Rookie QBs adding to unusual season How many of you sat in your fantasy drafts and figured that Week 9 would feature rookie quarterbacks Joe Flacco of the Ravens and Matt Ryan of the Falcons completing a combined 66.7 percent of their passes (34-for-51) for 468 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and two victories by a combined 34 points? Both players and their teams are 5-3 this season.

Who's Coach of the Year? At the halfway point of the season, four teams have matched or exceeded their win totals from last season. That's always an important factor in selecting Coach of the Year. Using that element, Dolphins rookie coach Tony Sparano is the front-runner. Miami (4-4) has quadrupled last year's victory total of one. Other coaches who have met or exceeded their team's 2007 victory total are Atlanta's Mike Smith (4-12 to 5-3), the Jets' Eric Mangini (4-12 to 5-3) and Baltimore's John Harbaugh (5-11 to 5-3).

On the other hand ... Six of last year's eight division champions have matched or exceeded their 2007 regular-season loss totals. They are: Seattle (10-6 to 2-6), San Diego (11-5 to 3-5), Green Bay (13-3 to 4-4), Dallas (13-3 to 5-4), Indianapolis (13-3 to 4-4) and New England (16-0 to 5-3). Jacksonville, a wild card team in 2007, also has matched last year's loss total (11-5 to 3-5).

Will Lions win before Titans lose? Cincinnati (1-8) upset the Jaguars, the Titans (8-0) held off the Packers in overtime and the Lions (0-8) worked hard to clutch defeat from the Bears. That leaves the NFL with only one unbeaten team and one winless team. The race is on! On paper, it favors the Lions going 0-16 over the Titans going 16-0. Detroit plays only one team that has a losing record. It's Jacksonville (3-5) at home Sunday. The combined record of the Lions' remaining eight opponents is 39-26 (.600). Meanwhile, the Titans play three teams that have a winning record, including at Chicago (5-3) on Sunday.

So much for the soft schedule Three weeks ago, the Jaguars were 3-3 and heading into the "soft" part of their schedule. Since then, they have lost to Cleveland at home, handed Cincinnati its first victory and are getting ready for a nervous trip to Detroit on Sunday.