New England Patriots @ New Orleans Saints
The 7 – 3 Patriots travel to New Orleans to take on the defeated Saints at 10 – 0. This is the biggest game of the season so far. The Saints will be looking to stay undefeated, and keep in the hunt for the perfect season. The Patriots, who went 16 – 0 in ’07, will be looking to end the Saints chances to repeat their feat. The story of the game has to be the matchup of QB’s Drew Brees and Tom Brady. These are 2 of the top 3 QB’s in the league in my opinion, and both will be looking to prove they are better than the other. The offences on both teams are very explosive, to say the least. There is no doubt that both of these units can put points on the board, and at speed. Many people believe that the winner of this game will be determined by the play of their defence. Without doubt the better defence belongs to the Patriots. They are ranked 2nd in the points against category, and 6th in both yards and pass yards. They will be pleased with that stat, against this Saints pass first team. The problem against the Saints though is they can score through so many avenues. They have actually had 18 players score a TD this year. I can’t wait for this game, it’s going to be great, shame that our TV can’t sort anything out in order to show the game.
Lee’s Prediction: Patriots 28 Saints 35
The 7 – 3 Patriots travel to New Orleans to take on the defeated Saints at 10 – 0. This is the biggest game of the season so far. The Saints will be looking to stay undefeated, and keep in the hunt for the perfect season. The Patriots, who went 16 – 0 in ’07, will be looking to end the Saints chances to repeat their feat. The story of the game has to be the matchup of QB’s Drew Brees and Tom Brady. These are 2 of the top 3 QB’s in the league in my opinion, and both will be looking to prove they are better than the other. The offences on both teams are very explosive, to say the least. There is no doubt that both of these units can put points on the board, and at speed. Many people believe that the winner of this game will be determined by the play of their defence. Without doubt the better defence belongs to the Patriots. They are ranked 2nd in the points against category, and 6th in both yards and pass yards. They will be pleased with that stat, against this Saints pass first team. The problem against the Saints though is they can score through so many avenues. They have actually had 18 players score a TD this year. I can’t wait for this game, it’s going to be great, shame that our TV can’t sort anything out in order to show the game.
Lee’s Prediction: Patriots 28 Saints 35
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.
The Redskins continue their very disappointing season in Atlanta. As expected Michael Turner dominated the poor Skins run defence, running for 166 yards, which was a 9.2 average, including a 58 yard TD in the 4th quarter. As expected the young QB Matt Ryan struggled against a decent Redskins pass defence, but Turners dominance made up for that. Also the Falcons defence were on form. The sacked Skins QB Jason Campbell 5 times, and made 1 INT. 2.5 of the sacks were by Falcons DT Jonathan Babineaux. He also made 9 tackles in a dominant performance. This Atlanta team looked to be back to last year’s successful formula, of running the ball, and letting Ryan play off that. I believe that the 5 – 3 Falcons can keep the pressure on the Saints in the NFC South. The Redskins just need to get a couple of wins or so, to keep head coach Jim Zorn in a job.
Once again the Cardinals come out, and completely confuse everybody. I thought before last week that they were a very good team. After their loss to the Panthers, I thought their bubble had burst, and fully expected them to lose in Chicago. But here they go again, throwing a spanner in the works. They are actually now 4 – 0 on the road this season. Kurt Warner bounced back from his 5 turnover game, to post 5 TD’s and 261 yards. Four of these TD’s were in the first half, the half time score being 31 – 7. This meant the Bears had to throw, and throw alot to catch up. Cutler threw for 369 yards and 3 TD’s which was impressive, but he was not backed up by the Bears running game, as Matt Forte ran for a disappointing 33 yards. The Cardinals on the other hand had good production from their running game, Hightower and Wells had 77 and 72 yards respectively. The Cardinals will welcome divisional rivals Seattle to Arizona next week, in a huge NFC West matchup.
