Monday night. Denver is going to punt the ball in the first quarter. Their punter, Micah Knorr, drops the perfect snap, picks it up and eventually punts. Flag, ineligible players downfield, of course. The wife, who was still actually watching the game with me (this never lasts long), asks me what happened. I told her (in as basic of language as I could muster), that only two players are allowed to go downfield before the guy kicks the ball. Since he dropped it, other players, who usually count out loud to three or so before running forward, started running forward before the guy kicked it. She paused, thought, and then asked, "Wait…couldn't they just tell the referees they didn't know?" She was serious…

If you're a Falcons fan, there wasn't much good news in the 56-10 drubbing that they took at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. If you're an owner of IDP Falcon players, though, it might be a different story. As you can imagine when the opponent rushes for over 270 yards, there was quite a bit of tackling done that game. LB Matt Stewart, 9-1 tackles. LB Demorrio Williams, 9-0. DB's Bryan Scott, Jason Webster and Kevin McCadam a combined 20-2 tackles…

Chief's CB William Bartee, who replaced Dexter McCleon this week, had perhaps the best game of his career. Other than filling in for Eric Warfield in the season finale last year, Bartee had not started a game since 2002. Bartee had 5-0 tackles and a sack. He had a strong offseason, training camp and preseason, but a neck injury in the regular season opener set him back. Now he's healthy and has a good shot at keeping the starting job…

After being held sackless for three games, Colts DE Dwight Freeney got a couple of sacks in Indy's 27-24 loss the Jacksonville. It had been a disappointing season thus far for Freeney. His tackle numbers are down as he has been given constant attention from opposing offensive lines. The two sacks Sunday gave him four on the year. The next couple of weeks will be important to the Colts, as they'll need to pressure the quarterback big time in order to win. They play the Chiefs this weekend and the Vikings the week after…

At 6'2" 235 Colts DE Robert Mathis, converted from LB, has been a pleasant surprise in a small package. In his first start of his short NFL career, Mathis added another sack to make five for the year. Twelve total tackles and four sacks in the last three games is not too shabby and exactly what the Colts need to keep their playoff hopes alive with their tough upcoming schedule…

Coming off being voted the NFL Defensive Player of the Week, Eagle's CB Lito Sheppard might have been surprised as Brown's QB Jeff Garcia seemed to target him all game in Philly's 34-31 OT win Sunday. Sheppard was challenged deep many times while in man-to-man coverage. He was even burned once by WR Dennis Northcutt. But Sheppard said he wasn't surprised at all that Garcia came right at him. Said Sheppard, "If you notice Garcia, he only throws the ball to his right side. That's just the way the offense is run. If you look at any other game they ever play, he always throws to his right side, and I'm the left corner, so I'm going to get the majority of them." Sheppard finished with 10 solo tackles and an interception…

Cleveland Brown corners Daylon McCutcheon and Anthony Henry are giving up too many big plays. As team, Cleveland has given up 21 passes over 20 yards, 13 over 30 yards and 6 over 40 yards. On Sunday, McCutcheon have up a 65-yard play to Todd Pinkston and Terrell Owens had touchdowns of 39 and 40 yards over Henry. Lack of pressure on opposing QB's have not helped their cause…

The Chargers held Carolina to only two field goals in their 17-6 win Sunday. It was the first time the Chargers had not given up a touchdown in over two years…

Charger safety Terrence Kiel continues to have a very nice FF season. He added 8-1 tackles and an interception Sunday. He currently is a borderline top 10 scorer amongst safeties for the year…

Whatever happened to Carolina's pass rush?

You knew eventually Deion Sanders would make his presence felt. The Raven nickel back did so Sunday in Baltimore's 20-6 win over Buffalo. Sanders had two interception in the game, his 50th and 51st of his career. The first one was returned 48 yards for a touchdown. His second one came in the end zone helping prevent a fourth quarter Buffalo touchdown…

Buffalo's offensive woes are one reason why LB's London Fletcher and Takeo Spikes are top notch IDP LB's this year. On Sunday, Fletcher had 7-2 tackles and a sack, while Spikes led the way with 8-3 tackles and a sack…

