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It is hardly an occurrence of cataclysmic proportions. Not at this early juncture of the 2003 campaign.

But if NFL teams continue to win on the road with the success rate they demonstrated over the first three weekends of this season, well, that would certainly turn the league's universe topsy-turvy. Or, at the very least, onto a new axis.

To this point, it has hardly been business as usual, with road teams winning 21 of their 46 outings. That represents a relatively gaudy .457 winning mark. Not bad at all. Particularly impressive, in fact, when one considers that road teams have gone into the Georgia Dome and the new Lincoln Financial Field, the homes of two projected playoff contenders, and claimed a pair of victories at both venues.

"There is always going to be some (homefield) advantage in the league," said Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks, after Sunday's dismantling of the homesteading Falcons, "but the parity in the league has reduced it to an extent. I don't think (road) teams view it anymore as such a big disadvantage. And, for us, well, we're the Buccaneers. And aren't pirates supposed to go on the road and pillage and (plunder)?"

Lately, it seems, they are. The Bucs are 9-2 in road games under coach Jon Gruden and, given their large following on a national scale now, occasionally go into facilities where their fans are nearly as raucous as the home patrons. At the Georgia Dome last Sunday, the Bucs supporters were conspicuous at the tailgating spots surrounding the arena and in the stadium, as well.

It didn't hurt Tampa Bay that, less than four minutes into the contest, Falcons fans were already exercising their throaty impatience with the home club's offensive play-calling. At that point, defensive tackle Warren Sapp figured, homefield advantage was nullified.

Said Sapp, who has taken great glee in past years at jabbing the Georgia Dome denizens, and who added to his good times by scoring on a second-quarter touchdown pass: "We feel like we can go to any stadium and not just win, but take the place over, you know?"

So far, it's a difficult philosophy to argue, big man.

Tampa Bay is one of three teams, with Denver and Minnesota the others, that are 2-0 in road games this season. None will have an opportunity this weekend to improve on those marks, since the Bucs have a bye, and the Broncos and Vikings are at home. But success early in the season, and away from home, is one of the factors that could make Minnesota one of the surprise teams of the '03 season.

The Vikings lost their first six road games in 2002, before rallying to win at New Orleans and Detroit in December, and one veteran player noted to ESPN.com in camp he would be thrilled with a .500 road record this year. The Vikings still face road matchups with the Falcons, Raiders and Rams, among others, but early wins at Green Bay and Detroit have made that modest .500 goal obsolete already.

"I don't care who you're playing," said strong safety Corey Chavous. "It's hard to win on the road in this league. Period. The fact we've been able to do it so far bodes well for us. It's a validating thing, you know, and it sort of galvanizes you. You get a real sense of positive reinforcement. It's part of the learning process all good teams go through. But the thing is, we can't be satisfied, we've got to keep it going."

And in some recent seasons, the numbers indicate, that has been a problem around the league for teams that had early road success.

	Side Lines
	On-Line You wouldn't typically find Tennessee strong-side defensive end Kevin Carter matched up against Pittsburgh right guard Kendall Simmons. But then again, these aren't exactly normal times for the Titans, who have been forced because of injuries at defensive tackle to bump Carter down inside for double-digit snaps in recent games. Carter has two sacks in three games and one came from the tackle position last week. Although he isn't quite as effective a pass rusher when playing inside, Carter has rare size for an end, and he does possess some bull-rush ability. He is also a good enough anchor against the run. Simmons is still rounding into shape after missing much of camp to be treated for a diabetes-like condition. The second-year veteran is especially powerful in the lower body, but it has taken awhile for him to regain his strength. Pittsburgh never seems to run the ball well against the Titans, who are allowing an NFL-low 61.3 rushing yards per game, and will need a good outing from Simmons to reverse that trend.
	The List Since the 1970 merger, teams that returned an interception for a touchdown in a game have posted an aggregate 905-269-3 record, a winning percentage of .770. Here is a list of the teams that have the most interception returns for touchdowns in a season:
	Team	Year	TDs
	Seattle	'98	8
	St. Louis	'99	7
	Seattle	'84	7
	Kansas City	'92	6
	Minnesota	'92	6
	Stat of the Week One of the marquee matchups of the weekend, Kansas City at Baltimore on Sunday, features tailbacks Priest Holmes of the Chiefs and the Ravens' Jamal Lewis. The two have combined for 11 rushing touchdowns through three games. The eight other backs among the top 10 rushers in the league have scored just nine touchdowns combined.
	Stat of the Weak The success of road teams through the early portion of this season isn't likely to help the Detroit Lions, currently the league's most wayward franchise away from home. The Lions haven't won a road contest since a 10-7 victory over the New York Jets on Dec. 17, 2000. Their current road losing streak stands at 17 games and they play at Denver on Sunday and at San Francisco on Oct. 5. The potential good news: A matchup with the Bears at the renovated Soldier Field on Oct. 26. The record for most consecutive road losses is 23, set by the Houston Oilers 1981-84.
	The Last Word Davis Cleveland Browns coach Butch Davis, commenting on the Maurice Clarett challenge to the NFL's draft eligibility rules, and the possible consequences: "I mean (NFL players) are men. Guys are 30 years old, fighting for their jobs, fighting to feed their kids. This is a business. It's work. They're not going to take prisoners as far as cutting an 18-year-old some slack. They get him in a preseason game and they're going to beat him to death."

