7. I think it's only fair to continually praise Fred Taylor, seeing that he's been so ignored in his NFL career. He passed Eddie George and Tiki Barber on the all-time rushing list with his 132-yard day against Carolina that included the longest run of his life, an 80-yard touchdown run. Here's what I find amazing about the supposedly aging Taylor: He's averaged 7.4, 7.4 and 7.3 yards per rush in the last three weeks.

8. I think this is what I liked about Week 14:

a. Washington cornerback Shawn Springs' back was so bad before the Bears-Redskins game that the equipment manager didn't even bother to put his shoulder pads in his locker. But he warmed up before the game, felt OK, then went out and intercepted two passes -- he'd had two the previous 38 games -- to help the 'Skins win.

b. The pursuit of Nick Collins, the Green Bay safety who chased down Justin Fargas on a fourth-and-short in the first quarter and chopped him down like a dad at a Christmas Tree farm.

c. Jerry Porter stole his touchdown pass from Al Harris. Absolutely stole it. What hands. What concentration.

d. The play of the Detroit offensive line. Masterful, led by center Dominic Raiola.

e. Brian Dawkins's neck tackle of Reuben Droughns in Philadelphia, stopping the Giants at the Philly one and holding them to a field goal. Defensive play of the day.

f. Albert Haynesworth did his job Sunday, as did Kyle Vanden Bosch. Haynesworth's impact was on display in Nashville. Six of LaDainian Tomlinson's first 12 rushes were for zero yards or less: -1, 2, 5, -1, 3, 0, 3, 0, 6, 16, 0, 0. And Vanden Bosch's three-sack day terrorized Philip Rivers.

g. I know the Steelers lost, but Ben Roethlisberger's touchdown throw to Najeh Davenport was a thing of beauty. Big Ben stepped out of trouble in the pocket, waited for just the right moment for Davenport to shake his coverage, and put a perfect rainbow into his arms in the end zone. A couple of years ago, I don't think Roethlisberger would have had the pocket presence to sidestep the pressure on the play, and I don't think he'd have thrown the ball with such beautiful touch.

h. I'll never forget Jon Miller, the NBC Sports VP who had a son at Miami of Ohio, telling me weekly how great Roethlisberger was during his Miami career, and me thinking, "Settle down, Jon. I went to school in the MAC, and we didn't exactly mint many great passers in the conference when I went to school at Ohio University.'' But he was absolutely right. And after Big Ben's struggles of the last year or so, he has proven he's a big-time player with an incredible future.

i. Not to compare the two, but Eli Manning played his second straight clutch fourth quarter Sunday, this time in Philly.

j. The two leading rushers Sunday: Ryan Grant, Selvin Young, with 156 yards each. See what I mean about being able to find backs without spending big money or big draft picks on them?

k. The Giants on the road. New York has a six-game winning streak away from home.

9. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 14:

a. How undisciplined the Bears look. In their first series after going down 14-0 in the third quarter at Washington, the Bears got whistled for a delay of game, false start, false start and delay of game in an 11-snap sequence.

b. What an idiotic flag thrown by the Ron Winter crew in the Philly-Giants game, the delay-of-game spike call on Plaxico Burress, after Burress mildly slammed the ball down after a play. Call the penalty when someone truly spikes it, guys.

c. San Diego left tackle Marcus McNeill got the revolving-door treatment big time by the Titan pass-rush.

d. Could Vince Young please start playing like the third pick in the 2006 draft?

e. Trying to make too much happen at once, Kurt Warner, with those five interceptions.

f. Donovan McNabb: 14-18 in his last 32 starts.

g. I wish PR people would edit post-game quote sheets. When a writer has 16 sheets and has to wade through 15.8 pages of total bullcrap, it tends to aggravate him at 3:23 a.m.

h. Didn't like Eric Mangini -- at all -- going for the field goal while down 17-12 with 1:48 left in the game against Cleveland. Even with three timeouts left, I'd have gone for it on fourth-and-10 from the Cleveland 20, and, had I failed, used my three timeouts to save the clock 'til I could get the ball back. Then I would have tried again to score a touchdown.

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

a. The Heisman voters got it right. What quarterback, in any league, has ever thrown more than 20 touchdown passes and rushed for more than 20 touchdowns in a year? Tim Tebow had 51 combined. And, apparently, Tebow is a heck of a kid.

"I don't know if we've ever, ever had a better winner for college football, or for life, than Tim Tebow,'' Lee Corso said after Tebow won the Heisman on ESPN on Saturday night. Hard to imagine a kid who was raised better, and is more mature as a college sophomore, than Tebow.

"We think about this as a team award,'' was one of about 75 humble things Tebow said upon winning. The praise of his parents and coaches and the university president, for crying out loud ... No wonder the state of Florida loves this kid.

b. Greg Schiano stays. He turns down Michigan. He did not get a dime from Rutgers for staying. You can knock New Jersey over with a feather right now.

c. I've always felt Schiano had at least one move left in him. Maybe to Penn State, someday. Maybe to the Chicago Bears. I don't know. Maybe Michigan was too preppy, too blue-blooded for him. Maybe just moving into a palatial new home on the edge of campus this fall and being happily ensconced with his wife and three kids had something to do with it. But it's darned impressive that a guy turns down one of the best four or five jobs in college football to stay at the State University of New Jersey.

d. Coffeenerdness: The French Roast at Whole Foods is every bit the equal of the darkest Starbucks coffee. It'll open up your sinuses, that's for sure.

e. You're missing the boat, Jersey people, if you don't give the Devils' Prudential Center a shot. Beautiful building. Good, hard-working hockey team. Even Barry Melrose likes the place. He was there the other night, chewing on some words.

f. I would hire Steve Mariucci to fire up the troops at my company any day of the week. You should have heard his heartfelt talk at the Favre Sportsman event the other night. Moving.

g. I really wish these movie channels would stop putting Animal House on TV late at night. Because if I'm clicking around and hit it, I cannot turn away.

Who I Like Tonight, and I Mean Tony Kornheiser

I might be asleep by the middle of the second quarter, for many reasons. But in the Morten Andersen/Plenty of Good Seats Still Available Bowl, I'm going with New Orleans 17, Atlanta 13.