Posted by Andy Benoit

• The Steelers and Ravens both converted four third downs, went 1/2 in the red zone and committed nine penalties Sunday night.

• Rashard Mendenhall carried the ball 19 times (45 yards) after handling the rock a whopping 36 times the previous week at Buffalo.

• Anquan Boldin had five catches for 118 yards, seemingly all of them on the game’s final drive.

• How’s this for a subtle youth movement: wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown and tight end David Johnson each had three receptions for the Steelers.

• The Saints were just 1/8 on third down against the Bengals. They won because they generated 248 yards on their five biggest plays.

• Roman Harper led the Saints with 10 tackles, a sack (on the final play) and two tackles for a loss.

• Jay Cutler was 21/26 for 234 yards and a touchdown against the Lions. Cutler also went “interception-less” for the fifth time this season. On the year, he has a passer rating of 92.8.

• Earl Bennett is quietly becoming a go-to receiver for the Bears. The possession target had seven catches for 104 yards.

• Cliff Avril had three sacks for Detroit. That’s seven on the year and six in Avril’s last four games.

• Brian Urlacher led the Bears with 17 tackles. (Takeo Spikes and Stephen Tulloch also had 17 tackles for their respective teams.)

• Troy Smith completed just 10/25 passes against Green Bay. His limitations in reading the field from the pocket were obvious at times.

• Rookie running back James Starks led the Packers with 73 yards on 18 carries. Brandon Jackson resumed his usual third down role. He had 63 yards on four receptions.

• For the second straight week, Tennessee had fewer than 50 plays offensively. They’ve now gone a franchise-record 12 quarters without a touchdown.

• The Broncos had just 86 yards passing against a Chiefs defense that was playing without top corner Brandon Flowers.

• Dexter McCluster had five carries(11 yards) and two receptions (25 yards) in his first game back from a high ankle sprain. (He also had a fumble.)

• Turnovers once again doomed Miami. They were minus-three against the Browns.

• Browns tight end Ben Watson exploded for 100 yards on 10 catches.

• Sidney Rice looks to be in top form. He had 105 yards and two touchdowns Sunday.

• The Redskins did not convert once in the red zone against the Giants Sunday. Reason being, they were never in the red zone.

• Derek Hagan led the Giants with seven receptions. No one else caught more than two passes for New York.

• Jason Pierre-Paul had two sacks, two tackles for a loss and a fumble recovery.

• Jason Campbell was just 10/16 passing in Oakland’s surprising win at San Diego.

• The Chargers fell behind early and ran the ball just eight times. The Raiders ran the ball 52 times (for 251 yards).

• Peyton Manning completed 36/48 for 365 yards on what everyone agreed was one of his worst games as a pro.

• Felix Jones’ 83 yards on 22 carries were overshadowed by Tashard Choice’s 100 yards on 19 carries.

• The Cardinals had three different quarterbacks attempt passes Sunday. All completed 50 percent or fewer of their attempts.

• Carolina’s Steve Smith had 39 of his 54 yards receiving come on one play. It was Smith’s longest catch of the season.

• Marshawn Lynch punched in three touchdowns (and had 83 yards rushing) for Seattle.

• LeGarrette Blount gave the Bucs 103 yards rushing on his 24th birthday.

• One of Matt Ryan’s two interceptions was a result of the receiver slipping on bad turf. The Falcons turned the ball over for the first time in nearly five games Sunday.

• Falcons cornerback Brent Grimes had an interceptions and six pass breakups.
  
  For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Posted by Will Brinson

Today was a pretty good day to be around Asante Samuel; at least if you're a member of the media anyway -- Samuel kicked the day off by calling Deion Sanders "a hater."

Then he proceeded to get tattooed with a $40,000 fine for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Giants wideout Derek Hagan Sunday night.

Samuel's hit was notable because after doing exactly what the NFL wants him not to do (leading with his head), he proceeded to do exactly why the NFL hates leading with the head (celebrating) and seemed all but guaranteed to get fined.

According to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Samuel was originally fined $50,000, but Eagles coach Andy Reid was able to (somehow) convince the league to lower the fine by $10,000.

Eagles offensive lineman Todd Herremans was also fined $5,000 for penalties he received after blocking attempts on Chris Canty, who believed that Herremans was going at his knees.

As for the Deion thing, well, he recently called Samuel "the best off corner in the game" which actually seems fairly complimentary, unless it's backhanded. Samuel tweeted that Deion is "the biggest hater in the world" and that "he ain't no [Florida] boy he is a fake."

Unfortunately for Asante, Deion now gets to spend some time on the NFL Network discussing the Eagles cornerback's most recent fine, and that means plenty of time to "analyze" his off-field actions too.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Don’t expect Giants WR Steve Smith to play for the next few weeks. According to the Newark Star-Ledger, Smith, who partially tore his pectoral muscle at practice last Thursday, will be out until early December.

"It's coming along slow," Smith said.

With the Giants placing WR Ramses Barden on IR Tuesday because of a foot injury, the Giants are in desperate need of receiver help. Featuring only Mario Manningham, Hakeem Nicks and Duke Calhoun, New York on Tuesday re-signed Derek Hagan, who’s made only 11 catches since 2007.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .