Minnesota Vikings 41, New York Giants 17 – Yes, this is a bigger shock than the Titans getting destoryed by the toothless Bengals. Eli Manning was indescribably awful – early in the fourth quarter, he threw back-to-back pick sixes. This came against the worst pass defense in the NFL. The Giants did play without their top two RBs, but it wouldn’t have mattered if Jim Brown or Walter Payton were back there today. Does anyone want that NFC wild card? If the Vikings bring back Adrian Peterson next week (we’d still pass, but that’s us) to face the Lions, and Minny wins …

Tennessee Titans 6, Cincinnati Bengals 35 – Remember when we called these guys frauds back in early November? You scoffed. Well, the Titans were jacked in Jacksonville, destroyed in Denver, and now got creamed in Cincinnati. The offense is hopeless, and that defense that was soooo great (while stopping a bunch of pretenders) has now given two shaky QBs their confidence back – Jay Cutler and Carson Palmer (283 yards, three TDs). The Titans have been outscored 97-39 in their last three games. Chad Johnson caught three TD passes, but did a lame celebration that he’ll definitely get fined for.

Oakland Raiders 20, Kansas City Chiefs 17 – Funny thing – as soon as Larry Johnson went down, we picked up Kolby Smith. He did nothing, and Priest looked like the guy. We may have cut him (that’s how out of it we are in fantasy this year – blame the blog – we don’t even know if he’s on our bench!). Smith rushed for 150 yards and two scores, but Justin Fargas countered with 139 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown as the Raiders pulled a mild upset on the road. Making up for the Smith fantasy gaffe was our parlay of the Chargers and Raiders. SD should have no problem with Baltimore.

Washington Redskins 13, Tampa Bay Bucs 19 – Frustrating game for the Skins, who trailed 19-3 at the half and then put on a defensive exhibition in the second half, not allowing a first down. And Washington still lost! Jason Campbell was picked off in the end zone with less than 30 seconds to play as the Bucs improved to 7-4 and remained two games ahead of New Orleans in that joke of a division (NFC South). The Skins have lost three of four, and even their last two wins (Arizona 21-19, Jets 23-20) have done nothing to inspire confidence.

Seattle Seahawks 24, St. Louis Rams 19 – Headbutt Frerotte looked to be in great shape when the Seahawks were flagged for a pass interference call inside the five-yard line with less than two minutes left … but these are the Rams we’re talking about. After a couple of worthless runs up the middle, Frerotte fumbled the fourth down snap, and picked it up just in time to get hammered by the Seahawks defense. The man is not a closer. Seattle was lucky to pull off this win without Shaun Alexander, and the primary reason is because Arizona’s about to get some payback against the 49ers, so the Seahawks will maintain a one-game lead in the horrific NFC West.

Houston Texans 17, Cleveland Browns 27 – Dude, these guys are playoff bound! The team for which Brady Quinn holds a clipboard like no other, got 134 yards rushing from Jamal Lewis and Derek Anderson passed for 253 yards and two scores. The Texans actually led 7-0 but were undone by three turnovers and the inability to cover Kellen Winslow (10-107, TD).

New Orleans 31, Carolina Panthers 6 – Well, that does it – the Panthers are done. No playoffs and definitely no Super Bowl. Against the 26th ranked defense in the NFL, David Carr could only generate a little over 100 yards of total offense through three quarters. He was replaced by that other kid from Oregon State (Cleveland’s Derek Anderson is now officially ‘that guy from Oregon State’), and the Panthers finished with a robust 195 yards of offense. New Orleans kept its scant playoff hopes alive, as Drew Brees passed for 260 yards and three scores.

Buffalo Bills 14, Jacksonville Jaguars 36 – The Jaguars improve to 8-3. Buffalo hung tough until the fourth quarter, trailing 22-14 after a Roscoe Parrish TD run … but then David Garrard took over (things we never thought we’d say for $200, Alex) and led Jacksonville on a late scoring binge. Really hope nobody starts touting the Jags as a contender in the AFC … we need to see what they do in Indy next week before making the call. We are, however, confident that Bob Sanders will intercept a Garrard pass.