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.

Patriots @ Steelers, 4:15PM ET
This is an intriguing matchup not only because of the two teams but also due to the individual matches within the game. The Patriots arguably have the most efficient passing attack in the league, but they’ve struggled defending the pass for much of the season. Thanks to Ben Roethlisberger and the big-play ability of Pittsburgh’s receivers, the Steelers could strike for a long score at any point. I think this one will live up to the hype and with a whole slew of garbage matchups on the Week 8 schedule, I hope it does.

Cowboys @ Eagles, 8:20PM ET
It’s time to see how many of the Eagles’ problems Andy Reid was able to iron out over the bye week. Philadelphia looked great against Washington the week before its bye, but Dallas will provide a more difficult challenge than the Redskins did. DeMarco Murray is coming off a breakout game and the Eagles haven’t been able to stop the run all season. If Murray can get going again, the Cowboys have a chance to potentially put the nail in the coffin of their bitter rivals.

Lions @ Broncos, 4:05PM ET
The Lions have more pressing issues to worry about than whether or not Ndamukong Suh is a dirty player. Matthew Stafford (ankle) is hobbled, Jahvid Best (concussion) is out for another week and the defense can’t stop the run. The Broncos might not be the better overall team in this matchup but Tim Tebow has breathed new life into Denver and will be fired up to play at home. This will not be an easy road trip this weekend for the Lions.

Vikings @ Panthers, 1:00PM ET
Rookie quarterbacks will be on display this Sunday in Carolina when the Panthers host the Vikings. Outside of the two interceptions he threw to Charles Woodson in the third quarter last week, the Vikings had to be pleased with Christian Ponder’s first professional start. If Minnesota wants to give Ponder an opportunity to notch his first win, then the Vikes better get Adrian Peterson revved up. Carolina’s run defense has been bad all year and it would be wise to keep Cam Newton on the bench considering how bad Minnesota’s pass defense is.

Chargers @ Chiefs, 8:30PM ET Monday
This matchup certainly got more interesting over the past few weeks. After starting the year 0-3 the Chiefs have rattled off three-straight and who can forget the beating they gave the Chargers on Monday night last season? Of course, they won’t have Jamaal Charles this time around but Jackie Battle is starting to come on as KC’s leading rusher. The Chargers’ offense was blanked in the second half last Sunday against the Jets, leading to speculation about whether or not Philip Rivers may be hurt. If he’s not, then it’s time for him to step up on Monday night in what has turned out to be a pretty big divisional game.

Jaguars @ Texans, 1:00PM ET
Blaine Gabbert has received most of the attention this year in Jacksonville, but it’s been the Jaguar defense that has stolen the show. They absolutely dominated the Ravens on Monday night and thanks to strong play out of linebackers Daryl Smith and Paul Posluszny, Jacksonville ranks sixth in yards allowed this season. The Jags’ defense will certainly be tested this weekend, especially if Andre Johnson returns from the hamstring injury that has held him out for nearly a month.

Cardinals @ Ravens, 1:00PM ET
There was simply no excuse for the Ravens not to score at least two touchdowns and beat the Jaguars last Monday night. Joe Flacco has got to be better than what he’s shown so far this season. His accuracy is way down and last week he completed 21 passes for only 137 yards at 3.6 yards a clip. That’s brutal. It’s great that the Ravens want to get Ray Rice more involved, because they should. But if this team is a legit Super Bowl contender like most say, then Flacco has to raise his level of play. He can start this weekend against an Arizona defense that’s allowing nearly 275 yards per game through the air this season.

Browns @ 49ers, 4:15PM ET
Statistically speaking, the Niners aren’t playing the best defense in the league. They’re 11th in yards allowed per game, second in points, second in rushing yards allowed and 22nd in passing yards allowed. But there’s no doubt that the Niners are playing well in all three areas of the game (run defense, pass defense and pass rush). That said, how far can they go if Frank Gore and the running game can’t carry the offense? Fortunately for Jim Harbaugh and Co., they shouldn’t have to worry about that question this week. Cleveland’s three wins have come against NFL powerhouses Indianapolis, Miami and Seattle. The Browns have wilted against good competition all season.

