The highlight of the jaw-dropping 9-minute finals on ESPN was incredible. And in a 6 minute period, multiple kickers hacked through the goal posts to win the game! That was classic.

One of which was the surprising Atlanta Falcons with their kicker Jason Elam beating the Chicago Bears. The Falcons simply rose from the ashes of their season of Michael Vick and Bobby Petrino soap opera a year ago and went back to basics. And their rookie QB Matt Ryan is showing maturity beyond his years or should I say years. It’s also important for me to point out Kyle Orton’s game about this game. I liked him coming out of Purdue, but I thought he had proven himself to be a backup at best in the NFL. Now, all of a sudden, he’s straightened out his passing trajectory and he’s learned how to pass the ball to a receiver in a timely manner and he’s become a solid quarterback.

Minnesota Vikings Ryan Longwell became another hero by winning the game with a 26-yard end game. This came against the Division 1 Detroit Lions, however. A flavor of preseason week for many forecasters, the Vikings are barely keeping alive in the NFC North, let alone keeping up with the NFC leaders.

The St. Louis Rams also got the win out of their butt by beating the Washington Redskins with a last-minute field goal. This was not only a bit of a surprise, but it was a bad loss for the Redskins. Coming off 2 impressive wins on the road against division rivals, the Redskins had a chance to cement themselves as contenders.

The Arizona Cardinals made quite a statement by beating the Cowboys. Maybe, just maybe, this is finally the year they make the playoffs. Although they have had a history of playing Dallas up close.

As I have for the record it usually takes 4-5 weeks of the season for the Browns to play to the best of their ability. I wasn’t surprised by their win at home against the New York Giants.

Tampa Bay really rose to the occasion by putting the Carolina Panthers on the blind side. If Gruden could decide on quarterbacks, they could build on last year’s playoff run.

Well, looks like someone found the Indianapolis Colts. Going into the game allowing 188 rushing yards per game, I thought the Baltimore Ravens would claw their way to an Indy win. Someone forgot to tell the Colts to turn around. They are back?

This team has been going down this path for the last 3 years. Marvin Lewis lost this team in 2006. They suck and have no chance of getting better any time soon. On paper, this should have been unexpected, but if you’ve seen them, you were expecting this.

Big win for Philly, but they were the better team. The Eagles are too heavy and will run out of fuel against elite teams as the season progresses. Top heavy means they have some stars but are mixed with below average role players. With a banged up Westbrook, they have no chance of a deep run. Goal against the San Francisco 49ers Correll Buckhalter is a quality backup. That will not be the case against better teams.

This was a big win for San Diego considering they’ve been cornered. The New England Patriots’ defense has been on the decline the past two years, but a Tom Brady-led offense kept them winning. Matt Cassell is not capable of commanding that type of production.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have bolted out the door, but have slowly smoothed things out. The loss to Pittsburgh stung a bit, but to their credit they put it in their memory bank and went out and beat Denver.