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Stats & Information gets you ready for the NFL Draft at the end of the month with a look at the biggest need for each team. Today, we start off with the NFC North.

Chicago Bears
Need: Offensive line

The Bears have allowed a sack once every 10.5 dropbacks over the last two seasons, most in the NFL. No other team allowed a sack at a rate lower than once every 12.0 dropbacks.

They averaged 3.3 yards per rush up the middle last season, 30th in the NFL, with just two 20-yard rushes. When rushing to either side, the Bears averaged 5.0 yards per rush with 18 20-yard rushes.

Chicago drafted OT Gabe Carimi in the first round (29th overall) of the 2011 Draft.

Kiper’s 1st-Round Prediction: Whitney Mercilus, DE, Illinois
McShay’s 1st-Round Prediction: Jonathan Martin, OT, Stanford

Detroit Lions
Needs: Offensive line, secondary

LT Jeff Backus has played for 11 seasons, and the Lions didn’t re-sign Corey Hilliard, his primary backup last season.

The Lions had 14 rushing first downs outside the tackles (31st in the NFL) and were one of two teams (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) without a rushing touchdown outside the tackles.

Defensively, Detroit allowed 59 percent of passes outside the numbers to be completed (fifth-worst in the league).

Kiper’s 1st-Round Prediction: Jonathan Martin, OT, Stanford
McShay’s 1st-Round Prediction: Whitney Mercilus, DE, Illinois

Green Bay Packers
Need: Pass rush

The Packers sent five or more pass rushers on 46 percent of opponent dropbacks last season, the fourth-highest rate in the NFL and up from the 36 percent rate in Dom Capers’ first two seasons as defensive coordinator.

The Packers ramped up the blitz last season to overcompensate for a lack of pressure from a standard rush. After recording 30 sacks when rushing four or fewer in 2010 (second-most), the Packers picked up 11 sacks last season, the second-fewest in the NFL.

Erik Walden, Brad Jones and Frank Zombo combined for 5.0 sacks from the outside linebacker position last season, one fewer than Clay Matthews.

Kiper’s 1st-Round Prediction: Nick Perry, LB, USC
McShay’s 1st-Round Prediction: Andre Branch, DE/LB, Clemson

Minnesota Vikings
Needs: Offensive line, secondary

Against five or more pass rushers the Vikings were either sacked, under duress or hit while throwing on 37 percent of dropbacks, fourth-highest in the NFL. Opposing defenses exploited that weakness, as no team faced extra pressure on more dropbacks than the Vikings.

Matt Kalil is the consensus pick by Kiper and McShay, but boosting the secondary might be a more pressing need.

Minnesota allowed 17 touchdowns on throws of more than 10 air yards, the most in the league, and ranked last defending against wide receivers.

Kiper’s 1st-Round Prediction: Matt Kalil, OT, USC
McShay’s 1st-Round Prediction: Matt Kalil, OT, USC

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick didn’t have any miracle finishes in him against the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday night.

We can sum up Vick’s performance in a few different ways, with the aid of our video review crew.

When Vick tried to throw the ball downfield, more often than not, he failed. Vick went 5-for-16 with an interception on passes that traveled at least 10 yards in the air.

Most of those attempts went the way of wide receiver DeSean Jackson. Vick threw the ball Jackson’s way 12 times, but completed only two passes for 32 yards. Jackson was overthrown twice and underthrown twice, and also dropped one of those pass attempts. Vick made five attempts to get Jackson the ball by throwing it 21 yards or further. None of those tries were successful.

In fact, Vick has completed just five of his last 21 attempts to the two-time Pro Bowl selection over the last two weeks.

One of the strategies that the Vikings used to keep Vick bottled up was to blitz from the secondary. Minnesota used a defensive back or safety as a blitzer 16 times, and netted as many sacks (four) as it allowed completed passes. Vick was only able to scramble away twice, managing 14 yards on those runs, but no game-breaking gains.

In contrast to Vick’s struggles, Vikings quarterback Joe Webb managed an efficient game and handled the blitz to earn his first NFL win. He was 10-for-13 for 84 yards when the Eagles sent at least five pass rushers at him.

Webb was aided by running back Adrian Peterson. The Eagles spent much of the game defending with a seven-man box and Peterson made them pay. He averaged nearly eight yards per carry against that line, an increase from the 4.5 yards he’d averaged prior to that.

