$.01-- The New Orleans Saints came from behind to knock off the visiting San Francisco 49ers in a very exciting affair between two of the NFC’s top teams.

San Francisco only has itself to blame, though I suspect they will point a lot of fingers at Tony Corrente’s officiating crew. They cannot blame them for Kassim Osgood’s slamming into Darren Sproles after the Saints’ return man called for a fair catch. But a hit by Ahmad Brooks on Drew Brees that was flagged for a personal foul is sure to be the talk of the town.

The play in question would have all but sealed the win for the Niners. The outside linebacker crashed into Brees and extricated the football, which the Niners recovered. But Corrente ruled that Brooks struck Brees above the shoulder, which is a penalty. The 15-yard foul gave possession back to the Saints and ultimately set them up with a game-tying field goal.

It was pretty clear that Brooks struck Brees above the shoulders. Brooks’ shoulder pad made contact with Brees’ helmet, and his upper arm impacted the quarterback in the neck. It was not intentional contact, not in the least. It’s an unfortunate function of Brooks being 6’3” and Brees being a few inches shorter, as well as Brees instinctively ducking to avoid the impact. To judge for yourself, watch the clip here courtesy of USA Today.

The Niners still had another chance to secure the win, but they benefitted from a questionable call of their own. Colin Kaepernick, who was once again wildly inaccurate most of the game in trying to hit receivers who have little ability to get open, was thisclose to being guilty of intentional grounding in the end zone.

That drive ended with the punt where Osgood was guilty of the aforementioned penalty, setting up the Saints for a short drive into field goal range. Garrett Hartley hit his third field goal of the fourth quarter as the clock ticked to zeroes, and the Saints improved to 8-2. That puts them in complete control of the No. 2 seed in the NFC when paired with Detroit’s loss. Meanwhile, the Niners fall to 6-4 and are now tied with the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West. Those teams are tied with the Bears for the second NFC Wild Card spot, a shocking development for the defending conference champs. Their lack of offensive punch is putting them in real peril of missing the playoffs, an unthinkable fate even two weeks ago.

$.02-- The Chicago Bears squeaked past the Baltimore Ravens in overtime on Sunday, but the game is not the story. It’s all about the weather.

Torrential storms were predicted well in advance for the greater Chicago area for Sunday, and those forecasts proved 100 percent accurate. About an hour before kickoff, a tornado was on the ground just east of Peoria, about 150 miles southwest of Soldier Field. The Chicago metro area was under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning at kickoff, as well as a Tornado Watch.

Foolishly, the NFL opted to proceed as scheduled. After a couple of drives, the players were ordered to clear the field and the fans were sent out of the stands. Winds of up to 75 miles per hour rushed over the metro area, and the game was delayed for almost two hours.

Following the delay, the playing surface of Soldier Field was horrible. Field workers scrambled to fill huge divots with sand, as if treating it like a putting green would help massive men trying to run and cut.

This game should have been delayed. The NFL had ample warning about the nasty weather; Chicago stations were reporting on the timing and severity of the storm as early as Wed. morning. At minimum, the league should have flexed the game to the late afternoon slot. By 4:30 Central, the sun was starting to peek out. Instead of the game just starting and the field being wet but not chopped up by activity at that point, it was a dangerous mess dragging into its fifth hour of miserable play in front of soaked fans.

The NFL dropped the ball and put people in danger by not heeding the repeated warnings of meteorologists. Mr. Goodell, if you are so concerned about player safety, how about putting 75,000 of your paying customers into harm’s way in order to preserve your precious TV scheduling?

$.03-- The Kansas City Chiefs went to Denver for the Sunday night affair with an undefeated record. This was widely promoted as a litmus test for the validity of that 9-0 mark.

The Chiefs looked in over their heads at first. Early fumbles and batted passes stymied their conservative offense, while their reliance on rookie corner Marcus Cooper in isolation man coverage cost them an early touchdown. Following that slow start, the Chiefs settled in and resembled a playoff contender. They looked good, but not good enough. Denver pulled even in the AFC West with the 27-17 home win.

Their biggest issue for the Chiefs was the staid offense of Andy Reid, as directed by vigilantly careful QB Alex Smith. Kansas City almost never threatened the Broncos coverage, instead choosing the “death by paper cut” method. Smith was checking down on routes before taking his second step from under center quite often. That style of play works when facing the cadre of backup QBs and inferior offenses that have littered the KC schedule thus far. It’s never going to beat teams with potent offenses like the Broncos, no matter how well the Chiefs' defense plays.

