Steelers-Ravens

If this game didn't get the testosterone flowing, none would. It was the brutal, snorting, bloody and broken-nosed defensive battle that has defined this rivalry, and fittingly the key play was made by a defensive lion in the form of Troy Polamalu.

Polamalu arrived with speed from Joe Flacco's blindside, jarring the ball from the quarterback's grasp and sending it bobbling along the turf in the opposite direction. Several players gave urgent chase, but Pittsburgh's LaMarr Woodley was first on scene, securing the ball and precious possession for his team.

Just watching Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs was worth the ticket price alone, and such sterling effort didn't deserve defeat. Offensive blocking issues aside, Suggs shrugged his opponents out of his way and charged endlessly for the ball, crushing plays in their infancy. His approach typified the fear that both defenses created when they took the field, and it was terrifyingly amazing to witness.

In the other standout play of the game shortly after Polamalu's forced turnover, Suggs arrived at Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger determined to rip the ball from his grasp. For what seemed an eternity the two were twisted together, helmets clashing like rutting stags, Suggs manic in his efforts to rip the ball free. But Roethlisberger held his ground, established a strong left arm and somehow rotated away, shovelling the ball in sheer desperation out of play.

It was breathtaking stuff, and it was a brilliant, electrifying game.

College and pro talking points

* It's almost impossible not to love college football at this time of year, simply as a result of the sheer raw emotion involved. Whether it's teams saying goodbye to their seniors, players playing together for the last time, playing for rivalry wins, conference titles, bowl chances and Heisman trophies, there is so much more invested in each play and drive that it's hard to tear your eyes away.

* I forgot to mention in my review of Boise State-Nevada that I thought Joe Tessitore and Rod Gilmore did a fantastic job in the booth. If I'm eager to point out mistakes, I should be as eager to point out when announcers have a good game, and this pairing did a fantastic job.

There were no major errors, they were informative and crucially they knew when to be quiet and when to convey the excitement of the action on the field.

* Green Bay-Atlanta was a brilliant game in week 12 of the NFL season, and hopefully an indicator of the excitement we can expect come play-off time. Both sides are attractive to watch offensively, and Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers surely represent the future elite quarterbacks in the league.

* Brian Billick called the game for Fox, and whilst I've heard frequent criticism of the use of Billick for Atlanta games when his brother-in-law is Falcons head coach Mike Smith, I thought the color commentator had a solid game.

Billick made good analytical points, noticed formation tendencies, predicted upcoming plays accurately through good appreciation of situations, and also correctly assessed which audibles both quarterbacks were using at the line of scrimmage. His linguistic style may not be to everyone's tastes, but he displayed technically sound knowledge.

* Pro Football Weekly recently criticised Fox's lack of a sports ticker akin to CBS or ESPN during their NFL broadcasts, but I much prefer the lack of clutter on the Fox broadcasts.

The cleaner look makes it much easier to focus on the action on the field, and the graphical redesign with the new scoreboard in the top left corner of the screen is easier on the eye than the old full screen bar.

Alabama-Auburn

I didn't come away from this Iron Bowl with the same sense of awe that it seems everyone else did. It was an incredible Auburn comeback when you look back at the first half, but it unfolded in two distinctly different halves that felt almost like separate games.

In this regard it was more akin to watching two legs of a knockout round in a soccer competition. Alabama comfortably winning the first, Auburn going one better in the second.

The hosts early dominance was astonishing to watch, rolling out to three touchdowns on three drives, QB Greg McElroy completing all ten of his attempted passes.

The Tigers couldn't get started offensively, Alabama's defensive linemen were seemingly all over the field and frequently in the Auburn backfield milliseconds after the snap. Newton was ineffective, using screens and draws to little avail, and Auburn was repeatedly forced to kick the ball back to the Tide.

It wasn't until 6.40 to go in the second quarter that Auburn finally completed a first down pass, and Newton began to look like a potential threat. He looked at his best throughout the game when utilising play action and throwing lazy-looking spirals deep downfield; Bama for the most part keeping his ground game contained.

In contrast, Alabama looked to have the better of Auburn all over the field when the ball was in their hands. Julio Jones and Daryl Hanks showed sure-hands and fought for yards after the catch, whilst Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson provided the formidable running threat.

However, the second half changed dramatically within two plays; Newton lofting another easy pass to Terrell Zachary for a 70 yard touchdown. It was immediately a different encounter, Auburn defensively stepped up, blitzing and sacking McElroy, breaking up passes in their secondary.

Two possessions for Auburn later and they scored again. Driving down the field on the back of Onterio McCalebb runs and catches, Newton powered in from a yard to bring the Tigers within three.

The pendulum of momentum was fully swinging in the visitors favour now, first holding Alabama to a field goal, then driving down the field themselves, converting a crucial 4th down in the process on a gutsy pass play to Darvin Adams.

Again Newton began scurrying to his right, found pressure, shuffled back to his left and lofted the ball back across his body to Philip Lutzenkirchen in the endzone.

It was an impressive turn-around, but it played out with such a matter-of-fact inevitability that it lacked the drama of the Boise-Nevada game that would follow that night.

Newton did what he had to, but this wasn't the eye-catching performance of a Heisman winner. The real story of the game was the second-half improvement by the Auburn defense, a unit that had looked utterly helpless in the opening salvos, to one that was comfortably containing Alabama by the conclusion.