If you happen to be a Packers fan who is sick and tired of hearing about Brett Favre(notes), and you're thinking of joining the National Guard and going overseas to get away from it all, stop. It's not going to work. The detainees in Baghdad are going to be just as vicious as the Vikings fans you know.

A Wisconsin National Guard unit charged with keeping watch over detainees in Baghdad decided to put up Packers colors and logos all around the camp. The prisoners noticed, started asking questions and suddenly, Favre became an unwitting ally.

From 620WTMJ's Jay Sorgi (subbing in for the injured Waylon Manning):

"They know Favre by name," said First Lieutenant Tim Boehnen, who is from New Richmond, Wis.

"One of the big words they know now is shenanigan.  They'll constantly talk about 'Favre shenanigans,' 'He's so good for the Vikings,' and 'The Packers have got to really feel bad about that one.'  "

[...] "They obviously then started up the conversations, and started talking about Brett Favre. They soon learned about Favre going to the Vikings, and things just started going downhill from there."

In retaliation, I think our troops should make the detainees watch ESPN's Week 4 Monday Night Football contest between the Vikings and Packers, including pre- and post-game shows. They'll never want to mention Favre again.

If you're lucky enough to spend some time on Thanksgiving watching football, you might catch a glimpse of President Barack Obama tossing around the pigskin. Obama lent his time and athletic prowess to the NFL's Play 60 campaign today for a commercial shoot with some NFL stars.

[DeMarcus] Ware and fellow NFL players Drew Brees(notes) and Troy Polamalu(notes) filmed a public service announcement with Obama in October that will air during the league’s Thanksgiving games.

The 90-second spot shows Obama and the NFL stars playing touch football with local children on the White House lawn. The PSA promotes the league’s Play 60 campaign, which encourages physical activity to combat childhood obesity, and the president’s community service initiative United We Serve.

Obama wore a Chicago Bears jacket in the commercial (it would be nice if you could make that less embarrassing for him, Jay Cutler), and Ware said that the President displayed a solid knowledge of football when talking to the players.

Obama's known for being more of a basketball guy, but there's no need to worry about him humiliating himself on the football field. The Lions and Raiders play on Thanksgiving Day, ensuring that Obama won't be anywhere near the worst football player on television next Thursday.

UPDATE: Here's the video. Excellent technique from the president on that catch. Polamalu, you look a little slow in coverage.

A man who threw two interceptions in just nine pass attempts against the Chiefs on Sunday has just been named the starter for the Oakland Raiders, and that only begins to tell the story of how bad JaMarcus Russell(notes) has been this year. And yet, it still took until Week 11 for Russell to finally get the hook.

So why now? Who knows? At this point, the season is already lost. Other non-competitive teams are now in the mode where they're switching to their younger quarterbacks so they can evaluate them for the future. The Raiders are doing the opposite. Bruce Gradkowski(notes) is the older, more experienced guy and clearly is not the future of the franchise, while Russell, some believe, still might be.

It made sense to make the move in Week 4 or 5, when there might have been a season to salvage. It makes less sense now, but still, I guess there's never a bad time to bench the worst starting quarterback in the league.

My theory on the timing is that owner Al Davis calls most of the shots in Oakland, he's in love with Russell's size, strong arm and athleticism, and it took this long for him to finally say, "Okay, maybe we should try something else." I do not believe that Tom Cable -- or any other NFL head coach who is allowed to make decisions for himself -- would've stuck with Russell for this long, had it been his call.

Cable says that's not the case, and it's been up to him all along. I don't buy it. I think he's a better coach than that. I also think that he sees it as part of his job to cover for the owner in public. It's the only scenario that makes sense. No quarterback with Russell's numbers survives as a starter for that long unless it's someone other than a coach making the decision.

What does it mean for the long-term future of JaMarcus Russell? There's some speculation that it means the Raiders are done with Russell, and are finally ready to give up on him. I doubt that's the case. All along, he's been Al Davis' pet project, and really, there's no reason for that to change now. Russell is still young and still gifted. Guys like that seem to have an endless string of second chances.

It might mean, though, that his days of being handed playing time are over. From now on, he's going to have to earn it by being the better quarterback, and that should have been the case a long, long time ago.

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This week's edition of the podcast takes a closer look at the resurgence in Tennessee and how Vince Young(notes) is making it happen. To help us out, Jimmy Morris of Titans blog Music City Miracles was nice enough to stop by and shed some light on Tennessee's situation.

