Football re-lives the glorious 90s

Grab your flannel shirt, crank up some Hootie and the Blowfish and throw on Jerry Springer because the NFL has officially gone back to the 1990s.

Pardon the Interruption's Tony Kornheiser put it all into perspective beautifully on Monday's show.

"Our friend Steve at the Elias Sports Bureau looks at the standings today. He says, "San Fransisco is 2-0, Green Bay is 2-0, Dallas is 2-0 and O.J. is in jail. We're back to the mid-90s.""

I'm hoping we have reverted back to 1997, the year the Packers won the Super Bowl and not 1995, when the Cowboys won it all and O.J. was acquitted.

What might be even weirder than the déj? vu being experienced this week are the other teams who have found some 90's luck to escape the first two weeks 2-0.

The Lions are 2-0 but any team in their situation should when starting the season against Oakland and what appears to be a lost Vikings team. A start like this is big for a team whose glory years were with Wayne Fontes and Barry Sanders in the 90s.

Joe Gibbs, who won his third Super Bowl with Washington in 1992, has lifted the Redskins to a 2-0 start, beating the struggling Eagles and Dolphins. They should stay undefeated against a sad Giants defense.

In the AFC, the usual suspects have stayed unbeaten. The Patriots and Steelers each hope this isn't the 90s, where they lost a Super Bowl, as they begin the year 2-0. The Colts, who were robbed by Pittsburgh on a Hail Mary in the 1996 AFC Championship, are in the same boat.

While the Houston Oilers had some success in the 90s, until they blew a 35-3 lead to Buffalo in the 1992 playoffs, the Texans have been a complete opposite. Green Bay South, with former Packers Mike Sherman, Mike Flanagan, Samkon Gado, and Ahman Green, has easily rolled over the Chiefs and Panthers, two teams that were thought to be contenders in the NFL.

The biggest surprise 2-0 team right now has to be the Denver Broncos, who are just seconds away from being 0-2 after struggling against Buffalo and Oakland. Jacksonville is a huge step up from these two teams, which isn't saying much. I can't wait to see how the Broncos sneak by this week.

We'll see at least two undefeated teams fall this week when the Steelers host San Francisco and Indy hosts the Texans but I see two others falling as well, both from the NFC North.

Here are my big games this week:

49ers at Steelers

It's the first of two head-to-head match ups involving 2-0 teams. The 49ers surprised me last week against the Rams but I don't seem them getting by the AFC's Steelers. Steelers 21, 49ers 17.

Colts at Texans

Good teams should beat lost teams lost like Kansas City and Carolina and the Texans may have turned a corner. Don't take a loss to the Colts though as disrespect. Almost everyone loses to Indianapolis.Indianapolis. Colts 28, Texans 18.

Bills at Patriots

What ever you do, don't bet against the Patriots. They don't need to spy anymore. They have Randy Moss. Patriots 36, Bills 10.

Chargers at Packers

With the Chargers struggling early, it would be easy for me to be a homer and pick the Pack. I'm more of a realist than a homer. San Diego needs this win a lot more than Green Bay, or should I say, Norv Turner. Chargers 21, Packers 17.

Lions at Eagles

Donovan McNabb's comments about black quarterbacks being held to a higher standard couldn't have come at a worse time, when him and his team are a complete mess. McNabb may think he's being held to a higher standard because he's black, but it's really because he led the Eagles to four NFC title games and a Super Bowl loss.

That's the same reason why I'm picking him to beat Jon Kitna. Eagles 14, Lions 10.

Here's the rest of Week 3, starting with the other 2-0 teams: Cowboys over Bears, Broncos over Jaguars, Redskins over Giants, Ravens over Cardinals, Jets over Dolphins, Vikings over Chiefs, Buccaneers over Rams, Browns over Raiders, Bengals over Seahawks, Panthers over Falcons and Titans over Saints.

Wellens is a reporter for the Dickinson Press. He can be reached at mwellens@thedickinsonpress.com . Read his blog at www.areavoices.com/mattwellens .