Week 9 Review

Redskins 17 Falcons 31
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.

Cardinals 41 Bears 21
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.

Texans 17 Colts 20
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.

Chiefs 21 Jaguars 24
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.

Dolphins 17 Patriots 27
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.

Packers 28 Buccaneers 38
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.

Panthers 20 Saints 30
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.

Lions 20 Seahawks 32
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.

Chargers 21 Giants 20
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.

Titans 34 49’ers 27
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.

Cowboys 20 Eagles 16
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.

Steelers 28 Broncos 10
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.

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