Your choice for 'Game of the Week' was the battle for the lead in the NFC East. This game was also 'Sunday Night Football', and what a game it turned out to be. The first quarter started with a bang as the Eagles jumped out to a 14 - 0 lead, thanks to an 8 yard TD from Brent Celek, and a fumble return of 60 yards from CB Sheldon Brown. The Giants ended the quarter with a huge 15 play drive, but eventually had to settle for a field goal. The 2nd quater began with Hakeem Nicks dropping a sure TD pass from Eli Manning, but a few plays later he broke away from a couple of Eagles defenders for a 68 yard TD. David Akers added a 20 yard FG, before DeSean Jackson had a 72 yard punt return for a TD. The Giants responded with an Ahmad Bradshaw 3 yard TD, then as the Eagles drove down to the 1 yard line, before Michael Vick went in from 1 yard. 30 - 17 Eagles at half time.
The 2nd half started with a Brandon Jacobs 2 yard run, before a 61 yard TD reception by Dominic Hixon. This gave the Giants a 31- 30 lead, as the Eagles had missed an extra point. The Eagles though came up with another big play, again from DeSean Jackson, who caught a 60 yard TD pass from McNabb. The Eagles ultimatley put the game out of reach when, at the end of a 12 play, 7 1/2 minute drive, FB Leonard Weaver went in from a yard out. The Giants did score another TD through TE Kevin Boss, but there was not enough time to complete the comeback.
As you can see this was a very high scoring, entertaining game. But does this show a weakness on each teams defences. If so, will these teams be able to cause any damage in the playoffs, (if they even get there). For the Eagles this is a massive step in the right direction as they now sit at the top of the NFC East, with a 9 - 4 record. They now have a 1 game lead over the Cowboys, and a 2 game lead on the Giants. A large thank you can be sent to WR DeSean Jackson for this win. He had 6 catches for 178 yards in the game and a TD, with a punt return TD also. He is proving hiself to be one of the most explosive players in the NFL, and he will be a handfull for any secondary come playoff time. The NFC East looks to be shaping up well for an exciting finish, keep watching people.
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The Falcons needed to win this game to guarantee that the NFC wouldn’t be clinched by the Saints this week. The chances of this happening were dealt a severe blow in the 1st quarter as Falcons QB Matt Ryan had to leave the game with a turf toe injury. Early suggestions are that he will also miss next week’s game against the Eagles. The good news for the Saints was though that Ryan’s backup Chris Redman came into the game, and did ok. He had 243 yards and 2 TD’s with 0 INT’s. Michael Turner did start the game; he had 12 carries for just 33 yards, before leaving the game in the 3rd quarter. For long periods in this game it looked like the Buccs were going to pull off an improbable win. QB Josh Freeman had 250 yards and 2 TD’s as the Buccs held a 17 – 13 lead until the last 30 seconds, where Redman found Roddy White for a 5 yard TD, to give the Falcons the win. This was hard luck for the Buccs as their defence looked a lot better, and they probably deserved the win. They are defiantly looking better, but the Falcons keep the NFC South open for another week.
This was quite an embarrassing game for all dolphans, including me. I don’t mind this team losing games, they’ve lost plenty this year, but I can’t stand when a team quits late in the game, and allows the opposition to pile up the points against them. The Dolphins lead this game for long periods, and it was actually 14 – 14 until the Bills scored a FG with just 3 minutes left in the game. This was when the Phins fell apart. Henne was intercepted, he had 3 on the day, and on the very next play Fitzpatrick found TO for a 51 yard TD to make it 24 – 14 with just 2.23 left. The scoring wasn’t finished though as Fred Jackson went in from 7 yards to complete the humiliation. Don’t get me wrong, the Bills played well in this game. They played very well on defence and forced 4 INT’s, and the offence looked better than usual under new coach Perry Fewell. The Bills obviously aren’t going to make the playoffs, but now at 5 – 6, with a very difficult schedule coming up, the Dolphins might be struggling to.
This game ended up being a lot closer than expected. The game was very close the whole way through, and was only won in the 4th quarter, when David Akers kicked a 32 yard FG to make it 27 – 24. The Eagles looked flat in this game, and struggled to get anything going on offence. WR Desean Jackson had to leave the game and they are without Brian Westbrook of course. But in the end RB Lesean McCoy got going and had 76 yards. This running gave the Eagles a bit more offensive balance, and made the play action pass very dangerous. They managed to get a few big plays off of play action, and this allowed them to get past the much improved Redskins. The Eagles now will have a great tussle with the Cowboys and the Giants in the race for the playoffs. The Redskins aren’t going to threaten this race, but they are defiantly looking better, and with the solid defence, if they make the right choices in free agency and the draft, could have a lot better year next season.
