume that Heisman voters actually watch West Coast football games.

• Most experts believe that USC will vent some frustration on Arizona, but don't be so sure. USC will likely start Mark Sanchez at quarterback and take some time to get rolling. So the Trojans should bounce back, but just don't look for it to be some sort of a blowout. This one will be closer than you think.

• Anybody remember when Penn State was undefeated and Joe Paterno had found the fountain of youth? Me neither.

• Speaking of coaches who need to retire -- when Florida State is losing to Wake Forest, it's time to pack it in. Yes, Wake Forest is much improved, but come on. It's Wake Freaking Forest.

AND FINALLY
The Yankees seem intent on firing Joe Torre, and that's fine. But the team needs a total overhaul. The Yankees rose to the top by bringing up guys such as Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera. Now is the time to get younger and jettison some of the veteran players. They've already made a great start, but they need to fully commit to the youth movement.

And maybe that means going with Joe Girardi or Don Mattingly, too. Do you think Torre wants to hang around for a youth movement? Or more to the point, should the Yankees pay a manager $7 million during a youth movement. Probably not.