Macca

Reckon we're going to see more coaches like Kelly in the future ... Sanchez looks to be fitting right in as well. Classic match-up of styles next week at Lambeau ... it's the 8.30am game on 7mate as well. Neither team can afford to lose this one - dare I say it ... 'A season definer'

Carson Palmer looks like he's done his knee again ... dreadfully unlucky. Looked an innocuous play but he just planted his leg awkwardly - they may be able to cover for him adequately with Stanton but the rest of their team will not only have to keep up their standards but they'll probably need to get even better if they're going to really challenge. I've also just realised that my likely NFC Championship match-up of Arizona vs Philadelphia may mean a Stanton vs Sanchez duel. Right place at the right time for both these blokes - both teams play more of an all round game so they could both fit in somehow. Romo didn't seem to be hampered at all today and in fact played quite a good game ... Dallas won a game they just had to win and with it, their season might be back on track. All up, the playoff spots in the NFC just got decidedly harder today in 3 of the NFC divisions - 7 teams in a race for 5 spots by the looks of it and 10/6 may or may not get it done for a playoff spot. The AFC is much the same although 9/7 might secure a playoff spot in that conference. Danger game for the Eagles tomorrow - the Panthers would go to 3/6/1 if they lose tomorrow but still be right in amongst it in their division - Philadelphia should be too good but it might be close.

The Steelers and Saints losing & the 49ers, Ravens & Falcons winning does change things somewhat in those teams divisions ... The niners run home isn't that tough apart from a visit to Seattle. The AFC North is so wide open that any of the 4 teams could win that division Same deal for the NFC South except Tampa are almost certainly out of it. Interesting that the Falcons are 3-0 within that division. Big wins for the Lions & KC too. As was expected, no one picked up a point in the toughest tipping comp devised by man. Points tally ... 3 - JV7, Go the Biff, Georgiou R. R. Martin, Dappa Dan 2 - Macca 1 - cowboy_from_hell, pantaloons, Gorgoroth 0 - others Week 11 games (2 points on offer in the 4th of our bonus weeks)

Here goes ... Wild-card weekend Green Bay d Seattle New Orleans d Detroit Indianapolis d Kansas City Pittsburgh d Cincinnati Divisional weekend Arizona d New Orleans Philadelphia d Green Bay (Sanchez d Rodgers? - makes no sense but I'm already committed to the Eagles!) New England d Pittsburgh Denver d Indianapolis Conference Championships Arizona d Philpelphia New England d Denver Super Bowl New England d Arizona I'm not confident about any of the above and I reckon if the Ravens get in they could win the whole thing. Home field decides the Pats/Broncos match-up and the same goes in the NFC. It's certainly a wide open race to the title.

Monday 5.00am - 11.30am RedZone (ESPN) 5.00am San Francisco at New Orleans (7mate) 8.30am NY Giants at Seattle (7mate) 12.30pm Chicago at Green Bay (7mate & ESPN) Tuesday 12.30pm Carolina at Philadelphia (ESPN) All the week 10 games BS Report NFL Week 10 Elo Ratings & Playoff Odds

Dallas Denver Pittsburgh That loss today has got to dent the Bengals overall chances. The Browns may well be more than nuisance value too ... Cleveland Rocks? ps ... I've added the Elo ratings to the TV games post (above)

Loser goes home tomorrow? Friday 12.25pm Cleveland at Cincinnati (ESPN) Monday 5.00am - 11.30am RedZone (ESPN) 5.00am San Francisco at New Orleans (7mate) 8.30am NY Giants at Seattle (7mate) 12.30pm Chicago at Green Bay (7mate & ESPN) Tuesday 12.30pm Carolina at Philadelphia (ESPN) All the week 10 games BS Report NFL Week 10 Elo Ratings & Playoff Odds

