Boldin, who only caught two passes for 25 yards against the Browns, left in the third quarter and did not return.

The Cardinals have not determined Boldin's status for Sunday's game at New Orleans. "We are going to have to look at it and see what we can do to manage that," Whisenhunt said of Boldin's injury.

According to Arizona Republic staffer Kent Somers, Boldin's toe was put back into place Sunday, but there is a danger it could pop out of place again. Boldin underwent an MRI on Monday and was in a walking boot.

He and the Cardinals medical team are still discussing how to treat the injury.

"That's what we're trying to decide," Boldin told Somers, "if I'm going to need surgery. If not, what can we do to prevent it from happening again. It's hard to put a brace on a toe, but if there's any way to put something in my shoe to prevent that from happening. ..."

Boldin said he thinks the injury happened in the third quarter when he caught a pass. As he came off the line on the next play, Boldin pulled up after a step or two.

He couldn't believe it when he was told his second toe was dislocated.

"To me, it was kind of funny," he said, "so I'm laughing about it like I can't believe it."

According to ESPN.com insider John Clayton, the Cardinals worked extensively with shoe experts on Monday to see if there was comfortable padding that could enable Boldin to play. Clayton added: "It's too early to write him off, but it's going to be very tricky to get him ready in a week. ..."

The Cardinals finished Sunday's game minus both of their top wideouts as fellow Pro Bowler Larry Fitzgerald did not play due to a sore groin injury.

Whisenhunt seemed optimistic about Fitzgerald's chances of playing against the Saints.

"I would hope that he would be able to go," Whisenhunt said. "I think with the rest, he'll be in a better position by Wednesday."

Fitzgerald and Boldin have combined for 123 receptions, 12 touchdowns and 1,617 receiving yards for the Cardinals this season.

In their absence, Bryant Johnson stepped up with six catches for 56 yards against Cleveland.

For the record, Boldin did not practice Wednesday -- although he continues to experiment with an orthotic that will help support his toe. Fitzgerald was limited in practice by a strained groin. He said it felt much better than it did last week, and he's hopeful of playing on Sunday.

If Fitzgerald and Boldin are unable to play this weekend, Johnson would become the Cardinals' top receiver. His is third on the team in receptions with 38. Sean Morey would also have to pick up the pace. Jerheme Urban missed last week's game with an injured heel.

"It gets hard when you get a lot of guys out there who don't have a lot of game-time experience," Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner said. ...

Other notes of interest. ... Also according to Somers, one of the Cardinals' greatest concerns entering training was the quality of play they could expect out of the tight end position.

Whisenhunt made it a point Monday to single out improvement by second-year man Leonard Pope and rookies Ben Patrick and Troy Bienemann.

"You always want to see your draft picks do well," Whisenhunt said. "They are all getting better."

As the Sports Xchange noted, Patrick, the team's seventh-round pick, is getting more playing time each week. Patrick was on the practice squad the first seven games, then was promoted to the 53-man roster after Atlanta tried to sign him. In the past two weeks, Patrick has three catches for 24 yards and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Pope has five touchdowns receptions, the most by a Cardinals tight end since Rob Awalt had six in 1987. Pope could have had a sixth against Cleveland but dropped an easy pass in the end zone. ...

Another key to the Cardinals' successes this season has been the kick returning of rookie Steve Breaston, who has gained confidence every week since returning a punt for a touchdown against the Steelers in a Week 4 victory.

"He's a strong runner, a hard guy to bring down and I think that's the Number 1 thing that makes him effective," Whisenhunt said.

"He's not afraid to hit a crease. ... He's taken some shots, taken some hits, but he knows he's going to pop one."

A few final notes. ... Edgerrin James rushed for 114 yards against the Browns, his first 100-yard game since the second week of the season. James is now 14th on the NFL's all-time list with 11,307 yards in his career. He passed O.J. Simpson and Corey Dillon on Sunday.

Arizona's 14 first-quarter points against the Browns were a season high. The Cardinals had scored 26 points, total, in the first quarter during their first 11 games.

Warner's two touchdown passes Sunday gave him four consecutive, multi-touchdown games, his most since his NFL Most Valuable Player season of 2001, when he did it six times in a row to finish the regular season. ...

According to East Valley Tribune beat writer Mike Tulumello, the Cardinals have made the transition to using Warner the whole game instead of inserting Tim Rattay in goal-line situations.

They had done so because in such packed-in situations, Whisenhunt feared Warner -- with his damaged left elbow -- would be susceptible to losing the ball. But Warner appears healthy enough now to allow the change, the coach indicated.

He joked that the switch would have to be "re-evaluated" after Warner's short pass to Pope -- which hit him in the hands -- fell incomplete.

"Poorly thrown. ... Right in the mid-section. ..."

The Cardinals were penalized 11 times, equaling a season high. It's the sixth time that they have been penalized at least 10 times in a game and Whisenhunt is a bit perplexed about why it's happening.

"Some of these, I just don't know what they are," Whisenhunt said. "The thing that's frustrating for us was starting the second half with three penalties. ..."

And finally. ... Considering the Cardinals' shaky clock management at various times so far this season, Pro Football Weekly reports there are some team insiders who are starting to think Whisenhunt could be a bit overextended calling plays in addition to his game-management duties.

"It's been difficult to be consistent and difficult to score enough points," head coach Bobby Petrino said Monday as he reviewed Sunday's 28-16 loss to the St. Louis Rams. "To execute on a consistent basis with that many changes is what has been hurting us."

In the last six games, Petrino has made four changes at quarterback: from Joey Harrington to Byron Leftwich to Harrington for two starts, to Leftwich and then back to Harrington against the Rams.

More changes could be coming.

According to Atlanta Journal-Constitution beat writer Steve Wyche, Petrino declined to disclose the team's starting quarterback on Monday, leaving open the possibility that Chris Redman could take over the job Harrington and Leftwich have been unable to secure.

The Falcons host New Orleans on Monday night. Petrino said he did not want to say anything publicly because players were off Monday and he did not have the chance to speak to them. However, he spoke glowingly of Redman's fourth-quarter performance in Sunday's loss.

"It was impressive and it started with him hitting hands and being very accurate," Petrino said of Redman's most extended action since the 2003 season he was in Baltimore. "He made good decisions, the protection got better. Jerious [Norwood] popped a couple big plays for us, we scored quickly, which gave us some time on the clock to give us a chance to win."

While not addressing Redman's playing status, Petrino was highly complimentary of his former University of Louisville pupil. He did not mention Harrington or Leftwich, who served as the No. 3 quarterback against St. Louis.

If Redman is elevated, there is a chance that Harrington, who has started 10 of 12 games, could be demoted to the third quarterback behind Leftwich. Harrington has lost his starting status four times this season.

Warrick Dunn said Redman "was definitely a spark."

"He came in and he was calm and he understands what we are doing," Dunn said. "He seems to fit well. He is still learning but I thought he executed well and came in and made some big throws with poise. I think we started feeding off of that. I hope we can take that into next week and feed off of what we did in the fourth quarter. ..."

Though coy about his plans at quarterback, Petrino was very open about his plans for Norwood.

The second-year tailback is averaging 6.4 yards per carry but hasn't had as many as 10 carries in a game. He has 442 yards rushing on only 69 carries. Dunn has 190 carries for 600 yards, for 3.2 yards per carry.

As Odum suggested, many observers expected Norwood, who also averaged 6.4 yards per carry as a rookie, to assume a lead role at the start of the season. Now it appears his time has come.

"We have to get Jerious touches, there's no question," Petrino said. "When you watch the video he's the most explosive player for us. His speed shows up. He makes big plays whether it's catching the ball or running the ball. It is a situation where we have to get him more touches one way or the other. ..."

Meanwhile, SI.com insider Peter King asked Monday, "Where did Roddy White come from?"

White, who caught 10 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown against the Rams, has emerged as the team's most consistent offensive threat this season.

White, a first-round pick in 2005, has four 100-yard games and 62 catches for 920 yards this season. With four games left, White already has the most yards for an Atlanta receiver since 1999, when Terance Mathis had the team's last 1,000-yard season.

With a solid game Monday against New Orleans, White could surpass the 1,000-yard mark in yards receiving this season.

White is fourth in the NFC with 920, trailing Dallas' Terrell Owens (1,249), Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald (1,060) and St. Louis' Torry Holt (944).

White's breakthrough year hasn't been enough to save the Falcons, who are one loss away from their 20th season with 10 or more losses in 42 years.

The inability to develop consistency at quarterback, while having to constantly adjust the injury-depleted offensive line has been crippling, Petrino said.

Atlanta has allowed 39 sacks this season. It has surpassed 100 yards rushing only four times this season to rank 22nd in the NFL, a radical fall from the No. 1 spot it held for the previous three seasons.

"It's been difficult to be consistent and difficult to score enough points," Petrino said.

By pairing the newcomers with holdovers that Petrino hopes improved while taking their lumps this season, the coach hopes to develop a nucleus that will make this painful season a footnote. Petrino said that he hoped enough of a foundation was established this season so wholesale personnel turnover wouldn't be needed.

"I've been studying Green Bay quite a bit and seeing that they didn't make all that many changes," Petrino said. "Guys know the system better. They're going to play better the second year. They're going to better understand what the different movements are that you're going to see from defenses. ..."

Other notes of interest. ... Wide receiver Joe Horn returned to the starting lineup after missing the past three games and had his best performance of the season. Horn had four catches for 38 yards, including a 20-yard reception, his longest of the season.

Tight end Alge Crumpler had his best game of the season, hauling in seven passes for 65 yards. His previous high was six catches against Carolina Sept. 23.

"We have played against these guys a long time and watched [them] the last couple games on film, dialing blitzes up," Crumpler said. "We had some plays to attack that pressure and I had a couple of plays where I did everything I could to get the ball downfield. ..."

For what it's worth, Dunn, who averaged a meager 1.7 yards per carry against the Rams, needs to average 100 per game over the final four games to keep his streak of three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons alive. Crumpler has 34 receptions and is on pace to have 45, which would be his lowest total since he had 44 in 2003.

As a result, Willis McGahee's best performance of the season was all for naught.

The running back compiled 159 total yards from scrimmage -- including a 30-carry, 138-yard, one-touchdown effort on the ground -- but the effort was overshadowed by the loss to the Patriots.

"The loss takes away everything," said McGahee, who has now rushed for 1,048 yards. "We played our hearts out tonight. We had some bogus calls, but you know, it is what it is."

New England had not been a very accommodating opponent in the past for McGahee.

In five career games against the Patriots, McGahee had gained 305 yards on 93 carries -- an average of just 61 yards a game and 3.3 yards per carry. He had never scored a rushing or receiving touchdown.

His most productive showing occurred Oct. 30, 2005, when he carried the football 31 times for 136 yards. Since then, however, McGahee had not gained more than 70 yards on the ground in a single game against New England.

"Huge, huge," head coach Brian Billick said. "I thought he ran the ball very well against an outstanding football team. Very pleased with the way he ran the ball."

So was one of the team's most vocal critics, Sun columnist Mike Preston, who noted there is nothing more demoralizing in pro football than when an offensive line can physically dominate a team and sustain long scoring drives.

The Ravens' often maligned offensive line, consisting of tackles Jonathan Ogden, rookie Marshal Yanda, guards Jason Brown, rookie Ben Grubbs and center Mike Flynn, pounded the New England Patriots.

And there was nothing the Patriots could do about it.

The Ravens' offensive line opened huge holes for McGahee, who had 134 rushing yards at the end of the third quarter. But more important, the Ravens' dominance up front took the ball out of the hands of New England quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots' high-scoring offense.

The dominance up front, and a constant lead throughout the game, also cut down on the Ravens' passing attempts. Quarterback Kyle Boller had only one turnover.

As Preston suggested: "This was old-school Ravens football. They ran the ball and controlled the tempo of the game, and the defense slowed one of the best offenses to ever play the game.

"The only problem was that the Ravens gave Brady one too many chances. But overall, it was the Ravens' best game of the season. ..."

Other notes of interest. ... Steve McNair was scheduled to have surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff Tuesday, ending a disappointing season for the Ravens' quarterback.

The Ravens placed McNair on injured reserve.

Boller made his third straight start for the Ravens when they play the undefeated Patriots. Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith was the backup quarterback.

Because Boller and Smith are the only quarterbacks on the roster, the Ravens likely will sign another one this week.

It is unknown whether this will be the last season for McNair, 34, who is scheduled to make $4 million next season.

Asked last month whether McNair would ever play for the Ravens again, Billick said, "That's a question that I really can't answer. Only time will tell that. My admiration for Steve McNair -- the champion he's been, the grit, the toughness, the professionalism -- is something that I will continue to value. I don't know that anybody can answer that question right now."

During the Ravens' 21-7 loss to Cincinnati on Nov. 11, McNair partially dislocated his left shoulder and damaged his rotator cuff. He fumbled twice and threw an interception in that game, which was indicative of a turnover-filled season.

In his 13th NFL season, McNair endured the worst slump of his career, committing 11 turnovers (four interceptions and seven fumbles) in six starts.

He began this season by injuring his groin early in the season opener. After sitting out one week, he made three ineffective starts before the Ravens decided to give him a three-week rest.

But McNair only lasted another two starts before injuring his non-throwing shoulder.

Four years removed from sharing the NFL's Most Valuable Player award, McNair had one of his worst seasons, finishing with a 73.9 quarterback rating.

Since becoming a starter in 1997, McNair has had at least six surgeries involving (in order) his right knee, lower back, left big toe, right shoulder, left ankle and sternum. ...

Boller, on the other hand, benefiting from the strong rushing attack, played well against New England. Mostly. He connected on 15-of-23 passes for 210 yards with 2 touchdowns -- but also threw a costly interception.

Still, it's become increasingly obvious the team's receivers are more useful -- at least from a Fantasy perspective -- with Boller under center.

And a few final notes. ... Demetrius Williams missed his third straight game with an ankle sprain. According to the Sports Xchange, he is considering going on injured reserve. Devard Darling is now the Ravens' No. 3 receiver.

Todd Heap was inactive for the sixth time in eight games because of a hamstring injury. There's a chance that Heap won't play again this season. He has been replaced by Quinn Sypniewski.

It's also worth noting Daniel Wilcox returned from a lengthy absence Monday night and immediately made his presence felt with a red-zone scoring catch.

"Marshawn has made a lot of progress and faster than we anticipated. But we're still up to the fourth game," Jauron said. "We're hopeful, but I don't want to overstep it right now."

Jauron called Lynch and the other injured players from last week "day-to-day", which is certainly more positive than week-to-week as had been the case for the rookie tailback.

Lynch practiced for the first time since the injury last Friday, but he was very limited.

"Last Friday was his first practice of any sort at all and he just participated on a minor basis," said Jauron. "But he did okay. Hopefully these next few days the healing will go even further and he'll start testing it on Wednesday."

And that was indeed the case as Lynch practiced fully and took all his usual snaps with the starters at practice Wednesday morning.

Ironically, Lynch suffered the injury almost a month ago against the Dolphins and Buffalo hosts Miami Sunday.

Jauron also provided a general overview of the other injured players from Sunday's game, as well as those who were nursing injuries leading up to the game.

"The guys that were injured last week we'll know a lot more about Wednesday," said Jauron. "That includes Marshawn. It will kind of be day by day with those guys."

Anthony Thomas (torn calf muscle) did not play Sunday, clearing the way for Fred Jackson to make his first NFL start -- and lead the Bills in rushing and receiving yardage in the win over Washington.

Jackson racked up 82 yards on 16 carries and catching four passes for 69 yards.

"It was a great feeling to get out there and play with some of the fellas," Jackson said. "I think I played pretty well. I was able to make some plays here and there. The most important thing was we got the ‘W.' To have a part in that feels good."

As Buffalo News beat writer Allen Wilson noted, Jackson not only played a part in the victory, he was a focal point of the Bills' offense. He ripped off a 22-yard run on his first carry (albeit against Washington's 10-man opening-snap tribute to the late Sean Taylor) and added a 54-yard catch and run in the fourth quarter to set up a field goal.

What the Bills were thinking when rookie Lynch went down with a high ankle sprain on Nov. 11 in regard to the running back position is anybody's guess. Jauron turned to the aging Thomas in the games against New England and Jacksonville, and Thomas was ineffective.

Jauron and Thomas go back to their days together in Chicago when Thomas was the NFL's 2001 rookie of the year, but those days are long gone for the "A-Train." As the Sports Xchange suggested, "That train has left the station, and he is no longer capable of making big plays."

When he got hurt late in the Jacksonville game, it opened the door for Jackson to play against the Redskins.

The Xchange added: "Jackson, young and vibrant with the ability to make tacklers miss and a good pass catcher out of the backfield, should have been playing as soon as Lynch went down. His presence wouldn't have made a difference in the 56-10 loss to New England, but it may have altered the outcome of the Jacksonville game, a loss that could come back to haunt the Bills more than any other.

"If they stay in the playoff hunt, that's a defeat that may be big in terms of tiebreakers. ..."

Other notes of interest. ... Trent Edwards never got the Bills into the end zone, but he directed five drives that ended with field goals. According to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, none was more impressive than the last one as he marched the Bills into position for Rian Lindell's winning kick in less than a minute, with no timeouts.

He finished with a career-high 257 yards passing and did not throw a pick.

According to the Xchange, Edwards has more poise in the pocket than J.P. Losman does, and coaches were pleased to seem him throw the ball downfield a little more than he had in his first stint as the starter. ...

Edwards' return to the starting lineup resulted in a pretty good day for the wideouts, particularly Josh Reed, who made the biggest catch, a 30-yarder in the final 30 seconds that set up the winning field goal. Lee Evans wasn't used much, but he managed 4 catches for 51 yards, and Roscoe Parrish played his usual under-utilized role and contributed 4 catches for 36 yards.

The Redskins played a lot of man coverage with a single-high safety, and it came back to bite them at the end as the Bills won some one-on-one battles. ...

Meanwhile, tight end Robert Royal did not have the type of game he was hoping for in his return to Washington. He was nailed for a holding penalty and lost a fumble, though when he wasn't goofing up, he did have an 18-yard reception. ...

Lindell tied a team record with 17 consecutive made field goals, and the last one was the biggest of all, a 36-yarder with four seconds left that delivered the victory over Washington. It was the third time in his Bills career that he had kicked five field goals in one game. ...

And finally. ... Pro Football Weekly suggests if the Bills are able to weather their current injury storm and get back on the winning track with Edwards, look for Jauron to start gaining support for Coach of the Year honors. Jauron has a lot of respect from his peers throughout the league for the job he has done in a difficult situation in Buffalo.

Fox said the biggest reason Carr was the emergency No. 3 quarterback behind 44-year-old Vinny Testaverde and undrafted rookie Matt Moore was to protect him from the Panthers' booing fans, who turned on Carr a week earlier in a loss to New Orleans.

"I don't know if I wanted to expose him here at home," Fox said. "We'll kind of weigh that as we move forward. Anytime you don't have success it has an effect on you mentally."

As the Associated Press noted, Carr, signed to a two-year, $6 million free-agent deal in the offseason, has struggled with his new team. Since taking over as the starter when Jake Delhomme was lost to a season-ending right elbow injury, Carr has thrown three touchdown passes, five interceptions and has a passer rating of 58.3.

