Macca

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

Might do the same ... can only find 3 locks for the division titles and they're all in the AFC. The NFC is a nightmare to figure out - especially in the West

Sounds good to me, Dappa I'll have a go in the next few days whilst it's on my mind. Maybe after Fridays game - that Saints @ Panthers game shapes up as a season definer for that division.

lol ... maybe like the tipping comp - bragging rights and kudos only I'll need a day or so to come up with my final 8 (or 12 if we want to add in the wild-card teams) This year is the most wide open for a long time - I'm not even convinced with Denver yet. There's literally about 20 teams that could make it ... the half way mark of the season seems the right time to have a go at it. Closest to the pin wins hey? If we do the whole 12, I'll be trying to fit Buffalo & Pittsburgh in the AFC & there's gonna be at least 2 decent sides miss out in the NFC.

In reference to Dilfer's "The Update League" I took him as meaning that things can change from week to week in the league (sometimes dramatically so) He was in a discussion surrounding the loss by Dallas and I'm supposing that he maybe now has doubts (again) about the Cowboys. Them losing does keep your blokes within striking distance and Dallas have 3 tough games in their next 4. Romo hurt his back again and may have done some damage - apparently the x-rays came back negative but he's had major back issues previously. Anyway, trying to come up with the AFC & NFC conference championship game contenders is a bit of a task ... I could only go with Denver right now and any number of teams could fill the other 3 spots. Tipping the last 8 for the divisional weekend is even tougher Should we have a dash at it at this early stage, Dappa?

I still wasn't game to pick 'em outright though JV Definite trap game wasn't it? Washington came to play and Dallas didn't deal with that very well. The doubts remain with the Cowboys - the big thing about this sport is the immediate exposed form. All the other teams would have been watching tonight, especially their upcoming opponents. Dallas are at the Jags in a fortnight but surrounding that game they are vs Arizona, @ Giants and then vs the Eagles. Trent Dilfer just described the league as the "Update league" and I reckon he's right on the money.

He's still quite young but you watch your games so I'm tempted to take your word for it. Interesting that Alex Smith went 24/28 with a total of 226 yards for KC - lots of short sharp throws and he plays within his limitations - or at least it seems Reid instructs him to do so.

Any team with a rash of injuries can create a lack of depth in various positions ... and, there are a stack of teams who have a rash of injuries. So, your issue is the same issue that many other teams have. Therefore, it goes without saying in my opinion. I could offer the same reasoning behind our loss to the Saints today but I don't see the point. All teams should be able to cover for injuries as a matter of course ... the difference being if a Brady or a Peyton goes down - these type of players in no way can be covered for. Foles should have been instructed to throw the ball in those last 3 plays so that the throws were well inbounds (say, a couple of yards in) ... he's not an elite QB so therefore he needs to play within his limitations (like Smith @ KC) I still maintain that none of those 3 throws could have been caught inbounds with a degree of certainty. The 'final drive' was excellent work by Foles but I was specifically referencing the last 13 seconds when I referred to "crunch time" ... I actually think he's got a bright future but even the best QB's have a degree of conservatism about themselves. It's one of the reasons why elite QB's generally have a low percentage of interceptions. Re the Saints game ... I'm looking at my team to blow the other mob out of the water and get the quick kill. We leak points as a matter of course so we nearly always need to score heavily in order to beat the better teams. Therefore, keeping pace or doing "ok" just isn't going to cut it. The expectations are to win and win well but I'm more annoyed than disappointed with today's result. We're a lot better than what we displayed today.

We have been through this before but I'm baffled why you even mention injuries when you must know that many other teams have the same issues or worse ... it kinda goes without saying. About the only time I've made mention of an injury on this thread is when Rodgers went down - mainly because without him, we're a 6/10 team at best. Other injuries to many other starters can be covered. If anyone has a right to moan it's probably me about the Packers injuries but ... I don't like making excuses as a general rule. Here's an interesting article ... Packers Injury Luck Among Worst in NFL In Recent Years ... scroll down to the NFC North section for some eye-opening details I disagree with you about the first half in the GB/NO game ... we had 3 rock solid chances for TD's in the first half and could only turn them into field goals ... our way of winning against good teams or on the road is to turn our redzone chances into TD's. The Saints had our measure from the early going and were far too good ... our run defense is woeful and again, I offer no excuses. New Orleans strength is their passing game game so they smashed us in both forms of offense. 44 points is just too many points to allow if we're going to contend. Re Foles ... go back (if you can) and have a look at those last 3 throws again ... not one of them could have been caught inbounds with both feet in. He was trying to thread the eye of the needle and was offline on each occasion. He should have been under instruction to at least make sure a TD could have occurred.

Tom Jackson & Trent Dilfer both reckon it was the correct call but I'm not sure they're able to get all those calls right anyway - it's such a grey area ... there were 13 penalties called in the whole game so maybe they were being consistent. Didn't see much in it to be perfectly honest. Dallas are 9.5 favourites tomorrow but I reckon that line is a little high considering it's (A) a divisional game and (B) this has 'trap' game written all over it for Dallas. Washington have been less than impressive though and it's hard to see them winning, all the same.

I wouldn't be too concerned going forward ... These grassless, somewhat dusty, turning tracks won't be encountered too much in the future ... these type of wickets are a bit of an achilles heal for our blokes but upon checking the future tours program, we won't be encountering these type of decks until mid 2016 (when we visit Sri Lanka for 3 "scheduled" tests) We're scheduled to visit Bangladesh in late 2015 for 2 Tests but I can't see them being too much trouble regardless of the state of the wickets ... not sure the last time that Sri Lanka beat us in a series either (if ever) Early 2017 represents a big challenge when we visit India again for 4 Tests but playing in India has always been a big challenge.

3 of us picked up points in the comp this week ... 2 points as well ... the Packers & Indi let the rest of us down. Points tally ... 3 - JV7, Go the Biff, Georgiou R. R. Martin 2 - Dappa Dan 1 - cowboy_from_hell, pantaloons, Gorgoroth, Macca 0 - others Week 9 games (back to 1 point only ) It's still not too late to join in the comp and with the leaders only being on 3 points, it's anyone's race. Not many surprise results in today's games although the Steelers might be a lot better than many thought ... Big Ben had an immense game and they're only a half a game back in the AFC North ... their next 4 - vs Ravens, @ Jets, @ Titans, vs Saints are all winnable. Detroit might be finally shaking off the choking tag and their next 4 might tell us how good they are ... vs Miami, @ Arizona, @ New England, vs Chicago. Arizona keep winning and the 49ers & Seattle must be getting a bit concerned now ... Buffalo, Miami, KC & Houston all winning keeps those 4 teams within striking distance.

All teams get injuries ... it's not the only reason you're 3 & 5. Your QB just can't get it done on a consistent basis - and, you're stuck with him by the looks of it. You may as well tank the rest of the season now The Saints have been far too good today ... the Packers haven't really looked like it. Rodgers has looked a little incapacitated but we've been outplayed in nearly all areas. No excuses. If New Orleans get their act together, they'll win the NFC South in a canter - trouble is, they're not much chop on the road. Watched your game this morning and whilst Foles numbers looked quite good, he couldn't get it done in crunch time.