Competitive balance in the NFL is so strong that a team going from “worst-to-first” in its division is becoming an annual tradition.  For the seventh consecutive season – an NFL record – at least one team has finished in first place in its division the season after finishing in last place.  In fact, out of the 32 teams in NFL annals to go from “worst-to-first,” 15 of them have done so in the past 10 years (2000-09), including an NFL-record three such clubs in 2006.

One of the teams to make the remarkable turnaround in 2006 did so again in 2009…all the way to a Super Bowl victory.  The New Orleans Saints, whose 8-8 record saw them finish last in the NFC South in 2008, improved by five wins en route to a 13-3 record and a division title for the second time in four seasons.  The Saints also became just the third club to go from “worst-to-first” and cap the season with a win in the Super Bowl, following the 1999 St. Louis Rams and 2001 New England Patriots.

TenYards.com wishes the best of luck to last years cellar dwellers: Washington, Detroit, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Buffalo, Cleveland, Jacksonville and Kansas City.

The teams to go from “worst-to-first” in their division since 2000:

Rosters must be at or below 75 players by Tuesday, August 31, 2010 and to the roster limit of 53 by Saturday September 4, 2010. The Vikings currently have 79 players listed on their roster.

There will be some tough decisions needed to be made by the team in the next week. 

It’s going to be a short week for the Vikings as their final preseason game will be on Thursday. For many players this will be their last shot to impress the coaching staff and make the team.

In an attempt to find a replacement for the injured Sidney Rice, there are currently 12 wide receivers on the roster. Look for that number to be cut in half. 

With their sixth round pick the Vikings drafted Joe Webb, a quarterback from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. The original plan was to move Webb to wide receiver, but after an audition at quarterback during mini camp, the Vikings changed their mind, and liked what they saw.

That leaves four quarterbacks on the roster.

The starter is not in question, and the consensus is that the Vikings are so high on Webb that he has a lock on the number three spot. 

That leaves the backup role. Tarvaris Jackson went into camp as the projected starter with Sage Rosenfels as the backup.

Through three preseason games Rosenfels has out played Jackson.

Rosenfels has completed 28 of 40 passes for 381 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions for a quarterback rating of 133.4.

Jackson, on the other hand, has only thrown 18 passes, completing 10 for 58 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. His rating is a pedestrian 61.8.

Is there anyway Rosenfels makes this team?

The veteran backup, starting his ninth season, Rosenfels has played in 32 games completing 351 passes for 4,156 yards with 30 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. His career rating is 81.2.

For Jackson, four years Rosenfels’ junior, in four season he has played in 33 games. He has completed 545 passes for 3,618 yards with 21 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. His rating is 77.9. 

For the Vikings the question is, who is the quarterback of the future? A future, that is one injury of Brett Favre away.

Jackson has had plenty of opportunities to impress. He has a 10-9 record in 19 starts for the Vikings. Not good enough for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

The decision may come down to who has the best trade value.

Either way, with only one preseason game remaining, and no opportunity to develop either as a starter on another roster, the most likely trade would be to a team looking for a competent backup.

The Vikings could attempt to cut Webb and then assign him to the practice squad. This is an unlikely scenario. The Vikings, with a high opinion of Webb, would not risk having him claimed off the waiver wire by another team.

That means it’s Jackson or Rosenfels.

Unfortunately, there’s no way Rosenfels makes this team.

Brad Childress has favored Jackson since he drafted him in the second round of his first season as head coach.

To release him or trade him would, in some way, admit he made a mistake.

Look for Rosenfels to get plenty of snaps in the final preseason game as an audition for any teams in need of a backup.

“My reaction was that I can . . . belch just like the rest of them,” the 28-year-old Rockford resident recalled. “But they told me I couldn’t (join) because I was a girl.”

Now that she’s found a couple of male-dominated leagues of the virtual games that she could join, she’s holding her own and determined to go to the top.

“There’s something about whupping the boys that’s appealing to me,” McNamara said.

Showing up men isn’t necessarily their motivation, but many women are passionate about playing fantasy football, a game that puts you in the position of “owning” your own National Football League team.

It’s fantasy in that you draft players from throughout the NFL to form your team. Then you decide which of your team members will play in a given week. Your team scores points based on how those players perform – touchdowns, yards gained, etc. – in actual NFL games.

Fantasy games are played in various sports, but the 21 million Americans who play fantasy football make it the most popular fantasy sport, according to a 2008 survey.