The Eagles had won five straight and eight of their past nine games against the Vikings prior to Tuesday. Philladelphia also had its six-game home win streak against the Vikings snapped. The last time the Vikings won a road game in Philadelphia was December 1, 1985. Webb was born nearly a year later on November 13, 1986.

A statistical look at tonight's game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles.

• The Eagles have won five straight against the Vikings and eight of their last ten games overall. Philadelphia is 5-0 in primetime games this season (4-0 in starts by Michael Vick).

The Vikings haven’t been so lucky in primetime games. They are 0-5 in primetime games this season and 1-6 in primetime games since 2001 when kickoff temperature is below 40 degrees.

• Vick has been one of the top deep passers in the league this season, but his production has dropped off in recent weeks.

Three of Vick’s four interceptions in the last three weeks have been on passes thrown at least 15 yards downfield.

• Vick has been under a lot more pressure as of late -- the Eagles QB has been forced to scramble 40 times in the last seven games compared to just 11 in his first four.

FROM THE ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU:
• Brett Favre and Joe Webb combined for a 49.1 passer rating last week versus Chicago, a week after Webb and Tarvaris Jackson had a collective 45.7 rating against the Giants. The last time the Vikings had a sub-50 passer rating in each of back-to-back games was in Weeks 1 and 2 of the 2005 season, when Daunte Culpepper had a 49.2 rating with no touchdown passes and three interceptions in Week 1 against Tampa Bay and a 36.4 rating with no TD passes and five picks the following week.

The last time Minnesota had a passer rating below 50 in three straight games was in October 1980, with Tommy Kramer as their starting quarterback.

• The last NFL game that took place on a Tuesday was October 1, 1946 when the New York Giants beat the Boston Yanks 17-0 at Braves Field. That game was originally scheduled for September 30 but was postponed due to rain. While the last NFL game played on a Tuesday took place in 1946, there have been a total of 19 NFL games played on a Tuesday and Vikings-Eagles will be the 20th.

Monday’s win over the Minnesota Vikings gave the Chicago Bears their third division title under Lovie Smith and the fourth title since the legendary Mike Ditka left. The Bears are now 5-0 in divisional games and could become the 1st NFC North team to finish undefeated in the division since realignment in 2002.

While Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson may have dominated the pregame headlines, it was Jay Cutler and Devin Hester who had the last word.

Hester's 64-yard punt return TD in the third quarter gave him an NFL-record 14 career punt/kick return touchdowns. His 10 career punt return touchdowns are tied with Eric Metcalf for most in NFL history. Needless to say, after witnessing the Philadelphia Eagles’ DeSean Jackson put a hole in the Giants playoff hopes, it was fitting to see Hester do the same for the Vikings.

While Hester might have marked the most exciting performance in the game, it was Cutler’s return-to-form that is most significant for the Bears fortunes moving forward. Entering last week’s contest with the New England Patriots, it seemed like everything was clicking for Cutler; over the previous two games, he’d averaged 240.5 passing yards per game to go along with 74.5 percent completion rate and five touchdowns against zero interceptions.

And then the Patriots game happened, when Cutler threw two interceptions, no touchdowns and posted a 46.2 percent completion rate, his second-worst this season.

But Monday, Cutler looked much more like the guy who had so easily dismantled the Eagles and Lions. Cutler limited his interceptions -- just one -- while throwing three touchdowns. It was quite a turnaround in unfavorable conditions for Cutler. He struggled last Sunday in the elements when the Patriots used packages of five-or-more defensive backs on the field. Cutler turned it around on Monday when the Vikings went small, throwing all three of his touchdown passes.

If you take out the Patriots game, Cutler has tossed eight touchdowns and one interception since the game against the Eagles, completing passes at a 69 percent rate. That’s the sort of play that results in 40 points scored -- their most in a road game against the Vikings since scoring 45 in 1965.

And if Cutler is playing under control, there’s no telling how far the Bears can go.

A preview of Monday Night Football between the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings.

The Bears travel to Minnesota to face the Vikings (ESPN, 8:30 ET) with snow in the forecast and Brett Favre upgraded to Questionable on the injury report. Because of the issues with the Metrodome, the game will be played outdoors at the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium.

