Giants 12, Bucs 6

Two defensive minded teams met at Raymond James Stadium and the forecast called for pain. Both defenses were there to dish it out, and boy did they ever. 60 minutes of football and no ball carrier broke the plane at the goal line. The Bucs dominated the first half and had 2 field goals to show for it. New York dominated the second half, but could only muster 4 FG's by Brad Daluiso. Early in the 4th quarter, with the score tied at 6, Brad Johnson made a huge mistake when he attempted to air it out from his own 11. His intended receiver, Keyshawn Johnson, was doubled and Michael Barrow was able to intercept on the Buc 29. Kerry Collins was instructed to protect the ball and he did just that by moving the G-men down to the Buc 4, where their world class defense held tight and NY settled for the tie breaker, a 21 yard Brad Daluiso FG. Johnson's folly struck one more time when with 6:38 remaining on the clock he again tried to force one into Keyshawn, only to have Ryan Phillips pick it off on the Buc 31. Phillips returned it 18 yards down to the Buc 13. Collins could not move his team and 3 plays later Brad Daluiso kicked a 36 yarder to make it 12-6. New York's defense held tough as Tampa struggled to move the ball. The two Brad Johnson picks were the game breakers.

Colts 49, Chiefs 33

Welcome to the shootout in Arrowhead. The 17-14 halftime score did not reflect the offensive barrage that the second half would bring. With the score 28-27 Indy after 3 this one looked like it was going to be a one possession game.

The first play of the 4th quarter saw Gary Brackett pickoff a short pass that was intended for Priest Holmes. Brackett returned it 3 yards and Peyton Manning and company had a very short field to work with. On their first play from the Chief 27 the Colts gave the ball to Edgerrin James who knifed for 5 quick yards. KC decided to key James on the next play to Peyton calmly hit Reggie Wayne for 10. James caught a dump pass for 5 to bring it down to the 7. Two plays later on a 3rd and 5 Manning hit a double covered Brandon Stokely for the TD. After the XP the score was now 35-27 Indy. Dante Hall returned the kickoff 25 yards, from his 22, to the 47. Trent Green hit Holmes for 3 yards on a 3rd and 2 to barely gain a 1st. Green hit Dante hall for a 6 yarder on the next play, but the slightly built Hall decided to cut back over the middle and Mike Doss dislodged the ball. Thankfully Priest Holmes made a heads up play and fell on it, so KC maintained possession. Green hit Tony Gonzalez with a nice slant to trap Indy, which had 8 men in the box. Two plays later Green hit Eddie Kennison for 13 as the Colts left him with single coverage while turning their attentions to Gonzalez and Johnnie Morton. Unable to muster up much of a rush the Colts sent the house at Green and Tony Richardson walked in with a 6 yard TD reception. Rather than be down by 1 the Chiefs elected to tie it with a 2 point conversion, which fell short when Green tried to force it into double coverage.

Dominic Rhodes was able to return the kickoff to his 48 and just like that Peyton had a short field to work with. A 21 yard play action pass to Reggie Wayne put the ball on KC's 29. Facing 3rd and 4 Manning saw that KC had 8 men in the box and he again went to Wayne...this time for a quick hitch and a first down for 5 yards. The turning point of the game was about to occur. Marvin Harrison grabbed the ball on his 12 and tried to turn it up field. While struggling for yardage the ball popped out. If KC recovers they stop the Colts cold and have the ball back with 5:21 left to play and down by two. Luckily for the Colts backup TE Ben Hartsock was able to scoop it up and keep the driving going. Two plays later on a 3rd and 4, James rushed for 6 and another first down. KC loaded 8 men in the box again in an attempt to stop James from running into the end zone, but wound up getting burned on a play action pass to Harrison. The score was now IND 42, KC 33 with 3:54 left. An average Dante Hall run back gave KC the ball on their own 27. Green decided to force the ball into a double covered Eddie Kennison, but instead it wound up in Cato June's hands. June returned the ball 36 yards and once again Manning had the shortest of short fields to work with. With 3:37 left to play Manning and company had only 10 yards to go to put it out of reach. After no gain on 1st down Peyton Manning again read 8 men in the box and again hit Marvin Harrison for the TD to salt it away. Indy has won 5 of their last 6 contests to move one game behind the Chargers.

BEARS CLIP RAVENS 30-23 IN WILD ENDING

RB Anthony Thomas (31-129) is without a doubt the "heart and soul" of the Bears offense. Last week he almost single handily carried the Bears to victory with his 41 carries and his 207 yard rushing day. On the season Thomas is approaching the 1200 yard barrier as he now has 1,188 and 11 touchdowns. His every yard is needed as time after time the Bears special teams really puts it's defense in trouble.

In the opening quarter the Bears defense really dominated the line of scrimmage as the Colts had no positive yardage at the end of the quarter. In fact the Bears had limited the Colts to -1 yards. The Bears on the other hand offensively moved down the field but time after time the Ravens defense stiffened and forced a 31 and 51 yard field goal by Paul Edinger. The Ravens though got a huge special teams play from Jermaine Lewis at the 4:04 mark as he would take Brad Maynard's 41 yard punt back the other way for a 70 yard touchdown and a 7-6 Ravens lead. It would set the tone for the second quarter as the Ravens used the return as a momentum push.

Edinger gave the Bears back the lead at 9-7 early in the 2nd quarter but that lead would be short lived. The Ravens started at the Bears 42 thanks to a 29 yard return by Qadry Ismail after a short kickoff by Edinger. "We have got to get better in our kicking game and return coverage" stated Coach V. "It is flat out killing us" Dilfer then had made the mistake that ended the drive as Rosevelt Colvin picked it off. The Bears though turned right around and gave it right back as Jim Miller (16-28-211) hit Marty Booker over the middle for a 25 yard gain but Booker was unable to maintain control of the ball turning it over to the Ravens. Baltimore wasted no time in making the Bears pay for the mistake as on 1st and 10 Dilfer hit Ismail over the middle for a gain of 35 to the Bears 23. After stalling 4 plays later Matt Stover's 34 yard field goal made it a 10-9 Ravens lead.

Stover added a 34 yard field goal on the Ravens next possession to now make it a 13-9 game. The Bears then helped the Ravens once again to tack on 3 more before the end of the half as Miller mishandled the snap from center and Ray Lewis fell on the ball for Baltimore at the Bears 28. Thankfully the Bears defense stiffened and forced yet another Stover field goal, this time from 37 yards out and went into the locker room down 16-9. "We dodged a big bullet for sure by not being down by more" Miller stated.