So did the Chiefs prove they are legit? They did hold the Broncos to a season-low 27 points and badgered Peyton Manning into a 24-of-40 performance. Jamaal Charles showed some real juice against the Denver defense, and the offensive line played well other than a couple of series. They did not look intimidated or inept. I would say the Chiefs proved they belong as a legit AFC playoff team, though I’m not sold they can win any postseason games with this blah offense.

$.04-- The Cincinnati Bengals woke up from a two-week slumber in the second quarter of their 41-20 win over Cleveland. The Bengals scored 31 points in that fateful quarter, burying their in-state rivals under a tidal wave of scoring.

They did it like this, they did it like that. All they needed was a wiffle ball bat. Andy Dalton hit Jermaine Gresham and Mohamed Sanu for TD passes. Tony Dye scooped up a blocked punt and somehow managed to avoid contact as he got up and scampered into the end zone. Shortly thereafter, Vontaze Burfict annihilated Chris Ogbonnaya (the spell checker loves this sentence!) in the flat and picked up the loose ball for a 13-yard fumble return. Just for good measure, Mike Nugent kicked a field goal as the first half expired.

A 13-0 Cleveland lead was gone with the considerable wind blowing through Paul Brown Stadium. With it went any realistic chance for any other team in the AFC North to catch the Bengals. Now 7-4, they hold a commanding lead over the Browns, Ravens and Steelers--all 4-6.

They also get the benefit of a bye week to try to get Andy Dalton back on track, as well as resting a long season’s worth of aches and pains. Cincinnati can certainly draw confidence from this game, winning a contest where Dalton was mostly awful: 13-of-27 for just 93 yards and two interceptions to go with three TDs. He will have to play better if the Bengals want to avoid losing in the first round of the playoffs for the third year in a row, but at least he’s going to get them there.

$.05-- Thursday night was a lesson on perspective. I only saw the second half of the game between the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts. I didn’t even hear any radio call or see the score before turning it on after one of my best nights of volleyball in quite some time.

What I saw was the Colts absolutely dominating the Titans. Andrew Luck was in full MVP-caliber form, running for a couple of critical conversion and hitting his receivers in perfect stride. He was quite literally perfect on the first drive, nailing all five of his throws and making the proper read on every play. The Colts defense was swarming to the ball and eradicating any running lanes for Chris Johnson, holding him to just 16 yards. Donald Brown looked electrifying as a runner, notably on his 11-yard touchdown scamper to put the game away.

Maybe this is what Colts fans need to do to prevent ulcers. Just watch the second half. It’s clear from the box score and Twitter feed that the Colts were atrocious in the first half. Again. This is apparently what these Colts are all about, digging their own grave and then crawling from it triumphantly like some bad Criss Angel stunt. Yet if you ignore the first half as I did with this game, you would see a Colts team which can beat anyone, anywhere. They’re not going to be able to get away with this forever, though, and if they want to win a playoff game or two they MUST play a full four quarters in the manner they crippled the Titans in the second half of this game.

$.06-- The NFC East is suddenly getting quite interesting. With the 5-5 Dallas Cowboys getting a much-needed week off, it was an opportunity for the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants to assert some control. Both rose to the occasion.

The Eagles raced out to a 24-0 lead over the Ethnic Slurs, then clung to dear life before a late interception finally slayed the furious Washington comeback. The 24-16 win was Philly’s first at home in more than a year, and it gave them the division lead at 6-5.

Philly completed the season sweep of the defending division champs thanks to yards after the catch. AS ESPN noted, three of Nick Foles’ four biggest gains on the day were completions that travelled less than 3 yards before bad tackling and good running conspired to produce large yardage. LeSean McCoy totaled 147 yards from scrimmage and two TDs to spearhead the charge to the division lead.

They have to worry about the Giants as much as the idle Cowboys. New York won its fourth straight game after starting 0-6, thumping the fading Packers 27-13. Jason Pierre-Paul, who was worthless early in the year while recovering from offseason back surgery, picked off a Scott Tolzien dumpoff and took it to the house.

