Week 10 Review

Falcons 19 Panthers 28
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.

Buccaneers 23 Dolphins 25
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.

Lions 10 Vikings 27
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.

Jaguars 24 Jets 22
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.

Saints 28 Rams 23
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.

Bills 17 Titans 41
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?

Broncos 17 Redskins 27
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.

Chiefs 16 Raiders 10
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.

Seahawks 20 Cardinals 31
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.

Cowboys 7 Packers 17
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.

Eagles 23 Chargers 31
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?

Patriots 34 Colts 35
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.

Ravens 16 Browns 0
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.

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