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Chad Ochocinco’s mouth is at it again.

This time, the chatty Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver took some playful shots at Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis in an entertaining conference call with the New York media Wednesday.

“Darrelle Revis couldn’t cover me in a brown paper bag on a corner of a Manhattan street inside a phone booth,” Ochocinco said after asking if everyone had their recorders on. “It’s impossible.”

Revis, selected as a Pro Bowl starter, was sent home from practice with an illness and was unavailable to respond to Ochocinco’s latest swipes. Coach Rex Ryan was asked if Revis might have Ochocinco fever.

“I doubt that,” Ryan said with a grin. “I like him, like the way he plays and all that. Hope he doesn’t play this week, but anytime we play him, he’s always got comments. I think it’s good, good for the game.”

Ochocinco and Revis, who consider each other friends, are expected to be matched up during the game Sunday night, but it’s uncertain for how long. The AFC North-champion Bengals might not have much to play for by the time the game starts, although the Jets need to win to make the playoffs. Ochocinco said he has called coach Marvin Lewis “at least 20 times” to see how much the starters are playing, and insists he told him the Bengals are “playing to win.”

“I said, ‘OK, you get me excited and try to pull me out of the game, I’m not coming out. I will force you to use every timeout just to get me off the field,”‘ Ochocinco said. “That’s what I plan to do, I’m not coming off the field, period. If Revis is in there, I’m in the game. I’m not coming out.”

Ochocinco said he thought up a scoring celebration in which he’ll put on a Bengals firefighter’s helmet — making like famed Jets fan Fireman Ed — and sit on the goal post or one of his linemen’s shoulders and get the fans to chant, “O-C-H-O, Ocho, Ocho, Ocho,” instead of the familiar “J-E-T-S” cheer.

“I’m going out this season with a bang,” he said. “I don’t care what anybody says. That’s the celebration of all celebrations.”

Ochocinco was actually extremely complimentary of Revis, raving about his cover skills and calling him “one of the best.”

“Look here: Me and Revis is better than Pacquiao-Mayweather, period, case closed,” he said. “I don’t care what anybody is doing Sunday night. If you don’t tune into the game Sunday, you have no life. You have no life. You (have) never seen a matchup like this ever before.”

Ochocinco, who has 72 catches for 1,047 yards and nine touchdowns, has sent numerous tweets to Revis throughout the season, and the Pro Bowl cornerback recently responded: “good morning world. i just woke up from this crazy dream. @OGOchoCinco came to Revis Island and disappeared.”

“You know how I am, you know my personality, you know my style of play,” Ochocinco said. “This is what I live for on a Sunday and I finally get it. I haven’t had the opportunity to play this type of individual in a very long time.”

Ochocinco sounded genuinely surprised when told that the teams could potentially face each other in the first round of the playoffs at Cincinnati.

“I like it,” he said. “That would be me and Revis again. That’s like Mayweather-Pacquiao II. He’s Pacquiao, though.”

Revis wasn’t the only Jets player to catch Ochocinco’s wrath. Linebacker Bart Scott had plenty of run-ins with the receivers back when he was in Baltimore.

“I’ll hit him in the mouth, and I’m not playing,” Ochocinco said. “I know he takes a lot of things I say as a joke and I’ll be playing. I’m not playing this time because I’m playing for something else. I’ll hit him in the mouth, helmet on or helmet off. I’ll take that fine.”

Scott, also known for not being afraid to speak his mind, took the high road this time.

“I’m not going to give him what he wants this time,” Scott said. “He wants us to entertain the country for a week. This week’s about business, not jokes.”

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Brett Favre and Peyton Manning have other plans for visiting Miami in early 2010.

Already Pro Bowl regulars, they were selected to this season’s game Tuesday. Favre was among eight Minnesota Vikings who made the NFC team, while Manning was one of six Indianapolis Colts on the AFC squad. It will be Favre’s 11th Pro Bowl and the 10th for Manning. No other quarterbacks have been to 10 all-star games.

