Patriots tough loss to the Seahawks
Last Sunday the Patriots imploded against the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks came back and won at home as they continue to try and prove to all that you simply can not beat them in Seattle. The Patriots are the latest victim, but other good teams like the Packers and Cowboys have also lost due to the 12th man in Seattle. The stadium seemed to prove too much for the Patriots offense, which was visibly shaken from the pressure the home-town crowd brings. In the end, the loss dropped the Patriots to 3-3 while Seattle improved to 4-2.
Seattle now finds their team with a chance to take a lead in their division if they can beat the 49ers on Thursday. Seattle took an early lead against the Patriots 10-7 after the first quarter, but were outscored 10-0 in the second quarter to go into halftime down 17-10. The Patriots tacked on a field goal in the 3rd and were up 10 going into the fourth quarter. This is when the Seahawks began to really hold off the Patriots offense and the fans decided they were close enough to continue to push their team to victory.
Seattle was able to put together 14 points in the final quarter while holding the Pats to just 3. Russell Wilson was on fire down the stretch and ended the game 16 of 27 and passed for 293 yards and 3 touchdowns. He was able to throw the eventual game winning TD to Sydney Rice with about a minute left in the contest. The latest let down for the Patriots makes their situation harder as they go into a divisional game with the Jets next week for a chance to get the lead in the division.
RGIII is taking the league by storm
Robert Griffin III has really been taking the league by storm and with a 3-3 record is making people believers in Washington. RGIII has helped lead the team and keep them in every game this year. Their latest victory was nearly single-handedly won by Griffin who ended the game with a grand finale to bring his team to an even .500 on the year. The win may have been just what the team needs to try and take the next step, and a very up and down division can help that process. To do so however, RGIII will have to face his biggest task yet on the road against Eli Manning and the Giants.
Last week in Minnesota RGIII was able to pass for 182 yards and a core on 17 of 22 passing. On top of that, he led the team in rushing with 138 yards and two scores. None of these scores were as big his game-winning 76-yard gain in the closing minutes of the game to seal the deal. This week they face a much bigger challenge in New York, but it is certainly a challenge RGIII will embrace. He has been glowing with confidence since being drafted and wants to show everyone that he is the best rookie QB.
This year, he has proved to be the best rookie quarterback thus far. He has thrown the ball as well as rushed it with great success. He has completed 113 of his 161 passes this year for 1343 yards. He passed for 5 touchdowns and ran for another 6 touchdowns, while only turning the ball over 2 times. His 6 touchdowns actually leads the team in rushing scores. Sunday he has a chance to be epic and must take advantage.
Broncos get surprising win over the Chargers
The Broncos, led by Peyton Manning, came back from insurmountable odds last Monday in San Diego. The team fell back of a hot Chargers team early and left many people turning off their TVs, or at least changing the channel late Monday night. The Chargers got off to a huge offensive start while Denver struggled to get a first down. In the 2nd half, that all changed in a hurry and Manning left all in amazement once again.
The Chargers blasted out of the gate and at the end of the first half had a 24-0 lead. The Sherriff, Peyton Manning, then took his team on an emotional 35-0 point run to get a 35-24 victory Monday. He got some serious help from a stingy defense that began to get after Rivers and disrupt anything San Diego tried to do. Manning began to take over as he got in the hurry up offense and began to call all the shots. He was his own coach that day as he audibled to all the right calls. Systematically he picked apart any look the Chargers gave him on the field.
It is clear Manning must have had a 4.0 GPA throughout high school in Louisiana and at the University of Tennessee. His study of the game is clearly unlike any in the league while his brain must breakdown things faster as well. He certainly has a future in coaching and could really help make quarterbacks better. When it is all said and done I would love to see if he is able to teach someone as well as he taught himself. He is truly a self-made man.
MNF will host a NFC North battle between the Bears and the Lions
Monday Night Football on ESPN will showcase a good NFC North battle pitting the 4-1 Chicago Bears against the 2-3 Detroit Lions. The game will be played at Chicago’s Soldier field and has an 8:30 PM ET kickoff time. The Bears currently sit in first in the division at 4-1 while Detroit has been a disappointment to most this season. They did get a huge win last week against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road. They hope to continue that success, but the Bears will look take advantage of the rest and recovery time they got from their bye week last week.
