For once the focus is almost exclusively on the field, even in a week where six teams had ridiculously premature bye weeks. It was a great day of action, following an exciting Saturday collegiate slate.

$.01--The San Francisco 49ers desperately needed a win, no easy task with the high-flying Philadelphia Eagles coming to town. The home team has been skittish and mistake prone in a disappointing 1-2 start. They got it all right in a 26-21 win that puts them back on solid ground.

The Niners absolutely dominated the action. At one point in the fourth quarter they had run 73 plays to 37 for Philadelphia, nearly tripling the time of possession. This is the aggressive, assertive but disciplined defense we have come to expect from San Francisco instead of the penalty-plagued, confused mess they’ve been for most of the first three weeks. Philly could not run the ball, period.

Colin Kaepernick was also more decisive and effective quarterbacking the Niners. He was not perfect, not even close; a bad pick-six to Malcolm Jenkins in the first half is what kept the punchless Eagles in the game. 

The Eagles desperately missed their starting offensive line, which was missing four regulars in their positions. Nick Foles took a pounding behind the makeshift line, including one hit from Justin Smith that forced a deep ball to hang for an easy pick. They had just 5 first downs with 5 minutes to go in the game.

So how did they almost win? The aforementioned pick six provided one touchdown, while a fantastic punt return by Darren Sproles posted another. He was even facemasked as the catch point but still sprinted past the entire Niners team on the return. Their other TD came on a blocked punt in the end zone, and the Eagles very nearly blocked another. They mounted one great drive in the fourth quarter, though it wound up bearing no points thanks to some ponderous play selection from coach Chip Kelly. 

$.02--Aaron Rodgers told Packers fans to “R-E-L-A-X” during the week, trying to assuage the fears of a very spooked Green Bay fan base. They had reason to be worried, as Rodgers was coming off a dreadful loss to Detroit and hadn’t really looked sharp all season.

Rodgers certainly looked relaxed against the rival Bears. He was darn near perfect in shredding the overmatched Chicago defense. Rodgers went 22-for-28 for 302 yards and 4 TDs. Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson--still the only two viable weapons at his disposal--both caught two TDs and topped 10 yards receiving. The Packers didn’t have to punt once all game.

The Bears didn’t punt either, but probably would have preferred a couple instead of the mistakes they made. The two interceptions will stick to Jay Cutler, but neither should be considered his fault. The second one in particular was a case of Brandon Marshall running the wrong route, and the Packers made him pay for it.

It was an important 38-17 win for Green Bay, keeping them from falling too far behind the front-running Lions. Notching a divisional road win and getting back to .500 are strong feats that I wasn’t sure they could pull off.

But before Packers fans get too excited, heed your quarterback’s channeling of Matthew McConaughey and relax a bit. There are still major problems for the Packers. Eddie Lacy remains visionless as a runner, averaging under three yards per carry against a defense that entered the week giving up five per rush. Nobody else but Cobb or Nelson are ever open on any route. Chicago converted 7-of-11 third downs and posted 33 first downs, running for 235 yards. Green Bay was flagged for 9 penalties, and that number could easily have been doubled. Still, a win is a win for a team that desperately needed one.

$.03--Just when you thought Tampa Bay was a serious threat to challenge to 0-16 Lions of 2008 as the only winless team in 16-game NFL history, they traveled to Pittsburgh and pulled off a miracle win.

It took a colossal collapse by the sloppy Steelers, who held a seemingly comfortable 24-20 lead with under two minutes to play after holding off Bucs backup QB Mike Glennon on 4^th down from the Pittsburgh 14. Here’s the blow-by-blow:

-predictable run for 2 yards, Tampa timeout

-false start penalty

-short pass play to force Tampa’s final timeout

-shotgun/concession run to set up 4^th down at the 19

-atrocious punt by Brad Wing, who has had his share of clutch clunkers dating back to his LSU days

-Tampa takes over, incomplete on first down

-Louis Murphy gets wide open and gains 41 as Troy Polamalu badly misreads his coverage responsibility

-two plays later, Glennon finds Vincent Jackson for the game winner on a great out route in the front corner of the end zone

Pittsburgh committed 13 penalties for 125 yards. Mike Tomlin once again provided a seething postgame presser, blaming himself for not having the team ready to play or focused enough to win. I said it earlier and I’ll say it again: at some point the Pittsburgh management is going to hold Tomlin accountable for his repeated, self-admitted failures as a coach. 