The most fascinating thing about it is Vince Young, of course, and how on earth he managed to compile a 3-0 record as starter since taking over. Jimmy tells us what VY does for the offense that Kerry Collins(notes) couldn't do, as well as what else has been clicking for the Titans. We talk about Bud Adams and his mischievous fingers, the disappearance of LenDale White(notes) and why Chris Johnson is the best running back in the NFL.

This edition's Abusive E-mail of the Week again insults my wife, who was able to take the insult in stride, mainly because she doesn't exist. The Hot Routes touch on JaMarcus Russell(notes), Ronnie Brown(notes), Pat White(notes) and Mike Shanahan's chances of being the next coach in Buffalo. Here are the games we call for the Picks Segment, where Danks went 5-0 against the spread last week (home teams in CAPS).

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS -3 vs. Chicago Bears
PITTSBURGH STEELERS -7 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
MINNESOTA VIKINGS -16½ vs. Detroit Lions
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS -2 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS -3 vs. New England Patriots

You can listen right here.

Or download the MP3 right here. MP3, 37:25, 17.5 MB.

Any time a transcendent athlete emerges, it's always natural to talk about how he or she would fare in other sports. No one's better for this argument than NBA thoroughbred LeBron James, because of his size, speed, power and ideal athletic build.

So we say things like, "Hey, wouldn't LeBron be a great tight end or wide receiver for the Browns?! He'd be their best player immediately! Ha ha ha!" And then we go on about our day, mocking the Browns and wondering if the Shaq/LeBron pairing will work out how the Cavaliers want it to.

The Browns, though, sound rather serious about it, which in turn makes them sound rather desperate. And they are desperate, of course, being 1-8 and maybe not even as good as their record indicates. Still, though, I find the desperation in their voices here just a little bit sad.

Brady Quinn(notes) says that the Browns would be more than willing to accept LeBron. Defensive tackle Shaun Rogers(notes) took the route of challenging LeBron and calling him out. From ESPN.com news services:

"I have mixed emotions about that. A great athlete? Yes. A football player? No."

Rogers then looked into TV cameras.

"Yeah LeBron, I said it," he said. "It's a punishing game. I just don't think you can step off the basketball court after not going through this year in and year out and just play football. From that standpoint, I just don't think it's possible. You have to weather and condition your body to take this punishment."

Even head coach Eric Mangini called LeBron an athletic freak, and said he "should come on down."

To me, it all sounds like begging. "LeBron, please come save us! We're a bigger mess than the Cavs were! Did you see that Monday night game? You could play both ways and be the head coach! Pretty please?"

LeBron likes to talk about how he'd be great at football, and he's probably right. He's one of those special athletes that could dominate nearly any sport he chose. But he's not serious about playing for the Browns, so maybe everyone in the organization pining for LeBron should pause for a second, scoop their dignity up off the floor, and see if they can maybe improve on their own.

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See last week's absurdly premature playoff picture here.

AFC First-Round Byes:
Indianapolis Colts
Cincinnati Bengals

Other AFC Divisional Champions:
New England Patriots
San Diego Chargers

AFC Wild Cards:
Pittsburgh Steelers
Denver Broncos

NFC First-Round Byes:
New Orleans Saints
Minnesota Vikings

Other NFC Divisional Champions:
Dallas Cowboys
Arizona Cardinals

NFC Wild Cards:
Philadelphia Eagles
Green Bay Packers

• As promised, with its win over Pittsburgh, Cincinnati slides into the second first-round bye spot in the AFC. The Bengals thoroughly earned it. They should stay there for a while, too, as their next three games are against three teams that would be playing in the UFL next year if the NFL worked like English soccer: Oakland, Cleveland and Detroit.  

• We also had a change in the divisional champion out west, with San Diego taking over for Denver. As always, this comes with the requisite warning that this could be a homer pick, and if you believe it is, well, fair enough. The good news? Any homerism gets rectified this weekend, as the Chargers and Broncos play for that spot. AFC West Divisional Champion spot ... ON THE LINE.

• I like San Diego in that game, though, which is why I've given the Chargers the nod today. They're a better team today than they were when they played Denver the first time, and I don't know if anyone can say conclusively that the Broncos aren't worse. Especially if Kyle Orton(notes) can't go.

