Looks like it's back to reality in Week 7.
Visiting teams gave everyone a reason to believe last week, winning 8 of 13 games. Then they realized they were visiting teams and promptly dropped 10 of 13 contests on Sunday.
That minimizes our options, but that doesn't mean there weren't heroes on Sunday. Here are three of the week's best on the road.
Greatest on the Road ...
Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins
Remember when Ryan Tannehill's future as the Dolphins' starting quarterback was in question? And remember when Tannehill had to *name himself* the starting quarterback of his team?
Yeah, we're a long way away from those days.
A quick look at Tannehill's numbers before Sunday -- 60.8 completion percentage, 1,146 yards passing, 8:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio -- shows he's been better than average. And if it weren't for the greatness of Aaron Rodgers, Tannehill's Dolphins would currently be sitting at 4-2 as one of the league's surprise contenders.
Either way, Miami is really starting to become a thorn in the side of the NFC North -- and maybe, just maybe, the entire NFL.
Tannehill put the Dolphins in position to beat the Packers, and a week later, he made sure this one wouldn't be in doubt. The former Texas A&M Aggie had his best day of the season, completing his first 14 passes while carving up the Bears' defense. Tannehill even showed off the athleticism that initially landed him at wide receiver while at A&M, taking a read option upfield for a huge gain on fourth down.
Chicago struggled all day to stop Tannehill and the Miami offense, as the quarterback connected with Charles Clay and Mike Wallace -- yes, Tannehill and Wallace are starting to develop a rapport! -- on his way to a final stat line of 25-32, 277 yards and two touchdowns. The completion to Wallace was rather impressive because of the timing and ball placement: Tannehill let it fly before Wallace broke out of his cut, and he put the ball right where Wallace would end up. It was a next-level throw that might encourage those fans who buy tickets to bake in the South Florida sun -- like this guy -- at Sun Life Stadium.
Also considered ...
Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs
Alex Smith! The Chiefs are 3-3 (3-1 in their last four) and yet, Smith has now landed here twice! He's won it once already this season, and if it weren't for Tannehill, he'd probably win it again this week for his late-game heroics in an important divisional battle.
According to the CBS pregame graphic, Smith began Sunday with a 7-3 record on the road since 2013. One might say -- in fact, I'll say it -- Smith is usually great on the road. He improved that mark to 8-3, but not without some heart-pounding moments.
Recall the 2004 college football season. Urban Meyer's spread offense powered the Utah Utes, who took the BCS by storm, ending up in the Fiesta Bowl against Pittsburgh. Who quarterbacked that team? Alex Smith.
Smith showed the mobility and accurate passing that made him the top pick of the 2005 draft when he took the ball with less than two minutes to play and the game tied at 20. Kansas City's quarterback used his feet to buy himself some time before throwing a dart to Dwayne Bowe for a first down. Another bullet to tight end Travis Kelce put the Chiefs in field goal range, leaving rookie kicker Cairo Santos to convert a career-best 48-yard kick and lift the Chiefs to a stunning AFC West win.
It's OK if Jim Harbaugh didn't want you, Alex. Greatness on the Road will gladly accept your performances.
Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals are 5-1 for the first time since 1976, and they've done it in quite possibly the most unlikely fashion.
Arizona's season reminds me a lot of a scene from *The Blues Brothers*, in which the band poses as "The Good Ol' Boys" and plays a set at Bob's Country Bunker. Their opening song, "Gimme Some Lovin'," bombs before the first refrain, so they switch it up to the first country song they can think of -- "Rawhide" -- and the crowd eats it up.
*Carson Palmer's hurt? What else do we have? Drew Stanton? Sure, we'll go with him. *There's two wins in three games.
The band can't play the same television show theme all night, so they switch to a love ballad.
Stanton's concussed? Well, looks like we're riding on the arm of Logan Thomas. Stand by your man.
Wait, there's a chance Carson's nerve is finally relaxing? Back to Rawhide! Two more wins!
Palmer returned to Oakland -- a franchise that once hastily traded multiple first-round picks for him after a broken collarbone undercut the momentum of then-starter Jason Campbell -- and kept on chugging for a Cardinals team that just wins, wins and wins some more.
It wasn't the flashiest performance in history, but when Palmer needed to get the Cardinals in the endzone, he did just that. Palmer found running back Stepfan Taylor and wide receiver Michael Floyd for passing touchdowns on his way to a final line of 22-31, 253 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
The Raiders buried a football in a remote area of their practice field a couple weeks ago. They've since become somewhat competitive, but they've still failed to record a victory -- a fact of which Darnell Dockettwas glad to remind Raider Nation on Sunday afternoon.
And while we're at it with movie references, Footloose. Kick off the Sunday shoes.
