The Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears stayed undefeated in very different ways yesterday, but the two 5–0 teams took a backseat to Terrell Owens’s return to Philadelphia. Owens — the wide receiver who went from one of the city’s most beloved athletes to its most despised during a disruptive contract dispute last year — was held to just three catches for 45 yards as the Eagles beat his Dallas Cowboys 38–24 in the biggest game of the day.

Although the Philadelphia crowd booed Owens lustily, the heightened security prevented any serious incidents from taking place. The loudest cheers of the day came when Owens, who was thrown 13 passes, failed to catch what should have been an easy one over the middle in the third quarter, apparently slowing down to avoid getting hit by the Eagles’ safety, Michael Lewis.

The Eagles decided that the best way to stop Owens was to make sure quarterback Drew Bledsoe was under duress every time he threw to him. Entering the game, Bledsoe had only been sacked three times this season, but Philadelphia blitzed him relentlessly and sacked him seven times.

Still, the Cowboys had a chance to send the game into overtime when Lewis committed a 57-yard pass interference penalty on fourth-and-18 to give the Cowboys first-and-goal with 35 seconds left. But Bledsoe threw an interception that Philadelphia’s Lito Sheppard returned 102 yards for a touchdown. It was Bledsoe’s third interception of the day, and Dallas fans will no doubt spend much of this week calling for Parcells to bench him in favor of backup Tony Romo.

Owens will garner most of the attention as the game is discussed this week, but Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb was the best player on the field. He completed 18 of 33 passes for 354 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. After Owens’s antics and McNabb’s injury made for a disastrous season last year, McNabb is so far enjoying an MVP-caliber season. At 4–1, Philadelphia is now the clear favorite in the NFC East.

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The Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears both won yesterday to improve to 5–0, the best record in the league. But Indianapolis is just getting by, while Chicago is dominating its opponents. Indianapolis has scored 135 points and given up 100, an average margin of victory of seven points a game. Chicago, on the other hand, has outscored its opponents 156–36, an average margin of victory of 24 points a game.

For Chicago, yesterday’s victim was a Buffalo Bills team that had played four competitive games and accumulated a surprising 2–2 record. Chicago crushed Buffalo 40–7. Chicago scored on their first five possessions and had a 30–0 lead at halftime. The Bears spread the ball around on offense, with running backs Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson combining for 36 carries for 157 yards and two touchdowns, and eight different receivers catching passes. Rex Grossman, who entered this season with four touchdown passes and six interceptions in his short career, had another solid game and is — like McNabb — an MVP candidate. Grossman has 10 touchdowns and three interceptions this year.

But if Chicago’s offense was good, the defense was even better. Until they gave up a meaningless touchdown at the end of the game, the Bears’ defense never even felt challenged by Buffalo’s offense: The Bills’ 11 offensive drives consisted of three interceptions, two lost fumbles and six threeand-outs. A fifth-round draft pick, the Bears’ rookie defensive end, Mark Anderson, was mostly an afterthought entering the season, but he had two sacks yesterday to increase his team-leading total to 5.5 for the season. With little-known players like Anderson playing big roles, the Bears look like the NFL’s best team.

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The Colts needed smart halftime adjustments on both sides of the ball to come from behind to beat the winless Tennessee Titans 14–13 and avoid the biggest upset of the season.

After two quarters the Titans led 10–0, and the Colts had been thoroughly outplayed. Using their nickel package and often double-teaming receivers Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison, the Titans kept the Colts’ quarterback, Peyton Manning, in check, holding him to 9-of-17 for 56 yards at halftime. On offense, the Titans’ running game gashed the Colts: Tennessee ran on every down of a seven-play, 88-yard touchdown drive to open the game, with the drive culminating in a 19-yard scamper by rookie quarterback Vince Young. In the second quarter Tennessee added a field goal after a seven-play, 45-yard drive, with 36 of those yards coming on the ground.

But in the second half Indianapolis changed its game plan. Manning looked beyond Wayne and Harrison and began hitting slot receiver Brandon Stokley over the middle. Manning was only 6-of-13 for 53 yards when throwing to Wayne or Harrison, but he was 5-of-5 for 57 yards when throwing to Stokley. On defense, the Colts decided in the second half to keep the secondary near the line of scrimmage to stop the run and see if Young could beat them passing — he couldn’t. Young finished the day 10-of-21 for 63 yards, completing short passes exclusively and throwing only one accurate deep pass all day, which wide receiver Bobby Wade dropped. Young was the worst of the three rookie quarterbacks who started yesterday. Although both their teams lost, Tampa Bay’s Bruce Gradkowski and Arizona’s Matt Leinart had solid efforts in the first starts of their careers. Gradkowski finished 20 of 31 for 225 yards against New Orleans, and Leinart was 22 of 35 for 253 yards against Kansas City.

Indianapolis entered yesterday’s game as a 19-point favorite and barely escaped what would have been a humiliating loss to one of the worst teams in the league.The Colts remained undefeated with the victory, but Tennessee exposed some flaws — particularly in the run defense — that other teams will exploit. The Colts have Super Bowl aspirations and still might get there, but not if they play many games like they did yesterday.

Mr. Smith is a writer for FootbalOutsiders.com