And then there was one. . .

It's bye week for the Patriots. Boo!!! I hate bye week.

However, exciting things happened in other games today, including:

1) Miami beat the Jets again. This means that the Patriots stand alone at the top of the AFC East with a 5-2 record. Jets are now 4-4. Sweet!

1.5) What is kind of unfortunate, though, is that Miami is undefeated in the division. This gives the Pats just a wee bit more motivation to win, then. As you may recall, the reason we didn't make the playoffs last year was that our divisional record was worse than the Dolphins'.

2) Tennessee beat Jacksonville, so they are no longer winless. Also, they are clearly not the worst. football. team. ever. So let's all take a moment to savor that 59-0 win just a little bit more.

3) The Rams won too, beating the Lions. I forget the score. But at least the Rams will not be the 2009 equivalent of the 2008 Lions now (if that reference made any sense).

4) Giants lost their third straight. Heh. Eli is sure earning that ridiculously huge salary.

5) Some guy who used to be a Packer went back to Green Bay and played. Game was completely overhyped.

And the remaining winless team is (drumroll please): the Bucs!

What we learned this week

A lot!

1) Buffalo and Cleveland fought to a 6-3 conclusion in favor of the Browns. Both of these teams are officially disaster zones.

2) Brady needs to throw to people apart from only Welker (actually I was not happy with the second half game-calling at all, but I may save that for another post).

3) The Cowboys ain't what they used to be. Or what they should be. They almost lost to the winless Kansas City Chiefs. Kudos to the Chiefs, Cowboys....really?

4) Jacksonville may be the most unpredictable team out there. Last week they destroyed the Titans. This week they were smunched (yes, I invented a word) 41-0 by Seattle. This is not exactly a powerhouse team. Now, I understand when the Raiders get smunched 44-7 by the Giants, even though inwardly it may make me confused (Eli? Was he kidnapped and replaced with a clone who doesn't make stupid plays and throw interceptions?). But not Seattle destroying you. That's just wrong.

5) Matt Schaub has apparently still not learned that the way to win football games is to not (repeat, not) throw interceptions right near the end.

6) Josh McDaniels can look really evil when he's mad at special teams.

7) The Ravens are a team that gets penalized a lot, and not only when they play the Pats.

8) The Patriot tuques are the best (something else I just learned: if you Google 'Patriot tuque,' this blog is the second hit).

Whoa! Vrabel traded, yet another RB signed, bye-bye to Gaffney

Okay, that was unexpected. Vrabel was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Wow. Speculation runs rampant by Reiss on this one, but I think that the main train of thought remains, 'Huh?' Most comments range from, 'That was unexpected' to 'Wow, that was really unexpected.' My gut says that this is bad, but as others are also pointing out, we don't know what we got in return yet. So I shall save judgment until that time (unless it is another running back).

Speaking of which, the Patriots signed running back Fred Taylor, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars (remember when everyone thought they were going to tear up our D during the 2007 playoffs? One of those guys). This means that we now have, like, 87 running backs. Okay, I exaggerate, but not by a whole lot: LaMont Jordan, Lawrence Maroney, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris, and Kevin Faulk. This begs the question of who is going to leave from our side, because I don't know that you need 6 RBs. However, considering how quickly we seem to go through them, maybe you do.

Finally, Jabar Gaffney has gone to the Denver Broncos. Okay, he was the third WR, and he did do his job....but not always.....*coughing* COLTS GAME. So perhaps it is his time to go.

And all of this took place in 1 DAY of free agency. Fun!

Reiss's Mailbag, the NFL hates me

According to Reiss's Mailbag this week, Deltha O'Neal sucks. In related news, we desperately need corners. I don't think anyone will disagree with either sentiment.

The Patriots will be playing against the Jacksonville Jaguars next year. In New England. Grr. At this rate, undoubtedly they will be playing Miami some weekend when I need to be elsewhere.