DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING…

- “If only the Rams could now somehow beat the Saints on Sunday, this would be the greatest sports weekend EVER,” uttered the random St. Louis fan on Friday night after the Cardinals defeated the Rangers in Game 7 of the World Series. How do the previously winless Rams defeat a team in the Saints that just racked up 62 points on the Colts? Well, that’s pretty easy. When you can’t stop Steven Jackson even though you know he’s going to get the ball every down, you lose two turnovers over on your side of the field, and you don’t protect your quarterback, you’re going to lose to most opponents regardless of whether or not they have any wins. The Rams won this game because of Jackson and their defense, which sacked Drew Brees six times and returned one of his passes for a game-clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter. Chris Long absolutely abused Charles Brown, who should have been given more help because he clearly needed it. The Rams clearly haven’t checked out and they’ll continue to fight every Sunday. That was apparent for anyone who saw Jackson flip out on his offensive line late in the second half following yet another false start penalty. What a sweet first win this was for a city that is on cloud nine right now.

- It’s not really shocking that the 2-6 Panthers lost another game. But considering whom they were playing and given that they were 3.5-point home favorites, it was a little surprising to see Carolina go down in flames to Minnesota on Sunday. Christian Ponder’s 102.7 passer rating and 8.4 yards per attempt were both season-highs for the Vikings, who apparently just should have started the kid from Week 1 and bypassed acquiring Donovan McNabb altogether. Ponder threw for 236 yards and a touchdown on 18-of-28 passing while earning his first career win thanks in large part to Olindo Mare’s inability to hit a 31-yard chip shot. The miss, which came with under a minute left to play, cost the Panthers an opportunity to force overtime. Good thing Carolina GM Marty Hurney spent so much money on Mare this offseason. Dude was totally worth it.

AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM…

- Tebowmania was rather short lived. One week after fueling a fourth-quarter comeback in an 18-15 win over the Dolphins, Tebow and the Broncos were absolutely embarrassed by the Lions in a 45-10 rout at Sports Authority Champs Dick’s Sporting Goods Field at Mile High. Tebow did nothing to silence the nearly 4 billion people who think he can’t throw, can’t be a NFL-caliber quarterback, and can’t buckle his chinstrap without having assistance. Thanks to his longer-than-necessary windup, he was sacked seven times and single-handedly accounted for 14 Detroit points off turnovers. He fumbled three times on the day and was intercepted once, which was returned 100 yards by Chris Houston for a Lions’ touchdown. Thanks to Eric Decker (six receptions, 72 yards, 1 TD), who is used to saving quarterbacks coming from the University of Minnesota, Tebow’s stat line was much better than his performance on the field. While he did throw for one touchdown and rushed for 63 yards on 10 carries, he was simply brutal.

- The blueprint to beating the Saints is still pretty clear: Generate pressure on Drew Brees using four down linemen and create turnovers. The Cowboys accomplished this when they ruined the Saints’ perfect season in Week 15 of 2009, and the Browns also did it last year when they forced four turnovers and produced three sacks in a 30-17 Week 7 shocker at the Superdome. It’s easier said than done to bring the heat with only four linemen and force the Saints to turn the ball over. But the Rams once again proved today that limiting Brees’ effectiveness isn’t rocket science.

- The Patriots may have cost themselves home field advantage in the playoffs. While the Steelers played inspired football, New England was flat from the start. Bill Belichick has to do something about his secondary, which is incredibly thin and hemorrhaging yards at the moment. It’s hard for Tom Brady and the explosive Pats’ offense to score when they don’t have the ball. The defense couldn’t get off the field as the New England offense only held the ball for three plays in the first quarter. While they certainly didn’t get blown out, there weren’t a lot of positives to be taken from this game for Belichick and Co. They’ll just have to regroup and start fresh on Monday, especially considering they’re now tied with the Bills again in the AFC East.

