$.01 -- The early games produced quite a few thrilling finishes, none more surprising than the Chiefs' shocking overtime upset of the Steelers. I've been a frequent critic of both quarterback Matt Cassel and coach Todd Haley, but both were on top of their respective games on Sunday. The halftime adjustments Haley made to the offense, which did nothing at all in the first half, fundamentally changed how Pittsburgh's defense played them, effectively neutering the Steelers' attacking ways. Cassel showed great footwork and nice touch, holding the safeties with his eyes and delivering strikes in the face of pressure. You can see the Chiefs growing into something respectable, getting legit NFL contributions from what many believe are just marginal NFL players -- see Andy Studebaker's long interception return or Lance Long's great 30-yard catch. They still are no threat to challenge for the AFC West yet, but they're a lot closer now than they were six weeks ago. Props to Haley for not giving up on his team and to Cassel for rebounding from a dreadful first half to lead his team to a stunning upset, one that leaves the defending champs in real danger of missing the playoffs, especially if Big Ben's bell is rung as bad as it looked. Note to Mike Tomlin: you just might want to use some more proven defenders on kick coverage units. $.02 -- Brett Favre was almost perfect, as was the Minnesota defense in their 35-9 pounding of Seattle that wasn't nearly that close of a contest. Normally playing from behind means a team racks up yards, if not points, but Seattle could muster just eight first downs and four rushing yards on 12 carries -- one of which gained nine yards. Matt Hasselbeck completed a lot of passes, but the Vikings quickly squelched any running and eliminated the downfield looks. A lot of fans don't enjoy one-sided bombardments, but I must say it's also a real treat to watch a finely oiled machine firing on all cylinders. Minnesota had every facet of the game working in near perfect rhythm. Even Tarvaris Jackson put up a 144.3 quarterback rating in his quarter of relief, actually besting Favre's rating. It reminded me of watching the Showtime Lakers running the floor, hitting shots from all over the frontcourt while the other team struggled to chuck something up before the shot clock expired. $.03 -- In a game that virtually nobody saw, either on TV or in person, Cleveland and Detroit played an entertaining shootout. It's impossible for Detroit to take much from the victory other than two things. First, they're moving in the right direction and learning how to win, but they're still a long ways away from beating anyone that's any good at all. Cleveland's heretofore moribund offense lit them up, and it took a controversial (but correct) pass interference call to keep the game alive and put the Lions in position to win. Second, Matt Stafford is a legit franchise quarterback. For the second week in a row, Stafford won over a bar full of skeptical, hardened Lions fans with his toughness, composure, and leadership. The rookie threw the winning touchdown one play after getting rocked on his desperation heave, unable to lift his left arm above his shoulder. As one Lions fan proclaimed, "We haven't had a quarterback that would come back after a hit like that since, uh, forever." As for the Browns, don't get too excited over Brady Quinn quadrupling his normal output. Detroit's atrocious secondary was far more responsible for Cleveland's big day than anything the Browns did most of the day. The Browns have some defensive problems of their own, namely some continuing breakdowns and lack of communication between the safeties and corners. They just exhibit the body language and demeanor of a unit with no respect for themselves or their coach, and major changes need to happen. $.04 -- New Orleans bounced back from their surprising struggle with the lowly Rams last week, putting a whipping on the lowlier Bucs. I must admit I thought they might be in trouble after Tampa Bay jumped to an early lead (great throw, Josh Freeman!), but the Saints responded like a great team should. Once again, the Saints won without having Drew Brees have an awesome day. Sure he threw for three touchdowns, but the Saints rushed for nearly as many yards (183) as Brees netted passing (187). Three more sacks, three more interceptions, consistently good coverage and almost no YAC allowed -- the New Orleans defense more than held their own. The good folks at Football Outsiders like to hammer home the point that blowing out inferior opponents is a better sign of a great team than winning a lot of close games. Give the Saints the checkmark for greatness. $.05 -- San Diego seized the day, and the AFC West, by humiliating Denver 32-3. The Chargers have won five in a row and look better every week, while the Broncos degenerated into a punchless, penalty-plagued group that could do almost nothing right in dropping their fourth in a row. Chris Simms (rightly) got the quick hook, but that didn't solve their myriad problems. Knowshon Moreno's red zone fumble produced the only positive that Broncos fans could possibly glean from this abomination: Brandon Marshall, team leader. His firebrand intensity stood out amongst a sea of apathetic long faces, and his in-your-face confrontation with Moreno following the hard-luck fumble was the only pulse any Bronco showed all day. This Denver ship is sinking fast and hard, but you cannot blame Brandon Marshall. $.06 -- Don't look now, but the Jacksonville Jaguars are currently the #5 seed in the AFC playoff race. Winners of three in a row, the Jaguars have to be the most unassuming potential playoff team in recent memory. But don't bet against them making it either; they essentially control their own fate with home games against Houston and Miami in Week 13 and 14. Win those two and then take care of business in Cleveland in the finale and they might not even need to win any other games. That's a good thing for the Jaguars, who have won those three in a row by a total of eight points, all against non-playoff teams. Hey, it might be winning ugly, but it's still winning... $.07 -- Five quick hits: 1. There are growing whispers that Antonio Pierce has played his last game for the Giants. That's almost certainly true if they fail to make the playoffs. They will be able to replace him on the field -- his coverage is terrible and he's not as quick as he used to be -- but they'll sorely miss his leadership, signal-calling, and film breakdown. 