6. I think this is what I liked about Week 6:

a. Baltimore defensive tackle Kelly Gregg is a brutally effective line-mover and, more than anyone else on the Ravens defense, he collapsed the pocket and made Gus Frerotte's day with St. Louis miserable.

b. Best two backs on the field Sunday in Chicago: Adrian Peterson and Adrian Peterson.

c. Now that both of the Vikings backs are relatively healthy, Adrian Peterson simply has to get the ball on four out of every five rushes for Minnesota. I understand Brad Childress wants to divvy up the carries with Chester Taylor to keep Peterson healthy for 16 weeks, but Peterson is one of the five best backs in football.

d. Aaron Kampman clinic-blocked Washington's linemen all day in Green Bay.

e. My stat-maven pal at NBC and HBO, Elliott Kalb, points out that Larry Johnson, at 1:07 p.m. Eastern time, had as many rushing yards, 12, as he had in three hours last week.

f. Chris Cooley is a quarterback's best friend -- great hands, excellent and selfless blocker.

g. Cris Collinsworth said it Sunday and I couldn't agree more: Packer cornerback Al Harris doesn't get enough credit for being an excellent all-around cornerback, and he's playing with about four injuries right now.

h. Donnie Edwards, quite simply, is one of the most underrated players of his generation.

i. Ike Hilliard beat the Titans. Two huge gainers in the last drive of the game made Matt Bryant's game-winner easier.

j. Saints: zero sacks in their first four games, all losses ... five sacks Sunday night in a 28-17 win at Seattle.

k. Reggie Bush (19 for 97) had his three longest runs from scrimmage as a pro in Seattle. What's more, he ran with some of the abandon we were used to seeing at USC.

7. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 6:

a. What on God's green earth was that non-tackle bump you had on Packer tight end Donald Lee, Carlos Rogers? Your failed tackle allowed Lee to gain 42 more yards and set up an easy DeShawn Wynn rushing touchdown to put the Pack up early. Wait until you see that one on tape today, Carlos. You'll be hanging your head in shame.

b. As long as we're talking about players letting their team down, let's add Jeff Wilkins to the fray. He's four for his last eight in field goal tries, and hooked a 35-yarder after the defense got a turnover in the second quarter. When your offense stinks, and the only thing they can count on is you, you have to deliver.

c. Whoever kidnapped Shaun Alexander, please bring him back.

d. Now that's a bad loss for the Seahawks. Good thing they're in the NFC West.

e. Miami gave up 41 points and five touchdowns to the Browns. Amazing how the mighty defense has fallen.

f. The Rams look as bad on offense as the Raiders did last year.

g. The Jets simply have to put the deep ball back into their offense.

8. I think after allowing some time to let the Trent Green hit on Travis Johnson breathe, the league is going to have to address whether below-the-waist blocks should be allowed on any plays other than in-line, between-the-tackles plays. I talked to Houston coach Gary Kubiak the other day, and he's angry that blocks such as Green's are legal.

"Cutting's a part of football, and should be,'' he told me. "Trent's block was legal, but it shouldn't be. There is no cutting on special-teams plays. There is no cutting on return plays. So what happened here? It was, really, a return. Ted Ginn fumbles, there's a scramble to pick it up, he picks it up, and Travis gets cut. Do we really want that in our game? I called [officiating czar] Mike Pereira and said, 'Do we want that play happening?' It's legal, but it's scary. That's the kind of block that can end a player's career.''

Not sure whether 24 of 32 teams would agree to change the rule so drastically, but it's something else that will come up in front of the competition committee after the season.

9. I think, for the record, here's my side of Wade Phillips calling me a quote-fabricator. We spoke last Tuesday night about his team's miracle win in Buffalo, and after that we talked about the idiocy of the late-game field goal do-overs, about the Patriots' Spygate scandal, and about how he hopes the league will pass a coach-to-defense communication system the same way the league allows quarterbacks to get plays called into their helmets.

He said the league's sanctioning the Patriots for cheating "was a black mark on their success ... not that I bet they gained much from it.'' He praised the Patriots and thought they deserved all the credit for winning the three Super Bowls.

I reported what he said about the "black mark'' on HBO's Inside the NFL show, and Phillips denied saying it in press conferences over the next two days. All I said afterwards was that I stand behind what I said, and that's all I will continue to say, because really, what else is there to say? He said it, I reported it, he disputes it. I dispute his denial. This job is based in part on trust, and you are going to have to decide who you trust -- Phillips or me.

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

a. What happened to Pitt football? Sheesh.

b. Thanks for returning to baseball for a couple of weeks, Joe Buck. Missed you.

c. Fairly weird starting lineup read Saturday night before Sox-Indians Game 2 by James Taylor. The James Taylor. "Batting eighth, the cereal and center fielder, Coco Crisp,'' Taylor said.

d. Pay Mike Lowell.

e. Hey, baseball: Who's the genius who thought of the loooong gaps between series? If the ALCS ends in five games, there will be six days off between the last game of the series and the first game off of the World Series, which is set for a week from Wednesday, Oct. 24. If the NLCS ends in four games -- and the Rockies obviously are never going to lose another game -- Colorado would have nine days between series. You're just tempting fate, baseball, to have seven dates in Boston, Cleveland or Denver in the last week of October and the first day of November.

f. The Rockies are absolutely amazing.

g. Glad to see Trot Nixon have a moment in the sun, even if it came at 1:17 a.m. Good guy.

h. Good second week on The Office. Really good. Is Dwight the best character on TV or what?

i. Colt Brennan threw 75 passes the other night. He's averaging 47 passes and 399 yards a game. He's had games of 545 and 548 passing yards. Hawaii is 7-0. Either you hand him the Heisman right now, or you say: These are Arena Football numbers, and he's not getting my vote.

j. I love Springsteen, but it's hard to find someone who loves him more than Chris "Mad Dog'' Russo, who called NBC on Sunday night to talk about a playlist from a Bruce concert he saw years and years ago. He plays the Garden on Wednesday. I'm going to have to be there.

Who I Like Tonight, and I Mean Tony Kornheiser

Think of this, Giant Nation:

• You're at the 1-4 Falcons tonight. You've got to like your chances with Joey Harrington on the verge of losing his job and the Falcons unable to get anything going on offense.

• You host the 2-3 49ers next week, with Alex Smith 50-50 at best to suit up and Trent Dilfer unlikely to be able to solve your pass-rush if he has to play.

• You then fly to London to play the grievously wounded 0-5 Dolphins, with someone named Cleo Lemon probably at quarterback.

You are correct to think ahead and wonder: Could we be 6-2 heading into our Week 9 bye, with a Nov. 11 home match with Dallas, possibly for NFC East supremacy, on the horizon?

You don't want to overlook anyone in this wacky league, but it's hard not to think about being 6-2 with a solid grip on a playoff spot on Halloween if you root for the Giants.

I will not spoil the script. Giants 28, Atlanta 16.

(Send comments to siwriters@simail.com)