The impenetrable nature of the Baltimore defense received a good deal of attention this week, and rightly so. Advanced metrics rate the Ravens' rush defense as the best in the land; Baltimore had given up only one rushing TD through nine games.

Brandon Jacobs and the New York offensive line really don't care much for all that noise. Jacobs ran for two scores in the first quarter; the Giants went over 100 yards rushing in total just 20 minutes into the game. Eli Manning hasn't need to be great ... though he has been anyway. Manning has a touchdown toss and 82 yards, as the Giants lead 20-0.

New York's defense has done what Baltimore's cannot, holding Joe Flacco to short plays and erasing Willis McGahee (5 rushes, 15 yards).

In the FOX pre-game show this morning, Jimmy Johnson intimated that inserting Brooks Bollinger ahead of Brad Johnson would be a terrible decision. Actually, I think he said Bollinger is terrible. Eh, why quibble: he was right. Brad Johnson started bad bad bad (per usual), but at least B.J. didn't offer up an interception on his first pass attempt. (It took, like, six passes for Johnson).

Bollinger started the third quarter. He tossed a pick 30 seconds later. Brandon Jacobs scored to give N.Y. a 28-7 lead less than a minute later.

To be fair, Bollinger did march Dallas down the field on a long, painfully staccato drive which resulted in a TD pass to Terrell Owens, which is more than Johnson could do. But nothing Bollinger did proved Jimmy wrong. Tony Romo could amputate his entire arm and still be the best Dallas QB.

Meanwhile in Denver, Chad Pennington led a masterful clock-killing drive late in the fourth to seal Miami's fourth win. Also, fantasy football karma has caught up with Mike Shanahan's eternal running back platoon, rendering the famous Denver rushing game futile. The Broncos totaled only 14 yards in 12 rushing attempts. Reuben Droughns, Tatum Bell, Michael Pittman, Mike Anderson and Olandis Gary all smile tonight. (Well, Pittman probably isn't smiling considering he is still under Shanahan's spell. Whatever.)

Despite some killer red zone defense by the Steelers, a series of stands which limited New York to four field goals in five trips inside the 20, Pittsburgh held only a 14-12 lead with eight minutes left. Two big plays -- a 32-yard Mewelde Moore joint and a 65-yard catch-and-run from Nate Washington -- got the Steelers on the board. A fourth quarter drive petered out as Ben Roethlisberger rolled around on the grass, and Mitch Berger was set to punt it away.

Then James Harrison happened. The Pittsburgh linebacker, long-snapping due to an injury, sailed the ball three feet over Berger's head and through the back of the end zone. 14-14. Berger kicked to New York, and the Giants marched down the field with relative ease. The drive finished with an easy Eli Manning-to-Kevin Boss toss made possible by a killer blitz pick-up by Brandon Jacobs. 21-14.

Pittsburgh proceeded to put together two drives as bad as any other of the 2008 NFL season, excepting anything that has involved Dan Orlovsky. Ben Roethlisberger, inspired by the coming NBA, bounced a few balls. Also, he rolled around the grass some more. The game ended on a truly awful 4th and 15 in which Big Ben basically punted the ball with his arm. Simply, utterly ugly.

The Giants sacked Roethlisberger five times in the second half, and Ben was knocked down on a full half of his dropbacks. A stout defense (which Pittsburgh has) can win you a lot of games, but it needs some help occasionally. Neither Roethlisberger or his offensive line helped today.

The Giants haven't given Ben Roethlisberger the sort of beating the rest of the NFL has engaged in this season, but Big Ben has still offered a remarkably uninspiring performance with two interceptions in the first half. Thank goodness for that Pittsburgh defense, which has kept Brandon Jacobs under lock and forced Eli Manning to play the short yardage game. New York leads 9-7.

Speaking of that Jacobs lock: he did score a touchdown which was subsequently reviewed and rejected. Otherwise, the Steelers line has contained him as well as you can -- he has 36 yards on 14 rushes.

Elsewhere ...

* Seattle is pounding San Francisco 20-3, despite Seneca Wallace's existence and Frank Gore's line-of-scrimmage dominance. J.T. O'Sullivan has been a turnover catastrophe. An early fumble was among the worst you'll ever see outside of Detroit.

* Cincinnati won't win this one. Matt Schaub has hung 28 on the Bengals, and Ryan Fitzpatrick can't get his charges into the end zone.

* Cleveland and Jacksonville are in a battle, with the Browns leading 17-14. Derek Anderson is in "not suck" mode. I wish he'd announce this things before the game.

Who knew the Rams would be the Rosetta Stone of the NFL? One week after a surprise first victory over bandwagon-building Washington, St. Louis opened up a 21-7 first quarter lead over Dallas. The Rams worked on a short field on each scoring drive, capitalizing once on a Brad Johnson interception. St. Louis blew a good opportunity to open the second quarter, picking up a Marion Barber fumble at the Dallas 36, but picking up only two yards before a shanked field goal try.

Dallas isn't alone in danger. NFC Eastmate New York is in a dogfight with hot-and-cold San Francisco, with the Giants leading 14-10 in the second. The Niners haven't been able to slow the NYG offense, but J.T. O'Sullivan has had all sorts of time to choose his weapons; two long strikes to electric receiver Josh Morgan have kept it close. S.F.'s competitiveness seems more tenuous; Brandon Jacobs has been fierce, and Eli Manning has spent the afternoon looking deep. A few stops and the Giants should pull away.

The real fireworks can be found in Chicago, where Gus Frerotte and Kyle Orton are reenacting the Aaron Burr-Alexander Hamilton duel, with the score 17-17 midway through the second quarter.