• Over in the NFC, everything stays the same outside of the wild-card spots, which are a mess. There's a gaggle of teams at 5-4: Philadelphia, New York, Green Bay and Atlanta. We've also got a couple of 4-5 teams we can't completely discount yet: Chicago, Carolina and San Francisco. Of those, the 49ers have the most favorable schedule remaining, but their win over the Bears was not exactly the stuff of which legends are made.

• I ended up going with Philadelphia and Green Bay, simply because of the "When in doubt, go with the best quarterbacks" philosophy. Philadelphia put forth a game effort in San Diego; the Eagles shot their feet off in the red zone. If Brian Westbrook(notes) is out for a while (and I've got a hunch he will be), that'll hurt, but the Eagles deserve a chance to show they're prepared for his absence, which they absolutely should be.

• If that defensive performance Green Bay put forth against Dallas was real, I love Green Bay's chances to snag a wild-card spot. The Packers are still far from a perfect team, obviously, but they're the most explosive offense in wild-card contendership, and if the defense can start to match that at all, I like it.

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Buffalo Bills head coach Dick Jauron has been fired, and here's the equation that sealed his fate: Traditionally cheap owner + Uncharacteristic big name free agent signing + Lack of wins to show for it = Bad news for the head coach.

The Bills signed Terrell Owens(notes) this past offseason, admittedly because they wanted to make a splash and get some attention. Yet, here we are in Week 10, and the Bills, as they have been for a while now, remain unremarkable in every way. They sport a record of 3-6 and sit at the bottom of the AFC East. They can't even get attention by being bad enough to be mentioned along with the Lions, Browns, Rams, Raiders, etc.

Dick Jauron takes the fall for it, and it's not unfair, because that's just the way things work in the NFL. This is also true, though: Dick Jauron had as much chance of winning in Buffalo as I did of being the winning jockey in the Breeder's Cup.

In his three-and-a-half years in Buffalo, Jauron's quarterbacks have been J.P. Losman(notes), Trent Edwards(notes) and Ryan Fitzpatrick(notes). Losman might have been the best of that lot, and he's currently playing for the Las Vegas Locomotives. I almost consider it a coaching miracle that Jauron was able to put together three straight 7-9 seasons.

It doesn't matter, though. When ownership wants to make a change and say to the fans, "Hey, we're trying here," there's not much they can do but fire the coach. Jauron will land on his feet. He'll probably end up as a defensive coordinator somewhere next year, and he'll do a fine job. As for the Bills and their next head coach, they'll see some success just as soon as the personnel in Buffalo improves.

Shutdown Corner presents the weekly quarterback power rankings. They're just as arbitrarily decided as normal power rankings, except they rank quarterbacks, not whole teams. Rankings are based on play this year alone and meant to represent who is playing the best football at the current moment.

