Cardiac Horns battle-tested, but can they keep winning?

Want to save some time and not miss the best part of the Texas-Iowa State game Saturday?

Here's a suggestion: Tune in for the final two minutes.

It's where the best drama is reserved.

Call them the cardiac Longhorns, masters of the last-minute finish. That doesn't mean they're always winning in the final minute, but it's always entertaining. Four of the past five games have been decided in the final seconds.

Think Cameron Dicker's field goal to beat Oklahoma, the wild endings against Baylor and West Virginia, and the big finish in Lubbock. This year's seniors have seen their share of past heartbreakers at the end of games, including the loss to UCLA at Jerry World in 2014 and Nick Rose's missed extra point against Cal in 2015.

They're battle-tested if anything. I guess that comes with suffering through the highs and lows that have come since Mack Brown left at the end of 2013.

Twenty-six seniors will take their final bow at DKR on Saturday. "Those guys have seen a lot in their time here on the Forty Acres, been through a lot, sacrificed a lot," Tom Herman said Monday.

And later: "These guys realize, I think, more than the young guys, how different this team is compared to teams of the past, teams that they've been associated with."

Very true, plus seniors such as Chris Nelson, Charles Omenihu, Andrew Beck, Gary Johnson, Breckyn Hager, P.J. Locke and Jerrod Heard — who sacrificed personal glory at quarterback for what ended up being a backup wide receiver spot — have not only elevated the program this season but raised the bar in the expectation department for future teams.

And for Texas, there's lots of football left. The Horns still have Big 12 title aspirations.

"As tired as we are, as banged up as we are, now is not the time to try to take a deep breath," Herman said. "We have 12 days left in the regular season. Then hopefully a couple postseason games after that. These guys are fully aware of what this team is capable of doing, because they have seen what the other teams that they have been on have been like and the culture in that locker room, and they know the potential of this team, and I think they're hellbent on making sure that this team achieves its potential."

The guess here is Texas wins out, West Virginia loses to Oklahoma to end the regular season and this group of seniors gets a chance to beat OU twice in the same season.

And now, some NFL snippets:

• Dak Prescott is a franchise quarterback now after that win Sunday night over Philly? Slow down. No, Zeke Elliott blew up, and that defense got after Carson Wentz. Hold off on writing that check, Jerry.

• Did Tom Brady finally get old? Watching the Patriots get punked 34-10 by the resurgent Tennessee Titans moved the pendulum ever closer to Father Time's direction. Brady completed 21 of 41 passes for 254 yards and no touchdowns before being lifted midway through the fourth quarter.

• Remember when the New Orleans Saints won a Super Bowl after Hurricane Katrina ravaged their city? A similar storyline could be taking place in Los Angeles, where the Rams and Chargers are both bound for the playoffs. I could see the Rams winning it all in storybook fashion.

• Prayers go out to the family of Diana Massey, my former college co-worker, whose husband died after Kansas City's win over the Arizona Cardinals. Diana's daughter Brittany is the girlfriend of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II.