New England Patriots 31, Philadelphia Eagles 28

Before we get into the meat of this one, someone explain to me why the Eagles were the biggest underdogs in the last 31 years for this game?  Yes, the Eagles suck and our offense is pedestrian, but we’re bigger dogs to the Patriots than the Jets and Dolphins?  Someone in Vegas is a hater, and it serves them right for being Eagles haters if they lost money on this game.

The real issue arising from this game is what to do with McNabb.   Yes Feely threw two bad picks, lets be upfront about that.  However, fact of the matter is, not only was he super accurate most of the game, he stood in the pocket and made tough throws in the face of pressure.  Our receivers looked better than they have all season.

McNabb is clearly the most talented QB on the roster. But two things he does quite often that did not happen to Feeley last night make me think that it may be time to move on. The first is, when faced with pressure, he does not stand tall in the pocket and make throws...he scrambles.  When he was young, he could escape for big gains, but now it results in pro-bowl berths for Osi Umenyiora, fumbles and injuries.

The second is the carpet burner passes.   Because I am a McNabb fan, I ignored Aikman years ago when he said McNabb at times is the most inaccurate quarterback in the league.   Feeley threw some bad passes, but in general if there was the slightest opening, Feeley got the ball there quick and on point. McNabb at times will miss wide open receivers badly, and quite often one hops passes.

Did last night mean anything, or am I overreacting? People have been calling for his head all season, but he usually follows it up with a great performance. However, there is not a bone in my body that believes if McNabb played last night, we would have been in that game.  (I guess bones don’t do much believing anyway)

The biggest tell-tale sign of the Eagles dilemma come from none other than the Blickees’ first lady.  Upon watching the Eagles respond to the first two Patriots score with scores of their own, she emphatically stated, “IT’S MCNABB!”  Truer words have never been spoken.

Green Bay Packers 37, Detroit Lions 26

This win sets up a throwback matchup between the two best teams in the NFC.  A testament to Favre’s age is that he was the Packers QB back in the 90s when the Cowboys and Packers were battling for NFC supremacy.  My how times have not changed at all.

Dallas Cowboys 34, New York Jets 3

I was thinking about what Kevin Kolb, the Eagles QB second round draft pick would have to turn out to be for me to forgive them for wasting the pick on him.  After some thought, Tony Romo might be the answer. 

Indianapolis Colts 31, Atlanta Falcons 13

Colts rebound with a nice win after being dominated by Antonio Cromartie last week.  Can you route for the Colts when you discover the Blickees’ First Lady has a crush on Peyton Manning?  I mean I’ve never seen anyone grin so widely anytime one of his commercials air.  On top of that, Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy made the First Lady say for the first time that “football is awesome.”  Thanks guys.  Thanks a lot.

Cincinnati Bengals 35, Tennessee Titans 6

When the Titans score 6 points against the Bengals, alarms should be sounded.  The Titans could run against one of the worst defenses in the league and we’ve all been tracking Vince Young’s struggles passing this year.  In his defense, when your receiving core consists of Justin Gage and an old broken down Eric Moulds for the week, Joe Montana wouldn’t look very good either.

Cleveland Browns 27, Houston Texans 17

Romeo Crennel is somewhere smiling inside right now, as everyone including me had this guy on the hell seat at the beginning of this season.  Now the Browns are looking like the best young offensive team in the league.  Go figure.

Who it really sucks for is Brady Quinn.  Drafted to be the Browns franchise QB, he is going to have a tough time beating cannon armed Derek Anderson out for the starting job in the near future.  With the way Anderson is playing, I don’t even think you can open competition for the position in the offseason.  At the very least, its Derek Anderson’s job to lose, not Quinn’s to win. 

Oakland Raiders 20, Kansas City Chiefs 17

Did I read this correctly?  The Raiders broke a 17 game AFC West losing streak with this game.  Futility at its finest.  At least they aren’t half-assed losers, they are being the best losers they can be.

Remind me why Jamarcus Russell isn’t playing yet?

Seattle Seahawks 24, St. Louis Rams 19

The Rams blew this joker in large part because Bulger got hurt yet again.  Injuries have decimated this squad, but even when healthy, the greatest show on turf has lost its excitement.

Minnesota Vikings 41, New York Giants 17

Every time it looks like Eli is going to turn the corner he regresses.  After throwing 4 (3 really bad) picks and losing almost 30 yards on a sack in this game you wonder if he’s missing something upstairs.  That Manning pedigree buys you a ton of extra time to develop though.

Since Peyton was a finalist for the Fred Taylor Hot Potato award a couple of weeks ago, Eli felt he had to one up his brother.  Three interceptions returned for touchdowns will win you that award unanimously every week. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19, Washington Redskins 13

Is there any honor less heralded than the Bucs all-time interception leader?  Not to take anything away from Ronde Bear, but the Bucs history prior to Dungy was pretty dismal, so basically being the all-time leader means you’ve had the most picks since Dungy was the coach.

My how the NFC East has become a jumbled mess.  The Skins completely imploded this game with four fumbles in 16 plays and two late interceptions.   With a high paid underachieving receiving core which is not getting any younger, two veteran running backs and a young QB still experiencing growing pains, this team is going to get much worse before it gets better.

New Orleans Saints 31, Carolina Panthers 6

The Saints seem to be pulling it together at the right time with Brees’ stellar play.

The Reggie Bush watch continues.  9 carries 32 yards, 3 catches 30 yards.  Aaron Stecker and Pierre Thomas from Illinois combined for 25 carries totaling 74 yards. 

Jacksonville Jaguars 36, Buffalo Bills 14

David Garrard is the new Rock of Gibraltar.  This guy just refuses to turn the ball over.  He values it like the last Krispy Kreme Donut in a college dorm room.  What makes this run even more impressive this week is that he threw 37 passes and for 296 yards.   To top it all off, he’s completing 65% of his passes. 

San Francisco 49ers 37, Arizona Cardinals 31

Kurt Warner brought the gun slinging mentality to the field this weekend throwing for 484 yards, but ultimately lost the game on a fumble in the end zone in OT.  You can’t really blame him for the loss though, because no defense in the league should give up 37 points to the 49ers.  Frank Gore provided a flashback to last season with 116 yards rushing and 98 yards receiving.

Chicago Bears 37, Denver Broncos 34

I can understand why you kick to Hester on kickoffs, but why on Earth would you punt him the ball.  Not even counting the countless times he’s taken punts to the house, even if he gets a good return, you still come out better if you just kick it out of bounds.  The next special teams coach who kicks to him should be forced to wear an idiot name tag for two weeks on the sideline.

San Diego Chargers 32, Baltimore Ravens 14

Phillip Rivers had a nice game finally which could mean the Chargers offense is turning the corner.  LT had a modest day, but unless you’re Adrian Peterson, you just can’t carve defenses up without a consistent passing threat.

Pittsburgh Steelers 3, Miami Dolphins 0

New turf huh?  Why you would want fresh grass in one of the sloppiest stadiums in the league is beyond me.  Astroturf would probably be preferred over the playground mud that mired this Monday Night game. 

Maybe it would be a good idea of the Steelers had a chance at home field advantage and wanted to ground the explosive Pats offense.  However, that game will be in Foxboro, where the conditions won’t be much better, but at least it will be played on a solid surface.

OkaySports MVP Award Winner – Brett Favre

I apologize for saying you needed to hang it up Brett.  381 yards, 3 TDs, no picks, 20 consecutive completed passes at one point in a crucial division game is dominant, but when you’re ancient, it’s legendary.