Snap Judgments • No defense for Davis That wasn't exactly a stirring vote of confidence the Cleveland defense gave embattled Browns head coach Butch Davis on Sunday. The Browns D waved the white towel so early and so often in Cincinnati that it looked like a day-long fair catch call. Cleveland, taking no chances on Davis' survival, gave up 58 points and a whopping 504 yards of offense. But you had to feel for poor Kelly Holcomb and the Browns offense. They produced 35 points in the second half, 48 overall, and still lost by double digits. • Redskins rushers red-faced Do not adjust your computer screen. This is not a typo: Clinton Portis, six carries for 17 yards rushing; Ladell Betts, eight carries for 34 yards. Washington's woeful offensive touch has done the impossible, turning even Portis into a non-weapon. • Goodbye, Martin? I wouldn't wager two cents that Bucs kicker Martin Gramatica will see a seventh season in Tampa Bay. Gramatica missed from 39 and 37 yards in the Bucs' 21-14 loss at Carolina, and had a 26-yard attempt blocked. He was 0-for-3 on the day, and is now 11 of 19 in field goals this season. No wonder Bucs coach Jon Gruden opted to run Michael Pittman on fourth down a couple weeks ago in Atlanta, rather than allow Gramatica to attempt a game-tying 45-yard fourth-quarter field goal. The Bucs haven't converted a field goal in more than a month, or since Oct. 24 against Chicago. Gramatica has missed seven of his last nine attempts. • The agony of Amani Whatever happened to Amani Toomer? How can a pretty good player lose it that quickly? Toomer had one catch for six yards against the Eagles, giving him 42 receptions for 566 yards and no touchdowns this season. Suddenly the Giants' best receiver looks old and slow, and with five games remaining, I think it's fair to say his five-year streak of 1,000-yard receiving seasons is in serious jeopardy. • Eli's coming, but not right away Six was the big number in the Manning family this week. Eli Manning had six completions against the Eagles on Sunday, or one each for every touchdown pass that big brother Peyton Manning threw against Detroit on Thursday. • Duce who? If Jerome Bettis keeps this up, we may never hear from Duce Staley again. Bettis rumbled for another 100-yard rushing day, needing 31 carries against Washington to reach triple figures. Hang in there, Duce. And go talk to Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox. He can relate. • The Brown lowdown It probably slipped your attention, but Houston won the long-awaited Brown Bowl Sunday at Reliant Stadium. By default. Antowain Smith subbed for injured Titans running back Chris Brown in Tennessee's 31-21 loss, but the Texans got a 29-yard field goal from kicker Kris Brown. • Maybe even a super genius Let me get this straight: LaDainian Tomlinson runs 21 times for 46 yards, and the 8-3 Chargers still score 34 points to win at Kansas City? That Marty Schottenheimer, what an offensive genius. • In case you were worried I'm ready to make a call: That streak where no team has ever played the Super Bowl on its home field is safe for another year. And yes, the big game will be played in Jacksonville this season. Sorry, Jags. You're not quite ready for Roman numerals. • Is Maurice Clarett available? And with the first pick of the 2005 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers select ... (we have less than five months to chew on that little mystery).

FOXBORO, Mass. -- In a game only a mudder could love, leave it to Corey Dillon to be the workhorse the Patriots needed on a down and dirty type of afternoon in rainy New England.

It was this kind of day that the Patriots had in mind when they went out and traded for Dillon last offseason. This is why New England's shrewd decision makers looked at the former Cincinnati malcontent and saw salvation, when others saw only rising stress levels.

So that in the midst of another burst of late-season weather, when the gales of Gillette Stadium come calling and the field in Foxboro is turned to muck, the Patriots could collectively crawl on Dillon's strong, sturdy back and ride him home to victory. A veritable shelter from the storm, in the disguise of a lead running back.

"Oh, yeah, you want him on your side at this time of year,'' Patriots guard Joe Andruzzi said of Dillon. "Of course. We love having him back there. This is New England weather. We have to be able to play in this.''

And win. And that's where Dillon comes in. Sunday's 24-3 conquest of Baltimore was a wet one from start to finish, but it was a win nonetheless, largely because of Dillon's ability to dominate through the downpour. In the end, New England's formula for victory was as easy as 1-2-3, as in Dillon's 30-carry, 123-yard rushing game, which included the game's only offensive touchdown on a 1-yard fourth-quarter dive.

