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“Suck For Luck” is clever and funny, of course, but it's not a good thing when fans are rooting for their teams to lose just two months into the season, and there are whispers in October whether teams are truly trying to “Suck For Luck.”

Roger Goodell should change the rules in the middle of the game: Instead of the No. 1 pick in the draft going to the team with the worst record, the NFL needs to institute a modified version of the NBA's draft lottery, which includes all the teams that don't make the playoffs.

Our proposal: A weighted lottery for the teams with the five worst records. In a typical year that would include teams that won four games or fewer. The team with the worst record would own the most ping-pong balls. It makes sense for the NFL: It would not only eliminate the integrity questions in Miami and Indianapolis and elsewhere, but the league can turn it into a moneymaker by selling the television rights for the draft lottery and naming rights to the states of the teams that run lotteries.

Hey, you never know.

The NFL should do it for the 2012 Luck Derby and all future drafts.

The NBA began its lottery in 1985 after the Houston Rockets were accused of tanking games to get Hakeem Olajuwon one year earlier. The Knicks won the NBA's first lottery, but that didn't end the cynicism as the league was accused of fixing it so Patrick Ewing, the clear top pick, would go to the Knicks.

An NFL general manager told the Daily News that he would “absolutely” endorse a draft lottery “to make sure there is no manipulation, to keep everybody on a level playing field,” he said. “Nobody goes out and plays to deliberately lose, but they may not do things that help them win. Like bringing in a better player.”

The GM was referring to the Colts, who left themselves exposed at backup quarterback even though they knew that Manning had neck surgery in May. Manning and the Colts were at a disadvantage because they weren't allowed to have contact during the lockout, but the Colts waited until Aug. 25, exactly one month after the lockout ended, to add a veteran backup. They brought in Kerry Collins out of retirement, while still hoping Manning could play.

Manning then had serious neck surgery on Sept. 8 and is likely lost for the season. The Colts thought so little of backup Curtis Painter, their sixth-round pick in 2009, that Collins started the opener in Houston despite being with the team only 17 days.

Collins suffered a concussion in the third game and last week was placed on injured reserve. For his troubles, Collins is making $4 million. Combined with the $26.4 million the Colts owe Manning this season as part of his new contract, that's $30.4 million to quarterbacks not on the field.

Giants co-owner John Mara, a member of the competition committee, said a draft lottery has never been discussed. “I don't think it will ever happen,” he said. “I don't think any team out there intentionally tries to lose games. Players on the field are naturally competitive and want to win, plus they are fighting for their jobs. The coaching staff is not going to do it. If they are having that bad of a season, they are concerned about their job. I have not seen any evidence in all my years of teams tanking a game.”

The Colts (0-7), Dolphins (0-6) and Rams (0-6) are the favorites to get the top pick. The Cardinals (1-6) and Vikings (1-5) are also in contention. Can you imagine if the Colts get the pick, the Colts take Luck and Manning returns next season 100%. The Colts have found out what life without Manning is like, so there is no way they pass on Luck.

Dolphins fans should picket Radio City on draft night if the Colts get Luck. In the 12 seasons since Dan Marino retired, the Dolphins have started 16 different quarterbacks. In the 13 years since Elway retired, the Broncos have started 11 quaerterbacks. Until this season, Manning had been the only Colts QB to start since 1998.

It's funny, but before the new collective bargaining agreement included a drastic reduction in rookie contracts, teams that owned the No. 1 pick were desperate to get rid of it because it just cost too much money. Bill Parcells, then directing the Dolphins, couldn't give his first rounder away in 2008, and then made a mistake taking tackle Jake Long instead of quarterback Matt Ryan.

In any system, no team would run away from Luck, or have trouble trading the pick if they already had a quarterback, which is the situation the Rams may be facing since they drafted Sam Bradford with the top pick in 2010. Bradford signed a six-year $78 million deal with $50 million guaranteed. Cam Newton, the first No. 1 pick limited by the new rookie wage scale, signed a four-year, $22 million contract, all of which is guaranteed.