New York is winning games they were losing, even though they still can’t get any sacks, or run the ball. What should scare the rest of the NFC East is that the Giants are clearly not playing great football, yet are still racking up wins. Should the pass rush finally wake up and Eli Manning look like a playoff-caliber QB, both of which are definite possibilities, this New York team is suddenly very dangerous.

$.07-- Just when you thought the Houston Texans could sink no lower, they coughed up a nasty hairball in a 28-23 home loss to the Oakland Raiders.

It’s not meant to be disrespectful to the Raiders, but everything pointed to Houston in this one. Gary Kubiak was returning to the sidelines after suffering a mini stroke two weeks ago. The Raiders were starting undrafted rookie Matt McGloin, avoiding mobile threat Terrelle Pryor. The Houston fans were anxious to get raucous and help the home team break a 7-game losing streak.

I really thought pride would carry the day for Houston. I was wrong. Even though they held the Raiders to just 12 first downs and 11 punts, the Texans offense could not capitalize. McGloin managed to throw three TDs, while Rashad Jennings gashed the Houston D for a game-breaking 80-yard touchdown to put the Raiders up 28-17 heading into the fourth quarter.

Kubiak pulled out all the stops. He benched QB Case Keenum, who had been mildly effective, for Matt Schaub. The veteran avoided the mistakes that Keenum was making, but he also avoided moving the football as effectively. When Schaub badly missed Andre Johnson in the end zone on a last-gasp effort, the losing streak hit an unthinkable eight in a row.

Johnson is one of the quietest superstars in professional sports. He’s soft-spoken to the point of seeming meek, but he unloaded on Schaub on the sidelines. Clearly the frustration is taking its toll in Houston. Neither Schaub nor Kubiak figure to return, and there’s a chance Johnson moves along as well. This is an unimaginable and precipitous drop for what many expected to be a legit AFC title contender.

$.08--NFL Quickies

1. The Colts are 7-3. The rest of the AFC South is now 7-23. They haven’t mathematically clinched the division yet, but they could in as early as two weeks when they face the Titans once again.

2. Former Chiefs GM Scott Pioli was on the NBC pregame set with Bob Costas. I had to do a double take, because he looks nothing like the saggy-eyed, weary dead man walking I saw last winter. He looks fresh and chipper, clearly benefitting from his time spent in the media and not the front office. Even though he’s personally criticized me on national radio, I still hope he gets another chance to prove his mettle in a front office. He looks ready.

3. I did not see one snap of the Arizona Cardinals/Jacksonville Jaguars game, and this sort of makes me glad I didn’t:

4. In that Cardinals victory, Arizona rookie RB Andre Ellington lost some of his hair at the hands of Jaguars DE Jason Babin. Apparently a few of his dreadlocks got yanked out. Perhaps it was Samson-esque, as Ellington gained just 13 yards on 10 touches. And that had to hurt!

5. The Miami Dolphins held onto a much-needed victory over the San Diego Chargers, putting a very rough couple of weeks behind them for at least a few hours. They won whe Philip Rivers lobbed a Hail Mary from about the Miami 30 that barely made the end zone and took seven seconds off the clock in the air. Huge win in the muddy AFC playoff picture for the 5-5 Dolphins, sending the Chargers to 4-6 in a race where 8-8 is likely to be the goal.

$.09--College/Draft Quickies

1. I don’t really have much of a rooting interest in any college football team any more, other than my alma mater Ohio University. Yet for some reason I was overjoyed when USC upset Stanford on Saturday. I was happy for interim coach Ed Orgeron, a man widely beloved within the football community. I was happy for the Trojan players who have fought sanctions and Lane Kiffin’s abysmal coaching. But I was also happy to see Stanford get a dose of needed humility. No team that lost to Utah should ever be rated higher than any undefeated team. Now with this second loss, perhaps people will come to terms that Stanford is not yet an elite program. That’s two losses to supposedly significantly lesser teams. That never happens to Alabama or Ohio State or even Oregon.

2. I watched three Pitt games on Friday to get a look at some of their prospects. The next couple of cents will be devoted to what I saw. I’ll start with quarterback Tom Savage, who no less an authority than Gil Brandt recently trumpeted as a first round potential pick.

Savage has a great arm and a very pretty over-the-top release. Mechanically he looks great. He can rifle the ball accurately on a wide-side out pattern over the corner and in front of the safety over the top, a requisite NFL throw. The Rutgers transfer looks impressive when given time…and there’s the rub.

