As The Ball Bounces: Week 10

Bob George

Nov 13, 2002 at 5:00am ET

This begins a new series in PatsFans.com. About each Wednesday PatsFans.com' s Bob George will offer a pro football potpourri article.

Our kicker of the week: naturally, our own Adam Vinatieri, he of the 57-yard cannons. So, let him have the honor of kicking off this new series. He boots it deep and…

No, folks. Rich Gannon is not that good.

But Jerry Rice is.

Any day now, Barry Sanders will be on the phone with Joey Harrington. Subject: Early retirement beats the heck out of playing for the Lions.

The Patriots have their ticket to an AFC East title punched. The man behind the puncher is named Sage Rosenfels.

How did it take so long for the Steelers to figure out Kordell Stewart's real worth to the team, when it took the rest of us about two minutes?

Pat Summerall, you're no Keith Jackson.

You know the Bengals are bad when they wallop Houston and it's a shocker.

Let's hope the Vikings take more than two weeks to figure out what's wrong with them.

What was the Bears' record last year?

You watched Indianapolis torch Philadelphia on the road, and you suddenly are afraid that the season will end with every team in the NFL at 8-8.

Geek of the Week: Here's hoping Brian Billick laid a hefty fine on Ed Reed. This is the guy who picked off Jon Kitna of Cincinnati, ran it back 46 yards, then held out the ball in celebration at about the 5-yard line. T.J. Houshmandzadeh hacked him on the arm and the ball popped loose. The Bengals recovered in the end zone. Good thing for Baltimore that they were playing the Bengals.

On two of those 500 Monday Night games, the Patriots clinched AFC East titles. And neither game was nominated for one of the five best. The ghost of Howard Cosell continues to haunt the Patriots.

While we're on that subject: Grossest moment: Joe Theismann's leg breaking in two. Most shameful: Drunken Pats fans in 1976 against the Jets. Funniest moment: anytime Don Meredith sang. Second funniest moment: the guy with the birdie finger in Houston. Most unforgettable: Cosell breaking the news of John Lennon's death (during a Patriots game). Best game: the 1986 division clincher. Worst game: the night Billy fired Chuck.

Charles Woodson ought to be slapped around this week. By every member of his own team. Thanks, Charles, for giving the edge to the Patriots this weekend and taking it away from your side.

Bob McElwee looked rather bad this weekend. But at least he doesn't look as senile as Dick Hantak.

That tie with Atlanta proves right then and there that the Steelers will not be in this year's AFC Championship Game. Unless they only have to beat the AFC South champ to get there.

Looks like Gillette Stadium is the last of a dying breed. You look at Seahawks Stadium and Ford Field and see stadiums that are perhaps narrower than the playing field itself. And you wonder what those architects were smoking, too.

The Jets looked on Sunday night much like the Yankees did on the final weekend of 1975, when they swept the Orioles in a doubleheader to give the Sox the AL East title.

In the span of about five minutes in a game against the Rams on Sunday, Charger lineman Ed Ellis was called for three bad penalties. Why can't the Patriots get players like this guy?

Go ahead. Look me in the eye and tell me that as soon as he is ready, Kurt Warner goes right back in there.

You know, I'd've liked it a lot better if Kansas City had managed to beat San Francisco, and Priest Holmes had torched the Niners for 180-something yards.

You saw Denver Monday night, and it makes you seethe that the Patriots actually lost to that team at home three weeks ago.

I asked a Redskin fan recently if he'd be offended that I thought his team had a crappy owner. To my surprise, he was. Fine. Let the Redskins stay crappy for all I care.

Emmitt has the numbers, Sweetness has the legend, but in this corner of the Nation, Jim Brown rules supreme over all.

Honk if you were told to stay clear of Oakland this weekend if you valued life and limb.

CBS could save a ton of money on crummy sportscasters and merely use radio simulcasts of the games. That would be like trading in a Yugo for a Ferrari. In New England, it would be like trading in a Rambler for a Rolls.

Remember him: Homer Jones, who scored the first touchdown in MNF history. Plenty of old New York Giant fans still littered around the region, gang.

Marty Schottenheimer will lead the Chargers to the playoffs. Just please don't expect him to win once he gets there.

The good people of Indiana are stopping all that "Was Tony Dungy the right fit for us?" talk as of now.

All this time, and Jamal Anderson is still not a Patriot.

All this time, and Robert Edwards is still a Dolphin, and good for him.