2. They could not be more physically different, but every time I hear Perry Fewell mentioned as the Bills coach, I cannot help but think of alt-rocker Perry Farrell. Jane says he's going down the mountain to Lollapalooza. 3. Little in life is more humiliating than having to eat your words before they're even on the plate yet. I did a podcast last Thursday where we lauded the Panthers, even going so far as to give them a real good chance to make the playoffs. Less than four hours later, there was Ricky Williams making me and my compatriots look asinine. Yet another reason why I do not gamble on football. 4. As much as Cowboys fans are going to complain about the ugliness of their victory over the Redskins, you have to give them this: these are the types of games that Tony Romo has seldom won. And props to me for nailing the prediction that Sean Suisham's lack of clutch kicking would cost the Ethnic Slurs. 5. Somebody please teach Mark Sanchez how to throw the ball away before Jets fans break his arm on purpose, rather than watch him toss even more ridiculously awful interceptions. $.08 -- Non-football thought of the week: I'm not a patient person, certainly not enough of one to camp out to stand in line for pretty much anything. So it really astonished me this past week when two separate events drew major lines and overnight campers. The first was for Sarah Palin's first book signing in Grand Rapids, MI, where a crowd estimated at 600 people started to form a line at 8PM the night before a 6PM event. That's right, people actually waited 22 hours in 45 degree weather to get a book signed and a 10-second interaction with Ms. Palin. The other event of mass hysteria was something called "New Moon," which is apparently an extraordinarily popular book made into a movie, though I'd never heard of it. Throngs of women staked out spots in theaters for midnight showings, many of them going back for more. And more, as a local radio station interviewed three 30-something hausfraus that hadn't left the theater since four hours before the first midnight showing. This interview took place at 4:30 PM the next afternoon. Regardless of your political leanings or obsessive fandom, I just cannot fathom standing in line for 22 hours to meet anyone. Nor can I understand the need to jump with the lemmings and fanboys to see the premiere showing of anything. I have actually done it once; back in 1988 I camped overnight, then cut the first half of school the next day to score Guns N Roses tickets. Perhaps I learned my lesson from it, as the concert was lousy. Axl was not sharp, Steven Adler couldn't keep the rhythm, and some pothead threw up spaghetti-o's on my shoes. $.09 -- 5 College Quickies: 1. Who would ever have thought that a game between Temple and Ohio would be for a conference championship and a better bowl berth? That's the case for Friday's tilt. Normally I would pull for the perennially downtrodden Owls, but in my six years in Athens the Bobcats won exactly seven D-1A games, five of them in my last year. Go Ohio! 2. Here in Michigan there is much coveting of LSU coach Les Miles to take over the beleaguered Wolverine program. I hope Michigan fans caught Miles' complete botching of the final 40 seconds of the LSU/Ole Miss game before they get their hopes too high. That inexcusable clock mismanagement likely cost the Tigers millions, as they fall from a second-tier bowl in Florida to a minor Christmas-week bowl in a remote locale, likely against a non-BCS conference school that will treat the game like the biggest ever for its program. 3. Speaking of lower tier bowls, one of those is poised to hit the jackpot: Oklahoma vs. USC. I can see the hype now ... the best game ever between a 6-6 team and a 7-5 team that both started the season in the top five! 4. With the SEC now proven to be no better below Florida and Alabama than any other conference, I'd think long and hard about giving the Florida/Alabama loser an at-large BCS bowl berth, especially if it's the Gators. Florida will be the only SEC East team with more than six wins over FCS schools, yet they barely eked out wins over Tennessee and South Carolina and needed divine intervention from the refs to beat an Arkansas team that wasn't even close to beating any other ranked teams. Boise State might play a cupcake schedule too, but at least they're always impressive in victory. 5. It's unlikely Al Groh survives another major disappointment at Virginia, which means a chance for an up-and-comer to transform the Hoos into the next Cincinnati. UVA is a great school in a great location for recruiting the hotbeds of metro DC, Pennsylvania, and the 360 (that's Norfolk/VA Beach), and the alumni aren't shy about spending $$ to upgrade facilities or support the program. $.10 -- Scouting Report: Taylor Price, WR, Ohio University. 6'2", 210, 4.30 40. Positives: Strongly built blazer with elite speed. Decent height and he plays tall. Plays more physical than most "speed" guys, uses his hands and forearms a lot to create space. Quick burst off the line, gets to full speed quickly. Has a rare extra gear in the open field. Decent route runner, drives out of his cuts. Willing and adequate blocker. Good hands, will reach out and snatch the ball from the air. Good footwork on the sidelines, consistently sticks both feet down. Has PR/KR ability and was an exceptional punt blocker in HS. Negatives: Double-catches a lot of balls. Doesn't set up his speed well; has only one gear while running his routes. Likes to jaw and can be taken off his game with yapping, though he has improved in that area. Had a knee injury early in 2009 but appears recovered. Has not run complex route trees or lots of read routes. Must work on getting cleaner releases and staying patient against zone coverage. Not the most creative runner with the ball, just runs as fast as he can. Has a habit of leaving his feet to make the catch even when the throw is low. NFL Comparison: Jeremy Maclin/Patrick Crayton Forecast: Price is a legit blazer with good size and decent production at a mid-major program. His size/speed package will turn heads in workouts, and game film reveals a more finished product than former Bobcat Mike Mitchell, another athletic marvel who went in the 2nd round last draft. I don't expect Price to go before the top of the fourth round, but his speed means he could go as high as about #60 overall. I dig into the draft question mailbag, coming Friday. Turkey day picks will be posted early Wednesday so that I can mash some potatoes and stuff that bird! Jeff.Risdon@RealGM.com