MVP poll:
50% Grant Wistrom
25% Ahman Green
25% Mike Minter

• 12/23/03 - Green Bay vs Oakland: Brett Favre, mourning the death of his father, led the Packers to a 41-7 thrashing of the Raiders on Monday Night Football. The Raiders secondary looked pathetic to say the least. It was Favre's night and the Packers, including Ahman Green, were in playoff form.
  The Packers took a long while to get going on the ground, and this was against the 31st-ranked rushing defense in the NFL. Ahman Green had to scratch out everything he got. He finished the game with 127 yards on 24 carries, his first 100-yard game since gaining 154 yards on Nov. 23 against San Francisco. It was also the team’s first 100-yard rushing game since that win over the 49ers. (PackersNews.com)
• 12/23/03 - St. Louis vs Cincinnati: The Bengals flew home Sunday night lamenting the botching of a potentially game-changing play. Cincinnati trailed 17-10 in the third quarter when Rams special teamer DeJuan Groce failed to prevent Sean Landeta's punt from going into the end zone. As the ball lay next to Groce in the end zone, the Bengals' Jeff Burris picked it up -- until the punting team possesses the ball, it is live -- and ran all the way to the Rams' 5-yard line. However, the play was wiped out because Bengals players were penalized for walking on the field during the play to start the next series.
  Starting the ensuing possession 68 yards behind where they would have if not for the penalties, the Bengals made one first down and punted. The Rams scored 10 points on the next two series to effectively put the game -- and perhaps the playoffs -- out of the Bengals' reach. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• 12/21/03 - San Francisco vs Philadelphia: The 49ers overcame myriad mistakes, a number committed by one man - punter Bill LaFleur.
    His most blatant mistake was dropping a snap on a 31-yard field goal attempt to unsuccessfully end the 49ers' first drive of the game. It was LaFluer's third mishandled snap of the season.
    The snap fromBrian Jennings simply punched right through LaFleur's hands. He picked it up ran into kicker Todd Peterson and was then dropped on the spot.
    LaFleur went to the sidelines and when special team coach Larry Mac Duff approached, LaFleur walked away seeking solitude. Maybe LaFleur should have sought Mac Duff's counsel. A half-hour later, LaFleur shanked a punt into the Eagles' sideline that went for 8 yards.
    Taking advantage of LaFleur's second gaffe , the Eagles drove40 yards for a 14-7 advantage in the second quarter.
    Backup quarterback Tim Rattay relieved LaFluer as the holder before the first half was over.
    But no one replaced LaFleur as the punter. He nailed a punt to Brain Westbrook early in the third quarter that Westbrook returned 81 yards for a touchdown beating LaFleur to the pylon. (SFGate)
• 12/21/03 - Carolina vs Detroit: Detroit Lions Mike McMahon did put together a decent second-quarter drive, using an 11-yard scramble to move the Lions to the Carolina 24. But his next pass sailed straight into Carolina safety Mike Minter's hands to end the drive. The Panthers used the interception to set up Kasay's 42-yard field goal for a 17-0 lead.
    Minter’s interception was the 15th of his career, moving him into second on the Panthers all-time list behind Eric Davis. (Shelby Star)
• 12/21/03 - Rucker was on the sideline in street clothes.
• 12/21/03 - St. Louis vs Cincinnati: Of the 11 players who started for the St. Louis defense here on Sunday afternoon, nine weren't with the franchise when the Rams brought home the Super Bowl title in 2000, and a half-dozen weren't even in the league at the time.
    After the Rams secured a first-round playoff bye and grabbed the inside track on home-field advantage in the NFC -- thanks to Philadelphia's loss -- with a 27-10 manhandling of the Cincinnati Bengals, it was difficult to locate a St. Louis defender with historical perspective. Unless, that is, you happened to wander past the locker stall of end Grant Wistrom, a starter on the Super Bowl XXXIV unit and one of the notable standouts of the Sunday victory.
    Asked to compare the championship defense with an aggressive unit that held Cincinnati to a single touchdown, Wistrom strongly suggested this year's outfit is superior. The 1999 defense, he acknowledged, was more an afterthought. The 2003 bunch is more a factor in the success of a team that is more balanced than its recent predecessors.
    "When we won the Super Bowl," said Wistrom, "we had a very high (statistical) ranking, and part of the reason was that our offense was always ahead 14-0 or 21-0 early in almost every game, and (opponents) were forced to play catch-up. This is a much more complete team, a more flexible defense, and we're going out and winning some games." (Len Pasquarelli, ESPN)
    "It is a huge advantage out there for us, and I would be lying if I told you it wasn't," said defensive end Grant Wistrom, who had 2 1/2 sacks. "I have to give part of the credit for my sacks to the fans today. It helps you get a great jump off the football because the offensive linemen can't hear the count." (USA Today)
    "People have come and gone in this locker room, but the fans haven't changed at all," Wistrom said. "They're incredibly loud." (St. Petersburg Times)
• 12/21/03 - Houston vs Tennessee: After a scoreless first quarter, the Texans opened the scoring in the second quarter via a 49-yard field goal by Kris Brown.
• Tyrone Williams did not play (benched).