Monday Morning Throwdown

The story of the day was Terrell Owens and his four touchdown catches for the Cowboys, but the Patriots would not stand for it. Coming off of a bye, New England made sure that their offensive juggernaut stole the top headline, as Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes to Randy Moss in a 56-10 shellacking of the Buffalo Bills.

To call this game embarrassing for the Bills would be an understatement. It was one of the worst NFL beatings I've ever seen and to make matters worse, it happened in Buffalo on prime time Sunday night television.

Bill Belichick was obviously pissed off about how close the Colts came to beating the Patriots two weeks ago, and my theory is that Belichick and Brady did nothing but think about how badly they were going to beat Buffalo for two weeks straight.

The camera shots of the Bills home crowd seething as Belichick continued to pile on the points were priceless and even an inspiring pre-game speech from recovering Buffalo tight end Kevin Everett couldn't will the Bills to make this game close.

The Patriots are truly the best NFL team I have ever seen by a long shot and I don't see how they are going to lose with the incredible focus instilled in them by the maniacal coach/quarterback combination of Belichick and Brady. If you ever had any doubt about how serious of a competitor Tom Brady is, then you have got to watch his reaction to the intentional grounding penalty he took in the first half of the Bills game. At the time, it was already evident that the Patriots were easily going to win the game, but Brady had murder in his eyes, berating the officials like they'd just cost him the game. Admirable or crazy? I'm not sure what to think.

New England easily covered the spread and I am wondering if Vegas can make the line high enough to draw any action against the Patriots in the coming weeks.

Another huge story line on the day was the Cleveland Browns 33-30 overtime road win over the Ravens. The Browns were involved in another nail biter that ended in controversy. After leading for the entire game, Cleveland allowed the Ravens to score 16 straight points and take a 30-27 lead with under a minute left. After an inspired kickoff return by Joshua Cribbs, the Browns called on kicker Phil Dawson to attempt a 51-yard field goal to tie the game.

The kick hit the goal post, then bounced on what seemed to be the crossbar before falling back down short of the goal post. As the Ravens left the field to celebrate their win, a discussion between the refs ensued and it was determined that the kick went through the uprights before banging off the curved centre support and bouncing back out. In other words, the kick was good and both teams had to come back onto the field to play the over time period. The Ravens had to be called back out of their locker room and ended up losing 33-30.

The win gives the Browns a 6-4 record and puts them back in the hunt for the AFC North crown after the Steelers lost a 19-16 shocker to the Jets in OT. The Browns now sit one game behind the Steelers and while the Browns have an easy schedule the rest of the way, Pittsburgh still has to play New England and Jacksonville.

It was obvious from the start of the Jets-Steelers game that Pittsburgh was not prepared. The Jets were focused and the Steelers weren't, leading to another letdown that was similar in nature to the ones they have had on the road in Arizona and Denver already this season. With their lack of consistent focus, the Steelers will never be able to compete with the Colts or Patriots in the postseason. Put them on your list of AFC pretenders.

Speaking of pretenders, the Colts continue to struggle, squeaking out a 13-10 win in Kansas City. Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri missed two field goals to start the game, but managed to nail the 24-yard winner with four seconds left in regulation.

It's never easy to beat the Chiefs in K.C. and Jared Allen should not be taken lightly by anyone. While the Colts have one of the best defences in football, injuries are beginning to hurt them and Peyton Manning does not have the abundance of weapons that Tom Brady is enjoying in New England. Indy should be able to continue winning in spite of their injury troubles and if they can get healthy for the playoffs, they should at least be able to give the Pats a good game in the AFC Championship. The Colts are definitely still contenders.

Speaking of contenders, the Packers have got to be considered as one of the top teams in the NFC. While the Giants were considered to be the Cowboys top challengers for the conference just a few weeks ago, the Packers and Cowboys now look to be on equal footing from where I'm sitting.

The Packers are solid from top to bottom and Favre may be having his best season ever. With up and coming offensive weapons like Greg Jennings and James Jones, as well as Donald Driver, Koren Robinson and Donald Lee, the Packers suddenly have a ton of weapons. They also seem to be developing a running game with Ryan Grant. Their biggest strength however, is their defence, which may be the best in the league. If Favre can keep his composure, the Packers should be able to shut Dallas down with their defence when and if the two teams collide.

Week 11 Observations:

Looks like Jeff Garcia is going to the playoffs for the second straight year. After leading the Eagles to an unlikely playoff berth last season, Garcia has got to be one of the most underrated players in the NFL. He is the epitome of a winner and his Bucs sit in first place in the NFC South with a two game lead over the Panthers and Saints.

Can Kurt Warner actually lead the Cardinals to the playoffs? With the Cards 35-27 win on the road in Cincy, they are now 5-5 and sit only one game behind the Seahawks for the division lead, but...

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is red hot. He whizzed the ball all over the field against the Bears this week and has been looking unstoppable with a sub-par supporting cast on offence for weeks now. For those of you who have already ruled out Seattle's chances of winning the NFC, please beware.

The Saints just aren't good.

David Garrard is efficient and the Jags have a good running game and a good defence. They are a team built for the playoffs.

Chester Taylor: 22 carries for 164 yards rushing in a 29-22 win for the Vikings over the Raiders. Adrian who??? Maybe, Minnesota's offensive line has more to do with AP's success than people are giving them credit for.

The Giants bounced back from their tough loss to Dallas last weekend with a big 16-10 win against Detroit on the road. It says here they will be making a playoff appearance this season.

Dallas' defence sure had a tough time stopping what was supposed to be a bad Redskins offence. Jason Campbell had 348 yards passing against the Cowboys secondary.

Worst thing I saw today:

Trailing the Steelers 16-13 with 37 seconds left and one timeout remaining, the Jets had a first-and-goal from the 5-yard line after Kellen Clemens completed a 14-yard pass to tight-end Chris Baker. Plenty of time to score right? Wrong. In a move that blew my mind, the Jets decided to spike the ball and waste first down, leaving them with 37 seconds and a timeout to run two plays from the 5. After failing to convert the touchdown on second or third down, the Jets were forced to attempt a game-tying field goal, leaving the Steelers with 23 seconds on the clock to try and win the game. Not only did the spike waste a down that could have given the Jets a win in regulation, but it also gave the Steelers time to try and win it. How in the world does an NFL coach make that sort of decision? Where's your head at Mangini?

Monday Night Football preview:

Tennessee at Denver -2

Tennessee is coming off a bad performance against Jacksonville, while the Broncos played well last week in an easy win on the road over the Chiefs. The Broncos have been inconsistent all season and the big question is what team will show up for Denver? The simple fact is that Vince Young, Jeff Fisher and company know how to win. Don't read too much into last weekend's results. Jacksonville is one of the top teams in the AFC and the Chiefs can't score. The Titans should have some success against the Broncos defence on Monday Night. I think Vince Young will step up in this game and be a difference maker, although with Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth a big question mark, this is not a strong play in my opinion. Take the points and the Titans if you must. Titans +2.