Redskins @ Bills, 4:05PM ET
The Bills have a huge opportunity to jump back into first place with a win and a New England loss. The Patriots are in Pittsburgh this Sunday, which is certainly not an easy place to play so if they lose and the Bills beat the Redskins, Buffalo and New England will be tied at 5-2 atop the AFC East standings. But first things first:: the Bills need to beat a banged up Washington team in Toronto this Sunday.

Saints @ Rams, 1:00PM ET
No team has allowed more points this season than the Indianapolis Colts. Which team has given up the second most points this year? You guessed it: the St. Louis Rams. If the Cardinals don’t find a way to come back and beat the Rangers in the World Series, it might be a bad sports weekend for the city of St. Louis.

Dolphins @ Giants, 1:00PM ET
Apparently Tony Sparano put his 5,182 square home up for sale this weekend. According to Sparano, he’s selling the house because it’s too big now that his daughter has gone off to college, which is certainly plausible. What’s more plausible, however, is that Sparano isn’t long for Miami following the team’s 0-6 start. With the players seemingly checking out, how long can the front office keep Sparano employed? I don’t want to see anyone lose their jobs, but the writing has been on the wall for weeks.

Colts @ Titans, 1:00PM ET
It’s amazing to think that the Titans have one of the worst rushing games in the league considering they have Chris Johnson as their running back. But it’s been a collection of things that have ruined Johnson’s season up to this point. First and foremost, he wasn’t in football shape when he came into the season because of his holdout, and Tennessee’s run blocking has been brutal this season. The good news is that the Colts have one of the league’s worst run defenses so if the Titans can’t get it going on the ground this Sunday, then they may never get their rushing woes corrected.

Bengals @ Seahawks, 4:15PM ET
The Bengals have a golden opportunity to get to 5-2 on the year, which would be incredible when you consider how many pundits didn’t think they would win five games all season. That said, a trip to Seattle is nothing to sneeze at. No matter how poorly the Seahawks might be playing, they always raise the level of their play when they’re at home. Andy Dalton has been decent this season but the rookie has never played in an environment like Seattle’s before. Of course, Cincy’s defense has been solid all year and given the Hawks’ QB troubles, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bengals roll.

DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING…

- Earlier this week the Broncos said that they’re not going to change their offense with Tim Tebow taking over at quarterback. Then on Sunday, they kept their game plan ultra-conservative and hardly called any screen passes or high-percentage throws to help build his confidence while being dominated for 56 minutes by a winless Miami team. Do they want the kid to fail? Are they trying to prove that they were right by not starting him over Kyle Orton? Are they trying to stick it to all of the fans that have basically begged the organization to play Tebow? Either way, I absolutely love what the former Gator did today. Despite his coaching staff’s unwillingness to put him in position to succeed, he found a way to pull off a miraculous victory with some help from his defense and kicker Matt Prater. It wasn’t hard to figure that he would score a couple of touchdowns and compile over 200 total yards. But the way he did it was marvelous. The Broncos did nothing until four minutes left in the fourth, when he basically willed them to victory. He’s too nice of a guy to say it, but that had to feel good to stick it up his critics’ asses for just one week.

- While Denver refused to change its offense in efforts to help Tebow, Minnesota did a nice job of using designed roll-outs and plays that maximized rookie Christian Ponder’s strengths at quarterback. The rookie will be seeing Charles Woodson (2 INTs) in his nightmares for a while, but he showed a lot of grit bouncing back in the fourth quarter to nearly lead the Vikings to an upset over the still-undefeated Packers. Ponder is clearly an upgrade over Donovan McNabb and his performance today was definitely something to build on. Green Bay’s defense has struggled all year but for Ponder to have Minnesota in position to win in the fourth quarter was something not a lot of people expected.

