As The Ball Bounces: Week 12

Bob George

Nov 30, 2004 at 5:00am ET

Beat out Adam Vinatieri? Surely you jest. Phil Dawson gave it his best shot a few years back, as if he had a chance. Dawson wound up with the new Browns, and has hit on 83.1 percent of his field goal attempts in his six-year career. Seems like if you kick for the Browns, you get long-term job security, as he and Matt Stover have been the only Browns kickers since 1991. Dawson lines up and lofts one which lands at about the two-yard line, but nowhere near Bethel Johnson. At least he had better know that come Sunday.

Randy Lerner doesn't need to fire Butch Davis. He quit.

He must have been given a nice deal. Otherwise, he should have stuck it out. How would things have worked out had Kellen "The Chosen One" Winslow not gotten hurt, for example?

Lerner probably wants a defensive guru. How often do you score 48 and lose by ten?

Broncos fans can't believe what they saw at the end of that thriller in the snow in Denver.

The question is, if John Elway is still the Broncos quarterback, does that field goal somehow not get blocked?

How good are your boys? You just don't punish a Raven defense like the Patriots did.

Joe Gibbs might be taking to heart this column's suggestion of last week, according to rumors. Help keep your impeccable lifetime record intact and head back to Daytona Beach, Joe.

Did this column also predict a Thanksgiving romp by the Colts? The Lions made things way too easy for Peyton Manning.

What is it with the Seattle Seahawks?

For at least one day, Cincinnati can truly be proud of Rudi Johnson. At least he outgained Corey Dillon.

Now, let's see him throttle Baltimore for over 200 yards.

Geek of the week: Anyone who is more concerned over Pedro Martinez than the Patriots right now.

You don't have to root for New England getting one more win than Pittsburgh. The players may crave a rematch at Heinz Field more than Gillette Stadium.

Though they won't be ticked off at home field advantage, mind you.

200 straight starts. Considering the way he plays the game, that's remarkable. Bravo again, Brett Favre.

Don't look now, but San Diego is 8-3 and did a terrific job of nailing that win down Sunday at Kansas City.

What's this? Eagles clinch the division with five games left?

All that says is that the NFC East stinks.

And it will mean zilch if Philly doesn't nail down the one seed.

No. Take that back. It will mean zilch if Philly doesn't at least make it to Jacksonville in February.

And don't discount the possibility that the road to the Super Bowl goes through Atlanta.

Kelly Holcomb threw for 413 yards and lost. Gimme a good running game any day.

You don't see very often a top cornerback like Champ Bailey made to look totally silly time and time again in the same game. Jerry Porter is good, yes, but that good?

Maybe it was the snow.

Back to school: Ugh. What a horrific loss suffered by BC at the hands of Syracuse on Saturday. We're talking a BCS bid which went up in flames.

What's Tom Brady thankful for? Defensive ends who play fullback. Linebackers who play tight end. Corey Dillon.

Right now, Richard Seymour is slightly better at fullback. But there are lots more meaningful games left to go.

Nice little comeback by Houston. We're still waiting for the real David Carr to emerge and blow the league away.

Last week, we railed against openings on Monday Night Football featuring seminude women. Our next project? Dads of the nation have to be ready for when their son asks, "Dad, what is erectile dysfunction?"

And Dads hope that Mom isn't listening when Junior asks the question.

Nice to know that there are people other than myself who opined that Adam Vinatieri is a potential Hall of Fame candidate.

Randall Gay had himself a nice game on Sunday.

But please hurry back anyway, Ty Law and Tyrone Poole.

Bill Belichick is even more of a genius than we thought. The only injured Patriot who has truly hurt the team thusfar is Dillon.

Miami finally found a team worse than themselves.

And shame on them if Ricky Williams ever plays another down for them.

Remember him: These new Cleveland Browns don't go very far back, and we prefer to relate the old Browns with the Ravens. So, let's pay tribute to their original head coach, Chris Palmer, who can say that once upon a time he was Drew Bledsoe's position coach. Yes, Dick Rehbein did help unearth some nice talent (David Patten, Tom Brady) and John Hufnagel was a great help to Brady in 2003. But seeing Palmer flee to become offensive coordinator of Jacksonville was painful, and it set Pete Carroll far back as far as setting an offensive staff upon his arrival (remember Larry Kennan?).

Honk if you're still mad at Ed Reed being called the best strong safety in the league when the Patriots had Lawyer Milloy.

Honk again if you think that Rodney Harrison is being similarly stiffed.

The only thing that would have made Sunday's win sweeter is if one Deion could have burned another Deion for a long touchdown bomb. Oh, well.

It's getting closer to Christmas. So, what will be under your tree this year? Go ahead and wish for more Red Sox World Series items. It's okay.