As The Ball Bounces: Week 5

Bob George

Oct 13, 2004 at 3:00am ET

The Seattle Seahawks did not join the NFC in 2002. Rather, they returned to the NFC. When they came into the league in 1976, they were in the NFC West. They switched conferences with fellow expansion team Tampa Bay the following year, and stayed in the AFC for the next 25 seasons. From the outset, the Seahawks have owned the Pacific Northwest, and that includes the state of Alaska as well as British Columbia and the Yukon Territory. They brought in old Buffalo placekicker John Leypoldt to kick off their franchise in 1976, so we'll let him do the honors this week. He blasts one deep and far to about the six-yard line.

Why doesn't San Diego keep those retro jerseys as permanent? Are they trying to be like Notre Dame and those green jerseys they break out only now and then?

All those consecutive wins by the Patriots won't mean a darn if they don't win the whole thing this year.

1:04 left, one timeout, 65 yards. Enough for Tom Brady. Too much for Drew Bledsoe. Enough said.

22 straight road losses, and now the Lions have won two straight road games. Ye Gods.

When you see that every other commercial is for either Viagra, Cialis or Levitra, it suggests that the general NFL audience target demographics might actually be slanted to the older set.

Never mind the fact that it's good to see more middle-aged couples with smiles on their faces.

Chris Berman is much easier to take in the ESPN studio than behind the mike for a Red Sox game.

Defense wins championships. But as Buffalo and Miami will tell you, you do need at least a teensy bit of offense now and then.

Geek of the week: Carolina lineman Matt Willig cost his team the game when, after a game-tying field goal by John Kasay was wiped out on a false start penalty, took the penalty flag and threw it. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty put the Panthers out of field goal range and they had to punt instead of retrying a field goal. As bonehead as it gets, folks.

Next week's Patriot opponent, Seattle, coughed up a 27-10 lead at home to the Rams and lost in OT, 33-27. They may still be shell-shocked when they hit Foxborough next week, but the Patriots need to bring their "A" game to the table for the 3-1 'Hawks.

Daunte Culpepper and David Carr combined for 768 passing yards and eight scoring tosses between them. And zero combined picks. Talk about the passing duel of the new millennium.

Anytime Tom Coughlin goes up against Bill Parcells, the two men hate it.

Arizona will never get to the next level until it wins games like the one it lost Sunday in overtime to previously winless San Francisco.

The stick that Corey Dillon laid on Zach Thomas on his way to that 36-yard run? File that away in your memory banks.

Good thing Peyton Manning doesn't play the Patriots every week. He sure looks terrific against the rest of the league.

Meanwhile, Ted Washington, Bobby Hamilton and Rob Ryan must be wondering what they got themselves into.

Orioles' owner Peter Angelos need not fret. Both the Redskins and Ravens are doing just fine. So will the Orioles when the Expos hit town.

But Washington could use a winner. You know the old saying, "First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League".

Back to school: Pete Carroll is still the top dog in college. Eventually you do find what works in your life.

Just like last year: Three wideouts and a starting cornerback out, and the Patriots just keep on rolling.

Patriot Nation can't wait for Sunday's matchup with Seattle, but you'll forgive them if they're a little full of hating Yankees this week.

ESPN's Mike Patrick is back, and continued good health to him.

Dang. Mike Martz didn't screw up an overtime game. Unbelievable.

But he almost did. Why didn't he take one shot at a touchdown before kicking the game-tying field goal? He had 13 seconds left when he went to Jeff Wilkins.

Dan Dierdorf had a good way to sum up Cleveland versus Pittsburgh: plastic on plastic.

With their win over New Orleans, Buccaneer fans can now put to rest thoughts of the second coming of 1976.

Vince Wilfork is starting to get it. Ooooh.

Not that Keith Traylor can't still lay a good stick on someone.

Fox Television's scoreboard at the top of the screen is way too busy. You'll get to see it this weekend because it's an interconference game and the Patriots are at home.

If you care, the last time the Patriots played Seattle, it was Bledsoe's rookie year. It was a strange non-division home-and-home deal. The Patriots lost both to the 'Hawks.

NFL Films says that it is putting its famous background music on CDs. Yours Truly says "Sold!"

Remember him: Talk about a true regional folk hero. Original Seahawks quarterback Jim Zorn was a flashy lefty who bedazzled the Pacific Northwest in his exceptional career. For the first nine seasons of Seahawk football, he scrambled, gunslinged, and won over Howard Cosell's heart. He was there in Seattle's only appearance in a conference championship, spelling Dave Krieg in the 1983 AFC title game loss to the Raiders. He would spend a year in Green Bay and a year in Tampa Bay before calling it a career in 1987.

Sunday's statistical oddity: Carolina's Julius Peppers intercepted a Jake Plummer pass in the end zone and ran it back 101 yards. He was cut down at the Bronco 3-yard line. That's an NFL record for the longest interception return which did not result in a touchdown.

Antonio Vargas made you laugh as Huggy Bear in Starsky And Hutch (the TV version). His son Justin scored a touchdown for the Raiders today against Indianapolis. How can a stringbean like Dad Vargas produce a son who went on to play in the NFL?

Jeff Garcia is to Terrell Owens like Wayne Chrebet is to Keyshawn Johnson.

We close with a few remarks about streaks.

The Patriots are now officially a team for the ages, and even Bill Belichick had to acknowledge the 19-game run to his players and to the press. You may never see anything like this anywhere ever again. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Meanwhile, another team 30 miles to the northeast tries to take another step towards ending a string, that being 86 years. David is loading up on stones, and once again is taking them and his sling to do battle with the mighty Goliath.

And if David wins, let's hope that his last name is Ortiz.