The Texans did fall short against their divisional rivals here, just about. This game went right down to the wire, and by that I mean a last second field goal miss by the Texans, that would’ve taken the game to overtime. As expected, the game was dominated by the passing game, with both QB’s throwing for over 310 yards. Ryan Moats did start at RB ahead of Steve Slaton for the Texans. He ran for 38 yards, but Slaton came on to score a TD in the game, so who knows who the starter will be in the next game. The difference in the game were that Schaub threw 2 INT’s to Manning’s 1, but more importantly, Addai ran the ball very well for the Colts, and Dallas Clark came up huge in a lot of important instances. These are the reasons that the Colts stay unbeaten, and move onto 8 – 0.
Well this game did eventually go the way I expected, but it was a lot closer than I thought. Jamal Charles starting in place of suspended Larry Johnson only had 6 carries for 36 yards. Matt Cassel had a decent game throwing for 262 yards and 2 TD’s. He hooked up with new addition Chris Chambers 3 times for 70 yards. The Chiefs hope that the addition of Chambers will help to open up Dwayne Bowe on the opposite side. None of this will matter though, if they don’t improve their defence. MJD ran for 97 yards and a TD, which you can live with as a defence against the Jags. What you can’t live with are the 147 yards and 1 TD Mike Sims-Walker came up with against this Chiefs secondary. This Chiefs defence needs to drastically improve, if they are to get any more wins this season.
The main talk about this game before it began was, how will the Patriots deal with the’ Wildcat’? The answer to that question is ‘pretty well’ as the Patriots obviously used their bye week to their advantage, and were very well prepared. The Dolphins did use rookie Pat White a few more times from the wildcat. He adds another dimension to the formation as he was a QB at college. This passing threat will slow down teams blitzing against the formation. The difference in the game was the big play ability of Randy Moss. Going up against a very young secondary, Brady found him 6 times for 147 yards and a TD. Brady did have a big day (as usual) throwing for 332 yards and that TD. One bright spot for the Dolphins is that the young CB’s, Smith and Davis, had decent games against one of the top rated passing offenses, and will undoubtedly gained a lot of valuable experience from this. Chad Henne threw for 219 yards, but the run game didn’t have a stand out number, Brown had 48 yards, White had 45 and Williams 33 yards and a TD. The Dolphins usually rely on one of these players having a big day. The Pats RB Laurence Maroney had a big day against a tough run defence, going for 82 yards and a TD. This is a big win for the Pats, who look to be in control of the AFC East.
Well here is the shock of the day. The Buccaneers, coming off a bye, with a new starting QB pull the upset on the Packers. Josh Freeman threw for 205 yards and 3 TD’s on his debut for the Buccs. The Packers actually led this game 28 – 17 in the 4th quarter, but failed to get the job done. Aaron Rodgers struggled to stay upright again as the offensive line problems continued. He was sacked 6 times and threw 3 picks in a bad game for him. This is a bad loss for the Packers as they now trail the Vikings by 3 games, not to mention the tie break. It’s going to be a long way back for the Packers. The Buccs have to be pleased with the poise of their new QB. Also his escape ability will help them create plays out of nothing. He is defiantly a work in progress, but looks a clear upgrade at the moment.
The Saints remain unbeaten after an early scare. The score was 17 – 6 at half time as the Panthers RB DeAngelo Williams had 2 TD runs early. The Panthers are defiantly a lot better football team when Williams is on fire, and he certainly was in this game, rushing for 149 yards and those 2 TD’s. This helps keep the pressure off Delhomme, who didn’t have an INT again this week. The Saints though came storming back in the 2nd half. Brees started to pick holes in the Panthers defence, and started to move the ball down the field. He also threw in the odd vertical threat, one of which was caught by Meachem, for a 54 yard TD. The run game wasn’t great for the Saints, but Reggie Bush had a decent game catching the ball out of the backfield. Once again the Saints show their versatility and strength as a team, and continue to be the number one team in the NFL.
