Studs and Duds, Week 6: Back to Brady

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Studs

Tom Brady, QB New England (29 of 34, 380 yards, 6 TDs) -- People were questioning his knee this season. He seemed jittery in the pocket, made throws he didn't used to make, and wasn't leading the Patriots like he had during those three Super Bowl years and undefeated regular season in 2008.

I guess all Brady needed was a little winter weather to get back in his groove. Brady completed 85.3 percent of his passes against the Volunteers Titans in snow, including a flea flicker to start the second quarter. Oh, and he had four more touchdowns after that in the same quarter, breaking a NFL record for most passing touches in just one quarter of play. Again, he did all of this in the snow, when most teams focus their offensive attack on the ground.

Four of Brady's touchdown passes were for 30 yards or more, and most were as on target as one would expect when they're playing on Christmas Eve in October. The "struggling" Patriots are now 4-2, and with Tampa Bay and Miami up in the next three weeks, including their bye, they could be hosting Peyton Manning and the Colts, Sunday night on NBC, for another matchup of the two premier teams in the AFC. Glad to see Brady has put the Patriots back on that list.

Eddie Royal, WR Denver (Kick return for TD, punt return for TD) -- The Broncos have a rich history in Denver, but the second year man out of Virginia Tech did something on Monday night that had never be done with a Donkey on the helmet -- returned both a kickoff and punt back for a touchdown.

It helps your stats when you don't catch a pass as a receiver, but Royal's speed has made him as big a threat on kicks as anyone in the league not playing for the Chicago Bears. Royal's first return, a 93-yard burst of speed after the Chargers had kicked a field goal put Denver up 7-3, and his punt return from 71-yards later in the second quarter kept the Broncos leading their division foes.

Initially I thought the Broncos were a team that got lucky from a tipped pass and rode that momentum through the early part of their schedule, but it is becoming abundantly clear that they have all the pieces. Posed quarterback, great wideouts, tough running game and refreshing defense. Now, with Royal doing what he can with returns, the special teams is a solid as their record.

Richard Seymour, DE Oakland (4 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 Forced Fumble) -- If you ever wanted the football equivalent of our country's economy the last 18 months, look up Richard Seymour. Riding high in New England, where he had spent his entire career, the five-time Pro Bowler was looking at another chance for a Super Bowl ring until he was traded to the Raiders (the Raiders!) before the '09 season. This was his downfall. Or so it seemed. On Sunday, against an Eagles team that was favored by more than two touchdowns, Seymour took advantage of a Jason Peters injury, and was all over Donovan McNabb most of the game, sacking him twice but disrupting him a number of other times. Add in a forced fumble, and Seymour might be the reason the Raiders (the Raiders!) got a win over Philadelphia.

Duds

Mark Sanchez, QB NY Jets (10 of 29, 119 yards, 0 TDs, 5 INTs) -- A pretty standard scale in the NFL for describing the near perfect awful game -- if your jersey number nearly resembles your passer rating, it wasn't your best day. Sanchez, No. 6, carded an 8.3 passer rating in the Jets loss to the Bills on Sunday, throwing nearly as many picks as he has dimples for all the ladies in the stands, including a gut-wrenching interception in overtime that set up the Bills for a game winning kick. You know it was an ugly week when Sanchez even admitted after the game, "I don't know if I could play any worse." Well Mark, you're not alone, because ...

Kerry Collins, QB Tennessee (2 of 12, -7 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT) -- This is my second year of doing Studs and Duds, and it is the first time I have ever used the minus sign. Collins, who looked to be taking instructions from Balloon Boy's parents, played the anti-Brady, making passes that looked like he was chunking a medicine ball to his receivers, not an oval pigskin. There comes a point in everyone's career when you realize, "I ain't got it anymore," no matter what job you have (According to most commenters, this has come and gone for me), and it appears Collins has found that moment. In six games this season, Collins has thrown eight interceptions to five touchdowns, eclipsed a quarterback rating of 82 just once and been benched for Vince Young ... twice.

If you're a Titans fan, the road doesn't look to be improving.

Orlando Pace, T Chicago -- There are a ton of goats each week, but only a few make their mistakes at the heat of the moment, when your team needs you more than ever. For the Bears, that was a final drive late Sunday night against a tough Falcons team, who was up seven and had been all over Jay Cutler most of the evening. Cutler picked apart Atlanta on the final drive, however, and a long pass over the middle to Earl Bennett on third-and-25 set up the Bears for fourth-and-1 on the five.

With time winding down, the Bears had to go for it, and with the play called and the line set, Pace, a seven-time Pro Bowler, jumped, pushing the Bears back five yards and forcing Cutler to make a hurried pass that eventually hit turf. Nobody will ever know if on fourth-and-1 Matt Forte could have picked it up over the middle or Cutler could have snuck it across the line, but I guarantee Lovie Smith would have loved the opportunity to see.