If the Tampa Bay Bucs need a big play on defense, they look no further than CB Ronde Barber. Barber did it again Sunday in the Buc's 19-7 win over the Chicago Bears by providing a timely interception. Early in the 4th quarter in a 13-7 game, Barber intercepted a Jonathan Quinn pass and returned it 23 yards to the Bear's 11-yard line. Three plays, the Bucs scored to make it a twelve-point lead. There were no other scores in the game…

Detroit Lions DE Kalimba Edwards has been somewhat of an enigma. He was a high second round pick in the 2002 NFL draft, but he has struggled with countless injuries and disappointing play since then. He might be finally coming around, though. In Sunday's 28-13 win over the Giants, Edwards had two sacks, making 3.5 for the year, and added a forced fumble and a recovered fumble…

Giants LB Barrett Green lost his starting job against the Lions because of being late to a team meeting. Nick Griesen started in his place and had 4-3 tackles. Green played only on special teams. No word as of this writing as to who will start this weekend…

After giving up 759 yards and 59 points in their previous two games, the Minnesota Vikings seemed determined to change their ways. In their 20-3 win over Tennessee, they played the entire fourth quarter in their nickel defense. Titan QB Billy Volek ended the quarter with 3/14/36, with no TD's, one INT and a 9.8 QB rating…

Titan rookie DE Travis LaBoy finally made a contribution, albeit in a loss. Tennessee drafted LaBoy with a second round pick they acquired for Justin McCareins. LaBoy finished with 5-1 tackles and a pair of sacks, the first of his NFL career…

For LaBoy to be more effective and garner more time, though, he has to be more effective against the run, and that's tough to do when some offensive linemen outweigh him by 100 pounds. LaBoy is listed at 253 at NFL.com and some say that's a generous listing…

Same old story: Dolphin LB Zach Thomas had a big game as usual with 6-5 tackles and a sack. What's new: The Dolphins actually won the game…

Rams rookie DE Anthony Hargrove had his best game with 7-1 tackles and his first career sack. With Leonard Little's future still uncertain, the Rams are hoping for the best from their third round pick…

Look for Jets safety Jon McGraw to start this weekend against Miami on Monday night. At the very least, he should continue to get increased playing time. McGraw has had some serious issues staying healthy. When he's not injured, McGraw is known as a very hard hitter and playmaker. He had the starting job in training camp only to lose it after suffering an abdominal injury. But Jets veteran safety Reggie Tongue can't seem to fully grasp the Jets defensive system, and they're talking now about replacing him with McGraw and hoping McGraw can stay on the field…

With the New Orleans Saints leading 24-19, just seconds after kicking a field goal, special teams player, rookie Colby Bockwoldt (a LB by trade) picked up the fumble on the kickoff and returned it six yards for the score to put the Saints up by twelve…

The Saints went back to last season's starting linebackers, with Sedrick Hodge at the strong side, Orlando Ruff in the middle and Derrick Rodgers at the weak side. Ruff led the team with 8-2 tackles…

Don't doubt for a second that the return of DT Grady Jackson didn't mean anything to the Green Bay Packers. Jackson returned to the lineup for the first time since the third play of the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys and was a strong reason they were able to hold the Cowboys running attack completely in check when it counted in their 41-20 win…

Jackson missed five games, including three losses in Lambeau Field where the opposition seemed to be able to run the ball at will against the Packer defensive front…

That was a big play made by Seahawks cornerback Ken Lucas when he intercepted a Josh McCown pass and returned it for a score and put Seattle up 17-16. Lucas is currently tied for the league lead with 4 INT's…

Lucas has been upsetting Coach Mike Holmgren, though, with some of his antics. On the interception return, with nobody close to tackling him, Lucas stopped at the goal line and walked in. Said Holmgren, "I don't like that. He shouldn't do that again. One, you run the risk of having a penalty because the league can call taunting on you if they think it's flagrant enough. Two, I'm kind of old-fashioned that way. I don't mind celebration when you get in the end zone - spike, jump around, do what you have to do - but get in the end zone." Here, here…

The Seahawks ended up losing to the Cards, 25-17…

Superstar CB Champ Bailey proved fallible Sunday in the Broncos 23-10 loss to Cincinnati. Chad Johnson, who has said that no corner can handle him single-handedly, went about proving just that by burning Bailey on more than one occasion. Bailey might have finished the game 7-1 tackles and an INT, but Johnson's 7/149/1 was more memorable…

Until next week…

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