For those of you who sat through the Patriots’ 41-7 massacre of the Broncos on Monday night, you may have witnessed a man on a mission.

This man is out to prove a point. This man wants doubters to eat their words. This man wants to destroy everything and everyone in his path, including those he refers to as friends.

That man is none other than Bill Belichick.

No doubt pissed off at not only his team’s effort in a nationally televised beat down in San Diego on Sunday Night Football two weeks ago, but also everyone who has said anything even remotely negative about him or the Patriots, Belichick decided to personally destroy Mike Shanahan (a so-called friend) and the Broncos on Monday night.

At one point during the game, New England had a comfortable 34-7 fourth quarter lead, but apparently that wasn’t enough for Belichick. So he instructed Matt Cassel to run the no-huddle just to stick it to anyone that has deemed the Pats dead without Tom Brady. New England eventually capped the rout with a go-F-yourself-world-touchdown with less than five minutes remaining to go up 41-7.

Now, I have no problem with Belichick running the no-huddle. And if Shanahan or the Broncos players had an issue with it, than maybe they should learn to freaking tackle somebody instead of trying to play touch football with their opponents.

But it’s laughable that the ESPN announcers suggested that Belichick just wanted to get Cassel more experience running the no-huddle. That might have been true on the surface, but deep down the real reason Belichick did it is because he wants everyone to know that the Patriots are still here. They’re not going anywhere and they’re still one of the elite teams in the AFC – even without Brady.

Bill Belichick is on a mission again folks, and the Denver Broncos were just the first victim. Hide the women and children.

Remember when Mike Shanahan’s call-a-timeout-the-millisecond-before-the-kicker-attempts-a-field-goal strategy swept the nation last year? Yeah, well it doesn’t work anymore and coaches might want to think about scraping the idea after Raiders’ head coach almost cost his team a win Sunday against the Jets.

After Brett Favre somehow marched the Jets into field goal range with under 30 seconds to play in Oakland, Jay Feely set up to attempt a game-tying 52-yard field goal. He wound up booting the ball off one of the uprights, which should have given the Raiders a 13-10 win, but that trickster Cable fooled everyone and called a timeout. Of course Feely kicked his next attempt straight through the uprights to force overtime.

Granted, Cable still earned his first victory as a NFL head coach when the Raiders eventually won 16-13 on a remarkable record-setting 57-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski in overtime, but it should have never come to that. It seems that freezing the kicker backfires more than it benefits and in worst-case scenarios, it could wind up costing teams wins.

Kickers even admit that it helps them settle down and relax. So why continue to do it if you’re an NFL head coach?

In the midst of their four game winning streak this season, many football enthusiasts (myself included) were ready to put the Redskins at the top of the NFC as one of the conference’s best teams.

But after losing to the Rams last week and almost choking away a win against the Browns on Sunday, it’s hard to tell how good Washington really is at this point. Clinton Portis (175 yards, 1 TD in the 14-11 win over Cleveland) is off to a great start and QB Jason Campbell has done a remarkable job in his first year in the WCO. (He’s still yet to throw an interception.)

Still, the Redskins weren’t overly impressive today, in fact, they looked ultra-conservative and had Derek Anderson been able to do anything in the first half, Washington might lose the game against Cleveland despite an outstanding day by Portis and the defense. For a team that is starting to receive accolades as one of the best in the NFC, you’d think they would put more points on the board than 14. (Granted, the score was a lot closer than maybe it should have been because the Browns scored off a Portis fumble late in the fourth.)

The bottom line is that good teams find ways to win, especially considering victories are so hard to come by in the NFL. But part of me wonders if the Redskins are setting up for a second half collapse just based on two blasé performances the past two weeks.

Side note on Clev/Wash game: Portis/Cleveland’s defense saved Romeo Crennel’s ass late in the fourth. The Browns were down 14-3 late in the fourth and Washington stopped them cold on the goal line on three straight plays. Instead of kicking the field goal and making it a one-possession game, Crennel foolishly went for it on fourth and goal and Anderson had a pass battled down. Had Portis not fumbled and Washington goes down and scores (or runs out the clock), Crennel’s decision would have looked even more boneheaded. Instead, Portis coughs it up and the Browns scored and added a 2-point conversion to slim the lead to 14-11 and thus, Crennel comes out looking okay. But he’s clueless.

For the second straight week, the Rams produced the upset of the day (or at least the upset of the early games) as they smoked the Cowboys 34-14 in St. Louis.

While the Rams have been a nice story the past two weeks under interim head coach Jim Haslett, the story of this game has to be how out of sync Dallas looked offensively without Tony Romo (broken pinkie finger). Despite having a plethora of options in the passing game, Brad Johnson was absolutely brutal until late in the third quarter when the Rams’ defense was playing off the ball and allowed easy completions.

What happened to “American’s Team?” They thumped the Packers in Green Bay and everyone said they were easily the best team in the NFC, if not in the NFL. But in hindsight, something that many overlooked was how bad the defense looked against the Eagles on Monday night in Week 2. Dallas was absolutely shredded and is a fumbled exchange between Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook away from being a .500 team. The warning signs were there, but people were so enamored with all of the individual talent Dallas had on offense that they overlooked the underlying issues on defense.

