Seven weeks to go.  We're already starting to fret about what we're going to do once February arrives and football is gone again.

Until then, we'll continue to focus on the games that remain, and we'll be coughing up our ten takes each week.  Our ten takes from Week Ten are laid out below.  All ten of them.  From Week Ten.  Enjoy.

We pride ourselves on telling it like it is, just as we saw and heard Howard Cosell do during our formative football years.  And when it comes to the prime time television property that Cosell helped to make great, we're compelled to be candid.

The NFL is killing the thing.

Why, you aks?  For starters, the league has allowed ESPN to turn Monday Night Football into a joke of a broadcast, with a clusterfudge of less-than-compelling characters calling the game and a weekly parade of one or more celebrities who are interviewed about a bunch of crap about which the folks who are watching the game don't care.

The mere fact that the NFL sold the rights to a four-letter network devalues the franchise, in our opinion.  Allowing said four-letter network to turn the thing into a three-ring circus makes it even worse.

The kicker?  The league's decision to grant flexible scheduling rights to the Sunday night package, but to withhold such flexibility from the Monday night package.  Though the first two months of the season generally entailed a relatively even mix of game quality between Sunday night and Monday, the past two weeks have offered up cream on Sunday, crap on Monday. 

In the last weekend before the start of flexible scheduling, NBC and its $600 million annual payment received the Colts and the Patriots, and ESPN and its $1.1 billion per year investment got . . . the Raiders and the Seahawks.

We know, we know.  The schedule was set in April, before anyone knew how bad the Raiders would be.  But who ever expected them to be contenders this year?  The safest bet surely was the Colts-Pats game, and we can't understand why the league chose not to give the better game to the network that's paying nearly twice as much as NBC one week before NBC is guaranteed to pick up a solid game for seven of the last eight Sunday nights of the season.

But even if ESPN had snagged the Colts at the Pats, it doesn't change the fact that ESPN is stuck with seven weeks of games that feel far less significant than those that NBC will be airing. 

Bucs at Panthers, Giants at Jaguars, Packers at Seahawks, Panthers at Eagles, Bears at Rams, Bengals at Colts, Jets at Dolphins.

Each is better than Raiders at Seahawks, but we also think that NBC would choose none of the games for Sunday night, if the peacock peeps had the opportunity to do so.

So what happened?  Why wasn't flex scheduling part of both packages?  "We did not want to move games from Sunday to Monday," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told us on Tuesday by e-mail. 

ESPN spokesman Mac Nwulu confirmed that it was the NFL's call, not the product of negotiation.  "The league created TV packages and we, much like the others, bid for what we wanted," Nwulu told us by e-mail.

We realize that, logistically, it would be a greater challenge to delay the start of the game by more than 30 hours with less than two weeks' notice.  But we think that the NFL should have made flexible scheduling available either for both prime-time broadcasts, or for neither of them.  By giving such a bonus to the Sunday night package, the Monday night slate of games will be a far less attractive property when the current contract expires.

And maybe that's why the NFL made the Monday night contract an eight-year arrangement.  With the other packages only six years in length, it's not as if ESPN will be able to trade Monday for Sunday.  ESPN will have to choose whether to re-up for Monday night, or go without NFL football for the first time since 1986.

We've noticed over the past few weeks a disturbing amount of ignorance among coaches and broadcasters regarding the replay rules.  We've come to expect ineptitude from the broadcasters, who generally don't, won't, or can't put in the time and attention necessary to understand the nuances of when a play can or can't be reviewed via video evidence.

But it's a different issue for coaches not to know the rules. 

On Monday night, Panthers coach John Fox blew a certain touchdown by requesting a review not of the question of whether receiver Keyshawn Johnson got his elbow in bounds after catching a pass in the end zone, but whether he was forced out.  Less than two weeks ago, there was extensive discussion regarding the fact that forceout plays are not reviewable, both on NFLN and on this here site.

If Fox had asked the right question, the call on the field undoubtedly would have been reversed, since the replays showed Johnson's elbow striking the end zone after he caught the ball and before he landed out of bounds.  (Rule 8, Section1, Article 7, Supplemental Note 4 says that "[a] pass is completed or intercepted if the player has both feet or any other part of his body, except his hands, inbounds prior to and after the catch.")

Though the Panthers ultimately scored on the drive, thanks to a touchdown pass thrown to Johnson, Fox's failure to know the rule could have affected his team's ability to win the game.

3.  Down-By-Contact Rule Must Be Tweaked.

Though we're glad that the NFL has changed the replay rules to permit review when the ruling on the field is that the player was down by contact before fumbling, there's an odd glitch that needs to be addressed.

