By Jeff Risdon/RealGM

$.01--The New York Giants continued their uncanny mastery of the 49ers in surprisingly dominant fashion, crushing the hosts 26-3. This was the most surprising outcome of the week, not because the Giants won but rather the manner in which they achieved the easy win.

San Francisco prides itself on playing smart, positionally disciplined football with toughness and precision. Very little of that was on display Sunday, and credit goes to the Giants for forcing them out of their comfort zone. Jim Harbaugh has a growing reputation as a mastermind who anticipates what the other team is going to do before they even know they need to adjust, but wily Tom Coughlin continually beat him to the punch. I think Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride’s diatribe against Justin Smith’s endemic holding (he’s 100% correct, by the way) cleverly distracted Harbaugh from making the best possible game plan he could.

If I didn’t know better, I would swear the Giants were stealing signals like their baseball brethren that play in San Francisco. Watching the Giants defense was akin to the old Tecmo Bowl game where if you called the right defense the offense had no chance. The second half sure looked that way, as the Giants seized the game by the balls with David Wilson’s long kick return. Antrell Rolle--widely panned by Giants fans for poor play lately--intercepted Alex Smith on each of the next two drives and the rout was on.

For as much as everyone lauds the Niners, the plain fact is they’ve been overmatched in two of the three games they’ve played against good teams. Teams with offensive diversity, the ability to run and throw both inside and outside, are able to reliably move the ball against their vaunted defense. But the bigger concern has to be the San Francisco offense, which once again could get little going. The Giants bagged six sacks and had three TFLs against the run. New York stayed disciplined, committing just three penalties. They kept Eli Manning well protected, as the Niners got zero sacks and just a handful of token pressures. Much like the Minnesota game, San Francisco struggled when the opponent didn’t buy into the ethos that the Niners were this vastly superior, well-oiled machine. It will be very interesting to see how they fare against division foes Seattle and Arizona, two teams that are not afraid of anyone, in the next two weeks. The Giants fear no one as well, and that’s why they remain legit threats to repeat as Super Bowl champs.

$.02--Baltimore held off Dallas in a 31-29 thriller, capped only when Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey missed wide left from 51-yards as time ran out. If you look at the box score, you might wonder how Dallas didn’t win this game by double digits. Such is the tragi-comic nature of being a Cowboys' fan these days.

Dallas, by and large, played a great game and was clearly the better team on Sunday. The Cowboys gashed the suddenly porous Ravens run defense for over 200 yards with a variety of different runners, each of whom found easy sledding. They held the ball for more than 2/3 of the game. Other than one pass to Ray Rice they prevented the Ravens from getting any big plays. They even mounted a great comeback, including recovering an onside kick which set up Bailey’s potential game winner. Dez Bryant couldn’t haul in a 2-point conversion on the exact same play he scored the touchdown on, but he and Tony Romo both had strong games.

The difference in the game was Jacoby Jones’ record-tying 108 yard kickoff return that followed a Bailey field goal on the first series of the second half. Baltimore desperately needed a shot in the arm and Jones provided one. Even though the Ravens took the lead just before halftime, momentum was clearly favoring the Cowboys at that point. Good teams find a way to win even when they’re not at their best, and the Ravens do that at home as well as any team in the league.

The victory might be very costly for the Ravens, however. Early reports are that Ray Lewis suffered a torn triceps muscle and top corner Ladarius Webb is lost for the season with a torn ACL. It’s funny; all I heard Sunday morning on the radio preview shows on both Sirius NFL radio and ESPN Gameday radio was how Ray Lewis is a shell of his former self and appears washed up. Then once he gets hurt, those very same networks can’t overplay the devastating impact of his terrible injury enough. In getting hurt Lewis went from being a guy who belonged on the bench to an irreplaceable All-Pro in his prime in the matter of a few hours. Make no mistake, Baltimore will miss Lewis, but practically speaking they will miss Webb more

$.03--My Lions somehow came up victorious in Philadelphia in a game where it’s a crying shame that someone had to win. This was a sloppy, lengthy, uninspiring affair that leaves fans of both teams angry at their coaches and dubious about their teams’ prospects going forward.