About 20% to 25% of those fantasy football players are women, estimated Paul Charchian, the association president of the FSTA.

Fantasy sports are appealing to fans because the gaming gives them a greater stake in sports they already love, said Erica Halverson, a fantasy football player who has made fantasy baseball part of her research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“It’s kind of an intellectual fandom,” said Halverson, an assistant professor of educational psychology who won the first fantasy football league she played in.

On one level, fantasy players become more invested in football because they care about players on many different NFL teams, not just their hometown team, Halverson said.

Then there’s the strategic and competitive element – an owner can pick and manage the best fantasy team, she said.

“It’s closer to the stock market than it is to a video game,” Halverson said. “I think that mixture is just really tantalizing to people.”

Invite the ladies to join and may the best man… er, person.. win.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Opening night is less than two weeks away and Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings are still trying to figure out exactly what they have in a banged-up receiving corps and a rotating offensive line.

Favre’s two newest targets made pretty good impressions just days after arriving in Minnesota.

So did Seattle rookie safety Earl Thomas.

Favre threw for 187 yards and two interceptions, one that Thomas returned 86 yards for a touchdown in Minnesota’s 24-13 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night.

Favre completed 16-of-26 passes and took a couple of big hits while playing two series into the third quarter. His interception to Thomas went in and out of the hands of Bernard Berrian.

“We’ve got to find out in a short period of time who can make some plays in the passing game,” Favre said.

Thomas delivered Seattle’s lone touchdown of the game and also levelled Percy Harvin on a slant over the middle. It was a big night for the heavy-hitting safety from Texas, taken by the Seahawks with the 14th overall pick over Taylor Mays, who was a standout for coach Pete Carroll at USC.

“He made a huge play tonight,” Carroll said. “I can’t wait to see it again.”

As soon as the ball fell into Thomas’s arm, “I was just thinking gas,” he said. “Just put my head back. It was like Pop Warner when you throw your head back and run.”

The Vikings signed veteran Javon Walker on Tuesday and acquired Greg Camarillo from Miami in a trade on Wednesday to bolster a receiving corps that has lost Pro Bowler Sidney Rice for eight weeks because of hip surgery.

Camarillo had four catches for 47 yards and Walker made a great catch over Walter Thurmond for a 25-yard TD from Sage Rosenfels in the fourth quarter.

“I don’t even know how many people know my name, but it doesn’t hurt to grab a couple balls and get a couple first downs,” Camarillo said. “That’s how you get trust from your teammates. Hopefully they’ll start believing in me.”

Favre, who was coaxed back for a 20th NFL season on Aug. 18, played eight series on Saturday night. He led the Vikings to one field goal and a touchdown, a 24-yard run by Adrian Peterson that was set up by a 73-yard kickoff return by Darius Reynaud.

Peterson finished with 37 yards on 11 carries.

Favre also lost a fumble when Chris Clemons blew past left tackle Bryant McKinnie for a sack that had the 40-year-old quarterback shaking his throwing hand in pain early in the first. But he remained in the game and helped the Vikings amass 242 yards of offence, but only 10 points, while he was playing.

Coach Brad Childress called the offence, which also started Anthony Herrera at centre for John Sullivan (calf), “still in flux,” which has to be a concern with the opener in New Orleans looming on Sept. 9.

“There are a lot of moving parts and parts that are just being added,” Childress said.

Seattle’s offence sputtered along as well.

Matt Hasselbeck completed nine of 17 passes for 126 yards, 42 coming on a completion to Mike Williams in the third quarter. More importantly, he left after two series in the third quarter without a scratch on him.

That was no small feat for Seattle’s patchwork offensive line against a defensive line that led the NFL in sacks last year. Sixth overall draft choice Russell Okung is out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain, forcing the Seahawks to move backup left guard Mike Wrotto out to left tackle.

Two years ago, Jared Allen put a crunching hit on Hasselbeck in the preseason that knocked him out of the game with a back injury, one that lingered most of the season and kept him out for nine games in the regular season that year. He missed two games with a rib injury last season, but the Seahawks did a pretty good job of protecting him on Saturday night.

Hasselbeck was sacked twice and hit two other times, but came away unscathed.

“Three of their four guys are Pro Bowlers and it easily could have been four out of four,” Hasselbeck said of Allen, Pat and Kevin Williams and Ray Edwards. “It was a huge challenge and I think we did a good job.”

The Vikings also had to be encouraged by Harvin’s return. The reigning offensive rookie of the year has only practiced six times this pre-season because of recurring migraine headaches, including a bout that caused trainers to call an ambulance to practice just over a week ago.

