UG Sports: Then there were three

The first four weeks of this NFL season were so crazy that the only way I can do justice to the craziness is to upend the modifier 'batshit' to crazy. Everyone and everyone's grandmother has written/ranted/spewed froth about 'Golden-gate', aka 'the one that was stolen from Green Bay', so I won't talk about the replacement refs at all. They are gone now. Let us all have the same poise as Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who phoned the guy who botched the call and left him a nice voicemail, telling him that although he didn't agree with the call (obviously), he thought the ref handled the issue with class. I will leave you with this parting gift, however. Too priceless to pass up:

Besides, there is plenty of other craziness to talk about.

• Like how the Payton-deprived Saints are 0-4, landing them in the same dubious pithole as the hapless Cleveland Browns, who seem to have perfected the technique of squandering good draft picks year after year. 

• Or how the Arizona Cardinals are 4-0, having beaten New England and Philadelphia in back-to-back games. Couple seasons ago the NFC West was the league's doormat - every team, fan, analyst loved wiping their shoes on it. The 49ers changed all of that last year. That seems to have stirred up their division mates. Lost among all the noise about the controversial Green Bay-Seattle game was the fact that Seattle sacked god-like Aaron Rodgers 8 times in the first half. Heck, even the Rams have shown some spunk, fake punting and muscling their way into improbable victories. 

• Two other teams sit at 4-0: Houston and Atlanta. Admittedly, the Cards won't be able to hold on to their record for long. But Houston, with its easy-as-cake division (Peyton-deprived Indianapolis, Tennessee, and perennial joke Jacksonville) and a comparatively easy schedule, has a legitimate chance of matching the 2007 Patriots or the 1972 Miami Dolphins. 

• Matt Ryan is finally living up to his potential. The way he bailed out the Falcons against Cam "superman" Newton was impressive.

Some other thoughts:

• After that 34-0 shellacking at home, how long till the Jets ditch the Sanchize and put Tebow at the center? They play the Texans next Monday so I would bet money on Monday being Tebowtime. 
• Brady vs. Manning resumes this Sunday as the Broncos travel to Foxboro. Perhaps the last time we will see these two at it. 
• And thanks Chicago defense for depriving me of what seemed like a surefire fantasy win on Monday night.