In the NFC East, Cowboy Down

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Talking Points - Oct. 14

It's all NFL for the guys today, from Pac-Man to free speech in the locker rooms to deciding whether which is the toughest division.

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The Browns, now winners of two straight, played to their potential in beating the Giants. Cleveland's gifted young wide receiver, Braylon Edwards, said immediately afterward: "This is new life. We're 2-0 in a 14-game season. . . . We can't worry about going to the playoffs or what didn't go right the first few weeks. We had to just go and play."

So, they did. Maybe quarterback Derek Anderson needed more time than expected to recover from his preseason concussion. Maybe Edwards needed more time than was expected to get over a preseason foot injury.

Whatever the case, look what the Redskins have on their plate now. The Browns are so loaded with offensive talent they scored a touchdown on a drive despite committing five penalties. They beat the Giants without tight end Kellen Winslow.

The lesson here is for us, the football consumer, to calm down. We need to stop making the grandest of declarations after each football Sunday. Yes, the pro football season is a sprint compared with the marathons that are baseball, basketball and hockey. But the NFL season is still four months long. Every reaction to each week of the season can't be so definitive.

Monday night, Cleveland fans filled the stadium wanting to boo Anderson, a quarterback who led them to 10 victories last season. Five weeks ago -- and I have the e-mail to prove it -- a great many Redskins fans wanted Jason Campbell benched in favor of rookie Colt Brennan. After four straight victories, accomplished without turnovers, they wanted to know if he was Peyton Manning's equal. The NFL must love that America obsesses to such an absurd degree over its product.

Yet, nothing has been decided. The Eagles are the only team in the NFC East not on a losing streak. The NFC South looks every bit as tough top to bottom as the East. The Patriots are struggling but not out of it. Whoever got those three draft picks away from Jerry Jones did a nice job for the Lions.

There are observations to make, sometimes critical ones, about the NFL and its teams every single week. But little of it is forever. Even Pacman could be back by late November. As Jerry Glanville observed rather famously in an "NFL Films" clip from some years ago, the NFL stands for "Not For Long." The Redskins were reminded of that Sunday by the Rams, and the Giants on Monday night by the Browns. The Dallas Cowboys seem to be reminded of that every day lately.