- Anyone who watched DeMarco Murray play at Oklahoma knew he was a versatile player with a bright future. He did everything for the Sooners in his time at OU and the Cowboys really got a steal last April when they selected him with the 71st overall pick in the third-round. Nobody envisioned him rushing for 253 yards (a Dallas single-game record) in one game, but it was only a matter of time before Murray turned heads. Granted, 91 of those yards came on one play and he did face a pathetic St. Louis run defense. But given all the issues the Cowboys have had at running back over the years, his feat today had to be refreshing for Jerry Jones and Co. Here’s hoping the 23-year-old back can avoid injuries and build off of this incredible performance.

- I made it clear in my predictions this week that I liked the Chiefs to at least cover the 3.5-point spread in Oakland. But 28-0 with two 50-yard pick-sixes? Yeah, no – didn’t see that coming. Suddenly Kansas City is only a game back of San Diego and Oakland in the win column. That’s quite a contrast to where the Chiefs were a month ago, when head coach Todd Haley was nearly fired for the team’s ugly 0-3 start.

AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM…

- Carson Palmer’s three-interception performance today proved that the Raiders made the right decision by not starting him on Sunday. But Kyle Boller’s three-interception day also proved that the Raiders absolutely had to make that trade to acquire Palmer from Cincinnati. There’s no question that they gave up way too much for the 31-year-old with declining skills. But given the Chargers’ penchant for underachieving, the Raiders have to go for it this year. And Boller would have instantly taken them out of playoff contention if he became the full-time starter. The Chiefs are better than what they showed the first three weeks of the season but there’s no excuse for Oakland’s offense to be shut out at home.

- It’s hard not to appreciate how Jim Schwartz is trying to change the mentality in Detroit. The Lions have lost for a very long time and Schwartz is trying to change the entire attitude of the organization. But maybe it’s time for him to turn it down a notch. Last week he got into a scuffle with another head coach and today a group of his players had to be separated from some of the Atlanta players before the game. I don’t know which team started it, but the Falcons have a knack for starting slow on the road so why rile them up? The Lions are a good team but they’ve really showed their inexperience the past two weeks, which includes Schwartz. After their perfect 5-0 start, they’ve now lost two straight games and Matthew Stafford is hurt again. It’ll be interesting to see how this team handles adversity under their fiery coach.

- If the Colts were to play Oklahoma State next Saturday in Stillwater, I wouldn’t be shocked if Indy was an underdog. And I wouldn’t hesitate to lay the points on the Cowboys either. Sunday night’s debacle in New Orleans was just another example among a million of examples for why Peyton Manning is so important to the Colts.

- I wasn’t at LP Field today but I heard on the radio that fans in Tennessee were booing Chris Johnson. If that’s the case, I don’t blame them one bit. Two straight years Johnson demanded more money because he felt underpaid, which he was. I don’t bemoan him for wanting a contract that represented what he was worth as a player. That said, he got paid so now it’s time for him to start living up to said contract. It doesn’t look like he stayed in shape throughout his holdout and it has showed thus far. The Titans have a golden opportunity to make a playoff run when nobody expected they would. But they’re not going anywhere with Kenny Britt sidelined for the year and Johnson underachieving. If he wasn’t in shape at the start of the season because of his holdout, he better get shape and start helping his team. There’s no excuse for a player that good to only rush for 1.8 yards per carry.

- Tony Sparano isn’t solely at fault for the state of the Miami Dolphins. But someone has to be held accountable for not only today’s collapse against Denver, but the entire season up to this point. The Broncos couldn’t move the ball for 56 minutes and somehow the Dolphins finished the day still winless. If the players haven’t checked out already, they will soon. The organization needs to get some fresh blood in there and see if they can’t muster a few positive takeaways out of this season. I just don’t see how Sparano can hold onto his job for much longer.

- For one half today in East Rutherford, it looked like Norv Turner had finally figured out what was wrong with his offense. But after scoring 21 points against Rex Ryan’s defense, the Chargers were completely shut out in the second-half. Granted, the Jets have the best pass defense in the league but Philip Rivers hasn’t looked comfortable in the pocket all season. Now that he has his full compliment of weapons he should be better than he has been. Even in victory he hasn’t looked sharp.

