Sunday Games

Houston Texans @ Chicago Bears

• The Texans and Bears have never faced one another
• A Tale of Two Halves:  QB David Carr has struggled in the second half of the season after a sizzling start…
  Weeks 1-8:  64.0% completion percentage; 8.65 YPA; 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions
  Weeks 9-14: 58.7% completion percentage; 6.32 YPA; 4 touchdowns and 7 interceptions
• RB Domanick Davis has rediscovered his groove after a terrible start this season.  He has scored in six straight games and has rushed for 472 yards (4.4 YPC) since week nine
• Davis has caught five or more passes in seven games this season and is on pace to catch 68
• WR Andre Johnson has already caught a career high 71 passes for 1,052 yards in this, his second season
• Johnson has had four 100-yard efforts this year but has had four games with less than 60 yards in his last six starts
• QB Chad Hutchinson tumbled back down to earth after a red-hot first start.  Last week against the Jaguars, he only completed 51.5% of his throws with an interception
• RB Thomas Jones only managed to rush for 26 yards on 13 carries last week against the Jaguars but did add 68 receiving yards as well
• The Bears have had four quarterbacks throw at least 63 passes this season.  Here are their quarterback ratings:
  1. Chad Hutchinson: 63 passing attempts… 85.7 rating
  2. Rex Grossman: 84 passing attempts… 67.9 rating
  3. Jonathon Quinn: 98 passing attempts… 53.7 rating
  4. Craig Krenzel: 127 passing attempts… 52.5 rating
• Combined, the Bears quarterbacks have tossed a total of 8 touchdown passes on the entire season.  That is the 2^nd lowest mark in the NFL (next to the Giants with 7 touchdown passes)
• The leading receiver for the Bears is enigmatic WR David Terrell who has 549 yards and a touchdown on the year

Buffalo Bills @ Cincinnati Bengals

• The Bills are 11-11 lifetime against the Bengals
• The red-hot Bills have now won six of their last seven games
• The Bills have scored a staggering 154 points in their last four games
• RB Willis McGahee has rushed for 100-yards in six of the last nine games (852 rushing yards in that stretch)
• McGahee has scored nine times in the last seven games
• Rookie Lee Evans continues to make plays.  He has scored four times in the last three weeks
• The Bills are averaging 22.8 points per game, which puts them 5^th in the AFC.  After week six, the Bills were averaging only 14.2 points per game
• The Bills are giving up 17.8 points per game, which puts them 7^th in the AFC.
• The Bengals are tied with the Bills in points scored per game (22.8)
• The Bengals have scored 113 points in the last three weeks
• The Rise of a Young Quarterback:  Carson Palmer lit up the Patriots in New England with a sizzling 75.0% completion rate and a pair of touchdowns
• In his last three games, Palmer has completed 69 of his 89 passes (77.5%) for 835 yards and 9 touchdown passes
• WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh continues to excel.  He has caught 22 passes for 316 yards in the last two weeks and is now on pace to finish with 985 receiving yards
• Nobody is happier than WR Chad Johnson that Palmer has found his game.  Johnson has caught 57 passes in the last eight weeks and scored 6 times
• RB Rudi Johnson is playing himself into a big contract.  He has rushed for 1,194 yards on the season with 7 touchdowns
• WR Kelly Washington has scored three touchdowns in the last four games

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Green Bay Packers

• The Jaguars are 0-2 lifetime against the Packers
• The Jaguars have given up 18 points or less in eight of the thirteen games this year
• QB Byron Leftwich has thrown for 2,245 passing yards in his last eight games
• RB Fred Taylor has rushed for 1,059 yards this season but hasn’t scored a touchdown in the last seven games
• Once labeled ‘Fragile’, Taylor has now started 45 consecutive games for the Jaguars
• WR Jimmy Smith is up to 1,046 receiving yards on the season
• QB Brett Favre has gone cold.  He has only thrown for 319 yards in the last two games with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions
• RB Ahman Green has been a disappointment this season with only 7 touchdowns and 1,207 total yards.  Last year he scored 20 times and had 2,250 total yards
• It has been seven games since WR Javon Walker has reached the 100-yard receiving mark.  He has scored four times in that stretch though
• WR Donald Driver is up to 924 receiving yards on the season and has scored seven times
• The Packers have scored 17 points or less in three of their last four games
• Favre is only 52 touchdown passes away from becoming the all-time leader in that category.  Dan Marino currently holds the record with 420 career touchdown passes
• Favre is now ranked 4^th alltime in passing yardage with 48,806 yards. He needs only 520 yards to pass Warren Moon into 3^rd place alltime