The last time the Bears took the field was in a 41-3 shellacking of the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 5. The team has shown they can play solid football on both sides of the ball. To this point, their lone loss came against the Packers in week 2. Despite their success, the Bears still seem to be one of those teams that can simply self-destruct at any moment. This has to be the year Jay Cutler steps up and tries to be more of a leader. This is the only way the team will be able to make the next jump. Sunday’s game provides a good divisional game to start this process.
The Lions are trying to get their team back into the good graces of NFL analyst. The team was thought to be the next big thing after a huge offensive year last season and some great defensive picks. The team has not been able to match the hype, however, and have disappointed not only their fans but fans of underdogs everywhere. Their 26-23 win in Philly hopefully has them pointed in the right direction, but a win this Sunday could give them many more believers.
Steelers will travel to Cincinnati this Sunday
The, so far, disappointing Pittsburgh Steelers will travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals this week in primetime on Sunday Night Football on NBC. The game will kick-off at 8:20 PM ET in Ohio and will feature two AFC North teams that know each other very well. The Steelers come into the game after a tough loss last Thursday to the Titans, which saw many of their offensive lineman go down and may have exposed the Steelers shaky defensive secondary. The Bengals also lost last week to the Cleveland Browns who may have exposed the Bengals issues at stopping the run.
The Steelers come into the game at just 2-3 on the season and would be in very unfamiliar territory with a loss. Since they played a Thursday game last week, they did get some extra time to get healthy. Hopefully they also used that time to study and figure out the problems they have had this season as well. They have had some significant issues with injuries that have really cost the team. The running game has been affected by the banged up Rashad Mendenhall and the Defense has struggled without the presence of Troy Polomalu. They must make the corrections and have other guys step up if they wish to avoid a 2-4 start.
The Bengals hope to stay afloat in the division with a win and could do so Sunday. They are back at home after a tough interstate road loss to the Browns last week. They have remained healthy and still have the pieces they want for the game, but have struggled stopping the run and getting success running the ball on offense. A strong game in these areas would certainly produce a win given their great offensive passing attack. Either way, this should be a tough hard-hitting game to watch this Sunday.
AFC East features Patriots and Bills matchup
The AFC East will feature a key match-up Sunday when the New England Patriots meet the New York football Jets. Both teams are deadlocked in the division with the Bills sharing 3-3 records atop the division. The game will be played at 4:25 PM ET in New England at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots head into the game after a huge loss last Sunday in Seattle. The Jets, on the other hand, were able to have huge success at home against the Colts. The history between these two teams also comes into effect, and they sure do have plenty of hate for one another.
The Patriots want to get back on the right track after falling to the Seahawks late in the fourth quarter last week. They allowed the Seahawks to get back into the game and ultimately overtake them. The Patriots rarely lose back-to-back games and have historically had the upper hand on Rex Ryan’s Jets. They come into the game, however, with plenty of question marks and have been more up-and-down this season then they have in quite sometime.
The Jets enter the game with some momentum after a huge 20 plus point win last week against the Colts. They played good on both sides of the ball and seemed to, perhaps, establish some sort of identity last week. They get a great test this week to test out that winning formula, which included a steady dose of Shonn Greene and a good mix of Tebow and Sanchez.
Cardinals will face the Vikings on Sunday
The 4-2 Arizona Cardinals will take on the 4-2 Minnesota Vikings this Sunday at Mall of America Field in Minnesota. The two teams come into the game after tough week 6 losses and both look to rebound. The teams have enjoyed some surprising success so far this season, but have had recent slip-ups and injuries to deal with as of late. The game is set to kick-off at 1 PM ET on the FOX network and should provide for a good NFL match-up that could easily come down to the wire.
The Cardinals come into the game with serious running back issues after both of their expected premier backs went down this year. Beanie Wells and Ryan Williams have both been placed on IR with Williams officially out for the year. Quarterback Kevin Kolb, also is on the injured list and will miss this Sunday’s game after suffering a rib injury last week against the Buffalo Bills. It is a miracle Kolb has lasted this long given all the times he has been hit and sacked this season so far. One thing for certain is his replacement, Skelton, may be in for a long painful day.
