Ten Things I Think I Think

	Several teams may regret letting Matt Leinart fall to the Cardinals at No. 10 in last year's draft. John W. McDonough/SI
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1. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts of Week 12:

a. I watched a lot of football on Thanksgiving. And just before halftime of the game on the NFL Network, I realized what I'm sure you devoted viewers have known for a long time: The NFL on TV is one giant commercial interrupted by football.

b. What a stunning display of offensive force by the Baltimore Ravens in routing Pittsburgh. Who wants to take them on in the playoffs?

c. I don't see how it's humanly possible to make a better catch than the one Joe Horn made on the sidelines against the Falcons, a one-handed job (with his other arm inadvertently pinned by the defensive back), keeping in mind he had to somehow keep both feet inbounds. Wow.

d. I have never heard television analysts gush so endlessly over a team on the way to a 20-point loss as Bob Davie and Kirk Herbstreit did with Notre Dame the other night.

e. The BCS will embarrass itself if it puts Notre Dame in one of the four non-championship BCS games. Two big games for Notre Dame this year: Michigan at home, and at USC. Michigan 47, N.D. 21. USC 44, N.D. 24.

f. The BCS will embarrass itself. We all know that.

g. I'll be surprised if Brady Quinn isn't a Lion on April 28, 2007 -- draft day.

h. But how ridiculous is it that the Lions didn't pick Matt Leinart instead of linebacker Ernie Sims? Nice player, but be real. The Lions missed out on solving their quarterback problem and now risk missing out on Quinn if they don't have the first overall pick in the draft.

i. I see where Charley Casserly -- who is doing a very good job otherwise at CBS on the pregame show -- rates Romo as the sixth-best young quarterback in football, behind Eli Manning and Byron Leftwich. Wow. Charlie, you're an old scout. You should know not to go by reputation. The eyes don't lie. Trust yours.

j. Frank Gore is a legitimate Pro Bowl back now, a power runner inside who can make you miss outside. He kept the 49ers in the game at St. Louis.

k. Mike Vick looks forlorn to me.

2. I think now that the Chargers are 9-2 and only a major collapse away from a division title, it's time to praise the man who put this team together, GM A.J. Smith. "You want to quiver and cower and hit it down the middle of the fairway, you'll be 8-8 the rest of your life and never make the Super Bowl,'' Smith said over the phone from -- where else? -- a college scouting trip. His trade of Eli Manning to the Giants on draft day 2004 has set the stage for the Chargers to be good for a long time. San Diego, which took control of the AFC West with a dramatic win at Denver last week and expanded its lead to two games Sunday against the Raiders, is 30-13 since dealing Manning for Philip Rivers and three draft choices -- which the Chargers turned into linebacker Shawne Merriman, kicker Nate Kaeding (second among NFL kickers in scoring) and tackle Roman Oben (who started 24 games before being hurt). "Once Eli and his family said he wouldn't play here, we weren't going to be held hostage by them,'' Smith said last week while on a college scouting trip. "We were going to make a deal to help us win for the long haul.'' Mission accomplished.

3. I think there are bush-league things that happen in this league, and then there's what happened at Ford Field on Thanksgiving with former Lions quarterback Joey Harrington. The Miami defense was introduced before the game to the tune of "Piano Man,'' a snide reminder of Harrington's skill at playing the piano. Then, after the final Miami defender got introduced, the PA man introduced Harrington -- to tremendous boos. You either introduce the defense or the offense, and not both, and when Harrington was introduced, the PA guy was introducing a guy who wasn't there to be introduced. Obviously it was done to whip the home crowd into a frenzy against a guy who tried as hard as he could in his four Detroit years and just failed miserably. What a bullying, crass and bush-league stunt. Stupid, classless, and very, very small.

4. I think this is the cutest father-son story of the season so far: Larry Fitzgerald Sr., a member of the Twin Cities news media, asked his son, Arizona wideout Larry Fitzgerald Jr., a couple of questions on the visiting-team conference call prior to the Vikes-Cards game. One was whether his son thought he was more like Cris Carter or Randy Moss as a receiver. And after a question or two more, the son said to his father: "Dad, you can ask me those questions at home.''

5. I think this tells you quite a bit about the Atlanta Falcons offensive attack this year: After 20 minutes against New Orleans on Sunday, Vick had completed four of 10 passes for 19 yards, and had rushed for 101 yards on six electrifying carries. And the Falcons trailed 14-3.

6. I think Arthur Blank is not going to look kindly upon what is happening with his football team, particularly with an 18-point loss to his arch-rivals that ends with his franchise player flipping his middle fingers at hecklers in the crowd. There is no question now that Jim Mora will have to rally the troops, or his job will be in danger.