Jaguar QB Byron Leftwich had his late game heroics squashed against the Houston Texans Sunday as defensive back Demarcus Faggins intercepted his pass near midfield with less than a minute remaining and returned it 43 yards for the score. Faggins also had seven solo tackles. Houston won 20-6…

Houston LB Kailee Wong might not have had a single tackle, but his interception of a Leftwich pass at the start of the fourth quarter led to a Texan field goal and a 10-point lead. LB Jamie Sharper led the team with 8-4 tackles…

Jaguars safety Donovin Darius recovered his league-leading fourth fumble of the season…

The Cowboys/Lions game was supposed to be a game between two Roy Williams. One is the rookie WR for the Detroit Lions. That Williams was out with an ankle injury. The other is Roy Williams, the hard-hitting safety for the Cowboys. That Williams played and his hit on Lions receiver Tai Streets in the early parts of the second quarter helped set the tone and give the Cowboys tremendous momentum. Even though it took until the fourth quarter before Dallas pulled away, several Cowboys players pointed to it as the turning point in the game. Dallas won 31-21…

It's official, Robert Porcher has retired. The Detroit Lions all-time leader in sacks, who played for Detroit for his entire 13-year career, retired Monday with 95.5 career sacks. He recorded double-digit sacks for four consecutive seasons ('96-'99)…

Porcher had been inactive for every game this season, and he was reportedly hurt and upset about it. But his press conference announcing the decision was all class. Porcher stated, "These guys in the locker room mean so much to me, this team means so much to me. There comes a point where you have to let it go. To be able to say you played with the team that drafted you and played for five head coaches and nine defensive coordinators and at the end still have a chance to say good-bye on your terms . . . I can't say enough for that. I am really happy I got this chance and I can't thank the Ford family enough."…

Heading into this season, Porcher had announced it would be his final season, but he had hoped he would still contribute, hopefully in a big way. But the defensive line, and the eight guys ahead of Porcher on the depth chart, is the strength of the team and relegated Porcher to inactive status. He elected not to play for any other team. "I wouldn't even look right in another uniform. I'm a Detroit Lion," Porcher said. "It's about loyalty for me. This organization, this community has been great to me and my family."…

If anyone is going to give Dolphins LB Zach Thomas a run for his money for total tackle numbers, it's probably Bills LB London Fletcher. Fletcher had 6-8 tackles in the Bills 38-14 win over Arizona…

The Philadelphia Eagles continue to lead the league in sacks with 25. DE Jevon Kearse added two sacks to his total in the Eagles 15-10 win over Baltimore Sunday. That gave Kearse six on the year, good enough to make him tied for third in the NFC…

With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Redskins RB Clinton Portis scored the touchdown that tied them with Green Bay Sunday at 20. All that was need was an extra point to put them up by one. But wait. There was an illegal motion penalty against Skins WR James Thrash. Touchdown called back. The lead remained 20-14 Green Bay…

On the very next play, Packer CB Al Harris intercepted a Mark Brunell pass and returned it 29 yards. Four plays later the Packers scored an insurance touchdown. Game over. Harris played the entire game on a sprained knee…

Green Bay safety Bhawoh Jue made his first start since 2001 in place of injured Darren Sharper and made the most of it. Jue had 7-0 tackles and an interception in the Packers 28-14 win over the Redskins…

With the Tennessee Titan leading the Bengals 27-20, Bengal QB Carson Palmer was moving them towards a possible game-tying score with less than a minute remaining in the game. On a second and nine at the Titan's nine-yard line, Titan DT Albert Haynesworth came up with the big play by sacking Palmer and forcing a fumble, which the Titans recovered to win the game…

Haynesworth, who hasn't always played up to his first round pick status, had a terrific game. He knocked down three Palmer passes and hit Palmer as he threw an interception to Andre Dyson, all prior to his coup de grace sack and forced fumble…

The New York Giants jumped on the Viking from the outset in their 34-13 win Sunday. On the very first series, Mewelde Moore dropped a Culpepper throw. Although the entire Viking offense and much of the Giant defense assumed it was a forward pass, Giant LB Kevin Lewis took no chances. He scooped up the ball and ran it 16 yards to the Vikings 22. It led to a Giant field goal and the Giants never seemed to look back…

Vikings LB EJ Henderson has his most productive game this year, and perhaps as a pro, with 8-3 tackles. Considered by many the best LB in the draft of 2003, Henderson sat much of his rookie year and had legal problems in the offseason. First came a DUI arrest, which was followed shortly thereafter by an assault charge. His talent has never been questioned, but his ability to learn and maturity levels obviously have…

Cato June continues to come on strong, as the Colts weakside LB had another big game Sunday in their 45-35 loss to the Chiefs. In the last three games, June has averaged nearly 10 total tackles per game…

Although they didn't register a single sack against Colt QB Peyton Manning and gave up a boatload of yards, the Chiefs defense has to receive some credit. Manning was only 10/24 in the first half and Indy converted only 3 of 8 third down opportunities…

The Seattle Seahawks secondary continues to give up big plays. This week, in the Hawks 23-17 win over Carolina, it was CB Ken Lucas who gave up a 63-yard Keary Colbert catch that led to the Panthers last touchdown. It seems as though the big plays always occur at the worst time…in the fourth quarter of close games…

Panthers LB Dan Morgan, who left Sunday's game with a concussion, will be reevaluated on Wednesday. It's unclear at this point if Morgan will play Sunday against the Raiders. Morgan has been having an excellent season to date and the Panthers would miss him greatly…

The Patriots might have lost to the Steelers Sunday, 34-20, but NE safety Rodney Harrison had a monster stat day for tackles. He finished the game 13-8 tackles…

But for overall numbers, it's hard to beat the day Pittsburgh LB Joey Porter had. Porter ended up with three sacks, 4-3 tackles and a pair of forced fumbles. Talk about making IDP owners proud…unless you had him on your bench, of course…

Bears star LB Brian Urlacher led a defense that held the San Francisco 49ers to only 162 total yards in the Bears 23-13 win. The Bears also had three sacks, two of them by Urlacher. The 49ers failed to score a touchdown on offense…

The big play for the Bears came in the fourth quarter with the Bears leading 16-13 when rookie cornerback Nathan Vasher intercepted a Ken Dorsey pass and returned it 71 yards for the score…

49er DT Bryant Young had a very nice game with 10-0 tackles and two sacks. It was Young's first two-sack game since opening day of 2001…

Although he didn't start, NY Jets safety Jon McGraw still led the team in tackles Sunday with 10-1 in the Jets 41-14 win over Miami.

DE/LB John Abraham had another sack Sunday, which gives him 8.5 for the season. He has recorded at least half a sack in every game this year but one…

Don't worry, I didn't forget about Zach Thomas. Another nice week, albeit in a loss, with 7-5 tackles. That's 95 total tackles on the year. The next closest has 75…

Until next week…

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