Every Sunday evening throughout the 2011 NFL season I’ll compile quick-hit reactions from the day that was in football. I vow to always overreact, side with sensationalism over rationalism, and draw conclusions based on small sample sizes instead of cold, hard facts. It’s the only way I know how to write…

- Carlos Rogers is having a resurgence in San Francisco? People left this guy for dead coming out of Washington and all he’s done this year is be the Niners’ best cornerback. He clinched the Niners’ win over the Giants in my eyes. San Francisco had just taken a 20-13 lead early in the fourth quarter when he picked off Eli Manning (his second of the day) deep in Niner territory. A couple plays later Kendall Hunter raced 17 yards for a touchdown in order to give San Fran a 27-13 lead in an eventual 27-20 victory. The Niners have been getting big plays like that out of their defense all season. They obviously proved today that they’re for real.

- Do you know who’s not for real? The Buffalo Bills. I have zero confidence that they’ll turn things around, party because of their defense and partly because of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Everyone knew Buffalo’s defense would be overmatched most Sundays and they have been. And everyone knew Fitzpatrick was only going to lead the Bills so far. He was brutal last week and even worse today. It’s struck midnight on this fairytale, which is a shame because I could watch Fred Jackson run all day. Dude is siiiick.

- The Cardinals parted with a starting cornerback in Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, a second-round pick in 2012, and $65 million in order secure Kevin Kolb as their starting quarterback this season. And John Skelton has two of their three wins on the season. Incredible.

- If you looked hard enough, you probably saw the Ravens’ loss to Seattle coming. Baltimore just swept Pittsburgh and had to travel cross-country to play a Seahawks team that is usually competitive at home. I figured the Ravens would suffer a letdown but the fact that they didn’t lead at any point today was a little jarring. With losses to Tennessee and Seattle as well as a near loss to Arizona at home, it would appear as though John Harbaugh’s team plays down to its competition.

- Speaking of the clock turning Midnight, it’s probably about time the Bengals come back to earth. Don’t get me wrong: they fought hard today against Pittsburgh and gave the Steelers a game until the end. But cornerback Leon Hall looks like he’s out for the season and I just don’t see Cincinnati being able to finish this race on top. That said, the Bengals certainly have something to build off of. Andy Dalton was poised today and A.J. Green is a freaking star in the making.

- Does anyone else feel like the Houston Texans are the NFL equivalent to the Clemson Tigers? You keep waiting for both teams to eventually crash and burn and yet, both keep winning. Granted, Clemson did lose to Georgia Tech a couple of weeks ago and almost dropped its second game to Wake Forest on Saturday but still, you get the point. I keep waiting for the Texans to eventually stumble and they keep racking up double-digit wins without Andre Johnson. Finally, it would seem, we’ll get to see Houston in the postseason.

- If you’re one of the people who is defending Mike Smith’s decision to go for it on fourth and one from his own 29-yard line in overtime, let me remind you that it’s simple risk vs. reward. If the Falcons pick up that first down, they still have at least 40 yards to go to get into field goal range to possibly win the game. If they don’t pick up the first down, well, we saw what happened when they didn’t. It was a stupid call by a head coach that was simply trying to get lucky. Smith and Mike Mularkey played not to lose the entire game and all of a sudden they decide that they’re going to take a big risk. It was just a stupid decision by a team without a true identity.

- Saint Peters of Joseph, Chris Johnson is alive.

- Huge win for the Saints today but there’s still something off with the boys from Naw’lins. They managed to squander a 10-point lead in under five minutes and if it hadn’t been for Mike Smith’s stupid decision to go for it in overtime, who knows if they would have walked out of the Georgia Dome with a victory. I have no doubt that they’ll win the NFC South because the Falcons still don’t know what they are offensively. But I’m not sure if the Saints can go into Green Bay in the playoffs and win a huge game on the road. Again, there’s just something off.