Naturally, both of them — and every other player chosen for the Pro Bowl whose team has made the playoffs — are thinking of appearing in another game in South Florida, the Super Bowl. All six of the quarterbacks made the playoffs and, of course, would prefer to be playing in the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 in Miami. The Pro Bowl has been moved to the previous Sunday at Dolphin Stadium, and no Super Bowl participants will play in the all-star game.

As Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco said on Twitter after discovering the AFC North champions have nobody going to the Pro Bowl:

“Just been informed myself nor any of my teammates made the Pro Bowl-Bengal fans we wouldn’t be able to play in it anyway! SUPER BOWL BABY!!!”

Favre will be a backup to New Orleans’ Drew Brees, the NFL’s top-rated passer. The other NFC quarterback will be Aaron Rodgers, who replaced Favre in Green Bay last year.

“When you are voted in as a quarterback, you really represent the entire offence and the team,” Brees said, “because there isn’t anything I can accomplish without the offensive line, running backs, tight ends and wide receivers. So this is a recognition of what we’ve been able to achieve as a unit, and I’ve been thrilled to be a part of an offence that has worked together so well this season.”

Tennessee running back Chris Johnson, the league’s leading rusher, also made the AFC team, along with NFL receptions leader Wes Welker of New England. Manning will be backed up at quarterback by New England’s Tom Brady and San Diego’s Philip Rivers.

Vikings RB Adrian Peterson, the league’s top scorer among non-kickers, will be in the NFC backfield. The other Vikings who made it: wide receiver Sidney Rice, defensive end Jared Allen, guard Steve Hutchinson, defensive tackle Kevin Williams, special teamer Heath Farwell and tackle Bryant McKinnie.

Dallas and Philadelphia, which meet for the NFC East title on Sunday, had the next most players on the NFC roster with six each, followed by top-seeded New Orleans with five. There were 13 first-timers chosen in the NFC in voting by fans, coaches and players.

Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers has earned another US$1.5 million by making his fifth Pro Bowl, pushing his NFL-high salary to $18.2 million this season. Peppers has 10 1/2 sacks and was voted an NFC starter.

Nobody made it from the Falcons, Seahawks, Buccaneers or Lions.

The other Colts on the AFC roster were tight end Dallas Clark, defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, wide receiver Reggie Wayne and centre Jeff Saturday.

San Diego, Denver and Baltimore each had five players chosen for the AFC team. There were eight newcomers in the AFC, while Cincinnati was the only division champion with no Pro Bowlers. Kansas City was the other AFC team without one, for the first time since 1978.

Two rookies made the AFC team, Houston linebacker Brian Cushing and Buffalo safety Jairus Byrd, who is on injured reserve.

“I’m just thrilled,” Cushing said. “It’s one of those things you always look forward to growing up playing football. When coach called me today I was just beyond ecstatic. I couldn’t believe that it actually happened.”

Washington LB Brian Orakpo is the lone rookie on the NFC squad. Orakpo is the first Redskins rookie selected for the Pro Bowl in 31 years.

“It really humbles me, because it shows people are watching and really know what I can do out there,” Orakpo said. “I appreciate this honour and hopefully will get some more in the future — and turn this team around, as well.”

Several players used social media to reveal their selections to the game well before the NFL’s official announcement at 7:15 p.m. EST. The NFL found that “understandable.”

“To be named to the Pro Bowl is a tremendous individual honour,” league spokesman Michael Signora said. “We notified each club of its Pro Bowl players at 4 p.m. ET to provide an opportunity for the club to inform its own players. This is standard procedure. It is understandable in today’s world of social media that some players couldn’t resist sharing their good news by tweeting.”

Record-setting kick returner Joshua Cribbs made the AFC team and joked it might help his stalled contract negotiations. Cribbs is planning to take most of the members of Cleveland’s return units with him to the Pro Bowl.

“I hope I get that contract so I can afford it,” he said, laughing. “It’s the least I can do for a job well done. I can’t leave those guys behind, they deserve it as much as I do. I’ve got to take care of my guys.”

