Elsewhere around the NFL:

San Diego: Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson (hip) returned to San Diego Chargers practice Thursday. Tomlinson, who faces the Eagles top-10 rush defense on Sunday, is not a solid fantasy play.

Denver: Broncos WR Brandon Marshall was back at practice Thursday after taking off Wednesday with a back injury. He should be ready to go against the Washington Redskins on Sunday although it’s not a great match-up. The Redskins will likely attempt to shut down Marshall.

Philadelphia: Eagles RB Brian Westbrook was back at full practice for the Eagles on Thursday. His concussion and ankle are both improving and he looks like he will get the start against the Chargers. Even so, he should split carried with LeSean McCoy at best and might purley be a pass-catcher at this point.

Tennessee: Titans WR Justin Gage is unlikely to play Sunday after sustaining multiple fractures to transverse process bones in his back against the 49ers last week. The injury occurred on Gage’s spectacular leaping 33-yard catch where he landed awkwardly on his back. Gage will not require surgery, but he’s expected to miss at least two weeks while the fractures heal.

Free Agent: Agent Peter Schaffer said Thursday that Larry Johnson will not sign with a new team until Monday at the earliest. “We’re going to let this weekend’s games happen and go from there,” agent Peter Schaffer said. LJ can’t sign if he doesn’t receive any offers. As time goes on, the likelihood of Johnson signing with a team will decrease.

Minnesota: According to NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora, Vikings CB Antoine Winfield (foot) will not play against the Lions this week. Winfield has been limited in practice the past two days and the original plan called for Winfield to return next week. With the Minnesota Vikings playing the Lions on Sunday, Winfield can afford to sit out the extra week.

Dallas Cowboys - What is going on in Big D, injuries, trades and suspensions have dominated the headlines this week. First off “Pacman” Jones has been suspended indefinitely by the league, and is anyone surprised. Jones knew when he got reinstated prior to this season that any screw up know matter how small would get him suspended again. He got into a fight and know he may not play for the rest of the year. If this guy wants to play football ever again, he needs to figure this stuff out and stop it. Losing “Pacman” is a big loss, but nothing compared to the injury status of QB Tony Romo. Romo has a broken pinky and will be out as the starter for up to 4 weeks.  We have already heard rumblings from there all pro wide out Terrell Owens about not getting the ball enough and now 40 year old Brad Johnson will be the starter in Dallas. As if all this wasn’t weird enough the Cowboys went out and traded for highly talented, yet under achieving wide receiver Roy Williams. I makes no sense to me you have Owens complaining because he isn’t getting the ball, so you go out and get another wide receiver who will want the ball as well. Not to mention the fact that the Cowboys best chance to win might be by running the ball with Barber. I don’t know how this is all going to play out, we all remember what Owens can do when he isn’t happy with an organization. Maybe this will work out perfect, maybe Owens is happy to lose catches to Williams, maybe Johnston plays like he’s 28 again and maybe even “Pacman” gets back on the field. All I know is there is going to be a lot of question marks that need answering in Dallas over the next few weeks, it should be entertaining to watch.

AFC East - This division has been owned by the New England Patriots for a long time, but we might be seeing a changing of the guard. The Buffalo Bills have gotten off to a 4 -1 start and the Dolphins and Jets are playing better then a lot expected. All these teams have soft schedules and may have better records then they should. In week 7 a big game between the Chargers and Bills to see whether or not the Bills are for real and can take charge of this division. On Sunday it looks like Bills QB Trent Edwards will play, giving them a much better chance of competing with the Chargers. I think this might be the best division to watch coming down the stretch this year, no one is out of it and if they all play well they all might have a chance at the division crown.

