Ram tough?
Talk about a frenzied finish.
With each of the NFL’s eight divisions tightly jumbled after this weekend’s games, the last five weeks of the regular season are sure to be filled with plenty of unpredictable drama.
Take the wild NFC West, where Seattle and St. Louis are matched at the top with records below .500 at 5-6 — with Arizona and San Francisco playing Monday night and the winner moving a game behind at 4-7.
“This was a huge step for this team, taking it to the next level,” Rams rookie quarterback Sam Bradford said of his first road win, 36-33 at Denver on Sunday. “It’s obviously something we’ve struggled with earlier in the year. But to finally clear that hurdle, I feel like only things can get better now.”
After Sunday, every division has either two teams tied for the lead or the second-place squad only a game behind.
How about the NFC East, where the New York Giants topped Jacksonville 24-20 ,and Michael Vick and Philadelphia fell at Chicago 31-26 to put both in a tie for the division lead at 7-4.
Then, there’s the mediocre AFC South, where struggling Peyton Manning and Indianapolis are tied with the Jaguars at 6-5, with Houston and Tennessee just a game behind.
At Baltimore, the Ravens (8-3) improved to 5-0 at home this season with a 17-10 win over Tampa Bay and remained tied atop with the AFC North with Pittsburgh, which squeaked past Buffalo 19-16 in overtime. The division rivals play each other next Sunday night.
New England and the New York Jets won their games on Thanksgiving to earn matching 9-2 records, setting up a playofflike meeting at Foxborough next Monday night.
At Chicago, Jay Cutler tied a career high with four touchdown passes as the Bears (8-3) took sole possession of first place in the NFC North. The win, their fourth straight, put them a game ahead of Green Bay, which lost 20-17 to Atlanta.
“It was a big game for us,” Cutler said. “We talked about it in there. We have to keep going.”
Vick and the Eagles had won three straight, but were unable to break off big plays against one of the league’s stingiest defenses. Vick threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw his first interception of the year when he got picked off by Chris Harris in the end zone late in the first half, stopping a potential go-ahead scoring drive.
Chargers 36, Colts 14
San Diego picked off Manning four times, returning two for scores, and handed Indianapolis its most lopsided home loss since the four-time MVP has been the team’s starting quarterback.
“Offensively, we didn’t do a real good job,” Manning said. “I didn’t do a real good job.”
The last time the Colts lost by this much at home was Sept. 14, 1997, when Seattle won 31-3.
Falcons 20, Packers 17
At Atlanta, Matt Bryant kicked a 47-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining to give the NFC-leading Falcons their fifth straight win and remain a game ahead of New Orleans in the NFC South.
The Falcons (9-2) have their longest winning streak since 1998 and assured themselves of a third straight winning season.
“It’s great to get a winning season,” coach Mike Smith said. “But the expectations and goals are a lot higher than that.”
Texans 20, Titans 0
At Houston, Andre Johnson finally had enough from Cortland Finnegan, sparking a fistfight in the fourth quarter that led to both players being ejected and could end up in further discipline from the NFL.
Houston cornerback Glover Quin set a franchise record with three interceptions for the Texans (5-6). Arian Foster rushed for 143 yards and caught nine passes for the Texans, who posted their first shutout since 2004.
Rams 36, Broncos 33
At Denver, St. Louis escaped with a rare road win, which came just over a day after the NFL fined the Broncos (3-8) and their coach for a videotaping scandal.
There was more than a smattering of boos when Broncos coach Josh McDaniels was introduced before the game.
Giants 24, Jaguars 20
At East Rutherford, N.J., Eli Manning threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Boss with 3:15 to play and the Giants rallied to snap a two-game losing streak and end the Jaguars’ three-game winning streak.
Ravens 17, Bucs 10
Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes and Baltimore won a franchise record-tying eighth straight game at home.
Flacco connected with Todd Heap for a 65-yard score and hit Derrick Mason for a 10-yard touchdown during a three-minute span of the second quarter.
Chiefs 42, Seahawks 24
At Seattle, Matt Cassel threw three touchdown passes to Dwayne Bowe, Jamaal Charles rushed for 173 yards and Kansas City remained atop the AFC West.
Vikings 17, Redskins 13
At Landover, Md., Brett Favre was perfect on two scoring drives, and Minnesota won Leslie Frazier’s NFL head coaching debut despite Adrian Peterson’s early injury.
Browns 24, Panthers 23
At Cleveland, John Kasay missed a 42-yard field goal that grazed the left upright as time expired, allowing the Browns (4-7) to escape and give ex-Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme a little satisfaction.
Dolphins 33, Raiders 17
At Oakland, Calif., Chad Henne returned from a benching and injury to throw for 307 yards and two scores, and Dan Carpenter kicked four field goals for Miami.
