Akers, Patriots: Kings of Pain

Onto a couple of Pennsylvania football fields they limped Sunday, David Akers on one leg, the New England Patriots’ dynasty supposedly on its last legs.

Akers set the tone for a grit-your-teeth-and-gut-it-out afternoon, hobbling off the bench with a severely strained right hamstring to wince and win one for the Philadelphia Eagles, his 23-yard field goal with nine seconds left providing the difference in a 23-20 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

A few hours later in Pittsburgh, the Patriots overcame a couple of significant leg injuries of their own -- one to safety Rodney Harrison, another to offensive tackle Matt Light -- to beat the Steelers by the same score, 23-20, and remind everyone, especially Ben Roethlisberger, that it’s good to be the king -- and the king isn’t ready to abdicate.

No, the Patriots, seven days removed from their sky-is-falling loss to the Carolina Panthers, are still standing, tied for first in the AFC East with, of all people, the Miami Dolphins, who apparently caught the Panthers looking behind and knocked them off, 27-24.

Akers, meanwhile, can’t stand up for falling down, not without assistance anyway. His game began on the ground, the Pro Bowl kicker writhing in agony after aggravating his hamstring injury on the opening kickoff. And it ended in similar fashion, with Akers hugging the turf, his eyes tightly closed as he tried to squeeze out the pain, only this time with jubilant teammates swarming around him to celebrate his decisive kick.

Those images of Akers, coupled with the shot of New England’s Adam Vinatieri drilling yet another last-second, game-winning field goal at Heinz Field, were great PR for NFL kickers on a day Green Bay’s Ryan Longwell needed some emotional support. Longwell is usually as trustworthy as they come, but Sunday he missed his first extra-point attempt in 157 tries and his team lost, 17-16, to the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers, dropping the Packers to 0-3 for the first time since 1988.

(Green Bay’s kicker in 1988? Max Zendejas.)

Anyone still buying into the kickers-aren’t-tough myth -- cue Alex Karras’ old kicker-mocking “I keek a touchdown” shtick here -- need only inspect the Eagle and Patriot highlight packages.

Akers went down in a heap after the opening kickoff and limped off the field looking like a man who wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, be returning any time soon.

But then Akers watched Eagle linebacker Mark Simoneau try one extra point -- very low trajectory, especially after it was blocked at the line of scrimmage -- and decided that was more pain than he could handle. Akers limped on to convert extra points after the Eagles’ second and third touchdowns, then grimaced his way through the game-winner, a collision of foot and football that hurt to watch, but somehow produced the distance and the accuracy Philadelphia needed to improve its record to 2-1.

About those second and third touchdowns by the Eagles: They came on passes delivered by Donovan McNabb, playing along with the theme of the day by playing through the pain of a bruised chest and an injured groin. At one point, McNabb appeared to be struggling so badly that backup quarterback Koy Detmer began loosening up.

For McNabb, that had the same effect as Akers watching Simoneau getting his kick blocked. McNabb stayed on to throw 52 passes and complete 30 of them for 365 yards.

Lost amid the agony and last-second Eagle ecstasy was the much-hyped Showoff Showdown -- Randy Moss versus Terrell Owens, gathered together Sunday to see to what heights they could take the art of pass-catching and/or annoying America.

It turned out to be a muted confrontation. Moss had only two catches for 26 yards through three quarters, ending with five receptions for 86 yards.

Owens won the statistical duel, catching nine balls for 80 yards and one touchdown, but with no catch going for more than 15 yards.

In Pittsburgh, Vinatieri continued his unlikely but now convincing argument that the most mentally tough NFL player of our generation is a kicker. Thrust into another pressurized situation -- “Game of the Year,” we had been told, and it’s only September -- Vinatieri coolly delivered again, converting from 43 yards with one second on the clock.

Vinatieri’s kick stopped the Steelers’ bid to catch the Patriots’ record 18-game winning streak. Pittsburgh’s streak was at 16, and Roethlisberger had been 15-0 as a starter in regular-season games. Including playoffs, Roethlisberger now has lost twice as a starter -- both times to New England, the first coming in January’s AFC championship game.

Will there be a rematch in January?

To answer that one, we must first consider another question: How ‘bout those Colts?

Peyton Manning is in a horrendous slump, failing to pass for a touchdown for the second week in a row, putting him on a season’s pace of 10 touchdown passes, or 39 fewer than he threw last season.

But he’s a 3-0 quarterback, riding a strong running game and, yes, at this point it has to be said, his defense to a 13-6 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

In those three victories, Indianapolis has given up a total of 16 points -- the best three-game start to a season by any Colt defense.

Of course, those three victories came against teams quarterbacked by Kyle Boller, Byron Leftwich and Trent Dilfer -- not Bart Starr, Fran Tarkenton and Roman Gabriel.

Still, the Manning-Marvin Harrison Colts with a defense is an alien concept among AFC contenders, but one that could prove troublesome in January if Indianapolis is able to gain home-field advantage through the playoffs.

Another alien concept: The Cincinnati Bengals are undefeated at this late stage of the season.

Yes, the Bengals are 3-0 after a 24-7 win at Chicago. That’s the first time the Bengals have started a season 3-0 since 1990, which is the last time the Bengals made the playoffs.

It has been a stunningly glorious ride so far, but as Bengal fans know and fear, there is something ominous lurking around the corner. It is called October.

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Winning combinations

New England’s head coach-quarterback tandem of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, right, leads for the highest winning percentage since 1970 (minimum 50 wins):

*--* Head Coach-Quarterback Team Record Pct. Bill Belichick-Tom Brady New England Patriots 50-15 769 John Madden-Ken Stabler Oakland Raiders 60-19-1 756 Tom Landry-Roger Staubach Dallas Cowboys 84-29 743 George Seifert-Steve Young San Francisco 49ers 62-23 729 Andy Reid-Donovan McNabb Philadelphia Eagles 57-24 707 Bud Grant-Fran Tarkenton Minnesota Vikings 64-27-2 699

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Source: nflmedia.com