PATRIOTS 24: COLTS 20: Did this one live up to the hype? Yeah, I guess so. I don't feel any different, like it's been a life-changing experience or anything. But it was cool. Tom Brady still managed to pull three TDs out of his butt in a close battle, and the Pats' inevitable march into the history books continues. It took a Peyton Manning fourth-quarter fumble to seal the deal. ... Joseph Addai had an absolute whale of a game - 112 yards rushing, 114 yards receiving and a TD. Laurence Maroney, his counterpart and contemporary, had another disappointing day (59 yards), at least compared to what we were expecting out of him this season. On the other hand, you can't complain about the overachieving we've seen from Randy Moss and Wes Welker, who each added another TD catch to their 2007 stats.
COWBOYS 38, EAGLES 17: Isn't it weird how Terrell Owens played in his old stomping grounds in Philly, and we didn't really hear a peep about it in the national media this week? He did his best to get his share of the spotlight with 174 yards and a score as the 'Boys romped. They got pretty much everybody involved in the scoring action: Jason Witten, Marion Barber, Julius Jones, even star of stage and screen Tony Curtis all hit the end zone. And even in an awful offensive game for the Eagles, Brian Westbrook gave you your money's worth (155 total yards, TD). Always start him, I can't say it enough.
BROWNS 33, SEAHAWKS 30 (OT): Just when I was hyping up Derek Anderson and Cleveland's passing game, Jamal Lewis goes and busts out four TDs on the ground (and only 37 yards!). Our boy Derek did ring up 324 yards in the air, a bunch of those on his hook-ups with Kellen Winslow (125 yards). ... Seattle also did some aerial damage, with Matt Hasselbeck throwing for 318 and scores to Bobby Engram and D.J. Hackett. But that was because the Seahawks couldn't run - Shaun Alexander managed just 32 yards on 14 carries (an awful 2.3 average) before leaving with a knee injury. Alexander hasn't been right all year, and you almost want to say it might be best if he's done for the season now so you don't have to deal with starting him week after week and getting hardly anything in return. X-rays are pending, but start getting those Maurice Morris waiver claims in.
SAINTS 41, JAGUARS 24: I think it's safe to say the Saints are back. Hope you didn't give up on Drew Brees prematurely - all he did was zip his way to 445 yards and two TDs to Lance Moore and Hot Pickup David Patten. Good days for Reggie Bush (two TDs) and Marques Colston too (159 yards). ... And not a terrible game for Quinn Gray, at least fantasy-wise (354 yards, two TDs, three INTs), a huge bonus if you were desperate enough to start him. ... Forgettable performances by the Jags' RB tandem of Fred Taylor (54 yards) and Maurice Jones-Drew (28 yards). Unless of course your league allows individual return TDs to count, then you're thrilled about MJD's 100-yard scoring scamper on a kickoff.
REDSKINS 23, JETS 20 (OT): The Kellen Clemens era started well (23-for-42, 226 yards, one TD, zero INTs), except for the scoreboard. He's probably still not a good fantasy option, though, at least until Week 13 at Miami. ... Clinton Portis had the kind of game (196 yards, TD) you used to be afraid of every time you faced him. I guess we shouldn't spend too much time worrying about his durability for a while after this 36-carry effort. And even though Ladell Betts picked up 64 yards on nine carries, he's still bench fodder unless something unfortunate happens to Portis.
TEXANS 24, RAIDERS 17: If Brady and Manning played in "Super Bowl XLI 1/2," then just call this one "Super Bowl 1/2": Sage Rosenfels vs. Josh McCown, are you fired up yet?! I'm not even going there ... instead I'll talk about the running games. If you rolled the bye-week dice with either Justin Fargas (104 yards, TD) or Ron Dayne (122 yards, TD), you were handsomely rewarded. Ahman Green was hurting (eight carries, 28 yards) but scored a TD of his own. LaMont Jordan (four carries, 10 yards) is slipping into fantasy oblivion, and it's obvious he's not 100 percent.
Photos by The Associated Press.
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