Sunday notes from around the league.

- Brett Favre is playing like he’s 28, not like he’s about to turn 38. Favre had another vintage performance, throwing for 369 yards, and threw three touchdown passes to tie Dan Marino’s career mark of 420. His third, a 57-yarder to Greg Jennings, not only tied the record but gave the Packers a 24-21 lead over the Chargers with 2:03 to go, and after Nick Barnett picked off Philip Rivers, Brandon Jackson ran it in from the one to wrap up a 31-24 victory for the Packers, who are now 3-0 and looking like a serious contender after beating three very good teams.

As for the Chargers, they’re 1-2, and L.T.’s not putting up any kind of numbers so far. He did have a touchdown catch in yesterday’s game, but rushed for only 62 yards on 22 carries. Through three games, he’s rushed for only 130 yards and one touchdown, and is averaging a measly 2.3 yards per carry. You’d have to think that he’ll turn it on soon, but this isn’t the kind of start we were hoping to see from him. Then again, he has faced the Bears’ D, the Patriots’ D, and a much-improved Packers’ D. But, you wouldn’t expect him to get absolutely shut down for the most part like he has so far. He’s too good of a player to keep down, though, so just wait a week or two.

- The Eagles did a lot to make people quickly forget about that 0-2 start by laying a 56-21 beating on the Detroit Lions that showed just what the Eagles can be when they’re on, and just how far the Lions still have to go to be up there at the top. Donovan McNabb made sure he won’t have any critics this week by going 21 of 26 for 381 yards and four scores, and Brian Westbrook had a monster game as well, rushing for 110 yards and two touchdowns, and catching five passes for 111 yards and another touchdown. It was 42-21 at halftime, and the Eagles may well have scored 70 points if they hadn’t taken their foot off the gas in the second half. So much for counting them out, eh? THen again, they could turn around and lose next week, and be back at square one.

- The Giants got their first win of the season, scoring 21 second-half points to knock off Washington 24-17. After their defense was invisible for the first two games, it woke up in the second half, shutting down Jason Campbell and the ‘Skins, especially on the most important drive of the game. After Antwaan Randle El put the Redskins in New York territory with two minutes to go on a punt return, Campbell converted a 4th and 8 and a 3rd and 13 to get Washington to the 1. Following a spike, Campbell threw incomplete, and then Ladell Betts was stopped cold on 3rd and goal. Then, on 4th and goal, Betts was stopped again to preserve the win and take a little heat off of Tom Coughlin.

Which Giants will we see next week against Philly?

- With the Lions, Redskins, and 49ers falling, the Cowboys and Packers are the only two unbeatens in the NFC. Three other teams are at 2-1, in the Panthers, Seahawks, and….the Bucs. The Jeff Garcia effect is paying off in Tampa, and the defense is playing very well again. We’ll have to wait a few weeks to see if they’re for real though.

But, behind the Cowboys and Packers, who have been among the best of the best so far, who’s also got the stuff to contend in the NFC? The smart money, at this point, would have to be the Panthers or Seahawks, as they’ve been there before, and know what it takes. They both do have some holes, though.

You can’t forget about the Bears, but Rex Grossman needs to turn it around in a hurry. The 49ers have to show that they can pick up the wins against the better teams, and not just against the Cardinals and Rams, before they’re a serious contender. And, the Saints are too good of a team to look as bad as they have so far. A win tonight over the Titans would really boost their hopes, since the NFC South isn’t going to be a runaway for anyone, and there is going to be some serious battling for the two wild card spots as well, between good teams playing mediocre football, and mediocre teams playing good football.

- In the AFC, it’s all about the Colts and Pats again. The Patriots put another whipping on someone yesterday, throttling the Bills 38-7. Guess those AFC East Champion t-shirts need to start getting printed right now, because they might have it wrapped up by Week 10, if this keeps up. In the past two weeks, they’re playing as if they have a reason to be mad about people questioning their accomplishments in the wake of the videotape cheat ’scandal.’ Whatever gets you motivated, right? But, a team like New England doesn’t really need much motivating, and they’re too good of a team to have to resort to silly cheating tactics in the first place, as they’ve proved rather handily. Trying to get back to the Super Bowl and wrestle the title away from the Colts is just as much of a motivation as anything else.

As for the Colts, we know about the offense, but the defense has played much better than anyone expected them to this season. That defense was supposed to be the reason why their hopes of repeating would get tripped up, but it’s done a good job, especially in stopping the run against New Orleans and Houston. It’s not as if we’re talking about the Doomsday Defense here, but given the expectations, there’s certainly reason to give them praise so far.

But hey, what about the Steelers, who have outscored their first three opponents 97-26, and have gotten the job done with a balanced offense and a defense that’s allowing less than 250 yards per game so far? For all those who may have wondered about the hires of Wade Phillips and Mike Tomlin by their respective teams, those two hires are turning out very, very well so far.

- What about Kyle Boller leading a last-minute drive to get the Ravens a win? Steve McNair re-injured his groin in the game, so Boller had to come in and be the hero. It’s quite a turnaround for him, after just a couple of weeks ago, he threw a pick on a last-minute drive that killed off Baltimore’s hopes in a 27-20 loss to Cincy. On the same note, what about Matt Leinart getting benched after playing poorly, and Kurt Warner playing like the old Kurt Warner and not just an old Kurt Warner, going 15 of 20 for 258 yards and two touchdowns in leading the Cardinals back into the game? Will we see a quarterback rotation next week when the Cardinals take on the Steelers? Leinart hasn’t exactly been a world beater thus far, and Warner showed that he’s still got it, against one of the league’s best defense (that hasn’t played like it so far), so there’s a thought to ponder for Ken Whisenhunt.

The most interesting play of the game was in the third. Arizona had just gotten a field goal to pull within 20-6, and instead of waiting until the fourth, went for the onside kick - and recovered. But, they turned it over on the first play, after Larry Fitzgerald caught a long pass but was stripped of the ball. The Ravens went down the field and got a Matt Stover field goal to make it 23-6, setting up the wild finish. Had the Cardinals converted on that drive, the result might have ended up very differently.

- The battle for second in the AFC East is on, and it looks like it’s for the Jets’ taking, after they became the only other team in the division to have a win after holding off the Dolphins 31-28. Chad Pennington doesn’t want to give up his job quite yet, as he must have heard all of the ravings about Kellen Clemens and his imminent assumption of the starting QB job and promptly came out and threw two touchdown passes and played an efficient game.

As for the Dolphins, well, at least they have South Beach.

- The Broncos really missed out on a chance to really stamp their control over the AFC West by losing 23-14 to Jacksonville at home. After Travis Henry had rushed for 267 yards in the first two games, he was held to only 35 yards on 11 carries yesterday. With the Chargers struggling, and the Raiders and Chiefs in rebuild mode, it looks like the division is Denver’s to lose, and frankly, you have to capitalize on all of the opportunities you get to seal the deal.

- Speaking of the Raiders, what about Lane Kiffin’s timeout call on Cleveland’s late FG attempt working out? We see the timeout calls all the time in those situations, in an attempt to ice the kicker, but it doesn’t always work. Kiffin has seen it work in the last two weeks, one in his favor and one not. Against the Broncos, Sebastian Janikowski nailed a field goal to win it in OT, but it was nullified by a smart timeout call by Mike Shanahan. Janikowski’s next kick was just wide left, and the Broncos went on to win. Yesterday, the Raiders were up 26-24, and Phil Dawson had a game-winning attempt with seconds to go. Just as he went for the kick (which was good), Kiffin got the timeout. After the timeout, Dawson’s kick was blocked, and the Raiders got their first win.

That’s what you call on-the-job training, eh?

- You’ve got to feel for Joey Harrington. Harrington had one of the best games of his career yesterday, going 31 of 44 for 361 yards, two touchdowns, and no picks, and the Falcons still lost 27-20 to Carolina.

- Carson Palmer followed up his 401-yard, six-touchdown performance in a losing effort at Cleveland by throwing for 342 yards against Seattle. But, two interceptions and four total turnovers by the Bengals doomed them in a 24-21 loss to the Seahawks. Cincinnati is one of those teams that would be good if they weren’t so bad sometimes. Four turnovers don’t help your cause, but neither does Rudi Johnson rushing for only nine yards on 17 carries.