Under current rules, the call on the field may be reviewed and a decision that the player was down by contact may be overturned -- but only if there is also  indisputable visual evidence as to which player recovered the fumble.

It . . . makes . . . no . . . sense.  Why not make a ruling on the field as to who recovered the ball after the down by contact fumble, in the event that the down by contact ruling is overturned?  Since there's often a pile up when there's a fumble, there's a strong chance of a finding that (1) the ruling on the field of down by contact was wrong, but (2) the ruling on the field must stand because there's no clear evidence of who recovered the ball.

Replay wasn't designed to determine who gains possession during a scrum for a loose ball.  Indeed, the question of who recovered a loose ball in the field of play is not subject to review.  So why would the recovery of a fumble be subject to the indisputable evidence standard once there's indisputable evidence that the official who ruled that the play was down by contact is indisputably wrong?

Attention, competition committee.  Recommend a change to the rule to require the officials to make a determination as to possession whenever there's a fumble, even if the fumble comes after a ruling on the field of down by contact.

We've got a feeling that the issue will be raised by folks with slightly more juice than we wield.  On Sunday, Titans coach Jeff Fisher was burned by this odd twist in the rule book. 

And he's a member of the competition committee.

We've heard from several readers that FOX's Bill Maas was pretty much his same old self in his return from a six-week exile as he joined Ron Pitts for Sunday's 49ers-Lions game.

Maas, once regarded as one of the top announcers at FOX, has faded badly.  Our guess is that, come 2007, he won't be working for FOX.  Or for anyone who broadcasts NFL games.

The best blunder by Bill?  He referred to 49ers quarterback Alex Smith as "John L."  (Of course, that's not as bad as Don Criqui of CBS, who referred to Vince Young as Steve McNair on multiple occasions during Sunday's Ravens-Titans game.)

This week, Maas will be working the Redskins at Buccaneers game.  We beseech all PFTers in D.C. and Tampa to let us know if (when) Maas says something stoopid.

5.  Moonshine Is A Bust?

Prior to the run-up to the 2005 draft, former Arkansas quarterback Matt Jones was virtually unknown.  A tall, fleet-footed quarterback with a questionable arm, Jones decided (wisely) to make a position change.

Working out as a receiver, the six-foot, six-inch Jones blew scouts away with a 4.37 at the combine, and ESPN's Chris Mortensen accurately predicted that Jones would be the fastest riser in the draft.  Once the names started coming off of the board, the Jaguars selected Jones with the 21st overall pick, the very same position in which Randy Moss was drafted seven years earlier.

But not all of Mort's bold predictions regarding Jones' NFL fortunes have come to fruition.  Mortensen predicted that Jones would make it to more Pro Bowls than any of his 2005 draft classmates, and Jones has looked like anything but a Pro Bowler to date.  Mort also said that Jones "has the best hands in the draft."  On Sunday, Jones dropped two passes that were intercepted by the Houston Texans.

As a rookie, Jones caught 36 passes for 432 yards and five touchdowns.  This season, he has 19 grabs for 266 yards and no scores, and he has missed a couple of games due to injury.

Though we're not yet prepared to declare that Jones is a bust, he'll need to come on strong in 2007 in order to justify the Jaguars' decision to draft so early a guy who might ultimately end up being this decade's Mike Mamula.

6.  Sunshine Is Still An Idiot.

Since we spend so much time picking on Joe Theismann a/k/a Joey Sunshine during our Monday Night Live Blog, we usually forget to mention any of his idiocy in the Ten-Pack.

This week, however, there are two Sunshine moments that cannot be ignored.

At the end of the Monday night game, as the Panthers were locking up their fifth win of the year, Sunshine declared that the Panthers now have the third best record in the conference.

Wrong.

At 5-4, the Panthers are behind the Bears (7-1), the Giants (6-3), the Saints (6-3), and the Seahawks (6-3).  And the Panthers are in a four-way tie for the No. 5 spot, with the Cowboys, Eagles, and Falcons.

How does a guy whose only job is to follow the NFL get such basic information wrong?  With all of the down time that his work entails, didn't Theismann at some point in the week preceding the game that he covered on Monday night look at the standings and consider the potential benefits to each team in getting a win -- and the possible consequences of a defeat?

Sunshine's mind-numbing stupidity isn't limited to his extemporaneous commentary.  Even his written work, about which he necessarily has time to deliberate and research, is flawed.  Last Thursday, Theismann offered up a list of "young guns" at the quarterback position.  He specifically included Chiefs quarterback Damon Huard.

"Talk about a guy coming completely out of nowhere," Sunshine writes.   "Everyone counted the Kansas City Chiefs out after Trent Green went down, but Huard has stepped in and played phenomenal football.  He may have also played himself into being the heir apparent starter for this position."

