Week 12 Judgements: Spirit of St. Louis loss haunts Seattle

Me-pinions or what we learned this weekend

1. The more I watch the Philadelphia Eagles, the more I believe they should be wary of Green Bay. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is in Philadelphia's class in the NFC, but the Packers could, just could, give the Eagles trouble if the two meet in the NFC Championship Game. And here's why: They have a balanced offense; they can run the ball with Ahman Green; Brett Favre is experienced at playoff games; and they can play in any climate. Besides, Green Bay was within one play -- a fourth-and-26 vs. Philadelphia -- of advancing to the NFC title game a year ago.

2. Arizona coach Dennis Green is suffering a fair punishment for pulling a quarterback at the worst possible moment. I'm talking, of course, of his decision to lift Josh McCown after the Cards won three of four and climbed into the NFC West race. I don't care what McCown's numbers were; you don't mess with something that's going well, and maybe Green recognizes it now. The Cards are 0-2 since Green made the move, scoring one touchdown in two games.

3. It was after missing two field goals in last weekend's loss to the New York Jets that Browns place-kicker Phil Dawson complained of a sloppy field. You want sloppy? Try the mud in Foxboro, Mass., on Sunday, yet New England's Adam Vinatieri hit all three field goals -- including one of 48 yards. There were no complaints; just nine points from the game's most reliable kicker. "There's no kicker I'd rather have," said coach Bill Belichick. I'll second that.

4. So Kelly Holcomb throws an interception that clinches another Cleveland loss. He also threw for five touchdowns and 412 yards, including 348 in the second half. What I saw from the Browns in the second half -- where they scored 35 points -- I haven't seen all season. I don't care about Jeff Garcia's injury at this point; keep Holcomb as your starter and Garcia on the sideline.

5. After Sunday's 378-yard performance -- his best of the season -- San Diego quarterback Drew Brees is hotter than the scenery at Mission Beach. Over his last eight games Brees has 18 touchdowns and one interception, and he has thrown an interception in only two of his 11 starts this year. Now that's what I call a salary drive.

6. Nobody is playing better defense lately than Carolina's Julius Peppers. Over the past four games he has seven sacks, including one in Sunday's 21-14 defeat of Tampa Bay. But that's not all. He also blocked a field goal and returned an interception for a touchdown. When John Fox made his first pick -- the second of the draft -- in 2002, he didn't hesitate, passing over Joey Harrington for Peppers. Now you know why.

7. Too bad Martin Gramatica blew it for Tampa with three missed field goals Sunday. It ruined another standout game for running back Michael Pittman, who's having the best season of his career since returning to the lineup. Pittman scored the Bucs' only two touchdowns, running his total to eight over the last five games.

8. Let's hear it for Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. Lost in the Ben-thusiasm over the Steelers' rookie quarterback is the work LeBeau's defense is doing -- and doing without defensive tackle Casey Hampton and linebacker Kendrell Bell. The Steelers produced another five sacks Sunday and have sacked every opposing quarterback they've faced this year.

9. New England may have set another trend with the use of defensive lineman Richard Seymour as a fullback. Yeah, I know, the Bears started the pendulum swinging by introducing William Perry as a blocking back in 1985, but the Patriots do more with Seymour -- including using the guy when Tom Brady tried to pass Sunday.

10. It's time to chop down the Jimmy Johnson tree of coaches. Dave Wannstedt, a Johnson defensive coordinator, is done in Miami. He was 1-8 before resigning. Butch Davis, a Johnson defensive coordinator, is all but done in Cleveland. He's 3-8. And Norv Turner, a Johnson offensive coordinator, is struggling in Oakland. He's 4-7. Add them up and you have three Jimmy protégés who are 8-23 this year.

My top five

My bottom five

1. 49ers ... And this is why you fired Steve Mariucci?
2. Butch Davis ... Voted off island in "Survivor: Cleveland"
3. Miami ... Petitions to play NFC West every week
4. Jim Haslett ... His firing looks like Big Easy now
5. Bengals home uniforms ... Good grief, Charlie Brown! They're all Great Pumpkins.

You make the call

You've been hired to be the next head coach of the Miami Dolphins. First, my condolences. Second, my question: What do you do at quarterback? Do you stay with Jay Fiedler? Or A.J. Feeley? Do you draft Matt Leinart? Or do you go after a free agent like Drew Brees? You make the call.

Proof that you can play this game

You have the ball second-and-11 at your 15. Your opponent has only one timeout, there's less than a minute left in the half and you lead by three. So what do you do? If you're New England, you give the ball to Corey Dillon and let him run out the clock -- only he runs out of bounds, giving Baltimore life. The Ravens use their last timeout after stopping New England on third down and return to score their only points -- a field goal -- shortly before halftime. OK, so it didn't have an impact on what happened, but it could have. "Hey, I'm just running," said Dillon. "I'm trying to make plays. Yeah, I should've been looking at the clock and stayed in. It was a mistake. But what was the score: 24-3? So it really don't matter."