- You can always count on Michael Vick to mail it in when his team is seemingly out of playoff contention. Granted, his receivers didn’t do him any favors by dropping the ball multiple times in the first half and he was without DeSean Jackson, who was benched after missing a team meeting. But Vick looked completely turned off by the thought of playing football today. In a lot of ways, he is the exact same player as he was in Atlanta and Philadelphia is now paying for his shortcomings as a player. (UPDATE: Apparently Vick played with two broken ribs, which he sustained on the game’s second play. Thus, I take back what I said about him mailing it in. Any player that stays in a professional football game with two broken ribs has a bigger pair than I do. Well done, Mike.)

- Tim Tebow threw eight passes, completed just two of them and was the winning quarterback today in Kansas City. I don’t even care what his numbers are outside of the fact that he’s now 3-1 as the starter. I just want to sit back and watch guys like Phil Simms’ head explode that Tebow keeps winning. These talking heads want to debate about whether or not Tebow will ever be a good passer. That was never a debate. People have said from the start that his motion is too funky for him to be a good passer and yet these media members keep boasting about how he’ll fail. And yet…3-1 as a starter. I love it. Nobody can explain how the dinosaurs became extinct and how Tebow is winning. Tim Tebow: #winning.

- I realize the Niners are a very good football team but leave it to the Giants to beat the Patriots on the road and then erase a lot of the good vibes that have surrounded New York the past week by losing today. Freakin’ Giants.

- The NFC South is now a one-team race. The Saints are clearly the best team in the division, as the Falcons are still suffering an identity crisis and the Bucs are just plain bad. Tampa Bay’s front office thought it could get by without making any significant upgrades in the offseason and figured the team would just win 10 games again. Whoops. Turns out Josh Freeman is going to need more help, Bucs.

- This comment was made by one of our regular readers, Jester of the Apocalypse, earlier this week. He’s a huge Browns fan and was commenting on my Week 10 preview in which I wrote, “this is a game [vs. the Rams] the Browns should win.” Said Jester: You underestimate my Brownies knack for clutching defeat out of the jaws of victory . . . How absolutely, positively appropriate given the debacle that happened in Cleveland today.

- Even after their performance today I’m still not sold on the Cowboys. Outside of their miraculous victory against the Niners in Week 2, they still haven’t beaten a team of substance. I realize the Bills have a winning record but they’re on a downslide. Three weeks ago the ‘Boys were pummeled by a Philadelphia team that has clearly given up on the season and their other losses have coming against New England, Detroit and the Jets. That said, Dallas still has games against Washington, Miami, Arizona, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia and thus, the playoffs are still well within their reach. I’m just sayin’ I’m not sold. And this is coming from a guy who predicted them to win the NFC East this year.

- Wow Matthew Stafford was bad today. Granted, he was playing with a fractured index finger and 25-30mph wind gusts but still – wow. Two of his four interceptions were taken back for touchdowns by the Bears, who are now suddenly 6-3 on the season following two huge wins. If Chicago’s offense line can continue to play as well as it has, there’s no reason to believe Lovie Smith’s team won’t make it as a Wild Card.

- All I want for Thanksgiving is for Larry Fitzgerald to have a quarterback willing to throw him the ball every down. Because his seven-catch, 146-yard, two-touchdown performance today proved once again that he can completely take over a game if he gets enough opportunities.

- One week later, the Steelers finally get their big defensive stop to preserve a win.

- Two of the Seahawks’ three wins this year have come against the Giants and Ravens. And yet, they lose to the Browns, 6-3. The NFL is a funny league.

Entering Sunday night, most pundits would have agreed that the Steelers’ front seven is probably the best in football. Observers know that Pittsburgh can be had through the air (as long as you stayed away from Troy Polomalu), but that was if you figured out a way to neutralize their pass rush, of course.

Well, Tom Brady and the Patriots figured out a way to neutralize the Steelers’ rush in a lopsided 39-26 victory in Pittsburgh on Sunday night. And not only that, but they laid out a blueprint on how other teams can do the same.

Chris Collinsworth said it best during the broadcast when he mentioned how the Steelers “like to play in a phone booth.” They want teams to try to line up and run the ball right at them. And when they stop the run, they want their opponents to be one-dimensional so that defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau can disguise where the pressure is coming from and frustrate the quarterback.

