Game of the week

New England at Pittsburgh, 4:15 p.m.

This is not the time you want to play the New England Patriots. Not only are they coming off an underwhelming performance against Carolina, but critics are beginning to question a disappointing running game that produced 39 yards last weekend. Big deal. This is what matters most about these guys: They haven't lost in consecutive weekends since Dec. 22, 2002 -- or 39 consecutive games, including the playoffs.

Deion Branch burned Pittsburgh in the AFC title game with his running and receiving. (Getty Images)

The game is the third between these two in 11 months, with New England losing in Pittsburgh last October, then returning to win the AFC Championship Game. I don't know who wins Sunday, but I promise you the Pats rush for more yards than they did last October. That won't be hard. They didn't have Corey Dillon and wound up with 5. Along with Indianapolis, New England and Pittsburgh are the strongest clubs in the AFC -- with the unbeaten Steelers the early frontrunners based on their blowouts of Tennessee and Houston.

Pittsburgh has a rock-solid running game with Willie Parker, and the Steelers would be advised to stick to it. We all saw what happened when they tried to throw on the third snap the last time these two met. Which leads me to the key to this game: turnovers: If the Steelers make them, they're dead -- and I offer last year's championship game as evidence. They committed four there, leading to 24 New England points. But why stop there? In their past three losses to New England, the Steelers committed 13 turnovers; in their one win, they committed none. The early returns, Pittsburgh fans, are encouraging. No fumbles. No interceptions. But, remember, this is New England, and the Pats are 3-1 against the Steelers under Bill Belichick.

Injury Watch: There will be no Jerome Bettis (calf), but Duce Staley (knee) practiced the past two weeks and could play. He won't bump Parker, who has three consecutive 100-yard games. The Patriots' Brady has a sore right shoulder but will start. Of more concern is a New England secondary that is beginning to look as damaged as it was a year ago. There are five defensive backs listed as questionable, including cornerbacks Tyrone Poole (ankle), Randall Gay (ankle) and Chad Scott (shoulder).

Mano a Mano: It's Ben Roethlisberger vs. Tom Brady. Roethlisberger hasn't lost a regular-season game; Brady hasn't lost a playoff game. Maybe that's why Roethlisberger, 15-0 in the regular season and 16-1 overall, calls Brady "by far the best quarterback in the NFL."

Something to consider: The Steelers have won 16 consecutive regular-season games and are three short of setting a league mark. The current record holder? New England. The team that stopped them at 18? Pittsburgh. Beautiful.

Patriots vs. Steelers
Patriots	2005: 1-1	Stat	2005: 2-0	Steelers
	47 47 333.5 294.0	Pt. Scored: Pt. Allowed: Offense: Defense:	61 14 406.6 262.0

Three games I'd like to see

Oakland at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.

The winless Raiders are in trouble, and this is their chance to shake a funk. But it comes with a proviso: They absolutely, positively must make a commitment to the running game. If you're successful, you can demoralize a good Eagles defense -- but it's not easy with Jeremiah Trotter standing in there at middle linebacker.

Nevertheless, look at the evidence: Dating back to 2003, in the Eagles' past eight losses, opponents never ran fewer than 28 times or gained less than 112 yards. In fact, they averaged 40.2 carries, 174.7 yards and 1.4 rushing touchdowns against these guys. The Raiders, meanwhile, haven't made the commitment to LaMont Jordan that we expected, with the former Jets back carrying five times in the second half last weekend and four times the game before.

The subplot here, of course, is Randy Moss vs. Terrell Owens. One says he's the best wide receiver in the game; the other says, no, he's better. Let's settle it: Moss has 257 yards receiving; Owens has 255 yards. Moss has two TDs; Owens has two TDs. OK, I give up. Gentlemen, start your jabbing.

The Eagles' Donovan McNabb hasn't shaken a groin injury, but those sore ribs sure impaired him last weekend against San Francisco, didn't they? Owens is hurting, too, but there's no way he misses this showdown with Moss.

Something to consider: There's an argument that McNabb's most effective weapon is running back Brian Westbrook, not Owens, and here's the evidence: Westbrook has eight consecutive games of 100 or more yards in offense.

Cincinnati at Chicago, 1 p.m.

If there were any doubts defenses this year are ahead -- and I mean far ahead -- of offenses, this game should erase them. Cincinnati leads the league with 10 takeaways; Chicago is second with eight. I don't care where they rank in overall defense, I'm interested in takeaways and points allowed -- and between them, these two have surrendered four TDs in two games, including one by the Bears. The edge goes to Cincinnati because its offense can produce points in a hurry.

Quarterback Carson Palmer has five consecutive games of 100-plus passer ratings, and his offense has an NFL-best 52 first downs and 924 yards. More impressive is Cincinnati's time of possession: a league-leading 36:27 a game. But these are the Bears, and when you watched safety Mike Brown return an interception for a touchdown last weekend, you had to wonder: Can this be 2001 all over again? I don't know, but I do know rookie quarterback Kyle Orton is the first sign of life at the position in years. The guy is coming off a lopsided victory over Detroit that included a touchdown, no interceptions and a 103.3 passer rating.

Still, the Bears are about winning with defense and a running game, and if Cincinnati can't stop Thomas Jones -- and, remember, the Bengals allow an average of 5.4 yards a carry -- the Bengals could be in for a long afternoon. Jones has 100 yards in three of his past four starts.

Something to consider: The past two times Cincinnati won its first three the Bengals went to the playoffs. They haven't been there since 1990.

New York Giants at San Diego, 8:30 p.m.

San Diego is a great place to visit, unless, of course, your name is Eli Manning. There's a bumper sticker that reads, "Welcome to San Diego; Now Go Home," and I can see someone slapping that on the Giants team bus. Manning, the Giants quarterback, talked his way out of America's Finest City last year after the Chargers made him the No. 1 overall draft pick, and now it's time to pay the consequences.

Beating San Diego was going to be tough with Manning or no Manning because the winless Chargers cannot afford to lose another game. But beating them with a hostile crowd shouting down Manning and the Giants might be near impossible.

What is the best game of Week 3? Patriots at Steelers Bengals at Bears Raiders at Eagles Giants at Chargers

For all the attention Manning gets, this one is just as much about the Chargers' LaDainian Tomlinson. The club must make a commitment to the star running back, and keeping him out of the passing game is not what I'm talking about. Until this year, he caught at least one pass in every game and had 100 catches two seasons ago. Now, he has been blanked twice. That must stop. So should this idea of having him touch the ball fewer than 20 times a game. Tomlinson carried 19 times last week and 19 the week before. One problem: The play of the San Diego offensive line has been poor, and the loss of left guard Toniu Fonoti, out for one game, could complicate things.

Still, it's a desperate Chargers team ... at home ... in front of an angry crowd.

Something to consider: The Giants defense has allowed one offensive touchdown in two games and an average of 51.5 yards rushing per game -- second best in the league.

Crummy game of the week

Dallas at San Francisco, 4:05 p.m.

There was nothing to this game until Dallas blew it Monday against archrival Washington, and 49ers linebacker Julian Peterson opened his mouth. Uh-huh, that was Peterson who "guaranteed" a win here, and somebody must have forgotten to show him videotape of the Philadelphia massacre.

The clock is ticking on San Francisco's Tim Rattay, with rookie Alex Smith making an appearance last week. If the 49ers play as they did last week, look for fans to demand a change at quarterback. There will be no change in Dallas, where Drew Bledsoe has been extraordinarily sharp and accurate. Bledsoe leads the NFC in passer rating at 112.3 and is second in the league in third-down passing -- and, no, that is not a misprint. Now the good news, Drew: San Francisco is the worst-rated passing defense in the game.

Something to consider: With 257 yards, the Cowboys' Bledsoe passes Joe Montana for career passing yards. It will be the last time those two are mentioned in the same sentence.

Upset of the week

Jacksonville over N.Y. Jets (-2½), 1 p.m.

One week it's New York's Chad Pennington who's the concern; the next it's the Jets' opposing quarterback. Jacksonville's Byron Leftwich is questionable after taking a horrific beating against Indianapolis, and I'm not talking about the final score. Leftwich was sacked six times, pressured more than a dozen times and bent in half on one ugly tackle. Nevertheless, he played on and vows to start again Sunday.

Let's see. Without Leftwich, the Jags will have trouble scoring, but it's not offense that is this club's identity. It's defense, with Jacksonville loaded on that side. Hey, this is the unit that last week held Peyton Manning without a touchdown and more passes missed (15) than completions (13) and had, at one point, the hometown fans booing Manning. Talk about short memories.

The Jets have concerns of their own, with running back Curtis Martin nursing a sore knee, but can anyone tell me the last time he missed a start? Yep, it was October 1998. Take the under in this one and lean slightly toward Jacksonville. Good defense wins tight games, and their defense is better than the Jets'.

Something to consider: Once they were road warriors. Now the Jets are homebodies. They're 7-2 in their past nine at Giants Stadium.

Where we will be

Pete will be in Pittsburgh, reminding Ben Roethlisberger there's one other quarterback he might want to consider when he runs his next poll.

I will be in Philadelphia, serving as unofficial scorekeeper for the Randy-T.O. "I am the greatest" debate.

Worth noting

Indianapolis is expected to beat Cleveland this weekend, but there's an intriguing subplot to this one. Browns coach Romeo Crennel was the defensive coordinator in New England and is 6-0 against Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning. Let's see how Manning handles the Browns or, better, how Crennel handles Manning.

Three and out with ...

New York Giants RB Tiki Barber

Q: Have you ever seen a crowd have an impact on a player's performance?

Barber: Maybe in a quarterback situation because so much depends on being able to verbalize things and being loud. But as far as getting in their heads by taunting them, no, not really. The impact is minimal. Sometimes it's annoying, but I don't think it affects the way you play on the field.

Q: Would you agree that you're in a tough spot because the Chargers are so desperate to win?

Barber: There are a lot of ingredients for them. They have a lot of talent and a lot of expectations. They're 0-2, so it's a very difficult situation for us, especially considering that we have to fly out there the day before and acclimate to a different time zone.

Q: How much easier will it be for Eli Manning this weekend if you can run on the Chargers?

Barber: It takes a lot of pressure off him. Last year we were forced to throw the ball because so many guys (defenders) were in the box, and it was tough on him. That's what we're trying to avoid, and I think we have good guys to do it this year.

The lowdown on ...

Oakland wide receiver Randy Moss

(An AFC scout's report)

"The guy's in a class by himself ... has outstanding vertical ability ... better than decent speed ... can change a game with one play ... I agree with Mike Tice: His team should throw at him 16 times a game ... your defense has to know where he is at all times ... is physical and can make the difficult catches ... should be more of a threat in the red zone than he has been the first two weeks ... will make the catch even if double covered ... not a very good blocker, but that's more from desire than ability ... not a good backside receiver ... if the play's not designed to him, he's going to take it off ... a great receiver who can turn a game around, but not the best in the game because he doesn't go hard every play."