Do you know what's involved in a game of Kabaddi? Think red rover plus tag plus holding your breath.

Dex from Gas Lamp Ball will be able to tell you about Kabaddi and more at Uncommon Sportsman, a site "Covering Sports People Think Aren't Sports". Check it out and let him know what you think. I get the feeling like Uncommon Sportsman may become a staple in our morning updates over the off season.

Anyone down for a game of Over-the-Line later?

Mack, one of our newest bloggers from NY Landing Strip was kind enough to answer a few questions about our head coach's former team. Without further adieu...

Tell us how you really feel about Herm Edwards as a head coach.

NYLS: I'll be honest with you, I really liked Herm when he was here. He wasn't too laid back, and seemed to have somewhat of a decent hold on his players. He also had an excellent relationship with Chad Pennington, something I just don't see with Mangini. Now, whether he could win games or not was a question. He did however, have somewhat of the same feel as Mangini does, leading the Jets to the playoffs in his first two years, something Eric won't be able to do. Personally, I'd rather have him back. Many disagree.

Rumors have been swirling about the Chiefs and Jets and a possible trade for Chad Pennington and Laveranues Coles. How likely is it that those two guys aren't playing for the Jets next season?

NYLS: I think that the chances are about 50-50 that they'll both be back next year. I don't think there is enough circulation of these rumors to think that it's more than likely to happen. I don't want any of them to leave, they've both made solid contributions as Jets. Even though I was very upset that we got rid of Santana Moss for Coles, it ended up working out for us. As for Chad, it would be one of the stupidest moves to get rid of him. He is the only type of quarterback out there right now (if we got rid of him) that is a veteran, but is still young enough where he could play a starting role. I think he's the man for the job, not Clemens.

What are your impressions of the Chiefs so far this season?

NYLS: Well, the Chiefs are a team that were in a situation close to the Jets this season, by bringing in a QB that was very young in place of the proven veteran that in both cases (Jets and Chiefs) led you to the playoffs the year before. It hasn't really paid off for them, but Croyle is young and he'll get better. Now, the huge problem with you guys is the fact that there is nothing else on the team to compliment Larry Johnson when he's healthy. The wide receivers have usually been terrible, and now you guys have yourself a stud in Dwayne Bowe, who I think could be a pro bowler next year. Kolby Smith has done amazing, and to be honest he may be the man you want to go to if L.J. continues to not stay healthy.

What lesser known Jets player should we keep an eye out for this weekend?

NYLS: Oh, there's so many guys. Let's see, well if I had to pick one I'd go with Chris Baker, our tight end. Baker has had an amazing year, logging the most receptions of any one year in his career. And the guy is versatile, big, and can catch the football. I'd look out for him.

Finish this sentence. The Jets will be playoff contenders when...

NYLS: When they win close games. That's been the big problem this year for the Jets. Yeah, they had a hard schedule and that's what everyone was talking about before the season started. But they still almost won some of those hard games, but they couldn't make the big play when it mattered. Think about it. The Jets lost seven games by a touchdown or less this season. If they had scored at least an extra 7 in those games or maybe even less, they would have won all of them and they'd be a playoff team. It's so hard to think about what could have been if only the Jets put up some more points in those games.

Head on over to NY Landing Strip and welcome Mack. He's already doing a great job with the site.

Why fight it? Today is a college football day, no two ways about it. Once the competition get to this level, all sports is local to me. If MU wins, they're in the national championship.

Check out the crew at Rock M Nation and their open thread. Should be a hell of a game.

Big Blue Shoe, from Stampede Blue was kind enough to stop by and answer a few question for us. Head over to Stampede Blue for all things Colts and hope that Larry Johnson's foot sprain isn't as bad as Dwight Freeney's.

Is there any reason, save Bob Sanders, why this defense is now one of the better units in the NFL?

Better players, and older players just more comfortable with things. Marlin Jackson and Kelvin Hayden are just better than Jason David and Nick Harper. Second year FS Antoine Bethea has developed into a stud. Finding diamond-in-the-rough rookies like DT Ed Johnson and DT/DE Keyunta Dawson. Also, Gary Brackett, the MLB, is playing the best football of his life right now. I’m not sure how the lose of Dwight Freeney to IR and the addition of Simeon Rice will affect this team, but they have more playmakers now than they did last year.

What are the reasons the Colts are able to draft so effectively?

