Running Game Is Now Just a Thing of the Pass

Times NFL writer Sam Farmer poses--and answers--the burning questions for this week’s games:

Question: Who are the league’s best quarterbacks?

Answer: Running backs. New England’s David Patten threw a 60-yard touchdown pass Sunday, and Pittsburgh’s Jerome Bettis threw a 32-yard TD pass.

Q: Is Todd Steussie paid by the penalty?

A: Sure seems like it. In six games, Carolina’s Pro Bowl tackle has been flagged nine times, including three for unnecessary roughness.

Q: Detroit is one loss from 0-6, which would match the worst start in franchise history. Is there a silver lining?

A: Yes. Two years after Coach Buddy Parker’s Lions started 0-6 in 1955, they rebounded to win their second world championship in four years. And two years after they started 0-5 under Wayne Fontes in 1989, the Lions won the NFC Central.

Q: How much respect do the Steelers have for Tampa Bay?

A: Evidently, not much. Pittsburgh safety Lee Flowers said of the Buccaneers: “They talk so much and they go to the Pro Bowl because they talk. They ain’t nothing but paper champions. That’s all they are and that’s all they’re ever going to be.”

Q: How dire are things in Dallas?

A: Since taking over as coach in January 2000, Dave Campo has had more quarterbacks (seven) than victories (six).