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

For all of Terrell Owens’ self-promoting bluster, highlight reel catches and eye-popping numbers, the one topic that doesn’t interest the Bills receiver is whether he will one day land in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“Dude,” T.O. likes to say, “that’s not what I play for.” Maybe not.

Now that Owens achieved a significant milestone in his 14th NFL season by becoming the sixth player to reach 1,000 catches in a 31-3 loss at Atlanta on Sunday, it’s as good a time as any to start the discussion.

And like anything regarding Owens, who’s built a reputation for being prolific on the field and prone to drama off it, there is some debate over whether he’ll be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, any time soon after completing the mandatory five-year waiting period following his retirement.

Hall of fame defensive back Ronnie Lott thinks Owens belongs.

“He’s done some of the things that Hall of Famers have done,” Lott said, referring to Owens’ statistics, consistency and ability to perform in the clutch. Lott particularly noted T.O.’s 122 yards receiving while coming off ankle surgery in Philadelphia’s loss to New England in the 2005 Super Bowl.

“He’s made those kinds of sacrifices, and he’s done that over a body of work,” Lott said. “And when you do something like that for that long, you’ve got to believe that his game and his play on the field has been spectacular.”

Hall of fame coach Marv Levy took a more neutral stand.

“You know he’s going to be discussed,” Levy said. “So, 1,000. I congratulate the guy. It’s quite an accomplishment. I’ll leave that part up to the hall of fame voters.”

It’s nothing against Owens, the former Bills coach said. Levy has made it his priority to lobby voters to first consider inducting former Bills receiver Andre Reed.

And that’s the problem when it comes to discussing which receivers belong, and in what order they should be enshrined.

Though Jerry Rice is regarded by both Lott and Levy as a slam dunk to be a first-ballot inductee in February, there are numerous receivers – such as Reed and Cris Carter – who continue to miss the cut.

Even Lott will draw the line on whether Owens will be inducted sooner than later.

“That’s a tough one,” Lott said. “You’ve got guys that came before him. Everybody would have thought that played against them that they would be first-ballot hall of famers, so you’ve got to put that in the mix.”

At least one voter, Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, believes there’s no argument that Owens’ numbers are worthy of consideration.

“What I think voters are going to hold against him is the fact that he never won a championship,” Williams wrote in an email. “He had the chance in Philadelphia, and his comeback in the Super Bowl was heroic. But even then the Eagles couldn’t win.”

Williams then added that she would “have no problem presenting him.”

Owens is climbing the charts in numerous categories. He sits fourth with 14,886 yards receiving, 49 shy of passing Tim Brown. He’s third with 143 touchdowns receiving and fifth with 146 total scores.

If he plays two more seasons, as Owens says he intends to do, it’s likely that he could end up competing with New England’s Randy Moss to finish second behind Rice in yards receiving and catches.

Owens refuses to look that far ahead while noting that landing in Canton has never been his objective since being drafted in the third round by San Francisco in 1996 as a relative unknown out of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

“A lot of people didn’t really expect me to do much at all,” Owens said. “I came from a class of receivers where maybe 10 or 11 went before me, and some of them are out of the league now. So I feel I’ve had a successful career.”

This hasn’t been anywhere near the best of seasons for Owens, who signed a one-year contract with Buffalo in March shortly after being released by Dallas. He has 51 catches for 764 yards and five touchdowns, including one rushing. With one game left against Indianapolis on Sunday, Owens is in jeopardy of finishing with his third-lowest output in any year in which he started 10 or more games.

At 36, Owens disagrees with critics who say he has lost a step. Though he acknowledges he hasn’t performed to his standards, Owens notes that the Bills offence has been undone by a rash injuries that have affected a young offensive line, plus a revolving door at quarterback and the upheaval of co-ordinator Turk Schonert’s dismissal in September.

Regrets?

“I just feel bad because I’m a competitor and I came here to help this team to the playoffs,” Owens said. “It’s been frustrating. There have been times I just wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. But, you know, that wouldn’t be the right thing go do.”