This game ended up with the result that was expected, but it didn’t get there the expected way. I was expecting Matt Hasselbeck to pass the Seahawks to victory; he only had 102 yards and 0 TD’s. Justin Forsett came up big in this game as he ran for 130 yards and 2 TD’s. Forsett has been playing really well in place of the injured Julius Jones, and it should be an interesting decision on who starts when Jones returns. Steven Jackson had 89 yards and 1 TD for the Rams, and QB Kyle Boller threw for 282 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT’s. The performance of the Seahawks defence was the difference. They were aggressive throughout the game, and managed to sack Boller 4 times as well as the 2 INT’s. This was a good win for the injury hit Seahawks, but neither of these teams will be looking foreward to an extended season.
So the match up of the 2 shaky QB’s turned out in favour of the Jets Mark Sanchez. Panthers QB Jake Delhomme threw for 130 yards, 0 TD’s and 4 INT’s. Sanchez had 154 yard, 0 TD’s and 1 INT’s. But the Jets managed to capitalise on Delhomme’s mistakes, as the Panthers failed to capitalise on Sanchez’s. Also, a huge advantage for the Jets is the performance of CB Darrelle Revis. Revis has had big games against some of the best receivers in the game this year, and had another one here. He followed Panthers deep ball threat Steve Smith around and completely shut him down. So much so that Smith had just 1 catch for 5 yards. The Jets also managed to hold the two headed rush monster of Williams and Stewart to just 75 yards between them. This was a big win for the Jets, who will now feel they still have an outside shot at the playoffs. The Panthers on the other hand, now at 4 – 7, are now not going to make any sort of playoff run.
This was the last game that the Bengals had to win in order to sweep their division. Cedrick Benson was unable to play in the game due to injury, so up step Larry Johnson. He and Bernard Scott had 107 and 87 yards respectively. The Bengals struggled in the pass game, but they had way to much here for the useless Browns. Their best attacking option is still in the form of kick returner Josh Cribbs. QB Brady Quinn still struggles for the Browns, and the organisation may decide to look for another option in the draft. The Bengals will now walk into the playoffs from this division, and will battle for a Wildcard bye. Performances like this, in games like this are what was always lacking for the Bengals. They always seemed to let down against ‘so called’ weaker opposition. Now they are handling this kind of opponent, so, we look forward to the playoffs.
So here it was another chance for the Texans to prove to everyone that they are up to taking down the Colts, and keeping their playoff hopes alive. Also this was a perfect chance for revenge. At the midway point in the 2nd quarter it did look like the Texans were going to pull this off, as they led 17 – 0. The score at the half was 20 – 7, but in the 2nd half, the Colts did what they do best. Reggie Wayne has a 4 yard TD reception to cut the lead in the 4th, before they scored a total of 21 points in the 4th. Manning had another big game (surprise, surprise), throwing for 244 yards, 3 TD’s and 2 INT’s. Schaub also had a good game for the Texans – 284 yards, 2 TD’s, 2 INT’s. The big story again though was the performance of the Colts defence. They sacked Schaub twice, had 2 INT’s and forced a fumble. Clint Session’s INT in the 4th wrapped up the game, and this improving unit will definitely help this Colts team go deep into the playoffs. The Texans though can forget the playoffs for another year.
Well, I thought that the Chargers would win this game, but I wasn’t expecting a margin like this again. The Chargers walked all over the Chiefs for the 2nd time this year. Phillip Rivers threw for 317 yards and 2 TD’s, L.T rushed for just 39 yards but had 2 TD’s and Antonio Gates had a huge 118 yards and 2 TD’s. For the Chiefs Jamaal Charles had 93 yards and a TD, and against his former team Chris Chambers had 70 yards and a TD. The Chiefs obviously aren’t going to be playing in January, but they do look better with the addition of Chambers and Charles. The Chargers just seem to get better and better, and are now on a 6 game win streak, look for them to battle the Bengals for the number 2 seed in the AFC.
This game was ugly for the Jaguars. MJD was held to 75 yards, and he is usually their offence. They also struggled in the end zone, as they went 0 – 4 in that area of the field. Also QB Garrard had 2 fumbles in the red zone. Frank Gore struggled to get the 49’ers ground game going, as expected, but QB Alex Smith and his receivers did their jobs to get a vital win. Smith threw for 232 yards and 2 TD’s, as he spread the ball around. Davis, Crabtree and Walker all had over 50 yards, with Morgan having 43. This was exactly what was required for the 49’ers. This win keeps them in with a long shot of a wildcard spot. The Jags still have a decent chance of a wild card spot in the AFC, but they cannot afford many more performances like that.
This game went exactly as expected. The Vikings had way too much for the sorry Bears, who can now forget any lingering playoff hopes. Jay Cutler had another 2 INT’s (also 147 yards and a TD), and Forte was limited to just 27 yards rushing. This was hardly going to worry the free scoring Vikings. The Bears loaded the box in order to try and slow down Adrian Peterson – but he still had 85 yards and a TD. This tactic though only played into Farve’s hands. The wily veteran threw for 392 yards and 3 TD’s. He is having an unbelievable season for the Vikes, and in my opinion should go to the Pro Bowl. He found the open man at all times in this game with Harvin having 101 yards and a TD, Rice 89 yards, Berrian 74 yards and Shiancoe and Taylor 51 yards and a TD each. This distribution, along with the threat of the run game makes the Vikings a very big player in the post season. I don’t know about you, but a Vikings – Saints NFC Championship game sounds very interesting.
This game turned out to be one of the best games of the day and VY keeps on proving people wrong. I thought this would be the week the Titans run would end, and with a couple of minutes left in the game, and the Cardinals 17 – 13 up, I thought I was going to be right. VY came onto the field with the ball at the Titans 1 yard line, and led the Titans on one of the best drives I’ve seen. On the drive he completed 10 passes for 94 yards, and ran for another 5 yards. He converted in 3 different 4th down situations and found Kenny Britt with a 10 yard TD pass as time expired. This was an amazing win for the Titans, and I am now starting to believe that they still have a legitimate chance of making the playoffs. Kurt Warner did not play in this game for the Cardinals, in his absence, Matt Leinart threw for 220 yards, 0 TD’s 0 INT’s. Tim Hightower had 55 yards on the ground. I think once the Cardinals get Warner back they will be ok, and to be fair they don’t have much to worry about in the NFC West.
The Steelers had to play this Sunday night game without QB Big Ben. Ben was out with a concussion. This was a worry for the Steelers as 3rd string QB Dennis Dixon had to start, due to a broken wrist on Batch. Dixon though did not lose this game for the Steelers. In fact he had a decent game, throwing for 145 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. That 1 INT though in overtime did turn out to be the difference in the game. Dixon just seemed a bit nervous and rattled in the extra period, and made the fatal mistake. Mendenhall had the game he needed to have for the Steelers, rushing for 95 yards. The Steelers defence also played well considering they didn’t have Troy Polomalu. Even though Flacco managed to throw for 289 yards and a TD, the unit defiantly had him rattled. They managed to sack him 5 times and forced 3 fumbles. Ray Rice had another huge game for the Ravens, rushing for 88 yards, and 67 yards receiving. This was a very close divisional battle that went to the wire. These teams will now be battling for 2nd place in this division behind the Bengals and will have to hope thats good enough for a playoff spot. With both teams at 6 – 5 I can’t wait till week 16, when they meet again in Pittsburgh.
The Packers came in with a very professional attitude, and got the job done. On the opening kickoff of the game, the Lions kicked to the Packers, but the kick was fumbled and recovered by the Lions. The Lions scored quickly as Matt Stafford through a quick strike to Calvin Johnson, and Ford field was rocking. From this moment on thought the Packers dominated the game. Aaron Rodgers threw for 348 yards and 3 TD’s. Donald Driver had 7 catches for 142 yards and 1 TD. The Packers soon quietened the home crowd and they held a 27 – 7 lead going into the 4th quarter. In the 4th the Lions managed to get a safety and a FG, before Woodson picked off Stafford for the 4th time of the day, and returned it for a TD. This was a vital game for the Packers, and they got it done. The Lions have a decent looking offence that will get better with experience, but the defence is awful, look for a lot of early draft picks to be spent on that side of the ball in April.
This game went exactly as expected. The Cowboys looked back to their best on offence. Romo threw for 309 yards, 2 TD’s and 0 INT’s. His favourite targets in the game were Miles Austin (145 yards and 1 TD) and Jason Witten (107 yards). The Cowboys also had a decent day on the ground with Jones, Choice and Barber running for 68, 67 and 61 yards respectively. This balance saw the Cowboys blow the Raiders away. The Cowboys have now taken control of the NFC East after the Giants result in Denver. The question now is, can they keep up this level of performance against a better defence? This question will be answered over the next few weeks as they play the Giants, the Chargers and the Saints. The Raiders looked better with Gradkowski at QB, but they still have a lot of improving to do.
