Everybody loves explosive offensive plays and hard hitting tackles, but it’s the small things that keep me loving this sport every week like…

• Every Single Eli Pick–  As I am writing this, Eli has just thrown a pick six on Thursday Night Football. I love it. The best part is watching Tom Coughlin’s facial expression. The angrier he gets, the redder his face becomes. Tonight, his face has turned a “dark maroon” on that Eli pick. I’m going to say that’s somewhere between “ticked off” and “absolutely furious” on the Tom Coughlin anger scale.

• All the Alex Smith Check Downs– He scans the field once, sees no one has twenty yards on their defender, and checks it down to Jamaal Charles! No quarterback has been this reliant on the check down since Donovan McNabb in Minnesota. And somehow the Chiefs have started 5-0…

• Every fumble by a Patriot running back– After every fumble, the camera zooms in on Bill Belichick’s face on the sideline. He has a smirk toward his running back that says, “Oh yeaaa! I hope you love the bench because that’s going to be your home for the next month.”

• The Schaub pick six streak– Houston… we have a problem.  Schaub has thrown a “pick-six” in four straight games, and his confidence is literally nonexistent.  We are seeing the Schaub Era in Houston deteriorate before our eyes.

• The Antonio Gates renaissance– He has been playing great out in San Diego.  Despite being double covered on most plays, Gates is still making great catches. Phillip Rivers is playing well too. Once again, we learn that as Antonio Gates goes, Phillip Rivers goes as well. And no, it is not vice versa.