One would tend to think that losing Tom Brady to injury in week one of the '08 season was unfortunate, but he'll be back next year, and in top form right?  Well consider this; although Colts QB Peyton Manning didn't tear anything in his knee, he did have surgery on his knee to clear out some scar tissue.  The Colts are currently sitting at .500 with three wins and three losses, proving just how tough it can be for a franchise quarterback to comeback from an injury. 

But Tom Brady is Tom Brady right?  Granted, both Mannings along with Brady are Super Bowl MVP's, but we're talking about one of the best, if not the best in the league.  Love him or hate him, Brady's stats speak for themselves.  Which is why I beg for you to consider this fact as well.  Has anyone read the story on former Bengals Linebacker Reggie Williams on NFL.com?  Better yet, have you seen the picture of his knee?  That picture was taken after multiple knee surgeries to try to control/prevent infection after a similar major surgery to the one that Brady has undergone.  Up to this point, Brady has had four surgeries.  One to fix his ACL, and three to try to prevent (and at this point, probably prevent the spread) of infection.  If Brady's knee turns out the way that Williams' did, his career could be in serious jepardy.  Which begs me to ask you the SB Nation fans, are the Pats soon going to be in the market for a new quarterback?  Now, this is not a slap to Patriots backup quarterback Matt Cassell, who's played admirably up to this point, but it seems clear that Cassell is at best, a backup.  If the Patriots are in the market for a new quarterback, who do you think could be the next Patriots "franchiser?"

The Steelers have payback on their minds as the enter this primetime contest with Jacksonville on Sunday Night.  The last time that these two teams met was in the playoffs at Heinz Field, and the Steelers were stopped short of another Super Bowl run as they watched David Gerrard run the football in a crucial fourth quarter drive.

Tonight the Steelers come into the game looking less than healthy, with free agent acquisition Mewelde Moore lining up in the backfield, and a familiar face in Najeh Davenport as a third-down back.  Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is also banged up and will be playing with a sore shoulder against the Jags.

One of the big questions for tonight's game is weather or not the Steelers secondary can hold up against Gerrard, who has completed every two out of three passes thus far this season.  Also, how effective can the Steelers pash rush be without defensive end Brett Keisel and defensive tackle Casey Hampton.  Will they be able to stop the duel threat rushing attach of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew?

For more news and information on collegiate and pro-football, head on over to The Pigskin Report.  TPR offers news and analysis on both the college and pro level game, and also provides up-to-the-minute scores, rankings, and polls in College Football Gameday Central and NFL Gameday Central.

Among all the questions coming into this week regarding weather or not the Penn State University Nittany Lions were "the real deal," I have to pose another question.  I was watching the PSU-Purdue game today, and I understand all the traditions that are carried by the PSU football team, but would it be too much to ask for PSU to put the Nittany Lion logo on their helmet?  Or, if you don't want to put the logo on the helmet, what about just a plain block letter "S" in Nittany Lion Blue?  I don't know, but the plain white helmet just seems like it has something missing.

Additionally, for news and scores on the Collegiate and Pro-Football level, head on over to The Pigskin Report.  It offers news and analysis from college and pro level games, as well as scores, rankings, and polls in College Football Gameday Central, and NFL Gameday Central.

Before I get to my question of the week, I'd like to congratulate Mizzou's Chase Daniel for another spectacular performance in which he passed for 439 yards and completed a Big 12 best.  As it stands right now, Daniel looks to be the clear cut front runner for the Heisman (based on stats alone, mind you).  I don't want to get too anxious yet, however, because It is fairly easy to put up those kinds of numbers when the toughest team on your schedule to this point was Illinois.  The next three weeks will be very interesting, and could make or break Daniel's ligitimacy, as Mizzou travels to Nebraska, heads back home for Oklahoma State, and then travels to Texas to take on the Longhorns.  I'll consider Daniel ligit if and when he comes away with wins from those teams.

