Three guys who have to step it up

	Donovan McNabb has been suffering through several injuries this season. McNabb hurt his groin late in the Eagles' loss to the Cowboys on Monday night. AP

1. Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia, quarterback -- OK, No. 5, everybody's watching now. Will you find a way to keep the ship from sinking, or are you too banged up -- both physically and mentally -- at this point to salvage anything from the 2005 season?

2. Marshall Faulk, St. Louis, running back -- I know it's the Steven Jackson era in St. Louis now, but nine games into the season Faulk has one touchdown and 315 yards of total offense? That used to be two average weeks' worth of work for him. Can we give No. 28 the ball a bit more, Rams?

3. David Patten, Washington, receiver -- Maybe Patten was just another perfect Patriots receiver who will never be as productive in another system. In only one game this season has he totaled more than three receptions and 56 yards. In the past three games, he has just four catches for 30 yards.

Snaps

1. Not since Dan Devine broke his leg on the Green Bay sideline have I seen an NFL head coach cut down in action quite like Minnesota's big Mike Tice was on Sunday at the Meadowlands. I don't know which replay I saw more of on Sunday night: Tice, wearing his man-in-black look, dropping like a ton of bricks, or the clear-cut clipping perpetrated by Bills receiver Lee Evans on that unsuspecting security guard just beyond Buffalo's end zone. Violent game, this football.

2. With apologies to Mike Alstott, if I have the ball on the 1-yard line, there's nobody in the NFL I want to hand off to more than Carolina's Stephen Davis. The Panthers veteran running back has a team-high 12 touchdowns this season. Nine of them were plunges of 36 inches or less.

3. Did I really fail to mention Tampa Bay receiver Joey Galloway among my Comeback Player of the Year candidates at midseason last week? What a dolt I am.

4. As bad as Terrell Owens' act has played throughout his whole saga, hasn't the performance of agent Drew Rosenhaus been just as weak? Rosenhaus has consistently struck the wrong tone, never more so than in last week's bizarre "apology'' news conference.

5. Pretty good week to be named Roy Williams in the NFL. Be it in Detroit or Dallas.

Media Buzz

This may shock you, but the TopCats affair was still quite the topic in the press box on Sunday at the Jets-Panthers game in Charlotte. One industrious reporter I know told me he had actually seen the police report from the late-night incident involving two Panthers cheerleaders in Tampa, and according to witnesses there was a little fire to go with all that smoke. Another observant journalist opined that the entire squad seemed to be dressed a little more conservatively than usual for the first home game after all the unwanted headlines.

Me? I was just watching football, folks. Nothing but football.