Yeah, that Huard is a real wunderkind, and we can see how he'd be considered the quarterback of the future in K.C.  After all, Trent Green is the resident geezer at 36 years old. 

And Huard is a whole three years younger than Green.  To the day. 

That's right, folks.  Huard, at the tender age of 33, is regarded as an up-and-coming youngster by Theismann.

7.  Bears Do It Again, This Time Legally.

It was an amazing play.  Exactly 52 weeks to the day after Nathan Vasher of the Bears returned a wind blown field goal try 108 yards for a touchdown, Devin Hester of the Bears did the exact same thing.

The difference?  Hester's run was clean.

Vasher's run (as we explained last year) was aided by multiple illegal blocks, which likely were missed because no official was in position to notice them.

This time around, the blocks were clean -- and Line Judge Thomas Symonette was running along with the play to spot any infractions.

With or without illegal blocks, how is it that Vasher and Hester were able to turn in the longest plays in NFL history?  Aren't teams coaching up their field goal units to be ready for situations like this?

The blockers should be instructed not to stand and watch the kick (which many of them were doing as the ball petered out into Hester's hands) but to fan out into kick coverage lanes in the event that someone catches the ball and tries to return it.

Though some might argue that it's impossible for players to adapt so quickly from blocking for the field goal try to getting in position to make a tackle, we counted as many as nine Giants players who were not engaged with blockers as the kick was sailing toward the end zone.

Really, how hard would it be for teams to make it known that on attempts in excess of 45 yards the players must focus on preparing to tackle a player on the other team who might recover a short kick?  Also, we think that the holder and the kicker should be told to drop back and play deep safety on either side of the field.

Anything's better than the strategy that the Giants used on Sunday night, which was to stand around with their thumbs up their butts until it was too late to make a tackle.

8.  Elimination Game In Cleveland?

With the Steelers famously struggling to a 3-6 record through ten weeks of the regular season, it's easy to forget that their opponent for this weekend -- the Browns -- has an identical record.

And two of the Browns' wins have come in places where the Steelers have lost.  At Oakland, and at Atlanta.

The end result?  A mini-playoff game in Cleveland this weekend, with the winner of the first of two meetings between these arch-rivals still alive for a playoff spot . . . and the loser likely dead in the water at 3-7.

But even for the team that wins the game, there's currently a clot of franchises vying for the sixth playoff spot in the AFC.  With the first five berths presently secured by the Colts, Broncos, Ravens, Patriots, and Chargers, there are three teams at 5-4, one team at 4-5, and five teams at 3-6, it's going to take a mini-miracle for the winner of Sunday's game in Ohio to nail down the six seed.  For the loser, an act of Divine Intervention might not be enough to save the season.

9.  CBS Embarrassing Itself.

We've said it before, and we're going to keep saying it until the folks at CBS fix the problem.

Each week, only three games are made available in HD.

On Sunday, CBS had a whopping eight games.  And, still, only three of them (Chargers-Bengals, Bills-Colts, Jets-Pats) were available in the very technology that is being pimped relentlessly during NFL broadcasts.

Omitted from the  HD schedule?  Browns-Falcons, Texans-Jaguars, Chiefs-Fins, Ravens-Titans, and Broncos-Raiders.

Even if CBS has a great excuse for the fact that only three games per week are available in HD, the fact remains that only three games per week are available in HD.

Why pay all the money to broadcast the games if you don't have the mechanism in place to maximize the investment? 

It's an embarrassment to CBS and, indirectly, to the league. 

10.  The Saints Are Coming.

We've been skeptical all season as to whether the Saints are for real.  And it took a loss to push us toward a conclusion.

The Saints are legit.

Why?  Because they hung tough against the defending champs in a game where the Steelers' backs were stapled to the wall.

It would have been easy for the Saints to pack it in once they fell behind by 14 points, like they did when they landed in a 14-point hole against the Ravens two weeks earlier.  But the Saints hung tough, taking the lead and trading body blows with the boys from the 'Burgh.  New Orleans had a chance to tie the game late, and a fumble killed the potential game-tying drive.

The schedule gets no easier, however.  Next on the docket is a visit from the Bengals, who after losing three in a row are every bit as desperate as the Steelers were on Sunday.  Then comes a trip to up-and-down Atlanta, a visit from the underrated 49ers, a trip to Dallas, a jaunt back to New York to play the Giants, and a visit from the Panthers.

Still, if the Saints can turn it up a notch down the stretch, they could not only win their first NFC South championship but also secure the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff field.

If so, it would be a remarkable turnaround for a franchise that was in shambles a season ago, and it would be one of the most compelling stories in league history.