1:00 Games
Phoenix (0-7) * San Francisco (6-1)
The Northern Cardinal is a mid-sized songbird with a body length of 21
centimeters (8.3 inches). It has a distinctive crest on the head and a
mask on the face which is black in the male and gray in the female. The
male is a vibrant red, while the female is a dull red-brown shade. The
Northern Cardinal is mainly granivorous, but also feeds on insects and
fruit. Sorry, we thought an ornithological study of the cardinal may have been more intriguing than the actual results of this football contest featuring the representative mascot of Phoenix's terrible football team.
Buffalo (3-4) * New England (1-6)
The bye week method works for the Bills, as they come storming out to stomp all over their divisional little brothers. Thurman Thomas gets back in the rushing title race with 9 carries for 109 yards to pick up Jim Kelly's continual slumping. Kevin Turner was resilient for his team, carrying the ball 19 times for 121 yards (along with another 32 receiving) but his performance was lost behind his horrible quarterback and defense. It appears New England is in hurry-up mode to snatch up that good looking guy out of Washington State.
Final Score: Bills 28, Patriots 10
New Orleans (6-1) * Tampa Bay (4-3)Facing their first test outside of the division, the Buccaneers acquire a solid 'D' for their performance. Not for defense, as they allowed Bobby Hebert to add to his career-high numbers with 254 yards throwing. Not for dominance, though Reggie Cobb had a solid day with 93 yards rushing on 9 attempts. And certainly not for daring, as Vinny Testaverde played very conservatively once again to keep his team from really challenging the Saints. If anything, it was for 'Daytona Beach Golf & Country Club', where they'll certainly be come postseason time yet again.
Final Score: Saints 17, Buccaneers 7
San Diego (5-2) * Indianapolis (2-5)
Blame the weak schedule, maybe even blame backup quarterback Bob Gagliano's piercing stare, but the Chargers continue to stay out of the kinds of slumps that hurt other teams fighting for a top spot in their division. Stan Humphries kept the gag order on Gagliano for another week with his stellar 271 yard passing performance, while Nate Lewis continues working on nailing down a Pro Bowl seat with 139 yards catching on the day. It appears while Jeff George is looking for answers in the locker room, head coach Ted Marchibroda is looking for some company at the bottom of his Johnnie Walker.
Final Score: Chargers 27, Colts 7
Green Bay (2-5) * Detroit (1-6)
Though the records may indicate otherwise, it was an intriguing match-up of two quarterbacks in breakout years battling in a shoot-out to determine the worst team in the NFC Central. The Lions pull into a fourth-place tie with Green Bay behind Rodney Peete's 222 throwing yards, a few behind Brett Favre's 274. Though Favre won the yardage contest, Peete was playing off his rocker with an 88% accuracy to Favre's 60% with a pick. Barry Sanders got back on the wagon, running just a shade under 100 yards. Though it's a little late, with all cylinders now firing in Detroit it appears the Lions are ready to play spoiler.
Final Score: Lions 33, Packers 17
Minnesota (6-1) * Chicago (4-3)The Vikings lose the return game against Chicago, who scored late to pull out the victory. It appears every year, just as the temperatures drop sub-20 in the midwest, the Bears heat up--and now, after their third divisional victory in a row, the Bears are just a game behind Minnesota. It wasn't the prettiest day for Jim Harbaugh, lobbing up 205 yards with 2 interceptions, but his ruggedness once again won the day over pretty boy Rich Gannon's 121 yards. It did not, however, win over that pretty young lady that maced him after the game at the Weather Mark Tavern.
Final Score: Bears 21, Vikings 17
Cincinnati (3-4) * Cleveland (4-3)
Cleveland head coach Bill Belichick gets a lot of credit for his football smarts, but wishing for one hundred more wishes from that genie on his offseason trip to the Mideast puts his genius on par with Pulitzer prize winners. It appears his Browns' team's luck continues to ride on equal parts luck and equal parts Kevin Mack, whose 129 all-purpose yards put his team over the Bengals in this divisional contest. Cleveland's defense also continued to dominate, shutting out the Cincinnati offense in the second half. And with Boomer Esiason's 53 total yards passing, it's beginning to smell like a David Klingler Christmas.
Final Score: Browns 17, Bengals 7
4:00 Games
New York Giants (3-4) * Washington (3-4)
The game wasn't as close as the final score indicates, with the Redskins watching the 4th quarter from the locker room and still winning this very important midseason division match-up. David Meggett had a mild return to his glory days, hustling it for 115 yards in place of an injured Rodney Hampton, keeping up with this season's surprise, Earnest Byner, and his 110 rushing yards. Despite all of their struggles, the Redskins are making it a race in the NFC East, while the Giants have yet to rediscover the magic that made them a contender last year. Jeff Hostetler's mustache has taken a lot of heat for the bad luck, which means there's only one solution: grow it out even bushier.
Final Score: Redskins 21, Giants 14
Atlanta (6-1) * L.A. Rams (3-4)
As the Falcons fight for each win just to keep up with their division mates, the Rams come along and spoil it for them. Division champions a year ago, the Rams have all but become an afterthought this season, though their late-game field goal may have spoiled any plans Atlanta had for January. Reading like a stat line from 1991, Cleveland Gary had over 100 rushing yards, while Jim Everett had 260 passing yards, 107 to Flipper Anderson. Los Angeles climbs back to .500, while Atlanta climbs to a front row seat to watch what they hope is the mushroom cloud left behind from New Orleans and San Francisco slamming into each other.
Final Score: Rams 26, Falcons 24
Dallas (4-3) * Philadelphia (5-3)
The Eagles avoid falling into a tie for the division lead with a win over the challenging Cowboys. It was dicey for a while, until Philadelphia's 14 unanswered points in the 4th quarter put them ahead for good. Emmitt Smith continued to rush for the league lead with 122 yards on 14 attempts, but with Troy Aikman's failings at throwing passes to his own receivers, it was too much for him to answer the call. And lest you think it was Randall Cunningham leading his team to victory, we should mention it was Herschel Walker's uncharacteristic 100 rushing yards that helped his team claim the victory and top spot in the NFC East.
Final Score: Eagles 28, Cowboys 17
Pittsburgh (3-4) * Houston (5-2)
With the Steelers riding a 3-game win-streak, it was up to this rag-tag group of bone-breakers to beat the perennial division champion Houston Oilers to prove they were back in the race. And for the second time this season, the Steelers pulled out a victory over the defending champions by shutting them out in the second half and continuing to ride league-leading rusher Barry Foster and his 127 yards on teh ground. Neil O'Donnell played a part in the victory as well, out-throwing Warren Moon 185 yards to 169, with just 1 interception to Moon's 3. And suddenly, the AFC Central is becoming a popular holiday destination.
Final Score: Steelers 20, Oilers 14
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With all of the Week Nine divisional battles occurring today, perhaps the biggest and most important one will take place Monday night between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. With both currently occupying a share of the AFC East top spot, this game will showcase which team is ready to take the lead as they fight on the national stage. On Miami's side, they've got the veteran presence of Dan Marino making magic with anyone they put on the field with him, while New York continues to ride the tide of Browning Nagle, who's stepped out from Ken O.Brien's holdout to lead his team to 5 wins. While most of this is attributed to his team's league-best defense and the dynamic duo of Brad Baxter and Blair Thomas, there's something to be said for Browning's composure with the pressure put on him. We'll see how far he goes on Monday night, but if there's one thing we know about the Jets, it's their propensity for finding overlooked heroes and driving them into the dirt.
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