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If you turn on ESPN at any given moment over the next three days, here is the percentage chance of what you will see:

15%: College football news or game coverage. (Of the college football time, 47% is on Tim Tebow. Another 33% pits Todd McShay against Mel Kiper.)

12%: SportsCenter. (Half of this time is actually ads for SportsCenter.)

9%: Baseball news or game coverage. (Of the baseball time, 92% is Yankees- or Red Sox-related.)

4%: Poker.

3%: NBA news or game coverage.

2%: A commercial spotlighting Scott Van Pelt.

1%: A commercial spotlighting ESPNU, ESPN2, ESPN Des Moines, etc.

0.75%: NHL news or game coverage. (And only because the season opens this weekend.)

0.25%: Golf, tennis, auto racing, college basketball, etc. (Of the miscellaneous time, 83% is Danica Patrick-related.)

53%: NFL news or game coverage. (Of the NFL time, 97% is previewing the Packers-Vikings game, which will be broadcast on, of course, ESPN.)

So, it’s about 50-50 that if you turn on the Worldwide Leader between now and Monday night, you’ll get your fill of insider reports and breathless analysis of Brett Favre vs. the Packers. The other networks will pitch in, along with sports talk radio and every print and online sports publication in existence (plus many that don’t cover sports).

I won’t pile on.

A quick look at the Week 4 action (all times Eastern):

SUNDAY

Baltimore (3-0) at New England (2-1), 1 p.m. Winning at San Diego in Week 2 meant something, but let’s face it, Baltimore’s other two wins (Chiefs and Browns) proved only that the Ravens could stay awake long enough to swat away clearly overmatched foes. The Patriots, meanwhile, have beaten a good team (Falcons) and a middling one (Bills) while losing to the AFC’s hottest team (Jets). We’ll learn something about both teams Sunday. Can Joe Flacco and the Ravens’ offense keep the scoreboard spinning against the best defense it has faced this season? And can Tom Brady and the Patriots’ offense, after failing to score a TD against the only good defense it has faced this season (Jets), start trading field goals for touchdowns against Ray Lewis and Co.? You may entertain doubts about the loser of this game — especially if it’s New England.

Tennessee (0-3) at Jacksonville (1-2), 1 p.m. This is it for the Titans. If they go in to a sparsely populated Jacksonville Municipal Stadium and lose, they’re cooked. Done. Finis. For one thing, they’d be 0-4. For another, the Jaguars aren’t that good, so what would that say about the Titans? And their next two games are against the Colts and Patriots, so Tennessee could be looking at 0-6 in their bye week if they lose Sunday. The Jaguars figure to be up for this game, especially since coach Jack Del Rio squashed David Garrard’s Friday radio show and opened this huge window for the quarterback to study the playbook. Garrard might not even need help from Maurice Jones-Drew.

Cincinnati (2-1) at Cleveland (0-3), 1 p.m. These teams aren’t just from opposite ends of Ohio — they’re on completely opposite ends of the football spectrum. The Bengals are riding high after beating the Packers and Steelers in successive weeks. The Browns are winless, lifeless, clueless and, unless something changes drastically, hopeless. Maybe quarterback Derek Anderson can spark the Browns’ offense after the benching of Brady Quinn, but he faces a Cincinnati defense that is tied for the league lead in sacks and is brimming with confidence. And the Bengals’ offense has proved it can come from behind — not that that will be necessary Sunday.

Seattle (1-2) at Indianapolis (3-0), 1 p.m. I’m trying to envision the Seahawks winning this game without quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. Without left tackle Walter Jones, who might well be done for the season. With a banged-up offensive line. With a quarterback, Seneca Wallace, who missed a lot of open receivers last week. Without their 12th Man home crowd. And with Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Robert Mathis and Antoine Bethea on the other side of the ball. Hey, the Colts won’t have defensive end Dwight Freeney and perhaps cornerback Kelvin Hayden, and safety Bob Sanders is still out, so I’m visualizing … visualizing … visualizing. Nope. Sorry. I’m just not seeing it.

Detroit (1-2) at Chicago (2-1), 1 p.m. The Lions shed tears of joy and relief after their streak-busting win over Washington last week; an upset in Chicago might burst the dam. But don’t go reaching for the Kleenex just yet. The Bears, and particularly their quarterback, Jay Cutler, have shown a lot of grit the last two weeks in beating the Steelers and Seahawks, so the Lions have their work cut out for them. Cutler’s receivers are, as expected, getting better just from working with him, and if running back Matt Forté ever rediscovers his rookie groove, the Chicago offense could become a bit of a force. The defense hasn’t collapsed without Brian Urlacher, either. Two wins in a row for the Lions? Probably not — but at least we’re no longer talking about a losing streak that had started to reach 1976-77 Tampa Bay Bucs proportions.

Oakland (1-2) at Houston (1-2), 1 p.m. In this corner, wearing silver and black, is the NFL’s second most anemic offense. And in this corner, wearing Betsy Ross’ favorite colors, is the league’s most horrid defense. They’ll come out swinging — and then what? Will Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell finally complete some passes? Will running back Darren McFadden hold onto the ball? Or will the Texans actually make a few tackles, maybe even stop the Raiders on third down a few times? Researchers exploring what happens when weakness meets weakness will study this game for years.

New York Giants (3-0) at Kansas City (0-3), 1 p.m. The Giants have been touted on the short list of teams expected to win the NFC. The Chiefs have been touted on the short list of teams expected to pick first in the 2010 NFL Draft. This matchup does not figure to deter either team from its destiny. Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs finally made the Giants’ ground game a factor against the Bucs last week, and with all the time Eli Manning had to throw, he could have filmed a DirecTV spot like his brother did a while back. The Chiefs might put up a bit more of a fight than Tampa Bay did, but then they hardly made Philly’s Kevin Kolb work up a sweat last week. And a K.C. offense likely without wide receiver Dwayne Bowe and facing the Giants’ top-ranked passing defense will make quarterback Matt Cassel a sitting duck — unless he just hands off all day. It might not help the Chiefs move the ball, but at least this foregone conclusion would be reached faster.

Tampa Bay (0-3) at Washington (1-2), 1 p.m. These teams need each other, yet only one can win. The Bucs are coming off a spanking by the Giants that first-year coach Raheem Morris called “completely disastrous,” prompting the change from Byron Leftwich to Josh Johnson at quarterback. The Redskins are coming off a loss to the Lions. ’Nuff said.

New York Jets (3-0) at New Orleans (3-0), 4:05 p.m. I see this game a lot like the most recent American Idol finale. I liked both Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, and I hated to see either of them lose (although Lambert probably won in the long run by having the freedom to negotiate his own record deal). And Lambert was polarizing, kind of like the Jets’ Rex Ryan, a coach you love for his brashness and ability to back it up, or you hate and wish would just shut up. Anyway, both teams have been fun to watch and it’s a shame one of them has to lose, but it will be fascinating to see which one does. The Saints showed last week they can win on the ground as well as with Drew Brees’ arm, and the defense has been better than people think. The Jets have won with a running game and lock-down defense, plus a dash of well-timed flash from rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez. In short, it’s the league’s best offense against the league’s third-best (but most vocal) defense. For me, man, this game’s got it, Dog!

Buffalo (1-2) at Miami (0-3), 4:05 p.m. The list of teams that have defeated the Bills (Patriots, Saints) and Dolphins (Falcons, Colts, Chargers) reads like a Who’s Who of the 2010 NFL Playoffs. Neither Buffalo nor Miami is strong enough to overcome the Jets or Pats in the AFC East, but they’re both better teams than they’ve showed. Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne, making his first NFL start after the loss of Chad Pennington to a shoulder injury, has the good fortune of facing a Bills secondary that has been ravaged by injuries. That means the Buffalo offense must emerge from its slumber. Running back Marshawn Lynch returns following a three-game league suspension, but what the Bills really need is for quarterback Trent Edwards to start targeting, and connecting with, receivers Terrell Owens and Lee Evans. Because T.O. can behave for only so long.

Dallas (2-1) at Denver (3-0), 4:15 p.m. Denver is the Twilight Zone of the NFL. The Broncos had as nasty of an offseason as you can imagine, swapped a franchise QB for a plain-label one and are coming off a season in which their horrific defense cost them a division title. Now they lead the league in defense (both total yards and scoring), quarterback Kyle Orton is playing solid, largely mistake-free football and the team seems to be living a charmed existence (witness the Week 1 victory over the Bengals). Denver’s O-line is protecting Orton and opening holes for Correll Buckhalter and Knowshon Moreno, and end-turned-linebacker Elvis Dumervil is mistreating quarterbacks in new coordinator Mike Nolan’s 3-4 defense. Tony Romo might want to take note. The Cowboys proved they can, in fact, sack the quarterback and force a turnover in their win over Carolina on Monday night. They’ll need more of the same to yank the Broncos out of their alternate universe.

St. Louis (0-3) at San Francisco (2-1), 4:15 p.m. The 49ers were 2 seconds away from a victory over Minnesota when Brett Favre did what Brett Favre does. This is how Mike Singletary addressed his dejected troops afterward in the locker room: "You have nothing to be looking at the floor for! You didn’t steal anything! You didn’t do anything wrong! OK? We’re going to get better! We’re going to get there! We will see them again in the playoffs, all right? You hold your head up!” That, my friend, is called inspiration. Of course, the message might change if St. Louis pulls an upset this week, but the Rams can’t score points and the 49ers are stingy about allowing them, so don’t hold your breath. It should fall on Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo to deliver the pick-me-up speech after this one. For the fourth time.

San Diego (2-1) at Pittsburgh (1-2), 8:20 p.m. I’ll bet the schedule makers were thinking “3-0 vs. 3-0” when they picked this one for Sunday night. And they were probably thinking they could push the star power of Troy Polamalu, LaDainian Tomlinson and Shawne Merriman. But even if some of the stars sit this one out, it’s still a sexy matchup, a rematch of a divisional playoff game last year. Neither team has been running the ball well, so look for Philip Rivers, who leads the league in passing yards, and Ben Roethlisberger, who has the only two rushing TDs for Pittsburgh this season, to air it out. Which typically makes for pretty good television.

MONDAY

Green Bay (2-1) at Minnesota (3-0), 8:30 p.m. I’m a man of my word.

The end.




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