As for this edition of College Football Question, I hail from outside of Pittsburgh, and with Pittsburgh being part of the Big East, I thought I'd gear my question towards that conference.  As it stands right now, the only team ranked in the top 25 is the University of South Florida.  Yes, you heard me right, USF.  The Mountaineers of West Virginia University keep laying eggs against teams that they should flat out beat.  Pittsburgh isn't doing so well.  Even though they did win on Saturday against Iowa, they won by a point, and had to battle back to do so.  Additionally, the Panthers already have a loss against Bowling Green.  Right now, it seems to me that the Big East is the weakest conference in college football, which is why I pose the question how strong is the Big East conference?  Do you think that it can rebound from its near complete departure from the world of "rankedhood?"

They say in college the weekend begins on Thursday and often goes through until Wednesday.  Thursday Night Football on ESPN and ESPN 2 helps to solidify that fact by broadcasting some interesting match-ups in prime time.  Thursday Night Football serves as a way for some of the lesser known programs in college football to get their schools some quality air-time.  This season, some lesser known schools, as well as some big name programs, will be featured in the time slot.  The gods of college football don't flake out on the fans either.  There are some big time games on Thursdays this year, including a huge PAC-10 clash between USC and Oregon, as well as a titanic Big-East game between Pitt and South Florida.  There's also the ever popular Lone Star Showdown between Texas and Texas A&M.  Here's the complete schedule for the 2008 season of Thursday Night Football.

August 28
North Carolina State at South Carolina (ESPN)
Oregon State at Stanford (ESPN2)
September 4
South Carolina at Vanderbilt
September 11
North Carolina at Rutgers
September 18
West Virginia at Colorado
September 25
USC at Oregon State
October 2
Pittsburgh at South Florida
October 9
Clemson at Wake Forest
October 16
Florida State at North Carolina State
October 23
Auburn at West Virginia
October 30
South Florida at Cincinnati
November 6
Maryland at Virginia Tech
November 13
Virginia Tech at Miami
November 20
Miami at Georgia Tech
November 27 (Thanksgiving)
Texas A&M at Texas
December 4
Louisville at Rutgers

Out of these games, which game are you most looking forward to?

There were several things of which I took notice during the Steelers vs. Bills game Thursday night in Toronto, some of which were good, some of which was so-so, and some of which were flat out terrible.  Here are my positives, indifferences, and negatives from Thursday's game.

Positives:

Ben Roethlisberger- Looked like he was picking up where he left off last season when he had a passer rating second only to Tom Brady.   I especially liked his awareness and ability to make a play when the offensive line broke down.  On a couple occasions Ben was flushed out of the pocket and made a play as he was going down.  The interception was off of a tip and therefore not his fault.  Nice show of arm strength on the TD pass to Santonio Holmes.

Lawrence Thimmons- I really liked the energy he brought to the table when he was in the game.  His motor kept running until the whistle blew.  One a few occasions, I kept my eye on Thimmons when he was knocked down.  He sprang right back up and kept attacking the football.  Nice job, overall.

Indifferences:

Steelers Starting Offensive Line- I thought they did a mediocre job at best.  Bottom line, when the protection broke down, Ben made up for what the line lacked.  The line has to get a better push up front on running downs.  Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall had a hard time running the ball when the first team line was on the field.  Week in and week out, the Steelers aren't going to be playing team's like the Bills.  The Steelers are going against the cream of the crop in the NFL, with statistically the toughest schedule in the league this season.  If the Bills can bust multiple running plays up for little to no gain, then what do you think the Chargers, Patriots, Jaguars, Colts, Ravens, and Cowboys are going to do.  This is an area where we must improve, for the sake of FWP, Mendy, and Ben.

Nate Washington- The only reason I'm putting Washington in the mediocre category is because I'm afraid to congratulate him.  I thought he worked hard Thursday night, and I really liked that I didn't see him drop any balls.  He just needs to do it on a more consistent basis.

Jeff Reed- Dude, buddy, I have your jersey man.  What's with the missed 44 yarder? That's a chip shot for you.  It's not like Reed to miss a field goal like that.  I put him in the mediocre category because I know he'll make up for it later.

