FanNation - The Republic of Sport

     A few random football thoughts as I count the hours until Pats-Cowboys on Sunday afternoon:

     * Can we pencil in Dallas for the NFC slot in Super Bowl 42? Tony Romo had his bad night in Buffalo and got away with it. He's a success because he's accomplished something Donovan McNabb, Jeff Garcia, Bill Parcells and Andy Reid couldn't: get along with TO.

     * It's nice to see the "freeze the kicker with one second left on the play clock" move finally get discredited.

     * Too bad Trent Green wasn't around for the clinic when players were told not to lead with their heads while tackling or blocking. That said, Travis Johnson, at least Chuck Bednarik stopped whooping it up once he realized he almost killed Frank Gifford.

     * Does RandallGay have police protection after his strip-and-score on Kellen Winslow with the Pats up 10 in the final minute zapped those suckers who took the Browns with 16 1/2 points?

     * Now this Jay Cutler might've mounted a little offense against the Chargers. Heck, I'd have played him both ways.

     * We all figured there would be three unbeaten Big East teams right now. Did we have any clue they would be South Florida, Cincinnati and Connecticut?

     * Think we'll be seeing any more 41-point favorites after Stanford over USC? Jim Harbaugh was the upset king in the NFL, and hasn't given it up as a coach.

     * Don't be fooled into thinking Notre Dame's on the way back. The Irish gained 140 yards on offense, and UCLA played the last three quarters with a walk-on quarterback.

     * If you suspected Wisconsin was a fraud, Illinois proved you right. For the horrible start Michigan had, Ohio State's road to the Big 10 championship and a spot in the BCS title game still runs through a well-fortified Ann Arbor in late November.

     * Ohio State goes to Michigan. Cal still has to play USC. LSU may have a Florida rematch in the SEC title game. Boston College-South Florida national championship game, anyone? Not to mention the WWE-type Big East betrayal and revenge angle.

    On to the picks (14-6 last week, 66-34 for the season):

      PATRIOTS 27, COWBOYS 20: I would be awfully tempted to pick Dallas were it not for the short workweek necessitated by the Monday night game. Each team got away with coughing up a hairball before this one.

      JAGUARS 20, TEXANS 14: Jacksonville goes a stealth 4-1.

      JETS 21, EAGLES 20: Duelling disappointments.

      BROWNS 17, DOLPHINS 12: Cleo was the name of my family dog growing up, not a winning NFL quarterback (unless Cleveland coughs up a Lemon).

      BEARS 23, VIKINGS 16: Maybe the Griese kid stuff is effective after all.

      PACKERS 24, REDSKINS 17: Because I'm confident Bret Favre can't throw another ghastly interception like the one that turned the Bears game around.

      RAVENS 17, RAMS 6: St. Louis won't go winless, but they can sure try, 

      BENGALS 20, CHIEFS 13: Has anybody ever gone from stud to glue factory faster than Larry Johnson?

      TITANS 16, BUCCANEERS 13: Tampa Bay better sweeten the offer to Corey Dillon - they're two runners down now.

      CARDINALS 24, PANTHERS 10: Three injured quarterbacks between them. Watch your back, Kurt Warner.

      CHARGERS 27, RAIDERS 23: Lane Kiffin's a boy genius to get his motley crew into the AFC West lead. But the sleeping Chargers may finally be awake.

      SEAHAWKS 24, SAINTS 14: Misfortune rocks N'Awlins like a, well, you know that old Scorpions tune.

      GIANTS 31, FALCONS 17: They're looking like Giants again. Eli Manning's getting it.

      And in college:

      LSU 30, KENTUCKY 20: The Tigers won't need the miraculous last-play touchdown pass this time.

      OKLAHOMA 31, MISSOURI 14: Sooners seize the spot at the top of the one-loss pile.

      BOSTON COLLEGE 34, NOTRE DAME 13: Jeff Jagodzinski sure wasn't the sexy pick to lead the Eagles, but he was the right one.

      AUBURN 27, ARKANSAS 21: The Tigers didn't roll over and play dead after two September home losses.

      CALIFORNIA 34, OREGON STATE 16: The Golden Bears mark another off until the showdown with USC.

      OHIO STATE 35, KENT STATE 6: Biggest spread of the week. Given the way this season's played, take the Golden Flashes and those 30 points.

      SOUTH FLORIDA 33, CENTRAL FLORIDA 18: The Gunning for the Bulls continues.