Chicago took the ball first in the 3rd quarter and marched 47 yards in 11 plays before settling on Edinger's 4th field goal of the day to cut the lead to 16-12. Baltimore then found itself starting at the Bears 46 after yet another big return given up by the Bears special teams. Dilfer though threw yet another interception as RW McQuarters picked him off. Nothing came from it but the Bears did put together a 7 play drive at quarters end resulting in Edinger's 5th field goal of the day as time ran out in the 3rd quarter and the Ravens still leading 16-15.

The Bears still felt uneasy about this because they just couldn't seem to find a way to punch the ball into the end zone. Chicago though finally would find its way into the end zone after almost turning the ball over on the punt return. The Bears started from its own 18 and put the ball mostly in the hands of Thomas and some very timely Miller completions. None bigger than Millers hook up with James Allen out of the backfield for a 25 yard gain to the Ravens 31. Thomas' 5 yard plunge at the 4:17 mark and then a Miller to Booker 2 point conversion put the Bears up 23-16. At this time the only anticipation was how far would the Ravens return the kickoff. For the first time in quite a while the special teams limited the Ravens somewhat as they would start from its own 35.

Then lightning struck as someone in the Bears secondary missed his assignment and on the very first play Dilfer hit Shannon Sharpe (3-69) on a medium route that he would turn into a 65 yard touchdown run and just like that it was tied at 23. The Bears without a doubt were in shock that they had just seen their 7 point lead dissipate on one play. With 3:42 to play the Bears then began what would be the winning score.

Starting from its own 39 the Bears actually had thoughts about just trying to get a couple of first downs and take its chances in overtime. On 3rd and 12 though (DOG penalty moved it from a 3rd and 7) the Bears went to the classic screen pass as David Terrell (3-39) got some great blocking and rambled 20 yards to the Ravens 31 to give the Bears new life and only yards away from another field goal try. Facing a 3rd and 4 at the 25 with only 1:31 left the last thing the Bears wanted was to toss an interception and end any chance of winning this thing in regulation. With an already 74% chance of a FG the Bears handed it off to Thomas for security and he would break through the Ravens front 4 and rumble the entire 25 yards into the end zone and a Bears 30-23 lead. Now it was the Ravens turn to be shocked.

Again though the Ravens were far from dead as they got the ball at their own 43 to begin a last ditch attempt to tie it up. The Bears chose to squib it and was willing to give up some yardage but they did not want to give up the big return. Its not good when you have no faith in your special teams. The Ravens would convert a 3rd and 10 into a 17 yard gain to the Bears 40 with still 1 minute left. Two plays later though the Bears defense ended any comeback attempt as Tony Parrish came away with the Bears 3rd interception off of Dilfer in the game.

This was a much needed game for both teams as the Bears are trying to maintain a 2 game lead in their division and the Ravens needed a win to stay even with their divisional counterparts. Chicago is now 7-2 while the Ravens drop to 4-5.
--submitted by Bill Vogt--

Titan Turnovers aid Steelers in 23-17 victory

QUARTER #1: The Steelers won their third in a row as coach Marcucci once again found a way to inspire his boys to victory. Pittsburgh got on the board first when Ben Roethlisberger hit Plaxico Burress for a 39 yard TD strike midway through the first quarter. After Steve McNair threw a pick to Larry Foote the Steelers took over on their own 15. Tennessee blitzed everyone and Pittsburgh burned them with a screen to Hines Ward that went for 31 yards. The Titans D flushed Ben out of the pocket and w/out an contain he ran 21 yards for a 1st down to the Titan 43. 2 plays later the Titans went into tight coverage and keyed Duce Staley for a run, but Ben hit Plax to open the scoring. With 2:03 left in the 1st quarter the Steelers were again driving. Facing a 3rd and 2 from Tennessee's 32 Ben hit Ward with a quick slant vs a run D that keyed Staley. That was enough to move the chains.

QUARTER #2: The Steeler drive stalled and Jeff Reed nailed a 37 yard FG to make it 10-0. On the ensuing kick off Derrick Mason got the bal on his own 22 and raced 25 yards to his 47 to give McNair great starting field position. The Steelers keyed Eddie George for the run and McNair hit Erron Kinney for a 20 yard strike. Two plays later McNair saw that PIT was looking run and hit Mason with a 6 yard pass that he turned into a 27 yard TD thanks to some nifty running on his behalf and some uncharacteristically bad Steeler tackling. Both teams settled into a field position type of game until 4:18 when Tennessee had a 2nd and 2 from their own 23. PIT was expecting a deep pass, but instead Carl Pickens brilliantly took a McNair screen 62 yards before Russell Stuvaints knocked him out of bounds. On the next play the Steelers put 8 in the box and dared McNair to beat them, which he did. This time he did it with his feet with a 15 yard TD run to make it 14-10 Titans. Just before the half the Steelers mounted a nice drive, but couldn't punch it in from the 2. Jevon Kearse sacked Ben for 7 yards on a big 3rd and goal. Jeff Reed hit the chip shot and it was 14-13 Titans at the half.

QUARTER #3: After going 3 and out the Titans were forced to punt. Antwaan Randle El took the punt back 45 yards to the Titan 30. After gaining 1 first down the Steelers were forced to attempt a 37 yard fg, which Jeff Reed hooked to the left. A few exchanges of possession occurred until the Steelers took over on their own 45 with 3:28 left in the quarter. Hines Ward caught a 10 yd pass, then Randle El was called for offensive PI on a quick out to move it back to the 49. Ben hit Ward with a 8 yard slant to make it 4th and 2 from the Titan 33. Gut check time...The Steelers decided to go for it and Ranle El caught a short pass for 12 yards while the Titans were keying Staley for the run.