Chalk that up as a moral victory for T.O.

“I think that’s part of me growing and maturing along the way,” Owens said.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Jay Cutler threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Devin Aromashodu in overtime, and the Chicago Bears beat the fading Minnesota Vikings 36-30 on Monday night to give New Orleans Saints homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

Nick Roach recovered a fumble by Adrian Peterson following a catch, setting up Cutler’s fourth touchdown pass of the game and sending Minnesota (11-4) to its third loss in four games.

This one comes following a dustup between star quarterback Brett Favre and coach Brad Childress on the sideline last week, and it prevented the Vikings from locking up a first-round playoff bye.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Josh McDaniels knows the Denver Broncos’ path to the playoffs has become convoluted and quite complicated.

The first-year head coach was briefed on all the possible scenarios that need to unfold just for the Broncos to sneak in.

Knowing all the scenarios, though, doesn’t help that much. Not when a once-promising season is suddenly in peril.

Who would’ve thought Denver would now need assistance from other teams to reach the post-season after a sizzling 6-0 start?

The Broncos (8-7) have faltered near the finish, veering off post-season course as they dropped their third straight game Sunday in Philadelphia.

They’re in quite a bind — but it’s not hopeless.

And that’s what McDaniels is stressing to his team leading up to the season finale Sunday against Kansas City. That’s the one factor in this snarled AFC wild-card picture the Broncos can control.

“I don’t think hoping for something else to happen while you’re playing or while you’re getting ready to play the game is going to do you any good,” McDaniels said Monday. “We understand that we have a chance, we understand that we have a chance not to be in even if we do win. I’m not going to spend a lot of time talking about scenarios.”

That’s good, because some of his players really don’t want to hear about those scenarios.

“Right now, I do not know anything and I do not want to know anything,” quarterback Kyle Orton said Sunday after a 30-27 loss to the Eagles.

That may be best because there’s at least 10 different scenarios under which the Broncos can slip in. The easiest way is if two of these three teams lose: Baltimore, Pittsburgh and the New York Jets.

The Ravens travel to Oakland, while Pittsburgh plays in Miami and the Jets host Cincinnati.

Stranger things have happened — like the Broncos going on a 2-7 skid after being the talk of the league following their torrid start.

Just like that, they’re dangling on the verge of missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Not since early in the franchise’s existence has it gone four straight seasons without a playoff appearance, a drought finally halted when the Broncos made the Super Bowl in their first trip to the post-season in 1977.

“We put ourselves in this position that we are in right now,” receiver Jabar Gaffney said. “We just need to worry about ourselves right now and our own destiny and play as hard as we can against Kansas City next weekend.”

The Houston Texas could be an X-factor for the Broncos in this tricky formula, provided they beat the New England Patriots. If there’s a glut of teams tied at 9-7, and the Texans remain one of them, that could swing some of the tiebreaker scenarios in Denver’s favour.

Might McDaniels call up his former boss, Bill Belichick, and possibly suggest to him that he rest Tom Brady & Co. for the game in Houston?

“Umm, no,” McDaniels, said, grinning. “I’m not going to place any phone calls in that regard.”

To think, this was once a team running away with the AFC West. Denver had a 3 1/2-game lead over San Diego heading into the bye week in mid October.

But that bye arrived at an inconvenient time, interrupting the Broncos’ momentum.

They haven’t been able to get it back, and the Chargers quickly passed them by on the way to another division crown.

McDaniels chalked it up to execution late in games. They were in a position to beat Indianapolis in the fourth quarter but didn’t.

The next week, the Broncos had a chance to put Oakland away late, but couldn’t stop a last-minute drive.

Against the Eagles, Denver stormed back from a 27-10 deficit only to tumble on David Akers’ field goal in the closing seconds.

“You’re playing good football teams at the end of the season that are all playing their best, a lot of them playing for something,” McDaniels said. “We’ve been in position and we’ve made plays to win games late during the course of this season, too. We just haven’t done it the last few weeks and it’s definitely come back to hurt us.”