The temperature at gametime is expected to be 19 degrees, well above the coldest NFL game on record. The Ice Bowl, which was the 1967 NFL Championship between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, was played at 13 degrees below zero with a wind chill of negative 48.

In all primetime games since 1991 (Monday Night Football as well as Sunday/Thursday night games), Minnesota is 1-5 in December regular-season games where the kickoff temperature was under 40 degrees.

Favre used to be the king of cold weather, but he hasn’t been as strong the last several seasons when the temperature drops.

His touchdown-to-interception ratio has plummeted along with his passer rating when the temperature is below 40 degrees. Favre has also struggled lately on Monday Night Football, going just 2-8 in his past 10 MNF starts dating to 2005.

If Favre can’t go again tonight, rookie Joe Webb would get his first career start against the Bears. Webb piled up more than 8,000 yards of total offense under center at UAB and was named Conference USA’s Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2009, but it’s a good bet he never played in front of the type of crowd or in the type of weather conditions expected Monday night in Minneapolis.

A nationally-televised game against a quality opponent might not be the ideal conditions for a quarterback making his first career start, but QBs stepping under center for the first time on Monday Night Football have fared better than you might think.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last four quarterbacks to make their first career start on Monday Night Football have all guided their team to a win, including Aaron Rodgers over these Vikings in Week 1 of 2008.

On the other sideline, Jay Cutler has won five of his past six starts after starting the season 3-3. Most of his struggles this season have come against an opposing package with five or more defensive backs on the field.

Look for the Vikings to be more effective against Cutler by limiting the use of its base 4-3 defense Monday night.

The good news for Cutler is that he may not have far to go. According to Elias, the average start for Chicago's drives this season has been its 32.7-yard line, the best in the NFL.

Faced with the possibility of a third straight loss and having gone since November 25 without scoring an offensive touchdown, the New York Jets eschewed a temptation to over-think things and instead kept the offensive game plan simple. As a result, the Jets picked up their first win in Pittsburgh in eight tries and got back on track for the playoffs.

The Jets returned the opening kick for a touchdown, which was their first since Week 12 against the Bengals. The only other Jets touchdown came on a Mark Sanchez run. That touchdown was the Jets first offensive TD in 12 quarters. While the return of the Jets offense did not occur in spectacular fashion, it was quarterback Mark Sanchez’s conservative approach that resulted in the win.

Sanchez was quietly effective on Sunday, completing 65.5 percent of his passes, his second-highest single-game mark this season. Sanchez did this by taking fewer shots downfield and not throwing an interception, something he had done in every game since Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Jets exploited the short game like they had largely been unable to in the first 13 games of the season. Sanchez more closely resembled the ‘game-manager’ quarterback that had been successful for the Jets since he became the team’s starting quarterback. After throwing four interceptions and posting a 44.2 percent completion rate over his previous two games, Sanchez bounced back, serving up no interceptions and completing passes at a 65.5 percent rate. The 65.5 percent completion rate was, as previously mentioned, his highest single-week mark since Week 2 against the New England Patriots (70.0 pct).

Perhaps equally as important for the Jets, the win prevents the Patriots from clinching the AFC East and a first-round bye.

Quick hits from Monday’s games:

In his 100th consecutive start (now the second-longest active streak by a QB), Eli Manning was finally victorious against the Minnesota Vikings. Manning entered Monday night 0-4 against the Vikings. Eli, and his brother, Peyton, are the only active quarterbacks in the league who have made at least 100 consecutive starts.

But Eli didn't have the greatest of starts, throwing two interceptions in the game. He leads the NFL with 19 interceptions, and has seven games with at least two interceptions this season, also a league-high.

The Vikings became the third team since 2000 to have their home game relocated, joining the New Orleans Saints in 2005 and the San Diego Chargers in 2003. All three teams lost in their relocated home game.

As far as the Vikings go, much of the blame can be placed on a run defense that was uncharacteristically poor Monday. The Vikings allowed 213 yards rushing to the Giants. The last time the Vikings allowed more than 200 yards rushing was on October 2, 2005 against the Atlanta Falcons.

While the Baltimore Ravens had everything seemingly under control through three quarters, the Houston Texans rallied to force overtime against the Ravens, only to lose on the first overtime pick-six since the 2005 season. The loss was the Texans' first December home loss since 2006. Houston scored on its last five possessions in regulation, including long touchdown drives on its final two.