Negatives

Steelers Starting Defense- There's a saying in popular culture today when someone is surprised and/or disappointed by something they've just seen or heard.  It's three words long, one syllable for each word, and is abbreviated W.T.F. usually with a "?!" after it.  I usually don't like to be a nay-sayer or a buzz kill, but what was going on out there?  That's the first team defense, you know, the guys that are going to show up EVERY Sunday.  The Bills starting air and ground attack cut through the Steelers defensive starters like a knife to hot butter.  To be honest with you, that kind of performance by the defense, coupled with the mediocrity of the offensive line, makes me think what the Steelers are going to do with the 4th overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft, after going 3-13.  We can not beat the top, and some of the more mediocre teams in the NFL with a starting defensive performance like the one that was put on display Thursday night.

ESPN radio has been reporting for a few days now that Rashard Mendenhall seems poised and ready to usurp Willie Parker as the starting running back for the upcoming season.  Personally I think the assessment is a bit premature.  Assuming that the Steelers will use the two-back system in 2008; who do you think is going to get the nod to be listed first on the depth chart this season, Willie Parker (who's coming off of a broken leg in 2007), or Rashard Mendenhall, the much anticipated rookie?

This week's question comes after several Steelers players could not finish a few of the practices last week in Latrobe.  Several noteable veterens in addition to rookie wideout Limas Sweed could not participate in the afternoon practices because of hammies and other bodily aches.  I'm most concerned about the rookies, and my point is this; for the second year in a row, the Steelers rookies have had injury problems before the season began.  In '07 it was Lawrence Timmons and now its both Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed, (I'm speaking of Mendenhall's mini-camp injury).  My question is this, with the number of training camp injuries growing by the day, do you think Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin is going too hard on the players?

My second question has very little to do with football, but it's something that has been bothering me for some time now.  A few years ago, (I believe it might have been during or shortly after the Steelers 21-10 victory over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL), I remember seeing a commercial for Miller Lite where Burt Reynolds, Jerome Bettis, Jimmy Johnson, Triple-H, and a few other men sat around a table discussing "man laws."  One of those man laws was that fruit was NOT to be mixed with beer.  Fast forward a couple of years to today, and I see an add for Bud Light (I know it's not the same beer, but it's still a beer), and it is introducing Bud Light Lime.  I'm sorry, but does this not go against the man law commercial?  Do you agree or disagree with the invention, marketing, and selling of Bud Light Lime?

Just so everyone knows out there, the second question is a legitamate question, but it also serves as a joke, so don't take it too personally if I offend anyone, it's really not my purpose.

I wanted to start a new segment in my blog posts that will run throughout the year during the off-season as well as in-season.  The "Who's the Man?" segment will pit two of college football's most elite players (usually who play the same position), and give you the fan the opportunity to vote for your favorite out of the two choices. 

First of all I'd like to apologize to the Georgia faithful fans out there who thought they were jipped when I didn't put Matt Stafford on my list of top ten returning quarterbacks.  You guys are part of the reason I posted this poll.

In this edition of Who's the Man, I'd like to examine who the better quarterback is, Matt Stafford of the Georgia Bulldogs, or Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators.

Let me know your opinion in the comment section.

Saturday Night Football is fast becoming one of the biggest events in the world of sports.  It has become an event where some of the best and biggest universities in the United States can showcase their school and their team.  Below I have posted the 12 prime time games that will occur on Saturday Night this fall:

• August 30: Michigan State at California (split-national)
• August 30: Alabama vs. Clemson at Georgia Dome, Atlanta (split-national)
• September 13: Ohio State at Southern California
• September 20: Georgia at Arizona State
• September 27: Illinois at Penn State (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2)
• October 4: Ohio State at Wisconsin (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2)
• October 4: Oregon at Southern California (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2)
• October 25: Penn State at Ohio State (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2)
• October 25: Notre Dame at Washington (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2)
• November 8: California at Southern California
• November 29: Oklahoma at Oklahoma State (May be optioned to earlier start time) (split-national)
• November 29: Notre Dame at Southern California (May be optioned to ESPN or ESPN2) (split-national)

The Big 12 Championship game takes place the following week on December 6th.  Out of all of those games, which is the most exciting/the game that you are most likely to watch?