But the Patriots turned their game with the Steelers into a track meet. Brady spread the ball out, worked the middle of the field, found receivers on the outside for quick gains and often set his offense up with short down-and-distances all night. His offensive line was also outstanding, as they picked up the Steelers’ blitzing linebackers and allowed Brady to work through all of his progressions.

Defenses can’t give any quarterback time to throw. When they give someone like Brady time, they might as well be signing their own death wish.

Granted, not every team can do what Bill Belichick’s Patriots can do. But the NFL is a copycat league and you can bet offensive coordinators that have the unenviable task of facing the Steelers over the next two months will be dissecting that tape. Pittsburgh won’t play that bad defensively every week, but suddenly they look a little vulnerable on that side of the ball.

Jerry Jones would have fired Wade Phillips a month ago if he knew the Cowboys would have played as well all season under Jason Garrett as they did in New York on Sunday.

The Cowboys routed the Giants 33-20 in Garrett’s debut. Even though Dallas’ win was only by a 13-point margin, I use the term “routed” because many believed that this New York team was the best in the NFC coming into this game. (Not to mention the Cowboys have looked like an utter train wreck for most of the season.)

There really was no secret to how the Cowboys dismantled the Giants: they stayed balanced offensively, they won the turnover battle and they produced some big plays. The Giants turned the ball over three times, including once at the goal line as Bryan McCann picked off Eli Manning and returned the gift 101 yards for a touchdown. It was the longest interception return for a score in franchise history for the Cowboys.

Jon Kitna, who clearly located a genie sometime this week and cashed in one of his three wishes, threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns. Rookie Dez Bryant caught three passes for 104 yards and a score, while Felix Jones (who saw a lot of playing time after Marion Barber was benched) caught three passes for 85 yards and one touchdown.

Outside of Mario Manningham (10 receptions, 91 yards, 1 TD), it was a day the Giants would like to forget. Dallas punched them in the mouth from the opening bell and New York had no response. They tried to make it close at the end, but a Hakeen Nicks touchdown was wiped off the board because of a holding penalty and then Manning turned the ball over twice on the Giants’ next two possessions to ice the game for the Cowboys. (Although a botched snap was part of the blame for one of Manning’s turnovers.)

It’s not completely shocking that a divisional rival was able to walk into the New Meadowlands (a dark New Meadowlands at that, as the stadium suffered a couple of power outages during the game) and beat the Giants. What’s shocking is that the divisional rival was a Dallas team that had just fired its head coach earlier in the week and had played like crap in its previous three games. If I’m Tom Coughlin, I don’t even watch the reply from this loss. Just pitch the tape in the trash and look ahead to next week.

In a game only an Area Football fan could be proud of, the Broncos hammered the clueless Chiefs 49-29 on Sunday.

Matt Cassel threw for a career-high 469 yards and four touchdowns, while Kyle Orton threw for 296 yards and four scores. Neither quarterback was picked off, although it’s important to note that they were playing against air.

Dwayne Bowe’s assault on defensive backfields continued, as he caught 13 passes for 186 yards and two scores. He now has eight touchdowns in his last five games, which is enough to make any fantasy owner who dropped or traded him earlier in the year when he was laying goose eggs want to take a bath with a toaster.

With Kansas City’s loss, the AFC West is now up for grabs. The Chiefs and Raiders are now tied for first place at 5-4, while the Chargers (who we all know will win this juggernaut of a division with a 9-7 record when it’s all said and done) are 4-5. At 3-6, even the Broncos aren’t totally out of the picture if they can string a couple of wins together, and this is a team that gave up 59 points to Oakland three weeks ago.

Speaking of bad football, the Seahawks crushed the Cardinals 36-18 on Sunday. The win, coupled with a Rams’ loss to the 49ers (23-20 in overtime), puts Seattle back in first place at 5-4 in the NFC West. If you can find a worse division in football, let me know.

Sam Bradford put together a nice drive late in the fourth quarter to push the game into overtime. Of course, had St. Louis’ defense held on to a 7-point lead with about six minutes remaining in the game, the Rams wouldn’t had needed Bradford’s heroics. The Rams remain winless on the road this year.