The Texans' 99-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter was the longest in team history. They became just the second team this season to put together a 99-yard touchdown drive. In Week 9, the Atlanta Falcons marched 99 yards on 10 plays for a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

And for the second time in as many weeks on Monday night, a team put together consecutive 90-yard touchdown drives. The Texans followed their 99-yard touchdown drive with a 95-yard drive. A week prior, the New England Patriots followed a 93-yard touchdown drive with a 94-yard touchdown drive against the New York Jets.

Baltimore's Joe Flacco continued his steady play of late. With two touchdowns and no interceptions Monday, Flacco now has 16 touchdowns with just two interceptions in his last eight games.

Both of Flacco's touchdowns were to Derrick Mason. It was Mason's first game with multiple touchdowns since the final game of the 2003 season.

After struggling in shotgun formations through his first 12 games, Flacco completed more than 70 percent of his attempts out of the shotgun Monday, including seven of his last eight and both of his touchdowns. The Texans entered Week 14 having surrendered an NFL-high 13 touchdown passes out of shotgun in this season.

A statistical look at tonight's matchup in Detroit between the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings.

• Entering Week 14, the Vikings and Giants are 31st and 32nd in the NFL, respectively, in percentage of opponents’ passing yards gained after the catch. Minnesota has allowed 49 percent of their opponents’ passing yards to come after the catch is made, while New York is the only team in the league that has allowed more than half.

This could be trouble for the Giants, as Percy Harvin entered this week with the fifth-most YAC in the NFL among non-running backs. New York’s best performer in that area is Hakeem Nicks, who ranked behind 36 other non-running backs in YAC entering Week 14.

• Speaking of Nicks, he and fellow wideout Steve Smith are likely to play Monday, giving Eli Manning his two best targets this season. When throwing to Nicks and Smith, Manning’s passer rating is nearly 10 times higher than when he targets any other player, and his TD per attempt ratio is nearly double.

• If the Giants get close to the end zone, look for them to utilize Ahmad Bradshaw. He entered Week 14 with 14 carries in goal-to-go situations, tied for 14th in the league, and he’s scored a touchdown on six of those carries, which is good for a 42.9 percent conversion rate. That’s the fourth-best percentage among runners that entered the week with 10 such carries.

• The Vikings allow the fourth-worst passer rating when sending a defensive back to pressure the quarterback and only three teams in the league have fewer sacks when rushing a member of the secondary. Luckily for Minnesota, they don’t rush a defensive back very often.

Entering Week 14, only two teams sent secondary pressure less often than the Vikings. The good news for Vikings fans is that Eli Manning entered this week just 18th in the NFL in passer rating when facing secondary pressure.

Our weekly look at quarterbacks who are under the center of attention.

BEN ROETHLISBERGER
Ben Roethlisberger should be in the lineup Sunday when the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Cincinnati Bengals despite having surgery to repair a broken nose. The Bengals have been a team that has given Roethlisberger fits, even at home. In his career, Roethlisberger is just 3-3 with a 71.9 passer rating in six games at Heinz Field against the Bengals. Compare that to the other teams in the AFC North where he is a whopping 12-1 with a 97.6 career passer rating at home against the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns combined, including playoffs.

BRETT FAVRE
Brett Favre's streak of 297 straight regular-season starts may be on the line as he has been bothered by a shoulder injury suffered last week against the Buffalo Bills. But if he does play for the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, the New York Giants better bring the pressure.

When facing at least five pass rushers this season, Favre has thrown seven interceptions -- the most in the NFL -- which is the amount of total picks he threw all of last season. Favre's passer rating in that situation is 56.8, which ranks 30th out of 32 quarterbacks who have attempted at least 60 passes.

SAM BRADFORD
Speaking of pressure, Sam Bradford has been seeing plenty of pressure all season. He has the most pass attempts in the situation talked about with Favre this season. That has forced Bradford to make plays from outside the pocket and he's produced. Bradford has seven passing touchdowns when throwing outside the pocket, most in the league, and he's yet to throw an interception. Bradford's passer rating on attempts outside the pocket is 105.0, which is higher than mobile QBs Michael Vick (103.9) and Aaron Rodgers (71.7).

