Greeson: Jaguars still worst despite beating the odds

photo Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) hands the ball off to running back Knowshon Moreno (27) against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Denver.

Way to go, Jacksonville. You stayed within four touchdowns of Denver. All of Ohio -- and Vegas -- loves you.

You still are the worst NFL team not involving Matt Millen since the 1970s Tampa Bay Bucs. Yes, those Bucs, the Fighting Creamsicles, whose coach accurately described them with two famous postgame quotes.

When asked about his team's execution, John McKay said he was all for it. After another particularly bad showing, McKay met the media with this gem: "We didn't block today, but we made up for it by not tackling."

So there you go, Jacksonville. You are as bad as those awful Bucs teams on the field and nowhere near as entertaining as them off the field.

The top five NFL teams:

1. Denver -- Peyton Manning's brilliance has become such a common storyline that even Bob Costas is tired of it. Imagine for a second what the local football landscape would be if Manning had picked the Titans rather than the Broncos 18 months ago. Wow. And quietly every Titans fan reading just stared blankily into the distance and whispered, "Rosebud."

2. Seattle -- Yes, the Seahawks have lost and the Chiefs -- No. 3 on this list -- are unbeaten. The Seahawks are still better than the Chiefs because Russell Wilson is greater than Alex Smith, and Marshawn Lynch is greater than Jamaal Charles, espeically in the postseason.

3. Kansas City -- That said, the Chiefs ignored being the upset special pick last week by everyone with a Mr. Microphone and a keyboard. K.C. did it with a relentless defense -- 10 sacks? We don't get 10 sacks at the Wal-Mart, for crying out loud -- and a home-field crowd that got so crazy it registered a Guinness Book of World Records mark for the loudest crowd roar. The noise reached 137.57 decibels; according to the Smithsonian, 140 decibels is the equivalent to a gun shot or a jet engine taking off at 200 feet and is considered dangerous with any length of exposure time.

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

4. New England -- Tom Brady is like the former walk-on college quarterback who torches intramurals with a bunch of guys from the dorm. When some of his pieces start returning to the board, the Patriots will jump from checkers to chess. Plus, the defense is starting to come together.

5. New Orleans -- The Saints snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in New England on Sunday when Brady and Co. scored the winning touchdown with 0:05 left. It was a tough loss, especially for a defense that had played exceedingly well for about 59:55.

Bottom five:

28. Minnesota -- Reports have newly acquired Josh Freeman being close to starting at quarterback for the Vikings. Freeman was the face of the Bucs to start the season before being released earlier this month. The bad news, of course, is he'll be the third starter for the Vikings in less than half a season. The good news is it's hard to imagine he'll be worse than Christian Ponder or Matt Cassel.

29. Washington -- Things have turned so badly for Robert Griffin III and a porous defense that in an effort to find the silver lining, a friend of mine sent this to me: "The Washington Redskins are changing their name because of all the negativity, shame, humiliation, dissent, polarity, adversity, defiance, hatred, animosity, contempt, discrimination, division, violence, counter-productivity, ill-spirit, ungodliness and hostility associated with their name. From now on they will be known simply as the Redskins." Thank you, thank you, and remmeber to tip the wait staff.

30. New York Giants -- Things have turned so quickly for the Giants and Eli Manning that now Cooper has passed him in QB rating. Ouch. Hey, while you were reading this, the Giants committed another turnover.

31. Tampa Bay -- We mentioned the genius of John McKay earlier. At the other end of the coaching spectrum is current Bucs boss Greg Schiano, who told The Associated Press after Sunday's 31-20 loss to Philadelphia, "The only thing I can say to the fans is, if they can hang in there, we're going to be good. If they can't, we're still going to be good, and they're welcome back. I'm not being smart; I mean that." If McKay were still alive, he'd likely reply: "He's 100 percent right. He's not being very smart."

32. Jacksonville -- Jacksonville is fourth in the four-team AFC South. They'd be no worse than second or third in the SEC West, though.

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter at @jgreesontfp.

Upcoming Events