– Once again Pete Carroll has me completely befuddled. Tarvaris Jackson was healthy enough to start today against Cincinnati. In fact, he was even named the starter in the pre-game. But who trots onto the field for Seattle’s first possession? Well Charlie Whitehurst, of course. Why announce that Jackson is starting and then play Whitehurst instead? Who did Carroll think he was fooling? The Bengals don’t care if they’re going up against Jackson or Whitehurst. First of all, both quarterbacks are pretty brutal so it’s not like Cincinnati is going to be thrown for a loop if one is announced as the starter and the other one winds up playing. Secondly, the Bengals likely prepared for both quarterbacks during the week so Pistol Pete fooled nobody with his little switch-a-roo (if that was his intention, to deceive, that is). Either way, Carroll continues to pay for his decision to not bring back Matt Hasselbeck this offseason. Why anyone would think Jackson is a starter or Whitehurst was worth a third-round pick is beyond me. (Not that Carroll had anything to do with acquiring Whitehurst.) The Jets didn’t even have to give up a third-rounder for Santonio Holmes and he was a former Super Bowl MVP for cribb’s sake.

- As much as I hate to say it because I’ve rooted for the kid since he was a freshman at Texas, I don’t think Colt McCoy is the long-term answer for the Browns. That might be an overreaction on my part, but he continues to struggle with downfield throws and passes outside the numbers. He was 22-of-34 for 241 yards with one touchdown and one interception against the Niners today, which certainly isn’t bad. Not when you consider the Browns didn’t have a running game because of injuries and considering San Francisco’s defense has played exceptionally well all season. But what happens when the Browns get deeper into November and December and they have to trust that McCoy will beat the Steelers and Ravens in nasty weather with limited arm-strength? As I’ve written many times on this site, McCoy is the prototypical West Coast Offense quarterback in that he’s accurate and makes good decisions with the football (for the most part). But as Phil Simms has lamented over the course of his broadcast career, Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks can make all of the throws. I realize that doesn’t fit Trent Dilfer but Trent Dilfer also played for a team whose defense was one of the best the NFL has ever seen. The last time I checked, Cleveland’s defense isn’t exactly on the same level as the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. Thus, at some point Mike Holmgren will have to make a decision about whether or not McCoy is the franchise’s best option under center.

- The Dolphins, who were winless coming into the day, mind you, held a 17-10 lead after three quarters and decided to get conservative in the fourth. Why? They’re winless. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain by pressing their foot firmly to the floor and staying aggressive. Instead, the Miami coaching staff decided to play soft in coverage in hopes of avoiding the big play and the Giants scored 10 unanswered points in the final quarter to win the game. This game affirms what everyone already knew: That the Dolphins don’t have the right men in place to lead this team on the field.

- It’s pretty telling that Javon Ringer received almost all of the Titans’ fourth-quarter snaps today against the Colts. Maybe that’s because Ringer fought for his 60 yards on 14 carries while Chris Johnson often gave up on half of his 14 runs when he knew he wasn’t going to break a big one. Sunday marked the fourth time in seven weeks that Johnson failed to rush for at least 50 yards and the sixth time in seven weeks that he failed to rush for even 55 yards. Mike Munchak said in his post-game presser that the Titans would use a backfield committee going forward, which is smart. If Johnson isn’t going to raise his level of production, then he shouldn’t play over more-willing runners like Ringer. Johnson and the Titans have seemingly flipped roles. Now it’s the team that isn’t getting what they deserve.

- With their 30-27 loss to the Ravens on Sunday, the Cardinals have now blown second-half leads in losses to the Redskins, Seahawks, Giants, and now Baltimore. Kevin Kolb did some good things despite being constantly under pressure today. He hit Larry Fitzgerald on a 66-yard competition and scrambled to find Early Doucet for a touchdown to give Arizona a 24-3 lead late in the second quarter. But Kolb remains awfully inconsistent – too inconsistent for a quarterback that the Cardinals surrendered draft picks and a ton of money in order to acquire from Philadelphia. Arizona paid too big of a price for him to play like Rex Grossman.