Carr, a former No. 1 overall pick and a five-year starter in Houston, failed to lead the Panthers to a touchdown in a 31-6 loss to the Saints. He completed 10 of 22 passes for 95 yards and was yanked for Moore after his second interception early in the fourth quarter.

It delighted the Panthers' crowd, which began chanting "We want Moore" in the second quarter.

"I still have confidence in David Carr," Fox said. "I still think he has things to offer. I don't think it's gone as well for him, or for us, as we all expected. That doesn't mean that it won't move forward either."

Testaverde, who missed the Saints' loss with a sore back, led the Panthers to a 31-14 win over the 49ers, throwing two touchdown passes and two interceptions as the Panthers snapped a seven-game home losing streak dating to last season.

Testaverde, if he remains healthy, will start Sunday against Jacksonville. ...

In a related noted. ... The Sports Xchange reports that Testaverde was swarmed by teammates when he showed up to the stadium on Saturday.

"When I got here, everybody was asking me about my back and how I was feeling," Testaverde said with a laugh, reflecting back to the previous week when a back injury kept him out against New Orleans. "Same thing (Sunday) morning, so I was relieved that I was feeling all right. I'm starting to feel a little bit better health-wise. I'm excited about the next four games."

Also according to the Xchange, on two occasions, the Panthers lined Testaverde up at receiver and Steve Smith at quarterback.

On one of those plays, the 49ers left Testaverde completely uncovered until just before the snap.

"When no one came over to cover me, I thought maybe Steve might throw it to me," Testaverde said. "But then maybe they thought, 'Well, he can catch, so we need to cover him.' I've done it a few times in my career, but I've never caught a pass, so I don't think I will be catching one anytime soon."

Meanwhile, a hook-and-ladder play worked to perfection for the Panthers.

The "hook" was the flair pass to Smith. The "ladder" was his lateral to running back DeAngelo Williams, which caught the 49ers by surprise. Williams went 22 yards to the San Francisco 14.

"We run that play without the ladder and everybody's been jumping it underneath," tackle Jordan Gross said. "Common sense tells you to run a ladder off of that, and it worked for a pretty big play."

You almost never see an NFL team try the play, which was the whole point.

"It's just a little wrinkle those guys put in this week, a little flair pass and pitch it back," Hartwig said. "The pitch definitely caught 'em off guard a little bit."

It led to a field goal and an early Carolina lead. ...

Overall, the Panthers had good balance in the running game with Williams rushing for 82 yards on 17 carries (4.8 average) and DeShaun Foster picking up 58 yards on 21 carries with one touchdown. The Panthers mixed up things on offense, lining up Smith (two carries, 21 yards) in the backfield a handful of times.

As a team, the Panthers ran 44 times for 166 yards.

Meanwhile, as Pro Football Weekly noted, Foster may hit the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career before the season's over, but he's still in jeopardy of losing his job to Williams.

Per PFW, Foster has not been very good close to the goal line and already has a career high in fumbles lost (four). ...

Tight end Dante Rosario caught his first NFL pass on Sunday, good for a touchdown. To this point, Rosario hadn't shown the Panthers much in games. They drafted him as a developmental project, a tight end/fullback hybrid who was known as much for getting in fights as anything else during his collegiate career at Oregon. ...

A few final items. ... Rookie receiver Dwayne Jarrett was inactive on Sunday because of a knee injury. Jarrett was unable to practice Wednesday and his Week 14 status will be determined in coming days.

Foster was also held out Wednesday with an unspecified head injury; Fox said Foster's injury wasn't a concussion.

"Meanwhile, Grossman started the game looking like a Manning -- but not Eli. ..."

To catch the Giants off guard, the Bears gave Grossman the autonomy in the first series to call plays at the line of scrimmage and run a no-huddle offense like Peyton Manning does.

And as DailySouthtown.com staff writer Gene Chamberlain noted Monday, the most consistent aspect of the Bears offense all year has been its no-huddle attack, regardless of whether Grossman or Brian Griese started at quarterback.

The Bears entered Sunday's game ranked second in the NFL in points scored (24) in two-minute offense, so starting the game in the no-huddle seemed a stroke of genius by offensive coordinator Ron Turner.

And it worked.

The only problem: The Bears went away from it, and eventually, the offense began to bog down, resulting in a 21-16 loss to the Giants.

"Well, that's the coaches' call, obviously," Grossman said about quitting the no-huddle after it worked. "We had a package of plays to running a no-huddle offense, and it was working pretty good, especially the first drive. We mixed it in a little bit, but maybe that's something we'll do more. I'm not sure."

Head coach Lovie Smith explained the switch from the no-huddle as an attempt to combat Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and the Giants' pass rush.

"We felt we needed to go in a different direction," Smith said. "The pressure had a little to do with that -- the Giants had six sacks -- but in the end, we were able to hold them off. It (the no-huddle) was a good changeup, but you can't just use changeups to move the ball. Offensively, we need to be able to keep the drive going when we have the lead, then defensively, we need to be able to stop them in the end."

Grossman connected on his first eight passes of the game. Grossman's passes accounted for 65 of the Bears' 79 yards on their nine-play, opening drive to a touchdown.

"It was something we wanted to mix in a little bit," Turner said of the no-huddle. "We weren't going to go the entire game with it. We wanted to start out with it and see how it went.

"Obviously, it went well that opening drive; then we were going to jump in and out of it. We did it another time or two and didn't have the success. Took it down the next time (second drive) and didn't get points. It was something we just wanted to jump in and out of to change the pace, and we'll continue to do."

Grossman completed just 17 of his last 38 attempts. He finished with 296 passing yards on a 25-of-46 effort. Grossman had completions of 50, 44, 29 and 21 yards in the game. He made attempts to go downfield four times on first down.

"Against these guys -- very, very good pass-rushers -- we felt on first down they were playing the run a little bit more, so that was the time to do some play-action and take some shots," Turner said. ...

For the record, in 15 quarters since regaining his job after Griese left the Oakland game with a shoulder injury, Grossman has completed 73 of 130 passes (56 percent) for 897 yards, three TDs and one interception and showed the improved efficiency the Bears needed to see.

That was no consolation after the Bears' seventh loss.

"We scored 16 points on offense, and that's not going to cut it," Grossman said.

"There were opportunities to make plays that we just didn't make, and for whatever reason we didn't make them in the second half especially," Grossman said. "It's frustrating. We'll think about this one for a long time."

As Haugh noted, two big drops in particular will be hard to forget. The first came on a beautifully thrown pass that would have been an 81-yard TD pass, but Devin Hester let it bounce off his shoulder pads. The other came during the comeback attempt that went through the hands of Bernard Berrian, who could be forgiven after making a one-handed circus grab earlier. ...

Also of interest. ... According to Arlington Heights Daily Herald staffer Jerry Fitzpatrick, "steady if not spectacular," Adrian Peterson performed as well as could be expected Sunday in the career backup's first start at running back since 2003.

Pressed into a starting role for only the second time as a professional following last week's season-ending injury to starter Cedric Benson, the versatile sixth-year player from Georgia Southern gained 149 total yards from scrimmage against the Giants.

Peterson ran 22 times for 67 yards and caught 7 passes from Grossman for 82 yards.

Those totals for receptions and receiving yards went down as personal single-game bests, but milestones were of little solace to the veteran tailback following a loss that made the defending NFC champs longshots to return to the playoffs.

"That's on the side. That doesn't matter," Peterson said of his statistics. "We got beat so honestly that don't even matter."

Peterson's sub-100-yard rushing day resembled previous results this season from Benson in a rushing attack that entered Sunday's game ranked 30th in the NFL. Peterson averaged 3.0 yards per carry on his 22 totes, less than Benson's season average of 3.4 yards per attempt on 196 carries.

Turner said of Peterson, "I thought he played well, as he always does."

Peterson's teammates were impressed, too.

"I think he played pretty good -- running game, passing game and protection," tight end Desmond Clark said. "We know what to expect out of Adrian. He ran the ball hard, made some crucial first downs for us and he fights for the extra yard.

"That's what we've come to expect out of him. He stepped in and filled in like we thought he would. He had a successful game out there. ..."

According to Pro Football Weekly, Garrett Wolfe, the backup to Peterson now that Benson is down for the count, is likely to get only a handful of touches in each game and probably won't see nearly as much action as Peterson did as Benson's backup the first 11 games. ...

Clark caught the Bears' lone touchdown Sunday and finished the game with five catches for 76 yards. But the tight end spent most of his time after the game talking about his team's post-season chances.

"I still believe that we're in it by a thread," Clark said. "Probably take some kind of miracle of a bunch of teams to start losing a bunch of games. We just need to play these four games and try to win out.

"You just look at it: 9-7 is better than a losing record. I still want this season to go down as a winning season, even if we don't get to the playoffs. ..."

As the Sports Xchange noted, Robbie Gould was three-for-three on FG attempts for the third straight game after missing one field goal in each of his previous three games. He's now 23-for-27 on the season for an 85.2 percent success rate. ...

And finally. ... PFW, wondering last weekend if the Bears have a renewed interest in re-signing free agent-to-be Grossman, went on to suggest an equally interesting question is whether or not the Bears' QB really wants to come back.

That's what most people have assumed he would prefer doing. But PFW believes it's quite possible Grossman could be thinking a change of scenery might not be the worst thing that could happen.

A brilliant 12-play, 75-yard opening touchdown drive was followed by 53 minutes and 22 seconds of futility and frustration.

The Bengals' average drive start on 11 possessions was their 44-yard line. The results? One TD, one field goal, a missed field goal, five punts -- four from near midfield -- and they gave up the ball three times on downs at the Steelers' 34-, 3- and 44-yard lines.

"We weren't as consistent in areas as we need to be," head coach Marvin Lewis said Monday. "We didn't take advantage, offensively, of the field position at all. We didn't score touchdowns. We missed on throws. We missed on catches. That was the disappointing thing. You need to come out of there with points."

NBC analyst John Madden said it best during the second half when he claimed the Bengals' offense "has no answer for what the Steelers' defense is doing to them."

He was pointing directly at quarterback Carson Palmer.

In fact, as Cincinnati Enquirer staffer Mark Curnutte noted, Palmer has sandwiched one of the best games of his career with two of his worst.

A week after Palmer threw four interceptions in a home loss to the Cardinals, he set his single-game high in completing 84.2 percent of his passes against Tennessee.

Then Sunday night at Pittsburgh, Palmer was down again. He established a career low for completion percentage at 38.6 in connecting on just 17 of 44 passes in a 24-10 loss to the Steelers.

"It's very unusual, and he was inconsistent and we'll let it go at that," Lewis said Monday. "Carson's a fine player, and he will be fine. We just have to make sure that we're protecting him when we need to protect him, and that he's on his mark and doing his job, and that we're in the right spots, whether it (is) the running game or passing game. ..."

Also of interest. ... The rainy, muddy conditions at Heinz Field seemed like a perfect fit for Rudi Johnson. With his low center of gravity, Johnson has built a reputation for running well on poor fields during his seven-year career.

But the Steelers also have a reputation as one of the top run defenses in the NFL. And they made Johnson a non-factor during their 24-10 victory Sunday night.

Johnson was held to 34 yards on 14 attempts, an average of 2.4 yards per carry. His lone highlight came early in the game in the form of a 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Johnson finished the opening quarter with 20 yards on seven carries. But he was limited to 14 yards on seven carries over the final three quarters.

"Give them credit for coming in and executing their game plan," Johnson said. "The first thing they wanted to do was stop the run. I had success at times, but not enough. I didn't make enough explosive plays down the field."

Johnson was hoping for better things. He came into Sunday fresh off a 25-carry, 88-yard, one TD performance in last week's victory over Tennessee. That was easily his most-productive game since he injured his hamstring during a Week 3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

As the Enquirer reminded readers Monday, with the win over the Titans, the Bengals improved their record to 18-1 when Johnson carries the ball 25 times or more in a game. Combine that statistic with field conditions ideal for the 5--10, 214-pound Johnson, and it looked like the veteran halfback could be in for a busy night.

Instead, he was frustrated by the Steelers, who have the second-best rushing defense in the NFL and have allowed a 100-yard rushing performance only once in the past 38 games.

And, Johnson said, the frustration couldn't be blamed on the field conditions.

"The field wasn't that bad," he said. "They did a good job of keeping the field covered up before the game. There wasn't big chunks of the field coming up. ..."

For what it's worth, DeDe Dorsey started at running back for the Bengals. He was a safety valve on the first play, a pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Johnson entered for the next snap and played most of the first half.

That said, Pro Football Weekly reports the Bengals have been pleased with the development of Dorsey, who is starting to get more snaps as a complement to Johnson. ...

Meanwhile, with five rush attempts for 23 yards Sunday night, Kenny Watson has reached 521 yards in 12 games. His career high for rushing yards is 534 in 16 games (four starts) for the 2002 Redskins. ...

According to Columbus Dispatch staffer Bill Rabinowitz, 90 minutes before Sunday night's game, Shayne Graham attempted 30-yard field goals without stepping into the ball with his normal approach.

Graham stood next to the ball as though his plant foot were stuck in the ground and booted the ball through the uprights. Knowing that field conditions would be treacherous in Heinz Field, Graham was gauging his range in case he would have to kick that way.

"That's what pregame is for," Graham said Wednesday after watching the awful conditions in Pittsburgh's victory over Miami two days earlier. "You find out during pregame what your range is going to be. It can reduce it significantly. In desperate scenarios, you never know what your body can do and what things you're capable of."

It was drizzling when Graham tried his unorthodox kicks, but shortly after he stopped, the mist turned into a downpour.

He was able to take a full motion on his first field goal attempt, but he missed a 43-yarder wide right early in the second quarter. ...

And few final notes. ... Tight end Daniel Coats said he was not injured Sunday night and that he was inactive because of a coach's decision. ... Wide receiver Chad Johnson was believed to be in Miami on Monday for the funeral of former Redskins safety Sean Taylor. ...

That changed this week in the wake of a disappointing 27-21 loss in Arizona. And when head coach Romeo Crennel met with his team Monday afternoon, he let them know -- again -- how disappointed he was in the penalties, turnovers and mistakes that led to the loss in Arizona.

But he also reminded them there's still plenty to play for.

"We're still in decent position," Crennel said. "The thing that we have to do is play better football. If we play better football, we'll give ourselves a chance. But nothing is given in this business. You have to play every Sunday and you have to play good every Sunday. With these next four games, if we play good we'll give ourselves a chance."

The Browns turned the ball over four times and were penalized 10 times for 77 yards in Arizona, including a delay of game for kicking the ball, a horse collar tackle, an unnecessary roughness on a hit out of bounds and a head butt that cost them 15 yards on the final drive.

"We just didn't play smart football," he said.

Even so, the Browns were in it all the way through the dramatic ending, when Kellen Winslow jumped over two defenders to make a catch in the end zone but was ruled out of bounds. They kept fighting, but Crennel said they kept beating themselves.

"We drove it down with two minutes and had a chance to win the game," Crennel said. "Depending on some people's interpretation, that's a catch, a catch and a force out. From my standpoint, we can't put ourselves in that position. Let's do the things earlier in the game so it doesn't come down to that one play.

"If we had played good football for the entire game and it comes down to one play, then I could say the way we fought was good. But we didn't play well enough early and I want us to play better early, so it doesn't come down to one play."

Chief among those coming up short, was Derek Anderson, who was responsible for three first-half turnovers against the Cardinals -- two interceptions and a fumble.

"Obviously, I don't like to throw picks and I don't like to lose a game for our team," Anderson told Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Mary Kay Cabot. "I've just got to be better. That's what it comes down to."

Anderson spotted the Cardinals a 14-0 lead in the first quarter after they converted his first interception and his fumbled snap. Arizona scored 21 of its 27 points off turnovers, including a Josh Cribbs' muff.

"I can't really put my finger on the [bad start]," Anderson said. "Obviously I've got to play better and get those guys going. That's my job. I don't know why it happened that way."

In addition to the three turnovers, Anderson also threw the ball out of the back of the end zone in the fourth quarter when the Browns desperately needed a TD. They settled for a field goal instead.

But he threw two TD passes to keep the Browns in the game and then almost completed the Hail Mary to Winslow at the end. While the officials were reviewing the call, Anderson kept two arms raised to signal a TD.

"It should never have come down to that in the first place," Anderson said. "But it was a force-out. From what I saw on the replay screen, he had one foot in and the guy pushed him out. Obviously they stopped showing the replays as the officials started talking. ..."

The Browns did come out ahead, however, on another controversial call.

Braylon Edwards ran into a deep seam between cornerback Antrel Rolle and safety Terrence Holt while Anderson unloaded. Holt lunged toward the ball but got there late as Edwards made a lunging catch.

Edwards took too long a stride and somersaulted to the 30. Rolle tapped Edwards as the latter sprang to his feet, but was left dumbfounded when Edwards sprinted to the end zone.

The Cardinals lost a replay challenge after the play was ruled a touchdown. The 67-yard catch-fall-rise-and-run cut an Arizona lead to 21-16.

On the conversion try for 2, with Cribbs at tailback, Anderson went in motion in a nonchalant way that confused the Cardinals. Just as Anderson was waving his hands as if to give instructions to wideout Edwards, Hank Fraley snapped the ball to Cribbs.

Cribbs took a juke step up, then threw to a wide-open Winslow. ...

For what it's worth, Anderson threw for 304 yards, his second-highest total in 10 games, but he also threw 20 incompletions, his most other than a game against the Patriots. His two interceptions came after he was picked a combined three times over the previous six games. ...

Edwards, who caught seven passes for 149 yards and the touchdown, went over 1,000 yards for the first time in his career. He also moved into a tie for second place on the Browns' all-time list with 12 touchdowns in a season and needs one more to tie Gary Collins for the team record with 13. ...

A few final notes this week. ... Jamal Lewis said he took a shot to the ribs on his touchdown catch late in the second quarter Sunday, when he hurdled one defender and was hit by another as he crossed the goal line.

Lewis said he experienced some pain and left the field before halftime as a precaution. But he returned and played in the second half and said Monday he didn't anticipate any problems.

For the record, Lewis had 29 carries, his highest total in a game in more than a year and his second-highest total since 2005.

And finally. ... The Sports Xchange notes that fullback Lawrence Vickers is getting some notice as one of the better young lead blockers in the game. "He's my eyes to the hole a lot of times," Lewis said.

Tony Romo has thrown a club-record 33 touchdown passes and needed only 12 games to do it. Terrell Owens has 1,249 receiving yards with 14 touchdown catches. Jason Witten has 65 catches for 817 yards. The running game has accounted for 1,457 yards and 11 touchdowns.

It could not have been scripted any better.

And Archer further noted, part of the reason it has gone so well for the Cowboys is a script.

Like a lot of play-callers across the NFL, Garrett scripts the first 15 plays his offense will run for every game.

Garrett, the Cowboys offensive coordinator, is careful to not give away information. That opening script, he said is "an idea of things we want to get to, plays we like, formations we like."

Archer went on to point out, however, that Garrett does not hold firm to the first 15 – unlike the way San Francisco did with Bill Walsh calling the shots with Joe Montana at quarterback.

"Some people really stick to the script, adhere to the script regardless of the situation," Garrett said. "We allow situations to take us where we want to go. If we get in certain third-down or red-zone situations, we're not going to blindly run plays. We're going to let the situations take over."

