Texans, Raiders Helping Out the Eagles

The Bears need a win and some help to make the postseason. Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson hate playoff scenarios and have taken it out on the Chicago defense. A.J. caught two Schaub TD passes within a few moments in the second quarter, and Houston leads 21-10. Devin Hester has put the ball on the turf twice, losing one. Kyle Orton has been accurate, Matt Forte has run well, but the Bears have been atrocious on third down and Schaub hasn't seen much pressure (no sacks for Chicago).

Meanwhile in Tampa, the Raiders continue their ascent ... which only started about 15 weeks too late. After whooping Houston last week, Oakland has tied the win-needing Bucs 14-14. Nnamdi Asomugha is out with a pained neck, but Jeff Garcia didn't attack much early. At the start of the third, Garcia finally went after second-string CB Justin Miller for a long TD to Michael Clayton. JaMarcus Russell has been efficient, the Raiders defense has limited the T.B. rushing attack to 51 yards, and SHANE LECHLER IS THE LEAGUE'S MVP. (Sorry, don't know what came over me.)

The psychological impact of all this is odd. For neutral parties, the early scores are pretty cool, because losses from the Bears and Bucs mean the Eagles stay alive, which means the afternoon NFC battle most Americans will see on Fox actually means something. Dallas can't clinch with a Bucs or Bears loss, so they'd love one of them to win and eliminate the Eagles so that Philly has no reason to beat Dallas save bitterness.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.