Brian Dawkins couldn’t agree more.

“Too many mistakes. Too many mistakes,” Dawkins said Sunday after his emotional return to Philadelphia. “It seems like we are going through growing pains at the wrong time of the year. Every time you make mistakes against a good football team, we’ve said this many, many times, this is what happens — you come up a little short.”

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Marques Douglas’ score off a Curtis Painter fumble in the third quarter put the Jets in front for good, as New York capitalized on the Colts resting starters to hand Indianapolis its first loss, 29-15, at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Colts, who had already locked up the AFC’s top seed, carried a 14-0 record and an NFL-record 23-game winning streak into the contest. But the undefeated season and the streak both ended after Peyton Manning was removed late in the third quarter, along with a number of other Colts starters.

Manning finished with 192 yards to become the fourth player all-time to throw for 50,000 yards in his career, but had to watch from the sideline — with his helmet still on — as the Jets (8-7) finished the game with 19 consecutive points to take the victory.

New York now controls its playoff destiny, and can get into the postseason with a win at home next week against Cincinnati, which clinched the AFC North title earlier Sunday.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Brandon Jackson scored three touchdowns and Ryan Grant rushed for two more, as Green Bay rolled to a 48-10 thrashing of Seattle and got some help to clinch a postseason berth.

The lopsided win coupled with the Giants’ lopsided loss to Carolina on Sunday has guaranteed the Packers (10-5) one of the two wild card spots in the NFC.

“It feels great to make the playoffs,” Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said. “Our focus all along was to get to 10 wins, which we did today. We’re excited about getting into the playoffs, and the momentum you take from this kind of game should keep us going.”

Grant rushed for 97 yards on 16 carries while Aaron Rodgers threw for 237 yards with a touchdown to lead the balanced attack. Greg Jennings ended with 111 yards on four grabs, and Atari Bigby had two of the defense’s four interceptions of Matt Hasselbeck, who ended with 198 yards on 19-of-37 throws.

“I tip my hat to Green Bay. They executed on both sides of the ball, which is something we didn’t do all day,” Seahawks head coach Jim Mora said. “I know we’ve got the players that can make these plays, but we made a lot of mistakes today, and all of us are responsible.”

John Carlson caught a TD pass from Hasselbeck, as the Seahawks (5-10) dropped their third straight game, coming by a combined 106-24 differential.

Early in the game, Hasselbeck threw an interception directly to A.J. Hawk, who returned the pick 29 yards to the Seattle 35. Four plays later from the 13, Jackson took a screen pass to the right and worked his way into the end zone at the 6:34 mark of the opening quarter.

After a series of punts, Jennings followed up a 40-yard grab with a shifty 24- yard pitch-and-catch to get to the Seattle three. From there, Grant got to the outside and dove over the goal line with 23 seconds left in the first.

A promising Seahawks drive ended when a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage fell into Bigby’s hands in the end zone early in the second.

Seattle got on the board on Olindo Mare’s 28-yard field goal midway through the frame, but Grant broke through the line of scrimmage and shook off an arm tackle from Deon Grant en route to a 56-yard touchdown run on the ensuing drive.

Rodgers had a touchdown pass nullified due to a pass interference foul late in the half, though Mason Crosby’s 29-yard field goal as time expired yielded a comfortable 24-3 lead at the break.

Last week, Green Bay allowed Pittsburgh to storm back and snap the Packers’ five-game winning streak on the final play of the game. The Packers kept their foot on the gas Sunday, though, cruising to the finish line thanks to a dominating second half.

“It was clear all week that we would have zero effect from the Pittsburgh game,” McCarthy said. “Our players practiced hard all week, and I knew we would play hard all day.”

Jarrett Bush’s interception of Hasselbeck in the first minute preceded Jackson’s six-yard TD run around the right end.

After another Bigby interception in Green Bay territory, Jermichael Finley caught a 38-yard pass on 3rd-and-1 from the Seattle 42. On the next play, Jackson took an inside handoff and barreled over the goal line with 5:27 left in the third.

