$.01-- I?ve been tooting it for awhile now (since before Week 5 to be exact), but it?s surely official at this point: we are seeing the beginning of the decline of Peyton Manning from being arguably the greatest QB ever into a run-of-the-mill Pro Bowler. He wasn?t even that good in the loss to Dallas on Sunday, a game that saw him throw two more pick-sixes (INTs returned for TDs) and consistently stare down his primary receiver. After the four in this game against a beleaguered Dallas secondary, he?s now thrown 11 INTs in his last three games. That?s Jake Delhomme/Derek Anderson territory, not Peyton?s place. The offensive line is largely awful, but that?s been true before. His receiving corps ain?t what it used to be, but that?s never been an excuse for the greats like Warren Moon or Troy Aikman during their late-career slides. I bring up Aikman because I found it telling that he called attention to Manning?s ongoing breakdowns throughout his broadcast. Aikman is known as a straight shooter, but also one that doesn?t go out of his way to criticize fellow quarterbacks. When the ?mainstream? pundits feel free to point out Manning?s issues with precision and intricacies of the passing game, you know the problems are very real. Before you go and throw out the baby with the bath water, keep in mind Manning is still just 34 and is playing with the worst supporting cast since his rookie season. The Colts figure to be healthier and a little more reloaded next season, and Manning still has the God-given ability to remain the best QB in the league for another handful of seasons. He has built up more than enough credit to have one off year, but a return to the invincible awesomeness is no longer a given. $.02-- It was a dog of a game between two also-rans, but one of most significant developments of Sunday came in the Buffalo/Minnesota game. That of course would be the shoulder injury that knocked Brett Favre out of the game, perhaps ending his career if early indications of a separation are correct. I think I speak for 98% of all football fans when I say, ?Thank you Arthur Moats!? Obviously you never want to cheer for someone to get hurt, but between the endless sucking up to Favre by certain media members for his consecutive game streak, his vapid selfishness, and his quite apparent diminished skills, it?s a fitting end for Favre. What makes it more fitting is the way Tarvaris Jackson came in and played his butt off, showing vitality and acumen (and some rust with the INTs) that deposed head coach Brad Childress always insisted he never could. For all the histrionics, the never-credible retirement threats, the self-serving press conferences, the incessant need for attention, Favre?s lasting legacy for Vikings fans will be ruining their 2010 season. We can?t know if Jackson would have performed any better, but the moment Childress ?recruited? Favre off his farm, this team?s fate was sealed. Suckered by an anomaly of a resurgent Favre a year ago, Childress put all his chips on #4 only to see a guy who no longer looked like Superman but instead the 41-year old grandfather that he is. Favre is ranked in the bottom 5 of all QBs that have started at least 6 games. That comes on the heels of him quite literally throwing away the NFC Championship game last season. Let that be a lesson to you: sell your soul to the devil, and you had better be wary that the deal won?t be near as sweet as you?d like even before the devil comes calling for payment. $.03-- New Orleans improved to 9-3 with a gift from the hapless, witless Bengals that is perhaps the clearest illustration you can ever find of why good teams win and bad teams lose. In case you missed it, the Saints had 4th and 2 from inside the Cincy 5-yard line with under a minute to play, trailing by 3 points. The Saints lined up to go for it, but everyone from the Bengals coaches to the fans at the top of Paul Brown Stadium to my 5-year old son Layne knew they had no intention of snapping the ball. But Bengals DT Pat Sims jumped offsides anyways, giving the Saints a free first down and an easy TD pitch-and-catch from Drew Brees to Marques Colston for the go-ahead TD. Compounding the ignominy for Cincinnati was the subsequent drive, which began just past midfield after a strong return. With 22 seconds to play, Carson Palmer hit Brian Leonard for a nice gain to the Saints 37. Palmer rushed everyone to the line to spike the ball, but foolishly chose to burn their final timeout instead after wasting 6 precious seconds. The next play was a sack that ended the game because there were no more timeouts. There are a number of fingers to point in Cincinnati, most of them involving the middle one with an angry glare from a frustrated, furious fan base. This is a team that is overdue for a dramatic makeover, starting at the top. Nobody expects Marvin Lewis to return as coach or Ochocinco to return at wideout, but there are a multitude of culprits that need to be swept out the door as well. The problem for Bengals fans is that the guy holding the broom is the one most in need of being swept away. $.04-- News broke over the weekend that the NFLPA is threatening to file a collusion lawsuit against the NFL. They have until Dec. 8th to do so, and all indications are that DeMaurice Smith will go forward with the case in front of a Special Master, as drawn out in the CBA. Their case stems from the decided lack of activity on restricted free agents this past offseason. Only one player, RB Mike Bell, received an offer from another team out of a pool of 216 eligible players. While the action on restricted free agents has never been more than lukewarm, this ice-cold reception apparently strikes D. Smith and his cronies as an obvious manifestation of monopolistic power. This strikes me as a reach by the NFLPA. By its very nature, restricted free agency has always been more of a tool for teams to reward their own and not a conduit for player movement. It?s a time when teams will typically lock up players that they feel are integral to their future while giving the players a chance to gauge