Minnesota Vikings @ Detroit Lions

• The Vikings are 55-29-2 lifetime against the Lions
• The Vikings have won the last five games against the Lions
• Neither team has won by more than ten points in this series since 1998 (Vikings are 9-2 in that stretch)
• The Vikings have only won two of the last seven games
• QB Daunte Culpepper has completed 69.7% of his passes with 31 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions
• Culpepper only has six touchdown passes against five interceptions in his last four starts
• The Vikings leading rusher is RB Onterrio Smith but he only has 533 yards.  His YPC is impressive at 4.6
• The Vikings are only ranked 14^th in the NFL in rushing and are ranked 27^th when it comes to rushing touchdowns. The Vikings have the talent to run the ball much better than that throughout the course of a season
• WR Randy Moss had his first 100-yard receiving game since week three in the loss to the Seahawks
• Culpepper threw for 233 yards and 2 touchdowns in the last game against the Lions (week 11 this year, a 22-19 win for the Vikings)
• The Vikings leading rusher in week eleven against the Lions was RB Michael Bennett who carried the ball 11 times for 30 yards
• The Vikings’ running backs combined for 23 carries, 72 yards and a touchdown run by Moe Williams in the last game against the Lions
• TE Jermaine Wiggins led the team with 8 receptions and a touchdown in week eleven against the Lions
• The Rise of one player has overshadowed the fall of another.  RB Kevin Jones has rushed for 632 yards in his last five games and has scored in each of the last two while QB Joey Harrington has looked terrible in that stretch.  Harrington has completed 57 of 124 passes during that stretch  (46%) with only two touchdown passes.  He has thrown for a total of 611 in those five games
• Here is a look at Harrington’s first eight games compared to his last five:
  Weeks 1-8: 59.5% completion rate; 6.46 YPA; 13 passing touchdowns; 5 interceptions
  Weeks 9-13: 46.0% completion rate; 4.93 YPA; 2 passing touchdowns; 3 interceptions
• Harrington hasn’t had a 300-yard passing effort since week six of his rookie campaign
• Rookie WR Roy Williams hasn’t been the same since he returned from injury.  He hasn’t scored a touchdown since week seven and hasn’t had a 100-yard receiving effort since week three
• RB Kevin Jones had 100 yards rushing despite only carrying the ball 19 times in the first meeting against the Vikings
• QB Joey Harrington only completed 12 passes for a measly 91 yards against the Vikings earlier this season

San Diego Chargers @ Cleveland Browns

• The Chargers are 11-7-1 lifetime against the Browns
• The Chargers have now won seven games in a row.  It is the first time since 1992 they have won seven in a row
• The Chargers have scored 370 points on the season (28.5 PPG).  They haven’t averaged that many points since the QB Dan Fouts era of 1985
• The Chargers would have already clinched a playoff spot in the NFC but are still in a dogfight in the AFC.
• RB LaDainian Tomlinson is now over the 1,000 yard rushing mark on the season (1,143 yards) and has scored 14 touchdowns
• Tomlinson has reached the 100-yard rushing mark in three of the last four games
• What a great surprise season, QB Drew Brees has enjoyed.  He has completed 65.3% of his throws with 23 touchdown passes and 6 interceptions
• TE Antonio Gates has been very quiet over the last two games with only 4 receptions for 48 yards.  Expect him to explode in the next week or two
• The Browns have now lost seven games in a row.  This is definitely a game with two teams heading in opposite directions
• The Browns have given up a disgusting 137 points in the last three weeks
• Talk about inept offense.  Last week against the Bills, the Browns passed for 67 yards, rushed for 29 yards and turned the ball over 5 times
• WR Antonio Bryant continues to be the lone bright spot for the Browns.  He has caught 19 passes for 4 touchdowns in the last three weeks
• RB William Green got a chance to start against the Bills but was completely ineffective.  He rushed for a grand total of 5 yards on 11 carries for a horrifying 0.5 YPC average

