Another Poor Showing by Sanchez

A capsule look at the Jets’ 17-13 loss to Denver.

KEY PLAY BY JETS

It will be forgotten after Tim Tebow’s final drive …. but the Jets’ first touchdown came in an unorthodox manner — a fumble recovery by guard Matt Slauson. The play that ushered them to the doorstep was helped by a textbook block by Brandon Moore, who cleared space for Joe McKnight on his 12-yard screen pass to the 1. Slauson became the first Jets offensive lineman to score on a fumble recovery since Randy Rasmussen on Oct. 8, 1972.

NOTABLE NUMBER: 5
That is how many Denver possessions began in Jets territory, resulting in 3 points. As the Jets hoped, their defense largely stuffed the run, forcing Tebow into passing situations. He overthrew some passes and underthrew others, but his receivers also struggled to gain separation against the cornerbacks. After going 3 for 3 on the opening drive, Tebow went 6 for 17, but scored the winning touchdown.

TALKING POINT
What do the Jets do now after another ineffective performance by Mark Sanchez?

Tim Tebow in His Words After Driving Denver to Victory

It looks as if we’ll just have to get used to it.

On the one hand, we have the headline “Tim Tebow Scores Late Touchdown On 95 Yard Drive To Win, After Doing Nothing All Game,” with Jason Lisk of the Big Lead correctly pointing out: “Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos offense was dreadful. Dreadful! For the first 54 minutes of the game.”

On the other, we have Woody Paige rhapsodizing in The Denver Post about The Drive Too: “Tebow went where Elway had gone before.”

Tebow continues to win and continues to drive analysts crazy. Let’s just let Tebow tell it in his words, as provided by the Broncos’ Web site.

On Denver’s final, game-winning drive

“First and foremost I just want to thank my lord and savior, Jesus Christ, and thank my teammates for believing in me and believing in each other for 60 minutes. I think, referring to that last drive, I think it was just a bunch of guys that kept fighting that had been knocked down a bunch of times but continued to get back up. I’m just so proud of those guys, for their resiliency, their patience and their determination.”

“We were aggressive. We went at them. [WR] Eddie [Royal] made a great play on the first (play). It was man-to-man (defense), and I threw him a swing, he made somebody miss, he got (eight yards). And then we were able to get some on the option. We didn’t necessarily have huge plays, but we just got enough to keep moving the sticks and found a way at the end, and [WR Demaryius Thomas] came up with a big catch, and the offensive line was just grinding, working hard and scratching for every single yard we could get. They made my job very easy there at the end.”

On what the offense talked about just prior to the drive
“[Offensive coordinator] Coach [Mike] McCoy just said, ‘Keep believing.’ When we were in the huddle, what we were talking about as an offense was: ‘You want opportunities like this because this is an opportunity for greatness as an offense. We haven’t done anything this whole game, but we have an opportunity to do something special right now. Let’s go out there and do it.’ Everybody was focused, and you could see that their will was taking over as an offense. I think that’s pretty special.”

“It was just important that we had a mind-set and everybody went out there and rallied behind each other and just gave it everything they had.”

On what McCoy said just prior to the drive
“We went over a few ideas, but we were ready to go back out there. He said a few things—it wasn’t a huge, long speech—but, you know: ‘Keep believing. Let’s go get this thing done.’”

On his game-winning touchdown run
“That was the second time in the game [the Jets] had blitzed everybody against us. And they were playing the corners pretty hard off, and we ran a three-vertical (wide receivers) concept against them, and I knew we were in field-goal range, and I didn’t necessarily just want to throw up a jump-ball because they were playing so far off. So when I knew they were blitzing everybody, and I saw [S] (Eric Smith) coming off the left side, and he came and he hugged tight. And I knew he was going to be extra because they were bringing one more guy than we could block, and I knew (the blocker) got a hand on him, and once he came tight, I just figured he wasn’t going to think I was going to try and get outside and escape. So I just believed that the tackle and the tight end were going to get the block, and that I could try to hopefully outrun him to the edge, and thank the Lord I was able to do so.”

“I don’t think (the outside) was supposed to be open. (Smith) was kind of the hugger, and he hugged tight against and stayed tight. So once he’s coming in and planting and trying to stay as tight as he can, thinking I’m going to be in the pocket … once I knew that, I just kind of jab-stepped and stayed outside, and he’s going this way, and I’m going that way. That’s hard for someone to really plant and get outside. I was very thankful he was running really hard and coming hard inside because that’s hard to make that cut, so it made it a lot easier on me getting outside of him.”