- Cam Newton completes 22 of 35 pass attempts for 290 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions, runs for a team-high 53 yards and the Panthers still find a way to lose. Thanks, defense!

- The Redskins were extremely banged up offensively coming into their game with the Bills on Sunday. But it takes some effort not to score a single point against Buffalo’s suspect defense. The Skins had a field goal blocked in the second quarter and despite marching into Buffalo territory twice in the fourth quarter, they didn’t produce a score. John Beck completed 20 of his 33 pass attempts for 208 yards but his day was marred by several poor underthrows and interceptions on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter. Suddenly Mike Shanahan’s coveted running game has disappeared as well. The Skins amassed just 26 yards on 12 carries. Yikes.

“CHAMPIONSHIP”…

- The Steelers’ 25-17 win over the Patriots on Sunday doesn’t mean that Pittsburgh is now on a crash course for the Super Bowl again. It does not mean that they’re the best team in their conference or even in their own division. But given their struggles over the years with spread teams like New England and Green Bay, this was a signature win for the Steelers and one that could propel them to big things in the second half. Make no mistake: they dominated the Patriots in all facets today. Ben Roethlisberger (365 yards, 2 TDs) absolutely shredded New England’s secondary and while Tom Brady did complete 69% of his passes and threw for two scores, Pittsburgh’s defense held him to under 200 yards passing. Given the Ravens’ struggles the past two weeks, the Steelers suddenly look very powerful again in the AFC North.

- Think the Lions were a little steamed coming into day? My God, man. Forty-five points, 376 total yards, two defensive touchdowns, seven sacks and a cure for Athlete’s Foot later and suddenly Detroit has everyone’s attention again. Granted, Tim Tebow did hand them the game on a silver platter but the ’85 Bears weren’t beating the Lions on this day. Jim Schwartz still has to figure out how to plug his leaky run defense but there’s really nothing for him or any Lion fan to complain about right now. It had to be a great sight watching Matthew Stafford throw for three touchdowns after he hobbled off the field at the end of the game last week. What a day for the silver and Honolulu blue.

- For my weekly filling of crow I’d like a serving of Andy Dalton and a side of humiliation, please. This morning I wrote that the rookie would struggle in a rough Seattle environment (rough, ha!) and all he did was throw for two touchdowns in a 34-12 rout of the hapless Seahawks. The Bengals, who once again played well defensively and on special teams, are now 5-2 and 3-1 on the road. That’s impressive considering many people felt they wouldn’t win five games all year and seeing as how a rookie quarterback has already led them to three wins on the road. It’ll be interesting to see how Cincy plays in back-to-back games against the Steelers and Ravens next month.

- In less than a week the Ravens have gone from being Super Bowl contenders to a team that couldn’t beat the Jaguars and had to mount a massive comeback in order to beat the one-win Cardinals. But at least a) they did win the game today and b) Joe Flacco rebounded from a brutal start to finish 31-of-51 for 336 yards. It was also good to see Ray Rice (three touchdowns) receive 25 touches, although the Ravens could certainly still boost his opportunities. Baltimore needs to cut down on the mistakes (the Ravens were flagged 11 times for 99 yards on Sunday) but at least it didn’t suffer back-to-back losses against two teams that will probably be picking in the top 10 next April.

- The Niners’ plan for victory is pretty simple these days, isn’t it? Put the game on the defense’s shoulders, give the ball to Frank Gore 25-plus times and don’t let Alex Smith do anything to ruin the game. That approach will work for the regular season but it’ll be interesting to see how the Niners fare when they reach the postseason and Smith has to throw the ball to beat teams.