Last year's play-caller, assistant head coach Tony Sparano, scripted the first 15 plays, too. It helps the players get a mind-set going into a game, either with the run if they are facing a team that is susceptible to power or misdirection if a defense shows an aggressive propensity.

"It gives you a feel for how things are going to go," Witten said.

Last Thursday's first 15 split -- scripted or not -- was eight runs and seven passes against Green Bay. Sometimes, the First 15 will involve more passing. Sometimes, the First 15 is scripted simply to set up the rest of the game.

"I think more than anything, he [Garrett] wants to get calls early in a game so he can set stuff up," Witten said. "It's not that it's just some plays or probably the favorite 15 plays. But there are plays you want to see how they're going to play, because we might have 15 plays off of one formation."

Archer used the Packers game as an example. Throughout the course of the season, the Cowboys have used a three-tight end formation a handful of times and mostly in short-yardage situations.

In the first quarter against the Packers, Garrett used a three-tight end formation on play Nos. 7, 12 and 14. All three were runs with Marion Barber or Julius Jones plowing their way up the middle for a combined 11 yards.

On play No. 19 – a second-and-8 from the Green Bay 26 in the second quarter – Garrett had Jason Witten, Tony Curtis and Anthony Fasano on the field once again – this time, with a variation.

On the previous three plays, Witten went in motion and ended up in a fullback spot. On this play, he held his ground.

At the snap, Romo faked a handoff to Jones, temporarily freezing the linebackers. As Witten ran down the middle of the field, Romo kept his eyes on the Pro Bowler, forcing safety Atari Bigby to commit that way. Cornerback Jarrett Bush, playing zone coverage, was expecting Bigby to help deep on his side.

But with Bigby inching toward Witten, Fasano got deep behind Bigby to grab the first touchdown pass of his career.

"Hopefully, you're practicing things you want to run in a game and guys get an understanding of that," Garrett said. "But the first 15 plays are an indicator of things we want to get to and things you're going to see in the game. ..."

Other notes of interest. ... According to Morning News staffer Albert Breer, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones wouldn't say unequivocally that receiver Terry Glenn will return to the field this season.

But he agreed that it's a good sign the Cowboys have kept Glenn on the roster through 13 weeks of the season, given that all 53 spots are precious.

"It shows what impact that we feel he can make on our team," Jones said. "And secondly, it shows we think there's a realistic chance he can come back and help us."

While Jones was speaking, Glenn passed through on his way to the weight room with associate trainer Britt Brown, and Breer noted that Glenn wasn't favoring his injured right knee.

Glenn originally injured the knee Sept. 5 in practice. He had surgery to remove a cyst in August, then had another surgery in September after swelling surfaced to remove loose cartilage. During the second surgery, it was determined Glenn didn't need to undergo season- and possibly career-ending microfracture surgery.

Jones declined to put a timetable on Glenn's return, saying "It has to be a feel thing." The Cowboys can activate Glenn at any point, provided he remains on the 53-man roster. Glenn has been running, but he still needs to prove he can make cuts and explode out of his breaks.

On Monday, receiver Patrick Crayton credited Glenn with being a "big brother" in his development as a pro and said his return would be a big boost to the NFL's second-ranked offense.

"For one, it'd be a set of fresh legs," Crayton said. "And it's another playmaker for a defense to have to game-plan. Regardless of whether it's his first game back, no defense is going to ignore that. ..."

Looking back at last week. ... Terrell Owens had seven catches for 156 yards and a touchdown against the Packers. His 10-yard second quarter touchdown catch was the 14th of the season, tying Frank Clarke's (1962) single-season club touchdown record.

Romo threw four touchdown passes against the Packers up his total to 33 for the season to establish a team record for touchdown passes in a season, snapping a tie with Danny White who held the previous club record of 29 from 1983.

In an article published Monday, SI.com insider Peter King wrote: "I think the only quarterbacks, long-term, I'd take over Romo right now are Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

"Romo doesn't have the deep arm of Carson Palmer or Ben Roethlisberger, but he has the improvisational ability equal to or better than anyone beyond the top two. ..."

Witten now has 65 receptions on the season. It is the fourth consecutive 60-plus catch season, allowing him to become just the sixth tight end -- first in club history -- in NFL history to accomplish that feat. ...

Despite not catching a pass against the Packers, Miles Austin had "a great game," according to head coach Wade Phillips. Why? He induced two pass-interference calls inside the Packers' 10-yard line, both leading to scores, and averaged 27.7 yards on kickoffs.

According to Pro Football Weekly, Austin really has had a nice season as a special-teamer and now is part of the regular WR rotation. ...

And finally. ... Wide receivers coach Ray Sherman is a candidate for the vacant Washington State head coaching position, according to the Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Wash.

Sherman said he hadn't spoken to anyone at the school and didn't know anything about the report. The newspaper also said UTEP coach Mike Price, who coached the Cougars from 1989-2002 and led them to two Rose Bowls, is a candidate for the job.

The NFL informed Henry in September he had failed a test for marijuana. He disputed the results and sued the NFL to avoid a suspension. He contended the league violated its substance abuse policy by not allowing an expert of Henry's choosing to be present for the testing.

Henry's lawyer Harvey Steinberg told Associated Press sports writer Pat Graham that he wasn't surprised by the decision.

"I'm thrilled," Steinberg said. "I always thought we should prevail. I knew that if we got a fair shake, based on the evidence, we'd win. Travis knows and he's absolutely thrilled and relieved and very happy."

The Broncos issued a statement that said they were "pleased with this outcome and happy that Travis has been absolved of any wrongdoing with respect to this matter."

Henry appealed his suspension in early November. He earned the full support of head coach Mike Shanahan after he passed a polygraph test and had a hair sample come back negative for marijuana.

League spokesman Greg Aiello said that had no bearing on the decision.

"The defense of hair samples and lie detector tests was irrelevant and unconvincing," Aiello said in a statement. "But our substance abuse program is based on meeting the highest standards and respecting player rights in all phases of its administration."

Aiello said in a release that Henry will remain in the league's substance abuse program. Henry served a four-game drug-related suspension while with the Tennessee Titans in 2005.

But Steinberg wasn't sure if Henry would remain in the program or cycle out.

"That's going to be interesting," Steinberg said. "I think he was due to be let out. ..."

Meanwhile, Denver Post staff writer Bill Williamson reports that Henry was less disgusted with himself after watching game film of his play against Oakland on Sunday. After the game, Henry was down.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought," Henry said. "I hit the hole pretty good. I mean, I hadn't played in three weeks, so I'd expect to be rusty. The good thing is I got the rust shook off and I'll be ready to go Sunday."

At Oakland, Henry came back from a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament and participated in 41 plays.

Shanahan reiterated Monday that he didn't want to push Henry into such extensive action, but was forced to when rookie Selvin Young left the game with a bruised right arm in the third quarter. The arm was heavily wrapped after the game.

Monday, Young left team headquarters without the wrap. Shanahan said Young would be re-evaluated Wednesday.

"Selvin should be back, and I'll be better," Henry said. "I was supposed to take 12 plays and I took 41, so I'll be better for that."

The team also hopes for the return of running back Andre Hall, whose high ankle sprain kept him out against Oakland. Hall said Sunday he expects to practice this week. The Broncos could add another running back if necessary.

In case you missed it, the Broncos were unable to get much out of their running game against an Oakland defense that had allowed eight 100-yard rushers this season and had ranked last in the league with a 153.6 yard-a-game yield.

Henry finished with 15 carries for 49 yards as the Broncos averaged only 3 yards on 29 rushes.

The 86 rushing yards came after the Broncos had put up 141, 166 and 138 in the previous three games.

"It was tough because cuts that I normally make I couldn't do, but there's no excuses, man," Henry said. "We didn't play good. I didn't play good. It's a tough loss. I have to get myself right, get myself healthy and try and help us win football games."

For the record, Henry refused to say the off-field distractions affected his performance in any way.

"No, think about it, I've been knowing about it for a minute and it didn't affect me earlier," said Henry, who first was informed in early September of a positive test result and since has been wrangling with the NFL and in court over his status. "It's cool. I have a job to do. ..."

According to Pro Football Weekly, the team would like to continue pairing up Henry and Young as their primary rushing weapons. But Hall's toughness and ability to "find the open field" in churning out 167 all-purpose yards against Chicago impressed the team. ...

Other notes of interest. ... According to Rocky Mountain News correspondent Damin Esper, Jay Cutler didn't have a whole lot to say about his performance Sunday.

The second-year quarterback spent about three minutes in the interview room after the loss to Oakland. Cutler's numbers were underwhelming: 16-of-32 for 214 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and one lost fumble.

Not that single-game ratings mean much, but Cutler posted a 45.6 quarterback rating, the worst of his young career.

"You never want to go out there and commit that many turnovers," Cutler said. "Two interceptions and however many fumbles. That's why we lost the game."

Cutler's turnovers came in the second half and led to 17 Raiders points.

Brandon Marshall said Cutler wasn't to blame for the interceptions. "The first interception, he's going to try to put it in a tight spot," Marshall said. "We want him to do that. The second was on me."

Marshall said he tried to release from his defender, which let the defensive back get inside. ...

In a related note. ... Pro Football Weekly advised readers not to be if Javon Walker's knee keeps him from getting all the way back this season. ...

And finally. ... Third-string quarterback Darrell Hackney was issued a summons after he was stopped by police over the weekend and accused of driving under the influence. Hackney, 24, also is accused of running a stop sign and was not carrying proof of insurance, according to the district attorney.

The summons ordered Hackney to return to Arapahoe County Court Jan. 18.

Hackney could face up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, the district attorney's office said.

Williams, the leading receiver and most consistent big-play threat, suffered a sprained posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the first half of Sunday's 42-10 loss at Minnesota.

There's no firm prognosis for Williams' recovery, but it appears unlikely he will play again during the regular season.

"I don't know how many weeks it is, but it's going to be several," head coach Rod Marinelli said at his weekly news conference Monday. "So he could be gone for the year."

Williams was more optimistic.

"They say a couple of weeks," Williams said. "We'll see how that goes."

When told there was a discrepancy between his view and Marinelli's, Williams replied: "Weeks. I don't know what kind of weeks. I've never had a knee (injury)."

According to Detroit Free Press sports writer Nicholas J. Cotsonika, Shaun McDonald will start in his place at the "X" position in Williams' absence. Johnson will start at the "Z." Mike Furrey will play the slot position in which he was so productive last season.

Williams' injury is a "sprain," according to team officials, which means there's a tear. It will not need surgery, Marinelli said.

Williams was hurt when he fell while making a catch for a 43-yard gain. He said he felt pain in the knee and left the game after the catch. He played two more plays after the series, then left the game for good.

"I knew there was discomfort after I caught the deep ball and got ready for the next play," he said.

Marinelli had not decided Monday whether to put Williams on injured reserve, which would end his season.

Drafted second overall by the Lions, Johnson has had some spectacular moments this season, but lately his play has been inconsistent. Against Minnesota, he caught one pass for 17 yards but had a drop on the play before the catch.

"He's going to have to come up and step up and make plays," Williams said. "This is his first year. He's still learning some nuances of this game. I'm going to try my best to help him. I think when he's going, this team is going as well."

Williams was asked if Johnson might be feeling the pressure of being a high-profile rookie.

"This offense is complicated, especially for a first-year guy," Williams said of Johnson, who was not available Monday. "He has so much pressure on him because he's a No. 2 pick -- and now with Adrian Peterson (the Vikings rookie runner) and you guys writing, 'Did the Lions make the wrong pick?' and all that stuff. ..."

Meanwhile, the Lions can't seem to match the intensity of teams who are really playing for something, MLive.com beat writer Tom Kowalski said in an interview with WDFN-AM Detroit.

The teams has been exposed for what it is -- lacking in talent and, at this point, unmotivated to fight through the losing mentality.

Kowalski believes Marinelli needs to make a decision on what he's going to happen with Mike Martz -- whether he sticks with him, or tries to find something else he thinks would work better with the team.

"I heard what [Williams] said today about 'No, it's not on Martz,' but I don't think he believes that, I really don't," Kowalski said. "I think that Roy has made a lot of really thinly veiled cracks at Martz, and his role in the game plan, and things like that. And I think that the offensive line has lost confidence in Martz.

"So I'm not sure that's really the perfect situation, or even a situation, as it was before. And once Martz has lost (the offensive players), then I think Marinelli really has to think about what he's doing."

At this point, "I would be surprised if he's back," Kowalski added.

It should be noted that during his postgame news conference, Marinelli answered almost all of the questions by taking the heat himself and blaming himself for not getting the team better prepared.

When asked if he thought he was taking "the easy way out" by blaming himself not detailing what's wrong with the Lions, Marinelli said: "What would you like me to explain? Tell me exactly and I'll explain it."

What, specifically, went wrong?

"Run fits and not tackling -- that was evident, right?" Marinelli said. "Not tackling on the kickoff team, right? We liked our plan coming out early, throwing the ball. We got behind faster than we wanted to. The long drives hurt us.

"It's the same thing I said in the very beginning and I'm going to repeat it. That's on our staff. We came out sluggish, we had penalties, we had mistakes. If you say that's the easy way out, I say you're wrong. That's me. I look at what I'm doing and I go back and review it.

"That's how you get better, you don't put it off on someone else.

"I know what went wrong. We've got to go teach it and execute it and we're not doing that. We haven't done it the last four weeks. So, I look at me. ..."

Also of interest. .. The Sports Xchange notes that Jon Kitna entered Sunday's game beaten-up, but he left in the fourth quarter only because of the score, Marinelli said.

Aside from one quick-strike drive -- when Kitna completed four straight passes for 73 yards and a touchdown -- the passing attack was unspectacular at best. The Lions' game plan was to throw the ball. They didn't score a point from early in the second quarter on.

The Xchange went on to note the Lions never intended to run the ball against Minnesota.

They didn't even dress fullback Jon Bradley against the NFL's top rush defense. Still, the NFL record for fewest rushing attempts is six, and the Lions had only three attempts with 3:54 to go. They finished with seven after basically running out the clock and had only 23 rushing yards.

As SI.com insider Peter King suggested: "There is no defense of the indefensible Detroit running game. Sixteen of the first 17 playcalls in the lopsided loss to Minnesota were pass plays. That is one weird offense.

The 38-year-old Favre joins fellow quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw (1979), Joe Montana (1990) and Tom Brady (2005) as recipients of the award, given to an athlete who symbolizes the ideals of sportsmanship.

Favre, a three-time NFL MVP, said in the cover story of the magazine's Dec. 10th issue that leadership is about finding ways to raise his team's level of play.

"You do that by setting an example, by doing things the right way. I've always shown up, I've always been prepared, I practice every day," Favre said. "I practice hard. I study. No matter what happens on the field, I never point blame at anybody else. Everything I do comes back to leadership, the example I want to set."

Favre has started a quarterback-record 249 consecutive games, and this year surpassed Dan Marino for career touchdown passes and pass attempts. He is 450 yards away from breaking Marino's career record of 61,361 yards.

Favre has had one of the best seasons of his 17-year career, completing 67.4 percent of his passes for 3,412 yards with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

He's on pace to surpass his career marks in completion percentage, yards passing and fewest interceptions per attempts.

The magazine also recognized Favre's history of philanthropy, including his Fourward Foundation that's donated more than $4 million to charities in Wisconsin and Mississippi and assisted Mississippi's Gulf Coast counties after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. ...

Meanwhile, NFL Network insider Adam Schefter reminded readers on Tuesday that trainers expect Favre, who was able to practice on a limited basis Wednesday despite his separated left shoulder and banged-up right arm, will be able to start Sunday against the Raiders.

If so, it would continue football's ironman streak, giving Favre a preposterous 250 straight starts. But Favre knows off-season surgery awaits, should he opt for it.

According to Schefter, the legend of Favre is about to grow, along with the number of surgeries he has had and will need.

Favre has already undergone two left ankle surgeries, one of which came after last season. Now he needs surgery on his right ankle, Favre confirmed last week while in Dallas for Thursday night's game against the Cowboys.

Favre has bone spurs in his right ankle that have become increasingly uncomfortable for him this season. He knows he needs the surgery, the question is when.

He plans to put it off until after the season, at the earliest. But Schefter suggests, it also adds to the Favre legend, with him accomplishing all he has this season with bone spurs in his right ankle and now all the aches he is going to have in his left shoulder and right arm. ...

In a related item. ... Aaron Rodgers missed practice Wednesday with a pulled hamstring that he suffered at the end of Tuesday's practice. Rodgers could miss "a week, maybe two" according to head coach Mike McCarthy.

That would leave the recently arrived Craig Nall as the backup to a starter that still hasn't regained all of the feeling in his right hand. And while McCarthy said Nall looked "great" in practice today, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel staffer Greg A. Bedard said that wasn't the case during the portion of practice open to the media. ...

Taking the longer view, Pro Football Weekly reports team insiders are increasingly confident that backup Rodgers could effectively grab the baton if necessary after the former first-round draft pick's excellent bullpen effort against the Cowboys.

Rodgers looked quite impressive, engineering a 74-yard TD drive late in the first half and a 69-yard TD drive early in the second half to keep the game close. Rodgers displayed a strong, accurate arm, good mobility and, perhaps most importantly, terrific command and energy in the huddle.

Daily team observers have been telling PFW for some time how good Rodgers has looked in practice, and if pressed into service as a starter, the feeling is he could hold his own with any opponent -- just like he did against a tough Dallas defense. ...

Other notes of interest. ... If not for a 62-yard dash to the end zone late in the first quarter, Ryan Grant would have barely edged Rodgers as the team's rushing leader against the Cowboys.

Nevertheless, Grant's one big run of the night in 14 carries -- he finished with 94 yards -- had the makings of being a game changer, as it pulled the Packers within 13-10 before things unraveled with Favre's injury and defensive blunders the next five minutes. ...

As the Sports Xchange noted, Greg Jennings has 10 touchdowns this season, the latest on an 11-yard throw from Rodgers in the loss at Dallas. Jennings is the first Packer to reach double digits for touchdown receptions since Javon Walker had 12 in 2004. The single-season team record is 18 by Sterling Sharpe in 1994.

And finally. ... Bubba Franks was deactivated for the sixth straight game. Franks was hopeful of getting back on the field for the first time since he suffered a sprained knee Oct. 14 against Washington, but he had a setback in practice Nov. 26.

Head coach Gary Kubiak said Schaub's arm was in a sling Monday and added that it is too early to determine if the injury will end Schaub's season.

"All I can tell you guys right now is they're still evaluating," Kubiak said. "It sure looks like he's going to miss some time. Whether we're talking about the next four weeks or not, I don't think we're at that stage. I think it's very hopeful that he does come back and play some more this year, but it's going to be day-to-day and it's not very good today."

Schaub was hurt with 3:11 to play in the first quarter of Sunday's game when he was sacked by Tennessee Titans defensive end Antwan Odom.

After kneeling on the ground for several minutes, Schaub was taken to the locker room.

Kubiak wouldn't rule out Schaub for this weekend's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but he offered little hope his quarterback can play.

"I don't really want to say that today," he said. "I just know that if we went to play today, there's no chance. So I would say it's not good at this point and hopefully that changes, but it doesn't look good right now."

