Kansas City 26, New England 16

I’m not listening to any Boston talk radio today, so someone else will have to tell me how much time elapsed after the final whistle before the first calls to put in Doug Flutie were taken.

All of that said, if the Pats weren’t missing something like a dozen guys, Tom Brady might not have been forcing so many throws into double or triple coverage. Likewise, if he had the luxury of a RB of Larry Johnson’s caliber (and I suspect he’d gladly settle for a healthy Corey Dillon), New England would have a wider margin in the AFC Least.

Despite their beating the Bucs and laissez-faire QB Chris Simms 13-10 earlier today, I’m one of the few who isn’t ready to proclaim the current Bears the new incanation of ’85’s Super Bowl Shufflers. For one thing, neither Thomas Jones nor Cedric Benson equate to Walter Payton, nor are Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton as talented (or annoying) as Jim McMahon in his prime. Though I’ll take nothing away from the genuinely imposing Brian Urlacher, I find his current Nike commericals to be intensely creepy, much like a shorter version of “Friday Night Lights” without the Explosions In The Sky score.