The NFL is a passing league. If you can't pass, you have no chance.

Marc Trestman is a bona fide passing-game guru. This is why the name of the head coach of

the Montreal Alouettes will get thrown around the next several months as a prospect for NFL

head coaching openings jobs.

The Bills need a passing-game resurrection in the worst way. But I don't think Trestman

will be a prime candidate in Buffalo.

First, word out of Montreal is he fully intends to stay in the CFL for next year. Second,

he has a personality that is even more low key than that of Dick Jauron. Trestman is cerebral.

He has integrity. But he's not a commanding presence. He makes Jauron look almost dynamic.

Because of the Jauron experience, I think the Bills are going to find someone with more overt

leadership qualities for their next coach.

Nevertheless, Trestman's credentials are impressive, and he would be an excellent choice in

the right NFL situation.

The Alouettes are lighting up the CFL. They lead the league in almost every offensive

category, with 33.3 points a game, 390 yards a game, 290 passing yards. Montreal QB Anthony

Calvillo, a 37-year-old from Utah State, has a 108.4 passer rating and the Als have 33 TD

passes and six INTs. Calvillo is second in CFL history in TD passes behind only Damon Allen.

Montreal plays in a CFL semifinal today versus the B.C. Lions.

Trestman, 47, has been around a long time. His first QB coaching gig was with Bernie Kosar

at the University of Miami in 1983. He had passing-game success as a coordinator with the

Niners, Lions, Cardinals and Raiders. He has big boosters in Steve Young and Rich Gannon.

Gannon was NFL Most Valuable Player under Trestman in 2002, the year Oakland went to the Super

Bowl.

Maybe Oakland would be a good fit for Trestman.

Peters up, down

Here's what we're hearing on how left tackle Jason Peters is playing in Philadelphia

through nine games:

He has been inconsistent. The concerns some had about how he would react to getting the big

contract seem well-founded. He hurt his knee earlier in the season and declined to go back in

the game even though he appeared to be well enough to play. He hurt his ankle two weeks ago,

then told the coaches in pregame warm-ups before last Sunday's game against the Chargers that

it still was bothering him. He was deactivated. That doesn't play well in Philly, where former

Eagles right tackle Jon Runyan once played an entire season with a fractured tailbone. By

unofficial count he has given up three sacks. On the other hand, he was decent versus the

Giants three weeks ago and played pretty well against Dallas two weeks ago. So the jury

remains out.

Gruden, ESPN

It sounds like Jon Gruden is dead serious about sitting out from coaching for the next

couple years. Gruden just signed a contract extension with ESPN to stay with Monday Night

Football. He told the Cleveland Plain Dealer he will take the next two years off.

"This has really been a great experience for me," Gruden said of his broadcast work. "I've

had a chance to see the game from a different angle. I'm thankful for the opportunities I've

had. But my wounds are still open, man. I'm still in some ways depressed that I'm not on the

field."

Gruden was blindsided by his firing from the Tampa job last Jan. 17, and it still stings.

And he's still collecting paychecks from the Glazer family for two more years.

Belichick's odds

Can't resist looking backward at Bill Belichick's decision to go for it on fourth-and-2

from his own 28 with 2:08 to go in Indianapolis last week. The odds of converting a

fourth-and-2 situation overall are 60 percent. Now, the Colts weren't too focused on defending

deep, since the Pats had to get the 2 yards and were very likely to play for the first-down

sticks. The odds of converting a two-point conversion were 46 percent (79 of 170) from 2006 to

'08. The Pats' punter has a net average of 35 yards this year. Odds are a punt puts the ball

at the Colts' 37.

So weigh that against the odds of Peyton Manning driving for a touchdown in the last two

minutes from his own 37. It's debatable. I say Manning's odds in that situation are better

than 50 percent.

It was a tough call. It's fair to say it was the wrong call, because the Pats did not make it.

But it was not a stupid call, by any means.

Great Peyton

The comeback win versus New England was just the latest in a long line of miraculous

escapes by Manning. The Colts were down, 31-14, two plays into the fourth quarter versus the

Pats.

Ho hum. Last year they were down, 27-10, at Houston with less than five minutes left and

won. Two years ago they were down, 15-0, at Minnesota late in the third and won. In the AFC

title game three years ago, they trailed the Pats, 21-3, at the half and won. And in 2003 they

trailed Tampa, 35-14, with 4:10 left and won in overtime, 38-35. That was the first time in

history a team trailed by 21 with less than five minutes left and won.

Good ol' Bud

Titans owner Bud Adams flashed a middle finger in fun and in public before last week's game

versus Buffalo. In 2000, he directed one at former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier as the Titans

previewed a highlight video of their '99 Super Bowl season.

When showing off a sample of the AFC championship ring the Titans would wear, Adams was

asked what he would do if he ever won a Super Bowl ring. He pointed at a Houston Oilers AFL

championship ring on his right hand, then to the sample ring on his left hand.

Then he held up the middle finger on his right hand and said: "I'll put it on the middle

finger and say to the mayor of Houston to take a look at it."

Adams later apologized for that incident as well.

Onside kicks

The NFL and Adams spent good money on a full-page ad (B18) in today's News to make

amends for Adams giving Buffalo "the bird." Memo to my bosses: I'll see if I can get Wayne

Weaver to repeat the trick this week.

The two unbeaten teams — Indianapolis and New Orleans — are just the

third pair in NFL history to start a season 9-0. The others were Detroit and Chicago in 1934

and the Giants and San Francisco in 1990.

The Colts have won 18 straight, tied for the second longest streak behind New

England's 21. Getting to 22 won't be easy. The next four for Indy: at Baltimore, at Houston,

then home versus Tennessee and Denver.

There are nine QBs with a passer rating of 95 or better, the most through 10 weeks

since 1970. They are: Brett Favre, Drew Brees, Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Matt Schaub,

Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger and Donovan McNabb.

Jim Haslett's Florida Tuskers take their 6-0 record into the UFL Championship Game

on Friday against the 4-2 Las Vegas Locomotives, quarterbacked by J.P. Losman. The game is in

Las Vegas.