TOM BRADY
In each of the last two games, Tom Brady has thrown for over 300 yards, while averaging 10 yards per attempt with four touchdown passes. It's the first time in his career he's had consecutive games averaging 10 yards per attempt, let alone reaching these other plateaus.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Brady is just the fourth quarterback to throw for 300 yards, average 10 yards an attempt and throw four touchdown passes in consecutive games. The others: Kurt Warner (2000), Randall Cunningham (1998) and Johnny Unitas (1962). If Brady does it again Sunday at the Chicago Bears, he would be the first to do it in three straight games.

• The two longest active playoff streaks in the league belong to the Indianapolis Colts (eight straight) and San Diego Chargers (four straight). And both of those runs are in jeopardy after each team (both 6-6) lost at home, to the Cowboys and Raiders, respectively.

• The New England Patriots and QB Tom Brady abused the supposedly-tough New York Jets defense Monday night every which way possible. Jets defenders have allowed 19 pass plays of 30 or more yards in 12 games (fifth-most in the league), after giving up just eight passing plays of 30 or more yards in 16 games last season.

• The Minnesota Vikings scored 31 first-half points in their 38-14 win over the Bills, a contest in which Brett Favre went out early and was replaced by Tarvaris Jackson. It should be noted that the 31 points were more than they had scored in any game this season. Unfortunately for Jackson, Favre still gets credit for the win because he started the game.

• No matter how many issues you have on offense, it’s hard to win a lot of games if your defense can’t get off the field. Case in point are the Buffalo Bills, who for the sixth time in 12 games gave up at least 200 yards on the ground. Teams allowing 200 yards rushing are 2-27 this season.

• It's taken some time, but the 2010 version of the Jacksonville Jaguars are starting to look like the '07 team that featured an overpowering ground game. The star has been (of course) RB Maurice Jones-Drew, who had 186 of Jacksonville's 258 yards rushing against the Titans, the fifth game in a row Jones-Drew has reached the century mark and the Jaguars have run for at least 130 yards.

• The Detroit Lions have amassed many losing streaks during the past 10 seasons, led by their current 26-game road losing streak. With their 24-20 setback to the Bears on Sunday, Detroit has now dropped 19 straight games in the division, a skid they hope to end next week against the Green Bay Packers.

• The St. Louis Rams evened their record at 6-6 this season with a 19-6 win at Arizona (snapping an eight-game losing streak to the Cardinals). St. Louis has EQUALED their win total from 2007-09 (6-42). And their Missouri brothers, the Kansas City Chiefs, are 8-4 this season, compared to a combined 10-38 the previous three seasons.

• Colts QB Peyton Manning, the four-time NFL MVP, has thrown 11 interceptions in his last three games, and 15 in 12 games this season. Manning’s career-high for interceptions came in his rookie season in 1998 (28), while his 15 interceptions in 2010 are as many or more than he’s thrown in eight of his previous 12 seasons.

• Ben Roethlisberger's recent success against the Baltimore Ravens continues. Since being pounded by Baltimore in 2006 (Roethlisberger was sacked 14 times, threw one TD and four interceptions and the Steelers lost twice by a combined score of 58-7), the two-time Super Bowl champion is 6-0 vs. the Ravens (including playoffs), throwing 10 TDs and just three picks while being sacked 20 times.

• While the end may be near for Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers would be happy to play the Minnesota Vikings every week. In evening his career record to 3-3 vs Minnesota, Rodgers has thrown for 1,587 yards, 12 scores and just three interceptions in a half-dozen games against the Vikings in three seasons.

• Sometimes so much about the Chicago Bears is QB Jay Cutler but this season you have to start noticing an improved defense. Chicago has allowed 17 or fewer points in seven of 10 games this season, a trick they managed just four times during all of 2009.

• This is not a prediction on who will win the AFC South but rather who will decide it down the stretch. The 5-5 Tennessee Titans (riding a three-game losing streak) will close the season by playing five divisional games in the final six weeks, including four straight starting this Sunday at Houston.

• Another lesson on why football is a game of matchups. Last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost 39-26 to the New England Patriots, recording zero sacks and zero takeaways for the first time all season. Pittsburgh forced three turnovers and totaled six sacks in Sunday’s 35-3 win over the Oakland Raiders. Also worth noting is that for the first time all season, Oakland failed to run the ball at least 25 times (16) for at least 100 yards (61).

• The Arizona Cardinals dropped their fifth straight game and fell to 3-7 this season. For the first time in his four-year head coaching career, Ken Whisenhunt will not win more games than he did the previous season (8-8 in 2007, 9-7 in 2008, 10-6 in 2009).

• A quickie on the Colts: At 6-4, Jim Caldwell's team will now have to run the table in order to record an eighth straight season of 12-plus wins, extending their own NFL record. And in case you don't think that's possible, Tony Dungy's 2008 Colts opened their season at 3-4, and then ran the table for a 12-4 record.

• Emulating one of your siblings can sometimes be a bad thing. It's worth noting that both the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants lost Sunday. Peyton Manning and Eli Manning each threw three interceptions and each threw an interception on their final pass attempt of the game. Indianapolis is now 6-4 and the Giants fell to (you guessed it) 6-4.

• While it's much too early to say that they're in the midst of another second-half swoon, the Giants have now dropped two straight following their 6-2 start. Dating to 2003, Big Blue is 45-19 in their first eight games of the season, compared to a dismal 20-38 in the final eight games of the season. Stay tuned.

The Minnesota Vikings fired head coach Brad Childress Monday and named Defensive Coordinator Leslie Frazier the Interim Head Coach. Childress went 39-35 in more than four seasons with Minnesota and 1-2 in the playoffs, including losing in the NFC Championship game last season.

The Vikings lost 31-3 to the Green Bay Packers at home Sunday, the second time in two weeks that a big Green Bay win has led to the opposing coach being fired. In their last game two weeks ago the Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 45-7 and Wade Phillips was fired the next day.

Childress is an offensive coach, and the Vikings offense has struggled this season. They are down in almost every category, but their struggles start with turnovers.

After having the fourth-fewest giveaways in the league last season, only two teams have turned the ball over more often than the Vikings have this season.

Perhaps as a result, the Vikings have attempted 210 passes when trailing this season which amounts to 63.1 percent of their total pass attempts. Last season the Vikings attempted just 172 passes when trailing which accounted for just 31.3 percent of their total pass attempts.

And although Minnesota's defense is in the top 10 in yards allowed per game, they are not getting to the quarterback nearly as often.

After finishing in the top eight in sacks in each of the last three seasons -- and first in 2009 -- the Vikings rank near the bottom of the leauge this season.

They don't blitz often, sending four or fewer players on 70.4 percent of opponent dropbacks the last three seasons. In 2008 and 2009, the Vikings led the league with a sack every 13 dropbacks when rushing four or fewer. This season, they rank in the bottom half of the league.

Thanks to two more overtime games on Sunday, the NFL has already equaled its season total from 2009 (13). As for an odd note, five of those 13 games have ended 23-20.

Last season, the NFL set single-season records for 4,000-yard passers and 300-yard passing performances. Entering Week 10, there had been just 43 300-yard passing game in nine weeks. In Week 10, there were 13 300-yard passing games, the most in one week in NFL history according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

So far so good for the Florida teams. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3), Jacksonville Jaguars (5-4) and Miami Dolphins (5-4) all won at home on Sunday, all sport winning records and are a combined 16-11 this season. A year ago, Tampa Bay (3-13), Jacksonville (7-9) and Miami (7-9) won a total of 17 games, mostly because the Bucs were dismal.

Sunday was not the first time New York Jets WR Santonio Holmes sent an Ohio crowd home disappointed in overtime. As a rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006, Holmes caught a game-winning TD pass in overtime at Cincinnati in what proved to be Bill Cowher’s final game as Steelers head coach.

Minnesota Vikings QB Brett Favre continues his amazing turnaround from a year ago. Favre was guilty of all four of Minnesota’s turnovers in Sunday’s loss at Chicago, meaning the veteran QB has now coughed up the ball 21 times (16 interceptions, five lost fumbles) in nine games this season, compared to nine turnovers in 16 regular-season games in 2009.

Unfortunately for the Houston Texans, they once again appear to be in a midseason swoon after a promising start and, once again, can’t seem to handle their divisional rivals, especially defensively. Houston is 5-16 in its last 21 games vs AFC South teams dating to 2007 and has allowed at least 28 points in 15 of those games.

The Detroit Lions made dubious history with their NFL-record 25th straight road loss via a 14-12 setback at Buffalo to the then-winless Bills. Detroit is now 8-69 on road dating to 2001. That is astounding considering that the New England Patriots (obviously) won eight road games during their undefeated regular season in 2007.

