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No, they have not played extremely good football of late, but New York has taken care of business and are now 7-2. In Cleveland, they did not make the sloppy mistakes (penalties, turnovers, etc.) that have plagued them recently, but had difficulty finishing drives. Three missed field goals by Nick Folk kept the Brownies hanging around and rookie QB Colt McCoy took a big step in his career by leading his team on the game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter. Missed tackles by the home team on a Mark Sanchez to Santonio Holmes slant gave the Jets the win with a mere 16 seconds left before the ‘kiss-your-sister’ tie would have been the outcome. As for Cleveland (3-6), they have played better of late and have something to build on for 2011.

FALCONS – 26, Ravens – 21

The first Thursday night affair of the season was a good one between two teams with high expectations. Atlanta maintained first place and improved to 7-2 while Baltimore fell to 6-3 and stayed tied with Pittsburgh for the top spot in their division. Both are playoff teams and the Ravens caught a break when the Steelers also stumbled.

COLTS – 23, Bengals  -17

In a game that wasn’t as close as the final score may dictate, Indianapolis (6-3) took over possession of first place and must keep the winning going if they are to make much noise in the playoffs. They have been inconsistent all season long and need to run off a few in a row to solidify their position as a Super Bowl contender. The Bengals have been a bit more competitive of late, but they are sinking deep into the basement at 2-7. Marvin Lewis should find himself looking for a job soon.

Patriots – 39, STEELERS – 26

Another game with a final score that wasn’t indicative of the game, New England maintained pace with the Jets at 7-2 with their best performance of the year after their worst in the blowout loss to Cleveland. They thoroughly outplayed the Steelers, who disappointed the home crowd. Because Baltimore also lost, both teams are now 6-3 and tied for first.

BEARS – 27, Vikings – 13

Minnesota may have called this a ‘must-win’ game for them, but they were done before this latest pitiful performance. They are 3-6, have a head coach who everyone dislikes and a 41-year-old QB who has already announced that he is finally retiring after the season. On to a team that does have a heart beat, Chicago kept pace with the idle Packers and at 6-3, they have stayed around first place all season even though inconsistent play has plagued them.

BUCCANEERS – 31, Panthers – 16

Tampa Bay remains the surprise team of the year and are still just a game back of Atlanta after improving to 6-3. They will still have a difficult task in making the playoffs but no one expected them to be in this position as it is, so anything can happen, right? Carolina (1-8) has been horrible all year.

Seahawks – 36, CARDINALS  -18

Seattle takes over sole possession of the NFL’s worst division at 5-4 and will probably end up winning it in the long run. Arizona (3-6) had a shot early on to do something but have been atrocious of late and are actually in last place.

Cowboys – 33, GIANTS – 20

New York had Dallas right where they wanted them and were licking their chops to get at a team in disarray. Jason Garrett was making his head coaching debut on the road and playing a tough divisional rival who had won four straight. So what happened? The ‘Boys came out swinging and blew out the G-Men. Dallas (2-7) played with some balls for the first time since beating Houston and can build towards next season with the likes of Dez Bryant, who is already a superstar. New York found themselves tied with Philadelphia at 6-3 for first place and may be at a crossroads.

Eagles – 59, REDSKINS – 28

Avenging their earlier loss to Washington, Philadelphia (6-3) moved into a first place tie with the Giants after blowing out the ‘Skins on Monday Night. Michael Vick had another big game and if he can stay healthy, Philly will win the NFC East. The Redskins signed QB Donovan McNabb to a five-year, $78 million extension, but fell to 4-5 and have been struggling of late. No playoffs this time around for them.

BILLS- 14, Lions – 12

Buffalo (1-8) earned their first win by holding on late against pesky Detroit (2-7), who have hung in there in most games this season.

JAGUARS – 31, Texans  -24

Jacksonville won on what may end up being the play of the year on a batted down Hail Mary pass with no time left on the clock. Houston (4-5) has played awful of late and will once again miss the playoffs, while the Jags (5-4) are right in the mix and have bounced back after a dreadful start.

DOLPHINS – 29, Titans  -17

Tyler Thigpen started the day as Miami’s number three QB, but now finds himself as the likely starter on Thursday after the two Chads left with injuries. Pennington started and was replaced by Henne, only to see Thigpen come in and keep the Fish ahead for good. Miami (5-4) won for the first time at home this season and are still in the hunt for a wild card spot. Tennessee (5-4) could have made a huge statement with a win here, but Randy Moss was held to one catch and they couldn’t get it going all day.

BRONCOS – 49, Chiefs – 29

Kansas City could have pulled away a bit in the division by beating a lesser opponent here, but proved once again that they are not ready to be a contender. They fell to 5-4 and are now tied with the idle Raiders. Denver (3-6) can now concentrate on playing the spoiler role.