NFC Division winners 1 Arizona 2 Philadelphia 3 Green Bay 4 New Orleans Wild-cards 5 Detroit 6 Seattle AFC Division winners 1 New England 2 Denver 3 Indianapolis 4 Pittsburgh Wild-cards 5 Cincinnati 6 Kansas City Conference Championship games Arizona vs Philadelphia New England vs Denver I fully expect to get a number wrong but I reckon Arizona are now going to be hard to displace from the 1 seed ... Seattle & San Francisco just aren't the same teams from previous years ... Green Bay is a biased pick and I reckon Dallas will drop off the pace unless Romo gets back fully fit. The Eagles should win enough games to get the 2 seed. Sanchez is in the right place at the right time and who would have thought he might be able to lead a team back to the playoffs so soon after being virtually written off? In the AFC I reckon it's down to the 4 division winners and I've gone the safe way with the Pats & Broncos in the conference championship match-up ... couldn't find a spot for Buffalo, Miami & Chargers but most unlucky was the Ravens. It's the most wide open for a long time and I don't believe there's one absolute stand-out team. And Dappa, I'll leave it up to you to figure out all the points winners

Not for me, Smithy. Watson is a no.6 - we can and should be giving a young player a chance at the top of the order ... I hear what people keep saying about "knocking the door down" but history tells us that nearly all our best batsmen were never knocking the door down when they were given their opportunity. Also, many players actually get better at a higher level. Especially the young ones. Our method of structuring our side has been a tried and tested one and it works - I see no reason to deviate away from how it's all been done in the past - it's one of the main reasons why we've been the best performed nation over time. Smith is an example of how it all works - he was first picked when he had just turned 21 years old - he certainly hadn't been setting the world on fire before his debut and in fact looked out of sorts at the next level. He subsequently got dropped but fought his way back into the side and now he might even be our next captain.

Dappa Dan has rejoined the leaders whilst I fluked a point in the comp Points tally ... 3 - JV7, Go the Biff, Georgiou R. R. Martin, Dappa Dan 2 - Macca 1 - cowboy_from_hell, pantaloons, Gorgoroth 0 - others Week 10 games

Maxwell was another surprise selection - he, like Mitchell Marsh & Watson should be vying for the one spot - the no.6 all rounders spot. Not sure there's room for 2 of these type of players in the test side unless both are exceptionally good. It's one of the reasons that I've picked Marsh over Watson. If both play then where do both bat if Clarke & Smith occupy the no.4 & no.5 spots? Considering that Hughes was in the squad I would have played him in the 2nd test against Pakistan instead of playing Maxwell - Maxwell is at best a no.6 and we already had Marsh batting in the no.6 spot (Maxwell didn't play in the first test whilst Marsh did) Maxwell batting in the 3 spot was quite a surprise. Again, the selectors will continue to make surprise moves and those moves don't always make a lot of sense. What many may not know is that the captain picks the batting order but what else was Clarke to do when considering the team he was handed? Hughes was next cab off the rank and he should have played if Doolan was going to be dropped. Horses for courses. Again, I would have taken another young top order player on the tour and blooded him if need be.

I like the idea of continually looking to improve the team with young talent - and that young talent doesn't necessarily need to be "beating the door down" to get into the team - for instance, picking Mitch Marsh is a step in the right direction in my opinion. We're not talking 18 year old rookies like we are in the AFL but 21-23 year old shield players who show something. Most of out players who ended up being top players were picked from relative obscurity. The history books tell us that - Border, S Waugh, Hayden, Langer, Martyn and many others hadn't really done much at shield level before getting the call up. Maddinson has previously shown a bit of promise and I like the look of him. Burns and Silk are another 2 top order players who have shown something. As much as Rogers* has done quite well, I would never have picked him when the selectors did so. Hughes has been found wanting previously because he doesn't have an all round game (strong through point but not strong with his other shots) I'd be looking for new blood and over the decades, the selectors have normally taken that path with fruitful results. That doesn't mean that Hughes won't make a success of himself if he gets another chance - it simply means I'd be looking elsewhere for the time being. *I've picked Rogers for the Brisbane Test because that's what I believe the selectors will do - my whole team is based on what I think "they" will do. If it was me picking the team I wouldn't be finding room for Rogers, Hughes or even Lyon. Replacing Haddin if he's injured is another tricky one - Wade & Paine may not be the next choices in the selectors eyes - again, the selectors might decide to pick someone else if Haddin doesn't come up - Hartley or Nevill might get a chance. One thing we do know is that the selectors normally spring a surprise or 2. Rogers himself was a surprise selection for the 2013 ashes campaign in England ... however, the biggest concern I have is the fitness & health of our fast bowlers. I like the idea of having a full squad to choose from.