QUARTER #4: Facing 4th and 7 from the 18 the Steelers elected to bring Jeff Reed on for a 35 yard FG attempt, which he nailed to make it 16-14 Pittsburgh. Derrick Mason received the kick off on his 14 and began flying up field until he got to the 40 when Chris Hope blind sided him and the ball popped out. The Steelers recovered on the Titan 40 and looked to be in business. Facing 3rd and 6 the Steelers elected to run a draw play to seldom used fullback Dan Kreider. George McCullough was able to bring Kreider down from behind, but not until after he gained 15 yards for a 1st down on the 21. On the next play the Titans loaded up to get Staley and were burned to the tune of 18 yards on a beautifully executed play fake from Ben to Plax. Bobby Myers saved the day, for the moment, by knocking the enigmatic flanker out at the 3. The Titans loaded up for the run again and keyed the heck out of Staley, and once again they went with a change of pace by handing it off to Kreider, who barrelled in from the 3 to make it 23-14 PIT with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game. Derrick Mason was able to hold on to this kickoff and redeemed himself by returning it to PIT's 45. Chris Sanders was able to get a drop over 8 yards on 3rd and 8 to move the chains to the 35. McNair hit Mason in stride for a 15 yard out pass and a 1st down, but it all came crashing down when Ricardo Colclough blind sided McNair on a sack. The ball came loose and Chris Hoke came up with it for the Steelers, who went 3 and out, but escaped from near danger. Tennessee put together a nice march, but had to settle for a 37 yarder by Al Del Greco to cut PIT's lead to 23-17 and make it a 1 score game again. Time was now a factor as the Steelers had the ball on their own 32 with 4:35 left to play. They went 3 and out thanks to some conservative play calling and some great Titan D. Tennessee had the ball with 3:30 to go on their own 26 and went 3 and out. A short punt gave the Steelers the ball on their own 42 and 3 plays later they returned the ball back to Tennessee, but this time with only 67 ticks left on the clock. Frank Wycheck caught a 10 yarder, but could not get out of bounds, so McNair had to burn his final time out with :58 seconds left to play. Facing a 4th and 3 Tennessee had to go for it and when Troy Palamalu knocked the ball out of Wycheck's hand the game was one knee from being over.

Staley had a fine day running for 150 yards. Two key turnovers killed Tennessee's chances of pulling off the upset in Heinz Field today.

Chiefs 38, Vikes 24

Kansas City took the opening kick and marched down the field. This would set the pattern throughout the game as the Chiefs never punted. On this occasion, they were held at the Minnesota 30. Morten Andersen came in to try a field goal and the Vikings blocked the kick. Then Minnesota went to work. Robert Smith ran inside and burst through the Chiefs' defense for 51 yards, finally being stopped on the Chief's 4. Dante Culpepper then tossed the ball to Randy Moss and the Vikings led 7-0. The Chiefs came right back and Trent Green found Dante Hall (6-53-1) for an 8 yard td pass.

Minnesota was forced to punt and the Chiefs went to work again, 88 yards in 13 plays with Green finding James Dunn for a 2 yard td pass. Minnesota moved down the field and Robert Smith (17-145-1) carried it over on a 30 yard draw play. The score was tied at 14. Green found Johnnie Morton for 53 yrds and and, 4 plays later, found Morton (4-97-1) again for a 4 yard td pass. Culpepper brought Minnesota back and Gary Anderson kicked a 53 yard field goal. With 2:12 left in the half, Vikings coach Andy Weinrib tried an onside kick and the Vikings recovered on their own 48. Culpepper again moved his team but was stopped at the Chiefs' 19. On a fourth and 10 Coach Weinrib apparently figured the trick plays were going to work and Bubby Brister rose up from his holder spot on the field goal team and tried a pass. Dexter McLeon intercepted the pass and ran it out to the 33. The half ended 21-17.

Minnesota was forced to punt away their first possession of the second half and Green went to work again. Passes to Eddie Kennison and Tony Gonzalez were alternated with runs by Priest Holmes (19-79 rushing 5-67 receiving) and an intentional face mask penalty. Then Green found Gonzalez 4-30-1) for a 7 yard td pass. Culpepper apparently loves adversity because he came right back and found Randy Moss (6-48-2) for a 13 yard td pass to cut the score to 28-24. But the Vikings defense was notably absent on this day and Chiefs came back to the Vikings 4 yard line where they settled for a Morten Andersen field goal to press their lead to 7. The third quarter ended 31-24.

After the Vikings were forced to punt, Green (29-42, 431 yards, 5 tds) again brought the Chiefs down the field and hooked up with Kennison (8-149-1) for a 22 yard td pass. That was the last score as Culpepper (17-33, 155 yds, 2 tds, 1 int, 1 sack) was intercepted and Trent Green later fumbled on a quarterback sneak with 1:09 remaining. The Chiefs had 541 total yards in offense while the Vikings had 346. Kansas City moves to 4-4 while the Vikings fall to 1-7.
--submitted by Tom "Crash" Davis--

Colts 52, Raiders 38...Where's the D ?

Prior to this contest both coaches met up to discuss what they expected. Both me agreed that it would be a high scoring offensive affair with the team that got the most luck winning. That astute observation described this contest to a "T". It was a given that Reggie Wayne would run deep and Peyton Manning would deliver him the ball with precision excellence or that Rich Gannon would scramble to find time then hit Tim Brown or Jerry Rice on the fringes of the field. What could not be predicted was the battle of the turnovers, which weighed heavily in favor of the horseshoe. Time and time again normally sure handed Raider ball carriers put the ball on the carpet. Oakland fumbled the ball 5 times including one of the strangest plays ever that helped seal the game.

With 1:02 left to play in the game the Raiders were just past midfield and needed a quick strike. Indy had everyone covering Rice, so Gannon threw a long out pass to Tim Brown on the 20. Brown caught the ball and waltzed toward the end zone and began celebrating a bit prematurely. Before he was able to cross the goal line Cato June came up from behind and slapped the ball out of his hands and out of the end zone. What would have been a 52-45 score with about a minute to go was still 52-38, with the ball in Indy's hands. The Colts ran out the clock, took the victory, but everyone in Raider Nation shook their head. In this offensive extravaganza 4 receivers had over 100 yards apiece. Tim Brown and Jerry Rice both eclipsed the century mark and had identical 19.5 ypc averages. Reggie Wayne and Brandon Stokely did the same with 21 and 22 ypc averages. Manning barely missed another 400 yard day, but did have 5 TD passes. Gannon had 4 himself, but his Pick 6 to Cato June (late in the 4th) really hurt his team. Charlie Garner, who the Colts paid no attention to rushed for 122 yards on 17 carries. Oakland fell to 3-5 and Indy moved to 5-3.

