Speaking of the Saints (13-2), they have now lost two in a row in the dome after the hapless Tampa Bay Bucs (3-12) came back from a 17-0 hole to win 20-17 in overtime. Also in the NFC, the New York Giants – after coming out of the gate 5-0 – all but put their postseason hopes to rest with a putrid 41-9 pasting at the hands of the carolina Panthers. This occurred in their final game at Giants Stadium, with the grand opening of the still yet-unnamed new Meadowlands stadium opening up in 2010. The Panthers (7-8) have been out of the playoff picture for quite some time while the Giants dropped to 8-7 and left their rabid fanbase wondering what happened.

In Indianapolis, possible MVP candidate Peyton Manning was pulled from the game in the third quarter with the Colts nursing a five-point advantage. Back-up Curtis Painter was not effective and allowed the Jets to get right back into the game.

Not only did Gang Green do the unthinkable after dropping a heartbreaker last week to the Atlanta Falcons, but actually control their own destiny if they can defeat the Cincinnati Bengals (10-5) at home next Sunday night. The Jets (8-7) needed a lot of help heading onto the day and by the time they kicked off at 4:15, much had broke their way.

Miami (7-8) dropped a 27-20 decision at home to the Houston Texans (8-7) while the Steelers (8-7) took care of the Baltimore Ravens (8-7), 23-20, in the Steel City. All of this activity coupled with Jacksonville losing and falling to 7-8, the Jets slid up into one of the wild card spots in the AFC. Denver (8-7) lost by a late field goal in Philadelphia after a big comeback, but still can get in at 8-7 with tiebreakers.

The final score didn’t seem to matter, even though Dennis Green’s California Redwoods beat Ted Cotrell’s Sentinels, 20-13. More importantly this league seems to be doing it the right way and has a chance to succeed.

Unlike past upstart football leagues, the UFL wants to be a complimentary unit to the NFL. Much like the way the Atlantic League works outside of affiliated baseball, but draws some name players, this league is setting itself up to be a place where players can continue their careers. Some may be coming back from injury while others are just looking for another chance after getting cut from an NFL club.

“We had some guys here, like Simeon Rice, who had some injuries and are just looking to come back to play,” Cotrell said. “There are a few players like that and there are players coming up that just need a chance. It’s a win-win thing. If they do well, then we do well.”

That’s what the UFL is looking for. Unlike leagues like the WFL and USFL in the past, the UFL is trying to control salaries by installing a hard cap. There are no million dollar bonuses, an outlandish contracts. Instead this is a league for development and development. At Giants Stadium today, there were NFL scouts looking for talent and if a player gets a chance, the league will probably let them go.

“The model they have set up, there’s a hard salary cap, but a wage that is still attractive to some players,” Cotrell said. “It’s still a good brand off football, but without the million dollar bonuses.”

More importantly though, the league seems to be playing it straight. Instead of reinventing the wheel here, the game is pretty much what you will see on Sundays in the NFL. They play the same rules with the same size field and there are no XFL-like gimmicks, which ruin the flow of the match.

And that seems to be a good thing. Will the UFL survive long term is anyone’s guess and they will have to get attendance up, especially after tonight’s crowd, which was far smaller than the 10,318 announced crowd.

But the games are on television and the league is making changes as it goes along, like next week’s game which was originally scheduled for Citi Field will now be played at Hofstra in order to play in a more intimate environment, with the hope that the college crowd will come out to see some professional football.

It’s also good to see coaches like Cotrell, Green, and former Giants coach Jim Fassel getting second chances as well. But this is a league of second chances and even though the first game in the area could have been better, the UFL seems to be learning and for that reason alone, the league has a chance to survive.

Chris Pontius was the recipient of the former last Sunday in the second half stoppage time, stealing a 3-2 win for United against the New York Red Bulls. The rookie’s instincts and perhaps naiveté, along with a rare major gaffe by Red Bull goalkeeper Jon Conway put him in position to tap in the game winner just seconds after Luciano Emilio had taken advantage of a bounce to draw United level.

United have played three one goal games-two wins and a loss-to go along with three draws in their first six matches. They needed a heroic late goal off a free kick from Ben Olsen a week ago to draw at home with a severely undermanned New England side after dominating most of the game but giving up a goal early in the second half.

United have a rematch with FC Dallas in a league match this Saturday in their first of three games over the next eight days.

The close games look to be the norm and not the exception as United head toward the quarter pole of the season. As Pontius was scoring his game winning goal against New York, it needs to be noted that three of United’s marquee players-Christian Gomez, Jaime Moreno, Ben Olsen-were not on the park.

Olsen was removed in the 50th minute after his ankle didn’t react well to the hard turf and sweltering heat at Giants Stadium after the halftime break while the two South Americans were home nursing injuries.

With Pontius and several other young players in key roles so far, the experience they have gained has been invaluable.

“We have a roster of 24 this year and we knew everybody had to impact it and for the most part everybody has. They are doing it in key roles at key times,” said United coach Tom Soehn. “It’s a great lesson for all of them and it makes you confident about putting them in there at any given time or any given moment even in tough circumstances like it was Sunday.”

Along with the heat and the turf, the rivalry between DC and New York adds a little extra to the game.

“No they should,” added Soehn about his young players performing so well in these tough situations. “Hopefully they are not smart enough to figure out what kind of moment it is.”

