Week 13 observations

by BH

Did anyone catch Hines Ward's "Ickey Shuffle" following his third quarter touchdown against the Bengals. Good one Hines. Did you know that the last time we saw that was like 1989? Next time you play the Titans, be sure to do the "Electric Slide."

Another clever Hines Ward moment

Boy the Niners scared the crap out of me yesterday. Seriously, at this point, a win is only going to screw up the team's draft position. Losses don't bother me because I know that this team is playing it's guts out. Alex Smith looked a stud in the first half. The three passes that he completed during the touchdown drive to Johnny Morton and Frank Gore were on-target darts.

Morton sure gets excited when he gets a first down. Every time he's been on the receiving end of a first down pass this year, he's done a dance and pointed down the field. I'm not real big on the unsportsmanlike celebrations players employ these days, but I'd feel especially silly if I were to go nuts over a first down. I also had some fun watching Arizona's Eric Green get riled up following plays. On three separate occasions that I saw, two of which were not Green tackles, he ended up over a tackled player, taunting him. He'd fly in next to the pile just so that he could taunt the guy. Well done.

Indy has a tough go the rest of the way. The combined record of those teams remaining on Indy's schedule is 30-17; 26-9 if you take away Arizona in week 17. This team is amazing. They remind me of the late-80's Niners. One gets the feeling the offense can do what it wants, whenever it wants.

The Minnesota Vikings are tied for the final playoff spot in the NFC. Crazy. This team was being written off six weeks ago, and now stands only two games away from the division leading Bears. It seems like the Vikings have reversed their yearly trend, in which they start fast and cool off. I think Mike Tice prefers it this way.

Following the Patriots win against the Jets, New England's Richard Seymor made his feelings known about a lack of crowd noise during the game.

"It's really disappointing," Seymour told the Boston Herald following the Patriots' 16-3 victory over the Jets. "The loudest they ever got was when there was a Victoria's Secret model [Gisele Bundchen] on the scoreboard. They don't know when to cheer. You look up and you see half of the stands empty."

When asked why the Gillette fans were so quiet, Seymour said: "They're spoiled."

Way to endear yourself. "Hey, I know how to get fans to cheer for us. I'll be a dick."

Victoria's Secret fans

Two weeks ago, I felt confident that the Denver's lead was safe in the AFC West. Now, not so much. Damn you replay officials.