(My Sportsbook) - New York Giants wide receiver Steve Smith may share a name and a position with the dynamic four-time Pro Bowl participant who plays for the Carolina Panthers, but that's where the similarities have generally ended during the former's first two NFL seasons. Through the first four weeks of this 2009 campaign, however, it's the accomplishments of the Giants' version that are surpassing those of his more well-known counterpart, not to mention every other pass-catcher who's currently buckling his chin strap for a paycheck.

After abusing the disoriented Kansas City Chiefs for 134 yards and two touchdowns on 11 catches in New York's 27-16 victory this past Sunday, Smith has now racked up eye-opening numbers of 34 receptions, 411 yards and four scores. The blossoming 24-year-old not only tops the league in all three of those categories right now, but his catch total is the highest over a four- game stretch in Giants history.

The guy with the ordinary name has certainly shown some impressive game, as Smith's emergence has more than solidified what was expected to be the now-4-0 Giants' most questionable area entering this season. New York cut ties with what had been its most dangerous weapon in the passing game during the offseason, releasing the talented but troubled Plaxico Burress following his infamous run-in with the law last November, and also chose not to retain steady veteran Amani Toomer, the franchise's all-time leader in receptions.

Smith's sensational performance on Sunday was overshadowed somewhat, however, by a concerning injury to Eli Manning. The star signal-caller was removed from the game early in the fourth quarter after injuring his right heel while throwing an incomplete pass to his new favorite receiver.

Manning was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in his right foot following an MRI taken on Monday, and the Giants are cautiously optimistic the durable quarterback will be able to take the field for this Sunday's game with Oakland.

Since taking over as New York's regular quarterback during Week 11 of his rookie year in 2004, Manning has started 82 consecutive contests including the playoffs. He didn't miss any time in the Giants' Super Bowl season of 2007 despite suffering a sprained right shoulder in that year's opening game.

"I don't think [the injury] is awful," said Manning, who threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns with one interception before exiting. "I've been injured worse before. We'll see how it feels throughout the week. I could stand up, I could still walk around. I could put some pressure on [the foot], so I was more relieved after that."

QUICK HITS: Manning's final pass was a quick hitch to rookie Hakeem Nicks, who weaved his way through the Kansas City secondary for a 54-yard touchdown. It was the first career score for the 2009 first-round draft choice, who had missed the last two weeks with a sprained foot...The Giants held the Chiefs to 88 net passing yards, one week after limiting Tampa Bay to a paltry 58 yards through the air in a 24-0 road win...Punter Jeff Feagles participated in his 340th career game on Sunday, which tied the 43-year-old with George Blanda for the third-most in NFL history.

NEXT UP: New York's top rated pass defense will go up against the league's most anemic air attack when the Oakland Raiders pay a visit to the Meadowlands this Sunday. Oakland, now 1-3 after a 29-6 Week 3 loss at Houston, is averaging just 130.3 passing yards per game, with struggling young quarterback JaMarcus Russell having completed under 40 percent of his throws.

DALLAS: There's a fine line between superiority and mediocrity in the NFL, as the Dallas Cowboys have shown through the first quarter of this season. The team had its chances to be sitting with an unblemished record at this point, but a last-second field goal and a goal-line stand in the final seconds instead have the Cowboys at a frustrating 2-2 entering this weekend's tilt at Kansas City.

Dallas came up a mere two yards short of potentially sending this past Sunday's matchup with Denver into overtime, but three straight Tony Romo incompletions during a 2nd-and-goal situation in the game's final seconds left the club with a 17-10 defeat to the still-unbeaten Broncos.

Two weeks earlier, the Cowboys were handed a stinging 33-31 defeat by the rival Giants on a 37-yard field goal on the final play. Dallas did itself in by committing four turnovers that night, with New York converting those miscues into 24 points.

Missed opportunities plagued Dallas once again in its most recent loss. The Cowboys outgained the Broncos by a convincing 183-104 margin in total yards during the first half, but could only carry a slim 10-7 lead into the break. Denver's lone touchdown was set up when Romo was sacked by an untouched Renaldo Hill on a safety blitz and fumbled deep in his own territory.

The Cowboys then wasted a golden opportunity to pad their lead early in the second half. After recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff of the third quarter, Romo was picked off by Broncos' All-Pro cornerback Champ Bailey at the three-yard line.

Bailey would hurt Dallas again before the final whistle. Trailing 17-10 with under two minutes left, the Cowboys marched to the Denver two-yard line, with Romo saving the drive with a heady 4th-down toss to wide receiver Sam Hurd that resulted in a 53-yard gain. The pair tried to connect two more times near the goal line, but Bailey knocked away both passes to give Denver the ball on downs with one second left.

Faced with a persistent Broncos pass rush that produced five sacks on the day, Romo managed to complete only 11-of-24 throws in the second half, after hitting on 14-of-18 attempts for 134 yards over the first two quarters.