49ERS – 23, Rams – 20 (OT)

St. Louis (4-5) could have stayed atop the NFC West with a win over the lowly Niners, but couldn’t make that jump. Sure, they are playing better but need another year or two to grow before being true contenders. San Francisco (3-6) are still plodding along in a disappointing season for them.

Photo by Bill Menzel

The NFL owner’s meetings begin on Sunday in Orlando and one of the things on the table is a proposal to alter the overtime rules for the playoffs. The new format would state that a team would win the game with a touchdown scored, but the opponent would get a possession if they only gave up a field goal. In the event that both teams made field goals, the sudden-death rule would then apply.

Got that? It’s a bit confusing but makes total sense. (Remember that this does not apply to regular season overtime games.) A high-powered offense such as the Vikings never had an opportunity to see the field and had to watch the game – and their championship dreams – kicked away.

24 of the 32 owners need to vote ‘yes’ for this to pass and you have to figure that most of the contending teams would be willing to have a second chance for a win if they give up a field goal following four quarters of playoff battle. But then again, some of the older owners may not be apt to go for such a drastic change in the game they love. Traditionalists tend to hold their ground, even when it is a detriment to the progress of the sport. A likely scenario is that the vote gets close this year and passes in 2011.

In the 2009 playoffs, two games were decided in overtime: the aforementioned Saints win and the Arizona Cardinals defeating the Green Bay Packers, 51-45, in the NFC Divisional Round on a defensive touchdown.

Since the overtime rule was adopted by the NFL during the regular season in 1974, there have been 445 games, with 312 of them being decided by a field goal (70.1%).

Photo by Bill Menzel

Although they still have a long way to go, the Jets (5-6) can at least think about the playoffs if not talk about them. But that word didn’t even come up after the game. “This was a great team win,” head coach Rex Ryan said. “It feels good to say that. It’s been a while.”

The team’s much-maligned secondary stepped up on this day with four interceptions and sent 76,381 fans home happy. It all began on the Panthers’ opening drive, one in which they converted three third down plays. Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme then tried to hit Steve Smith on a slant that would have gone for a big gain, but there was apparent miscommunication and the wideout had yet to turn in. The ball caromed off his heel up in the air and right into the hands of Darrelle Revis, who returned it 67 yards for the Jets first defensive touchdown of the season.

“The great ones are lucky,” joked Ryan.

After trading field goals, the Jets capitalized on Delhomme’s third pick of the day when Kerry Rhodes – who was removed from the starting line-up this week in favor of Eric Smith – pulled down the floater and brought it back to the Carolina 38-yard line.

“The message was sent to me by Coach and now I’m moving on,” said Rhodes, who also had another interception and received a game ball. The Jets extended their lead to 14-3 when Thomas Jones (25 carries for 75 yards, 1 touchdown) plunged into the end zone from three yards out.

The big talk all week leading up to this game was that Ryan was going to take a more active role in the offense to try to cut down on the mistakes of his rookie quarterback. A more conservative game plan seem to benefit Mark Sanchez, who completed 13 out of 17 for 154 yards and one interception, but the USC product was not totally satisfied with his performance.

“I was playing smart on offense and we still gave up a couple of turnovers,” he said. “They (the coaches) were telling me in the meetings, ‘If you take a sack, that’s OK. Just don’t lose the ball.’”

Ryan added, “I thought he did a great job. He really managed the game well and had some nice runs. When in doubt, he checked the ball down.”

At one point in the third quarter, Sanchez was shaken up with an apparent knee injury and missed the majority of one series, but returned the next one. “He said he was good to go,” Ryan said. “I was just anxious to get him back in there.” Sanchez had the knee checked out by the team’s medical staff after the game and said that there was nothing abnormal found.

The Jets sealed the win with a 47-yard field goal by Feeley with 3:39 left to make the score 17-6. The big play on the drive was a 16-yard completion to converted running back Danny Woodhead on third down to move the chains.

“Coach put me in a great situation, Mark put the ball on me and the line did a great job so I just had to make the catch,” the wide receiver humbly said.

The Jets do not have much time to enjoy this win due to the Thursday night affair against the Bills in Toronto. “This is a short week for us, so we can enjoy it for about five hours,” said Ryan.

Better to enjoy the victory than wallow in another loss.

Photo by William J. Hauser

The New England Patriots don’t have to worry about the Giants this time going after one of their accomplishments. The last team to repeat as Super Bowl champions will have their consecutive titles from 2005 and 2006 stand at least for one more season following an upset 23-11 win by the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC Divisional game.