Sage Rosenfels relieved Schaub against the Titans and threw for 185 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andre Johnson. Rosenfels will get the start in place of Schaub.

The Texans inquired about resigning quarterback Craig Nall, who briefly joined the team after Schaub suffered a concussion. However, Nall was signed by the Green Bay Packers last week after Brett Favre suffered a shoulder injury.

That leaves the Texans with practice squad quarterback Shane Boyd. The second-year player has seen limited action on an NFL field.

"I don't know if he's ready, but he's got to be," Kubiak said. "You know, we've got to as coaches sit down and decide what he does best and if he goes into the game as a backup to Sage, I'm sure we'll be limited in what he can do and what we have to do with him, so that is a challenge. ..."

Also of interest. ... According to HoustonTexans.com staffer Brooke Bentley, Ahman Green, who has been inactive for the last three games and has battled a knee injury since Week 2, must make progress before Sunday.

Because of all the recent injuries, the Sports Xchange notes the Texans cannot continue to waste a roster spot on Green, who has now missed six starts and has yet to finish a game.

"I think we're definitely at a week this week where the decision or the process needs to be sped up," Kubiak said of Green Monday. "I like what I saw last week. He practiced well on Friday taking the scout team."

The Pro Bowler worked out Monday and his knee will be evaluated on Wednesday.

"We're going to see where he's at Wednesday, but I think it's pretty important that he gets on the field this week," Kubiak said. "If not, then we're probably going to have to make a decision."

Meanwhile, Ron Dayne rolled his ankle Sunday. He will sit out of practices this week, but is expected to play against the Buccaneers.

As the Xchange suggested, Dayne had another great workmanlike performance with 18 carries for 86 yards. He has produced the past four weeks. The Texans steered away from the running game for much of the second half.

He added the first touchdown of the game with a one-yard run on the opening series.

With a fifth straight division title all but assured, playoff seeding starts coming into focus. The highest seed available to the Colts is likely their current position, the AFC's No. 2, unless unbeaten New England suffers a stunning collapse.

With Pittsburgh right on their heels, the Colts won't relax.

Dungy, ever cautious, agreed that Sunday's win "does put us in pretty good position. But we've got to understand where we are right now, that we need a couple more wins to clinch the division and we've got to continue to win to stay in front of Pittsburgh. ... We know where Pittsburgh is."

As Chappell explained, the coach wasn't talking geographically. Indeed, despite everyone's fixation on the Patriots, it's the Steelers who should most concern the Colts.

Indianapolis would appear to have the more favorable schedule. After Sunday's game in Baltimore, the Colts travel to Oakland, then close out the regular season against Houston and Tennessee at home. The Steelers visit the Patriots this weekend, then host Jacksonville before closing with games at St. Louis and Baltimore.

Peyton Manning declined to spend much time playing "What if?" after passing for a season-high four touchdowns in the Colts' 28-25 win over the Jaguars. The result gave the Colts a three-game lead in the AFC South, including the tiebreaker, with four to play.

"Tony knows the math, but we certainly knew this was a big game," Manning said. "Certainly (the AFC South) is one of our goals coming into the season because that guarantees you a playoff spot.

"I know it hasn't happened, but we want to try to keep winning to ensure that it does happen and obviously keep winning as many games as we can."

The value of securing a No. 2 seed can't be overstated. It assures a first-round bye -- Dungy likened it to winning a game without playing -- and a home game in the divisional round.

An extra week's rest is all that's guaranteed.

Despite the Colts' unusual (at least based on previous seasons) interest in December games, Dungy made it clear he's in no hurry to get Marvin Harrison back on the field.

"When Marvin's back and our doctors feel like he can practice, play and have a good chance to play the next week, that's when he's going to play," Dungy said. "If games were do-or-die, he'd be playing. We want to win these next four, but I don't think they'll be do-or-die games."

Harrison missed his sixth straight game and seventh overall this season with an injury to his left knee last Sunday.

And even though team president Bill Polian made some optimistic comments Tuesday, (Harrison apparently had a good workout Monday), the exec admitted: "We're now at the stage where we're starting to think about conditioning and that's a good thing, because that means he's getting very close to playing."

Starting to think about conditioning might be good news for the Colts, but it's not very promising for Fantasy owners heading into playoff runs.

So if you still had questions about keeping Harrison on your roster, Dungy and Polian probably just answered them. Those who haven't yet should feel free to turn Harrison loose post-haste. ...

Other notes of interest. ... Manning enjoyed a breakout game of sorts against the Jaguars, passing for a season-high four touchdowns. His three scoring tosses in the first half all came on third down -- a problem down in recent weeks.

The Colts broke their own NFL season record in 2006 by converting 56.1 percent of their third-down situations, but hadn't been nearly as efficient this season through the first 11 games. They entered the game fifth in the league, at 47.9 percent, and had converted a horrific 6-of-24 the past two weeks against Atlanta and Kansas City.

Indy regained its precise form at the expense of the Jaguars.

"We ran our routes pretty crisp and got open," Dungy said.

Manning, with one glaring exception, orchestrated the third-down dissection of Jacksonville. He completed 8-of-10 passes for 146 yards with two touchdowns, one to tight end Dallas Clark and another to Reggie Wayne.

Although the Colts have been successful running on third-and-short this season -- Joseph Addai and Kenton Keith have combined to convert 14-of-16 times on third-and-1 -- they relied on their passing game on the second-period drive that sent them into halftime with a 21-7 lead.

On three consecutive third-and-1s, Manning hit Clark for an 8-yard completion, Wayne for a 2-yarder and Wayne again for 21 despite tight coverage from Jaguars cornerback Brian Williams.

"Of course you've got to look for a guy like Reggie on third down," Manning said. "You feel good. You trust him that he's going to be in the right spot and make the catch."

In a semi-related note. ... With two touchdown catches against the Jaguars, Clark upped his season total to nine. That ties Hall of Famer John Mackey for the most by a Colts tight end in a single season.

Rookie receiver Anthony Gonzalez saw his first career touchdown catch -- a 4-yarder in the second quarter -- waved off. The officials penalized him for pushing off against cornerback Rashean Mathis.

Dungy didn't exactly see it that way.

"I did get a good look at it, yeah," he said. "I'm glad we scored so (the NFL) didn't have to tell us they missed that one that cost us the game. ..."

As for the rushing attack. ... Addai had 67 yards on 21 carries, but backup Keith lost 6 yards on one rushing attempt. Addai, though, picked up some big yards in short-yardage situations, especially late in the game when Indianapolis was trying to run down the clock.

After he passed for 257 yards and two touchdowns in the Jaguars' 28-25 loss to the Colts on Sunday, running back Fred Taylor compared him to Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

"David is still growing. The sky is still the limit for Dave," Taylor said. "He's playing at a Pro Bowl caliber. Once he starts taking advantage of other things such as the checkdowns, he'll be on the same level, and I'm not getting too far by saying this, a Tom Brady and Peyton. They're patient and you have to be patient. He's showing signs of that."

Garrard finally had his string of 230 passes without an interception broken on a pass that bounced off the hands of linebacker Gary Brackett and grabbed by defensive back Antoine Bethea.

He said the Jaguars had completed that pass about five times, but Brackett gave him a different look and jumped the route. ...

Meanwhile, Taylor ran for 104 yards to boost his career total to 10,325 yards and surpass Ottis Anderson (10,273 yards) for 20th on the all-time list. He has five 100-yard games against the Colts.

So, Fantasy owners be advised: Taylor appears to be getting on a roll going into the stretch run. He's piled up 104 yards for two games in a row and has boosted his season total to 812 yards.

Splitting time with Maurice Jones-Drew may have given him fresh legs for a strong finish.

"Fred's hungry," Garrard said. "He looks younger and fresher. I think he's wiser and smarter. And giving him spells [alternating with Jones-Drew] has rejuvenated him a little bit. ..."

Other notes of interest. ... Also according to Stellino, Reggie Williams' personal foul penalty for shoving a Colts player in the end zone after a play was not only a key play, but led to the Jaguars being bashed in Indianapolis for not being a disciplined or smart team, especially since they have eight personal fouls this year and the Colts have just one.

Williams got up off the ground to make the shove, but claimed he didn't know the play was over and was blocking.

As long as the Jaguars keep making bonehead moves, Stellino notes, they'll have that reputation. ...

Tight end Marcedes Lewis, in his second season, had five catches against the Colts to boost his season total to 32, second highest on the team. Wideout Dennis Northcutt caught four passes against the Colts to keep the team lead with 36. ...

As Pro Football Weekly put it: "What a difference a kicker makes."

The physically limited John Carney was a liability for the Jaguars for most of the season, and the recent return of Josh Scobee from a quadriceps injury has added a new dimension to the Jacksonville attack. Scobee was named AFC Special-Teams Player of the Week for Week 12, as he went 5-for-5 on field-goal attempts.

And finally. ... SI.com insider Don Banks wondered on Monday, "Will the Jags ever win a big game under coach Jack Del Rio?"

For almost four years now, Del Rio's team has been tough to beat. Jacksonville is 37-23 (.617) since the start of 2004, and hasn't had a losing season since going 5-11 in 2003 -- Del Rio's first year on the job.

But every time the Jaguars face a big test, they come up just short. It happened again Sunday at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

As Banks suggested, Jacksonville played well against Indy. But not well enough. The Jags made big plays, but the Colts made more. When Indy had to make something happen, it did. When the Jaguars had to stop the Colts, they couldn't.

Jacksonville is still 8-4 and in great shape to make the AFC playoffs for the second time in three years.

But Banks advised readers to stop expecting the Jags to take that big step up in weight class, because it's not happening. Not this year, anyway. Jacksonville trails the 10-2 Colts in the AFC South by what amounts to three games with four to play, and the Jaguars are just 2-3 in their division -- the toughest in the NFL.

They've now lost twice to Indy, and once to Tennessee. ...

Teicher went on to explain Niswanger alone wouldn't have made the difference between winning and losing this Sunday when the Chiefs play the Broncos in Denver or in any of their three other remaining games.

But the Chiefs are hopeful he might help make that difference sometime down the road. He is a potential starter, probably at center, for the Chiefs next season, and that's what the rest of this season is now about.

Niswanger's injury means lost playing time for him this year. The chance to get him some more valuable experience is gone, and to head coach Herman Edwards, that stings, though not quite as much as the five-game losing streak that dropped the 4-8 Chiefs from first in the AFC West and into oblivion.

But Edwards has other young players in the lineup gaining that experience, and he pledged this otherwise wasted season won't be in vain because of it.

"There's some good already taking place," Edwards said. "The development of Dwayne Bowe is an example of that. He's a good player for us and he's going to continue to be a good player for us. Look at Kolby Smith. He probably could have had 100 yards (against the Chargers), but we had to start throwing so much.

"[Tyron] Brackenridge is playing a lot for us at nickel back. He's done a pretty good job. Our young defensive linemen (Tank Tyler and Turk McBride) are playing for us. Jeff Webb has shown some flashes.

And then there's Brodie [Croyle] when we get him back in there. We're hoping he's our future quarterback."

"The more you play these young guys, the more they gain confidence. They're better players for it the next season."

Yes Fantasy owners, it is official: The Chiefs are playing for the future.

While the Chiefs are using some young players, it may not be enough to justify the losing streak and the wasted season. Croyle has only started two games, though Edwards was hopeful he would play against the Broncos.

Smith will make his third straight start in Denver because Larry Johnson again won't be available, but Smith will go right back to the bench when and if Johnson returns this season.

Four other players selected in the last two drafts -- Bowe, Page, Bernard Pollard and Tamba Hali -- are starting. The other young players -- Tyler, McBride, Brackenridge and Webb -- are filling roles.

They are playing a greater number of veterans who won't be around when and if the Chiefs get their program headed in the other direction. That list includes Eddie Kennison, Casey Wiegmann, Chris Terry, Kyle Turley, Jason Dunn, Ty Law and Patrick Surtain.

It could even include Tony Gonzalez. The veteran tight end is having a strong seasons, but Teicher suggests he might not play long enough to be a part of the next Chiefs playoff team.

To Edwards' credit, every young player who figures prominently in the Chiefs' plans is getting on the field.

"No team likes to go through this," Edwards said. "But it's part of the process when you're trying to build a team. These young guys are going to be better players because they're playing now and we're going to be a better team down the road."

According to Teicher, the outlook would be brighter if the Chiefs hadn't erred in drafting kicker Justin Medlock in the fifth round this year. The Chiefs released Medlock after a rocky preseason and season-opener in Houston.

"It didn't work out for us," Edwards said. "You're not going to hit on every pick. No team does. We're at about 85 percent in the last two years for the guys who have come in and played. Page was a seventh-round pick. Webb was a sixth-round pick. Guess what? He's playing. He's going to be a halfway decent receiver for us.

"Our last two first-round picks both came in and started right away. That hasn't happened around here for awhile. Our second round picks, one is starting and the other one is playing. ..."

Great for the Chiefs, I suppose. But lousy for Fantasy owners. ...

Meanwhile, Jared Allen's lunging 2-yard TD reception in which he managed to catch up to the ball and get his knees down in bounds was the only offensive highlight for the Chiefs.

It seems fitting. ... The Chiefs have scored 13 or fewer points in eight of their 12 games this year, and they needed a defensive end to get six against San Diego.

"When you're desperate, you do desperate things," Edwards said. "You go for it on fourth down, you get everybody involved. He's an athletic guy, and we've been working on ways to get him involved (on offense)."

Allen celebrated his first NFL catch and touchdown with a Gonzalez-style dunk over the crossbar. He rattled the rim on his slam, but give him credit for trying.

"I told Tony I was going to do that for him. I've got hops, you know," Allen said of his celebratory dunk. "I figured whether I made (the dunk) or not, either way it was going to be funny."

Gonzalez on Allen's TD reception: "He's a Pro Bowl tight end in a defensive end's body. But we'll keep him on defense where we need those sacks."

Allen also got two sacks on defense, running his count to 11.5 for the season. ...

Also worth noting this week. ... The Chiefs begin what could be the toughest stretch of an already tough season.

Three of the next four games are on the road, starting with Sunday's game at Denver, a place where the Chiefs have almost always had trouble winning. Kansas City already lost once this year to the Broncos, 27-11 at home Nov. 11.

"It will be a challenge, no doubt," Edwards said. "But we've played fairly decently on the road. We've been in every game on the road. We've been in every game."

Other notes of interest. ... Damon Huard, who was too banged up in the last minutes to take the field, will probably be OK, Edwards said.

Croyle, who had started two games but was held out Sunday will try to practice Wednesday. But the Sports Xchange reports that Croyle, who reportedly has a bruised kidney, must first get medical clearance before being allowed back on the practice field.

And Edwards won't push the issue.

"If he can't protect himself or if he feels he's not mobile enough to get out of the way," the coach said on Tuesday, "There's no need to play him this week. You don't want to put him in there wounded. That's not fair to him."

As for Johnson. ... Pro Football Weekly, the star halfback did some light jogging with the team trainer prior to Week 13 but was not an active participant in practice. As noted above, Johnson is expected to miss at least one more game before he's given serious consideration to return to the lineup.

Asked on Tuesday whether he expects Johnson to play again this year, Edwards replied: "If he's able to play and help us, we'll make that decision."

For the second game in a row, the rushing offense struggled, and showed no signs of emerging as the unit that might help carry the Dolphins to their first victory of the season.

The Dolphins amassed 37 yards on 18 carries. It was their worst rushing performance since having 7 yards on 13 carries in a 24-20 victory against Minnesota on Nov. 19, 2006.

Dolphins right guard Rex Hadnot didn't need to know the statistics to realize the ineffectiveness of the rushing offense. It was helpless, listless and anemic.

"We didn't execute, we didn't block well. It was us up front," Hadnot said. "We weren't running the ball well all day. There wasn't a spurt in there where I really thought we put together consecutive plays where we all executed. When you don't do that, these types of games happen."

With Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams injured and out for the rest of the season, Chatman represented the Dolphins' best hope.

But he limped off the field less than 45 seconds into the third quarter. He had rushed for just 2 yards. Chatman and rookie quarterback John Beck combined for 25 rushing yards in the first half, and things got no better.

The Dolphins abandoned the run in the second half, rushing just five times.

The Dolphins' futile running game stumbled six days after finishing with 49 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Head coach Cam Cameron said he plans to have a rotation of running backs by committee when the Dolphins face the Bills in Buffalo next Sunday.

That would mean more significant playing time for Samkon Gado, Lorenzo Booker and possibly Patrick Cobbs.

Booker was one of the lone bright spots for the Dolphins, finally touching the ball on offense with a team-leading six catches for 63 yards. He also had his first NFL carry, a six-yard gain.

Booker had been inactive for eight games this season, and had his lone touch, a short catch, called back because of a penalty earlier this season.

Overall, however, the Dolphins gained 2.1 yards a carry, and Chatman, who had 26 yards, was the only player to have more than 6.

The Dolphins' latest setback came against a Jets team that entered the game with the league's 31st-ranked rushing defense. New York had allowed opponents to average 150.5 yards a game on the ground and 4.4 yards a carry.

Cameron said he opted to keep Cobbs on special teams instead of on offense to get a look at Gado and Booker. Gado had two carries for 1 yard.

For what it's worth, Cameron didn't have a definitive update on Chatman's injured ankle Tuesday -- and he didn't practice Wednesday, but it's not expected to stop him from playing Sunday at Buffalo. ...

Meanwhile, as NFL Network insider Adam Schefter pointed out, in the first three starts of his pro career, John Beck has led Miami to as many touchdowns as the team has wins this season. ... Zero.

The Dolphins haven't scored an offensive touchdown in their last three games, a franchise first. The last time they scored a touchdown in their base offense was in the third quarter of a 13-10 loss to the Bills on Nov. 11, a span of 13 quarters.

"You saw it. We saw it. We didn't do nothing offensively," receiver Marty Booker said. "We stunk it up. It was evident. We didn't put no points on the board as far as touchdowns. The defense outscored us. We barely moved the ball."

But Schefter notes the scoreless streak isn't what worries the Dolphins locker room. The one that does is their unwelcome assault on history, with the chance to become the NFL's first all-time 0-16 team.

"It definitely crosses your mind," Dolphins defensive tackle Keith Traylor admitted after Sunday's loss to the Jets.

Other teams have lived in the neighborhood that this year's Dolphins team now resides. The 1976 Buccaneers finished their season 0-14. Others challenged the winless mark but didn't quite reach it. The 2001 Detroit Lions opened 0-12. The 1986 Colts opened 0-13. The 1980 Saints opened 0-14. And the 1977 Buccaneers opened 0-12. Those teams managed to win at least one game.

Now these Dolphins are attempting to do the same, but the situation is growing increasingly bleak. As it is, Miami has lost 15 straight games dating to last season, becoming the first NFL team since the 2001 Carolina Panthers to lose 15 in a row.

But with the way Miami's schedule shapes up, the Dolphins soon could hold their own slice of history.

Miami plays Sunday at Buffalo, comes home for Baltimore, goes back on the road to New England, then finishes at home against Cincinnati. ...

Getting back to Beck. ... According to Pro Football Weekly, the early scouting report on the rookie QB is that his accuracy needs a lot of work and he lacks touch on the short-to-intermediate throws -- he tends to fire passes to his receivers when it's unnecessary to do so.

