STORY OF THE WEEK
TITANS, BILLS ON TOP OF AFC
Nine years ago, the Titans launched their surprising run to the Super Bowl with the Music City Miracle, an incredible, last-second lateral from Frank Wycheck to Kevin Dyson that went for a touchdown and left the Bills stunned. The Bills never recovered. A perennial playoff team at the time, they haven’t reached postseason since.
The Bills look like good bets to change that following a 23-14 victory over the Chargers on Sunday that left them 5-1 and atop the AFC East. The Titans, meanwhile, thumped the Chiefs and at 6-0 are the only unbeaten team in the NFL.
The Titans possess the league’s stingiest defense, and their running game is, well, running wild. Third-year back LenDale White and rookie Chris Johnson combined for a staggering 317 yards and four touchdowns on 35 carries against the beleaguered Chiefs. If the Titans continue their roll Monday against the Colts, the longtime kings of the AFC South, they will have beaten all of their division rivals.
The Bills, meanwhile, remain perfect in games in which second-year quarterback Trent Edwards has made it beyond the first series (he left a loss to the Cardinals on the third play with a concussion). Unlike the Titans, the Bills aren’t powerful in any area and have yet to play a division game - they soon face their East rival Dolphins, Jets and Patriots in consecutive weeks.
A playoff rematch in Nashville between the Titans and Bills seems a lot more likely now than anyone could have imagined in August.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
The roller coaster first season of life after Brett Favre is back on the way up after Sunday’s 34-14 spanking of the Indianapolis Colts. The Packers followed a rousing 2-0 start under new quarterback Aaron Rodgers with a hair-yanking three-game slide but have since gotten back on track by beating the Seahawks and Colts.
The victory over the Colts marked a terrific effort for a Packers defense that struggled after losing cornerback Al Harris to a ruptured spleen. The Packers held Peyton Manning to 229 yards and returned two of his passes for touchdowns. The offense was good, too. Struggling running back Ryan Grant rushed for 105 yards, and Rodgers showed Favre-like courage by completing 21 of 28 passes for 186 yards with a sprained right shoulder on a raw, windy day.
FIVE THINGS LEARNED IN WEEK 7
1. The Cowboys are in disarray. The defense was brutalized by Rams power back Steven Jackson for 160 yards and three touchdowns. The Tony Romo-less offense lost four turnovers, and newly acquired receiver Roy Williams was blanked in his Dallas debut. It’s not looking good for the Super Bowl favorite Cowboys heading into their matchup with the hot Bucs.
2. L.T. suffering from a bad toe is just another back. LaDainian Tomlinson scored a record 31 touchdowns and was MVP in 2006. This season, however, has been a struggle for the ailing running back. He ran for only 41 yards on 14 carries in Sunday’s loss at Buffalo, giving him just 446 yards and four touchdowns through seven games. That’s big trouble for the 3-4 Chargers.
3. The Bears have an offense. The Chicago offense scored 34 points in a 48-41 victory over the Vikings. Despite a motley crew that includes quarterback Kyle Orton, retread receiver Marty Booker and rookie running back Matt Forte, the Bears rank 13th in the league in offense.
4. Travel is a killer. The losses by the Chargers at Buffalo, the Seahawks at Tampa Bay and the 49ers at the Giants dropped the record of teams traveling to the West Coast or the Mountain time zone from the East or vice-versa to an ugly 4-12.
5. Byes don’t help really bad teams. The Rams entered the bye week 0-4, then pulled off back-to-back upsets of the Cowboys and Redskins. They are the exception, not the rule. The Chiefs came off their bye and took a 34-10 beating from the Titans, and similar bloodlettings befell the Raiders, Seahawks and Lions after a week of rest. That’s truly bad.
NEXT MAN UP
List of big injuries from Week 6:
RB Reggie Bush, New Orleans (knee): Bush had his left knee scoped Monday and figures to miss three to four weeks. Deuce McAllister will return to the feature-back role he held before Bush’s arrival in 2006.
S Roy Williams, Dallas (arm): Williams broke his right forearm for the second time this year in Sunday’s loss to St. Louis and is out for the season. Patrick Watkins will take his place.
QB Brodie Croyle, Kansas City (knee): Croyle is out for the year, leaving the job to journeyman Damon Huard or someone named Tyler Thigpen.
LB Keith Rivers, Cincinnati (jaw): Rivers is out for the season after having his jaw broken on a block by Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward. Brandon Johnson will replace Rivers.
WR/KR Devin Hester, Chicago (quadriceps): Hester left the Minnesota game in the third quarter. Nathan Vasher would return punts and Danieal Manning would return kickoffs if Hester’s not back after this week’s bye.
NUMBERS GAME
41 Points scored by the Minnesota Vikings in their loss to the Bears. No other team scored more than 21 and lost. In fact, the Vikings scored more points than both teams produced in six other games.
HOT SEAT
Whose performance Sunday puts them in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons next week:
Peterson’s first decade as the general manager and president Chiefs was a rousing success: seven playoff berths and a 104-65-1 record. But the Chiefs have been the definition of mediocrity over the past decade, Peterson’s recent drafts have been disastrous, and coach Herm Edwards has produced a 14-25 mess over two-plus seasons - including a 1-5 start to this season.
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