Packers 28, Jaguars 21: Somehow, I'm not sure America's football fans could truly appreciate what we saw Monday night. Brett Favre, who has become folklore in the NFL, overcame a few bumps with his dauntless, brilliant ability to play the game of football.

	Brett Favre's rushing TD vs. the Jags was his first since Oct. 25, 1998.

On nights like these, Favre captures us. But let us not forget Mark Brunell, who was Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin's first major acquisition (outside the draft) when the franchise was birthed in 1995. Brunell was Favre's backup in Green Bay. Monday night, he was almost his equal on every possible level -- except the one that we count in the victory column.

Much has been said about the relationship between Coughlin and Brunell, but the coach made clear his admiration for a quarterback who has been without his primary protector, Tony Boselli, or his ace running back, Fred Taylor. Brunell himself has been hobbled with a severe quadriceps injury, and he aggravated it early in the game. Nevertheless, he led the Jaguars to a 21-7 lead that coulda-shoulda-woulda been more if not for some shaky officiating (I hate to say this, but some of those calls were disturbingly mystifying).

Let me also add this about Coughlin -- he has coached the way Brunell has quarterbacked, with unflinching excellence in a storm of adversity. The Jaguars haven't laid down once this year, despite their 3-7 record. They play hard and they are clearly well-prepared. No wonder Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver wants Coughlin back to help retool a team that has had bright hopes dimmed by the forces of salary cap and injuries. Notre Dame should be so fortunate to land a coach like Coughlin.

The Jaguars almost ruined the Packers' season, but Favre saved it. Green Bay surprisingly could not run the ball, and second-year left tackle Chad Clifton's return from a sprained ankle was greeted with a ferocious performance by Jaguars defensive end Tony Brackens until the Packers used an extra blocker (usually a tight end) to afford Favre a little more time. The Packers (8-3) remain one game behind the Bears in the NFC Central with their division-breaking matchup due Sunday at Lambeau Field. What a scene that will be, though the Packers and Bears will be hard-pressed to match the drama we enjoyed Monday night.

Rams 35, Falcons 6: There's not a whole lot to say about this -- when the Rams don't turn over the football, they are basically impossible to beat. Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and friends put on one of those clinics that you just sit back and admire -- unless you're the Falcons. As usual, Falcons coach Dan Reeves had a winning plan, and it was executed in the first half when they controlled the ball and the clock with a time-of-possession command of 20:44 to 9:16.

Two or three problems arose -- the Falcons netted just two field goals while the Rams scored two TDs (one an interception return by Dre' Bly). It was about the only bad throw made by Chris Chandler, who had a Pro Bowl first half only to see it end abruptly with a scary hit that fortunately turned out to be just a sprained ankle. Rams QB Kurt Warner then made the Falcons' heads spin in the second half. Falcons rookie QB Michael Vick actually looked improved in the second half, but when the other team is running on virtual perfection, it takes more than "improved" to keep up the pace.

Cardinals 34, Raiders 31 (OT): This one merits what Texans GM Charley Casserly observed about a month ago: "Every week, there's a new surprise team of the year." This week, it's the Cardinals, who pulled one of the season's true shockers. The thing about this game is this: The Raiders can't blame it on their mounting list of injuries. The Cardinals lost both guards, Leonard Davis and Pete Kendall, and a tight end (Terry Hardy) with more than a half left to play. Yet, thanks to QB Jake Plummer and Pro Bowl-lock wide receiver David Boston, the Cardinals shredded Oakland's defense.

Speaking of the Raiders' D, it is a problem. It's too much to ask Rich Gannon to repeatedly cover the holes that are being dug by the other side of the ball. Plummer and Boston not only made plays through the air when they had to, but the Cardinals also rushed for 145 yards. As the Raiders head into the playoff portion of the season, they cannot expect to play in the Super Bowl without fixing their rush defense. I suspect that the Steelers would expose them badly in a head-to-head duel.

	Bettis

Steelers 21, Vikings 16: This was a strange game. The Steelers up 21-3 heading into the fourth quarter at home. Daunte Culpepper out. Todd Bouman in for the Vikings. All of a sudden, the Steelers were trying to survive -- but survive they did. Of concern for the Steelers must be Jerome Bettis' hip injury. It's developing into a lingering problem, especially with key AFC games on the horizon: versus the Jets on Sunday and then the Ravens on Dec. 16.

Patriots 17, Jets 16: I swear I thought I saw Bill Belichick smiling, jumping around, hugging players at the end of this one. That makes this season almost complete for the Patriots, under the category of "things we'll never see." This game had enormous consequences. It establishes the Patriots as a real threat to the Jets and Dolphins in the AFC East.

The Jets especially must be in shock. Think about it. In their previous game, they dominated the Dolphins again (24-0), gained first place in the division, enjoyed a bye week and then rolled into halftime Sunday with a 16-0 lead. Little did they know that Belichick and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis would be pushing all the right buttons in the other locker room. What transpired was almost a role reversal -- with the Jets doing their best imitation of the Dolphins playing the Jets. Now the Jets have lost their divisional lead to Miami with a game against the Steelers on deck.

As for the Patriots, look at their remaining schedule: the Browns, the Bills, the Dolphins (at home), a bye and then the Sept. 11 makeup game against the Panthers. This will be interesting.

