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NFL look backs and look aheads

Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 14:01

A look back at the weekend in the National Football League and ahead to this weekend.TOP THREE PERFORMANCES-- RB Brian Westbrook, Eagles: He looked like an All-Pro and, in turn, Philadelphia looked like a contender again. Westbrook rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns and added another 42 yards on six receptions as the Eagles kept pace in the ultra-competitive NFC East.-- QB Chad Pennington, Dolphins: Who would you rather have right now, Pennington or Brett Favre? On Sunday, while Favre was throwing three picks in a much-too-close victory against Kansas City, Pennington was throwing for 314 yards and a TD in Miami's victory against a Bills team that was 5-1.-- WR Santana Moss, Redskins: Maybe the best "Moss'' in the NFL right now, and that's saying something. This one -- and not other named "Randy'' -- caught nine passes for 140 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown. But his most electrifying moment came on an 80-yard punt return for a score as the Redskins held off the winless Lions.THREE WORST PERFORMANCES-- Bucs offense: In the previous two weeks, the Cowboys had given up 64 points. Yet Tampa Bay's offense, even with Joey Galloway back, could scratch together only nine points and really didn't come close to scoring a touchdown. You allow 13 points on the road and your offense must find a way to win that game.-- LB James Harrison, Steelers: You hate to pick on the guy because he was thrust into a tough spot. But when the Steelers lost long snapper Greg Warren in the third quarter, Harrison was on the spot. With the Steelers leading 14-12 in the fourth quarter, Harrison hiked the ball over punter Mitch Berger's head and out of the end zone. The resulting safety tied the score. The Giants drove for the winning TD after the ensuing free kick.-- The Bengals: It's one thing to be winless and still fighting. The Lions, for instance, are playing their guts out, but just coming up short. But the Bengals? This team isn't even showing up. They fell to 0-8 for the fourth time since 1991 and this loss was ugly at it gets -- 35-6 to the Texans.THREE TEAMS ON THE RISE-- New York Giants: What an impressive victory. On the road. Against a really good Steelers team. Down in the fourth quarter. And the Giants rallied to win and showed that they might not only be the team to beat in the NFC, but the team to beat (again) in all of football.-- Houston Texans: On Oct. 5, the Texans blew a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter to the Colts. Since then? The Texans are 3-0, albeit hardly against great competition. In fact, two have come against winless teams (Lions and Bengals) and the other came against the Dolphins. Still, victories are victories. It's not how, but how many.-- New England Patriots: The moment Tom Brady went down, most crossed this team off as Super Bowl contenders. But quietly, the Pats have won two in a row and sit at 5-2 and, along with Buffalo, atop the AFC East. They aren't necessarily impressive each week (see Sunday's 23-16 victory against St. Louis), but once again, it's now how, it's how many.THREE TEAMS ON THE DECLINE-- San Francisco 49ers: Three weeks into the season, the Niners were 2-1 and figured to be a season-long contender in the mediocre NFC West. Turns out, the NFC West is the epitome of mediocre and the Niners, losers of five straight, are out of the race. Sunday's embarrassing 34-13 loss came at home to a Seahawks team that now only has two wins. Not only has San Fran fired one coach, it is already driving another crazy.-- Jacksonville Jaguars: Just when it seems the Jags are about to shake off whatever is wrong with them, they take another step back. For example, Sunday. Two weeks after going into Denver and gutting out a 24-17 victory against the Broncos, the Jags returned home following a bye and fell to Cleveland, 23-17. Teams with playoff hopes just can't lose games like that.-- Tampa Bay Bucs: Look, the Bucs are going to be fine, mostly because of a soft schedule over the next month. But Sunday was a depressing loss. The Bucs couldn't get a thing going against a good team that is struggling on both sides of the ball. The Bucs are probably going to get into the playoffs, but based on Sunday's game, you wonder how much damage they can do when they get there.THREE BIG GAMES THIS WEEK-- Patriots at Colts: For the first time in years, this is not the regular-season game of the year in the NFL. Still, not a bad matchup between two teams trying to prove they're better than most people think.-- Cowboys at Giants: A classic NFC East showdown. More important to the 5-3 Cowboys than the 6-1 Giants. The only thing missing is Pat Summerall and John Madden calling the game.-- Steelers at Redskins: A Monday night showdown between a pair of two-loss teams. The big question is whether the Steelers are just too banged up to keep playing good teams and surviving.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com)