Ultimately, one player doesn’t make or break a team in terms of wins and losses, but Trent Edwards is getting awfully close to being the exception to the rule.

After throwing three interceptions in the first half of the Buffalo Bills’ 29-27 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Monday night, Edwards played like a scared schoolgirl the rest of the game. He constantly threw check down passes to Marshawn Lynch instead of going downfield and rarely attempted a pass more than 10 yards.

But it’s not fair to hang the Bills’ loss solely on Edwards. Rian Lindell missed a field goal in the closing seconds that probably would have won the game. Fred Jackson coughed up the ball in Cleveland territory. The defense allowed Jerome Harrison to bust off a 72-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t just Edwards that lost the game, but he had more than enough opportunities to make plays and he didn’t because he was too scared. His offensive line gave him loads of time and replays showed that he had open receivers to throw to all game, but he just couldn’t pull the trigger. Have you ever seen a quarterback so afraid to throw downfield? His confidence is totally shot in the wake of Buffalo’s four game losing streak.

The Bills were a nice early season surprise, but their playoff hopes are fading fast.

Conversely, this was a nice win for Cleveland. Not only did Brady Quinn get his first win of his career, but the Browns also didn’t joke in the end. They finally played four quarters and while it got hairy in the fourth quarter, they finally closed a team out and won a tight ball game. (Of course if Lindell makes the field goal, all of this is a moot point and we’re talking about another massive Browns’ collapse.)

With their 14-10 victory over division rival Washington on Sunday night, the Dallas Cowboys may have saved their season.

Tony Romo was back in the lineup and while he did provide a boost to the offense, the Cowboys can thank their defense and Marion Barber for this win. Barber rushed for 104 yards (most of it coming in the fourth quarter) and essentially became the Cowboys’ “closer” when they took the lead with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Dallas also got a tremendous effort from its defense, which not only held the Redskins to 10 points, but it also overcame poor field position after two Romo interceptions. (One pick wasn’t his fault – Washington intercepted a deflected pass after Terrell Owens allowed it to bounce off his hands.)

Getting nose tackle Jay Ratliff back was huge for the “Boys. He finished with two sacks on the night, including one that moved Washington back and helped cause a missed field goal.

The Cowboys still have a tough road to travel to make the postseason, but this win was massive. In their six remaining games, four of them are at home and their next two games are against the 49ers and Seahawks – two teams they should beat. If they can build some momentum heading into a rough final stretch of games – at Pittsburgh, vs. the Giants, vs. the Ravens, at Philadelphia – maybe they can grab one of the two Wild Card spots in the NFC.

As for the Redskins, they’re certainly not dead at 6-4, but they’re stumbling after losing their past two games. They have a similar stretch of games, but they do have to travel cross-country next week when they play the Seahawks, and they face tough defenses in the Giants, Ravens and Eagles over the final six games.

The NFC Wild card race is going to be a tight one.

Many football pundits were calling for a Jaguars’ upset over the Titans on Sunday and when Jacksonville took a 14-3 lead at halftime, it appeared that they were going to be right.

But Tennessee proved that it could come from behind and beat an opponent despite being dominated in the first half. The Titans scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Jags 24-14 to improve to 10-0 on the season.

Stop waiting for this team to crash – it’s not going to happen. Will they remain unbeaten all season? Probably not, but it doesn’t appear that any team is good enough to beat them right now either, outside of the New York Giants.

Some say that Kerry Collins can’t beat opponents with his arm – that he’s only a “game manager.” But he proved against the Colts and Jaguars over the past couple weeks that he can lead Tennessee to victories using his arm. He can still make all the necessary throws and while Jeff Fisher doesn’t necessarily want Collins to attempt 30-plus passes a game, he can do it (and win) if opponents take away the run.

As for the Jaguars – they’re toast. The Titans are obviously running away with the division and Indy has resurrected its season after winning its third straight game on Sunday. What a disastrous season for Jack Del Rio.

Even though the Chicago Bears have been one of the most injury-riddled teams in the NFL this season, it’s staggering how bad the defense has played. Granted, their 37-3 loss to the Packers wasn’t entirely the defense’s fault (Green Bay did score a defensive touchdown), but they certainly deserve most of the blame.

Chicago was absolutely shredded on the ground by Ryan Grant, who rushed for 145 yards on 25 carries, while Brandon Jackson added 50 yards on just 10 carries. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Bears also allowed Aaron Rodgers to throw for 227 yards and two touchdowns.

Again, injuries have ransacked this team, but at some point you can’t use that as an excuse. And it doesn’t matter who’s playing, there’s no excuse for poor tackling. This was a huge divisional game and the Bears allowed the Packers to do whatever they wanted both on the ground and through the air.

It was also amazing to watch the Bears constantly line up in two-tight end formations and still not be able to run the ball. This wasn’t the Minnesota Vikings front seven they were playing – Green Bay has been carved up all year on the ground.

Conversely, this win saved the season for the Packers, at least for the time being. Not only did they beat a division opponent, but the previously surging Vikings lost as well, meaning there’s a three-way tie in the North. The Pack need Grant and the defense to step up every week just as they did on Sunday vs. Chicago.

Tama Bay’s 19-13 win over Minnesota on Sunday was yet another example of how Monte Kiffin’s unit is the most underrated defense in the NFL.

