Big NFL action, but Fenway Park has been seeing some work as well. We'll take a stroll around the bases before getting into the football...

The Red Sox took Game 5 of the ALDS back to Oakland, and got out of a ninth inning jam to beat the A's 4-3, giving the A's their fourth losing ALDS in four seasons.

Forty-eight hours later, the Sox were in the Bronx to face the much hated New York Yankees, winning Game 1, but falling to the Yankees in Games 2 and 3. Game 3 at Fenway had its share of drama. The starting pitchers were Pedro Martinez for the Sox and Roger Clemens for New York. Pedro increased the tense air with a headhunting wild pitch over the back of Karim "I am Ugly" Garcia, which resulted in benches to start to clear and some shouting back and forth. Later, Clemens went after Manny Ramirez, and the two one upped each other with the F word, both benches cleared and dugout coach for New York Don "I am Ugly, too" Zimmer went after Pedro, who threw the 72 year-old down to the ground without even burping a taco. Poor Zim, he should just chill.

Game 4 was postponed due to rain, but the Yankees are up 2-1 in a series that is expected to be red hot and go the distance.

Even the rain over Gillette Stadium couldn't keep the Pats from going 4-2.

The Patriots played a tough game in bad weather to beat the New York Giants 17-6, partly thanks to five Giant turnovers, including four interceptions thrown by Kerry Collins. It was so good, even the coach liked the game.

"Man, that was a great win for our football team," Bill Belichick said.

Rodney "Lawyer Who?" Harrison caught two of the interceptions, while Matt Chatham recovered a fumble on the third play of the game to run it back for a touchdown. Even the running game had a life, with Mike Cloud starting for the injured Antowain Smith and grabbing a touchdown, while Kevin Faulk dashed for 87 yards on 14 carries.

"It was just a grind-it-out type game," guard Damien Woody said. "We're not the type of team that puts up 30 or 40 points every week. We're the type of team that grinds it out. We play good, solid defense and complementary offense. A lot of our wins are going to look like this."

The Patriots travel to Miami next week in a battle for the top spot in the AFC East.

BROWNS (3-3) 13, Raiders (2-4) 7 - FINAL: Hey, Rich Gannon and the Oakland Raiders! You've just had your butts tossed to you by Cleveland. What are ya gonna do next? GANNON: I don't know about the other guys, but I'm thinking of jumping off a cliff!

Panthers (5-0) 23, COLTS (5-1) 20 - FINAL/OT: Wow, this was one helluva matchup. Two undefeats, and after Indy's massive Monday Night Come Back that most of us, including myself shut off long before it ended, it looked like the Colts could do just about anything. But the Panthers got the long end of this one.

Dolphins (4-1) 24, JAGUARS (1-5) 10 - FINAL: This is no surprise. Jacksonville just stinks to high Heaven.

TITANS (4-2) 38, Texans (2-3) 17 - FINAL: Got to hand it to the Titans. They are one tough bunch and can bounce back into shape with the best of them.

Chiefs (6-0) 40, PACKERS (3-3) 34 - FINAL/OT: Maybe all of those experts were right. Maybe KC rally can run the table. And with a Monday night against Oakland next week, 7-0 isn't that far-fetched. As far as Green bay is concerned, that Brett Favre Magic Dust is just about all used up, and I am smelling the Favre Wagon heading back to Mississippi very soon.

Buccaneers (3-2) 35, REDSKINS (3-3) 13 - FINAL: The Bucs got back on track this week, after embarrassing themselves last Monday with that Colt Comeback. All I can figure is that Jon Gruden must have hammered everyone last week during practice.

COWBOYS (4-1) 23, Eagles (2-3) 21 - FINAL: Holy Smokes! The difference between this year's Cowboys and last year's is the exit of Emmitt Smith and entrance of Bill Parcells, and Dallas is 4-1, winning four in a row and two of them division opponents. Wow! How knew the Tuna still had it in him?

PATRIOTS (4-2) 17, Giants (2-3) 6 - FINAL: Fantastic! In the pouring rain, this beat up team with more injuries than season ticket holders (or so it seems) just wiped New York out of the game. One stat I do like is the Giant had 5 turnovers, four of them Kerry Collins INTs and two were picked by Rodney Harrison. Lawyer who?

SAINTS (2-4) 20, Bears (1-4) 13 - FINAL: Two loser teams. This must have been a real exciting game. Neither team even had net yardage over 300. Jeez, most quarterbacks throw over 300 yards in a game!

Ravens (3-2) 26, CARDINALS (1-5) 18 - FINAL: Let's face it: The Cardinals are just not winners. Not now, never were, never will be.

BRONCOS (5-1) 17, Steelers (2-4) 14 - FINAL: Even with red-hot Jake Plummer sitting out, Pittsburgh is no match for the Broncos. And Steve Beuerlein even gave them two INTs!

JETS (1-4) 30, Bills (3-3) 3 - FINAL: Hm. So, what happened to Buffalo? And don't give me this trap game crap either. Come on, can't beat the Jets? Please.

SEAHAWKS (4-1) 20, 49ers (2-4) 19 - FINAL: How important is Special Teams? The 49er holder fumbled the hold during an extra point for a dramatic game-tying touchdown and the kicker missed the extra point. Look at the score. One point. One. And under two minutes left in the game, the 9ers fumbled and turned it over. Game over.

Open date: Cincinnati, Detroit, Minnesota, San Diego

Baltimore at Cincinnati, 1 PM. AFC North Snoozer.

New England at Miami, 1 PM. Big AFC East game. Winner takes all for the top spot in the division.

Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants, 1 PM. Big NFC East game that may not matter any more due to the trouble these two teams have been having.

Kansas City at Oakland, 9 PM. Should be a big deal for the AFC West, but Oakland is playing like the old men that they are, and I can not see KC not making this win 7.

Open date: Arizona, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh

1. The Patriots running game - yes the running game, because any running game in New England is good news.

2. Let's hope the Red Sox can slap this "curse" and get past New York and return to the World Series.

3. That Monday Miracle with the Colts was incredible. It proves what good of a team Tony Dungy is putting together in Indianapolis and what kind of a team Tampa Bay is turning out to be, post Super Bowl.

4. That fight between Don Zimmer and Pedro Martinez was hysterical. Seeing Zimmer bounce on the ground like that has to be the funniest thing ever in baseball.

5. Rush Limbaugh this week admitted to be addicted to pain killers. My question to him now is whether or now he feels like all those crack heads he's criticized about over the years, because he's no better than any of them! I hope no one gives him any sympathy in rehab.

6. Peyton Manning is turning out to be a monster player. Certainly, he's living up to his First Pick Overall status.

7. I like going into Week 7 and there are still teams with a goose egg in the loss column. And for the Chiefs, I think it'll be a week or so until they get a loss.

8. Kansas City always starts red hot - not quite this hot, but hot just the same, then they cool as ice later in the season. That bothers me about that team.

9. So, anyone else think Donovan McNabb was hexed but Rush Limbaugh besides me?

10. Anyone else think that Parcells is tooling Steve Spurrier on coaching in the NFL?

ejh