As The Ball Bounces: Week 4

The fourth 63-yard field goal in NFL history happened this year. Former Broncos kicker Jason Elam kicked the second. He booms one into the seats, and no ball boy has to risk injury to try and keep the ball in the field and out of the hands of some lucky fan in the stands.

They're back.

Thursday night, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore. The sight of Gene Steratore's crew was just like a delicious pepperoni pizza or a decadent hot fudge sundae.

And you could tell right away that things were once again OK with the NFL. They were in control and nothing audacious happened.

My esteemed webmaster, Ian Logue, provided an adjunct factoid to something this column talked about in the postgame report. It was the first time since 1980 that two Patriot running backs went off for 100 or more yards rushing in the same game.

But Ian went further. He said that it was the second time in NFL history that a team had two 100-yard rushers and two 100-yard receivers in the same game. Other media types said it too, but I heard it first from Ian.

A good get from a good friend.

When will it start, Exit 16W? Tee. Bow. Tee. Bow. Tee. Bow. Let's hear it, Gang Green. You know you want to.

Geek of the week: The name of the guilty party comes courtesy of Peter King and his must-read Monday Morning Quarterback. It was Phil McKinnely, the head linesman, who failed to rule that New Orleans running back Darren Sproles fumbled that kickoff return against Green Bay. Packer fans would have been apoplectic if a second straight game had been taken away from them, and this time, it would have been the real guys stealing a win from them and not the pretend ones.

No, not all the calls were correct. But it was still good to see the true officials back.

Sooner or later, Cleveland has to get it going.

They cannot help that Baltimore is a much better team. But every time Browns fans see the Ravens, they have to wince. The Ravens used to belong to them.

Who is this Greg Zuerlein guy for the Rams? Four field goals, three of them north of 45 yards, and two of them north of 55 yards?

Sounds like this Patriot kicker a few weeks back, except that he yanked his fifth one and it cost his team the game.

Is Houston so good that if they had to bring T.J. Yates back, they would still be 4-0?

Brian Hartline plays in the AFC East. Devin McCourty, you have been duly warned.

Forget about legislation preventing calling last second timeouts to ice kickers. This weekend has proven that it is more stupid than sound strategy.

Back to school: Patience, Minuteman fans. They only lost to Ohio U. by ten this time. Things will get better.

But if they're going to play at Gillette, get out and see the team. The crowd Saturday would have filled up half of McGuirk Stadium back in Amherst.

If it were the playoffs, Lawrence Tynes makes that 54-yarder.

Matt Cassel is no longer up to date in Kansas City.

It is said that Peyton Manning is already looking forward to his 13th matchup with Tom Brady on Sunday. Is the Oakland defense so bad that Manning was probably doing the same during the game?

Meanwhile, back in Cincinnati, nobody misses Carson Palmer.

Arizona and Atlanta had to win some pretty frenzied games to stay perfect.

Hmmm. Maybe the Week 2 loss by your boys wasn't as shameful as you think.

You know that the football Gods don't like what Greg Schiano is doing when Billy "Wide Left" Cundiff keeps his job with a walkoff 41-yarder.

Get rid of this victory formation nonsense. Find another way to fire up your boys and get them to play for 60 minutes.

Bob Kraft ended the lockout last year. Wonder if he ended the officials' lockout this year?

Nah. The guys in Seattle did the job.

Remember them: John Elway. Terrell Davis. Rod Smith. Ed McCaffrey. Bill Romanowski. Karl Mecklenburg. And others. These guys never lost to the Patriots in their entire careers. The Patriots went between 1981 and 1998 without beating the Broncos. That was 12 wins in a row by the Broncos over the Patriots, including one postseason win in 1986. Now you throw Peyton Manning into the mix, past his prime but still very good, with a much different cast than he had in Indianapolis. The Patriots pounded the Broncos twice in 2011, dropping 40 or more on them in both games, one of them in the postseason. That is a far cry from what used to go on between these two teams. Maybe you were happy when Elway finally won Vinces in each of his final two seasons, maybe not. But these teams played as often as the Patriots and Colts did in recent years. And in the old days, it always meant an "L" for your boys.

Tony Romo is one thing if nothing else: overrated.

That said, Da Bears defense is back. No, it's not Buddy Ryan and "46", but it's really something.

The Patriots stand at 2-2, and how the season goes will probably be determined by the defense. Actually, it will be the secondary that has the biggest say in the matter.

Which is not much different from last year.

But one thing will ring positive for the rest of the season.

The Red Sox 2012 season is over. Thank goodness.