An exciting Sunday night contest between two contenders ended with New Orleans getting a much-needed win, especially because it was at home. The defending Super Bowl champions improved to 5-3 but are still in third place in the NFC South. As for Pittsburgh (5-2), they remained tied for first with the idle Ravens and lost what amounts to only an away out of conference game.

Packers – 9, JETS- 0

The only thing that looked good in green on Sunday at the New Meadowlands was holding pom-poms as New York (5-2) came up empty against Green Bay. Two more interceptions for Mark Sanchez – although they were controversial calls – were only part of the problem. Penalties, five dropped passes and a fake punt on fourth-and-18 all resulted in stalled drives. The Jets have looked shaky the past three games – they nearly blew a big lead at home versus Minnesota and then needed a miracle comeback at Denver to escape with a win versus the hapless Broncos. They fell to second place when New England won later in the day. Green Bay improved to 5-3 and are looking good in first place in the NFC North.

Jaguars – 35, COWBOYS  -17

At 1-5, Dallas is done and things look bleak in Big D. Owner Jerry Jones apologized to the fans after the latest loss, one of the blowout variety to a team that is usually on the other end of a lopsided score. Jacksonville (4-4) welcomed quarterback David Garrard back and he had a field day against Dallas, who look as if they are already going through the motions. Both clubs will be paying close attention on draft day.

Dolphins – 22, BENGALS – 14

If they played all 16 on the road, the Fins may challenge their 1972 brethren. Miami (4-3) won for the fourth consecutive game away from sunny Florida and stay right in the thick of things in the AFC East. Terrell Owens caught two more TD passes, but his team fell to 2-5 and last place.

CHIEFS – 13, Bills – 10

If Kaycee (5-2) needed to kick the winning field goal at the gun in OT to beat a winless team, then they are not a threat come playoff time. Sure, they may win the AFC West, but how will they fare against New England and Pittsburgh? Buffalo (0-7) is in dire need of some type of shake-up and Chan Gailey’s hiring was one of the worst of the past 10 years. RAMS  - 20, Panthers – 10 Sam Bradford is showing that he was worth the overall top pick in the 2010 NFL Draft and St. Louis (4-4) are only a half game behind the top spot in the weak NFC West. Carolina is 1-6 and looking worse each week.

CHARGERS – 33, Titans – 25

San Diego (3-5) is having a disappointing campaign but gave their fans a reason to cheer by beating a quality team. Tennessee (5-3) could have started to pull away with a win here, but things are really clogged up in the AFC South.

PATRIOTS – 28, Vikings – 18

Brett Favre started but got knocked out after a big hit and still couldn’t get the job done at New England. Minnesota is 2-5 and reeling, especially after the Randy Moss debacle. Brad Childress is lucky if he finishes the season. New England moved into the penthouse in their division and are looking good at 6-1.

LIONS – 37, Redskins- 25

Is the Donovan McNabb era over already in DC? Washington head coach Mike Shanahan basically said that he is too fat to be effective in the two minute offense and went to Rex Grossman of all people to run it. Of course the former Bear fumbled and the Lions brought it back for a TD. At 4-4, Washington is still in it but this could be a season-changing decision by Shanahan. Just how much fallout occurs remains to be seen, but McNabb has thick skin. Detroit (2-5) is not as bad as their record indicates with 183 points scored against 165 allowed.

Buccaneers – 38, CARDINALS- 35

What can you say about Tampa Bay? No one expected anything out of this team, yet they are tied for first place in their division. Another close win for the Bucs, who improved to 5-2. If they can keep it up is anyone’s guess, especially if New Orleans starts to get hot. Arizona (3-4) is fading in a very winnable division, putting the spotlight on the quarterback decision in the preseason. Matt Leinhart could be doing just as bad here but getting valuable experience. The Cards went back to veteran Derek Anderson yesterday and he is not the long term answer.

RAIDERS – 33, Seahawks – 3

Could the Raiders actually be 4-4? The Silver & Black are right there behind the Chiefs and playing with house money. As for Seattle (4-3), they somehow are still in first but have had their difficulties. Someone has to win the NFC West.

49ERS – 24, Broncos – 16

A game between two also-rans didn’t mean much except for draft position.

Photo by Bill Menzel

Two other teams played in the same venue and took credit for both states. The Knights of the WLAF and Hitmen of the XFL actually called themselves ‘New York/New Jersey’ during their short tenures in their respective leagues.

Even the one team that actually did play here in the New York is gone, maybe forever. The Dragons and the rest of the Arena Football League will sit out the 2009 season with the hope that by the time next year rolls around, the economic state of the league and its fans will be better.

All hope is lost, right? Maybe not, with the creation of the United Football League. The brand new outdoor league that is scheduled to kick off this October with four teams includes one in New York to be coached by former Jets defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell. The big question is where will they play? According to the league’s website, www.ufl-football.com, mentions a few possibilities, some more reasonable than the others. Just for window dressing, the page for the New York franchise states that both Citi Field and the new Yankee Stadium would be “ideal for a UFL team.” Fat chance that either place would ever see a football game, especially one from a league in its maiden season.

Figure on one of the next set of places spoken about to be the eventual location. Laurence Wein Stadium at Columbia University in Manhattan or James M. Shuart Stadium at Hofstra on Long Island both seat less than 20,000, a number attainable from an unknown entity than the 45,000 or 53,000 at the Mets and Yanks new surroundings.

Bringing football back to New York will probably be a good marketing tool, but of the team ends up in either of the other locations listed (Rutgers Stadium, Princeton Stadium or the future home of the MLS Red Bulls in Harrison, New Jersey) then they will have to come up with something different.

