The Packers should take note of what the Saints did on Monday night.  Those home divisional games are not to be taken lightly and now New Orleans stands at 7-0 and three games ahead of Atlanta.  Mark your calendars for November 30.  That's when the Saints return to Monday Night Football to take on the high octane Patriots.

Drew Brees notched another 300 yard game and threw for two touchdowns.  Marques Colston caught one of those scoring throws.  While the Packers are taking note of home victories they should also take note of when the 2010 NFL schedule comes out and if they play at noon on the opening weekend, they'd be wise to score first.

Brees 157-230 68.3% completion rate, 2,006 yds, 16 TDs, 6 INTs

Colston 36 recs, 551 yds, 6 TDs

Before we go head first into the first (and hopefully only) Brett Bowl at Lambeau Field let's take a look at this 31-3 win over Cleveland.  The big concerns for the Packers after last week's 26-0 win were pass protecting, running the football and taking advantage of opportunities.

It's one thing to give up five sacks to a team like Minnesota but five sacks to Detroit is unforgivable especially considering the injuries the Lions had to the defensive line.  The Browns got to Ben Roethlisberger three times last week and feature some decent players in the front seven.  But on this day the Packers kept Aaron Rodgers upright and allowed him to throw three scores while getting the fourth quarter off.  That's exactly the kind of performance you need heading into next week's matchup with the rugged Vikings defense.

The Packers opened the game by running the ball ten times in the first 11 plays.  Fans have been calling for more commitment to the ground game and it was clear that early on Mike McCarthy was going to do just that.  But there's a difference between quantity and quality.  Six of those carries were by Ryan Grant but by the end of the half Grant only had 12 carries.  Grant averaged four yards per carry but his longest run was only nine yards.  No explosion against a defense that ranks 31st against the run.  The second half was a different story.  Grant carried the ball 15 times for 100 yards, including a 37 yarder.  Now that's explosion and that's also where Ahman Green will eventually contribute.  Grant is neither a flashy nor a punishing runner but if he can stay fresh in the second half he can do some damage.

Last week the Packers had the ball in Detroit's territory three times in the second quarter.  The Packers came away with nine points.  Couldn't punch it in even once.  Obviously it didn't have an affect on the outcome but good teams exude good habits, including getting it in the end zone when you are given excellent field position.  The only drive that started in Cleveland territory ended with a touchdown but the Packers also had a drive that started at their own 48 off a turnover and stalled at the one yard line of all places.  Two turnovers led to 10 points and against Cleveland's anemic offense that was more than enough.

So how will this translate into success against Minnesota?  Anyone who saw the first matchup knows Minnesota has a fierce pass rush that disrupted Green Bay's offensive flow.  To be sure Minnesota's defense is far better than Cleveland's but coming into the Brett Bowl there won't be any questions about how the Packers looked so bad in protection against a weak team.  Again going back to that earlier matchup, the Packers will need to control the tempo and that will mean the same balanced attack that we saw today.  The best way to keep Adrian Peterson from taking over is to keep him off the field.  I'm not sure how many mistakes Brett Favre will make but both of his fourth quarter turnovers were returned for scores by Pittsburgh today.  The perfect example of a good team taking advantage of opportunities.

I'm not sure that we've seen the best from the Packers yet and I'm not sure if what we've seen over the last two weeks is enough to beat an upper echelon team.  But two wins in a row off a bye is enough to give any team in the NFL a shot of confidence coming into the biggest game of the season to date.

The Brees Index returns as New Orleans was on a bye last week.  Prior to the bye the Saints beat the New York Jets but did so with defense and the running of Pierre Thomas.  Brees has cooled off a bit but the Saints have not at 4-0.  New Orleans will now face the New York Giants tomorrow for NFC supremacy.  This will be a test for Brees as the Giants are deep and talented in the secondary.  The number for Brees and Marques Colston through four games:

Brees 87-129, 1031 yards, 9 TDs, 2 INTs

Colston 17 receptions, 228 yards, 3 TDs

Next weekend the first BCS standings will be revealed and college football will officially kick into high gear.  I try to ignore the preseason polls as much as possible but once October begins the usual jockeying for position becomes all important as teams try to get into the top two. 

