The National Football League has looked – not to put too fine a point on it – putrid in the first four weeks of the season. Bad games. Boring games. Bad players playing boring games. The Giants have been one of the worst offenders, but other teams like the Jets and the Eagles, the Browns and the Bengals, the Falcons and the Saints have all committed offenses.

But watching the Miami Dolphins and the venerable old Dan Marino come back against the Indianapolis Colts and, later, watching the Green Bay Packers and Brett Favre come back against the Tampa Bay Buccanneers – I know there is hope.

The Dolphins-Colts game was truly one of the most exciting games I have seen in quite some time (years, possibly). And I just had to marvel at Favre in the Packers-Bucs game. He is like the Joe Montano of old.

Yes, there has been a lot of bad football. But when you get to see games like those two, you get to keep the faith alive.

Sunday

MINNESOTA (-3.5) at DETROIT: When I had a chance to draft Randall Cunningham for my Fantasy Football team I shied away because I thought there wasn’t any way he could have the type of season he had in 1998 – especially not at his age. Amazing, but for once my instincts were right. (KH – Vikings; SB – Vikings)

 

MIAMI (+3) at NEW ENGLAND: With that late comeback against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Dan Marino proved once again why he is a first ballot lock for the Hall of Fame and no matter what that jerk Jimmy Johnson thinks, he is not washed up. And, man, I’m glad I was watching that game instead of the Giants. (KH – Dolphins; SB – Dolphins)

 

OAKLAND (+4) at BUFFALO: Once again, the Raiders proved what a house of cards their franchise is. For the first two weeks, they gave us the impression that the team was going to make some noise in this league and then they show us how lame they really are. (KH – Bills; SB – Bills)

 

INDIANAPOLIS (off) at NEW YORK JETS: I here a lot of fans calling for Bill Parcells to go out and get another quarterback for his football team. But who is out there? Heck, only 15 or so teams in the league have a decent quarterback. Maybe Parcells can convince Phil Simms to come out of retirement, eh? (KH – Colts; SB – Jets)

 

ST. LOUIS (off) at ATLANTA: I could keep waiting for Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Rams to come down to earth . . . but I could be waiting for a long time. The Rams – the Rams for god’s sake! – look like the best team in the NFL. Heck, they look like the Vikings of ’98, don’t they? (KH – Rams; SB – Falcons)

 

CLEVELAND (off) at JACKSONVILLE: The last time I said the Jaguars were a bad long shot bet, they beat the long odds. Can they do it again? I don’t know, but with Mark Brunell, James Stewart (or Fred Taylor), Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell, they can’t play as poorly as they did against the Jets on Monday night. Not again. (KH – Jaguars; SB – Jaguars)

 

TENNESSEE (off) at NEW ORLEANS: The Titans are 4-1 and looking to be among the elite of the AFC, if you can believe that. The Saints, meanwhile, couldn’t even beat the grounded Falcons. Guess who I like. (KH – Titans, SB – Titans)

 

PITTSBURGH (-5.5) at CINCINNATI: Boy, the Steelers sure have fallen off since that hot start, huh? Whatever happened to Kordell Stewart? And will it happen to Akili Smith, the Bengals’ QB who seems to be built in the same mold? (KH – Bengals; SB – Steelers)

 

PHILADELPHIA (+7) at CHICAGO: I’m not ready to give the Eagles credit for anything. Sure, they beat Dallas, but the Cowboys just watched their star receiver taken off on a stretcher and worried that he might be paralyzed. It will be a slightly different story in Chicago, but I don’t think the Bears will be able to cover the line. (KH – Eagles; SB – Eagles)

 

SEATTLE (-1) at SAN DIEGO: Who would of thunkit? The Seahawks and the Chargers sit atop the AFC West with identical 3-1 records and play for first place. But who cares? Neither one of these teams is very exciting and no team in this division is going anywhere in the playoffs. (KH – Chargers; SB – Chargers)

 

GREEN BAY (-3.5) at DENVER: This is another game that could have been more than it is. But, hey, stuff happens. The line may be a little short, considering that the Packers still have a lot of life left in their offense. Did you see that comeback against Tampa Bay on Sunday night? (KH – Packers; SB – xx)

 

CAROLINA (off) at SAN FRANCISCO: It would be a shame if Steve Young never suits up for another football game. But concussions are a dangerous thing to fool around with. And with the prospect of missing Young for a long period of time – if not forever – could be too much for the Niners to think about. Hmmm? (KH – Panthers; SB – Forty Niners)

 

WASHINGTON (-3.5) at ARIZONA: The Redskins have the best offense in the league right now (thanks, mostly, to a 50-point effort against the Giants) but also have a very suspect defense. This could be a high-scoring affair. (KH – Cardinals; SB – Cardinals)

 

Monday Night

DALLAS (-3.5) at NEW YORK GIANTS: The Cowboys won’t lose to two horrendously bad offensive teams in a row. But I gotta back the Giants. If they cover the spread, I’d never forgive myself. (KH – Giants; SB – Giants)

 

SCOREBOARD

KIM_HARMON                      6-8-0                             34-35-3

STEVE_BIGHAM                             7-7-0                                        44-25-3