TOMORROW
Minnesota at Chicago, 1 p.m. — After being led by Kelly Ho-Hum (Holcomb) the last couple of games, the Vikings starting QB, Tavaris Jackson, returns. Brian Griese appears to have won the Bears starting QB job, for now. But because Rex Grossman is still in the picture, and head coach Lovie Smith has more than once passionately defended using the former Gator, don’t expect this Rex to become extinct in the Windy City.
St. Louis at Baltimore, 1 p.m. — Alls I can say is will ewes believe me now? These Rams ain’t so hot?
Philadelphia at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m., Ch. 64 — Believe it or not, there’s a guy named Clemens who has the best throwing arm of any player belonging to a pro sports franchise in New York (a.k.a. New Jersey) — and his first name isn’t Roger. Watch for Jets coach Eric Mangini eventually give into the fans’ demands and bench Chad Pennington in favor of rookie Kellen Clemens.
Miami at Cleveland, 1 p.m. — The Dolphins are so desperate to beef up their defensive line that word has it the team has put in a call to Pat Reilly, coach and GM of the of Miami’s NBA franchise, to find out about the availability of Antoine Walker. Am I the only one who thinks that the success of the Cleveland Indians is the reason that Romeo Crennell has avoided being the first coaching casualty in the NFL in 2007.
Washington at Green Bay, 1 p.m., Ch. 25 — I’d be willing to bet that Brett Favre’s Jekyll and Hyde performance in last Sunday night’s loss to the Bears did more for the increase in sales of Prilosec in the Wisconsin area last week than any of the commercials the aging-QB ever made for the company which produces the heartburn medication.
Cincinnati at Kansas City, 1 p.m. — During the bye week, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis invited retired Navy Capt. D. Michael Abrashoff, author of a book about leadership titled It’s Your Ship to give a motivational speech to his, 1-3 team. No doubt that the meeting was held at a place that the Cincinnati players were more familiar with — like the brig.
Tennessee at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m., Ch. 12, 4 — Humor me here: When the Titans moved from Houston to Tennessee, and had a contest to come up with a nickname that would replace the Oilers, how many of you out there in NFL Land thought up the name Tennessee Tuxedos, like I did? I didn’t think I was the only cartoon lover in this state. The Buccaneers tried to compensate for the loss of RB Cadillac Williams by signing former Patriot Corey Dillon, but he turned them down. When the smoke clears, will they make a pitch to Miami for Ricky Williams?
Houston at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. — QB Matt Schaub has been trying to hold down the fort until the Texans get RB Ahman Green and WR Andre Johnson back from injuries. Green may play this week, but Johnson, who can be talked about in the same breath as a Randy Moss or a Terrell Owens, will miss more games. With Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor, the Jaguars boasted one of the NFL’s best running attacks last year. The tandem has not performed as well this season, and there are those that point to the loss of TE Kyle Brady (Patriots, free agency), one of the game’s best blocking tight ends, as a major reason for the falloff.
Carolina at Arizona, 4:05 p.m. — A battle of two teams that have lost their starting quarterbacks for the season due to injury. The Cardinals have a competent replacement for Matt Leinart — two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner. The Panthers, on the other hand, have to choose between a banged up Carr (David) or a Vintage Testaverde (Vinny) to replace Jake Delhomme.
Oakland at San Diego, 4:15 p.m. — The Raiders look to end a 15-game losing streak to AFC West opponents. Ironically, Chargers coach Norv Turner was the Raiders coach the last time the Black & Silver beat a divisional rival. Get this, the Raiders 2-2 record is good enough to place them alone atop of the AFC Jest.
New Orleans at Seattle, 8:15 p.m., Ch. 10, 7 — You can bet that if this game fell on NBC’s schedule in the second half of this season, the network would put the “flexible schedule” option into play. What that means is that during the last seven weeks of the NFL season that contain a Sunday night game, the NBC would have the option to change its scheduled game with another on the Sunday schedule that would be more appealing to a national over-the-air television audience.
MONDAY
N.Y. Giants at Atlanta, 8:30 p.m., ESPN — A win against the Giants would be nice, but it probably won’t do much for the Falcons’ chances of making the playoffs. However, there is one victory that Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank would cherish — the case against Michael Vick, in which the former star QB would be forced to return all or most of a $22-million signing bonus paid to him before his run-ins with the law.
Byes: Buffalo, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Denver, Detroit, San Francisco