$.04--It’s not often a defensive player commands legitimate MVP consideration, but J.J. Watt is no ordinary defensive player. The Texans' defensive end made one of the biggest plays of the young season with his awesome pick-six of E.J. Manuel in Houston’s 23-17 win over Buffalo. Watt leapt up and corralled a lazy throw by Manuel, then took off and returned in 80 yards to put the slow-starting Texans into a lead they would not relinquish.

Watt was once again completely dominant as a pass rushing force. As Albert Breer of the NFL Network noted during the game, Watt hit Manuel six times in the first half alone. He spearheaded a strong third down defense that consistently got off the field without allowing further damage.

The Texans are 3-1, already notching more wins than they did in all of 2013. With the coaching change and the numerous personnel changes around him, Watt is now the unquestioned face of the franchise. No player in the league at any position is better at his job than what Watt is at defensive end. Just for good measure, he’s also caught a touchdown pass as a tight end, too.

If you measure the MVP by how the team would perform without him, Watt is the runaway leader. The Houston offense remains sputtering, with Arian Foster and Andre Johnson both in and out of the lineup. Their secondary gives up too many big plays (looking at you D.J. Swearinger). Take Watt off the Texans and I’m not sure they have even one win. Thanks to his outstanding play they stand 3-1 and in first place in the two-horse race that is the AFC South. If they can hold off Andrew Luck (fantastic again in pounding the hapless Titans) and the Colts, Watt will certainly deserve serious MVP consideration.

$.05--Sunday Night Football, in Twitter form…

In the summer of '13 I predicted major doom and gloom for the Rob Ryan Saints D. I missed by a year.

— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) September 29, 2014

I picked Dallas to win but I have to say I'm shocked by the Saints performance. No tenacity on D and no explosive plays on offense.

— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) September 29, 2014

Saints are being beaten as badly as any Professional team I've seen in the modern era. Their offense is being figured out, and the D mauled.

— Tim Brando (@TimBrando) September 29, 2014

There really isn’t a lot to add to it. Dallas blew the doors off New Orleans, completely dominating both sides of the ball. It was 31-3 after three quarters before the Saints finally decided to play some recognizable football. New Orleans made it interesting for a bit before a bizarre fake punt killed their chances.

The Cowboys are a surprising 3-1 while the Saints are an equally surprising 1-3. Even stranger is that it’s the Dallas defense stepping up, along with a great running game keyed by an outstanding offensive line and the hard-charging Demarco Murray, the league’s leading rusher. Tony Romo has basically been just a bit player, albeit a pretty effective one.

$.06--Another Thursday night, another blowout. This one was a little more unexpected, however. The Giants went down to Washington and scalped the Skins 45-14.

I’m not sure which is the bigger surprise, the sudden competence of the New York offense or the stark collapse of the Ethnic Slurs on both sides of the ball. For the Giants, the young line is starting to congeal. It helps that Eli Manning is clearly getting more comfortable at getting the ball out quickly and in rhythm. During the preseason and in the opener vs. Detroit, Eli clearly had no feel for the beat of the offense. When he tried throwing quickly, he looked like, well, Eli Manning rapping and dancing.

In this game, he eviscerated Washington’s heretofore solid defense with the short passing game. Per ESPN Radio, Manning completed 21-of-27 attempts which were thrown less than 10 yards, and at least one of those incompletions was a drop. That’s feeling the rhythm. Eli danced with tight end Larry Donnell as if they’d been partners for years, a tango Washington could not stop.

Kirk Cousins, on the other hand...

Washington’s celebrated backup quarterback put on a perfect demonstration why he will forever be a backup quarterback. He accounted for five turnovers and converted just one 3^rd down in 8 attempts. He might still be staring at Pierre Garcon from Quentin Demps’ pick. Their thin defense really missed DeAngelo Hall, as well as any competent safety play. They’re one of my biggest disappointments at the quarter point, a team I thought could legitimately challenge for a playoff berth. Instead they look outclassed and heading in the wrong direction, and it goes far beyond the RG3 injury. 

$.07--ESPN suspended Bill Simmons for three weeks for “violating journalistic principles”. In his weekly podcast, Simmons profanely called Roger Goodell a liar. That in and of itself isn’t enough to merit a suspension; Skip Bayless utters far more ridiculous things every day on First Take, albeit without the coarse language.