On if he was surprised by the Jets’ all-out blitz on the play
“We were kind of expecting it. They were going to be aggressive and try to stop us and could also [have] been expecting a quarterback run or quarterback draw, or something inside. So we had a great play against it, and Coach McCoy made a great call, and I was just thankful I was able to get around the end.”

On if he likes late-game drama
“I like winning, but I wish it wasn’t quite that stressful.”

On how he’s going to celebrate the win
“What’s special is I’ve got a lot of friends and family in for this game. [So] first, just thank the Lord and savior and hang out with my friends and family. Honestly, I played pretty hard, so I’ll probably be a little bit tired. [I’ll] go get a little bit of food and probably go to sleep.”

On if he plans on tweeting any of his critics
“I probably will tweet [former NFL defensive end] Hugh Douglas because I did hear that he said if we won he was going to church on Sunday. So I’m going to tweet him. He better be in his Sunday best! I hope he can sing praise and worship, too. So we’ll see.”

On what he’s thankful for this Thanksgiving
“That would be a long list, but just to share a few: first and foremost would be my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, and I’d say behind that would be my family and also in this time is our military, who put their lives on the line every day for us so we can come out here and play a game. I’m very thankful for all three of those things.”

JOHN FOX, BRONCOS COACH
On Tebow
“Tim is going to be Tim. You don’t want to change too much about a guy that makes plays and makes plays in pressure situations. Our staff [Quarterbacks Coach] Adam Gase and [Offensive Coordinator] Mike McCoy have done a tremendous job of working with him and bringing him up to speed. We had a couple issues, but he’s a young player. He’s a young quarterback. It’s a very hard position, and those things are going to happen. He’ll just grow and get better with every snap.”

On Tebow’s character
“He’s just a competitive dude. He’s super competitive. He never lays his sword down. He’s going to fight you to death, and that’s just his nature. He’s a great young man.”

On the team’s faith in QB Tim Tebow during final drive
“When that happened it was like, we have 95 yards. Everybody was kind of like, ‘watch this.’ On the sideline it felt like we knew something was going to happen. People always say that when you win, but we felt like something was going to happen, probably because of the way we have been finishing games over the last couple weeks. Again, No. 15 [Tebow] proved to be very impressive on that drive.”

CORNERBACK CHAMP BAILEY

On  Tebow
“One thing about that quarterback: he is going to keep grinding. As a defense, we just have to keep him in this game – keep this team in the game and in the fourth quarter you never know what you are going to get. We are never out of it, and it is a good feeling because I know if we are close we have a chance.”

Rangers Surge Behind Balanced Scoring and Stalwart Defensemen

The Rangers enter Saturday night’s game in Montreal with a seven-game winning streak. Even after skating-intensive workouts, there were smiles in every corner of the Rangers’ practice facility this week.

“This has been a lot of fun because of the pride we put into each practice and each game as a team,” said defenseman Ryan McDonagh, an early-season standout. “We feel good about what we’ve accomplished because it hasn’t been our stars every night. Look around the room, and you’ll see everyone has contributed.”

Here are four keys to the Rangers’ winning streak.

Scoring Support

The Rangers’ highest-skilled and most compensated forwards — Marian Gaborik (4 goals, 3 assists) and Brad Richards (3 goals, 2 assists) — have been major factors in the run, but each was held off the scoresheet in three of the seven wins. The rest of team’s top six offensive forwards have stepped up: Ryan Callahan (5 goals, 3 assists), Derek Stepan (3 goals, 5 assists), Artem Anisimov (1 goal, 6 assists) and Brandon Dubinsky (1 goal, 5 assists).

“Confidence spreads through the team when so many guys are getting big goals,” Gaborik said. “We’ve had a different hero just about every night.”

The Rangers have out-scored their opponents, 27-11, over the seven wins.

“We’re making big plays at big times,” center Brian Boyle said.

In their most recent victory, a 4-2 win over the Islanders on Tuesday, Richards broke a 2-2 tie by converting a pass from Dubinsky with just under five minutes left in the third period. The Rangers’ nine game-winning goals this season have been scored by seven different players. Callahan and Richards lead the team with two each.

Standup Defense

The Rangers are without Marc Staal, their No. 1 defenseman, who remains sidelined with concussion symptoms. But two pairings of youngsters have embraced the responsibility of shutting down top lines. McDonagh, Dan Girardi, Michael Sauer and Michael Del Zotto are a combined plus-20 during the winning streak. Girardi has averaged 27 minutes 46 seconds of ice time, tops in the N.H.L. McDonagh, who averages just over 25 minutes a game, is 12th.