Detroit stunk up the joint for the first three and a half quarters of the game. They committed 16 penalties, a NFL season high. Coach Jim Schwartz insisted on challenging a forward pass, burning a timeout on what might have been the easiest review ever to shoot down for the officials. The Lions exhibited terrible clock management and play selection at the end of the first half, nearly costing them points. The lack of discipline, the lack of common sense, the lack of basic fundamentals, all are alarming and omnipresent with the Lions. It came to a head midway through the fourth quarter, when Michael Vick burned them on a simple pass play to a wide open Jeremy Maclin for a 70-yard touchdown where there were never any Lions in the same TV screen as Maclin.

The Lions did their best to lose this game, but the equally clueless Eagles coaching staff simply wouldn’t allow them. That long Maclin TD seemed to wake Matt Stafford from yet another slumbering start (he was 6-for-18 in the first half), and there was just enough time for the comeback. Coverage breakdowns and loss of edge containment allowed the Lions to quickly score a touchdown. The Eagles forgot how to protect Vick, giving up pressure after sack from a relentless Lions front. A terrible pass interference penalty on Colt Anderson in the end zone set up the tying score; Anderson body checked the receiver as the ball approached, seemingly unaware there might be a Lion actually trying to get to the throw. Jason Hanson sent the game into overtime, where the Eagles had the misfortune of getting the ball first.

Vick got sacked on the first two plays, and the game should have ended on the third play when two different Eagles were guilty of holding in the end zone on a play where the Lions only rushed three and still nearly got the sack. After a nice Calvin Johnson catch, Hanson ended the misery for both teams and sent Detroit home a winner.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know my disdain for Schwartz and his staff’s performance here. Coming out of a bye, the lack of alacrity and discipline are inexcusable failures by the coaches to have their team ready to play. Yet it’s pretty clear Detroit outcoached Philly because of the final outcome. In a way, the Lions chronic issues with penalties prepared them to overcome the 16 flags. Philly was unable to stop the bleeding after some bad penalties of their own, the aforementioned Anderson flag, an offensive pass interference on Brent Celek that wiped out a touchdown, or rookie DT Fletcher Cox jumping offsides on an extra point and then getting ejected on the next play for going after Gosder Cherilus. As boneheaded as the Lions play, the Eagles consistently make even more egregious and careless mistakes. It reflects poorly on both coaching staffs and I hope the media in both cities goes after them in the Monday press conferences. Detroit is 2-3, Philly is 3-3, but both teams should be a lot better.

$.04--Here in Houston, it’s a very bleak Monday. Green Bay came into Reliant Stadium and absolutely manhandled the previously undefeated Texans. The score was 14-0 before I even got the game turned on after playing outside with my kids for a mandatory, wife-imposed break from football.

We should have just stayed outside. Aaron Rodgers picked apart Houston’s previously laudable secondary for a record-tying six touchdowns and no INTs. The Packers OL, bastions of holding and communication breakdowns all year long, held up more than nicely against the mighty Texans pass rush. JJ Watt did get two more sacks, but one was well after the cows came home and he got no help from Brooks Reed or Connor Barwin. Jordy Nelson and James Jones were consistently wide open, and Rodgers dialed the clock back to last season, when he was arguably the greatest QB ever. His accuracy has not been this sharp all year, and the patented caustic smirk was back in fine form.

This is what the Cheeseheads have been waiting for all year. This is also what many of my fellow Houstonians have been waiting for as well: adversity. Green Bay came into town and didn’t only punch the Texans in the mouth, they branded the dog and stole the money from the cookie jar.

Much like the 49ers, the Texans are a team built to get an early lead and grind out wins with a punishing defense and strong, balanced offense that doesn’t make mistakes. Much like what happened in San Francisco to the Niners against the Giants, when that template gets thrown askew the Texans are in real trouble. Houston just doesn’t have the dynamic playmakers on offense to make up big deficits.

Arian Foster is probably the best all-around running back in the league, but he’s not the type of player that can rip off multiple 30+ yard runs when the team is down by multiple scores. The decline in Andre Johnson cannot be overstated; he gets no separation down the field and has lost almost all YAC ability. The Texans have no other receiving threat other than Owen Daniels, and it’s awful hard to come back by throwing 10-yard seam routes to the tight end into the teeth of the defense.