On the plus side, he has very good pocket awareness for a rookie, much better than predecessor Cleo Lemon has.

Also according to PFW, Cameron's insistence that the team is going to support Williams through his rehab should be taken with a grain of salt. Miami would be thrilled to trade him for a draft pick in the offseason, even if it's for a late-rounder.

He got the straight arm from his position coach, Eric Bieniemy, and his head coach, Brad Childress.

"He was working hard to stay in the game," Childress said. "He could have been stumping for office."

The Pioneer Press added: "Peterson can slither. He can juke. He can power his way past a defensive player. But he couldn't get anywhere with Bieniemy and Childress."

Both told him the same thing: "You're done. You're done."

"The head man says you are done, you stop your argument," Peterson said.

Childress and Bieniemy had seen enough from Peterson. Enough to know that his right knee and the brace he wore on it hadn't changed this simple fact: Peterson is the NFL's best running back.

The way Peterson ran Sunday during the Vikings' 42-10 victory over the Detroit Lions, there was no hint he had missed the past two games recuperating from a torn lateral collateral ligament. He carried 15 times. Gained 116 yards. Scored on runs of 16 and 13 yards.

It was after his second TD less than five minutes into the second half that Peterson was told to call it a day. At that point, with the Vikings ahead by 32 points, there was no reason for him to stay in the game.

"I don't know a running back in the league better than him at 80 percent," Vikings safety Dwight Smith said. "Him at 80 percent, I'll take."

As Pioneer Press columnist Bob Sansevere suggested, Peterson looked closer to 100 percent than 80.

"So many people were questioning our medical staff and the fact we rushed him back out there," fullback Tony Richardson said. "That second touchdown he had, when he shook that dude down to the ground, he let them know we have a lot of faith in our doctors and we're happy to have him back at full speed. You could see Detroit going at his legs, and it didn't slow him down a bit."

The Lions weren't just going after Peterson's legs. Defensive end DeWayne White tried getting under his skin.

"I think (Peterson) got a little bit ticked out there," Childress said. "Somebody was talking to him a little bit, got around his neck and there was a lot of extra jaw jacking going on, so it was kind of interesting to watch him bow up a little bit."

Peterson said there was "just talking back and forth. I got choked up a couple of times so they kind of pushed my buttons."

"He's a guy who's tough enough when he's right minded," Richardson said. "So, to be upset, I don't know if you want to play against him."

Per Sansevere, "Peterson didn't look to be his old dominant self for, oh, about two plays."

The first time he carried the ball, he was stopped for no gain. The second time, he gained 3 yards. The third time? He leaped wannabe tacklers and raced 28 yards to the Detroit 16 before being shoved out of bounds. The run set up the Vikings' first score, a 2-yard run by Chester Taylor.

"I would say that probably after my second or third carry, it really wasn't an issue," Peterson said. "I was able to cut pretty quick and everything, and it really wasn't a concern."

Peterson said he might just wear the brace the remainder of the season, a season that has gotten interesting and promising. Peterson and Taylor have made the Vikings the league's best rushing team.

And, suddenly, Tarvaris Jackson is playing as if he's dialed in.

The Vikings built their enormous run game totals without the benefit of having a quarterback who can make a defense fret. But if Jackson continues to play as he did Sunday, defenses won't be able to cram players at the line of scrimmage to try to stop the run. They'll have to do what they haven't had to do all season: Show the Vikings' quarterback some respect.

And that could make Peterson, and Taylor, too, even more dangerous.

"It sure can't hurt if you're going to have to pick your poison," Childress said.

Meanwhile, as NFL Network insider Adam Schefter suggested, like Chicago's returning dynamo Devin Hester, Peterson "is ridiculous."

He is attempting to become the seventh rookie since 1955 to lead the NFL in rushing, joining Alan Ameche in 1955, Jim Brown in 1957, Earl Campbell in 1978, George Rogers in 1981, Eric Dickerson in 1983 and Edgerrin James in 1999.

But Schefter also jumped on the Jackson bandwagon, advising readers not to discount the second-year signal caller, who has gone from the lowest-rated quarterback in the league this season to a player who could be sticking around Minnesota for quite awhile.

Above all else, Jackson has helped the Vikings turn around their 2-5 and 3-6 records to where they now stand with a 6-6 record, poised to make the playoffs. Jackson has won his past four starts. He has posted a 6-2 record as a starter this season, his only losses coming at Detroit and at Dallas.

During Sunday's win over Detroit, Jackson completed 18 of 24 passes for 204 yards -- his first 200-yard passing game in the NFL. He has a quarterback rating well over 100 in each of the Vikings' past two games.

He has done it with the benefit of the league's best 1-2 running back combination. But no matter how he is doing it, he is showing the type of progress and promise the Vikings had hoped he would.

Jackson claims the game is "slowing down for me."

But Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell told Pioneer Press beat writer Sean Jensen that Jackson is just continuing to learn in the classroom and on the practice field.

Specifically, Jackson is doing a better job of being decisive and knowing how to adjust when an opposing defense throws him a curveball. The Vikings work on that in practice by having him execute a play based on the defensive look they expect, but then also mixing in something he wasn't expecting.

"It's kind of a double-edged sword," Bevell said. "When you practice plays, you're putting a play in for a specific reason. But on the other hand, you still need to throw in enough alternate coverages, so the kid has the answer of where to go with it."

Something is working. ... Since Brooks Bollinger started in a shutout loss to the Packers, Minnesota has scored 82 points in eight quarters.

And now Jackson enters the last quarter of the season with a schedule favorable to the Vikings' post-season chances. Minnesota plays at San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, and finishes the season at Denver.

Not only has Minnesota's late surge helped Jackson's standing, but it has done the same for Childress. He has gone, in the words of one Vikings official, "from being pretty safe to definitely safe. ..."

Also of interest. ... Aundrae Allison said he never gave it a second thought. Standing 3 yards deep in his end zone Sunday, with his team sitting on a 14-10 lead, the rookie wide receiver said there was never a chance he was going to take a knee on Jason Hanson's second-quarter kickoff.

"I knew I was bringing it out when I saw them line up all crazy," Allison said. "Before the kickoff, I saw they had a lot of guys over there to that left side, and it just so happened that we had a bounce on to the right. I knew then I was going to bring it out regardless."

Fourteen seconds later, Allison was in the opposite end zone celebrating a 103-yard kickoff return that was the longest play in Vikings history and the biggest play in their 42-10 victory over the Detroit Lions.

That return, which broke Lance Rentzel's team record of 101 yards in a 1965 game against Baltimore, could earn a permanent position for Allison, who had returned kickoffs in four other games but started Sunday only because Troy Williamson was sidelined by a concussion.

Special-teams coordinator Paul Ferraro wasn't ready to make that official after the game, but he said it will be hard to keep Allison, who averaged a team-record 47.7 yards on three returns, off the field.

According to the Sports Xchange, Williamson will continued to be monitored this week after missing Sunday's game because of a concussion suffered on Nov. 25 against the New York Giants. Also, Richardson continues to play despite an MCL injury suffered Nov. 18 against Oakland.

On Monday night, the Patriots survived three apparent fourth-down stops by Baltimore on their final scoring drive.

The Patriots went on to score the winning touchdown and edge the Ravens, 27-24. In the end, a coaching mistake and penalty against the Ravens, the Patriots' own penalty and a lucky bounce combined to keep New England unbeaten.

"You need luck sometimes," said receiver Jabar Gaffney, who caught the decisive 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tom Brady.

The final drive wasn't the only time New England benefited from a quick change of fortune.

In the final minute of the first half Brady was intercepted by Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed. But Kevin Faulk stripped the ball from Reed after he'd returned it into field-goal range at the New England 27. The play allowed the Patriots to preserve a 10-10 tie at the half.

That was nothing compared to the swings in the final minutes.

First and most inexplicable was a timeout by the Ravens coaches on 4th-and-1 at the Baltimore 30 that erased a stop on a Brady sneak.

Baltimore stopped fullback Heath Evans and the Patriots again, but a false start penalty on the Patriots killed the play, and New England kept the drive going on a Brady scramble.

On 2nd-and-5 from the 13, a Brady pass was batted straight up in the air, perfect for picking off. But the ball dropped between several defenders before they could react. On the ensuing fourth-down play, Brady threw incomplete to the end zone, but a holding penalty gave the Patriots a first down.

Brady ended the agony by hitting Gaffney in the corner of the end zone on a catch that instant replay upheld, though the Ravens said he juggled it.

The Patriots have a tough matchup Sunday against Pittsburgh, then face the struggling New York Jets and winless Miami Dolphins before finishing against the 8-4 New York Giants.

It should be in interesting run and nobody should expect the Patriots to take their foot off the gas -- certainly not as long as they remain undefeated. ...

Other notes of interest. ... According to Boston Herald staff writer Karen Guregian, Randy Moss claimed he did not read or see the critical commentary of ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski, who asserted the veteran receiver was dogging it for some portions of the previous week's victory over the Eagles.

However, the Patriots' all-world wideout did read what Brady had to say on the subject.

"To have my quarterback step up for me, that was a big thing. We got each other's back," Moss said. "Whatever [Jaworski] said, I still don't know what he said. You know, I've been hated on all my life. I don't think it's going to stop now. When you're up, people hate you. When you're down, they love you."

Does Moss mind the perception that he loafs on the field?

"It goes back to the comment, ‘I do what I want to do, and I play when I want to play,'" Moss said, referring to his celebrated sound byte from 2001 while still playing for the Vikings.

Moss also talked about game-related matters, namely some of the trash-talking that took place on the field.

"There was just so much trash-talking, man, from guys who really hadn't done anything in the league. Guys like John Randle and Randall McDaniel. .... So basically, me being a 10-year vet and seeing those other guys out there talking smack, they haven't done nothing yet. So it was a good thing for the offense that Jabar Gaffney came up with a key catch, luckily, for six, and you know, we shut them up, and that was a good thing, I'm not a trash talker.

"I talk with my play, not with my mouth."

When asked about the nature of the win, Moss said it will help Pats in the long run.

"I think that's what makes a good team great. I don't consider us great yet. We're a good team that's really showing signs of greatness," he said. "We had two hard-fought games, two back-to-back weeks, two night games, man. I know I'm feeling it this week as far as my body. Hopefully coach can let up on us a little bit and give us a little love on our bodies."

Moss' 17th touchdown of the season ties his season high. It also ties the Pats single-season record for touchdowns. Curtis Martin scored 17 times in 1996.

Meanwhile, Brady threw his 40th and 41st touchdown passes of the season, extending his own franchise mark and pulling within eight of Peyton Manning's single-season NFL record. ...

Brady also led his 27th fourth-quarter comeback, including his third this season. The Pats also rallied to beat the Colts and Eagles. ...

Better still, Laurence Maroney turned in one his busiest -- and better -- performances of the season last night as the Patriots pulled out an improbable victory.

"Like I said, I'm going to be patient and get my chance to help the team out," Maroney said.

As Worcester Telegram staffer Rich Garven noted, Maroney displayed the kind of toughness he has sometimes been accused of lacking while rushing for 44 hard-earned yards on 13 carries. He also caught two passes for a team-high 79 yards, both receptions coming on scoring drives.

Perhaps most impressively, Maroney was regularly utilized in pass protection, a responsibility that usually falls to Faulk. The Patriots obviously felt comfortable with Maroney's progress toward mastering that difficult chore.

"From what I saw on the sideline, Laurence played well," Evans said. "He was picking up yards after the catch and picking up the blitz."

Maroney came into the game with just two receptions, both coming against Washington in late October. He doubled that against the Ravens, catching both balls thrown his way.

"I don't grade running backs, but when he got the opportunity he made some plays," left tackle Matt Light said.

The Ravens haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 15 games, the longest such streak in the NFL. "It was definitely a physical defense," said Maroney, whose longest run was 6 yards. "They're tough. We had to run hard and match their physical play. ..."

Finally. ... As Providence Journal staffer Jim Donaldson noted, the Patriots, who only a few weeks ago were being criticized for running up the score against overmatched and overwhelmed opponents, suddenly have morphed into the Cardiac Kids.

"This is the third time in four weeks that we've come from behind in the fourth quarter," head coach Bill Belichick said.

They did against the Colts, in Indianapolis, a month ago. They did last weekend in Foxboro, against the Eagles. And they did it again Monday night, in Baltimore.

"Once again," Belichick said, "we made a few more plays than our opponents. You have to give our players credit for the way they played in the fourth quarter. It wasn't perfect. There are a lot of things we need to work on. But I was proud of the way they played when the game was on the line."

There were two short passes that slipped through his hands.

Then there was the inaccurate, no-look toss on a botched trick play that may go down as the moment New Orleans truly blew its chance to get back into playoff contention.

Yet, more than any of those -- images that seemed to symbolize Bush's difficult second season occurred off the field at the end of the Saints' 27-23 loss to Tampa Bay.

According to Martel, Bush was walking toward the tunnel leading to the Louisiana Superdome locker room while what was initially called a fumble by Saints kick returner Lance Moore was in the process of being overturned. There were 14 seconds left, and head coach Sean Payton had to run Bush down and angrily order him back to the bench.

After the game, Bush sat in front of his locker for more than a half hour, still in uniform, with his hands on his head as he stared at the floor. He declined to speak with reporters.

On Monday, he was absent while reporters were permitted to talk with players in the locker room at the team's suburban training facility.

"Reggie is a great talent. Reggie is one of the best athletes I have ever seen, but that only gets you so far," quarterback Drew Brees said. "Certain fundamentals and discipline to playing this game -- that is learned and that's not something that just happens immediately."

Indeed, as Martel suggested, many players who were virtually unstoppable during their amateur days have entered the NFL with a lot of hype only to find that much of what worked in college only got in them in trouble against stronger, faster, more disciplined NFL defenders.

But Martel reminded readers that Bush seemed to be figuring that out, even overcoming it, during the latter half of his rookie season, which was defined primarily by three spectacular plays: A game-winning, 55-yard punt return for a touchdown against Tampa Bay; a screen pass that he turned into a weaving, 61-yard score at Dallas; and his 88-yard touchdown catch in the NFC championship game at Chicago, a play he finished by high-stepping and then somersaulting into the end zone.

With those highlights in mind -- not to mention his 1,307 yards running and receiving combined and his nine touchdowns during the 2006 regular season -- no one blinked when Bush confidently predicted during training camp that 2007 would be his breakout season.

Now, as Martel notes, after 12 games, it looks more like a breakdown season.

Bush's numbers are not bad, but far from spectacular. He's scored six touchdowns, has 581 yards rushing and 417 yards receiving. His longest run so far has been 22 yards and his longest reception 25.

The long, game-breaking plays Bush says he expects of himself haven't come this season, unlike the big mistakes he hoped to avoid.

He's been lucky the Saints have recovered most of his eight fumbles (all but three), including a punt that bounced away from him after hitting off his facemask during a win over Jacksonville.

His most costly errors were a lost fumble at the Houston 1-yard line in a loss to the Texans and the botched toss to Henderson on Sunday while the Saints were trying to protect a 23-20 lead in the final 3 minutes.

Bush, who had trouble with the handoff, already was running past Henderson by the time he got a handle on it. He had to make a split-second decision: Keep the ball and eat a likely loss of yardage, or make the risky toss.

Bush chose the latter. Henderson reached back behind him with one hand but could not pull it in. Tampa Bay ended up recovering on the Saints 37 to set up the go-ahead touchdown.

Payton sought to deflect criticism from Bush. The coach said initially and again on Monday that he put Bush in a risky situation.

"There's a lot of risk in a play like that and your worst fear is realized when you don't handle the exchange or block it just how you want," Payton said. "It's my fault for putting us in that position in that point in the game."

The coach is right.

As outlined above, Bush has had fumbling problems trouble with dropped passes this year. Henderson is among the league leaders in dropped passes. ESPN.com insider John Clayton suggested that having those players handle a trick play with the Saints leading late is "amazing."

The New Orleans papers noted criticisms Bill Parcells had with Payton's play-calling in Dallas. Parcells said Payton had a virus that sometimes led to him using a few too many cute play-calls.

Payton was the NFL coach of the year in 2006. According to Clayton, Payton will be a better coach for this experience.

Meanwhile, Payton admits Bush needs to improve in the areas of ball security and pass blocking.

Ball security in particular seems like a good starting point.

According to Biloxi Sun-Herald staffer Larry Holder, Bush's eight fumbles lead all position players in the NFL other than quarterbacks.

Those looking to explain Bush's shortcomings tend to point at his youth and inexperience.

Brees said Bush benefited as a rookie from the presence of veteran running back Deuce McAllister, who went out for the rest of this season after a knee injury in Week 3.

"Reggie is still a young player in this league, and like I said, I think a young back absolutely needs mentoring in this league from a guy like Deuce," Brees said. "It has been tough because (McAllister) has been hurt and isn't here like he was last year for him. So that's tough and I think it is just learning how to be a professional.

"There's definitely a learning curve, and keep in mind the tremendous expectations for Reggie Bush from the moment he stepped foot in this league," Brees continued. "So I think that everyone expects him to go out and just be Superman all the time and that is not the case, especially in this league. ..."

For the record, the Saints did manage to run the ball effectively at times Sunday; the problem was they just didn't get enough opportunities. They had just 47 offensive plays, of which 21 were runs. Bush, who is still not 100 percent after being slowed by a bruised left shin, picked up 64 of the team's 84 rushing yards and had a long gain of 14.

Aaron Stecker added 16 yards on seven tries as the Saints averaged 4.0 yards a carry.

Pierre Thomas was inactive Sunday because of a bruised kidney that forced him to sit out two practices late last week. Jamaal Branch was signed from the practice squad to provide depth in the backfield with Thomas out.

As for the passing attack. ... The Saints finished with a season-low 162 net passing yards in their loss to the Buccaneers. That was 25 yards fewer than they had in a season-opening loss at Indianapolis. Brees completed 17 of 23 passes for 179 yards and two TDs -- including a perfectly thrown 45-yard scoring strike to Devery Henderson -- in posting a passer rating of 125.1.

Brees was sacked a season-high three times, however, and completed just six passes to his wide receivers. Marques Colston had just two receptions for 39 yards. ...

One last note. ... Olindo Mare has looked better in the last few weeks but still is last in the league in field-goal accuracy.

And according to Pro Football Weekly, he still hasn't earned back the coaching staff's trust and has not kicked a field goal of consequence since failing to make two crucial attempts (from 20 and 54 yards, the former having been blocked) in a 16-13 Week 5 loss to Carolina.

But when the Giants scored two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory at chilly Soldier Field, Ward had to watch from the tunnel in the corner of the end zone while standing gingerly on a broken leg.

Afterward, crutches leaning against his locker, he slipped his slacks delicately over the bandages covering the fractured fibula in his lower left leg. He said he hoped that he could play again this season.

That won't happen.

The Giants officially lost their leading rusher for the remainder of the season on Tuesday, when Ward was placed on injured reserve.

Ward's place on the roster was taken by rookie running back Danny Ware, who was signed off the Jets' practice squad.

Ward leads the Giants with 602 rushing yards, despite missing the four games prior to the contest in Chicago with ankle and groin injuries. That is 479 more yards than Ward had in his first three seasons combined and three more than Brandon Jacobs, who has missed five games this year, including the last two with a hamstring injury.

