With the Ravens taking on the Steelers last night in AFC North action, we might have figured for a close game with great drama. That drama was increased when we found out that Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t in shape to play the game, putting in a rookie name Dennis Dixon, who didn’t get to practice much this week. The Ravens came close to winning it in regulation, but they weren’t able to get their kicker into a decent position. As time ticked off the clock, he had to run out and try to kick from his maximum distance (it didn’t work). But in the overtime period, the Steelers had the ball first and started charging across the field. But then the Ravens pulled out an interception with a run-back that almost got them within field goal range. They got the field goal for a 20-17 win; Joe Flacco proved himself an able player in a playoff-like atmosphere and fans hope to see more of that Flacco over the next weeks! An exciting game though!

On Thanksgiving, the unexpected third game was played in the evening, with the New York Giants vs the Denver Broncos. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the kind of competition that you might have hoped for during the last few months. When you thought that the Giants would be able to get into the playoffs or the Super Bowl again, this matchup looked like it could be an important one. But with the Giants struggling mightily against injury and poor performance, it turned into a one-sided situation. A lot of people had thought that the Broncos were more or less finished for the season, but they beat the Giants, and their 4 game losing streak, by 26-6. The drama in Denver might not be completely over, but I reckon they feel much better about life than they did last weekend!

The Indianapolis Colts remained unbeaten this season, after they held off the Baltimore Ravens yesterday, 17-15. The game was very close indeed, and it was mainly the Ravens’ mistakes that cost them the potential win. They had hoped to be able to finally topple the best team in the AFC. Instead, Indianapolis has practically sealed their win in the division. They had a good chance to lose it at the end, when Ed Reed tried to lateral on the final punt return. It didn’t work out and the Colts picked up the the ball on a ruled fumble. The end of the game occurred much earlier, when Flacco’s long throw was intercepted to end a big drive. The Ravens can be proud that they got far against the Colts, but will have to hope for better if they get into the playoffs in 5 weeks.

The question of whether Kyle Orton will play in this weekend’s game against the Chargers will be put off until about game time. He has been key to the Denver offense this year, making the team seem much more dominant than they have been for many years now. Last week, Orton got an ankle sprain against the Redskins. He has missed several practices this week. This leads to the question of if he’ll be able to play this weekend. He’ll do a practice this weekend to see if he’s ready for the game and then the coach will make the decision. This would be a game that he shouldn’t miss if he can avoid it, because the Chargers will be their main opposition in trying to get the divisional title this year. The Chargers are doing well, so are the Broncos, so a big game is ahead on Sunday. Get ready!

Whenever the Patriots and the Colts get together, it’s clearly going to be a tough competition these days. This is the kind of rivalry that we are going to remember in the future as one of the big ones. The Colts have been unbeaten so far in the 2009 season. This year has been fun for both teams and New England fans had been looking forward to having Tom Brady back to full speed. This clash of the titans finally came to a head with about 2 minutes left in regulation. The Patriots went for it on 4th down and 2. They didn’t need to, because they actually had the lead. But by trying to get the 4th down, they would have practically won the game. Instead, they surrendered possession deep in their own territory. The Colts drove it in for a score and won the game in the end. In football, you take big risks and you get some big rewards or embarrassing failures. You can guess which one the Pats god last night.

When the AFC North rivals Cincy and Pittsburgh go forwards to a huge battle on Sunday, it will be an important game on many levels. Both of these teams are fighting for predominance in the division this time around. The winner will be on top of the division by themselves. That doesn’t mean that they will win, nor that they are certain to win. But it does mean that they will have a big jump going into the second half of the season. Only about 7 weeks remain, and a game lead will be especially important in this hard-fought division. The Ravens are good too, but the Bengals and Steelers look like the most likely to win the division. Just count Cleveland out for this year, I’m afraid. A good year, however, is being held by everyone.

The Kansas City Chiefs have been fighting against the waves the last couple of weeks. Running back Larry Johnson shot his mouth of a few weeks ago, insulting the team’s fans and generally making problems for the entire team. He also criticized the coach, which isn’t a problem except that he used some socially unacceptable terms to describe him. This left the team in an untenable situation. Since they are so far down this year, they find that any player is dispensable, especially when he becomes a PR disaster like Johnson did in the last week or so. He was suspended through this weekend and then it was announced this morning that he was being officially cut from the team altogether. It’s not clear if this means that another team will pick him up, although quite a few teams will probably have interest. There are reports that even New England is interested, which would be very interesting, though it doesn’t help out the parity of teams around the league, I suppose.

With the St Louis Rams in effective free fall this year, there have been lots of discussions of the team’s future. Last month, there were discussions of the change of owners. They were going to sell the team to a group of investors, but certain people in that group were very unpopular. Either way, it doesn’t seem to matter, though actually cementing down a set of owners could be very helpful for the team to actually figure out how to make player changes. For now, they’ve decided that they’re going to stick with Marc Bulger for next game. This coming from the coach of the team today. Bulger hasn’t been able to win a game all season except for one against the struggling Detroit Lions last week. They are on a bye week right now in preparation for the New Orleans Saints, perhaps the toughest team this year. Good luck to them, because it looks like they might need it. But losing to the Saints isn’t anything to be embarrassed by, at least.

The Dallas Cowboys have been concerned all year with the level of play that they’ve been able to bring to the table during this season. They seem to have turned the corner in the last couple of weeks, but the beginning of the season was nothing great for them. The NFC East is a part of the NFL that was supposed to be very competitive again this year. There is some tough competition. But the Cowboys and the Eagles seem to be the two teams that are rushing fast towards a division title battle. The Giants have fallen off, in a way, this season, so we’ll have to be watching to see if they’re sinking or just going through a rough patch. But Tony Romo and the Cowboys are now tied for first in the division after a 38-17 win against Seattle yesterday. It’s not the divisional matchup we might have expected but it will be a nice one.