Week 4 preview

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Not to be confused with the fiery speeches of Vince Lombardi, Chan Gailey has imparted a simple and effective message to the Bills at halftime of their back-to-back come back wins: "Just keep playing". The Bills’ rag-tag collections of cast-offs, late-round draft picks and undrafted free agents have taken Gailey’s rallying cry to heart and will keep coming at you for 60 minutes.

Gailey has also cautioned his team about learning how to handle success. The Bills have received more positive media attention over the last 14 days than they have received in the last 12 years. As amazing as the last two weeks have been, the Bills can not continue to spot opposing teams huge leads and expect to always pull off the miracle comeback. Don’t let their 1-2 record fool you, the Bengals have the third-best defence in the NFL and will give the Bills all they can handle.

The deep in the heart Texas game: Texans-Steelers in Houston

In a state obsessed with football, it doesn’t get much better than a match-up between the Texans and Steelers. With the Colts missing Peyton Manning and suffering through a miserable season, the Texans have the AFC South right there for the taking. Coming off a loss to the Saints where Drew Brees lit up their defence, the Texans will try to bounce back against a less-than-perfect Steelers team.

Having said that, the Steelers still have a bad-ass defence and for all of his faults, Ben Roethlisberger still has the ability to stand in there and heave the ball down the field to speed-burners like Mike Wallace.

The Texans will receive a big boost Sunday with the return of running back Arian Foster to the lineup. If the Texans are going to finally win the AFC South, this is the kind of game they have to win to prove to everyone, especially themselves, that they are for real.

The homecoming game

For many years, Rex Ryan was the architect of the Ravens’ league-leading defence. On Sunday, he returns to his old stomping grounds as the coach of a team that is facing some criticism in New York after their loss in Oakland. There have been accusations in New York that the Jets were unprepared for the Raiders’ running game. Ryan would view someone calling his team "unprepared" as a major insult. Expect the Jets to be extremely prepared for what Joe Flacco and the Ravens will throw at them.

That leads us to the Jets’ problems on offence. Ryan loves to refer to his running game as ‘Ground & Pound’. However, the Jets are ranked 25th in the NFL at running the football, averaging only 82 yards a game. In Ryan’s first year as head coach, the Jets had the best running game in the league. The Jets have evolved into more of a passing team and their offence will only go as far as Mark Sanchez will take it.

Darren McFadden last week, the Jets’ defence will have to contend with the equally-dangerous Ray Rice Sunday in Baltimore.

The "tuck rule" game: Raiders host Patriots in Oakland

Ask any Raiders fan about the infamous "tuck rule" game back on Jan. 19, 2002 in Foxboro and you are bound to get an angry response. That Raiders team was mainly built around Rich Gannon and the passing game. This year’s version of the Raiders is built around McFadden and their power running game.

Tom Brady will be able to handle the crowd noise at the Black Hole and will manage to put up a fair amount of points on the scoreboard. It will be interesting to see if the Raiders try to beat Bill Belichick’s defence by concentrating on just their running game. The Patriots are ranked dead last in the NFL in defending the pass. Look for Raiders coach Hue Jackson to feature more passing than usual to see if they can exploit the Patriots’ secondary.

The Raiders’ biggest concern on defence is trying to find a way to slow down Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski.

The NFC showdown game: Cowboys-Lions in Dallas

The Cowboys might be billed as "America’s Team" but the Lions are a squad that has captured the imagination of football fans all across North America. Dating back to last year, the Lions are riding a seven-game winning streak and have given their long suffering fans a reason to forget about the pain of their winless season of 2008.

The big challenge for the Cowboys’ defence is how are they going to cover Calvin Johnson? In last week’s overtime win over the Vikings, the Lions stormed back from a 20-0 deficit to preserve their undefeated record. In OT, Matthew Stafford hit Johnson with a deep pass over the shoulder for a 40-yard gain that set up the game-winning field goal. The more you watch him the more it looks like Johnson is the most impossible receiver to cover in the NFL.

The Cowboys have a solid defence but they are vulnerable at cornerback. This will be an interesting chess match between the Cowboys’ secondary and the Stafford-Johnson combination.

Still playing with injured ribs, Tony Romo won’t get much of a break this week facing Ndamukong Suh and the Lions’ defence. Miles Austin's hamstring injury will keep him out of the lineup and leave a big hole in the Cowboys’ offence.

The survivor pool tip of the week

I am happy to report that I am still alive in my survivor pool after picking the Chargers last week. After much consideration I have decided to go with the Bucs over the Colts in the Monday night game.

Jim Lang is co-host of Brady and Lang in the morning on Sportsnet Radio the FAN 590 and a columnist for sportsnet.ca.