NFL Highway, Week 13

Another week on the NFL highway brought a lot of expected results. The good teams are quickly separating themselves from the bad. A lot of teams still have slight post-season hopes, while others play out the string for the remaining four weeks of the season. A rundown of this week in the National Football League:

In the Thursday night NFL Network game, the Cowboys and Packers met in the week’s best matchup. The Cowboys outscored the Packers, 34-24, as Brett Favre was knocked out in the second quarter with an elbow injury. He was playing like dog doo-doo at the time. Aaron Rodgers came in and played better. Favre should be back next week. The Cowboys are in the driver’s seat for home field advantage throughout the rest of the playoffs. Tony Romo threw four more touchdown passes for Dallas.

The Carolina Panthers used a big defensive effort to handle the San Francisco 49ers, 31-14. The Panthers had six sacks and an interception return for a touchdown. Not many fantasy owners out there had the Carolina defense and the corresponding points they produced. The Niners are terrible.

The Indianapolis Colts proved that they are still the top dog in the AFC South division, earning a season sweep over the Jacksonville Jaguars, 28-25. Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes for the Colts. The Colts plan to keep winning and hope that the Patriots somehow stumble three times. Yeah, right.

When all else fails, give the ball to LaDainian Tomlinson. The TCU-ex carried the ball for 177 yards and two touchdowns as the San Diego Chargers rolled over the Kansas City Chiefs, 24-10. The Chargers are starting to finally take control of the AFC West at 7-5. The Chiefs are slipping back to their expected output at 4-8.

Poor Miami. The Dolphins are awful. They blew their best chance for a win this season with an ugly 40-17 loss to the New York Jets. The Jets dressed up once again as the New York Titans, wearing throwback uniforms to honor their original incarnation in the AFL. The Dolphins are on a collision course with 0-16.

There are two running backs once again in Minnesota, and they are starting to develop a quarterback. Tarvaris Jackson was 18-for-24 and threw for 204 yards, and RBs Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor both scored to help the Vikings to a 42-10 blowout of the Detroit Lions. The Lions are fast becoming the same old Lions we’ve known for years, losing their third game in a row. The Vikings are becoming dangerous.

The Seattle Seahawks are establishing themselves as the third best team in the NFC. The Hawks went into Philadelphia and clipped the wings of the Eagles, 28-24. The Eagles find themselves at 5-7 and in danger of missing the playoffs for the second time in three years.

Two bad teams met on Sunday in St. Louis. The Rams showed themselves to be a lot better than the woeful Falcons, winning 28-16. Both teams will be players in the early rounds of next year’s draft. Both teams are now 3-9.

The Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans met on Sunday in Nashville. That means the Titans got another win, getting their sixth consecutive win over the Texans, 28-20. The Texans lost QB Matt Schaub to injury in the first quarter. The Texans are improving, but are not even close to being over the hump in the AFC.

Heavy hearts were on display Sunday in Washington, as the Redskins and Buffalo Bills honored slain Redskins safety Sean Taylor before the game. The Bills had a safety early in the game which proved to be the difference in a 17-16 win. The Redskins flew as a team to Miami for Taylor’s funeral today, then flew back to D.C. to prepare for a Thursday game with the Bears. Tough week.

Two unpredictable teams met Sunday in the desert. Kurt Warner led the Arizona Cardinals to a win over the resurgent Cleveland Browns, 27-21. The Cardinals still have an outside shot at the playoffs, while the Browns have a very good chance to make the AFC playoffs.

Break up the Raiders! Oakland earned their second win in a row, defeating the mercurial Denver Broncos, 34-20. Some weeks, the Broncos look like the ’72 Dolphins. Other weeks, they look like the ’07 Dolphins. Go figure.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers clinched the NFC South division, riding the arm of backup quarterback Luke McCown to a 27-23 road win over the New Orleans Saints. The Saints are in serious danger of missing the playoffs.

Somehow, the New York Giants uglied their way to a 21-16 win over the Chicago Bears. The Bears led for most of the game before the G-men scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to win the game. New York finds themselves at 8-4, while Chicago sits at 5-7 and in serious danger of missing the playoffs one year after making it to the Super Bowl.

In Pittsburgh, the Steelers flexed their muscle, putting the Cincinnati Bengals away, 24-10. The Bengals have serious problems. They have a ton of talent at the skill positions, but are unable to do much on the defensive side of the ball.

For the second week in a row, the New England Patriots got a scare. The Baltimore Ravens had a great chance to win on Monday night, but fell victim to a Patriots comeback and could not recover. The Patriots won, 27-24. New England needs four more wins to become the first team to finish the season 16-0.