Weekend Watch

The Kansas City Chiefs' retooled defense performed quite nicely in their season-opening 27-14 win over the San Diego Chargers. But Dick Vermeil's team faces a much tougher test against the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose traditional grind-it-out offense is evolving into a high-powered aerial game. Quarterback Tommy Maddox hit 21 of 29 passes for 260 yards and three TDs last week in a surprisingly easy 34-15 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers' challenge will be trying to stop K.C. running back Priest Holmes, who rushed for 85 yards and two TDs and caught seven passes for 98 yards last week.

Matt Kenseth used to hate racing at New Hampshire International Speedway. But three top 10 finishes in his past four starts at the 1.058-mile oval have changed his perspective a bit. Well, that and his insurmountable 418-point Winston Cup lead over second-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. The fourth-year driver takes a string of 17 consecutive top 15 finishes -- and 24 in 26 starts this season -- into Sunday's 317.4-mile race.

Oscar De La Hoya has lost only two fights in his long career -- and he hopes to avenge one of them when he takes on Shane Mosley on Saturday night in a 12-round bout for the WBA and WBC super welterweight titles. Mosley used his speed to outpunch De La Hoya and win a split decision at 147 pounds three years ago. But De La Hoya -- a 2-1 favorite -- is coming off a huge knockout over Fernando Vargas in his last major fight and is brimming with newfound confidence. How much confidence? De La Hoya says he will retire if he loses.

Somebody's got to win, right? Maybe. Baylor has lost nine straight, including a 52-14 thumping by North Texas last week. SMU, coming off a 4-8 season, dropped its opener 58-14 to Texas Tech -- despite controlling the ball for more than 39 minutes. Together, the Bears and Mustangs have been outscored 134-43 in their three games. If this was on national TV, they'd be fuzzying out the players' faces.

Don't know about you, but I find it stunning that one of these teams will be 0-2. And in all the mishmash the past few days about dumb coaching moves ( Bill Belichick firing Lawyer Milloy five days before the opening game) and dumb coaching strategy ( Andy Reid's unimaginative play-calling Monday night), I submit that the biggest negative in each team's defeat was not what its coach did but what its quarterbacks did -- or didn't -- do. New England's Tom Brady, who threw four interceptions against Buffalo, was so bad that he put his team in a 31-point hole and had to be mercy-pulled from the game in favor of the immortal Rohan Davey. Two of Brady's picks were thrown right at a Bills defensive player, including a terrible screen pass to Takeo Spikes. And McNabb forgot what makes him Donovan McNabb. In the first 32 minutes against the Bucs, with firefights all around him in the form of terrific pass rushers, he never tried to run. Never! Ridiculous! He's 2 of 9 in the first quarter with two sacks and a fumble, and he never runs! McNabb totally ignored the biggest threat he possesses -- his legs. On Sunday, he simply must let a weakened New England defense know he's not afraid to leave the pocket to stretch the defense. However, the loss of free safety Brian Dawkins to a foot injury could be bad for the Eagles. Very bad. My pick: Patriots 19, Eagles 17.

After Anquan Boldin (and maybe Jeff Blake), Marc Bulger drew the most attention from NFL fantasy team owners this week, since he'll start for the St. Louis Rams on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers in place of the injured Kurt Warner (concussion). With rookie receiver Shaun McDonald also out (broken thumb), the Rams may not throw as much as they did last week. But SI.com fantasy sports producer James Quintong, noting Bulger's stellar play last season while subbing for Warner, predicts a solid game for the backup. Look for Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce and Marshall Faulk to get more catches.

>> The New York Giants' Tiki Barber is one of the best pass-catching running backs in the NFL, right? So how come he's gone 177 catches without a touchdown reception?

>> Do you realize that the 49 points the San Francisco 49ers scored against the Chicago Bears in coach Dennis Erickson's debut were more than any of his Seattle teams scored in a game during his four seasons as coach of the Seahawks

>> African Americans make up 53 percent of players in Division I-A football -- but less than 4 percent of head coaches (four of 117).

"When [ Bill Parcells] went to the Pats, it didn't affect the Giants. When he went to the Jets, well, at least it was New York. But Dallas? Jones? America's Team? What's next? Parcells wearing Tom Landry's fedora?" - Gary Myers, Daily News of New York