-If you've ever read anything by me here in the blog, you'll know I'm a huge soccer fan.  So after seeing American Jonathan Spector scoring two goals against Manchester United on Tuesday (albeit against their second team), I was very disappointed to see the USA miss out on the 2022 World Cup bid.  I'm guessing this decision was as clean as Cam Newton's father figuring out where his son was going next to play football.  Losing to Australia I could understand.  The budding Metropolis of a country called Qatar, I can't.

-Fast forward to Thursday night's game.  If you go back and watch the first play from scrimmage where a TD was called back, you'll notice that Neil Rackers actually tackles a teammate which allowed the long TD. 

-I brought up in one of my blogs that I thought that Philip Rivers was the MVP of the league.  As a beagle owner, I hesitate in doing this but Michael Vick's name needs to be thrown into the mix.  Where are the Eagles with Kevin Kolb at the helm?

-If you want to see a definition of garbage time, check out Arian Foster's 29-yard run as the last play before half.  Or Andre Johnson's production inside of the last five minutes of the game.  Either will suffice.

-Even if Brandon Marshall plays, I'm not starting him in any of my leagues.  What did he do the previous five weeks in the lineup when healthy?

-Glad to see Matt Schaub show more emotion late in the game than Derek Anderson laughing on the sideline. 

-Dalton Del Don brought this up (on our awesome XM/Sirius show that the site has) and I fully agree to expect this weekend's KC/Denver game to be very entertaining.  Todd Haley and Josh McDaniels apparently don't like each other and I expect a high scoring game, even if one team gets ahead (especially the 5-0 at home Chiefs).  I hope McDaniels keeps his coaching position as this will be an interesting rivalry for years to come.  In case you missed it, the reporters tortured Haley with questions about his Jamaal Charles usage two weeks ago and since it went from 12 to 22 carries and more than doubled his rushing yards in each game.  It's crazy to think Charles only has two games with 20 or more carries and those translated into 177 and 173 yards in each. 

-I can't argue that San Diego is the best team in the NFL |STAR|right now|STAR|.  However, if you look at recent history, the best team come Week 12 hasn't won the Super Bowl.

-I'm wondering if Brian Cushing is going to take the Shawne Merriman route in the NFL after seeing him make zero big plays this year, and miss a sure tackle of LeSean McCoy in the backfield that he turned into a two-yard gain..

-Don't read if you haven't seen "The Office." 

Best episode of the season.  "Thank you hands.  Nothing else in the universe can do what you do."  Learned about China, texting, moving your office, dog-nappings and the betrayal of Mose Schrute!  I'll have some "Sons of Anarchy" thoughts on Monday.

-Did the Eagles really run "The Wildcat" with Chad Hall?  Umm, isn't every time Michael Vick takes a snap Wildcat time?

-To Derek Jeter, the Yankees have cut you some slack, please sign.  Otherwise, you could go the Bernie Williams route and be playing jazz clubs in your near future.

-Jason Avant (one catch, four yards) is the perfect example of why not to overreact to a third wide receiver.  Truth be told, he was targeted at least twice in the red zone (one end zone drop).

-I still think Michael Vick will get hurt if he continues to get hit this much.  Anyone notice Jeremy Maclin running out of bounds three or four yards on a catch if he rather had stayed in bounds and took the hit in the first half?

-Joe Theismann vs. Matt Millen and their "Notre Dame vs. Penn State" crap is getting old, quickly.   There's a rumor than one of these guys had a job closing the library windows as a work study; except the windows he was responsible for were cemented shut. 

-Talking college football, it wouldn't surprise me to see Auburn or Oregon lose this weekend.  I wouldn't bet on it but it wouldn't shock me.  For recreational purposes only, my best bet for the weekend is Rutgers with the 21 points.

-If Houston misses the playoffs, does Gary Kubiak get the boot?  My guess is yes but the Texans need little going forward outside of addressing the linebackers and secondary.

-Outside of things beyond my control (been a tough week in the Payne household), I'll be back on Monday with more of my obscure yet occasionally readable insight.  Feel free to chime in with any other thoughts, disagreements or anything else.