Mr. November

Romo is 17-2 all-time in the month of November.

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The lingering questions surrounding Mark Sanchez were loudly brought up again after last week's loss to the Patriots. In theory, the Jets defence should be more than good enough to contain an extremely one-dimensional Broncos offence. The big question is whether or not Sanchez and the offence can score enough points to pick up a win on the road in a short week. That means Sanchez can't be throwing the ball away and the Jets need to re-establish their so-called "ground and pound" running game. The "ground and pound" took a hit with the news that LaDainian Tomlinson won't be in the lineup because of a knee injury.

Watch the Jets-Broncos live on Sportsnet, Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.

The "Bad Ass Bears" game: Bears-Chargers at Soldier Field

After dismantling the Lions last week the Bears come into this game as one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Devin Hester is now the best punt returner in the history of the NFL. The Bears defence is looking scary good. Jay Cutler is getting more time to use that rocket arm of his and Matt Forte is, well, Matt Forte.

The underachieving Chargers will have to play sound, mistake-free football to have a chance to win this game. The only problem is the Chargers haven't played a lot of solid, mistake-free football this season. The Chargers defence was shredded on the ground by Michael Bush. Because of that, expect Lovie Smith and Mike Martz to give Forte plenty of work.

The "Black vs. Purple" game: Raiders-Vikings in Minnesota

Think about this for a second: In January of 2010, the Vikings lost the NFC Championship game after a back-breaking Brett Favre interception. Favre is long gone, Donovan McNabb is on the bench and the Vikings are struggling along as Christian Ponder learns what it takes to be a quarterback in the NFL.

The Raiders don't have that concern with Carson Palmer. Their big concern is his conditioning and his grasp of the playbook. Both his conditioning and his play calling looked fine in the Raiders' win over the Chargers. Because of his lingering foot injury, the Raiders once again won't have Darren McFadden in the lineup. Running behind a large and physical offensive line, Michael Bush more than picked up the slack last week in McFadden's absence. If Palmer is going to throw deep to Denarius Moore, the Raiders offensive line will have to account for Jared Allen who leads the NFL with 13 and half sacks.

The "Red-headed Gun Slinger" game: Bengals-Ravens in Baltimore

Cincinnati's red-headed rookie quarterback, Andy Dalton, has shocked everyone with his poise and ability to make throws deep down the field. Dalton comes into this game with more touchdowns passes and a better quarterback rating than the Ravens' Joe Flacco.

I give up trying to figure out the Ravens. The same team that has beaten the Steelers twice this season has also lost to the Jaguars and Seahawks. After banging up his knee last week against the Steelers, the Bengals' game-breaking rookie receiver A.J. Green is being listed as a game-time decision.

Both teams have identical 6-3 records and both realize how much a win would mean in the tight race for the AFC Wild Card. While the Ravens are predictably good at home, the Bengals are equally good on the road. Defensively, both teams are almost equal in every single category.

The "Search for Fitzpatrick's Magic" game: Bills-Dolphins in Miami

The same "magic" that Ryan Fitzpatrick displayed as the Bills ran out to a 5-2 start to the season has eluded him the last two weeks. Losers of two straight, the Bills need Fitzpatrick to rediscover his magic Sunday in Miami as they face their long-time AFC East rivals.

The already injury-depleted Bills have lost centre Eric Wood for the season and so once again Chan Gailey will have to patch together a make-shift offensive line to try and protect Fitzpatrick.

While the Bills are struggling to bounce back from two bad losses, the Dolphins come into this game with a winning streak and some new-found confidence. In the last four weeks the Dolphins have, in order, lost in over time, lost by three points to the Giants and then beaten the Chiefs and Redskins. After a rough start to the season, running back Reggie Bush has scored three touchdowns the last three games and is averaging 5.9 yards per carry.

The "Quest for Perfection" game: Packers-Bucs at Lambeau Field

Aaron Rodgers and the 9-0 Packers look to keep it rolling in a game that Chris Berman once dubbed the "Bay of Pigs". Rodgers is in the midst of one of the finest seasons ever put together by a NFL quarterback. What is really scary about the Packers and their undefeated season is that their defence hasn't really played that well this season.

Coming off an uninspired effort in their loss to the Texans last week, the Bucs have the daunting task of trying to knock off the Packers in the madhouse that is Lambeau Field.

Overlooked in the Packers' awesome offensive fireworks is the fact they are a plus-11 in the giveaway/takeaway category.

How the NFC East will be won

The Redskins host the Cowboys in the early game, followed by the Giants hosting the Eagles in the Sunday night game.

With Tony Romo and the offence scoring points at will last week, the Cowboys will face the reeling Redskins in DC. A win would put the Cowboys in the thick of the NFC Wild Card race and keep their hopes of winning the NFC East very much alive.

Romo is 17-2 in the month of November, giving him the best record by a quarterback in that month in the Super Bowl era.

It doesn't matter who Mike Shanahan starts at quarterback (expect Rex Grossman), unless the Redskins can find a way to block DeMarcus Ware, they're doomed to fail.

A few hours after the Redskins-Cowboys game ends, the Giants host the Eagles. Even in last week's defeat to the 49ers, Eli Manning showed once again he's having the best year of his career.

The same can not be said of Eagles QB Michael Vick. The entire Eagles season is going up in flames and Andy Reid seems helpless to stop the losing. To make matters worse, Vick suffered two broken ribs in their loss to the Cardinals and is listed as doubtful to face the Giants. Where the Giants come across as a unified team determined to make the playoffs, the relationship between DeSean Jackson and the Eagles could not be more dysfunctional right now.

Survivor pool tip of the week

Assuming you are still alive in your survivor pool, I would take a long look at the Bears to beat the Chargers in Chicago and the amazing 49ers to take care of business against the Cardinals.

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