Smith -- who had gone on to become a graduate assistant coach at Purdue -- would visit Grigson and deliver pep talks, trying to lift the spirits of a young college student who was beyond down. One day, Smith also gave Grigson the signed Bible that his mother once had given to him.

It was a gift to help Grigson endure and one that, through the years, Smith forgot. Grigson, though, never did.

As the two men worked their way up the ranks in the NFL, Grigson told Smith he had a gift that he wanted to give him at the scouting combine in Indianapolis in 2006. When the two men failed to connect there due to busy schedules, Grigson shipped a package to Smith that contained the Bible. Grigson was sending it back for Smith to give to his oldest son, Robert.

Smith and Grigson have been instrumental in building two of football's best teams. Smith has stockpiled enough talent to make the Texans a certified Super Bowl contender, while Grigson has put back together a franchise that had fallen into disrepair. Now, for the first time, they will square off as general managers the way they once did at practice at Purdue.

"I honestly don't know what it will be like, but I know this: Rick has assembled an extremely talented team," Grigson texted this week.

One of the greatest gifts Smith gave Grigson during his tough college times was the emotional support he needed. Grigson remembered how Smith handled it and learned from it.

"That experience actually helped me do my best to help Chuck [Pagano] get through his hospital stay during the season," Grigson said, referring to the Colts' head coach who has spent his season battling leukemia.

Smith helped teach Grigson, who helped teach Pagano, who helped teach many how to fight with courage and dignity as two old friends from West Lafayette, Ind., meet again.

On to this week's 10 Spot:

1. Can Ryan respond? Moments after Carolina crushed Atlanta 30-20 last Sunday, Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn got right in the face of Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and taunted him.

Hardy and Munnerlyn told Ryan to get off their home field, though in much more profane language. They verbally bullied Ryan right in front of other players and coaches, as if the Panthers' beatdown of the Falcons wasn't humiliating enough.

Now it's time for Ryan to fight back. On Showdown Sunday, when the NFL gives us Packers-Bears, Colts-Texans, Cowboys-Steelers, Broncos-Ravens and Giants-Falcons, no player is under more scrutiny and pressure than Ryan.

Over the past four games, Ryan has thrown seven interceptions -- as many as he threw in the Falcons' first nine games this season. Over the past four games, Ryan has thrown only four touchdowns, not the pace that placed him right smack in the middle of the NFL's Most Valuable Player discussion during the first half of the season, when he threw 20 touchdowns during Atlanta's first nine games.

Ryan is so close to helping the Falcons clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs yet so far from having his team viewed as a real heavyweight and threat. Even NBC commentator Rodney Harrison said Sunday night that no one in the league fears the Falcons. Instead, other teams try to instill the fear, as Hardy and Munnerlyn did.

Once the postseason begins, the biggest challenge will belong to Falcons head coach Mike Smith, who will have to convince his team and the public why this postseason will be different than the previous three one-and-dones for Atlanta. But the biggest challenge Sunday belongs to Ryan, who must slay the team that toppled Atlanta last postseason and steamrolled Drew Brees and the Saints last Sunday.

Ryan has been struggling. His team's 28th-ranked rushing offense hasn't helped. Key injuries to safety William Moore and cornerback Brent Grimes haven't helped. And the Falcons also have developed a real and unwelcome habit of playing to the level of their competition. But Ryan and the Falcons haven't helped themselves, either.

Now is the time to do it, on Showdown Sunday, against the defending world champions, at a time when Ryan is being pushed around. At some point, the more-fiery-than-people-realize Ryan has to push back.

2. Race for the bottom: With all the talk of playoff tiebreakers and clinchers, it's easy to overlook maybe the most significant race left this season.

It's the (un)amazing race, the battle for the No. 1 overall pick.

If the season ended today, Kansas City would own the No. 1 selection and Jacksonville would pick No. 2. And of course, almost as if it is par for the course, even when one of those teams wins, it loses.

There is no Andrew Luck, no Robert Griffin III, no sure thing at the top of the draft who can remake the roster and mood in Kansas City or Jacksonville. As good as Utah defensive tackle Star Lotulelei, Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones, Alabama guard Chance Warmack and Texas A&M defensive end Damontre Moore are, none is creating the type of buzz that any of this year's sterling rookie quarterbacks did.

As one NFL executive said last week, this will be a bottom-heavy draft in which teams might be able to help themselves as much with the No. 12 pick as easily as with the No. 2 pick. But someone still has to win No. 1.

Kansas City plays at Oakland, hosts the Colts, then finishes at Denver in a game the Broncos might not be playing for anything. Jacksonville closes out its schedule at Miami, at home against the Patriots, and at Tennessee. Jacksonville might hold a slight scheduling advantage down the stretch, but this race is too close to call.

Oh, the excitement. Oh, the drama. One team soon will clinch No. 1 in a season in which there is no clear-cut No. 1 pick.