Peek at the Week: Colts (Big 0) vs. Jags (Big D) in South

Game of the week

Indianapolis at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.

Jacksonville scored 35 points all season; Indianapolis scored 35 points in the first half last weekend. So guess which is the unbeaten team? Uh-huh, that's why this is a critical game for the Colts, who opened with New England, Tennessee and Green Bay.

John Henderson and the Jags have been nasty on defense.(AP)

Everything tilts toward the Colts here. They're 5-1 against Jacksonville; Peyton Manning is 4-1 against the Jags with 12 touchdowns, three interceptions and a career 104.2 passer rating, and Edgerrin James averages over 100 yards a game against them. But the Jags are the league's eighth-ranked defense and haven't allowed more than one touchdown in a game. What's more, they have a history of putting handcuffs on star Indy receiver Marvin Harrison, allowing no more than 34 yards receiving in any of the four games he has played against them.

The key: Let's see where these two stand at halftime. The Jags don't score early, but neither do their opponents. If you're going to beat them, you better throw the haymaker early and often.

Something you might want to consider: Indy looks like the perfect antidote to Jacksonville's last-minute magic. The Colts outscored opponents 38-7 in the fourth quarter, forcing five of their six takeaways

Three games I'd like to see ...

New England at Buffalo, 1 p.m.

The Patriots can tie an NFL record with their 18th consecutive victory (including the playoffs), but this one is more important to Buffalo. The Bills absolutely, positively cannot fall three games behind in the AFC East three games into the season, and that happens if they can't figure out Tom Brady. It won't be easy. Brady has played these guys four times and produced 100-plus passer ratings in three of those games. That's significant. When Brady posts 100-point games, the Patriots don't lose -- and he has done it 17 times in his career.

Buffalo has offensive line problems, and the club still doesn't seem all that committed to Travis Henry and the run game. This is a good time to come around, guys: Henry ran for 206 yards in the last two games following byes, and Indianapolis bashed the Patriots for 202 yards rushing in the season opener.

Drew Bledsoe is 1-3 against New England since his trade to Buffalo in 2002, and he's 9-17 over his past 26 starts. That's not good. This isn't either: He was sacked seven times in his last start. Unless he gets rid of the ball more quickly, or the offensive line shores up its pass protection, the Bills will be off to their worst start since 2001, when they finished 3-13.

Something you might want to consider: Buffalo is at the right place and at the right time for an upset. The Bills are home, where they clobbered the Patriots last year, and they're coming off a bye; the club is 10-5 in games after the bye week.

Atlanta at Carolina, 4:05 p.m.

Carolina offensive coordinator Dan Henning should recognize the defense he's facing: It belongs to his former secondary coach when Henning was head coach at San Diego from 1989-91. That would be Jim Mora, and he's our nominee for Mr. Fix-It after the job he did plastering holes in the Falcons defense. The club that last year was the league's worst at stopping the pass and its worst in overall defense suddenly is keeping people out of the end zone -- and that's what happens when you're tied for the league lead in sacks and are second against the run.

Forget Michael Vick. The guys that drive this engine are people like defensive end Patrick Kerney and defensive tackle Rod Coleman, each with three sacks. Carolina will turn again to DeShaun Foster, who punctured Kansas City for 174 yards rushing two weeks ago, but the Panthers aren't afraid of putting their game plan in Jake Delhomme's hands. With five touchdowns in two games, he's off to the best start of his career.

Something you might want to consider: Vick hasn't lost in three starts against the Panthers, had his two most accurate passing games against them and produced his second-best rushing total (141 yards).

Kansas City at Baltimore, Monday, 9 p.m.

It's time to circle the wagons in Kansas City. The club is winless and now embarks on a brutal four-game schedule that includes two undefeated opponents. This isn't one of them, but the Ravens are brutal at home, where they won seven in a row -- or every game since they were beaten by Kansas City last year. The Chiefs never lost in this series, but then the series is only two games old. They lose here if they don't start making big plays, and I'm talking about their offense.

A year ago they led the league in red-zone scoring, producing touchdowns on 42 of 54 possessions -- or a whopping 77.8 percent of the time. Now they're 6-for-9, twice failing to produce anything from the 5 and in last weekend. Memo to Trent Green: Start picking it up in the fourth quarter. With a 50.6 fourth-quarter rating, he is ahead of only Cincinnati's Carson Palmer and Baltimore's Kyle Boller in AFC rankings. And speaking of Boller, he's working on a two-game streak without an interception -- a first in his two-year career.