Jacobs is expected to return for Sunday's game in Philadelphia. And while he was slated to practice Wednesday, head coach Tom Coughlin hedged just a bit when asked if Jacobs' hamstring is 100 percent before the session began.

"We'll have to see," Coughlin replied.

Jacobs, Reuben Droughns and rookie Ahmad Bradshaw will handle the ball carrying. Coughlin thinks that trio will be enough, provided Jacobs is able to remain on the field. The Giants may add another back – maybe re-signing Patrick Pass or elevating Kay-Jay Harris off the practice squad – but he would be strictly an emergency addition. ...

Seeing extensive action for the first time in his career, Ward rushed for at least 80 yards in each of the Giants' first four games. His output diminished when Jacobs returned to action and played well enough to be named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month in October.

After a month of inactivity, Ward played the finest game of his career against the Bears. He averaged 6.4 yards a carry, had runs of 31 and 33 yards and scored the Giants' first touchdown from two yards out. Ward also caught two passes for 29 yards.

But on his final carry – a four-yarder with about eight minutes left – Ward was tackled by Brian Urlacher and Anthony Adams and his leg got trapped underneath their weight.

Ware, 6-0 and 234 pounds, was signed on April 30 by the Tennessee Titans, who waived him on June 19. Ware was signed by the Jets three days later and stayed with them until he was waived at the end of training camp. The Jets signed him to their practice squad on Sept. 3.

Also, the Giants released running back Quinton Smith from the practice squad Wednesday. ...

Other notes of interest. ... According to New York Newsday columnist Bob Glauber, Jerry Reese had a few more choice words for Eli Manning after what happened Sunday.

The Giants' general manager had unknowingly ignited a firestorm of controversy by referring to Manning as "skittish" in an interview with Newsday the day after last Sunday's four-interception meltdown against the Vikings. But after Manning led the Giants to a remarkable fourth-quarter comeback in Chicago, Reese offered these words as he walked toward the Giants' locker room.

"Trial by fire," he said. "Good for the kid."

After what had to be the most difficult week of Manning's four-year NFL career -- and after three quarters of more horrifyingly bad play that he would have deemed "skittish" a compliment -- he brought the Giants back in stunning fashion. There were two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, the first capped by a 6-yard pass to Amani Toomer that was awarded after instant replay reversed the original call and the second by Droughns' 2-yard run.

There were signature passes on both drives. The one to Toomer was a bit low, but in a spot that only the receiver was in position to catch; Toomer got a hand under it and tucked it to his chest, and the Giants' replay challenge verified he caught it. There was a 24-yard completion on the run to seldom-used receiver David Tyree on the winning drive. And a 15-yard completion to Plaxico Burress on a "glance" route that set up Droughns' touchdown.

All this on a miserable late afternoon at Soldier Field that Glauber suggests "threatened to turn the Giants' season and Manning's career into a tailspin from which both might never have recovered."

Glauber went on to explain that Manning's confidence looked completely shot for most of the game. He threw an interception on his first drive. He contributed a highlight reel for the "Football Follies" when the ball slipped out of his hands before he even got a chance to throw it.

And he threw a late third-quarter interception in the end zone that nearly sealed the Giants' fate.

In the end, Manning somehow found a way to get it done. So, for at least another week anyway, he won't have to endure the relentless second-guessing about his ability. Coughlin's tenure appears safe, too. ...

For now.

For what it's worth, Manning had a rare sitdown in Reese's office on Thursday, as the GM wanted to make sure nothing he said in remarks he made last week to Newsday was misconstrued.

"We had a good talk," Reese said. "I just wanted to make sure his head was right and that the only thing he was thinking about was this game."

Reese received assurances from Manning in his office that there were no lingering effects from the GM's comments. Reese watched impassively as Manning made one mistake after another through three quarters. But after the biggest comeback of Manning's career, the GM silently raised his fist and nodded his head. ...

In a related note. ... Manning has thrown 17 interceptions and all of last year he had 18.

"It's not something I'm proud of," he said. "I study each one (interception) to see what I did wrong, and you know, sometimes it's what the other guy did right. It was pretty ugly, I would even say flat-out ugly, but when you win a game like this, there is something pretty about it, you know? Like the 8-4 record in the standings. ..."

One last note here. ... In an article published over the weekend, Pro Football Weekly advised readers to keep an eye recent free-agent pickup Domenik Hixon, who has impressed the coaching staff with his size (6-3, 205 pounds) and hands.

If the Jets were in the red zone, look for a fade pass to wide receiver Laveranues Coles. If it was first down, look for a run into the line. If the Jets needed 5 yards, look for a short out pattern.

Last season, Schottenheimer's semi-no-huddle offense, predicated on an array of personnel packages, presnap shifts and motions, was all the rage and earned him an interview for the Dolphins head coaching job. This season, he and the Jets weren't fooling anybody after opposing defensive coordinators had an off-season to study him.

Schottenheimer's countermove finally came Sunday in a 40-13 rout of the Dolphins. Aided by great field position that resulted from five forced turnovers by the defense, Schottenheimer blended smashmouth football with his clever personnel packages and had a coming-out party.

And as Hutchinson explained, the difference-maker was running back/kick returner Leon Washington, who had a limited role in the offense this season despite returning three kickoffs for touchdowns.

Sunday, Washington rushed for 68 yards and two touchdowns on only 10 carries, all season highs, and caught two passes for 35 yards.

This season, in his desire to get everyone involved in his offense, Schottenheimer has been counterproductive. The Jets offense ranked 30th in the NFL entering the game. Turns out the playmaker he needed to spark the offense was right under his nose in Washington.

"You can't say enough good things about his ability, both coming out of the backfield and lining up as a wide receiver," quarterback Kellen Clemens said. "He's just a very talented, very explosive player."

The threat of Washington, it seems, opened up the offense. His ability to take direct snaps and traditional handoffs or line up at wide receiver had the Dolphins confused.

"It put some pressure on the defense to adjust and decide who they were going to cover," head coach Eric Mangini said.

The presence of a banged-up Coles (high left ankle sprain) also helped immensely. Opposing defenses had been doubling and tripling him because the Jets had no other playmakers.

With Washington and Coles as threats, Schottenheimer got creative.

In the red zone, he employed trickery, using direct snaps to Washington and wide receiver Brad Smith, shovel passes and misdirection. Five of seven gadget plays came in the red zone. Schottenheimer, however, also turned to Thomas Jones, who had his first rushing touchdown of the season on his 226th carry. He finished with 75 yards on 24 carries.

Clemens stretched the field with a 51-yard pass to wide receiver Justin McCareins and a 32-yarder to Coles. Schottenheimer likely had more long-distance plays dialed up but Clemens was sacked six times, including one on which his fumble was returned 43 yards for a touchdown.

The Jets finished with 372 yards total offense, including a season-high 163 yards rushing. They were 10-of-18 in third-down situations.

"We got into a pretty good rhythm," said Clemens, who completed 15 of 24 passes for 236 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The turnovers enabled Schottenheimer to be more aggressive and that put the Dolphins' defense on its heels. But as Hutchinson summed up, the Jets' much-criticized play-caller was in a zone. ...

Other notes of interest. ... As New York Daily News sports writer Rich Cimini reported Monday, Coles gave the team an emotional lift, playing on a gimpy high-ankle sprain. The decision to play wasn't made until two hours before kickoff after he convinced the medical staff he was okay.

"I saw a look in a lot of guys' eyes when they saw me suiting up," Coles said. "I feel like I'm one of the guys that can motivate this team and get guys going. A lot of people would pack it in and say, 'I'm hurting, I'll wait until it heals.' I don't want to take that approach."

In limited action, Coles caught a team-high five passes for 69 yards. Asked how it felt during the game, Coles said, "One word -- hurt."

"Some guys can play with certain things," Mangini said with admiration, "(And) some guys can't. ... I respect [Coles'] inherent toughness."

Cotchery didn't play after having surgery last week on his right index finger, which could sideline him for a few weeks -- although Mangini won't rule him out for the rest of the season.

And finally. ... Mike Nugent went four-for-four on his field-goal attempts, converting from 29, 40, 35 and 26 yards. Nugent has converted 10 straight and 17 of his last 18 field-goal attempts.

The question the day after Russell finally got to play in the NFL was how much more of the No. 1 overall draft pick will people see in the final five weeks of the season.

"Good question," head coach Lane Kiffin replied when asked that very question on Monday. But it hasn't even been decided whether Josh McCown or Daunte Culpepper will start against the Green Bay Packers this Sunday. So figuring out when next to use Russell likely will take even more time.

The one certainty? The ideal situation for Russell's next appearance would be one comparable to the one he walked into against the Broncos on Sunday, Kiffin said.

"What's really good is we got a chance to get him to play, we got a chance for him to play well, experience some good things happening, and we won the game," the coach explained. "Those things aren't always easy to do. You're playing a really good team in Denver, and you put in a guy who really hasn't played any football in a year, and you're still able to win. It worked out as good as it could have."

Russell's day started with a rollout pass to Jerry Porter for 16 yards that was thrown so hard Porter joked that the momentum of the throw almost carried him out of bounds. Russell also threw a 13-yard screen pass to Justin Fargas on his opening drive before botching a handoff with LaMont Jordan. A bad shotgun snap by Jeremy Newberry led to an 8-yard loss and a missed field goal to end the drive.

The second drive began with a 7-yard completion to Ronald Curry, featured a 20-yard pass to Curry before ending without points when Fargas was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 carry from the 25.

Russell finished 4-of-7 for 56 yards and also had a 4-yard scramble. Most importantly for Kiffin, he didn't turn the ball over.

"That's the first thing that you get nervous about is turnovers, because it's how you lose games and it's what young quarterbacks do a lot of usually," Kiffin said. "So we were really pleased with the way he protected the ball and his decision-making. And there's some other times on some throws where he could have forced some things and try to do too much, and he didn't."

The debut was so anticipated that Raiders fans began cheering as Russell started warming up on the sideline before his first series. He got a standing ovation when he walked on the field for the first time.

But all the excitement surrounding Russell doesn't change the fact that Oakland heads into a difficult closing stretch to the schedule, beginning with Sunday's game at Green Bay (10-2). That's followed with a home game against Indianapolis (10-2), a trip to Jacksonville (8-4) and a home game against San Diego (7-5).

They have gotten strong quarterback play throughout the past three weeks. Culpepper had his best two games, completing 38 of 61 passes for 514 yards, one touchdown and one interception, before missing Sunday's game with a sore quadriceps.

That gave McCown the start and he responded by matching his career high with three touchdown passes against the Broncos in his best game yet with the Raiders.

But both veterans know their job is to groom Russell and bridge the gap until he's ready.

"I want him to have a great career, and if that starts next week, so be it," McCown said. "Because he's the guy. He's the future here. For me, it does me no good to be bitter, and it does this team no good. I'm still on this team and if I'm bitter and I could have helped JaMarcus in any way, shape or form, and he goes out and struggles, well then our team doesn't do any good.

"Now I'm just (mad) on a bad team. So for me, I've got to help him as much as I can."

McCown started because Culpepper sustained a right quadriceps injury. McCown played despite a dislocated left pinkie finger, which required attention early in the third quarter. Both injuries are interesting stories in their own right.

As FOXSports insider Jay Glazer first reported, Culpepper actually popped his quad muscle while racing young defensive back Stanford Routt. Culpepper had been boasting to teammates that he was still fast like he had been in his younger days, prior to a devastating knee injury two years ago.

Other players challenged his legitimacy to this claim and a race was held. By the way, Culpepper didn't win the race and instead wound up with the injury.

Just as alarming was what happened to McCown, who tore open his non-throwing hand this week so severely the bone, while it didn't break, actually shot out of the skin.

To his credit and showing toughness, he had the team stitch him up and the young QB practiced with the skin on his hand bound closed. However, during Saturday's walkthrough practice McCown actually practiced handing off to the right with his right hand, basically flipping his elbow and hand over in order to make the exchange. ...

For what it's worth, Oakland Tribune staffer Jerry McDonald reports there was no sign of Culpepper as the Raiders finished warmups and individual drills before Wednesday's practice.

McCown, Russell and Andrew Walter were working with the quarterbacks.

Other notes of interest. ... According to Sacramento Bee staffer Jason Jones, Porter's 13-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter on Sunday was his first at McAfee Coliseum since Dec. 19, 2004.

"It's about damn time," Porter said. "Man."

Porter's score came when quarterback McCown rolled to his left and took a hit from linebacker Ian Gold as he released the ball.

"I had a lot of time to think about that ball," Porter said. "I think I thought about my high school girlfriend, what I am going to do tonight and everything else. But it kept coming and made it through, and I am happy to finally get one."

Porter's lack of scores at home wasn't designed to end on that play. Perhaps that's why Porter was wide open in the end zone.

"I wasn't even an option on that play," Porter said. "The ball was supposed to go to the other side of the field, but pressure sent [McCown] my way. ..."

It's no secret the Broncos have struggled against the run this season and that trend continued, as they gave up 175 rushing yards. Fargas led the Raiders with 146 yards and a touchdown. He has 100-yard games in four of his five starts this season.

Fargas has amassed 285 rushing yards the past two games and 530 since his first start Nov. 4. He has averaged 4.3 yards per carry and recorded all three of his touchdowns during that span.

With 863 yards in 12 games, he is on pace for 1,130 yards for the season, which would be the fifth-most in franchise history and the most since Napoleon Kaufman rushed for 1,294 yards in 1997.

"Justin has done really well in this system," Kiffin said. "This is the best system for him, because the way he runs, the style that he runs, if you look at him, he doesn't take many negative (-yard) runs. This system is built on staying on track and hitting the holes when they're there, and not trying to make too much."

According to Contra Costa Times staff writer Steve Corkran, Fargas, 27, picked the ideal time for his breakout season. He is in the final year of the five-year contract he signed as a rookie in 2003 and headed for the riches of the free-agent market.

Of course, the Raiders could head him off by signing Fargas to an extension. Either way, Fargas stands to earn far more than the $800,000 base salary he is getting for this season. He also figures to make far more than the $2.1 million he earned in base salary the past five seasons next season alone, be it from the Raiders or one of the league's 31 other teams.

What the Raiders decide to do with Fargas also figures to have a domino effect on the long-term plans regarding Jordan and running back Dominic Rhodes.

At this point, there's no conceivable way the Raiders bring back Rhodes or Jordan with their current contracts intact.

Rhodes is scheduled to earn $3 million in base salary next season. That's twice what they paid him this season for 12 rushes (24 yards), one reception (10 yards) and 16 kick returns.

Jordan earned $4 million in base salary and bonuses this season. He is scheduled to earn $4.7 million in base salary next season.

Corkran believes the Raiders will make re-signing Fargas a high priority, certainly before free agency starts in the offseason because the Raiders might be forced to use the franchise tag on cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.

If so, they wouldn't be able to go that route with Fargas and would be dependent upon signing him to an extension. ...

Also according to Corkran, rookie fullback Oren O'Neal received more playing time Sunday than starter Justin Griffith. Kiffin said that owes to O'Neal developing into a punishing blocker.

"We've given him a little bit more and a little bit more and every time we've given it he has taken to it and really done a great job," Kiffin said. ...

According to the Sports Xchange, rookie tight end Zach Miller has his three longest receptions over the past two games -- 28, 26 and 19 yards. ...

And finally. ... Based on his performance over the last two months, Pro Football Weekly notes that it would appear Sebastian Janikowski's confidence and leg strength are at all-time highs in this, his eighth pro season, and he credits his dedication to an offseason workout regimen as a big reason for the improvement.

And that was the case as McNabb returned to the practice fields on Wednesday.

"I do feel like I am ready to play," McNabb said after the session was over. Reid is also optimistic.

"I would say that last week, he worked as hard as you could possibly work having an injury to make sure he kept his timing up," the coach explained. "I thought he moved around well last week. As the week went on, he got a little bit better. I think the couple days of rest here have helped him.

"I've seen him come off of injuries before and play pretty well. I expect him to do that."

McNabb sprained his ankle and suffered a swollen thumb in the second quarter of the Nov. 18 win over the Miami Dolphins. He has been inactive for the past two games. In the days leading up to Sunday's game against Seattle, Reid said that thumb was well enough where McNabb could grip the football, but his lateral movement would be the determining factor as to whether he could play.

After consulting with the team's doctors and trainers, Reid made the decision to rest McNabb.

A.J. Feeley started for McNabb and was 19 of 42 for 220 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions. The last of those interceptions came as the Eagles were at the Seattle 11-yard line in position for a potential game-winning score. Instead, the Eagles lost 28-24 to fall to 5-7 on the season.

Reid said that McNabb may wear a wrap to protect his thumb, but he expects McNabb to have the same mobility that he began to display prior to his ankle injury. McNabb began the 2007 season working his way back into top form after tearing the ACL in his knee last season.

In his last two games, McNabb had 65 rushing yards and began to scramble when needed without any hesitation.

As the team's official web site suggested Monday, McNabb will need all of that mobility and more against the Giants this Sunday. The Giants own the most sacks in the NFL with 44. Over a quarter of those came when the Eagles traveled to the Meadowlands to face the Giants earlier this season. Without three starters on offense, including left tackle William Thomas, the Giants sacked McNabb 12 times to tie a league record in a 16-3 loss.

"They got after us last time," said Reid. "In a big way, they got after us. We'll do whatever we need to do to protect the quarterback."

The return of McNabb may provide a jolt to the Eagles who have lost their past two games after they reached .500 for the first time all season. With a 5-7 record, the Eagles are not out of the playoff picture --they are one game behind three teams for the second wild card spot.

The Eagles have lost some close games this year as four of their seven defeats were by four points or less.

The team's postseason hopes may hinge on the ability to capitalize on opportunities.

The Eagles' struggles in the red zone emerged again as they scored no touchdowns in three trips to the red zone. On two occasions, the Eagles came away with no points at all. The Eagles were unable to convert on a first-and-goal at the Seattle 1-yard line at the end of the first half as Brian Westbrook was stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-1. Feeley's fourth interception was the second time.

"Our efficiency is the red zone, we weren't good enough," said Reid. "We were unable to sustain drives in the second half. On our last eight possessions, we were not able to score on (any). We have to do a better job there."

It should come as no surprise that Westbrook nearly pulled the Eagles out of Sunday's loss by returning a Ryan Plackemeier punt back 64 yards before getting knocked out of bounds at Seattle's 14-yard line.

"I thought I was going to score," Westbrook said. "In hindsight, maybe I should have tried to cut it, but I had a trailer behind me. I think the guys did a good job of blocking up front and I was able to get out into space and try to make a play, try to give us the opportunity to win."

Three plays later Feeley was intercepted for the fourth time.

"It's very frustrating," Westbrook said. "We have had opportunities. ... When you're playing a team that is good, you can't make mistakes like that, like we did today."

Westbrook finished with 93 rushing yards, including a 29-yard touchdown -- his seventh rushing touchdown this year -- in the third quarter which put the Eagles ahead 24-21.

"If I have opportunities to touch the ball, I try to make the most of them," Westbrook said.

Westbrook also continued his climb up the record books as he moved into third place on the franchise's career scrimmage yards list with 7,424. He also became the third running back in Eagles history with 3,000 career receiving yards.