For the Patriots this season, Dillon has been the primary barometer of success. How important has he been? Well, with him in the lineup, they haven't lost (10-0). Without him, they haven't won (0-1). And you can look it up.

For a guy who couldn't stand year after year of double-digit loss totals in Cincinnati, Dillon is undefeated in a Patriots uniform. And praise be, his personal winning streak has now reached double digits (he missed New England's loss at Pittsburgh due to a thigh injury).

"You can't beat that,'' said Dillon, with unintentional irony. "I've never in my career been 10-1. I really don't care about how many yards I've got, or how many touchdowns. As long as we're winning as a team, hey, I'm happy. I didn't come here to get no stats. I had stats. I came here to win.''

Dillon obviously came to the right place, because the Patriots have now won 25 of their past 26 games, dating to late September 2003, and New England's home winning streak stands at 17 in a row including playoffs. So many of those, it seems, have been played in rain, sleet or snow, like Sunday's slop-fest. The worse the conditions are, the more the Patriots thrive. At this point, they don't even try to explain it. They just enjoy it.

"It was one of those old-fashioned games today,'' Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said. "The one the kids love to play out there in the mud.''

It can't be good news for the rest of the NFL that it's beginning to look a lot like Patriots weather in New England. And now that Belichick's team has a legitimate Dillon-led running game to go with its ever-effective Tom Brady-paced passing game, is there any doubt that the road to the Super Bowl still winds through weather-beaten Foxboro?

"It's good to have a two-way [team], a passing game as well as a running game,'' New England safety and team co-captain Rodney Harrison said. "Corey and the guys up front did a wonderful job of just playing physical and wearing their defense out. You've got to give them credit. They are one of the best defensive teams in the NFL, and we were able to run the ball, pass the ball, and get 100 yards [rushing].''

One-hundred and forty-four, to be exact. On 41 rushes. All but 11 carries and 21 yards came courtesy of Dillon, who had just 40 yards on 13 attempts at halftime, when the game was tied 3-3.

"It's getting to the point where it doesn't surprise me any more,'' Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said of Dillon's day. "It's like the more you give it to him, the better he seems to do. He just keeps firing away. Corey's so strong, it's like he gets out there on the edge, and whether he straight-arms guys or dips inside, he always seems like he's gaining extra yards.''

Dillon has indeed given the Patriots something extra this season, and that's no small feat for a team that owns two of the past three Super Bowl titles. If New England does make it back to the game's grandest stage this season, as much as anything it'll be because Dillon has given the Patriots the offensive balance that makes them even less beatable in bad weather -- if that's possible.

"Having Corey, it's huge,'' said Patriots veteran receiver and part-time defensive back Troy Brown. "You can sit there and pound him in there in weather like this. He didn't have very many yards in the first half, but you can come out there in the second half and wear them down, the way we did. When you can keep running Corey at them, it's a great plus.''

Maybe things would have been different on this day had Baltimore had its sledgehammer of a running back healthy and slamming into the Patriots defensive front 30 times or so. But Jamal Lewis was in dry dock with a sprained ankle suffered early in last week's win against Dallas.

So it fell to Dillon to be the story, and he didn't disappoint. His rushing total gave him a career-high sixth 100-yard game this season, and he set a Patriots record by reaching the 1,000-yard rushing plateau in his 10th game of the season, one faster than Curtis Martin and Jim Nance managed in 1997 and 1966, respectively.

Dillon's 1,121 rushing yards this season also makes him the league's most productive back among those runners who changed teams last offseason, a group that includes Washington's Clinton Portis (945), Pittsburgh's Duce Staley (707), Chicago's Thomas Jones (616), and Dallas' Eddie George (424). At 112.1 yards per game, Dillon also stands to become the second Patriots running back to average more than 100 yards per game (Nance had 104.1 in 1966).

Would somebody please remind me what the big risk was that the Patriots were taking in acquiring Dillon? As the weeks fly by, and the yards roll in, it's getting harder and harder to remember his supposed down side. Especially in a downpour.

"The field condition was something else,'' Dillon said. "It played in our favor for the most part. We went out there and toughed it out, and got a win. It might be boring, but I'm enjoying this. What's so flashy about us going out there winning?''

Dillon may not be an all-purpose back, but he is proving to be an all-weather one. And at this time of year, that makes him perfect for the Patriots.

Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.