NFL Roundup: Week 8

Some observations, comments and opinions about Sunday's NFL games.

Chicago 41, San Francisco 10
The 7-0 start by the Bears is their best since 1985 - the year they won the Super Bowl. Rex Grossman threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns and Thomas Jones racked up 111 yards rushing with one TD. The 49ers fell to 2-5 on the season.

Jacksonville 13, Philadelphia 6
The Jaguars (4-3) ran for 209 yards, with Fred Taylor getting 103 of those,, to hand the Eagles (4-4) their third straight loss. Jacksonville limited the Philadelphia offense to only 227 total yards.

Atlanta 29, Cincinnati 27
Michael Vick had another impressive outing throwing the ball in the Falcons victory over the Bengals (4-3). Vick threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns on 20-of-28 passing. He also rushed for 55 yards with one score. Atlanta is tied with New Orleans for first place in the NFC South with a 5-2 record.

Green Bay 31, Arizona 14
How low can the Cardinals season really go? Apparently all the way to the bottom as Green Bay (3-4) gets two 100-yard rushers and racks up 383 yards of total offense on Arizona, who are now 1-7 on the season. Ahman Green (106 yards) and Vernand Morency (101 yards) back the first Packer backs to rush for 100 yards in the same game since 1985 against Tampa Bay.

Kansas City 35, Seattle 28
Larry Johnson ran for 155 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the Chiefs (4-3) to the win over the Seahawks (4-3). Kansas City picked up 499 yards of total offense, while holding Seattle to 47 yards rushing. Damon Huard, playing for the injured Trent Green, passed for 312 yards and a touchdown.

New York Giants 17, Tampa Bay 3
The Giants (5-2) take over sole possession of first place in the NFC East with the victory over the Bucs (2-5). Despite playing without three injured defensive starters and losing another early, New York held Tampa Bay to just 174 total yards.

Baltimore 35, New Orleans 22
The Ravens (5-2) became the first team to beat the Saints (5-2) in the Louisiana Superdome this season and made it look easy with their biggest offensive output of the year. Steve McNair threw two TD passes and Jamal Lewis ran for 109 yards to pace the offensive attack. The Baltimore defense held New Orleans to just 35 yards rushing.

Tennessee 28, Houston 22
Vince Young ran for one touchdown and threw for another as the Titans (2-5) won their second straight game with a victory over the Texans (2-5). Houston coach Gary Kubiak benched David Carr after turning the ball over threw times and backup Sage Rosenfels passed for three touchdowns to make the game close. Houston has now lost 11-straight games on the road.

Indianapolis 34, Denver 31
We finally learned one way to score on the Broncos defense. Put the ball in Peyton Manning's hands. Manning was 32-of-39 for 345 yards and three touchdowns leading the unbeaten Colts (7-0) to the victory over Denver (5-2) in a battle between the two premier teams in the AFC. Reggie Wayne caught 10 passes for 138 yards and three TDs to lead Indianapolis, while Mike Bell ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns for the Broncos. The Colts became the second team in NFL history to start consecutive seasons with seven straight wins. The Packers did it in three consecutive seasons from 1929 to 1931.

Oakland 20, Pittsburgh 13
The defending Super Bowl champs saw their sinking season hit rock bottom with a loss to the Raiders on Sunday. Despite getting only 98 total yards of offense, Oakland (2-5) intercepted four Ben Roethlisberger passes and returned two for touchdowns. One of those was a 100-yard score by Chris Carr. Pittsburgh has now dropped to 2-5 on the season, losing for the fifth time in six games.

Cleveland 20, New York Jets 14
Reuben Droughns ran for 125 yards and a touchdown to lead the Browns (2-5) to the upset victory over the Jets (4-4). New York appeared to have a touchdown late in the game when TE Chris Baker made an amazing one-handed grab in the endzone, but the officials ruled he was out of bounds and the play was not reviewable.

San Diego 38, St. Louis 24
LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Chargers (5-2) to the victory over the Rams (4-3). Tomlinson tied Emmitt Smith as the second-fastest to 90 TDs (in 86 games. Jim Brown is first in 81 games). St. Louis QB Marc Bulger passed for 327 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort.

Dallas 35, Carolina 14
Tony Romo rallied the Cowboys from a 14-point first-quarter deficit, throwing for 270 yards and a touchdown, and Julius Jones ran for 94 yards and a score to help Dallas (4-3) beat the Panthers (4-4) on Sunday night. Carolina has now lost two straight after winning four in a row.

The Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears are starting to separate themselves from the rest of the pack as far as home-field advantage is concerned.

Manning and company picked up a huge win against a rugged team in the unfriendly confines of Mile High. That has to be an even bigger confidence builder and with Joseph Addai staring to come on in the Indy backfield - Manning now has another weapon to play with in his arsenal of destruction.

The Bears had a slight slip up in concentration against the Cardinals two weeks ago but seem to be back on track with another dominating performance yesterday. Chicago hosts Miami next so look for them to be 8-0, while Indianapolis has to travel to New England for a Sunday night game against Manning's nemesis - the Patriots.

New England (5-1) has its work cut out for them against the Minnesota Vikings (4-2) on Monday Night Football and can't afford to look ahead to Indy. Minnesota has a solid defense that has given up only 95 points all season. The Patriots will need a maximum effort from Tom Brady to come away with the victory.

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