The Miami Dolphins and the St. Louis Rams are both winless and leading the way, but the nod here has to go to the Fins. They just placed quarterback Trent Green on IR and will have to go with Cleo Lemon the rest of the season. They play the undefeated Patriots today and then they travel to London to play the Giants next week. (And isn’t the league thrilled to have the 0-6 Dolphins representin’ in first overseas game?) The biggest threat to Miami getting the #1 pick might be the Jets, who are also in the hunt: When the teams play in Week 13, I wouldn’t put it past New York to throw the game and blemish the Fins record with a win.

The Rams, on the other hand, travel to Seattle today and host the Browns next week, so they too could still be winless at the bye week. But in the second half of the season, St. Louis plays New Orleans, which may or may not have its act together, and they play Atlanta in Week 13. If the Rams aren’t careful they could be picking fourth or fifth in the draft.

Speaking of the Jets and Falcons, both are right in the hunt with just a single win each. The J-E-T-S Jets travel to Cincinnati today where they’re sure to lose and have a pretty tough schedule after that with Pittsburgh, Dallas, and New England all looming after the bye. Miami is a winnable game, but as I’ve already noted, Eric Mangini may want to go to the mat to help his team’s chances for next year.

The Dirty Birds of Atlanta are in New Orleans today where I expect they will get blown out. After the bye week, Atlanta’s schedule includes two games against Tampa and a road trip to Carolina, not to mention a home stand against the Colts. The Falcons could really use a good quarterback next year so they better not screw this up by beating someone like San Francisco.

Also with just a single win are the Bills, Benglas and Rams, but at 1-4 it’s still too early for these teams to throw in the towel. Buffalo looked like a team playing for pride against Dallas so they could still win a few games, and Cincinnati has too much talent to go winless the rest of the year. New Orleans has looked inept enough to go the distance but in the NFC even a 1-4 start doesn’t mean you’re out of the playoff hunt, so they still have something to play for.

There are a bunch of two-win teams with an outside shot at getting the #1 pick, including the Raiders who earned the first pick in the last college draft. (And just look at JaMarcus Russel sitting on the bench and counting his money. Raider Nation must be thrilled.) Could Oakland do it again? You also have like the chances of the 49ers with Trent Dilfer at the helm, though Alex Smith seems to be getting healthy which might screw up everythjing for San Fran.

But among those two-loss teams, you really have to like the chances of the Denver Broncos. They’ve lost three straight and host the Steelers tonight, then they have Green Bay on Monday Night Football. By the time the Broncos get to some teams they have a chance to beat — Detroit, Kansas City, and Oakland — they might be too demoralized to care.

In case you somehow managed to miss all the excitement, here’s a quick recap of the 2007 regular season opening game:

No offense to the NFL, but that’s just dumb, on all sorts of levels. None of the officials on the field deemed it excessive enough for a penalty when it happened, so how about you stick to counting all of the cash you rake in, week after week, because of the dynamic, exciting athletes like Reggie Bush that play your game and draw fans, like fat kids on cake?

But today when it really mattered, where were you? The Saints were hardly in the game. Heck, it looked like you were on the side of the Bears, making Rex Grossman look almost like a real quarterback. I just don’t understand. I just don’t understand.

“The Saints are awesome this year,” Jeffery Baily, one of thousands of revelers, said. “I just wish Tom Benson didn’t own the team. He’s a complete jerk.”

Coming off a dismal 3-13 season during which the team was forced to play home games in San Antonio and Baton Rouge due to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the Saints rallied this year to a 10-6 regular season finish, earning a first round bye for the first time in franchise history. The team made more history by beating the Eagles to advance to New Orleans’ first appearance in the NFC Championship.

But while the team has earned the love and respect of the community, Benson, who has owned the Saints since 1985, continues to be something of a pariah in these parts. “Tom Benson is a fucktarded old man and he should sell the Saints to someone who cares about New Orleans,” was the opinion of Kate Winserly Saturday night. “That greedy old bastard was ready to take our team away from us last year.”

Benson, a billionaire who made his fortune in the used car business, appeared to be negotiating a relocation of the team to Texas on a permanent basis last year after the hurricane destroyed much of New Orleans and the Superdome, drawing the ire of fans and community leaders alike. He also drew scorn after attacking a TV cameraman following a Saints loss to the Dolphins, during which fans heckled and booed the team owner.

“Imagine if the league had let him move the team to San Antonio,” said long-time season ticket holder Paul Washington. “Then they would be the ones out partying all night and not us. Would that be fair?” Describing himself as a “hardcore Saints fan,” Washington said he’d “bust Tom Benson in the mouth” rather than congratulate him.

“He better not show his face around here tonight, I guarantee all these people would lynch him.”

Asked if more playoff success might improve Benson’s standing with the fans, Baily said he was doubtful. “Even if they win the Super Bowl and go back to the playoffs next year, I’d still hate that nasty old coot.”

Winserly was even more pessimistic. “Who knows,” she said, “Benson might still try and move our Saints to Los Angeles.”

But overall it was a pretty good game; at least it was a damn sight better than that interception fest otherwise known as the Colts-Ravens tilt that aired earlier in the day. Plus, there was a naughty bit of camera work on the part of FOX. At one point during the game, the cameras spied a very enthusiastic young gal rooting on her Saints, and a director who must not have passed fourth-grade reading switched to that angle. The result:

Someone’s going to get a very angry phone call from the FCC in the morning. Don’t worry, though; I’m sure Rupert M. has a couple bucks to cover the fine.
(Thanks to DenisHorgan.com for posting the “Fuck da Eagles” vid from YouTube. He also has stills from the broadcast.)