Matthews breaks sack slump

So much for a "sack slump." Clay Matthews twice sacked Minnesota quarterback Christian Ponder on Monday night as Green Bay blew out the Vikings, 45-7.

"[Monday] was no different than any other night for me," Matthews said. "It was just the fact I was able to get home. [I'm] just putting pressure on the quarterback each and every week and if he holds on to the ball when I hit him, then so be it. If not, I'm still going to take a shot."

Matthews had only three sacks prior to Sunday and the Green Bay defense in general was coming under fire for not contributing enough to the Packers' sizzling 9-0 start.

"We're mad," cornerback Charles Woodson said. "We're mad about the way we've been performing. Not holding up our end of the bargain. The way our offense has been playing and carrying this team, we want to be a part of that too. We don't want it to just be one-sided."

Fast fact

The 76ers' Andres Nocioni lost $555,000 on Tuesday, as NBA players missed paychecks for what should have been the season's first two weeks.

You got that? Nocioni makes almost as much in two weeks as DeSean Jackson gets for a full season!

Weird stat

Texas quarterback Matt Schaub could be out for the rest of the season due to a sprained right ankle. (The West Chester East grad said on his weekly radio show that his foot "is not visibly looking too good.")

This latest blow means that the top four players on Houston's roster - Schaub, running back Arian Foster, receiver Andre Johnson and defensive end Mario Williams - will have played together for a total of one quarter all season.

Quotable

Jets' quarterback Mark Sanchez, on coach Rex Ryan calling a Sanchez timeout "the stupidest thing in NFL history:"

"If something like that's going to get under my skin, then I'm in the wrong line of work. That's on the quarterback. I've got to be better than that."

Noteworthy

The Redskins placed receiver Leonard Hankerson (right hip- and defensive end Kedric Golston (knee) on injured reserve and re-signed receiver Donte' Stallworth and defensive end Darrion Scott.

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said cornerback Antoine Winfield will have surgery on a fractured clavicle and will miss the rest of the season.

The Bills signed defensive end Kyle Moore off the Detroit Lions' practice squad.

LaDainian Tomlinson has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, the Jets said, and his status for the game at Denver on Thursday night remains uncertain.

Ben Roethlisberger has a fractured right thumb, suffered in Pittsburgh's win over Cincinnati on Sunday. The Steelers (7-3) are off this week.

Contact staff writer Don McKee at dmckee@phillynews.com.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.