SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (4-2) at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (3-3)
Monday, 8:30 P.M., ET, ESPN, SIRIUS (SD 92, KC 93)

Why Watch
It's Monday Night Football. It's an AFC West game between perennial contender San Diego and Kansas City, a team left for dead two weeks ago. And each team wants to pretend it's something it's not. How appropriate it is to play on Halloween.

San Diego, notorious for inconsistency and slow starts in the first half of the season, wants to act like a tough-minded run-first football team determined to go on a deep playoff run. So far, their division opponents are letting them get away with it.

Meanwhile, word is that hard-nosed Chiefs coach Todd Haley is trying to relate differently to his players by lightening up. Tom Coughlin did with the Giants and ended up in the Super Bowl. It makes for a nice story, especially when combined with Kansas City's cupcake schedule in the last three games. For the record, Kansas City is the defending division champion.

What To Watch
Can the Chiefs defense force Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers into another bad game as the Jets did last Sunday? They'd better, because the Chiefs do not have the offensive firepower to do what the Jets did. Kansas City's defense forced six turnovers and scored 14 of the team's 28 points last week against Oakland, but that was against the comically bad combo of Kyle Boller and Carson Palmer.

The Chargers have been their own worst enemy when in opponents' territory. If they clean that up, they are a force. Last week, red zone threats Mike Tolbert and Antonio Gates reasserted themselves in the gameplan, accounting for three touchdowns in three trips inside the twenty. With Tolbert and Ryan Mathews both running well, Norv Turner's team wants to become less reliant on the pass, and more capable of controlling games. However, their defense has been equally vulnerable to committed running attacks.

Kansas City has leaned on the running game more since Jamaal Charles' injury. With the way Jackie Battle is running (5.2 yards/attempt), Charles could see less playing time when he returns next season.

Who Will Win
San Diego to Kansas City: "You are sitting in my seat."  The Chargers will assert themselves.

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DETROIT LIONS (5-2) at DENVER BRONCOS (2-4)
4:05 P.M. ET, FOX, Direct TV (711), SIRIUS (Det 135, Den 92)

Why Watch
Because you just can't get enough of Tim Tebow? Last Sunday, Tebow proved both sides of the argument about him to be correct. He showed poor form as a NFL quarterback. He found a way to win. Perhaps the issue is that nobody has the skills to coach him. That, and the Broncos do not have much else to work with.

Meanwhile, the Lions will be looking to recapture their early season swagger, and will be facing off against a team riding a wave of Tebow-inspired confidence.

What To Watch
Forget Tebow. The legit rising star in Denver is rookie OLB Von Miller (six sacks). Detroit's offensive line has not been faring well, with Matthew Stafford getting sacked eight times in the last two weeks. The final hit of last week's game had him in a walking boot, and his status for the game is officially listed as questionable.

I watch a lot of cartoons and learned that you cannot stop Megatron unless Optimus Prime is in your secondary. He isn't in Denver. Champ Bailey is in Denver. A player like Calvin Johnson could make Bailey feel young again. Or, very, very old. Calvin Johnson is due for another big game.

As ferocious as the Lions pass rush is, Detroit's run defense is not. If only the Broncos had a healthy ground pounder to go after them. That guy Tebow though, he can run.

Jim Schwartz' rundown of 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh a few weeks ago was a teaching moment to show Lions defenders how to stop the run. it was over the top, but Schwartz is desperate for a run defense. And, a run offense. Lions' rusher Jahvid Best (concussion) will miss the game.  

Who Will Win
Detroit has been rebuilding for years. Denver is just getting (re)started. It will show on the field. Denver doesn't have the juice to stop Detroit.

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DALLAS COWBOYS (3-3) at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (2-4)
8:30 P.M., ET, NBC

Why Watch
The tight race for the NFC East leaves no room for division losses. With much of the division schedule still to play, both the Cowboys and Eagles see this game as an important stepping stone toward the playoffs.

The Eagles set out to do a better job buying a championship than that guy Snyder down I-95--and got similar results. You would think they should have learned something after victimizing the Redskins so often. The Cowboys set out to return to the Super Bowl as they have done every year since the 1995 season because, well, it's their birthright. A loss will devastate Eagles hopes. They would be forced to win eight of its last nine games to for a shot at the division title.

What To Watch
Did the Eagles take maximum advantage of the bye week to fix whatever is ailing the defense? The Eagles adjusted the wide nine defense for the Redskins game and it worked, stifling the Washington running game and holding their opponent to 13 points. It was the fewest points allowed since the Eagles' week 1 win over the Rams. 

Trent Cole's return means the Cowboys cannot focus on DE Justin Babin. No one is happier about that than Babin. Eagles' DC Juan Castillo will ask cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha to cover Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant, but worries he has asked too much from him this season. Whether Asomugha attacks Bryant with man-to-man or zone coverage is the question. Here's a hint--Bryant is too dangerous to cover with the zone. 

The big test for the Eagles may be Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray. Murray's 253-yard day against the Rams was quite a story. On the other hand, it was against the Rams. Treat it as a fluke until Murray proves otherwise.

Who Will Win
The Eagles have too much talent to keep losing. A home win against the Cowboys on national TV keeps the vultures at bay for another week.

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MINNESOTA VIKINGS (1-6) at CAROLINA PANTHERS (2-5)
1:00 P.M. ET, FOX, Direct TV (708), SIRIUS (Min 113, Car 94)

Why Watch
The quarterback class of 2011 will dominate the NFL for the next five years. Cam Newton (1st overall) and Christian Ponder (12th overall) were the first and fourth quarterbacks selected in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings. Watch both in action in what could be a shootout.

What To Watch
Newton is an amazing quarterback who energizes a talent-deprived Panthers offense, executing offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski's vertical passing tree with fearless abandon. And his mobility makes him very difficult to account for defensively. 

Even fearsome pass rushers like the Bears' Julius Peppers have struggled against him. In fact, according to stats from ProFootballFocus.com, Newton has only been sacked four times by the pass-rushing skill players that line up as a 4-3 DE or 3-4 outside linebacker. Last week, Washington's Brian Orakpo registered one of those sacks. But Newton showed enough elusiveness on the ground against a respectable Redskins defense, and avoided the turnovers that had plagued him, to lead Carolina to their second win on the season. 

Ponder does not have to match Newton's performance. He just has to keep Carolina's defenders honest so that Adrian Peterson can have his way with them. Coach Leslie Frazier has to help his rookie with a game plan that calls for quick passes to set up a deep pass to speedy WR Devon Aromashodu.

The only thing missing from this matchup is wins. The two teams have three of them combined entering Week 8 of the NFL season. If either of these teams wind up with the top 2012 Draft pick, look for that pick on the NFL version of eBay.

Who Will Win 
Ponder is on the road, is five games behind Newton in game experience and has no one like Carolina's Steve Smith to throw to. Advantage: Carolina.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (5-1) at PITTSBURGH STEELERS (5-2)
4:15 P.M. ET, CBS, Direct TV (712), SIRIUS (NE-91, Pit-86)

Why Watch
Few true contenders are shaking out of the AFC. The Ravens are inconsistent. The Chargers, Texans and Jets are good but beatable. The clock could strike midnight on the Bills' and Bengals' Cinderella seasons at any time.

That leaves the Steelers and Patriots as the class of the conference, and both are on three game winning streaks. You just knew the showdown between these two teams was coming—round one this Sunday may set the stage for a rematch in the postseason.

What To Watch 
The Steelers have overcome a slow start to assert themselves the AFC North. Pittsburgh's defense has been maligned as old and slow, but they still manage to rank third in yards allowed and points per game. Five times in the last seven years, these Steelers have finished with a top-three scoring defense.

The Patriots, however, have had the Steelers' number. Tom Brady is 6-1 against the Steelers, including wins in his last four starts, and seems to be immune to their defensive powers. In those four wins, the Patriots have scored an average of 34 points. Pittsburgh's defense allowed only 15.8 points per game in those seasons. 

New England's defense may be suspect, and may be weakened by the surprising release today of cornerback Leigh Bodden, but their offense is still tops. The league has a genuine concern for player safety. So, they have new rules for hitting defenseless players, especially those named Tom Brady. LB James Harrison will be spared any fines, though. He will miss the game as he recovers from surgery.

Who Will Win
Call it a hunch, but Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers will have more success against the Patriots defense than Brady against the Steelers defense. Steelers in a nail biter.

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Back in April, there was a lot of talk surrounding the Bills about the possibility of drafting their next franchise quarterback. That talk ended without a rookie quarterback. Instead the Bills chose to make Ryan Fitzpatrick the face of the franchise, and Chris Mortensen is reporting that the Bills have finalized that process. The deal, according to Mortensen, is worth 59 millions dollars over 6 years. 24 million of that is guaranteed, and Fitzpatrick is set to earn 33 million dollars in the first 3 years of the deal.

While the deal doesn't pay him what we call "Manning/Brady money," it does put him in the upper level of NFL quarterbacks. For the first time in recent memory, the Bills have stabilized their quarterback situation just as they look poised to make the leap from mediocrity to playoff caliber football.

The current members of the Bills' personnel department aren't the only ones that like what they see in Ryan Fitzpatrick. Bills former great, Jim Kelly, thinks that Fitzpatrick is great at communicating on the field, and he also believes the Bills showed their wit by not drafting a quarterback early in the draft last spring.

The Bills are currently 2nd in the AFC East at 4-2. They're tied for the last wild-card slot in the AFC with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens. While I don't believe that such things as contracts distract players on the field, I'm willing to acknowledge that it could be possible for contract negotiations to distract players. Regardless, there will be now distractions possible in Buffalo going forward from this point. All the Bills have to do now is take care of business.

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This game might go unnoticed by most, but under the radar is a huge game for both the Bills and Redskins.  These two teams have struggled to garner any form of respect in recent years and this game is one that could shift the arrow up or down on both team's seasons.

The Bills are in an interesting position that if they win this game and the Steelers beat the Patriots; they will sit atop the AFC East.  Even if that’s not the case, the Bills have built a pretty strong campaign as a potential wildcard team. It’s been since 1999 that the Bills have made the playoffs and this fan base is dying to get back there. That being said every game counts and when you’re playing the Washington Redskins without Hightower and Santana Moss not many excuses would go very far if they lost this game.

If I am the Bills defensive coordinator the first thing I’m pointing out is that John Beck is one of the worst starting QB’s in the league and there should be several opportunities for turnovers this game. The Bills D is very opportunistic with already 12 int’s and 4 recovered fumbles.

Some might view this game as a trap game for Bills who are playing a “home” game in Toronto. I have been to one of these games and I can assure it is in no way even comparable to the atmosphere of a Bills home game.  You get 25% corporate Torontoans who couldn’t give a crap about the game and then 75% of fans who are just simply NFL fans without strong loyalties to the Bills.

Despite recent strong defensive play by the Skins, I expect to see a ton of Fred Jackson in the gameplan. Jackson, the leading RB in PPR, has almost been MVP worthy the way he has run the ball this year. Jackson is a dynamic RB surely due for a pay raise this offseason. Jackson presents similar value to that of Matt Forte in Chicago. The biggest difference is that the QB giving him the ball is better educated ... and maybe just plain better, period.

The Bills can’t let their guard down and play down to a lesser opponent like they have in the past, losing to Cincinnati and the New York Giants in the last three weeks. Chan Gailey has done an excellent job coaching this year and I expect him to have his troops ready to go this round up north in Canada eh!

On the other side of the ball are the reeling Washington Redskins.  After a quick start to the season, the Redskins like many thought have come back to reality. Last week they were tossed back to planet earth, at the hands or should I say legs of rookie sensation and former computer thief Cam Newton.

Washington's defense is much-improved over last year's bunch, with the loss of massive distraction Albert Haynesworth actually registering a positive impact on the unit's overall performance.

However, the Redskins' offense has been recently struck with the injury bug as now they have lost RB Tim Hightower and TE Chris Cooley for the year and Santana Moss for 4-6 weeks. It’s going to be interesting to see how the John Beck led offense will be able to compete with these glaring holes. Ryan Torain and Roy Helu provide effective replacements in the running game, but Moss' and Cooley's contributions to the passing game will be very hard to replace.  

While the promising start had led many to believe this team was on its way back to the playoffs, my personal belief is you are going to see more of the same old Redskins, and around a #10^th -12^th overall draft pick next year.

The spread in this game has the Bills being a 6 point favorite which clearly indicates Vegas’ respect for the Bills.

I think the Bills cover this one in around a 24-14 win, in which the Canadian crowd will witness yet another boring game.

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All anyone can talk about is the "Suck for Luck" campaign. Between the Dolphins, the Colts and the Rams, and every other terrible team in the league right now, all you hear these days is how they are all making a pitch for Stanford pivot Andrew Luck.

It is hard to blame them considering that Luck is considered the most league ready quarterback since Peyton Manning, but the rest of the QB's in the class must not be ignored.

So let us have a look at Mr. Landry Jones, the man under center for the Oklahoma Sooners. He is shredding apart teams in the Big 12, or whatever the conference is called these days. Jones has tossed 21 touchdowns to just seven picks thus far, and his poise in the pocket seems to be just a notch below that of Luck.

Coming out of Artesia High School in New Mexico, Jones was not the the highest rated pivot in his class. But despite being ranked behind the likes of Blaine Gabbert and Dayne Crist by Rivals, he has worked his way into the conversation as being a high first round pick.

Jones showed up on campus at Oklahoma in 2008, the year that Sam Bradford was leading the Sooners to the national championship game and winning the Heisman trophy. Who better to teach you how to prepare for the next level than the man who went first overall himself? After Bradford's follow-up season was cut short due to a shoulder injury, Jones stepped in and took the reigns of the team. He threw for 418 yards and three scores in the 2009 Sun Bowl against Stanford, and he was immediately placed amongst the elite quarterbacks in college ball as he won the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.

Last year, Jones led the Sooners to another bowl victory, this time in the Fiesta Bowl over the hapless UConn Huskies, and he has continued to shred teams apart this season. He has thrown for 369 yards a game, and is completing an impresive 65% of his throws. On paper he is giving Luck a run for his money, but the scouts continue to prefer Stanford to Oklahoma when picking their franchise savior.

Landry, named after Tom Landry himself, has great size at 6-foot-4 and weighing in at 230 pounds. Perfect size and strength for a pivot at the next level. He has the arm strength to make all the throws down the field, and is playing in a spread style offense led by former Sooner Josh Heupel.

He will face a tough test this weekend, as the Sooners travel to play 10th ranked Kansas State. Despite a huge game from Jones last week (412 yards and 5 TDs), Oklahoma fell to Texas Tech and now find themselves ranked 11th in the polls. However, if they can end the season with victories over K State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, they could put themselves right back into the BCS talk, depending on how the ever powerful SEC finishes up the year.

Jones has developed a great rapport with wideout Ryan Broyles, who is racking up more than 120 yards a game so far this season. If the two can keep this chemistry up, there is no telling how far they could go this season as Landry prepares for the big show.

Seattle, Miami and Washington are all badly in need of a new man under center, and whoever does not win the Luck sweepstakes will be lucky to get Landry.

Will Landry bring immediate success to the field like Andy Dalton? Or will he struggle to get the ball down the field like Blaine Gabbert? That is largely a result of the team that he ends up with, but it looks as if he could end up being closer to the ginger than the Sunshine.

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The last seven weeks there has been a lot of talk surrounding the teams that have turned their franchises around in a positive way. The Lions, Bills, Bengals and 49ers for example are all putting remarkable seasons together. Fan bases in these cities are filling up message boards with renewed enthusiasm for their teams.  Playoffs are in the foreseeable future and life is good.

There is a flip side to that coin. While the NFL prides itself on being a league with incredible parity with an average of five new teams making the postseason annually since 2000, not all teams find themselves in the mix.  Some teams in fact have taken great strides in the wrong direction. Outright challenging the established protocol of the NFL.  The guilty parties here are the Chiefs, Colts, Seahawks, Rams, Eagles, and Dolphins.

The six teams completed strong 2010 campaigns, with three out of six winning their division and a fourth (St. Louis) within one game of making it to the playoffs.  All six had eventful off-seasons as they planned to take the next step forward or at the very least maintain the status quo. But even the best laid plans often fall victim to chance and circumstance. Here's a closer look at how each team contributed to the continued parity of the league, just none in the way they had hoped.

Kansas City Chiefs

 Having their number one running back go down almost immediately put them behind the eight-ball before their title defense could even get under way. After starting out with three consecutive losses the Chiefs followed up wins over two struggling teams with a victory against an Oakland squad that was far from its best.

Carson Palmer obviously didn’t have a firm grasp of the playbook and protection schemes, and the Raiders were banged up on both sides of the ball. Certainly the Chiefs deserve a lot of credit for digging themselves out of a 0-3 hole, but based on their whole body of work rather than only this one game, they aren’t yet better than the team they just shut out.

By the numbers

2010 record: 10-6, AFC West Division Champs
Total Offense: 22.9 points a game, 14^th in NFL
Total Defense: 20.4 points a game, 11^th in NFL

2011 record through 7 weeks: 3-3
Total Offense: 17.5 points a game, 26^th in NFL
Total Defense: 25 points a game, 25^th in NFL

Could you imagine the Bengals traveling to play in Seattle last year, and walking into the game as the favorite? Impossible. But this is a new year and a new Bengals team.

Cincinnati is 4-2 on the season and they look to be one of the emerging forces in the AFC, while the Seahawks continue to play terrible football in hopes of drafting a franchise pivot this offseason.

So how on earth are the Bengals just 2.5 point favorites walking into this game? Well that is a great question that we will at least try to explain, however difficult that may be.