Crosby tacked on a 52-yard field goal early in the fourth, and Ahman Green got into the act with a six-yard touchdown run, his first of the season.

The Seahawks finally reached paydirt when Hasselbeck hit Carlson for a 16-yard score with just over four minutes left.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Ben Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass and Rashard Mendenhall ran for a score as the Pittsburgh Steelers downed the Baltimore Ravens, 23-20, in an AFC North battle with major postseason implications.

Baltimore (8-7) and Pittsburgh (8-7) are still alive for a wild card berth in the playoffs, but neither team will win the AFC North as Cincinnati’s 17-10 victory over Kansas City gave the Bengals the crown.

“I told our team, this is our bed, but I like how we’re laying in it,” sadi Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “We still have a pulse here and we’ll still control the things that we can control.”

Roethlisberger went 17-of-33 for 259 yards and a pick while Mendenhall finished the game with 36 yards on 17 carries for the Steelers, who have won two straight after dropping their previous five. Santonio Holmes had five catches for 86 yards and a score while Jeff Reed went 3-for-3 on field goal attempts.

Joe Flacco was 13-for-25 with 166 yards, two scores and an interception while Todd Heap made his only two catches count for touchdowns for the Ravens, who had won three of four coming into the game. Ray Rice had 141 yards on 30 carries in the loss.

“It was a disappointing loss, but I thought it was a hard fought game and that our team played well,” said Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh. “We’re going to play our hearts out every week. You go out there and fight and battle. We’re competing like crazy to get a win out there, but you make plays, they make plays. We fight our hearts out, but we came up a little short today.”

Trailing by 10 points to start the third, the Ravens went on a 10-play, 64- yard drive to start the half and made it a 20-17 game as Heap made a leaping, seven-yard TD catch in the right corner of the end zone.

On the first play of Pittsburgh’s ensuing touch, Roethlisberger was picked off by Domonique Foxworth, who took it back into the end zone, but an illegal block call negated the score and Baltimore had the ball at the Pittsburgh 37.

Baltimore was unable to get into the end zone, but it did get into field goal range and a 35-yarder from Billy Cundiff made it a 20-20 game with 6:16 left in the third.

The Ravens again held the Steelers to a three-and-out and got themselves into scoring position, but a rash of penalties saw the team come away with nothing. On 2nd-and-10 at the Pitt 32, Willis McGahee took the ball around the left end and into the end zone, but a holding call brought the play back. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Derrick Mason found himself wide open in the right corner of the end zone, but the ball hit off his facemask and fell incomplete. An illegal formation call followed by a personal foul call on Oniel Cousins pushed the team out of field goal range and they had to punt away.

“When you’re in the middle of a drive you don’t think about missed opportunities,” said Flacco. “But, on the other hand, we definitely hurt ourselves out there today.”

The teams then exchanged punts, with Pittsburgh getting the ball back at its own 36 with just over nine minutes to play thanks to a 17-yard punt return from Stefan Logan.

Passes of 14 yards and 19 yards to Tyler Grisham and Holmes, respectively, got the ball down to the Baltimore 19. However, Pittsburgh went back one yard over the following three plays and a 38-yard field goal from Reed made it a 23-20 game with 5:25 to play.

Baltimore got one first down on its next series, but facing a 4th-and-10, Flacco fumbled the ball as he was sacked by LaMarr Woodley and Pittsburgh recovered at its own 42.

From there, the Steelers were able to kill the rest of the clock and hang on for the win.

The Steelers got the first points of the game off a turnover as Flacco was hit as he was throwing the ball and James Farrior picked off the floater and took it to the Baltimore eight-yard line. The Ravens defense, though, held the Steelers to no yards and a 26-yard field goal by Reed made it a 3-0 game with 9:21 left in the first.

Baltimore responded with a nine-play drive that covered 64 yards and was capped on a Cundiff 27-yard field goal to tie the game with 5:18 to play in the first.