Steelers win defensive struggle in Meadowlands 17-6

The first half of this game was all about the defense. The modern version of the Steel Curtain took on the modern version of the Big Blue Wrecking Crew. Jeff Reed and Brad Daluiso both hit chip shot FG's in the 2nd quarter to send both teams to the locker room with the game knotted at 3. In the opening drive the Steelers had 1st and goal from the Giant 10, but Big Ben was sacked by Jesse Armstead at the 19 for a 9 yard loss. Pittsburgh could not get their offense back into gear and had to settle for a Reed FG attempt, which was blocked by George Williams. The Giants could do nothing with the ball and went 3 and out. The Steelers were able to move the ball into Giant territory, but their drive stalled as well, so they punted. NY obliged them by again going 3 and out, and thanks to a booming 53 yard punt by Brad Maynard the Steelers had to work to score. Big Ben navigated his team into Giant territory, when he faced a 3rd and 18. The Giants sat back in nickle D and Ben delivered the ball to Hines Ward in the flat. Ward was able to turn a simple dump pass into a 22 yard first down when Ralph Brown finally knocked him out of bounds. This drive culminated in Reed's chip shot FG. With 2:25 left to play in the half the Giants had the ball on their own 16. Apparently Pittsburgh thought the G-men were going to run out the clock, so they keyed Ron Dayne for the run. Kerry Collins executed a perferct play fake pass and hit Ike Hilliard in stride for 37 yards t put the ball on the Steeler 47 as the two minute warning sounded. Two plays later Collins went up top to Amani Toomer vs the Steeler Bump and Run. The ball was now on Pittsburgh's 25 with 91 ticks left on the clock, which was plenty of time. Tiki Barber ran a 6 yard draw play to make it 4th and 1 on the Steeler 16. Larry Foote made a great open field tackle and almost jarred the ball lose. New York decided not to gamble and Daluiso tied it at 3. Antwaan Randle El got a great return and the Steelers were able to start at midfield with :38 left to play in the half. Big Ben hit Dan Kreider for 11 quick yards and called his final time out. On the next play he hit Ward, who was double covered, for 8 yards. Ben quickly spiked the ball and Reed came on to attempt a 50 yarder, which ws blocked by Cedric Jones...for NY's 2nd FG block of the game.

On the second play of the 3rd quarter Giant OG Glenn Parker went down with a knee injury, which would hamper the already challenged Giant running game even further. NY was forced to punt. Maynard outkicked his coverage and Ranle El brilliantly returned it 67 yards before he was shoved out on the Giant 6. On 3rd and goal, "The Bus" Jerome Bettis, ran a draw down to the Giant 1. Decision time came. Steeler coach, Greg Marcucci, decided to go for the TD on 4th. After seeing 2 of his team's 3 previous FG attempts blocked he decided to put the game in his big back's hands. Everyone in the house knew what was coming. Even the Giants knew what was coming. New York stacked the lined and completely sold out on the run and keyed Bettis. Didn't matter. Jerome Bettis followed an Alan Faneca block and broke the plane of the goal line for 6. New York rewarded their fans by going 3 and out again. The crowd in the Meadowlands was not exactly happy with their offense. If the Giants were going to win their defense was going to have to do it for them. It didn't look that way as the Steelers drove down to the Giant 15 on the next drive. Duce Staley attempted to fight for some extra yards on 3rd down draw play, which was run against a neutral defensive set. Cedric Jones, who never lived up to his potential, came out of nowhere to strip the ball from Staley. Michael Barrow, who called John Doyle "My brother from another mother", fell on the ball to give possession over to the G-men. New York was on the march with new found, or quite possibly misplaced, confidence. Collins again saw bump and run coverage and once again hit Toomer for a big 18 yard gain. On 3rd and 1 from the Steeler 44 Collins executed a great play fake to Barber who had the defense keying the heck out of him. Once again it was Toomer catching the ball for a first. The Steeler D clamped down on New York as the drive stalled on the 27. Daluiso made it 10-6 with a 44 yard FG that was "true blue". Randle El again had a fantastic return out to his own 43. Ben threw into double coverage to hit Plaxico Burress for 16 yards. Duce Staley had 2 neat 8 yard runs vs a defense that was doubling Plax. By this point in the game Hines Ward was completly fatigue, sinc he had sat only 4 plays all game. Still he was able to summon up some resolve and gain 8 yards on a medium seam pass for a first down on NY's 14. 3 plays later Ward did it again. The Giants were livid. How can this man summon up so much resolve to make another great play vs a defense expecting him to catch the ball. The great ones always seem to rise to the occasion. That setup a first and goal from the Giant 4. Once again we were presented with one of those seminal moments where the imovable object meets the irresistible force. The force, aka..."The Bus", won. NY stacked 11 guys on the line of scrimmage aimed at one big man wearing Steeler white. As expected Bettis got the ball. Krieder, the full back was able to keep DT Keith Hamilton at bay and the big man walked into the end zone untouched.

New York fans were left scratching their head as they mumbled, "how do you stop the bus" ? The Giants were able to move the ball to midfield, but once again their offense sputtered. Maynard hit a coffin corner kick to pin the Steelers on their 1. Facing a 3rd and 8 from their 3 Duce Staley ran another surprise draw play to gain just enough for the first. The Giants stacked the line to stop Staley on the next play, but a great block by Kreider allowed him to slice for 8 yards. Two plays later the same scenario occurred. This time Staley got 10 and a few clipboards and gatorade bottles went flying from NY's sideline. By the time the Giants finally stopped the Steelers there was just over 3 minutes left to play. Pittsburgh did a fantastic job milking the clock and getting the must first downs. Starting on their 30 the Giants had 3:07 left to score 11 points. Facing a must 4th and 6 from their own 41 the Giants were forced to go for it. The Steelers dropped into a deep zone and Collins hit Tiki with a 8 yard screen that could have been more except Barber tripped over his own feet in the open field. With 1:04 left on the clock the Giants had 4th and goal from PIT's 7. Once again the Steelers went to their bump and run coverage. Once again Collins went to Toomer who was going for the back of the end zone. This time it just didn't work. Pittsburgh held on for a tightly contested 17-6 victory to move to .500 for the first time this season.

After the game, coach Weiss of the Giants was seen on the field trying to talk Stephen Baker out of retirement in the hopes of jump starting his anemic offense. Rumor has it a quick phone call to Rodney Hampton followed.