Having home field throughout the playoffs by being the number one seed in the conference, the Giants were unable to take advantage of that and had a lackluster performance in the most important game of the season. The Eagles, who needed everything to break right for them to even qualify for the postseason in Week 17, came into Giants Stadium and let the Giants stop their running game. They just took it to the air and were able to beat the defending champions with the right arm and feet of quarterback Donovan McNabb.

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A staunch Eagles defense were able to hold the Giants by stopping them twice on fourth down and holding them to only three of 13 conversions on third down. That, coupled with two missed field goals (46 and 47 yards) by John Carney, opened the door for McNabb, who was for all intents and purposes run out of town in Week 12, being benched at halftime in a blowout loss in Baltimore that dropped the team’s record to 5-5-1.

It has all been uphill for the Syracuse product since then, including a win in Minnesota in the wild card round. As many times that McNabb took advantage of opportunities in this game, the Giants did the exact opposite.

Even a 65-yard return by Ahmad Bradshaw on the opening kickoff only resulted in three points for the Giants. That was followed by the first of two Eli Manning interceptions, which set up the Eagles first touchdown on a one-yard sneak by McNabb for a 7-3 lead.

The Giants cut into that when Justin Tuck rushed McNabb and he committed an intentional grounding penalty while in his own end zone. The safety made the score 7-5, and Carney hit another field goal to give Big Blue a slim one-point lead with 1:38 left in the first half.

Perhaps the Eagles’ next drive set the tone for the rest of the game. McNabb drove them down the field to the Giants’ 7-yard line before having to settle for a 25-yard David Akers field goal. Heading into the locker room with a 10-8 lead meant a lot for a team that had only 34 yards of total offense before the two-minute drive.

“I think it played a big role as far as knowing what we needed to do to change,” McNabb said.

The teams traded field goals in the third quarter before Philadelphia went on a 10-play, 63-yard drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brent Celek on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 20-11 lead.

A questionable decision by Giant head coach Tom Coughlin came when running back Derrick Ward was stopped short in third down and three. Coughlin challenged the spot even though it was clear from replays that the spot was indeed accurate. The Giants lost the challenge and a time out, and compounded the problem when Manning was stuffed on fourth and one. The Eagles – who will face the Cardinals in Arizona next week in the NFC Championship Game – had the play read and Manning barely bent down low enough to even have a chance.

“We did tell Eli he might have to go out in the B gap rather than the A gap because you know they would be in the A gap.”

The Giants defense stopped the Eagles and gave the offense the ball back with just over 10 minutes remaining. Once again, running up the middle did not work and the Giants turned the ball over on downs following running back Brandon Jacobs attempt on fourth down and two.

Another interception by Manning and a fumble by wideout Steve Smith took away any hope for the Giants, who lost four of five after starting the season 11-1. “I think we are very disappointed,” Coughlin said. “Very, very sorry to see the season come to an end. Lots of remorse for opportunities lost.”

Too many to overcome on a day that the opponent didn’t have the same problem.

Not falling for the ‘trap game’ mentality that has haunted so many teams over the years, the Jets totally dominated the hapless St. Louis Rams at the Meadowlands by a score of 47-3. After beating the Bills in Buffalo last week and having to go to New England this Thursday, it would have been easy to look past an out of conference 2-6 team.

That is not head coach Eric Mangini’s style. He prepares his team the same every week and was visibly happy after the convincing win. “With the completeness of the game, it’s something we’ve been stressing week in and week out,” he said.

With the largest margin of victory in team history, the Jets improved to 6-3 to maintain a share of first place in the AFC East. The second three-touchdown game of the year for running back Thomas Jones paved the way, and he gave a lot of the credit to the guys in front of him for the success.

“I’m lucky to be able to run behind those guys,” he said. “They’re one of the best offensive lines in the league.”

Jones, who finished with 149 yards on 26 carries, had a 20-yard gain on the Jets first offensive play of the game and capped off the eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to the right corner of the end zone, following a key block thrown by wide receiver Laveranues Coles.

The Jets put up 10 more points before the first quarter came to an end. Abram Elam sacked St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger on a blitz, knocking the ball loose. On a play that proved that the ball was bouncing the Jets way on this day, Calvin Pace basically had it jump off the ground and right into his hands. The linebacker took it the other way 50 yards for his first career score.

Quarter number two was even more one-sided, with three field goals by Jay Feely, another rushing score by Jones and a one-yard pass from Brett Favre (14 for 19, 167 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions) to tight end Dustin Keller. The contest became a laugher and a 40-0 advantage at halftime for the Jets.

The 78, 073 in attendance enjoyed themselves on Military Appreciation Day, and only booed when the Rams broke the shutout when Josh Brown kicked a 37-yard field goal with 9:51 left in the third quarter.

By winning five out of their last six games, the Jets have a chance to take over the top spot in the division by defeating the Patriots on national television after a short work week preparing for the game.