Upset of the week
Miami over Atlanta (-2.5), 1 p.m.
With Philadelphia falling all over itself, momentum is building for Atlanta as the team to beat in the NFC. Maybe. But I don't trust Michael Vick, basically because you can beat him and the Falcons if you force him to throw. I think Miami can. In fact, I think it will.
Sure, I know the Falcons are the league's best rushing team and that Miami's run defense is buried in the middle of the pack. But the Dolphins are tough at home, with only one opponent -- Kansas City -- rushing for more than 100 yards there. And that was an aberration. It was a Friday night game where the Chiefs should have been discombobulated because they had to travel that day. Instead, it was Miami that seemed out of synch.
The Dolphins are tough to figure. They looked good in wins over Denver and Carolina, and they looked dreadful against Tampa and Kansas City. The way I see it, it's time for the defense to take charge again -- much as it did last weekend when it stopped New Orleans on every one of its 11 third downs.
If the Dolphins can control the clock as they did a week ago when they hammered Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, this one's over.
Something to consider: The Falcons gain plenty of attention, and rightly so, for the league's top-rated rushing attack. But don't discount Miami. It averages 5.1 yards a carry, second-best in the AFC.