Pittsburgh got another field goal off the foot of Reed, this one a 39-yarder that stayed just inside the right upright for a 6-3 lead with 1:09 left in the first.

After holding Baltimore to a three-and-out, Pittsburgh padded its lead as Mendenhall took a handoff up the middle and into the end zone from four yards out for a 13-3 advantage with 12:52 to play in the first half.

The Ravens, though, struck back on their next drive to make it a 13-10 game. On 2nd-and-10 at the Pittsburgh 30, Flacco heaved the ball down the left sideline where Heap came up with the catch in front of the defender and stretched it into the end zone.

At the two-minute warning, Pittsburgh had the ball at its own six, but got out of trouble as Roethlisberger hooked up with Mike Wallace on a 45-yard play down the right sideline. Several plays later, Roethlisberger dumped the ball to the right flat where Holmes caught it, made a defender miss and stretched into the end zone on a 24-yard score and a 20-10 lead going into the break.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

Connor Barth’s 47-yard field goal in overtime capped a rally from a 17-point deficit and lifted Tampa Bay over New Orleans, 20-17, at the Superdome.

Josh Freeman finished 21-of-31 for 271 yards and two interceptions for the Buccaneers (3-12), who have won two in a row. Cadillac Williams led all rushers with 129 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries while Michael Spurlock tied the game late in the fourth quarter with a 77-yard punt return for a score.

Drew Brees threw for 258 yards and a TD on 32-of-37 passing for the Saints (13-2), who have dropped their last two games and could have wrapped up the top seed in the NFC with a victory.

Pierre Thomas had 60 yards and a score on the ground with six rushes and Robert Meachem added five receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown in defeat.

Tampa Bay won the coin toss in overtime and did not relinquish control. Starting from its own 23, Williams got the ball on nine of the first 10 plays, gaining 40 yards. He picked up two first downs by himself on the winning drive, and his two-yard dash on 3rd-and-6 from the Saints’ 31 set up Barth’s game-deciding boot.

The Saints completed their first drive of the contest with the game’s first points, going up 7-0 after Thomas rumbled up the middle for an eight-yard score.

Darren Sharper picked off Freeman in Saints’ territory on Tampa’s next series, and six plays later Brees hit Meachem for a 30-yard TD and 14-0 game.

Garrett Hartley then drilled a 28-yard field goal for a 17-0 contest with 6:39 left in the second quarter to cap a 10-play, 83-yard march for New Orleans.

Barth hit a 34-yarder on the final play of the half to put the Bucs on the board, then neither team tallied in the third quarter.

Williams’ 23-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter ended a 98-yard drive and brought Tampa Bay within 17-10, and Marques Colston was stripped on the Saints’ next series, giving the Bucs the ball on their own 39 after Ronde Barber recovered.

However, the visitors couldn’t pick up a first down on 3rd-and-1 or 4th-and- inches from the New Orleans 19 and turned the ball over on downs with just under five minutes remaining.

New Orleans then had a 4th-and-1 from its own 40 derailed by a false start penalty, and on the ensuing punt, Spurlock raced 77 yards for the tying touchdown with 2:25 to play.

The Saints reached Tampa’s 19 in the final seconds, but Hartley hooked his 37- yard attempt wide left with five seconds on the clock.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor

When these teams play, classic games happen. There isn’t a Super Bowl berth on the line, but there is potentially a spot in the playoffs. And the Ravens would love nothing more than to knock out the defending champs on their turf.

Both teams are imperfect, but fighting. The embattled Ravens secondary just lost their best cornerback for the season to injury. Again. The Steelers pass defense can’t stop anyone, so they have to throw for 500 yards to win. Whatever works.

The Ravens had to go to overtime to beat a Dennis Dixon-led Steelers team three weeks ago, but they have played better since. The Steelers lost to the Raiders and Browns before beating the Packers.

Both Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu could miss this game, so we’ll give the edge to the better defensive front seven. Baltimore’s defense still has enough teeth to make a run to the playoffs.

Matt Field
TenYards.com Sports Editor