Stay or go?

That's the dilemma I faced late Sunday afternoon. The Indianapolis Colts-Baltimore Ravens game that I was covering had just ended. That meant there was a little time before the locker rooms opened for me to see the dramatic endings of the Chicago Bears-Atlanta Falcons and St. Louis Rams-Washington Redskins games.

So I stayed.

The Cardinals' blocked-punt-returned-for-a-TD-in-OT win was an NFL first. (Getty Images)

I'm glad I did. I got down to the field level of Lucas Oil Stadium just as the locker rooms were opening, plus I got to see the ends of both games.

First we had Josh Brown nailing a 49-yard field goal to give the previously winless Rams a 19-17 victory over Washington, the same team who just got back from a two-week road trip that included victories over Dallas and Philadelphia.

After that, it was the amazing ending to the Bears-Falcons game. After the Bears took the lead 20-19 with 11 seconds left, the Bears made the decision to squib kick the ball. Bad move. That gave Atlanta the football at its own 44. From there, Matt Ryan made a sensational throw to Michael Jenkins on the sideline for 26 yards to the Chicago 30 with one second left.

Out trotted Jason Elam. But first a review to see if Jenkins was in. Please hurry up, I said to myself. I need to get downstairs.

They ruled Jenkins in, Elam calmly came out and nailed a 48-yard field goal to give the Falcons a dramatic 22-20 victory to put them at 4-2 for the season.

Wow.

It didn't end there, either. There were three more games decided in the final 10 seconds, the first time in league history that has happened.

The ending of the Houston-Miami game featured quarterback Matt Schaub scoring on a quarterback draw on fourth down to give the Texans the victory, their first.

The Minnesota Vikings won on a last-minute field goal, while the ending of the Dallas-Arizona game was as good as it gets. Dallas kicker Nick Folk made a 52-yard field goal as time expired in regulation to tie it and send it to overtime. Dallas got 10 points in the final two minutes to do so, which had to have everyone thinking, "typical Cardinals."

When the Cowboys won the coin toss, it was a given. The Cardinals would lose. Instead, the defense forced a three-and-out and then we saw the weirdest ending to a game I've seen. Sean Morey blocked a Mat McBriar punt, taking it off his foot, and Monty Beisel picked it up and ran into the end zone for a touchdown, the first time a game ended that way.

I thought so. When it happened, I turned to the guys with me in the press box and said I couldn't remember a game ending that way. That's because it was a first.

What a day. So let's give the entire schedule an A here in our grades. Why not? Sunday had it all.

Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008
St. Louis Rams 19, Washington Redskins 17		Prev. Grade	GPA
A+	Rams: The credit goes to the Rams defense. They made the big play at the end of the half for a touchdown and had four sacks. The offense didn't do a lot, but it made a big play at the end to set up the game-winning field goal.	B-	1.34
F	Redskins: The emotion of the past two weeks caught up with them. By the time they realized it they were scrambling from behind. That bad break at the end of the half really cost them.	A	2.62
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27, Carolina Panthers 3		Prev. Grade	GPA
A	Buccaneers: Give credit here to quarterback Jeff Garcia for stepping in and showing maybe he should be the guy at quarterback. The defense did the rest with a dominant performance, choking off the Carolina running game.	C-	2.73
D	Panthers: Yecch. Yecch. Yecch. Let's hold off on giving them this division. The Bucs showed when the Panthers can't run it, they aren't the same team. Being one-dimensional is a curse.	A	2.77
NY Jets 26, Cincinnati Bengals 14		Prev. Grade	GPA
B-	Jets: This one goes to the defense. It was a task made easier when Carson Palmer didn't play, but they did a nice job no matter what. Thomas Jones was a fantasy delight with his three touchdowns.	B+	2.42
C-	Bengals: No Carson Palmer and a second straight road game makes for a tough spot. They battled but they just couldn't get it going on offense. The defense showed up.	C-	1.63
New Orleans Saints 34, Oakland Raiders 3		Prev. Grade	GPA
B+	Saints: Drew Brees was sensational again, throwing for over 300 and three scores. He is having an MVP season. The defense had a second consecutive good game, limiting the Raiders to 226 total yards.	C-	2.62
F	Raiders: After an opening drive for a field goal, they did nothing. They couldn't run it at all and JaMarcus Russell struggled to get anything in the passing game. The pass defense was shredded.	C	1.40
Minnesota Vikings 12, Detroit Lions 10		Prev. Grade	GPA
B-	Vikings: They dominated the stats, but blew plenty of chances to score. Kevin Williams was special with four sacks, including one late. They should feel fortunate to get this one.	B	2.35
C	Lions: They should feel lucky to have played it close. They got pushed around, yet found a way to make it interesting in the end. Dan Orlovsky wasn't awful in his first start, but he wasn't good either.	F	1.14
Indianapolis Colts 31, Baltimore Ravens 3		Prev. Grade	GPA
A	Colts: They righted the ship in this one. They dominated every part of the game. Peyton Manning was on target for much of the day and the defense shut down the Ravens all afternoon long.	C	2.60
F	Ravens: They got embarrassed. The defense couldn't stop the Colts, the offense couldn't keep the football and they had no big plays. The result is what you saw. Injuries are hurting their secondary.	C	1.94
Houston Texans 29, Miami Dolphins 28		Prev. Grade	GPA
B-	Texans: Matt Schaub was outstanding. Time and time again, he kept bringing the Texans back and then scored the game-winner. Andre Johnson had a huge game catching it with 10 for 178. The defense didn't have a good day.	F	1.34
C	Dolphins: Losing the way they did will sting. They had it but couldn't contain Matt Schaub. The offense had a huge day. But what the heck was with the defense? They couldn't defend the pass at all.	A	2.34
Atlanta Falcons 22, Chicago Bears 20		Prev. Grade	GPA
A	Falcons: Matt Ryan showed what type of player he will be someday in this one with his first 300-yard passing game. What a show. The defense had a huge goal-line stop in the fourth quarter. Jason Elam? What can you say?	A	2.93
B+	Bears: Kyle Orton deserves loads of credit for driving the Bears in the final minute to what looked like a game-winning score. What happened to the pass defense?	A	2.95
Jacksonville Jaguars 24, Denver Broncos 17		Prev. Grade	GPA
B+	Jaguars: Give this one to David Garrard and Maurice Jones-Drew. They both had big games. The defense, which has been battered, stepped up and had a decent game against the high-scoring Broncos.	C-	2.28
C	Broncos: Their defense is getting pushed around too much. The Jaguars did what they wanted to on offense. The turnover early by Brandon Marshall with the Broncos in the red zone was a killer.	B-	2.73
Green Bay Packers 27, Seattle Seahawks 17		Prev. Grade	GPA
A	Packers: Not having to face Matt Hasselbeck, the defense went wild. They shut down Charlie Frye and the passing game and picked Frye off twice. Aaron Rodgers had a nice day throwing it.	C	2.40
C-	Seahawks: Not having Hasselbeck changed the complexion of the game before kickoff. They couldn't get anything going on offense. The defense hung around for a while but wilted when it got no help from the offense.	F	1.68
Philadelphia Eagles 40, San Francisco 49ers 26		Prev. Grade	GPA
B+	Eagles: Donovan McNabb had a nice game without his top offensive weapon, Brian Westbrook. The defense had three big takeaways in the fourth quarter to seal the game. This was a vintage Andy Reid gut-check game.	C-	2.85
C-	49ers: J.T. O'Sullivan had a Sage Rosenfels-type meltdown late in the game. The 49ers led by 12 in the fourth quarter and lost by 14. That's bad. They couldn't get to McNabb, which really hurt.	C	2.28
Arizona Cardinals 30, Dallas Cowboys 24		Prev. Grade	GPA
B+	Cardinals: Special teams saved the day here. They had a kickoff return for a touchdown and won the game with a return of a blocked punt. The defensive front was active all day long, especially on the Cowboys' only overtime series. This is a big win for the Cardinals.	A	2.88
C	Cowboys: Tony Romo had a good day throwing it, but it wasn't enough because of the special-teams flops. They made it interesting with their late-game theatrics, but don't you have to make sure the punt gets off?	B-	3.00
San Diego Chargers 30, New England Patriots 10		Prev. Grade	GPA
A	Chargers: Philip Rivers started strong and played well throughout. The defense dominated all game long and didn't let Matt Cassel get going in the passing game. This was an impressive victory.	D	2.40
C-	Patriots: Maybe they should have flown home after playing in San Francisco last week. They didn't look at all into this game. The pass defense had some struggles and the defensive line didn't blow on Philip Rivers.	B+	2.34
Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
Cleveland Browns 35, NY Giants 14		Prev. Grade	GPA
A	Browns: The team we saw here wasn't the one we saw all season long. The defense made plays and Derek Anderson had his best game. Could this be the one to get them going?	C	1.94
F	Giants: Eli Manning had a rough go of it with three interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. The Giants defense made Derek Anderson look like a star.	A	2.74