While Pitt’s leaky OL does him no favors, Savage really struggles when facing a pass rush. He holds the ball too long and is slow-footed to move around, taking sacks that other QBs can avoid one way or another. He tends to lock onto his primary target and rely on his arm to gun the ball in, instead of looking off the auxiliary coverage to create a bigger window. He’s had a history of concussions which is troublesome as well. I like Savage enough to consider him as a 5th-6th round pick, nothing more.

3. Pitt’s top wideout is Devin Street, and he recently became the Panthers’ all-time leading receiver. He’s a lanky 6’4” long strider with very strong hands. I love how he plucks the ball from the air and quickly secures it. He’s a big target with a wide catch radius, and once he gets a couple of steps he has very good long speed.

Unfortunately, he does not have explosive burst or lateral quickness, and that prevents him from getting separation. In the Virginia Tech game, he really struggled to create space from Kyle Fuller, a top 64 talent. Street lacks quick-twitch muscle, and he also lacks muscle, period. He can be reliably effective in the NFL against zone coverage and as a secondary option, but he’s not a dynamic receiver. He looks like a 4th-5th round target at this point.

4. Then there is defensive tackle Aaron Donald. I have saved the best for last, Vanessa Williams style.

Donald is a disruptive interior rusher, the kind of talent that Rod Marinelli dreams about. He’s undersized but cat-quick. The Panthers use him as both a 4-3 under tackle and a 3-4 end, and I think it is the latter role where he best projects to the NFL. His first step is electric, and he uses a variety of spins and swims to defeat blockers. I like how he sets up his moves as well, showing creativity and a calculated savvy during the game. He’s not very good at anchoring vs. the run or locating the ball, however. I like him better than the more heralded Will Sutton from Arizona State, though I do think Donald will be limited to pass rush specialist duty early on. He looks like a 2nd rounder with potential to move up.

$.10--The 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy takes place this coming week. For Baby Boomers like my parents, this remains the seminal event of their lives.

That is readily apparent by the barrage of media attention being devoted to an incident that took place before more than half the population of the country was born. Time devoted the cover story to the JFK legacy, while the CBS Sunday Morning show was 90 minutes of nonstop JFK. Several cable channels are having a de facto JFK week.

For those of us under age 55, this is beginning to encroach on overkill. As someone with a degree in history with a contemporary American focus, I am fully aware of the major impact of the tragedy. It effectively ended an era of post-war optimism and positivity. Innocence faded for millions of impressionable young folks with idealistic visions of America the Beautiful.

Folks who didn’t live through it struggle to put that in context. For people my age, we have our own touchstone moments. Reagan getting shot. The Challenger blowing up with a teacher on board. Chernobyl. The fall of the Berlin Wall. 9/11. Hurricane Katrina. We are children of multiple dramatic moments, many of which held a larger worldly impact than the death of Kennedy.

Perhaps that is why the generation that precedes mine has such a sharp focus on that fateful November day in Dallas. They didn’t have multiple other major events to draw upon, nor the media overkill of those events. Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were killed in 1968, just five years later but in a completely different time. Vietnam came shortly thereafter JFK, but it was a distant war with no major watershed moments for several years. This one cataclysmic event fully defines the generation. The mystery of the details, from conspiracy theorists to Lee Harvey Oswald’s own assassination to the cloudy findings of the Warren Commission, keeps the mystique and memory vividly alive.

I visited the scene a couple of years ago, and I felt the power of the place. Aside from the conspiracy theorists littering the grounds with pamphlets and amplified claims, I saw several people in their 50s and 60s crying. It’s a somber scene, powerful in its lack of remarkability. The grassy knoll is like any other roadside incline. The Texas Book Depository stands like hundreds of other nondescript buildings. A spray-pained X in the road is the only real visible reminder of that day. Yes, there is a classy memorial in the park at the top of the left turn down the hill, but it doesn’t scream importance like Ground Zero in Manhattan or the dilapidated blocks in New Orleans. The fact that such a significant event happened there seems strangely out of place, yet entirely overwhelming in the same sense.

If you’re like me, you’ll no doubt indulge in watching and reading all sorts of JFK this week. It’s one of the most significant moments in modern American history.