Lane Kiffin was fired as coach of the Raiders on Tuesday. That wasn’t much of a surprise, as it had been rumored for a few weeks now and these are the Raiders, ineffectively owned by Al Davis. What was surprising was the vitriol displayed by Davis toward his former employee. Does anyone believe Davis for a minute that Kiffin’s firing was entirely Kiffin’s fault? Davis’ rant, in which he called Kiffin a liar and said the coach “conned him,” might have been borderline slander

Obviously, Davis is hoping to avoid paying Kiffin the remainder of his salary, a hope I doubt will come true. Kiffin did as much as he could with what little was given (or perhaps, allowed) him by Davis. He’ll find another NFL job someday — you would think the other league owners know Davis enough to not believe everything that was said. As for the Raiders this season, they weren’t playing that badly after Week 1. Now, with this upheaval and pretty much the same team, they’ll be 5-11 at best.

After all the predictions, including mine, that the Giants weren’t going to make it back to the Super Bowl this season, here they are, atop my rankings, without even playing this week. Arizona dropped the most this week, from No. 16 to No. 23, while the Saints climbed six spots for the biggest jump.

1. Giants (3-0)
2. Titans (4-0)
3. Cowboys (3-1)
4. Patriots (2-1)
5. Bills (4-0)
6. Steelers (3-1)
7. Redskins (3-1)
8. Buccaneers (3-1)
9. Panthers (3-1)
10. Eagles (2-2)
11. Chargers (2-2)
12. Broncos (3-1)
13. Jaguars (2-2)
14. Colts (1-2)
15. Saints (2-2)
16. Packers (2-2)
17. Ravens (2-1)
18. Seahawks (1-2)
19. Bears (2-2)
20. Jets (2-2)
21. 49ers (2-2)
22. Falcons (2-2)
23. Cardinals (2-2)
24. Dolphins (1-2)
25. Browns (1-3)
26. Vikings (1-3)
27. Raiders (1-3)
28. Chiefs (1-3)
29. Texans (0-3)
30. Lions (0-3)
31. Bengals (0-4)
32. Rams (0-4)

Rams coach Scott Linehan was fired Monday. Perhaps he should have been canned after last season, when the team started 0-8 and finished 3-13.

It didn’t get any better this year with an 0-4 start and an offense that is barely scoring. Remember when the Rams’ offense was considered high-powered? Granted, it’s not 1999 anymore, but for years, drafting a St. Louis player for your fantasy team was a sure thing. That image began to erode last year and vanished over the past four games.

Of course, Linehan wasn’t fired for letting fantasy football owners down. Last year’s disaster was getting worse, and unless the Rams did something, they were headed toward 1-15 rather than 3-13. And while they might not rebound this year, perhaps Jim Haslett can stop the bleeding enough that there will be hope for 2009.

Many changes this week with New England, Pittsburgh and Green Bay losing, though Dallas stays at No. 1. Baltimore moves up eight for this week’s biggest jump, while Chicago drops seven for the steepest fall.

1. Cowboys (3-0)
2. Giants (3-0)
3. Titans (3-0)
4. Eagles (2-1)
5. Patriots (2-1)
6. Broncos (3-0)
7. Bills (3-0)
8. Steelers (2-1)
9. Redskins (2-1)
10. Packers (2-1)
11. Buccaneers (2-1)
12. Ravens (2-0)
13. Panthers (2-1)
14. Chargers (1-2)
15. Jaguars (1-2)
16. Cardinals (2-1)
17. Colts (1-2)
18. Falcons (2-1)
19. Seahawks (1-2)
20. Vikings (1-2)
21. Saints (1-2)
22. 49ers (2-1)
23. Bears (1-2)
24. Dolphins (1-2)
25. Jets (1-2)
26. Raiders (1-2)
27. Texans (0-2)
28. Browns (0-3)
29. Bengals (0-3)
30. Lions (0-3)
31. Chiefs (0-3)
32. Rams (0-3)

Three weeks in, and there are just six undefeated teams out of 32. And of those six, who would have thought Buffalo, Denver, Tennessee and Baltimore would be among them.

OK, the Ravens might not count because of their unexpected bye. And I won’t get into Denver’s fortune that Ed Hochuli blew that call last week. Nevertheless, this is turning out to be a wild season. If it keeps up, December, when teams are vying for the playoffs, will be dizzying.

New England quarterback Matt Cassel didn’t stink in his first start since high school. Will that be good enough for the Patriots?

There was a good point made about Cassel’s emergence: Tom Brady was an untested quarterback when he took over for Drew Bledsoe all those years ago. And though Cassel is greener than Brady was, the Patriots are a solid enough team that Cassel simply needs to be adequate.

But I’m still waiting for Randy Moss to implode. When he’s double-teamed, Cassel doesn’t have the skills to get the ball to him. And we’ve seen how Moss gets when he isn’t getting the ball.

Just a few more thoughts from Week 2:

– The Vikings had to do it: They are switching to Gus Frerotte at quarterback after another lackluster performance by Tavaris Jackson. It might not actually help, but the Vikes couldn’t risk falling further behind in the NFC North.

– Arizona might be the unlikeliest 2-0 team so far, but unless Seattle turns things around quickly, the Cardinals might win the division. And it’s going to be Kurt Warner, not Brett Favre, as the ancient quarterback that leads his team to the playoffs.

