-Brad Childress reportedly won't be fired even though the Vikings are essentially out of the playoff race.  Brett Favre followed up a career-high day for passing yards with a dismal game.  If Percy Harvin misses any amount of time, downgrade him further.  After giving up a ton of sacks since the game against the Giants, the Bears only allowed one against Minnesota.  Even though Johnny Knox is his best receiver, I'd guess at least five of Jay Cutler's nine interceptions have been on passes his way.  Cutler isn't completely to blame here; a few have hit Knox's hands and there've been others where Knox should have turned defender to avoid the interception. 

-I don't know how the 49ers can go back to Alex Smith after the way Troy Smith played yesterday.  Not only did he put up a 12.7 YPA but there were three touchdowns called back!  TD passes to Vernon Davis (2) and Michael Crabtree (1) would have padded his stats even more.  Smith was helped by a PI call that was sketchy in OT but the velocity on his throws was impressive.  Joe Nedney's game-winning FG looked a lot closer than the announcers called it.

-If Manny Pacquiao fought Wladimir Klitschko, who would win?  Ok, that's a little absurd but where does Pacman go next?  Floyd Mayweather would be crazy to get in a ring with him.

-It was brilliant for the Bills to put Paul Posluszny on Calvin Johnson on fourth and two from the 20.  Even smarter was Shaun Hill throwing the ball out of the end zone on the two-point conversion.  Gutty performance by Hill though, considering his injury.  Jahvid Best is no longer even a flex play in my book considering he hasn't had more than 80 yards rushing in a game this season and is averaging less than 2.6 YPC over his last four games.  It's probably the turf toe but he just isn't reliable at this point.  Fred Jackson should be treated like a top-12 RB going forward.  Marshawn Lynch is out of town, C.J. Spiller is hurt and the offensive line has improved as the season has gone on. 

-Real quick on Cam Newton.  A college athlete who was looking for money to play for a school?  Say it ain't so.  I don't have the answer but let's not think this is anything new.  Newton's problem was that Pop should have been more subtle inquiring around to multiple schools, which increased the chance of getting caught.

-Peyton Hillis is fast.  Not Chris Johnson-fast but 6'1", 240 lbs.-fast.  You'll be hard-pressed to find a guy that big who runs the way he does.  Any talk of Jake Delhomme or Seneca Wallace taking over for Colt McCoy when they're healthy is ludicrous.  I'm quite sure Mike Holmgren was ready to get rid of Eric Mangini by season's end but what does he do now?  A lot of the Browns success has to be attributed to defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.

-I'm glad I sat Dwayne Bowe in one league in favor of Michael Crabtree.  Bowe now has 454 receiving yards with eight touchdowns over his last five games.  Clearly something was not right with Champ Bailey Sunday as not only Bowe victimized him but he was covering Chris Chambers for his first TD of the season.  There's been 141 points scored in the last two games in Denver.  If you're a Kyle Orton owner, you hate Tim Tebow.  If you're a Denver TMQB owner, you love Tim Tebow.  Speaking of Kansas City, let's not think Matt Cassel is in the top-12 QBs going forward despite his gaudy garbage stats from Sunday.

-There's a funny video on TMZ showing Chad Pennington busting a move to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" and it appears both his and Chad Henne's season could be over.  Don't forget what Tyler Thigpen did a few seasons ago in Kansas City.

-Cadillac Williams' 45-yard TD run was his longest run since his first game as a rookie.  I said it here a few weeks ago and like him even more as I watch him play: Josh Freeman will be a top-10 and maybe even top-8 fantasy QB next year.

-The rumor of Chad Ochocinco's demise has been grossly exaggerated after his seven-catch, 86-yard, one-TD day.  A close play on the sideline and a penalty could have easily added 50 receiving yards to his total.  Carson Palmer makes some excellent throws and then is off by 5-10 yards on a pass on the next play.  If a defense has a good, opportunistic secondary, I'd use them against Cincy if you don't have a better option going forward.  There was a difference in score but the Bengals went for it on fourth and 1 from their 24 in the first half but not fourth and 1 from the Indy 42 in the third quarter. 

-Randy Moss is a borderline flex play going forward.  He'll have the occasional TD; I just don't trust him and consider him one of the bigger fantasy busts this year.

-Mike Williams (SEA) had a nice game, especially after having some finger trouble a couple of days ago in practice.  He didn't get in the end zone but it wasn't due to a lack of effort on the play-calling part.  Marshawn Lynch now has less than a 3.0 YPC since joining the Seahawks, who should be giving Justin Forsett more touches going forward.

-Now that Al Michaels has referred to BenJarvus Green-Ellis as "The Law Firm" can we now consider it overused and corny?  Somewhere in a preseason blog I said I'd love either Rob Gronkowski or Aaron Hernandez if the other got hurt.  Neither has but if you combine their stats you'd have a top-3 fantasy TE.

-I'm beginning to think Pierre Garcon isn't that good and Peyton Manning knows that.  Hence the early value/targets for Austin Collie.  If Jacob Tamme sits out a game or two, who do you trust in that offense?

-Even though Mike Tolbert was on a bye, it was nice to see him channel himself through Josh Vaughan, Jackie Battle and Patrick Cobbs.

-The Carolina Panthers looked like they had a pulse on offense against the Bucs.  I would look at the Tampa defense as a favorable matchup for my offensive starters even though they have a 6-3 record.

-Jon Kitna is looking for the big play every time he passes.  Take out the short screen to Felix Jones and he still had more than 21 yards per completion.  Tom Coughlin botched a fourth and short call, electing to punt on the Cowboys side of the field during the third quarter.  A general note should be that if you have fourth and 1 on your opponent's side, it's an automatic "go for it."  Especially when you are losing!  And please, don't run the ball straight up the middle on fourth and short.  Be creative; run play-action or toss a pitch to the outside to let the RB make a decision on cutting it up the field or stretching it wide.  I get that it's a "swallowing your pride" type of thing since you drafted him but if you're the Giants, you need to cut ties with Matt Dodge.  Find someone who can punt past 32 yards which happened twice yesterday and that's not even bringing up his debacles from the past weeks.

-Any predictions as to who will be this year's late-season Michael Bush/Jerome Harrison/Jamaal Charles (one would like to think Charles could be that guy…)?