Something you might want to consider: In his past four games at home, running back Jamal Lewis has seven TDs, and in his last start against the Chiefs, he ran for 115 yards and scored once. Twice this season opposing backs had career rushing games against the Chiefs, but that will be hard for Lewis ... unless, of course, he goes for 300.

... Where we will be

I'm sitting out Sunday because it's my bye week, but I'm back in business Monday night at Baltimore and Monday afternoon at Lexington market.

Pete stays home to see why his neighbors can't stop talking about the Jaguars. I think he knows. He saw them beat Denver two weeks ago.

Crummy game of the week

Washington at Cleveland, 1 p.m.

The NFL should let Gerry Austin officiate this one, too. It might introduce the surprise element needed to inject life into two teams going nowhere. I know it's early, but Cleveland is in trouble if it doesn't win this one. The Browns' season could start to slip-slide away, especially with upcoming dates at Pittsburgh and Baltimore and home against Philadelphia in the next five weeks. Yes, quarterback Jeff Garcia looked better last weekend -- heck, you can't go anywhere but up after a 0.00 passer rating -- but the Browns offensive line didn't.

The addition of running back Lee Suggs could, maybe should, make a difference, but who wouldn't make a difference in the league's 28th-ranked offense? The Browns passed on Clinton Portis in the 2002 draft, taking William Green instead; now they get to see what they missed. In 32 career games, Portis ran for 100 yards 19 times -- including a 139-yard, two-TD effort last year against the Browns.

Something you might want to consider: Excluding his first year as a head coach when he lost his first five, Joe Gibbs dropped three in a row only once in his career -- and that was 1988, his only losing season with the Redskins.

Upset of the week

Arizona over New Orleans, 4:05 p.m.

I don't know, there's something that doesn't feel right about this game. The Saints are the more talented club, but they're ripe for an upset after their emotional victory over St. Louis last weekend. Why? Check the records: Under Jim Haslett, the Saints beat St. Louis twice on the road. Each time they followed with a loss. Plus, they're outdoors, where they lost their first three games last year.

The Cards play people close; they just have nobody to put points on the board. But this is not about their offense; it's about their defense. Nobody is better than forcing fumbles. Arizona leads the league with six recoveries, and New Orleans -- particularly quarterback Aaron Brooks -- has a history of playing loose with the ball. You can look it up. Brooks had 14 fumbles last year, and the Saints led everyone with 20. That's a long way of saying I'll take the Cards in the desert.

Three and out with ...

New York Giants QB Kurt Warner

Q: Because you missed so much time the past two years, isn't this season about proving yourself all over again?

Warner: "Maybe to one degree, but it's really not what drives me anymore. I've proven I can play at this level and play at an extremely high level. I definitely think there are people out there who doubt and think I can't play and that my career is over. From that regard, I suppose there's a little bit to prove to those people, but, hey, I can still play this game. I can play it a high level, and I can still win."

Q: Why do you think St. Louis gave up on you?

Warner: "I don't really know. I don't know all the factors in there. I don't in my mind think anyone in St. Louis feels I can't play this game. I think they know I can play it at a very high level. I think it was just a decision where with my having a couple of injuries and Marc (Bulger) playing well they decided this is the direction we want to take in the future. It was just a matter of them going in a different direction."

Q: With Eli Manning sitting behind you, aren't you really auditioning this year for your next employer?

Warner: No question about it. If this turns out to be a one-year thing then that's what this is going to turn out to be: Me focusing on this year and trying to win a championship here and through the course of that allowing other people to see what I can still do that will present new opportunities for me. But I haven't said it will only be a one-year deal. At the same time, I know I'm not going to be here 10 more years. I know Eli will take over at some point, and that's the way it should be.

The lowdown on ...

Carolina RB DeShaun Foster
(One scout's report)

"He's big, fast and powerful -- an elusive tackle-breaker who has above-average hands. There's not much he can't do. He will put the ball on the ground, but all those other things outweigh whatever fumbles he'll have during the course of the year because he makes plays normal backs won't. That's because of his style, and look back at his touchdown against Philadelphia in the playoffs last year and you'll see what I'm talking about. He keeps going and going and going, and he broke -- what? -- three or four tackles there?

"He runs somewhat high, though he's not as upright as (Eddie) George or (Eric) Dickerson, but he's learning to drop his pads the more he plays. I would imagine that now that he's played he'll play more than normal when Stephen Davis returns. It's all about opportunity and production, and he's had the opportunity and showed production. I may be wrong, but I see him as a premier back of the future. I'm basing that on his last two games last year and his performance against Kansas City two weeks ago. I wouldn't anoint him yet, but the signs are all there."