What we learned from the weekend's football action

That's one bleak future.

I don't think there's a lot of point in talking about college football from this weekend. It's a disaster. And LSU v. Ohio State is ok, I guess. People can argue forever about who should be playing in the national championship, but it doesn't really matter. The truth is there really is no national champion this year. I'm just glad that Hawaii made a BCS game. But they went undefeated against a crap schedule, people say. Yes, but they tried to schedule some big non-conference games - like Michigan. Michigan didn't want to play them. So hey, if no one wants to play Hawaii, and they go undefeated, let's let them play one of the big boys and see how they do, just like Boise State. It only seems fair.

On to more important things, like pro football. By the way, this was not the best of weekends for games. But anyway, on to what we learned from the weekend (and the Thursday game) of pro football.

1. You might as well just write the Dolphins down for 0-16 at this point. An awful lot of people thought that if there was any game they were going to win this year, it was going to be this one against the Jets. Instead, they got blown out in the second half. I honestly can't remember a team anywhere near as bad as the Dolphins in my lifetime. They literally have nothing at this point. No quarterback, no running game, no defense, nothing. I'm not even sure pride can save them at this point, because right now I actually think a hot college team like USC could hang with the Dolphins for a period about a half or three quarters. If people are starting to wonder if a college team could beat you when you're a pro team, you're really awful.

2. Making the forced out of bounds call reviewable would probably be bad for football. Even though I'm mad as hell that Cleveland lost a game that they technically won, making a play like that reviewable puts you on a slippery slope. Because then you could argue that we should also make pass interference and holding calls reviewable as well. That's the problem with the "let's make this play reviewable" argument. Then technically we should make everything reviewable and games would last 5 or 6 hours. Of course, when Cleveland beat the Ravens, they technically reviewed a play they shouldn't have on the field goal. So in other words, the NFL has no clue what the hell it's doing. Truthfully, I've never been totally happy with the whole instant replay deal. I think it's necessary, but it's not infallible, and there are a lot of scenarios where you think to yourself "this really should be reviewable", but you know that if it was reviewable, games would last forever. It's a crappy system that needs reform, but what exactly that is remains a bit of mystery.

3. As much as it pains me to say this, Joe Gibbs has lost it. He's now fully responsible for two Redskins loses and arguably a third. I know the team had its mind on Sean Taylor yesterday, but they had a good chance to win as well, and Gibbs pretty much gave the game to the Bills. What's terrible is that Gibbs is a 3-time Super Bowl champion and made a mistake that is completely inexcusable. I hate to say it, but an awful lot of people know that you can't call back-to-back timeouts. It's not exactly some obscure rule.

4. Just when you think Eli's about to get benched, he manages to survive yet again. Quite frankly, he's horrible. The way the Giants are winning is defense and a good running game. Eli isn't even managing games well. This is winning DESPITE him. That's really all you can say. Imagine this Giants team with Romo. They'd be a lot better than 8-4. Meanwhile, it was interesting to see Rex play pretty well across the line. He played much better than Eli, yet his team lost. It's funny how this game came out. Eli was beyond dreadful except the last two drives but gets the win and survives for another week when he really shouldn't. Rex lost, but it wasn't his fault. I think my brain's going to explode.

5. Purple Jesus is my hero. He had 15 carries for 116 and 2 TDs and made some ridiculous moves in the game. My theory is he magically healed himself last week when no one was watching, because he didn't look like he was ever injured at all. Also, Tavaris Jackson is finally playing like an NFL quarterback, which sure is helpful. Finally might get defenses to stop keying on PJ and Chester Taylor. This team looks pretty good right now, and experts are starting to pick them as the last NFC wild card team. Which naturally means they'll lose their next 4 games.

6. God has left the Lions. They were overachieving earlier this year and now they've returned to earth. Their schedule is also brutal from this point on. But hey, 6 wins is like going undefeated during the Matt Millen era. Might as well give Millen that 10-year contract extension right now, Detroit.

7. There are too many mediocre teams in football. We all know this, but whatever, it needs to be said. I can't remember the last time I saw this many teams hovering around .500 this late in the season. Sure makes for some crappy Sunday viewing - like yesterday.

8. If you don't live in the Bay Area, you're lucky. We had only two day games today - SF v. Carolina and the Raiders v. Denver. And the Raiders game wasn't in HD. It was good to see the Raiders win, and JaMarcus finally get a few reps, but we all know nothing will be going on here until next year. Right now watching the 49ers and Raiders is like going to a funeral. You don't really want to go, but you go because you have to.

I'm getting tired, so the next few will be quick.

9. The Colts proved they are the second best team in the AFC. I really wanted to see Jax win that game to mix things up a bit, but Indy won without Harrison and Freeney, which made this an even bigger win.

10. People should stop assuming Aaron Rogers is some kind of bust. He's behind a QB that basically would be allowed to play even if he was in a wheelchair. Rogers finally had a chance to show what he could do in the Cowboys game, and he proved that he's definitely got something. Hell, I should know, I watched him at Cal for a few years. He's a damn good player. Green Bay is lucky to have a backup as solid as Rogers. Not many teams in the NFL have a backup of his caliber. Plus, he'll be a good replacement for Favre, you know, when Favre retires at age 57.

11. New Orleans, what can I say. You let a third string QB beat you. You suck.

12. I think you could say, right now, that Mario Williams actually was the right pick at #1 for the Texans. Bush has been awful this year, and cost the Saints their game on Sunday, and the jury is still out on VY and his passing ability.

13. Nice work on passing Walter Payton, LT. You just made the Hall of Fame.

-WCK