Troy Smith has given the 49ers new life at quarterback. He completed 17-of-28 passes for 356 yards and one touchdown, while compiling a 116.7 QB rating. He also had a couple of touchdowns wiped off the board because of penalties. Despite their back-to-back wins, San Francisco remains a poorly coached team and Mike Singletary’s in-game management should continue to draw criticism from the media.

Imagine what the Bengals could do if they bothered to show up for 60 minutes.

For the third time in four weeks, the Bengals spotted their opponent a sizable lead before coming back in the second half. And for the third time in four weeks, their comeback attempt fell short.

Cincy held Peyton Manning to 185 yards passing and zero touchdowns, but Carson Palmer gift-wrapped a 23-17 win for the Colts by throwing three interceptions (one of which was returned for a 31-yard touchdown by Kelvin Hayden). All told, the Bengals finished with five turnovers on the day and despite outgaining the Colts and holding Manning in check, Cincinnati lost its sixth game in a row.

For Indianapolis, tight end Jacob Tamme continues to blossom into a nice young player for the Colts. He caught seven passes for 73 yards, which was good for a 10.4 yards-per-catch average. He was targeted 10 times by Manning, more than any other Colts’ receiver.

Next Sunday makes for an interesting matchup in Foxboro, as Indianapolis travels to New England to take on the Patriots. Depending on what happens Sunday night in Pittsburgh, the Pats could be looking to avoid a three-game losing streak when the Colts come to down. (Monday morning update: Uh, or maybe not.)

Somewhere in Pittsburgh right now, Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick just read Randy Moss’ stat line from his first game as a Titan and said, “Suck it, Randy.”

After being a malcontent in his previous two stops, Moss is now working on his third team this season and he’s already 0-1. While he was targeted four times in the Titans’ 29-17 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday, he caught just one pass for 26 yards in his Tennessee debut.

And that catch didn’t come until the Titans’ final drive in the fourth quarter.

Moss spent most of the day riding the bench and he even admitted after the game that he wasn’t as good as he could be.

“My debut, man, it was actually a bad game for me. I think I just tried to be as much help to them as I could, just try to play within the offense. So I felt comfortable out there, but I don’t think that I had a very good overall game. I think that my blocking really wasn’t that good, where I wanted it to be. So I’ll just go back at the drawing board and come back again next week.”

As for the players who did factor into the game, Chad Henne completed 19-of-28 passes for 240 yards with one touchdown and an interception. The only reason Henne was in the game was because Chad Pennington (who’s season, if not career, is likely over with) hurt his shoulder just two snaps into the first quarter. Then Henne injured his knee in the second half and had to be replaced by Tyler Thigpen, who completed 4-of-6 passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.

Henne, who was on crutches following the game, will have an MRI on his knee Sunday night. If he can’t go, Thigpen would get the nod against the Bears next week.

The win was big for the Dolphins, who remain two games behind the Jets in the division. The loss drops the Titans a game back of the Colts in both the win and loss columns, and into a tie with the Jaguars at 5-4.

A tie has probably never looked so good to the Cleveland Browns.

A sister-kisser was what the Browns were headed for in overtime against the Jets on Sunday. All they needed to do was prevent the Jets from converting a huge play and then watch Nick Folk miss another field goal (which he was certain to do after missing three during the game) to secure a 20-20 finish in Cleveland.

But on a 1st-and-10 from Cleveland’s 37-yard line with just 24 seconds left in OT, Mark Sanchez drilled a quick-slant to Santonio Holmes, who made a nice move on a defender and raced 37 yards for a touchdown to give New York a 26-20 victory. Even if Holmes catches the ball and is tackled, Folk was looking at a long field goal and with everything being out of his range on Sunday, he probably would have missed. Instead, the Jets get a rare overtime touchdown to win the game and now Folk can sleep a little easier tonight.

Of course, had Chansi Stuckey not fumbled earlier in the extra frame, then the Browns probably would have went on to win the game.

On a 2nd-and-6 from Cleveland’s 40-yard line, Stuckey caught a pass from Colt McCoy that would have given the Browns a first down and put them in field goal range. But as Stuckey tried to pick up more yards, he was stripped on the play and the Jets recovered.

