The Sunday Evening Post: Week 9

Tommie Harris is a large man, and in the above video, he punches Deuce Lutui, another large man. This would not be funny, except that 1) Harris punches Lutui in back of his helmet, which is probably the least dangerous location for a punch thrown at an NFL player, and 2) Lutui rolls over like a beached whale to complain.

The lesson is that if in the first quarter of a game your defensive standout is going to be frustrated enough to sock someone in the cranium, your team will be frustrated all day.

Today had a few such lessons in the NFL.

Packers fans, myself included, learned that, yes, there is a way for the franchise to do worse than lose to their former savior at home. It involves losing to rookie Josh Freeman and the previously winless Bucs, and probably falling to the back of the NFC wild card pack.

New England taught Miami their lesson. It took Tom Brady and Randy Moss hooking up for two touchdowns, the second keyed by an awesome stiff-arm to Vontae Davis' face, but the Dolphins now know that the AFC East is, once more, the Pats on top and everyone else at arm's length.

Similarly, the Colts survived the game Texans and solidified their stranglehold on the AFC South. Peyton Manning's master class on quarterbacking is a career-length lesson, no?

Baby brother Eli would probably love to be in PEY 101 right now: NYG 2009 features a disappearing act by a once-fearsome defense, tons of sacks, and a loss to the team that drafted him. Phillip Rivers still hasn't learned how to throw a football so it doesn't look like a balloon, but his Chargers, as always, are showing that they can survive early-season struggles.

Vince Young, quietly, is learning how to win again. (Of course, it helps to have Chris Johnson on your side and Alex Smith on the other.)

Chad Ochocinco learned that, no, George Washington cannot help you get a better call. We all should have learned a long time ago that there is no end to Ochocinco's antics, but the pleasant surprise is that they are far more enjoyable on a winning squad.

Lions and Chiefs fan should know by now that there is no use to getting their hopes up: Neither a hot start nor a late rally could prevent their teams from losing.

DeAngelo Hall, who jawed with Atlanta coach Mike Smith during a near-fracas? Well, he's not really learning any lessons, is he?

And, once more, we learned to not underestimate the Saints. Down early, they rallied back against Carolina with that passing game and that playmaking defense. Their greatest challenge will be applying the lessons learned in mid-season games to the final exams of January.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.