Seattle Seahawks @ N.Y. Jets

• The Seahawks are 8-7 lifetime against the Jets
• The Seahawks won a huge game last week against the Vikings and vaulted back into first place in the weak NFC West Division
• QB Matt Hasselbeck has thrown for 748 yards in the last two weeks to go along with 6 touchdown passes
• The Seahawks have surrendered 104 points in the last three weeks
• You think RB Shaun Alexander is going to see a big raise after this season (Free Agent).  He is averaging a strong 4.9 YPC on the season and has scored 16 times
• Alexander has scored 65 times in the last four seasons
• Imagine how good WR Darrell Jackson could be if he didn’t drop so many passes.  He is on pace to catch 91 passes for 1,274 yards on the season
• The Jets are only averaging 20.0 points on the season but are giving up only 14.8 points
• QB Chad Pennington is leading a conservative offensive attack that has thrown only 14 touchdown passes this year
• Pennington has only had one game with more than 258 passing yards this season
• Pennington looked bad against the Steelers last week with 3 interceptions
• RB Curtis Martin only managed to average 3.0 YPC against the strong Steelers defense last week.  Expect him to come roaring back this week.
• WR Santana Moss has only caught 4 passes for 43 yards in the last two weeks

Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles

• The Cowboys are 51-39 lifetime against the Eagles
• If the Cowboys suffer one more loss they’ll suffer through their fourth losing season in the last five years
• The Cowboys fell out of the playoff picture with a disappointing 27 to 13 loss to the Saints
• The Cowboys were outscored 27 to 3 from the second quarter on against the Saints last week
• QB Vinny Testaverde only completed 14 of 35 passes against the Saints and didn’t throw a touchdown pass
• Rookie RB Julius Jones rushed for his 6^th rushing touchdown in the last three weeks against the Saints
• Jones has rushed for 517 yards in the last four games
• The Cowboys were crushed in the first meeting with the Eagles, 49 to 21 in Dallas
• TE Jason Whitten is on pace to finish with 969 receiving yards in this, the year of the tight end position
• Against the Eagles earlier this season, Whitten had a huge game with 9 receptions for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns
• The Eagles are currently on a five game winning streak
• The Eagles are currently 12-1 on the season.  The franchise has never won more than 12 games in one season
• QB Donovan McNabb is on pace to finish with 4,450 passing yards, 36 touchdown passes and only 7 interceptions
• WR Todd Pinkston has led the Eagles in receiving yardage in three of the last four weeks
• RB Brian Westbrook has touched the ball exactly 100 times (69 carries and 31 receptions) in the last five weeks for a total of 663 yards and 8 touchdowns
• WR Terrell Owens has already caught 14 touchdowns on the season
• McNabb threw for 345 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first meeting this season against the Cowboys
• Owens had a monster game against the Cowboys earlier this year with 134 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns
• Westbrook had 118 total yards against the Cowboys in week ten

St. Louis Rams @ Arizona Cardinals

• The Rams are 31-21-2 lifetime against the Cardinals
• The Cardinals at 4-9 on the season are guaranteed to finish without a winning record for the 19^th time in 20 seasons
• QB Chris Chandler threw 6 interceptions last weekend
• The Rams have only scored 23 points in the last two weeks (against the 49ers and the Panthers)
• WR Torry Holt has 311 receiving yards in the last two weeks
• Holt has led the team in receiving in six of their games this season while Isaac Bruce has led the team in seven games
• Holt is on pace to finish with 1,337 yards and 10 touchdowns
• The Rams have averaged only 103.5 rushing yards per game on the season.  That is 10^th worst in the NFL
• Way back in week one, the Rams beat the Cardinals 17 to 10.   RB Marshall Faulk had 128 rushing yards and Bruce had 112 receiving yards.  Bruce caught a 4^th quarter touchdown pass to win that game.
• The Cardinals are only averaging 102.5 rushing yards per game this season
• The Cardinals have only thrown nine touchdown passes this season in 430 passing attempts
• The Cardinals have now lost four consecutive games for the first time this season
• Arizona’s receivers haven’t caught a touchdown pass in the last three games (TE Freddie Jones did two weeks ago)
• The Cardinals have scored 14 points or less in seven of the thirteen games this year
• WR Anquan Boldin has led the team in receiving yardage for three straight weeks but still hasn’t scored a touchdown this season
• RB Emmitt Smith rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown against the Rams earlier this season