Bill Polian. He’s the best, period. There is no better GM in football at isolating collegiate talent and drafting (or signing) that talent than Polian. Other GMs, like New England’s Scott Pioli, are very good at pinpointing free agents, but Polian is a master of the draft. He’s a former scout himself, so he knows what to look for in players. He’s also got a top notch scouting department which has a very good relationship with the coaching staff. You’d be surprised how continuous scouts can be with coaches. This group, directly under Polian’s guidance, is the best scouting crew in football.

What are you impressions of the Kansas City Chiefs so far this season?

Total enigma. Offense looks horrible, and I expected them to win 3 or 4 games this year TOTAL. Yet, here they are at and still in the division hunt. Their defense has improved, and Jared Allen is playing out of his mind.

What match ups do you think the Colts will exploit this Sunday?

Brodie Croyle. They will pressure him into mistakes. It’s smart to start Croyle, but I think the Colts’ defense will swarm him even without Freeney. Without Larry Johnson, Croyle will have a hard time getting into a rhythm.

Why has the Colts' special teams unit been performing poorly this year?

Because their ST coach stinks. The ST has been bad for years now, and ST coach Russ Purnell has done nothing to improve it despite a HoF kicker, a good punter, and a bunch of fast, athletic gunners. We started a petition to fire him over at Stampede Blue.

My answers to Big Blue Shoe's questions are right here.

Big props to Stampede Blue for the write up.

Hard to believe, but we are now halfway into the 2007 NFL season, and just just like last year, the SB Nation football writers have made their picks on the Mid-Season Studs and Duds of 2007. The categories are the same as last year, and like last year the writers could add in their own selections for best and worst. The criteria for the categories was for the writers to look at Weeks One through nine cumulatively and make a judgment on who was great and who sucked harder than Kim Kardashian in the alley behind an LA night club. So, for example, while Drew Brees has played well the last three weeks, from Weeks One to Five, he really, really stunk. His cumulative play from Weeks One to Nine made him a nominee in the Worst Player category.

Also, many writers made it clear that while Patriots coach Bill Belichick is 9-0, his getting caught cheating after Week One tainted his legitimacy. Therefore, it was requested he be left off the Best Coach nominee list. Of course, that didn't stop writers like Kirkendall and TheSportsGuru from writing in his name anyway. Some added Belichick into the Worst Coach list. Shockingly, they were writers who cover AFC East teams (cough*cough*Matty I from Phinsider*cough*cough). All that said, here are the 2007 NFL Mid-Season Studs and Duds, presented by the football writers of SB Nation:

NFL Mid-Season Awards:

The Studs:

The Duds:

As always, the writers chimed in with their thoughts about some of the players they voted for:

JasonB over at Bleeding Green Nation didn't think Usi Umenyiora deserved the same kind of defensive accolades others did:

As you can see, JasonB still has the shakes from witnessing Osi sack his team's QB a record 6 times in one game. Somewhere, ETVal is still smiling about that game. TheSportsGuru thought the entire Rams roster deserved a spot on the Worst Player category: VanRam continues to shake his head and wonder what went wrong. Brandon over at Acme Packing Company stood up for his boy, Justin Harrell: And finally, BrianG at Buffalo Rumblings offered one of the more interesting comments on the MVP and Best Offensive Player: As you can see, love and respect runs a plenty in the AFC East. Thanks to all SB Nation football writers that voted. We will do another Studs and Duds at the end of the regular season.

Your thoughts?

Its come to my attention, through Music City Miracles, that the title of this post should probably be Know Thine Enemy, instead of Thy. I'm not going to change it but I wanted to let you know that I am indeed aware of the discrepancy. Wow. That wasn't really necessary at all, was it? Onward...

Josh from Cincy Jungle figuratively stopped by to fill us in on the Bengals. Thanks to Josh for taking the time to do this and for everyone who submitted questions.

What's been the offensive Achilles heel for you guys this year?

Running the ball. For several seasons, Rudi Johnson played as a bull-dozing power back. While he was light on his feet with incredible balance control, he would also lower his shoulder and bury anyone willing to take the first shot. In the past two seasons, he’s done more to refine his body by losing weight but packing muscle. Ironically, he’s not the power back he once was. Rather than bulldozing that annoying defender that breaks into the backfield, Rudi now stops and dances looking for another lane – thus usually dropped in the backfield.

