-I was at Joe Paterno's 400th win on Saturday and it was an awesome game if you are a PSU fan.  After the first 29:57, Northwestern held a 21-0 lead.  Then Penn State came back and outscored the Wildcats 35-0 for the victory.  A couple of factors helped this.  First, PSU switched QBs and made some excellent adjustments at halftime.  They realized they could run all day and NW got away from running the ball which they did effectively during the first half.  After a postgame ceremony celebrating Paterno's 400th career win (which he got what looked like a glass bowling ball), he was a typical great head coach telling the crowd that "now the ceremony was over, let's go beat Ohio State"!  I'm not living in a fantasy world - JoePa a coaching legend but he's the Queen of England in Happy Valley.  There's no or little strategy or play calling from him and likely hasn't been for years.  Keep an eye on PSU Freshman running back Silas Redd; he's got a lot of upside.

-Driving four hours home from said game Sunday morning, I caught plenty of talk radio including Joe Namath's Sirius show.  I had to hold on tight to the steering wheel as to not drive myself off the road.  Forget him calling Joe Flacco "Joe Falco" (perhaps thinking of Shane Falco?), Matt Schaub "Matt Schlob" and I won't even talk about Nnamdi Asomugha.  He rated his top 10 teams and after leaving the Giants out of the top-5, he quoted the Patriots as the number one team as "they have the best record, don't they"? 

-I thought Brad Childress was done if Minnesota lost but I'd be surprised if Wade Phillips lasts through the end of the day.  I say this week in and week out but I really mean it this week.  If the Vikings lose next week at Chicago, Childress could be next. 

-I don't follow college football as much as I used to.  That being said, my pick for the Heisman right now is Justin Blackmon.  There are arguments for other players and I know a player who has a DUI charge will be frowned upon but we all make mistakes.  From a strictly numbers standpoint, he has a 160.6 yards per game average and just under two touchdowns a game.  Every game he's scored a TD and had over 125 yards receiving.  Did I mention he's only 20?  You might want to remember him when he becomes eligible to draft in fantasy leagues.

-I don't understand packing it in, putting seven players on the offensive line and trying to run the ball up the middle on any down and short.  It doesn't work.  You bring in more defenders to make a potential play on the runner and congest any potential running routes.  Spread everyone out with three or four wide if you want to run it up the middle on short yard downs.

-I'm sick of the Jamaal Charles/Thomas Jones stuff.  Jones gets the ball early and often and when Todd Haley realizes the game is on the line he goes to the better running back in Charles.  There is zero reason why Charles got only six touches in the first half (one was brought back on a holding call) and finished with only 10 carries on the day.  I'll stop my whining now.

-Seyi Ajirotutu and Jacoby Ford both had outstanding games but let's not anoint them the next Jerry Rice.  The respective teams they played against didn't gameplan for them which gave them beatable one-on-one coverage.  Jason Campbell had a lot of help on his long completions yesterday; he's still not a good QB.  If I had to choose between the two going forward, I'd take Ajirotutu over Ford since he's 6'4" and has Phillip Rivers throwing to him.  Watch and see if Malcolm Floyd is good to go after this week's bye before you go nuts acquiring him.

-Speaking of Ajirotutu, the league MVP to this point is Phillip Rivers without any doubt.  Sure his team is 4-5 but they would be 0-9 or 1-8 without him for sure.  I'm beginning to think a cold will keep the disappointment that is Ryan Mathews out of the game.  You can't start him at all going forward no matter what any report says.

-I'd check on the availability of any defense playing the Carolina Panthers week to week.  I guessing if you played Green Bay's defense, you won your fantasy matchup.  The Packers have only given up seven points over their last nine quarters.

-I lashed out pretty good against James Harrison a few weeks back when there was a bunch of bad hits.  This week I'm going the polar opposite and saying both the shot on James Stewart and Austin Collie were clean.  Darren Sharper led with his shoulder and Collie ducked into the hit after getting down on a caught ball over the middle.  The Nick Collins hit on Roy Williams was easily the one that deserves the biggest fine.

-I'll probably get a lot of criticism for this but is it time to think Dallas Clark is a little overrated given the success of Jacob Tamme?  Sure Clark is a good route runner with good hands but neither his size nor speed is elite.  What would a guy like John Carlson do if he had Peyton Manning throwing to him?  Where do we rank Tamme going forward, top-3?

-Over/Under pick #35 in any draft next season, where do you take Mike Williams (TB)?  Him or Dez Bryant first?  The only reason I think there's a question is that Williams is the clear #1 in TB while Bryant will be behind Miles Austin.

-Michael Vick won't make it through the next few games if he keeps taking hits like he has.  I get that waiting as long as possible to throw the ball helps get receivers even more open but he's going to take another shot he won't get up from.  Speaking of the Eagles, while they looked really good, I would have let someone else besides DeSean Jackson return punts since he was coming off a concussion.

-Brett Favre didn't have any aches or pains since the Vikings won; Tom Brady still doesn't have a 300-yard game this year despite playing behind the whole game.

-If Matthew Stafford somehow stays healthy all of next year, the Lions will make the playoffs.

-C.J. Spiller is a tremendous talent and will show that once he stops dancing.  He needs to make one move and utilize his speed to make defenders miss.

-Last week it was Robert Meachem, this week Lance Moore.  Keep flipping a coin on the two to figure out who you should start.

-If you're on the special teams unit and you block someone in the back, don't raise your hands up like you didn't do anything wrong.  It's a sure sign of guilt.

-Adrian Peterson is still the best running back in the game in my opinion.  What's the difference between him and Arian Foster?  The offensive line.  Foster had plenty of holes to run through (give him credit for his vision) but there are many times his fullback was hitting his block five yards or more downfield which has happened all season.  Peterson still has to break tackles, stiff arm and everything else to get his long runs.

-If you go back to last week's blog I wrote, I criticized the Cowboys Mike Jenkins.  Everything I saw last night makes me think I should beat the dead horse again.

-Bad day for two of the Gronkowski brothers yesterday.  Cris Collinsworth went out of his way to point out how Chris Gronkowski missed his assignment on the Tony Romo injury and Rob Gronkowski had a critical fumble inside the Cleveland Browns five yard line.

-The Bears defense when they have "both" Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher healthy, are a top-3 team against the run.  

-The Raiders would have sole possession of first place in their division had Janikowski not missed that 32-yard field goal back in Week 3.

-Quick basketball note – If you're looking for point guard help, see if Kyle Lowry is available.  He's set to come back from a back injury on Wednesday and starter Aaron Brooks will be out 4-6 weeks.  Ishmael Smith has played average at best and Lowry is still second on the depth chart.  Look for Lowry to average at least six assists a game if he gets 30 plus minutes a night.