A Dream Deferred 
"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun or does it fester like a sore--and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat or or crust and sugar over--like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load..." -Langston Hughes-

"...Or does it explode?"

You should have seen what I had in store in two weeks when we had the first and probably only ever 0-16 and 16-0...I was going to lead with Charles Dickens first paragraph of his classic book A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." But I now have to lead somewhat unexpectedly (but not disappointingly) posing a question from the classic Langston Hughes classic poem. A Dream Deferred. A season of dreams and hopes all came crashing down this season as the undefeated Pack fell to the "wildly incosistent" Chiefs (I just may change the name of the 2011 Chiefs team to the Wildly Inconsistents...the Kansas City Wildly Inconsistents...hmm it has a nice ring to it), and much more importantly, Indy finally suffered a victory at the hands of the "who is their highly paid running back again?" Titans.

I hope you guys took my advice last week and savored the moments of complete victory and utter defeat like a fine glass of wine, by opening the bottle and letting it breath (weekly following the wins and the losses stack up), pouring a glass and enjoying the aroma (digging in to how the wins and the losses were happening), and finally taking the sip and realizing that the experience leading up to the moment can never be had again (until the bottle of next season is opened), and so it is gone.

And if you did not get enjoyment out of the polarity that this season brought for a while, then you slammed it back like a Bud Light and really, what enjoyment is there to that? (I guess it is not until the 8th or so Bud Light that the enjoyment begins, but I digress). But there is a bright side to the Colts blowing the loss, the race for the #1 Powerless spot is back on and also, #2 still seems in play with the Bucs coming on weak, so sit back, relax and enjoy a bumpy race to the bottom these last 2 weeks of the season!

We're Going Streaking!

"We're going up the quad and to the gymnasium."

Teams are really putting their worst foot forward to end off the season. I'm sorry guys, I am sticking to ranking only the 5 most Powerless teams in the League, not 10. So drop these last 2 and let the chips fall where they may! Here are the top losing streaks in the NFL right now:

1. Tampa Bay - Lost 8 and are making a strong case for cracking the top 2 in the Powerless Rankings.
2. Buffalo - Lost 7 what a colossal meltdown...this makes sense though.
3. Minnesota - Lost 6 this scrappy bunch has just plain run out of gas.
4. St. Louis - Lost 5 after a couple wins in the middle of the season, they have regained their form.

Colts Recap

Game ball goes to Orvlosky

Yep, this is a little different as I usually do my Bengals recap, but I just had to go over a few points about the Colts first W. I could see the handwriting on the wall, and this disappointing win was foreshadowed in my blog last week. Indy was not going to give up the 500 point benchmark needed to go undefeated. Also they are playing in one of the most injury decimated, underperforming, and reorganizational divisions in football, so they were bound to get at least 1 of these last 3 (and quietly, I wouldn't be surprised if they finish off the season with a 3 game win streak defeating Houston and Jax), but again, I digress.

The thing that sticks out here the most is the anemic rushing attack of the Titans and their "feature" back CJ2K (who might as well have been C3PO the way he ran). I know Indy has the 30th ranked pass D, but that doesn't mean you let Hassleback go hog wild tossin the pigskin. Even if you get down a bit, keep plugging away and eventually Indy will crack. This game says a lot about the mental weakness of Tenny and the ineptitude of Chirs Johnson. CJ carried the ball 15 times for 55 yards, for 3.7 ypc, but when you take out a 35 yard scamper you get the truer tale, 14 carries, 20 yards for 1.4 yards per carry. (Without that long run, CJ2K would have to change his name to CJ1K because he would have been below the Mendoza Line. (Non baseball guys, google it)).

Tenny threw it 56 times, if your name is not Marino, Brady, P. Manning, that is just not a good idea. Tenny also lost the turnover battle and when you're on the road in this league, that is tough to overcome...not to mention the Raideresque penalty yards racked up. That's how the Colts dropped the W, it was really the Titans who handed it to them and showed they wanted the loss more, much more, and in the process ruined our dreams of another Defeated squad while jeopardizing Indy's draft position, but more importantly, their Powerless Ranking.

2008 Lions Celebrate

Boats and whaaaaat!?!?!?!

They will deny this in public, but I've got an insider with the 2008 Detroit Lions who said the celebration of Indy's win got a little out of hand. There were Cubans, $1,000 bottles of champagne, women for hire and passing references to a boat kept being made. I even heard that Kim Jong Il was present...could the Detroit celebration have caused the demise of the cruel dictator? You make the call. Former players even set a few cars ablaze for good measure. Again, publicly, they deny all such allegations of reveling in the end of the misery of a team, but I will say my source is reliable and I know who I believe!