their value on the market. Certainly it can (and will) be argued by the player?s union that teams have been reluctant to pay RFAs the rewarding salaries that have gone to UFAs, but again, that?s sort of the point of the status in the first place. The players agreed to this in the last CBA. Scores of RFAs have staged holdouts that ultimately damage the overall bargaining position of the players as a whole, because when the players treat the binding contracts as worthless there is little incentive for the owners to agree to the demands that more of the contract gets guaranteed. I also find this action ill-timed. Every newscast in every city in this country spends at least a quarter of its time talking about the train wreck of an economy and how so many more people are suffering in need this holiday season. Yet the NFLPA chooses now to complain that their players receiving $700K on one team aren?t making $950K on another. That?s a slap in the face to the fans everywhere, and I don?t think D. Smith and his staff have any clue of that. Judging by the reaction on the message boards and in the sports bars, they have overplayed their hand on this one. Even if they win the case, they have lost some more respect. $.05-- Early this season, the Tennessee Titans were one of the most pleasant surprises, a well-oiled power that beat teams with tenacity, ferocity, and solid execution. That all seems so far away now after yet another punchless loss, this one to the AFC South-leading Jacksonville Jaguars where the Titans showed up in a bunch of empty uniforms. This is a very strange and stunning statement. Since the Vince Young drama two weeks ago, many of the players--most notably Chris Johnson--have mailed it in. The message that sends is that those players have sided with Young in his battle with Jeff Fisher, and they are playing, or rather not playing, to force a change. It?s hard to prove, what with Kerry Collins looking largely awful and the Jaguars playing hard in a revenge game, but it sure looked and felt like some Titans players were going through the motions. Owner Bud Adams has already seen Fisher play the ?it?s him or me? card, and up until Sunday most people would have sided squarely with Fisher. But with so many of the players on the team appearing to show loyalty to Young, and with Adams being the raison d'?tre for Young being a Titan, perhaps it will be Fisher in a different city next year. $.06-- Baltimore and Pittsburgh squared off in a physical defensive struggle in the Sunday nighter, a game where the Steelers escaped the war of attrition with firm command of the AFC North. Even in the low-scoring affair, this game was all about the quarterbacks. Ben Roethlisberger shook off a nasty nose injury on the first drive and the lingering effects of a bad foot to make a couple of phenomenal plays on the game-winning drive. His scramble and throwaway is a play that no other QB in this league can make, an incredible display of strength, guts, and awareness. His quick hot read to 4th string RB Isaac Redman for the touchdown was a picture-perfect strike resulting from instant recognition of the defense and knowing his enemy. That winning drive was set up by Baltimore?s Joe Flacco losing the ball on a sack, continuing a long string of shaky play against his division rivals. He has made some strides this year in his play in close games, but Flacco has yet to overcome the stigma of being mistake-prone and coolly detached in big games against strong opponents. His final two throws were both underthrown lobs with zero confidence in them. This game was no exception; much like the Atlanta game a few weeks back, Flacco was merely good, the opposing QB was better. I get the sense that will be the story once this team gets into the playoffs, too. For Pittsburgh to even be competitive in this game with all their injuries is a tribute to their organizational strength. The MVP of their offensive line was the guy driving the medical cart to and from the locker room. Tight end Heath Miller was lost to a brutal hit that should have resulted in immediate ejection of LB Jameel McClain. Even punter Daniel Sepulveda left the game with an injury, forcing a clearly intimidated Sean Suisham to handle punting duties. Give credit to the Steelers for having their playmakers make plays. It seems simplistic, but nobody does it better or more consistently than the Pittsburgh Steelers. $.07-- Philadelphia knocked off a pesky Houston team Thursday night to keep themselves very much in the thick of the NFC playoff picture. It was a nice bounce back from the pounding they took in Chicago and a confidence builder for the young defense, which clamped down late in preserving the victory. This was yet another game where the Texans smoked the ?close but no? cigar, another tough loss that has come to epitomize this franchise over the past few seasons. For the third year in a row Houston is 5-7, and for the third year in a row they had the potential to be at least 8-4. This is a team with the NFL?s leading rusher, a solid passing game, and a pretty good run defense. But any time the burner gets heated up beyond ?3?, this team wilts like an orchid in the desert. What really stands out is the lack of a dynamic leadership presence, someone who will stand up and exhort the troops that losing is not an option. Look at the body language and actions on the sidelines when things start to even remotely turn south for this team; Matt Schaub glares wildly at nobody in particular, Mario Williams rests with his head in his hands on the bench, Andre Johnson is getting his leg re-taped, Gary Kubiak stares blankly from behind his laminated play-calling script, Brian Cushing is yapping at the other team. The only real leaders on the team are RT Eric Winston and safety Bernard Pollard, but right tackle and strong safety are not positions of respectable power wielding in the NFL. It is telling that nobody important on this team has ever been part of a real winner in the NFL. It really stands in stark contrast when the Texans face a team with a defined leadership like the Eagles. Michael Vick commands respect from his mates, and he in turn respects Coach Andy Reid. When someone steps out like DeSean Jackson often does, there are people in place to put him back in his place. If an in-game problem exists, the Eagles have the leadership and cohesiveness to overcome and persevere. Their rally in this game is a great example of why they will continue to win and the Texans will continue to lose important games. $.08-- 5 NFL quickies: 1. Props to Giants rookie DE Jason Pierre-Paul for notching his second consecutive multi-sack game against the Redskins. Universally regarded as a raw prospect with very high upside, the South Florida product is maturing quickly. For his second sack Sunday, he used a savvy up-and-under move that belies his scant experience and reputation for being strictly an athletic freakshow. He might have the longest arms in the league and they?re not gangly appendages either. 2. Nothing infuriates coaches more than when a QB throws an INT when facing no pass rush. Chad Henne threw two of those in the first half Sunday against the Browns, as well as mangling some clock management at the end of the half. The last INT was not his fault, however. All this makes his long-term future as the starter in Miami all the more doubtful. 3. Granted, I only paid partial attention to the game, but every time I was focused on the Tennessee Titans, I saw a team that has given up. I also saw that Kerry Collins is no longer capable of getting the job done, and his teammates know it. The Titans just might need both a new starter and a new backup quarterback next season. 4. Once again the Lions are victimized by horrific officiating. Ndaumkong Suh got flagged for unnecessary roughness on a play identical to a DJ Moore hit on Tony Scheffler early in the game that didn?t get a second glance. It directly led to the winning TD, which would not have been possible without the awful call. Two times this year the Lions beat the Bears, but both times it was ruined by the officials. And shame on Mike Pereira for always defending his former colleagues even when they?re so obviously wrong. To top it off, Rolando McClain KO?d Darren Sproles on a very similar hit in full view of three officials and none threw a flag in the OAK/SD game. 5. I think Donovan McNabb and the Redskins just turned the ball over again. Sure hope you followed my lead and used the Giants defense in your weekly salary cap fantasy game. $.09--4 college/draft quickies: 1. Oregon and Auburn both impressively took care of business Saturday, setting up what should be a very high-scoring BCS Championship game. My initial inclination on the game is that Oregon has a better chance of slowing down Auburn than vice versa. 2. Oklahoma snuck by Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game, a matchup that featured a lot of draft angles. Sooners LB Jeremy Beal had a fine effort that showed off his pass rush skills and versatility, as he lined up from several spots and had a nice game. It was not so good a night for Nebraska safety Eric Hagg, who looked a step slow all night before leaving with an injury. Huskers CB Prince Amukamara still impresses, but he really needs to work on braking inside from his outside technique; teams have figured out his shtick and keep undercutting him on routes, but he almost never mixes it up. 3. Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick gets more attention, but their excellent DE/LB Dontay Moch looks like the better NFL prospect. He?s got freakish speed for a 244 pounder, and his closing speed is even better. No player has more tackles for loss in the last 3 seasons, and he has shown better spatial awareness as this season has progressed. Moch plays end at Nevada but will be a 3-4 rush OLB in the NFL and reminds me of Terrell Suggs minus the lower body power. Watch Moch?s stock skyrocket when he clocks a sub 4.4 40 and shows a 40+ inch vertical during workouts. 4. If there was an actual NCAA football tournament, the team nobody would want to play is the Virginia Tech Hokies. You remember them, the team that lost to Boise State and James Madison in the first two weeks. They haven?t lost since. 5. I am not a Heisman voter, but my final ballot would look like this: 1. Cam Netwon 2. Andy Dalton 3. LaMichael James 4. Andrew Luck 5. Colin Kaepernick I have no qualms with Newton winning the award even given the recent revelations that his father almost certainly accepted cash for steering his son to Auburn. $.10-- In light of the end of the Big 12 as we know it, I find it very timely that ESPN will release the latest episode of their exceptional ?30 for 30? series. ?Pony Excess? chronicles the travails of the SMU football program in the mid-80s that ultimately led to the creation of the conference. The Mustang program getting the death penalty for major recruiting and benefit violations brought about the end of the Southwest Conference, which led to the merger with the Big 8 to form the Big 12 and a scattering of the status quo in college conference alignments. The tentacles continue to swing their far-reaching arms; one of the key players in the SMU program was Craig ?Pony? James, who helped usher out Texas Tech coach Mike Leach in a scandal last year. Those SMU teams were something else to watch. The backfield of Eric Dickerson and Craig James was astonishing, and the little school that could overtook Texas for supremacy in the SWC. It was an encouraging development for all the underdog schools and nontraditional powers. The fact that it was accomplished by cheating was a devastating revelation for me at the time, a middle-school kid just starting to learn the cold reality of the economics of sports. I so desperately wanted to believe that the little guy really could, but when I found out that the little guy was the dirty little guy, I started traveling down the callous, cynical road that marks my nature some 25 years later. I strongly encourage you all to tune in for this one, and to share your recollections and thoughts on it with me at Jeff.Risdon@RealGM.com.