1. Peyton Manning(notes), Indianapolis Colts
		If he had been facing, for example, the number eight quarterback on this list, Bill Belichick may have punted on that 4th and 2 Sunday night. He wasn't, though. He was facing the number one quarterback, and he knew that guy was going to score from anywhere on the field.
2. Brett Favre(notes), Minnesota Vikings
		This week, Favre became your NFL leader in quarterback rating. In a year where we're blessed with five different quarterbacks with a rating of 100 or better, Favre stands at the top. He's thrown 285 passes, and just three of them have been intercepted. Favre might be asked to do a little bit less than most guys on this list (he's 16th in the league in pass attempts), and he might be in the most quarterback-friendly situation in the league, but he's been close to perfect. Wrangler sales are even up.
3. Tom Brady(notes), New England Patriots
		Brady made some tremendous throws in a losing effort on Sunday night. He didn't get the win, but he did play well enough to continue his rise towards the top of these rankings, where he belongs. He's been over 300 yards in his last four games, which isn't something he hadn't done since Week 1.
4. Drew Brees(notes), New Orleans Saints
		Saints fans are going to be mad at me, but I'm afraid it had to be done. Through his first five games, Drew Brees threw for 13 touchdowns and two interceptions. Over his last four games, Brees has six touchdowns and seven interceptions. That's not good, and I'm afraid it mandates a slide in the rankings. His yardage totals and completion percentages have still been awesome, but to stay in the top two, I'm afraid we need a better TD-to-INT ratio.
5. Matt Schaub(notes), Houston Texans
		Schaub rises a spot, even on his bye week, because it wasn't a particularly great week for the best quarterbacks in the league. But now, after everyone's had their bye week, let's check and see where Schaub ranks in some key statistical categories. He's third in yards passing (behind Manning and Brady) and tied for fifth in touchdowns (behind Manning, Brady, Brees and Kurt Warner(notes)). Not at all shabby.
6. Ben Roethlisberger(notes), Pittsburgh Steelers
		A brutal week drops Benjamin a few spots: He was 20-of-40 for 174 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception. In a huge game for the Steelers, he came up with a quarterback rating (51.5) fewer than 10 points away from JaMarcus Russell's(notes) (43.6). That's not what you're looking for.
7. Philip Rivers(notes), San Diego Chargers
		It was a very solid week for Rivers, who faced an Eagles defense that ranks fifth in the league in opposing quarterback rating. He went 20-of-25 for 231 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. This will be the fourth straight week where Rivers checks in at number seven.
8. Aaron Rodgers(notes), Green Bay Packers
		A good, but not great effort from Rodgers against the Cowboys: 25-of-36, one touchdown, no picks, and just 189 yards. Not good enough to move him up the list, but not bad enough to move him down. He's been sacked 12 more times than anyone else in the league, and more than Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees combined. Dallas got him four times.
9. Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals
		Welcome, Kurt! I'd still like to see more consistency from you, but two consecutive phenomenal weeks will get you in the mix. Over his last two weeks, Warner's thrown seven touchdowns against zero interceptions. If he has another good game this week, it'll mark the first time all year he's strung three quality games together. He's playing the Rams, too, so it's not exactly a tall order.
10. Donovan McNabb(notes), Philadelphia Eagles
		The 450 yards against San Diego were really nice, but would have been nicer if a few more of them had come in the red zone. Again, I'd like to see some more consistency. Really, it was a three-way toss-up here between McNabb, Romo and Palmer, so I thought I'd go with the guy coming off the best week. I'd consider McNabb's grip on the 10th spot very, very tenuous.
Noses pressed against the glass: Carson Palmer(notes), Cincinnati Bengals Tony Romo(notes), Dallas Cowboys

A head coach in the NFL could do worse than having a lot in common with Dick Vermeil. Rex Ryan's head coaching career is still in its infancy, but one thing we know he does have in common with Vermeil is that he's a crier.

Ryan stood in front of his New York Jets team on Monday morning after a tough loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars and, for the second time this season, bawled like a little girl with a skinned knee. Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post tells us that the tears moved and motivated the team.

The memorable moment simultaneously stunned his players and made them want to run out of the auditorium right then and there and board the bus to Foxborough, Mass., for Sunday's last-stand game against the Patriots.

"He didn't bash us at all; he was just very emotional . . . he was crying," right tackle Damien Woody(notes) told The Post. "Rex believes in our team so much I can't even put it into words and it would be a shame if we didn't capitalize on our opportunity."

Your thoughts, Darrelle Revis(notes)?

"I was a little upset to see him that way," Revis told The Post. "I'm upset for the same reasons he's upset."

Asked if he's ever been a part of a meeting with such high-powered emotions, Revis said: "No, I haven't been a part of a meeting where a coach cried like that. . . . In the future, I hope there are more tears of joy than the one this morning."

Ryan also cried tears of joy after the Jets' season-opening win against Houston. For those of you scoring at home, that's nine games and two crying fits, for a crying percentage of .222.

I'm all for the tears. When I first read about it on Pro Football Talk, I thought, "There's nothing wrong with being an emotional fellow, but it's a long season, and you probably don't want to get too high or too low." But then I thought about Dick Vermeil, and I really felt like he was a great coach, so you know what? Cry your heart out, Rex. Football's an emotional game. Tell the equipment manager to stock up on Kleenex.

We'll see how it works this weekend when Ryan, the NFL's cryingest coach, takes on its most robotic, Bill Belichick.

Watching the Monday Night game this evening? Pretty please join us for the Monday Night Live Blog. It should be a good one.

We'll be here throughout the game this evening with running commentary on the game, observations, insights, polls, blatant lies and a high level of interactivity with you, the reader. We'd love it if you were here. Myself, Chris Chase, Doug Farrar, and Matt Sussman will all be on hand.

Starting just a few minutes before kickoff.