So-Called Elite Teams Are Stumbling to Line

On a bumbling, fumbling Sunday for so many once-upon-a-time Super Bowl favorites, Al Del Greco was straight and true for the Tennessee Titans.

The Veterans Stadium crowd, raucous and giddy over the Philadelphia Eagles only minutes earlier, went stonily silent when Del Greco’s 50-yard field goal found its way home as time expired for a 15-13 victory.

Titan defensive end Jevon Kearse drank it in.

“I just closed my eyes and listened to the crowd and heard the silence,” he said.

Twice in the last few games, Del Greco had missed kicks that cost the Titans a victory.

But he was one of few around the NFL to silence the critics Sunday.

The St. Louis Rams?

They’re 2-5 since Kurt Warner broke his pinky and they were no better in his return, losing to the Carolina Panthers, 16-3, as Warner threw four interceptions in the Rams’ seven-turnover disaster.

Get ready for this: If the NFL playoffs began today, the 8-5 defending Super Bowl champions would not be involved.

Their only trip to Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium--site of the Jan. 28 Super Bowl--might be for a crucial NFC showdown Dec. 18 against the Buccaneers.

And how about Norv Turner?

The Washington Redskin coach is a sympathetic figure, but he figures to be accompanying kicker Eddie Murray and quarterback Brad Johnson out the door. The only issue is when.

Murray--latest in a succession of failed Redskin kickers--missed a field goal that cost the Redskins the game for the second week in a row.

This time he came up short on a 49-yard attempt in the final minute of a 9-7 loss to the New York Giants that knocked the NFL’s highest-paid team out of a playoff spot, at least for the moment.

The Washington Post is reporting owner Daniel Snyder is seriously considering firing Turner as soon as today.

Does Turner expect to be fired?

“Pardon me?” Turner said. “You’re asking the wrong guy that question.”

And what of the Indianapolis Colts?

Perhaps they are not the next coming of the Dallas Cowboy dynasty after all, at 7-6. Their 13-3 record of a year ago is a distant memory.

All that hype about the trio of Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison has drifted away like a wisp of smoke after a fumbled fourth-quarter snap snuffed the Colts’ attempt to come back against the New York Jets.

Their 27-17 loss leaves them a stunning two games out of an AFC wild-card spot with three games remaining.

So who at the moment would make the playoffs?

In the AFC: Miami, Tennessee, Oakland, Baltimore, Denver and the Jets.

In the NFC: the Giants, Minnesota, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Detroit.

With three weeks left, only one team--Minnesota--is officially in.

The AFC picture might well hold up, especially with Indianapolis facing a brutal final run: Buffalo, Miami and Minnesota.

What’s really up for grabs is home-field advantage.

With Oakland’s 21-20 loss to Pittsburgh in a revisit of the great 1970s-era battles, the Raiders slipped back into a three-way battle with Tennessee and Miami for the AFC’s best record, all at 10-3.

So long as they take care of Sebastian Janikowski’s latest bugaboo and make sure they know what down it is, the Raiders have a favorable schedule: They face the Jets, Seattle and Carolina.

Miami, the probable AFC East champion, must play Tampa Bay, Indianapolis and New England.

The Titans, however, have the easiest finish--Cincinnati, Cleveland and Dallas.

The NFC is much more in flux.

No race is more astounding than the NFC West, where the Saints--despite their 38-23 loss to Denver--are tied for first with the Rams and have San Francisco, Atlanta and the Rams remaining.

The Rams must play Minnesota, Tampa Bay and the Saints, the finale a Dec. 24 showdown in New Orleans that might decide the title.

The Saints remain one of three teams with a mathematical chance to do what the Rams did last year: Go from worst to first, at least in their division.

The Eagles and the Broncos are the other two.

The Eagles have been quietly awaiting validation, and they’ve found it the last two weeks. With only Cleveland and Cincinnati remaining, they should finish 11-5 and make the playoffs.

“We’ve played three teams from the NFC East,” said Titan Coach Jeff Fisher, who also beat the Redskins and Giants. “This, to me, is without question the best team.”

Coach Andy Reid’s call for a pass on third and nine with two minutes remaining won’t earn any votes for coach of the year, though.

The Eagles burned a mere five seconds with the incomplete pass and after the punt, Tennessee had plenty of time to drive for the game-winner.

“He’ll be second-guessed for the [third-down] call, but if he made that play, we never would have gotten the ball back,” Fisher said. “My compliments to him and what he’s done with this club.”

Running back Eddie George tipped his hat as well.

“The Eagles, I give them credit, they’re a good team,” George said after rushing for 101 yards, toughing out the game despite coming up limping.

It was an appropriately hard-nosed homecoming for George, a Philadelphia native making his first return to the stadium where he used to sell hot chocolate as a kid.

“It was Philly,” he said of his day at the decrepit Vet. “Got booed. Got called everything but my name.”

He got the better of a bruising Philadelphia defense led by linebacker Jeremiah Trotter and end Hugh Douglas early on.

But the Titans aren’t playing their best--let it be noted they didn’t score a touchdown. They played tough, though, the way they’ll have to in the playoffs.

The game was tight and tense, the way the playoffs are going to be--right down to the final moment, when it was decided by a kick.

Tackle Fred Miller, a Ram last season, just nodded.

“I can take this the rest of the year if we go all the way to the Super Bowl,” he said.

*

Stewart Gives Steelers a Boost

Kordell Stewart rallied Pittsburgh to a 21-20 victory over the Oakland Raiders. D11

Warner Isn’t Answer for Rams

Kurt Warner marked his return with four interceptions in Rams’ 16-3 loss to Carolina. D11

Redskins Lose Again, 9-7

The Giant defense held Stephen Davis to only 29 yards as Washington fell to 7-6. D12

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

SUNDAY AT A GLANCE

For the first time in the NFL, four running backs ran for more than 200 yards on the same day (Coverage, D10):

Mike Anderson Denver at New Orleans 37 carries, 251 yards

Corey Dillon Cincinnati vs. Arizona 35 carries, 216 yards

Warrick Dunn Tampa Bay vs. Dallas 22 carries, 210 yards

Curtis Martin New York Jets vs. Indianapolis 30 carries 203 yards