“The (grind) is good. The close ones really test our concentration over 90-minutes and we’ve done not so good with it but I think we have done a better job as of late of putting the whole 90-minutes in,” added Olsen. “Now when we figure out some of those lapses in between and fix some of that stuff.

“It’s a good bunch of guys and you saw a pretty athletic team and some young guys really come up. I love the fact that some of these young guys are getting into these close, hard fought battles early. There are not many guys who haven’t (already) seen some good action against good competition early and they have all held up. They are very mature young kids and hopefully they can continue that.”

Pontius, along with Fred and Santino Quaranta, have been a nice combination in the midfield for United as the wily veterans recover and get into 90-minute match shape.

“When you have young players with good soccer knowledge like he does and gets in the right spots, it’s fun to play soccer with guys like that,” said Quaranta about Pontius. “Fred too, brings a lot of energy to the game.

“It’s tough over a 90-minute game for a defense to stay with three guys like that. Over the course of a game, one of us is going to make plays and if we are all making plays it’s a bonus.”

Quaranta assisted on United’s first goal in the 21st minute, sending a fantastic ball across the face of the goal to Rodney Wallace on a dead sprint to the far post, giving the visiting side a 1-0 lead.

“Rodney doesn’t give up on a play and he scores a goal and it just shows that you constantly have to be making that run and he got rewarded for it in the end,” said Quaranta. “That’s just his soccer knowledge and not giving up on a play and making a difference.”

Despite being just 24-years old, Quaranta knows of what he speaks regarding young players making an early impact in this league. This is the Baltimore native’s 9th MLS season after being originally selected by D.C. United in the first round (8th overall) of the 2001 MLS SuperDraft.

At that time, he was the youngest player ever drafted and paid immediate dividends, scoring five goals and one assist in 16 games with 10 starts.

“With these young guys that we have they don’t know any better but just to go out and keep running until you fall over,” said Quaranta tongue-in-cheek. “You want to stamp a mark on the game.”

Despite the better than expected results, United have either given up a lead or needed to come back late to secure points. Soehn and many on the team attribute the late comebacks to a better mentality and more chemistry than the team of one year ago.

“Last year that game would have been over in the 70th minute when we gave that (goal) up but our mentality was a lot different last year. I don’t think it was the prettiest win at all—the conditions were brutal,” said Quaranta.

United gave up the equalizer in the 68th minute as sniper Juan Pablo Angel got just enough of his head on the ball to finish a Jorge Rojas cross from the right flank. New York took the lead 6-minutes later on a goal by Dan Richards.

United had trouble marking Rojas the entire match especially after New York made the switch to a more attacking oriented 3-5-2 in the second half.

“We didn’t adjust to their tactical changes. They switched to a 3-5-2 and we didn’t do a good job with Rojas,” said Soehn. “He dropped into some key spots and we had the wrong guy chase him out and it made our midfield vulnerable.”

“We have had two results from the last minutes of games which means they are fighting for each other,” Soehn added. “It could have ended the other way and New York could have battled for that but it was us because they are fighting for each other and the character of the team is all about that.”

The Jets? Without the fanfare of Brett Favre and their December collapse, they will have to go on the road for their two prime time affairs – an ESPN Monday Night Football game at Miami (October 12) and in Montreal for what is considered a Buffalo Bills home game on Thursday, December 3 on the NFL Network.

For the sideline boss of Gang Green, finally seeing where and when his team will be was a sign of good things. “We got the schedule today and I am fired up about the coming season,” Rex Ryan said. “This will be my first season as a head coach and the schedule is filled with challenges, but our coaching staff and players have been working hard and I know that we will be ready.”

On the plate in Week One for the Jets is a road game versus the Texans, the first time in 22 years that they have opened up the season in the big state. Back then it was the Houston Oilers on the short end of a 20-0 score at the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World,’ otherwise known as the Astrodome.

The home opener a week later will bring a familiar foe into East Rutherford as the Patriots make the trip south for the fourth consecutive year. Things do not get any easier as the Tennessee Titans are up next and they will be looking to avenge the Jets’ Week 12 win last year that snapped their 10-game winning streak. Other notable games on the schedule are at Indianapolis (December 27) and – barring any post-season home games – the last dance at the old building on January 3 versus Cincinnati.

In 2010, both teams will move into the brand new stadium right next door and the Giants would love to close out an era with a better showing than last year’s Divisional Round playoff loss to the Eagles. They open things up on September 13 at home versus the Redskins then go on a three-game road trip to Dallas, Tampa Bay and Kansas City.

Big Blue will have the evening game on the NFL Network on Thanksgiving Day at Denver then have three division games after that, at home versus Dallas and Philadelphia and at Washington. A tough stretch, indeed, something not lost on head coach Tom Coughlin, who noted the advantage of having the bye in Week 10.

“We play nine games before the bye – I think that’s better for us,” he said to reporters, commenting on the early Week 4 week off in 2008. “The bye gives the players, I think, an opportunity to play a long stretch against high-quality opponents and then have a little break.”

For the second consecutive season, the G-Men finish up at Minnesota (January 3) and will look to springboard into the playoffs on a higher note than last year when they lost by a field goal at the final gun.

Of course, the NFL’s flexible scheduling in the season’s final seven weeks make all of those games tentative and officially considered “To Be Announced” for a starting time. Depending on where both teams are at that point in the season will determine their schedule, with NBC getting the opportunity to switch their night game to show a better match-up than what was put on the charts months in advance.

If Ryan and Coughlin’s troops do their jobs, both teams may end up with more national games than the seven planned now. First things first, though.