Old dogs can learn new tricks in the NFL

It only took seven weeks for us to reconfirm the obvious.

Tom Brady can still throw. Tony Dungy can still coach. And Brett Favre is going to suit up for this week’s game.

But the first seven weeks of the 2007 NFL season have done as much unscrambling as they have reminding. Several people throughout the league have already reinvented themselves, as hard as that is to do.

Here is a look at a few of the guys that we had all figured out … or not.

n Wade Phillips. We were right there with you. When the Cowboys bid adieu to Bill Parcells and went to the other end of the coaching spectrum, it seemed that the well-traveled Phillips was destined to fail. He already had enough chances, hadn’t he? And then Jerry Jones goes and hands him the keys to another franchise.

Well, wouldn’t you know it? The son of a Bum has the Cowboys back among the league’s elite, doing what Parcells could not during his short tenure in Big D. Like Bill Belichick, Dick Vermeil and Marty Schottenheimer before him, Phillips has shown that an old dog can learn new tricks.

n Randy Moss. Guys like him are what make Hall of Fame voting so intense. He was the best receiver in the game for three or four years, and yet his career seemed to be over before his 30th birthday. While guys like Andre Reed and Art Monk earn their merits based solely on longevity, Moss was the kind of receiver whose here-today-gone-tomorrow career looked like it might be a blip on the NFL radar.

Now all that early Hall of Fame talk doesn’t seem so far-fetched. After an unceremonious end to his career as a Viking, and two — or was it three? — forgotten seasons in Oakland, Moss is back among the elite receivers in the game. The lanky speedster has taken the Patriots to another level, which didn’t seem possible.

n Sean Taylor. The first three years of the safety’s career in Washington were overshadowed by a DUI, two separate spitting incidents and a love-hate — well, hate-hate — relationship with the D.C. media.

But after going to his first Pro Bowl last season, Taylor has taken another step toward greatness. He’s already intercepted five passes while leading the Redskins to a 4-2 start.

If Joe Gibbs were to profile the personality of his perfect player, Taylor’s probably wouldn’t fit. But when it comes to raw skills, Gibbs couldn’t find a better guy to take to battle.

n Tony Romo. To many, Romo’s 2006 season was a complete bust. Many Cowboys fans forgot that great start he had after taking over for Drew Bledsoe and remembered how he faded down the stretch. If his first season as starter could be wrapped up in a single image, it was Romo losing his grip on a snap in field-goal formation in the first round of the playoffs.

For all the good he had done, Romo’s 2006 season died there on the turf at Qwest Field.

Nine months later, he’s given birth to a new title: NFC’s best quarterback. Romo has the Cowboys off to an improbable start and, perhaps even more remarkable, he gets along with moody wideout Terrell Owens. Now that’s something worthy of a game ball.

n Derek Anderson. Heading into this season, the Oregon State product looked like a career backup who might not even have much of a future. By the end of this season, he may be the most sought-after quarterback on the free-agent market.

After the Browns dumped Charlie Frye one game into the season, Anderson took the reins and has put on quite a show. He’s been so good that nobody’s calling for homeboy Brady Quinn to get thrown to the wolves anymore.

n Vinny Testaverde. The ageless wonder is turning into the Roger Clemens of football. While he’s no Brett Favre, Testaverde has found a way to play some of his best football after the age of 40. With Jake Delhomme and David Carr sidelined by injuries, the 43-year-old Testaverde has come to the rescue and put the Panthers at the center of the NFC playoff picture.

Now here’s the scary part: When Testaverde was accepting the Heisman Trophy in Dec. 1986, a woman named Edna Okoye was three months pregnant with a child (Amobi) who now plays for the Houston Texans. And the Panthers were still nine years from joining the NFL as an expansion team.

Of course, there are plenty of other storylines that went just as expected. The Oakland Raiders are in last place, Rex Grossman is a bust and the NFC West is still a mess.

Some things never change.

NFL games this week

Seahawks: Bye week

N.Y. Giants (5-2) vs. Miami (0-7), Sunday, 10 a.m.: The NFL is showcasing its biggest stars in front of a Wembley Stadium crowd in London. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our honor to present … Cleo Lemon. OK, so maybe the Dolphins aren’t exactly the Colts, but better there than here. We don’t fancy this game will amount to much. The Giants are jolly good, while the Dolphins are simply rubbish. Pick: Giants, 24-10.

Pittsburgh (4-2) at Cincinnati (2-4), Sunday, 10 a.m.: What a turd this game turned out to be. It wasn’t that long ago that these were the fiercest rivals in the league, and now they’re not even in the same league in terms of quality of play. Heck, we won’t even have Joey Porter (in Miami) to slug it out with Willie Anderson (sidelined by injury) after the game. Sigh. Pick: Steelers, 31-20.

Washington (4-2) at New England (7-0), Sunday, 1:15 p.m.: Hail to the NFC, hail victory! Yeah, right. While both teams are serious contenders for the postseason, the Redskins are part of the NFC’s 12-car pileup and the Patriots are driving way ahead of the pack. The Redskins have the kind of game plan that could slow New England down, but their lack of a running game will bite them in the end. Then there’s New England, who doesn’t even need a running game. Pick: Patriots, 27-21.

Scott Johnson is The Herald’s pro football writer