Emily and Jef (Getty Images)Matt Leinart might not be having much of an impact on the football field these days, but he's still capable of being a big-time player on the tabloid scene. I guess it's nice to have a skill to fall back on.

Leinart, backup quarterback for the Oakland Raiders, is accused of swapping naughty text messages with Emily Maynard of "The Bachelorette." Trouble is, the end of a season of "The Bachelorette" usually ends with a marriage proposal, and Emily had just gotten engaged to a fellow named Jef Holm.

Bonus drama: Jef was also accused of trying to get back together with the girlfriend he had before he went on the show. That girlfriend is quoted in "US Weekly" as saying that Jef's made-for-TV relationship with Emily "isn't what it seems." Even more bonus drama: There are reports that Emily had agreed to pay Jef to keep all of this quiet.

So it seems most likely ‒ that is, if any of this is to be believed ‒ that Leinart is wrecking a fake television relationship. Which leads us to the obvious question: How does this affect the race for the AFC West?

Animal New YorkYou know the old saying: "Idle hands are the devil's playthings." The hands of Tim Tebow have been very idle of late, as he's been used sparingly by the New York Jets thus far this season.

And if the saying is true, the devil's gotten pretty creative with where he'd like Tebow's hands to be. Manhattan's Museum of Sex has reached out to Tebow to offer him a lifetime membership.

Tebow, as you likely know, is a virgin and is saving himself for marriage. For some reason, this makes every sex-related organization in the world want to attach themselves to his name. A New York strip club extended him a public invitation. A website that encourages extra-marital affairs offered $1 million to anyone with proof that they've slept with Tebow. And now the Museum of Sex is getting in line.

I'd offer you a link to the Museum of Sex's website, but I don't want you to get fired. What kind of place is it? Well, it's the kind of place that requires a sign that reads, "Please do not touch, lick, stroke or mount the exhibits."

If Tebow's going to take museum officials up on their membership offer, they're going to have to change the sign to read, "Please do not touch, lick, stroke, mount, or overthrow the exhibits by 10 yards." But I don't think they're going to have to worry about that. My guess is that Tim Tebow will pass on the generous offer.

Click below to read the letter the Museum of Sex sent Tebow.

The absurdly premature playoff picture presents one man's projection for the NFL playoffs, at each given week in the season -- even if that week is unreasonably early.

Top AFC seeds: Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens
Other AFC division champs: Denver Broncos, New England Patriots
AFC wild cards: Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers

Top NFC seeds: Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers
Other NFC division champs: Green Bay, New York Giants
NFC wild cards: Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles

• Last week, I gave a wild-card spot to the Eagles ahead of the Cardinals. I may have been a bit off there. My bad, everybody.

• As for this week, you might ask how I have the Cardinals first in the power rankings but clinging only to a wild-card spot here, and by way of explanation, I offer you Kevin Kolb. I'm not buying Kevin Kolb. If that means I'm disrespecting the Cardinals, then I guess I'm disrespecting the Cardinals. They've earned their 3-0 mark and they've got a collection of wins superior to that of anyone else. Does that mean I trust Kevin Kolb? Does that mean the wheels will not come off at some point over a 16-game season? No. No, it does not.

• Not too much else changes in the NFC. I thought about moving the Giants ahead of the 49ers for a first-round bye, but I'm giving the Niners a one-week pass. They've earned that. Through the course of a season, teams will have a handful of games that are out of character for them. I believe the 49ers just had one.

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Of course, if you're a Green Bay Packers fan, that might be a little more difficult for you.

It's my pledge to you that in this week's power rankings, I am not going to talk much about the NFL's officiating situation. It can't be ignored completely, of course, now that it's directly affecting the standings, but I'll try to minimize it. I think you're going to get enough of that at, oh, just about anywhere else you look for football news or information.

The best coping strategy is to focus on what matters: the football. There are still football plays being made, by football players, on football fields, and with the right amount of focus, they can still be enjoyed and over-analyzed in the way to which we've become accustomed. Now let's focus on the business of a fairly arbitrary ranking of all 32 NFL teams.

1. Arizona Cardinals (3-0)
They beat a quality Seahawks team, won in New England, and throttled the previously unbeaten Eagles. No one else has that resume, so I ask you: Why not the Cardinals? Also, I may never get another chance to put the Cardinals at the No. 1 spot in the power rankings, so I'm seizing the moment.

2. Atlanta Falcons (3-0)
Atlanta vs. Houston is pretty much a coin flip, and when in doubt, I'll take the better quarterback. Through three weeks, Matt Ryan is wearing that crown. A 72 percent completion rate and eight touchdowns against just one pick? My goodness, that's filthy.