Westbrook was not able to do it all, however. When the Eagles were poised to score with a first-and-goal opportunity at Seattle's 1-yard line late in the first half, they came away with no points. Westbrook had three carries in that series, including a try where he took the handoff and flew over the line of scrimmage only to be brought just short of the goal line.

"We had run that play a couple of times before," Westbrook said. "They did a good job of defending it. ..."

According to the Sports Xchange, receiver Jason Avant aggravated a groin injury he has been playing with much of the season. Reid said it was pretty sore Monday.

Avant's status for Sunday's game against the Giants is unclear. Avant is the team's slot receiver, though the Eagles also use Greg Lewis and Hank Baskett in different packages with starters Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis.

Curtis, by the way, caught six passes for 111 yards and a touchdown and now has 57 catches for a career-high 904 yards.

The Steelers (9-3) are convinced they can ruin New England's perfect season, and they were secretly rooting for the Patriots (12-0) to stay unbeaten so they would have the chance to do exactly that Sunday in Foxboro.

They know something about stopping New England streaks, too, having halted a record Patriots run only three years ago and, with it, the possibility of an undefeated season.

Pittsburgh almost didn't get this chance to keep New England out of the record book, as the Patriots were forced to stage a desperation rally to beat Baltimore 27-24 on Monday night. The week before, the Patriots trailed in the fourth quarter of a 31-28 win over Philadelphia.

Now, the Steelers could be the best team standing in the way of the Patriots and the NFL's first 16-0 regular season. After Pittsburgh, the Patriots play the Jets (3-9), the Dolphins (0-12) and the New York Giants (8-4).

"Obviously you think about it, because everybody talks about them because they are undefeated," Ben Roethlisberger said. "Everything that has to do with news and sports is the New England Patriots, and deservedly so. They're a great football team offensively and defensively."

The Patriots could be at a disadvantage because they will have a short week of preparation for the Steelers, who own the AFC's third-best record and are in contention for a wild-card playoff bye. Still, that same scenario didn't hurt the Steelers last week as they beat Miami 3-0 on Monday and the Bengals 24-10 on Sunday.

Head coach Mike Tomlin willingly heaped plenty of praise on the Patriots during his weekly news conference Tuesday but, by the end, seemed to be wearying of all the how-great-are-the-Patriots questions.

"This isn't Appalachian State against Michigan," he said.

Even if some of the Patriots' scores -- 52-7, 56-10, 38-14 -- resemble an early season college mismatch. The Patriots have, by far, the league's top offense, leading in scoring average (39.1), yards per game (425.3) and passing yardage (304).

The Steelers counter with the league's best overall defense (230.8 yards), No. 1 passing defense (154 yards) and the No. 2 rushing defense (76.8).

Needless to say, it will make for an interesting mathcup this weekend. ...

Meanwhile, Tomlin gave Willie Parker a vote of confidence after the speedy halfback lost two fumbles Sunday night and rushed for less than 100 yards for the third consecutive game.

"Willie is our feature ball-carrier," Tomlin said after the Steelers beat the Bengals, 24-10. "He is a professional, and he's done a great job to this point. We will make corrections and move forward and understand that (fumbling) is unacceptable. I know he knows that."

The soggy weather may have been a factor in Parker's fumbling problems. The two fumbles he lost didn't cost the Steelers any points, as the defense made a stand both times.

"No excuses," Parker said. "I've got to do a better job of holding on to the ball. We still came out with a win, but I'm disappointed. I let my team down."

Parker is the leading rusher in the AFC (1,093 yards) but he has averaged just over 3 yards a carry in the Steelers' last three games. ...

Parker is now fifth on the Steelers' all-time rushing list with 3,975 rushing yards. He passed Dick Hoak (3,965) Sunday night.

Other notes of interest. ... According to Pittsburgh Tribune-Review staffer Scott Brown, Roethlisberger is arguably the Steelers' most indispensable player. Not that he always plays like it. The Steelers quarterback bypassed the cautious route in the second quarter of Sunday night's game when he scored on a 6-yard touchdown run. After getting outside of the pocket, Roethlisberger made a Bengals defender miss and then dived for the end zone. He paid for the touchdown as Roethlisberger took a shot in the back.

"Larry Foote told me I don't know how to slide," Roethlisberger said. "I said 'You know what? You've got to know when to and know when not to.' I felt like it was a time to try and get in."

It was close to whether the ball crossed the goal line, and Roethlisberger was asked if he got into the end zone. "I think so," Roethlisberger said. "I got it in at the Super Bowl, so I guess I got in this time. ..."

Hines Ward's two touchdown catches Sunday night gave him 64 for his 10-season career, one more than John Stallworth had from 1974-87. Ward already owned records for career receptions, most catches in a season (112) and consecutive games with a reception (143).

Ward isn't done yet: He is 112 yards away from breaking Stallworth's career yardage mark of 8,723.

"He gets open, even when he's not open," Roethlisberger said. "If I put it close to him, he's going to make plays."

Ward has 13 of those 64 TD catches against the Bengals, including four in two games this season. ...

Roethlisberger said recently that Heath Miller is a Pro Bowl-caliber tight end. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, meanwhile, stopped just short of saying Miller is the best tight end in the AFC given what he brings to the Steelers as a blocker as well as a pass receiver.

Fan balloting for the Pro Bowl starts soon, and Miller probably won't get as many votes as more celebrated tight ends such as Antonio Gates, Kellen Winslow and Tony Gonzalez. That doesn't mean he is any less deserving to go to the Pro Bowl, Arians said.

"In my mind he is the only true tight end out of (Gates, Winslow and Gonzalez)," Arian said. "Those other guys are glorified wide receivers."

Miller entered Sunday night's game with 33 receptions for 457 yards and six touchdowns. He is on pace to set career highs in all of those categories, although he'll never put up prolific numbers in the Steelers' offense. He had two catches on the Steelers' first scoring drive against the Bengals.

"The other guys are the hybrid-type guys with all of the numbers in the passing game," Arians said. "Heath is a pure tight end who blocks (at) the line of scrimmage, catches passes and does it all. ..."

As expected, wide receiver Santonio Holmes (ankle) didn't suit up. Nate Washington started in place of Holmes, who could could return this week. The second-year receiver will certainly try to practice. ...

There was one surprise among those that didn't play Sunday night for the Steelers. Najeh Davenport, the team's third-down and short-yardage back, didn't play because of a foot injury.

After the game, Tomlin explained that Davenport experienced "discomfort" in his foot the previous 24 hours. Rookie halfback Gary Russell dressed for his first game because of the injury to Davenport.

But Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staffer Ed Bouchette report the team decided to pass on signing Verron Haynes Tuesday night after they determined that Davenport was healthy enough to play Sunday in New England.

Apparently, Davenport's right foot swelled after he underwent an acupuncture treatment on it away from the Steelers' facility and not supervised by their medical staff. He did not dress Sunday because of the swelling, then he traveled to Miami for the Monday funeral of his former college teammate, Sean Taylor.

The Steelers, in the meantime, worked out Haynes, their former back who they released before the season. They wanted to have someone ready in case the swelling in Davenport's right foot jeopardized his availability for their game in New England on Sunday.

Once they examined Davenport late on Monday after his return home, they decided not to sign Haynes -- although Davenport was held out of practice Wednesday.

He has been cleared to practice Wednesday. Unless he experiences some complications later in the week, he will start against Cincinnati.

Bulger failed a neuropsych exam last week following a concussion he suffered early in the Rams' Nov. 25 game against Seattle, and was not cleared to play against Atlanta.

But he passed the exam on Tuesday. As a result, the Rams did not sign street free agent Todd Bouman to their roster.

Signing Bouman to the roster would've been a necessity had Bulger not been cleared because Gus Frerotte -- who replaced Bulger against Atlanta -- suffered a shoulder injury in that game that is expected to sideline him for at least a week.

An MRI performed Monday revealed that Frerotte has a sprained throwing shoulder and a partially torn labrum.

After throwing for 311 yards and three touchdowns against Atlanta, Frerotte completed the game with some soreness in his right shoulder. The Rams didn't think much of it at the time, because Frerotte was able to finish the game.

But Linehan said Monday, "It was much more sore today than right after the game."

Frerotte suffered the injury late in the third quarter while throwing a deep pass for wide receiver Torry Holt that was intercepted by Atlanta safety Lawyer Milloy.

"He fell down on it kind of funny," Linehan said.

Frerotte was hit hard by Falcons defensive end Jamaal Anderson in what looked like a late hit. But there was no flag on the play for roughing the passer.

"They're judgment calls," Linehan said. "If they think [Anderson] took an extra step, they call it. I personally think they should err on protecting the quarterbacks."

The Rams were considering sending in the play for review by the NFL.

As for Bulger, Linehan said Monday that he has seen an improvement in his star quarterback's condition in recent days.

"I think he's a lot better," Linehan said. "I thought he was way better by the end of the week. He seemed very much himself this weekend. I'm hopeful and cautious until I get the results of the test."

Now he can just be hopeful. ...

Also on the injury front. ... Rookie running back Brian Leonard has a sprained left knee in addition to the sprained left ankle that was announced after the game against the Falcons.

"It ended more of his knee than his ankle," Linehan said. "He'll be questionable going into this week's game."

Receiver/return man Dante Hall will have sprained left ankle will be evaluated in practice on Wednesday. Fellow return specialist Brandon Williams suffered the less-dreaded low ankle sprain against the Falcons. ...

Other notes of interest. ... Steven Jackson was a marked man for the most part on Sunday. Atlanta regularly stacked the box -- the area between the tackles -- with eight defenders to "try to make us beat them with the pass," Frerotte said.

Jackson's first 19 carries netted only 46 yards. But as Post-Dispatch staffer Bill Coats noted, No. 20 was a doozy.

With the Rams clinging to a five-point lead, Jackson barged up the middle, then bounced out to the left side. Once he turned the corner, "all I had to do was outrun them," he said.

The 50-yard dash with 1 minute 17 seconds to go nailed down a 28-16 victory at the Edward Jones Dome. "I think we caught them being overly aggressive," Jackson said. "Most of the time they had a guy watching for the back-side cut. He got a little greedy and we were able to take advantage."

Jackson also caught four passes for 71 yards, giving him a season-high 167 total yards. ...

And finally. ... Pro Football Weekly reports there was some low-level grumbling in the locker room after the team's Week 12 loss to the Seahawks about head Linehan's offense being too simplistic.

Longtime team insiders were quick to point out, however, that some of the players who were grumbling were the same guys who complained about former Rams head coach Mike Martz's offense being too complicated.

Tomlinson wore a No. 34 Chicago Bears road jersey on Monday to honor his boyhood idol.

"I think this is the sign of ultimate respect, just to say thank you, and that's my whole point in this," Tomlinson said. "Just to say thank you, to allow a kid like myself to really dream and imagine I could go beyond my wildest dreams."

As Wilson went on to note, Tomlinson has accomplished plenty in seven NFL seasons, including winning the league MVP Award last year. Scoring his 110th and 111th touchdowns during a 177-yard performance on Sunday to pass Payton and take sole possession of third place on the rushing TDs list meant more than just helping the Chargers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 24-10 and move closer to a second straight AFC West title.

"I usually leave it in the house, but obviously it's a fitting situation," he said of wearing his Payton jersey. "He obviously was someone I idolized as a kid, childhood hero, whatever you want to call it. He was there for me. So it is a little more special to me."

Tomlinson never met Payton, who died in 1999.

"No, and that's the part that I would have loved to do, but never did get the chance. But I felt like I knew him anyway because I saw him so much on television and what not. So I felt like I did know him," Tomlinson said.

Just watching Payton left a mark on Tomlinson.

"I learned what character's all about, I think, even from afar. I learned how to be humble," Tomlinson said. "I think I also learned how to compete the right way. I think those are very important things that I definitely learned by watching him."

Inspired by watching Payton, Tomlinson remembers telling his mother when he was 6 years old that he needed a weight set in order to get bigger and stronger.

Tomlinson also picked up several attributes that have shaped his life.

"He was a guy that was a superstar," Tomlinson said. "It wasn't just his superstar ability that I looked to, even though that was the part that I was drawn to. It was obvious that there was something else about him that was different. He didn't tell you he was a superstar, didn't brag about it or what not. It just seems the way he handled people was just the way you should."

In February, Tomlinson and former teammate Drew Brees were co-recipients of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. Tomlinson met the Hall of Famer's widow, Connie Payton, and their two children.

"I was very impressed with the family, just getting to know them a little bit," Tomlinson said. ...

As SI.com insider Peter King pointed out Monday, Tomlinson is 28. Payton was 33 when he scored his 110th rushing touchdown in his last season.

Tomlinson is 54 rushing touchdowns shy of Emmitt Smith's all-time record, and King suggests that no smart football person would think the mark is out of LT's reach. ...

Meanwhile, the Chargers had lost nine of their previous 10 games in Arrowhead before corralling the Chiefs on a cold, windy December afternoon. But the normally rabid atmosphere was replaced by a subdued Kansas City crowd that headed to the exits early as the Chiefs lost their fifth straight contest.

"This is a tough place to play," head coach Norv Turner said. "Obviously, in the past the Chargers had struggles here. There was a mind-set today that we were going to go play and do whatever it took to find a way to win. That's what our guys did.

"We created turnovers, we protected the football, we pressured the quarterback extremely well, we ran the football and we got big plays."

Philip Rivers had 157 yards passing, and three of the completions went for 40 (to Brandon Manumaleuna), 38 (to Vincent Jackson) and 37 yards (to Chris Chambers). The pass to Jackson tied the score at 10 with 3:29 left in the first half.

Jackson's over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone ended a six-game scoreless drought for the receiver.

"We had the wind at our back and that was a big difference," Turner said. "I thought Vincent made a spectacular play because when the ball was thrown, you thought, 'Hey, there's no way he gets to it.'"

The scoring pass to Jackson erased momentum the Chiefs were riding after Kansas City defensive end Jared Allen lined up as a tight end on third-and-goal from the Chargers 2 and made a sensational catch of a floating corner route pass by quarterback Damon Huard to give the Chiefs a 10-3 lead.

Tomlinson scored both his touchdowns in the second half and the Chargers were celebrating just their second road win of the season. A modest two-game winning streak is now attached to their name as they prepare for next Sunday's road contest at Tennessee, but the Chargers claim that they aren't the least bit satisfied.

"We know where we stand and we know that we control our own destiny, but we can't breathe any easier because we're still not pleased with being 7-5," Rivers said. "We want to get on a roll and be hot come the end of December. It's certainly better to be where we are rather than looking up at someone, but we still have that sense of urgency."

Other notes of interest. ... The Chargers returned to struggling on third down, converting just four of their 14 tries (29 percent) Sunday. They converted 7-of-15 last week but had been 14-for-48 (29 percent) the previous four games. ...

The 288-pound Manumaleuna's 40-yard reception was longer than his cumulative receiving yardage through 11 games. He had seven receptions for 37 yards entering the contest.

The long gainer wasn't a career-best for Manumaleuna.

He had a 48-yard reception in 2004 when he played for the St. Louis Rams.

Antonio Gates' day was odd in that he had but one catch of minus-one yard. His showing was especially glaring in that Tony Gonzalez caught 10 passes for 140 yards. ...

And finally. ... The Sports Xchange reports that Darren Sproles (knee) might be limited in practice but should go Sunday.

The 49ers on Monday dismissed an item by FOXSports.com insider John Czarnecki that suggested they are looking to pull the plug on the final two years of Smith's contract.

The three-sentence blurb, published early Sunday, said "there is a good chance" that the 49ers won't pay the quarterback an $8 million option bonus in March, as a way of getting out of Smith's contract for 2009-10.

According to Smith's deal, however, that $8 million represents a buy back for the final two seasons -- not a roster bonus -- and the way the 49ers wipe out '09-10 is to pay that sum.

Either way, head coach Mike Nolan said Monday that there have been no such conversations about Smith's contract status.

"We have not had any discussions with respect to that during this season right now, at all," Nolan said. "That's because it's not the time for that."

Smith, who had been unaware of the speculation, essentially laughed it off. He said he hadn't discussed his contract details in a long time and seemed surprised by the $8 million figure for March. "I honestly have no idea," Smith said.

Czarnecki noted the strained relationship between Smith and the 49ers coaching staff this season.

Much of the tension has centered on the quarterback's health. Smith suffered a separated shoulder Sept. 30 against the Seattle Seahawks and his slow recovery has frustrated both sides.

Smith will try to throw Wednesday. If he still feels discomfort in the days that follow, season-ending surgery is a possibility.

"The way everything has gone, I'd like to come back and play this year," Smith said.

In the meantime, veteran quarterback Trent Dilfer remains the starter -- although he might be limited in practice this week by a sore shoulder.

Looking ahead to 2008, Nolan did not rule out bringing another quarterback to training camp, perhaps someone who could press Smith for playing time.

"It's very important to have competition at every position," Nolan said. "The quarterback is not immune to that environment."

Smith is in the third year of a six-year, $49.5 million contract with $24 million in guaranteed money. ...

Other notes of interest. ... Running back Frank Gore had only 12 carries a week after a season-best 116 yards at Arizona. Nolan said that because the Panthers twice jumped out to big leads, the 49ers were able to run only 24 of their base play calls on offense as opposed to the 40 base calls they ran against Arizona. ...

According to the Sports Xchange, tight end Vernon Davis has expressed his concerns during games at different times this season. This time, he decided to remain silent while he was being ignored in the team's offense.

Davis, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2006 draft, was not much of a factor in the club's loss the Panthers. He caught just one pass for 19 yards.

"I expect to get the ball in the first quarter," Davis said. "But it didn't happen like that. We got to attack and do like we did last week."

On several third-down pass plays, Davis remained in to serve as a blocker.

"It really frustrates me when I'm in blocking," he said. "I take pride in my blocking game, but it isn't anything like catching the ball and making a play. That is more exciting. ..."

Meanwhile, Delanie Walker, the 49ers' No. 2 tight end behind avis, caught his first NFL touchdown. He grabbed a 21-yard scoring pass from Dilfer in the third quarter. For the season, Walker has nine catches for 58 yards. ...

Dilfer, coming off his best game with the 49ers, struggled mightily in a 31-14 loss to the Panthers. Dilfer completed just 14 of 29 passes for 171 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. His passer rating for the game was 50.3.

Also according to the Xchange, Darrell Jackson's struggles continue in his first season with the 49ers. Jackson caught just one pass for 12 yards and failed to hold onto two other catchable balls Sunday.

Jackson has just 29 receptions for 332 yards and one touchdown this season.

How disappointing has Jackson been as a Niner?

One longtime team insider told Pro Football Weekly that Jackson could be the worst starting wide receiver the team has had in some time, and that includes the departed Brandon Lloyd, who turned out to be pretty terrible.

"Not only does he go out of his away to avoid contact," the insider told PFW. "He even fumbles the balls he catches. He can get open, but he never seems to make a clean catch. ..."

Arnaz Battle is listed as questionable on the team's preliminary injury report. He sustained a right ankle sprain early in Sunday's game.

And finally. ... Even as the losses continue to mount, there is a strong sentiment Nolan will be awarded a fourth season to turn things around.

Nolan is completing the third season of a five-year contract that pays him a reported $1.6 million a year. York has not commented publicly on Nolan's job status. Two weeks ago, Denise DeBartolo York told the San Francisco Chronicle she expected Nolan back next season but that he would likely be asked to relinquish his personnel powers.

