Week 10 - Sunday

'91 Detroit vs. '85 Chicago

The Bears had a visit from the Lions at Soldier Field in a divisional match between the top ranking Bears and the bottom ranking Lions. But rank rarely tells the story in a divisional game, and this was no exception.

The Bears ran the Lions all over the field in the 1st quarter. Walter Payton had an easy TD with 2 minutes remaining on the quarter, and the Lions were devastated on the 1st play of their following possession. The Bears D caused a fumble on Barry Sanders and ran 16 yards for another TD.

But with a 14-0 lead from the 1st quarter, the Bears wouldn't have so easy a time in the 2nd quarter. In fact, Detroit's defense came up huge, holding McMahon and company out of the end zone. Barry Sanders was finding ways past the Bears D but not finding himself in the end zone.

As the 3rd quarter rolled on, the stalemate between the 2 teams continued, and Detroit's hopes seemed dashed. But as the Lions got the ball in the 4th quarter, Kramer came alive, and along with some big efforts by Sanders, got their first TD.

Later, as the Lions found themselves getting close to the red zone, it looked like they would have to settle for a FG. But on 3rd and long, Sanders put the moves on the Chicago line and went 27 yards for a TD to tie the game up.

From there, the Bears continued to fall apart as Kramer found himself in enemy territory one more time as the game's 2 minute warning came around. And with just 85 seconds on the clock, the game would come down to Murray. Having missed one earlier from over 30 yards out, the easy 19 yard FG on 4th down was a more certain bet, and paid off.

The Lions upset the Bears 17-14. Sanders was the game's MVP, with 166 rushing yards and 1 TD, but the Lions have their defense to thank for keeping Chicago at bay so long. In fact, it was the Lions D that put 4 sacks on McMahon. Detroit had over 300 yards total offense, while the Bears had just 159.

'00 Ravens vs. '88 Bengals

The Ravens took on the Bengals at Riverfront Stadium, looking to shake off a 3 game losing streak. What they got was a shootout.

Despite grabbing the first FG, the Bengals grabbed the next 2 to go up 6-3 as the first quarter ended.

The Ravens would fire back early in the 2nd quarter as Jamal Lewis ran for a TD early on. On the next drive by Cincinnati, the Ravens popped the ball loose and scooped it up for a 15 yard TD.

The embarrassment for the Bengals continued as the Ravens put 10 more points up on the board in the next 6 minutes. Cincinnati could only pray for a score at this point, and with 11 seconds before the half was over, God seemed to answer as Esiason hit Brown on a long toss, who ran 61 yards for the score.

Down 27-13 at the half, the Bengals still had quite a road ahead.

In the 3rd quarter, it was the Bengals Defense that had a great time, getting 2 Safeties against the Ravens. Esiason also got some help from Icky Woods, who ran for a TD to put the Bengals within 4 points of the Ravens. But as the 4th quarter came around, the Ravens rushing game exploded as well, and the Ravens got 2 TD's quick to put Cincinnati in the hot spot again.

The Bengals tried hard, but were only able to score once more before the game was over. So despite the effort, the Ravens won 41-30.

The craziest thing about this "shootout" was the scoring, whether run or pass, was all the result of Defensive setups. Baltimore totaled just 182 yards on offense, whereas the Bengals had 287 yards. Neither QB had barely more than 50% of their throws completed.

'90 Buffalo vs. '69 Cleveland

The Bills had only 1 win until just weeks ago, and now off 2 straight wins, travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns.

The first quarter saw the Bills D come on strong, putting Nelsen in a tough spot twice as they racked up 2 safeties. Five minutes later, Thurman Thomas would get the game's first TD to go 11-0.

But Cleveland took the following kick return 89 yards to get back in the game. In fact, despite a fairly stale 2nd quarter, the Browns eventually got their offense moving to take the lead 14-11 on a Nelsen pass.

The 2nd half, however. saw Buffalo explode not just on defense, picking off Nelsen 3 times. It would also see them explode on offense. Jim Kelly was on fire, setting up for 3 short Thurman Thomas TD's after some effective passing.

Cleveland would score one more time before Kelly put the final nail in the coffin on a 40 yard throw to Don Beebe. Kelly clearly had a great day, completing 21 of 32 on the day and totaling 272 yards. Thomas may have pushed the Bills into the end zone,  but it was passing that got him there.

Buffalo wins 41-21 over the Browns.Buffalo wins their first road game, and Cleveland has yet to win at home. Instead, they have now lost 4 straight since their 1st win.

'15 Carolina vs. '62 Green Bay

At Lambeau field, the Packers shut out Carolina for an entire first half. Their rushing game was unstoppable, as Jim Taylor pushed through Carolina for 3 TD's. The usually strong Carolina D struggled.

The 2nd half was a different story, and both teams matched points more evenly. Carolina got their first TD in the 3rd quarter on a Cam Newton pass to Dickson. Unfortunately for them, it would be their only TD. The Packers D held the Panthers to just 170 yards total for the day.

On Green Bay's side, they put up another 200+ yard rushing game. Jim Taylor broke 100 yards

Both QB's were almost identical in stats, but Green Bay's 3rd down efficiency was 10-14. 

Final score Green Bay 34, Carolina 7.

'98 Atlanta vs. '09 New Orleans

The Falcons and Saints both move to 5-4 as the Falcons manhandled New Orleans at their home stadium. This sets up a 3-way fight for the NFC south.

It seemed hard for New Orleans to simply stop Atlanta's offensive attack, as the Falcons totaled almost 400 yards, half passing and half rushing. Jamal Anderson had a huge day, averaging 6.1 yards per carry for a total of 160+ yards and 2 TDs. Chandler's 200 yards came from only 14 catches, only 1/2 of what he threw. But with 4 TD passes of 20 yards or more, it's clear that's all he needed to be dangerous, despite throwing 3 INT's.

The Saints had over 300 yards on offense themselves, but Brees simply struggled for good field position all game.

Atlanta wins 45-14. Surprisingly for the Saints, this marks their first loss against an NFC team.

'86 NY Giants vs. '68 NY Jets

The Giants met the Jets at Shea Stadium in a showdown for the Big Apple.

Despite 191 total yards on the day, the Giants failed to put any points on the board, making the Jets the winner of the showdown.

The Giants' efforts were not for lack of trying - they had 59 plays to the Jets' 65 ad just 3 minutes fewer time of possession. In fact, NY even punted almost as often as the Jets as well.

In the end, a combination of some outstanding defense and some big plays for Namath that gave the Jets the edge. Joe only had 5 completed passes, but was able to rely on some critical catches by Maynard and Sauer to average 20 yards on each throw.

On defense, though Lawrence Taylor had 2 sacks on the day, the Jets big green line saw 4 separate plays with sacks on Simms.

Final score NYJ 13, NYG 0.

'69 Kansas City vs. '08 Tennessee

Similar to the showdown in NY, the Chiefs and Titans had a close game. Tennessee's defense held back the Kansas City offense that has been on fire for several weeks, and in the end pulled out a shutout of the Chiefs.

Tennessee had little little to brag about, settling for 3 FG's against the top-rated "Triple Stack" defense of Kansas City. Bironas proved reliable on all 3 attempts, however, making the final score 9-0, Tennessee. Each of Bironas' attempts was for over 40 yards.

In fact, the Chiefs had almost twice the offensive yards at 171 to the Titans 91. But the Titans had the ball for 36 minutes to the Chief's 24, somehow getting just enough critical 1st downs to waste the clock.

With numbers that low, obviously nobody came up big on offense. This was more a show of defense, and despite KC picking off Collins and sacking him, the Titans D came in when it counted to keep the Chiefs from even attempting a FG.

'15 Arizona vs. '00 Tampa Bay

The 3-5 Buccaneers hosted the 4-4 Cardinals, who, after an impressive start to the season, have now lost 2 straight.

And based on the first half performance of each team, it was clear early on that Arizona was looking at another loss.

Arizona scored first in the game with a 39 yard FG, but for the following 16 minutes would just shock and awe the Cardinals with 4 offensive TD's. Brad Johnson seemed invincible, throwing for 3 of those TD's, with 2 of those being long tosses to Keyshawn Johnson of 31 and 47 yards. Alstott ran the other TD in.

Down by several scores at this point, Arizona seemed to get a break when Johsnon returned a kickoff 87 yards for a TD. But Arizona's defense was no less prepared to stop Tampa, and the Buccs scored another 10 points before the half to lead 38-10.

The 2nd half saw a much more effective Cardinals D, holding the Buccs to just 1 more TD. But Palmer wasn't able to come back from the half-time deficit, failing to score until just 30 seconds were left in the game on a toss to Larry Fitzgerald.

Buccs win 45-17, breaking a 4 game losing streak.  Tampa Bay totaled almost 500 yards on the day, with 359 of that in passing alone. Keyshawn Johnson had 8 grabs on the day for 162 yards, but McCardell, Jurivcius and Alstott contributed several yards as well. Both QB's had over 40 attempts, but Johnson's 70% completion shows that the Buccs D was much more prepared than the Cardinals.

'72 Dolphins vs. '68 Colts

Miami's high powered rushing game remained in full force against the Colts, but the Baltimore defense did a great job of keeping the Dolphins rushers at bay. In fact, Baltimore's defense looks stronger each week, and though put to the test against Miami, proved itself this week.

The Dolphins had no problem getting the first score of the game. But from there, the Colts D came up big when needed, giving Morrall multiple chances to try and score. With the No-Name defense holding up it's end, they would need each chance. For most of the game, they settled for only 2 FG's and would continue to trail the Dolphins.

But the Dolphins offense, despite breaking over 200 yards rushing as usual, just failed to get in range for any further scores, except for a missed FG by Yepremian. Even had he made it, however, fate still favored the Colts. Just inside the 2 minute warning, Baltimore got the ball just close enough to put together a great drive, scoring on a 5 yard run with 45 seconds left.

So the Colts take home a last minute win, 13-7.

The Dolphins, a strong team all season long, now takes their 3rd loss in a row while Baltimore, who had gotten off to a tough start, grabs their 4th straight W.

'73 Los Angeles vs. '76 Pittsburgh

In one of the lowest scoring games all season, the Steelers took on Rams at Three Rivers. While Pittsburgh has not had an impressive offense all year, they've been very successful against the NFC and their Defense has been 1 of the top.

The Rams have struggled on offense all year, but have had a helpful Defense keep them from being too embarrassed, and it would come to their aid today. The Steelers, with just 191 yards on offense, failed to score all game, despite getting close several times. The Rams D came on especially strong against the pass, with Bradshaw only averaging 10 yards / catch and getting picked off 3 times.

Hadl fared much worse by the numbers, but McCutcheon had a good game and was able to assist. Despite only running 75 yards, he averaged 7.5 yards per carry.

It wasn't just Defense that hurt the Steelers. Out of 57 offensive plays, they racked up an unprecedented 11 penalties, setting them back a total of 62 yards. When you compare that to just 2 penalties against Los Angeles, it's not hard to see how much field position factored into this victory.

Los Angeles gets the big win in an astonishing shutout, 10-0

'75 Minnesota vs. '92 Dallas

The evening game was one of the most anticipated games of the day, with the Cowboys hosting the Viking at Texas Stadium. Despite Dallas' poor record, they have shown potential all season. And after Minnesota's loss last week, they've been looking a bit more battered as the season goes on.

Minnesota didn't look quite so battered as the game started, however. Though the Purple People Eaters allowed an Emmit Smith TD halfway through the first quarter, they'd get a safety against Dallas minutes later, and on the following drive Tarkenton capitalized with a series of great throws, finding Marinaro for 3 yards in the end zone.

But Minnesota was just getting started. Tarkenton continued to tear away at Dallas' defense and as 5 minutes remained in the 2nd quarter, he hit Lash on a 22 yarder to put the Vikings up 16-7.

As the quarter wound down, Aikman and Smith would not give up. And their persistence paid off when Aikman hit Irvin for 18 yards just inside the 2 minute warning. The Cowboys went to halftime down by just 2 points.

As the 2nd half came around, it was clear both teams had figured each other out, and neither team scored on several drives. With everyone on the edge of their seat, fans would have to wait until 10 minutes were left in the 4th quarter. Despite the Cowboys being able to convert a 1st down in enemy territory, they were close enough for an Elliot FG from 44 out. And Elliot's attempt sailed through the uprights, putting Dallas up 17-16.

The Cowboys defense, having held Minnesota well all game, was able to continue to do so, giving Dallas the win 17-16. This breaks their 7 game losing streak

Both teams had 265 yards on the day, but where Minnesota excelled at passing for over 200 yards, Dallas had Emmitt Smith, who gained 147 yards on the day.