On the other hand, many of the Bengals failings are squared solely on the offensive line. Injury has hurt the line with four of five starters out throughout the course season and their rush blocking, in terms of metrics, is pretty poor.

These Bengals remind me a bit of the Chiefs circa 2003. Great offense, no defense. That year we knew we weren't going anywhere if we couldn't stop anyone. Why are the 2007 Bengals any different?

We’re not. And specifically, the Bengals offense isn’t that great to offset the disastrous defensive play we’ve seen thus far. They have several superstars, but aren’t maintaining drives, have no running game and when you get past Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, there’s no third option. People really don’t understand how critical Chris Henry was to this offense. Over 20% of his career receptions are touchdowns. He’s faster than linebackers with a distinct athletic advantage against safeties and nickelbacks.

While the defense is viewed as horrific – a reasonable conclusion – the infirmary at linebacker is appalling. We have guys that are suited for special teams starting at linebacker. If you watched the Monday Night game, you saw and heard how many times that two starters were signed weeks before that game in response to injuries.

Given the speed of the Cinci receivers and the inherent lack thereof of the starting Chiefs DB's (Law and Surtain), the DB's are going to be laying off at the line of scrimmage quite a bit to give themselves cushion not to get beat. Knowing this, will Carson be more likely to abuse our D with short routes and slants across the middle-taking what he can get, or will they stubbornly challenge the DB's and safeties deep like they tried to do vs New England?

One thing about Palmer is that if he starts feeling that the team’s success falls on his shoulders, he’ll start making throws that no one else would even imagine making. Some are picked, a lot are incomplete, but some are game-changing. He can throw into a window that no other quarterback seems to even attempt. So, yea, in a way he’s very stubborn. And unfortunately, we’ve lost some games with that mentality on the final drive ending the game with interceptions.

Alternatively, if the Bengals defense contains the opposition and the Bengals offense has some success running the ball, then Palmer will take what the defense gives him. If the corners play off the receivers, he’ll pitch it off and put pressure on the defense to make a play. The Bengals offense uses short slants, curls and out patterns incredibly well. The timing is very impressive. And I’m not saying that as a Bengals fan. Watch the Bengals when there’s no personal investment as a fan. When Palmer is in synch with his receivers, it’s a thing of choreographed beauty.

How do you feel about your chances to win the division?

Not good at all. The Steelers are playing very well right now, we won by seven points after "forcing" a billion turnovers against the Ravens, and we allowed 51 points against the Cleveland Browns. If we win it, it won’t because we forced it to happen. It will be because others gave it to us.

What are your impressions of the Chiefs so far this season?

Honestly, not much. Most of my time goes into cursing the Bengals defense. However, my honest impression is that the Chiefs are in the middle of re-identifying who they are. That’s not meant as an insult either. The Bengals are doing the same thing. Where they were once a dynamic offense, they are now one-dimensional. That’s similar to my impression of the Chiefs.

Thanks again to Josh. My responses to his questions are here.

THE SB NATION SPORTS REPORT, the official podcast of SB Nation.

Baseball and NFL football are the prime topics tonight for hosts TheSportsGuru and BigBlueShoe on the SB Nation Sports Report, the official podcast of SB Nation!

Who's stumbling in the studio door tonight?
RussPR of SB Nation's Colorado Rockies blog, Purple Row, and Peter Baker, a contributor at SB Nation's Phillies siteThe Good Phight, will call in to talk about their teams' amazing run to the post-season and how both teams will fair against each other in the MLB Wild Card round.

What else will we cram into an hour?
Week Four in the NFL is in the books, and TheSportsGuru is still kicking BigBlueShoe's butt with the picks. BBS got a certain measure of revenge when his Colts beat Guru's Broncos Sunday. A full recap of Week Four's big games, and a preview of Week Five.

Is it BYOB?
BigBlueShoe suggests that SoCo shots are a big no-no after consuming eight beers in a four hour period. BBS learned that (again) the hard way last Friday.

Tune in tonight at 9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific, on the SB Nation Sports Report at Now Live.com!

Please welcome Tom who will be blogging about the Arizona Cardinals at Revenge of the Birds. Tom already has a juicy number up about Larry Fitzgerald and the Minnesota Vikings.

That completes the NFC for Sports Blogs Nation. The Chargers are the only team not represented on the network now.

