5. I think the dumbest thing we all hear, and we hear it a lot, is that you can't compare one era with another. Or you can't compare one team with another. I heard it three or four times this weekend. We're not supposed to be able to compare the 2005 Chicago defense with the 1985 defense because it would totally devalue the accomplishments of the '85 Bears. Well, if the '05 Bears, through 11 games, are averaging fewer points allowed and fewer total yards allowed than the 1985 Bears, why can't we compare them? Comparing them does not mean we're saying the '05 team is better. It just means the '05 team is playing better than any defense of today, and the numbers say the two defenses are comparable. So let the debate begin.

6. I think I was really impressed with the physicality of the Jacksonville defense. Brutish, hard-hitting, angry. Don't let the 368 yards they gave up to the Cards fool you. They included 158 late garbage yards on two touchdown drives.

7. I think the Seahawks are the beneficiaries of being at the right place at the right time when they landed Joe Jurevicius. He hadn't lost his skills in the last three or four years. Just his health. Now he's showing Mike Holmgren just what he showed Jon Gruden in the Bucs' Super Bowl year. His eight-catch, 137-yard, two-touchdown performance just proves how important good scouting and faith in a guy's resume are in this game.

8. I think it's looking an awful lot like the NFC's road to the Super Bowl goes through Seattle, obviously. With one asterisk. If the Bears win at Pittsburgh in two weeks, Chicago might catch the Seahawks. As of now, Bears are 7-1 in NFC games. Seattle is 8-1. So the tiebreaker could be very close.

9. I think my candidacy of Tom Brady for MVP took a big hit yesterday.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. Saw the Phoenix Coyotes against Vancouver the other night. What a beautiful building Glendale Arena is. And what a goalie Curtis Joseph is. Talk about standing on one's head. He just stoned Vancouver. (As if I know hockey.) But it was good to see the pucks for the first time in a couple of years.

b. Thanksgiving is not only the best meal of the year. It's the best holiday of the year. The Kings had their all-time best turkey the other day.

c. I guess the Red Sox had to make the Josh Beckett trade, but I don't think Theo Epstein would have traded those four prospects for anyone, never mind a guy who's been on the DL six times by age 25 with blisters.

d. Coffeenerdness: There's something wrong with the egg nog latte, Seattle. I've had three at three different Starbucks in the past week or so, and the best I can come up with is that the egg nog tastes a bit, well, metallic. Not sure why, but there's a bad taste to the stuff. I've pretty much stopped trying them.

e. Could we please have some more HD football games, you college and pro programmers? The difference is monumental.

 f. Best purchase of my life, the giant HD TV.

Who I Like Tonight, and I Don't Mean Al Michaels

I keep hearing people make cases for Pittsburgh winning the game tonight. But I don't see it. I'd like to see a great game, just for competitive fun in the AFC, but right now Peyton Manning can do what he wants when he wants. And I just don't see the Steelers being able to get into a shootout with the Colts on the carpet right now.

Roethlisberger's return makes it competitive. But it's Indy's game, 30-17.