- It wasn’t all good for the Texans on Sunday but they did what they had to do against an inferior Jacksonville team. They only allowed rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert to complete 33 percent of his passes and held Maurice Jones-Drew (18 carries, 63 yards) in check. They also rode Arian Foster (33 carries, 112 yards, 1 TD) to another victory without much need for Andre Johnson, who should be back next week. With Cleveland and another match with Jacksonville coming up, Houston is in a good spot to increase its lead over Tennessee in the AFC South.

- What in God’s name can you say about the Giants at this point? Everyone left them for dead at the start of the year because of the amount of injuries they had on both sides of the ball. Then they beat the Eagles on the road as a 9-point underdog and jumped out to a small lead in the NFC East. Then they needed a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Cardinals, they lost to the Seahawks at home, needed a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Bills, and then needed yet another fourth-quarter rally to beat winless Miami on Sunday. Do you laud them for their resiliency or hammer them for constantly playing down to their competition? I want to say the Patriots will crush them next Sunday but knowing the Giants they’ll probably win a nail-bitter. I just can’t figure them out.

- With the Patriots having a tough go of things in Pittsburgh, the Bills did exactly what they needed to today: Beat a bad Washington team in order to keep the heat on New England in the AFC East. The Bills out-gained the Redskins 390-178 in total yards, forced two turnovers and rushed for 138 yards as a team. Ryan Fitzpatrick also completed 21-of-27 passes for 262 yards while Fred Jackson rushed for 120 yards on 26 carries. Outside of their two turnovers on the day, this was win was about as perfect as they come for Buffalo, which finally showed up defensively.

Only Derek Anderson would come in as a replacement, lead his team to a great comeback and stab them in the face with the opportunity for victory presented itself late in the game.

Let me explain.

Midway through the second quarter, Anderson replaced an ineffective Max Hall, who had just thrown a pick-6 to Aqib Talib to give Tampa a 21-14 lead. Anderson then took the Cardinals up the field on his first possession, but a pass attempt to Larry Fitzgerald fell incomplete on a 4th-and-2 from the Tampa Bay 3-yard line and the Bucs wound up kicking a field goal to take a 24-14 halftime lead.

After Tampa built a 31-14 lead midway through the third, Larod Stephens-Howling scored on a 30-yard touchdown run to cut the Bucs’ lead down to 31-21, then Arizona scored on a Gerald Hayes 21-yard fumble return to make the score 31-28. Early in the fourth, Anderson found Fitzgerald on a 5-yard touchdown pass to give the Cardinals a 35-31 lead, although Tampa scored to make it 38-35 with just over five minutes remaining.

After an Anderson interception (not his fault – the receiver had it bounce off his hands and straight into the loving arms of a defender) and a bone-headed decision by Bucs’ head coach Raheem Morris to try a long field goal attempt, Anderson marched the Cards up the field and into the red zone. With just over two minutes remaining, Anderson had the Cardinals knocking on the door of a touchdown or at the very least, a game-tying field goal.

But Derek Anderson, in all of his Derek Anderson glory, threw a pass into quadruple coverage trying to get the ball to Fitzgerald and was promptly picked off by Talib.

Game. Set. Match. Derek Anderson. Bucs win 38-35.

Cardinals need a freaking quarterback.

Brett Favre left the Vikings’ 28-18 loss to the Patriots in the fourth quarter on Sunday after taking a hard hit to his chin/jaw. He was examined on the sidelines and was then carted off the field in the fetal position. (That’s not a stab at Favre, I just don’t know how else to describe the position he was in.)

Tarvaris Jackson replaced Favre and immediately threw a touchdown pass to Naufahu Tahi, then converted a 2-point conversation pass to Percy Harvin to cut New England’s lead to 21-18. Minnesota’s defense then allowed the Patriots to march right up the field and score with under two minutes to play to put the game out of reach.

Despite suffering from ankle, elbow and biceps issues, as well as acne, foot fungus and bad breath, Favre managed to complete 22-of-32 passes for 259 yards before coming out with the laceration on his jaw.