Why are the Colts so bad when the Patriots survived without Tom Brady?

It was halfway through the first-quarter of the first game of the 2008 season when Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury. He was replaced by Matt Cassel and the Patriots were presumed to be finished.

Cassel was a complete unknown. He had attempted 22 passes in his first three years. He never started a game at USC and was a seventh-round draft pick. The Patriots had no time to prepare for life without Brady. They went on to win 11 games, although they didn't make the playoffs - they lost the AFC East division title tie-breaker to the Dolphins and the wild-card tie-breaker to the Ravens.

The Patriots were coming off an undefeated regular season and were certainly better than the Colts, who won the AFC South last year with a 10-6 record.

But what's happened to the Colts this year proves they were a one-man show with Manning and a supporting cast that was nothing without him. He might be the MVP of the league without taking a snap. Manning is a top five quarterback of all time, but it's inexcusable the Colts are 0-7 and were not even interested in playing in last week's 62-7 loss to the Saints.

Colts president Bill Polian is supposed to be some kind of genius because he had the good sense to draft Manning over Ryan Leaf, which of course has turned into the biggest no-brainer in NFL history, but at the time did cause some debate around the league.

Polian helped build the Bills teams that went to four consecutive Super Bowls - he was gone after the first three - because he had the good fortune to inherit Jim Kelly after the USFL folded. His best job might have been in Carolina, where the expansion Panthers made the NFC Championship Game in their second year. Collins was his QB and the first player he drafted in franchise history. But he failed the Colts by not signing Matt Hasselbeck or trading for Donovan McNabb or just finding someone better than Painter as soon as the lockout ended.

“Bill Polian is great and he's got a chance at the Hall of Fame,” one GM said. “But in 100 years, I will never understand why they didn't have a backup quarterback who is established. I'm even more shocked that they paid Manning (by signing him to a new contract) without knowing for sure if he could play or not. Then not to have a plan in place in the event he couldn't play or couldn't play early. I'm shocked. The only thing that makes sense is maybe they want Andrew Luck. That would be one thing that would go through your mind.”

Does he think the Colts are intentionally bad?

“I would never accuse anybody of that. Ever,” he said. “I have too much respect for the league and too much respect for the people that do their jobs. But the temptation of thinking it is there. If you are not thinking it, you are stupid.”

Mara dismissed the idea that the Colts are trying to lose for Luck. “I know (Polian) well enough to know that,” he said. “This is killing him.”

“I don't think a fan should want a team to lose, whether now or later,” Luck told the Los Angeles Times. “Fans should support their team, have them win, and whatever happens, happens.”

The Jets play at Miami in the final game of the season. If they have nothing at stake, it would be in their best interest to lose if it keeps Luck out of the AFC East.

Solution: Draft lottery.

CAMPBELL SOUP SERVED COLD
Football is a cold business - consider what happened to Jason Campbell. When he broke his collarbone two weeks ago, the Raiders were en route to their 4-2 record. He was positioning himself for a nice payday as a free agent after the season. Two days after the injury, the Raiders traded for Carson Palmer by giving up a first-round pick in 2012 and a conditional second-round pick in 2013 that could become a first-rounder if Oakland makes the AFC title game in either of the next two seasons. Campbell's career as the Raiders’ starting quarterback is over. Palmer, who picked up where he left off in Cincy by coming into the game last week in the second half and throwing three INTs, is the unquestioned starter for the foreseeable future. That means Campbell will be looking for a new team after the season. “I'm a starter in this league, definitely,” Campbell said last week. “I look around the league and I play at a higher level than most guys. I'm definitely a starter. I'm not ready to accept being in a backup role. I've come too far and done too much and I feel like I'm still pressing on and I haven't even gotten to my best yet.”