NFL News And Notes: Week 7

The Patriots need to win Sunday night. Time to bring back Scott Norwood and hope that he shanks another kick wide right at just the wrong time. One kick was his ruination, and it simply isn't fair. But Patriot Nation has seen the other side of the coin for the last five years. You gotta stand and deliver, Scott, plain and simple. Norwood boots one to about the five-yard line, this time straight down the middle.

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf can talk tough all he wants. Now he has to act tough and clean house at the top.

And do it now, not wait until the end of the season. Why make the fans suffer any longer with this lousy bunch of coaches?

Bill Parcells going after that assistant reminds us all of that marvelous fight a few years back between Buddy Ryan and Kevin Gilbride, when both were coordinators with the old Houston Oilers. If either fight had been allowed to go forward, the old man kicks the tar out of the young man in either scenario.

Is LaMont Jordan that good or is the Buffalo run defense that bad?

Whatever the case, Corey Dillon, please take note.

The Falcons had the Jets dead and buried, and they let them back into the game. Good thing for the Atlanta folk that the Jets just plain stink.

Romeo Crennel, Lovie Smith, Marvin Lewis, Dennis Green, Tony Dungy and Herman Edwards all owe a great debt of gratitude to civil rights icon Rosa Parks, who passed away on Monday. The work is not yet done, but her inspiration and her courage will live on for eternity.

Geek of the week: It was fun watching Parcells trying to defend his actions. Did it make you laugh?

Ty Law is with a far poorer team, but we all can rest easy as his family is no longer starving right now.

Stop whining about the Patriots. They're in first place and can still look forward to a two seed in the playoffs.

What Eli Manning needs to do is to show that he can win big games better than his brother can. Then start calling him great.

The 49ers are perhaps a bigger mess than the Vikings.

And no, Houston is not the worst team in the NFL. But they're close.

The kind of bust they're making for Joey Harrington is not the kind he will get someday in Canton, Ohio.

Troy Brown would do a better job in single coverage than Duane Starks.

Between a city in need of rebuilding and a city which could give a rip over football, the Saints ought to stay put in San Antonio.

Pittsburgh showed Cincinnati that they aren't ready for prime time just yet.

Kansas City didn't complain about playing Miami on Friday instead of Monday because they couldn't wait to get their hands on them.

Hey, a ten-point win on the road and two extra days off to boot. Good deal, Chiefs.

Back to school: USC getting dropped down to number two is further proof that Division I college football is a total joke until it finally gets a playoff system in place.

If the Patriot defense comes around, it will be with Tedy Bruschi, but not because of him.

Chicago has been known to party hardy when their teams (Bears, Bulls) win the whole thing. What happens if the White Sox win their first title in 88 years? Yeesh.

Take away his running skills, and where would Michael Vick be on anyone's depth chart?

Someone came up with this tidbit: it was the first time in NFL history that five separate ten-point fourth quarter leads had been blown in one weekend. Call it playing copycat with Tom Brady's late game heroics.

Nice to know that fire alarms are so useful. At Philadelphia, false fire alarms went off followed by recorded announcements to evacuate. Not one single person left the stadium. Guess they need to actually see a fire before they split, huh?

It doesn't look good when San Diego looks invincible against the Patriots, but then loses to the last two teams the Patriots beat in 2004.

Don't put any crowns on the heads of the Colts just yet. They still have Foxborough on their travel itinerary this year.

The Patriots could go sub-.500 and still win the division, that's how bad the AFC East is this year.

Dan Koppen cannot sing. But Matt Light can. Nothing like a karaoke to bring out latent talents in your faves.

Remember him: Bobby Moore broke in as a talented wide receiver for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1972. Two years later, he wound up in Buffalo with a new team and a new name. He spent one season in Buffalo before moving on to a seven-year stint with the Vikings. He would eventually land at NBC Sports and become a broadcaster of some repute. Cardinals know him as Moore, but you all know him as Ahmad Rashad. He would ultimately become more famous for his outlandish marriage proposal to Phylicia Ayers-Allen (female lead on The Cosby Show, and she said yes) than his unbelievable game-winning touchdown catch for Minnesota against Cleveland in 1980. Such is life.

Howard Cosell once said that Wellington Mara had "a personality like wet cement".

The rest of mankind might think a little different. The venerable owner of the Giants, who passed away on Tuesday, was the last living link to the beginning days and years of the NFL. His dad Tim bought the Giants in 1925 and moved them to New York, and built the Giants into the cornerstone franchise it remains today. For the NFL to survive over the long haul, the league had to succeed in New York. Thanks to the Maras, it did, and the league is now the preeminent sports concern in the nation today.

That is why, among many other things, the league got a great deal poorer on Tuesday. The Mara family is right up there with the Halas family in helping to found this great league, and Wellington's passing is the end of an era in professional football. He was a treasure, and all who appreciate this great game of NFL football will miss him.