Only last year, for instance, road teams were 24-22 in the first three weekends and still finished with just a .420 winning percentage for the season. The three-week road mark in 2001 was 21-22. Then road teams lost 114 of the final 205 games played. Were the road teams to simply continue at their .457 pace, it would be the best winning percentage since 1986, when clubs away from home posted a .469 mark.

That isn't likely, of course, to occur. Since the 1970 merger, road teams have never won more than 49.2 percent of the time, and that was in '72. Over the past 10 seasons, road teams are 995-1410-3, a dismal .414 winning percentage. Just twice in that stretch have road teams won more than 45 percent of their games in a season.

Still, stealing a road victory or two before the usual trends take hold can never hurt, most coaches and players agree.

"It's a boost, no doubt about it, and it can propel you forward in a big way," said Tampa Bay free safety Dwight Smith. "I think it's a little easier to win on the road earlier in the season, when teams are still pretty even, and you don't see trends developing yet. But early, late, whatever … you win on the road and it's always a special feeling."

Around the league

League sources have confirmed for ESPN.com that Minnesota Vikings tight end Byron Chamberlain, the team's best receiver at the position, has essentially been cleared by the league to return to the team next Monday. The eighth-year veteran was suspended for the first four games of the season after he tested positive for a banned supplement. But just because Chamberlain has paid his dues doesn't mean he will simply walk back into the Vikings complex with impunity. Minnesota officials want to check the conditioning of Chamberlain, make certain he has been working out, and convince themselves that he is ready to return to the field. There have been suggestions that Minnesota could release the talented Chamberlain, and those could be fueled by the club's surprising 3-0 start, but the best bet is that he will be back. Their early success aside, the Vikings still don't have a tight end who offers them what Chamberlain can provide in the passing game. That's not to say, however, that Chamberlain will get a free ticket back onto the field. Coach Mike Tice, you can bet, is going to make him earn his playing time. An early candidate for '03 coach of the year honors, Tice knows Chamberlain will come back hungry, and he also knows the tight end can add another dimension to his team.

	Milloy

It's now been three long weeks since the alleged tampering involving the Washington Redskins and safety Lawyer Milloy, and the silence surrounding the league investigation of the incident is, well, deafening, to say the least. Why so? Because as we contended all along, the league wasn't going to poke too hard around the Milloy affair unless some aggrieved franchise made a big enough stink. To date, no team has done so, and no team will. "The books aren't closed on the thing yet but, unless someone steps forward, the so-called 'investigation' will kind of die its own death," said a league official. "Technically, it's still hanging out there, but it isn't as if anything is actively going on with it."

Funny sidelight to the Milloy affair: When the New England Patriots claimed offensive guard Wilbert Brown off waivers from the Washington practice squad earlier this week, some Skins officials figured part of the motivation was the tampering perception. The Redskins also figured Bill Belichick and staff wanted to tap into Brown for information, since the Patriots travel to Washington for a Sunday matchup. The second assumption is much closer to fact than the first one. While the Pats are thin on the offensive line, and placed guard Mike Compton on injured reserve this week, there's probably a bit of de-briefing going on with Brown, who has pingponged off the Washington roster a couple times already this year. Brown proved to be a pretty good chameleon this week, changing colors almost as fast as he changed uniforms. When the Patriots called to apprise Brown that he had been claimed, the youngster went to Washington officials and begged them to try to figure a way to keep him from having to leave. Two days after he arrived in Boston, he changed his tune, suggesting the Patriots staff hadn't picked his brain and predicting that "we" would beat the Redskins anyway, without any information he could offer. Once again proving for about the zillionth time that, in the NFL, just like most businesses, an employee's loyalty basically extends to the guy signing his paycheck at a given time.