QUICK HITS: Running back Marion Barber returned to action after sitting out Dallas' Week 3 victory over Carolina with a strained left quadriceps and had 41 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Backfield mate Felix Jones did miss Sunday's test, however, after spraining his left knee against the Panthers... Strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh fractured his right thumb in the loss and is expected to be sidelined for 2-to-4 weeks...Wide receiver Roy Williams was replaced by Hurd on the Cowboys' final drive after suffering badly bruised ribs from a hard hit in the fourth quarter.

NEXT UP: Dallas will attempt to rebound when it takes on a Kansas City squad that's still in search of its first win under rookie head coach Todd Haley, who served as the Cowboys' passing game coordinator under Bill Parcells from 2004-06. Dallas will be making its first visit to Arrowhead Stadium since a 20-17 loss there on December 13, 1998.

WASHINGTON: The Washington Redskins came into this past Sunday's clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a team clearly under siege, and the pressure especially seemed to take its toll upon quarterback Jason Campbell.

A frazzled Campbell threw two interceptions and lost a fumble in a forgettable first-half showing, with the turnovers helping the winless Bucs build a 10-0 lead at intermission and triggering further outrage from a FedEx Field crowd that was still seething from the sputtering Redskins' 19-14 loss to the lowly Detroit Lions the previous week.

To his credit, Campbell shook off the boos and his early mistakes with a strong second half that rallied Washington to a much-needed 16-13 win. The maligned former first-round pick completed 7-of-9 passes for 110 yards in the third quarter, including touchdown strikes to tight end Chris Cooley and wide receiver Santana Moss.

Campbell's connection with Moss, a perfectly-thrown deep ball that the speedy veteran hauled in for a 59-yard score, gave the Redskins a 16-10 lead entering the final period.

"I felt like I had to do more than my job," admitted Campbell when asked about his first-half struggles. "I forgot about the way that I need to do things -- the way to help us move the ball -- to win. That's a lesson well-learned by me. Do what you can do and don't try to take care of everybody. You can't do everybody's job."

Detroit ended a 19-game losing streak, a slide which matched the second- longest in league history, with its Week 3 decision over the Redskins. That humbling defeat came on the heels of a lethargic 9-7 home win over a St. Louis team that has now dropped 14 consecutive games following an embarrassing 35-0 setback to San Francisco over the weekend. Those back-to-back uninspiring efforts had fueled heavy speculation as to the long-term status of second-year head coach Jim Zorn.

Campbell also had a fourth-quarter interception that led to a Tampa Bay field goal and finished the day 12-of-22 for 170 yards.

QUICK HITS: Running back Clinton Portis delivered season-bests of 98 yards and 25 attempts in the game, despite sitting out the entire week of practice with an injured calf. Since Zorn has taken over as head coach, the Redskins are 7-1 in games when Portis has rushed for 95 yards or more...Cooley's touchdown catch was his second in four games this year, which has already eclipsed the Pro Bowl tight end's total from last season...Punter Hunter Smith left Sunday's win in the first quarter with a groin strain, with kicker Shaun Suisham taking over those duties and averaging 26.7 yards on three boots.

NEXT UP: The Redskins will try to get over the .500 mark and also earn their first road win of 2009 when the Burgundy and Gold visit Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium this Sunday to battle the reeling Carolina Panthers. The defending NFC South champion Panthers lost each of their first three games prior to last week's bye. Washington is 0-2 as the away team this year, having dropped verdicts to both the New York Giants and Detroit.

PHILADELPHIA: The Philadelphia Eagles expect to have two of their main offensive weapons back in the fold when the team returns from its Week 4 break to take on Tampa Bay this Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

Quarterback Donovan McNabb and running back Brian Westbrook, both of whom sat out Philadelphia's 34-14 home rout of Kansas City on September 27, were on the field when the Eagles resumed practice on Monday. Also participating was starting wide receiver Kevin Curtis, who also missed the Chiefs game with a sore knee.

McNabb was also unavailable for Philadelphia's Week 2 loss to undefeated New Orleans after the injury-prone veteran fractured a rib in the team's season- opening win at Carolina. Westbrook was inactive against Kansas City after suffering a mild sprain to his surgically-repaired right ankle versus the Saints.

Youngsters Kevin Kolb and LeSean McCoy both showed themselves to be capable fill-ins for the two ailing stars. Kolb put up a combined 718 passing yards and four touchdowns in a pair of starts subbing for McNabb, while the rookie McCoy delivered 84 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries as the primary ball- carrier versus the Chiefs.

The only player unavailable for Monday's practice session was regular left guard Todd Herremans, who remains hampered by a stress fracture in his left foot that has kept him out of the first three games. The fifth-year pro is targeting the Eagles' Week 6 matchup at Oakland for a possible return.

NEXT UP: The Eagles will be hosting a rebuilding Tampa Bay club that fell to 0-4 after last weekend's narrow loss to the Redskins and has lost eight in a row dating back to last season. The Bucs have won the last three meetings in the series, however, and came through with a 17-0 triumph in their only previous visit to Lincoln Financial Field, which took place on September 8, 2003.