The distance between the top two NFL teams (New England and Indianapolis) and No. 3 grew wider and wider with every snap yesterday at Texas Stadium during the Patriots' 48-27 win over the pretender Dallas Cowboys.
That chasm grew as rapidly as the arctic ice pack shrinks these days.
Tony Romo is no Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. And Wade Phillips certainly can't match wits with Bill Belichick or Tony Dungy.
Phillips sealed that conclusion for all on national TV yesterday, choosing to kick a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 5 when he was chasing 14 points with 11 minutes to go.
Poor, Wade. Like the Marvin Lewises, Norv Turners and Dave Wannstedts of the world, he's still playing checkers while Belichick was playing chess. Phillips gets his three and the Pats just keep pouring it down his beaten-up Dallas defense's throat.
Check-mate.
Did anyone expect different yesterday? Brady (31 of 46, 388 yards, 5 TDs) is playing at a level matched by nobody. No, not even the QB in Indy on his best day.
Believe it or not, Brady - with 21 touchdowns through six games - is on pace to smash Manning's TD pass record of 49 set in 2004.
You all remember 2004. Indy's finest spent the year audibling out of run plays to pad his numbers in blowouts, finishing 12-4.
Meanwhile, in our neck of the woods, Brady was busy earning the pejorative "NFL's top game manager" tag, going 14-2 on the way to his third Super Bowl ring.
Clearly, Brady is on a mission. With each snap he takes, he makes it more and more apparent that walking off the field a loser last January doesn't sit well with him.
All was not peachy in the win yesterday, however.
New England lost running back Sammy Morris - history dictated a lack of durability there - to a chest, shoulder or possibly even a collar-bone injury.
The free-agent pickup was in the starting lineup, replacing injured Laurence Maroney, who was a game-time decision yesterday, for the third straight week.
Kevin Faulk ably filled in there with 13 carries for 50 yards. But again, the recent past says the vet out of LSU's tank is not huge. Fumbles and nagging injuries are due to follow too many touches.
Right now, Brady doesn't need a running game, so the issue is not pressing.
The suddenly fragile psyche of the Pats defensive secondary, though? Now, that has the makings of a true dilemma.
Rodney Harrison looked his age yesterday for the first time since he put on a Patriots uniform. Eugene Wilson had to be scraped up off the Texas turf via spatula after being steamrolled by Julius Jones two or three times. Neither Asante Samuel nor Ellis Hobbs impacted off the corner. For that matter, neither did slot cover man Randall Gay.
Brady can win without a running game, but he can't win without help from his defense.
The line had two sacks and pressured Romo a half-dozen more times, something that simply doesn't happen in Big D. And the linebackers, if healthy, will remain the backbone of the unit.
But the defensive backs have some explaining to do. The first move might be more action for rookie top pick Brandon Meriweather.
The bottom line here has New England clearly the team to beat in the NFL. The Colts have the chance to stake their claim in three weeks when the Nov. 4 meeting in Indy should feature two NFL unbeatens.
Problems or not, this club remains on track to become one for the ages.
