This is going to be a shorter than usual version of this feature. That’s not because I am feeling lazy. It’s just because we didn’t really learn anything on Saturday. Everyone who was supposed to win did their job. The BCS standings and the top of the polls are still intact and unchanged. Anything we did learn only confirmed things I already suspected – LSU and Alabama are frauds and the SEC isn’t the strongest conference, Miami is on the way back, and so on. All in all, it was the least educational week we have seen for a long time in college football. Next weekend will be much, much more interesting, though.

There was still a fair bit we learned in the NFL:

1. The NFC North is wide open. That much was certain as soon as we saw the Packers absolutely destroy the Bears. Green Bay had struggled badly on defense for at least two weeks in a row, so it certainly was unexpected that they nearly pitched a shutout against Chicago, and that they were virtually flawless. The three actual NFL teams in the division are now tied at 5-5, and every one has the ability to beat any other one at any given time. I’d give the edge to Minnesota I think, but I’m not at all confident in that.

2. Houston needs a QB. Matt Schaub may be fine, but he can’t seem to stay healthy. There is clearly a reason why Sage Rosenfels has been a career backup – he is not ready for primetime. The Texans have some very nice pieces – Steve Slaton is clearly ready to be an NFL feature back, and a pretty good one at that, Andre Johnson is as good as anyone, and Mario Williams is looking like a solid draft choice after all – but this team will never realize its potential until they get a new pivot. They should definitely join in on the Matt Cassel bidding war after the season, though they need to resist the temptation to overpay for him.

3. The road to riches was paved with the under this weekend. Ten of the 14 games played on Sunday went under the total, and another game was a push. Don’t think for a second that we are seeing a trend, though – last week just five of the 14 games went under. This is yet another example of how each weekend in the NFL pretty much has to be treated as a distinct, independent entity.

4. This is potentially not going to be an interesting stretch drive. Three conferences – The NFC East and West, and the AFC South – are all but over. The AFC West is getting close – Denver is up by two games and has a win over San Diego, the nearest competitor. At this point there is really only four teams in the AFC (five if Buffalo wins tonight) that are in the heart of the wild card, and four in the NFC. There will certainly be moments of excitement down the stretch, but this doesn’t have the feel of a wide open slugfest that other years have been.

5. A few teams and players I have to give begrudging respect to – the Giants ran for more than 200 yards in a game for the third straight week and proved that you don’t need a superstar QB to be a superstar team; Ryan Fitzpatrick rose above a terrible team to put together a very nice game – he completed 66 percent of his passes for 261 yards and a score, and he avoided mistakes. That shouldn’t be allowed on the Bengals; JaMarcus Russell wasn’t terrible. That’s a huge compliment for him. Unfortunately for the Raiders, Darren McFadden was terrible.