Ravens 16, Patriots 13

The 3-4 Ravens played host to the 4-3 Patriots in a cold day. Jermaine Lewis caught a 24-yard touchdown on the opening drive and from there it was a defense struggle. Twice in the first half New England got inside the five only to have to settle for field goals. Matt Stover missed two field goals but connected on three, the defense continued to hold the potent patriot offense in check. On a final drive down two scores, New England marched down the field as time ran out. On the final play, Tom Brady was forced to roll out and run the ball in – using the entire clock in the process. The score was close, but when time ran out Baltimore climbed back to 4-4 with a 16-13 win. New England fell to 4-4. --submitted by Michael Hopcroft--

Buzzscriptions: Giants / Eagles Game

Fellow coaches of this famed Canarsie Football league, I have had a few days to digest my 1 point "with .03 secs left" loss on a field goal after taking my first and only lead over the NY Fuzeball Gmen on a 2 minute TD drive. There, a little run on sentence that made me feel no better. My Philly Eagles played hard but failed to score on a 3rd and goal run form the one, then I went for it on 4 th down and failed on a play action toss, but I feel the game would have the same margin of loss since for the first time a punt return by Tiki Barber for a TD was overturned by the replay booth "stepped out of bounds" so to negate that score. Me and my fellow NFC EAST coach Weiss both agreed that this game was as realistic to how these types of games commence in the real world. We both bit our nails and threw clip boards in due to the intensity that was felt just in the last 2 minutes. I will never say never to making the playoffs "yet" BUT I will hope to erase any "easy" wins for any of my opponents. Until the next game.

--submitted by Jay "Buzz-scriptions" Schneider--

Improbable Win ! NYG 27, PHI 26

Even though both teams headed into this contest tied for last at 2-4, this was a rivalry game, and records do not count. The Giants and the Eagles are separated by approximately 90 miles on the New Jersey Turnpike. Two cities so close to each other, yet worlds apart. Their is no love loss between both cities and both franchises. Both coaches grew up about 2 miles from each other, so you know there is more than just a friendly rivalry between the two of them as well.

1st QUARTER: The Giants won the toss and took the ball. Kerry Collins looked like Bart Starr orchestrating a 16 play drive that devoured over 10 minutes of the quarter before Ron Dayne plunged in from the 1 to break the ice. The key play in the drive was a 4th and 1 on the Eagle 11. The Giants elected to go for it and Collins hit Tiki Barber in the flat for about a yard and a half to gain the first down. This bold move would pay dividends later on. The Eagles got the ball and proceeded to gain chunks of yards in definite contrast to the Giants who were slow and methodical. Facing a 3rd and 14 from the Giant 29 Brian Westbrook caught the defense by surprise and gained 13 yards to setup a 4th and 1 from the Giant 16. David Akers came on and kicked his first FG of the day to make it 7-3 NY.

2nd QUARTER: Akers kickoff was short and Omar Stoutmire grabbed it on his 21 and returned it 21 yards to the Giant 42. NY went 3 and out and Lito Sheppard returned Brad Maynard's 43 yard punt 37 yards to the Giant 39. The Giants keyed Westbrook for the run and McNabb responded by hitting Westy with a flare pass for 22 yards that put the ball on NY's 17. The drive stalled there and Akers hit a 39 yarder to make it 7-6 NY. Ron Dixon grabbed the kick off on his ll and broke lose until Akers forced him out of bounds on the Eagles 46. Collins caught Brian Dawkins blitzing and hit Tiki Barber with a quick slant for 15 yards. On the next play he hit Ike Hilliard for 8. Barber ran for 7 yards and a first down on Philly's 16. Collins saw the pressure on a 2nd and 10 and dumped he ball off to fullback Greg Comella for a quick 5. Collins himself surprised everyone and ran for 7 yards and a 1st down after getting flushed from the pocket by Jeremiah Trotter. The Eagles called a safety blitz and Ron Dayne ran right past it for a 4 yd TD run and his second score of the afternoon. NY was no ahead 14-6. Philly began moving the ball with a purpose. with 3:03 left on the clock and the ball on their own 40 McNabb hit Terrell Owens in stride for a 47 yard catch and run. Andre Weathers saved the day by shoving T.O. out on the 13. After a Giant penalty Philly had 1st and goal on the 5. McNabb hit Westbrook in the flat and Michael Barrow knocked him out at the 1. Mysteriously Joshs Parry was given the ball on 2nd and goal and Christian Peter slammed him to the turf for no gain. McNabb threw a bounce pass that was in the general vicinity of Freddie Mitchell to make it 4th an goal from the 1. This time Coach Jay decided to go for it. McNabby looked to hit L.J. Smith with a quick screen, but Ryan Phillips was standing right there to bat it down. NY ran out the clock to end the half and was happy to take a 14-6 lead into the locker room. Philly gave away 3 easy points, which would come back to haunt them later on.

3rd QUARTER: Philly didn't do much with their opening drive, but they did pin the Giants deep in their own territory with a little help from the yellow hankie. Starting on his own 5, Collins needed to get a few first downs to keep from giving the ball back to the Eagles with good field position. Collins did more than that. Facing a 2nd and 10 from his own 20 Collins caught the Eagles keying the run and hit Amani Toomer in stride for 23 yards. A few plays later Toomer beat Lito Sheppard for another 20 yards and the Giants were now on the Eagle 26. Barber beat the blitz for 10 yards on the following play and Ron Dixon took it in from the 12 on a neat little slant from Collins to make it 21-6 New York with 8 and a half minutes left in the 3rd. McNabb drove his charges down to the Giant 23 and Akers kicked a 40 yarder to make it 21-9 with 3:46 left to play in the quarter. Facing a 2nd and 10 from his own 38 Collins again stunned the crowd with his nimble tightrope act down the sidelines for 11 yards and a first down. Unfortunately for New York Ron Dixon missed his block and fell on his shoulder and was done for the day. On 3rd and 4 from Philly's 45 Collins got cute and decided to go deep to Hilliard. Reese came on on a delayed blitz and Collins was forced to throw earlier than he wanted to. Sheldon Brown was able to jump the route and pick it off on the 35 and return it 36 yards down to New York's 29. The Eagle crowd was now back into it. The Giant defense dug in and didn't allow the Eagles to advance the ball. In fact Philly lost 5 yards and lucked out when Akers bailed them out with a 51 yarder to make it 21-12 with the quarter about to expire.

