The Fine Fifteen

Pats linebacker Junior Seau has only played in one Super Bowl (Chargers, SB XXIX). Joe Robbins/Getty Images

1. New England (18-0). In Foxboro the other day for HBO, I found myself thinking after talking to lighthearted Matt Light and Mr. Intense Junior Seau: These guys aren't just saying they're not thinking about 19-0 yet; they've totally bought into Bill Belichick's consistent rant that the only way to be perfect is to live in the moment, selflessly. "Win today, today,'' Seau told me. "Tomorrow, we win tomorrow. And leave me-you-I in the locker room on game day.'' Me-you-I? "That's the selfish guy,'' Seau said, boring two holes in me with his eyes. "The selfish guy can't help you win.''

Two observations. One: That right there is why the Patriots will be playing for their fourth world championship in seven years on Feb. 3. Two: Is Seau, at $1 million in base salary, the best money the Patriots spent this year or what?

2. New York Giants (13-6). Regular-season coach of the year: Belichick. Postseason coach of the year: Coughlin.

3. Green Bay (14-4). From the sound of it, Brett Favre will take about a month to decide whether he feels good enough about his body and his mind to play football at age 39, in 2008.

4. San Diego (13-6). Philip Rivers, you've got some guts.

5. Indianapolis (13-4). A difficult return? Or Mr. Dungy Goes To Tampa? We should know soon.

6. Dallas (13-4). Last coach to leave the building, turn the lights out.

7. Jacksonville (12-6). There's no way David Garrard could talk Randy Moss into switching teams in March, is there? I doubt it, but Moss is an intriguing free-agent who at least deserves some investigation by the Jags.

8. Pittsburgh (10-7). Ask anyone who saw the Steelers up close in the 1970s, and they'll tell you Fats Holmes, who died in a one-car Texas wreck Friday after falling asleep at the wheel of his car, was a brutally strong man who did much to keep the pressure off DT-partner Joe Greene. He helped Greene become one of the best defensive tackles in history.

9. Seattle (11-7). Weird dynamic for Mike Holmgren, as he ponders his future at his Arizona vacation home with wife, Kathy: They've been waiting years for the four kids to all come back and live near the family, hopefully in the same place. And now there're four grandchildren. And now all the kids and their families have relocated to the Seattle area, and Holmgren is considering leaving his job. I wish I knew what he was about to do. My gut feeling is he'll walk away. If he does, I still like his idea about opening a bookstore.

10. Tennessee (10-7). What a strange NFL career Norm Chow had. Coaches the rookie of the year one season, gets canned the next. No one can convince me it wasn't because of his iffy relationship with Vince Young.

11. Tampa Bay (9-8). If Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen weren't signed to extensions after righting the Bucs' ship, now there'd be a story.

12. Washington (9-8). "I'm not interested in winning any press conferences,'' Dan Snyder told one of the candidates who interviewed for the head-coaching job. "I'm interested in winning the Super Bowl.'' Here's one of the strangest things about this coaching search: Snyder has talked to Gregg Williams about the job four times. This is a guy he's seen in the building for four years now.

13. Cleveland (10-6). Sign Jamal Lewis. Don't fiddle around with that one.

14. Philadelphia (8-8). Brain drain from Andy Reid's staff continues. In the last five years, Leslie Frazier, Ron Rivera, Brad Childress, Dave Toub, Ted Daisher, Steve Spagnuolo and now John Harbaugh have left for greener pastures.

15. Minnesota (8-8). Cris Carter, Darrell Green, first-time Hall of Fame nominees, lead a class with no locks.

Quote of the Week I

"I thought I was going to turn into a popsicle out there."

--Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora, on playing a 3-hour, 33-minute game in minus-23 wind chill temperatures Sunday in Green Bay.

Quote of the Week II

"I've made a living on guys with thin resumes for 25 years, and it's worked out well for me. You have to be willing to do things the masses would never do. That's how you separate yourself from the masses."

--Baltimore owner Steve Bisciotti, announcing that Philadelphia assistant coach John Harbaugh, the fallback choice after Jason Garrett turned down the job and a man who has never been a head coach at any level, had been named the Ravens' head coach.

Quote of the Week III

"You're good kids. Stay together. Trust each other and be good teammates to one another. I believe there is a championship in this room."

--Ernie Accorsi's prescient final words in his last address to the team as the Giants general manager last season. Those words come from Tom Callahan's revealing read, "The GM: The Inside Story of a Dream Job and the Nightmares That Go With It." Callahan e-mailed Friday to remind me of Accorsi's talk to his team, which I'd forgotten. But how valid it is this morning now that Accorsi's key draft gem, Eli Manning, has helped lead the G-Men to the Super Bowl. The Giants are young enough and good enough at enough important positions to continue challenging for championships.

Stat of the Week

The Patriots are 22-3 under Bill Belichick in games played after Christmas.

SI Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

This week's issue of Sports Illustrated -- the one with Brett Favre setting up to pass, a snowstorm camouflaging him, and the words "Totally Cool'' ribboned across the cover -- arrived at the biggest newsstand in Green Bay, Bosse's Newsstand and Smoke Shop, on Thursday at around 8 a.m. A crowd stretching around the block waited, some arriving at 6 a.m., for the 1,000 copies to arrive, and when they did, the deliveryman had a police escort into the store, and some fans chanted, "Go, Pack Go!'' It took about two hours for the magazines to sell out. The store had to turn about 100 people away.

One of the great cover photos ever.

Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week

It's been a long time since I flew Midwest Airlines. A very long time -- maybe a decade. But a Thursday evening Brandon Jacobs interview in New Jersey (you want to make Brandon Jacobs happy, serve him some nice lasagna, with a touch of nutmeg, believe it or not) forced me to take the last flight of the night from Newark to Milwaukee, then drive 123 miles to Green Bay that night. Let's just say the trip could have been much, much worse.

Even a 48-seat regional jet -- the airline industry's euphemism for "puddle-jumper'' -- was more comfortable and homey than other airlines' smallish planes. Bottled water, pretzels and fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies (from a mix, obviously), delivered by a legitimately friendly flight attendant, made the 115-minute flight quite tolerable.

The drive? A mainly desolate journey up I-43. It's after midnight on my body clock. I'm tired. I'm speeding. Halfway up the road, around Kohler, I'm doing around 80 (speed limit: 65), and I see the flashing lights in my rearview mirror. Sheboygan County Sheriff car.

"Good evening,'' an officer P. Schaefer said, from outside the right front window. "License and registration, please. Do you know why I stopped you?''

"I was going too fast,'' I said.

"Yeah, I clocked you around 81, 83 mph,'' he said. "You know, we've been fishing a lot of people out of ditches and off the road today because of the strong winds. Those winds can be tricky. I just want you to drive careful, OK? Just slow down. Be safe. I'll be back. I'm just going to give you a warning.''

"Wow,'' I said. "Thanks. That's really nice of you.''

He came back a few minutes later, handed me the written warning, told me to slow down and be safe two more times, and let me go.

At the hotel, the desk clerk told me twice to have a nice night. In the morning, the maid on the floor introduced herself, told me she'd be making up my room, and did I need anything special?

I wonder if all the welcome mats in the United States are manufactured in Wisconsin.

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