The Rams have beaten the niners & the Seahawks ... that's the great bit about the divisions in the NFL - all the teams within those divisions know the games of their rivals so we therefore often get a lot of close divisional matches. Great D today by the Rams. Arizona is next for St Louis - the Cards had better be on their game for both their encounters. I fancy the Colts tomorrow but they'll need to jump out of the blocks against the Giants.

Their spinners wouldn't ordinarily be suited to our tracks but Ojha & Ashwin are both tallish spinners and might get a bit of bounce like Lyon does on our tracks and ... they've got a young batting line-up as opposed to the aging batting line-up that was here last time. We should win but I'm not sure we'll have it all our own way like we did the last time they were here. A lot will depend on how they handle Johnson and if Johnson continues on his great form ... I'd ideally like to see Harris back and firing too. A 3-1 series win beckons though, if we're on our game. Marsh deserves a go after his debut ... Maddinson or Silk might come in and bat at no.3 but it will probably be Hughes. I'm tipping there will be one surprise selection for the 1st test and also, Haddin will need to prove his fitness - I hope he comes up. My possible eleven for Brisbane ... Rogers Warner Maddinson or Hughes Clarke Smith Marsh (Mitch) Haddin Johnson Stark or Siddle Harris Lyon

I was being a little sarcastic, Smithy ... not sure there's too many t20 fans on this thread! I'm just a little stunned that the national team is now going to play the shortest form of the game just 2 days after finishing a test match .. do Warner, Smith, Maxwell, Johnson and Marsh play in these games? ... ordinarily, they might be selected to play. Haddin too, if he was fit.

... and this series was originally meant to be played over 3 tests Comprehensively beaten and I'm not sure we can take anything out of the series other than Mitch Marsh showed a bit. It's going to be interesting to see the make-up of the 11 for the first Test against India. Question marks surround the 2 seamers to support Johnson and ... the make up of the batting - who bats at no.3? Does Rogers stay as an opener? Marsh over Watson or maybe both play? I'd go with one of them only but we need to find a no.3. Not sure Doolan is the answer but he might be persevered with. Anyway, you'll all be "pleased" to see that the t20 internationals are next - in 2 days time!! Yep, that's right, we play South Africa on Wednesday night in the first of 3 x t20 games. Then it's 5 ODI's against the Proteas before India arrive for 4 Tests.

The Steelers & Ravens really don't like each other, do they? Stand out moments today ... 49ers losing - that's gotta hurt The Pats are right back in business and maybe Denver aren't that good The Eagles,KC, Cinci & Arizona all had vital wins Miami might be a good team and are the Vikes back in it? Seattle win in unimpressive fashion but Pittsburgh continue to impress. And Dappa, picking those division winners, Conference match-ups and wild-cards is going to be hard work - I'll have a go in a day or so.

Now Misbah has equalled the record for the fastest hundred - he now shares the record with Viv Richards ... 100 off 56 balls. It's all happening Chasing 603 to win are the Aussies

We can never get tired of this clip can we ...

Misbah just hit the fastest 50 in the history of test cricket - 52 off 21 balls in 24 minutes.

We've played poorly and the conditions whilst not in our favour, can't be the sole reason. A lack of concentration against good quality spinners stands out for a few of our blokes. Credit to Pakistan - they've completely outplayed us. They've always been a capable opponent who often haven't performed up to expectations but in this series, they've been very very good - I like their leggie (Yasir Shar) ... he looks to have a bright future.

I can't see him playing but they're saying he might - hasn't practiced all week so he'd have to be doubtful - you'd think. Romo Has Fractures In Back; Might Play Sunday

We look a completely different team, Smithy. The saving grace is we're not going to revisit these type of wickets for quite a while.

Tough, tough week to find 3 road winners ... a point gained this week will be invaluable Eagles Colts Arizona

Excellent array of TV games this week ... Friday 11.30am New Orleans at Carolina (ESPN) Monday 5.00am - 11.30am RedZone (ESPN) 5.00am Arizona at Dallas (7mate) 8.30am Denver at New England (7mate) 12.30pm Baltimore at Pittsburgh (7mate & ESPN) Tuesday 12.30pm Indianapolis at NY Giants (ESPN) All the week 9 games The BS Report NFL Week Elo Ratings & Playoff Odds