6. I think this is what I liked about Week 7:

a. The ability of Randy Moss to go up in the end zone for a jump ball and come down with it. He did so Sunday with two Dolphins, cornerback Will Allen and safety Cameron Worrell, battling him. Another time he caught the ball in the crook of his elbow. Amazing stuff.

b. Jared Allen has eight sacks in five games. He brought down Daunte Culpepper twice in the Chiefs' win Sunday.

c. Good to see someone in the Atlanta locker room is overcome with emotion at being 1-6. Byron Leftwich was so distraught trying to explain the 22-16 loss to the Saints that he had to walk away from the press. He couldn't bear to talk about it.

d. Wes Welker is a gigantic part of what the Patriots do, every time he's in the lineup.

e. The Giants' Justin Tuck is one of the most versatile rush ends in the game, because he's strong enough to rush from the interior too.

f. I guess the Michael Bennett trade is what it took to light a fire under Earnest Graham in Tampa Bay.

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

a. Giants running back Derrick Ward's hands. Brutal. He cost Eli Manning a walk-in touchdown on the Giants' first drive of the game. Luckily Manning found Amani Toomer trolling the back of the end zone two plays later.

b. Nice first throw of the day, Sage Rosenfels. That easy pick to Nick Harper.

c. Total rushes/receptions per week for Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, in order, from Week 1: 20, 24, 28, 13, 21 and 13 in Dallas Sunday. He's not a piece of fine China, now. He can be used like a workhorse.

d. Tarvaris Jackson has a couple of weeks to show the world he's not as hopeless as he looked for much of Sunday. A quarterback like that -- he had his first completion to a wideout in the third quarter at Dallas --doesn't give you much hope.

e. Where has Shaun Alexander gone? Anyone seen him?

f. It's getting to be JaMarcus Russell time, Lane Kiffin. At least it's time to peek at him. Doesn't he have a chunk of the playbook he can operate?

g. That Baltimore offense is not good.

h. No ringing endorsement for New Orleans' offense either.

i. Sunday night was another one of those good Ben/bad Ben days for the Steelers. I like how he hangs in there, but I don't like some of the elementary mistakes he makes.

8. I think it's T-minus 13 days to the game of the year: New England at Indianapolis. Without the World Series or any other late afternoon game that day (other than the unimportant Houston-Oakland matchup), the game should do a terrific number for CBS.

9. I think San Francisco needs to learn the meaning of "max protect.'' After that onslaught from the Giants, Trent Dilfer is going to be very sore this morning.

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

a. I've got to congratulate the Red Sox for coming up very big when their chances looked very small. Very, very small. Trailing Cleveland three games to one, they beat the three top guys on the Cleveland staff in succession, winning the games by a combined 30-5.

Weird feeling this time. Brian Hyland, the producer of HBO's Inside the NFL' show, thinks the intensity of my interest in the postseason is lessened because Boston won the World Series three years ago, so it would be impossible to have the same level of ardor this time around. I thought he was right until I wrenched my head back in disgust and smashed it into a wall at NBC Sunday night when Julio Lugo dropped a pop fly in the seventh.

b. Why did Kenny Lofton slow up approaching third base, and why did third-base coach Joel Skinner stop him. One of the all-time gaffes, I'd call it.

c. The Rockies bash the tar out of the ball. It's going to be a great World Series.

d. What about those bile-colored helmets of the University of South Florida? Weird. And that coach, Jim Leavitt? He sounds like a tremendous coach and motivator, but on the sidelines, he makes Tom Coughlin look like a Welcome Wagon hostess.

e. Greg Schiano is going to make a heck of an NFL coach someday, if he chooses to be one. (New Jerseyans don't want that to happen, ever.) I just hope when he gets there he doesn't lose his guts. When you play a better team, you've got to use everything in your repertoire, which Schiano did with a fake punt and fake field goal to beat South Florida.

f. Notre Dame, against Georgia Tech, Michigan and USC this season, is 0-3. Combined score: 109-3.

g. At home this year, Notre Dame is 0-4. The losses have come by an average margin of 24.5 points.

h. What goes through the mind of New York Yankees execs when they call in a beloved manager who has made the playoffs 12 years in a row and they say, "Joe, we'd like you take a 33 percent cut in your base pay, but we'd really like you to remain our manager.'' Yeah, right, Torre thought. That's the kind of offer you make when you want your manager to not be your manager anymore.

i. See if you can squeeze in some more commercials, Fox. Sorry we have to interrupt those ad campaigns for some baseball.

j. Vic, you've got a lot of friends out here pulling for you.

k. Saw Bruce Springsteen last week. He's probably the only 58-year-old man I can watch for 150 minutes and smile almost the entire time. What an amazing man, with a troupe I'll never tire of seeing. Best song of the night: She's the One.' Second-best: Girls in Their Summer Clothes,' from the new CD.

l. Coffeenerdness: Had a chance to visit the best coffeehouse in the eastern states again Saturday morning, and this one had some special meaning. Our final Family Weekend (after four at Tufts, and three previous ones at Colgate) happened this weekend in Hamilton, N.Y., and though it was an abridged one, it did feature Colgate senior/part-time barista Mary Beth King making me a triple latte at The Barge, Hamilton's absolutely perfect coffee shop. Featuring a slightly lighter (lighter than Starbucks, but not by much) espresso roast made by Green Mountain Coffee and the perfect light touch of foam on top, the latte, I must say, was perfect in all ways. Mary Beth has the part-time gig I've always wanted.

m. If I had another life to lead, I'd want four years of it to be at Colgate. Perfect campus. The new library is the kind of place that magnetizes you, with comfort, space, quiet and some of the prettiest fall vistas you'll ever see, particularly during the foliage period.

n. I told Mary Beth last Friday, The Office might be better than Seinfeld. That sounds crazy, but every character is perfect.' ''

Who I Like Tonight, and I Mean Tony Kornheiser

Throw the last meeting between the Jags and Colts out the window -- a 44-17, 375-rushing-yard bonanza for Jacksonville -- and here are the margins of victory in the previous nine games between the teams: 7, 8, 7, 3, 7, 5, 10, 7, 3. The Colts are 4-3 in their last seven, by the way. All of this says, very simply, that ESPN has one of the best games of the first half of the season tonight.

Indianapolis, 23-21. And Peyton Manning had better have a late drive up his sleeve. He's going to need it.