Cover-2

The Michael Vick bandwagon is beginning to resemble a monster truck. The first note of the "Vick for MVP" serenade was sounded on Monday by no less than Sports Illustrated guru Peter King, who listed his top five candidates off play so far this season.

Vick was Numero Uno!

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez was nearly run out of New York after an opening-week debacle against Baltimore that included a 47.6 percent completion rate (10 of 21) for a paltry 74 yards and a miserable 56.4 quarterback rating. Voila - Sanchez has six TDs and no interceptions in the last two games, big wins over New England and Miami.

Houston's Arian Foster was the first back to top 100 yards rushing against Dallas in 20 games, getting 106 in a 27-13 loss on Sunday.

Tamba Hali, a first-round choice from Penn State in 2006 and one of the Chiefs left from the Carl Peterson era, had three of Kansas City's five sacks in a 31-10 rout of San Francisco that propelled the Cinderella Chiefs to the NFL's least-likely 3-0 record.

Washington was only 1 for 10 on third-down conversions in losing at St. Louis, 30-16. The Redskins are at the Linc on Sunday.

The Cowboys became the second NFL team since the 1970 merger to reach 400 wins, joining the Pittsburgh Steelers. Miami, with 394 wins, will be next. (The Eagles are 332-312 since 1970.)

Five teams remain winless after three weeks: Carolina, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and San Francisco (which threw offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye under the bus on Monday).

The sad-sack Detroit Lions lost their 22d straight road game - the third longest such streak in NFL history.

The Rams ended a 14-game home-losing streak with the over the 'Skins. They won for only the second time in 29 games.

A recent study by Yahoo Sports on which states produced the most current NFL players (as of Game 1) showed, unsurprisingly, that Sunbelt biggies California, Texas and Florida are top mother lodes for NFL talent.

The top 10: California 211, Texas 181, Florida 177, Ohio 85, Georgia 80, Louisiana 68, Pennsylvania 56, New Jersey 55, Michigan 53, Alabama and Virginia 50. Close behind were South Carolina (46), Illinois (43) and North Carolina (42).

Woodland Hills High School, in Churchill, Pa., (just east of Pittsburgh) has six alums in the NFL, most of any school in the nation, according to a study of opening day rosters by USA Football.

The Wolverines have sent a variety of players to the NFL, including defensive end Jason Taylor of the Jets, receiver Steve Breaston of Arizona, tight end Rob Gronkowski of New England, safety Ryan Mundy of Pittsburgh, fullback Lousaka Polite of Miami and cornerback Shawntae Spencer of San Francisco.