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Week Nine gave the top teams some separation. With so many bad teams, the playoff picture is starting to take shape early this year after big performances. With huge games in Pittsburgh and Indianapolis in Week 10, the AFC's top teams could also separate themselves from the rest of the pack.
Atlanta (5-3) def. Washington (2-6), 31-17: Washington made a little bit of a comeback late, but they had dug themselves too big of a hole. Michael Turner is rolling now, which helped Atlanta to one of their best offensive outputs of the year against a decent defense.
Arizona (5-3) def. Chicago (4-4), 41-21: The Bears have to get their stuff together. Their defense, recently one of the best in the league, has been horrible in their last two games against NFL opponents.
Yes Brian Urlacher has been hurt and Tommie Harris stupidly got himself ejected from the game, but those are no excuses for these performances. The Cards just destroyed them. And how much confidence do the Cards have in Matt Leinart?
Cincinnati (6-2) def. Baltimore (4-4), 17-7: Great, great performance from the Bengals. They took apart every aspect of the Ravens' game and after they took the lead, the game was never in doubt.
Cincy's underrated defense made Baltimore look foolish and out of rhythm all game. Now that they've been swept by Cincy, Baltimore may have to focus on a Wild Card berth.
Indianapolis (8-0) def. Houston (5-4), 20-17: Houston made a ton of mistakes, but they still had a chance to take the into overtime. Indy let them hang around, but Houston couldn't finish off the comeback. This game showed that they're not quite ready to be a great team.
A critical spot in the game came when Houston back Ryan Moats fumbled inside the five yard line. Indy didn't immediately challenge it after he was ruled down, but Houston let ten to fifteen seconds run off the clock until the two minute warning.
The Colts eventually challenged the play and it was reversed. Horrible clock management by both Matt Schaub and Gary Kubiak that may have cost them points.
New England (6-2) def. Miami (3-5), 27-17: Miami is better than they're 3-5 record, but they will not see better results unless they pass the ball better. The Wildcat is fine, but they will never go deep into the playoffs with that as their primary weapon.
New England were ready for it and while they didn't completely stop it, they were able to control it. The Patriot offense is hitting their stride just in time for their big game next week.
Tampa Bay (1-7) def. Green Bay (4-4), 38-28: Green Bay is in trouble. After losing two to the Vikings, they need to beat bad teams like Tampa. The Bucs stepped up in the fourth with 21 points behind Josh Freeman, who looked pretty good. The Packers have got to get everything figured out and very quickly.
Jacksonville (4-4) def. Kansas City (1-7), 24-21: Jacksonville has quietly crept back into contention, but don't expect them to stay there. Beating Kansas City is nothing to be overly proud of especially when you have to hang on to do so. Mike Sims-Walker continued his breakout season, posting big numbers again.
New Orleans (8-0) def. Carolina (3-5), 30-20: New Orleans started out slowly but Carolina couldn't hold them off. The Cats finally decided to get their running game going at the beginning of a game, but they seem afraid to put the ball in Jake Delhomme's hands with the game on the line: which is why they are 3-5.
For the Saints, they cannot keep getting off to starts like this, especially against good teams. It doesn't matter how explosive an offense is if they fall too far behind teams better than Miami or Carolina.
Seattle (3-5) def. Detroit (1-7), 32-20: Detroit uncharacteristically got off to a huge start, but like Carolina couldn't sustain it. They pushed the ball up the field, but Matt Stafford turned the ball over way too much. Seattle showed some life on offense in coming back from being down by 17 points.
San Diego (5-3) def. New York Giants (5-4), 21-20:
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