But on Sunday, there was Lewis on the receiving end of the play of the day. Certainly by now you've seen it. The Minnesota Vikings trailed San Francisco by four points with just a few ticks left on the clock. The old gunslinger Brett Favre, his hair and stubble more gray than blonde, dodged one defender, stepped into the pocket, and unleashed a laser toward the end zone just before Niners linebacker Manny Lawson shoved him into the turf.

Favre didn't know whom he was throwing to, only that he had seen a streak of purple cutting across the end zone. And Favre didn't see the catch. He was on his stomach, but he heard the crowd's roar, and knew it could only mean one thing.

"You can't score if you don't throw it down there," Favre said later.

After six years in Philadelphia, Lewis spent the preseason in New England. Bill Belichick always liked Lewis, who played big whenever the Patriots were the opponent. In the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl against New England, Lewis made a similar catch to the one on Sunday, jumping up to grab a bullet from Donovan McNabb - who throws as hard as, if not harder than, Favre - in the end zone.

Lewis didn't survive the Patriots' final roster cuts, and was unemployed and unsure what he was going to do until Brad Childress, the Eagles' offensive coordinator for Lewis' first three seasons, called him just before Minnesota's opener. Childress thought the Vikings could use Lewis' speed, and he knew Lewis wouldn't need long to brush up on the offense.

Favre had thrown a couple of passes to Lewis in practice, but nothing much. Lewis was inactive for the Vikings' first two games, and had only played three snaps against San Francisco until he was sent in because Percy Harvin was gassed.

On the game-winning play, Lewis kept his eyes on Favre, who faked left, rolled right, and then bought himself a little more time. The pass was perfect, placed where only Lewis could get it. With two defensive backs trailing him, Lewis leaped to catch the ball, landed on his left foot just inside the end zone, and dragged his right toe to stay in bounds.

"He came off the bench and became the man," Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "He made a big-time play. Big-time players make big-time plays in times of need."

That Lewis did. Awesome throw by Favre, amazing catch by Lewis.

Speaking of Owens, it's only a matter of time before he erupts. The Bills will soon understand what the Niners, Eagles and Cowboys learned firsthand - the man is a team-wrecker. He hasn't changed, and he doesn't get it. And he couldn't have liked that his streak of 185 consecutive games with a catch came to an end. Tick tock. . . .

Don't put it past Daniel Snyder to fire Jim Zorn. It would be a dumb move and further set back a franchise that has been run into the ground with change after change after change, but Snyder's done it before. And he can't be happy that the Redskins ended Detroit's 19-game losing streak on Sunday. . . .

It's funny, but in Cleveland, they're not calling their head coach Mangenius. . . .

Byron Leftwich not only lost his starting job on Sunday, when he completed just 7 of 16 passes for 22 yards and one interception, he fell to third on Tampa Bay's depth chart. Josh Johnson, a second-year player out of San Diego, will start for the winless Buccaneers on Sunday. Their only consolation is they play the Redskins. . . .

I've officially had enough of the hype surrounding Jerry Jones' new stadium. It's beautiful. It's bigger than big. It's an entertainment venue. The scoreboard is awesome. It's cool the roof is open. OK? Enough. Win some games there in December and January, and then we'll talk.

Contact columnist Ashley Fox at 215-854-5064 or afox@phillynews.com.