There hasn't been much discussion lately either, since ESPN and ESPN.com reported on it, about a Drew Henson signing with the Houston Texans. But unless the New York Yankees brass changes its mind, and includes Henson on the postseason roster, his career in baseball is over. One hangup is that Henson and his family have revisited the notion of just walking away from the $12 million in guaranteed future salaries the Yankees still owe him on his baseball contract. It might now take a settlement, one the Yankees seem fairly anxious to make, to bump Henson into the open market. By the way, the NFL's collective bargaining agreement stipulates that Henson must sign with the Texans by the Tuesday after the 10th week of the season, Nov. 11 in this case, to be eligible to play this year. Or at least to play this year without the intercession of an impartial arbitrator. The date isn't all that pressing because Henson doesn't figure to play for Houston anyway and won't be traded until next spring. Houston could still sign him after the season, one of many scenarios, and swap him to another team (like the Raiders?) next March.

	Edwards

The imbroglio swirling around the New York Jets this week -- in which owner Woody Johnson opined that the team has enough talent to compete and should be better than it is -- is a pretty good example of an ill-advised comment that wasn't meant to be viewed though such a harsh prism. But it's a comment that, given its origin, might have some dire consequences for the stumbling franchise. That's because coach Herm Edwards, one of the league's best motivators and a guy who took the team to consecutive playoff berths with less than imposing rosters, has taken the owner's comments to heart. Even after Johnson made a belated explanation on Friday, and Edwards insisted that the two are fine again, the New York situation will bear scrutiny the rest of this season. The bet here, after speaking with some of the folks involved, is that Johnson wasn't trying to suggest that Edwards and his staff had done a shoddy job. He said as much on Friday and, after all, Johnson is more Casper Milquetoast than George Patton, and rarely offers criticism. But that's how the words came out and, given the usual hype by a Big Apple media that daily tossed kerosene on the fire, that's how they were interpreted. After his team's Thursday practice, Edwards gathered the club in a corner of the field, and essentially told his charges that if management didn't like the job he was doing, the Jets could fire him. It didn't help that Johnson, instead of trying to explain his comments then, sent general manager Terry Bradway to his bidding for him. Since he was perhaps just 50 yards away, why didn't Johnson speak for himself, as he did Friday, after the tempest had escalated? Word is that, even if the Jets continue to slide, Edwards won't be pink-slipped. But, contend some insiders, he could walk at the end of the season if he senses that his work isn't appreciated. And how long, under such a scenario, would a much-respected Edwards be unemployed? Well, under normal circumstances, about 30 seconds. But this would not be a normal parting of the ways. If Edwards took a stroll, he would do so with at least two more seasons remaining on his contract. And because of that, the Jets would likely seek compensation, always a messy undertaking, from any team that tried to hire him. Despite the opinions of Johnson, who knows a lot more about pharmaceuticals than players, the Jets are a team in decline with the current roster. Once splendid tailback Curtis Martin looks used up. Linebackers Mo Lewis and Marvin Jones don't get to the ball. First-round defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson, for whom the Jets sacrificed a pair of No. 1 picks, has not been a dominating presence. Vinny Testaverde has been spotty and could soon be benched in favor of a rookie, sixth-round pick Brooks Bollinger. It's likely that the reincarnated Vince Lombardi couldn't shepherd this bunch to the playoffs.

For us to suggest there has been substantial progress in the ongoing contract extension talks between the Indianapolis Colts and quarterback Peyton Manning would be a major misrepresentation of the facts. ESPN.com has learned, though, that there has been at least incremental progress on a few key elements in the past week to 10 days. No deal is yet imminent. But at least the inertia that existed until recently has been removed and the two sides have continued the dialogue. On another Colts front, wide receiver Marvin Harrison would now consider an extension, but Indianapolis doesn't seem prepared yet to offer anything substantial enough to get his attention.

