To Patriots owner Bob Kraft, Fox Sports is sort of like a good-luck charm. Yes, his Patriots lost their first Super Bowl with Kraft as the majority owner on FOX, but the man understands that the Green Bay Packers were better on Jan. 26, 1997. Of course, Kraft hasn't forgotten that former coach Bill Parcells made Troy Brown inactive for Super Bowl XXXI in favor of special teams player Hason Graham, who couldn't tackle MVP Desmond Howard, who had a record 244 of punt-kick return yardage in that 35-21 loss.

"I can still see Troy crying on the sidelines about not playing that day," Kraft said Tuesday when bumping into me and Terry Bradshaw.

But the Patriots run of three Super Bowls in six years started on FOX, when Bill Belichick's team upset the mighty St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI on Adam Vinatieri's 46-yard field goal as time expired. That win in New Orleans was almost five months after September 11.

The Patriots won again after the 2003 season, before winning again on FOX in Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville.

The Patriots this Sunday will be going for their fourth Super Bowl in seven years.

"That's one thing you will always have over us, should we win," Kraft said to Bradshaw. "Your Steelers won four titles over six years. It's been a great run, but it's always great to see you guys when we're at a Super Bowl."

Hey, there is a lot of criticism directed at quarterbacks, white and black, but Donovan McNabb is not right. I mean, physically he doesn't look right on the field. OK, he played a little better in the fourth quarter against the Redskins, but if you watch him closely he's not bending his left front leg and it's causing his throws to sail high and wide.

The only conclusion is that maybe his right leg, which suffered a torn ACL, isn't totally healed. Or that McNabb is still very much worried about his legs getting hit in the pocket. As good as McNabb was in the past, he's not playing very well right now and the NFL is a bottom line business. How many losses can the Eagles stand until McNabb is good again?

If they lose this Sunday to the Lions, Eagles coach Andy Reid might be tempted to play rookie Kevin Kolb, the second-round pick that so infuriated McNabb when he was drafted last April.

McNabb can say that he doesn't have a home-run hitter at wide receiver (remember what he and Terrell Owens accomplished during that Super Bowl season?), but that's the way it has always been in Philadelphia. Teams are going to jam his receivers because right now there is no fear of McNabb scrambling and making a lot of plays with his feet.

In two games, McNabb has completed just two passes that have gained more than 20 yards. Both came in Green Bay. He had none against the Redskins Monday night. By comparison, last season at this time, when McNabb was playing like a potential MVP, he had 12 passing plays of 20 yards or more, four of them good for touchdowns.

Evil Ernie

Of the terms being bandied about during Videogate or Spygate, is the "plausible deniability" line that Patriots coach Bill Belichick could invoke with commissioner Roger Goodell. What that means is that Goodell could interview players and coaches on the Patriots and all of them could answer honestly that they had no idea about Belichick's video methods.

However, there is one employee, Ernie Adams, that some rival coaches and general managers are pointing a finger at, claiming that Adams and Belichick cooked up this scheme together and that Adams, a veritable football genius, was the one who broke down the taped coaching signals and ascertained what plays would be beneficial to Belichick and his offensive strategy. Adams has been with Belichick since the two worked for the New York Giants. His title is football research director and his job duties include statistical evaluations and film coordination.

"I've know Ernie most of his career and I don't believe he is G. Gordon Liddy, the Watergate burglar," said a friend who works with another team. "He is an honest guy who I don't think would condone cheating. I just don't see him being a party to any of this."

Better than Curly

This is Brett Favre's 17th season in the NFL and what's impressive about his 149-82 won-lost record in the regular season is that it is a better record than coaches like Washington's Joe Gibbs and the recently retired Bill Cowher and Bill Parcells. Gibbs is a Hall of Famer. Another interesting point is that Favre's winning percentage of .645 is also better than Curly Lambeau, Green Bay's legendary coach. Curly was .631.

Texans in trouble

With the loss of superstar receiver Andre Johnson with a sprained knee, the Houston Texans and Matt Schaub will have to rely heavily on Kevin Walter and Owen Daniels this Sunday against the Colts, who were able to defeat Vince Young while minus two starting linebackers.

Walter and Owens have a total of eight receptions in two games. There is even a chance that Texans coach Gary Kubiak will start Andre Davis, who was inactive last Sunday against the Panthers. Davis, though, has the most NFL experience (104 career receptions) on a relatively young receiving corps. In two games, Johnson had 262 receiving yards, or 212 yards more than the team's other wide receivers combined.

Adam off-target

Last Sunday might have been the worst game of Adam Vinatieri's pro career. He had an extra-point attempt blocked, a field-goal partially blocked and he pulled a 36-yard field goal attempt wide left. This stuff has happened before but not all in the same game. Since the 1999 season, Vinatieri has had only four out of 494 kicks blocked. Colts coach Tony Dungy blamed Vinatieri, too, saying that his kicks were too low and that's why they were blocked. 

The Cleveland Browns are pretty transparent when it comes to rookie quarterback Brady Quinn. First they trade away his main competition, Charlie Frye, to Seattle and then sign third-string quarterback Ken Dorsey, a player Quinn said really aided him in understanding the playbook and the NFL in general. Hey, every starter needs a confidante.

The Browns will now start Derek Anderson (0-3 as a starter) against the Bengals this Sunday. If he fails, Quinn could start the following week against the Oakland Raiders. Cleveland thought Frye gave the team its best chance to win and he didn't survive last week's first half. I mean, how much confidence do they really have in Anderson?

"Some people think we're doing some kind of experiment, but we're not," said general manager Phil Savage, who announced the moves. "We are trying to win. I think our team knows we're very serious about winning, and I think they'll have confidence in whoever we put out there."

Yeah, right!

Culpepper to the rescue

The Raiders have no choice but to start Al Davis's favorite quarterback, Daunte Culpepper, this Sunday against the Broncos. With Josh McCown having a broken finger, it seems very unlikely that he will play. With rookie JaMarcus Russell getting his first taste of practice today, the Raiders will take the two-week roster exemption for Russell before activating him.

Harsh words on Rex

First, Chargers defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell eased any fears that he wouldn't be able to creatively bring the pressure like Wade Phillips did last season. The Chargers were all over Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman last Sunday and rookie safety Eric Weddle has found a niche rushing the quarterback. And it was totally by design.

Inside linebacker Matt Wilhem, who is replacing Donnie Edwards, said that new linebackers coach Ron Rivera, who was dumped by Lovie Smith, told his players "that Rex was kind of a mental midget, so you can get into his head and create that thought."

LT pokes fun at Belichick

Remember, Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson questioned Bill Belichick's integrity after a playoff loss last January because some of his players danced on the San Diego insignia after the Pats won a first-round playoff game.

"I think the Patriots actually live by the saying, 'If you're not cheating, you're not trying,'" LT said.

Great news in Buffalo

There is no greater news league-wide than that it's looking like Bills tight end Kevin Everett is going to be able to walk again. If he does walk, the Buffalo players now know that head trainer Bud Carpenter and his assistants did a tremendous job in stabilizing Everett and making sure the surgeons had a chance of fixing him. There has been tremendous progress made on spinal injuries and Everett is a living, breathing example.

The Raiders and the agents for No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell made significant progress Saturday night and their negotiations will continue after today's game. Sources on both sides believe that a contract could be in place by Tuesday.

The final parameters could be very interesting because the total guaranteed money might end up being very close to what the club offered a couple weeks ago. The big question then will be why wasn't this deal done earlier?

You can bet that Russell and his family have become very impatient with the talks, thus negating the rumors that the LSU quarterback didn't want to play for the Raiders in the first place. If that was really the case, this deal would never get done.

Finally, it will be interesting if backup quarterback Daunte Culpepper is in uniform today. The Raiders owed him a bonus at the start of the season and basically guaranteeing him a total of $3.2 million, including bonuses and salary. Agents are saying that the Raiders were going to grind on Culpepper - force him to redo his contract -- in order to free up more money for Russell.

The Raiders will be curious today, when meeting face-to-face with his agents, if unsigned No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell is somewhere close by. If Russell is still in Atlanta or Mobile, Ala., his hometown, the club will know that agents Ethan Lock and Eric Metz aren't really serious about finally getting a deal done.

The Raiders, who are limited by their current rookie salary cap pool number of $2.975 million, have frustrated Russell's agents because the maximum allowed hard-cap guaranteed money, no matter the structure, is $29 million.

However, the Raiders have discussed adding another $2 million to that total in what is called soft-cap dollars, money that can be earned by inserting incentives that will be easily attained by Russell. For example, an easy incentive would be if he takes 30 percent of the snaps in 2008 or 2009. However, Russell's people may want more than $31 million. They originally asked for $35 million.

Last year's No. 1 pick, Mario Williams, received $26.5 million in guaranteed money. Reggie Bush, who was perceived as the best player in last year's draft, received a bonus package very similar to what Houston paid Williams. This year's second overall pick, Calvin Johnson, received $27.2 million in guarantees, and he was believed to be the best all-around player in the draft.

If Russell gets $31 million, it would be a significant boost over what Williams and Bush received last season.

There were rumors on Thursday that the Raiders were going to play hardball with Daunte Culpepper, who will be the backup quarterback on Sunday behind Josh McCown, and ask him to reduce his $3.2 million contract, thus freeing up more money for Russell. However, the Raiders have no intention of messing with Culpepper, who remains a favorite of owner Al Davis.

Rookie head coach Lane Kiffin, who still declines to name his starter against the Lions, picked McCown over Culpepper.