We had thought that the Giants’ problems couldn’t get any worse this season, but suddenly we have heard that Eli Manning might be out for an extended period of time with his continuing foot problems. He wasn’t out of the most recent game but he has been diagnosed with a stress reaction that has trainers very worried and telling him to stay off his foot as much as possible. He will also have to treat it in several other ways, including using a bone stimulator and wearing supportive shoes and shin guards. The injury makes him prone to have a full on stress fracture that might drop him off the roster at the end of the season as the playoffs get rolling.

Against the Detroit Lions, the Packers didn’t feel that they needed much luck on Thanksgiving. That was true, actually, as we found when Green Bay won by a decisive margin. For some reason, they keep the Lions playing on Thanksgiving, especially the way the Lions have been over the last few years. Just get them off. But the game against Green Bay was interesting, because for a fleeting moment at the end of the game it looked like Detroit would make it an exciting game. They tackled a running back in the endzone, who dropped and they picked it up. In other words, they got either a safety or a touchdown. The initial ruling of a touchdown was overturned because the elbow of the runner hit the ground before he lost control. Anyway, it would have only made it a two-possession game anyhow.

That’s the sound of the NFC West this weekend, when the Arizona Cardinals and the St. Louis Rams went head to head. The Cards are looking at a possible playoff run again this year. The Rams are up the track. But they had a tough, physical game this weekend, in which Kurt Warner was taken out due to a possible concussion, as were several other players. Warner might be out a week or two. A sprain brought Marc Bulger limping after the game. Yesterday, he underwent two MRIs, in which the second one revealed that his sprain was actually a broken leg. Not deeply broken, but enough to keep him out of the rest of the season. He won’t be on injured reserve either. These are tough blows for both teams, though Arizona has more on the line at the moment. We’ll have to see what will happen with the NFC West the rest of the season, because it’s just getting interesting.

This time, though, it doesn’t have anything to do with Green Bay or Brett Favre. But the Vikings are an organization that wants to get out of the Metrodome. Their lease there ends at the end of next season. The owners of the dome have announced that they will end the low-rent deal that they have with the Vikings when the lease runs out. But the Vikings are displeased by that in a big way. Hoping that they will back down, the Vikings fired off a strongly-worded statement about it. The trick is, if they don’t sign a lease, they need another stadium. They are trying to get the local government to build them one, but no one is biting, especially since the Twins are going to start in a new stadium shortly. Thus, it’s possible that the Vikings could move to some other city, possibly LA, in the next few years. I kid you not! Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but the war of words was loud this week, so who knows!

Larry Johnson, who you will remember got dumped from KC just a week ago, looks like he will be headed to Cincinnati to help out the Bengals. It would probably be a small and limited contract that would give him a fairly low amount of money to play. Meanwhile, the move has many people across the NFL shaking their heads. How can this team possibly fit in another running back. We have been interested in seeing how far Cincy will be able to go this year, but we haven’t yet seen them take on really tough opponents. But they have done well in divisional play. Does Cedric Benson need yet another backup? After all, with Johnson in tow, the team will have 4 running backs in all. It’s an important position, but how important is it? Anyway, they will have some very talented players as potentials in the game.

In the last week, there have been so many fines in the NFL that you’d think they were looking to up their charity giving this Christmas season. In the Bears vs Cardinals game, both Tommie Harris and Jay Cutler were fined for their antics. Harris punched a player on the other team while he was on the ground. Right in the face. Meanwhile, Cutler was jawing off to the refs and causing, apparently, enough consternation to warrant a penalty and a fine. Chad Ochocinco was also fined (believe it or not) for waving a dollar bill at a ref during an coach’s challenge. It is supposed to be a joke, but the NFL isn’t taking it like a joke. They want to keep silly things like that off the field and away from game action. So he will pay 20,000 of those dollar bills to the NFL for that act.

There is a lot of discussion about who is the “best team” in the NFL this season. There seem to be three teams possible for this. The Minnesota Vikings are definitely in the top tier, having beaten the Green Bay Packers again this weekend. The other NFC team is the New Orleans Saints, who still haven’t lost a game. Last night in Monday Night Football, they beat out the Atlanta Falcons, divisional foes and the team with the most potential to mess up their flourishing season. Drew Brees has turned into that huge asset that could end up winning a Super Bowl in the next year or two. The surprise team has been the Denver Broncos. Each week, many people say that the team is going to melt down and end up breaking their unbeaten streak. This week, they were right, with the Baltimore Ravens coming in with great passion and strength, roughing up Kyle Orton for the first time all year. But the Ravens are always a bit of a wild card, making the Broncos unsure what to expect. Denver is still a strong team this year, leading the AFC West big right now. Only a few weeks until we know more.