When the Cowboys were rebuilding their secondary this offseason, they dropped $50.1 million over five years on cornerback Brandon Carr.

That's a lot of money, but, what's being in a playoff race worth?

Carr's interception and return to the 1-yard line set up Dallas' game-winning field goal in overtime, giving the Cowboys a 27-24 victory over Pittsburgh and adding another contender to what is turning into a jumbled, beautiful mess of a NFC playoff picture.

[Also: Fantasy owners rue leaving WR James Jones on the bench this week]

Read More »from Cowboys stay alive in crazy NFC playoff race with an overtime win over Pittsburgh

There used to be a time when Pete Carroll was bothered by teams running up the score. Of course, he was all about sportsmanship when it was his team having the score run up against it.

The same guy who famously scolded Jim Harbaugh for going for a two-point conversion with a huge lead while Carroll was at USC and Harbaugh was at Stanford didn't care so much about Buffalo coach Chan Gailey's feelings on Sunday.

With Seattle ahead 47-17 in the fourth quarter against the Bills, Carroll called for a fake punt.

[Also: Falcons TE Tony Gonzalez delivers age-defying outing vs. Giants]

Read More »from What’s your deal? Seahawks run a fake punt while hanging on to a 30-point lead in the fourth quarter (VIDEO)

The most poignant moment of the NFL day might have come in St. Louis before the Vikings and Rams played.

Members of both teams, along with children, held hands and formed a huge circle in the middle of the field as they paused to remember the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings in Newtown, Conn.

There were moments of silence all across the NFL on Sunday.

Read More »from NFL honors Sandy Hook Elementary victims with a moment of silence before Sunday’s games (VIDEO)

In college and for most of his NFL rookie year, Russell Wilson established himself as a great thrower who had the ability to break a long run when he had to. Against Buffalo, Wilson decided to show that he can dominate a game with his running ability when needed.

Wilson scored three rushing touchdowns in the first half against the Bills, and none of them were quarterback sneaks at the goal line. Wilson scored on runs of 13, 25 and 14 yards, giving him the single-game record for rushing touchdowns by a Seahawks quarterback before the game even went to halftime.

[Also: Fantasy owners rue leaving WR James Jones on the bench this week]

The Seahawks, still alive to win the NFC West, took a 31-17 lead against Buffalo into halftime. Wilson added a short passing touchdown to Zach Miller to give him four touchdowns in the first half. Seattle cruised to a 50-17 win over Buffalo. The Seahawks are the first NFL team since 1950 to score 50 points in consecutive weeks.

Read More »from Russell Wilson gets three rushing TDs to set a Seahawks QB record before halftime (VIDEO)

When Chicago seemed ready to run away with the NFC North and Green Bay was getting games stolen from it by replacement referees, it appeared the division crown would probably be wrapped up with a couple games left to go.

And it was. The Packers took home the NFC North championship on Sunday.

With a 21-13 win at Chicago, despite a horrible fake punt call that gave the Bears life in the fourth quarter, Green Bay won the NFC North and can spend the last two weeks trying to get a first-round bye in the playoffs.

[Also: Packers run mindless trick play against Bears, win anyway]

Read More »from Packers wrap up NFC North title with a sweep of the Bears

There are times for trick plays. Being up 11 points in the fourth quarter, fielding a punt inside your 20-yard line, is not one of them.

Game situation mattered none to Mike McCarthy. The Packers coach had this throwback fake on a punt return written out on his play card and by golly, he was going to use it.

So the Packers tried it, fumbled it away and gave the Bears some life in the fourth quarter, in one of the most baffling coaching decisions of this or any other season.

Read More »from Packers run one of the most inane trick plays ever seen, fumble it away to Bears (VIDEO)

One of the many amazing things about Adrian Peterson's unbelievable season is that the Vikings have almost nothing else on offense.

Christian Ponder gives the Vikings no threat in the passing game, especially with Percy Harvin done for the year. Teams can load up as many players in the box as they wish with no threat of it backfiring.

And yet, Peterson still can't be stopped. Peterson needed 400 yards to reach 2,000 yards for the season and 506 to break Eric Dickerson's single-season record, and took care of 82 of those yards on one long touchdown run against the Rams.

[Also: Fantasy owners rue leaving WR James Jones on the bench this week]

Peterson finished with 212 yards in the win over the Rams, and has 1,812 on the season with two games remaining. He needs to average 146.5 yards in those last two games to catch Dickerson, and that doesn't seem too tough the way he is running.

Read More »from Adrian Peterson takes a big chunk out of the record chase with another 82-yard TD

(USA Today Sports Images)Utah State is the kind of program coaches normally use as a stepping stone to better jobs, that is, if Utah State had enough success to propel any coaches to better jobs.

For decades, the Aggies were a dormant program. They had no outright conference titles since 1936 and no 10-win seasons ever. Then they got a coach in Gary Andersen that brought that kind of unprecedented success, and a funny thing happened.

He wanted to stick around.

Utah State's 41-15 win over Toledo in the Potato Bowl caps the greatest season in program history, at least since facemasks started appearing on helmets. And with Anderson staying put, there's no reason to believe Utah State can't continue to have success.

Read More »from Utah State finishes its first 11-win season in program history with Potato Bowl win