NFL Roundup: Week 10

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

San Diego 49, Cincinnati 41
LaDainian Tomlinson tied his career high with four touchdowns, and Philip Rivers was 24-of-36 for 337 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Chargers to their best point total in 20 years. San Diego (7-2) scored 42 points in the second-half comeback. Bengals receiver Chad Johnson set a club record with 260 yards and a pair of long touchdowns, and Carson Palmer had the first 400-yard passing game of his career. Cincinnati fell to 4-5 on the season.

Indianapolis 17, Buffalo 16
Peyton Manning was 27-of-39 for 236 yards with one touchdown and Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai combined to rush 27 times for 150 yards, as the Colts became the first team in NFL history with back-to-back 9-0 starts. Anthony Thomas, starting in place of the injured Willis McGahee, carried 28 times for 109 yards. The Bills are now 3-6 on the season.

New York Jets 17, New England 14
The Jets (5-4) ended the Patriots' streak of 57 games without consecutive losses, thanks to the play of QB Chad Pennington and RB Kevan Barlow. Pennington was 22-for-33 for 168 yards and Barlow ran for 75 yards as New York moved to only one game back of the first place Patriots (6-3).

Philadelphia 27, Washington 3
The Eagles (5-4) improved to 8-0 following a bye under coach Andy Reid while earning their first win since beating Dallas 38-24 on Oct. 8. McNabb completed 12 of 26 passes for 222 yards. Stallworth had six catches for 139 yards and Brian Westbrook ran for 113 yards. It was a costly defeat for the Redskins (3-6), who lost Clinton Portis to a broken right hand in the first quarter.

Miami 13, Kansas City 10
The Dolphins (3-6) took an early 13-point lead and then had to hold on after a late Chiefs comeback. Kansas City (5-4) got the ball back at its 14 with 3:10 left, but Miami made one final defensive stand, and Damon Huard's incompletion on fourth-and-12 at the Chiefs 36 sealed the outcome.

Houston 13, Jacksonville 10
David Carr threw for 167 yards and ran for 48 more before leaving the game with a shoulder injury, and the Texans snapped a 12-game road losing streak. The Texans (3-6) upset their AFC South rivals for the second time in four weeks and won on the road for the first time since December 2004. The Jaguars fell to 5-4 on the season.

Green Bay 23, Minnesota 17
Brett Favre was 24-of-42 for 347 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Packers (4-5) to the victory over the Vikings. Donald Driver had 191 yards receiving for Green Bay, while Minnesota lost its third straight and fell to 4-5.

Baltimore 27, Tennessee 26
Steve McNair showed the Titans what they gave up by not wanting to pay him. It was an expensive lesson. McNair threw his third touchdown with 3:35 left and the Ravens, rallied from a 26-7 deficit for the win and their best start ever at 7-2. Trevor Pryce blocked a 43-yard field goal attempt by Rob Bironas with 33 seconds left, dropping Tennessee to 2-7 on the season. McNair finished 29-of-47 for 373 yards.

San Francisco 19, Detroit 13
Frank Gore set a franchise record with 148 yards rushing in the first half as the 49ers (4-5) won consecutive games for the first time since 2003. Gore finished with career-high 159 yards rushing, but left the game stumbling to the sideline late in the third quarter after catching a pass. The Lions are now 2-7 on the season.

Cleveland 17, Atlanta 13
Michael Vick threw two interceptions and carelessly fumbled the ball away with 2:18 remaining, allowing the Browns (3-6) to escape with the win. Michael Vick completed only 16 of 40 passes for 197 yards as the Falcons fell to 5-4.

Pittsburgh 38, New Orleans 31
Willie Parker ran for 213 yards and two touchdowns and Ben Roethlisberger threw for two scores as the Steelers (3-6) handed the Saints (6-3) the loss at Heinz Field. Parker finished 5 yards short of the team record 218 yards rushing by John "Frenchy" Fuqua against Philadelphia in 1970. Drew Brees was 31-of-47 for 399 yards, with rookie Marques Colston making 10 catches for 169 yards, but the Saints turned over the ball three times to Pittsburgh's none.

Dallas 27, Arizona 10
Tony Romo threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns, including a 51-yarder to Terrell Owens. The Cowboys (5-4), showing no signs of a hangover from their heartbreaking loss to Washington the previous week, turned two interceptions by Matt Leinart into second-half touchdowns and sent the Cardinals (1-8) to their eighth straight loss.

Denver 17, Oakland 13
Jake Plummer threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Javon Walker and the Denver defense did the rest as the Broncos won their fourth straight to improve to 7-2 and stay tied atop the NFC west with San Diego. The Raiders fell to 2-7 on the season.

Seattle 24, St. Louis 22
For the second consecutive game, Josh Brown kicked a game-winning field goal in the final seconds to defeat the Rams (4-5). In the first meeting, Brown nailed a 54-yarder to give Seattle (6-3) the 30-28 victory. On Sunday, Brown made a 38-yard attempt with nine seconds remaining to send St. Louis to its fourth straight loss. Even worse for the Rams is the loss of All-Pro tackle Orlando Pace. The seven-time pro bowler tore his left tricep muscle and is out for the season.

Chicago 38, NY Giants 20
Rex Grossman threw for three touchdowns and Thomas Jones scored on a short run as the Bears (8-1) rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit with 28 second-half points in ending a five-game winning streak by the Giants (6-3). Chicago's Devin Hester scored on a record-tying 108-yard missed field goal return. The injury-ravaged Giants lost another starter for the season when OT Luke Petitgout broke his leg.

The Indianapolis Colts impress even more after going 9-0 for two straight seasons. They had a natural letdown after beating New England and Denver, but still found a way to win.

If Eric Mangini is not coach of the year something is definitely wrong. I know there's a strong case for Sean Payton in New Orleans, but the Saints had way more talent to begin with than the Jets. Mangini has done an amazing job, without much of a running game, in getting New York to within one game of the Patriots in the AFC East.

Over in the NFC, the Bears bounced back quite nicely after an upset loss to Miami and re-established themselves as the team to beat in the conference. Chicago has already defeated the Giants and the Seahawks, two divisional leaders, by convincing margins. They have the best defense in the NFC and when Grossman's on his game - an explosive offense as well.

The Carolina Panthers (4-4) look to move into a tie with Atlanta for second place in the NFC South with a victory over division rival Tampa Bay (2-6) on Monday Night Football.

The Panthers should be well-rested coming off the bye and the crowd should be raucous being on the Monday night stage. It will be a tough test for rookie quarterback Bruce Gradkowski and the Buccaneers offense.


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