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

How bad would had it been if arguably the best team in the AFC were upset at home by a winless bunch? The Ravens (5-1) were able to escape with an overtime win over the Bills (0-6) and stay a half game behind Pittsburgh in the AFC North. Another good offense output by a team known more for its defense, who did not have their best day but found a way to win.

Patriots – 23, CHARGERS – 20

New England (5-1) kept pace with the idle Jets by squeaking by the disappointing Chargers (2-5), who lost for the first time at home. San Diego made a furious comeback by scoring 17 fourth quarter points but once again could not get the job done. The Pats have been playing very well of late and when this game was first put on the schedule, getting out of SoCal with a W would have been very welcome. Even with the Bolts playing as bad as they have this season, this is still a quality win.

FALCONS – 39, Bengals – 32

Atlanta (5-2) stayed atop the NFC South with a game that ended up being closer than it should. Cincinnati (2-4) has been a letdown club in 2010 while the Flacons have played a little above their heads. A playoff berth would be a mild surprise for Mike Smith while what appears to be a sub-.500 year for the Bengals may be the end for Marvin Lewis.

Steelers – 23, DOLPHINS – 22

A match-up that look great on paper played out even better than expected on the field. Ben Roethlisberger has not completely shook all the rust off yet, but Pittsburgh (5-1) keeps on winning. The Fins (3-3) fell to .500 by losing their third in a row at home. This was a game that Miami needed more than Pittsburgh, especially since the Patriots won their game. They are now back of NE and the Jets and in serious danger of missing the playoffs, while the Steelers figure to only get better as the season goes on.

CHIEFS – 42, Jaguars – 20

In a weak AFC West, Kansas City looks to have a good shot to run away with the division at 4-2. They have played fairly well so far and should take advantage of weak opponents such as Jacksonville (3-4). Kaycee will face more of the same when they play their divisional foes, all who are having sub-par seasons. The Jags have looked anemic the past two weeks and should continue to struggle along the way.

Browns – 30, SAINTS – 17

In the upset of the day – and possibly year – Cleveland earned only their second win against five losses by knocking off the defending Super Bowl champions in New Orleans. Drew Brees threw four interceptions while his counterpart, rookie Colt McCoy, led his team to victory despite throwing for only 74 yards. The Saints (4-3) continue to suffer from their Super Bowl hangover and need to step it up if they have any chance of making the postseason.

Redskins – 17, BEARS – 14

Another bad loss for Chicago (4-3), who somehow have maintained first place in the NFC North, even though Jay Cutler had another miserable performance with four picks, all to DeAngelo Hall. Washington stayed a game behind the Giants and look to grab at least a wild card berth behind Donovan McNabb. If the Bears expect to make the playoffs, they will have to be more consistent and establish a running game not to keep putting the game on the arm of Cutler.

PANTHERS – 23, 49ers – 20

Carolina (1-5) earned its first win against another team having a terrible season when they bested the 1-6 Niners. Anyone outside of these two cities could care less about this game.

BUCCANEERS – 18, Rams – 17

The surprising 4-2 Bucs scored late to knock of St. Louis (3-4) and stay a game out of first place in the NFC South. No one expected Tampa Bay to be in the mix at all but that’s exactly what is happening in this topsy turvy NFL campaign.

TITANS  -37, Eagles – 19

Tennessee (5-2) keeps playing good football and played well in an out of conference affair when they hosted Philadelphia. Vince Young sat out again but Kerry Collins did the job again to keep his team in first place. Philly (4-3) will go back to Michael Vick as soon as he is ready but that probably will not be enough to bring this team to the playoffs when it’s all said and done.

SEAHAWKS – 22, Cardinals – 10

Seattle (4-2) hosted Arizona (3-3) in a battle for first place in the NFC West and came out on top. These two teams will probably settle their differences – and the division – late in the season. The winner will make the playoffs while the loser will stay home. There will not be a wild card team out of this division.

Raiders – 59, BRONCOS – 14

Darren McFadden scored four touchdowns as the Silver and Black came into the Mile High City and blew out the home team. Denver (2-5) is in last place in the AFC West and it shouldn’t be too long before Tim Tebow gets his first NFL start at QB. Oakland (3-4) is still trying to find itself but has played fairly well in a few games this season. No playoffs, though, for either of them.

PACKERS – 28, Vikings – 24

Brett Favre may have played so-so in his last regular season game at Lambeau but almost stole one at the end. The 40-year-old gunslinger had so much going against him, between the crowd who has not forgiven him for leaving Green Bay, the specter of the NFL investigation hanging over his head and his injured ankle, but he almost erased all of that (plus his three INT earlier in the game) by throwing the apparent winning TD pass. A video replay correctly overruled it and the Pack (4-3) survived. Green Bay has a good shot at the playoffs if they win the division, while the 2-4 Vikes will be home for the holidays.

Giants – 41, COWBOYS- 35

Dallas seemed to be the popular preseason pick to win the NFC East and have a decent shot of actually hosting the Super Bowl. Now that they are 2-5 and have lost QB Tony Romo for 6-8 weeks with a broken collarbone, they are ‘officially’ done. New York (5-2) is in first place and on a four-game winning streak. Eli Manning has utilized his wideouts (Mario Manningham, Steve Smith, Hakeen Nix) to make what is still considered a smashmouth running team one that is also formidable in the air.

Photo by Bill Menzel

Some people never learn. Even when their team is going through a miserable season in which they were lucky to have the one win they can show for themselves, selfishness rises to the top. In the case of the Cincinatti Bengals, what could go wrong has gone wrong. Head coach Marvin Lewis somehow manages to keep his job as the inmates have run the asylum during his watch. The leader of the pack has been Chad Johnson…oh, excuse me…Ocho Cinco. It pains me to have to do that. On second though, screw him. I’ll call him Johnson if he likes it or not!

While his antics may have been amusing in the past when the team was playing decent football, that act has gone cold mighty fast. Whatever the reason(s) why the attention-seeking Johnson was deactivated approximately 10 hours before a Thursday night kickoff, the fact of the matter is that he is a lightning rod for controversy. Is he talented? There is no questionof that, so to leave him out of a game where he could have made a difference is even more glaring.

What appears to have occurred is Johnson having a disagreement with one of the assistant coaches during a team meeting and him possibly walking out of the room. What makes this even more annoying is teammate John Thorton stating that Johnson “has done worse” in the past and didn’t get suspended, and that Lewis was making a “statement” by doing so. The problem that I – and everyone else should – have with this is that if Lewis had done his job before and layed down the law, Johnson would have never dreamed of committing such insubordinate acts, if he even was still on the team.

Maybe this is just another prime example of why Lewis took so long to get a head coaching job in the NFL. He was being lauded as such a great defensive mind when he was on the staff of the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens, and rightfully so. But to be the ‘bad guy’ and have to throw down the hammer is a totally different situation that being an assistant coach.