Leading Off: "Familiar Footsteps"
Colts fans are not going to like this, but the most dangerous team heading into the Playoffs is the New England Patriots. Yeah, I know, it was the Jets they beat on Monday Night Football last night. But if you aren't taking notice of how the Patriots are meeting the Playoff Prep clichés, then you're missing the significance of what's going on in the NFL. Mike Vrabel's catching touchdown passes. The Patriots defense is getting healthy--you know the one that plays Bill Belichick's vaunted schemes? No, not the shell of a defense that was blasted in Foxboro by the Colts in November, the defense made of actual NFL-caliber guys that shut down the Colts 20-3 last year in the Playoffs.

There is a reason they've won 3 Super Bowls in 4 years. The Patriots have become what the Lakers were earlier this decade in the NBA. They turn on a switch late just to make the playoffs because they realize the true season doesn't begin until January. And with the Bengals bad loss to Buffalo, the Pats have a chance to get the #3 seed in the AFC. I wonder if the Colts, Bengals and Broncos hear those familiar footsteps behind them, because I do.

Moore NFL Week 16--Disappointment

On Christmas Eve, I became surprisingly disappointed. Not with the family functions, or even my own favorite teams. No, I was disappointed in two teams I could care less about personally. For Michael Vick and the Falcons, there are not enough excuses to make up for the horribly disappointing season that's basically over now, following their loss to Tampa Bay Saturday.

The other team is the San Diego Chargers. For most of the season experts and analysts have been proclaiming them the fourth or fifth best team in the NFL, but struggled because of their schedule, which was wicked early on. But at some point the excuses have to stop.

--For the Falcons, it's simple--and I even said it when it happened--you can't lose badly to bad teams and expect to win consistently. When the Falcons lost to the Packers, they were done. You can't lose to a team like the Packers if you're a threat to go to the Super Bowl, plain and simple. Vick himself became distracted by the rumblings and accusations he wasn't a great quarterback. Show them on the field, as he did at times--but--don't point it out afterwards to the media. It makes it look like you care, and the best players always to make it appear like they don't care what the media and fans think of their everyday play. But it affects Vick, badly, which in turn, affects the Falcons badly.

--I was also disappointed in the Cincinnati Bengals. This team could have taken a great step toward the #2 seed in the AFC and now they'll be battling the Patriots for the #3 seed. Now they're ####ed up and Marvin Lewis is wondering whether he needs to play his guys or rest their sore muscles and nagging injuries. It's the difference between "Happy To Be Here" and "We Want That Extra Week Of Rest And Prep". Some teams, like the Colts and Seahawks, who have gone into the playoffs without the byes and the home games and gotten destroyed, understand that. The Bengals haven't been there and just don't get it.

--What's with the Monday Night Football "Farewell"? The event isn't being cancelled, it's moving to ESPN. This isn't like the game's being cancelled or handed off to a second class network or something. This isn't 1995, it's 2005 and nearly 90% of the country that have televisions have Basic Cable, which includes ESPN. What's going to be so difficult about changing the station? Am I missing something here? I'm not "Turning Out the Lights" on MNF, I'm turning the station.

--Do the 49ers, Texans, Saints and Jets know something bad about Reggie Bush that we don't? No one seems to want to win the "Reggie Bush Sweepstakes". Texans have the inside track as they meet the 49ers this Sunday. Other Weekend Notes: --On Christmas Day, the Heat and Lakers gave us drama. Like any great Hollywood subplot, we had to start out the game with a snub from Shaq to Kobe, giving the media enough ammunition to last the entire 48 minutes. The problem I have is that it appears Shaq is the one who continues to make this bigger than it is.

At this point I don't care who got who traded, what was said, if Shaq needed Kobe or Kobe needed Shaq to win those three NBA titles. I used to be a Lakers fan, so you might think there would be some sort of interest in it, but there isn't, I'm over it.

Last year, I basically wanted to see if Shaq and Kobe would start swinging fists wildly in the air, throwing haymakers and cheap shots, making Christmas really Merry for all.

This year, I didn't care. And Gary Payton's little show of class towards Lamar Odom was a fitting tribute to the spectacle. What was his problem anyway?  If there was a way the NBA could fix the rest of the season so the Heat and Lakers would meet in the NBA Finals, I'm sure they would.

Instead, we're probably getting more of the first game: Pistons-Spurs, Boring Finals, Part II.

--Mid-Major Monster? For years my friends and I have argued that Conference USA was really a mid-major conference in NCAA men's basketball. Though I still argue that point holds water, tonight's match-up between (4) Memphis and (8) Gonzaga could be the best game you'll see for the next couple of months.

Sometimes conference games don't match the hype build-up they get, but pairing the Zags, with star forward Adam Morrison against Memphis and their high scoring star Rodney Carney, the Scheduling Gods have given us Sports Fans a late Christmas gift. If you don't believe the hype on this one, you're making a mistake. Memphis has beaten UCLA in the Pre-Season NIT, won at Alabama, Cincinnati, Mississippi and nearly beat Duke in the NIT Championship. All Gonzaga has done is build an impressive win list against Michigan State, Maryland, Oklahoma State and Virginia, nearly beating UConn in the Maui Invitational a month ago.

Just ask yourself if tonight's mid-level bowl game is worth missing this.