Power Rankings: Undefeated Texans, Falcons, Cards at the top of the heap

Sometimes I can be so stupid. Cue the jokes.

I mean it. When I played out the NFL season in June and July, I had the Arizona Cardinals winning the NFC West, which led my sanity to be questioned.

One problem: I changed my mind. In my season preview, I picked the San Francisco 49ers to win the division. After seeing the quarterback disaster play out in the preseason, I didn't think it was possible for Arizona to win it.

What I forgot was the reason why I made my initial pick of Arizona in the first place. Guys like Daryl Washington. Patrick Peterson. Calais Campbell and Sam Acho, young talented defensive players ready for big things.

What we're seeing now is that defense, loaded with talent, leading the Cardinals to a 3-0 record and first place in the division.

The Cardinals look like the 2011 49ers, a defensive team that will do just enough on offense to win games.

Only the Cardinals have Larry Fitzgerald. Even with so-so quarterback play, he is a difference maker.

Arizona is now third in our CBSSports.com Power Rankings, and don't expect the Cardinals to go anywhere anytime soon. Here's their schedule the next four weeks: Home against Miami, at St. Louis, home against Buffalo and then at Minnesota. That's not exactly tough.

They then play host to the 49ers on Oct. 29, which looks like it will be a huge Monday night game.

The Cardinals have the league's No. 1 scoring defense, 10th overall and are fourth in sacks per pass play. They have an aggressive front that comes after the quarterback, which is something Cardinals coordinator Ray Horton learned in his time with the Steelers.

Arizona does have to get better on offense to be a real factor. They are 31st in total offense and tied for 19th in scoring offense. That isn't good enough, although it might be good enough to win the division.

Why did I change my mind?

Man, I can be dumb sometimes.

Cue the jokes once again.

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NFL Draft Targets - Wide Receiver

NBA Versus NFL For Bankroll Safety In The Betting Sports Game

NFL a mess after shame in Seattle; thanks Goodell -- you, too, regular refs

When they come back, and they'll be back within days -- right? -- don't cheer the NFL's regular officials. Don't clap your hands. Don't even smile at them. They don't deserve it, because they're the problem here. Them, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Both sides. Awful.

We didn't need what happened Monday night in Seattle to know this has to stop, though apparently we needed what happened in Seattle to send us past the breaking point. After the most implausible ending imaginable -- actually, it wasn't even imaginable; as Packers coach Mike McCarthy said, "I've never seen anything like that in all my years in football" -- NFL players and fans erupted Monday night in a sea of shock and anger that sounded a lot like this:

Bring back the real refs, and do it now.

It will happen -- in time for this weekend's games, right? -- but don't let your relief look anything like appreciation, because neither the NFL Referees Association nor the NFL commissioner will deserve gratitude when this stupid labor impasse ends.

The NFL is so wealthy it can afford to pay the officials gobs more than it does. Last season the average salary for a game official was nearly $150,000, and the NFL could afford to double it. And then the NFL could afford to double that. The NFL is printing money as fast as it prints tickets and TV listings and souvenir cups and licensed apparel and parking tags and ... you get the point. The NFL is loaded.

And the regular refs know it, which is why they were seeking big-time money for part-time work. And then when the labor impasse reached the blinking point and neither side blinked, the NFL locked out the officials -- and the NFLRA responded by trying to take down the whole damn league.

NFL refs oversee the officiating of several of college football's BCS conferences -- and made it clear to officials in those leagues that working as replacement refs would jeopardize their careers. Officials from other major-college conferences joined suit in a show of solidarity, forcing the NFL into a choice between two extremes: (A) Give the NFLRA what it wants; or (B) cancel games.

The NFL went with (C):

Hire officials from Division II and III, high schools, even the Lingerie Football League.

Hilarity ensued, although it's not really funny. People have had a big ol' laugh at the expense of the replacement referees, though this isn't their fault. In theory, yes, these specific replacements allowed the labor impasse to continue by agreeing to work, saving the NFL schedule.

But that's only a theory. In reality, had these specific replacements refused the work, other potential officials would have been offered the job. Were they all going to turn down the chance to make lots of money to stand on an NFL field and officiate a game? No. Of course not. That's not realistic, so don't be ridiculous and blame replacement refs for this mess. They were never the problem. They tried to be the solution, and it hasn't worked out.

Which brings us to today, or rather, to Monday night -- when Packers safety M.D. Jennings intercepted Seattle's last-second pass in the end zone, only to see a replacement ref rule it a touchdown after Seahawks receiver Golden Tate got his hands on the ball and kept them there as he and Jennings lay in the end zone. Well, one replacement ruled it a touchdown. Another signaled for a touchback, which would mean Jennings had intercepted it and was down in the end zone.

To replay we went, and the touchdown was upheld, but that didn't provide clarity. Was possession of the ball on a simultaneous catch even reviewable? In the immediate aftermath of the play, some said yes; others, no. The NFL released a statement Tuesday that said, yes, possession of the catch was reviewable because it happened in the end zone -- but somehow concluded, "The NFL Officiating Department reviewed the video ... and supports the decision not to overturn the on-field ruling following the instant replay review."