The bigger issue for Houston is the sudden breakdown of the pass defense, and more specifically Pro Bowl corner Johnathan Joseph. This is the second week in a row he has been awful, and that is no hyperbole. Joseph has been as close to a shutdown #1 corner as anyone not named Revis since he arrived in Houston last year, but in the past two weeks he’s been worse than Kareem Jackson on the other side. Considering Jackson is the FootballOutsiders.com poster boy for coverage ineptitude, Houston has a problem. Wade Philips’ defense doesn’t work if the corners cannot handle man coverage on the outside with minimal safety help, and against Green Bay I’m not sure they could have stopped Rodgers and friends with 13 guys on the field.

$.05--Cleveland finally broke into the win column with an impressive performance against the rival Bengals. They did so with a complete team effort.

Brandon Weeden started slowly before lighting up Cincinnati behind excellent pass protection. Weeden often had enough time to eat a slice of birthday cake before throwing, and when he has a clean pocket his accuracy is as good as anyone in the league. Trent Richardson ran the ball well early before leaving with an injury, and his backup Montario Hardesty filled in capably. The decision to use a Supplemental Draft pick on Josh Gordon looks better every week. In six weeks he has emerged from complete project to viable deep threat with a strong work ethic. He caught another touchdown but was more impressive on his sideline 3^rd down catch, a perfect route and hand catch that have to encourage the Dawg Pound faithful. Josh Cribbs kick-started the second half surge with a 60-yard punt return, while the coverage units were fantastic. Sheldon Brown baited Andy Dalton into a bad INT and TD return, while Joe Haden made several impact plays in his return from suspension.

This is how things were supposed to go for Cleveland all year. The strong core of young talent, and there absolutely is strong young talent on the Browns' roster, would play solidly and spiritedly. They would force more mistakes than they make and ride strong special teams to wins in close games against non-elite teams. Sadly this is the first time that plan came together for Coach Shurmur, but don’t bet on it being the last. Cleveland looked like the better team than Cincinnati, which had very little outside of Dalton-to-Green and strong Keith Huber punting.

$.06--Tennessee upset Pittsburgh on Thursday night in a game that probably shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did. After all, I did pick the Titans--with Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback as he was Thursday--to get a Wild Card spot and the Steelers to fall flat. Of course, I also picked the Steelers to win this particular game…

I’m mightily tempted to rant on the imminent decline of the Steelers, but that does a disservice to the Titans. Having Hasselbeck instead of Locker directly led to this win, and I’ll tell you why. On the final touchdown drive, Kenny Britt had a bad drop in the end zone, yet another mindless failure that seems to follow Britt like the paparazzi on Lindsay Lohan. A younger, inexperienced quarterback would struggle to throw right back to him on the very next play, and it would be hard to blame him. But Hasselbeck knew what he had, a mismatch he knew he could exploit with Britt. Next play, touchdown Britt, albeit with a little offensive pass interference and a shaky juggle.

That is the message the Titans needed: believe in yourselves. Hasselbeck had every reason to choose a different option, but he stuck with the most talented option and it paid. I suspect it will continue to pay down the line, because Britt has the sort of fragile psyche that needs the affirmation here and can thrive from it. What fascinates me is how they handle Jake Locker coming back, perhaps as soon as next week. If Locker struggles and Britt goes back to boneheaded diva mode, Coach Mike Munchak will face a very critical press and fan base wondering why he ruined a good thing. The Titans absolutely have playoff life right now, but they cannot afford a dramatic turn of events.

$.07--Buffalo vs. Arizona. You really had to see the final 10 minutes of this game to believe it. I’ll recap:

--the teams traded INTs on drives midway through the fourth quarter

--Cards QB Kevin Kolb gets knocked from the game after what had to have been his 15^th scramble of the afternoon

--John Skelton comes in and throws five incompletions in six attempts, four of which were not even close

--Jay Feely, whose career long field goal was 55 yards, nails a 61-yarder to tie the game with just over a minute left

--Buffalo anemically tries to get the game to overtime but only takes 20 seconds off the clock and commits a penalty on the punt

--Skelton makes one good throw to Larry Fitzgerald to set up an easy Feely game-winning field goal

