A day for elements of surprise

On an afternoon when some of the biggest NFL games were played in snow, wind, drizzle and even a downpour, the story Sunday was the whether.

Whether controversy would distract the New York Giants.

Whether, on a shut-the-windows day, the window of opportunity would slam shut on San Diego.

Whether the streaking New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts could keep winning.

Whether Cleveland would run out of quarterbacks.

And whether any team from the Left Coast would get it right. For once.

San Francisco answered the last one, winning at Buffalo to become this season's first West Coast team to win in the Eastern time zone. Until the 10-3 victory by the 49ers, teams from this side of the country -- including Arizona and Seattle -- were 0-16 in those games.

This time, it was the Bills who were reading an upside-down map. They got one field goal in four trips into the red zone and clanked two kicks off the left upright, one from only 20 yards.

With a light snow swirling in Green Bay, the home team made a clutch field goal from point-blank range, but it wasn't enough. Only two plays after Mason Crosby put the Packers up by three points with less than two minutes remaining, Carolina scored the winning touchdown in a 35-31 head-spinner.

DeAngelo Williams scored four of the Panthers' five touchdowns, all on one-yard runs, making the most of his touches and keeping Carolina in the thick of the NFC South race.

In football's tightest division, only three games separate the 9-3 leaders (Tampa Bay and Carolina) from the 6-6 laggards (New Orleans). Whereas some divisions have bad teams and good teams, the NFC South has the haves and the have lots.

That competitive balance was obvious Sunday when the visiting Saints lost to the Buccaneers, 23-20. That game came down to a monsoon-piercing, 37-yard field goal by Matt Bryant with two minutes to play. It was the fourth consecutive victory for the Buccaneers, who are 6-1 since quarterback Jeff Garcia regained his starting job.

The Saints have quite a quarterback too, although Drew Brees was off the mark more than once in this game. He had two touchdowns but three interceptions, calling it "one of the more disappointing losses I've ever been a part of."

Not that it's overly important to Brees, but his 296 yards kept him on pace to break Dan Marino's single-season yardage record.