“With Marc out, we took it upon ourselves to do the job while he takes the times he needs,” McDonagh said.

McDonagh, 22, credits his playing time in the Rangers’ first-round playoff loss to Washington last April as the “wake-up call” for this season.

“In the good moments and bad ones, I learned a lot about a defenseman needs to do at this level,” he said.

McDonagh benefits by being paired with Girardi – at 27, the oldest and most accomplished of the group. The 21-year-old Del Zotto, a precocious puck carrier, is thriving alongside Sauer, a 6-foot-4 stay-at-home type. Coach John Tortorella said his team’s defense is the biggest factor in the Rangers’ knack for scoring clutch goals in close games.

“It’s our play away from the puck,” Tortorella continually stressed to reporters over the last week.

How each member of the blue-line quartet has improved over last season as measured by plus/minus per game:

Goaltending by Two

Henrik Lundqvist has a save percentage of .933, allowing just nine goals over his five wins in the streak. But his goaltending statistics are not even the best on his team. Martin Biron, his high-quality backup, shut out Winnipeg and gave up only two goals to San Jose in his pair of wins.

“Everyone knows Hank is one of the best goalies in the world,” Callahan said of Lundqvist, “but we have the luxury of two great goalies behind us. I don’t know how many teams can say they have the confidence in both our goalies like we do in Hank and Marty. We’ve made our share of mistakes in these games, and we really struggled early in the season. They’ve been our two of our most important players.”

There is an added benefit to Biron’s superb play. Lundqvist has played at least 68 games in each of the last five regular seasons. When the Rangers made the playoffs three of those years, he has not been fresh for the postseason. Tortorella’s trust in Biron should result in Lundqvist starting a more manageable 60 games.

Strong Work Habits

Despite the seven-game streak, the Rangers say it has been easy to stay humble.

“We want to get better each day,” Tortorella said of his team’s approach to practices.

Boyle said: “The good thing is, we’ve been far from perfect. So there’s been plenty for us to work on.”

After their victory Tuesday over the Islanders, the Rangers took one day to rest and then had two practices. Skills were sharpened in drills. Special teams play was adjusted. Line combinations, as always, were tinkered.

“Don’t get comfortable,” Tortorella said before his team left for Montreal. “We want our team to play the right way, and detail work is a part of it. To have a chance against Montreal, we’ll have to be better than we were against the Islanders.”

UCLA, Lakers standout Walt Hazzard dies

Former UCLA standout and Lakers guard Walt Hazzard died Friday from complications following heart surgery. He was 69.

Hazzard, who was part of UCLA's first NCAA championship team in 1964 under Coach John Wooden, is considered one of the best point guards in the Bruins' history. He averaged 18.6 points a game as senior, leading the Bruins to a 30-0 record and the national title.

Hazzard was selected college basketball's player of the year in 1964, averaging 19.8 points a game in the postseason.

Photos: Walt Hazzard | 1942-2011

“Walt was one of the pillars of UCLA's first championship team in men's basketball,” current UCLA Coach Ben Howland said. “He was a great player and an outstanding coach at UCLA. He is a huge part of the Bruin legacy, and he left life-long memories for the Bruin faithful.”

Hazzard went on to help the U.S. win a gold medal at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo before being selected first overall in the NBA draft that year by the Lakers. He played 10 years in the NBA, averaging 12.6 points and 4.9 assists during his career.

After retiring he returned to UCLA and coached the men's basketball team for four seasons, posting a 77-74 record. He was replaced by Jim Harrick for the 1988-89 season.

Hazzard, who had his jersey retired by the Bruins in 1996, also suffered a stroke that same year.

"This is a sad day for the UCLA basketball family," Bruins Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said.

We'll have more on Hazzard's passing soon at latimes.com/sports.

ALSO:

Photos: Walt Hazzard through the years

T.J. Simers: It could be happy holidays for NBA fans

UCLA is in control of its Pac-12 football destiny

Matt Kemp signs $160-million deal with Dodgers

-- Austin Knoblauch

Photos: (Top) Walt Hazzard, right, accepts the AP All-America award presented by Sports Editor Robert Myers at a banquet on April 11, 1964 in Westwood. Credit: Ed Widdis / Associated Press. (Bottom) Bruins guard Walt Hazzard in action during a game in 1962. Credit: Associated Press.