As such I paid particular attention to this week's Top 25 and I was amazed at how the polls change with no rhyme or reason.  Both Boise State and USC were off last weekend but for some reason, the Trojans (a one-loss team mind you) leaped over the undefeated Broncos in the coaches poll.  In doing so it will become virtually impossible for Boise State to have a shot at playing in the national championship game unless USC loses again. 

Of course, since there's precedence for one loss teams to leapfrog over Boise State based on no merit whatsoever, Texas and Alabama will both have to lose twice.  Speaking of Texas, the Longhorns have struggled twice with unranked teams (Wyoming and Colorado) while not looking championship caliber in a revenge game against Texas Tech.  Florida has been more impressive but the Gators missed opportunities against Tennessee and LSU to pile on points late in the game.  So if Wisconsin Sports Weekend had a vote in the poll, this is what the Top 10 would look like:

1. Alabama

2. Florida

3. Texas

4. Boise State

5. Virginia Tech

6. Cincinnati

7. USC

8. Ohio State

9. Iowa

10. TCU

The moment the last seconds ticked off the clock at the Metro and Edward Jones Dome last weekend, the focus has been on the Packers/Vikings matchup. I understand the hype and hysteria that surrounds this game, but think we have all become a little too saturated with it all.

Are you feeling the same way? If so (or even if you're not), I hope this short video can at least divert your attention for a short time and make you laugh...Lord know there will be plenty of anxious moments on Monday.

I present to you, a guy catching a laptop in his butt.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW (totally safe for kids and the workplace)

After 8 quarters the general thinking in the NFL was that Drew Brees could not be killed by conventional weapons.  But we learned two things after the Saints 27-7 win over Buffalo: Pierre Thomas can run and Buffalo has a solid defense.  The latter shouldn't be a big surprise.  After all, the Bills kept Tom Brady under wraps for 55 minutes in Week 1.

Brees finished 16-29 for 172 yards and no touchdowns.  Marques Colston was again the go-to guy with four catches for 67 yards.  Despite being held without a score Brees has 9 TDs and 841 yards with a still-impressive 69.1% completion rate.  Colston has 15 receptions for 195 yards.

On second thought, maybe creating a Halloween scene that reenacts Steve McNair's murder scene WASN'T such a great idea. I could see your drunken neighbor doing something this tasteless, but an amusement park? I hope someone lost their job because of this.

Click here to see the awful display.

0-2 Ain't What It Used To Be...There was a time when 0-2 meant you had virtually no chance of making the playoffs.  With so much parity that's no longer the case, so which 0-2 teams have the best chance of playing well into January?  Tennessee is the first to come to mind.  The Titans have lost two close games, including last week's 34-31 loss to Houston.  While the Titans enjoyed most of the breaks last year, that's not the case now as turnovers are becoming an issue.  However, with Jacksonville and Indianapolis coming up the Titans have a chance to gain some divisional ground.

Rex In Effects...Rex Ryan has brought some serious attitude to the New York Jets but more importantly he's brought a great defensive philosophy and that defense was again on display against New England.  The best way to get a rookie quarterback to succeed is to have a defense that can overcome offensive mistakes.  As long as Mark Sanchez plays smart football the Jets will be tough to beat thanks to a stingy defense.  Meanwhile in Baltimore the Ravens are missing Ryan  The Ravens are 2-0 but have given up a whopping 50 points in those first two games.  By comparison, the Ravens gave up 57 points in their last 5 regular season games in '08.

Tony The Paper Tiger...For whatever reason Tony Romo can't win a huge game (other than the '07 Thursday nighter against the Packers).  He has performed well on Sunday night in the past and you could not have asked for a better script for the Cowboys, who yielded just 12 first half rushing yards to the Giants.  However, Romo was intercepted three times, leading to 17 New York points.  Now the Cowboys will play on Monday night, another poor performance will mean fans will be on Romo all season until he wins a big game.

