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Byline: BILLY WITZ

This past weekend's Biggest Game of the Year, Indianapolis' 45-37 win over Cincinnati, was a great advertisement for the NFL.

There was Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer trading touchdown passes, the second-highest scoring half in NFL history, and proposals of all kinds - from Chad Johnson taking a knee before a cheerleader to the Colts suggesting they'll make a serious run at going undefeated.

It was great theater, really.

The only problem was that such a wildly entertaining game was played off Broadway. That is, the nation's two biggest media markets - New York and Los Angeles - were kept in the dark thanks to the NFL's often draconian TV policy.

In New York, they were stuck with the Jets in their 27-0 loss at Denver, which they finished with their fifth quarterback of the season - someone named Kliff Kingsbury. Or, their season put another way, Kaput.

In Los Angeles, viewers were stuck with the Chargers' 48-10 thumping of Buffalo. On the other hand, it was a lovely day to be outside.

So, if you lived in New York or Los Angeles and wanted to see the Colts-Bengals show, you had three options: buy the Direct TV package, head to a sports bar with satellite, or wait to watch the final minutes when the Bills and Jets had been put out of their misery.

No matter how bad the games, the local CBS affiliates were required to stay until the end.

``We find that the vast majority of fans are most interested in their local teams and, therefore, we prefer that stations stick with the local team's games to their conclusion,'' NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.

That's a debatable argument in New York, where presumably there are some Jets fans, but it's a dubious one here. The last we checked the Chargers haven't been in Los Angeles since 1960.

Last season, though, the Chargers asked the NFL to enforce its rules that make Los Angeles the team's secondary market. This is because L.A. television signals reach within 75 miles of Qualcomm Stadium.

Thus, if the Chargers are on the road or if they sell out, they're required to be on TV in Los Angeles. Conversely, if they're blacked out in San Diego, they can't be seen here.

Thus far that hasn't been much of a problem. At least the Chargers are good, they've played a marquee schedule and their games often go to the wire.

But then there are days like Sunday. Or in three weeks, when instead of seeing Kansas City and Denver - a game that could have significant playoff implications - the Dolphins and Chargers likely will be shown here.

After years of digging in its heels, the NFL finally is giving in to the networks next season with a flexible schedule, a format that in the final six weeks of the season will allow the networks to swap out dogs for good games, wieners for winners.

Little good that did Sunday, which served as a reminder of the old days when the NFL actually was here. The choices then didn't go far beyond a bad Rams game in the morning, a bad Raiders game in the afternoon or no football at all thanks to a blackout.

If the NFL really is interested in coming back to Los Angeles, there are better advertisements.

Elsewhere around the league in Week 11:

--Rookie Kyle Orton has been a splendid manager of the Chicago's offense during its six-game winning streak, but if the Bears are truly Super Bowl contenders they're going to need Rex Grossman, who returned to practice last week after breaking his leg in August. Consider this: Peyton Manning threw for 365 yards Sunday - or 25 more than Orton has passed for in the past three games.

--This, Daniel Snyder, is what would be known as karma - watching the Redskins get taken out of the playoff race by two coaches you've fired: the Raiders' Norv Turner this past weekend and the Chargers' Marty Schottenheimer on Sunday. Fortunately, South Carolina isn't on the schedule.

--LaDainian Tomlinson scored two touchdowns when Schottenheimer kept the offense on the field on fourth down inside the 2-yard line. Gambling against the overmatched Bills was like playing with house money, but the notoriously conservative Schottenheimer raised some eyebrows in the locker room. ``Maybe times, they are a changin''' quarterback Drew Brees said with a laugh.

--The last time Indianapolis trailed was 3-0 to Jacksonville in the fourth quarter of Week 2 - or so long ago it was back when everyone was wondering what was wrong with the Colts' offense. In the past five games, Indianapolis has scored 45, 38, 40, 31 and 45 points.

--If the Eagles had insisted Donovan McNabb undergo hernia surgery after their loss at Dallas on Oct. 9, when it was clearly affecting his play, they likely would be getting him back this week. And how much worse off could Philadelphia have been? Its only win in five subsequent games came when it returned a blocked field goal to beat San Diego, and - this might be wishful thinking, but - if McNabb had been rehabbing, perhaps Terrell Owens wouldn't have had a reason to open his mouth. With McNabb and Owens, the Eagles would have a real shot at winning the last six games on their schedule.