--said field goal hits the upright and bounces to the middle of the crossbar, where it just missed clearing for the win

--Buffalo wins the toss and drives down the field into field goal range, but on 4^th down they commit a false start

--Bills coach Chan Gailey opts to punt instead of trying the longer field goal, much to the derision of Buffalo fans everywhere

--the punt appears to be downed at the one, but replay shows the Bills player brushed the goal line while touching the ball for a touchback

--Skelton throws a horrible INT on 3^rd and long to Jairus Byrd. I’d say Byrd picked him off but it sure looked like he was the intended receiver on the play

--Rian Lindell kicks the game winner

The bottom line: both of these teams are tied for first place in their divisions. Neither will be there for long with more performances like this.

$.08--5 NFL Quickies

 1. The Saints were off this week but still made the news with Roger Goodell doubling down on the Bountygate suspensions. I’ve wasted too many keystrokes on this already, so I’ll be brief and blunt here. Goodell is not going to re-suspend Vilma if he didn’t have the burden of evidence proven beyond a reasonable doubt. You might hate Roger Goodell, but he’s not a crazed autocrat like Ahmadinejad. Vilma painted himself into the martyr corner a long time ago and has no out other than to vehemently fight. He might even think he’s not guilty of anything wrong. Jerry Sandusky thinks he’s innocent too. I’ll trust Goodell on this one.

2. Tampa Bay CB Aqib Talib got suspended for four games for testing positive for Adderall. To the oft-troubled Talib’s credit, he is not appealing the suspension but rather owned up to taking an off-prescription pill of the banned stimulant. Adderall use and abuse is a growing issue for the NFL, as Talib is the fourth defensive back suspended this season for using it. I’d give Talib more benefit of the doubt except he has been a pariah for his entire 4-year NFL career, with numerous arrests and disciplinary issues. If Greg Schiano is serious about setting a professional tone, Talib will have played his last game in pewter. No way is he worth the chronic migraine headache.

3. Stat that stunned me: Through the first half of their 5th game, Tony Romo and the Cowboys were the only team to not score a touchdown pass on 3rd down all season. Wow.

4. All good things must come to an end, and such is the case for the budding legendary status of Rams rookie kicker Greg the Leg Zuerlein. Young GZ missed three field goals, though his 66-yarder to potentially tie the game was plenty long enough. The Rams lost by three in Miami.

5. Supposedly, the Washington Post clocked RG3’s final 40 yards of his long TD run at four seconds flat. I’m not sure I buy that, but there’s not a player in the league that catches him on that gallop. Impressive win for the Skins, and a great job by Mike Shanahan with the run-heavy game plan to keep Griffin protected.

$.09--5 College/Draft Quickies

1. I was in person for LSU’s stirring victory over South Carolina in a game that had at least 10 draftable talents on the field. LSU wore down the SC defense with a heavy dose of freshman RB Jeremy Hill and held on for the close win that confirmed the West is still best in the SEC. I counted scouts or personnel evaluators from at least 20 teams in attendance, and I’ll have a scouting notes piece up later this week. It will not be kind to either top-shelf safety from this game, Eric Reid or DJ Swearinger.

2. Oklahoma hammered Texas at the Cotton Bowl in a game where the final score doesn’t begin to display the true domination. Oklahoma had more runs of 10+ yards in the first half than Texas had plays until the final minute. A week after West Virginia gashed the Longhorns, Landry Jones and friends were even better against Manny Diaz’s defense. Mack Brown is running out of scapegoats, and it finally dawned on me who he really is: John Cooper 2.0. That’s not a slam, either; Cooper is a friend of mine and I consider his Buckeye years tremendously successful. But they could have been even better, and that is true of Brown’s Texas tenure.

3. Texas Tech walloped West Virginia 49-14 in a game that will forever be known as “Geno Smith’s bad day”. A week after Landry Jones and Oklahoma put up 41 on the Red Raiders, Smith’s high-flying Mountaineers bagged just 275 yards passing and no touchdowns. My scouting take is that everyone has a bad day, and that TTU’s pass defense was in fine form all day long. As long as Smith bounces back next week against undefeated Kansas State--no easy task--Smith remains #1 with a bullet on the QB Big Board.

