Though he won't say so himself, sources close to Redskins coordinator Marvin Lewis make it clear that he considers having to stay and coach in Washington for another season his worst-case scenario. Lewis has not enjoyed much about the move down I-95 from Baltimore to D.C. and, truth be known, would stay in his old job as Ravens defensive coordinator if he had it to do all over again.

That said, sources say he's determined to make the best of his situation in Washington, where he has found it too frustrating at times to work under the freewheeling style of head coach Steve Spurrier.

Lewis likes Spurrier personally and the two get along well. But Lewis has had difficulty dealing with a Redskins organization that seems to make it up as it goes along, from owner Daniel Snyder on down. Lewis is more comfortable with putting the structure of a program in place and then building around it. Under Snyder and Spurrier, courses routinely get changed on a whim.

On Wednesday, Lewis withdrew his name from consideration for the Michigan State head-coaching job. He also has no plans to pursue the UCLA opening, despite the Bruins having interest in him. Lewis remains intent on landing an NFL head-coaching job this offseason, but his opportunities could be relatively few.

Even if Lewis doesn't garner a head-coaching job, I wouldn't be surprised to see him find a way to part company with the Redskins.

Let's take the old if-the-season-ended-today game a step further. If the playoffs opened today, the first-round pairings would be:

The first three wild-card round games would be rematches of playoff games from the mid-90s, and the last, New Orleans at San Francisco, would reunite two longtime NFC West rivals who were split up by realignment.

From the vantage point of more than three weeks away, I'd like the Colts to upset the stumbling Steelers; the Dolphins to sneak past the Chargers; the Packers to freeze-dry the plucky Falcons at Lambeau; and the Saints to pull a shocker against the inconsistent 49ers.

But I could change my mind.

Who said first-year head coach Mike Tice isn't making progress in Minnesota? Three Vikings offensive players, all of whom get paid to catch passes, were fined a total of $25,000 by the league on Thursday and none of them were Randy Moss.

Oh, that's right. We forgot that Moss is never a factor on the game's final play.

Let me get this straight. Willie Jackson? Cut. Jacquez Green? Cut. Reidel Anthony? Cut. Shane Matthews? On his way out of Washington. Danny Wuerffel? Welcome to return in 2003, as long as he's willing to back up a Redskins quarterback who's still searching for his first NFL win as a starter.

Hey, what's not to like about Spurrier's ex-Gators experiment? I mean, that Chris Doering has been a real find.

Never has an offense had less to feel good about in victory than the Houston Texans' last Sunday in Pittsburgh. By now, you know the mind-boggling statistics. The expansion Texans won by 18 despite rolling up all of 47 yards and three first downs on offense. Houston's first three defensive touchdowns in franchise history saved the day.

To their credit, the Texans' offensive players -- and we mean that term literally -- didn't try to sugar-coat anything with all that "a win is a win" talk.

Said Houston quarterback David Carr of the team's defense: "They should take the game ball they got and throw it at us."

Running back James Allen was even more colorful. "The only reason the offense showed up today is so we wouldn't have to forfeit."

Lastly, tight end Billy Miller weighed in with the following regarding the defense: "I'm almost embarrassed to look at them. We played so bad I'm speechless."

Let everybody salivate over Oakland (9-4) at Miami (8-5) or Green Bay (10-3) at San Francisco (9-4). The Week 15 tilt I can't wait to see is Indianapolis at Cleveland. Butch Davis' thrill-a-minute Browns make those 1980 Brian Sipe-led "Kardiac Kids" of Cleveland seem positively sedate.

When the Browns (7-6) won at Jacksonville last Sunday on a last-second 50-yard Hail Mary pass from Tim Couch to Quincy Morgan, it represented the seventh time in Davis' 29-game Cleveland tenure that a game was decided on the final play. The Browns are 2-5 in those games.

Sixteen times in those 29 games, the outcome has been decided in the final minute. Cleveland is 7-9 in those nail-biters, including a win earlier this season on the road against the Jets, which wasn't settled until the game's penultimate play.

The Colts (8-5) play them pretty close themselves. Indy is 3-0 this year in games decided by three points or less, including that snowy overtime thriller in Denver three weeks ago.

From beleaguered Arizona head coach Dave McGinnis, who left work early on Monday with a stomach virus:

"I shut it down at about 4, went home and got about six seconds of sympathy from [wife] Kim. She started spraying me with Lysol and said, 'Go back to work. You haven't won enough games.'"

Don Banks covers pro football for CNNSI.com.