NFL Week 9

Ten (Not So) Quick Hits:

1/ Jerry Jones should have fired Wade Phillips at halftime. On the sideline, Wade looked like he knew it. The Cowboys are an embarrassment of a team. There is no other applicable word. (I actually feel bad for the guy, he's a beaten man)

2/ The players can complain about harsher hitting penalties all they want but when you see a helmet-to-helmet hit like the one Austin Collie took against Philadelphia and Collie laying motionless afterwards, you understand why they feel like they need to do anything they can to avoid a potential life-altering disaster.

3/ All of Detroit is holding this morning its breath as we wait for an update on Matthew Stafford's newest shoulder injury, on the same throwing shoulder which he separated earlier this season. That injury caused him to miss five games. More generally, though, Stafford has struggled to stay healthy in his young NFL career, and it's got to be beginning to become a concern for the Lions franchise.

4/ In this crazy season, where new best teams seem to emerge every week, keep an eye on the New York Giants. They've now won five in a row (on top of which they get Dallas next week) and in the NFC, where parity seems particularly dominant, that's no mean feat. Circle that Week 11 Sunday Night matchup against the 5-3 Eagles as a must-see.

5/ No let-up by the Saints defense then. They picked up right where they left off against the Steelers last week. They held Carolina (okay it is only Carolina) to three points and under 200 yards of total offense, on top of which they forced two turnovers.

6/ Asante Samuel might be the only cornerback in the league who loves playing against Peyton Manning. He had some famous interceptions of Peyton back when he played for the Patriots, and he repeated the trick, twice, on Sunday. Bet Manning's glad the Colts only play the Eagles once every four years in regular season games.

7/ If the Bills don't win one of these close games soon....I don't even know what to say. They've lost three straight games by a field goal. Best 0-8 team you'll see in a while.

8/ Stat of the week: the Atlanta Falcons are now 17-1 at home with Matt Ryan as their starting quarterback.

9/ Forget Jake Delhomme. Forget Seneca Wallace. Rookie Colt McCoy has proved himself enough to be the guy for the Cleveland quarterback job.

10/ I don't who to believe in this dust-up.

-Here's some of the studs of the week:

a. Packers linebacker Clay Matthews: No doubt in my mind that Matthews, only in his second NFL season, is the best defensive player in the league right now. After not even practicing this week, Matthews was all over the field Sunday. He really can do everything. He picked up another sack (he leads the league in that category), had two other quarterback hits, made three tackles, defended two passes, and even scored his second NFL touchdown. No wonder teammate Charles Woodson likes to call him the 'Claymaker.'

b. Raiders receiver Jacoby Ford: Made three spectacular and crucial plays which pushed the Raiders past the Chiefs. He returned the opening kick of the second for a touchdown, and then he made both big catches (a 29-yarder and a 47-yarder) which put the Raiders in field goal range to first send the game to overtime, and then to win it. The speedster finished with 306 all-purpose yards.

c. Browns running back Peyton Hillis: Pretty much was the Browns offense in a smackdown of the Patriots. His 184 rushing yards were almost half of the team's entire offensive production of 404 yards. Expect the Browns to continue to play good, old-school football with him carrying the rock.

d. Vikings quarterback Brett Favre: Was far from perfect Sunday (two interceptions thrown), but still threw for 446 yards (the highest single-game passing yardage in his career), two touchdowns and completed 76 percent of his 47 passes. He makes this list though because of the fantastic fourth quarter comeback he led, bringing the Vikings back from 14 points down with under five minutes to play. Say what you will about Favre and his legacy in the sport, but when it comes to leading comebacks in the final few seconds, there are very few quarterbacks on the all-time list he would have to take a backseat to.

e. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers: Makes any receiver he plays with look like a superstar (Peyton comparisons on the horizon someday soon??) and throws the best deep ball in football. On the day, his passer rating was 137.2, as he completed 17 of 23 passes for 295 yards and four TDs.

-Here's some of the goats of the week:

a. Panthers quarterback Jimmy Clausen: Certainly didn't look like the top ten draft pick he was once thought to be before last year's draft. He completed 8 of 18 passes after Matt Moore left the game with an injury. He also threw two interceptions to end with a 28.5 passer rating.

b. Seahawks quarterback Charlie Whitehurst: Was another fresh quarterback face struggling Sunday. Started in place of the concussed Matt Hasselbeck and silenced anyone who may been calling for the latter's benching. He threw two interceptions and was 12-of-23 for 113 yards passing.

c. Chiefs running back Thomas Jones: Found out just how hard it is to run on Oakland's defensive line as he was held to 32 yards on 19 carries, a paltry 1.7 average.

d. Cowboys receiver Miles Austin: Has the tools to be a dominating presence in any game he plays, but has disappeared during the Cowboys losing streak. Had three 100-yard receiving games in the first four games, but only one since. Two catches for 16 yards went his stat line Sunday. Sure, he doesn't have Romo throwing to him anymore, but he's done little to make Kitna better.

-Rookie of the Week: Chargers receiver Seyi Ajirotutu: What is it with receivers with long, complicated names taking the NFL by storm recently? After Devin Aromashodu, Danny Amendola and Michael Hoomanawanui, we may have discovered a new one in my boy, Seyi Ajirotutu. The undrafted rookie, a college roommate of Chargers first round pick Ryan Matthews at Fresno State, caught four passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns, including this beaut.

-Play of the Week: DeSean Jackson. Doing work.

-Ridiculous Play of the Week: Ridiculous play of the week, ridiculous play of the season, and maybe of the decade. With the Lions regular kicker injured a few plays earlier, 307-pound rookie defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh stepped up to tack on an extra point after a Detroit touchdown. This is what happened. You can bet Suh will be hearing it for a while from his father, a former semi-professional soccer player, and his sister, a collegiate soccer player at Mississippi State, after that one.