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Eagles, Chargers compete to be among league's worst

If you were to put together a bucket list for a coach about to lose his job, you have the inexplicable loss followed by a postgame freakout to make it all but complete.

Hey look, there's Norv Turner right there! Please tell me you've (seen this video.) I'm not sure if Norv is really upset about the question (because he almost has that 'look at the cue cards' thing that Lindsay Lohan had during her appearance on "Saturday Day Night Live") or if he had a Coors Light commercial payday in mind. I mean, he's going to need work next season so it makes sense he would already plan for another gig.

Undaunted, we will continue our look at those teams competing to be the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, no matter who the top dog is. And until we have a better name, we will continue to refer to this space as the Fans for Barkley.

And without further ado ...

Others receiving votes: Oakland Raiders (3-6), Tennessee (4-6), New York Jets (3-6), Cleveland Browns (2-7)

If you want to be truly successful in the alternative rankings, you need to be bad in all three phases of the game. The Chargers have been bad offensively, given up big plays defensively but they really put it all together on Sunday with a poor performance on special teams, too.

The Eagles were in a must-lose situation on Sunday. When you have a team like the Cowboys in town, it would have been so easy to pull out a victory. But the Eagles dug deep, did what they had to do and pulled out a much needed loss to move up in the rankings. When you look back on the pivotal moments of the 2012 season, people will point to the 21-point explosion they allowed to the Cowboys in a matter of a few minutes as the key to the season.

Cam Newton was at a crossroads after a win over the Redskins in Week 9. Could this have been a turning point for the Panthers to tumble down the alternative rankings? Well, Newton shook off a good performance and instead went back to being what we are accustomed to as the Panthers were barely competitive against the Broncos.

The Redskins were on a bye, and it typically costs teams in the rankings. But as I watched the Panthers struggle on Sunday against the Broncos, the only thing I could think was, "you guys lost to the Panthers?"

When you have a game on Thursday night, it is your time to show what you can do. And the Jaguars put in a bid for the No. 1 spot, and to be honest, if this column was penned on Thursday night, it might have been enough to sway the voters. But when you get some distance between the embarrassing home loss to the Colts, it loses some of its impact.

The Chiefs loose some style points after they took the Steelers to overtime on Monday night. But credit the Chiefs as they found a way to lose when it counted the most. And that should count for something.

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