3. Houston Texans (3-0)
Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips got a lot of love last year, but what he's doing this year might be more impressive. They subtract Mario Williams from the lineup, and the Texans are still in the top five in the league against the run and the pass. It helps that they're in a division with three below-average NAIA teams, but still, it's impressive.

• It's not difficult to land on the Houston Texans as the muscle in the AFC right now, but they've got a little something I call the Northwestern Wyoming A&T problem — they haven't played anybody. They're like a big-time college program in that they've had two daisies on the schedule early, so sure, they look great, but I'm curious to see what happens when they have to shut down someone not named Gabbert or Tannehill.

• The decision for the second spot was between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos, and the Broncos beat the Steelers, so the Broncos should get it, right? Not that simple. For one thing, I'm the kind of maverick that doesn't play by the rules. Second, I loved Pittsburgh's effort against the New York Jets on Sunday. On offense, they were efficient and smothering, holding the Jets defense down with a pillow over their face. Defensively, they stonewalled Shonn Greene and squeezed the life out of Mark Sanchez (fine, so those aren't great examples of offensive thoroughbreds), and they did this without Troy Polamalu and James Harrison.

US PresswireMike Wallace's holdout lasted over a month, but could end up costing him zero actual playing time. Comments from Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley indicate that it's possible that Wallace will be on the field for the Steelers' Week 1 game against the Denver Broncos. Via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

"You're talking about a guy who's a wide receiver, a pass-catcher," Haley said. "It's not a running back or someone who has to be in the action of the game. I think it's feasible he's ready to go when we start this thing up."

It is feasible, but keep in mind that the Steelers haven't even seen Wallace in practice yet. He did show up and sign his tender, but NFL rules say he still can't practice for three days after that. That leaves an awfully short amount of time to get ready for the Broncos, especially in a brand new offense.

Ultimately, a lot of this will depend on how well Wallace has stayed in shape while away from the team. Like Haley said, Wallace is a receiver, so it makes things less complicated. They can put him on the field and let him know what route to run, and he can go do it. He may not be at 100 percent of his capabilities, and he might not be an every down player, but he could contribute.

For a lot of young players in the NFL, it's probably a huge thrill to tear the plastic off of Madden '13, put the game in the console, and then see yourself represented on the screen.

It's probably less of a thrill to put the game in, find yourself, and see that the picture is of someone else. That's what New York Giants defensive tackle Marcus Thomas experienced.

EA Sports Madden '13

That's not Marcus Thomas. At least, it's not the right Marcus Thomas. The right Marcus Thomas looks like this:

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There used to be another Marcus Thomas in the NFL, a running back out of UTEP who last played for the Broncos in 2009. Marcus Thomas, the current Giant, was also with Denver in 2009. It was an easy mistake for the Madden people, and an honest one, I'm sure, but Giant Marcus Thomas aired his grievances in a series of tweets. Here are a few of them:

@MarcusThomas_79: I been in the nfl going on 6years and y'all still hav another mans face for my pic on madden i hate y'all hate is very strong but I do

@MarcusThomas_79: How y'all gone hav my pic rookie season and then change it to a completely dif person for ds rest of my career

@MarcusThomas_79: dear mr @EAMaddenNFL i com to you humbly sir. Can u please put the right photo of me on the madden it's been 6years not lol maybe a giggle

Fortunately, the complaints found their way to Donny Moore, described in his Twitter bio as the "Madden NFL Live Content Producer and Ratings Czar." He's vowed to fix the mistake.

@Donny_Moore: @MarcusThomas_79 Sincere apologies Mr. Thomas, we will have this picture removed for next update...It is the UTEP Marcus Thomas.

Crisis averted, and now Marcus Thomas' hate can be replaced with love.

@MarcusThomas_79: Thanks mr madden I love you

Getty ImagesWhen Miami Dolphins fans first looked at the team's schedule for 2012, they probably made note of certain games -‒ division rivals, measuring stick games, etc.

When Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill first looked at the schedule, he might've thought to himself, "You know, I bet some of these games are going to be important. I hope someone tells me which ones."

Tuesday night on HBO's "Hard Knocks," Tannehill was outed as a guy who has almost no knowledge of the NFL's divisions and conferences. Via Bleacher Report, here's how he explained:

"I wasn't a huge pro fan growing up; I wasn't loyal to any one team," said Tannehill, "so I don't really know the divisions, and even really conferences. I know most of the conferences but some of those, I really have no clue. And they don't make sense. You have the AFC East, and we're freaking in the bottom of the map, and the directions don't make any sense where the teams actually are."

Backup quarterback Matt Moore then quizzed him on a few teams. Tannehill had the Chiefs in the NFC East and the Giants in the NFC North. And then Moore laughed and said, "How do you not know this?"