Upon further review...
In a season where eight wins might win both the NFC South and NFC West, the leaders of the East and North continued their collision course toward a Week 13 showdown as the Cowboys and Packers each improved to 8-1 with impressive victories.
The gap between the top two teams in the NFC and the second tier widened as the Giants, Saints, Redskins and Lions all looked like pretenders in Week 10.
Steelers 31, Browns 28
Things went from bad to worse to idiotic in a flash for the Browns with 3:13 left in the fourth quarter on Sunday. First they allowed a short TD pass to Heath Miller to fall behind, then they saw their challenge denied, but not before they somehow managed to burn a timeout prior to forfeiting a timeout after replay upheld the call on the field. How badly did the Cleveland coaching staff mess this up, and how critical did this gaffe seem when the Browns were out of timeouts, desperately trying to get Phil Dawson a smidge closer before his 52-yard attempt to tie fell short?
Ordinal out of range
Eagles 33, Redskins 25
Most teams try to stay out of 3rd-and-long. The Redskins need to stay out of 1st-and-goal. They lost their first game of the season to the Giants after not being able to convert on four cracks from the 1-yard line. On Sunday they lost to the Eagles after not being able to punch it in on six plays from the 7-yard line. A defensive holding call on third down gave them a fresh set of downs from the 2 and still they couldn't push it across.
Rams 37, Saints 29
They're back! The bad Saints who couldn't tackle anybody on defense and often looked confused on offense for the first month of the season made an unwelcome return to the Superdome. Make no mistake, this game was not as close as the final score. New Orleans got blown out at home by a previously winless team. Marc Bulger (27-for-33, 302 yards, 2 TDs) shredded the Saints and the Rams led 34-7 before Drew Brees piled up some garbage-time fantasy numbers.
Bills 13, Dolphins 10
Giants stun Patriots
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The Fins led 10-2 in the fourth quarter before seeing what might have been their best chance at a W this season slip away. Miami had the ball with the game tied, facing 3rd-and-8 at midfield with less than five minutes remaining. But instead of taking a shot down the field while on the run, Cleo Lemon jogged out of bounds for a one-yard gain. Brandon Fields' ensuing 39-yard punt was returned 40 yards by Roscoe Parrish and the Bills were set up for the game-winning drive. No word on whether Shula thinks there should be an asterisk next to 0-16.
Falcons 20, Panthers 13
Free Steve Smith. The poor guy, arguably the most explosive receiver in the NFL, has been caged by the limitations of his quarterbacks. In the last three weeks, with Vinny Testaverde and David Carr unable to stretch the field, Smith has caught 10 passes for 94 yards. The Falcons (3-6), meanwhile, are only two games out of first in the wretched NFC South.
Packers 34, Vikings 0
For as long as the football cognoscenti have been slavering over Brett Favre, they almost out-drooled themselves anointing Adrian Peterson the greatest running back they'd ever seen in the week leading up to the meeting of the Hall-bound QB and the record-setting runner. Well, score one for the old folks. Favre shredded the Minny D for 351 yards and three touchdowns while Peterson was held to 45 yards — just 251 shy of his record effort in Week 9 — and left with a sprained knee.
Broncos 27, Chiefs 11
Priest Homes didn't remember the yards being quite this hard to come by. Subbing for the injured Larry Johnson, Holmes ran for 65 yards on 20 carries and watched as Damon Huard gave way to Brody Croyle, perhaps for good. Neither QB was any good, but Croyle was slightly less bad, throwing only one pick in 30 attempts to Huard's two in 15.
Jaguars 28, Titans 13
The score-by-quarters graphic looked like a big slot machine payout for the Jags: 7-7-7-7. With Albert Haynesworth sidelined by a hammy, the Titans D allowed an offensive touchdown in each and every quarter. Vince Young finally threw for over 200 yards in a game this season (257) and tossed his first TD in a month, but Jeff Fisher no doubt prefers when his QB puts up awful numbers because, for some reason, that usually means a Tennessee victory.
Bengals 21, Ravens 7
If one play symbolizes the Baltimore season, it's Steve McNair throwing a pick from the 1-yard line as he tried to drop a pass into Todd Heap. One week after failing to complete a pass longer than nine yards, McNair averaged under five yards an attempt on 26 throws as Baltimore got blasted again. But it's one thing to get blown out in the rain against a fired-up Steeler defense and another to get shut out at home for 58 minutes by the lowly Bengals. I'd say, welcome to rock bottom, Brian Billick, but you've got the Browns, Chargers, Patriots and Colts over the next month. Ray Lewis' radio show is about to get really fun.
Cardinals 31, Lions 21
Ordinal out of range
Was this the pin popping the balloon? The Lions laid another egg on the road, setting an NFL record with -18 yards rushing. They have been outscored 121-45 in their three road losses. With the second-toughest remaining schedule in the league — opponents' winning percentage 64 percent — it's going to be pretty tough for Jon Kitna to deliver on his 10-win promise. This one blew up when Detroit got too cute on its first drive of the second half and Shaun McDonald lost 15 yards and the football on an ill-advised end-around.
Cowboys 31, Giants 20
Four delay of game penalties? At home? In a huge game? Wow. Throw in an offensive hold on Tom Coughlin's son-in-law Chris Snee on what would have been the game-tying touchdown and we'll see if the coach can maintain his new easygoing vibe. Then again some might say a team that can't call the play, break the huddle, line up and snap the ball in 40 seconds needs to be screamed at.
Bears 17, Raiders 6
Lane Kiffin refused to fear Devin Hester, boldly announcing before the game that he would kick to Hester and contain him. Mission accomplished. Hester averaged only 17 yards on two kickoff returns and a mere 2.3 yards on six punt returns. So much for the good news. The Raiders got beat on a perfectly-thrown 59-yard bomb from Rex Grossman (subbing for an injured Brian Griese) to Bernard Berrian and fell to 2-7 despite being tied or ahead in the fourth quarter of six games.
Chargers 23, Colts 21
A lot has been made of how good Tom Brady has been with his new fleet of wideouts. And now we're seeing how human Peyton Manning can be when throwing to mediocre receivers. Playing without Marvin Harrison for the fourth time this season and also without security-blanket Dallas Clark, Manning threw a career-high six interceptions. Still, despite a heroic effort by the defense, Norv Turner's pathetic offense did everything it could to give the game away and needed to be bailed out on a missed chip shot by Adam Vinatieri. Philip Rivers turned in his second straight noxious stink bomb, averaging 4.3 yards per attempt and throwing two picks in a game that looked like no one wanted to win.
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