The 15-Play Drive

15 thoughts on week-4 in the NFL...

1. The "Dream Team" has been anything but a nightmare for the opposition, and the hype surrounding the Eagles hasn't done them any favors. Following the 49ers stunning comeback victory in Philly, Niners running back Frank Gore told me and Steve Torre on the Sunday Drive: "We've got playmakers just like the dream team" and "There's extra motivation going up against the Eagles."

2. Somebody needs to explain the meaning of ball security to Ronnie Brown. Facing 3rd and goal at the 49ers 1-yard line in the 2nd quarter, the Eagles running back was stopped for a loss, then inexplicably tried to throw the ball with his left hand. The play was correctly ruled a fumble, which San Francisco recovered. When you lose a game by a single point, that kind of careless mistake in the red zone is tough to swallow.

3. I've decided Tony Romo has a split personality, so from now on I'll treat him as such. When he's good, he'll be known as Tony. And Tony was very good in the 1st half of Sunday's game against the Lions completing 19 of 24-passes for 195-yards and 2-touchdowns. When he's bad, he'll be known as Little Anthony. And with a commanding 27 to 3 2nd half lead, Little Anthony showed up. He proceeded to throw 3-interceptions, 2 of which were returned for touchdowns, and the Lions stormed back to beat the Cowboys 34-30. Time for Little Anthony to go to his room now.

4. Caught up with Lions cornerback Chris Houston, who returned one of those 3-INT's for a TD, and he made it clear Romo and the Cowboys started celebrating early: "They kind of got comfortable and cocky, and you could tell he was back there smiling and relaxing."

5. It doesn't get any better than the Texans opening drive against the Steelers Sunday. Houston set the tone with a 19-play 95-yard march that lasted nearly 11-minutes. By my count, they used 12-runs and 7-passes capped off by Matt Schaub's 1-yard TD toss to Owen Daniels. If that's not demoralizing for a defense, I don't know what is.

6. Bears radio play by play man Jeff Joniak only had it partially right when after Devin Hester's 69-yard punt return for a score, he screamed: "You are ridiculous!" Hester is ridiculous. It was his 11th career punt return for a touchdown, which is an NFL record. But what's even more ridiculous is punting him the ball in the first place. Special teams coaches across the league need to check their ego, and learn this simple rule...There is no reason to ever allow Hester to return a punt. No exceptions.

7. Consider yourself lucky Victor Cruz. I don't care what excuse referee Jerome Boger invented, that was a fumble late in the 4th quarter Sunday against the Cardinals. The Giants wide receiver stumbled to the ground following a 29-yard reception, and left the ball there when he got up. Only one problem, he wasn't down by contact. Arizona recovered the fumble, but the Cardinals weren't allowed to keep the ball or challenge, because Boger ruled Cruz had given himself up, and therefore was down. One play later, Eli Manning connected with Hakeem Nicks on what proved to be the game winning touchdown.

8. The NFL should have eliminated the "tuck rule" a long time ago, although I'm sure the Bengals would disagree right now. With Buffalo and Cincinnati tied at 3 in the 2nd quarter, Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton was sacked and lost the ball at his own 13-yard line. Bills safety Bryan Scott returned the fumble for a touchdown, but after a review, the call was reversed. To me you're either in the act of throwing, or you're not. It shouldn't matter if Dalton was trying to bring the ball back in, because common sense tells you that's a fumble.

9. I know it's not Halloween just yet, but was Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell seeing ghosts in the end zone Sunday? I still can't figure out who he was throwing the ball to when he was intercepted in the 2nd quarter by Patriots safety Patrick Chung. Oakland was trailing 14-10 at the time, and would never get that close again.

10. Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker hasn't just been good of late, he's been phenomenal. In the last 2-weeks, Welker has a combined 25-receptions. Only nine other players in the league have at least 25-catches for the entire season.

11. Nice hand Tony Gonzalez, and I do mean hand. The Falcons veteran tight end has made several spectacular grabs this season, and added another highlight reel play late in the 3rd quarter of Sunday's win against the Seahawks. Gonzalez hauled in a 29-yard reception with only his left hand, while drawing a pass interference call against safety Atari Bigby who was holding his right arm.

12. The Todd Collins award of the week goes to the combination of the Ravens Joe Flacco, and Jets Mark Sanchez. Both quarterbacks helped set offense back to the stone age Sunday night. Their combined numbers...21 of 66-passing for 282-yards with 0-TD's and 2-INT's. Each of those interceptions were returned for touchdowns.

13. It's amazing what happens when Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz decides to actually call a few running plays. Matt Forte had more carries Sunday than he did in the two previous weeks put together.

Weeks-2 and 3: 19-rushes 51-yards

Week-4: 25-rushes 202-yards 1-TD

Not only did the commitment to the ground game spark the offense, but it also saved Jay Cutler from yet another beating. The Bears QB was sacked just once against the Panthers.

14. Think the 1-3 Seahawks wish they brought back Matt Hasselbeck? There's no way the Titans would be 3-1 without the veteran QB. Hasselbeck has now completed over 66% of his passes with 8-touchdowns and 3-interceptions this season.

15. Anybody expecting Green Bay to experience a Super Bowl hangover can forget it. The Packers are 4-0, and easily look like the most complete team in the NFL. When I asked cornerback Charles Woodson how they've been able to avoid a post Super Bowl let down, he simply said: "We don't feel like we're done yet." I guess not.