4th QUARTER: New York was able to move the ball to their own 42, but their drive stalled when Barber fumbled the ball and Comella had to dive on it for a loss. Maynard's punt was fair caught by Sheppard on his own 20. Westbrook gained 12 yards on a dump pass as he took advantage of a coverage mismatch. With 10:09 to go the Eagles faced a 3rd and 6 from their own 44. The Giants showed blitz, but dropped back into double coverage. McNabb handed the ball to Brian Westbrook who proceeded to follow his blocks and break tackles until he crossed the goal line 56 yards later. A great individual effort, by Westbrook, and now the score was 21-19 with just under 10 minutes to go. New York played it conservative and was forced to punt after some modest territorial gain. With 6:16 left to go, and down by 2, the Eagles took over on their own 14. Facing 4th and 8 from their own 16 Philly was forced to punt. Tiki grabbed the punt and took it straight up field dodging would be tacklers, until he cut to the sideline with one man to beat...the punter. Barber put a neat move on Dirk Johnson and was home free for a 73 yard TD. While New York was busy celebrating Coach Jay threw the red hankie, so he could challenge that Barber stayed in bounds. After much deliberation the official came back and said he stepped out on the Giant 45, which nullified the score. NY's bench was livid, but clearly Barber did touch the chalk. Facing a 3rd and 9 from his own 46 Collins was cool under pressure and hit Toomer for 24 yards and a key first down on Philly's 30. The "Linc" was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The Giants faced a 4th and 7 from the Eagle 27 and sent Brad Daluiso in to extend their lead to 5, which is exactly what he did. J.R. Reed returned Daluisio's kick to the 38 to give Philly great field position at the two minute warning. Both teams had their full compliment of time outs. The Eagles had 1st and 62 with 117 clicks left on the clock. With 1:20 left McNabb faced a 4th and 4 from the Giant 41. New York was expecting pass and doubled both T.O. and Pinkston. McNabb looked off Pinkston and hit Greg Lewis for 9 yards and a 1st. That left :55 seconds on the clock and 32 yards to the end zone. The Giants chose to double Pinkston and Mitchell and McNabb hit T.O. on the 15. Sam Garnes finally pushed him out on the 7 with :44 seconds left. On the next play New York doubled both Owens and Pinkston. McNabb didn't have the luxury of time, so he decided to force it in to T.O. who took it away from Garnes and walked into the End Zone to put the Eagles up by 2 after Akers PAT. At this point the building was literally shaking. For all intents and purposes this game was over and Philly rallied themselves back from the abyss to catch the Giants. New York was expecting a squib kick, but instead Akers boomed one deep that Stoutmire took on the 7 and returned to the 45. Now all of a sudden the fans who were delirious a few minutes ago were now again on the edge of their seats. Some froze in their collective tracks and ceased heading for the exit. New York had all 3 of their time outs and needed 25 yards to even attempt a FG. Philly sent Dawkins in on a blitz and Collins hit Toomer with a quick 13 yard out on the sideline to stop the clock at :19. The ball was on Philly's 42. Collins attempted to hit Toomer again, but Trotter's blitz forced him to hurry the throw, which wound up incomplete with :11 seconds left to play. Trotter came on on the blitz on the next play and Ike Hilliard exploited a mismatch in the coverage as he beat Dhani Jones for 20 yards. Hilliard headed out of bounds and the clock was stopped at :03 seconds. Brad Daluiso came on to attempt a 39 yard FG and nailed it "True Blue" for he improbable 1 point win.

New York moved to 3-4, while the Eagles dropped to 2-5. New York interestingly dominated in time of possession, but Philly dominated in yards gained. Amani Toomer caught 6 passes for 113 yards. Westbrook rushed for 93 yards on 8 carriers. 56 of those yards came on that one huge TD run. Dayne had 2 TD runs, despite a miserable 11 for 23 day. Collins was sacked 4 times by the Eagles and hurried all day. T.O. had only 4 grabs, but they did go for 93 yards.

The Bucs stop here ! TB 17, SF 14

The Buccaneers welcome back Brad Johnson after a 3 week hiatus and it couldn't have come at a better time. The Bucs welcomed the 1st place 49ers into town and Brad Johnson made his appearance known as he takes the Bucs 80 yards on 14 plays to open the game. He finished the drive with a 4 yard TD toss to Ken Dilger and the Bucs led 'em 7-0. Tampa's defense was its old reliable self keeping T.O. covered and Jeff Garcia in the pocket. The 49ers struggled offensively for it and Tampa was raring to turn this thing into a rout. Brad Johnson would toss his second touchdown of the day in the 2nd quarter, this one a 23 yarder to Keyshawn Johnson and it was 14-0.

The second half started slow for both teams and San Francisco's defense dialed it up to match Tampa's effort. Midway through the 3rd Martin Gramatica missed a 43 yard field goal for Tampa's only scoring chance. For San Fran they started to finds ways to move the ball. Terrell Owens had been quiet for most of the day but started to get open late. Two big completions to him and then a 22 yard strike to a wide open Tai Streets and the 49ers were all of a sudden back in this game. The Bucs though would get possibly their biggest break of the game early in the 4th quarter. Karl Williams' 42 yard punt return set the Buccaneers up at the 49er nine yard line leading to a 23 yard Gramatica field goal and a 17-7 lead. That field goal meant everything because Jeff Garcia would hook up with T.O. on a 37 yard touchdown pass with 1:30 remaining cutting the Bucs lead to 17-14. Tampa would recover the onside kick and run out the remaining time. The telling tale of this game though was the TOP as Tampa's 42:03 dwarfed San Fran's 17:57. --submitted by Barry Smalley--

Born Free-ney ! Colts 36, Ravens 24

Both teams entered this contest with identical 3-3 records. The Colts, being a "dome team" were a bit apprehensive about playing against a the fierce Raven defense in 46 degree windy weather. Those worries should never come into play when the great Peyton Manning is calling the signals.

1st QUARTER: Indy started out with great field position (BAL 47) and Peyton Manning drove his team down to the 1 in 10 plays. The Raven run defense dug in and a Mike Vanderjagt chip shot made it 3-0 with 8:53 left in the quarter. Tony Banks took the Ravens on a 10 play excursion of their own that went 71 yards and resulted in a 7-3 lead for the home team. Banks hit TE Shannon Sharpe in the middle of the end zone for a 4 yd TD pass. On a short Matt Stover kick off James Mungro returned it 26 yards to setup good field position on the Colt 42. The big play of the drive was a 22 yard run by Edgerrin James vs nickel coverage to make it first and goal on the 3. On the following play Manning threw a pick in the end zone off of a deflection that wound up in Rob Burnett's hands. Unfortunately for the Ravens there was a penalty, which negated the turnover and Indy retained possession. The Raven D stuffed James' next run and threw him for a 3 yard loss back to the 4. Adalius Thomas slammed the back from "the U" hard. A errant play action pass fell to the ground and just missed Reggie Wayne's hands to make it 3rd and goal from the 4 as time ran out in the quarter.

