The Sunday Takeaway returns to sum up your Week 7 NFL slate. Highlights include the Vikings' slip-up, Michael Crabtree's debut, widespread blowouts and more.

The Saints could go unbeaten

Drew Brees threw three interceptions and was sacked five times. At times, New Orleans played as poorly on offense as it was capable of playing. And still, the Saints scored 46 points in a hostile stadium, putting 22 on the board in the fourth quarter of a 46–34 win over the Dolphins. It was the Saints’ fourth game of 40-plus points in six outings this season.

Is there any hope of slowing the Saints’ march into history? The NFC’s only unbeaten team is on pace to shatter the Patriots’ season record of 589 points set in 2007. New Orleans’ 12-point win was its closest game of this season. The Saints should be 10–0 when the Patriots come to the Superdome; win that, and 16–0 comes into play.

“There was no doubt on our sideline we would come back and win,” said Brees, who threw for 298 yards. “They had given us their best shot, and we had played about as bad as we could play. All we had to do was string together a few drives and gain the momentum back. We knew it was going to happen, and it did.”

The Vikings let one slip away

Minnesota outgained Pittsburgh 386-to-259. The Vikings sacked Ben Roethlisberger three times and held the Steelers to 153 yards passing. Brett Favre threw for 334 yards, and Adrian Peterson provided the day’s singular highlight by planting the unfortunate William Gay on his backside on a fourth-quarter catch-and-run. Percy Harvin had an electrifying kickoff return for a touchdown.

All that and five bucks will get you a cup of Starbucks coffee. The Steelers scored two fourth-quarter defensive touchdowns that provided the winning margin in a 27–17 victory that ended the Vikings’ unbeaten start. LaMarr Woodley and Keyaron Fox duplicated James Harrison’s Super Bowl heroics, lumbering 77 yards with a fumble (Woodley) and 82 yards with an interception (Fox), respectively, to deflect Minnesota’s determined comeback effort. Overshadowed by the late defensive heroics was a third-quarter goal-line stand that kept Minnesota out of the end zone on three plays from the 1-yard line.

“Playing against the Pittsburgh Steelers and their defense — I felt it’s the best defense we’re going to face — you’ve got to get those seven points,” said Peterson, who only got the ball once during the sequence. “I was highly upset about having to settle for three points.”

It’s OK, though — beat the Packers in Lambeau next Sunday, and all will be well again in Viking-land.

The NFL is suddenly Blowout Central

The NFL ticker has taken on the appearance of those early college football weekends when Directional Tech shows up in Gainesville or Tuscaloosa to take a beating and pick up a paycheck. Ten of Sunday’s 12 games were decided by double-digit margins, with six qualifying as outright routs. A sample of the day’s tasty goodness: 31–3, 42–6, 37–7, 35–7, 38–0, 45–10.

The league even extended its competitive imbalance to another continent, inflicting the ineptitude of the Tampa Bay Bucs on the good people of London, who watched the Patriots dismantle Tampa 35–7 in what had to be akin to watching five drunk soccer hooligans assault a helpless passing referee. Last week gave us the Patriots’ now-infamous 59–0 annihilation of the Titans.

Commissioner Roger Goodell, who witnessed the Wembley Stadium abomination first-hand, can’t be pleased with what he’s seeing. As long as the have-nots continue to draft poorly and mismanage their personnel — in other words, as long as Al Davis is alive — the league’s competitive quality could continue to deteriorate.

The debut of Smith-to-Crabtree

It ain’t exactly Montana-to-Rice, but 49ers fans might have to get used to the sound of Smith-to-Crabtree.

The real story of the Texans’ 24–21 win over the 49ers was a pair of debuts: wide receiver Michael Crabtree, who finally realized that career suicide wasn’t working out for him, and Alex Smith, or rather, the Alex Smith that the Niners thought they were drafting with the first overall pick in 2005. Smith replaced an ineffective Shaun Hill and led a rally from a 21–0 halftime deficit, hitting Vernon Davis with three second-half TD passes to make Davis the first 49er with three TD catches in one game since Terrell Owens in 2001. For the day, Smith was 15-of-22 for 206 yards and a passer rating of 118.6 — not bad for a guy with a career passer rating of 65.2.

Crabtree was targeted six times and caught five passes for 56 yards, showing the hands and moves that made him the 10th overall pick before a 71-day holdout threatened to end his career before it started.

A healthy Carson Palmer is an elite QB

Yes, Cedric Benson got his revenge against his former team, rushing for 189 yards against a Bears franchise that had discarded him like a used tissue. But the real story of the Bengals’ 45–10 win over Chicago was the performance of quarterback Carson Palmer, whose triumphant return from an elbow injury has rejuvenated this moribund franchise.

Palmer completed 83.3 percent of his passes (20-of-24) for 233 yards, five touchdowns and a passer rating of 146.7. In the first half, he was merely flawless, completing 15-of-17 for 183 yards and four touchdowns in giving the Bengals a 31–3 halftime lead. Palmer vastly outshone his more ballyhooed counterpart, Jay Cutler, who has at times left fans pining for Kyle Orton. Cutler threw three more interceptions against the Bengals, bringing his season total to 10 — a number that balloons to 27 when projected over a full season.

Palmer’s Bengals are 5–2, tied with Pittsburgh atop the AFC North and unbeaten on the road and in the division at 3–0. Cutler’s Bears are 3–3 and will struggle to make the playoffs. I’ll let you decide who’s been the bigger difference-maker.

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