NFL Highway, Week 11

The NFL Highway always leads through Nevada. Don’t let anyone tell you different. They’ll never have a team of their own, but a TON of money passes through that state in relation to the NFL. That is due to legalized sports betting.

The NFL had its share of excitement on Sunday. There was a blowout of collegiate proportions, there were field goals bouncing off goal posts, and the two NFC leaders continued on their collision course.

The Dallas Cowboys continued their run through the NFC, holding on for a win over their archrival Washington Redskins, 28-23. Tony Romo threw four touchdown passes to Terrell Owens to give the Cowboys the win. Jerry Jones got lucky on a quarterback, and was willing to pay a mortal enemy to come over to his camp. Both moves are paying off in spades up to this point. As long as Tony throws the ball to T.O., T.O. is happy.

In Green Bay, the Packers continued their roll, defeating Vinny Testaverde and the Carolina Panthers, 31-17. The combined ages of the quarterbacks in this game was 82. 38-year-old Brett Favre continues to amaze, and is having a career year in leading the Pack to a 9-1 record.

The play of the day occurred in Baltimore. Cleveland kicker Phil Dawson attempted a 51 yard field goal to tie the game on the last play and send it into overtime. The ball bounced off the upright and went down on the field. The officials called it no good. One of the officials, however, noticed that the ball bounced off the upright, then bounced off the top of the goal post fixture before bouncing down onto the field. After a consultation, the officials reversed themselves and declared the field goal good. The players had already gone toward the locker rooms, and were summoned back to the field for overtime. Dawson then kicked a field goal in overtime to win the game for the Browns, 33-30. The Browns are a fun team to watch. By the way, both veteran kickers in this game are graduates of Lake Highlands High School in Dallas: the Browns’ Dawson and the Ravens’ Matt Stover.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are starting to take control of a bad NFC South division. The Bucs throttled the Atlanta Falcons, 31-7. The game wasn’t even that close.

In Cincinnati, Antrel Rolle ruined Carson Palmer’s day. Rolle returned not one, but two interceptions for touchdowns to help the Arizona Cardinals beat the Bengals, 35-27. The Cardinals are 5-5 and are only a game out of first place in the NFC West. That is news, for the Cardinals to still be in contention this late in the season. The Bengals’ wheels are falling off at 3-7.

The Houston Texans returned Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson back from injury, and not a moment too soon. Houston disposed of the New Orleans Saints, 23-10, earning bragging rights to the riverboat casinos in Lake Charles. The Saints are a disappointing 4-6.

The Indianapolis Colts are becoming slightly mortal due to the injury bug. The Colts struggled but managed to use a last-second Adam Vinatieri field goal to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, 13-10. The Colts can’t wait to get Marvin Harrison and Dwight Freeney back from injury.

In Jacksonville, the Jaguars proved that they are a better team than the once-awesome San Diego Chargers, with a 24-17 win. The Chargers are so ordinary. They will need to make a good playoff run, including an upset, to save coach Norv Turner’s job. At this rate, they will do well to make the playoffs.

Note to NFL GMs: The Minnesota Vikings have two good running backs. They have no quarterback. They will consider all reasonable offers in the off-season. Chester Taylor ran all over the horrible Raiders’ run defense for 164 yards and three touchdowns, as the Vikes ruined Daunte Culpepper’s return with a 29-22 win. The Raiders are one of several teams with a dreadful 2-8 record.

The New York Football Giants went to Detroit and showed why they will probably be the best NFC wild card team in the playoffs, as they intercepted QB Jon Kitna three times and handled the Lions, 16-10. Detroit still has a chance to make the playoffs in the mediocre NFC, but they’re not quite ready for prime time.

The Miami Dolphins have staked their claim as the worst team in the NFL. They are now 0-10, as the Philadelphia Eagles earned a 17-7 win in the City of Brotherly Love. The Dolphins still have a chance to become the first team in NFL history to go 0-16.

Staying in the AFC East, the New York Jets returned to the win column, with a 19-16 overtime win over the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers. That just goes to prove that on any given Sunday in the NFL, anything can happen.

The ugly game of the day was in the Suck Bowl in San Francisco, where the St. Louis Rams out-uglied the 49ers to get a 13-9 win. Both teams are tied for the cellar in the NFC West with 2-8 records. A tanker spilled oil into San Francisco Bay last week. It is not certain that it wasn’t the local NFL teams that caused the spill, as both the Niners and Raiders are pretty putrid.

A surprisingly high-scoring game took place in Seattle on Sunday, as the Seahawks outlasted the Chicago Bears, 30-23. The Seahawks earned a measure of revenge for last year’s playoff loss, and are establishing themselves once again as the team to beat in the NFC West.

Sunday Night Football on NBC was not family entertainment. The New England Patriots annihilated the Buffalo Bills, 56-10. Believe it or not, one of the touchdowns was on defense, and Bill Belichick actually started emptying the bench in the 3rd quarter. The Patriots have only punted 22 times in 10 games. They are a well-oiled killing machine. They could have scored 70 or 80 if they had wanted. But, they have to play the Bills twice a year, every year, and payback is always possible.