Flutie Magic returns in full force

The NFL could be mistaken for a kennel upon a quick glance at some of the dogs that comprise the league at the moment. Jacksonville, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago -- and the list goes on. Even Arizona, in this age defined by parody, is on its way to yet another losing season.

But as the saying goes, every dog has its day. And Sunday, with seven out of the eight last place teams claiming victory, there was no team that proved that more than the San Diego "Super (for now)" Chargers.

The reason the Chargers stood out a little more this weekend than the other giant killers was their glitz. There are some memorable contributors on the offensive side of the ball for the Bolts (David Boston, LaDainian Tomlinson, to name a couple) but none is more noteworthy than the awe-inspiring Doug Flutie.

Coming into the year, it certainly appeared that Flutie Magic was on its way to exiting stage left. Drew Brees was the apple of everyone's eye, and it appeared that the work Flutie had done winning games with the Buffalo Bills, Toronto Argonauts and Calgary Stampeders would all be a distant memory.

But what people in the league have to understand is that Dougie is not your average 41-year-old, and while he may be a gentleman in the way he handles being second string, he wants to be on the field. And Sunday he got that chance once Brees was benched for his erratic play thus far this season. Flutie took full advantage in a 42-28 romp over the 6-3, but on the skids, Minnesota Vikings.

Flutie is a very innovative and improvisational player, and his jump pass as well as his touchdown run off a botched snap are good illustrations of that. Say what you want about his not-so-technical style, but it scores points and wins games. Here's to Flutie pulling one out next week at Denver, and finishing his career on the field rather than on the bench.

The only other two 1-7 teams coming into the week also were able to put their past transgressions behind them and pull out impressive W's. The Atlanta Falcons went into the Meadowlands behind third string quarterback Kurt Kittner and pulled off an impressive 27-7 upset to finally get head coach Dan Reeves his 200th career victory. The Giants, between Tiki Barber's painful fumbles and Jeremy Shockey's foot injury (out six to eight weeks), now sit at 4-5 and tied for last in their division. But coach Jim Fassel has pulled them from the depths before.

The Jacksonville Jaguars gave their home crowd something to applaud with a victory over the heavily favored and highly efficient Indianapolis Colts. Byron Leftwich had his coming out party and Fred Taylor and Jimmy Smith looked like the pair that helped the Jags go 14-2 in 1999.

In one of the more marquee match ups of the day, one of Florida's other teams, the Miami Dolphins, didn't show up to Tennessee as the Titans rolled to a 31-3 victory. And it was even uglier than that score indicates. Brian Griese looked lost, and their once suffocating defense was giving Steve McNair all the time in the world to throw and lots of cushion for the receivers once he did throw. Apparently the Fish didn't want to wait until December to take a swan dive this year. At 5-4, they are now two games back of the idle Patriots in the AFC East.

And for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the panic button has now been flirted with after their loss to the NFC South leading Carolina Panthers. Simeon Rice had even guaranteed victory this week. Unless you can play on both sides of the ball, such predictions are sometimes better left unsaid.

One More Thing: Since when do the Green Bay Packers lose at home on Monday Night Football? While the 4-5 Pack has some explaining to do after giving that game away in the rain, the Philadelphia Eagles are the most "How did they do that?" 6-3 team in the league. They have even been outscored this season. But Donovan McNabb came up big on the final drive, and he is starting to gain his respect as a football player back.