- The Cardinals lost for the fifth straight time but they had to be encouraged by Kevin Kolb’s performance. He threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns, although he was also intercepted once. The Cardinals were going to have a hard time beating the Steelers even if Kolb was perfect, but at least he came out of their bye week and had himself a decent game.

“CHAMPIONSHIP”…

- Sixty-two points? That’s insane. What the Saints did tonight against the Colts was insane. This isn’t LSU versus Indiana – the Colts are a professional football team and New Orleans hung 62 points on them. I realize that Indianapolis will be selecting in the top 5 next April (if not the top 2), but what the Saints did on Sunday night was beyond impressive when you consider Sean Payton wasn’t even calling plays from the sidelines. He was up in the booth relaying calls to his offensive coordinator, who then relayed the plays to Drew Brees (who oh-by-the-way completed 31 of his 35 pass attempts with five touchdowns on the night). Despite all the communication hurdles the Saints still put 62 points on the board. Amazing.

- The Falcons are now 24-1 when Michael Turner carries the ball at least 21 times. That’s why a lot of talking heads in the media say that the Falcons “need to get back to doing what they do best,” which is running the ball with Turner and controlling the clock. Look, that approach is all well and good. Atlanta has proven it can make the playoffs by using Turner as the backbone of the offense. But how have they fared when they’ve gotten to the postseason? The Packers showed everyone last January that if the Falcons can’t beat teams through the air, they’re going to struggle in the playoffs, plain and simple. Outside of two interceptions, Matt Ryan played very well in Atlanta’s win over Detroit today and he bailed the Falcons out of several third-and-long situations. If Mike Mularkey ever decides to put his ego away and allow Ryan to run the no-huddle exclusively, then the Falcons could really start taking it to teams both on the ground and through the air. (Turner’s longest runs this season have all been out of the no-huddle, proving that the Falcons can run the ball out of that offense.) But until then, don’t expect this team to blow anyone out like the Packers, Patriots or Saints. They’re just not built that way under Mularkey. Having said all of that, the team’s win over Detroit today was huge. That was the Falcons first road win of the year, their first back-to-back wins and the first time they’re above .500. They now have two weeks to figure out the rest of their issues and try to make a playoff run in the second half.

- After Plaxico Burress made comments earlier this week indicating that once he and Mark Sanchez get on the same page the Jets’ offense will start rolling, I made some rather snarky remarks in my Week 7 preview. I basically poked fun at Burress for thinking that he and Sanchez’s lack of chemistry was the reason the Jets’ offense had been struggling. Then I laughed, and I laughed, and I laughed. Well you know what? Now nobody’s laughing after Burress caught three touchdown passes in New York’s impressive victory over San Diego. My apologizes, Plax. You see, I’m just not that bright.

- The Packers won again but this is the third-straight week where they looked shaky for an entire half. Three weeks ago the Falcons took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and a 14-6 lead into halftime before Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay back in the second half. Last Sunday Rodgers had a perfect QB rating against the Rams in the first half before he and the Packers completely took their foot off the pedal in the second half. Then today in Minnesota, the Pack were trailing at halftime before rattling off 20 points in the third quarter and holding on for a win. For the most part, the defending Super Bowl champs have made 7-0 look pretty easy. But I wonder if these last three weeks are an indication that their first loss is on the way. At some point an opponent will make them pay for only playing one half.

- Keep holding off, Jerry Angelo. Every time Matt Forte plays like he did today you cost the Bears more money. Seeing how he’s your offense, he will get paid at some point. Might as well just give him a new deal and make everyone happy.

- Huge, huge win for the Texans today in Tennessee. HUGE. They needed a victory like that to help instill confidence that they can win without Andre Johnson and Mario Williams. Imagine if Houston got that kind of effort out of its running backs every week. (Arian Foster rushed for 115 yards and two scores while Ben Tate added 104 yards on 15 carries.)

Former NFL player Marcellus Wiley once told me that if you took Bill Parcells out to a practice field and told him he only had five minutes to evaluate 100 players, he could still tell you the strengths and weaknesses of every man on that field to a T. So it’s not surprising that the “Big Tuna” knew that Rex Ryan was going to be successful in the NFL.