Simmons then challenged his superiors at ESPN to do something about it. He wildly proclaimed he will “go public” if they do anything.

Consider his arrogant, foolish bluff called. It’s been almost a week and Simmons is being unusually quiet. Whatever he was going to take public apparently wasn’t compelling enough, or he bit off more than he can chew with his unequivocal beatdown by his employer.

This is a very intriguing case going forward. ESPN paid Simmons millions to retain him and develop his Grantland site, which is often a journalistic gem. He’s a key force behind the exceptional “30 for 30” series. But he’s also an incorrigible, overbearing and unctuous raconteur, completely in love with himself and drunk on his power. This is not his first time driving right through the roadblocks of common sense and self-restraint. It won’t be his last, either. ESPN has to loathe knowing that Simmons knows he has enough power to act the way he does and throw it back in their faces like a laughing monkey flinging poo. They can’t fire him, even though they probably should.

$.08--NFL Quickies:

--How powerful is the NFL? Here in the Grand Rapids TV market, the 1 pm lineup looked like this:

They’re not even trying to fight the NFL. At least two weeks ago the ABC affiliate showed Moulin Rouge, something baby boomer women might actually watch.

--Jared Allen missed the Packers/Bears game with pneumonia. He was reported to weight just 237 pounds, 30 pounds under his listed weight. Now that’s an illness.

--I love the Rob Lowe DirecTV ads, where he is his normal incredible-looking self as well as various other creepy incarnations. They’re not as awesome as the Russian billionaire with the miniature giraffe, but close.

--Congrats to Colts wideout Reggie Wayne, who passed Henry Ellard for 10^th on the all-time receiving yardage list.

--Very nice debut start for Teddy Bridgewater in Minnesota. The rookie became the first member of the QB Class of 2014 to throw for 300 yards in leading the Vikings a win over the Falcons.

--I advised everyone to do whatever they could to get Steve Smith into their fantasy lineups in his first game against his old Panthers team. Seven catches, 139 yards, two TDs. You’re welcome. 

$.09--College/Draft quickies

In lieu of a bunch of brief tidbits, here is a current Top 10 overall prospect list. This is how I see them so far, after a month of college football. Do not mistake this for a mock draft order, though it would not surprise me at all if No. 1 here went No. 1 in May.

1. Leonard Williams, DT, USC

2. Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, CB, Oregon

3. Landon Collins, S, Alabama

4. Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

5. Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa

6. Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia

7. P.J. Williams, CB, Florida State

8. Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Texas A&M

9. A.J. Cann, G, South Carolina

10. Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama

Jameis Winston misses the cut, and I sincerely hope he stays in school because he is not ready for the responsibility of being the leader of a college team, let alone a NFL team.

$.10--If you’re like me you are probably sick of all the political ads overwhelming the airwaves these days. Here in Michigan we have a spirited battle for a Senate seat and a gubernatorial contest which is getting uglier by the week. In one morning newscast last week 14 of the 16 commercials were political in nature. One of them even said something about the actual candidate endorsing the spot.

I’m not going to tell you how to vote. But before you flip the dial or mark the box, do your fellow Americans a favor: educate yourself. Explore where the money is coming from on both sides of an election. Do a little research on who is funneling the funds to particular candidates, and try and ascertain why.

Dig into where the mega corporations and big-time donors hold their interests. Why are they spending millions supporting this person? What will they expect in return? Weigh that with what you value, and understand that the person you are voting more is little more than a storefront for the cash behind their ability to get elected.

I would love to not be so cynical, but it’s too easy to find the inherent corruption of seemingly good people. Unfortunately both parties repulse me with their catering to special interests and the fringes of society, while I’m somewhere in the vast majority who reside in the middle.

Despite that, I continue to feed the beast. I vote, even in primaries. I have called my congressman and even had breakfast with my state senator. I’ve gone to local government meetings. I’ve contributed to candidates I support. I still desperately cling to the notion that democracy can work, even the perverted, monetarily hijacked version we have in America today.

Help me believe. Don’t blindly follow the talk radio charlatans or giant news conglomerates who thrive on gullible sheep. Think for yourself. Vote for you, not who someone tells you. Be informed. Be a better American.