Summin’ up
Pittsburgh 34, New England 20—One perfect record broken, another perfect record kept going. It just turned out reversed. Ben Roethlisberger, who is still unbeaten as a rookie quarterback, managed the Steelers’ offense well on Sunday. It was the Steelers’ defense that was crucial in the win, causing four turnovers against the Patriots’ offense. Deshea Townsend’s interception return for a touchdown helped give the Steelers’ a large cushion against the Patriots, who were never able to mount a serious comeback.
New York Giants 34, Minnesota 13—The Giants seem to have hexed the Vikings, as they were able to contain the high powered Vikings’ offense and run all over them. Mistakes and turnovers plagued the Vikings’ offense that did not have the services of Randy Moss. The Giant’s offense was able to capitalize on the Vikings’ mistakes, and turned this game largely into a blowout.
Kansas City 45, Indianapolis 35—This playoff rematch turned into an expected shootout as the Kansas City Chiefs have finally found their groove. The Chiefs’ offense mixed their running and passing well to put up points against a weak Colts’ defense. Peyton Manning threw for five touchdowns in leading the Colts’ offense, but a crucial interception in the end zone tainted his performance as the Chiefs’ went on to win.
Philadelphia remains the only unbeaten team as they won a hard fought battle against Baltimore 15-10. Terrell Owens added more fuel to the fire by mocking Ray Lewis with his signature dance moves.
Houston triumphed over Jacksonville 20-6; Byron Leftwich was not able to muster a comeback this time.
San Diego steamrolled past Oakland 42-14. Drew Brees performed flawlessly in this blowout.
Finally, bad news for Bush fans as Green Bay beat Washington 28-14. Whenever Washington has won its last home game before the presidential election, the incumbent has always won the race. When the opposing team has won, the challenging candidate has always won. We’ll just have to find out if this continues to hold true …
Lookin’ Ahead
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh—One streak was broken this week; another will break in this game as the undefeated Eagles will face the undefeated Ben Roethlisberger. After beating New England this week, we cannot count out Pittsburgh coming through again.
New England at St Louis—Super Bowl 2002 rematch. New England looks to start a new streak against the struggling Rams. Hopefully the bye week helped the Rams work out some of their kinks.
Minnesota at Indianapolis—The Vikings had better hope they fix their offensive woes fast as this game could turn out to be a blowout or shootout. If Indy’s match this week is any indication, 40 points each isn’t out of the question.
<i>Fantasy Watch</i><br />Stud of the Week
Drew Brees—Brees threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Chargers destroy the Raiders. Brees is starting to look like a starting quarterback, which is surprising since most people wrote him off at the beginning of the year and thought Phillip Rivers would have the job by now.
Dud of the Week
Vikings’ Offense—Just because Randy Moss is hurt doesn’t mean everything else has to stop working, or does it? Daunte Culpepper didn’t look sharp, Mewelde Moore couldn’t get anything going, and the other Vikings receivers dropped many catchable passes. What looked like an unstoppable offense has come to a screeching halt.
Burnin’ Up
Priest Holmes—If the Chiefs’ offense keeps rolling, you can be sure Holmes will be leading it. Holmes has been lighting it up the last two weeks, putting up seven touchdowns and over 282 rushing yards. Tampa Bay gets the unlucky task of stopping this hot offense.
Ice Cold
Mark Brunell—Brunell showed some life this weekend, putting up two touchdowns, but he remains largely ineffective in running the Redskins’ offense. He has thrown for exactly the same amount of interceptions as touchdowns the last four weeks, and miniscule yardage. Clinton Portis isn’t having the success he did in Denver to take pressure off Brunell either.
Under the Radar
David Givens—While the Patriots’ offense usually spreads the ball out well, Givens has managed two consecutive 100 yard receiving performances. Givens also hauled in two touchdowns this weekend and could be a decent pickup this week.
