-- The story practically was writing itself: Emotionally drained following a tumultuous week, the New York Giants came out flat against a division rival, thus leading to questions about whether the Plaxico Burress situation would begin a New York free-fall. When the Eagles lined up for a chip-shot 32-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, it looked like they'd go to the locker room with a commanding 13-point lead. Instead, the Giants got a jailbreak on the snap, the David Akers kick was blocked and, after some poor tackling and ever poorer effort (L.J. SMITH), Kevin Dockery scampered into the endzone with a 71-yard touchdown. Suddenly, it was 10-7 and the Giants stole all the momentum away from the shell-shocked Eagles. Plaxico who?

-- Kidding. The whole "the Giants won't miss Plaxico" thing is preposterous. It doesn't mean they can't win the Super Bowl without him, but it's a whole lot harder with Domenik Hixon as the number one target. (Hixon already has dropped a sure touchdown today.)

-- A mini-fracas erupted in the Lions-Vikings game (which Detroit leads 6-3) after Jared Allen was hurt on an illegal cut block by Gosder Cherilus. A brief kerfuffle ensued, Allen went out of the game (but soon returned) and order was restored... until the next play when Vikings linebacker Napoleon Harris and Lions fullback Moran Norris got into it. Norris threw a punch and was promptly ejected. It's tough to blame Allen for charging Cherilus after the block. It did appear dirty, plus, it's not like Jared Allen would ever irresponsibly put somebody else's life at risk.

-- The most entertaining game of the day is taking place in New Orleans, as the Saints hold a 16-14 halftime lead over Atlanta. But these two teams aren't in the NFC East, so we are allowed to ignore them until we're forced to pay attention in January.