The Cowboys obviously need a healthy Romo to get the offense back in sync. But more importantly, Wade Phillips needs to start making some wholesale changes on defense or else the ‘Boys won’t make the playoffs playing in a stacked NFC East.

Fox’s Curt Menafee reported that Saints’ RB Reggie Bush will undergo surgery on Monday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and will miss the next 3-4 weeks. He suffered the injury in New Orleans’ 30-7 loss to the Panthers on Sunday.

This is a crushing blow for a team that has struggled this season despite being considered a Super Bowl contender in preseason. It’s been well noted that Bush isn’t an every down player and that he can’t run between the tackles, but he brings another dimension to the Saints’ offense in the passing game and can be explosive returning punts (which is how he got hurt Sunday).

New Orleans goes to London next week to play the Chargers, then have their bye before traveling to Atlanta to take on the surprising Falcons. And outside of the Chiefs and Lions, there isn’t a “gimmie” on their schedule the rest of the way.

The Saints ran into a brick wall in Carolina on Sunday. This was a nice bounce back with for the Panthers after they were steamrolled by Tampa last weekend. Steve Smith was absolutely phenomenal, hauling in six catches for 122 yards and a touchdown, which he caught falling down and between two defenders. Rookie Jonathan Stewart continues to impress, too, rushing for 68 yards and a touchdown.

Who would have thought after seven weeks, the Saints would be the worst team (at least in terms of win/loss record) in the NFC South?

Mike Martz may be known as the “Mad Scientist” but he also should have another nickname: “The coach who can turn crap quarterbacks into 3,200-yard quarterbacks.”

Okay, so “crap” might be a harsh word. Marc Bulger wasn’t crap, he was more of a relative unknown, and Jon Kitna did have some productive seasons before his back to back 3,400-plus yard season. But Martz’s latest project, J.T. O’Sullivan, might fill the aforementioned use of the word crap.

O’Sullivan’s final numbers (16 of 28 for 256 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs) in the Niners’ 29-17 loss to the Giants on Sunday weren’t bad, but don’t be fooled. He has zero pocket presence, bad footwork and his accuracy is below average. (And that’s putting it kindly.)

If O’Sullivan’s first half effort is any indication of his potential, than there’s no way San Fran should give up on former first overall pick Alex Smith. Not that Smith has quelled doubts that he’s a first round bust, but O’Sullivan isn’t the answer either. And Mike Nolan has to be the next head coach on the chopping block. (Enough with the suit, will ya?)

On a related topic but different note, this was a nice bounce back game for the Giants after their debacle on Monday night against the Browns. Eli Manning didn’t have an earth shattering performance, but he was solid and the G-Men got back to running the ball effectively again. I don’t know how much you can take from beating the 49ers at home, but again, they needed this after their loss to Cleveland.

There the Bears were, facing yet another opportunity for a fourth quarter meltdown. They had squandered double-digit fourth quarter leads in back to back losses to the Panthers and Buccaneers, then suffered a crushing defeat in the final 11 seconds to the Falcons last Sunday after mounting a dramatic fourth quarter comeback.

But despite the Vikings best efforts at a comeback on Sunday, Chicago was able to put an opponent away late and walked away with a 48-41 win over Minnesota. It was an unusual win for the Bears, who got very little from their defense, but managed to score two touchdowns off of Minnesota special teams gaffs, and yet another solid performance out of quarterback Kyle Orton (21 of 32, 283 yards, 2 TDs).

The Bears might be the most dangerous 4-3 team in the league right now and if they could put together more efforts like they did on Sunday (minus the brutal defense, of course), then they’re going to battle the Packers all year in the NFC North. It goes without saying though, that they need to get real healthy, real fast in the secondary in order to win their division. Because better passing teams are going to eat them alive.

Brodie Croyle claimed his starting quarterback job Sunday in Kansas City after missing most of the season with a separated shoulder suffered in Week 1. He completed 9 of 10 passes for 63 yards and promptly was knocked out of the game with a knee injury. The team announced after the game – a 34-10 Titans’ victory – that he’ll miss the rest of the season.

Croyle attempted just 29 passes in two starts this year. Talk about bad luck.

As for the Titans, they thumped a team they should have thumped and looked impressive doing so. Chris Johnson made yet another push for Offensive Rookie of the Year, rushing for 168 yards and a score on just 18 carries. LenDale White also added 149 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries.

It’s hard not to be impressed by Tennessee this year. Their defense is playing as well as anyone in the league and while Kerry Collins isn’t lighting up the stat sheet, he’s not making mistakes and isn’t forcing passes. There’s nothing flashy about this team, but they do all the little things right and have struck a nice balance on offense. In the upcoming weeks, they face the Colts, Packers, Bears and Jaguars, so they’ll get several tests over the next month to see where they’re at as a team.