NESN

Ties don’t happen in football, right? Well, Danny Amendola certainly didn’t realize that could happen, and any self-respecting football fan should be up in arms over the virtue of a tie even taking place. The Rams and 49ers blew opportunity after opportunity, and bad shanks off the feet of both David Akers and Greg Zuerlein further disgraced the game. The worst part of all was the delay of game penalty on what should have been Zuerlein’s 53-yard game-winner. Instead, he missed from 58 yards out. A great game decided by an awful result. Let’s ban ties from the NFL, starting … now!

Whoever said the Ravens were finished this season clearly doesn’t know football. (I’ll turn myself in at the station soon.) Baltimore crushed the Raiders in all three facets of the game Sunday, running off 55 points on the afternoon and even seeing punter Sam Koch run in a score just for effect, and probably some fun. The blowout helped reestablish the Ravens following a couple of stinkers in Houston and Cleveland — even though they beat the Browns. The 55 points are a sign the offense isn’t going anywhere, and the three sacks and pair of forced turnovers just further cement that the defense is still strong even without Ray Lewis and Lardarius Webb.

When Antonio Cromartie claimed the Jets would still make the playoffs, he must have had a momentary lapse and forgot who his quarterback was. Mark Sanchez was atrocious yet again Sunday, completing just 9 of 22 passes and turning the ball over twice as the Seahawks trounced the Jets 28-7. With so much controversy surrounding the Jets already this season, it may be time for Rex Ryan to kick Sanchez to the curb and kick the tires on Tim Tebow. It could very well save Ryan’s job, because Sanchez certainly hasn’t done him any favors.

The Cowboys won a game. Can you believe it? What’s more, Tony Romo even went an entire game without a turnover. I mean, Cowboys fans must just be utterly elated. Romo, who is a fairly precise passer typically, continued his trend of efficiency, completing 19 of 26 passes for 206 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The performance marks the first time all season that Romo has thrown more than one touchdown without turning the ball over. Dallas, rejoice — this could be the start of something good. Or maybe it’s just the exception to the rule. Either way, enjoy it while you can.

This week’s Sunday night game was a brutal one to watch. Both defenses were great, but there was far too much ugly offense going around. The Bears lost the game 13-6, but the biggest loss of the night was that of Jay Cutler to a concussion. Cutler, who threw two picks before heading off, got licked a couple times and apparently was feeling the effects during the game. His absence didn’t change much for Chicago against the Texans, but it could become a much bigger problem if he needs to miss extended time. Remember how the Bears imploded without Cutler last season, going 1-5 over the final six games to finish the season 8-8? That can’t happen again.

If the Bears had bad luck losing Cutler, then Michael Vick must have no luck at all. After finally seeming to figure things out at the start of the game in Dallas, Vick took a big shot to the head and suffered a concussion of his own. Now, it looks like rookie Nick Foles will be getting a shot at the starting job, which could mean the end of Vick in Philly. Hopefully he’s all right and his season isn’t finished, as reports seem to indicate.