October has become a stressful month for Uncle Sid’s fandom.

I should be flying high, because at least the Rams are unbeaten. But, nossir. I’ve got the Dodgers in the NLCS trying to get back to the World Series. And we’ve got the Lakers starting their regular season this week.

For the Dodgers, it’s been 30 years since they last won a championship and it has seemed like forever since they lost Game 7 of the World Series to the Astros at home. That was a dark night that has continued to haunt me.

As far as the Lakers are concerned, I have no idea what will happen. They could make it to the Western Conference finals or finish 40-41 and I wouldn’t be surprised. I have zero sense of what to expect.

Now, what does the previous have to do with football? Nothing, but my family and friends don’t want to hear my complaints and I have to unburden my soul somewhere. Thanks for listening.

Let’s move on!

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

NFL’S TOP 10

1) Rams – I’m going to do that annoying thing where I pose questions to myself and then answer them. Am I equally convinced of this team’s dominance as I was in Week 2? No. Is there any reason to believe they won’t move to 7-0 this week? No. Will the loss of Cooper Kupp for a little while make it tougher for the offense going forward? Sure. Should we move on? Absolutely.

2) Patriots – Everything is coming together. Here’s a maddening stat from New England’s thrilling win on Sunday night: The Patriots didn’t commit a single penalty. Zero. Not one. How? How does that happen? I refuse to believe a team can be THAT well coached.

3) Chiefs – Yes, I’m the worst sort of person. They lose one game and I drop them below the Pats, who have two losses. In my defense, the Chiefs defense is historically putrid and they have to pay a price for that.

4) Saints – My Super Bowl pick from the NFC is looking better with each passing week. And they’re playing in a division that has been underwhelming, at best. They’ve got two tough road tests against the Ravens and Vikings coming up before playing the Rams at home, so they could be on top of the conference soon if everything goes right.

5) Chargers – This the second-best team in the AFC. And while their defense has been in the middle of the pack so far, it should get much better when Joey Bosa returns in a few weeks.

6) Eagles – It’s still a little too soon to say they’re back, but it was good to see them score at least 30 points for the first time this season. Even if it did come against the Giants. They’ll be coming off a nice rest when they face the Panthers on Sunday.

7) Vikings – It’s not good that they’re 28th in the NFL in rushing yards. It’s also not good that their division is pretty competitive. However, Kirk Cousins looks right at home running this offense and two of their next three games are pretty winnable before heading into their bye week.

8) Ravens – I left the Ravens out of the top 10 last week. I thought I might be making a mistake at the time and I was convinced of my error when they shut out the Titans on the road. Joe Flacco won’t have to make many plays going forward if the Ravens defense (No. 1 in yards per game) continues to play like this.

9) Steelers – Uh oh. Look who is suddenly back above .500 and could be getting Le’Veon Bell back soon. Granted, I’m biased because I picked them to reach the Super Bowl, but they’ve received a couple fortunate bounces and have two division games when they return from their bye next week. They have a chance to go on a run.

10) Packers – A few teams could fit into this spot. Panthers, Bengals, maybe even the Dolphins. But none of those teams have Aaron Rodgers, so here we are.

WHAT’S THE CHATTER?

Why stay put?: News broke on Thursday, with a source saying the Chargers won’t leave Los Angeles for at least two decades. It might take that long for them to sell out a home game.

He’s back: Brock Osweiler cost me money last week. When I saw he was starting against the Bears, I couldn’t have picked Chicago to win fast enough in my weekly pool. And of course, because the NFL tends to make no sense, he somehow plays well and leads the Dolphins to victory. I don’t get it. I’ll never get it. Guaranteed he throws five picks on Sunday.

Good lord: The Raiders got fined this week for violating the league’s injury report policy regarding Kelechi Osemele. When you can’t even get that right, things must be very bleak around team headquarters.

Do you believe him: Cardinal owner Michael Bidwill says there’s no truth to the rumor that the team is shopping star CB Patrick Peterson. I don’t believe a word any owner or front office executive says. However, I believe Mr. Bidwill here. Trading away Peterson would be asinine, at best.

Unruly fans: A Patriots fan who threw beer on Tyreek Hill on Sunday was banned from Gillette Stadium and could face criminal prosecution. Charging him with a crime might be taking it a little too far, but he may end up serving as an example for other morons going forward. I feel stupid even booing very much at a sporting event. I don’t understand what would possess someone to curse at opposing players or throw things. And believe me, I’ve been drunk in public before.

Good for him: Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa has a good chance of being selected very high in the NFL draft. So, it makes perfect sense to me that he’s decided to leave Ohio State in order to continue recovering from an early season injury and focus on preparing for the pros. None of you should have a problem with that either. The man has millions of dollars at stake. No sense getting hurt worse for free.

Eli Manning: He stinks. Odell Beckham Jr. knows it. Saquon Barkley knows it. Pat Shurmur knows it. Everyone with functioning eyes knows it. Actually, even blind people could listen to the broadcast and know Eli has nothing left. There’s nothing wrong with saying so.

WHAT TO WATCH IN WEEK 7

Patriots at Bears: Unlike the Chiefs, the Bears actually have a pass rush. Let’s see if they can get New England to punt this week. I doubt it.

Lions at Dolphins: This one is worth watching just to see if Brock O can do it again. He won’t. But I feel the collapse will be hilarious.

Vikings at Jets: Please don’t hurt Sam Darnold. Please don’t hurt Sam Darnold.

Panthers at Eagles: I’ll admit the Eagles are back if they take care of business at home. They should be able to handle this one.

Saints at Ravens: It’s huge for Baltimore to be at home for this one. I want to see how this defense (which did give up more than 30 points to the Bengals) handles Drew Brees and Co.

Cowboys at Redskins: Did you know the Redskins are in first place in the NFC East? All by themselves. What a world!

Bengals at Chiefs: I guess this one is interesting. We all know the Chiefs will blow Cincy out.

Sid Saraf
Sid Saraf

NFL Analyst

Currently a Mobile Editor at Yahoo, Saraf spent 5.5 years (Oct. 2010 – Feb. 2016) working for FOX Sports as an NFL Editor and Writer. Prior to that, Saraf worked for CBS Interactive for 4.5 years (May 2006 – Oct. 2010) as a Staff Editor.

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