“I did a test last night and they found some things that we think was the main cause of it,” Harvin said. “We’re feeling really confident. I know we said that a couple times, but I think this time we found what the main cause was. I’m not saying I’ll never get a headache again, but hopefully we can slow it down a little bit.”

Harvin had two catches for 30 yards. He also took two big hits to the head, one from Lofa Tatupu that knocked his helmet off and the one from Thomas that broke up a pass in the third quarter.

“We drafted him because he’s a playmaker,” Carroll said. “He was the best playmaker in the country. He played much better tonight than he did last week so I was really happy for him.”

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Coming off a 14-2 season in 2009, in which the two regular season losses came while starters rested late in the year, the Colts start this year with a deep receiving corps, solid running duo and, not to be forgotten, Peyton Manning calling the shots.

Seemingly every year, there are questions about the Colts’ defense, and this year is no different, but with elite pass-rushing ends (Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney), active linebackers and an improving young secondary, the Colts have enough. 

That Bob Sanders, the oft-injured 2007 Defensive Player of the Year, is healthy to start the year is an added bonus.

Ranking the Colts first isn’t to suggest that they are on the way to another 14-0 start, but this is a team that could roll to 13 or 14 wins once again.  Having won at least 12 games for seven straight seasons, that lofty total isn’t really a stretch.

Last year’s Super Bowl champs, the New Orleans Saints, are ranked third, but with 20 of 22 starters returning, they are right in the same neighbourhood with the Colts.

The Saints set a franchise record with 13 wins last year, scoring 30 points or more 12 times in 19 regular-season and playoff games. Like Manning, Drew Brees has a deep and talented group of receivers complemented by a solid running game.

Also like the Colts, the Saints’ defense is generally under-appeciated, but has strong ends (Will Smith and ex-Bear Alex Brown), an active middle linebacker (Jonathan Vilma) and playmakers in the secondary (led by veteran FS Darren Sharper).

Intruding in the rankings, sitting between the top two teams from last season, the Dallas Cowboys have strung together five straight winning seasons, yet after getting annihilated by the Minnesota Vikings (ranked fourth, incidentally) in the playoffs last year, there is a sense that the Cowboys have the talent necessary to play with the big boys and with the Super Bowl in Dallas this year, perhaps a little extra motivation to get them over the hump.

Baltimore, New England, Houston, Pittsburgh, Green Bay and the New York Jets round out the Top 10.

At the other end of the spectrum, the St. Louis Rams, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccanneers are at the bottom.  Those five teams combined to win 17 games last season, so it’s a long way to climb.

Preseason Power Rankings

1- Indianapolis Colts

2- Dallas Cowboys

3- New Orleans Saints

4- Minnesota Vikings

5- Baltimore Ravens

6- New York Jets

7- New England Patriots

8- Houston Texans

9- Pittsburgh Steelers

10- Green Bay Packers

11- Washington Redskins

12- San Diego Chargers

13- New York Giants

14- Atlanta Falcons

15- Tenneesee Titans

16- Philadelphia Eagles

17- Chicago Bears

18- Carolina Panthers

19- Arizona Cardinals

20- San Francisco 49ers

21- Cincinnati Bengals

22- Denver Broncos

23- Miami Dolphins

24- Jacksonville Jaguars

25- Kansas City Chiefs

26- Oakland Raiders

27- Seattle Seahawks

28- Tampa Bay Buccaneers

29- Buffalo Bills

30- Detroit Lions

31- Cleveland Browns

32- St. Louis Rams

Hey Brett, if you would have known Rice was going to be out for such a large part of the season, would you have come back?

“I don’t know for certain because that obviously wasn’t the case,” Favre told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s hard enough at 40 to play. You take a guy out that had roughly 90-something catches and was obviously pretty productive .. but there’s more guys on this team too.”

Favre will be without Rice and another favorite target, Percy Harvin, has been struggling with recurring migraines. “Percy’s situation is iffy,” Favre said. “We expect big things from him, bigger than last year. He has to take care of himself first.”

When it gets down to it, Adrian Peterson and the rest of the Vikings running attack will have to pick up the slack this coming season. Favre agrees,  ”Sidney or no Sidney, our running game has to be more productive and controlling throughout the season.”

Peterson’s role has now become nearly as important as Favre’s, with a group of new recievers it will be crucial that the running game keeps the ball and moves the chains.

