Sunday's Gameballs (non-Dolphin edition)

I'm giving my new column a trial run to figure out the final format and all that (since I got a few suggestions from last week's version), so I'm doing a non-Dolphin edition from today's games.  Keep in mind I don't get to see every game anymore because I cancelled my Sunday Ticket, so if I miss anybody or pick somebody who is undeserving of the treasured Phinsider Gameball, let me know in the comments section.  But enough about me...

5. Muhsin Muhammed, Santana Moss (tie) - Both had 8 receptions, both had 145 yards or more (Moose had 147), and both earned victories for their teams.  Muhammed added a TD, but Moss' performance came against a better team, so they get to split the gameball. 

4. Kansas City Defense - The Cheifs were 0-3, and staring down the highest-scoring offense of the season so far, the Denver Broncos.  They didn't blink, they didn't flinch, they just held that high-powered attack under 20 points for the first time all season.  Consider these stats:  KC held them to 1 TD, under 100 yds rushing, under 50% on third downs, under 27 minutes of possession, and forced 4 turnovers.  Quite a performance.

3. Larry Johnson - Back to Back Cheifs here, but Larry deserves it, tallying 198 yards and 2 TD's, and contributing immensely to the T.O.P disparity mentioned above.  He averaged over 7 yards a carry, and may have been the number 1 reason KC pulled the upset. 

2. Brett Favre - yuck.  Pained me to type that, but Jet or not he had one hell of a game.  Anytime you're a 38 year old QB breaking personal records, you deserve mention.  He had 6 TD's and only 1 INT, and did it on a very efficient 24-34.  More on this game in a minute..

1. Matt Bryant - He went 3-3 on FG's in Tampa's victory over the Packers, including the game-winner with 2:26 remaining.  But that doesn't nearly tell the whole story.  Yesterday, Bryant buried his 3-month-old son, who had died of unknown causes Wednesday.  For him to even play after such a tragedy is a credit to the man, and for him to score the game's deciding points, in his son's honor, was a fitting finish to the Bucs' win.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, and I hope this game was the first step in overcoming such a terrible event.  To read more on this, click here

The Turd Sandwich of the Week - The Arizona Defense.  Seriously?  56?  34 in the 2nd quarter? 22 in the fourth?  Now, it wasn't all on the defense.  So they shouldn't shoulder all the blame in this instance.  The offense was equally bad, turning the ball over 7 times.  But they couldn't do anything to stop the Jets, and could only muster 1 interception off the career record holder for interceptions.  On a day where he threw it around with reckless abandon, no less.  Simply put, they stunk.  And even though they will be sharing the sandwich (we cut it into triangles here at thephinsider.com) with the rest of the team, it will arrive in the mail addressed to the D.

So that's all.  I'm going back to watch the Bears-Eagles game.  And lets all thank the Football Gods that this will be the last non-Dolphin's edition of Gameballs.