TEN THINGS I THINK I THINK

1. I think the Bill Romanowski book (written with Adam Schefter of the NFL Network, formerly of the Denver Post) is going to be a delicious read. Painful, too. That's why 60 Minutes was at Romanowski's home for a series of interviews this weekend. It's likely the show will do a piece in advance of the book's Oct. 15 publication date. (60 Minutes now has two NFL pieces in the can -- Romo and an interview with Tom Brady, which is ready to go.) In the book, I'm told Romo is going to admit taking THG, and he's going to talk about what a demi-God he thinks BALCO founder and personal supplement guru Victor Conte is. I'm also told Romanowski details in the book how he lost much of his memory and his sense of taste. But overall the book details just how driven he was to be the best football player it was possible to create.

2. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts of the NFL weekend:

a. I was at Soldier Field on Sunday. I'm probably in the minority in this opinion, but I though it was an impressive venue with good sightlines and a couple of great video boards. But it still looks like a spaceship landed on the outside of the stadium.

b. Is it possible the Vikings stink? Is it possible that the Peter King-NFC Championship pick just might turn out wrong? Shocking!

c. "I trust Joe Gibbs' judgment," Jimmy Johnson said on the FOX pregame show. "[Patrick] Ramsey can't play.'' I love Jimmy, but this is a ridiculous statement. Gibbs judged before the first game that Ramsey was his best of three quarterbacks. He gives him one half, then judges he's not. What kind of judgment is that, other than knee-jerk?

d. Yes, Ran Carthon, who scored a TD for Indy, is Maurice Carthon's son.

e. Remember my friend Josh Norman, the reporter from Biloxi I wrote about last week in my Tom Benson letter? Well, he's a Giants fan. He bought three seats to Saints-Giants during the summer, when the game was in New Orleans, at a Saints ticket outlet in Mississippi. He attempted to get his money back last week and was told he'd have to go to the outlet where he purchased the seats. It doesn't exist. Not much I can do, Mr. Ticket told him. Saints PR man Greg Bensel tells me it'll be worked out. Josh will be able to get a refund or maybe tickets to a game in Baton Rouge. There are hundreds of similar stories.

f. Has anyone thrown out the first Mike Tice job-security rumor yet?

g. Patriots. Human.

h. USC. Not.

i. I like the Terrell Owens placing-the-ball-just-over-the-goal-line deal a lot better than most of his end-zone antics.

j. Drew Brees handed Denver that game. The gimme to Champ Bailey was the worst interception I've seen in years.

k. What a win by the Browns. And kudos to Trent Dilfer. Never thought I'd see him throw for 300 and pull a road upset with that bad Cleveland team, but he looked very good on the highlights I saw.

3. I think this is the best way to describe what has happened in the NFL the first two weeks: Had I been in a knockout pool, I'd have taken Minnesota over Tampa Bay for Week 1 and Green Bay over Cleveland for Week 2. And I'd have been knocked out twice. That says three things. 1) I have no idea what I'm talking about; 2) There's a good chance the Packers and Vikings are a lot worse than we thought; 3) This is really going to be a fun year.

4. I think this is what I liked about Week 2:

a. McNabb to Owens.

b. Palmer to Chad Johnson.

c. An Indianapolis defense growing up before our very eyes, with a three-headed tackle rotation (Montae Reagor, Corey Simon and Larry Tripplett) that is going to be very hard to penetrate.

d. Troy Brown. I never thought I'd see him run 71 yards again, but there he was, on the receiving end of a Tom Brady throw.

e. The leaping, juggling, falling-backward catch by the Bears' Justin Gage.

f. Kyle Orton's poise. I liked what Orton did in the rout over the Lions. Liked it a lot. Good arm, no fear.

g. Matt Hasselbeck's resilience.

h. Ray Rhodes' fortitude.

i. Chad Pennington's abuse filter.

j. Tennessee's offensive line keeping Steve McNair mostly clean against a ferocious Baltimore rush.

k. The constant reminders to contribute to hurricane relief by the networks. Keep them coming.

l. Offensive pass interference against Julius Peppers. How cool is that?