Thanksgiving Day Football - Week 12

Thursday's Games:
Denver at Dallas, 4:15 p.m.
Atlanta at Detroit, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday's games:
New England at Kansas City, 1 p.m.
San Diego at Washington, 1 p.m.
San Francisco at Tennessee, 1 p.m.
Baltimore at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Carolina at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Chicago at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Cleveland at Minnesota, 1 p.m.
St. Louis at Houston, 1 p.m.
Miami at Oakland, 4:05 p.m.
Jacksonville at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.
N.Y. Giants at Seattle, 4:15 p.m.
Green Bay at Philadelphia, 4:15 p.m.
New Orleans at N.Y. Jets, 8:30 p.m.

Monday's game:
Pittsburgh at Indianapolis, 9 p.m.

Colts v Bengals - Battle Of Wills

Chad Johnson created quite a stir two seasons ago when he predicted the Bengals would upset the Chiefs, who came to Paul Brown Stadium with a 9-0 record. Sure enough Kansas City left with a loss.

On Sunday, the Colts arrive with a 9-0 record but the Johnson isn't talking this time. "Coach had a talk to me about that," Johnson said. "I'm going to listen to my coach and just say that Sunday's game should be a great game."

The last team to start a season 10-0 was the 1998 Denver Broncos, who won their first thirteen games. Only fifteen teams in the 86-year history of the NFL have reached 10-0, starting with the 1929 Green Bay Packers and ending with the Broncos.

The only team to have a perfect season in NFL history was the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who went 14-0 in the regular season and won all three postseason games.

"Talk to us about 16-0 when we get to 15-0," Colts' Corey Simon said. The talent in this league won't allow us to look any farther ahead."

The Bengals have plenty of talent. They are tied with the Steelers for first place in their division, thanks to an offence led by Carson Palmer, Johnson and running back Rudi Johnson.

Vick Could Use Owens

Michael Vick wouldn't mind having Terrell Owens at receiver for the Falcons. But he would havr yo understand one thing.

"This is my team," Vick said on Wednesday.

In all likelihood, that is something that Owens would not understand.

Vick has already proved to his critics wrong. Last week, Vick completed a season-best 22-of-31 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions in a 17-10 victory at Miami. He still ranks 26th in the league in passing efficiency, working with a group of average receivers.

So when the quarterback's weekly question-and-answer session turned toward Owens - Vick seemed happy to respond:

"I think I could play with anybody," Vick said. "It's all if they could play with me. He would have to understand my style of play and what I do - if he can do that, he can be here. Other than that, this is my team."

Week 9 Schedule - NFL Football

Sunday:
Houston at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.
Oakland at Kansas City, 1 p.m.
San Diego at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m.
Atlanta at Miami, 1 p.m.
Carolina at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Chicago vs. New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Cincinnati at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Detroit at Minnesota, 1 p.m.
Tennessee at Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Seattle at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.
N.Y. Giants at San Francisco, 4:05 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Green Bay, 4:15 p.m.
Philadelphia at Washington, 8:30 p.m.

Monday:
Indianapolis at New England, 9 p.m.

Steelers Hang On

The Pittsburgh Steelers did just enough to keep alive an impressive streak on Monday Night Football. Roethlisberger threw a pair of touchdown passes and engineered a late drive that led to Jeff Reed's field goal, lifting the Steelers to a 20-19 win over the tough-to crack-Baltimore Ravens.

Pittsburgh (5-2) were outgained 318-261, had a couple of turnovers and missed a key punt in the fourth quarter. But they still managed to win their 11th straight Monday night football game at home.

Matt Stover made four field goals for the Ravens, including a Heinz Field-record 49-yarder halfway through the fourth and a 47-yarder with three minutes left to give Baltimore a 19-17 lead.

But then Roethlisberger, who completed 18-of-30 passes for 177 yards and one interception, came back with two completions to Randle El and Morgan to get Pittsburgh into Ravens' territory.

Verron Haynes ran once for seven yards and Jerome Bettis four times for a total of 16 yards, setting up Reed's 37-yarder to cap the scoring with a minute and a half to go.

Pittsburgh's record streak of 125 straight wins when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter was under threat after Stover ended three straight drives with field goals.

But the Steeler's winning drive allowed them to avoid a big upset and keep the Ravens winless on the road. Baltimore are 0-4 away from home in 2005 and have lost seven straight on the road going back to last season.