The Sweepstakes

I have purposely avoided talking about Andrew Luck all season, because to me, the kid is just another unproven QB with great potential. We've seen this story before, so until he proves himself on an NFL grid iron, he will be just another QB to me. (Keep in mind most successful QB's in the league were not the 1st pick or even a 1st rounder. But, because this Luck saga will effect the career of one of the, if not the, greatest QB ever, I have to mention it. Indy win was excruciating because now, you have 2 teams who are just a game back for the #1 draft pick with 2 to play. This will be very interesting for a couple of reasons. Everybody kinda assumed that Indy was headed straight for Andrew Luck in a bizarre collision course which would have knocked Peyton out of town, but now it seems the #1 pick is still in play.

You want this guy or Luck?

Should Indy now (after clearly showing they weren't tanking purposely, i.e. starting Orvlosky) now blatatnly tank by starting Painter and benching Wayne and Garcon? If Indy loses the #1 draft pick, would Peyton still want to play there, or would he pull a Carson to get out of town. Would Indy have to do damage control so they would not end up in a Lamar Odom taking being offered in a trade personally type situation. If they lost the #1 pick, would they trade up to get it? And this is the biggie: WHO WILL PEYTON PLAY FOR NEXT YEAR? That could be a game changer, injury be darned! The question is tantalizing...I won't go into who has the best chance to land him or who needs him most or who would he go play for (obviously a contender) because that is not my deal. But I will continue to follow the developments and ask the pertinent questions that I often ask myself.

Powerless Rankings

It is the most wonderful time of the year with Indy stumbling arse-backwards into a win the race for the Powerless just heated up this blistery month. Of course as I talk about major shiftings being in the wind, the 1-4 spots remain unchanged, but trust me, this is just the calm before the storm.

1. Indy (suffered a disappointing win, and now all of a sudden, they don't look to have a lock with their next 2 games coming against a playoff team, but with a rookie 3rd string QB and the Blain Gabbert led Jags-there is at least another win in there for them)
2. St Louis (perennial #2 now has an opening to take if they want)
3. Tampa Bay (the Bucs continue to do all the wrong things to strengthen their position in the bottom of the stacks...it is not inconceivable that they could end up in the 1 spot depending on how things shake out over the next 2 weeks)
4. Minnesota (Minnesota, will probably finish right in this spot, because I don't see anybody that can overtake them, and the 1-3 will all interchange positions but not rise out of the bottom)
5. Jax (has the #5 spot for the week, I imagine this spot will remain the musical chair that it has been until the dust settles on week 17)

Dishonorable Mention: Buffalo (trying hard to crack this top 5 and they are getting weaker by the day, don't be surprised if they sneak in and nab that #5 spot); Cleveland (as usual they are making a B-line to the bottom, but it may be too late and  judging by the lack of quality in the top 4, even Cleveland may not make the cut)

Now for some Honorable Mention 

Future household names?

Andy Dalton tossing for 3,000 yards this season as a rookie (I think only the 5th NFL QB to ever do that!!!!)...Congrats kid! Now hopefully Mike Brown hires a GM and expands the scouting department before Big Red gets fully Bungalized; AJ Green for catching 1/3 of Dalton's 3G, going for 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign. Great job guys!

One Hitter Quitters

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. will do 90 days. Whatever, can we just stop expecting our athletes to be perfect and also, we should not teach our kids to put their full faith in any person because no person is perfect. We have to manage our expectations of athletes and all people. On another note, you can put your complete trust, confidence, faith and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ...I'm just sayin...

I think Harrison has a legitimate point on the Browns organization being penalized. Of course the NFL would never do that, and they proved as much by saying they wouldn't. Why shouldn't the managment take some blame for putting the guy back in the game? But I'd like to clarify, Harrison is not a dirty player, he is a hard hitting, nasty SOB...which is what you want on your D...that said, he needs to tweak his tackling and perhaps this offseason NFL coaches should take it back to the basics and do some "pee-wee" league tackling drills.

I almost didn't mention the Bengals as a team and they are my team, but in a blog that features the lower-echelon teams, mediocre just doesn't cut it! It is hard to believe the playoffs are still within reach for them, but they will have to win out against the Cards and the Edgar Allen Poes (Ravens for the uninitiated). I think to have a shot. I will recap the Bengals v Cards next week, but just couldn't because I needed to do the Indy game due to the momentousness of the occasion.

Lastly, I just upgraded from my Blackberry Curve to the critically acclaimed HTC Rezound...what was I thinking holding on the Curve?????? This is the first time ever I've been on the cutting edge of technology and with an iPad 2 on the way courtesy of Moms...this is a huge deal for me! Highly recommend the Rezound...

Check back in next week to see if there will be a major shift in the ranks of the Powerless, and we'll also look to see if the Bengals playoff hopes are still alive and other good and great things!

As usual thanks for reading

And in the truest sense, Merry Christmas!!!