NCAA begins inquiry into Penn State child sexual abuse scandal

After weeks of sitting on the sideline, it appears the NCAA is ready to dive headlong into the Penn State child sexual abuse scandal.

NCAA President Mark Emmert sent a letter to newly appointed Penn State President Rod Erickson informing him that the governing body for college sports is looking into whether the school broke any rules during its handling of the case, which cost coach Joe Paterno his job.

Emmert wrote that the NCAA will examine how Penn State operates its athletics program and what role that played in the case of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who has been arrested and charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse.

Emmert told the Associated Press this is not a formal investigation, but there is a chance it could develop into one. He has given the university until Dec. 16 to respond to several of his questions.

"We have to examine those facts and make a thoughtful determination of what is covered by our bylaws and what is not," Emmert said.

Rate This Jets Loss

A little free therapy for Jets fans … (It’s best to let it all out.)

What one play infuriated you the most from Thursday night’s loss at Denver?
(Non-Jets fans can play along, especially if you felt that the better team didn’t win.)

Mac from Atlanta, a Jets fan and Fifth Down commenting stalwart, gets us started. In another post, he pointed out two plays – the Mark Sanchez interception-turns-into-touchdown and this one:

The Jets’ second-to-last drive, where they had the ball at midfield and had a chance to run out most of the clock. After a short run and an incompletion: on 3rd and long as the Jets lined up, Brandon Moore pointed out an overload blitz from the right. Sanchez did not recognize it and adjust, rushed the throw and it went incomplete. Poor awareness and lack of adjustment meant a quick 3 and out. Granted those were only two plays, but to me they symbolize the problems with the offense this season.

Extra point Were does this game rank among the worst regular-season losses of the Rex Ryan era? It seems to be fairly competitive in that category with the blowout loss at New England last season (humiliating but the Jets were on their way to an 11-5 record) and the defeat at home to Atlanta the year before (after which Ryan incorrectly declared the Jets’  season over).

Week 11 Matchups: Ugly but Effective

Chargers (4-5) at Bears (6-3)
Sunday, 4:15 p.m.
Line: Bears by 3.5.

Lovie Smith does not get the credit he deserves. His coaching staff is filled with temperamental geniuses who have impulse control issues. The offense is loaded with divas: when Roy Williams comes across as normal, you know you are dealing with some Timothy Leary-level team chemistry. On paper, Smith’s blitzed-up take on the stodgy Cover-2 defense, built around the talents of 30-something linebackers, looks about as dangerous as a Toyota Celica with mag wheels. This is a team that strives to beat opponents with punt returns, for heaven’s sake. Yet Smith has coaxed winning records out of this collection of disparate parts and quarrelsome personalities four times in the last six years, and he currently has a team that was universally overlooked in the preseason in the thick of the wild-card race.
Norv Turner has also mixed playoff runs with .500 seasons during his Chargers tenure, but he has done so under much more favorable conditions: his division is much softer, he has an indisputable franchise quarterback and he does not have to hold the reins on assistants like Mike Martz. Turner needs everything to break right to win, and this year nothing has. The Chargers’ offensive line has been torn apart by injuries, with Marcus McNeill (neck) and Louis Vasquez (foot) unlikely to play Sunday and the All-Pro Kris Dielman (concussion) out for the year. Philip Rivers’ mysterious slump is not so mysterious when his blockers are Brandyn Dombrowski and Scott Mruczkowski and his receivers include castoffs like Patrick Crayton. Turner cannot win when his quarterback is throwing interceptions, whereas Smith is only now learning what it is like to win otherwise: that is as clear a contrast as you need between these two teams. Pick: Bears.

Eagles (3-6) at Giants (6-3)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m.
Line: Giants by 4.5.

Andy Reid’s Traveling Cautionary Tale Tent Revival has arrived in town, and we are celebrating with a trivia quiz! Match the following Eagles Dream Teamers — a.) Nnamdi Asomugha, b.) Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, c.) Steve Smith, d.) Ronnie Brown, e.) Vince Young, f.) Jason Babin — with their unique accomplishments this season:
1.) I chase receivers with the enthusiasm of a teenager walking to the principal’s office after a food fight. 2.) My quarterback rating of 0.0 is lower than the punter’s, and I may be starting on Sunday! 3.) I line up offsides when not inexplicably covering Cardinals receivers not named Larry Fitzgerald. 4.) I am among the league leaders with nine penalties this season. 5.) I crumple untouched after catches in the open field as if the yellow television first-down line is real and made of plutonium. 6.) I throw the ball straight into the air while being tackled at the goal line.
There is also an essay: Explain how Andy Reid can simultaneously justify a 42-16 pass-run ratio when Michael Vick (questionable) has broken ribs, and grow testy when his reasoning is questioned.
The answers: 1-b, 2-e, 3-a, 4-f, 5-c, 6-d. If you need reasons why Giants General Manager Jerry Reese did not dive headfirst into the free-agent pool this off-season, here are six of them. The Reid essay has no right answer.
Standard warning: the Eagles, like poorly-constructed playground equipment, can still be dangerous. Pick: Giants.

Buccaneers (4-5) at Packers (9-0)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Packers by 14.

Like a flabby Hope Diamond, Albert Haynesworth is a fascinating, oversized trinket that brings nothing but misery to anyone foolish enough to acquire him. The Buccaneers signed Haynesworth and immediately inserted him into their defensive line; the results were 185 yards rushing allowed and a 37-9 loss. The Patriots, meanwhile, improved as soon as they rid themselves of Haynesworth. That is not scientific proof that Haynesworth is cursed, but perhaps he should be placed in the Smithsonian until there are further studies.
Aaron Rodgers has thrown just 18 incomplete passes in the last three games. One of those passes was a spike to stop the clock, three were throws out of bounds and four were dropped by open receivers. Count the drops as completions and take away the spike, and Rodgers’ completion percentage in the last three weeks is 84.7 percent. Some football stat-heads will tell you that completion percentage is a meaningless metric. That is true about 84.7 percent of the time. Pick: Packers.

Titans (5-4) at Falcons (5-4)
Sunday, 4:15 p.m.
Line: Falcons by 6.

Advanced statistical analysis reveals that going for it on fourth-and-1 from your own 29-yard line in overtime results in a 99.9 percent chance of a full week of second guessing. Mike Smith had probability on his side when he made his doomed decision against the Saints. He also had the league’s worst punter (Matt Bosher) facing one of the league’s best return men (Darren Sproles), so he may have feared a rare-but-traumatizing Dodge-to-DeSean punting gaffe when he made the call. Mathematicians call it the Black Swan Theory, because rookie punters can make experienced coaches wish they were watching Natalie Portman movies instead of football games.
The Titans and the Falcons are now second-place teams behind flawed, injury-plagued divisional front-runners who have byes. As compelling as this game may be, the real action is in the training and meeting rooms of the Saints and the Texans, where Sean Payton tries to cope with injuries to himself and others, and Matt Leinart acquaints himself with the children’s menu of the Texans’ playbook (“I can’t decide between the Donald Duck Zone Stretch to Arian Foster and the Andy Panda iso to Ben Tate!”) Pick: Falcons.

Bills (5-4) at Dolphins (2-7)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Dolphins by 2.
Having unsuccessfully game-planned for one opponent per week for most of the season, Dolphins coaches are preparing for two: the Bills on Sunday, and the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. “It’s tough because coaches can’t keep it to one game at a time,” Coach Tony Sparano said. “You can shrink it to the players. The only thing they’ll know is Buffalo and getting ready for Buffalo.” Shrink the Dolphins’ game plan too far, and it collapses into a Brandon Marshall Singularity from which only dropped passes can escape.
The Dolphins have gotten help in their back-to-back victories from an unlikely source: Reggie Bush, perpetual disappointment and current front-runner for Best Supporting Actor in a Reality Television Divorce Fiasco. “Something’s gotten into him,” tackle Vernon Carey said of Bush, who has run for 242 yards and 3 touchdowns in three weeks. Work ethic? Dignity? The realization that his name comes up more often on E! than ESPN has probably put a little spring in his step. Pick: Bills.

Cowboys (5-4) at Redskins (3-6)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Cowboys by 7.5.

The rookie sensation DeMarco Murray has rushed for 601 yards in the last four games, but that does not mean he has earned a starting job. Felix Jones may soon return from an ankle injury, and Cowboys Coach Jerry Jones (if he is not going to pretend otherwise then neither are we) gave conflicting reports during the week about how the carries will be divided when Felix Jones returns. “I haven’t seen enough of DeMarco,” Jones said, though he later explained that Murray would still get the bulk of the carries. That makes Felix Jones the nominal starter, an important position held by his predecessors, Julius Jones and Marion Barber. The nominal starter’s job is to not be as good as the backup, yet still lay claim to the starting role, allowing Jerry Jones to sound sagacious and quasi-mysterious when discussing his roster decisions during news conferences.
The twice-annual Cowboys-Redskins games serve the important purpose of making the Cowboys organization appear functional and sane by comparison. Pick: Cowboys.