According to a ESPNNewYork.com report, Parcells advised Jets’ GM Mike Tannenbaum to hire Ryan two years ago. In fact, had Parcells not be so close with current Dolphins’ head coach Tony Sparano when they two of them coached together in Dallas, he would have hired Ryan in Miami.

“Yes, that’s correct,” Parcells said.

“I was very impressed with Rex when I met with him,” Parcells said Tuesday night by phone. “I could just sense that, ‘Hey, this guy’s going to have a chance.’”

“I had a fierce rivalry with Rex’s father when I was coaching the Giants,” Parcells said, “but I held Buddy in high regard. What made Buddy a dangerous adversary was that he knew what he was looking for personnel-wise, and Rex is the same way. That’s a pretty good head start for Rex because there are quite a few coaches in this league who don’t know what they’re looking for.”

Parcells was very clear in the interview that he takes no credit for Rex’s development, or even for Tannenbaum’s decision to hire him. And why would he? He still receives paychecks with the Miami Dolphins’ logo on it, so why would he want to admit to helping a division rival?

But here’s the thing: that’s exactly what he did. Give Tannenbaum credit for pulling the trigger on Ryan, but there’s no doubt that Parcells nudged him in the right direction. He’s Bill Parcells. The man knows football and can spot talent while blindfolded and drunk on scotch. Tannenbaum may have been leaning towards hiring Rex all along, but would anyone be surprised if his mind wasn’t completely made up until after Parcells shared his opinion? I wouldn’t.

As a football fan, I will forever been impressed with Parcells’ knowledge of the NFL. His ego is the size of Jerry Jones’ bank account but I don’t question for a second that he knew Ryan would be successful.

That said, if I were a Dolphin fan I’d be fuming after reading this. Parcells had a small hand in hiring Rex Ryan? Really? Is that the same man that has taken the Jets to two straight AFC title games while Sparano has overseen two straight losing seasons in Miami? The same Sparano whom Parcells hired three years ago instead of Ryan? Gee, thanks, Tuna.

Granted, Parcells’ involvement with the Jets’ hiring Ryan could have been as simple as him telling Tannebaum, “Hey Mike, you might want to take a long look at Rex Ryan.” If that’s the case, then this story isn’t a big deal and again, we should bask in Parcells’ greatness as a talent evaluator. (Plus, there’s no guarantee and no way of knowing that Ryan would have succeed in Miami had Parcells hired him for the Dolphins job.)

But considering the current state of the Miami Dolphins, I wouldn’t be thrilled if I were a Dolpfan right now.

After the events of this past week, there’s reason to believe that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing.

He started the week by flying himself, GM Jeff Ireland and new football “czar” Carl Peterson cross-country to meet with then-Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh about a position that was already being filled by Tony Sparano. In doing so, Ross left Sparano and his entire staff to believe that once he returned, they would no longer be employed by the Dolphins. (The coaching staff even began cleaning out their offices on Wednesday.)

But on Thursday, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported that the Dolphins had “bowed out” of the Harbaugh race and would retain Sparano as head coach. Harbaugh reportedly didn’t want to go to Miami (he signed with the 49ers on Friday), which meant Ross had to tuck his tail between his legs and try to mend fences with Sparano.

Late Friday night, Ross extended Sparano’s contract through 2013 as sort of an apology for what had transpired throughout the week. Sparano will also have an “expanded role in personnel decisions.”

The new contract and expanded role are nice coups for Sparano. But what does it say about Ross’ decision-making if he was ready to drop his current head coach as soon as Harbaugh signed on the dotted line, yet, was so quick to extend Sparano’s contract once Harbaugh told him to buzz off? Does Ross want Sparano to be his head coach or not? And will Sparano forever have this incident to hang over Ross’ head whenever the owner gets an itchy trigger finger in the future?

As an owner, you either believe in your head coach or not. I get that owners may like another head coach’s work, but when you invest millions of dollars in a guy you better have confidence that he can get the job done. And not being able to sign the guy you wanted isn’t a good enough reason to extend your current head coach. Clearly Ross doesn’t have complete confidence in Sparano or else he wouldn’t have tried so hard to bring Harbaugh to Miami.