The stats are one thing – the Bucs held Gus Frerotte to only 138 yards passing and Adrian Peterson to only 85 yards rushing – but you have to remember that Tampa has the most conservative offense in the league, too. They don’t score a ton of points and they don’t have many explosive playmakers, either. Jon Gruden’s offense relies on the running game and Jeff Garcia not turning the ball over. That’s it. The rest is in the defense’s hands to win the game.

At 8-2, Carolina has been awfully impressive and Matt Ryan has made Atlanta an instant contender in just his rookie season. But with how good the Bucs’ defense is playing, I wouldn’t be surprised if they win the NFC South again this year.

Tampa might be the blandest team in football, but they play their game better than anyone. They keep their game plan simple, don’t turn the ball over and play outstanding defense. They’ve also beaten the Panthers and Falcons earlier in the year and match up incredibly well against both of those teams. The only drawback is that they have to face each of those teams on the road over the next couple months.

The Bucs probably don’t have enough offensive firepower to make a deep postseason run, but barring a collapse they’ll make the playoffs and they’re going to be incredibly tough to beat. (Especially if they get a home playoff game.)

What a pitiful performance by the Eagles on Sunday. They were fortunate to come away with a 13-13 tie in Cincinnati. If the Bengals had anything remotely closely resembling a football team, they would have beaten Philadelphia by two touchdowns.

Donovan McNabb doesn’t get enough credit for how good he is and he takes a ton of undeserved criticism. But he was absolutely atrocious on Sunday. He may have thrown for 339 yards, but his three interceptions and one fumble killed scoring drives and cost the Eagles an opportunity to come away with a much-needed win instead of a sister-kisser.

I realize the Bengals have played much better the past couple weeks than they did earlier in the season, but Philly has to win this game. They were coming off a huge loss at home against the Giants and needed a victory to keep pace in the NFC playoff race. Instead, they played uninspired and allowed Ryan Fitzpatrick to complete 29 of 44 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown.

The Eagles are too inconsistent to be a legit playoff contender. The Giants are running away with the division and the NFC South will produce at least one of the Wild Card teams, if not both. Philly really needed a win against the hapless Bengals.

Just when everybody and their mother come out with the, “these guys are for real articles” about the Ravens and Falcons, both teams failed huge tests in Week 11.

Baltimore definitely had the tougher challenge playing in New York against the defending champs, but the Giants’ defense made Joe Flacco look every bit like the rookie he is in their 30-10 victory. The Ravens fell behind so quickly that they had to abandon the run, which certainly didn’t help Flacco’s cause, and the Baltimore defense was atrocious in allowing 206 yards on the ground.

Even though Atlanta’s loss was more closely contested than Baltimore’s was (Denver won 24-20), the Falcons played with little fire. The defense that picked off Drew Brees three times last week allowed Jay Cutler (19 of 27 for 216 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) and the Broncos’ receivers to do whatever they wanted. Matt Ryan also floated a pass to Dre’ Bly for an interception, which is something the rookie quarterback has struggled with this season. And Mike Murlarkey’s game plan to attack Denver’s banged up defense was highly questionable to say the least. (Jason Snelling in the Wild Cat formation, Mike? Really?)

That said, the Broncos’ defense deserves a ton of credit, too. This was a unit that was missing six starters (including Champ Bailey) and they held a pretty good Atlanta offense relatively in check. Outside of two big runs, they did a fantastic job against Michael Turner and if they get this kind of defensive effort every week, the Broncos can compete with anyone.

Back to the Ravens and Falcons – maybe this is the week where reality sets in. These two teams have been a great story this year, but Atlanta plays in a stacked NFC South and Baltimore has only beaten one team with a winning record (Miami). It’s easy to root for Flacco and Ryan, so hopefully these teams learn from these defeats and continue to push for a playoff spot. But these were two tough losses for teams trying to prove that they’re legit contenders.

Brett Favre gets traded to Jets + Tom Brady goes down for the season in Week 1 = Jets AFC East Champions. Right? Yes, although it certainly hasn’t been that easy.

Despite Patriots’ QB Matt Cassel throwing for a career-high 400 yards and three touchdowns, Jay Feely’s 34-yard field goal in overtime gave the Jets a thrilling 34-31 victory Thursday night in Foxboro. With the win, the Jets took over sole possession of first place in the AFC East at 7-3 on the year.

While watching the game (yes, I am one of the 34 people who have the NFL Network), I got the impression that the power has shifted a bit in the division. Not to say that New England is out of it because clearly Cassel is more than capable of leading the Pats to the playoffs, but Jet Favre has provided a spark in New York that had been missing at the quarterback position.

After the Jets decided to make the game interesting by allowing Cassel and the Patriots to march right up the field for a game-tying touchdown with only seconds remaining in regulation, New York won the opening toss and marched right up the field. I don’t want to get into all of the “vintage Favre” crap, but the drive was indicative of what Brett has done throughout his entire career. He made plays when the game was on the line and propelled his team to victory. Even though he has resurrected the Dolphins this season, I doubt Chad Pennington would have lead the Jets in the same fashion Thursday night.

The Jets face their toughest test of the season next week when they travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans. If they can muster a victory, they should be on easy street the rest of the year: vs. Denver, at. San Fran, vs. Buffalo, at Seattle, vs. Miami. Of those games, the Jets get the Bills and Dolphins – two division opponents – at home.

With their victory over the Pats, the Jets have now set themselves up to win the division. But obviously Bill Belichick and New England won’t go quietly so this is shaping up for a great battle down the stretch.