4. The Notre Dame/Stanford game ended in controversy, as the Irish stuffed Stanford RB Stepfan Taylor on 4th & goal in overtime to secure the win. Some replays show that Taylor might have in fact scored on his second effort, but the officials on the field didn’t see it that way. I didn’t either; I thought his elbow hit the ground. What bugs me is that Stanford called the same easily-defensed play from a tight formation four times in a row. You have to create space, not limit it, and the Cardinal have no one to blame but themselves for the lack of creativity.

5. Now appearing at #25 in the AP Poll…Ohio University! My alma mater is ranked for the first time in my 40 years on earth, a monumental accomplishment for what was the worst program in the country for most of the 1990s. And 80s. I’m incredibly proud, but the realist in me knows that consecutive squeakers over MAC bottom feeders Buffalo and Akron make the ranking ring hollow. I’ll take it anyways. Go Cats!

$.10--A lot of people think I have a wonderful job, watching and writing about football. I won’t deny it, I love doing it. But as with every job, there are some negatives. I have come to grips with one of those just recently.

I no longer get any enjoyment out of watching college football. I do not have the capability to just watch a game. My scouting eye is always attuned to a cornerback here or a center there. When a long touchdown pass is completed, I’m solely concerned with the mechanics of the play than the outcome. Was it a great route, or a blown coverage? Did the QB put the ball precisely on target or did the receiver have to adjust? Did the offensive line do anything special? Was there a blitz, or a stunt? Did the outside linebacker drop deep enough in coverage? Did the quarterback look off the safety? All those details and questions are running through my head as I watch the replay. When I’m at home I often watch plays 3-4 times on the DVR, trying to ascertain whatever I can about alignments or targeting different facets of the play. It’s tedious and more technically complicated than most fans could comprehend. It absolutely sucks any emotional interest completely out of the game.

As I wrote above, I was at the LSU/South Carolina game Saturday night. Being at the game is a totally different experience for scouting purposes. Because my access to replays is limited and there is so much going on around me, it’s very hard to be specific on details beyond the box score. I try to focus more on the things I cannot pick up from TV or tape, like how players interact on the sideline, body language after a great or terrible play, who the other players look to in the huddle and positional conferences on the bench, etc. I feel this is an important vein to tap and I greatly appreciate the advantage I feel it gives me over those who just watch the game, but I also don’t think it outweighs the drawbacks. It’s incredibly frustrating to not quickly know the meat of the play when I’m so used to getting the entire entrée.

What I really feel is the prime benefit of being there is interacting with scouts from teams. Some are much more forthcoming than others; I once sat next to a Patriots' scout at a game and after exchanging pleasantries upon seating he literally did not acknowledge my presence the rest of the afternoon, but I’ve had extended and in-depth exchanges with other scouts that have extended to breakfast at the hotel the next morning (all off the record, of course!).

At a Purdue/Toledo game a few years back, I was so engaged with a scout that we basically missed the entire second half while we talked about various players, much to the chagrin of the scout sitting right behind us. This game had scouts from just about every team and so many future NFL players on the field that it was very hard to do much actual scouting. Normally, when I scout a game I have at least two pages of notes, but my pad is nearly empty as far as South Carolina vs. LSU goes. I’ll wind up watching the game at least twice to really do the scouting work on it.

That is work, people. I know it sounds dreamy to many of you, but imagine you love ice cream more than anything in the world. You get a job as a manager at Dairy Queen and you have unlimited access to all kinds of ice cream. But there are only so many Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzards or Royal Fudge N Cakes you can eat before you really want an empanada or a piece of cheesecake or really anything but ice cream. You have to worry about quality control, making sure that every serving is standardized. The men’s bathroom needs cleaning, and the drive thru window sticks when it’s cold out. The new hire accidentally puts walnuts into a Blizzard instead of Heath, requiring a call to the EMT’s to save a customer with allergies by injecting a shot into his tongue (yes that happened to yours truly!). Every time you drive by a different DQ you wonder about how it stacks up to yours. You don’t even think about stopping because the thought of eating yet another butterscotch shake or Peanut Buster Parfait is nauseating. That’s where I’m at with college football. I’m not watching it for entertainment because it seems too much like work. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to find a Dairy Queen…