What a weird situation.

In the past 24 hours it seems like Jim Harbaugh went from being the hottest name in sports, to being as attractive as one of Kristen Wiig’s deformed characters on “Saturday Night Live.”

It’s hard to know where the Harbaugh rumors start and where they end, but all of a sudden two teams (the Dolphins and Broncos) that were pursuing him as their next head coach suddenly have no interest at all. On Thursday night, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports tweeted that the Dolphins were sticking with Tony Sparano (the man that owner Stephen Ross was so willing to kick to the curb just days ago) and on Friday morning, the Denver Post reported that the Broncos are bowing out of the Harbaugh race, too.

Whose baby did Harbaugh punch in the last 24 hours to make these teams turn and run for the hills?

The fact that the Broncos have backed out isn’t a surprise. As Rotoworld.com points out, they’ve just been a “backburner” team for Harbaugh all along. But the Dolphins’ about-face is strange to say the least.

Ross, GM Jeff Ireland and new football czar Carl Peterson flew cross-country to talk to Harbaugh earlier this week. There were also reports that Ross offered Harbaugh $7-8 million to coach in Miami, which would have made him the highest paid head coach in the NFL. During this time, Miami’s brass left Sparano hanging (which was a bush league move by the way) while courting Harbaugh.

And now they’re out? Hey Tony, we realized that you were the one for us all along? No, it’s over with Jim…we swear?

It doesn’t make sense.

So now we’re back to square one with Harbaugh: It’s between Michigan (his alma mater) and the 49ers (assuming they haven’t backed out since I started writing this post). And I guess we might as well entertain the idea that he’s going to stay at Stanford with Andrew Luck and I don’t know, win another Orange Bowl or something.

My money would be on him winding up at Michigan but at this point, who knows.

Just when it appeared that the 49ers were the front-runners in the Jim Harbaugh derby, the Dolphins have pulled ahead according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

It’s believed that Miami offered Harbaugh $7-8 million and San Francisco is unwilling to go that high. The 49ers don’t want to get into a bidding war for Harbaugh’s services, so they may drop out of the race entirely.

If the reports are true and the Dolphins have offered Harbaugh $7-8 million a year, it would make him the richest head coach in the NFL. Considering he has zero head coaching experience in the pros, that would make the Miami Dolphins’ brass legally insane.

It appears that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross would rather not breathe than bring Tony Sparano back as his head coach. He’s already traveled cross-country to pitch the job to Harbaugh and according to the NFL Network, he offered Jon Gruden $7 million a year as well. (Gruden turned down the offer.)

If these reports are true, then Ross should do the respectable thing and fire Sparano immediately. If he’s going through all of this trouble to replace him, then obviously he doesn’t believe that Sparano is the right fit for the Dolphins. It’s not fair for Sparano or his staff to stay in limbo while Ross runs around the country trying to find their replacements. (Then again, that’s the business, right?)

If Miami does wind up with Harbaugh, Ross better hope that he can work with GM Jeff Ireland. How many times do we see a hotshot college head coach fail in the NFL because he’s overwhelmed from the start? The first-year head coaches who have had success always have two things: a good quarterback and a GM that knows what he’s doing. Recent examples include Baltimore’s John Harbaugh, Atlanta’s Mike Smith and St. Louis’ Steve Spagnuolo. I guarantee you Harbaugh and Smith wouldn’t have had the success they’ve had the past three years if it weren’t for Joe Flacco and Ozzie Newsome, and Matt Ryan and Thomas Dimitroff. And where would Spagnuolo be if it weren’t for Sam Bradford (who was chosen by GM Bill Devaney)?

Granted, it helps that Harbaugh and Smith were NFL assistants at some point too, but Jimmy Johnson did just fine in Dallas and he was a “college coach.” He couldn’t work with Jerry Jones but at the very least, he had Troy Aikman. Jim Harbaugh won’t succeed with Chad Henne, I don’t care how much money the Dolphins throw at him to fix their situation.