The Vikings have been busy trying to bolster the receiving corps, signing free agent Javon Walker on Tuesday and trading for receiver Greg Camarillo of the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday.

“Without Sidney, it sure makes it tougher,” Favre said. “But going into the season last year, no one expected the season that Sidney was going to have. So, maybe there’s another guy that can step up and do that.”

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Quarterback Rankings

Aaron Rodgers is the top-ranked quarterback, but not by a wide margin.  Rodgers is only slightly ahead of New Orleans’ Drew Brees and Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts at the league’s marquee position. 

There remains value beyond the top three, however.  Tony Romo, Brett Favre, Matt Schaub, Tom Brady and Philip Rivers are all capable of putting up big numbers, while Chicago’s Jay Cutler sneaks into the top ten in the preseason rankings based on expectations that a Mike Martz passing attack will make a significant difference in his game.

Running Back Rankings

Running back has long been the most important position in fantasy football and, while it remains important, there aren’t as many workhorse backs as there would have been a decade ago, making the most productive runners even more valuable.

Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson and Tennessee’s Chris Johnson seem to be at the head of the class, and could go 1-2 in Fantasy drafts, but Ray Rice and Maurice Jones-Drew aren’t far behind. 

Beyond the top four, there are 16 others projected to run for more than 1,000 yards this season, which does give some depth at the position, but injuries will inevitably prevent that many from achieving that mark (In 2009, 15 runners exceeded 1,000 yards).

Wide Receiver Rankings

As the importance of individual running backs has decreased somewhat, there are more options available in the passing game.  20 wide receivers gained more than 1,000 yards last season and Houston’s Andre Johnson, Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald and New England’s Randy Moss are at the top of the class.

The challenge with some wide receivers is that their production could be limited by poor quarterback play; something to consider for Miami’s Brandon Marshall, Carolina’s Steve Smith and San Francisco’s Michael Crabtree.

Tight end has evolved into one of the deeper positions for fantasy football, with a dozen tight ends gaining at least 593 yards last year.  That means, while San Diego’s Antonio Gates, Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez and Indy’s Dallas Clark are the elite at the position, there are many good options to be secured later, if need be.

Certainly, there is value to defense and kickers, but the unpredictability involved tends to make them worth consideration late in the draft process.

Some of the top team defenses include Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and the New York Jets.

In the preseason projections, the top kickers are Houston’s Neil Rackers, Indianpolis’ Adam Vinatieri and San Diego’s Nate Kaeding.

When it comes to leagues that take individual defensive players into account, linebackers like San Francisco’s Patrick Willis and Carolina’s Jon Beason are standouts at the position, while Jared Allen leads the defensive linemen.  Productive safties Tyvon Branch (Oakland), Yeremiah Bell (Miami) and Louis Delmas (Detroit) are the best of the secondary.

Good luck!

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Rice visited the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado on Monday where he had the procedure, confirmed by Rice in a text message to the paper.

Rice has been on the physically unable to perform list since the beginning of training camp due to the ailment, which he previously stated occurred during Minnesota’s loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game last January.

The report said Rice was looked at by three specialists during the offseason, and that two had suggested surgery at the time.

The 23-year-old fourth-year pro had a breakout season catching passes from Brett Favre last year and earned Pro Bowl honors for hauling in 83 balls for 1,312 yards and eight touchdowns in 16 games.

Rice was the 44th overall selection in the 2007 draft out of South Carolina after a standout sophomore season for the Gamecocks.

In addition to Rice’s injury, the team is dealing with the health of wide receiver Percy Harvin, who continues to battle severe migraine headaches that have caused him to miss most of camp.

The Vikings responded Tuesday by signing veteran wide receiver Javon Walker, who will enter his ninth NFL season and be reunited with quarterback Brett Favre.

Walker started a promising career in Green Bay after the Packers took him in the first round in 2002 out of Florida State. He played four seasons alongside Favre and put together his finest year as a pro in 2004 when he racked up career bests with 1,382 yards 12 touchdowns and 89 receptions.

The 31-year-old went on to play two seasons in Denver before moving on to the Raiders in 2008. He appeared in three games without recording a catch last season for Oakland before a season-ending ankle injury.

Minnesota also waived running back Ryan Moats Tuesday. Moats was signed in June after two years with the Texans. In 2009, the fifth-year pro ran for 390 yards with four touchdowns on 101 carries. He also caught 13 passes for 106 yards and a score in 14 games.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

The unpredictable team in this division, in my opinion, is Denver. Last year, the Broncos won their first six in a row, and then lost eight of the next 10. They need a healthy Ryan Clady at left tackle for all 16 games. Of course, they need to solidify the quarterback position, choosing between Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn. As an NFL coach, Josh McDaniels has real determination, and that is something that others find contagious. It will be interesting to watch all of this unfold in Denver.