This was a hugely dominating performance by the Denver Broncos. The defence held the Giants to just 57 yards rushing, and sacked Eli Manning 3 times. Elvis Dumervil and Brian Dawkins played inspired as the Broncos broke a 4 game losing streak. The Giants on the other hand looked a mess. Eli Manning threw for 230 yards, 0 TD’s and 1 INT. Brandon Jacobs ran for just 27 yards on 11 carries, as the Broncos completely shut him down. Kyle Orton started for the Broncos, and seems to be completely over his injury. This is great news for the Broncos for the run in towards the playoffs. The Broncos, now 7 – 4, are now just 0.5 games behind the Chargers. They also have 3 very winnable games on their schedule, and should at least go 10 – 6. I believe this would see them into the playoffs, either as division winners, or as a wild card. The Giants now have a mountain to climb in the very competitive NFC East. With the Cowboys victory and if the Eagles win on Sunday, they have a lot of work to do.
The Colts go into their toughest matchup left in the season, and come out still undefeated. LB Terrell Suggs did not start for the Ravens for the first time in his career due to a knee injury. But the Ravens defence was not the problem here. They actually performed very well against a very prolific offence; forcing 2 INT’s from the great Payton Manning. The problem was they just couldn’t force the ball into the end zone, and had to keep settling for FG’s. Billy Cundiff, the Ravens kicker, actually scored all of the Ravens points. I don’t know if you can totally blame the Ravens offence for this, as the Colts defence seems to be improving all the time. LB Gary Brackett’s INT was a good example of this right at the end of the game. The Colts can clinch the division next week, the Ravens look like their season may be over.
Well the Cowboys won this divisional game, was it pretty? HELL NO!! The Cowboys didn’t actually score any points until 4th quarter and the Redskins held a 6 – 0 lead. The Redskins can probably be excused for their poor offensive play, as RB Clinton Portis has been out for a couple of games. Also his replacement Ladell Betts left this game in the 1st quarter. The key thing for them in this game was their kicker Shaun Suisham, who was 12 for 12 before the game, actually missed 2 FG’s. These extra 6 points would of course, won the Redskins the game. The Cowboys offence is going through a lot of problems recently. After being free scoring for most of the season, they have only scored 14 points in the last 2 games. They have obviously tried to become a more run first team, and they did this very well running for 153 yards (including 99 for Marion Barber). But the problem is when they have needed to get big plays in the pass game, they have been unable to do so (apart from the winning drive). They need to fix this if they want to continue to push for the playoffs in the competitive NFC East.
Well who would have thought that these 2 teams would put up this amount of points? Both of these young QB’s had huge games, especially Lions QB Matt Stafford. Stafford threw for 422 yards and 5 TD’s, Quinn for 304 yards and 4TD’s. Stafford is the 1st QB to throw for 5TD’s in his rookie year. But the main story of this game was Stafford’s game winning drive. Stafford got hit hard as he threw to the end zone as time expired and landed on his shoulder. The pass was picked off by the Browns, but a flag was thrown for pass interference on the defence. The ball was then placed on the 1 yard line, with one untimed down for the Lions. Stafford had to go to the sideline as the medical staff checked on his shoulder, the lions called a time out after a 5 yard penalty. As they had called the timeout, Stafford could, and did, come back into the game. With his arm dangling by his side, he went play action, and then fired the ball in TE Brandon Pettigrew for the win. This was a great moment for the rookie; he proved to the world just how tough he is. The Lions will be hoping for many more magical moments like this. The Browns may soon have to start thinking about who to pick in the number 1 draft slot.
This was a huge game for Packers QB Aaron Rodgers. When he was drafted in 05 by the Packers, he had been over looked by his childhood favourite team, the 49’ers, as they drafted Alex Smith. In this game though, Rodgers had his revenge, as the Packers continue their challenge for a playoff spot. Rodgers had 344 yards and 2 TD’s in this game. They used a lot of really quick passes in this game to get Rodgers out of harm’s way, after all the troubles the O line have had this year. Although Rodgers was sacked twice, the Packers will see this as a win against this very aggressive defence. The Packers jumped out to a 24 – 7 lead before the 49’ers scored 2 late TD’s. The Packers used RB Ryan Grant to good effect in shortening the game, he ran for 129 yards and a TD. The worry for the Packers now will be on defence. They have lost LB Aaron Kampman and CB Al Harris to knee injuries in this game. They will both be out for the rest of the year. Will they be able to continue their playoff push with injuries to these important players? The 49’ers will now have a tough task to catch the Cardinals in the NFC West. They are now 3 games behind.
Somehow the Jaguars are 6 – 4, and in with a great shout of being a wild card for the playoffs. The Bills in their first game without Dick Jauron, started Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB, and actually played quite well. Terrell Owens actually had a great day, having 9 catches for 197 yards and a TD (including a 98 yard TD reception). If they can get their run game going with this effective pass game, they may spring a surprise or 2 in the coming weeks. The Jags actually struggled on the ground in this game. MJD only ran for 66 yards and a TD. But big games from Sims-Walker (91 yards and a TD) and Lewis (70 yards) pulled them through.
This was the first of 2 MASSIVE shocks this week. I thought that without WR Dwayne Bowe, they would have no chance against the Steelers, even without Troy Polamalu. Step up Chris Chambers, the WR claimed after the Chargers cut him earlier in the year. The game was dominated by the Steelers in the offensive stats, but the big difference was that Big Ben had 2 INT’s, and Matt Cassel had none. The game went to overtime, and the Steelers won the toss. Surely now the shock was off? Big Ben though got knocked out and had to leave the game (not sure how severe the concussion type symptoms are yet). The Steelers had to punt, and on that drive Cassel hit Chambers who went for 61 yards, down to the Steelers 4 yard line. The Chiefs wasted no time, as the sent Succop out to attempt the FG. He hit it, and halted the Chiefs 10 game, home losing streak. The Steelers still should be ok for the playoffs, but this is a reminder to them that they are not the same team without Polamalu. Also if Big Ben struggles with this injury, they may have many nervous moments ahead.
This game did go to plan. The injury hit Seahawks went to Minnesota, and got blown away. The amazing stat here was that the stunning Vikings defence only gave away 4 rushing yards against the Seahawks. OK the Seahawks are hardly a really effective run team, but 4 YARDS?? This Vikings defence has, and will continue to dominate against a lot of teams. Brett Farve and the offence had another huge day also. Farve threw for 213 yards and 4 TD’s. Peterson ran for 82 yards, and Taylor for 73 as the run game was also just as effective. The Vikings are looking very dangerous in the NFC, and will continue to push the Saints all the way for the number one seed.
This was a huge game for both teams. The Falcons went into this game without their number 1 and number 2 RB’s. They didn’t get away from their usual run first game though, and Jason Snelling almost pulled them through. Young QB Matt Ryan threw for 268 yards and 2 TD’s (and more importantly o INT’s) to support Snelling, and the injury hit Falcons forced overtime in New York. The Giants struggled badly on the ground, with their top rusher on the day (Brandon Jacobs) going for just 39 yards. QB Eli Manning did though look alot better than in recent weeks, throwing for 384 yards and 3 TD’s. The young receiving core of Manningham, Smith and Nicks came up big for New York, along with TE Kevin Boss. If they can get this sort of production, with an improved run game, they should be able to push the Cowboys and Eagles all the way. The Giants won the toss in overtime, and drove down the field for Tynes to kick the game winning FG. Big win for New York, the Falcons are still in with a shout of the playoffs, but need to start winning soon, and often.
This game went just as expected. But again as with the Colts, the Saints under rated defence was the main plus point in this game. They only gave up 219 total yards to the Buccs, and got enough pressure on Freeman at QB, to force 3 INT’s. This kind of impressive display, coupled with the offence that we all know so much about, adds up to a 10 – 0 start. Brees only had 187 yards in this game, as the Saints had big yardage on the ground. Without Reggie Bush, the Saints had 183 rushing yards (92 for Thomas, 75 for Bell). This team are going to be very dangerous in the playoffs, and I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for them to play the Patriots this Monday.
This wasn’t the best game to watch, but it was the expected result. Kurt Warner had to leave this game just before half time after being smacked in the head. Before this injury though, Warner had managed to throw for 203 yards and 2 TD’s to give the Card’s a 21 – 3 half time lead. Matt Leinart came in for Warner, but hardly set the world on fire. Leinart threw for just 74 yards in the 2nd half. To be fair to Matt though, the Cardinals did go to their ground game a lot more in the 2nd half, in order to keep the clock running. This run game once again was very impressive. The Card’s had 183 yards on the ground, 110 for Hightower and 74 for Wells. This run game, paired with Warner and the pass game, makes the Cardinals a very interesting team. Also this year the Cardinals are 5 – 0 on the road, where in the past they have been notably bad. This Super Bowl team from last year looks to be better, and will look to upset the more fancied Saints and Vikings in the NFC.
This could be called a revenge game. The Patriots were embarrassed by the Jets in week 2, and certainly haven’t forgotten Rex Ryan’s comments about ‘Belichick’s rings’. They dominated this game on both sides of the ball, and once again Ryan had something to say. He complained about the Patriots throwing the ball in the 4th quarter, and trying to run up the score. Guess what Rex, when all you do is wind up people, they are going to want to teach you a lesson. If you don’t like it, then shut up!!! If you want to keep talking, then you have to expect this kind of thing. Grow up Rex!! Now I’ve got that off my chest; Rookie QB Mark Sanchez had another disappointing day. He threw 4 INT’s as the Patriots mixed up their coverage’s and completely confused him. This paired with the Patriots production on offence easily put this game away. Welker had 15 catches for 192 yards in a huge game. The Patriots have a 2 game lead on the Dolphins in the AFC East. The next 2 weeks are huge for them as they play @ the Saints, then @ Miami. The Jets are done for the year in my eyes, try not to cry this week Rex!
This is the other MASSIVE shock of the week, although it does remind you that this team still is the Bengals. After the performance in Pittsburgh I was convinced the Bengals would win this division. After the Steelers lose in Kansas City, it’s done right? Well, this is still the Bengals. The Raiders levelled the scores at 17 – 17 with just 33 seconds left in the game, as Gradkowski (now the starting QB) found Louis Murphy. On the following kick off, the Bengals fumble the ball; the Raiders cover it up, and win the game with a FG. This is called ‘Giving it away’. Gradkowski does though look a much better option at QB for the Raiders; well I have been saying that for a while. The Bengals were without RB Cedrick Benson, but his stand in Bernard Scott, ran for an impressive 119 yards. I still believe in the Bengals, this was just a fluky game. They will still win their division in my eyes. The Raiders, well, at least they won’t be picking 1st in April.
Sunday Night Football was another big game for NFC teams with playoff aspirations. The problem for the Bears and QB Jay Cutler? The game was another primetime game, and Jay has struggled badly in these games. In this game Jay only had 1 INT, but he and the Bears offence did struggle in the 4th quarter, when they were required to put points on the board. The Eagles managed to have a very balanced offence in this game. In recent weeks the big talking point surrounding them has been that they don’t run the ball anywhere near enough. A lot of this may be due to the fact that Westbrook is out. But this game proved that LeSean McCoy is more than capable. McCoy had 99 yards and a TD. Once again, big play WR DeSean Jackson had a huge 48 yard TD. This big play capability can be used most effectively, when a run game has to be respected. The Eagles are now right in the middle of a dog fight in the NFC East with the Cowboys and the Giants. This battle for the division is sure to go down to the wire. You have to imagine though that one wild card spot will go to a NFC East team (if not 2). This is very bad news for the Bears, who look out of the race at 4 – 6.
Well I thought that this was the week the Titans run came to an end against the rested Texans, I was wrong. The game was a close one as everything happened as expected. VY kept it simple threw for 116 yards and a TD (no INT’s), Chris Johnson went off for 151 yards, and on the other side of the ball Schaub threw for 305 yards and 2 TD’s. The difference in this game was the missed FG as time expired by Texans kicker Kris Brown (we’ve heard that before – Indy). This game shows that the Titans are for real in their comeback, will it continue though?? The Texans must be kicking themselves though after so much hype, to lose back to back division games, they may be struggling to get to the playoffs now. 
This was an upset for a lot of people, but one that I could see coming. The Falcons QB Matt Ryan has been on a poor run at the moment, and even though he had 224 yards and a TD here, he managed to throw 2 INT’s. I thought the important factor in this game would be who performed better in the run game. Michael Turner had a monster 1st half, running for 111 yards off just 9 carries, before getting injured. The ankle injury doesn’t look good, and may affect them as the season goes on. The Panthers RB’s had very good games. Williams ran for 92 yards, and Stewart picked up 82 yards and 2 TD’s. Jake Delhomme had a good game again, not turning the ball over, and throwing for 195 yards and 2 TD’s. Star WR Steve Smith even managed to get his first 2 TD’s of the year. A very good performance from the Panthers, they have managed to give themselves a slight shot at the playoffs. The only bad point is a broken ankle for left tackle Jordan Gross, which is a worry.