It’s hard to blame Stuckey’s effort, but his fumble wound up being a devastating mistake – one that prevented the Browns from attempting a field goal to win the game.

Granted, one play doesn’t determine the outcome of any sporting event. The Browns had other chances to win or at the very least, tie the game, and they blew those too. That said, something that isn’t lost here is the way McCoy engineered a 10-play, 59-yard drive that tied the game late in the fourth quarter after the Browns had been down 20-13 for most of the second half.

McCoy was 6-for-9 on the drive, which included a 3-yard touchdown to Mohammad Massaquoi and a great 18-yard pass to tight end Evan Moore that set up the game-tying score. What was most impressive about the pass to Moore was that Jets’ cornerback Darrelle Revis was blanketing him on the play. There the two players were on Revis Island and it was Moore who had his feet up on a lounge chair while soaking in the sun and sipping a pina colada.

Win, lose or draw, the Browns have to be thrilled with the play of McCoy so far. He’s poised, accurate and dare I say, fearless. Call it youthful ignorance, but he had no problem testing guys like Revis and Antonio Cromartie as he and the Browns scored 20 points on one of the best defenses in the league. Not bad for a third round pick whom everyone said had a noodle for an arm and would be limited at the next level.

There’s only one man who should be calling a miracle Hail Mary touchdown at the end of a football game and that’s Gus Johnson.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYY HE CAUGHT IT! HE CAUGHT IT! UNBELIEVABLE! HE CAUGHT IT!”

Nobody will ever blame that man for not bringing enough emotion and enthusiasm to his job.

Houston cornerback Glover Quin did nothing wrong on the final play of the Texans-Jaguars game on Sunday. With the game tied 24-24 and overtime almost a certainty as the Jaguars lined at midfield, David Garrard heaved a desperation pass to the end zone with no time on the clock. Quin leapt high into the air and batted the ball back towards the field, just as defensive backs are taught to do.

The only problem is that he batted it right into the waiting arms of Jacksonville receiver Mike Thomas, who secured the 50-yard touchdown and an unbelievable 31-24 victory for the Jaguars.

Had Quin intercepted the pass, the game would have gone to overtime. But how many times are defensive backs scolded for not doing exactly what he did, which is bat the ball forward? The play was, by the very definition of the rule, a fluke. (Not to mention the play of the year.)

Perhaps even more unlikely than the touchdown is the fact that Jacksonville is now only one game behind Indianapolis in the AFC South. Pretty remarkable considering that this is the same Jaguars team that looked completely helpless against the Titans three weeks ago on Monday Night Football.

On the flip side, the loss drops Houston to 4-5 and into last place in the division. They’ve lost three in a row and coach Gary Kubiak has no answers on how to fix the worst defense in the NFL.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYY HE CAUGHT IT! HE CAUGHT IT! UNBELIEVABLE! HE CAUGHT IT!”

Thanks, Gus.

Reggie Bush has been criticized throughout his career for not being able to run between the tackles, but nobody can argue what he can do in open space.

In the Saints’ 28-23 win over the Rams on Sunday, Bush rushed six times for 83 yards and a touchdown, while adding two receptions for 15 yards and a score. He showed his incredible athleticism several times throughout the game, including on a 15-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter in which he launched himself into the end zone.

Bush has taken a backseat to Drew Brees, the Saints’ bevy of receivers and even the play of the defense under new coordinator Gregg Williams. But he remains a key cog in this explosive Saints’ offense and as long as he stays healthy and continues to accept his role in a crowded Saints’ backfield, he’ll remain a perfect fit for Sean Payton’s offense.

While the Saints improved to 9-0 on the season, they’ve suffered some injuries the past couple weeks and I think that’s why their games of been close of late. They should have destroyed a bad Rams team and instead, they allowed St. Louis to hang around until the fourth quarter.

Hopefully key players like Darren Sharper (who didn’t play today due to an injury) and Tracy Porter (who suffered an injury during the game) won’t be out long and the Saints can continue to play perfect football.