VERMEIL TO RETURN: Dick Vermeil will come back next season as Kansas City's coach, a decision he made after thinking how much he regretted leaving St. Louis shortly after it won the 2000 Super Bowl.
After going 6-10 in 2001 and 8-8 last season, Vermeil guided the Chiefs to a 13-3 regular season and the No. 2 seed in the AFC. He took Philadelphia to the Super Bowl after the 1980 season and the Rams after the 1999 season. He could be the first coach to take three teams to the Super Bowl.
"I was thinking of how I would feel about four months down the road," Vermeil, 67, said. "I decided I would be more apt to regret having left than to regret having stayed."
RUNNING TITANS: There is a perception Tennessee's running game doesn't exist anymore because Eddie George is washed up. That the Titans use Steve McNair and pass all the time.
But in reality, what used to be the Eddie George show has become a three-player act.
George rushed for 1,031 yards, giving him at least 1,000 yards in seven of his eight seasons. Rookie Chris Brown, who missed five games because of a hamstring injury, added 221 yards, and veteran Robert Holcombe had 201 as speedier changeup backs.
"The people that downplay the running game are obviously people that don't pay attention to this team," Titans left tackle Brad Hopkins said. "It's easy to say because Steve is so hot that Eddie's not.
"You don't get a 1,000-yard rusher by chance in this league."
PATS NEW OFFENSE: Tedy Bruschi has been so proficient at getting into the end zone that Patriots coach Bill Belichick joked he might move the linebacker to offense.
Bruschi has three interceptions this season, and when he returned the first two for touchdowns, that made it an NFL record four consecutive times he scored on an INT. With 12 points, he is the team's ninth-leading scorer, even ahead of quarterback Tom Brady.
"He has had some other pretty good (years), too. But he has had a lot of production and a lot of big plays this year," Belichick said. "So you probably have to put it up there with any other season he has had."