– The Chargers are 0-2, thanks in part to Ed Hochuli, but they shouldn’t worry — the Broncos aren’t good enough to win the division, and the Raiders and Chiefs aren’t good enough to win the Mid-American Conference.

My top four remain the same this week, with the Broncos, Panthers, Colts and Bills entering the top 10. The Broncos make the biggest jump, 12 spots, while the Saints fall the farthest, from No. 6 to No. 14.

1. Cowboys (2-0)
2. Patriots (2-0)
3. Steelers (2-0)
4. Giants (2-0)
5. Titans (2-0)
6. Packers (2-0)
7. Broncos (2-0)
8. Panthers (2-0)
9. Colts (1-1)
10. Bills (2-0)
11. Eagles (1-1)
12. Cardinals (2-0)
13. Redskins (1-1)
14. Saints (1-1)
15. Buccaneers (1-1)
16. Bears (1-1)
17. Chargers (0-2)
18. Jaguars (0-2)
19. Seahawks (0-2)
20. Ravens (1-0)
21. Vikings (0-2)
22. Jets (1-1)
23. 49ers (1-1)
24. Raiders (1-1)
25. Texans (0-1)
26. Falcons (1-1)
27. Browns (0-2)
28. Lions (0-2)
29. Chiefs (0-2)
30. Bengals (0-2)
31. Dolphins (0-2)
32. Rams (0-2)

Sunday’s most exciting game easily was the Broncos’ 39-38 victory over the Chargers. We’ll be talking about it for years, and not just because of Mike Shanahan’s gutsy decision to go for a two-point conversion to win the game.

No, we’ll be talking about it because an officiating mistake prevented the Chargers from winning. If you watch the replays of Jay Cutler’s “incomplete pass,” he clearly fumbled. Referee Ed Hochuli admitted so much when he told Norv Turner he goofed the call by whistling the play dead, but there was nothing he could do.

This is a classic case of the NFL rules being enforced too strictly. The whole point of instant replay, and of officials huddling on the field to discuss a call, is to get it right. Hochuli couldn’t fix his mistake because of the letter of the law. And as a result, the Chargers lost. Yes, you could argue all they needed to do was stop the Broncos on the ensuing plays, but it should have never come to that.

The league downgraded Hochuli’s officiating grade, and rightly so (unlike other leagues, the NFL demands excellent work from their officials or else). But that’s probably of little comfort to the Chargers, who will be rightfully upset if they lose a playoff bye, the division, or even a playoff berth, because of this one bad call.

With Tom Brady’s season-ending injury and Dallas’ impressive victory over Cleveland, the Cowboys leapfrog New England at No. 1. The Eagles make the week’s biggest jump, 11 spots to No. 5, while the Browns take the biggest tumble, dropping 11 to No. 23.

1. Cowboys (1-0)
2. Patriots (1-0)
3. Steelers (1-0)
4. Giants (1-0)
5. Eagles (1-0)
6. Saints (1-0)
7. Titans (1-0)
8. Packers (1-0)
9. Chargers (0-1)
10. Bears (1-0)
11. Colts (0-1)
12. Panthers (1-0)
13. Bills (1-0)
14. Jaguars (0-1)
15. Seahawks (0-1)
16. Buccaneers (1-0)
17. Redskins (0-1)
18. Cardinals (1-0)
19. Broncos (1-0)
20. Jets (1-0)
21. Vikings (0-1)
22. Chiefs (0-1)
23. Browns (0-1)
24. Ravens (1-0)
25. Falcons (1-0)
26. Texans (0-1)
27. Lions (0-1)
28. Bengals (0-1)
29. 49ers (0-1)
30. Dolphins (0-1)
31. Rams (0-1)
32. Raiders (0-1)

The NFL is back in full swing. How sweet it is.

It wasn’t so sweet for the Patriots, however, with Tom Brady going down for the season with a knee injury. Is this a continuation of karma against Bill Belichick, karma that began at last season’s Super Bowl?

Other observations from the first week of the season:

– Between Brady’s injury and the way they handled the Seahawks, the Bills must be licking their chops at the prospect of making a run in the AFC East. I don’t think they’ll catch the Pats, but this division just got much more interesting.

– Speaking of the Seahawks, who will Matt Hasselbeck throw to now that Nate Burleson is out for the season. Matt Hasselbeck is coming off one of his best seasons, but he’s unlikely to repeat not because of anything with him, but the personnel around him. It doesn’t help, either, that running back Maurice Morris looked good before getting injured, too (he’ll be out a few weeks). In the meantime, the Seattle defense better step up.

– So much for Shawne Merriman attempting to play despite a busted knee — the Charger is out for the season. Give him credit for trying to play, but he finally made the right decision to have surgery now.

– The Patriots lose Brady, the Chargers lose Merriman and the Colts were soundly defeated Sunday: Does that leave the Steelers as the team to beat in the AFC? I thought Pittsburgh would defeat Houston, but it wasn’t even competitive. Maybe the Steelers are that good this year.

– Brett Favre’s stats might not have been impressive for us fantasy players, but he looked like the Favre of old, with the same enthusiasm and freelancing that wowed Green Bay since the elder Bush administration. He might not take the Jets to the playoffs, but he will make their season less dreary than 2007.

– Finally, and my apologies for going back to Brady’s injury but it’s impossible not to think about the ramifications: What is going to happen to Randy Moss when he’s not getting the attention, and the touchdowns, he got with Brady throwing to him? Remember when he essentially gave up in Minnesota? Will we see him dogging it in New England?