The insertion of troubled center Barret Robbins back into the lineup, some Raiders players tell us, could be just the beginning of the Oakland offensive line changes. In the team's embarrassing 31-10 thrashing at Denver last Monday night, guards Mo Collins and Frank Middleton looked slow and overweight and eminently exploitable. And while he has been one of the NFL's top right tackles over the past five to seven seasons, the performance of veteran Lincoln Kennedy has been affected by his physical erosion. There aren't a lot of changes coach Bill Callahan can make at the skill positions. At least until he begins to get some injured players, like speedy wide receiver Jerry Porter, back on the field. But, remember, Callahan is an offensive line coach by trade. And he can't be satisfied with the performance of that unit. Look for Matt Stinchcomb, who started the first three games at center and played pretty well, to move to guard in coming weeks. And at some point, it seems, second-year tackle Langston Walker could supplant Kennedy. There is also a chance that tailback Tyrone Wheatley, the team's best power runner, might actually be unearthed in the next week or two. As for big plays, don't expect many from a team whose skills players seem to have suddenly discovered their chronological ages. One team insider told us this week that he didn't think wide receiver Tim Brown could crack five seconds in the 40 if they put a stopwatch on him. He might have been exaggerating a tad, of course, but word around the league is that Brown has slowed noticeably. As bad as things have been, though, one Raiders veteran still believes the team can get back into the playoff chase. "Look at our upcoming schedule," he said. "It wouldn't take much to get on a roll. Don't get the shovel out yet. We ain't quite buried."

There is nothing in Green Bay that approximates some of the finger-pointing taking place in a few other league precincts but, in the wake of last week's ignominious loss at Arizona, some Packers players feel the offense is becoming predictable and way too conservative. Players have been especially critical of the play selection at times in the "red zone," where they feel that the staff often tries to force the ball to tailback Ahman Green. Through three games, Brett Favre is averaging just 9.9 yards per completion. His career average, entering this season, was 11.6 yards per completion. In part because of the spate of injuries at wide receiver, Favre has just one completion of 30 yards or more.

	Hall

The Baltimore Ravens might do well to sneak a good-sized hunk of red velvet cake, with extra pecans on top, into the hotel room of Kansas City Chiefs return ace Dante Hall on Saturday night. Seems that lately, Hall's favorite desert is about the only thing slowing him down, as the Chiefs' do-it-all offensive wind-up toy has become a big-play threat in virtually every facet of the game. In his past eight games, the fourth-year veteran has registered 1,368 all-purpose yards, averaged 20.4 yards per "touch" and scored seven touchdowns. Hall has a 100-yard receiving game, a 100-yard game on punt returns, and three 100-yard performances on kickoff returns in that stretch. He has scored a touchdown in every manner but rushing the ball and it seems it's only a matter of time until he records a score on the ground. In eight rushes this year, playing as a change-of-pace back to Priest Holmes, he has 70 yards, a 8.8-yard average. Not bad for a former fifth-round draft pick who, two years ago, had to go to NFL Europe to hone his skills, and who barely edged out J.J. Moses last year for the primary return job. Good move by Kansas City president Carl Peterson, with Hall coming off a Pro Bowl year in 2002, to sign the mighty mite to a five-year contract in January. The $5.21 million deal included a $1.5 million signing bonus and Hall is proving to be worth every cent of it. Had the Chiefs merely signed Hall to a restricted free agent qualifying offer, he would have been eligible for unrestricted free agency next spring, and would have generated a considerable market. Instead he is under contract through 2007 and figures to keep providing Kansas City with excellent field position. "He can do so many things and means so much to us," said Holmes. "Dante is like an instant jump-start for our offense. When the ball is in his hands, you always feel like he is going to make something happen."

Speaking of the Ravens, it's rather remarkable that first-round defensive end Terrell Suggs could have looked so miserable in preseason, but now he has three sacks along with an interception in the first three regular-season games. The primary reason for his sudden surge: Improved conditioning. As he demonstrated during his two pedestrian auditions for league scouts before the draft, Suggs is anything but a workout guy, and he simply felt his athletic ability alone could get him by. When he got to camp, he got his butt handed to him, and he got his comeuppance from some veterans, principally linebacker Ray Lewis. No doubt about it, Suggs, who won't turn 21 until next month, still possesses a streak of immaturity. But he learned the hard way that talent alone won't cut it at the NFL level. "Everyone has to grow up to some extent when they come into the league," said Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome. "Some guys have more growing to do than others. In the case of Suggs, he's a good kid, but some of our (veterans) delivered a kick in the pants to get him going." Although he is still playing principally on passing downs and will need to develop some counter moves, Suggs has become a force while participating in only about one-third of the snaps. Factoid: His three sacks are only one fewer than the sacks of all the rest of the rookies in the NFL combined through three games. The only other rookie with more than one sack is Robert Mathis of Indianapolis.