Tom Coughlin's New York Giants were cooled off dramatically at home by the Dallas Cowboys in one of the weekend's more surprising results. Not surprising has been the sloppy play of Big Blue, who despite their 6-3 record, turned the ball over three times vs Dallas, the sixth time in nine games that the Giants have committed three or more turnovers.

Quick, the Eagles just scored again. Philadelphia's 59-28 Monday night win at Washington saw the Birds set a new record for points scored on Monday Night Football, and their 592 total yards were the second-highest total in Monday Night Football History. The teams' 87 combined points were tied for the second-most in Monday Night Football; the highest remains Green Bay's 48-47 win over (you guessed it) Washington in 1983 at Lambeau Field.

• The Pittsburgh Steelers had their share of issues in the fourth quarter last season and still have some questions this season, despite Monday night's nailbiting win at Cincinnati. Pittsburgh has given up an NFL-low 123 points as well as just 11 offensive touchdowns in eight games, but 63 of those points and eight of those TDs have come in the final quarter.

• The NFL gave us three overtime games in Week 9, the most in one weekend since Week 2 of 2006. There have been 11 overtime games this season in nine weeks, compared to 13 regular-season OT contests in all of 2009.

• With all of the drama going on in Minnesota, the one aspect of the Vikings’ game that has not gotten enough scrutiny has been the team’s pass rush. Brad Childress’ team led the NFL with 48 sacks last season, but had only six sacks in their first seven games this season (one by DE Jared Allen). On Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, the Vikings TOTALED six sacks, getting 2 ½ from Allen.

• The New England Patriots travel to Pittsburgh on Sunday night, then host the Indianapolis Colts the following week, a stretch that may tell us something about the power structure in the AFC. Sometimes we forget that while the NFC has sent nine different teams to the last nine Super Bowls, the AFC has been represented by just four teams over that same span: the Patriots (four), Raiders (one), Steelers (two) and Colts (two).

• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers nearly came up with another fourth-quarter comeback at Atlanta, but the bigger issue is Tampa Bay’s run defense, which has been a liability for more than a year and needs to radically improve if this club is to become a true contender. The Bucs were last in the NFL last season in rush yards allowed, and this year, they rank 30th out of 32 teams.

• More proof that the Oakland Raiders are indeed coming? Tom Cable’s team is 5-4 (equaling last season’s win total) and 3-0 in the division. From 2003-09, Oakland was a combined 8-34 in divisional games. This season, they snapped a 13-game losing streak to the San Diego Chargers and on Sunday, beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Oakland for the first time since 2002. Next up on their wish list is another win. The Raiders haven’t won more than five games in a season since their Super Bowl campaign of 2002.

• The Wade Phillips Era finally ended in Dallas following the team’s lopsided loss at Green Bay Sunday night. Here’s the list of midseason coaching changes (aka guys who were fired) in the league dating back to 2000:

When the Minnesota Vikings released Randy Moss after their brief relationship, the general consensus was that Moss is not close to the player he once was. He had become an afterthought in the New England Patriots passing attack prior to being traded, and was far from dynamic while in purple.

The numbers certainly support this assertion. Moss ranks tied for 77th in receptions, 66th in receiving yards and 32nd in yards per reception. He's been targeted 47 times this season and caught just 22 passes, good for a 46.8 percent rate -- the 3rd-lowest in the league (minimum 20 receptions). His 22 receptions are his fewest through eight games in his career. Clearly, the statistics say that Moss is a declining asset. But what if that wasn't so clear?

Both Tom Brady and Brett Favre were better this season with Moss than without him, despite Moss' poor individual stats. Brady and Favre’s combined passer rating was nearly 32% higher with Moss on the team than without him on the team. Brady’s passer rating with Moss this season is 109.0 and without him it is 81.8. Favre’s passer rating with Moss this season is 77.9. Without him, it’s 64.2.

In fact, this is right on par with the dramatic effect he’s had on all the QB he’s been paired with in his career. One revealing study noted Moss made the six QBs who played at least nine games in one season with Moss demonstrably better. So while Moss might not be hauling in passes with the same regularity that he did even just a few years ago, his mere presence on the field is clearly opening up opportunities for other receivers, forcing opposing teams to account for him and, ultimately, making things easier on his quarterback, whoever that may be.