Minnesota comes into the game much healthier and has remained relatively healthy so far this year, which has helped their success. Last week, their slip-up came against RGII and the Washington Redskins who beat the Vikings 38-26 at home. Minnesota did an OK job holding RGIII in the game until when it mattered most at the end of the game with a chance to get the ball back and win. This is when they let RGIII slip away and score a game winning 70 plus yard touchdown run. This is something I can assure you will not happen against Arizona this week.
5-1 Texans take on the 5-1 Ravens
The Houston Texans will host the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday at Reliant Stadium. The Texans and Baltimore both enter the game with two of the league’s best records at 5-1. Houston suffered their first loss last week at home against the Packers and have recently lost a huge contributor to their team. The ravens, on the other hand, got a big win against the Cowboys at home last weekend. They too have some significant injury news recently, which could drastically affect their defense.
Houston looked lost without linebacker Brian Cushing last week against the packers. Aaron Rodgers was able to get good protection and threw for 6 touchdowns in the game. Houston was dismantled defensively as Rodgers completed pass after pass. On offense, the Texans were unable to utilize Arian Foster as they like to. This really made passing difficult and took away their biggest weapon, which is their play-action pass game. Hopefully they can rebound from last weeks outing to get a win, but Baltimore produces plenty of problems for the team.
The Ravens have a good offense that also utilizes a strong run game to set-up big plays from play-action. Torrey Smith is coming into his own at wide receiver while Ray Rice continues to churn out yards and touchdowns. The Raven’s defense will be without two starters on defense for the remainder of the year however. None of these losses is as big as their heart and soul Ray Lewis who is out due to a torn triceps. The team will have to show great resiliency to march into Houston and get a win without their leader on defense year in and year out.
Dallas travels to Carolina to take on the Panthers
The Dallas Cowboys will travel to Carolina this Sunday to take on the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. The Cowboys enter the game with a 2-3 record in the NFC East and can kiss their playoff hopes, all but gone, if they lose Sunday. A 2-4 start will certainly devastate them and I do not feel they could overcome it. Carolina has not been able to defeat many and have just one win this season. Cam Newton is in a serious sophomore slump and opposing NFL defenses seemed to have caught up to his play from last season. Carolina’s defense has also provided no help and is one of the league’s worst.
Dallas has been all over the map this year and need to get some sort of consistency. You really never know what Dallas team will show up, but you can bet that one piece may be missing. If the offense shows up the defense does not, or if the defense shows up the team can not move the ball on offense. Romo has looked great at times like in week one against the Giants in a tough road victory. Last week, he nearly beat a very tough Baltimore team, but ended up getting the L in the end. Romo could sure use a solid run game if he hopes to have success and must get more help on the defensive side of the ball as well.
Carolina can not seem to buy a win. Their defense has played horribly and gives up nearly 400 yards a game. They give up nearly 250 of those through the air and 127 on the ground. The team also gives up 25 points a game to boot. They have been a disappointment to many this year who hoped they could improve the defense to match the offense and make some news in the league. They still have a chance Sunday as the Cowboys seem to be one of those Jekyll and Hyde teams of the NFL.
Giants will host the Redskins Sunday in hopes to get another win
The defending champ New York Giants will look to get a win Sunday against the Washington Redskins. The two teams will face at 1 PM ET at Metlife Stadium in New York. Both teams have their teams headed in the right way. The Redskins are trying to be a contender in the NFC East with the Giants. They have a 3-3 record and can tie the Giants record if they can defeat them Sunday. The Giants will look to extend their lead in the division while getting even more space between them and Washington.
Last week the Giants were able to get a huge win in San Francisco against the 49ers. They won the game 26-3 as they dominated San Fran in their own building. The 49ers could not do anything while the Giants were getting a lot of production against, arguably, the best defense in the NFL. Eli continues to prove elite over and over again and is showing that a NY repeat, although difficult, is something they can make a reality.
Washington will bring a hungry new NFC East team into the picture. This year’s team is certainly not the Redskins of year’s past. Rookie quarterback RGIII is showing that he may be young, but he is not afraid to lead. Last week he was able to lead the Redskins to a victory against a 4-1 Vikings team. RGIII capped the game off with a huge 70 plus yard run to seal the deal late in the fourth. Given all of this, it is not a stretch that the Redskins can come in here and steal one from New York.