Raiders (5-4) at Vikings (2-7)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Raiders by 1.

Both the Raiders rookie receiver Denarius Moore and the Vikings rookie tight end Kyle Rudolph made spectacular one-handed catches in prime-time games last week. While Rudolph has been a bright spot for the Vikings, Moore has kept the Raiders in the playoff picture by giving Carson Palmer exactly what he needs, on and off the field. “Denarius Moore doesn’t say anything,” Palmer told The San Francisco Chronicle. Having spent a year living through “The T.Ocho Show,” Palmer deserves a little therapeutic silence. Pick: Raiders.

Panthers (2-7) at Lions (6-3)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Lions by 7.

Lions Coach Jim Schwartz said that the 22-m.p.h. winds at Soldier Field, not a finger injury, hampered quarterback Matthew Stafford in the Lions’ 37-13 loss to the Bears. “The wind affected his actual throwing,” Schwartz said. “I don’t think it had anything to do with the actual finger.” Stafford’s virtual throwing and hypothetical finger were not affected. Schwartz also said that his team “didn’t respond well” to turnovers. Considering how often their games end in brawls, it is not clear if the Lions respond well to anything. Pick: Lions.

Jaguars (3-6) at Browns (3-6)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Even.

Two of the people on the following list are not on the Jaguars’ active roster. Can you spot them? The list: Guy Whimper, Leger Douzable, Julius Strangepork, John Chick, Cecil Shorts, Danny Rebus. Give up? Whimper, Douzable, Chick and Shorts are all real-life Jaguars. Rebus is a character on the new “Electric Company,” and Strangepork was the medical officer on “Pigs in Space.” Give the Jaguars credit for at least adding a little flair to their anonymity. Pick: Browns.

Bengals (6-3) at Ravens (6-3)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Ravens by 7.

Ray Rice carried the ball just five times in last Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, which can only mean one thing: Andy Reid sneaked into John Harbaugh’s briefcase and fiddled with his game plans. Rice was steamed, and he did not talk to reporters after the game, explaining later that locker-room frustration “leads to disaster, leads to trouble, leads to people pointing fingers,” And disaster, trouble, and finger-pointing lead to extra-awesome game capsules! C’mon, Ray, some of us are trying to earn a living here. Pick: Ravens.

Seahawks (3-6) at Rams (2-7)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
Line: Rams by 1.5.

All four N.F.C. West teams won last week, the kind of cosmic convergence that makes you want to climb into a teepee and listen to old Yes albums until the lyrics make sense. The schedulers knew we could only take so much, so the N.F.C. West teams all face each other this week in a kind of toddler swim meet. The Rams have scored 13 points in back-to-back games, so it can be argued that their offense has found consistency, though 4 of those points came from their defense. The Seahawks are nearly unbeatable when you turn the ball over to them in the red zone three times. Pick: Rams.

Cardinals (3-6) at 49ers (8-1)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
Line: 49ers by 9.5.

A predictable, rather sad quarterback controversy is brewing in Arizona after John Skelton’s back-to-back wins over the Rams and the Eagles. It is hard not to go through the motions on the Skelton vs. Kevin Kolb debate. Fordham bona-fides aside, Skelton is an adequate backup at best, his performance against the Rams (two safeties!) was dreadful, and the Cardinals are terrible. This is controversy as reflex, the automatic need to yell, “He provided a spark!” after even the least convincing victory by the guy off the bench. Skelton can only be successful if he faces a Juan Castillo-coached defense every week, with Larry Fitzgerald covered by linebackers and All-Pro pass rushers lined up a quarter-mile away from the quarterback. The 49ers, who actually know how to use their defensive talent, will not be as obliging as the Eagles. Pick: 49ers.

Chiefs (4-5) at Patriots (6-3)
Monday, 8:30 p.m.
Line: Patriots by 15.

With Matt Cassel (hand) out indefinitely, the left-hander Tyler Palko takes over a Chiefs offense that has scored 13 points in the past two weeks. Todd Haley has reinstated his rotate-the-backfield lunacy, limiting the playing time of Jackie Battle (4.6 yards per carry) so he can find a role for Thomas Jones (2.9 yards per carry). So things are not going well for the Chiefs president, Scott Pioli, who may feel the urge to barricade himself inside his old office in Foxborough, Mass., and refuse to come out. Pick: Patriots.