Atlanta 31 Carolina 10: Michael “The Burner” Turner was unstoppable. He scored three times, and ran for a total of 
112 yards. Matty “Ice” didn’t need a big day for this win. He was 20 of 34 for 227 yards and one score, to Tony Gonzalez. Carolina had a great day on the ground with Jonathan Stewart running for 133 yards and Mike Gibson adding 70 more and scored the Panthers’ only TD of the day.
Tampa Bay 17 Washington 16: The Redskins botched the snap on an extra point that would have tied the game with seconds on the clock. That was after two missed FGs and a fumble on a kick-off. It spoiled a decent day from McNabb who threw for two TDs without a pick. All Tampa Bay needed was three FGs from Connor Barth and a TD from Josh Freeman to Kellen Winslow with a two-point conversion. Shanahan pitched in to the mess by frittering away time at the end of the half, with the Skins at the Bucs two yd. line.
Jacksonville 38 Oakland 31: In a wild affair, the teams swapped scores until the Jags D held for their offense to run out the clock. David Garrard threw for three TDs. Two Jags runners exceeded 100 yards on the day – Mo Jo and his back up Rashad Jennings. Jason Campbell was shaken up and Kyle Boller came in for one series but did no damage. Campbell was 21 of 30 for 342 yds and two TDs on the day with RB Darren McFadden adding two of his own.
Buffalo 13 Cleveland 6: It wasn’t pretty in Buffalo for either team, but especially the Browns. If I told you Jake Delhomme was at QB for Cleveland you’d understand, right? He was sacked only once and threw only one pick but it was late, enabling the Bills to run out the clock. Peyton Hillis ran for 108 yards on the day but fumbled once and wasn’t able to get into the end zone.
Detroit 7 Green Bay 3: Aaron Rodgers was knocked out the game with a concussion and someone named Matt 
Flynn replaced him. He wasn’t half bad but he wasn’t helped by his head coach. With a minute left in the game and two time outs, Mike McCarthy had Flynn throw into the end zone on 4th and one and the ball at the Detroit 31. The game was scoreless until the 10:55 mark of the 3rd Q. A Packers FG held up until 7:55 of the 4th Q when Drew Stanton threw to Will Heller for the only TD of the day.
Pittsburgh 23 Cincinnati 7: The Steelers didn’t score an offensive TD but didn’t need to. Two pick-sixes, one by Lamar Woodley and the other by Troy Polamalu, did the trick when added to three Shaun Suisham FGs. Carson Palmer threw a total of three INT, one TD and ended the day with 178 yards on 20 of 32 passing. Big Ben got clobbered all day and twisted his ankle pretty badly. He soldiered on as always.
New England 36 Chicago Bears 7: The Pats are familiar with winning in what looks like a snow globe. Last time, however, they needed Adam Vinatieri’s toe to get them a victory. Brady was accurate, throwing for two scores on 27 of 40 passing, for an astounding 369 yards in blizzard conditions. Cutler in his home stadium wasn’t as he threw two picks, one for a NE score. New England could run it as well as Woodhead scored a TD and the “Law Firm” ran for 87 yards. New England looks unstoppable.
San Diego 31 Kansas City 0: Without QB Matt Cassel, KC couldn’t move the ball and lost a full game of its AFC West lead. The Chargers had scoring on their mind and began early with three TDs in the first half, two on passes from Rivers to Malcolm Floyd. RBs Mike Tolbert and Ryan Matthews added one each and the Chargers D redeemed itself after the humiliation at the hands of Oakland last week. They held KC’s runner to fewer than 50 yards and held QB Brodie Coyle to only 7 of 17 for 40 yards on the day.
Miami 10 New York Jets 6: Santonio Holmes dropped a sure TD in the end zone in the first half and the Jets never seemed to recover. The D did all it could by holding Miami to one FG and one TD (Henne to Marshall). Henne only threw for 55 yards on the day, completing 5 of 18. Mark Sanchez got Fireman Ed and the other home fans ticked off with a fumble and a pick while only completing 17 of 44 throws. Jets receivers have to bear some of the shame with drops and near misses. The Jets have lost 2 in a row and have to wonder where it all went wrong.
San Francisco 40 Seattle 21: With his job hanging in the balance, SF coach Mike Singletary moved the QB job back to Alex Smith and he was rewarded. Smith threw three scores all in the first half for a 30-7 lead going into the half. San Fran’s Brian Westbrook racked up 110 all purpose yards with one TD. Matt Hasselbeck was intercepted four times; one for a pick-six and without more than 90 yards from his RBs, Seattle was toast. The 49ers are only one game back of the Rams and Seattle who both lost. Ugly NFC West.
Arizona Cardinals 43 Denver 13: Kicker Jay Feely scored 22 of AZ’s points on a TD (fake kick, five yard run) and five FG’s. If only Ken Wisenhunt knew he didn’t need a true QB with Feely on his side. Cards “real” QB, John Skelton didn’t give anything away but couldn’t complete more than 15 passes for fewer than 150 yards. RB Tim Hightower scored two running TDs for the Cards. Kyle Orton had an awful day with three INTs, one for a late game pick-six and no TDs. The chaos in Denver gets worse. When you lose to a kicker, you should hide your head in shame.
New Orleans 31 St. Louis 13: St. Louis could only put a few points on the board, despite them gaining just 18 fewer yards than New Orleans on offense. It was the inability to convert their third downs and the inconvenient timing of their three turnovers. Sam Bradford was picked twice, once for a pick-six by Malcolm Jenkins. Steven Jax gained 96 yards but coughed up the ball once. The Saints running game wasn’t stellar but it was enough to keep the Rams’ D honest. Brees threw for three TDs, two to Colston and one to Moore.
Used with permission of the author.
Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.
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