New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• The Saints are 16-9 lifetime against the Buccaneers
• The Saints might be the toughest team to figure out week to week in the entire NFL.  They have won in St. Louis, Oakland and Dallas this season but lost at home to the Broncos and Panthers
• The Saints were outscored 10 to 0 in the first quarter again last week before rallying to defeat the Cowboys.  That runs their first quarter futility mark to a disgusting zero points scored and 104 points against in the last ten games
• RB Deuce McAllister had a two-touchdown game last week for the third time this season
• McAllister rushed for 102 yards on 21 carries in the first meeting between these teams.  The Saints still lost 20 to 17.
• McAllister still only has three 100-yard rushing games on the year
• WR Joe Horn is having a great season.  He is on pace to finish with 1,457 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns
• Horn only caught 4 passes for 40 yards in the first game this season against the Buccaneers but did score a touchdown
• QB Aaron Brooks only threw for 102 yards in the first game against the Buccaneers
• QB Aaron Brooks is on pace to throw for 3,936 yards and 21 touchdowns but hasn’t been able to get the Saints off to a quick start this season
• The Buccaneers are 5-4 in the past nine games
• Rookie phenom WR Michael Clayton only needs 12 more yards to reach the 1,000 yard mark
• Clayton has enjoyed two 140+ receiving yards games this year
• RB Michael Pittman has only rushed for 139 yards in the past three weeks but has added 16 receptions for 192 yards
• Pittman failed to score a touchdown last week for only the 2^nd time in the last eight weeks
• WR Joey Galloway has caught nine passes and scored three touchdowns in the last two weeks
• QB Brian Griese is just under 70% completion rate on the season
• Griese has thrown 16 touchdowns in nine games
• Griese’s first game this season was against the Saints.  He completed 84.2% of his throws, tossed a touchdown pass and won the game

Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs

• After two close losses to the Chargers and Raiders, the Broncos barely managed to defeat the overmatched Dolphins
• The Broncos are 40-49 lifetime against the Chiefs
• QB Jake Plummer has been terrible in the last three games.  He has tossed only one touchdown against 7 interceptions
• Plummer has only completed 57.1% of his passes on the year
• RB Tatum Bell led the Broncos in rushing for the first time all season last week against the Dolphins.  He ran for 123 yards
• Bell has scored three touchdowns in the last two weeks
• WR Rod Smith is up to 935 receiving yards on the season.  Not bad for a 34-year old
• The first meeting of the year between these teams was in week one.  The Broncos won 34 to 24 thanks to RB Quentin Griffin rushing for 156 yards and scoring 3 touchdowns
• In the first meeting against the Chiefs, WR Rod Smith totaled 76 receiving yards while WR Ashley Lelie finished with 88 yards
• In the first meeting against the Broncos, QB Trent Green was very pedestrian with only 174 passing yards, a 50% completion percentage and no touchdown passes
• RB Priest Holmes ran amok in that first game against the Broncos with 151 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns
• The Chiefs have scored 114 points in the last three games
• The Chiefs have given up 27+ points in the last seven games
• The Chiefs have given up 364 points so far this season.  That is the worst performance in the NFL.  It’s good to know changing the defensive coordinator and leaving the players had such a profound effect on the team. 
• QB Trent Green has thrown 3 touchdowns in four of the last seven games
• Green has had 200+ passing yards in eleven straight games
• RB Larry Johnson has had 37 carries in the last three weeks and scored 5 touchdowns while averaging 7.1 yards per carry. In that same stretch, RB Derrick Blaylock has managed to score 4 touchdowns bringing the total for both players to 9 touchdowns in three games.  My question is “Priest who?”
• WR Eddie Kennison has scored 6 touchdowns in the last five games

