Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts of Week 17:

a. Biggest Winner by a Loser, Gold Medal: Tom Coughlin. Loved your guts, coach.

b. Biggest Winner by a Loser, Silver Medal: Eli Manning. Like Mary Tyler Moore, he might just make it after all.

c. Beautiful front page of NFL.com on Sunday morning, with Tedy Bruschi, arms spread wide in exultation, looking heavenward while the word "UNDEFEATED'' spreads slowly over the screen. Classy.

d. I don't mind Jim Quirk hog-tying Nick Barnett the way he did. It looked bad, but I thought Quirk was trying only to get Barnett out of a scrum. There's no way he meant to get him in a stranglehold by the throat and drive him backward. I thought the game-check fine was extremely excessive.

e. Interesting how Brian Baldinger said on the Saints-Bears telecast that free-agent-signee cornerback Jason David "has had a tough go of it'' in his first season with the Saints. Uh, if "tough go of it'' translates to "worst corner in football in 2007,'' then Baldinger's right.

f. Nice to see Ron Wolf sitting with Parcells, advising him what to do with his new franchise. I once sat with the two men at a spring-training game in Florida (Cards-O's in Jupiter), and if their conversation Sunday was anything like it was that day behind home plate, I bet there was a lot of talking about the oldies being played on the PA system.

g. Washington just might beat Seattle. The Redskins are a very good team right now, particularly in defensive intensity.

h. I know everyone thinks the Patriots aren't playing as well on offense as they did early in the season, and that might be right. But in the last five games of the year, three played with weather a factor, New England scored 27, 34, 20, 28 and 38. I can think of eight or 10 teams who'd like to be slumping that much on offense right now.

i. Dallas had two first downs in the first half at Washington on defensive penalties and two others. That's it. Two first downs the Cowboys earned in 30 minutes. Not exactly the way you want to go into your bye week.

2. I think, as a sort of Fairness in Voting deal, I am going to list my ballot for the annual All-Pro Team that the Associated Press has 50 members do each year. The AP recommends we vote for a left and right tackle, strong and free safety, et cetera. My team, with comments where appropriate:

Offense

WR: Randy Moss, New England.
T: Joe Thomas, Cleveland. Not that hard a pick. Played every snap, was better than Walter Jones, and was the biggest reason why a D-minus line in 2006 played like a B-plus line in '07.
G: Logan Mankins, New England. Toughest offensive position to pick because so many left guards (Steve Hutchinson, Eric Steinbach, Alan Faneca) played well.
C: Kevin Mawae, Tennessee. Legit leader and great player this year. Edged very worthy Indy maestro Jeff Saturday.
G: Chris Snee, New York Giants.
T: Jeremy Trueblood, Tampa Bay. Weakest position on the offense, but Trueblood toughness and ethos won the spot.
TE: Jason Witten, Dallas.
WR: Terrell Owens, Dallas. I am sick about leaving Wes Welker and his 112 catches off this team, but I can't leave Owens off.
QB: Tom Brady, New England.
RB: Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia. Deservedly edged Fred Taylor. Set the all-time Eagle single-season record for receptions (90) and yards from scrimmage (2,104).
RB: LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego.
FB: Tony Richardson, Minnesota.

Defense

DE: Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants
DT: Kelly Gregg, Baltimore. Toughest call of all, choosing Gregg over Albert Haynesworth. For the first half of the season, Haynesworth was probably the defensive player of the year, but he missed games 9, 10 and 11 with a hamstring strain, and wasn't the same in the five games after that, missing chunks of time because he still wasn't right. As a body of work, I thought Gregg's season was better.
DT: Pat Williams, Minnesota.
DE: Jared Allen, Kansas City. Reborn after giving up alcohol.
OLB: Mike Vrabel, New England. One of the best, and cheapest, free-agent signings ever.
ILB: E.J. Henderson, Minnesota. Flipped a coin between Barnett and Nick Barnett. Came up Henderson, one of the most instinctive players in football.
ILB: Patrick Willis, San Francisco. Just because you're anonymous doesn't mean you're not a great player.
OLB: DeMarcus Ware, Dallas.
CB: Asante Samuel, New England. About to be a very rich man.
CB: Ronde Barber, Tampa Bay. Edged Al Harris of Green Bay, the team that allowed the lowest completion percentage in the NFL this year.
FS: Ed Reed, Baltimore.
SS: Bob Sanders, Indianapolis.

Specialists

K: Phil Dawson, Cleveland. This year's Vinatieri.
P: Andy Lee, San Francisco. Incredible 42 punts inside the 20.
KR/PR: Josh Cribbs, Cleveland. Top five NFL punt- and kick-returner, and he was Steve Tasker all season as a pursuit man.

Awards

MVP: Tom Brady, QB, New England.

Comeback Player: Greg Ellis, LB, Dallas.

Offensive Rookie: Joe Thomas, T, Cleveland. No disrespect to Adrian Peterson, but for 16 games, Thomas was more impactful on the Browns than Peterson was on Minnesota.

Defensive Rookie: Patrick Willis, LB, San Francisco. Led the NFL with 174 tackles.

Offensive Player: 1. Tom Brady, QB, New England. 2: Brett Favre. 3. Randy Moss.

Defensive Player: 1. Bob Sanders, SS, Indianapolis. 2: Jared Allen. 3: Demarcus Ware.

Coach: Bill Belichick, New England. The toughest call I had to make, and I empathize with those who say they can't vote a man coach of the year who was sanctioned more harshly than any coach in NFL history. I gave long and hard consideration to Mike McCarthy of Green Bay, because the Pack vastly overachieved with his steady and smart leadership. But it came down to this: Did the Patriots gain an advantage this year because of Belichick's apparent history of authorizing the taping of defensive signals by the other team's coaches? I think the advantage, at best, was infinitesimal. Whereas the edge gained by Shawne Merriman for using illegal performance-enhancing substances can lead to a tangible advantage for a team, I don't think the taping of defensive signals for a few minutes in the opening game of the season compares. And the accomplishment of this team, and its head coach, are too overwhelming to overlook.

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