The other UFL teams will be in Las Vegas, Orlando and San Francisco and all have former NFL head coaches leading them. Jim Fassel (Giants), Jim Hasslet (Saints, Rams) and Dennis Green (Vikings, Cardinals), respectively, will give the league instant credibility and known names, at least on the sidelines.

Just who will don the uniforms of these four teams remains to be seen. There is no question that there will be a wide pool to choose from with the AFL and NFL Europe no longer an option, but quantity does not exactly mean quality. There has been some speculation that Michael Vick may be destined for the new league if no NFL teams want to touch him once he’s eligible to play again.

During a press conference, UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue said, “The first UFL game will take place on October 8 at AT&T Park, the home venue of the San Francisco Giants,” which has been the only stadium announced. He further said,” We will commence (that week) for a total of seven weeks which will conclude with our championship game in Las Vegas,” which will take place during Thanksgiving weekend. Huyghue also stated that the cable network VERSUS will broadcast weekly games.

Certain games will also be played in neutral markets such as Los Angeles and Hartford, in all likelihood potential expansion cities for next season.

Will they be successful, especially going head-to-head against the NFL? Most critics have said that any league would be better off playing in the spring, such as the new USFL plans to do in 2010.

But with a chance to finally land a team in New York, are we in any position to be picky?

Not falling for the ‘trap game’ mentality that has haunted so many teams over the years, the Jets totally dominated the hapless St. Louis Rams at the Meadowlands by a score of 47-3. After beating the Bills in Buffalo last week and having to go to New England this Thursday, it would have been easy to look past an out of conference 2-6 team.

That is not head coach Eric Mangini’s style. He prepares his team the same every week and was visibly happy after the convincing win. “With the completeness of the game, it’s something we’ve been stressing week in and week out,” he said.

With the largest margin of victory in team history, the Jets improved to 6-3 to maintain a share of first place in the AFC East. The second three-touchdown game of the year for running back Thomas Jones paved the way, and he gave a lot of the credit to the guys in front of him for the success.

“I’m lucky to be able to run behind those guys,” he said. “They’re one of the best offensive lines in the league.”

Jones, who finished with 149 yards on 26 carries, had a 20-yard gain on the Jets first offensive play of the game and capped off the eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to the right corner of the end zone, following a key block thrown by wide receiver Laveranues Coles.

The Jets put up 10 more points before the first quarter came to an end. Abram Elam sacked St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger on a blitz, knocking the ball loose. On a play that proved that the ball was bouncing the Jets way on this day, Calvin Pace basically had it jump off the ground and right into his hands. The linebacker took it the other way 50 yards for his first career score.

Quarter number two was even more one-sided, with three field goals by Jay Feely, another rushing score by Jones and a one-yard pass from Brett Favre (14 for 19, 167 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions) to tight end Dustin Keller. The contest became a laugher and a 40-0 advantage at halftime for the Jets.

The 78, 073 in attendance enjoyed themselves on Military Appreciation Day, and only booed when the Rams broke the shutout when Josh Brown kicked a 37-yard field goal with 9:51 left in the third quarter.

By winning five out of their last six games, the Jets have a chance to take over the top spot in the division by defeating the Patriots on national television after a short work week preparing for the game.

At least for one more summer, the Jets will appear to be a New York – and more specifically – a Long Island team. Although they moved out of Shea Stadium for the swamp lands of New Jersey nearly a quarter of a century ago, holding training camp and the organization’s home office on the campus of Hofstra University made things seem almost normal.

Once this training camp concludes, Gang Green will pack up on September 1 and move to their brand new facility in Florham Park, New Jersey, cementing their roots in the Garden State. Come 2010, both they and the Giants will open their new stadium adjacent to the existing Meadowlands.

On Thursday, head coach Eric Mangini and the rest of the staff stepped on the field for the first day of training camp, and anticipated another ‘nose to the grindstone’ month of two-a-days, sweltering temperatures and job battles.

“I’m excited to be back and I know the players are excited to be back,” Mangini said. “You can feel it in the room, the energy level, the focus and all of those things.”

The one missing ingredient, and a glaring one at that, was Vernon Gholston, the number-six overall draft pick out of Ohio State. The team announced that same evening that Gholston signed and it is a plus that he only missed one practice. A year ago, first round pick Darrelle Revis missed the first 20 days of camp while holding out before signing. He fit right in once he reported and ended up starting at cornerback. With Gholston moving from defensive end to a rushing outside linebacker position in the 3-4 defense, it was imperative that he didn’t miss too much time.

The biggest question going in to camp is who will win the starting quarterback job. Chad Pennington had better numbers than Kellen Clemens in practically equal playing time last year; the young gunslinger did produce more wins.

“Last year was great for me in the chance that I had,” said Clemens. “I was able to start some games, have some success. That showed me that I can do it and I can play at this level.

“Coach Mangini, above everybody, wants what’s best for the organization, so we trust him and when the decision is made, it’s made and we go from there.”

Pennington has been successful in the past and should be the favorite to win this competition. “I am here to do one, play football,” the Marshall product said. “I am here to win this job. That is my goal and focus. That has never changed and that will never change.”

Mangini always says that he will pick the quarterback that gives the team the best chance to win. With their expensive offseason shopping spree, the Jets need to ensure themselves of getting off to a good start and have a leader behind center. Clemens may have his day, but he may have to wait for tomorrow.

And there are not many tomorrows left in New York for the Jets. Once they break camp, they will be in a new ‘state’ of mind.

Photo credit: Sports Hernia.com