One look at the videotape of Seattle's comeback victory over St. Louis last week shows how much coach Mike Holmgren has benefited by sacrificing the general manager title he worked so hard to get. As noted earlier this week, Holmgren is now doing what he does best -- coaching. He has a defensive coordinator, Ray Rhodes, to whom he can entrust that side of the ball. And he is free to game-plan and to work with quarterbacks, always his strength. But Holmgren has always been strong, too, in making adjustments during the game, and last Sunday's victory displayed that strength. Holmgren realized early on that young right offensive tackle Matt Hill could not handle Rams left end Leonard Little. So he circled the wagons, kept a fullback in to slide to the right side and lend a hand to Hill, and ostensibly became a left-handed team. Most of the Seahawks' big plays in the game, including the winning touchdown pass to Koren Robinson, went to the left side. On the scoring pass, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck recognized that the Rams were in an under front, which pulled the weak-side linebacker more toward the middle of the field, and moved the safety out of the area Robinson went to. That left a cornerback man-to-man on Robinson, who beat him on a slant. By the way, before readers assume that most coaches make the same kind of adjustments Holmgren did last week, take a look sometime at what occurs in-game with your local team. The ability to adjust on the fly in the NFL is one of the weakest areas for many coaches.

A few league owners and personnel directors opined this week that erstwhile Ohio State student-athlete Maurice Clarett might be better served distancing himself from Hall of Fame runner Jim Brown. It's not that they don't respect Brown, but instead feel that his rants that Clarett's motives are meant to topple an archaic system for other players as well as himself are so blatantly disingenuous. A few owners noted that Clarett is attempting to show that cheaters prosper, that the wounds he suffered in allegedly breaching the NCAA regulations were self-inflicted, and now he's trying to benefit from shooting himself in the foot. "Let's be honest here," said one owner. "This kid isn't Rosa Parks, OK? He is what he is, a player with nowhere else to go because of his own (screwups), and who wants us to take him in and pay him. And for (Jim) Brown to be up on his soap box, in front of any TV camera, doesn't help Clarett look like a martyr, believe me."

In a story reported by The Sports Business Journal, it seems the league is now cracking down on a group of players who were attempting to become partners in an Arena League expansion team. Jacksonville quarterback Mark Brunell, Arizona offensive guard Leonard Davis and Buffalo offensive tackle Mike Williams were recently approved as part owners of an expansion team for Austin, Texas. But NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said such a deal would violate league by-laws, which prohibit players and also league employees from owning a stake in another professional football team. The Austin group is being assembled by financial advisor Greg Feste, a former agent, and a man who has been under scrutiny in the past. The recent dealings of the three players has called attention to the fact that Washington Redskins defensive end Bruce Smith owns an arena2 team, the Norfolk Nighthawks, and has spoken publicly about it. The league and the NFL Players Association, nonetheless, were unaware of Smith's ownership role and are now investigating it.

	Duckett

One head coach told us this week he plans to call the Atlanta Falcons to see what it might take to get tailback T.J. Duckett, the club's first-round pick in 2002, away from them. "Hell, they don't use him, and we feel like he's a talented guy," said the coach of the little-used Duckett, who has just 15 carries, or 20 fewer than Warrick Dunn, in three games. Clearly there is some kind of dissatisfaction in Atlanta with Duckett. Anytime Falcons officials are asked about his lack of playing time, they tap-dance around some flimsy excuse or change the subject.

Punts: The Miami Dolphins spent the bye week working out free agent punters and could replace incumbent Mark Royals early next week. … New York Giants coach Jim Fassel is concerned about the number of carries he has given tailback Tiki Barber at this early juncture of the season and may try to get him more rests during games. At his current pace, Barber would carry 357 times in 2003, a lot of rushes for a back who is just under 200 pounds. … Reports out of Dallas are that Bill Parcells and Jerry Jones are working on a couple of trades. Just a guess but, given Parcells' disdain for the lack of size in his front seven, the bet is he's trying to add at least one defensive lineman. … Both the Patriots and the Dolphins are interested in cornerback Tay Cody, released by San Diego last week, but will wait until a sore hamstring heals before working him out.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.