Andy Richardson

I was the mad channel surfer during the early games on Sunday, catching as much as I could of all of them -- some of which were pretty entertaining. The late games were different; I caught little pieces here and there while trying to keep the kids from whacking on the TV screen too much. Two random thoughts: One, is there any team in the league that ISN'T using the Wildcat formations right now? It seems like everyone thinks it's the cat's pajamas. No pun intended. Second, I noticed Bill Belichick writing some stuff down on a little notebook during the Jets-Patriots game the other night. Is this what it's come to? Now the man is so afraid to use videotape he's like a cub newspaper reporter? I found myself wondering what he was writing down. "Cut this guy tomorrow," seemed like one possibility. "Pick up 2% milk," another. OK, on to the games. ...

Packers-Bears: A woodshed game. There's no rhyme or reason to the Packers rising up and blowing out their longtime rival, so let's just say that Green Bay brought its "A" game and the Bears apparently felt that since they'd won four straight in Lambeau all they had to do was show up. Call Ryan Grant the second-half man; maybe his second half of 2008 will be like his second half of 2007. Huge game against a really good run defense. Plus another defensive touchdown for the Packers, for 9 on the season. Incredible.

Vikings-Bucs: A pretty good game with some crazy plays. A nice scramble by Jeff Garcia with a touchdown flip to Antonio Bryant was wiped out by a penalty. Jerramy Stevens made a great catch to set up a touchdown. A hit on Jeff Garcia by Vikings' lineman Ray Edwards was so late I think Garcia was already lining up for the next play. And somehow the Bucs keep winning, 7-3 despite seeming to have cast-offs and head cases all over the field. "We've got a pretty good defense," said Jon Gruden later. Yep, especially at home.

Lions-Panthers: The best and worst of Daunte Culpepper, all in one game. Nice scramble and TD throw to Calvin Johnson. A touchdown run -- it's never surprising when he calls his own number. Did so on the two-point conversion, too, although Carolina appeared to be looking for it (and should have been); they got away with a face-mask while making the stop. Of course, Culpepper also threw a pair of ugly interceptions and lost a fumble; in fairness, the guy was retired just a week ago, but those type of errors played a part in that status. Start your running backs against the Lions -- huge days for both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Another quiet week for Jake Delhomme and the passing game, although running for 260-plus yards was a factor.

Eagles-Bengals: I think the highlight in this one was when, late in the overtime period, one of the announcers felt compelled to explain the ramifications of a tie. “What does a tie do for the Eagles? Well, it’s better than a loss but not as good as a win.” Thanks. Next-best moment was when the officials spent about 10 minutes in overtime reviewing a spot that they had about eight angles of and all of them showed a pile of players and no visible football. Needless to say, it was not overturned. Horrible game for the Eagles offense and Donovan McNabb. I mean, they scored 13 points in five full quarters against the Bengals. McNabb was outplayed by Ryan Fitzpatrick. Just an ugly game to watch, even more so because it was 25 percent longer than every other game this weekend. There were more highlight in the overtime period alone of Jets-Patriots than in this thing.

Giants-Ravens: Irresistible force (Giants run game) meets immovable object (Ravens run D). Irresistible force wins. I'm done underestimating the Giants offense. Clearly, there's nobody they can't run on right now. I wonder how much Derrick Mason's shoulder was bothering him, considering he failed to come up with a possible touchdown (it was high, but maybe he catches it if fully healthy) and let another ball go through his hands for what was essentially a game-ending interception.

Random thoughts from some other games I saw bits and pieces of.... Kansas City-Saints: Jeremy Shockey dropped a 22-yard TD pass. Perfectly thrown. Shockey, man, catch that thing. Starting to feel bad for sticking up for you, here. Tyler Thigpen and Dwayne Bowe tried the same end-zone jump ball three times and got 2 TDs out of it. Texans-Colts: Guess I picked the wrong week to bench Steve Slaton. Great matchup, I know, but Gary Kubiak sure indicated a committee. I guess 14 carries was plenty for Slaton against the Colts. Broncos-Falcons: I have no idea how Denver is 6-4. I think almost all of their games could go either way. Matt Ryan and Roddy White were inches away from a game-winning touchdown in the final minutes. Cowboys-Washington: That's why you don't mess around too much with injuries. Lot of banged-up or returning players on both sides, and as a result, a low-scoring game.

Andy is watching football as fast as he can. If you've got some observations of your own or just want to talk about how great that Jets-Pats game was, feel free to add your comments below.

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