2nd QUARTER: A short pass to Brandon Stokely netted 3 yards and Indy faced a key 4th and goal from the 1. Manning didn't even have to look to the sideline to find out if they were going for it. He immediately lined his troops up and hit Marvin Harrison with a corner fade that only an ALL-PRO wide out could catch. Vanderjagt nailed the XP and the score was 10-7 Indy. BAL had a drive that stalled just before midfield, so Kyle Richardson came on and hit a coffin corner punt to pin the Colts on their own 4. Facing a 4th an 1 from their own 13 the Colts called on Hunter Smith to boot them out of trouble. All he could manage was a 36 yarder that Jermaine Lewis fair caught. The Ravens would have excellent field position at mid field. On 2nd & 6 Banks dumped one off to Jamal Lewis who broke about 4 tackles on a magnificent individual effor run to get down to the Colt 13. Indy's D tighted up and allowed only 4 yards on the next 3 plays. Stover came on to nail a 26 yarder to tie the game at 10. Manning drove his team down to BAL's 23, but the drive stalled and Vanderjagt missed a 40 yard FG attempt, which would have broken the 10-10 tie. The Ravens could not take advantage of the Colt miscue and went 3 and out, which the Colts did as well. With 1:53 left to go in the half Baltimore curiously went to their hurry up offense even though they were starting from their own 7. Banks took a deep drop, but all of his receivers were covered. Before he could get rid of the ball Dwight Freeney slammed him to the turf in the end zone for a safety. The Colts now led 12-10. Indy took a 15 yard blocking below the waist penalty on the free kick and wound up starting on their own 18 with 97 ticks left on the clock. James ran 10 yards out of the spread for a first down on a play that looked more designed to kill the clock than to gain yardage. Indy burned their first time out. Manning hit Harrison for 17 yard and immediately called their second time out. From his own 44 Manning audibled and hit Reggie Wayne on a fly pattern for 38 yards as the big receiver faked Cornell Brown, who had single coverage, right out of his shoes. With 1:08 to go the Colts were now on the Raven 18. A 5 yard defensive holding penalty made it 1st and 5 from the 13. Going with a 4 WR set Manning hit Stokley at the 4. Ray Lewis held on to Stokely and kept him from going out of bounds. With :38 seconds left Manning faced 2nd and goal from the 4. The Ravens thought run and loaded up to get James. Manning saw it all the way and hit Stokely on a beautifully executed play action pass for the score. The Colts moved 82 yards in 5 plays and did it in 1:14. The score at the half was 19-10 Indy.

3rd QUARTER: Corey Harris took the opening kickoff by Indy back 43 yards to midfield to setup great field position for Baltimore. Jamal Lewis took a dump pass from Banks, who was forced to look away from double covered primary receiver Shannon Sharpe. Lewis, just like he did in the 1st half turned on the jets and broke a few tackles for a 35 yard gain down to Indy's 15. Barely catching his breath, Lewis ran off tackle for 9 yards on the following play to get down to the Indy 6. Two plays later he gained 2 yards and made it first and goal from the 4. On the following play he walked in untouched from the 4 as Indy was looking pass. Indy was now up by 2 points with the score 19-17 with 12 and a half minutes left to go in the quarter. In a blink of an eye Manning Hit Brandon Stokley on a 68 yard post pattern as the Baltimore defense was expecting Domenick Rhodes to run with the ball. It took Indy 3 plays and 90 seconds to go back up by 9. Baltimore's next drive stalled at midfield. Richardson's punt rolled into the end zone, so Indy took over on their own 20. A rare 3 and out forced the Colts to punt and the Ravens started on their own 45 down by 9, but could do nothing...so they punted once again. This time Richardson pinned Manning and company on their own 9. Indy moved the ball to their own 39 and then punted. Smith hit a 58 yard beauty that went out of bounds on the 3. Tony Banks attempted to throw a corner route to Patrick Johnson, but Jason David picked it off on the 17. Uncharacteristically, two plays later, Manning was intercepted by Rod Woodson on the 1. Woodson returned the pick to the 29. Baltimore's defense came up big, but their offense could not as they were forced to punt once again.

4th QUARTER: Manning started work from his own 19 with 12:05 to play in the game. He proceeded to dink and dunk his way into Raven territory gaining yardage and eating clock. The big play was a 24 yard pass to Reggie Wayne that gave them a 1st and goal on the Raven 6. Baltimore brought the pressure and forced Manning to scramble on a second and 10 pass play for no gain. On third down Manning dumped the ball to Wayne and gained three, thus making it 4th and goal from the 3. It was an easy decision to kick the FG and go up by 12 with just over 6 minutes to go in the game. The Ravens couldn't move the ball and were forced to punt from their own 29. Josh Williams blocked Richardson's punt attempt and Indy had the ball on BAL's 18. Three plays later Manning made it look easy by hitting Harrison on a skinny post to make it 36-17. The Colts went into prevent mode and the Ravens began to march down the field. On the final play of the game Jermaine Lewis scored on a 6 yd TD pass from Banks to make the final score 36-24 Colts.

KEY STATS: Manning was 28-38-413-4td-int. Both Stokely (8-156-2) and Wayne (6-119) had over 100 yards in receiving. Dwight Freeney was a monster on the defensive side of the ball recording 7 tackle, 3 sacks and a safety. Indy moved above .500 (4-3) for the first time all season and Baltimore dropped to 3-4.

Titans escape Chi-town with 20-18 win

"If it wasn't for Tennessee's 4 turnovers this game would have gotten ugly in a hurry." Those were the sentiments echoed by Coach V of the Bears. This is typically the type of game you get when you match up 2 offensively challenged teams and 2 coaches who have played hundreds of games against each other. Despite all the sloppiness Chicago actually had a 16-13 halftime lead. Eddie George blasted 1 in from the 1 to give the Titans and Coach Keller their first lead of the day at 20-16. Late in the 4th the Titans drove deep into Chicago territory and were poised to put the game away when Erron Kinney was stripped of the ball on the Bear 12 and Tony Parrish fell on it on the 9. Chicago had life...ok, a pulse...but it was something for the fans at Soldier Field to cling to. Shane Matthews hit Marty Booker with a screen for 19 yards and the Bears were now securely away from their goal line. Anthony Thomas knifed for 7 yards off tackle vs a nickel D. He gained another 4 for a 1st. The clock was now starting to become the team from the Second City's enemy as it registered 4:51 left. Matthews looked deep for Booker who was doubled and wound up getting sacked by Joe Salave'A for 11 yards. 2 plays later Brad Maynard hit a booming punt that went for a touchback.

