Byzantium's Shores: chronicling the misadventures of an overalls-clad hippie

A couple more football thoughts, after yesterday's action:

:: I didn't get to see the Vikings-Seahawks game last night, but judging by the game's box score, it appears that the Vikings are a team that is short on talent, especially on defense, and completely devoid of leadership -- whether from the front office, the coaching staff, or even amongst the players. It's kind of sad to see a team that is a year removed from two NFC Championship Game appearances in three years sink to this level, but if you consider the Vikings' recent luck with the draft and the clubhouse problems that have been metastasizing for two or three years now, it's not all that surprising. It may be time for them to give up this year, and probably next, by cutting Randy Moss loose, taking the hit on the cap, and moving into a full rebuilding mode. The Vikings are going nowhere mighty fast, so it's probably time for them to just start over.

:: In three years we've had the arrival of Kurt Warner from out of nowhere, the re-emergence of Trent Dilfer (and his immediate, and inexplicable, re-disappearance), and the arrival of Tom Brady. If the theme in the NFL these days is "Great Quarterbacking From Completely Unexpected Places", then maybe it's Tommy Maddox's turn. He was apparently very sharp and impressive in coming in off the bench to spark the Steelers to their first win this year.

:: Apparently the officials in the Oakland-Tennessee game were being fitted for eyepatches and Miracle Ears, judging by the two blatant illegal blocks they missed on an Oakland player's punt return for a touchdown.

:: Funniest post-game comment yesterday, courtesy of Drew Bledsoe after the Bills QB-Extraordinaire won his second overtime game in three weeks (which was also the third one the Bills have played this year): "I guess I just don't do enough in regulation. I need to get more done in regulation so I don't have to keep dealing with this."

:: The Patriots finally lost. Yippee. (I've never liked the Pats much, but nowadays I'm really mad at them because they got Brian Cox, the greatest force for evil in the entire NFL, a Super Bowl ring. Cox has a ring, and Jim Kelly doesn't. Thanks, Pats. Harumph.)

:: I don't pay a whole lot of attention to the college game, but both Iowa and Iowa State had good weekends. Iowa beat Penn State (despite blowing a big lead, which I'm sure has a certain friend of mine rather angry this week) and ISU knocked off once-mighty Nebraska (which I'm sure puts my old college adviser in a tough spot, as he is a Nebraska fan teaching at ISU). And I'm slowly getting up to speed on the activities of the Syracuse Orangemen, who lost a thriller in three overtimes this week. Living in a town that actually has decent college athletics is something new. Buffalo wasn't much for college athletics.