NFL Highway, Week 9

A record-breaking game and a game that lived up to its hype. Just another weekend on the NFL highway.

Sunday night in Philadelphia, the Dallas Cowboys lit up the Eagles for 38 points, and pounded the Eagles 38-17. Tony Romo threw three touchdown passes for the Cowboys in his first game since signing his new contract and his weekend with Britney Spears and friends. The Eagles are in big, big trouble.

The game of the year was in Indianapolis, where the New England Patriots came back from a 10-point deficit to defeat the Colts, 24-20. The Pats have a very good chance to go 16-0. Their biggest obstacle to a perfect season looks to be in the last regular season game, when they travel to New York to play the Giants in an NFL Network Saturday night game. The Colts will have to play well to outlast the Titans and Jaguars in a tough AFC South.

Elsewhere in the AFC South, television viewers in southeast Texas got to see the Houston Texans get win #4 against the Oakland Raiders, 24-17. This game wasn't even that close, as the Raiders scored late to cut the deficit to 7. The Texans now go into their bye week at 4-5.

Another AFC South team that continues to win is the Tennessee Titans. The Titans dominated the quarterback-poor Carolina Panthers, 20-7. The Titans' defense recorded seven sacks of Panthers' QB David Carr. Some things never change.

The Jacksonville Jaguars came out on the wrong side of a track meet at the Superdome against New Orleans. The Saints earned their fourth win in a row, 41-24. Drew Brees threw three touchdowns for the Who Dats. The Saints were given up for dead a month ago, but now have a very good chance to win their division.

There was a bizarre event on Sunday at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Two NFL records were set in this game. The Chargers' Antonio Cromartie returned a missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown. That was overshadowed by an all-time great performance by the great Adrian Peterson. AD rushed for 298 yards and three touchdowns, setting the all-time single-game rushing record. The Vikings won the game, 35-17. What makes AD's accomplishment even greater is the fact that the Vikes have no passing game. The Chargers should have been able to slow him down, but they didn't. San Diego is lucky they are in the AFC West, where they still have a chance to make the playoffs. However, they would get smoked by the Patriots or the Colts in the playoffs.

The Cleveland Browns continue to light up the scoreboard. Jamal Lewis scored four touchdowns as the Browns scored a comeback win over the Seattle Seahawks, 33-30 in overtime. The Browns are now 5-3. They are the surprise team of the year.

Speaking of lighting up scoreboards, the Detroit Lions did exactly that. The Lions beat up the Denver Broncos, 44-7. Detroit scored two touchdowns on defense to add to the domination. The Lions are now 6-2. Jump on the bandwagon while there's still room.

The New York Jets had a chance to win a game on Sunday. However, the Washington Redskins used a methodical running game, and came back to defeat the Jets, 23-20 in overtime. Clinton Portis ran for 196 yards for the Redskins. The Jets are officially putrid.

Marshawn Lynch ran all over the Cincinnati defense, gaining 153 yards and scoring two touchdowns as the Buffalo Bills beat the Bengals, 33-21. The Bengals were once a good team. All is not well in the 'Nati.

Two inconsistent teams met on Sunday at the Pirate Ship in Tampa. The Buccaneers out-uglied the Arizona Cardinals, 17-10. The Cardinals had a banner day rushing (sarcasm), running the ball 12 times for 23 yards. Some things are absolute: death, taxes, and the mediocrity of the Cardinals.

For three quarters on Sunday, the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs played an ugly game. The teams started scoring points in bunches in the 4th quarter, and the Packers used an interception return for a touchdown to extend their winning margin to 33-22. Brett Favre has now beaten every team in the NFL, one of only three quarterbacks to do that. The Pack is now 7-1, tied with Dallas for the best record in the NFC.