What’s interesting is that his ankle/foot injury never appeared to be a big problem, yet Brad Childress gave the impression throughout the week that Favre may not play. If the decoy was intentional, it was a smart move by Childress because it forced New England to prepare for two different quarterbacks. But because this is Favre and Childress we’re talking about, I don’t think I’m alone in saying that the entire situation was freaking annoying. It basically forced the media to talk about Lord Favre’s consecutive starts streak, which again, was really, really annoying.

It’s been an honor to watch you play, Brett. Now hurry up and retire.

The loss now drops the Vikings to 2-5 and while they’re not completely out of playoff contention, no team has ever made the postseason after starting 2-6. Minnesota hosts a horrendous Arizona team next week, so I’m sure the will-they-or-won’t they, will-he-or-won’t-he torture will continue after the Vikes win next Sunday.

Down 14-3 with less than 20 seconds on the clock before halftime on Sunday, the Cowboys moved the ball to the Jaguars’ 1-yard line and faced a third-and-goal.

Punch the ball in and at 14-10, it’s a whole new game. Fail to convert and the misery that is the 2010 Cowboys’ season continues.

Naturally, the Cowboys settled for the latter.

On 3rd-and-1, Jon Kitna (who is only starting now because the Dallas’ O-line failed to pick up a blitzing Michael Boley last Monday night, which lead to Tony Romo being sidelined for the next 6-8 weeks) spun around and handed the ball off to Marion Barber, who was stuffed at the goal line. On 4th-and-1, Kitna ran into Barber at the exchange and once again, Barber was stuffed at the half-inch line.

Turnover on downs: Jacksonville football.

The two plays didn’t cost Dallas the game (a 35-17 Jaguar beatdown), but they personified what the 2010 season has become for the Cowboys. It’s not only that they fail to execute – they fail to execute because they mentally (and physically, apparently) get in their own way. They can’t block, they can’t tackle, they can’t run simple dive plays like the two Barber failed to score on. They’re just bad. They’re a bad football team.

Just because your starting quarterback is out, doesn’t mean you mail it in. Just because your starting quarterback is out, doesn’t mean you allow David Garrard to throw four touchdown passes and allow your opponent to treat your home field like it’s their own personal Mardi Gras celebration. It’s embarrassing. What the Cowboys did on Sunday was embarrassing.

But should anyone be surprised? This is what the season has come to for Dallas. Poor execution, dumb mistakes and ugly losses. But at this point, it is what it is. Wade Phillips isn’t going anywhere at the moment and Jerry Jones will just have to ride out the rest of the season before he can make wholesale changes.

Too bad he has to watch this monstrosity for another nine weeks.

Even for as banged up as they are, the Green Bay Packers are a damn fine football team. I picked them to win the Super Bowl this year, so this post is in no way intended to downplay their 9-0 victory on Sunday.

But seriously, that’s the best you got, Jets? That’s the best you could do coming off your bye, Rex Ryan?

The Jets outgained the Packers 360 to 237 in total yards, outgained them on the ground (119 to 81) and outgained them through the air (241 to 156). But what the game essentially came down to was one horrendous decision by Ryan to fake a punt on a 4th-and-18 on his own 20-yard line, and three New York turnovers.

I know the Jets only came up a yard short on Sean Weatherford’s fake punt run, but why go for it there? It was so early in the first quarter and the game had no tempo. Punt the ball, play good defense and win the field position game. Don’t take a huge gamble like that and give the Packers the first points in the game.

The Packers only turned one of Mark Sanchez’s two interceptions into points, but coupled with Ryan’s fake punt debacle, the Packers led 6-0 early in the fourth. And because the Jets’ offense couldn’t sustain drives, Crosby’s final field goal with roughly two minutes remaining put the game away.

How could the Jets not muster 10 measly points at home against the most injury-plagued team in the NFL? Again, the Jets were coming off their bye – there’s simply no excuse for them not to score a single point when they had two weeks to prepare for Green Bay. None.