Head on over to Revenge of the Birds and welcome Tom to the fold.

SB Nation NFL Power Rankings -- WEEK 2

SB Nation Power Rankings -- Week 2 Rank Team Record Rating Last Week 1 New England Patriots 2-0 1.39 - 2 Indianapolis Colts 2-0 2.06 - 3 Pittsburgh Steelers 2-0 4.67 - 4 San Diego Chargers 1-1 5.11 - 5 Dallas Cowboys 2-0 5.28 - 6 Denver Broncos 2-0 6.72 - 7 Chicago Bears 1-1 7.72 - 8 Baltimore Ravens 1-1 10.44 - 9 San Francisco 49'ers 2-0 10.72 - 9 Cincinnati Bengals 1-1 10.72 - 11 Green Bay Packers 2-0 11.17 - 12 Washington Redskins 2-0 13.06 - 13 Houston Texans 2-0 13.22 - 13 Seattle Seahawks 1-1 13.22 - 15 Detroit Lions 2-0 14.44 - 16 Tennessee Titans 1-1 15.94 - 17 Carolina Panthers 1-1 16.94 - 18 Jacksonville Jaguars 1-1 17.83 - 19 Philadelphia Eagles 0-2 19.50 - 20 New Orleans Saints 0-2 19.67 - 21 Arizona Cardinals 1-1 20.89 - 22 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1-1 21.72 - 23 Minnesota Vikings 1-1 22.56 - 24 St. Louis Rams 0-2 24.11 - 25 New York Jets 0-2 24.72 - 26 Cleveland Browns 1-1 24.83 - 27 New York Giants 0-2 26.06 - 28 Buffalo Bills 0-2 27.11 - 29 Kansas City Chiefs 0-2 28.17 - 29 Miami Dolphins 0-2 28.17 - 31 Oakland Raiders 0-2 28.89 - 32 Atlanta Falcons 0-2 30.94 -

Ladies and gentlemen, the first of many Power Rankings from our SB Nation bloggers. The Texans and Browns are experiencing some bumps aren't they? I don't expect that to happen very often. Without Andre Johnson to throw to, I don't know what Matt Schaub is going to do.

Anyone else forget to wear red today? I know. Its horrible that I forgot. I'll have to change during lunch today. Westport will be having a Red Friday Pep Rally beginning at 5 pm. I think I may drop by.

Home opener, baby. Get excited! I guarantee we rise in the power rankings next week.

Here is this week's edition. Thanks again to Windy City Gridiron for answering our questions. Head over there to read my answers to their questions.

How do you think Cedric Benson will do as a starter for the season by himself?

I don't ever thing he will be by himself.  Be it Adrian Peterson, Garrett Wolfe or somebody new I don't expect he will ever be the only guy. A lot of things didn't work right on offense last week, so I am not ready to dump the blame at the feet of Benson just yet, but his week we do expect to see more from him.

What do you think about the Rivera comments to the Chargers defense that Rex is a "mental midget"? Do they think there is anything to them or is it just something he was telling SD to get them motivated?

I don't think there is much to them, I don't think Grossman or anybody on the Bears really puts much into it.  Rivera went from being a head coach prospect to a linebackers coach in a month, perhaps he is still a little bitter.

Besides Rex Grossman, what is the Bears weakest area?

Our biggest weakness is simply inconsistency on offense. We still do not know what we have or what we will get from week to week. Is the line getting too old, can anybody other than Berrian get open often, can Benson start moving the chains?

On D, the Bears have allowed yardage to TEs up the middle, but never to the point where it is the reason we lose.

What are your impressions of the Chiefs after Week 1?

I did not see the game, so just from what I hear or have read, this should be a land slide. I don't expect it to be that easy, but the media doesn't seem to think the team is worth much.  My impression would be if LJ cannot get going, there isn't much your offense will be able to do, but again I did not see them play last week.

Who will replace injured starters DT Dusty Dvoracek and S Mike Brown?

Darwin Walker, a better pass rusher than run stopper, will step in for Dvoracek. Anthony Adams also looks to get increased minutes.

Danieal Manning will step in for Mike Brown. Brown is known for his play against the run.  Last year his lose hurt us, but with Adam Archuleta back there as another guy who excels against the run it shouldn't hurt too much.  Manning is faster than both Arch and Brown, so overall coverage could improve.