York is not inclined to make a coaching change after the season, if he can avoid it, because he likes the structure Nolan has put in place with the organization, sources told Santa Rosa Press-Democrat staffer Matt Maiocco. The 49ers were believed to be on the right path for the first two seasons of Nolan's tenure, so York does not want to blow things up after one bad season.

However, this season has been worse than anyone around the team could have expected.

Still, Nolan appears to have maintained the support of the locker room through the team's travails.

"Coach Nolan, I know how much he wants it," Gore said. "I want it for him. Coach Nolan is a hard worker. We'll get there. We just need to keep working and keep focused."

Miller went on to note the numbers were certainly respectable.

The Seahawks rushed for 135 yards -- 40 more than their season average -- in their 28-24 victory over the Eagles, whose run defense entered the game giving up only 93 per contest.

Shaun Alexander, who had missed the previous three games with a sprained knee and a bruised reputation, turned in a respectable 65 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown and a long run of 16 yards.

Maurice Morris, who raised a few eyebrows by hitting holes quicker and harder than the former NFL MVP, had just five carries, but his 45-yard touchdown run gave the Seahawks their final, game-winning tally.

Moreover, any thoughts this new arrangement might tweak Alexander were muted by words and actions.

Words, in that both Alexander and Morris insist they are cool with sharing the ball. And actions in observing Alexander celebrate Morris' big play. "I thought I was going to get a flag for getting into the end zone before the play was over," Alexander said.

It's worth noting, of course, the Seahawks won three straight games with Alexander sidelined with a knee injury.

Now that he is back, head coach Mike Holmgren is loathe to completely sideline Morris, who averaged 85 yards a game in those three victories.

Which, according to the Sports Xchange, means that Alexander and Morris will continue to split time in the backfield depending on the types of plays that Holmgren is calling.

As the Xchange noted, Holmgren and running backs coach Stump Mitchell met with both players last week to prevent any feelings of ill will because the duties will now be split -- though they still will tilt in Alexander's favor.

"They're handling this situation about as well as you can handle it, in my opinion," Holmgren said. "To find this type of attitude by the two of them, they are really putting the team first. We worked hard. I will say this, Stump Mitchell, their coach, and I tossed my two cents in there, of course, to talk to both of them and make sure they're not off balance about what their roles are going to be, and how we're going to play this. They've both accepted it well, and I'm proud of them for that."

Holmgren said he is not going to micromanage the position, allowing the coaches to determine how to work the individual players into the scheme.

"That's a tough one," Holmgren said. "It's kind of how the game is going, what I want to do in a particular part of the game. I would like to get it so it's rather interchangeable, but they are different athletes. So you run the same stuff, for a good portion of it, then they have their strengths, and I'll try to play to their strengths.

"What I can't do is, I'm leaving that up to [Mitchell] and Nolan [Cromwell] for substitutions. I'm calling the game, if there are some things that we absolutely think that we should have Mo in the game for, it's up to them to get Mo in the game.

"If there is something I would normally like Shaun in the game for, and Mo's in the game, that's the way it is. But I can't worry about it so much as a signal-caller, that's how we're going to do it."

Bottom line? It's all about winning, a position that Alexander is buying into.

"Whatever our team needs to win, I'm ready to dive all into that," he said. "Our game plan has changed, and we're winning this way. For me, it's all about winning. ..."

For what it's worth. ... On a dreary, wet afternoon, Matt Hasselbeck was only able to complete 19 of 34 passes for 187 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception.

One of the touchdown passes came about because of some nifty running by Nate Burleson.

Hasselbeck had two passes dropped, one by Deion Branch and one by Marcus Pollard.

Holmgren told reporters on Wednesday that D.J. Hackett, who missed last week's game with a sprained ankle, is coming along more quickly than expected -- but that doesn't mean he'll be back this week.

And finally. ... The Seahawks waived reserve fullback Fred McCrary Tuesday. Seahawks.com also reports that Josh Scobey, a former special teams standout with Seattle in 2005 and 2006, has been re-signed.

McCown filled in for the injured Jeff Garcia and threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 17 seconds left as the Bucs beat the Saints 27-23 at the Superdome.

But head coach Jon Gruden said Monday that Garcia, who missed the game with a bruised back, would be the starter at Houston next weekend if he is healthy.

"He's a needed guy on our football team," Gruden said of Garcia. "We need to win another game. We're in the fight of our lives to win every Sunday and this weekend is not different. If Garcia is cleared to play, he'll play."

Garcia says his back is improving and he was on the practice field Wednesday without any visible signs of being in pain.

Appearing on his weekly radio spot on 620-WDAE Tuesday morning, Garcia says he can't make the injury worse by playing.

"Every day I feel like I'm getting better," Garcia said. "Even though there's a little bit of an ache, I feel like my mobility and flexibility has improved dramatically over the last three or four days. I will go on the practice field tomorrow and take it from there.

"It's not going to be without discomfort. But I know I'm not structurally doing any more damage if I play. ... However I can help the team, that's where I'll be."

Gruden and Garcia rejected a report which said Garcia had a fracture in his back, insisting there was nothing structurally wrong with the 37-year-old. However, both McCown and Bruce Gradkowski will be prepared to start next weekend.

"We feel like he's making improvement and that's a good thing," Garcia said. "We just want him to tell us he's ready to go and to see him move around pain free. He's getting better, but we'll continue to work with Bruce and Luke."

McCown is sure Garcia will be ready to go.

"He certainly seems like it," McCown said. "But I have to be prepared to play. That's been my mind-set from Day One of training camp."

As for the hairline-fracture report. ... There was some confusion after an article published by the St. Petersburg Times indicated that ESPN insider Chris Mortensen reported that as fact.

After being told of the Times' report, Gruden's response was: "There's a lot of reports out there, I just wish some of these reports were verified. [Mortensen] doesn't have a (expletive) idea what he's talking about. I can't understand why he would say that unless he got the X-rays himself."

But the Times got it wrong; that wasn't what Mortensen reported at all. What Mortensen actually said was the Bucs "suspected," he had a hairline fracture and there obviously is a big difference.

To further clarify, here's exactly what Mortensen said on the "Sunday NFL Countdown" show.

"Even though he's greatly admired around the league, when Jeff Garcia hit the free agent market, there wasn't a frenzy for his services as a starter. Even the Bucs preferred Jake Plummer. ... The concern on Garcia was durability because while his heart and mind are fearless, he's only 5-11, 187 pounds and most league evaluators felt he had a 10-12 game limit. ...

"Well, after 11 games, Garcia is hurting with either a tailbone or a lower back injury. The Bucs have suspected a hairline or stress fracture but X-rays were negative. ..."

As for Gruden's decision to flip-flop McCown and Bruce Gradkowski on the depth chart, the coach seemed to believe McCown possessed more play-making ability.

Gradkowski, 24, had been the primary backup quarterback since Week 2, when McCown, 26, was demoted to No.3.

"As time went on, I just thought the (practice) reps were going to reduce to zero because Jeff takes everything," Gruden said. "So, I was going to rely on Bruce's past experience here in an emergency situation to go in and complete a game for us.

"But if we have a prolonged injury with time to get a guy ready, McCown was the guy we chose, and we're happy we did. ..."

Meanwhile, as Tampa Tribune staffer Roy Cummings suggested Monday, team officials "banged a panic button like a set of bongos" after Carnell "Cadillac" Williams suffered a season-ending knee injury and backup Michael Pittman severely sprained his ankle.

All the Bucs had left was Earnest Graham, a special-teams player who was unproven as a running back. It is why Tampa Bay traded for former Kansas City tailback Michael Bennett, who was expected to compete for playing time.

Now the earlier worries about Graham seem to be nothing more than a false alarm.

Graham rushed 22 times for 106 yards and one touchdown against New Orleans.

"He's had 100 yards rushing. A hundred yards receiving. I don't know what Earnest hasn't done great since he's played," Gruden said. "He's an all-purpose back. He gives us a guy we don't ever have to take off the field in any situation. He's just a comfortable football player. He's durable, and knock on wood, I don't think he's turned the ball over yet, and that's a credit to him."

Graham scored on a 25-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, making Sunday the fourth consecutive game in which he has scored. The team record for consecutive games with touchdowns is five, which is shared by Errict Rhett, Reggie Cobb and Gary Anderson.

"I've watched him for two years. I haven't seen him not finish a run. I'm impressed," tackle Jeremy Trueblood said.

With McCown making his first start since 2004, Graham believed that establishing a consistent running game would be key for Tampa Bay to pull off a road victory . The Bucs rushed for 172 yards.

"We had total confidence in Luke, but I knew I needed to be big, as far as touchdowns," Graham said. "I'm glad he looked for me there at the end of the game. I just wanted to be big, as far as protections, but he played one hell of a game."

According to Pro Football Weekly, it's beginning to look like GM Bruce Allen gave up something for nothing in his trade deadline deal with the Chiefs for Bennett.

Bennett has just 10 carries with Tampa Bay and was inactive, although healthy, in Week 11. PFW went on to suggest Bennett will be used sparingly -- unless another injury occurs -- in the backfield and is not a contributor on special teams.

This could be a trade that comes back to haunt Allen -- he gave up draft picks in 2008 and 2009 for the little-used Bennett. ...

Other notes of interest. ... Michael Clayton was used as the primary kickoff returner as receiver Micheal Spurlock was inactive. Clayton wasn't spectacular, but he managed not to leave his team backed up deep in its territory.

"I was glad to be able to go in and help the offense and give them good field position," Clayton said. "It was my first time back there in my whole career."

On Clayton's four returns, the average starting field position was the Bucs 25.

Tight ends Anthony Becht and Jerramy Stevens caught their first touchdowns of the season. With Alex Smith getting most of the looks, there haven't been many opportunities for the backups.

"I think it's a tribute to what we have on this team," Becht said. "If you look around the league at the ability of teams to rotate guys in and have high expectations for guys who come off the bench. ... It's important to be able to have guys come in and do it right. Stuff like that can win championships."

With all the tight end success, Becht had a suggestion for position coach Bob Casullo.

"I told coach Casullo if he wants to renew his contract, this would be a good time," he said. ...

And finally. ... SI.com insider Peter King suggested this week that Joey Galloway is the best player in the league this season that no one's talking about.

Seven more catches for 159 yards in New Orleans. His 18.2-yards-per-catch average is almost three yards more than Randy Moss' average, his 891 receiving yards is more than T.J. Houshmandzadeh's, and his six TDs are as many as Chad Johnson has.

This season the Titans (7-5) probably need a repeat performance from their quarterback if they're going to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

But as Nashville Tennessean beat writer Jim Wyatt suggested, heading into a showdown with the Chargers, Young seems to be heating up just in time. He guided a previously sluggish offense to four touchdowns in Sunday's victory over the Texans.

"He has been throwing the ball well the last month," head coach Jeff Fisher said Monday. "It was nice to score touchdowns, which was a need for us. He managed the game well, he made good decisions and ran around and played well.

"He is playing with confidence and has put four pretty good games together from a passing standpoint. We need to continue that."

No one in the NFL has been more productive than Young over the past four weeks.

Since Nov. 11 he leads all players in combined rushing and passing yards. He's been far from perfect, however, throwing six interceptions and four touchdowns in the past four games.

The Chargers (7-5) have won three of their last four games. They're ranked 22nd in pass defense but lead the league in interceptions with 20. Cornerback Antonio Cromartie has eight, including two in Sunday's win over the Chiefs.

"We can't take any days off now," Young said. "There's a good team coming in here and we have to get ourselves ready to play."

Meanwhile, receiver Brandon Jones may be sidelined for a time by a groin injury he suffered in Sunday's 28-20 win over the Texans.

Jones was injured in the first quarter of the game and did not return.

"We'll have to do some tests," Fisher said Monday. "He may miss some time, we don't know as of yet."

With 21 catches, Jones is the team's fifth leading receiver. He has 238 yards and two touchdowns.

Running back LenDale White suffered a lacerated and dislocated finger against the Texans, but is expected to play against the Chargers this Sunday in Tennessee. Fisher said he could have returned to action Sunday, but the Titans leaned on Chris Brown late since he was running well in the late stages of the Titans' win over Houston. ...

Other notes of interest. ... Largely deserving of the team's offensive MVP award this season, Rob Bironas attempted just one field goal in Sunday's 28-20 victory over the Texans -- a 53-yarder at the end of the first half that fell short and ended a streak of 19 consecutive makes. Al Del Greco holds the franchise record for consecutive field goals with 20.

Bironas was still busy, however. He booted four extra points and five kickoffs, in large part because the Titans dissolved their season-long red-zone struggles.

"We kind of put an end to the drought," Fisher said.

After going 1-for-9 inside the 20 over the past three games, the Titans found touchdowns on all three trips against the Texans. They found one from beyond the red zone, too.

"Our numbers have been a little on the rougher side," said receiver Justin Gage, who caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Young on Sunday and has 22 catches for 318 yards and two scores in the last month.

"I think more than anything it builds some confidence for us, knowing that if we get in the red zone we can definitely score touchdowns when we need to."

Young said the production was a byproduct of a good week of practice and a well-called game by offensive coordinator Norm Chow.

The Titans had nice balance, getting more than 150 rushing yards and more than 225 passing yards for just the second time this season. ...

Other notes of interest. ... Receiver Mike Williams, signed on Nov. 22, played in his first game as a Titan but did not have a catch. He estimated he played fewer than 20 snaps, which may have been more than planned due to Jones' injury.

"The intensity was there, the focus was better," said Williams, a former first-round pick with failed stints with the Lions and Raiders.

Young threw in Williams' direction twice.

One was deflected by defensive tackle Anthony Maddox near the line of scrimmage, but Young hurriedly got to the ball and knocked it to the ground.

The other was incomplete and may have hit defensive back Fred Bennett, who hadn't turned to find the ball. It wasn't going to be catchable.

"The wind was playing a factor," Williams said. "I'm sure it was hard for (Young) to place the ball where he wanted to. If he would have tried to throw it high for the jump ball outside, who knows if the wind would have carried it out of bounds. …

"I lined it up perfectly, the wind just killed it. I tried to get a contact call or something, but I think the refs knew what the situation was too."

How could a Hall of Fame coach be unsure of an NFL rule?

How could any head coach be unaware a group of his players planned an on-field tribute to a slain teammate?

Why are the Redskins regularly relinquishing second-half leads?

Gibbs is 26-34 in the regular season this go-round, after going 124-60 the first time. His players stand by him publicly -- and have been doing what they can to lift his spirits privately during what's been a trying stretch.

"They encourage me. You know what I mean?" Gibbs said. "Because sometimes when you get down as a coach, you need somebody to pick you up, and certainly they do."

Since Gibbs was lured back to the team he led to three Super Bowl championships, he has been dogged by criticism -- about play-calling, about choices of whether to go for it on fourth down, about clock management, about wasting timeouts, about losing leads.

The most recent fodder came in Sunday's 17-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Washington led 16-5 late in the third quarter on an emotional day of tributes to Sean Taylor, the Pro Bowl safety shot to death last week.

The assistant coach in charge of Washington's defense, Gregg Williams, told his players Saturday night that he wanted to honor Taylor by lining up with 10 men instead of 11 on Buffalo's first snap on offense.

Williams did not, however, tell Gibbs, who said Tuesday that "probably in the future" he should be let in on similar plans.

"Had I known about it, I'd have been all for it," Gibbs said. "I turned around and was doing something else there, and I missed it."

More scrutiny came with what happened at game's end.

When the Bills lined up to attempt a 51-yard field goal, Gibbs called timeout just as Rian Lindell approached the ball, that last-second, freeze-the-kicker gambit so popular this season. When the Bills were set to re-kick, Gibbs again called timeout, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for consecutive timeouts to ice a kicker. Lindell's kick from 36 yards was good with 4 seconds left.

Afterward, Gibbs acknowledged he wasn't sure about that rule and squarely put the blame for defeat on himself. But he also said he asked a nearby official whether he could call the second timeout. An NFL spokesman said Tuesday that officials are under no obligation to point out what the rules are in such a situation.

Gibbs couldn't recall feeling as badly about an in-game decision since the 1984 Super Bowl loss against the Raiders, when a play call late in the first half led to an interception returned for a touchdown.

"A lot of people felt like I probably could have cost us that one," Gibbs said. "I lived through that, and so hopefully I'll be able to kind of live through this one."

Meanwhile, losing a lead is nothing new for these Redskins: They have been ahead in the second half in five of their seven losses this season.

Of 60 regular-season games since he returned to coaching, Gibbs has lost 18 that the Redskins led in the second half, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. That's 30 percent.

He had 22 such losses in 184 games his first time around, 12 percent.

Since the start of the 2004 season, according to Elias, no other NFL coach has more than 11 such defeats, although the three tied with that many make for some pretty good company: Bill Parcells, Mike Holmgren and Jeff Fisher.

Still, this obviously isn't what owner Daniel Snyder had in mind when he pulled Gibbs out of mothballs. ...

Other notes of interest. ... As Washington Post staff writer Jason La Canfora noted Monday, in years past, as the weather turned cold, the Redskins would rely on their rushing game. But in recent weeks, behind a makeshift offensive line, that has not been the case.

The Redskins averaged fewer than three yards per carry in their loss to Buffalo, a key factor in their fourth straight defeat. The Bills negated the run; tailback Clinton Portis' longest run was six yards. Portis, who missed practice time last week and was mourning the loss of Taylor, ran 25 times for 50 yards and Washington rushed for 80 yards as a team.

Portis rushed 66 times for 333 yards over two games at the start of November, a gaudy five-yard average, but the running attack has limped since. In the past three games Portis has 57 rushes for just 154 yards -- just 2.7 per rush. On the season he is averaging just 3.9 yards per carry, below the NFL average of 4.1. ...

Portis scored his seventh touchdown Sunday, tying tight end Chris Cooley for the team lead.

As the Sports Xchange noted, Cooley caught seven passes for 89 yards against Buffalo, giving him 21 catches for 274 yards and two touchdowns in the last three games. ...

Santana Moss had five catches for 63 yards against the Bills, raising his totals to 19 catches for 221 yards and a touchdown in three games since he returned from sitting out the Philadelphia game with a bruised heel. ...

Shaun Suisham made all three of his field-goal attempts against Buffalo, running his consecutive conversion streak to eight, his season total to 22-for-26 and his totals in 17 games as a Redskin to 30-for-35.

Fullback Mike Sellers, unable to practice all week with a back injury, missed his second straight game; wide receiver Antwaan Randle El did not play either, after re-injuring his hamstring during a loss at Tampa Bay a week ago.

Wide receiver James Thrash missed his third straight game with a high-ankle sprain and he did not practice last week.

After flying back from Taylor's funeral Monday night, the Redskins did only an extended walkthrough Tuesday. Thrash (ankle) didn't participate (and was subsequently ruled out). Randle El (hamstring) and Sellers (back) did; both could return. ...

And finally. ... A framed photo of Taylor and his daughter sits alongside football pads on the top shelf of his locker at the team's practice facility. The locker is sealed off with Plexiglas, the contents neatly arranged: sweats, practice jersey, helmet, mouth guard, burgundy cleats, a game ball from Oct. 1, 2006, notebooks, a pencil.