As The Ball Bounces: Week 14

Bob George

Dec 14, 2004 at 5:00am ET

Ho-hum. Another division rival. We're running out of different Dolphin kickers to kick off this week's yarn. Come on, Olindo. Boom one. Right at Bethel. Good man.

The one time you want the Jets to win, and they crap out at the Ketchup Bottle.

Looks like Buffalo will have to be the one to try and get the Steelers to two losses and the Patriots to the top seed.

Assuming the Patriots can still run the table with that secondary of theirs.

And this is not meant to be snide. Look at who's tied for the interception lead. Can David Patten and Deion Branch play receivers tight in man coverage?

Early line on coach of the year: Jim Mora.

The 49ers and Cardinals made a nice game of what was supposed to be December's Stink Bowl.

Corey Dillon is happier over the division title than he is over beating the Cincinnati Bengals. By a mile.

Hurry up and break that record, Peyton Manning, so the NFL can get on with the rest of its life.

It may not be long before Carson Palmer eclipses Manning as the big stats quarterback in the NFL.

Geek of the week: Jake the Snake becomes Jake the Flake. Flipping off the Denver fans is like stealing Tiny Tim's cane. It's that mean and uncalled for.

It will be tough to see Charlie Weis go. He was going to be a head coach sooner or later.

And someone will tab Romeo Crennel soon.

Heisman trophy winner Matt Leinart made an appearance on CBS's pregame show. Shannon Sharpe proclaimed him "the best lefthanded quarterback on this show". You the Patriot fan hate Sharpe, but that remark had to make you laugh.

Miami will wish their game next Monday night against the Patriots was in September in oppressive humidity. But it will still be a tough game for the Patriots.

Tom Brady's sit-down completion shows once and for all that he can run an offense by the seat of his pants.

If the Patriots do go far in the playoffs this year, let's hope the Red Sox have their 2005 roster all set by then. Otherwise, Paul Revere may have to gallop through town and yell "Patriots win! Patriots win!" for you to know how they did.

Cleveland's season cannot end soon enough.

More proof of how bad the NFC is: Minnesota is the only second place team with a winning record.

If the playoffs began today, Carolina is in at 6-7.

Face it, the Eagles had better make it to the Super Bowl.

The number of holding penalties called on Bengal linemen trying to deal with Richard Seymour is a good sign for the Patriots as they head down the stretch.

Back to school: Saturday, September 24, 2005. Notre Dame at Washington. New Husky head coach? Tyrone Willingham. Charlie Weis has that plus Michigan as two of his first four games at South Bend. Enjoy, Charlie.

Looks like San Diego will keep Drew Brees and trade Philip Rivers. Not every team can have a Scott Pioli.

Four completions in 18 attempts. 27 yards. Two picks. Zero rating points. Whose line was that? Hint: he's a close relative of Peyton.

Julius Jones cooled off a little bit after 348 yards in two games. Whew. Bill Parcells doesn't deserve that good a running back.

Talk about a deal which helped both teams. Rudi Johnson and Corey Dillon both look great.

Dillon's happier.

Clinton Portis has become quite forgettable in Washington. Four 100-yard games is not Clinton Portis. Simple.

And Champ Bailey has been anything but a champ in Denver.

Talk about a deal which hurt both teams.

It's bad enough that Joe Gibbs can't manage a clock anymore. He also doesn't have a quarterback he can count on.

With their first touchdown of the afternoon, the Bengals made NFL history by being the first team ever to score on the Patriots with the Patriots wearing their silver jerseys. And they say there are no such things as moral victories.

Remember him: You thought the name was contrived. Duper? Mark Duper? "Super" Duper? In an 11-year career with the Dolphins, Duper caught 511 passes for 8,869 yards and a 17.4 yards per catch average. He was one half of the "Marks Brothers", along with Mark Clayton, who was with Duper for all but the first of his eleven years in Miami. But you don't remember Clayton. You remember Duper. Super Duper. One of the most colorful appellations in NFL history, and a darned good receiver to boot.

Taking Marc Bulger, Marshall Faulk and Isaac Bruce away from Mike Martz is like taking flour away from a bread maker.

Who does Curtis Martin hate losing to worse, Pittsburgh or New England? His hometown team or the team that underpaid and undervalued him early in his career?

Talk about wasting a great game. Detroit's Kevin Jones rushes for 156 yards. His quarterback hits on 5 of 22 passes for 47 yards. Too bad Damien Woody can't throw a football.

Let's hope Chicagoland is real patient with Lovie Smith.

Billy Volek is one nice little backup to Steve McNair.

But someone needs to tell Drew Bennett that catching all those touchdown passes isn't supposed to tire you out like that.