As The Ball Bounces: Week 9

Bob George

Nov 6, 2007 at 5:00am ET

Still alive and kicking in that radio booth. Let's get the Duke down here and kick off this article after a three-week World Series break. Gino Cappelletti, the best Boston Patriot and one of the best players in AFL history, steps into one and booms it to the five-yard line. Not bad for a 73-year-young buck.

Someone please explain what the heck Andy Reid is doing on the sidelines. Jeff Lurie should send him home and make him take a break. Two sons sentenced for drug possession? Drugs found in his house? Yeesh. Some perspective on what's really important, please.

Ellis Hobbs had the record for longest NFL play (108 yards) for exactly eight weeks. How strange. Same year, and now some guy (Antonio Cromartie of San Diego) gets 109 yards (on a blocked field goal return).

Oh, and in the same game, Adrian Peterson breaks the single game rushing record by one yard. Still no 300-yard rusher in league history, but that's still pretty amazing.

Next time you see Brett Favre announce his retirement on TV, change channels or shut the tube off.

Mike Pereira should get a call Monday morning from Bob Kraft. Subject: Dawg-ugly officiating. Clarification on what the league is looking for in pass interference.

And most of all: Are the refs giving the Patriots the Al Davis treatment.

While nobody's noticing, Romeo Crennel has his guys in Cleveland at 5-3, and gutted out a tough overtime win against Seattle.

Geek of the week: Let's send John Perry and his entire officiating crew to Washington and face a Senate inquisition on the integrity of NFL officials. Oh wait, the Patriots ran up the score on the Redskins a week ago, so never mind. Congress won't be of much help.

226 yards rushing and receiving. No wonder Joseph Addai looked so bummed at game's end. What more must I have done to win this game, he's thinking.

The rest of the AFC East is 5-20. Magic number for the Patriots to clinch the AFC East? Four.

The Bills play the Patriots next. If Buffalo loses next week (they're at Miami, so hoping for a loss might be a stretch) and the Patriots beat them the week after, counting the tiebreaker, that would do it.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving, and a good Lions team to look at for a change.

Going further, Dallas and Detroit, the Turkey Day hosts, right now are a combined 13-3.

Kudos for NBC for shutting their studio lights off. Too bad they didn't shut the microphones off, too.

God bless parity. In two divisions the leader is 4-4. In another the leader is 5-4.

Meanwhile, New England, Indianapolis, Dallas and Green Bay are a combined 30-3. Yup, nothing like parity.

Those poor folks in Houston were among the six percent of the nation not allowed to watch the Pats-Colts on CBS. At least their local boys won, out in Oakland.

Back to school: The big stage of college football came to Chestnut Hill Saturday night, and BC blew it. You won't be able to shut Bobby Bowden up all week.

Tony Romo is a good one, no doubt about it. But he's still overpaid until he really does something special.

He could get Dallas to a Super Bowl. That would be a nice start.

Lost in the sorrow of their first loss of the season is that the Colts lead their division by only one game over Tennessee, and two games over Jacksonville. No 4 ½-game lead like their opponent has.

Jacksonville needs to recover quick. That was a spanking that New Orleans laid on them.

How'd you like to be San Francisco, 2-6 and only two games behind the division lead.

Too bad Miami and St. Louis don't meet this year. That would be the Matt Ryan Bowl.

Larry Johnson goes down with an injury. Who do you bring in? Only Priest Holmes, your team's all-time leading rusher. Not bad.

Don Shula wants an asterisk placed next to the Patriots' record if they run the table. What about an asterisk next to Miami's? Their perfect record was done in a 14-game season, not a 16-game season.

If you could swap Laurence Maroney for Joseph Addai, would you do it?

Bob Kraft was at the Celtics season opener. So was John Henry. So was Wyc Grousbeck, of course. Is this a record for most Boston area sports owners at one event?

Remember him: Ugh, this guy finished his career as a Colt, but for only one season. Randy Moss's record setting season is bringing Stanley Morgan back into the news. He was a first round draft pick for the Patriots in 1977 out of Tennessee, and went on to set numerous Patriot receiving records. He played for the Patriots until 1989, then played in Indianapolis in 1990 before retiring. In Super Bowl XX, he caught seven passes for 70 yards against the most stingy defense in NFL history. He still holds the Patriot record for most career receiving yards with 10,352. Troy Brown made some inroads on career records, but Morgan's place in Patriot history is secure. Moss may wipe out all single season records when this year is over, but any fan who saw Morgan play will always remember how great he was, and what he meant to this organization.

Someone please explain why, after all these years, the Ravens have such a lousy offense?

Because they once won a Super Bowl with a lousy offense. Simple.

You still think Pittsburgh's the one to knock off the Patriots? Could happen, but if they do, it likely won't be because of Ben Roethlisberger.

KG and Ray Allen are off to a good start.

Yeah, BC lost, but they're still good.

The Sox did it again.

So did the Patriots.

Is this as good as it gets?