In Kansas City, if you believe that building on success is easier than creating success for the first time, the Chiefs should improve on last year’s four-win season. Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis are excellent support pieces for Todd Haley as a head coach, but this team must improve in so many different areas, it’s likely that the Chiefs will be battling against the Raiders to avoid the basement of this division.

As for the Raiders, Tom Cable has been involved in some public relation disasters, but he seems convinced that his football team is a good one. And it’s another year and another new offense for Jason Campbell. I’m not saying Campbell is Peyton Manning, but Manning has had the benefit of being able to run the same offense his entire NFL career. Campbell is in his fifth year, and this is the fourth offense he’s had to learn.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Favre’s highly anticipated first game back with the Vikings lasted all of four unspectacular plays and one series in a 15-10 loss to the 49ers in a nationally televised pre-season game Sunday at Candlestick Park, the only NFL show of the night.

Favre completed a 13-yard pass to Adrian Peterson on his first play from scrimmage but was sacked by Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis two plays later and the Vikings wound up punting. The 40-year-old quarterback took the field just four days after his first training camp practice of the year. He decided to return for a 20th season and make yet another run at a Super Bowl title.

It’s hard to make much of the small sampling. Not that Favre’s numbers mattered to the Vikings, just thrilled to have him back.

Alex Smith, Favre’s 49ers counterpart, went nine of 13 for 88 yards in a solid first half. Willis had four tackles playing only nine snaps.

After that single series, Favre headed to the bench and gave way to backup Tarvaris Jackson — who had been in line to be the starter before Jared Allen, Ryan Longwell and Steve Hutchinson flew to Mississippi early last week to recruit Favre back to the Twin Cities. Favre, sporting a 5-o’clock shadow peppered with grey, could be seen laughing on the sideline in the second half.

Smith bounced back a week after stumbling through a subpar outing in which he completed three of nine passes for 37 yards and only two first downs in a win at Indianapolis. David Carr and Nate Davis rallied the Niners to 34 straight points in the 37-17 victory.

He made do for a 49ers offence missing three of its biggest stars: receiver Michael Crabtree, tight end Vernon Davis and running back Frank Gore.

“We just came out against the No. 1 rush defence in the NFL and marched it down the field,” Smith said. “We were moving the chains and getting a bunch of third-down conversions and just took it down the field methodically.”

Smith completed his first four passes for 48 yards and five of his first six on the Niners’ opening drive, including a 24-yard strike to backup tight end Delanie Walker that set up a four-yard scoring run by rookie Anthony Dixon.

After all the drama that surrounds Favre each off-season — will he or won’t he really retire? — he’s back in his No. 4 jersey and told his teammates he’s as committed to this as ever.

And why not keep going?

Favre is coming off a year in which he threw for 4,202 yards and 33 touchdowns and established career highs for completion rate (68.4), quarterback rating (107.2) and fewest interceptions (seven).

He was booed by the crowd Sunday when running onto the field for the first time midway through the first quarter. Favre has been the Niners’ nemesis for years.

In late September last year, Favre hit Greg Lewis on a 32-yard touchdown with two seconds left as the Vikings stunned San Francisco 27-24 in Minneapolis. That was the first of six straight road losses — five in a row by a combined 19 points — for the 49ers that helped cost them a playoff trip and a winning season.

Davis, San Francisco’s No. 3 QB and fifth-round pick last year, completed a pretty 60-yard pass to Ted Ginn Jr. in the third quarter with his foot planted at the goal line when he released the ball. The pass set up Joe Nedney’s 28-yard field goal. Davis later had an 18-yard completion to Nate Byham.

Longwell kicked a 40-yard field goal early in the second quarter for the Vikings’ first points. Minnesota rookie quarterback Joe Webb broke loose up the middle for a 48-yard TD run with 1:54 to play, then Webb was sacked by Derek Walker in the end zone for a safety on the final play of the game.

Former Stanford star and Heisman Trophy runner-up Toby Gerhart got his first of his four carries for Minnesota midway through the second quarter, a three-yard gain. This marked the rookie’s first game back in the Bay Area since the Vikings selected him at No. 51 in the second round of this year’s draft. Gerhart, who rushed for 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns for the Cardinal last year, also caught two short passes.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor