The Titans enter as favorites on Sunday’s game at Baltimore, and thanks to an undefeated record, they are the major revelation in the NFL.

“We’re still the underdogs, we’re definitely still the underdogs.” Titans’ linebacker Keith Bulluck said.

“We’re 4-0. OK, that’s cool,” he said. “But we lose one game, and then people are off the bandwagon.”

That may be true, but for now, the Titans are one of the greatest teams of the league.

“It’s too early to say we’re not the underdog,” Bulluck said. “Five weeks ago, people were picking Houston to finish ahead of us in our conference. As far as I’m concerned, and the rest of us are concerned, we are the underdogs.”

However, some Titans players believe the team has proven itself to the NFL, fans and analysts, as shown by message boards and recent inclusion in various power rankings. Those players feel the Titans must find a different person, one that could help them finish the regular season strong.

There are players like Bulluck still, who are hanging on to the underdog role. It looked so good on this team, and it played the role well but they need to change their mind about it. The Titans didn’t complain about respect - except when asked if they weren’t getting enough of it.

It may have given some players “more of an edge,” linebacker David Thornton said.

Now that the Titans (4-0) are one of only three undefeated teams, those days are over. They’re getting more respect.

Can you believe that he never came down? Brian Griese threw 67 passes against the Chicago Bears, and they couldn’t take him down. It was the second most amazing statistic of the day.

No. 1: Griese wasn’t sacked. Not once!

“You’ll never see that again,” Bucs coach Jon Gruden said.

Bucs offensive lineman, Jeremy Trueblood, sat on a chair in the locker room. For the longest time, only his mouth moved.

“I’ve never felt this exhausted,” he said.

Granted, Trueblood wasn’t too tired to start that field scrum in overtime that led to a Bears personal-foul penalty that saved the day and led to the Bucs’ game-winning drive. But you get the idea.

“We’re all spent,” Trueblood said.

This line isn’t money yet. We still don’t know when it will all come together. Three games into this season and we know that when this line blocks well, the Bucs run well. Sunday came relatively historic pass protecting against a Chicago defense that brought all kinds of looks and blitzes, stacked gaps. It dared Griese to beat it.

Sometimes, he didn’t. In the end, he did. The only thing that is for sure: Nobody got to him!

Running back LaDainian Tomlinson knew it was coming. If San Diego kept relying solely on the arm of quarterback Philip Rivers to get them into the end zone, there was going to be some awfully loud squawking going on in town. So he was thrilled Monday night to finally touch that painted blue grass at Qualcomm Stadium, running in for two scores in the Chargers’ 48-29 win against the Jets.

“I almost forgot what it felt like,” Tomlinson said with a grin. “It was like, ‘Jeez, the next thing is the media is going to start getting on us about no rushing touchdowns.’ … I was happy to get a rushing touchdown to keep you guys off our backs.”

LaDainian, who had never started a pro season with three straight games without a touchdown, jumped over the line for a 2-yard score in the third quarter to give the Chargers a 38-14 advantage, and he added another pounding 2-yard run to make it 45-23. Still hampered by an injured big toe on his right foot, Tomlinson ran for only a 2.6-yard average on the night — 67 yards on 26 carries — but he got the work done in the red zone after some nice setup efforts by backup Darren Sproles (38 yards on five carries).

“Today was going to be one of those physical running days,” Tomlinson said. “Making one cut and going straight ahead is not a problem for me.”

Brett Favre played really bad for the Jets Monday night and when that happens, things can get pretty ugly. When Favre is playing well, he can make magic. But throughout his career, he mixes in the clunkers every now and then and that’s the Favre the Jets got on Monday night game. He looked so aged and slow and had no synchronization with his receivers in the Jets’ 48-29 loss.

Favre had a hard time shaking San Diego’s pressure up front. His second interception was way beyond Jerricho Cotchery and the Chargers only had to move 45 yards to turn the game into an embarrassing 31-14 at the half.

When the Jets traded for this “Hall of Famer”, they knew what they were getting: A star quarterback who can make every throw, but who when things aren’t going well tries to win games by himself, and bad things can happen.

It’s not unexpected that the Jets are 1-2 after playing the Dolphins, Patriots and Chargers. And with the softer part of their schedule coming up in the next six weeks, including games against the winless Chiefs and Rams and 1-2 Raiders, Monday night’s loss should not take them to a panic mode.

La’Roi Glover, defensive tackle of the Saint Louis rams said “It’s time to get a win; It’s time to play four solid quarters of football. It’s time for our playmakers to show up. It’s time for all of that stuff to happen.”

Few expected the Rams to win their season opener last week in Philadelphia. But no one expected such an incompetent performance, least of all the players.

“Not in a million years,” offensive guard Jacob Bell said. “I honestly thought it’d be the other way around.”If you told me this was going to be the score, and what would happen in the game, I would’ve bet a million dollars on it (not happening),” cornerback Tye Hill said. “I didn’t think it was possible with the team that we had gathered here.”

But it happened. The Rams’ team has played 219 regular season and postseason games since the move to St. Louis in 1995. But if not the worst, last week’s 38-3 loss to the Eagles was among the worst five or six showings for the “St. Louis” Rams.

But the more alarming thing is the fact that seven months of preparation and hard training went into what happened last Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

Torry Holt, Saint Louis wide receiver said: “Guys have worked hard to get to this point, we felt good early on in training camp. Preseason, there were some things that we needed to shore up; we felt we did that. And then to go up there and not to play well was shocking.”

The fans felt the same way. Overreaction is part of life in NFL for fans and the media. But rarely has a Rams defeat created such a negative reaction from a fan base not only numbed by last season’s 3-13 record, but also worried about the possible sale (and departure) of their hometown team.

“I hope the fans don’t read too much into some of the articles being written about our lack of enthusiasm,” wide receiver Dane Looker said. “That’s just commentators on the sideline making comments; that’s writers making comments. To me it’s a little presumptive for them to say that, because they don’t really know exactly how we feel. You look at the tape; we went out there and fought as hard as we could.”

Giving full detail account of the Green Bay chaos, New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre said he was forced by the organization into making a decision, claiming he was conflicted on the day he made his tearful retirement announcement in March. Favre thought the Packers were going to ask him back in early May, when GM Ted Thompson flew to his home in Mississippi, but that turned into a bizarre meeting.

At the end of a very long lunch, Thompson told Favre they wanted to do something “special” for him and would take his locker to pieces at Lambeau Field and have it sent to him in boxes.

Favre couldn’t believe that!

“I’m thinking, ‘Way to get my ass out the door,’ ” Favre said.”I mean, that’s the craziest thing I ever heard of.”

Favre insisted he won’t derive any pleasure in trying to make the Packers look bad, although one source claimed that Brett wants to stick it to Thompson. “That’s his motivation,” the source said.

Without a doubt, Favre still has some bitterness toward the Packers, especially Thompson, whom he described as a painfully shy man, which he believes makes him ill-suited for a GM job. Favre confessed he was unsure throughout the spring in his many conversations with the Green Bay team, but he said it was no different than how he felt the previous three off seasons.

Brett knew his return wasn’t going to be smooth. He thought to himself, “How do I get myself out of this jam? I’m thinking, ‘Boy, this isn’t going to look good. Am I willing to deal with this?’ At first, I was like, ‘its best I just stay retired.’”

Finally, he figured out: “I still have the fire.” When he told to Coach Mike McCarthy his intention to return, he said that the Coach responds: “Oh, God, Brett, you’re putting us in a tight spot.”

The veteran quarterback still can’t grasp why Green Bay didn’t want him back.

“I think Aaron Rodgers will do a real good job, barring injury,” Brett said, “but if you’re a betting man and said, ‘Who gives us the best chance to win right now?’… This isn’t bragging, but I think I would. Aaron may play great, and they’ll look like geniuses, but to not welcome me back… I just assumed it was the fear of upsetting Aaron, not only now but in the future. To me, that’s ridiculous, totally ridiculous.”

The opener shows up, and as the days get closer to the start of the Dolphins’ regular season, linebacker Joey Porter becomes more afraid he won’t be part of the team’s much-hyped New Beginning. He’s worried he’s closer to a career ending.

On Monday, the Dolphins spent some practice time working out for that opening game against the Jets. Porter missed the practice, again. He was visiting a doctor, again, trying to get a fix on a strange back ailment that has him, and the whole team, fearing he’s going to miss several games of this season, including the opener.

”He’s motivated, but he’s kind of upset that he can’t be there,” Said Jason Ferguson, a Dolphins defensive veteran. “And he’s worried he’s not going to be there that first day.”

