Sorry I'm late today. A national day of mourning has been issued for Ohio State fans upset with the passing of Rich Rodriguez's employment at the University of Michigan ...

FIRST DOWN:

It was one game and one gosh-awful ending for a supposedly NFL-ready NFL quarterback, but I have to believe Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett didn't do his draft stock any favors when he took a stunning last-minute blocked punt deep in Ohio State territory and turned it into an interception and a 31-26 loss a couple plays later. Ohio State's defensive end tricked the supposedly NFL-ready QB by simply faking a pass rush and dropping into coverage.

Is Mallett the answer at QB for the Vikings? Or how about Missouri's Blaine Gabbert, whom some mock drafts already are delivering to Winter Park with the 12th overall pick in this year's draft.

Mallett probably would have won last night's game if his receivers hadn't droped about five passes, three for touchdowns. But after watching him at the end of the Ohio State game and in the Alabama loss earlier this season, I wonder if he's just another big kid with a big arm.

SECOND DOWN:

Even if the Vikings are heck-bent on selecting a quarterback, can they really afford to sit at No. 12 and wait for one to come to them? By most accounts, Andrew Luck will leave Stanford early and be the No. 1 pick by the Carolina Panthers.

The next three QBs that have drafniks in a tizzy are Cam Newton, Mallett and Gabbert. Washington's Jake Locker has most people now holding their noses and going PEEEE-u. Sounds like he might be doing a Jimmy Clausen-esque tumble, although maybe not quite to the third round.

Newton is a great talent, but when I look at him, I see Joe Webb. Maybe a more polished Joe Webb, but, basically, they have the same skills, or at least that's what this non-QB guru thinks.

THIRD DOWN:

As MVP lock Tom Brady continues to prove over and over, franchise quarterbacks can be found just about anywhere. It's safer, of course, to look for them in the first round. Or at least it should be, if a team has the right guy picking the players. And even then it's sometimes a crapshoot.

Having the 12th pick in the draft isn't the best place to be when in need of a QB, but it still has potential. In 2009, the Buccaneers were ripped for "reaching" on a big, raw kid from Kansas State at No. 17. Today, that same kid, Josh Freeman, might be one of the brightest young quarterbacks in the league. He made tremendous strides in taking a 3-13 team to a 10-6 record this season.

One of the problems the Vikings have, however, is there might be six or more teams ahead of them who are looking for the same player to lead them back from the dumper. There's Carolina at No. 1, Buffalo at No. 3, Arizona at No. 5, possibly San Francisco at No. 7, possibly Tennessee at No. 8 and Washington at No. 10.

Still feeling good about that Tuesday night win at Philadelphia in Week 16?

I don't know which QB is the answer for the Vikings. But I do know the Vikings can't afford to miss again. Five years ago, they took Tarvaris Jackson in the second round. The franchise was able to plug holes and even strike gold for one year with Brett Favre. But the Vikings' current state of disrepair can be traced back to drafting Tarvaris Jackson. It set off a series of decisions that ultimately has led to last place in the division for the first time in 21 years.

FOURTH DOWN:

Is anybody other than Tom Brady even in the running for MVP? Not that I can see, and my All-Pro pick is due Friday. Michael Vick gave Brady a brief run, but the Vikings snuffed that out in Week 16.

Brady is completing 66 percent of his passes with 36 touchdowns and four interceptions on the best team in the league, a team that's basically in a rebuilding year on defense.

The Patriots scored 518 points when no other team reached 450. They've scored 31 points or more in each of their last nine games. And they set an NFL record by turning the ball over only 10 times.

As for Coach of the Year, I keep coming back to Bill Belichick and all that he's done this year. It's one of the best jobs of coaching he's ever done in a career that might be the best ever. I suppose KC's Todd Haley will get a lot of votes.

I'm not on that bandwagon. The Chiefs made a remarkable turnaround, but they were 2-4 in the AFC West. They lost to the Broncos by 20 points. They were swept by the Raiders, including a 31-10 home loss in Week 17 when a win would have given them the No. 3 seed.

The Chiefs were 1-1 against playoff teams this year. The only win was against the 7-9 Seahawks.

The Patriots were 6-1 against the playoff teams. And well all know how far ahead of the league Belichick was -- again --- in unloading a divisive Randy Moss at exactly the right time, and getting a third-round draft pick to boot. Then he used a fourth-round pick to replace him with the more productive Deion Branch.