The league has two 8–0 teams, but both are coming off their worst performances of the season, revealing chinks in their respective armor. Both revealed their flaws in front of their home fans, and both seem primed for a stumble.

The Colts nearly blew a 13–0 lead against the Texans, needing a Kris Brown missed field goal from 42 yards to secure a 20–17 victory and maintain their unbeaten start. Meanwhile, the Saints had to rally from a 17–3 deficit to beat the 3–5 Panthers 30–20.

Somewhat surprisingly, both teams remain infatuated with their own excellence. “I feel like we’ve got a special group of guys, a special team, and certainly we’re not satisfied with just being 8–0,” said Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who had two first-half turnovers. “We have what it takes to just continue to win.”

Colts center Jeff Saturday echoed those sentiments in the Indy locker room. “I think that's the mark of a great football team,” Saturday said of his team’s series of close calls.

Needing a missed field goal to beat an inferior team at home is a mark of greatness? Hardly. In the just-win NFL culture, barely better is good enough on a given week, but it’s not sustainable for 16 games. Especially when you start believing your own press clippings.

Colts-Patriots still the game’s best rivalry

Since 2003, the Colts and the Patriots have matching 83–21 regular-season records. Their respective quarterbacks have combined for four MVP awards and three Super Bowl MVP awards. Since ’03, these teams are 11-for-12 in playoff appearances; only the Tom Brady-less 2008 Patriots failed to make the playoffs, and that was after an 11–5 season.

Colts-Patriots week is here, and it’s as big as ever. The Colts are 8–0, but they’re not exactly steamrolling into this matchup. The Patriots, on the other hand, are arriving with the force of an F5 tornado.

Over the last three weeks, the Patriots have outscored their opponents 112–24. Brady has thrown for 300-plus yards all three weeks. Randy Moss is rediscovering his mojo and has caught 19 balls in those three games.

The P-men are fourth in the league in total offense (two spots ahead of Indy) and sixth in total defense (the Colts are seventh).

The coaching matchup favors New England. Rookie head coach Jim Caldwell has pushed all the right buttons for the Colts so far, but he lags far behind Bill Belichick in experience and savvy, which in this series can be critical.

So are the Patriots the favorites? Not so fast. Indy has won four of five in this series, and Peyton Manning has saved many of his best games for his fiercest rivals, as the great ones usually do. Should be fun, as it always is.

The Bears aren’t who we thought they were

Dennis Green, who famously had the opposite reaction during his postgame meltdown following the Cardinals’ loss to Chicago in 2006, would have much preferred playing the Bears, circa 2009. These Monsters of the Midway are about as intimidating as Barney Fife.

Chicago fans thought they had acquired the missing piece of the championship puzzle during the offseason. Jay Cutler was going to deliver the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Chicago that Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton couldn’t. As it turns out, the quarterback position was the least of the Bears’ problems.

Cutler has played well at times, but not well enough to overcome a Chicago defense that is suddenly the object of repeated shreddings. The Bears surrendered 40-plus points — and 31 first-half points — for the second time in three weeks in a 41–21 loss to Arizona, allowing five Kurt Warner touchdown passes as the Cardinals amassed their highest point total in a road game since 1998.

Making things worse — not only are the Bears inept defensively, but they also seem to be stuck on stupid. Defensive tackle Tommie Harris was ejected four plays into the game for punching Arizona guard Deuce Lutui.

The Cards scored on their first six possessions. Soldier Field fans were reduced to cheering derisively when the home team finally managed a third-down stop.

“I don't know what the hell is wrong, but we've got to change it,” said defensive end Alex Brown.

I know what’s wrong. Your defense stinks.

The Cowboys could spoil the Minnesota-New Orleans NFC Championship party

Call it Redemption ’09. The Cowboys may never fully erase the memories of 2008’s 44–6 season-ending loss in Philly, but yesterday will help. The Cowboys’ 20–16 win over the Eagles was the fourth straight for one of the hottest teams in football and was a direct by-product of that humbling day last December. “Our last loss against them really motivated us to come out and play good,” said Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware.

Play good they did. Explosive receiver Miles Austin caught only one pass against the Eagles but made it count, taking a hitch-and-go 49 yards for the winning touchdown. The Monmouth product leads the league in yards per reception with 22.7 and finally gives Tony Romo a headache-free No. 1 target.

We’ll see if it lasts into the cold, cruel December wind, but right now, the Cowboys are contenders.

Chris Johnson is the game’s most electric player

You see it all the time in high school football — a running back who has defenders so overmatched with his speed and elusiveness that you expect a touchdown on virtually every carry. You even see it some in college, although the margin narrows. But you don’t expect a running back to be able to outclass professional defenders with pure speed.

That’s what we’re seeing with Chris Johnson, who leads the NFL with 959 rushing yards and an astounding 6.7 yards per carry. Johnson dazzled 49er defenders who were left flailing in his wake on a 135-yard day that could have been closer to 175 were it not for a successful challenge on an 81-yard jaunt. “You’ve got to give credit when it's due,” linebacker Patrick Willis said. “He’s fast. There's no other way you can look at it. He got some angles on us today and used his speed to his advantage. He’s exceptionally fast. He can run.”

Notice a recurring theme in that description? Hint: Chris Johnson is fast.