Bring the Pain

Considering the Colts' dominance on both sides of the ball and the Patriots' injury-fueled struggles, there was really nothing shocking about Peyton Manning's 0-for-Foxboro streak finally ending Monday night with the Colts' 40-21 victory over the Pats.

Monday may well go down as a "torch-passing" game, paving the way for the first of what could be many Super Bowls for Peyton. But if the two teams were to meet again in this year's playoffs, perhaps with #1-seeded Indy hosting the wild card Pats in the divisional round, I wouldn't be thoroughly surprised if the Pats thoroughly shut down Manning and won.

Keyshawn'd:

If the Patriots have shown what it's like to fall from Super Bowl contention gracefully, the Eagles have done so, well, whatever the opposite of gracefully is. Following a whirlwind week which included Terrell Owens' umpteenth public trashing of the team, a locker room scuffle in which TO reportedly challenged the entire team to a fight, Owens' indefinite suspension, and a 17-10 loss Sunday night at division rival Washington, coach Andy Reid announced Monday that Owens' tenure with the team is over.

Expect a one-on-one interview with Michael Irvin on Sunday followed by, the week after that, the ESPN the Magazine feature "My Eagles Ordeal, by Terrell Owens, As Told to Dan LeBatard."Ê

Cowardly Lions:

It's pretty safe to say at this point that the Detroit Lions will not be playing in the Super Bowl at home this February. They managed to win a game three weeks ago with Jeff Garcia under center, but this week were forced to go back to Joey Harrington against the Vikings, and he was unsurprisingly shellacked at the Metrodome as Minnesota cruised to victory, bringing both teams to 3-5 and a tie for second place in the NFC North. The loss gave the Lions the somewhat humiliating distinction of being winless (0-7) against the Vikings in the Mike Tice Era. Which really says something about the Matt Millen Era. Ê

Peyton Manning can finally beat the Brady Hex, but the Lions can't break the Curse of Tice. Then again, neither can the Vikings.

But I'm a Cheerleader!:

For all their on field troubles, The Vikings may at least be off the hook for the "most notorious NFL sex scandal of the year" award. Carolina Panthers cheerleaders Renee Thomas and Angela Keathley were arrested over the weekend for having lesbian sex in a bathroom stall at a Tampa bar, an act that kept other patrons waiting and eventually led to a brawl. In a move that Gregg Easterbrook would undoubtedly call "megababe professionalism," both cheerleaders were summarily fired by the team.

Next week

The Vikings come to the Meadowlands to face the Giants, who have been called overrated so often by so many that they're actually underrated. It's master vs. protégé (Belichick vs. Saban) as the Pats travel to Miami. The Eagles take on Dallas, in a battle of TO's old team vs. his next one. And the Jets-down two QBS-travel to Carolina, which is down two cheerleaders.