They were some real eye-openers Sunday afternoon, none more so than the Cincinnati Bengals. With their 18-12 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals have moved to 7-2 on the year, but more importantly control the AFC North. They’re a combined 4-0 against the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens this year, and enter a very easy stretch in their schedule. With the way their defence is playing, they should be able to keep the division lead for quite a while.

THE GOOD

Two teams have done an excellent job turning their seasons around – the Carolina Panthers and the Tennessee Titans. Carolina moved to 4-5 with a tough win over Atlanta, thanks in large part to Jake Delhomme. The embattled quarterback was dreadful earlier this season, but has been able to right his game enough to get some wins. Sunday afternoon he threw for just under 200 yards and two scores. With wins in four of their last six (and they should have been able to capitalize against New Orleans last week), the Panthers are still in the race for an NFC wildcard spot.

Tennessee, meanwhile, has won three straight games with Vince Young back under centre. Chris Johnson has rushed for just under 500 yards in those three wins, and their defence seems to be restoring some of its swagger from last season. Word of caution to their next opponents: the Titans are out to show their 0-6 start was a fluke. Word of caution to Titans fans: the three wins have come against Jacksonville, San Francisco, and Buffalo.

THE BAD

Maybe it was just a case of looking past a weak opponent, but the New Orleans Saints need to be careful. I’ve watched the team four weeks in a row now, and I haven’t been impressed with their performance in any of the contests. A narrow five point win over the St. Louis Rams, a game in which the Rams deserved a better fate, tells me that Head Coach Sean Payton needs to get his team better prepared for games. As I’ve said before, come playoff time, the Saints aren’t going to go far if they keep allowing inferior teams to stay in the game.

THE UGLY

The Dallas Cowboys had a great opportunity to open up a two game lead in the NFC East, and went out and had a pathetic outing versus the Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys offensive statistics may look adequate, but most of their effectiveness came in garbage time when the Packers were up 17-0. The ‘boys didn’t convert a third down until the fourth quarter, and Dallas running backs managed only 45 yards on 11 carries. So much for Tony Romo’s November magic.

I know they’re still three games over 500, but this is the Denver Broncos team I thought I’d see. I give full marks to Kyle Orton for finally throwing the ball over 20 yards (he did it twice!),  but even with Orton going down, they have to beat the Washington Redskins. With three straight losses, the Broncos are now tied with the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West.

TWO POINT CONVERSION

- I know the games generate a lot of revenue for specific markets, but can’t the league switch the Monday nighter if it looks like a dud? I’m sorry, but Baltimore @ Cleveland just doesn’t rev my engine as a Week Ten matchup this season

- Josh Freeman had another nice outing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Count me as surprised. Freeman actually leads the Bucs on scoring drives – a nice change from the quarterback play they were getting earlier in the season

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

It may have taken 15 games, but the Toronto Maple Leafs finally…won at home. They look to make it two in a row as they face the Minnesota Wild tonight. In fact the Leafs picked up their first W at home since April 11 when they dummy-ed the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Saturday night. Toronto got fantastic performance from goaltender Jonas Gustavsson. The Monster turned aside 35 shots en route to his third win of the season. Expect Gustavsson to be between the pipes tonight. Saturday night was full of firsts for the Leafs. Of course there was the first home win, forwards Phil Kessel and Wayne Primeau notched their first goals in the blue and while and d-man Jeff Finger scored his first goal of the year. Toronto has collected points in seven straight games and hopes to take advantage of a Minnesota team that struggles on the road. In nine games away from home, the Wild are 1-8.

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

The word on the street was that a certain off season acquisition was to make his Blue and White season debut, but unfortunately that will not be the case. Leaf fans will have to wait one more day to see Phil Kessel play his first game. The Leafs are coming off an unsuccessful five game road trip and they welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning to the ACC tonight. The Lightning are second in the Southeast, but come in losers of their last two. One thing going right for Tampa is the play of Steven Stamkos. Stamkos has scored in six straight games and has eleven on the year. Expect goaltender Jonas Gustavsson to be between the pipes for Toronto in this one. Gustavvson’s last start was in Buffalo on Friday night was good even though it ended in a lose. Defenceman Tomas Kaberle was named the NHL’s first star of the week last week. In four games he had two goals and ten assists. The Leafs will need him to keep it up if they want to get that elusive second win.

Here are the lineups for the shows at noon:

On Baseball Show:
Mike Wilner hosting today:

TBA

On Leafs Lunch:

Brian Duff hosting

12:10 – CHUCK FLETCHER – WILD GM

12:20 – MATTAIS OHLUND – NEW LIGHTNING DEFENSMAN

12:40 – DAN BOYLE – SHARKS DEFENSEMAN

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:
The hottest team in baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies, open up a three game set against the Chicago Cubs who are on a bit of a streak themselves. The Phillies have won eight straight games and lead their division by at least six and a half games. The Cubs have won four and are looking to close the two game gap over division leading St Louis. Fifth starter Rodrigo Lopez (1-0) gets the call for Philly. He’ll need to be impressive as his job is on the line. Before the all star break the Phillies signed Pedro Martinez to a one year deal, but wouldn’t be available to the team until at least July 30. On the mound for the Cubbies is their only all star Ted Lilly (9-6). In Lilly’s last start he held the Cardinals to only four hits over eight innings and earned his 100th win.