Cam Newton

at Atlanta 23, Tennessee 17: So much for Chris Johnson bouncing back. Falcons held him to a season-low 13 yards in 12 carries. at Baltimore 31, Cincinnati 24: The Ravens have won seven straight at home and 15 of 16, and have won 12 straight following a defeat. at Cleveland 14, Jacksonville 10: Great defensive battle, with Browns making last stand! Reality check: Both offenses are terrible. at Detroit 49, Carolina 35: Cam Newton had another impressive outing ... and another loss.

His eyes tearing up with emotion, Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos embraced his rescuers Saturday and said he had wondered whether he would survive a two-day kidnapping ordeal that ended when commandos swept into his captors' mountain hideout in Venezuela. Ramos said that he was happy and thankful to be alive a day after his rescue, saying that his final moments as a prisoner were hair-raising as police and the kidnappers exchanged heavy gunfire in the remote area where he was being held.

For those of you who can't get enough Tim Tebow, there's now a play-at-home version. Sort of. The Denver quarterback's habit of dropping to a knee and praying, fist on forehead, while Broncos teammates celebrate around him has sparked a sensation called "Tebowing," a term coined by fan Jared Kleinstein. Kleinstein launched a website, Tebowing.com, that encourages people to submit shots of themselves Tebowing in all sorts of situations. There's a fan on a trampoline doing a midair "floating Tebow," another genuflecting at the rim of the Grand Canyon, still another kneeling next to the "can-I-take-your-order" box at a fast-food drive through.

Five or six times a season this column could be titled: "Now I've heard everything. " Take this week … please. • A junior college is ranked ahead of the last two Rose Bowl champions in one of the six computer rankings systems used in the Bowl Championship Series formula. Arizona Western College of Yuma checks in at No. 30 this week in Ken Massey's computer ranking, ahead of Ohio State (31), Texas Christian (32), Houston (33) and Florida State (34). To be fair, Arizona Western is only No. 88 in the formula Massey submits for BCS use. Asked how a JC could even receive a BCS rating, Massey emailed a connect-the-dots matrix that started with Arizona Western's win against New Mexico Military this month and ended with Arizona defeating UCLA.

The Times' NFL writer, Sam Farmer, examines this week's matchups. Lines according to Glantz-Culver (O/U = over/under). Last week's record 8-5 (.615); season 63-27 (.700). Using point spreads with the scores Farmer predicted, the record against the spread last week would have been 6-6-1 (.500); season 39-46-5 (.459). Denver (1-4) at Miami (0-5) Sunday, 10 a.m. Broncos 23, Dolphins 20 TV: None. DirecTV: 704. Line: Dolphins by 2. O/U: 42. With a bye to prepare, the Broncos will have figured out an offensive package that plays to Tim Tebow's strengths.

Rob Ryan, defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, has tried something new heading into Sunday's game at New England: The silent treatment. Ryan, whose comment that Detroit's Calvin Johnson would be the third-best receiver on the Cowboys came back to haunt him, thought it best to keep his opinions to himself on the Patriots' Wes Welker. "I'm afraid to comment on wideouts," Ryan told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram when asked about Welker. "Apparently, I don't know anything.

Question: I agree that you should never boo a college athlete but people are sometimes pretty ignorant. I was at the game and heard the boos around me and those close by. I asked if they were booing Prince. The answer was 100% no. They were booing the decision to put Prince in the game. We are starving for success at UCLA and want to see if the freshman kid Hundley just might be the answer. Did you ask the people booing if they were indeed booing Prince? Robert Lorenzi Answer: No more than you asked everyone in attendance — although that might be possible at UCLA home games this year.

With a quarter of the NFL regular season in the books, there are a lot of mouths hanging half-open. A month ago, who could have guessed that Cam Newton would look this polished? That the league's passing numbers would be so far off the charts? That Philadelphia's "Dream Team" would be unraveling so soon? Or that Peyton Manning would be a spectator, with no clear future, watching the team he built circle the drain? A look at some of the biggest surprises so far: Beyond his years — Carolina's 1-3 record doesn't do justice to the spectacular play of Newton, who has pumped life, energy and hope back into that franchise.

The NFL lockout and compressed off-season didn't do much to throw off the rhythm of quarterbacks and receivers. We can be relatively sure of that after two weeks, as there have been 23 individual 300-yard passing performances so far, the most ever through the first two weeks of the season. The net passing total of 15,771 yards -- almost nine miles -- is the most through the first two weeks. In fact, those 23 performances are the most through the first three weeks of a season.