The Post Mortem

Don't know about anybody else, but this had to be one of the most boring, mundane weeks in recent memory. Maybe it was all of the hoopla surrounding the BCS, or maybe it was having the Cowboys vs. Packers on Thursday night, but Sunday just didn't seem special at all.

The NFL was totally overshadowed by Hawaii's stunning come-from-behind win over Washington on Saturday night. Because of that, there is a guest column over at the FanHouse, meaning that the Post Mortem is going to be a little abbreviated today.

That and because the Raiders won their second consecutive game (against the AFC West, mind you) and Eli Messiah actually led his mediocre football team past another mediocre football team.

HAIL TO THE DEAD, SKIN
That was some glowing tribute the Redskins gave for their fallen teammate, losing to the Bills. Wow, that was moving.

The Redskins put only 10 players on the field on their first defensive play of the game (a strategy Norv used during his term in Washington). And the Bills paid tribute to Taylor by running right to the open spot for 25 yards. Good for the Bills. There were some who felt that the Bills should have taken a knee on the play, but why should they? The Bills had one of their players paralyzed this year, and they didn't extend a tribute by only putting 10 people out on the kickoff team.

Wear a decal, put his number in the end zone, but don't expect the other team to lay down for you.

NORV BEATS THE CHIEFS
Hard to believe that Norv Turner was actually 0-7 in his career against the Chiefs. Oh wait, that's not hard to imagine at all. But Turner finally rectified one of his worst coaching jobs of the season by going almost exclusively to LaDainian Tomlinson in the second half of a 24-14 win at Arrowhead.

The Chiefs might be one of the worst teams in the NFL. Winning four games seems like a miracle for this team. Damon Huard and Kolby Smith? The Chiefs have a roster as foreign as your typical NFL Europe squad. Jared Allen should be the MVP of the league for leading this team to four wins.

• Raiders rookie JaMarcus Russell probably shouldn't be asking Sebastian Janikowski for directions to the commissary.

• The NFL season has seemed empty without the "Fire Millen" stuff. But that should be making a comeback this week.

• A.J. Feeley has been as generous as Santa Claus in the past two games. And you know how Philadelphia fans feel about Santa Claus.

• Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers for participating in the two worst consecutive prime time games in NFL history.

• Some are suggestion that the Browns got hosed on a call where Kellen Winslow appeared to be pushed out of bounds on what would have been the winning touchdown against Arizona on Sunday. But you have to earn it on the last play of the game, not rely on the referees. But the NFL should adopt the college rule and get rid of any interpretation of the rules. Because unless it's Eddie Guns, the interpretation is probably wrong.

• If the playoffs started today, the Kurt Warner Machine and the Cardinals would be the No. 6 seed in the NFC, playing the Seahawks. Not bad.

Dexter: Man goes in the cage, cage goes in the plastic sheeting...

Spoilers for "Dexter" coming up just as soon as I sign up for a SCUBA class...

I'm going to be briefer than I would otherwise like. I got to see this episode on a getaway Friday as I was packing for a weekend trip, and I wanted to finish writing something before the vacation began, so you're going to have to carry the conversation on this one for a week. I've got faith.

After being concerned about a lot of the contrivances in last week's episode, there weren't many moments here that had me asking, "Why would he do that?" Just when I was starting to worry that Lundy was acting willfully ignorant in his conversation with Laguerta about the stakeout logs, for instance, he went and acknowledged that she was probably right, but that her being right was of no use to him with tainted evidence.

Harry's return to prominence continued with the revelation of how/why he really died. (Though am I losing my memory, or did season one feature a flashback or two of Harry near the end of his life looking far more sickly -- maybe even bedridden -- than he appeared when he found Dexter cutting up that body?) I was never clear on when exactly Dexter's active serial killing career began relative to when Harry died, and Dexter's recognition that Harry supported The Code on paper but not in reality was a very important insight into both men.

(Dexter realizing that he inadvertently stole Deb's childhood by forcing Harry to spend so much time channeling Dexter's violent energy was another interesting one, and one that played into Deb's abandonment issues with Lundy.)

I enjoyed the cat and mouse game in the cabin between Dexter and Doakes, and how being exposed to the true face of Dexter -- even hidden behind opaque plastic sheeting -- shattered Doakes. If a hard man with blood on his hands like Doakes would react that way, how badly would Deb and Rita and the kids be hurt by discovering Dexter's true face? And how good a job do the writers do of making me want to root for the serial killer to get away with it, even if it means sacrificing an honest cop in the process?

If there was one part of the episode that frustrated me, it was the continued presence of Lila, who appears to be framing Angel as part of some convoluted plot to get revenge on Dexter and/or win him back. As Dexter's new emotional guru, a woman with some dark impulses but a relatively pure motivation, Lila was interesting. As a nutbar manipulator who resorts to arson, assault and now drug-aided mindgames to get her way, I'm tired of her. I hate this kind of character whenever it pops up on a show I like, and post-breakup Lila has been no exception to that.

That's it for me. Talk amongst yourselves. What did everybody else think?

BCS Declares LSU Champs

A spokesman for the Bowl Championship Series presented LSU coach Two-Loss Miles the BCS coaches trophy on Sunday afternoon.

"Winning or losing does not matter. What does matter is who we think is the best team in the country, and that's LSU," said BCS PR rep Brian Gooberson. "We are giving both Ohio State and LSU the option on if they want to play. I hope they do, because it would be fun to see. But the outcome will have no bearing on the championship at all."

Miles gladly claimed the trophy and said, "Hey, we earned it. Well, not really, but I'll still take it. This will allow me to get more money from Michigan."

Jerks. All kidding aside, everyone says LSU should be in the championship game on the basis of their tough schedule. Um, has anyone actually looked at their schedule this year?

It sucked ass.

Its five road games (one less road game than most of the other deserving BCS teams this year) included joke games against a still underwater Tulane, a 6-6 Alabama team, and two schools from Mississippi that may or may not exist. Their hardest road game was No. 17 Kentucky.

They lost that one.

Their biggest home win was Virginia Tech, in Week 2, when half of the Hokies team was still under suspicion of mass murder. Since when in college football does a win in Sept. 8 entitle you a free pass to the title game?

LSU didn�t beat any team ranked higher than No. 9. And the two times they were handed the No. 1 spot for no good reason, and all the country�s attention was on them, they immediately choked it away. Yeah, that's a great resume.

Though to give LSU some credit, their schedule wasn�t as soft as Ohio State �s, whose biggest win was against the No. 23 team. Jesus, they might as well put the championship game on the NFL Network - no one is going to watch that snoozer.

(And Georgia, with four whole road games this year, has no business playing for the championship, either. Appalachian State would be favored against you.)

Hawaii, which ran the table, has an offense that�s puts up points, and actually showed some cojones by coming back and winning all their pressure-filled games at the end of the season, has a better resume than all these clown teams.

Oh yeah. Another school on the West Coast played six road games, including four against ranked teams, and two teams in the top seven. One of their losses came on the road against the country's then No. 5 team, when their starting QB was out injured.

They ended the season strong, won the hardest conference in the country, and two weeks ago snot-kicked the No. 7 team - on the road - by 20 points. They�d be favored by a touchdown over any other team in the BCS.

What�s that team again? I forget.