Not reviewable was the blatant offensive pass interference committed by Tate, a push-off of Packers cornerback Sam Shields that the refs missed.

"This should have been a penalty for offensive pass interference, which would have ended the game," according to the NFL's statement. "It was not called and is not reviewable in instant replay."

Ah.

That statement explained what happened and why, but it didn't tell us what we wanted to hear. At this point, NFL fans and NFL players -- hell, even NBA players -- want to hear just one thing:

The lockout is over -- the regular refs are back to work.

And maybe we'll hear that soon. Within days, right? Whenever the regular refs return, officiating mistakes will continue to happen, mystifying mistakes that change games and affect careers. For a week or so we might even tolerate the mistakes -- because at least the right officials will be making the wrong calls.

But soon enough we'll be booing the real refs, and it will sound beautiful. Hell, I'm booing the real refs right now. Booooo for you guys, and boooooo for Roger Goodell as well. The NFL is in chaos -- and this is your fault.

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Bills release former Pro Bowl punter Moorman, sign Powell

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills have released veteran punter Brian Moorman and signed free agent Shawn Powell to replace him.

Moorman has been with the Bills since 2001 and twice was selected to the Pro Bowl. But he had struggled this season with a net average of 32.7 yards per punt.

Powell was with the Bills in the preseason before being released. The 6-foot-4, 243-pounder from Florida State signed with the Bills as an undrafted free agent after April's draft.

He was the Seminoles' career leader with a 44.2 punting average.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

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Texans' Watt follows Long, Strahan as next great NFL defensive linemen

J.J. Watt gave Peyton Manning and the Broncos a hard time Sunday. (AP)

J.J. Watt, a star on the rise, maybe the best defensive player in football right now, was asked about the Texans' decision to let Mario Williams go to Buffalo.

"He's a special player," said Watt of Williams. "A player like that will always be missed. My only point is there are still some great players in here."

Watt pointed at a Texans locker room that is 3-0 and the best team in football. Yet he could have easily pointed that finger at himself because, right now, there is no defensive lineman, and maybe no defensive player in football, who is dominating the sport the way Watt is.

There are some who are comparing Watt to Hall of Famer Howie Long for obvious and superficial reasons. Watt is actually more reminiscent of a young Michael Strahan. I watched Strahan slowly grow into a dominating, Hall of Fame presence, who was skilled against the run in addition to rushing the quarterback, and Watt's rapid ascension looks eerily similar.

It's early and we've seen young stars burn bright and then burn out, but that won't happen with Watt. We're seeing something special, right before our eyes, with the best comparison being the rapid rise of the Giants' Jason Pierre-Paul.

Watt represents another link in the evolutionary chain of a rapidly changing defensive end position. The gold standards remain Reggie White or Deacon Jones, who used power and speed, to dominate. As offenses got more athletic, so to have the defensive linemen. Strahan was one of the players that represented another generation after White, and Watt is the generation now: taller, lanky, lean, quicker and a stone, cold athlete. In college, he was a tight end, who turned into a devastating pass rusher while at Wisconsin.

What I saw Watt do to the Broncos' offensive line was somewhat stunning. It was like something from Gulliver's Travels; the only thing missing were puny cannons and tiny little battleships. Watt went around lineman, jumped over them, bull-rushed past them and batted down passes. He had 2? sacks on the game but it was almost solely Watt who stifled the Denver offense and allowed the Texans to build a huge lead.

What Watt is doing is simply a continuation of last season. In Houston's playoff win against Cincinnati, Watt returned an interception for a touchdown, again demonstrating hops and athletic ability. He had 2? sacks the following week against Baltimore.

His 5? sacks is second in the NFL -- he has 9 sacks total in the past five games -- but a truer sign of Watt's athleticism is that he's ninth in the league in passes defended; there is no other lineman in the top 20. Give Watt a basketball, and he's Karl Malone.

"He's an outstanding player," said Broncos coach John Fox. "I think up front they're as disruptive as most teams. I'm not saying they're right up there with the Giants quite yet, but they're moving up. He's an outstanding player."

I spoke to six current players about Watt who had a great many interesting things to say about him. The main theme: he's vastly underrated and if he played for a team like the Giants or Philly or another huge East Coast media market, he'd be a household name. But because Houston is a young franchise out of the East Coast shipping lanes, he doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

It's likely more a case of the media and others wanting a larger body of work, but in many ways, he's the defensive equivalent of a young offensive star like Cincinnati's A.J. Green. Careers can change in an instant in the violent turbulence that is professional football, but like Green, there is stardom written all over Watt.

The scene during Peyton Manning's press conference after the Broncos had lost to Houston and Watt had pushed them around was almost hilarious. Manning was asked about Watt: "I don't see the numbers of the defensive linemen as much -- you know you're looking downfield -- so I'm probably the wrong guy to ask as to how he played. I could probably tell after the film."

Oh, Manning knew exactly who that was putting him on his butt.

It was the next, great defensive star.

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