As for the Packers, this was a huge win for their moral. They certainly didn’t dominate New York and they have some serious problems on offense, but they didn’t turn the ball over and they allowed the Jets to beat themselves. For as many injuries as the Packers are dealing with, the end result is the only thing that matters right now and the end result was victory on Sunday.

Donovan McNabb has been to six Pro Bowls, has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Year and has led a team to a Super Bowl.

Rex Grossman has never been to a Pro Bowl, has never been the NFC Offensive Player of the Year and although he did lead a team to the Super Bowl, it was primarily due to his defense and Devin Hester’s return abilities – not his play at quarterback.

So it’s natural that Mike Shanahan would choose Grossman over McNabb to run his two-minute offense down a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

I’m not kidding. You think I’m kidding? I’m not kidding.

With just under two minutes remaining in the Lions’ 37-25 win over the Redskins on Sunday, Shanahan benched McNabb for Grossman, who promptly fumbled on his first play, which led to a 17-yard touchdown return by Ndamukong Suh to ice the game for Detroit.

The details are sketchy at this point, but McNabb definitely wasn’t hurt. He had taken six sacks and threw an interception that led to the Lions’ go-ahead touchdown with just over three minutes remaining in the game, but his offensive line and running game didn’t do him any favors either. Suh, Corey Williams, Kyle Vanden Bosch and Cliff Avril completely dominated the interior of Washington’s offensive line so there wasn’t much McNabb could do. The interception was ill timed, but he still completed 17-of-30 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown. Those aren’t Hall of Fame numbers but he wasn’t Jay Cutler out there either.

Unless McNabb was turning the ball over at a Brett Favre-like pace, there’s really no reason to ever sub Grossman into the game – any game. What did Shanahan think, that Grossman was going to lead the Skins back with a heroic touchdown drive? Grossman hadn’t taken a snap all season and yet there he was, in for McNabb at the most crucial moment in the game.

Look, I could see Shanahan making a move if he had a better option at backup. But this is Rex Grossman we’re talking about. It’s not Kerry Collins, Charlie Batch or even Chris Redman – it’s Rex Grossman. Just why…what the…huh…are you serious?

Shanahan has some explaining to do as the Redskins gear up for their bye.

Brett Favre told SI.com’s Peter King that he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to play against the Packers yesterday because of a groin injury. Favre claims he suffered the injury last week in practice and then re-aggravated it in pregame warm-ups.

“I told T-Jack [backup Tarvaris Jackson] and [offensive coordinator] Darrell Bevell I may not be able to do it,” he said. “I didn’t know if I’d be able to drop back very well. After I aggravated it, there was no way I was going to be able to move around in the pocket very much. We never called one bootleg the whole game. But we made it through OK.”

And now, I wondered, how was the groin four hours and a lot of lost adrenalin later?

“It’s throbbing right now,” he said.

Oh…come…on. Look, I don’t doubt that Favre injured himself in practice (he is 60 years old after all) and then re-injured himself during pregame warm-ups. I also don’t doubt that he told Jackson and Bevell that he was hurt and might not be able to play.

But I don’t buy for a minute that he was going to hold himself out. He wasn’t going to allow a groin injury to get in the way of beating the Packers at Lambeau and if anything, I’m willing to bet that he wanted people to know that he was hurt just so he could build the moment up even more.

Some are going to look at this as the “gritty” Brett playing through pain; I’m sure ESPN is already salivating thinking about the story. But I think this guy has a lot of people fooled.

Maybe I’m being to cynical and over thinking this, but it’s Brett’s comments that bug me the most. If King asked him how he was feeling and Brett said, “Well Pistol Pete, I’m a little sore because of a groin injury I suffered last week,” then I wouldn’t question him because the comment would have been more fly-by.

But no, Brett made damn sure to note that he might not have been able to play. To me, that’s just another prima donna move by one of the more underrated prima donna athletes of all-time.