It has hardly been a perfect 10

Some observations, ruminations and abominations through the first 10 weeks of the NFL season:

The New England Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts by four points and should feel fine.

The San Diego Chargers beat the Colts by two and should be panicked. . . .

Seattle should bench Shaun Alexander in favor of the more straight-ahead Maurice Morris. Maybe that would ignite the fire that burned in Alexander a couple years ago. The Seahawks are leaving a lot of yards on the field with his hunt-and-peck style of picking holes. . . .

Matt Leinart should worry less about the commercials and endorsements and focus more on football. Yes, he’s hurt now so it’s a moot point until next season. But Leinart needs to lay low, rededicate himself to the NFL, and the commercials will follow. . . .

Because he’s coming off major knee surgery, Donovan McNabb deserves one more year to get it done in Philadelphia. . . .

Until he somehow matches half the intensity of his older brother, Eli Manning will never be the quarterback the New York Giants need him to be. And what was up with the three delay-of-game penalties in the second half against the Dallas Cowboys? . . .

Although I’m at games on Sundays, my friends watching at home have a couple of legitimate complaints: The NFL needs to do something about the annoying pattern of commercial, kickoff, commercial. And could they at least get a bathroom break between the end of the early games and the start of the late ones? . . .

Enough with the throwback jerseys. They used to be cool. Now they’re overdone. . . .

Rick Neuheisel is Baltimore’s offensive coordinator in name only; Brian Billick calls the plays. And Neuheisel’s biggest accomplishment there is killing the Ravens. Neuheisel was the coach who brought along third-string quarterback Derek Anderson, now tearing it up in Cleveland. . . .

Somebody should step in and end this nonsense between cable companies and the NFL Network. It’s a shame some fans are going to miss one of the season’s best games, on the NFL Network: Green Bay at Dallas on Nov. 29. . . .

Speaking of Green Bay, the networks need to re-think their policies on when to cut away from games the way Fox did so hastily last Sunday in Packers versus Vikings. . . .

The rapid disintegration of the Colts is a cautionary tale for any team pouring too much money into too few players. The reason Peyton Manning is throwing to targets such as Craphonso Thorpe, Aaron Moorehead and Bryan Fletcher is Injury-anapolis didn’t have the salary-cap space to build adequate depth at those spots. . . .

Top to bottom, the NFL’s best-run organization is the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Rooneys are the definition of old-school owners, ones who care more about the product than the bottom line, and hiring Mike Tomlin as coach was inspired. . . .

One of the best things about not having an NFL team is we’re supposed to get the best game of the week. But it’s too often we get stuck with a Chargers or Oakland Raiders stinker. At least they stopped showing the St. Louis Rams. . . .

Were I a coach, I’d clobber the next punter who dribbled a short-field pooch into the end zone rather than angling for the sideline. . . .

When Mike Holmgren steps down -- and I predict that will come this off-season -- Seattle will replace him with Jim Mora, its defensive coordinator. Unless the University of Washington or UCLA hires Mora first. . . .

Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward hits harder than half the safeties in the league. . . .

If no one takes USC tight end Fred Davis in the first round, the Raiders should grab him in the second. Davis knows Lane Kiffin’s system, is a good receiver and improving blocker, and, hey, has the right last name. . . .

Miami is starting John Beck at quarterback Sunday. Now it’s time for the Raiders to play JaMarcus Russell. . . .

The Patriots should worry about a couple things: 1) Somebody cheap-shotting Tom Brady in a blowout loss, and 2) Keeping fresh a defense that leans heavily on 30-somethings Junior Seau, Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel, Rosevelt Colvin and Tedy Bruschi. . . .

San Francisco is better off letting Trent Dilfer call his own plays than having offensive coordinator Jim Hostler make the decisions. There’s no rhyme or reason to Hostler’s calls. Scheme-wise, the 49ers’ grab-bag approach is doing nothing to create mismatches or set up anything. . . .

Who’s more disappointed about Norv Turner leaving his job as San Francisco’s offensive coordinator -- Alex Smith or Chargers fans? . . .

Not a banner year for the 0-9 Miami Dolphins or General Manager Randy Mueller. For those keeping score at home, Mueller signed Trent Green, whose concussion problems probably have spelled the end of his career, and linebacker Joey Porter, 1 1/2 sacks and $20 million guaranteed. Not only that, Mueller traded Wes Welker within the division, and Chris Chambers, Miami’s two best offensive players. . . .

I got an overwhelming reaction last week from my column about how the Coliseum Commission should give up its NFL dream. It seems people in the Los Angeles area can’t decide on which stadium concept is best, but they do have a firm opinion on where the NFL should play.

Anywhere but here.

sam.farmer@latimes.com