I'm The Rabbi, welcome to this week's football column. This last weekend (not the weekend that just passed, but the weekend before), I witnessed a very interesting thing that I have never witnessed before. In the span of basically 14 hours, I saw one engagement and heard about another from my friends. The one I saw was late Saturday night at my old college radio stations 50th anniversery celebration. My friend Matt got engaged to his girlfriend of about 3 1/2 years, Kathleen. Then on Sunday, my friend, and the host of On The Sportslines, Nisa Cirulnick got the question popped to her by her boyfriend during a tour of Yankee Stadium, in the dugout of the Stadium.

So that leads us to this special edition of....

10 Things that happened this week in football- The Wedding Edition!

1. The father of the bride- The USC Trojans

Yes! This will be the last freaking time we talk about the USC Trojans in this column until the bowl previews. Why you ask? Cause as of right now, they are irrelevant. Now at the lowest that they've been in the polls in the Pete Carroll era, the Trojans are out of the mix for the Pac 10 Title. The Stanford Cardinal, for the 2nd time in 3 years, went into USC and took the W. This time though, Jim Harbaugh embarassed the Trojans. You're happy for the father of the bride for all they've done, but the father of the bride is still old, is still fading, and is not what they once were. However, going for two at 48-21 is kinda cheap, Harbaugh. Show some respect.

2. The mother of the bride- The Ohio State Buckeyes

Interesting one here. The mother of the bride is getting older, but there's still parts about them you like. Even though, in my opinion, Terrelle Prior has taken a step back this year, the last two weeks for OSU everyone ELSE has stepped up, especially Brandon Saine, who rushed for 100+ yards. Funny thing, in the 6 years that OSU has won at least a share of the Big 10, they never made the Rose Bowl, till now. The more traditional OSU jumps over Iowa, who fought till OT on Sat versus their stronger opponents, and now OSU goes to the Rose Bowl, and hopefully, the great season Iowa had gets AT LEAST rewarded with a Capital One Bowl berth.

3. The Wedding Crasher- The Carolina Panthers

You don't what they're doing there, but they sure are having fun. The Carolina Panthers are having a lot of fun sneaking back into the Wild Card playoff picture at 4-5, beating their division rival Atlanta yesterday, 28-19. Carolina has the weapons to make the run too. Almost 180 yards of rushing from their 2 main backs, DeAngelo Williams and Johnathan Stewart. A punishing defense that knocked out Michael Turner and a secondary that destroyed Matt Ryan (57.4 QB Rating). And 2 INT free games from Jake Delhomme! A winning formula which makes a team with a 0-3 start, a playoff contender now.

4. The person you don't want to see when you've drank too much- The Denver Broncos

Look at this from the movie Wedding Crashers and Vince Vaughn's target's character (Isla Fisher's stage five clinger). It looks so good to start (6-0 to begin the season, with wins over Dallas, New England, and San Diego on the road, remember), to this. 6-3, tied for AFC West lead, having to defend that lead next sunday versus San Diego, and oh yeah, CHRIS SIMMS will be your starting QB! As much as you have to give the Washington Redskins some credit (eh, some), when you go from a guy in Kyle Orton who ends up throwing 11/18 for 2 TD's, to a guy who's basically been out of football In Chris Simms, who went 3/13 from 13 yards. I feel like this is a bad way for Denver's freefall to happen this year, and hopefully they don't fall completely from the playoffs.

5. The Wedding Singer- The San Diego Chargers

You're annoyed when you first see them and you think they suck, but go through a little while, get some drinks in ya, and they're awesome! The San Diego Chargers started the season 2-3, with those two wins struggles against Oakland and KC nonetheless. Now, a 4 game winning streak, two significant wins against NFC East boys the Giants and Eagles, and a renewed rushing game (2 TD's from new dad Ladanian Tomlinson), make San Diego significant again. As a huge sidenote, Eagles running back Bryan Westbrook got another concussion after suffering one a few weeks ago, and hopefully Bryan rests for a while so he can recover properly.

6. The guy who looks like he had too much to drink- The New York Jets

Ouch. He had a lot of fun to begin with, but now all of a sudden he's realizing the consequences of his decisions. After a 3-0 start this year, the Jets have gone 1-5 in their last 6. The injuries have mounted up for the J-E-T-S, and all of a sudden, Rex Ryan has described his team's playoff chances as "not very good". Yesterday, against a team with 1 win this year on the road, Jacksonville, the Jets looked overmatched. They took the lead late in the 4th, but thanks to a variety of plays on the last drive, and Jags running back Maurice Jones Drew's 123 yards (and freaking brilliant that when the Jets let MJD go for a TD late, MJD took a knee at the 1!), the Jets have realized they their mouths don't match up with their talent this year in the NFL.

7. The flower girl- The Green Bay Packers

Well, well, well. The Green Bay Packers have grown yesterday before our very eyes. Against a QB who's won 13 straight games in November in Cowboys QB Tony Romo, they made the Boys look silly. Aaron Rogers may have gotten sacked 4 times, but the cute flower girl rose to the occasion and got 5 sacks. The Packers forced 3 turnovers. The Dom Capers defense ALMOST pitched a shutout against one of the league's hottest offenses. While there are still flaws (if Roy Williams didn't fumble, this could have forced Aaron Rogers to win the game, something he can't do right now), we love the flower girl, and hope they grow the next few weeks.

8. The maid of honor- The Cincinnatti Bengals

With the best man being the Minnesota Vikings (thank you for covering your 16.5 point spread and making us bettors look less stupid). But the former Bungles deserve to be the best team with a loss in the NFL. They swept the AFC Title game participants for heaven's sake! They also did it basically yesterday with the M O of their opponents, defense. Lose MVP candidate Cedric Benson after 7 rushes? No problem! Sure they got a lucky INT off a defelection, but Cincy stepped up in their 18-12 win over the Steelers yesterday. Now, can the best men handle prosperity and do their jon the next 3 weeks, by beating Oakland on the road and the Browns and Lions at home the next 3 weeks. Wait, you kidding me? That's their schedule? Jesus.....

9. The groom- The New Orleans Saints

They may not be a gentleman all the time, but when you want them to rise to the occasion, they are the man/team you want to be. Sure, they made a 1 win Rams team look like a million bucks on occasion at points yesterday, but when the offense needed to step up, they did. Whether it be Courtney "don't call me Reggie" Roby's kickodd return to start the second half, or Brees TD in the early part of the 4th, you need a score, the Saints will give it to you. But notice this, prosperity is a tough thing for the Saints. Three straight weeks of double digit lines, they didn't cover. So maybe the Saints are close to an upset.

10. The bride- The Indianapolis Colts

Even though there are moments of trepidation and panic, she/the team is the bride. They are the focus of the room. Peyton Manning's 8th 300 yard game this year (and I hate to say it, but he's my MVP finally this year, and it took me 10 weeks to realize), the Colts defense late actually held up against the vaunted New England Patriots offense, and the ahem, decisions by the other team that the Colts have to see, have kept the Colts undefeated. Quickly on my take on Bill Bellicheck's going for it on 4th in two with 2:06 on their own 28: it was a dumb move. I don't care if you have to give the ball to Peyton Manning on their own 40 with 2:00 to go and two timeouts, it's a better chance to keep a TD away then giving Indy the ball on YOUR OWN 28 with that same situation. Unless you have the hoodspah to think your definitely gonna get the first there, don't do it. You can trust your defense to make a stop late. Bill, you had WAY too much confidence in your offense, and hopefully after this week, your feet are on the ground.

Doubt it? Oh well, at least I used the word hoodspah in a post. Mazel Tov till Week 11 everyone!