I said in the preview for this game that it may be a poor game, and the Lions young rookie QB Matthew Stafford may struggle in the lively away stadium. At the end of the 1st quarter my prediction looked pretty ridiculous as the Lions led 17 – 0. The TD’s were both passes from Stafford to Pettigrew and Bryant Johnson respectively. Stafford ended up with 203 yards and 2 TD’s, but he also had 5 INT’s and the Seahawks made the mistakes count, as they had a great comeback win. The main reason for this comeback was Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck, who completed 39 of 51 passes for 329 yards and 1 TD. He was required to put up these numbers as the running game was almost nonexistent. This is a good comeback victory for the injury hit Seahawks, who can now try and push on in the NFC West. For the Lions, this is a very poor defeat, especially from the position they were in.
So this vitally important game for both sides was decided by some last minute heroics from Phillip Rivers, and the Chargers offense. I thought the key to this game was the run offense of both teams. The Giants won that battle 116 – 34. So how did they manage to lose this game?? The answer is penalties (9 for 109 yards) and sacks allowed (5). These stats helped to keep the Chargers close, before there last gasp heroics. Phillip Rivers didn’t have a stand out game, but managed to throw for 209 yards and a TD. On that last drive though, he looked pretty special. He picked the Giants pass coverage apart as they drove down the field. In the passing game as Gates had 67 yards, and Jackson 58 yards and 2 TD’s. The Chargers had a poor running game again, LT going for just 22 yards. This may catch up with them down the line, but at the moment, this was a huge win, and after the result from Monday, puts them right back in the thick of things in the AFC West. The Giants are in free fall, losing their last 4 games, and now go on their bye. They welcome Atlanta to New York in week 11.
So the Titans comeback may really be on. After starting 0 – 6 the Titans change their QB and have since won their 2 games. VY has not thrown an interception in the 2 games, and the Titans RB Chris Johnson has been huge. In this game Johnson ran for 135 yards and 2 TD’s. This output by Johnson is both caused by the elusiveness of VY, and also helps VY in the passing game. With the Bills coming to Tennessee next week, you can perhaps see them extending this unbeaten run, and if they do get on a role, look out, because this team certainly has talent. The 49’ers played quite well in this game. Frank Gore ran for 83 yards and a TD, as well as receiving 7 passes for 75 yards. Smith threw for 286 yards and 2 TD’s, but also 3 INT’s. These turnovers were the difference in the game, along with the ineffectiveness of the defence.
This was a huge game in the NFC East, especially after the Giants lost earlier in the day. The winner would be the outright leader, in arguably the toughest division in football. This game was nip and tuck the whole way, but in the end the Cowboys managed to sneak it, and continue their very impressive run of late. Both defences played well, sacking the opposing QB 4 times a piece. The difference in the game was the depth of Dallas. I have said time and time again that Dallas has so many options on offence, that if someone struggles in a game, someone else will always step up. Most of the year its been Roy Williams struggling and Miles Austin picking up the slack. Here however it was role reversal as Williams and also TE Jason Witten helped out as Austin only managed 1 catch (which actually went 49 yards for the game winning TD). The Cowboys depth makes them really dangerous the rest of the year. The Eagles struggled slightly on offence without Westbrook, who hopefully will be back next week against the Chargers. They will push the Cowboys all the way, on this rush for the division title.
Monday night football was a real interesting clash. How would the Broncos respond following their first loss? Well in the 1st quarter they looked very good. They took the ball, marched down the field behind 3 big catches by Eddie Royal, but eventually had to settle for a FG. They then had 2 sacks on defence as the Steelers struggled. Momentum changed though as Orton through 1 of his 3 INT’s at the beginning of the 2nd, which was returned for a TD by Steelers safety Tyrone Carter. At the start of the 2nd half, with Pittsburgh looking in control, the Broncos had their own defensive TD. DE Robert Ayers took in a 54 yard fumble return. The Steelers did then take control of the game behind RB Rashard Mendenhall, who had 155 yards and is undoubtedly the Steelers number one option at RB. The Steelers had TD’s from Ward (x2) and Wallace, to wrap up this game. This was a very impressive win for the Steelers, on the road, against a very good team. This sets up nicely for their home game next week against the Bengals, both teams tied (6 - 2) at the top of the AFC North.