Shaun Alexander signs a one year deal with the Washington Redskins
Willie Parker (Pit), Joseph Addai (Ind), Felix Jones (Dal) are all injured running backs
Carson Palmer (Cin), Matt Hasselbeck (Sea) are both out as QB’s this week

Most Valuable Player - It’s a little early, but lets take a look at who have been the best players and front runners for the MVP this year. Lets start a QB and take a look at Drew Brees. Brees leads the league in throwing yards, with 12 TD passes so far this year. Drew has a QB rating of 105 and is probably the front runner so far, if the award was given out today he would win. Other QB’s Jay Cutler and Kurt Warner are also off to great starts and if they keep it up will be in the MVP discussion at seasons end. If you want to look at running backs, you need to start with the Redskins Clinton Portis. Portis is averaging almost 5 yards a carry and has amassed 640 yards and 6 TD’s so far this year. If you had to pick an MVP right now it would be between Portis and Brees, both guys have led there teams thus far. If you want to look at wide outs Greg Jennings (GB), Roddy White (Atl) and Larry Fitzgerald (Arz) are leading the league at this point.

Playoff Predictions - There are still a lot of question marks, but lets make some early season playoff predictions. In the AFC I think Pittsburgh and Tennessee will win there divisions pretty easily. The other two divisions aren’t that easy, but I like the Bills to hang on in the East and the Chargers to start playing better and win the West. The two wild card spots will be grabbed up by the Colts and Patriots. The NFC division winners will be the Packers, Panthers, Cardinals and Giants. There is going to be some very disappointed teams here, but I think the wildcard teams will be the Cowboys and Saints. Potential Super Bowl match up Pittsburgh Steelers vs New Orleans Saints ??

Predictions are what they are, fun to examine, but ultimately only time will tell. I think we should see a lot of great battles over the next few weeks and after that I will take a look and re-evaluate my MVP and playoff predictions. The biggest story over th next couple of weeks will be the Cowboys, they have a lot of talent and if they some how can manage to use all of it they will be great.

This years Cowboys team was forecasted to be the team to challenge the 1972 Miami Dolphins undefeated team.  Not so fast my friend.  You know that today’s loss to the hated rivals Washington Redskins hurt, especially with it being the last game that they will play the Redskins in Texas stadium.  The Redskins are looked at the fourth best team in the NFC East division behind the Cowboys, New York Giants, and the Philadelphia Eagles.  The way the that the Eagles and Giants are playing this year makes this NFC East division the toughest division in the NFL by far.  It’s like the SEC conference with Florida, LSU, Alabama, and Georgia of the NFL.  Whatever two teams makes it out of this division to the playoffs this year will definitely be battle tested.  T.O. understands this like the rest of the Cowboys team, which is why he is frustrated even more.  T.O. and the Cowboys didn’t expect to lose to the Redskins, especially not at home.  Owner Jerry Jones has spent championship money on this Cowboys team this year.  This is the year that everyone not only expects its first playoff win in many years, but the Cowboys expect a Super Bowl.  They will tell you about it.  This team is confident and cocky, maybe a reflection of T.O.  Adam Jones called the loss a “reality check”.  It seems like some of the players forgot that in the NFL you have to strap it on and get ready play every game.  Any team in the NFL can be defeated on any given Sunday.  We’ll maybe not the St. Louis Rams beating a team, but every other NFL team can if the other doesn’t bring its “A” game.   We all know that T.O. loves getting his attention from the media.  He hasn’t gotten his usual love because the wealth is being spread around the whole offensive by Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett; who will eventually become head coach when owner Jerry Jones deem him to be ready to take over for head coach Wade Phillips.  What the Dallas Cowboys have done is put a tremendous amount of pressure on themselves with the “Super Bowl win or bust” theme that has been going around in Dallas.  Its the type of pressure that kept mounting for the New England Patriots last year with each and every win in the regular season and playoffs.

Similar to what Adam Jones said about the loss, this could actually have a positive affect on the team.  The loss takes the pressure off of having an undefeated season for Dallas.  A couple of more losses and the T.O. that we all know will be back.  We saw a glimpse of him tonight.