It’s Either Hot Or Not In The NFL

Hot, hot, hot. The NFL has a few teams riding impressive winning streaks and showing no signs of cooling down.

*The Philadelphia Eagles (9-1) shredded the Dallas Cowboys (5-5) in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday night. They rushed for 215 yards in a 37-9 victory that was their eighth straight. They held Dallas to 99 yards over the final three quarters.

*The New Orleans Saints (8-2) also own an eight-game winning streak. They came from 15 points down late in the fourth quarter against the Washington Redskins (4-6) for a 34-31 overtime triumph.

*The Minnesota Vikings (8-2) neutralized the NFL’s highest-scoring offense, stopping the Los Angeles Rams 24-7 to win their sixth straight.

*The Rams (7-3) managed just 254 yards.

*The New England Patriots (8-2) entertained the crowd in Mexico City with a 33-8 win over the sinking Oakland Raiders (4-6). Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes for the Patriots in their sixth straight win.

*The Jacksonville Jaguars (7-3) won their fourth straight, taking a 19-7 decision from the Cleveland Browns (0-10). The Browns are 0-10 for the second consecutive season.

One more item of note: The Buffalo Bills (5-5), for no apparent reason, benched quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who had thrown only three interceptions this season, for rookie Nathan Peterman. Peterman threw five INTs in the first half of a 54-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers (4-6). The once-promising Bills have lost their last three and apparently their way. Taylor was back behind center in the second half.

NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr. won the Monster Energy Cup Series championship Sunday at Homewood-Miami. Truex was favored going in and collected his first Cup title. It was emotional for Truex, 37, whose girlfriend has suffered a recurrence of ovarian cancer and whose team owner had a heart attack and bypass surgery two weeks ago.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: UCLA, wrapping up its second disappointing season in a row, fired coach Jim Mora. He was about to complete his sixth year and he exits with a 46-30 record, plus $12 million in contract money owed. The Bruins (5-6) lost 28-23 to USC on Saturday night and need to beat Cal to qualify for a bowl bid. Offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch steps in for Mora. … In the Associated Press poll, Alabama remains No. 1, Miami holds at No. 2, and Oklahoma, Clemson and Wisconsin round out the top five. The College Football Playoff rankings will be out Tuesday night.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman