Dallas Cowboys

Terrell Owens was running routes and catching passes in his return to practice yesterday, showing only a slight limp at times. The star receiver seems on track to play in the Dallas Cowboys' playoff game against the New York Giants. Owens, recovering from a sprained left ankle, didn't go against defenders in the short period of practice open to the media. Although he was taking full strides running routes and making some cuts without any apparent problems, Owens had a slight limp at times when he jogged or walked.

The NFL's wild-card round has produced eight road victories in the past 20 games over five years, so visiting teams have a chance this weekend, especially in the NFC. But there's only one wild-card team we think will spring an upset this weekend. That's the New York Giants over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In fact, we like the chalk in this year's tournament. That means we're taking the New England Patriots over the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts over the San Diego Chargers in the AFC's divisional round next week.

An interesting contrast is developing between the best team in the AFC and the best team in the NFC that will make a great story line should the two make it to the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots are, of course, the best team in the AFC. With apologies to the Green Bay Packers, for the sake of this comparison, let's assume the Dallas Cowboys are the best team in the NFC. (After all, they have the tiebreaker at the moment for home-field advantage in the playoffs.) In New England, we have the Stepford franchise.

He was one cog in the Ravens' wheel of fortune, a role player who fit nicely on the most grudging defense in NFL history. Robert Bailey played one season in Baltimore and helped the Ravens win a championship. The team's nickel back - the fifth defensive back inserted on obvious passing downs - Bailey recovered a fumble in a 34-7 victory over the New York Giants in the Super Bowl in January 2001. Earlier, in the Ravens' AFC title game victory over the Oakland Raiders, he intercepted a pass.

It may not matter once the postseason starts, but Week 15 had a curious feel of the NFL playoff field drawing tighter. Put another way, the predestined Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys suddenly doesn't look so automatic. The unbeaten Patriots, playing at home in their kind of elements, looked less than perfect in a 20-10 win over the lowly New York Jets. Sure, driving rain and gusting winds contributed to Tom Brady's poorest game of the season (14 completions, no touchdown passes)

I want the Orioles to do something soon. Anything. Sign some minor league free agents. Name a new manager at Aberdeen. Isn't there an opening in Bowie? I can hold your interest for only so long. Maybe Brian Burres will appear on Howard Stern's radio show this week and reveal that he mixes skim and 2 percent milk in his cereal. Former track star Marion Jones was stripped of all of her victories since 2000, which no longer makes her bowl-eligible. Too bad. Everyone else will be playing in one. The Terps are candidates for the Humanitarian Bowl and the Emerald Bowl, but coach Ralph Friedgen mentioned they might be in the mix for the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Back in Week 1, after they cut Byron Leftwich, turned the offense over to unproven David Garrard and lost the season opener, the Jacksonville Jaguars looked to be in disarray. It's Week 11, though, and they're looking pretty good. Fresh off an impressive 24-17 beating of the once-formidable San Diego Chargers, the Jaguars are nipping at the heels of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South. And even if they don't catch the defending Super Bowl champs, the Jaguars (7-3) are in great position to win one of the two AFC wild-card berths.

While the New England Patriots play for a place in history, the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers are playing for home-field advantage. Perfection notwithstanding, the battle between the Cowboys and Packers for NFC supremacy might yield the most riveting competition of the NFL's second half. They both reached 8-1 yesterday in decisive fashion. The Cowboys whipped the New York Giants, 31-20, to take a two-game lead in the NFC East. The Packers pounded the Minnesota Vikings, 34-0, to move two games ahead of the Detroit Lions, who lost, in the NFC North.

And we're back. Sorry for my absence from these pages, but there was a matter of some urgency dealing with my health. Luckily for me, I've recovered. Unluckily for you, the column is back. However, I believe doctors removed that part of my brain that enables me to write about one subject for more than a few paragraphs. Comcast SportsNet is adding an overflow channel, called CSN+, starting Oct. 1. The channel will be activated when Comcast SportsNet carries simultaneous live games of the Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards or area colleges.

If reputations are forged in December's stretch run, then Philip Rivers, Jay Cutler and Vince Young all took a giant leap forward yesterday. If the ghosts of December come calling in the offseason, surely they will haunt the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants. Heroes and goats were surfacing in unlikely places yesterday. An extra-point snap that sailed wide in Denver very well might keep the Bengals home in January. A pass that was completed deep in Seattle might prevent the Ravens from gaining precious home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs.