As The Ball Bounces: Week 15

Bob George

Dec 18, 2002 at 5:00am ET

Talk about discipline. Old Charger and Niner kicker Ray Wersching would walk on to the field, head down, and stare at the ground and the spot of the ball, not once looking at the uprights until after foot met ball. Well, to each his own. He boots one, looks up, and the ball sails into the end zone for a touchback.

Eagles. Bucs. Pack. The symbol of our great nation flies majestically into San Diego in late January.

Chris Berman of ESPN came up with this convoluted scenario in which 11 teams in the AFC finished 9-7. Do not, for the life of you, bet against that happening.

News item: J.R. Redmond wants out of New England. He has done so little, but what little he has done will be indelibly etched in the memories of all Patriot Nation for years to come. If you need a refresher, just think about who caught three passes during The Drive.

Joey Harrington has an irregular heartbeat. Older Lion fans think of Chuck Hughes, and suddenly break out in a cold sweat.

What Steve McNair did to Ty Law Monday night at the Patriot goal line, you might as well have made him wear a dress for that game. Defenders simply don’t take those kind of hits from quarterbacks.

The Vikings went for two and thus won their game, 32-31. “If the game had meant anything, I kick for the tie,” said coach Mike Tice. Viking fans, whaddayathink?

Back to school: Wow. Pete Carroll’s guy gets the Heisman. Exposition Boulevard folk now have the word “pumped” down pat, but are still having trouble with the term “jacked”. Just give the Trojan faithful time.

How did the Patriot defense get so old in just one short year?

One year from now, you’ll find the name Mike Martz on the list of “Head Coaches Who Might Get Fired”.

There is no way that Indianapolis is in the running for a one seed if they were still in the AFC East.

Honk if you’d heard of Robert Holcombe prior to Monday night.

Charlie Weis will be a Patriot in 2003.

Geek of the Week: Shaunard Harts, that poor Kansas City defender who was left totally flatfooted by Clinton Portis on his 66-yard touchdown run for Denver on Sunday.

Eighty percent of the Jet players will give the Patriots no problems on Sunday.

But Curtis Martin and Bobby Abraham will give the Patriots eighty percent of their problems on Sunday.

Maybe more than eighty.

What’s this? Did I actually see some gray hair on Jeff Fisher on Monday night?

Someone at Fox needs to wise up and get Cris Collinsworth back in the studio.

And put Troy Aikman on those Arizona-Detroit games.

I defy you to find a Patriot starting defender younger than Theo Epstein.

Remember him: Wesley Walker, and the good old days when all the Jet players were bad except for this guy.

Oakland will go far in the playoffs because of their defense, not their offense. Without Charles Woodson in the lineup, it becomes a huge issue.

Miami will not go far in the playoffs, and the reason will somehow trace its way back to Jay Fiedler.

Not that Ricky Williams won’t be a positive factor.

This corner of the Nation says that if Tedy Bruschi had played Monday night, the Patriots win and McNair wears the skirt, not Law.

Food for thought: What if we go through these last two games and come to the realization that Gillette Stadium is a lousy home field advantage for the Patriots?

The Patriots can take comfort in the fact that the Jets, Falcons and Saints suffered much more demeaning losses this weekend than they did.

Let’s hear it for Fox, giving everyone across the country bonus coverage of a 37-7 Giant lead over Dallas. Whew. Boy, did I bite my nails. Maybe everyone out there still misses Pat Summerall.

Face it, it’s just too tough to repeat.

C’mon, 49ers. You let Green Bay win in your crib? Obviously you didn’t watch the Raiders get their playoff revenge against the Patriots earlier this year.

Poor ABC. Even two 8-5 teams can’t give them a good game.

How ‘bout that Marvin Lewis. Turns down the head job at Michigan State because he wants an NFL gig and doesn’t want to settle for a college job. If anyone complains about the lack of minority head coaches in the business, let it not come from this guy’s mouth.

And this assumes that Lewis knows how hard it is for a minority to get a head job in the NFL.

Not that it’s easy for the Caucasian persuasion, either.

If the Eagles take this season to the house and win it all, someone go find Chuck Bednarik and see if he cracks a huge grin. He was an Eagle when that franchise last won the whole thing.

One week to go until Santa starts on his noble global jaunt. All your shopping done yet?

Dave Wannstedt wants a balmy December in New England.

Bill Callahan wants his last two opponents to be freaked out by The Hole.

Curtis Martin simply wants an extra dose of rage this weekend.

Bill Belichick wants to find Juan Ponce de Leon, or at least the directions to that weird body of water he found many years ago.

And Bob Kraft wants decibels.

Lots of them.

What’s worse, fixing toilets or acoustics? You decide, and Season’s Greetings.