Dolphins 21, Broncos 10: Even with Daryl Gardener done for the year with a back injury, Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt is not worried about his defensive line. It's probably the strongest unit on the team, or at least tied with the secondary. Defensive end Kenny Mixon isn't a star, but he's one of those solid draft picks made by former coach Jimmy Johnson. Mixon's 56-yard interception return for a fourth-quarter TD was the tide-turner.

It was a low moment for Broncos QB Brian Griese, but no blame should be assigned to Griese. This time, Rod Smith was out. There is no way you could identify the cast of receivers he was playing with. The longest play the Dolphins allowed Denver was 14 yards. Now, I did think Terrell Davis (97 yards, 20 carries) showed some juice in his return for the Broncos (6-6), who still have a chance to pull this out. The next three games for Denver are all in the division -- versus the Seahawks (on ESPN), the Chiefs and the Raiders (after a Dec. 23 bye).

The Dolphins continue to find ways to win and compete. Hit fairly hard by their own injuries, they now get back cornerback Sam Madison. It won't necessarily mean magic in December, but Sunday's fourth quarter should have erased fears of "here we go again."

Bears 13, Lions 10: Jason Hanson has caught the disease for the Lions. He doesn't miss three field-goal attempts like that. But he did. As for the Bears, critics keep reciting a "luck factor." I didn't see luck in their previous road wins over the Bucs and Vikings. Maybe it's a home thing, because the last three wins at Soldier Field have had a distinct flavor. The only loss in this stretch was to the Packers at home, and now they get the Packers on the road for a pivotal NFC Central game. But they should get back Anthony Thomas, and that will be critical to their title hopes. Still, the Bears are 9-2. They are guaranteed a winning season. Pretty good, huh?

Ravens 39, Colts 27: The Ravens needed to scratch, claw and bite their way to a victory as they headed into a bye week before their crucial AFC Central game with the Steelers. Mission accomplished. The Colts competed very well. Like the Ravens and so many other teams, Indy is hurting with injuries. Peyton Manning, man, I feel for the guy. How tough it must be to have another interception returned for a touchdown, this one by Rod Woodson to clinch the game. You can see what happened to Manning on this one. The Colts were down and needed a TD with less than two minutes to play. The only receiver Manning could count on was Marvin Harrison. Dominic Rhodes was running open underneath, but he had already dropped two passes. If it's Edgerrin James, Manning dumps it off and James rambles for big yards. Instead, Manning tries to make a play to his ace, Harrison. Interception. Game over. Nobody will even recognize that earlier he called audibles out of two running plays to throw touchdown passes. This is life in the NFL.

Saints 27, Panthers 23: As long as we're feeling sorry for folks, how about George Seifert and the Panthers? Listen to these facts: Sunday marked the fifth time the Panthers blew a lead with less than five minutes left to play. It was the ninth time they lost a game in which they led or were tied in the second half. They have six losses by a combined margin of 16 points. But under the "you are what you are" category, the Panthers are 1-11 after losing their 11th straight game since that opening shocker in Minnesota. The Saints were wondering why they had to pull out this game with 1:37 remaining on Aaron Brooks' 17-yard pass to Joe Horn. After all, they had 432 yards in total offense. They can use some of that in a game Sunday against the Falcons -- a game that might figure in the wild-card race.

Bucs 16, Bengals 13 (OT): There's no reason to run down any team for winning, not on a day when the Cardinals can beat the Raiders on the road. So the Bucs have now won two straight games. If they win a third straight Sunday at home against the Lions -- and they better -- they move a little closer to the light.

	The Titans' Eddie George worked hard for his 51 yards Sunday, carrying 23 times.

Titans 31, Browns 15: This is why the Titans will never apologize for investing a new contract in Steve McNair.

McNair shook off another injury (this one to the arm) and threw two third-quarter TD passes. In fact, the emergence of a big-play passing game could make the Titans still worthy of contention.

Jeff Fisher will not allow his team to pack it in.

The Browns have a tough stretch to finish the season. It's possible they will run out of gas, but Butch Davis will do everything he can to get them across the finish line.

Seahawks 13, Chargers 10: Quick, who's in second place in the AFC West? Yep, the Seahawks at 6-5. I see Matt Hasselbeck getting more comfortable with just playing the game. The Chargers have crashed to earth with their fifth straight defeat. Doug Flutie -- all he does is lose? He threw two interceptions, but I'm sure none of it was his fault.

49ers 35, Bills 0: Jeff Garcia knows how to make plays, and the 49ers receivers are such big targets that even when the Bills had them well-covered Sunday night, it didn't matter. The 49ers now go into their game with the Rams even better than they were the first time they met (a 30-26 loss). They are better because Garrison Hearst (124 yards) gets better every week. The Bills are not better. They look like a young team that played an emotional division game against the Dolphins the previous week and couldn't crank it up after a cross-country flight. QB Alex Van Pelt threw four interceptions. Rob Johnson, where are you?

Cowboys 20, Redskins 14: I know the Cowboys had won eight in a row against the Redskins. I still didn't think they would win a ninth. But the offensive line, coached so well again by Hudson Houck, did a nice job of opening holes for Emmitt Smith (102 yards, 25 carries). The Cowboys did a nice job of protecting Quincy Carter by allowing him to throw just 14 times -- he completed half, including a killer 64-yarder to Raghib Ismail to nail the game. I will wait and see what the Redskins do at Arizona before passing judgment.