A false start made it 1st and 15 from the 15 for TEN. An incomplete pass took no time off the clock and made it 2nd down. Another Steve McNair pass fell short to make it 3rd and 15. Eddie George gained 2 yards on a draw and the Titans were forced to punt from their 17 with 2:50 remaining in regulation. R.W. McQuarters fielded the punt on his 49 and spun away from 2 would be tacklers only to get blind sided on the Titan 43 and out popped the ball. Luckily for the Bears Warrick Holdman recovered the ball and the Bears had a 1st and 43 with 2:42 to go and all 3 of their timeouts + the 2 minute warning. Anthony Thomas gained 4 yards on the ground and the Bears were forced to burn their 1st time out. A 5 yard defensive holding penalty gave them an automatic 1st down on the Titan 34. "AT" gained 10 yards on run that took them to the 2 minute warning. Matthews hit David Terrell for 9 yards on the Titan 15. AT ran for 5 yards and a 1st down vs a run D that was keying him. That setup 1st and goal. A play action pass to Booker gained 3 and it was 3rd and goal from the 7. The Bears went to the well one time too many and Tennessee's defense was waiting for AT at the line of scrimmage. Terry Killens was keying Thomas all the way. 4th and goal from the 7 with 1:14 left and the Bears had to go for it. Tennessee was in tight coverage knowing full well that Matthews had to go to the air. He hit Booker in stride, but Denard Walker made a game saving play by shoving the receiver out on the 1. Tennessee took over possession on downs. Even though the Bears could only stop the clock twice Tennessee still could not take a knee and get "out of Dodge".

From the 1 yard line Eddie George struggled to get back to the line of scrimmage. Same thing on the following play. After an incomplete play action pass to Derrick Mason the Titans purposely snapped the ball out of the end zone and took a safety to cut their lead to 20-18. A 33 yard return by Autry Denson gave the Bears the ball at mid field with 11 seconds left and a glimmer of hope. Matthews hit Booker on the 33 with the hopes that his receiver would go OB and his team would be able to attempt a 50 yard game winning FG. That plan was put to rest when Perry Phenix punched the ball out of Booker's hand. The ensuing scrum for the ball allowed time to expire and Tennessee to escape Chi-town with a win. Eddie George had a workman-like 32-111-td game. Marty Booker was also busy with 10 receptions for 114 yards. Chicago fell to 5-2 after starting the season 5-0. Tennessee moved to 4-3.

League Leaders after Week 6

Packers outlast Eagles 20-16

The weather was a bit nippy for this Sunday night matchup between the Pack and Philly. The weather may have been cold, but Green Bay's offense came out hot scoring on their first two possessions. Ahman Green went in untouched from the 8 for the first score and Brett Favre hit Bubba Franks for a 5 yard score for the second one. With the score 14-0 GB, the Eagles needed to get their act in gear. D-Mac drove them down to the Packer 12 and David Akers nailed a 29 yarder to get on the board. The game settled into a back and forth defensive struggle until Donovan McNabb hit Terrell Owens, who was double covered, for a 29 yard TD pass to make it 17-16 Pack. Favre responded with a long 13 play drive that took 7:31 off the clock and culminated in Ryan Longwell's second FG of the day. Neither team could score again and Green Bay walked off the field with a 20-16 victory.

The Pack was content to put the game on Ahman Green's shoulders (23-186-TD-6.9ypc) instead of Favre's arm. Brett had a decent day going 17-28-244-TD and NO INT's. The only dark spot on Favre's day was the fact that he was sacked 5 times.

Ravens romp over Bucs 37-7

Rob Johnson is flat out killing the Bucs. In the absence of Brad Johnson the Bucs offense has been nothing more than putrid. Johnson threw another pick 6 in the first to Duane Starks, who ran it back 59 yards to make it 10-0 Ravens. Michael Pittman busted a 33 yard TD run at the end of the quarter to make it 10-7 Ravens, but the Bucs would not score again. Baltimore's defense and special teams took over the game and dominated. Sam Adams, took time out of brewing beer, and recovered a blocked punt in the end zone to make it 17-7 and from that point the romp was on. With everyone concentrating on Ray Lewis and company Rob Burnett had 2 sacks, 3 tackles and a stuff to pace the Raven D. Cornell Brown had 2 forced fumbles. Tony Banks didn't throw a pick and managed to play error free ball as both teams evened their respective records at 3-3

Chargers Brees by Vikes 29-10

Drew Brees (20-27-277-2TD-1INT) proved to everyone in the CFL that if you take away LT, he will beat you with his right arm. Up 6-3 in the 2nd quarter Brees hit Eric Parker (4-52-2TD) for a 6 yard toss to make it 13-3, which is how it stood at the half. A Kaeding 52 yarder and another TD pass to Eric Parker made it 23-3 going into the 4th. The Vikes came alive when Dante Culpepper hit Jim Kleinsasser for 13 yard to make it 23-10. San Diego returned to their bread and butter running game to run the clock out. LT scored from 1 out to culminate an 11 play / 7 minute drive to put the game away. SD stays in the thick of the tight AFC race, while Minnesota still hasn't cracked the win column.

Titans hold off Chiefs 33-30

The normally anemic Titan offense hung 33 on the Chiefs to win this shootout 33-30. After Eddie George scored on a 2 yard run, 1 minute into the 4th, the Titans were up by 16 and looked to blow the doors off KC. One thing you can bank on is that the Chiefs can score...and they can score quick. Trent Green was able to hit Eddie Kennison for a 13 yd TD in 3 plays, which took just over a minute. 5 minutes later he handed off to Priest Holmes for a 4 yard gallop to paydirt to cut the score to 33-30 with almost 4 minutes to play. Game on !

Tennessee started off with good field position (their 35) and knew they couldn't play conservative. With that said they faced a big 3rd and 1 on their 44. KC geared up for the run and keyed Eddie George. Tennessee went play action and hit Frank Wychek for 18 yards. KC was forced to burn their second TO, to stop the clock just before the 2 min warning. The Titans faced a 3rd and 4 on KC's 32 and again converted with a short pass, this time to Derrick Mason for 6 yards and a first. With a new set of downs Bill Keller and his Titans were able to run out the clock and get out of Arrowhead with a nail biting win.

Eddie George had a MONSTER day going 31-214-3TD (6.9 ypc). Tony Gonzalez caught 6 balls for 84 yards for the Chiefs. Green threw 3 picks before he found his "mojo" late in the 4th quarter.