Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber scored two touchdowns on Sunday courtesy of Donovan McNabb. AP

• You have to figure that with those three picks at Tampa Bay --- two of which were returned for touchdowns by Bucs cornerback Ronde "I'm not retiring'' Barber --- Donovan McNabb all but ended his Heisman chances. Or at least damaged his shot at the NFL's MVP award.

• Wow, did the Eagles butcher the clock at the end of the first half, or what? Tight end L.J. Smith had the ball at the Bucs 2 when the half ended, because the Eagles were out of the timeouts and couldn't stop the clock for a field goal attempt. That chip-shot field goal ended up looming rather large, didn't it?

• Break up the Bucs. In rookie quarterback Bruce Gradkowski's three starts, he came within a Reggie Bush 65-yard punt return touchdown of beating the Saints in the Superdome, and then posted home wins over the Bengals and Eagles.

• The Chiefs proved once again they can beat anyone at Arrowhead, where they've won 11 of their past 12 division home games. Can you really pull quarterback Damon Huard out of Kansas City's lineup in favor of Trent Green one of these days? Not me. I'm a huge believer in going with the hot hand.

And don't look now, but Sunday's win over the Chargers began a stretch in which K.C. is home for four of its next six games. With road trips to St. Louis and Miami in there, the Chiefs (3-3) could quickly get back in the AFC West race.

• Memo to the rest of the NFL: Be afraid, be very afraid. The Patriots offense is getting better by the week, and Brady has himself some receiving options after all. Maybe it was the extra work Brady and his new receivers put in during the bye week, or maybe it just took some time for Tom Terrific to feel comfortable with the likes of Doug Gabriel, Chad Jackson and Reche Caldwell. But that trio combined for nine receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns in the Patriots' 28-6 road thrashing of the dispirited Bills.

Brady threw a 35-yard scoring strike to Jackson --- the rookie second-round pick --- and a five-yard touchdown to Gabriel, his third scoring grab in the past four games. The Patriots quarterback also connected with tight end Benjamin Watson five times for 60 yards, as Watson continues to emerge as his favorite target. The Pats are 3-0 since their humbling loss at home against Denver in Week 3, 5-1 overall, and already 4-0 in the AFC East with only the Jets at home and a trip to Miami left in division play.

• I was wrong. I thought the Bills (2-5) would put forth their best effort in weeks and give New England all it wanted Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. After all, the Bills in Week 1 went into Foxboro and outplayed the division's best team, leading 17-7 at the half before losing 19-17. But Buffalo, which has lost three in a row and been outscored 88-30 in those games, didn't get close to making the plays that counted against the Patriots.

Dick Jauron's team showed virtually no spunk against New England and consistently found a way to shoot itself in the foot. And I'm beginning to think that third-year quarterback J.P. Losman just isn't going to make it in Buffalo, no matter how much patience is shown by the Bills on his behalf. Losman had three fumbles against the Pats, losing two, and threw his sixth interception of the season.

• That was a wicked, avert-your-eyes hit that Peyton Manning took from Redskins defensive end Phillip Daniels midway through the second quarter. Daniels went high and bent Manning backwards -- ripping Manning's helmet off -- while his fellow defensive end Andre Carter had the quarterback wrapped up low. Manning's neck and back were twisted into a reverse question mark, and for a minute there I thought his career-long run of avoiding serious injury was kaput.

• Give Steve Smith the nod in his mano e' mano battle for receiving supremacy with Chad Johnson, but give the Bengals the advantage where it really mattered, on the scoreboard. Smith had eight catches for 136 yards in Carolina's 17-14 loss at Cincinnati, far out-classing Johnson's six-reception, 73-yard day. But that was a save-your-season type of win for the Bengals (4-2), who had arrived at something of a crossroads in Week 7.

• I've seen it all now. Washington's punter (and sometimes kickoff man) Derrick Frost drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the first half against the Colts, for taking his helmet off while arguing with officials during an aborted kickoff. The flag resulted in the Redskins kicking off from their 5 yard line.

I'm willing to bet that one's never happened before on a Joe Gibbs-coached team.

• He's at it again. Chalk up another touchdown pass for Mr. Multi-Purpose: Chargers super-back LaDanian Tomlinson.

• Put me down for the following call: Gibbs gives Jason Campbell his first NFL start in Week 9 at home against Dallas, after the Redskins have their bye next week. At 2-5 with Mark Brunell, what does Washington have to lose?

• Three picks at home against Green Bay is not exactly taking advantage of your opportunity, Joey Harrington.

• Denver's defense deserves all the pub it has been getting. Giving up 44 points in six games (and just two touchdowns all season) is an amazing accomplishment. But now here comes the Division I portion of the Broncos' schedule. Denver draws Indianapolis, at Pittsburgh and San Diego in three of its next four games.

• The Jaguars offense still isn't big league. Jacksonville's defense is stout, but it isn't good enough to win by itself. Maybe Byron Leftwich shouldn't have played on that sore ankle.

• Seattle's season now depends on how badly Matt Hasselbeck is hurt. But let's give the Vikings some credit for a huge road win in the Pacific Northwest. I love the Chester Taylor signing even more now that Minnesota's lead rusher has ripped off a club-record 95-yard touchdown run.

• C'mon, you knew the Raiders had to win this week. They were at home playing Arizona, the one team that can give Oakland a run for its dysfunction. Now what does Dennis Green do? Another season has gone up in smoke in the desert.