The Dolphins are handling it by making plans for the extended absence of a player who has had trouble practicing on consecutive days and hasn’t been pain-free for almost a month. So on Monday, the Miami team put Charlie Anderson back in the starting weak-side linebacker spot. And they are experimenting with rookie defensive end Phillip Merling as the backup, a contingency that has the feel of a long-range answer to a long-range problem.

Meanwhile Porter is looking at a career that seems to be falling from his grasp even as he makes a courageous attempt to hold on. So Joey continues to search for a concrete answer to his mysterious back ailment. He has considered shots, surgery, anything to assure a part of Miami’s New Beginning. But unfortunately, it looks like the team will have to start without him.

Osi Umenyiora, one of the most important Giants as they attempt to defend their Super Bowl title, went down and injured his left knee in the second quarter Saturday night against the Ney York Jets. If the injury turns out to be serious, then The Giants will need to pick up the phone. There is only one player to call: Michael Strahan.

The Giants need to get to Strahan, one of their all-time favorites, and sweet-talk him back from retirement. GM Jerry Reese definitely has his number as one of his Fave Fives wrote New York Daily News NFL columnist Gary Myers.

“Brett Favre is playing for the Jets. Anything can happen in personnel,” Said Reese about calling Strahan.

On Saturday night, X-rays were negative, which means that Umenyiora, a dominant pass rusher, fortunately didn’t break any bones. He will have an MRI exam today, which will reveal if he suffered the dreaded ACL tear or tore his patella tendon. His knee locked up, which could be a sign of torn cartilage.

Doctors often can tell if it’s ligament damage by just feeling the knee. And Tom Coughlin said after the game that “The doctors told me there was no ligament damage.”

The MRI today could decide the Giants’ destiny in 2008. If something bad shows up that forces Umenyiora out for an extended period or for the season, then the veteran Michael Strahan would be the natural replacement.

If you’re up to date with the NFL, then you can see that the Patriots are in trouble. But if you listened to what they said in the wake of a third straight lackluster preseason performance, a 27-17 it wasn’t as close as the final score drubbing by the Eagles last night, then things are not as bad as they look in this awful, 0-3 preseason.

 While you would have expected self-flagellation after another unsatisfactory performance, the New England Patriots tried to strike a confident and positive tone after the game. Panic? What panic? “We can’t be up and down with the media and the fans because that’s what it is, it’s a roller coaster,” said cornerback Ellis Hobbs. “You can’t allow your emotions to set in especially so early in the season, where the season hasn’t even begun. I’m not necessarily saying we don’t have problems that we need to correct, but [it’s] having the sense and poise to say these problems can be corrected and it’s not too late.”Right now, as far as we’re concerned we’re 0-3 in the preseason, but we’re still 0-0.”

 But something is clearly wrong with this team, at least in the preseason, and it goes further than the absence of quarterback Tom Brady, who missed his third straight preseason game with a sore right foot. The team that former Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel returned to play against turn off no resemblance to the one he left, having gone from perfect to perplexing. The Patriots followed a familiar and distressing formula. Matt Cassel (8 of 14 for 60 yards, sacked three times) struggled, the defense was destroyed, and an overall lack of execution permeated everything New England did.

Shawne Merriman, the Chargers linebacker, has ligament damage and is evaluating his options, including the possibility of undergoing season-ending reconstructive surgery. He has missed more than a week of practice because of the sore left knee

Merriman said in an e-mail to the North County Times on Thursday night that the trouble is “a loose ligament and (I’m) waiting to get more info on what I need to do”

Shawne said to the San Diego Union Tribune that he has a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Five months ago, San Diego’s linebacker had a surgery to repair a cartilage damage. Surgery went well but he has had persistent pain in the knee during training camp. He traveled this week to Birmingham, so his knee could be examined by Dr. James Andrews, who performed the operation.

The Union-Tribune reported that Shawne was in New York on Thursday to see another specialist and was considering seeing a third on Friday to determine when or if he would play this season.

Merriman last game was in August 9 preseason opener against Dallas and has not practiced since then.

“It’s finding out what do I need to fix, what I need to do,” The linebacker told the Union-Tribune. “If it’s left up to me, I want to play football. I can’t stand sitting out.”

Norv Turner, the Chargers coach, said he hoped Merriman will be able to play on Sept. 7 when the Chargers open their regular season against the Panthers.

“I think he can be close to 100 percent and get back with some real good rehab work,” coach Turner said. “He’s been doing a great job with it and I think he just needs some more time right now.”