Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts of Week 13:

a. Why'd the Packers go away from what they did well on offense for the first 11 games of the year?

b. One comment on those throwback jerseys, Jets, with apologies to Denzel Washington: Forget the Titans.

c. Injury of the Day: Reggie Hayward (22.5 sacks in his last 29 starts), apparently popping a groin or suffering a painful hip injury on the first defensive series of the big game at Indy. That could be a season-ender right there. And as a good two-way run/pass defender, Hayward will not be easy to replace. Jerome Bettis popped a groin on the exact same day -- Dec. 2 -- in 2001. Bettis said yesterday in the NBC viewing room it didn't heal right for him until the next summer. "I thought I was going to have to retire,'' Bettis said.

d. Leon Washington. Joe Washington. Same guy. If you're 45 or older, you see that.

e. Since the Vikes got shut out by Green Bay, they've scored 82 points in eight quarters.

f. Good A.J. Feeley: He directed the Eagles to 52 points against the Pats and 'Hawks the last two weeks. Bad Feeley: He threw seven interceptions in those two games.

g. Miami's going winless.

h. Denver's finishing below .500.

i. JaMarcus Russell throws a beautiful football.

j. Good thing Eli Manning doesn't listen to his critics. If he did, he wouldn't get out of bed in the morning.

2. I think if you're looking for an update on Randy Moss' contract status for 2008, you won't get a solid one anywhere, because he and the Patriots aren't going to talk turkey until after the season, from all accounts. But I spoke to a close acquaintance of Moss' the other day, and here's his feeling on what the reborn receiver will do in free agency:

"Randy is as happy now as I've seen him, ever. He's finally in a place where everything on a football team is done right -- front office, coaching, the offense they run. He loves the team, loves the organization. My gut feeling is if they're competitive within the market, he'll stay and not want to go anywhere else. If the Pats step out right away, like it did with Adalius Thomas last year, and offers him a market deal -- even if it's not every last penny he could get somewhere else -- my gut feeling is he'd definitely want to stay. But if he thinks New England is low-balling him, then I don't know.''

Tough call for the Patriots. Moss will be 31 next year, his 11th NFL season. He's had injury and loafing issues in the last three years, and he hasn't always been a great offseason workout guy. How much the Patriots will want to pay him up front, with a salary cap that has to account for so many standout players, will be an interesting story in February, regardless of whether New England wins the Super Bowl.

One last thought: If Moss is so serious about winning and being with a great team for the rest of his career, he'll do what Brady did three years ago. After Peyton Manning signed for $16 million a year and Michael Vick $14 million a year -- on average -- Brady did a six-year deal for $60 million, knowing he could make a boatload of money off the field and knowing the Patriots would use the savings on his deal to sign players like Thomas and Moss. If Moss is serious about being with a winner long term, he'll do the same thing.

3. I think I have no problem whatsoever with the Redskins playing 10 men on the field for one play. In fact, I love it. Of course Gregg Williams should have told Joe Gibbs about it, but if you can't pay tribute to your best player by doing something very special on one of 1,000 defensive plays of the season, then we all need to get a life. "We needed that,'' London Fletcher said. "You may not have seen the 11th player out there for us, but he was there. Sean was there.''

4. I think the LaDainian Tomlinson I spoke with after the Chargers game Sunday was the most emotional I've heard Tomlinson since I've known him. "I am emotional,'' he said, "because when I was 5 years old, I watched Walter Payton play against the Dallas Cowboys on TV, and I thought, 'That's the kind of player I want to be when I grow up.' Walter Payton got me into football. I always wanted to tell him how much an influence he was in my life.''

Tomlinson, of course, passed Payton on the all-time rushing touchdown list with two scores at Kansas City. More importantly for his team, Tomlinson is running the ball like a dude possessed, and he tells me his linemen have that look in their eyes. What look? "The look that says we're not going to be stopped,'' he said.

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