Tennessee Titans @ Oakland Raiders

• The Raiders are 22-17 lifetime against the Titans organization
• The Raiders are averaging an abysmal 76.2 rushing yards per game
• The Raiders haven’t had a running back rush for more than 70 yards since RB Amos Zereoue totaled 117 yards back in week four
• WR Jerry Porter has caught at least one touchdown in only three of the thirteen games on the year
• The Titans are guaranteed a losing record for only the second time in the last nine seasons and with one more loss will have their worst record since the 2-14 disaster of 1994 when Fisher took over for Jack Pardee (after Pardee started the year 1-9)
• The Titans have given up 100 points in the last two games and 131 in the past three… I wonder why they’re losing this year?
• RB Chris Brown is averaging 97 yards per game this season despite missing many 2^nd halves due to nagging injuries
• The leading receiver on the Titans is … Drew Bennett.  He is up to 1,011 yards and 8 touchdowns on the season.
• QB Billy Volek has tossed 11 touchdowns against only 4 interceptions in his last four starts to go along with 1,239 passing yards
• Ready for the prime time:  In the last two seasons, Volek has tossed 17 touchdowns against only 8 interceptions.  However before we get too excited about his performance this year, keep in mind he did it against atrocious defenses such as the Colts, Chiefs, Chargers pass defense early in the season and the Bengals

Baltimore Ravens @ Indianapolis Colts

• The Ravens are 2-2 lifetime against the Colts
• RB Chester Taylor led the Ravens in rushing for the fourth consecutive week
• Taylor has enjoyed back-to-back 100-yard rushing efforts
• QB Kyle Boller had his fourth 200-yard passing game in the last seven contests against the Giants last week
• QB Kyle Boller had his first 4 passing touchdown game of his career last week against the Giants
• Boller has thrown nine touchdown passes against only 3 interceptions in the last seven games
• TE Todd Heap caught his first two touchdowns of the season last week
• Rookie WR Clarence Moore has now caught four touchdowns on the season with two scores last week
• QB Peyton Manning needs to throw 3 more touchdown passes in the final three weeks to set the record for most thrown in one season.
• Manning needs to average 355 passing yards per game in the final three weeks to set the record for most yards in a season
• Manning has an unbelievable touchdown to interception ratio of 5:1
• Manning has had multiple-touchdown passes in all thirteen games this season
• Manning has a strong completion percentage of 68.9%
• The Colts have now won six games in a row
• RB Edgerrin James has had four straight 100-yard rushing efforts
• James is now leading the entire NFL with 1,395 rushing yards on the season
• WR Reggie Wayne has opened up a lead on his teammates for the most receiving yards for the Colts.  He is up to 971 yards on the season with 11 scores
• WR Marvin Harrison has seen his receptions and yardage totals drop but he does have 13 touchdowns on the year

Monday Games

New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins

• The Patriots are 33-45 lifetime against the Dolphins
• The Patriots easily handled the Dolphins in their first meeting this season 24 to 10
• RB Corey Dillon ran for 94 yards on 18 carries in that first game against the Dolphins
• QB Tom Brady meanwhile only had to throw for 76 yards in order for the Patriots to win that game
• Brady has 21 touchdown passes and only 9 interceptions on the year
• RB Corey Dillon is within 86 yards of leading the NFL in rushing yardage this season
• Dillon has scored ten touchdowns this season
• The most productive receiver for the Patriots in 2004 has been David Patten.  He has caught 39 passes for 737 yards and scored 7 times
• TE Daniel Graham has been one of the biggest disappointments since week four.  He hasn’t score a touchdown since then after scoring five times in the first four games
• The Patriots have surrendered 16.7 points this season while scoring 28.1 points
• The Dolphins leading rusher has only rushed for 338 yards on the season (Sammy Morris)
• The Dolphins haven’t scored less than 17 points in the last five games
• QB A.J. Feeley has completed 51.5% or less of his passes in five straight games.  I wonder if the Dolphins want that draft pick back yet?
• The Good News:  Feeley has thrown at least one touchdown in four straight games (7 touchdowns total)
  The Bad News:  Feeley has thrown 9 interceptions in that same span
• TE McMichaels is up to 698 receiving yards on the season.  That is 100 yards better than his former career-high of 598
• WR Chris Chambers has caught 31 passes and scored 3 times in the last five weeks
• In the last three weeks, Chambers has only averaged 10.7 yards per reception