Then again, Rivers is the son of a coach and started 51 straight games at North Carolina State, an NCAA record. The fourth pick overall in the 2004 draft, Rivers came to San Diego in a swap with the New York Giants because Eli Manning didn't want to play here.

Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey has been impressed with Rivers' decision making.

``You don't see that from young quarterbacks,'' Bailey said. ``They tend to hold the ball a lot, but he doesn't do tha

Vanderjagt is 12-of-15 on field goals this season. Two of his misses hit the upright and another potential game-winning kick against the New York Giants was blocked.

Vanderjagt got off to a slow start in Dallas with coach Bill Parcells, who said kicking woes last season for the Cowboys (a 9-7 team that didn't make the playoffs) cost them three victories.

After pulling a groin muscle early and be

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin has a home near Jacksonville, holds his annual charity golf tournament here and plans to move back when he retires.

He has plenty of friends in the area and still has numerous ties to the expansion franchise he built into a Super Bowl contender almost instantaneously. He has memories of being cheered and jeered at Alltel Stadium during his eight seasons as Jaguars coach.

He also has an expectation of how he will be received when he returns to f

Romo made his NFL debut during the Cowboys' last home game, taking over for Drew Bledsoe in the third quarter against Eli Manning and the New York Giants. Fans welcomed him with a standing ovation and chants of ``Ro-mo! Ro-mo!'', then he threw an interception on his first play and two more that half. Still, he did enough things right for Parcells to let him keep the job.

It's turned out to be a wis

CAROLINA PANTHERS-Signed CB Dion Byrum. Placed DT Jordan Carstens on the reserved/non-football injury list.

NEW YORK GIANTS-Placed DE Justin Tuck on injured reserve. Signed DT-DE Lance Legree.

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Leftwich declined to discuss the injury in detail, but said he will address it next week, presumably after another visit to Andrews.

``I'm just tired of talking about it at this point,'' Leftwich said. ``The focus needs to be on the New York Giants and not my ankle, especially for a guy that's not even playing. The focus doesn't need to be on that. I'm going to make sure I have no comments on the ankle. I'll try to give you a better explanation next week some time.''

Leftwich has missed the

The New York Giants are at Jacksonville on Monday night.

---Indianapolis (9-0) at Dallas (5-4)

The Colts eked out a 17-16 win at home over Buffalo last week. But they have been better against good teams on the road than bad teams at home, winning at Denver and at N

SAINTS, 41-31

>Atlanta (plus 4 1/2) at Baltimore

The Falcons' defense is hurting and Michael Vick is inconsistent again.

RAVENS, 24-16

New York Giants (plus 3 1/2) at Jacksonville (Monday night)

Tom Coughlin returns to the place he made his name with a team even more banged-up than the Falcons or the banged-up Jaguars.

JAGUARS, 23-20

Chicago (minus 7) at New York Jets

Back to the Meadowl

Carpenter was the 18th overall pick by the Cowboys last April, an easy choice for Parcells because he was a solid defender at Ohio State and his dad, Rob, was a fullback for the New York Giants and Parcells.

When Ellis made a successful transition from defensive end during training camp, the Cowboys weren't forced to push their top pick. Carpenter was inactive three of the first five games, and his only two tackles this season have come