Run Doug run…

Ugh, it’s November. The season is halfway complete.

BIGGEST SURPRISE OF THE WEEK: DOUG MARTIN GOES BESERK IN OAKLAND. 

Martin destroyed Oakland’s run defense with 251 yards rushing and four touchdowns on 25 carries.

According to ESPN’s Matthew Berry, Martin’s performance is one of the greatest fantasy efforts ever in the Internet era.

Behind the rookie runner’s four scores, Tampa defeated Oakland in a 42-32 shootout by the bay.

Martin, who entered Sunday’s game with four total touchdowns on the season, equaled his season’s output versus a beleaguered Raiders defense.

Over the past two games, Martin compiled 386 yards rushing and six total touchdowns.

Not bad kid.

NOT-SO BIGGEST SURPRISE OF THE WEEK: CHICAGO TRASHES TENNESSEE

Jay Cutler’s homecoming to Tennessee (he played college ball at Vanderbilt) quickly deteriorated into a one-sided drubbing.

Chicago crushed Tennessee 51-20 and forced five turnovers, scoring on a pair of them. The 7-1 Bears made the Titans look like a Pop Warner squad in their own building thanks to another world-beating performance by their defense.

Brian Urlacher returned an interception 46 yards for Chicago’s seventh interception return for a touchdown this season. Meanwhile, cornerback Charles Tillman forced four fumbles.

The offense didn’t need to do much heavy lifting but Brandon Marshall managed to catch three Jay Cutler touchdown passes.

It capped a Bear-centric week. Even Mrs. Jay Cutler made a cameo appearance on F/X’s popular TV show, The League.

BEST PERFORMANCE WITH A WEIRD TRAVEL SCHEDULE: PITTSBURGH TRAVELS ON GAMEDAY AND STILL EARNS WIN OVER NEW YORK

While you were shaking away the cobwebs on Sunday morning after a rock ’em, sock ’em Saturday night, the Steelers were busy traveling.

Due to Hurricane Sandy and a lack of available lodging, Pittsburgh was forced to fly into the Newark airport early Sunday morning, hours before their 24-20 win over the Giants.

Ryan Clark and Antonio Brown on the way to Jersey.

Pittsburgh didn’t exactly bring its A game in the first half but staged a second-half comeback after trailing 20-10.

The Steelers managed to win despite one of the goofiest fourth down calls of the year – a botched fake field goal attempt on a 4th and 1 from New York’s 3.

THE MOST ELI MANNING-Y PHOTO OF ALL-TIME: PITTSBURGH’S PASS RUSH SCARES ELI. 

Staying with the Steelers/Giants game…Eli Manning could play football for another 100 years. He’ll never provided an image as funny as this one:

Image courtesy of Sports Pickle.

He looks like some wayward person about to be eaten by zombies on The Walking Dead. 

CHIEFS WATCH: THEY STILL STINK. 

While the 1-7 Chiefs stunk up Thursday Night Football, their lack of success is still worth noting.

Kansas City has played 480 minutes of regulation football this season. They have yet to have a lead during regulation.

This is still so astonishing, that I’ll keep bringing it up until they actually grab a lead.

Simply put, that is one of the most embarrassing stats in NFL history; fitting of one of the worst teams of the last 25 years.

THE FEEL-GOOD STORY OF THE SEASON: CHUCK PAGANO AND THE INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

A year removed from enduring one of the worst seasons in Colts history, Indianapolis is at 5-3 with the Jacksonville Jaguars on deck Thursday night.

Indy’s latest triumph came on Sunday in a 23-20 win over the Miami Dolphins.

The win was happily overshadowed by head coach Chuck Pagano’s appearance in the locker room after Indy’s win.

Pagano’s heartfelt speech was truly one of the top moments of the 2012 NFL season.

BIGGEST OVERREACTION OF THE WEEK: MIKE SHANAHAN PRACTICALLY STATES THE SEASON IS OVER AFTER WASHINGTON’S LOSS. 

Mike Shanahan seemed to be in an emotional state after Washington’s disappointing 21-13 home loss to the Carolina Panthers.

In his post-game press conference, Shanahan was not pleased:

“You lose a game like that, now you’re playing to see who obviously is going to be on your football team for years to come. I’ll get a chance to evaluate players and see where we’re at,” Shanahan said.

“Obviously, we’re not out of it statistically, but now we find out what type of character we’ve got and how guys keep on fighting through the rest of the season.”

At 3-6, Washington’s best hope for a playoff berth would be to finish 9-7. While not likely, odder things have occurred in league history.

Perhaps the notion of losing to the “Suggestion Box” Panthers just sent Shanahan into a level of despair he will not be able to escape.

Well, Washington’s throwback jerseys looked nice at least.

BEST OVERREACTION TO BAD PLAY: PERCY HARVIN

Frustrated with the offense’s struggles in Seattle, Minnesota’s Percy Harvin decided to give Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier a piece of his mind.

Can you blame him?

If I just watched Christian Ponder go 11 of 22 for 63 yards in a 30-20 loss to Seattle, I’d be peeved too.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR NEXT WEEK: A SUPER BOWL PREVIEW, BUT NOT REALLY

NBC is going to tell you that next Sunday night’s game between 7-1 Chicago and 7-1 Houston will be a Super Bowl preview.

Conceptually speaking, they are correct. It could very well be a preview of what we will see in New Orleans come February.

I regret to inform you that I have no plans on watching Matt Schaub vs. Jay Cutler for all the marbles.

Some calamity will hit at least one of these two teams in January. We’re not at a point in NFL history where these two teams could play for a Super Bowl.

Anyhow, it’ll be a fun game next Sunday night.