This game should have been a lot more straight forward for my Dolphins, but the Buccaneers look like a different team now that rookie QB Josh Freeman is running the offence. Freeman threw for 196 yards and a TD; he did though throw 1 INT. The 2 headed monster of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams ran for a total of 184 yards. Williams stepped up big in the 4th quarter after Ronnie Brown left the game with an ankle injury. He looks to be out of Thursday night’s game with the Panthers. The Dolphins defence managed to get to Josh Freeman 3 times and force one INT. Still with less than 2 minutes remaining, the Buccs took a 1 point lead, when Cadillac went in from 1 yard. The Dolphins kept their calm though, and Henne completed 2 big passes to Davone Bess, before a 27 yard rush by Ricky Williams set up the winning field goal. Closer than it should have been for the Phins, but with other results in the AFC East, they will now believe they can have a good run at the playoffs.
This game wasn’t really a fair contest from the get go. Adrian Peterson had his expected big game, running for 133 yards and 2 TD. Brett Farve threw for 344 yards and a TD, and WR Sidney Rice went for an amazing 201 yards. Lions QB Matt Stafford had a better game than expected, having 224 yards and a TD. The only problem was he had no support from his run game, therefore he had to throw the ball way to many times (51 in all). The Vikings are very good, and rolling towards the playoffs. The Lions are quite bad, and are defiantly in contention, yet again, for that number one draft pick.
This result was another major shock for me. In my preview I gave the Jags no chance, but mistakes from rookie QB Mark Sanchez, and a huge day from MJD, gave the Jags this win. MJD ran for 123 yards and a TD, these numbers are now expected of him, no matter who the opposition are. The 2 QB’s had similar statistical days, Garrard throwing for 221 yards and a TD, Sanchez throwing for 212 and a TD. The only difference, the rookie Sanchez had 2 INT’s. The most interesting part of the game was with the Jags trailing by a point, MJD broke through, and took a knee at the 1 yard line with 1:48 left. The Jets had no time outs, and therefore couldn’t stop the Jags from running down the clock. They then kicked the winning FG as time expired. That’s how you do it Belichick.
This game was a lot more of a contest than expected. The main reason for this is that the Saints really struggled to slow down Steven Jackson. Jackson had 131 yards and a TD, and really did highlight the problem that the Saints have in this area. Also QB Drew Brees uncharacteristically threw 2 INT’s that helped the Rams. Their QB Bulger had a good day, 298 yards and a TD. The Saints also had injuries in their secondary, including Darren Sharper. They manage to get the win here, but the Rams are a poor team. If it wasn’t for the heroics of Reggie Bush, who had 98 total yards and 2 TD’s, this could have been embarrassing. The Saints won’t be the number 1 team in my power rankings this week.
So the Titans continue their run back into contention, or so they hope. RB Chris Johnson, who said that they will run the table and get to the playoffs, went off again. Johnson totalled 232 total yards and 2 TD’s. With a weapon like this VY just has to manage the game and this is what he is doing so well since coming back. Yes he is 3 – 0 as a starting QB this year. Who would have thought that just 4 weeks ago? VY threw for 210 yards and a TD, but did throw a INT. There is no shame in that though, as the safety that picked him off, Jairus Byrd, now has 8 INT’s this year. The Bills struggles on offence continued here, and the last ranked rush defence didn’t have a prayer against Chris Johnson, who now must be considered as one of the top 3 RB’s in the league. Can the Titans continue on this comeback trail?
This is another real shock upset for me. I can’t believe that the struggling Redskins offence managed to score 27 points on anyone, never mind this defence. They now must be worried, as next week they play the Chargers, for the lead in the division. QB Kyle Orton threw for 193 yards and 2 TD’s before leaving the game with an ankle injury. His replacement Chris Sims came in, and this good Redskins pass defence shut him down. He had just 3 completions for 13 yards. This is a major worry going forward. The Redskins RB Ladell Betts played very well replacing Clinton Portis. He had 114 yards and a TD. Also Jason Campbell looked good again, throwing for 193 yards and a TD. Perhaps more importantly he had no INT’s. This was a very good win for the Skins, but the Broncos, they’ve got to be very worried about next week.
This was, as expected a very poor game. Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell had just 64 yards, before he was benched for the 2nd time this season. The funny thing is that his replacement Bruce Gradkowski, came in and threw 2 INT’s. This is a bad team. Thankfully Michael Bush had 119 yards, so at least somebody did something. The Chiefs in all fact weren’t much better. Jamal Charles looks to be a better option at RB than the cut LJ. Charles had 103 yards and a TD. At least the Chiefs have a QB who can throw the ball, Cassel had 216 yards, but 91 of those were to the now suspended Dwayne Bowe. These are 2 bad teams, but the slightly better one managed to get the win.
