Last week I made a point to say that the NFL as we know it is back. Yesterday I witnessed close games, bad teams beating good teams, and eye-popping plays. Typical modern-day NFL huh? When Week 7 came to an end, I saw a league end up with both Super Bowl QBs getting banged up and now all winless teams now have Ws. Congrats to the Arizona Cardinals for being the first team to let the Oakland Raiders beat them.

Still think Donovan McNabb is the MVP so far? The Eagles, coming fresh off a shocker in New Orleans a week ago looked to steam roll over the Tampa Bay Bucs. But who got steam rolled is my question. If you were a witness to the Saints/Eagles last week, you saw the Eagles go down early, rally back, but still found a way to lose to the Saints by a field goal. 7 day later, the exact same thing happened. Déjà vu anybody? The Bucs are lucky to have a corner that goes by the name of Ronde (Ron-day) Barber. The score at the half was the Eagles 0 and Ronde Barber 7. I guess Mr. McNabb thought that Barber played for the Eagles because he completed two passes to him that went for touchdowns...the other way. Barber and the Bucs took a commanding 17-0 lead over the Eagles before we witnessed another Donovan McNabb comeback. McNabb and the birds rallied from 17 points down to take a 21-20 lead over the Bucs that looked like the Eagles were going to steal a win away from Tampa. McNabb, who was throwing up on the sidelines between plays, was also able to throw up 3 TDs in a losing effort. He was also picked off three times including the two by Barber. The Eagles were green with envy when Matt Bryant, the kicker from Orange, Texas came out to attempt a 62-yard field goal. By making the field goal, Bryant did a number of things: 1) sent the Eagles home with their second straight devastating loss with time expiring, 2) gave the Bucs their second straight win after starting the season 0-4, 3) put himself in the NFL record books by making that 62-yard long field goal. He stands alone with the second longest kick ever made. The Bucs boot the Eagles out of Tampa by the score of 23-21.

When did Michael Vick become a passing quarterback? After watching that game I realized that the way the Falcons handled the Steelers on Sunday the rest of the teams on the Falcons' schedule could be in trouble. The most electrifying player in the NFL stepped up his game and looked like a 2006 version of Steve Young. Vick, who will probably remain with Atlanta for the duration of his career, added years to his football life by only running the ball 5 times against Pittsburgh. He introduced himself to his tight end Algae Crumpler who caught 6 balls for 117 yards and 3 TDs. Vick had never thrown more than 2 touchdowns in one game in 64 career contests. With the help of the Falcons' receivers, Vick was able to connect on 18/30 for 232 yards and a career-high 4 TDs. The game was pretty much a shootout and was absolutely fun to watch. Pittsburgh's QB Ben Roethlisberger had a real good game, well at least for the first half. By the way the game was going, Roethlisberger looked as if he was going to have a career game. The numbers were terrific, 16/22 with 238 yards and 3 touchdown passes. The 2 nd half for Roethlisberger was short-lived however. The Falcons brought a safety blitz at the Steelers QB and 3 defenders converged on the hit. Two hit him in the head and one down below. The snake-bit quarterback lay motionless on the turf of the Georgia Dome for a few minutes. The medical staff brought the cart out and wheeled the QB to the locker room where he was diagnosed with a concussion. What's next for Roethlisberger? At the pace that his 2006 is going, I'm afraid to find out. The Steelers sent in backup QB Charlie Batch who at the time looked like a starter. He found receiver Hines Ward for two scores keeping Pittsburgh in the game.

The score ended up getting knotted up at 38 before going into overtime. Longtime kicker Morten Anderson broke the tie by sending a game-winning 32-yard field goal through the uprights. The Falcons gunned down the defending champions in a classic shootout by the score of 41-38.

This Monday night classic was supposed to be a battle of two teams that don't like each other. Doesn't it seem that every team that is a Cowboy opponent is some sort of rival to the Cowboys? But for some weird reason the Cowboys are still being called "America's Team". To borrow the words from singer Alanis Morissette "isn't it ironic"? On Monday night, the Cowboys were totally embarrassed in their own backyard. Not only did the Giants go in to Texas Stadium and pummel the Cowboys, but the Cowboys did not help their cause by allowing 6 sacks and turning the ball over 4 times. Cowboys QB Drew Bledsoe turned his starting position over to Tony Romo by turning over the ball in the red zone. Bledsoe did put the Cowboys on the board by scrambling for a 1-yard touchdown run. Tiki Barber and the rest of the Giants gave the Cowboys all they wanted. Barber ran the ball 27 times for 114 yards, while Eli Manning tossed two touchdowns. What was believed to be a game to watch on Monday night, ended up only being a joke. Head coach Bill Parcells told the media, "I'm ashamed to put a team like that out there [field]". Tony Romo came into the game and was able to show off his mobility by throwing 2 TDs, but also made a few bad reads resulting in 3 INTS. The Giants took one of the interceptions back the other way for a 96-yard touchdown. Kevin Dockery was the corner who picked off the Romo pass. The Cowboys stunk it up on Monday night by falling to the Giants 36-22.

Those were just a few games that had my attention. The Panthers dug themselves a grave on Sunday by losing to the Bengals on the final drive. Jake Delhomme threw a last minute, red zone interception sealing the Panther's fate. The Bengals held on to win 17-14 at home. And let's give a big hooray for Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers who took out the Miami Dolphins by the final of 34-24. This is the 2006 NFL where there are no dynasties and no one knows who'll win on any given Sunday or Monday. Stay tuned...

I'm Tovash Hatcher