A Place For Ribs...Matt Hasselbeck left Seattle's game against San Francisco with a rib injury.  He hasn't been ruled out for Week Three but it's clear the Seahawks need him out there.  Backup Seneca Wallace did throw a touchdown, albeit a one-yarder after Hasselbeck guided the team inside the five.  However from the start of the second half until the five minute mark of the fourth quarter the Seahawks picked up only three first downs, allowing San Francisco to take control of the second half.  Seattle faces a fired up Chicago team Sunday and the Seahawks will need as much firepower as possible, otherwise 2009 will turn into a repeat of last year's 4-12 nightmare.

Mild, Mild West...The AFC West looks bad...scary bad.  Without LaDanian Tomlinson the Chargers struggled against Baltimore, heck even with him the Chargers barely beat Oakland in Week One.  Kansas City is 0-2 but what is most surprising is that the Chiefs were shredded by Joe Flacco and the Ravens in the opening week but then gave up 109 yards on just seven completions to Oakland's JaMarcus Russell.  Are the Raiders that toothless through the air?  Meanwhile Denver is 2-0 but after being one of the worst defensive teams in '08 the Broncos have been one of the best so far in '09.  Granted Denver played Cincinnati and Cleveland but giving up only 13 points is impressive.  Next up the Broncos face those same punchless Raiders.

As noted before, the first to score during the opening Sunday of the NFL season is due for a big season.  So it's really no surprise that Drew Brees and Marques Colston have come up big after two weeks.  We already know the Saints offense is dynamic and there's the finished-last-the-previous-season factor but consider these numbers:

Brees: 51-68, 75% completion rate, 9 TDs, 2 INTs

Colston: 11 recs, 128 yds, 3 TDs

Most impressive among Brees' numbers is the incredible accuracy.  Already people are talking about the Week Four matchup against the lockdown New York Jets.

Ronnie Brown: Yes Brown only got 10 carries last week (to go with 3 catches for you PPR players) but Miami was sluggish in the second half in a loss to Atlanta.  There are two factors at play for the Dolphins.  First, this is as close to a must-win situation as you can have for Week Two.  Second, Colts safety Bob Sanders will be out again this week.  Sanders missed the season opener against Jacksonville and it allowed the Jaguars to use Maurice Jones-Drew effectively.  Look for the Dolphins to use Brown more.

Denver Defense: The Broncos were impressive defensively against Cincinnati and yes you do have to factor in that Carson Palmer was out of synch having missed the entire preseason.  Nevertheless, Denver faces a Cleveland team that, like Cincinnati, is trying to get on the same page offensively.  Against Cincinnati, the Broncos picked off Palmer twice and sacked him three times, a repeat performance is possible.

Hate Em

Carson Palmer: As stated above Palmer is not in synch with his receivers and it make take a few weeks for that to happen.  Now the Bengals face a Green Bay defense that embarrassed Jay Cutler and can likely do the same thing against Cincinnati.

Calvin Johnson: Speaking of quarterbacks, it will take time for rookie Matthew Stafford to learn the ropes and there might be no steeper learning curve than facing Minnesota's pass rush.  As such, even though the Vikings are weak in the secondary, the sharks of Minnesota's defensive line will smell blood in the water.  That will make it difficult for Stafford to get into a rhythm which will in turn hurt the chances that Johnson puts up decent numbers.

Julius Jones: Seattle's new West Coast philosophy will open things up for Jones throughout the year but don't look for a repeat of 117 yards on 19 carries against San Francisco.  To begin with, 62 of those yards came on one run, furthermore the 49ers come into this game with a good, young defense that shut down Arizona's running game.

Tim Hightower: Arizona wanted to focus on running the ball more and that certainly didn't happen against San Francisco.  Hightower carried the ball eight times for only 15 yards and it appears he will yield carries to rookie Beanie Wells.  Hightower did bring plenty of value to points per reception leagues but don't look for another 12 catch performance against Jacksonville.

New England Defense: Tedy Bruschi retired, Richard Seymour was traded and now Jerod Mayo is hurt.  New England's secondary wasn't particularly strong coming in but the Pats were always able to bank on the front seven.  Now you have to wonder who the defensive leaders are.  Losing Mayo is huge and the Patriots will face a Jets offense that is thoroughly confident in rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez.