Silver lining in Kolb's day
If you’re an Eagles fan, you see that 48-22 score hanging out there and you start thinking to yourself, “If Donovan can’t go what’s the harm in letting Vick go next week? Or at least Jeff Garcia? Kevin Kolb threw three picks.”

Yes he did. And all three came in the second half. But two of them came in the final three minutes when the horse was out of the barn, down the street and drinking at the Horsehead Inn.

For the day, Kolb went 31 for 51 for 391 yards with two touchdowns to go with the three picks. Garcia is not the quarterback in Philly in 2011. Neither is McNabb nor, quite likely, Vick. Kolb could be. And he showed enough — despite the loss — to earn a little rope in a city that isn’t known for giving it.

Green Bay's bumming day
Speaking of limited patience, after sitting through a 6-10 season in 2008, Packers fans aren’t going to show a lot of patience for their hyped-up team if it keeps on like this. After being handed a win last week in Chicago, Green Bay figured to come back to Lambeau and go upside the head of the visiting Bengals. Didn’t happen. A third-and-34 conversion late in the second half when Green Bay had Cincy backed up in its own end gave the Bengals life.

By the end of the day, Packers fans would be handed the indignity of Chad Ochocinco executing a Lambeau Leap and watching as their team couldn’t get lined up properly for a final play from inside the Bengals 10.

Hasselbeck hit hard, and cleanly
You might wonder why an East Coast sportswriter would feel at liberty to guess at an injury suffered by a quarterback on the West Coast. Well, I was an English major. And I know how to drive a forklift. Plus, when Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck got slammed in the back by 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis at the goal line, it looked precisely like the same hit that broke ribs on Donovan McNabb.

Slideshow   Week 17 action Take a look at shots from the NFL's 17th week of play in 2009. NBCSports.com

Only harder. And the look on Hasselbeck’s face — like he couldn’t breathe — leads one to believe that he is going to be on ice for a while. And while the burrowing hits on players already down have got to be stopped, this was not one of those. It was at the goal line and Hasselbeck was sliding head first, not feet first making him capable of crawling into the end zone. There was nothing dirty about it.

The good
Antwan Odom of the Bengals rolls up five, count ‘em five sacks on Sunday against Green Bay. Coming into 2008, Odom had 15.5 career sacks. His high for a season was eight set in 2006. He’s now got seven in 2009. … It would absolutely not surprise me to see Matt Ryan playing in February. I’m just saying, the kid rolls out of bed every Sunday, goes out, goes something like 21 for 27 with three touchdown passes as he did against Carolina on Sunday and then heads home. … Serious bounce back from Kurt Warner and Jake Delhomme. After looking old and ragged last week against the Niners, Warner completed 15 in a row to start the game against Jacksonville and went 24 for 26. Jacksonvillians fans will be happy that one was blacked out. Meanwhile, Delhomme who started throwing picks from the time he got off the bus last weekend, only threw one this week against Philly. Baby steps.

The bad
After having only three passes thrown his way in a Monday night loss to New England, Terrell Owens made sure everyone knew that Bills quarterback Trent Edwards missed some reads” down the field. So Sunday, as the Bills were stomping on Tampa, Edwards went up top to Owens who was burning down the left sideline. The perfectly thrown pass … went directly over Owens’ shoulder and dropped through his hands. We’ll see if Edwards mentions how T.O. missed some opportunities down the field.

And the intruiging
Watch the dynamic between Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel and his coach, Todd Haley. On Sunday, Cassel had to burn a timeout on fourth-and-2 and, as he went to the sideline, he began unloading to (or at) Haley. Haley appeared to loudly answer Cassel. There are no indications yet that it’s anymore than two fiery guys getting caught up in the course of the game.

NFL game stories Quick look at Week 9 games STEELERS 28, BRONCOS 10: Roethlisberger throws 3 TDs COWBOYS 20, EAGLES 16: Austin’s TD puts Dallas atop NFC East COLTS 20, TEXANS 17: Indy's 17th-straight regular season win  |    Video SAINTS 30, PANTHERS 20: N.O. now 8-0 for first time in its history CHARGERS 21, GIANTS 20: N.Y. loses 4th straight  |    Video BUCS 38, PACKERS 28: Rookie QB leads Tampa to first win  |    Video PATRIOTS 27, DOLPHINS 17: Brady-Moss connection thrives  |    Video CARDINALS 41, BEARS 21: Warner tosses 5 TDs  |    Video BENGALS 17, RAVENS 7: Cincy cements AFC North status  |    Video FALCONS 31, REDSKINS 17: Atlanta gets into scuffle, still wins TITANS 34, 49ERS 27: Young improves to 2-0 as a starter this year SEAHAWKS 32, LIONS 20: Seattle overcomes 17-0 hole JAGUARS 24, CHIEFS 21: Chargers cast-off Chambers can't save K.C. Byes: Bills, Browns, Raiders, Rams, Vikings, Jets