So the Seahawks needed to win to open up the NFC West, but they didn’t. The Cardinals get the win and stay very much in control of the division. QB’s had their expected big days, Warner 340 yards 2 TD’s, Hasselbeck 315 yards 1 TD. But the Seahawks QB also had 2 INT’s. Cardinals RB Beenie Wells looked very impressive in this game, running for 85 yards and 2 TD’s. But more importantly, Wells was running in a real run first, tough; eat the clock, style that will help open up the field for Warner and co in the passing game. This can only help to make the Cardinals offense even more potent than it already is. The Seahawks had to go with Justin Forsett at RB following an injury to Julius Jones. The 2nd year player looked very impressive though, running for 124 yards and a TD. He may help the Seahawks offence in the same way Wells helps the Cards. Both teams should improve in the coming weeks, but the Cards are the class of this division.
This game was a real shock to me. I said in my preview of the game that it would be high scoring (it was 3 – 0 at half time), I said the Cowboys and DeMarcus Ware would sack Rodgers often, (they did but Green Bay sacked Romo more) and the Cowboys would win. How wrong could I be? This turned out to be a defensive struggle, and the Packers defence, who changed their scheme to a 3-4 early in the year, DOMINATED!! The dominated so much that the only Cowboys score came when the game was over. I have a question for the Cowboys OC. Why only run the ball 14 times, when you are close in a game, and have that big strong dominant O line? I believe this is what cost the Cowboys here. Romo has been playing well recently, but he isn’t Brady or Manning. Give him some help, give him a running game. This is a huge win for the Packers and a real setback for the Cowboys. Just want to say what a game Packers CB Charles Woodson had – 9 tackles, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles and 1 INT. That is my performance of the week.
This game did turn out to be quite an exciting one. The red hot Chargers jumped out to a 14 – 6 half time lead. They also lead 28 – 9 after 3 quarters, but the Eagles weren’t finished. Twice early in the 4th McNabb lead the Eagles down the field, and threw TD’s to Maclin and Celek, to make the game 28 – 23. The Chargers knew they needed to bleed the clock, and that’s exactly what they did as they ran a 12 play 66 yard drive that resulted in a FG with just 32 seconds left. Now the Eagles needed a TD and a 2 point conversion with 30 seconds on the clock. With just 2 seconds left McNabb heaved one to the end zone, only to be picked off by Antonio Cromartie. A major worry for the Eagles after this game was the fact that RB Brian Westbrook has another concussion. Chargers RB LT looks to be back to his old form. He ran for 96 yards and 2 TD’s, but his second TD run looked like the old LT. The Chargers are now level with the Broncos in the AFC West, and they meet for the lead in the division next week. For the Eagles, the blow of this loss was softened by the Cowboys loss, but how significant will the injury be to star RB Brian Westbrook?
The game that probably should have been voted the ‘Game of the week’ took place at Lucas Oil Stadium. I thought before the game that it would be a high scoring game, that the injures in the Colts secondary would ultimately cost them, and the Patriots would hand them their first loss. With around 2:30 left in the game, and the Pats leading 34 – 21, that looked to be the case. But then Peyton Manning took over, and bought the still undefeated Colts back from the dead. First he drove them down to the 4 yard line, before Addai forced in. Then trailing by 6 they looked to have forced the Patriots to punt the ball from their 28 yard line on a 4th and 2. Bill Belichick, for some reason, decided to go for it, and put the game out of reach, but when Kevin Faulk’s reception was marked short, the Colts took over on downs. Peyton Manning, needing 28 yards for the win, what do you think was going to happen? He hit Reggie Wayne, and the Colts march on. Both QB’s in this game had their expected monster games. Brady had 375 yards and 3 TD’s; Manning had 327 and 4 TD’s. What looked to have won the game for the Pats was their very successful run game. Faulk ran for 79 yards, which is a lot for a Patriot RB. This may be a slight weakness that teams facing the Colts in the future may try to take advantage of. I think the Colts are now the best team in the NFL, and will be top of my power rankings this week.
Monday night football turned out to be exactly what we expected, eventually. This game was the first game this season that the score was 0 – 0 at half time. The Ravens put this right on the 1st possession of the 2nd half though, when Ray Rice went in from 13 yards. Rice had 89 yards and the TD. The other TD came from Safety Dawan Landry, who picked off Brady Quinn, and ran it back 48 yards for the score. This win wasn’t really impressive enough for the Ravens against a very poor Browns team. QB Quinn had just 99 yards, no TD’s and 2 INT’S. They also managed just 86 rushing yards. Flacco had 155 yards for the Ravens. This is a big win for the Ravens, but they need to get considerably better, to be in the mix come playoff time.